Atonement & Holiness

For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone,
declares the Sovereign LORD.
Repent and live!
Ezekiel 18:32

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.
So be earnest, and repent
Revelation 3:19

Scorpions ~ Crying Days

I am a voice of one calling : "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.
Isaiah 40:3

John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.' "
John 1:23

Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Revelation 2:16

YOM KIPPUR guide at chabad.org: Atonement & Holiness

YOM KIPPUR is the holiest day of the Jewish year, and provides prophetic insight regarding the coming of Mashiach, the restoration of national Israel, and the final judgment of the world. It is also a day that reveals the High-Priestly work of the Mashiach Yeshua as Kohen Gadol (High Priest) after the order of Malki-Tzedek (Hebrews 5:10, 6:20).

The biblical name for the day of Atonement is Yom Kippurim, meaning “the day of covering, canceling, pardon, reconciling.” Yom Kippur was the only time when the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies and call upon the Name of YHVH to offer blood sacrifice for the sins of the people. This “life for a life” principle is the foundation of the sacrificial system and marked the great day of intercession made by the High Priest on behalf of Israel.

In Rabbinic Judaism, Yom Kippur marks the climax of the ten day period of repentance called the Days of Awe or yamim nora’im. In the Hebrew calendar, Erev Yom Kippur begins at nightfall on Tishri 9 and continues 25 hours through the next day until nightfall. It is a day marked by complete fasting, prayer, and additional synagogue services.

According to the Jewish sages, it was on Tishri 10 that Moses came down from Sinai bearing the second set of tablets, after God had forgiven Israel for worshipping the Golden Calf. This explains why Orthodox Jews begin the season of Teshuvah beginning with Elul 1 and continue through to Tishri 10 -- for the 40 days that Moses was upon the mountain receiving the second set of tablets.

Yom Kippur 2008 is on Thursday, the 9th of October.

READ IT ALL

"Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals: 'Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood.
Ezekiel 39:17

'The days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. 'In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line; he will do what is just and right in the land.In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.

For this is what the LORD says: 'David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, nor will the priests, who are Levites, ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices.' "

The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: "This is what the LORD says: 'If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time, then my covenant with David my servant—and my covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before me—can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.' "
Jeremiah 33, 14 ~ 22

Kol Nidre prayer sung on Yom Kippur Eve
Cantorial soloist Rowna Sutin
Rodef Shalom Congregation, Pittsburgh

God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites:
'I AM has sent me to you.'
Exodus 3:14

Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies— make straight your way before me
Psalm 5:8

In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:6

Bones, Thug & Harmony Order My Steps

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.
Isaiah 30:15

"The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins," declares the LORD
Isaiah 59:20

O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.
Jeremiah 5:3

I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, saying, "What have I done?" Each pursues his own course like a horse charging into battle.
Jeremiah 8:6

Therefore this is what the LORD says: "If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman. Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them.
Jeremiah 15:19

and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.
Jeremiah 18:8

After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.
Jeremiah 31:19

Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight: Each of you proclaimed freedom to his countrymen. You even made a covenant before me in the house that bears my Name.
Jeremiah 34:15

Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent?
Hosea 11:5

From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
Matthew 4:17

They went out and preached that people should repent.
Mark 6:12

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Luke 5:32

and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem
Luke 24:47

First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds
Acts 26:20

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death
2 Corinthians 7:10

Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place
Revelation 2:5

Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you
Revelation 3:3

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world
1 John 2:2

Should God then reward you on your terms, when you refuse to repent? You must decide, not I; so tell me what you know.
Job 34:33

WFRL: RIP Richard Wright

THE GREAT GIG IN THE SKY ~ PINK FLOYD

Richard Wright, a founder member of Pink Floyd, has died at the age of 65 after battling cancer, his spokesman said.

Wright played the keyboard with the legendary band and wrote music in classic albums such as Dark Side Of The Moon and Wish You Were Here.

His spokesman said: "The family of Richard Wright, founder member of Pink Floyd, announce with great sadness, that Richard died ... after a short struggle with cancer. The family have asked that their privacy is respected at this difficult time."

