Most men indeed, as well as most sects in religion, think themselves in possession of all truth, and that wherever others differ from them, it is so far error. — Ben Franklin, Autobiographical Writings (last speech)

It is a complicated world in which we live. We require conviction about certain things in order to center ourselves and make our way. Yet those same convictions sometimes blind us to a greater truth or understanding about life, love, and God.

Most of us do not understand the history of our religions, the social contexts in which our religions were developed, and the ways in which all of the sacred texts have been manipulated by various kings, religious leaders, emperors, and tribal chieftans to support their personal political agendas. We understand the religious history that was taught to us by our parents, their parents, and their parents’ parents, and we accept this verbal history as the truth.

It’s no small surprise that true biblical scholars — not divinity students, but scholars of the bible and its history — go through a crisis of faith at some point in their studies. They learn how fallible the socially accepted religious texts are. Those who continue to have faith do so because they choose to believe, in spite of all the human error and meddling. What a powerful faith theirs is, to choose not from denial, but from a place of light (truth) and spiritual hope.

We hide behind our beliefs, afraid to challenge or question them. Psychologically that makes sense. If we suspect our spouse is cheating on us sexually, we go through a phase of not wanting to know. The truth can be difficult and painful because it may cause change. Some people choose to never confront the truth of their spouse’s infidelity, and live instead in a state of denial and suppressed pain.

If we have chosen not to confront the infidelity, then woe to the well-meaning (or not-so-well-meaning) friend who points it out to us. Their recognition of the truth means that we must deal with it, and if we have used denial to create a false reality, we don’t appreciate someone else shining a light on it.

All of us hide behind denial to some extent. It’s a complicated world that presents us with too many contradictions. One person’s acceptance of nudity is another person’s violation of modesty. One family’s arranged marriage for the strengthening of family ties and responsibilities is another person’s violation of marriage as an institution dependent on love. One person’s pacifism is another person’s weakness. One person’s polygamy is another person’s violation of the sanctity of marriage. One person’s martyrdom is a violation of another’s sense of God’s peace.

Cultural norms and mores simplify life. Merely 200 years ago nearly every human being lived within a community which enjoyed the simplicity of entirely shared values. Well, that’s not quite true. For instance, in most western cultures 200 years ago, if a married woman was miserable — whether she was beaten , taken for granted, or anywhere in between — she could not leave her marriage. She couldn’t own land, hold a job, or vote. So whether she shared the norms and mores or not was irrelevant — she had to pretend to in order to maintain what little place she had in society. Slavery has been part of the world since time immemorial, continuing today. Still, most communities 200 years ago benefited from general sharing of cultural values.

As the world has become more integrated, we experience challenges to our beliefs and values. The Archbishop of Canterbury recently advanced an argument that England should consider Sharia law for the purposes of negotiating marital and civilian disputes. The world immediately split over his statement — some suggesting that social cohesion is not possible when multiple legal systems are contending for primacy, and others arguing that it’s about time western culture recognized that the Muslims within their cultures require Sharia law to function. Who is right? As the Archbishop of Canterbury has learned, even raising the question of how to accommodate religious views and rights within a secular society can have grave implications for one’s career.

State by painful State the US has been debating whether or not gay couples should have the same rights under the law as married couples. Proponents of the bills argue that gay couples should not have to worry about whether or not they will be able to visit their loved one in a hospital, make medical decisions when necessary, or maintain their joint property after a loved one’s death. Opponents of the bills argue that gay marriage mocks the sanctity of heterosexual marriage and that the fabric of society will be permanently torn if gay unions are legally recognized. Who is right?

In 1955 Robert Green Ingersoll said:

“Whenever a man believes that he has the exact truth from God, there is in that man no spirit of compromise. He has not the modesty born of the imperfections of human nature; he has the arrogance of theological certainty and the tyranny born of ignorant assurance. Believing himself to be the slave of god, he imitates his master, and of all tyrants, the worst is a slave in power.”

There is room for all of us, whether believers or non-believers, to recognize a certain personal responsibility in Ingersoll’s challenge. The challenge is this:

We cannot simultaneously uphold our own fundamental rightness and offer genuine respect to human beings who believe differently than us. The two positions are mutually exclusive. We can condescendingly agree to accept that the other person has a different opinion, but that is not the same as valuing that person equally to ourselves.

If we wish to take no risks with our salvation, our only hope is to choose to see the Godliness in every other human being, and to strive to understand how their Godliness leads them to believe differently than we do. We cannot condemn another person without condemning ourselves. We cannot judge another person without likewise turning our judgment on ourselves. If we are among those who believe in God, how egotistical it is to believe that God requires our judgment of His other children to make His world whole? Don’t we think He can handle that aspect Himself?

If we are not worried about salvation because we don’t believe in God or a hereafter, our only hope in life is to learn as much as we can from every other human being we encounter, because this one life is the only one we’ve got and the only way to live it to the fullest would be to allow its fullness to live in us.

One sure path to the truth is to be willing to view our own beliefs with as much skepticism as we view the beliefs of others. An even surer path to the truth is to challenge all of our systems, our laws, and our social structures to uplift and uphold the dignity and supreme worth of every human being. In every choice we make, if we would stop to consider the worth and dignity of those involved — and not just our own views of how the world should work — I believe that we would consistently make better choices.

In 1902 William James lamented that out of fanaticism “crusades have been preached and massacres instigated for no other reason than to remove a fancied slight upon the God.” History does not provide an example of it, but can’t you imagine a world where all people are seekers of truth and clear thinking? It would be impossible to wage a war, starve a child, beat a woman, or cheat a friend if the only enculturation we knew was to shine the light of equality and love on every person we met.

No one of us is more special than any other. But we could be incredibly special together if we put our minds — and not our blindered beliefs — to the task.

