Politicians in Mexico City are proposing to make temporary marriages. Basically, you would get a marriage license for a set period that would be renewable. Their belief is that half of the marriages end in divorce anyways. You would be able to get a two year license or for longer. Here is an article from the Telegraph, "Mexico City proposes temporary marriage licences"
Marriage is not a contract, marriage is the truth, it is, it is commitment, it is love, it is not a contract because it is more, it is one, it is union, it is one. You cannot be one and then stop, you cannot be one if you ever stop, it is for eternity.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
FBI and the L.A. County Sheriffs
De Nile is not just a river in Egypt. Sheriff Lee Baca seems very confused. He insists that there is no problem in his department. Lets see, one former Sheriff is suing because he was fired for investigating the death of a fellow officer and he was told not to. The following article from the L.A. Daily News explains, "Attorney: Antelope Valley corruption prompted firing of deputy, who should get $8.5 million". Now, even the defense is saying that he was told not to investigate and did anyways. Why would you tell him not to investigate? Read the article and ask yourself the same question.
At the same time that the lawsuit is going on, the Sheriff's Department is being investigated for discrimination and is also investigating the Mayor's of Lancaster and Palmdale for the same thing. Here is an article from NetNewsPublisher, "Justice Department Opens Investigation Into the Antelope Valley Stations of the LA County Sheriff’s Department".
So while this is going on the L.A. County Sheriff's Department is also in trouble with the FBI for abuse of prisoners at the central jail. An FBI informant was in the jail compiling information regarding abuse of prisoners and the FBI wanted him to use a cell phone and apparently the inmate said he knew which Sheriff he could bribe to get a phone and got the phone. He had to pay the officer $1,500. I thought giving a cell phone to a prisoner was a crime; but, Sheriff Baca when asked if it would be pursued as a crime said, "No, I don't think so. It's not worthy of pursuing, in view of the greater good". Which greater good would that be? Sheriff Baca also is miffed at the FBI and doesn't like the investigation. He said more altercations were caused by the prisoners than by the sheriffs. Is that an admittance of guilt, admitting that the Sheriffs actually cause some of these fights? Here is the article from the L.A. Times, "L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca gives details of FBI sting".
I have always sort of liked the F.B.I. and have a friend who was rather highly placed in it. As for the Sheriff's Department, I am not as impressed. The Department has not improved over the last couple of decades. Most police forces have not improved because the criteria were lowered. There are still many dedicated and good police officers out there; but, the police themselves have had too many cases of being out of control with no or little discipline being taken.
What happens when you allow corruption within your police departments, you see a rise in indiscriminate violence by the police, police vendettas and an increase in the use of deadly force by the police. We are seeing those things. Sheriff Baca apparently feels things are just fine the way they are. Many former officers are rolling over in their graves. In the early days the police in Los Angeles were notoriously corrupt and it took Chief William H. Parker and some dedicated police to clean it up. Chief Parker found that the politicians of the time were working with those involved in street crime and that the police were too involved with both. We are of course back to the same situation today, consider the prior post on politicians and gang members in Los Angeles.
It is a shame that Sheriff Baca believes things are fine in his force, the FBI doesn't think so. Sheriff Baca and others should probably consider fixing Los Angeles before more of our civic leaders end up in federal prison. Multiple investigations into the police in the area, investigations into multiple departments within the City. Hey, remember a long time ago when I wrote that the FBI and the Federal Prosecutors had set up special sections just for political corruption, I said, they wouldn't have done that if they were not already convinced. In the end, things get better or "Everyone goes to jail".
At the same time that the lawsuit is going on, the Sheriff's Department is being investigated for discrimination and is also investigating the Mayor's of Lancaster and Palmdale for the same thing. Here is an article from NetNewsPublisher, "Justice Department Opens Investigation Into the Antelope Valley Stations of the LA County Sheriff’s Department".
So while this is going on the L.A. County Sheriff's Department is also in trouble with the FBI for abuse of prisoners at the central jail. An FBI informant was in the jail compiling information regarding abuse of prisoners and the FBI wanted him to use a cell phone and apparently the inmate said he knew which Sheriff he could bribe to get a phone and got the phone. He had to pay the officer $1,500. I thought giving a cell phone to a prisoner was a crime; but, Sheriff Baca when asked if it would be pursued as a crime said, "No, I don't think so. It's not worthy of pursuing, in view of the greater good". Which greater good would that be? Sheriff Baca also is miffed at the FBI and doesn't like the investigation. He said more altercations were caused by the prisoners than by the sheriffs. Is that an admittance of guilt, admitting that the Sheriffs actually cause some of these fights? Here is the article from the L.A. Times, "L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca gives details of FBI sting".
I have always sort of liked the F.B.I. and have a friend who was rather highly placed in it. As for the Sheriff's Department, I am not as impressed. The Department has not improved over the last couple of decades. Most police forces have not improved because the criteria were lowered. There are still many dedicated and good police officers out there; but, the police themselves have had too many cases of being out of control with no or little discipline being taken.
What happens when you allow corruption within your police departments, you see a rise in indiscriminate violence by the police, police vendettas and an increase in the use of deadly force by the police. We are seeing those things. Sheriff Baca apparently feels things are just fine the way they are. Many former officers are rolling over in their graves. In the early days the police in Los Angeles were notoriously corrupt and it took Chief William H. Parker and some dedicated police to clean it up. Chief Parker found that the politicians of the time were working with those involved in street crime and that the police were too involved with both. We are of course back to the same situation today, consider the prior post on politicians and gang members in Los Angeles.
It is a shame that Sheriff Baca believes things are fine in his force, the FBI doesn't think so. Sheriff Baca and others should probably consider fixing Los Angeles before more of our civic leaders end up in federal prison. Multiple investigations into the police in the area, investigations into multiple departments within the City. Hey, remember a long time ago when I wrote that the FBI and the Federal Prosecutors had set up special sections just for political corruption, I said, they wouldn't have done that if they were not already convinced. In the end, things get better or "Everyone goes to jail".
Monday, September 26, 2011
Time Travel is Not Possible
Recently a group of scientists claim that they have witnessed a subatomic particle go faster than the speed of light. This would violate the fundamental laws of physics. I also have some problems with the idea that they are capable of measuring something faster than the speed of light.
More and more we are being bombarded with nonsense. The attack is really an attack on the average persons understanding of anything. I feel sorry for children today and for people who do not investigate things for themselves. The world has not changed, what has changed is how the fundamentals of life are explained to people.
For thousands of years the fundamentals of life were pretty simple. We are born, we find the love of our life, marry and have children. You work to provide for your family and seek to teach your children to be decent people. People of integrity who help others, tell the truth and seek to be useful members of society.
Today children are taught that they are just animals, life is short and you should live for pleasure. We teach them that healthy relationships are not possible and that when people no longer benefit you that you just move on. We are being told so much nonsense that society fails.
I watched a new video on DMT, I will not link to it. Within the next few years people will be able to modify their bodies using technology and gene therapy, they will be able to design themselves if they have enough money. By taking DMT they can open their minds to the "spirit world". How is any of this sensible or useful? What happens when we cannot even agree on what is real? How will people even know when they are being lied to?
The movie Avatar is a good example of the future that people want, they want to be able to have superhuman powers without earning them, they want to be cartoon characters in a cartoon world. If you are a parent, unplug your child from the internet and television for a week.
I know that the people that read my blog are better informed than most or they wouldn't bother reading it. We are headed towards very bad times, we are headed to self-enslavement. True enslavement to technology is our total reliance on it for making our decisions.
We are raising a generation that believes in little. This is not true of all young people, many are paying attention; but, there are a lot of lies out there and just as soon as you think you get it, you have usually been fooled.
More and more we are being bombarded with nonsense. The attack is really an attack on the average persons understanding of anything. I feel sorry for children today and for people who do not investigate things for themselves. The world has not changed, what has changed is how the fundamentals of life are explained to people.
For thousands of years the fundamentals of life were pretty simple. We are born, we find the love of our life, marry and have children. You work to provide for your family and seek to teach your children to be decent people. People of integrity who help others, tell the truth and seek to be useful members of society.