Wednesday Night Shlock Cinema

Nightmare Castle
Italian ~ 1965

A mad scientist, Dr. Stephen Arrowsmith, catches his wife getting down and dirty in the greenhouse with a servant, so he takes drastic and sadistic measures: he tortures and kills them both. Unfortunately for him though, his wife proves to be a problem that just won't go away...

Missing Links: Afternoon in Venezia

The Archipelago Project ~ Carnival of Venice

These photos just in from a feral in the Venetian Division of La Kosher Nostra:

Picture 1 - newspaper headline: "Muslims: We want two mosques in Venice"

Apparently, there are now six thousand Mahommedans living in the city. Perhaps more than in any other European city I have seen, Christianity is integral to the very stones of Venice: besides the large number of churches, every street, alley and passageway has numerous shrines to the Virgin Mary and other saints incorporated as niches in the walls of the buildings.

Picture 2 - communist headquarters, by the Rio della Misericordia

Base for "Palestina Libera" and other "Pace" and "Liberazione" actions. Just two minutes' walk away, on the other side of the canal, lies Campo Ghetto Nuovo", centre of Venice's small but thriving Jewish community. The square has a permanent police presence (an observation post and frequent patrols) for protection.

Picture 3 - communist~ "multiversity" graffiti:"No Deportation"

Zapatero: We Want To Respect All Religions, And Be Tolerant To All Beliefs & Ideologies

Published: 9/17/2008

ISTANBUL - Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said that they wanted to respect all religions and be tolerant to all beliefs and ideologies.

Speaking at a fast-breaking dinner hosted by Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Monday evening, Zapatero said that Spain extended full support to Turkey regarding reforms in administrative and economic structures and also deepening freedoms.

Zapatero said that politicians, together, had to overcome economic difficulties both on national and international level, and he added that it was necessary to act together against difficulties such as the ones in energy area.

Zapatero also said that "we will have a stronger European Union with the membership of Turkey".

He said that Turkey's EU membership process would not be easy, and it was never easy for any country. He added that Spain had a difficult negotiation process for ten years.

Zapatero said that Spain would share all of its experience with Turkey in EU issue. He said that Turkey and Spain were both Mediterranean countries, thus the two countries were sensitive towards the stability and reforms in the region as well as encouraging peace process in the Middle East.

Zapatero said that Alliance of Civilizations Initiative, which was co-chaired by him and Turkish Premier Erdogan, recorded a great progress.

He added that the second forum of Alliance of Civilizations Initiative would take place in Istanbul in April, 2009.

Zappy Dhimhead warns of 'hard times'

UN General Assembly Opens With a Denunciation of US Policies

McCain may take Palin to the United Nations

China, Sudan ruling party officials meet in Beijing

EU welcomes Zimbabwe deal, eyes possible aid

OIC: Secretary General received the Foreign Minister of Kosovo

MILF takes hard-line position; wider OIC involvement pushed

Achtung, Dhimmis: Negotiate with Iran. Close down Guantanamo. Cooperate with Russia

Baker calls Bush 'ridiculous' on Syria

In a sign of his simmering anger about what he sees as baseless accusations against Islam in the West, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, has called on the international community to declare the enmity against Islam a “crime against humanity”.

Addressing Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, his Spanish counterpart, and about 2,500 other guests in Istanbul at a celebratory iftar meal on Monday, Mr Erdogan said: “No culture, no civilisation should belittle the other, despise the other or see the other as an enemy.” [...]

In the Alliance of Civilisations, Mr Erdogan has emerged as a leading representative of the Islamic countries, said Semih Idiz, a foreign policy columnist with the daily Milliyet. As a politician with roots in political Islam and leader of a party that has many pious Muslims among its voters, Mr Erdogan is very sensitive....