(c) 2008. Andrea M. Hill

Andrea Hill owns Public Rhetoric, a freelance writer boutique offering a full range of writing services. In addition to her extensive business resume, Ms. Hill has 26 years of professional writing experience. She has direct knowledge of the entertainment, magazine, apparel, home electronics, jewelry, craft, and fine art industries, is a highly-respected direct marketing expert, and her team of freelance writers expands that knowledge base to dozens of other fields. Andrea and her team bring to every assignment a combination of finely tuned business acumen and highly skilled writing craft.

In addition to writing for business interests, Ms. Hill is an accomplished writer on topics related to ethics and moral choices in modern life, and she is a popular public speaker on ethics, motivation, and business. Click on the link below to find out how Ms. Hill and Public Rhetoric can improve your company’s marketing and communications efforts.

http://www.publicrhetoric.com

http://www.publicrhetoric.com/wordpress

Jaded Tasks by Wayne Madsen is an excellent book. Like a nice cold Coca Cola squirted straight up your nose, this book will have you snorting and huffing in utter disgust, quickly and throughout. If you do not get all worked up over the information in this book go see your doctor because you might be dead. The entire title of this book is JADED TASKS — Brass Plates, Black Ops, and Big Oil: The Blood Politics of George Bush and Co., and that title tells it like it is, no sugar coatings, just a little something more to gnaw upon in contemplation of these bona fide revelations concerning criminal pedigree across many generations!

Madsen does his usual good job of discerning the real connections: the how comes, wheretofores, and planned escapes that become manifest when a paper trail truly festoons a story. I have always been told that one lie leads to another, and concerning our Governments black operations, which mean rogue activities with no oversight and for special interests of high sort — well, a good paper trail is that in spades, lie, after lie, after lie, and all together, one thing leading to another, a desk drawer, a cardboard box, the world. Madsen is unerring in his ability to ferret out the true crux of a story, then expound well on how it relates to other stories of import, patterns in general, and powers that are.

One of the most important things I learned while delving into this eerily knowledgeable accounting of world affairs is that a lot has been happening in Africa for the last two or three decades, and has not been covered by most corporate media on Earth. Unpleasant things, things which definitely get hidden, swept under the rug, because genocide, bioterror, rape, pillage, and strife are not what the moguls have come to call a winning scenario. The moguls are schmux, and peasants in suits, and thats all they ever will be, and thats common knowledge I am sure. For the record.

Conversely, but in the same vein, the names of the Africans involved in the horror of what has happened in Africa in the last 20 - 30 years…these names are many times very hard to spell, pronounce, and remember. They are truly foreign words to many people, especially English speakers. This is probably why a lot of attention goes elsewhere. I would like to suggest that in the future, the players within this macabre and pathetic football game across duhhhh-byas world, consider shortening their names for better public relations and more guaranteed coverage of their particular causes.

Amen.

I am talking about names like: Habnarimana, Faustin Twagiramungu, Pasteur Bizimungu, Emmanuel Kataliko, Pierre Celeste Rwigyema…come on people, if you are going to play with the likes of the bush family, you better get your team names and pop monickers better aligned with your fan base, and quit lolligagging behind a decrepit and phony nationalism. I mean it. Its all about getting with the program.

The program.

This book JADED TASKS did an admirable job of bringing me up to date quickly, with an orderly consolidation of happenstance concerning Africa, and much more. It was a very valuable experience. Over too quickly, knowing the second and third times through will bring their own surprises, whats not to love?

Madsen ends it nicely, concisely, to the point: the last flitting image from this book lays blame where blame lies, and some will not be happy over it, but truth is hardly ever well met. We must applaud and congratulate Mr. Madsen on his longevity, thank him for his conscientiousness, and wish him well during his battles.

TrineDay
Post Office Box 577
Walterville OR 97489
1-800-556-2012
www.TrineDay.com
publisher@TrineDay.com

Bill Gallagher, Hachita NM

www.autodidactics.com
http://www.myspace.com/luxefaire

In my first review of Peter Levendas Sinister Forces series, I imagined Mr. Levendas appearance to be something like that of Bela Lugosi, with a goatee. This of course led me to a search, and the only picture I could find of Mr. Levenda on the internet was from a gathering of authors and publishers in Coconut Grove Florida, and he DOES look something like Bela Lugosi, though larger, and with glasses; and He DOES have a goatee! Or he did, at least, in the picture I am referring to. It was as if I had intuited something about this author, and though I found this revelation somewhat odd, I did not give it too much energy.

Not then, at least.

It was also during that first book that I found myself occasionally thinking in some cases that certain informations within seemed somehow…incomplete…only to find the information which explained these situations in the next book of the series, haunting me if you will, with not precognition, but answers to precognition…many times these answers contained EXACT wording and phrases as I had noted them in passing, or mentioned them in terms during my writing about the book! I stopped this critiquing during book III, and just satisfied myself that all was being made known. Truthfully, I was somewhat relieved that there are only three books in this series, if for no other reason than I do not know how much of this I could stand! It was more than coincidence. Much more. If you get the books, you will certainly see for yourself, and I do recommend them highly, however disconcerting some of the content may be.

Hard core readers are usually a little jaded, at least, and always looking for new experiences among the symbols. George Carlin once described our type as being Symbol Minded, and I guess thats as good a description as any. I assure you that the Sinister Forces books, by Peter Levenda, will assist you in your quest toward new, unique symbology, and most likely well beyond any expectations you may have.

Yes, many odd experiences and coincidences occurred during my reading of these 3 books by Peter Levenda. The only thing that came close was over ten years ago, after reading a book by Philip K. Dick, called Valis, and though I was astounded at that time by coincidences piled one upon another, that was nothing compared to the seemingly prescient ultra-sensitivity these books by Levenda created within my psyche. Many is the time during the reading of the series that I found myself in deep contemplation for many minutes, putting pictures together, from my past, and, perhaps, my future as well. I was becoming immersed in a flow that I had hitherto ill-perceived, and it is an instructional ride, oh yeahhhhhhh.