Today children are taught that they are just animals, life is short and you should live for pleasure. We teach them that healthy relationships are not possible and that when people no longer benefit you that you just move on. We are being told so much nonsense that society fails.
I watched a new video on DMT, I will not link to it. Within the next few years people will be able to modify their bodies using technology and gene therapy, they will be able to design themselves if they have enough money. By taking DMT they can open their minds to the "spirit world". How is any of this sensible or useful? What happens when we cannot even agree on what is real? How will people even know when they are being lied to?
The movie Avatar is a good example of the future that people want, they want to be able to have superhuman powers without earning them, they want to be cartoon characters in a cartoon world. If you are a parent, unplug your child from the internet and television for a week.
I know that the people that read my blog are better informed than most or they wouldn't bother reading it. We are headed towards very bad times, we are headed to self-enslavement. True enslavement to technology is our total reliance on it for making our decisions.
We are raising a generation that believes in little. This is not true of all young people, many are paying attention; but, there are a lot of lies out there and just as soon as you think you get it, you have usually been fooled.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
A Spare Moment
Well, I have finished my initial posts on my new blog. I went through the first chapter of Genesis and provided commentary and questions. I wanted to have it done before this coming Sunday so that I could give people the web address and they would have something to read and consider during the week.
Having said that, I have been keeping up on the news. One story I read said that sperm banks no longer wanted sperm from redheads. Not enough women wanted it. This is very dangerous, we are choosing to have less diversity. Long term this could lead to us having less ability to survive as a species. The greater the diversity, the greater a species ability to survive. That is basic Darwinian theory.
On another front. The Palestinians want to be a recognized country and many Israelis want to be able to pray and rebuild the temple on the mound. What if one were traded for the other, what a test that would be for Israel. What if the Muslim world would allow Israel to rebuild the temple in exchange for Palestine becoming it's own independent nation?
We are not in the "end times", the temple has to be rebuilt first; but, if that were the agreement that were reached, I would start paying a lot more attention. Be well.
Having said that, I have been keeping up on the news. One story I read said that sperm banks no longer wanted sperm from redheads. Not enough women wanted it. This is very dangerous, we are choosing to have less diversity. Long term this could lead to us having less ability to survive as a species. The greater the diversity, the greater a species ability to survive. That is basic Darwinian theory.
On another front. The Palestinians want to be a recognized country and many Israelis want to be able to pray and rebuild the temple on the mound. What if one were traded for the other, what a test that would be for Israel. What if the Muslim world would allow Israel to rebuild the temple in exchange for Palestine becoming it's own independent nation?
We are not in the "end times", the temple has to be rebuilt first; but, if that were the agreement that were reached, I would start paying a lot more attention. Be well.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Maybe Tidbits
I have been asked to continue this blog and am considering it; but, if I do it will not be a daily posting; but, postings as something of merit occurs. I will absolutely consider it. Perhaps I can make a post each week and include news of the week, we shall see.
As the blog ends
ANYONE who has followed this blog, anyone can ask me via comment for the new blog's address and I will send it to them if they include their e-mail address in the comment. The comment will not be published unless you request it and I still moderate.
There are people who read this blog for the non-religious stuff and I want them to know the new blog is only religious, I seek to trick no person. I am not into tricks and lies. Those who wish to read my words in the future need to know that it is spiritual only. I do not wish to trick anyone into reading about religion.
I have over 800 posts on this blog, the vast majority are not about religion and continue to be found on searches. I feel a responsibility to leave this blog up and not destroy it, primarily because of Pastor Daniels; but, also because of those who chose to read it. I just don't choose to keep it current, I cannot do so in a fair way. I have a "mission" and it is more important to me. I love you all.
There are people who read this blog for the non-religious stuff and I want them to know the new blog is only religious, I seek to trick no person. I am not into tricks and lies. Those who wish to read my words in the future need to know that it is spiritual only. I do not wish to trick anyone into reading about religion.
I have over 800 posts on this blog, the vast majority are not about religion and continue to be found on searches. I feel a responsibility to leave this blog up and not destroy it, primarily because of Pastor Daniels; but, also because of those who chose to read it. I just don't choose to keep it current, I cannot do so in a fair way. I have a "mission" and it is more important to me. I love you all.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Goodbye
I have started my new blog. I will not post it's address here. Anyone who has been a reader of this blog is more than welcome to request the new address and I will provide it; but, the new blog will be about God. I may discuss current events; but, it will always be with a spiritual framework.
I am leaving this blog up; however, I will not be posting here often or possibly at all. I send my best to all who have come here over the years and truly appreciate the experience.
This blog has been a true blessing to me. Everything has it's time and it's time has passed. Thank you for having shared this journey with me and may God share his love with you. Be well.
I am leaving this blog up; however, I will not be posting here often or possibly at all. I send my best to all who have come here over the years and truly appreciate the experience.
This blog has been a true blessing to me. Everything has it's time and it's time has passed. Thank you for having shared this journey with me and may God share his love with you. Be well.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
I Learned a Lesson Today
For a number of reasons, half of the people who had planned to attend our service today were unable to come. It was a good thing because I needed to learn a lesson. I needed to commit myself and I hadn't, I was reluctant and I need to be committed 100%.
A young man came in who we did not know. He stayed longer than he should have because he had a prior engagement. For some reason he just decided to come in and listen (he had been in the room next door). I had said that if just one person came then I would come. I never want to walk into an empty room, I always want their to be two or more.
Today was the day that I thought of Pastor Carol Daniels. I thought about how she did just that, came in not knowing if anyone else would come. I cannot compare my talking to a few people to her lifelong commitment; but, if she could drive as far as she did on the chance that someone might come then I guess I can do the same and I don't have to drive far.
A young man came in who we did not know. He stayed longer than he should have because he had a prior engagement. For some reason he just decided to come in and listen (he had been in the room next door). I had said that if just one person came then I would come. I never want to walk into an empty room, I always want their to be two or more.
Today was the day that I thought of Pastor Carol Daniels. I thought about how she did just that, came in not knowing if anyone else would come. I cannot compare my talking to a few people to her lifelong commitment; but, if she could drive as far as she did on the chance that someone might come then I guess I can do the same and I don't have to drive far.
Not a Day of Rest for Me
It is Sunday again and I have work to do. I did all my housekeeping activities yesterday so that I would have only one thing to do today. I have spent all week thinking about what I will say today and still am unsure. I have about 15 different discussions in my head that I might have.
I read the news today and came across an interesting article. Warren Buffet has called on more taxes for the rich. He complained that the rich, including himself, have been coddled long enough and that most don't even pay the same percentage as the middle class. One sleazy politician has said that if Mr. Buffet wants to pay more he should just send a check. I wonder how much money that politician has received from wealthy friends?
We are living in the worst economic times in our nations history and people are in very bad situations, our friends and neighbors are out of work and our children have little to look forward to if we don't give a little. Why would any politician want to see us into a third world country, because all they care about is themselves. I commend Mr. Buffet because he does not wish to see that happen and neither do I.
I read the news today and came across an interesting article. Warren Buffet has called on more taxes for the rich. He complained that the rich, including himself, have been coddled long enough and that most don't even pay the same percentage as the middle class. One sleazy politician has said that if Mr. Buffet wants to pay more he should just send a check. I wonder how much money that politician has received from wealthy friends?
We are living in the worst economic times in our nations history and people are in very bad situations, our friends and neighbors are out of work and our children have little to look forward to if we don't give a little. Why would any politician want to see us into a third world country, because all they care about is themselves. I commend Mr. Buffet because he does not wish to see that happen and neither do I.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Forgiveness
I am preparing for what I will discuss tomorrow. I prepare, partially, by thinking about the subject I want to discuss and the point that I wish to make. I read as much news as I can to find examples. One subject matter I have been considering is forgiveness. A real tricky thing to describe.
I had a song on my mind by Don Henley of the Eagles called "Forgiveness". I searched on YouTube and came across this video. "Venia (Forgiveness)". The word venia can be used to mean forgiveness, grace and other such things. The video tells the story of a young lady who was killed in the Virginia Tech shootings, her name was Mary Karen Read. Her last writings in her journal were, “When deep injury is done to us, we never recover until we forgive… Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.”