Russia threatens to seize swath of Arctic

Putin's view of Russian History

Hungary's socialist government survives dissolution vote

Socialist reforms or 'death', Bolivian president says

Nasrallah Gnashes Teeth Over Israels Bones

Abbas Wants His Troops in Hebron

World Bank: Palestinians more dependent on aid

Al-Qaida intifada could make Hamas look like child's play

Kneeling before Iran

16 dead in attack on US Embassy in Yemen

Red Hot Chili Peppers ~ Venice Queen

WFRL: UFO Sighting

UFO ~ Lights Out ~ 1980

Wind blows back and the batons charging
It winds all the way
Right to the butt of my gun
Maybe now your time has come

From the back streets there's a rumblin'

Smell of anarchy
No more nice time, bright boy shoe shines
Pie in the sky dreams

Lights out, lights out in London
Hold 'em tight 'til the end
Better now you know we'll never
Wait 'til tomorrow
Lights out, lights out in London
Hold 'em tight 'til the end
God knows when I'm comin' on [my] run

Heaven help those who help themselves
That's the way it goes
The frightening thoughts of what's been taught
And now it shows

You keep comin', there's no runnin'
Tried a thousand times
Under your feet grass is growin'
Time we said goodbye

Lights out, lights out in London

Good Morning Comrades: AIG NATIONALIZED

Basil Poledouris ~ Hymn to Red October

Now it’s no longer just a rumor.

The US Fed is bailing out American International Group with an $85-billion package (you read that right). Apparently, AIG is indeed too big to fail. I tried to camp out of Philamlife chief Joey L. Cuisia’s office this morning (well, I really meant sit really demurely in the lobby) just in case he has time to talk to a lowly journalist.

Understandably, however, he was up to his ears with teleconferences and board meetings with this new development, but I’m on call the whole day. Some thoughts that come to mind: Wall Street’s latest convulsions show there might be more casualties out there and all that’s part of the restructuring happening in financial markets. I’ve heard the phrase “the market corrects itself” too many times that it hardly means anything anymore.

Now, I think the great white economists might not be speaking in tongues, after all. Second, does AIG’s case reinforce the principle to “go big” when you’re choosing financial products to buy? Certainly, in this case its size saved it, but I’m not yet sure what that means on the regulatory side. The debate is heating up in Wall Street on whether this is the dumbest or the smartest move made by the Fed.

Missing Links vs the Willingness to Harm

ATHENA ~ For Real
Turkish EuroVision Entrant 2004

Olmert & Abbas will met Tuesday to discuss the future of Jerusalem and the PA demand that millions of foreign Arabs move to Israel ~ Kadima will vote the following day on a successor to Olmert

Ukraine's Government Collapses, Elections Loom

Yushchenko's party, which wants to forge closer ties with the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, quit the coalition on Sept. 3, after Timoshenko's bloc teamed up with the pro-Russian opposition to strip the president of some powers. The parties had 10 days to re-unite.

2004 ~ Remember? Yushchenko was poisoned

Ukraine's geographic position, linking East and West, while also holding critical warm water ports on the Black Sea, has made the country a trade link of growing importance between the former Soviet Union and Europe for energy and other goods.

Russia–Ukraine gas dispute

Russian navy top brass want to keep Ukraine port

Russia wants to extend friendship agreement with Ukraine, says Chernomyrdin

EU likes Russian supplied heat and hot water...

Europe's competition chief promised on Tuesday she would give urgent consideration to whether new Polish plans to rescue its historic Baltic shipyards meet European Union state aid rules. If Brussels rejects the plans, three Polish shipyards -- including the Gdansk yard where the pro-democracy Solidarity movement was born -- will have to repay aid totalling more than 2.3 billion euros ($3.22 billion), forcing them into bankruptcy.

EU leaders met in Paris on September 9, with the president of Ukraine. The talks ended with an EU offer to establish a special partnership agreement with Kiev . But the 27-member block did not offer Ukraine EU membership.

NATO bolsters links with Tbilisi

7/19/08: Russia's energy drive leaves US reeling

FYI: Georgian 5 Day War started 8/7/08

MEND Declares Oil War in Nigeria

MEND Claim to Sabotage Royal Dutch Oil Pipeline

WhoTF is MEND?

MEND hearts Jimmah

Crypto Nazi Cravenly Co-opts Oriana's Bones as Beard

Five Big Dhimmis Dancing a DaWa of Death

Who was Condi's "Mentor" again, Babba?