This is not too surprising really, considering that coincidence and its related institutions play a large part, perhaps even a Super-Conscious part, in this three book series which shows, among many other things, and in many startling and evocative ways, that there really is no such thing as coincidence, just a very intricate but meaningful weave and weft APPEARING to us as coincidence, but which is actual reality, and it is ALIVE. Boo.

Within this living thing are we, the id entitys, individual identities, and though infantile and dangerous for the most part, we influence the whole, as any part of any thing does. A vast majority of the time our influence in the All is en passant, without will or meaning. Even within this higgledy-piggledy massively ignorant state of existence which we physical beings inhabit, there are some who have taken it upon themselves to learn their place within the body of reality, and to thereby influence it, in what can only be called a conscious manner, however malign or evil some of these people may be.

Think — Instruments Of Torture — think Idolatry of instruments of torture. Sometimes the greatest evil is that which occurs all unbeknownst, disguised as goodness and love, within and by large groups of well meaning, but very ignorant people. That is my opinion at least, and it is based on long term observation, for what its worth. While delving into the books dealing with sinister forces I was rather astounded at certain of the revelations concerning the outwardly holy, who were, via scrutiny, revealed to be demons par excellence, whose god, if they have one, is nothing more than conflict, torture, hate and human suffering. We all know these people. Many are in government today. Many preach their ideology weekly, on TV, or in churches around the world.

In Book III of Sinister Forces a good case is made for positive influences, good people, to learn and develop control of our psychic lives in order to actually combat, or perhaps balance out the powers who would use reality to further their personal agendas, which seem comprised of what can only be called bad things. We must learn, and try hard, to overcome the employers of Sinister forces, or we are doomed to the world as it is right now, and is that not a sorry state, after all?

I think we should all learn to pray, instead of what the evil ones teach and do, and that is prey.

Also in my review of book one, I felt that Mr. Levenda must be, by nature, a very serious type of person, and though I found this to be fairly true throughout my further readings of this authors work, I was also pleasantly surprised to see that Peter Levenda possesses a wry and well developed wit, which is all the more powerful because of the subject matter at hand, and because of the artful way in which he purveys it. More than a few times I found myself laughing hard about something anomalous; anomalous in the sense it was dealing with death and destruction, but was described in such a way that humor was the inevitable result. There is no escape from these lovely surprises dear reader, and because these humorous incidents are timed perfectly and seemingly innocent, they can only be called comic relief of the highest sort. Several examples come quickly to mind, and I will not delve too deeply into this aspect of Mr. Levendas art, though his reference to Richard Nixon as one of histories great dirty jokes was one certainly memorable humor within.

Mr. Levendas coverage and interpretation of Quantum States as applied to human consciousness, and the body of reality, within which are we, the parts, was very valuable to me, and I am sure most readers will find this distillation by the author extremely agreeable, as opposed to the actual physics, which are daunting to say the least.

Mr. Levenda is intrigued by the work of two well known quantum physicists: Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff, whose work — Orchestrated Reduction of Quantum Coherence in Brain Microtubules: a Model For Consciousness, has been hailed as a new way to describe how thinking and perception really work, especially in relation to our view of reality. As one might expect, the US military has had great interest in all this, and employed these two scientists as consultants and representatives during a series of meetings sponsored by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). It is part and parcel of the militaries continuing though covert interest in remote viewing, psychic spying, and other spooooky types of behavior. Below are a few excerpts of the Penrose/Hameroff work from book III of the Sinister Forces Series:

…Another feature of quantum systems is quantum inseparability, or non-locality, which implies that all quantum objects which have ever interacted are in some sense still connected! When two quantum systems have interacted, their wave functions become phase entangled, so that when one systems wave function is collapsed, the other systems wave function, no matter how far away, instantly collapses as well. This non-local connection (Phase Entanglement), is independent of distance and implies that the quantum entities, by sharing a wave function, are indivisible… (Ansibel-ed.)

And another tidbit from Book III of the Sinister Forces Series:

…The problem is the transition….why and how do microscopic superposed states become classical and definite in the macro-world? This problem is called quantum state reduction, or collapse of the wave function, and it may be the key to both consciousness and reality…The wave function collapse is non-reversible in time, and it is the successive collapse of wave functions at the micro-tubule level that gives rise, in effect, to the passage of time (its seeming unidirectional nature: past-present-future) and thus to consciousness itself. This seems to solve the conundrum posed by Penrose in 1994 that the laws of physics are the same whether time flows forward or backward, and that the sensation of time going in one direction only is therefore a function of consciousness, since there are no physical laws to account for it…

The application of Quantum Mechanics to human reality is even more confusing considering it takes other sciences such as neurobiology, along with QM, to fully explain things we take for granted, like seeing, perceiving, memory, thought. It must be stated that there is no theory of physics that describes reality as well as the Quantum explanations, and though they are inexplicable to many, the multiverse is real, and you are a part of them! So lets get busy!

Overall, these three books in the Sinister Forces series deal with the United States Governments never-ending and no-holds-barred quest for mind control of its citizens, along with nazi involvement in that quest, and others, such as the catholic church, black magicians everywhere, and the intelligence apparat, as general as that term is. One begins to see, beyond doubt, after reading these books, that history can many times be considered a painting, where some brush strokes are bold and colorful, while others are muted and slight, though all a part of the whole, which in itself is a creation more than anything else. A contrivance.

The work of Mr. Peter Levenda is extremely well researched, and cannot be slighted in any way. There is no way that even the most informed reader on these subjects can come away empty handed from this literal smorgasbord of facts about the US governments continuing and frenzied involvement in the occult, the ramifications of this involvement to the citizens of the USA alongwith the world at large, as well as overall reality and our places in it. Do yourself a service, if you are inquisitive in the least: Get the three books of the Sinister Forces series by Peter Levenda, and see for yourself just where you are right now.

Published By:
TrineDay
Post Office Box 577
Walterville OR 97489
1-800-556-2012
www.TrineDay.com
publisher@TrineDay.com

Bill Gallagher, Hachita NM

www.autodidactics.com
http://www.myspace.com/luxefaire

“Green Building” is a broad term used to describe the design and construction of sustainable and environmentally conscious buildings.