We tend to get angry with people when they either prevent us from getting what we want or intentionally do something to harm us. Once we perceive harm to us we then foster anger at the other person. The emotion is completely within us, it does not impact the other person unless we return the harm. The harm the anger does is really towards ourselves.
Here is the odd thing about it, if someone harms me and I forgive them, the one who benefits is me. In fact, if I forgive someone they may not even know it and believe that I am still angry with them. Someone harmed me very badly and I told them that I forgave them, they told me that they did not want any of my so called forgiveness. Heck, I will take all the forgiveness I can get.
Forgiveness does not come all at once, we have to accept that what has happened has happened and that we cannot undo it. The next step is to just let it go, that gets easier over time. The trick is to look forward rather than look back, the trick is to be headed somewhere.
I don't know how you have been hurt and I don't need to. I can tell you this, when you are lying on your deathbed, how do you want to go out? Last week I was talking to someone who has made a very big mistake in his life and there will be penalties for it. Like most people, his first thought was that he would never make the same mistake again, I asked him to think about where he was going because if you are not headed to a better place then you will go back to the old place.
We should learn from our past and consider it; but, you have to be more concerned about where you are going, what you want your life to mean. I have learned so much in the last four years as a result of betrayals that were done to me. I don't have the time to think about much of what is past as I am building my life and am focused on where I want to go, what the rest of my life will mean. I would much rather it be about love than about loss and those are the choices we all have. Be well.
I had a song on my mind by Don Henley of the Eagles called "Forgiveness". I searched on YouTube and came across this video. "Venia (Forgiveness)". The word venia can be used to mean forgiveness, grace and other such things. The video tells the story of a young lady who was killed in the Virginia Tech shootings, her name was Mary Karen Read. Her last writings in her journal were, “When deep injury is done to us, we never recover until we forgive… Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.”
We tend to get angry with people when they either prevent us from getting what we want or intentionally do something to harm us. Once we perceive harm to us we then foster anger at the other person. The emotion is completely within us, it does not impact the other person unless we return the harm. The harm the anger does is really towards ourselves.
Here is the odd thing about it, if someone harms me and I forgive them, the one who benefits is me. In fact, if I forgive someone they may not even know it and believe that I am still angry with them. Someone harmed me very badly and I told them that I forgave them, they told me that they did not want any of my so called forgiveness. Heck, I will take all the forgiveness I can get.
Forgiveness does not come all at once, we have to accept that what has happened has happened and that we cannot undo it. The next step is to just let it go, that gets easier over time. The trick is to look forward rather than look back, the trick is to be headed somewhere.
I don't know how you have been hurt and I don't need to. I can tell you this, when you are lying on your deathbed, how do you want to go out? Last week I was talking to someone who has made a very big mistake in his life and there will be penalties for it. Like most people, his first thought was that he would never make the same mistake again, I asked him to think about where he was going because if you are not headed to a better place then you will go back to the old place.
We should learn from our past and consider it; but, you have to be more concerned about where you are going, what you want your life to mean. I have learned so much in the last four years as a result of betrayals that were done to me. I don't have the time to think about much of what is past as I am building my life and am focused on where I want to go, what the rest of my life will mean. I would much rather it be about love than about loss and those are the choices we all have. Be well.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Today in San Bernardino
Is this a sign of the times? This article from the Los Angeles Times discusses how the FBI and IRS searched the offices and homes of many politicians in San Bernardino.
We have county politicians agreeing to a $103 million dollar settlement in a case with a developer when their own legal counsel told them not to. You can legally move a lot of money that way. You see, cities and counties can vote behind closed doors to settle a case, any case, even one that they will probably win.
Look at how your city or county has settled cases, who the opponents were and how valid the cases were. Bell and Vernon got nothing on how the bigger game is played. Why do we let these things go on? How much longer can we afford this?
We have county politicians agreeing to a $103 million dollar settlement in a case with a developer when their own legal counsel told them not to. You can legally move a lot of money that way. You see, cities and counties can vote behind closed doors to settle a case, any case, even one that they will probably win.
Look at how your city or county has settled cases, who the opponents were and how valid the cases were. Bell and Vernon got nothing on how the bigger game is played. Why do we let these things go on? How much longer can we afford this?
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Dear Readers
My least popular posts are always about religion. I intend to create a new blog soon, it will be for the people I talk to about religion and this one will just sit as it is. My biggest reason for leaving it is because of Pastor Carol Daniels. The pension stuff will all come out, I wasn't needed for that, just prodding.
I do not have the time nor energy to keep up two blogs at once and I will not give a pointer to the new one nor even mention it's name. The name shall be new and e-mail address shall be new. There will be no connection between the two and the new one will only be for people who have attended my services.
I have really appreciated the opportunity to discuss such a wide range of topics. I do hope that people have learned to look just a little bit deeper into everything that they are told. I have been moved in my heart regarding some comments and e-mails about this blog. I love writing; but, I have a second job now and it is important that I put my efforts there. I want to thank everyone who has followed this from the beginning, I wish to thank a special lady who was one of the first and has sent me many e-mails. Always happy to correspond with a lady and I love the name Barbara (a junior high crush on a teacher, lol).
My life has not made a lot of sense to me. The world is a bizarre and often annoying place; but, people matter. I have one or two more posts left in me; but, when I say it is done, it will be.
Last week, I began my sermon by asking people why they were there. This week, if anyone comes back, I will ask why they returned. It is a good question, what keeps us away from God and from talking about him?
I shall post again, we shall end this blog on a high note. In the meantime a song, something by Elton John.
Elton John, Love Lies Bleeding - Funeral for a Friend.
This song always makes me think about my best friend who blew his brains out in the last year of High School, just before I moved. So many good times and so much humor and so much pain. Life.
I will never get over his death, not during this life. I know his favorite car, I know his favorite movies, we used to watch them together, he is always in my heart. I knew since sixth grade and it hurts to this day, that is one of the reasons that I absolutely do not believe in suicide or taking LSD, he did both and I refuse to do either. If you are ever told that I committed suicide, know it is a lie.
They say the new normal is constant change, I am good with that, lets see who can hold on the longest. The sheep and predators all tire long before the sheepdog. Aarph, aarph. LOL.
I do not have the time nor energy to keep up two blogs at once and I will not give a pointer to the new one nor even mention it's name. The name shall be new and e-mail address shall be new. There will be no connection between the two and the new one will only be for people who have attended my services.
I have really appreciated the opportunity to discuss such a wide range of topics. I do hope that people have learned to look just a little bit deeper into everything that they are told. I have been moved in my heart regarding some comments and e-mails about this blog. I love writing; but, I have a second job now and it is important that I put my efforts there. I want to thank everyone who has followed this from the beginning, I wish to thank a special lady who was one of the first and has sent me many e-mails. Always happy to correspond with a lady and I love the name Barbara (a junior high crush on a teacher, lol).
My life has not made a lot of sense to me. The world is a bizarre and often annoying place; but, people matter. I have one or two more posts left in me; but, when I say it is done, it will be.
Last week, I began my sermon by asking people why they were there. This week, if anyone comes back, I will ask why they returned. It is a good question, what keeps us away from God and from talking about him?
I shall post again, we shall end this blog on a high note. In the meantime a song, something by Elton John.
Elton John, Love Lies Bleeding - Funeral for a Friend.
This song always makes me think about my best friend who blew his brains out in the last year of High School, just before I moved. So many good times and so much humor and so much pain. Life.
I will never get over his death, not during this life. I know his favorite car, I know his favorite movies, we used to watch them together, he is always in my heart. I knew since sixth grade and it hurts to this day, that is one of the reasons that I absolutely do not believe in suicide or taking LSD, he did both and I refuse to do either. If you are ever told that I committed suicide, know it is a lie.
They say the new normal is constant change, I am good with that, lets see who can hold on the longest. The sheep and predators all tire long before the sheepdog. Aarph, aarph. LOL.
Our Pensions and Israel
Before you read this post, please read yesterday's post. I never got to finish it because I was on the phone for four hours and had endless interruptions. Sorry.