Who's The Smartest Guy McCain Knows?

Bush says economy strong

McCain maintains economic conditions are 'fundamentally strong'

Comrade McCain says:
It's Corrupt Wall Street
VS
Pure American Workers

Obama and McCain Suck Up to the Bankers

AIG seeks $75-billion loan from Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan

US, European banks struggle to rescue Goldman Sachs by mergers

Big banks join forces to create emergency fund

OBAMA'S MONEY CLASS:

When you break it out by individual companies, you find that employees of Goldman Sachs gave more to Obama than workers of any other employer. The Goldman Sachs geniuses are followed by employees of the University of California, UBS, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, National Amusements, Lehman Brothers, Harvard and Google. At many of these workplaces, Obama has a three- or four-to-one fund-raising advantage over McCain.

JUNE 2008:

What's more, there have been fears that the old way of doing business on Wall Street is nearing extinction - investment banks are relying less on leverage to boost their returns and have been cutting jobs to deal with the credit crisis.

Wall Street firms also now face the threat of greater regulatory oversight after the Federal Reserve decided to open its discount lending window to prevent failure among investment banks.

APRIL 2006: Free Market Advocates Ask President Bush Not to Consider Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson for Treasury Secretary

Today, a coalition of free market-based policy groups sent a letter to President Bush asking him not to nominate Goldman Sachs Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Henry Paulson as Treasury Secretary given his controversial stand on environmental issues.

The letter was signed by the National Legal and Policy Center, the Free Enterprise Action Fund, Capital Research Center, National Center for Public Policy Research, and Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise.

Media reports indicate that the current Treasury Secretary John Snow will soon leave office and Paulson has been mentioned as a possible successor. However, many of Paulson’s environmental views are opposed to the positions of the Administration.

Paulson is also Chairman of the Nature Conservancy, an environmental activist group that endorses the Kyoto Treaty that would require the U.S. to make economically-drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to combat the scientifically-unproven global warming threat.

JUNE 2006: Zoellick leaves State Department to join Goldman Sachs

JUNE 2006: President Bush Nominates Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson to be the Next Treasury Secretary

JULY 2006: Paulson Sworn in as Treasury Secretary

JULY 2006:

Incoming U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was awarded an $18.7 million cash bonus for six months of work as Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s chief executive, the investment bank said Monday.

MAY 2007: Bush Taps Zoellick as World Bank President

MAY 2008: Fed's Direct Loans to Banks Climb to Record Level

MAY 2008: Will Bush Join the Housing Bailout Bunch?

I can tell you that many Republicans who were against the bill report getting an earful from constituents who view the measure as a bailout to folks who may have lied to get a cheap mortgage or were just plain financially stupid. On the other hand, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke—as well as John McCain—has already put his imprimatur on the general idea.

JANUARY 2008:

Shares of French industrial power and transport equipment maker Alstom rose more then 5 percent in early trade on Friday after Goldman Sachs raised its rating on the shares to "neutral" from "sell"

JANUARY 2008: Russia’s OJSC “Atomenergomash” and French Alstom successfully complete transaction to establish Nuclear Energy joint venture

MAY 2008:
Prosecutors probe Alstom for contract corruption

French prosecutors suspect engineering giant Alstom, builder of power stations and high-speed trains, of bribing foreign officials to win contracts, a judicial source said Tuesday. Prosecutors started an investigation on November 7 into suspected "corruption of foreign public agents" and "abusive use of assets," the source said.

The source spoke after The Wall Street Journal newspaper reported evidence that the company had "paid hundreds of million dollars in bribes to win contracts in Asia and South America between 1995 and 2003."

Alsom told the paper its offices had been searched by French authorities but that no charges had been laid. The company told AFP on Tuesday that the newspaper report was based on "hypotheses and speculation" and that "there is no judicial procedure accusing the company of corruption."

Brokers however took the allegations seriously and the price of Alstom shares fell 2.17 percent to 147.03 euros at mid-day.

The French judicial source said the investigation was the result of information provided by Swiss judicial authorities in May, but no-one had yet been charged. The WSJ said its report that Alstom was under investigation in Switzerland and France was based on information from people involved in the matter.