The driving force behind this is to lower our negative impact on the environment and, at the same time, make the buildings we live and work in safer and healthier for us.

According to the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) statistics, buildings are responsible for all of the following:

• 39% of US carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
• 70% of US electricity consumption
• 15 trillion gallons of water consumption

Even though there is still some controversy over the effect of greenhouse gases on the environment, the last two statistics are very important for those of us living in urban areas experiencing continuous growth, especially the American Southwest. With our population expansion, aging water and electrical infrastructure, and shrinking landfills, designing and constructing green and sustainable buildings makes practical sense from a utilitarian perspective.

In fact, USGBC data shows that green buildings use 36% less energy, require fewer raw materials, and divert less waste to our landfills. Furthermore, the “increased” cost of green building is only one or two percent more expensive than a conventional building. This minute difference exemplifies the tangible and long-term benefits of sustainable design, primarily due to the fact that green buildings conserve water and electricity. Thus, while they are more expensive to build, green structures will save money by conserving more energy over time.

Another push towards the green build movement is by local governments. More and more municipalities are adopting the USGBC LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) guidelines for new and renovated buildings. In 2006, at the USGBC Greenbuild expo, the Mayor of Denver challenged other major cities to see who can have the most LEED® certified green buildings. They are accomplishing this by offering tax breaks to private corporations and mandating sustainable construction for city-financed projects.

This has led to a dramatic increase in the number of sustainable projects built by LEED® Certified general contractors. However, this growth has not come without challenges. Currently, the following issues are restricting the number of green projects being built:

• Increased demand for green products has lead to long lead times
• New and unspecified materials are labeled “green” products which are not necessarily certified
• Building officials are struggling with a steep learning curve on how to evaluate these new products and sustainable building techniques

Despite these difficulties, the USGBC, sustainability advocates, and green building construction management firms are meeting to overcome these challenges.

The LEED® process is constantly under review and continues to adopt the latest codes and products. This includes Standard 189, a new minimum standard for green building. The USGBC is currently developing LEED® 3.0 and working with national code writers to include new products and techniques.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has even rolled out a new initiative called “Sustainability 2030,” which at its roots, is looking to design all buildings by the year 2030 as carbon neutral. The USGBC has even initiated the Green Advantage Builders Certification for contractors to certify their knowledge in green building techniques.

So what does green building mean at the end of the day? It’s simple yet profound: Do the right thing for you, the environment, and the next generation. While most companies are concerned with their bottom line, they ought to embrace the idea that energy and water conservation, green building, and the use of “green materials” in construction stands to increase their savings over time while positioning them as a leader in environmental stewardship.

According to the USGBC, we spend 90% of our time indoors. Due to this fact, scientists have identified an increase in allergies, asthma, absenteeism from school, and even work. There have been numerous studies done on post occupancy productivity levels, which have increased within “green” built facilities. Not only does green adaptation result in less sick days taken, but also shows an increase in productivity, job
satisfaction, and in the case of schools, better grades.

So, as we positively affect the environment around us with sustainable green construction, we eventually create better health for ourselves.

Interested in learning more about the green building trend? A good place to start is the USGBC website or the Adolfson & Peterson library of resources on green construction management.

Matthew Hancock is a LEED® accredited professional, a Green Advantage Certified Builder and a member
of the Dallas chapter of the USGBC. He is a project manager for the Dallas office of Adolfson and Peterson Construction and a proponent of the sustainable and green building movements.

Adolfson & Peterson Construction is a 61-year-old company with offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Denver, Colorado; Phoenix, Arizona; and Dallas, Texas. A&P provides construction management, design/build, general contracting, LEED® construction capability, Green Advantage® certified personnel, facilities maintenance, and building information modeling for public and private clients.

There are a few things to consider when considering the validity of the Bible. It is my contention that the Bible is not the word of God but any opinion is worthless without evidence.

Let’s say you had no understanding of anything spiritual. Someone comes to you one day saying he found an old book in the woods. He is all excited and tells you that it is the word of God. Do you quickly say “Okay, then let us follow it to the letter” or do you say something else like “How do you know it is the word of God?” Think long and hard about it. He tells you that the book has many good things about basic morality in it and the book itself hints at being the word of God. Do you then conclude that it really is the word of God or do you ask for real evidence that it is Heavenly inspired?

After all, the Koran claims to be the word of God as does the book of Mormon. Are they the word of God because they claim to be? Of course not. Why is the Bible considered by so many to be the word of God without putting it to the test? The Bible does not anywhere claim that its 66 books are the “word of God.” It simply matches up with itself in many places and some writers in the book quote other writers.

However, nothing in it has a divine stamp that says specifically what is to be followed. Instead of saying the Bible is or the Bible is not the word of God, it needs to be tested. How would you test a book that made such a claim anyway, one should ask? Simple. You put it under the microscope of critical analysis. You study it under the assumption that maybe it is or maybe it is not but you do not ever arrive at a conclusion first before beginning the study. You arrive at one last. Christians already have been told the Bible is God’s word without putting it up to a challenge. Instead of simply believing that it is because one always has and was taught this since childhood, one has a duty to oneself to find proof or at least a reasonable amount of evidence that it is. The problem is that Christians make the fatal mistake of starting first with the conclusion that the Bible just is the word of God. Some will tell you to prove it is not. If you go to court to accuse someone of committing a crime against you, they do not have to prove they did not. You have to prove they did. For Christians, it is just the opposite.

It needs to be pointed out that if God Himself did not tell anyone that the Bible was His book, then why believe that it is without a test? Christians are quick to condemn the Muslims for believing in a book (the Koran) that contradicts theirs but what right does a Christian have to claims that theirs is the truth? What about the content of the book? If it is good and decent and makes sense for peaceful living, should we consider it to be the word of God? No. Anyone can write up a peaceful standard of living but it should not be considered “scripture.” However, the Bible has many dark things that no one would consider peaceful. Yet, regardless of those things, how does anyone consider the possibility that any book is inspired by God without proof or even some evidence of inspiration regardless of the content? Our cultures and our upbringing almost always influence what we choose to believe first, especially when it comes to spirituality.