So, if 2003 CalPers lost hundreds of millions on investments in Israel. One would think that they would have become more cautious. Nope, this article from Israel21c in 2006 says, "American pension funds look to Israel for investment". At the meeting mentioned in the article we find some interesting characters showing up. Alan Hevesi the Comptroller for New York was there, he was convicted of corruption involving the New York Pension Fund. Here is an article from The New York Times.
At the meeting in question the heads of CalPers and CalStrs also attended. The person who invited everyone was Ehud Olmert the man accused of corruption in Israel that I wrote about yesterday. Hmmmm. Markstone was also there, that is the company that Elliot Broidy was in charge of, he is the guy that plead guilty to bribery charges in regards to the New York Pension Fund.
So the investments by the pensions funds had done poorly by 2003, maybe things got better. Nope, they got worse. "CalPERS: 6 Israeli VC funds wrote off $385m in 5 years", read that article from 2005.
Maybe since then we have learned to stop investing in Israeli Venture Capital Funds and having to write off losses with nothing to show for it? Nope, how bout this article from Haaretz.com In the last quarter of 2006 and the first quarter of 2007, that is about half a year, CalPers wrote off around $700 million dollars in these investments.
So, here we go. Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Finance Minister and future Prime Minister arranges to have the heads of various Public Pension funds in the United States come to his country to look into investing in it. Elliot Broidy of future prison fame convinces many of them to go to Israel.
At this meeting apparently many were swayed because afterwards these pension funds invested untold amounts in start up companies. These start up companies then lose hundreds of millions for years and years and we just keep investing in more. The "Placement Agents" for these deals make tens of millions and many had sat on pension boards, having been placed there by politicians. Hmmm. These placement firms also are heavily involved in redevelopment agency jobs and are also funded by the public pension funds. I see lots and lots of money being lost and no assets to write off, hey, this is beginning to sound like the loan to the Solyndra, you lend or invest in a company that has practically no assets, the money goes somewhere and the losses are written off because there are no assets to go after.
For those who care to, try speculating why CalPers never pulled their investments and kept investing when year after year they showed a loss. Somethings to consider, with the housing boom and the over inflation of the value of the investments, throughout most of the last eleven years, the pension funds were overfunded. In fact many increased how much retires would get because they are not allowed to be too overfunded. Nobody even cared about the losses.
This is not about Jewish people and it is not about Israel, it is about corruption and the theft of hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars from public pension funds. Who got the money, where did the money go? Why did certain people keep investing it in these companies and why didn't the unions or politicians care?
So, if 2003 CalPers lost hundreds of millions on investments in Israel. One would think that they would have become more cautious. Nope, this article from Israel21c in 2006 says, "American pension funds look to Israel for investment". At the meeting mentioned in the article we find some interesting characters showing up. Alan Hevesi the Comptroller for New York was there, he was convicted of corruption involving the New York Pension Fund. Here is an article from The New York Times.
At the meeting in question the heads of CalPers and CalStrs also attended. The person who invited everyone was Ehud Olmert the man accused of corruption in Israel that I wrote about yesterday. Hmmmm. Markstone was also there, that is the company that Elliot Broidy was in charge of, he is the guy that plead guilty to bribery charges in regards to the New York Pension Fund.
So the investments by the pensions funds had done poorly by 2003, maybe things got better. Nope, they got worse. "CalPERS: 6 Israeli VC funds wrote off $385m in 5 years", read that article from 2005.
Maybe since then we have learned to stop investing in Israeli Venture Capital Funds and having to write off losses with nothing to show for it? Nope, how bout this article from Haaretz.com In the last quarter of 2006 and the first quarter of 2007, that is about half a year, CalPers wrote off around $700 million dollars in these investments.
So, here we go. Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Finance Minister and future Prime Minister arranges to have the heads of various Public Pension funds in the United States come to his country to look into investing in it. Elliot Broidy of future prison fame convinces many of them to go to Israel.
At this meeting apparently many were swayed because afterwards these pension funds invested untold amounts in start up companies. These start up companies then lose hundreds of millions for years and years and we just keep investing in more. The "Placement Agents" for these deals make tens of millions and many had sat on pension boards, having been placed there by politicians. Hmmm. These placement firms also are heavily involved in redevelopment agency jobs and are also funded by the public pension funds. I see lots and lots of money being lost and no assets to write off, hey, this is beginning to sound like the loan to the Solyndra, you lend or invest in a company that has practically no assets, the money goes somewhere and the losses are written off because there are no assets to go after.
For those who care to, try speculating why CalPers never pulled their investments and kept investing when year after year they showed a loss. Somethings to consider, with the housing boom and the over inflation of the value of the investments, throughout most of the last eleven years, the pension funds were overfunded. In fact many increased how much retires would get because they are not allowed to be too overfunded. Nobody even cared about the losses.
This is not about Jewish people and it is not about Israel, it is about corruption and the theft of hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars from public pension funds. Who got the money, where did the money go? Why did certain people keep investing it in these companies and why didn't the unions or politicians care?
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Israel and U.S. Public Pension Funds
Lets start with this, I am a Christian and support the state of Israel's existence. I believe that Israel is currently at it's greatest risk. Firstly, the United Nations is looking at recognizing Palestine's government officially. Reuters reports that "Abbas vows "no retreat" from Palestine U.N. bid".
Next we are seeing that Israel is losing support (even the little it had) with Egypt, Jordan and Turkey. Newsweek had this article, "Is Israel Over". If you read this report you will discover that Ehud Olmert, a previous Prime Minister, he is in court over corruption charges.
Mr. Olmert has been charged with being dishonest and taking bribes. Maybe we should look into who he was dealing with. I don't know, I have been interrupted so many times tonight that all I can do is post these other articles.
IVC Newsletter, Calpers isn't quitting Israel.
What happens when the United States stops funneling money to Israel? That is when things get bad for all of us.
Next we are seeing that Israel is losing support (even the little it had) with Egypt, Jordan and Turkey. Newsweek had this article, "Is Israel Over". If you read this report you will discover that Ehud Olmert, a previous Prime Minister, he is in court over corruption charges.
Mr. Olmert has been charged with being dishonest and taking bribes. Maybe we should look into who he was dealing with. I don't know, I have been interrupted so many times tonight that all I can do is post these other articles.
IVC Newsletter, Calpers isn't quitting Israel.
What happens when the United States stops funneling money to Israel? That is when things get bad for all of us.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Garbage People Want You To Believe
I was looking at a website I like called "The Daily Grail". It has interesting writing and stories and good link to articles. Today they linked to this article from Nature News, "Neuroscience vs philosophy: Taking aim at free will"
Now why would scientists try to prove that you don't have free will? By the way, their test and explanation proved nothing. Bad science leads to bad results. They are basically trying to prove that you don't make your own decisions, that you don't really make your own choices.
There is something else called the Near Death Experience that scientists don't like. Worldwide the Near Death Experience is almost always the same and nobody can explain it well. One of the people associated with The Daily Grail posted this on the site, "Science Can Explain the Near Death Experience".
Psychology Today has this article promoting visualization."Visualize to Actualize", you do know what visualization is I hope. It is taught by people like the Rosicrucians and others with an occult bend.
People are always trying to prove that humans aren't that important and that we should commune with spirits. I don't believe either of those things. We experience, we feel pain, we feel love, we define ourselves by the choices we make and should take responsibility for our choices.
While these types of articles may seem silly and most people never ever read them, they are not written for the average person. This is what will be taught in school to your future leaders in these fields. The world will be designed around these types of beliefs, that is how it works.
College is where the people who will run the world are taught. You would be amazed how many important people will talk about the people who taught them and how it changed their lives. Many people become professors for just that reason. I don't like that style of teaching. I don't believe in trying to prove something to students, I think we should question them, I prefer the Socratic method of endless questioning, it frees the student's mind to find it's own answers rather than provide them.
When you send your child off to college you probably think they are going there to become "smarter", they are not. They are going there to be taught rather than learn. The methods used to teach them vary from one discipline to another. As they told us in law school, this is not about learning the law, it is about learning a way of thinking.
College, especially graduate school, is a lot like brainwashing. The first thing you do in graduate school is show them how little they know and then you begin explaining things that most people are never taught if they are not in a graduate program. Break them down and then provide them with the answers. That is why the experience is so intense for some. Law school involves reading hundreds of pages everyday and being expected to repeat it, work them hard enough and they will accept anything and no it didn't work with me.