The report was also based on findings by auditing firm KPMG which, it said, came across evidence by chance while working for the Swiss Federal Banking Commission on an audit of a small private Swiss bank. The auditors allegedly found evidence that Alstom had circulated about 20 million euros (31 million dollars) to "shell companies" in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, which was transferred to marketing people working for Alstom in Singapore, Indonesia, Venezuela and Brazil, "in stacks of 100-dollar bills."

The audit found that Alstom also set up accounts in Liechtenstein, Switzerland, the United States, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bahrain and Thailand. These were used "to transfer more than 12 million dollars (7.74 million euros) to individuals in Venezuela, Singapore, Thailand and China," the report alleged, referring to the audit.

The newspaper noted that paying "commissions" to foreign officials was legal and even tax deductible in many European countries until the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development began a campaign against the practice in 1997. France made such payments illegal in July 2000. Until then, French law permitted tax deduction of commissions of up to 7.5 percent if they were declared to local tax authorities.

Alstom was saved from bankruptcy in 2004 by state intervention orchestrated by the then finance minister Nicolas Sarkozy, now French president. One probe concerned a budget of 200 million dollars (129 million euros) for suspected commissions of 15 percent to win a contract for a power plant in Brazil which was completed in 2001.

Another probe concerned a 45-million-dollar contract for the Sao Paolo subway, and others covered payments of about 200 million dollars for projects in Brazil, Venezuela, Singapore and Indonesia, the report alleged. The newspaper said some of the projects concerned had also involved financing from the World Bank, which had declined to comment.

In Paris, Credit Mutuel-CIC brokers commented in a client note with a reference to an investigation in Germany into alleged suspicious payments by German engineering group Siemens. It said that although it was too early to know the facts of the matter at Alstom, the Siemens case "leads one to think that we may be set for a media-judicial saga lasting years."

Natixis brokers said that some investors "may fear that this is only the tip of the iceberg" but that others might consider this to be an old story concerning a previous management. The newspaper interviewed one former Alstom consultant, named as Michel Mignot, who said: "I never took a cent for myself." He said: "I didn't think the transactions were illegal, because they were done to get civil engineering contracts around the world."

AUGUST 2008: Swiss arrest 1 in Alstom investigation raids

Swiss police searched premises linked to French engineering company Alstom SA and made one arrest as part of an investigation into suspected corruption and money laundering, federal prosecutors said Friday.

Alstom, a maker of high-speed trains and power stations, was saved from bankruptcy in 2004 when French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was finance minister then, organized a state bailout for the ailing firm.

"A document officially registering the Alstom-Atomenergomash joint venture in Russia will be signed in Paris," Mariya Korobova said.

Russia's state controlled nuclear power corporation will have a 51%-share in the JV, which will operate on the platform of the machine-building firm ZIO Podolsk in the Moscow Region.

The JV ZIO Podolsk is the main supplier of equipment to the Bushehr nuclear power plant under construction in Iran.

The future joint venture will manufacture the entire conventional array of equipment used in nuclear power plants, drawing on Alstom's "Arabelle" half-speed turbine technology. Alstom will transfer technology to the joint-venture company, namely for the manufacture of its "Arabelle" steam turbine and generator.

The joint venture, expected to reach full capacity in three years, will benefit from the best available technology for conventional equipment for its nuclear power plants, and will have exclusive access to the fast-growing Russian nuclear power plant market.

Alstom is the world leader in conventional nuclear facilities, with 175 either already in service or in the course of being built in twelve countries around the world, including France, South Africa, China, South Korea and Sweden. Alstom technology is present in more than a quarter of conventional nuclear facilities around the globe

Teapacks ~ Push the Button
Israeli EuroVision Entrant 2007

Teapacks - Push the button (English translation)

The world is full of terror
If someone makes an error
He's gonna blow us up to biddy biddy kingdom come
There are some crazy rulers
They hide and try to fool us
With demonic, technologicwillingness to harm