Brett Winstead is the author of the book, How to Answer a Christian

Matt 5:13

13-”You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

Jesus said that we are to be salt to the earth, he said that if the salt has no flavor it’s useless and is to be thrown out and stomped on. Does being thrown out and stomped on sound like you are going to inherit salvation? Being thrown out and stomped on sounds more like your not bearing fruit and that your going to be cut off from the vine, it also sounds like that you haven’t invested your talents, and that you’re an unprofitable servant who will be cast into outer darkness.

Eating fruit from a branch of the tree or tasting salt always leaves a particular taste in your mouth; it has an effect on the environment within your mouth as the flavor is absorbed by your tongue. When you place a bit of salt in your mouth, it changes the mood and feelings of your tongue and mouth, and it also has an overall effect on the environment around your tongue and mouth.

When we are in Christ we should have an effect on the environment and world around us, if we are not having an overall effect on the environment around us and changing the mood and feelings of society, then we are useless for nothing and are to be thrown away and stomped on. As salt of the earth we should deliver a sour and angry flavor to those who want to wage war and kill innocent people, we should be a sweet and compassionate flavor to those who are suffering, we should be the flavor of justice to those who are being oppressed, and we should be the flavor of rage to those politicians and leaders who plot against the innocent and hatch wickedness.

Amos 5:21, 23-24

21-”I hate, I despise your feast days, and I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
23-Take away from Me the noise of your songs, for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
24-But let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

God is sick and tired of these Sunday morning Christians who go to church on Sunday morning to praise God and sing, but become idle and dead during the week. As soon as they walk out of the church doors they lose their flavor, and some never even have any flavor when they’re at church. Flavor is a passion to see justice done and make a difference to the world you live in. Having flavor is rejecting the unprofitable pointless conversation that so many people engage in, forsaking all these materialistic pursuits the world says will make you happy, and risking your reputation and comfortable life by attacking the money changers, corrupt politicians, criminal elements and passionately driving them from your community. Being salt to the world means sabotaging the corrupt political infrastructure and corporate bodies who oppress the people, by whipping them with the sword of your tongue, rebuking them with fire and zeal and overturning their money tables.

The earth is apart of God’s house, because it says the earth is our Lord’s footstool. The Zeal for our Fathers house should eat us up; just as the Zeal of Jesus ate him up so much that he violently drove the money changers from the temple. We should be so full of zeal that the pressure of the zeal within us squeezes out salt from us wherever our feet trample, we should leave a flavor of: passion, justice, love and the truth wherever we go. If we do not have not have the flavor of the fruit of the spirit within us we are useless for nothing, God desires us not to lack flavor, as he wants us to change things wherever we go. Sometimes a meal you eat can be dry and flavorless, but if you put a large amount of salt on that meal it changes the flavor of the whole meal completely. If we are following God and abiding in the presence of Jesus Christ, then wherever we go we should be changing things completely as we become salt to the earth.

James preaches on various occasions at churches and other events, he has also had many religious and spiritual articles published in various publications. James was saved by the grace of God from a life of: drugs, crime and occultism. James believes his greatest testimony is that he was brought into God’s Kingdom and his life was saved through the grace of Jesus Christ. You can contact James by emailing him at: James_m183@hotmail.com

Are the Freemasons really a harmless charitable organization that men of all religious faith’s can innocently join and fellowship in? Are the Freemasons really a beneficial and non threatening group who pose no danger to our society? Is it biblically sound for a Christian to join the Masonic Lodge? After extensive research and reviewing the testimonies of respectable citizens of great credibility, I have come to the conclusion that Freemasonry poses the greatest threat to our society. I have come to the conclusion that Freemasonry is an anti-Christian organization that is involved in organized crime and possibly terrorism throughout the world, and involves its members in anti-Christian occult rituals that defy the Holy Bible. I have also found strong evidence that Freemasonry puts its members into the government and well placed positions to carry out an agenda upon a nation.

In the early 1980’s Italian Magistrate Cordova led an investigation into a Masonic Lodge in Italy, this investigation lead to police raiding the office of Mr Lucio GelIi, the “Grand Master” of P2 Masonic Lodge in Italy. The raid upon Mr Gelli’s office resulted in the discovery of a Masonic Lodge list which included: four cabinet ministers, three under-secretaries, 38 MPs or senators, 195 military officers, politicians from every party except the Communists and Radicals, as well as industrialists, bankers, diplomats, civil servants, judges, journalists, secret service officers, police officials and also members of the Mafia.

Also discovered in Mr Gelli’s office was a document titled “Democratic rebirth” the document contained a written agenda about re-writing the Italian constitution. With all the Freemasons in government belonging to Mr Gelli’s Masonic Lodge, it’s clear that the “Democratic rebirth” document was a real document that could have been implemented in reality. This discovery of the Democratic rebirth document and the list of government officials in Gelli’s office, clearly paints a dark picture of the covert infiltration of the Italian government by Freemasons.

The Freemasons also seem to be the real power behind organized crime. Many former mafioso’s who have turned crown witness in Italy against the organized crime organizations in Italy, have testified that the Masonic Lodges work in concert with organized criminals to give them protection from: judges, police, government officials etc.

Investigative journalist, Letizia Paoli reported that the Calabrian Mafia (’Ndrangheta) established close relationships with state representatives through Freemasonry. (Mafia Brotherhoods: Organized Crime, Italian Style

Letizia Paoli, New York: Oxford University Press, 2003).

Ndrangheta or the Honored Society Calabrian Mafia, is one of the most powerful and ruthless organized crime organizations in Italy.