Humans have a tendency to try and get others to agree with them, to think like them, we like conformity, comfort. We also tend to like followers. I had someone come to work for me as my personal assistant, he instead became one of my dearest friends; but, when he first came to work for me I told him that I would blow his mind and I think I did.
When he came to work for me I had to try to really make sure that the things he would see and learn would not effect his being him. I remember telling him that he would never see the world the same way again and he has told me that he never could now. He told me that he could never be me and I told him that I would never want him to. I wanted to show him behind the veil, to show him how things are really decided and how things work from the top. The guy had some real guts.
I am so very proud of who he is, he learned about things and uses his personality and strengths rather than trying to imitate me or the person who helped me teach him. I taught him how to see, understand and predict certain things, not how to be or what to think. I love it when he calls me to tell me something that he figured out and I know he is correct in his assessment. That should be the joy of a teacher.
I was asked what I am going to teach on this coming Sunday. I sure wish I knew. Last Sunday we all got to know each other and talk about why we were there, I think I set the tone and hope that it is a very open and fun tone. It is my hope that after listening to me for a bit that the people in the church learn to teach themselves. You have to teach the basics of anything; but, after that I want people to listen with discernment because they are capable of knowing the garbage from the honey.
I guess I don't so much want to teach them the bible as teach them how to read the bible. Last Sunday one young lady who had grown up in the church told me that I had shown her to think outside the box, I told her that there are no boxes. By the way, my Pastor friend reads my blog so he can always correct me if I misstate something.
That is sort of how I am when I am teaching. I don't want people to tell me that I am right, I want them to tell me that they understand that they should think about things for themselves and not just repeat what they have been told. I want the members to question me, not accept everything I say, I want them to challenge me more than I challenge them, that will be a challenge. We are not taught to constantly challenge our teachers and we should be.
This pastoring thing is hard and I never intended to do it. As I have taken it on, I take it on with intent. I didn't study it and I didn't think about it. This is very much a work in progress, a man who never felt the calling teaching people who don't like church. Somehow that makes sense.
There was someone who had come to my first "sermon" (I think of it as a conversation) and said that if they needed to have a reason to not go to church I sure gave it to them, and I did. I told them that the "church" is dying because it is and then I told them why. Religion as it is taught today is keeping people from God more than bringing them to it. It is all about putting rear ends in seats rather than focusing on what it taught in the beginning.
I am not concerned with this gathering growing, I am more afraid that it will and that is how it should be. The focus should be on telling the truth and teaching the word and showing people how to teach themselves. I think it talks about teaching a man to fish and how he is then set for life rather than giving him a fish, how is spirituality any different?
I don't want anyone to follow me, not in business and not in the church, I have never liked such things. I want people to turn their brains on, wake up to the reality around them, stop chasing the cookies and being willing trained seals and come to their conclusions in a logically consistent manner.
Life is about coming to terms with being ourselves. It is about taking responsibility for our choices and actions and modifying them to reflect our true heart and beliefs. It is about spiritual growth not spiritual death. It is about how important you are, not how unimportant you are and that is why people want to teach you the opposite. Life is not about love, love is the result of a true spiritual understanding of just how important everyone of us is and man, God created you so you matter. Love should be the life decision because we matter.
There are people who will not read my blog when I talk about spirituality, it doesn't stop me and it won't. I don't care if the viewership is one, truthfully, I will write if nobody reads it, they might tomorrow and I want what I write to reflect what I believe.
This coming Sunday I know what I want to see. I wish to see the young lady that said I had busted her boxes sitting in front of me, I need to know her more and I want to see the family of five, whose mother asked me for my blog address to be there, I will be very sad if they are not; but, I would understand. I will feel glad if those people are there because it will mean that I have been of service to them. There are others that I would like to see; but, I do understand that many did it as a favor to my Pastor friend and I am okay with that. I also deeply appreciate it to the ones who did it to be supportive of me, with all my heart.
The first Christians were not given a lesson plan, they were not given a building, they were not given too much. Well, they were given the word and he spoke to them, I didn't get that; but, I got his word and it is enough. Oh, the word was Jesus and he was God and he was with God.
A friend of the Pastor's told the pastor that the fact that I smoked showed that I didn't respect the fact that our body was a temple. Yeah, that is dangerous ground for anyone. He didn't know that I had taught on that and what I taught was discussed with him. Bad theology and legalism does not like me, never has and never will. He failed to understand the term he used or the context in which it was raised. I am a very gentle person and a pacifist, that doesn't require me to be stupid or not know my bible and I will correct people. His focus is on sin rather than redemption and that is wrong.
God is not a cookie and he is not a "reward", he is a sentient being who practices good. We should do the same while understanding what is really important and what is really important is us and God, all sentient beings. You matter and the truth is inside you, my answers don't change too often, my priorities are always us and I don't know how to or want to change that.
I have no idea what I will say on Sunday, I never know and will probably never know in advance. I say what is on my heart and think about issues that challenge me. My intent is more important in preparing than is my message, the message should just flow if my intent is right and it should work, be understood, because it is the truth.
By the way, the "evidence" that the scientists found for us making our decisions prematurely was wrong, it was evidence of intent, of our searching for a pattern, not the actual choice. Humans look for patterns every time we make a decision, it is how we make decisions, we check the odds.
Now why would scientists try to prove that you don't have free will? By the way, their test and explanation proved nothing. Bad science leads to bad results. They are basically trying to prove that you don't make your own decisions, that you don't really make your own choices.
There is something else called the Near Death Experience that scientists don't like. Worldwide the Near Death Experience is almost always the same and nobody can explain it well. One of the people associated with The Daily Grail posted this on the site, "Science Can Explain the Near Death Experience".
Psychology Today has this article promoting visualization."Visualize to Actualize", you do know what visualization is I hope. It is taught by people like the Rosicrucians and others with an occult bend.
People are always trying to prove that humans aren't that important and that we should commune with spirits. I don't believe either of those things. We experience, we feel pain, we feel love, we define ourselves by the choices we make and should take responsibility for our choices.
While these types of articles may seem silly and most people never ever read them, they are not written for the average person. This is what will be taught in school to your future leaders in these fields. The world will be designed around these types of beliefs, that is how it works.
College is where the people who will run the world are taught. You would be amazed how many important people will talk about the people who taught them and how it changed their lives. Many people become professors for just that reason. I don't like that style of teaching. I don't believe in trying to prove something to students, I think we should question them, I prefer the Socratic method of endless questioning, it frees the student's mind to find it's own answers rather than provide them.
When you send your child off to college you probably think they are going there to become "smarter", they are not. They are going there to be taught rather than learn. The methods used to teach them vary from one discipline to another. As they told us in law school, this is not about learning the law, it is about learning a way of thinking.
College, especially graduate school, is a lot like brainwashing. The first thing you do in graduate school is show them how little they know and then you begin explaining things that most people are never taught if they are not in a graduate program. Break them down and then provide them with the answers. That is why the experience is so intense for some. Law school involves reading hundreds of pages everyday and being expected to repeat it, work them hard enough and they will accept anything and no it didn't work with me.
Humans have a tendency to try and get others to agree with them, to think like them, we like conformity, comfort. We also tend to like followers. I had someone come to work for me as my personal assistant, he instead became one of my dearest friends; but, when he first came to work for me I told him that I would blow his mind and I think I did.
When he came to work for me I had to try to really make sure that the things he would see and learn would not effect his being him. I remember telling him that he would never see the world the same way again and he has told me that he never could now. He told me that he could never be me and I told him that I would never want him to. I wanted to show him behind the veil, to show him how things are really decided and how things work from the top. The guy had some real guts.
I am so very proud of who he is, he learned about things and uses his personality and strengths rather than trying to imitate me or the person who helped me teach him. I taught him how to see, understand and predict certain things, not how to be or what to think. I love it when he calls me to tell me something that he figured out and I know he is correct in his assessment. That should be the joy of a teacher.