They're gonna push the button, push the button

There's a lot of suffering
In the streets there's too much violence
And we stand a good chance of staying alive, even unscathed
Tactical advancement of a fanatical regime
A tragic situation that brings tears to my eyes

And I don't wanna die
I wanna see the flowers bloom
Don't wanna go kaput kaboom
And I don't wanna cry
I wanna have a lot of fun just sitting in the sun
But nevertheless

He's gonna push the button, push the button

Messages are exploding on me
Missiles are flying are also landing on me
Cops and robbers are running all over me
And they're jumping me, getting on my case
Alas, alas, answer me, my God, hi
This nightmare is too long
When I'm barely alive and everyone is aiming at me
Maybe it's too late to sing that I gave her my life

Police, rescue team
It made it to the Kdam, a song with no peace
Red is not just a colour, it's more like blood
Again I'm stopping the breathing in my heart
So I won't drop dead
First it's a war, now it's resuscitation

Boom boom, that's what is happening now
In between a rocket and a machete, a viewer and a reporter
Underhanded opportunism and a kidnapee, rain and a heatwave
An escalation in the levels is setting up camp

Nothing, nothing, that's what everyone is doing
Hardliners become more extreme and officers more serious
The naive become more moderate, waiting for the data
And reply (that everyone is helpless)

A world full of demons where we are nothing but pawns
And champions with gambling chips decide the outcome
Sluggish management, a ship filled with water
And everyone is drinking to good health, and drowning

Maybe it's too sharp
We should sing palm tree songs, desert songs with no flags
I'm still alive, alive, alive
And if it keeps on being scary, only then will I say:

I'm gonna push the button, push the button

Monday Night Silent Cinema

JOAN THE WOMAN PART I
Directed by Cecil B. DeMille
1917

World War I: An English officer is inspired to fulfill his mission when he finds the decaying sword of Joan of Arc who then appears to him in a vision.

JOAN THE WOMAN PART II

The UK Gets its Sharia On

Europe ~ The Final Countdown
Spongebob Style

September 14, 2008
Revealed: UK’s first official sharia courts
by Abul Taher


ISLAMIC law has been officially adopted in Britain, with sharia courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases.

The government has quietly sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence.

Rulings issued by a network of five sharia courts are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system, through the county courts or High Court.

Previously, the rulings of sharia courts in Britain could not be enforced, and depended on voluntary compliance among Muslims.

It has now emerged that sharia courts with these powers have been set up in London, Birmingham, Bradford and Manchester with the network’s headquarters in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Two more courts are being planned for Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Sheikh Faiz-ul-Aqtab Siddiqi, whose Muslim Arbitration Tribunal runs the courts, said he had taken advantage of a clause in the Arbitration Act 1996.

Under the act, the sharia courts are classified as arbitration tribunals. The rulings of arbitration tribunals are binding in law, provided that both parties in the dispute agree to give it the power to rule on their case.

Siddiqi said: “We realised that under the Arbitration Act we can make rulings which can be enforced by county and high courts. The act allows disputes to be resolved using alternatives like tribunals. This method is called alternative dispute resolution, which for Muslims is what the sharia courts are.”

The disclosure that Muslim courts have legal powers in Britain comes seven months after Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was pilloried for suggesting that the establishment of sharia in the future “seems unavoidable” in Britain.

In July, the head of the judiciary, the lord chief justice, Lord Phillips, further stoked controversy when he said that sharia could be used to settle marital and financial disputes.

In fact, Muslim tribunal courts started passing sharia judgments in August 2007. They have dealt with more than 100 cases that range from Muslim divorce and inheritance to nuisance neighbours.

It has also emerged that tribunal courts have settled six cases of domestic violence between married couples, working in tandem with the police investigations.

Siddiqi said he expected the courts to handle a greater number of “smaller” criminal cases in coming years as more Muslim clients approach them. “All we are doing is regulating community affairs in these cases,” said Siddiqi, chairman of the governing council of the tribunal.

Jewish Beth Din courts operate under the same provision in the Arbitration Act and resolve civil cases, ranging from divorce to business disputes. They have existed in Britain for more than 100 years, and previously operated under a precursor to the act.