“Antonino Calderone who is a senior member of the Mafia turned state witness in 1987 after his arrest in 1986. Antonio is the brother of Giuseppe Calderone, the boss of the Mafia in Catania. After Antonio turned state witness to testify against the Mafia he made this statement: “We in Catania, when we had a problem with the judiciary, we would turn to the local Masonic head. We knew that many magistrates were lodge members and that, thanks to the local chief, we could even interfere with ongoing criminal proceedings.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Calderone)

“Mariano Agate (Mazara del Vallo, May 19, 1939) is a member of the Sicilian Mafia. He is the boss of Mazara del Vallo Mafia family since the 1970s when he replaced the old boss Mariano Licari. He also was the boss of the mandamento of Mazara, including the Mafia familes of Marsala, Salemi and Vita. Agate was a member of “Iside”, one of the most powerful local Masonic lodges.”( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariano_Agate)

It seems in Italy the top Mafia bosses all seem to be connected to the Masonic Lodges. If there are so many organized crime figures members of Masonic Lodges, and so many government officials and police members also members, you really need to have a deep think about what sort of meetings are occurring in the Masonic Lodge secret chambers.

The meetings at the Masonic Lodges are done in secrecy and its common knowledge that upon becoming a Lodge member, you swear that if you reveal the secrets of the Lodge to the public that you will have your tongue cut out. Most of the meetings that occur in the Masonic Lodge occur in secret where only lodge members are invited, these sorts of meetings are perfect for organized crime figures who want to make shady deals with government officials, corrupt police and judges. In Italy an investigation into Gelli also revealed evidence that he was involved in selling weapons to terrorist groups. The secret meetings that occur in the Masonic Lodges are a convenient way for terrorist activity and arms deals to occur.

The Masonic order is a worldwide organization with an international leadership and the Masonic organized crime activity is not limited to one country. A senior Canadian diplomat posted in Hong Kong at the Canadian Embassy uncovered evidence, that the Triad organized crime organization in China was lead by Masonic Lodge Leaders.

Former diplomat of the Canadian Embassy in Hong Kong and organized crime specialist Brian McAdam says: “As well as setting up legitimate companies in Vancouver and other Canadian cities as a front for their activities, McAdam says the Triads have in many cases been successful in compromising members of the police force as well as politicians at the federal and municipal level. He says the leaders the Masonic temples in various Chinatowns are often Triad leaders, who may contribute large political donations as well as promise the vote of the Chinese community.” (http://en.epochtimes.com/news/6-12-6/49016.html)

I have been to church services where people with Masonic and witchcraft histories received prayer, and I met a girl who told me her Uncle had her arm cut off because he revealed Masonic secrets to the public. These kind of violent stand over tactics and violent intimidation mirror the behaviour of an organized crime syndicate. A banker by the name of Roberto Calvi who was a member of the P2 Masonic Lodge was found brutally murdered under a bridge, it was reported that his murder had Masonic symbolism related to it, and that his murder was carried out in accordance with the known punishment of betraying the Freemasons. In Australia the Chinese Masonic Society is also know for it’s stand over tactics and intimidation. John Fitzgerald writes this in Chapter 6. Revolution and respectability: Chinese Masons in Australian history: “By reputation it (Chinese Masonic Society) is a community organisation that provides social support for its members, that takes a patriotic stand on current events in China, and that occasionally engages in stand-over tactics against those who deny its authority.” Stand over tactics are racketeering, and this is the primary tactic of the Triad organized Crime Network. If you connect the dots of the above evidence, its probably likely that the Chinese Masonic Order in Australia is spreading the Triad organized crime network around Australia.

From the evidence and testimony of reliable and credible witnesses in addition to the evidence of a Masonic Lodge infiltrating the Italian government to carry out an agenda, its clear the International Masonic Order is involved in criminal activity and uses its secret meetings as umbrella protection for criminal and terrorist activity. The evidence also displays that the International Masonic Order places its members into important positions to influence society and governments, this is a serious breach of public trust and the public has a right to know which public officials are Freemasons.

Retired Corporal of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Corporal Mark Murphy wrote in the epilogue of his book:

“I feel that many police officers who rise within the ranks of the RCMP do so because of their Masonic connections, not their performance as a police officer. In my opinion, some lack the ability to fight crime, especially organized crime and drug-related crime.

“Many commissioned officers that I know never made an arrest, never conducted and investigation and never had an informant. I can only think they went to the top because they were well connected.”

Murphy concludes, “In my opinion the network of masons placed in positions of power throughout the RCMP and other organizations is a breach of public trust.” (Police Undercover: The True Story of The Biker, The Mafia and The Mountie. By Mark Murphy)

Corporal Mark Murphy of the RCMP was reported in North Shore News as a highly decorated police officer, who was instrumental in the convictions of seventeen organized crime members of the Commisso crime Family in Canada. The convictions brought against these criminals included: conspiracy to commit murder, counseling to commit murder, arson, counsel to commit extortion, robbery. Corporal Mark Murphy was described as the Principal Officer who led the charge against these organized crime figures. (North Shore News on Nov. 3, 1999) As you can see Mark Murphy is one of RCMP’S finest and his testimony about Freemasons in the police force cannot be taken lightly.

The evidence seems to point toward Freemasonry not only jeopardising the police force by showing partiality when promoting officers in the police force, but it also seems to point toward a possible conspiracy of police not acting against organized crime figures, because of arrangements made between police and criminals at the Masonic Lodge.

In Australia the current Governor General and the Police Union President of NSW are both Freemasons. The Police Union President is a well known Grand Master Freemason. Freemasons make up about 1% of the population of Australia, yet Freemasons seem to appear in places of serious power all over our government and public service sector, is it possible Freemasons just have really good luck in getting placed into powerful positions? I don’t think its luck at all; I think the Masonic Lodges have their members placed in strategic authority positions throughout the government and public service sector, so the Masonic agenda can be implemented upon the nation.