I was asked what I am going to teach on this coming Sunday. I sure wish I knew. Last Sunday we all got to know each other and talk about why we were there, I think I set the tone and hope that it is a very open and fun tone. It is my hope that after listening to me for a bit that the people in the church learn to teach themselves. You have to teach the basics of anything; but, after that I want people to listen with discernment because they are capable of knowing the garbage from the honey.
I guess I don't so much want to teach them the bible as teach them how to read the bible. Last Sunday one young lady who had grown up in the church told me that I had shown her to think outside the box, I told her that there are no boxes. By the way, my Pastor friend reads my blog so he can always correct me if I misstate something.
That is sort of how I am when I am teaching. I don't want people to tell me that I am right, I want them to tell me that they understand that they should think about things for themselves and not just repeat what they have been told. I want the members to question me, not accept everything I say, I want them to challenge me more than I challenge them, that will be a challenge. We are not taught to constantly challenge our teachers and we should be.
This pastoring thing is hard and I never intended to do it. As I have taken it on, I take it on with intent. I didn't study it and I didn't think about it. This is very much a work in progress, a man who never felt the calling teaching people who don't like church. Somehow that makes sense.
There was someone who had come to my first "sermon" (I think of it as a conversation) and said that if they needed to have a reason to not go to church I sure gave it to them, and I did. I told them that the "church" is dying because it is and then I told them why. Religion as it is taught today is keeping people from God more than bringing them to it. It is all about putting rear ends in seats rather than focusing on what it taught in the beginning.
I am not concerned with this gathering growing, I am more afraid that it will and that is how it should be. The focus should be on telling the truth and teaching the word and showing people how to teach themselves. I think it talks about teaching a man to fish and how he is then set for life rather than giving him a fish, how is spirituality any different?
I don't want anyone to follow me, not in business and not in the church, I have never liked such things. I want people to turn their brains on, wake up to the reality around them, stop chasing the cookies and being willing trained seals and come to their conclusions in a logically consistent manner.
Life is about coming to terms with being ourselves. It is about taking responsibility for our choices and actions and modifying them to reflect our true heart and beliefs. It is about spiritual growth not spiritual death. It is about how important you are, not how unimportant you are and that is why people want to teach you the opposite. Life is not about love, love is the result of a true spiritual understanding of just how important everyone of us is and man, God created you so you matter. Love should be the life decision because we matter.
There are people who will not read my blog when I talk about spirituality, it doesn't stop me and it won't. I don't care if the viewership is one, truthfully, I will write if nobody reads it, they might tomorrow and I want what I write to reflect what I believe.
This coming Sunday I know what I want to see. I wish to see the young lady that said I had busted her boxes sitting in front of me, I need to know her more and I want to see the family of five, whose mother asked me for my blog address to be there, I will be very sad if they are not; but, I would understand. I will feel glad if those people are there because it will mean that I have been of service to them. There are others that I would like to see; but, I do understand that many did it as a favor to my Pastor friend and I am okay with that. I also deeply appreciate it to the ones who did it to be supportive of me, with all my heart.
The first Christians were not given a lesson plan, they were not given a building, they were not given too much. Well, they were given the word and he spoke to them, I didn't get that; but, I got his word and it is enough. Oh, the word was Jesus and he was God and he was with God.
A friend of the Pastor's told the pastor that the fact that I smoked showed that I didn't respect the fact that our body was a temple. Yeah, that is dangerous ground for anyone. He didn't know that I had taught on that and what I taught was discussed with him. Bad theology and legalism does not like me, never has and never will. He failed to understand the term he used or the context in which it was raised. I am a very gentle person and a pacifist, that doesn't require me to be stupid or not know my bible and I will correct people. His focus is on sin rather than redemption and that is wrong.
God is not a cookie and he is not a "reward", he is a sentient being who practices good. We should do the same while understanding what is really important and what is really important is us and God, all sentient beings. You matter and the truth is inside you, my answers don't change too often, my priorities are always us and I don't know how to or want to change that.
I have no idea what I will say on Sunday, I never know and will probably never know in advance. I say what is on my heart and think about issues that challenge me. My intent is more important in preparing than is my message, the message should just flow if my intent is right and it should work, be understood, because it is the truth.
By the way, the "evidence" that the scientists found for us making our decisions prematurely was wrong, it was evidence of intent, of our searching for a pattern, not the actual choice. Humans look for patterns every time we make a decision, it is how we make decisions, we check the odds.
Monday, September 12, 2011
In My Head
This preaching thing is really confusing me. It is a job. I feel as if I have been tricked into this, because I have. I asked my Pastor friend what made him think I could pull this off, he had never heard me speak in public. He said he just knew.
This is funny, how do I tell my children that I have become a Pastor? This is too funny. At least my parents aren't alive to see this. I cuss so much that I come up with new cuss words, I smoke and I drink wine. I am very bad example for young people, don't even think about trying to do this at home. If Robbie reads this she better make a comment, lol.
By the way, my Pastor friend is lucky that I don't cuss on the blog. lol. I know he reads the blog so I thought he should understand a little better who I am. Anyways, I cannot break up a church and if one person comes, I will come.
We debriefed, the Pastor and I. He is grooming me to find this okay, this preaching thing, he has done this before, I have not. This is good, he knows that God still loves him, that is a very important thing to know. I am so very happy that he knows it. God knows that he respects him and loves him. It is tough when we don't think that he does love us; but, he loves us all.
I think that is what I want to talk about this coming Sunday, God created us to love, for him to love, he is always rooting for us, that is why Satan accuses us day and night, he has to. We shall see. Be well.
This is funny, how do I tell my children that I have become a Pastor? This is too funny. At least my parents aren't alive to see this. I cuss so much that I come up with new cuss words, I smoke and I drink wine. I am very bad example for young people, don't even think about trying to do this at home. If Robbie reads this she better make a comment, lol.
By the way, my Pastor friend is lucky that I don't cuss on the blog. lol. I know he reads the blog so I thought he should understand a little better who I am. Anyways, I cannot break up a church and if one person comes, I will come.
We debriefed, the Pastor and I. He is grooming me to find this okay, this preaching thing, he has done this before, I have not. This is good, he knows that God still loves him, that is a very important thing to know. I am so very happy that he knows it. God knows that he respects him and loves him. It is tough when we don't think that he does love us; but, he loves us all.
I think that is what I want to talk about this coming Sunday, God created us to love, for him to love, he is always rooting for us, that is why Satan accuses us day and night, he has to. We shall see. Be well.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
That was tough
Interesting night. I spoke at the church today, that was a different experience. I have spoke in public many times; but, have never given a talk at church. I haven't had a chance to really figure out how it went. There were only about 14 people there, a parking problem had prevented some others from coming. Like I said, it was just going to be a small gathering.
A slew of small things kept my Pastor friend busy so he barely got to hear me. That is kind of a bummer because I wanted to hear what he thought. One young lady, that shared dinner with us later, told me that it got her to think about things in a new way, that felt really good, she also said she was coming next week. Well, that's one.
A friend from work came, I really appreciated that as I know he has a church. He recently was told he would be preaching. One lady asked me for the address of my blog, I gave it to her. Her, her husband and their family are in my heart and prayers.
Now comes the anxiety, how many will show up again and how many will not because of what I have said. That is very worrisome. I think people enjoyed my approach, very conversational and people seemed to find it amusing. I like public speaking, I especially like it when I am talking about something that I am passionate about. When I can see in people's eyes that they get what I am saying and it has meaning to them, sometimes laughter is that recognition that we all got it.
Tonight was unlike any other talk I have given in public. Tonight it mattered, tonight was about souls, about people's hearts. I sure hop I did well.
A slew of small things kept my Pastor friend busy so he barely got to hear me. That is kind of a bummer because I wanted to hear what he thought. One young lady, that shared dinner with us later, told me that it got her to think about things in a new way, that felt really good, she also said she was coming next week. Well, that's one.
A friend from work came, I really appreciated that as I know he has a church. He recently was told he would be preaching. One lady asked me for the address of my blog, I gave it to her. Her, her husband and their family are in my heart and prayers.
Now comes the anxiety, how many will show up again and how many will not because of what I have said. That is very worrisome. I think people enjoyed my approach, very conversational and people seemed to find it amusing. I like public speaking, I especially like it when I am talking about something that I am passionate about. When I can see in people's eyes that they get what I am saying and it has meaning to them, sometimes laughter is that recognition that we all got it.