Politicians and church leaders expressed concerns that this could mark the beginnings of a “parallel legal system” based on sharia for some British Muslims.

Dominic Grieve, the shadow home secretary, said: “If it is true that these tribunals are passing binding decisions in the areas of family and criminal law, I would like to know which courts are enforcing them because I would consider such action unlawful. British law is absolute and must remain so.”

Douglas Murray, the director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, said: “I think it’s appalling. I don’t think arbitration that is done by sharia should ever be endorsed or enforced by the British state.”

There are concerns that women who agree to go to tribunal courts are getting worse deals because Islamic law favours men.

Siddiqi said that in a recent inheritance dispute handled by the court in Nuneaton, the estate of a Midlands man was divided between three daughters and two sons.

The judges on the panel gave the sons twice as much as the daughters, in accordance with sharia. Had the family gone to a normal British court, the daughters would have got equal amounts.

In the six cases of domestic violence, Siddiqi said the judges ordered the husbands to take anger management classes and mentoring from community elders. There was no further punishment.

In each case, the women subsequently withdrew the complaints they had lodged with the police and the police stopped their investigations.

Siddiqi said that in the domestic violence cases, the advantage was that marriages were saved and couples given a second chance.

Inayat Bunglawala, assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “The MCB supports these tribunals. If the Jewish courts are allowed to flourish, so must the sharia ones.”

Sunday Evening Animated Cinema

Fleischer Studios ~ Gulliver's Travels ~1939

Gulliver washes ashore on Lilliput and attempts to prevent war between that tiny kingdom and its equally-miniscule rival, Blefiscu, as well as smooth the way for the romance between the Princess and Prince of the opposing lands. In this he is alternately aided and hampered by the Lilliputian town crier and general fussbudget, Gabby. A life-threatening situation develops when the bumbling trio of Blefiscu spies, Sneak, Snoop, and Snitch, manage to steal Gulliver's pistol.
CLICK ME SWIFTLY!

Missing Links: Beyond Category

In this world we presume many ambitions, we make many observations, such as:

(a) Everyone's aloneness... There really are no categories, you know... Everyone is so alone ~ the basic, essential state of humankind..

(b) The paradox that is communication ~ the built in answer to that feeling of aloneness

Communication itself is what baffles the multitude. It is both so difficult and so simple. Of all mens fears, I think that men are most afraid of being what they are ~ in direct communication with the world at large.

They fear reprisals, the most personal of which is that they "won't be understood" . . Yet, every time God's children have thrown away fear in pursuit of honesty ~ trying to communicate themselves, understood or not ~ miracles have happened.

~ Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington, Charlie Mingus & Max Roach

Caravan ~ 1962

From the album "Money Jungle"

Bill Clinton Meets With 'Vast Right Wing Conspiracy' Financier

The day before that publicized meeting between Clinton and Obama, a Clinton associate tells Fox News, that Richard Mellon Scaife, was meeting with Bill Clinton at the former president's Harlem Global Initiative office. Scaife is the principal heir to the Mellon banking, oil, and aluminum fortune and known for his financial support to conservative organizations and owns the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

LONDON: Britain's first STATE FUNDED Hindu school is all set to welcome its first batch of 30 pupils from Monday, promising to merge the best of British education with Hindu religious and cultural values.

GOD (who?) help the STATE if it should fund any remotely JUDEO-CHRISTIAN religious and cultural values though, right?

HINDUTVA's "religious and cultural values"

Hindutva’s Violent History in Orissa

Orissa Christians cower from Hindu backlash

"US raids on Taliban, Al Qaeda in Pakistan may provoke attacks in UK"

Mennonites & Quakers invite genocidal madman to supper

The ADL has issued a statement criticizing Mennonite and Quaker leaders for hosting a dinner reception for Iran's president in New York later this month

2/24/2007 TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) meets with the members of the Fellowship of Reconciliation’s (FOR) a religious Christian delegation looking for peace between Iran & the US. The delegation, which spent 12 days in Iran, is part of FOR’s ongoing commitment to working for peace, justice, and the nonviolent resolution of conflict. A total of 24 US citizens representing several faith traditions, were traveling as “civilian diplomats” to meet with ordinary Iranians as well as leaders from the religious, non-governmental, and political sectors.