Since the mid 1800’s Freemasons have used their influence in Parliament or Government to protect fellow Masons when they infiltrated the Police Force or other organizations. “The Colonial Police Act 1850 prohibited any member of the Police Force from belonging to any political or secret society other than the Society of Freemasons.” From my understanding the Act must still be in place in Australia, and this is a breach of trust to the public, because it allows Freemasons to freely infiltrate the police force. Having Police officers who meet in Masonic Lodges under an umbrella of secrecy, is not only a breach of public trust but it also breeds corruptian.

In the 1997 Wood Royal Commission into the NSW Police Force, Justice Wood investigated corruption in the NSW police Force and discovered that Freemasonry had exercised control over the Police Force and office of the Commissioner in the past (Royal Commission into the Police Force, Commissioner: The Hon Justice JRT Wood, May 1997, Pg 41). When Justice Wood began investigating how Freemasonry had been involved in controlling the Police Force in the past, the current NSW Police Commissioner “Tony Lauer” was a well known Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge in NSW. As soon as the Wood Royal Commission begun in 1996 Grand Master Freemason Tony Lauer resigned as Police Commissioner. The online encyclopedia wikipedia describes Tony Lauers career as follows; “In January 1996, Tony Lauer’s term ended in controversy with his resignation soon after the start of the Wood Royal Commission into police corruption.”

Why did this Police Commissioner who was a Freemason resign so quickly after the Wood Royal Commission began? Is it a coincidence that the Royal Commission into Police corruption discovered Freemasonry was playing a part in Police Corruptian, and then a Police Commissioner who was a Freemason ran away from the investigation and resigned? It seem’s Tony Lauer was running from something when he resigned, and that something seems to be an investigation into Freemasonry and police corruptian. It’s obvious the Grand Master of Freemasonry wanted to run from a Police corruption investigation which explored how Freemasonry played a part in the corruption of our Police Force.

From a spiritual and religious perspective anyone who is a Freemason is an abomination. Freemasonry is a form of witchcraft and if you compare the initiation into a witchcraft coven with the initiation into Freemasonry, you will find the initiation ceremonies are identical. In a witchcraft coven initiation you are blindfolded and have a rope placed around your neck, and you also have a ceremonial knife placed upon breast as you a led through a serious of occult rituals. Many former Freemasons will tell you that their Masonic initiation ceremony was identical to the above witchcraft ceremony; this is because Freemasonry is a form of witchcraft.

Deuteronomy 18:10-12

10-”There shall not be found among you… who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer,
11-”or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.
12-”For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you.

It’s clear from God’s word that Freemasonry which is a form of witchcraft is an abomination to God and that any Freemason claiming to be a Christian is a liar. Witchcraft is rebellion against God, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.”(1 Samuel 15:23) It’s clear from the Holy Bible that witchcraft is rebellion against God. The spirit of Freemasonry is in rebellion against God, and God’s people and the Christian church should not tolerate Freemasonry under any circumstances. “Neither give place to the devil.” (Ephesians 4:27)

Gordon Moyes who is Vice President of the Christian Democratic Party has taken a soft and compromising stance on Freemasonry. Gordon was quoted as saying, “I guess, although I do not know, that Ministers of the Uniting Church who are members of the Masonic Orders have an obligation to their Order while in certain places and in matters of disclosure.” (Source: http://www.gordonmoyes.com/2006/01/01/parliamentarian)

These comments by Gordon about the Masonic order clearly display this mans lack of understanding or soft stance on Freemasonry, and either reason for his comments display this man is unfit to represent the body of Christ in Parliament.

James preaches on various occasions at churches and other events, he has also had many religious and spiritual articles published in various publications. James was saved by the grace of God from a life of: drugs, crime and occultism. James believes his greatest testimony is that he was brought into God’s Kingdom and his life was saved through the grace of Jesus Christ. You can contact James by emailing him at: James_m183@hotmail.com

Ron Paul is the right man to lead the Republican party and will be a good choice as the next president of the United States of America. Ron has an abundance of experience and education after a long political career since the late 1960’s. Ron has a large following right across American because of his refusal to focus on minor issues and for always seeking the truth. He seems very smart on both the military and the economy and is the right man to lead America forward in to the future with the major issues continuing to arise.

The republicans need to win in to office again as there reputation under George Bush has been damaged. Ron Paul also doesn’t agree with any thing George Bush has done in his time at office. Saying the Iraq war served no purpose that strengthened the United States of America and he is first to rubbish the current state of the American economy which has led to the world financial markets being weak and unstable at the moment.

Ron Paul being elected in November would be great news for America. Lets hope the recent news that Ron may pull out as a candidate is fake and not true. Because he has a massive fan base which will likely see him elected as the republican candidate and he has a good chance at being president. The campaign he has led is of the highest quality and lets hope we can get this honest man in to the most powerful position in the world.

Visit What Ron Paul Will Do As President! This is a must see site for all political fans. Which Party Will Win The Election and Who Will Be elected President!

Global warming is heating up, and the pressure is on businesses of all sizes to be more environmentally friendly.

And unfortunately, business travel is a huge contributor to carbon dioxide pollution. Did you know that a single flight from London to New York creates an average 1.2 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions?

Or that a gas-fueled car traveling 500 miles per week creates an average 9 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year?

All of this adds up to nearly 6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted by the U.S. alone.

So what can your small business do to help save the earth without risking productivity? Or worse, your bottom line.

The answer is simple. Your small business can take advantage of the cost savings, convenience, and environmentally-friendly video web conferencing software to get your business done.

And it’s not as difficult or expensive as you might think.

Here are 6 tips to get you started making your conferences green:

1) Have your employees telecommute a couple days a week if possible. Annually, a worker with a one way commute of 22 miles can save up to 81,000 MJ of energy by telecommuting. That’s about 50% of the annual electricity consumption of an average household!

2) Instead of having meeting attendees each take their own notes, use a web conferencing whiteboard slide where everyone can contribute. Every ton of paper you don’t use saves 38 gallons of oil and 17 trees.

3) When you’re in a face to face meeting, use the hibernate or standby function on your computer to cut energy consumption by up to 80%.

4) Use video conferencing instead of traveling overseas. A trip from New York to London creates 1.2 tons of CO2 emissions.