Tonight was unlike any other talk I have given in public. Tonight it mattered, tonight was about souls, about people's hearts. I sure hop I did well.
DEXTER
Okay, I watch 12 hours of television a year. I watch Dexter. The day I left my house, the day I told my ex-wife that I was losing it and she told me it was my problem, I went to a friends apartment, that was the same day that Dexter put on it's first show. I didn't know where I was or what was going on and my friend sat me down in his living room in Santa Monica and put on the television, it was Dexter.
The show was amazing, no idea what was going to happen. The best writing on television and it distracted me, I have watched every show since. The show starts again on October 2nd, I am actually looking forward to watching it, always surprising.
Today I am giving a sermon, it will not be about Dexter. I don't know what it will be about. Pastor Daniels is on my mind, she drove every Sunday to a town far away on the chance that someone might show up. That is how I feel today, yet, I know there will be at least a few people there, she had a mighty faith and will be my inspiration today, I hope she knows that.
The show was amazing, no idea what was going to happen. The best writing on television and it distracted me, I have watched every show since. The show starts again on October 2nd, I am actually looking forward to watching it, always surprising.
Today I am giving a sermon, it will not be about Dexter. I don't know what it will be about. Pastor Daniels is on my mind, she drove every Sunday to a town far away on the chance that someone might show up. That is how I feel today, yet, I know there will be at least a few people there, she had a mighty faith and will be my inspiration today, I hope she knows that.
Your Best Hope For Us
So here is an easy question, what is the best we can do? Everyone wants to justify their actions, nobody wants to reach for what is best. What are we capable of? What is the best we can be? Find me an atheist that believes in the best we can do, not okay, not right, the best we can do. If you cannot then the best an atheist can do is take care of themselves. You live and you die, that is the best for them, a meaningless life, they might be nice but are incapable of greatness.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
A Chip and a Chair
An old saying in poker is that all you need is a chip and a chair, well here is an article from the Associated Press about how the U.S. gets the chance to catch up on credit card security.
Now, in order to protect you, your credit card and debit cards will have a rfid chip in them that is only for you. Aren't you lucky.
Now, in order to protect you, your credit card and debit cards will have a rfid chip in them that is only for you. Aren't you lucky.
Friday, September 9, 2011
What Shall I Say Sunday
Sunday I am to speak at a church. I don't know how many people will be there and don't know most of them. I do not know what I am going to say, I don't know what my subject will be. Okay, that means I am ready because I don't need to. I don't know how many times I have spoken before others, it always goes well, I just need to know my subject matter.
I don't know what scares me more, if next week there are more or less people. This will be interesting.
I don't know what scares me more, if next week there are more or less people. This will be interesting.
Lets talk Jobs and problems
So what are the biggest problems in the United States. To me the number one is a lack of commitment to one another, it is from that that all the others happen. We cannot make anything work if we are not committed to each other and the goals.
We have gone from being about each other to being about ourselves and momentary pleasure, to having an advantage over others and prosperity (whatever that may mean to the individual). That is what led to the fraud, corruption and shoddy approach to work.
The housing problem is not that we are not selling houses, it is not the value of the houses, it is not that we are not building houses, it is that people cannot afford the houses we have. There are only two ways to deal with that problem, give people bigger paychecks or bring down the price of the houses. It is unlikely that we are going to see people make more, we don't have anything to sell overseas.
What is the problem in the job market, our labor is too expensive and industry was too focused on high returns rather than steady and fair returns. It was also severely warped by basing the value of a company on the value of it's stock rather than it's product. The solution is also simple, we cannot insist upon being better paid than people in other countries making the same product and that includes management. CEO's should not be paid based on the value of the stock; but, instead on the profitability of the company and not for one year's profitability; but, on a multi-year approach (ten or twenty year rolling average for instance).
China has invested trillions in it's infrastructure, we have let ours deteriorate. We do need to upgrade our infrastructure and that is the place to start. With healthy and efficient infrastructure it costs less to produce goods and transport them. That means you can pay your workers more. A new Work Progress Administration is needed and that will put people to work so that they can buy our goods so that our industry can hire people again. That is why I am so disgusted by the lame jobs program announced by President Obama, tax cuts will not get people jobs if we cannot compete with foreign countries.
This new program proposed by the president may pass; but, it won't create any jobs because it does not address the underlying issues and nobody seems willing to. Management wants to keep getting millions of dollars in bonuses even when their companies fail, employees want more money that their labor is worth compared to the rest of the world and nobody wants to pay the taxes that are needed to rebuild this country; therefore, things will not get better. The party is over kids when will we recognize that?
We have gone from being about each other to being about ourselves and momentary pleasure, to having an advantage over others and prosperity (whatever that may mean to the individual). That is what led to the fraud, corruption and shoddy approach to work.
The housing problem is not that we are not selling houses, it is not the value of the houses, it is not that we are not building houses, it is that people cannot afford the houses we have. There are only two ways to deal with that problem, give people bigger paychecks or bring down the price of the houses. It is unlikely that we are going to see people make more, we don't have anything to sell overseas.
What is the problem in the job market, our labor is too expensive and industry was too focused on high returns rather than steady and fair returns. It was also severely warped by basing the value of a company on the value of it's stock rather than it's product. The solution is also simple, we cannot insist upon being better paid than people in other countries making the same product and that includes management. CEO's should not be paid based on the value of the stock; but, instead on the profitability of the company and not for one year's profitability; but, on a multi-year approach (ten or twenty year rolling average for instance).
China has invested trillions in it's infrastructure, we have let ours deteriorate. We do need to upgrade our infrastructure and that is the place to start. With healthy and efficient infrastructure it costs less to produce goods and transport them. That means you can pay your workers more. A new Work Progress Administration is needed and that will put people to work so that they can buy our goods so that our industry can hire people again. That is why I am so disgusted by the lame jobs program announced by President Obama, tax cuts will not get people jobs if we cannot compete with foreign countries.
This new program proposed by the president may pass; but, it won't create any jobs because it does not address the underlying issues and nobody seems willing to. Management wants to keep getting millions of dollars in bonuses even when their companies fail, employees want more money that their labor is worth compared to the rest of the world and nobody wants to pay the taxes that are needed to rebuild this country; therefore, things will not get better. The party is over kids when will we recognize that?
Thursday, September 8, 2011
I Love LA - Randy Newman
Raymond Chandler, Phillip Marlowe, Chinatown, all nice representations of our home. Let's do a little better.
What matters.
What matters.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
A Man Hugged Me and Cried Today
A man cried today because of me. He also hugged me, he was in his late 60's or early 70's. I bought a painting from him, well, I commissioned a painting from him. He does not use computers or cell phones, he will not read this.
The amount was substantial; but, I rarely buy anything for myself, I wanted art and he is an artist. He has not made any art in a couple of decades, I convinced him to do one for me. He gave me a gift today, a numbered print worth almost half of what I am paying him for mine. It was not requested and not expected. He told me how my commission had invigorated him to make art again. Do you understand what the felt like? Do you know what it means to reinvigorate an older man, to see him cry when discuss art with him, to discuss passion?
I have a couple of really crazy beliefs. One is that you can never lend money and expect to get it back, that is a blessing and should not be expected. Another is "Do the right thing for the right reason". I told you I am insane. I also believe in paying a worker his due and I believe that every second is an opportunity to make someone else's day. I told you, completely insane thoughts.
For my new found friend Zuma Dogg, God is in heaven and all is right with the world. We are always exactly where we are supposed to be, when we are there, it is our chance to make choices and define ourselves. Be well kiddies, things are in motion and end games are always the most interesting. Be well.
The amount was substantial; but, I rarely buy anything for myself, I wanted art and he is an artist. He has not made any art in a couple of decades, I convinced him to do one for me. He gave me a gift today, a numbered print worth almost half of what I am paying him for mine. It was not requested and not expected. He told me how my commission had invigorated him to make art again. Do you understand what the felt like? Do you know what it means to reinvigorate an older man, to see him cry when discuss art with him, to discuss passion?