George Orwell: Pacifism and the War

"Pacifism is objectively pro-Fascist."

Muslim cleric: McCartney is suicide bomber target
I gotta say, I think SO MUCH more of Paul now.

The Arabic-language daily Al-Hayat reports that Iraq is in an uproar, following the news that a Member of Parliament has visited Israel for the second time

Anti-Baath Iraqi MP Mithal Alusi, head of the Democratic HaUmah party and of the Organization to Oust the Baath Party from the Iraqi Government, apparently visited Israel last week. His office refused to confirm that he was in Israel, saying only, "He is outside Iraq"

U.S. to 'Guarantee' Palestinian State

Abbas: We'll ask new U.S. Administration to support peace

Abbas stressed that the Palestinians "don't want to postpone any of the six permanent status issues, which are Jerusalem, the settlements, the refugees, water, security and borders.

Hamas to appoint president

Abbas aims to stay in office to 2010 despite Hamas

Meat-plant owner "uncooperative" in Muslim prayer fight

6.1 in Iran

AFRICAN OIL & GAS RESERVES: CLICK TO ENLARGE

SEPTEMBER 2, 2008:

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has approved deployment of 200 Russian military peacekeeping contingent to Chad and neighbouring Central African Republic in support of a United Nations mission in the region, government officials said.

SEPTEMBER 3, 2008:
Russian military force to assist EU mission in Chad

SEPTEMBER 8, 2008:

Chevron Corporation, the US oil company, has agreed to pay taxes it owed to the central African state of Chad and it can, therefore, continue to operate in the country, a Chadian presidency spokesman said on Friday.

SEPTEMBER 10, 2008:

Taiwan, Mainland China to Expand Oil-exploration in Australia, Africa

CPC Corporation, Taiwan is negotiating with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), China`s third-largest oil company, to expand oil exploration from Taiwan Strait to East China Sea.

This is the first substantial step for both sides to engage in cooperative oil exploration after the establishment of a mutual oil-exploration program between Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation and the mainland China-based Association (SEF) for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) in June.

Both sides will also discuss cooperative oil and natural gas exploration in Australia, Kenya and Chad.

9/11/08: Chad Prepays Pipeline Debt to World Bank

The government of Chad has paid down early a loan from the World Bank for the Chad-Cameroon pipeline project

9/11/08: Zoellick ends World Bank "experiment" in Chad

World Bank President Robert Zoellick this week ended the Bank's biggest experiment in trying to show that Africa's oil wealth can help the poor.

The withdrawal by the world's largest development agency from the Chad oil pipeline agreement reopens debate over its role in funding oil, gas and mining projects, especially in corrupt and volatile parts of the developing world.

The World Bank heralded the 620-mile (1,000 km) Chad-Cameroon pipeline as a model project when it backed an Exxon Mobil-led consortium to develop oilfields in southern Chad in 2001 and get the oil to market with the pipeline.

In 2000, Chevron became a partner in two major projects in Chad

The first of these projects was the development of the Doba oil fields in southern Chad (DOBA IS ON THE NIGERIAN BORDER - bz) The second involved construction and operation of a pipeline to transport oil from those fields to an export terminal facility in Cameroon for shipment to world markets. Together, they represent one of the largest industrial projects ever undertaken on African soil.

The World Bank and a number of nongovernmental organizations have been instrumental in the establishment of the overall project.

Above all, since the famous meeting between President Franklin D Roosevelt and Ibn Saud at Great Bitter Lake in 1945, the al-Saud have enjoyed the protection of the United States

This relationship, which sits most unhappily with US support for Israel, has passed through periods of intense pressure: the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, the Palestinian intifada of 2001, and after the 11 September 2001 attacks, an operation financed by Bin Laden and largely executed by Saudi rebels. The US guarantee of Saudi security, implicit since 1945, became explicit with Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the despatch of half a million US troops to Saudi Arabia.

Duke Ellington
The Mystery Song ~ 1931