5) Instead of printing out conference call information, download all of your conference call information into your mobile device.

6) Work from home, if you can. On average, a five-day commuting work week releases 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, per employee.

So whether you conduct your meetings face-to-face, on the phone, or on the web, there are many ways to make your meetings greener. And your children and grandchildren will some day thank you for using web conferencing to reduce carbon dioxide pollution.

Sonja Mishek is a Sales & Marketing Director at VideoLive Conferences. (http://www.videoliveconferences.com)

Try Web Based Video Conferencing for FREE…plus get 2 FREE web cameras when you subscribe…yours to keep - even if you decide to cancel.

I think all of us have asked the same questions. How do all these inventions work? Microwave over; refrigerator; television; radio; clocks; toaster; vehicles; and the list goes on and on. What would you do without your Blackberry, your cell phone or your computer? Have any idea how the “panic button”works?

For over ten years, I worked for a large world-wide engineering company, which employed over 30,000 employees. We did work for all the big boys and girls all over the world including; Los Alamos Scientific Labs; Sandia National Labs; large aircraft builders; universities; government agencies such as Interior and NASA; National Lightning Center; all the military services and governments around the world, etc. Additionally, EG&G manufactured parts and equipment for National Hurricane Center; Geological Survey and our technicians worked on the communications systems on Air Force One.

I don’t consider myself a technical-minded person, but as a technician for over ten years, I worked on some really interesting projects while with the company until I was laid off. Steel, epoxy, foam, washers, nuts and bolts don’t to much by themselves…but, when you put them all together, you have a piece of equipment that can do great things.

During the many years I worked there, it was amazing to me, how many important things the company did for mankind and for the nation. We designed and manufactured proto-type things…things that had never been done before. That’s why anyone dealing with EG&G, would have to have deep pockets and/or a blank checkbook!

* Flood control: You may remember the severe and destructive floods that happened all along the Mississippi River valley a few years ago. I liked working on this project, because it was for ordinary people, and something everyone can understand. EG&G manufactured about 130 rain gages, to help control flooding in the Mississippi river and elsewhere.

The rain gages were aluminum tubes, which stood about 8 feet tall. About 5 feet of the tube would be buried in the ground at its location. At the top of the rain gage, was a little bucket to collect rain. When the bucket was full of rain, it was emptied by remote-control by some computer, probably hundreds of miles away, and the process of collecting rain would begin again. Engineers and scientists could find out where there was the most rainfall, and build dams and diversion channels to control the flooding. Isn’t this neat?

* Classified parts: Many of the things we worked on were classified, and so was this piece for Los Alamos Scientific Labs, which I remember was my favorite job to work on. I saw the piece of copper when it came in to make this piece, and it looked like copper…all corroded, rough edges and dirty. But, when this piece of copper was machined and polished, it looked like a brand new, shiny, penny…and it measured about 3 feet in diameter; by 4 inches thick; and weighed about 225 pounds!
It was tapered along the edges, and it looked like a shiny, copper UFO!

The only thing we knew about this piece, was it would have a short shelf-life at Los Alamos, as engineers were to blow this piece up, and take photographs and the data from its demise, etc.

* Antenna: One of the biggest projects I worked on, was a 40 million dollar contract for the U.S. Navy. The research and development on this project took over five years. When assembled, this monster antenna would stand about 25 stories tall, and resembled an upside down ice cream cone…with the narrow end at the bottom and the wide end at the top. It contained over 2,000 housings of resistors and over 60,000 potted resistors.

Hurricane Katrina taught us all, just how important communications is during a national tragedy, and crucial especially during wartime. This antenna was built to simulate nuclear explosions and the effect they would have on communications systems on ships at sea! (EMP-Electro-magnectic pulse)

* * *

EG&G ceased to exist in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where I live, and it was a victim of the big fish eating the little fish…in this case Honeywell eating the little fish, etc. After EG&G, I got a job at a plastics manufacturing company, that made parts for everything from sewing machines to computers, etc. I was always wondering how all these parts were made, and now I got my chance. I think the reader can relate to this story, because I think this industry in the back-bone of our society.

The process of making plastic parts, is called the injection-molding process, and for those of you who have never seen this process in action, I’ll try to briefly describe it for you. So, how can an alarm clock or calculator be sold for only five dollars and a profit be made? Answer: Because this process is FAST…very FAST…and that keeps the costs down!

Almost all of the parts made with this process are made in about 20 seconds! The mouse you’re probably holding in your hand right now, was probably made someplace in only 20 seconds. Many of these parts are assembled out of the country, which makes them affordable to the average consumer.

Engineers have developed these enormous machines, which handle enormous pressures to move the melted plastic and cooling systems throughout the machine. After a part is made in only 20 seconds, most are cool to the touch and can be packaged, if nothing else has to be done to the part, etc. Even if the part is a small as a dime, or as large as a television back…it is still made on only 20 seconds.

Many molds have multiple cavities, so that many parts are the made at the same time. Example; Smoke alarms are made six at a time, and every 20 seconds makes 18 a minute; and about 1,000 an hour and 24,000 for a 24 hour period…and that’s gitty-up for a machine! During the three years I worked in this industry, I saw everything made from a 24″ television back and front…to dentures!
This is a very fast process, and this is one way the cost of products are kept low. Amazing!

Excuse me, Jer…but shouldn’t the title of this article be, “Four out of five people have trouble with fractions?”

Now, the reader can see why I’m not an engineer or an accountant…and I’m not good with numbers at all. Almost everything we use today, has the finger prints of an engineer on it, and I don’t think engineers get the credit or recognition they deserve!

ARTICLES PUBLISHED: (280+ websites/includes links); Direct link: http://humordoctormd.homestead.com/articlespublished.html

Website name: humordoctormd - Over 150 colorful pages; over 300 graphics
http://humordoctormd.homestead.com

Email: humordoctormd@yahoo.com

Copyright; Jerry L. Aragon (The Humor Doctor) 2007