I have a couple of really crazy beliefs. One is that you can never lend money and expect to get it back, that is a blessing and should not be expected. Another is "Do the right thing for the right reason". I told you I am insane. I also believe in paying a worker his due and I believe that every second is an opportunity to make someone else's day. I told you, completely insane thoughts.
For my new found friend Zuma Dogg, God is in heaven and all is right with the world. We are always exactly where we are supposed to be, when we are there, it is our chance to make choices and define ourselves. Be well kiddies, things are in motion and end games are always the most interesting. Be well.
A Little Time with a Friend
Taking a little time off to have dinner with a friend. As a consequence of Zuma Dogg's pointing to this site I have seen triple the amount of viewings. I would like to publicly thank him for his kind words. Peace.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Who Are These People
I have gone back and tagged most of my posts on pension fraud. I have about 800 posts and didn't read them; but, lots of dots. Be well.
CIM Group, who are these people? CIM, it is said, is the third largest property owner in Hollywood. It was started by three people, Mr. Richard Ressler, Mr. Shaul Kuba and Mr. Avi Shemesh.
As for Mr. Ressler, he had previously worked for Drexel Burnham Lambert and founded Orchard Capital Corporation. You might remember Drexel Burnham Lambert because one of their employees, Michael Milken was known as the junk bond king, he was sentenced to 10 years in jail and is one of the 500 wealthiest people in the world. Mr. Ressler's brother, Tony Ressler, is the managing partner of Ares Management. Tony was also a founder of Apollo Management. Tony was also the Senior Vice President in the High Yield Bond Department of Drexel Burnham Lambert.
In regards to Mr. Shaul Kuba we know practically nothing. He had previously founded Dekel Development is all his bio says at CIM's website. Mr. Avi Shemesh, his bio is about identical. An article from Y Net Money, "Tshuva's rescuers: Avi Shemesh, Shaul Kuba".
An article in the Los Angeles Business Journal (found here on allbusiness.com) states the following:
"By 1994, Ressler, by then semi-retired, had started private equity firm Orchard Capital Corp. He was overseeing work on his Westside home when he, Kuba and Shemesh, who had built commercial real estate and landscaping businesses, met to talk about his lawn.
The trio hit it off, and bought a building on Third Street."
CIM Group has almost a billion dollars in assets and has received investments of hundreds of millions of dollars from CalPers, Lacers and other Public Pension Funds. Now when CIM Group first sought investments from CalPers, they hired Alfred Villalobos to lobby for them, we will get back to him. The president of CalPers, at the time, was Sean Harringan, we'll get back to him too.
So how do a couple of Israeli ex-soldiers become so powerful so quick and how did they manage to get so much money from public pensions? Better yet, how come we know practically nothing about these people? Do you buy the story that a couple of landscapers met a retired investment manager and started this company while discussing his lawn?
Lets get back to Alfred Villalobos. Here is a story about Mr. Villalobos' son, he was just convicted on extortion charges. The story is from the Sacramento Bee. Now Mr. Alfred Villalobos is currently being sued by the state for allegedly paying bribes to former CalPERS Chief Executive Federico Buenrostro Jr.
What is interesting is how many of these people have a connection to the City of Los Angeles, it's politicians and it's retirement funds. Seems like one big happy family. I forgot to mention Mr. Ari Swiller. Mr. Swiller, as I mentioned in previous posts, partnered with CIM Group to buy land that LADWP was trying to buy. Mr. Swiller had worked for Ralphs and Mr. Harrigan was a regional director of the United Food and Commercial Workers union. I wonder if they ever met?
Here is a nice article on Mr. Harrigan from the L.A. Times. It is about when he had to resign from the Los Angeles Police and Fire Pension Board. The article also mentions another man, Elliot Broidy, he was the one convicted of bribing members of the New York Pension board in order to get investments.
CIM Group bought a famous Hollywood landmark from a man named Eddie Nash. The L.A. Times reported this in 2007. You might want to read up on him. Mr. Nash who had owned the building for decades said that they had "wore him down". Now, that would be quite an achievement.
I do hope you are enjoying my little story. I forgot to mention that CIM Group, funded by public pensions, bought the Lady Luck Hotel and Casino according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Now if CIM Group planned on opening the casino again, they would have to tell a lot about themselves to the Nevada Gaming Commission. Maybe that is why it is still not open.
Maybe it is just me; but, I would like to know more about Mr. Kuba and Mr. Shemesh seeing as how lots of tax dollars have gone into making them very wealthy. I would like to know what it took to wear down Mr. Nash. I forgot something, New York.
CIM Group has been buying properties in New York, they have partnered with a Mr. Macklowe.
CIM Group, who are these people? CIM, it is said, is the third largest property owner in Hollywood. It was started by three people, Mr. Richard Ressler, Mr. Shaul Kuba and Mr. Avi Shemesh.
As for Mr. Ressler, he had previously worked for Drexel Burnham Lambert and founded Orchard Capital Corporation. You might remember Drexel Burnham Lambert because one of their employees, Michael Milken was known as the junk bond king, he was sentenced to 10 years in jail and is one of the 500 wealthiest people in the world. Mr. Ressler's brother, Tony Ressler, is the managing partner of Ares Management. Tony was also a founder of Apollo Management. Tony was also the Senior Vice President in the High Yield Bond Department of Drexel Burnham Lambert.
In regards to Mr. Shaul Kuba we know practically nothing. He had previously founded Dekel Development is all his bio says at CIM's website. Mr. Avi Shemesh, his bio is about identical. An article from Y Net Money, "Tshuva's rescuers: Avi Shemesh, Shaul Kuba".
An article in the Los Angeles Business Journal (found here on allbusiness.com) states the following:
"By 1994, Ressler, by then semi-retired, had started private equity firm Orchard Capital Corp. He was overseeing work on his Westside home when he, Kuba and Shemesh, who had built commercial real estate and landscaping businesses, met to talk about his lawn.
The trio hit it off, and bought a building on Third Street."
CIM Group has almost a billion dollars in assets and has received investments of hundreds of millions of dollars from CalPers, Lacers and other Public Pension Funds. Now when CIM Group first sought investments from CalPers, they hired Alfred Villalobos to lobby for them, we will get back to him. The president of CalPers, at the time, was Sean Harringan, we'll get back to him too.
So how do a couple of Israeli ex-soldiers become so powerful so quick and how did they manage to get so much money from public pensions? Better yet, how come we know practically nothing about these people? Do you buy the story that a couple of landscapers met a retired investment manager and started this company while discussing his lawn?
Lets get back to Alfred Villalobos. Here is a story about Mr. Villalobos' son, he was just convicted on extortion charges. The story is from the Sacramento Bee. Now Mr. Alfred Villalobos is currently being sued by the state for allegedly paying bribes to former CalPERS Chief Executive Federico Buenrostro Jr.
What is interesting is how many of these people have a connection to the City of Los Angeles, it's politicians and it's retirement funds. Seems like one big happy family. I forgot to mention Mr. Ari Swiller. Mr. Swiller, as I mentioned in previous posts, partnered with CIM Group to buy land that LADWP was trying to buy. Mr. Swiller had worked for Ralphs and Mr. Harrigan was a regional director of the United Food and Commercial Workers union. I wonder if they ever met?
Here is a nice article on Mr. Harrigan from the L.A. Times. It is about when he had to resign from the Los Angeles Police and Fire Pension Board. The article also mentions another man, Elliot Broidy, he was the one convicted of bribing members of the New York Pension board in order to get investments.
CIM Group bought a famous Hollywood landmark from a man named Eddie Nash. The L.A. Times reported this in 2007. You might want to read up on him. Mr. Nash who had owned the building for decades said that they had "wore him down". Now, that would be quite an achievement.
I do hope you are enjoying my little story. I forgot to mention that CIM Group, funded by public pensions, bought the Lady Luck Hotel and Casino according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Now if CIM Group planned on opening the casino again, they would have to tell a lot about themselves to the Nevada Gaming Commission. Maybe that is why it is still not open.
Maybe it is just me; but, I would like to know more about Mr. Kuba and Mr. Shemesh seeing as how lots of tax dollars have gone into making them very wealthy. I would like to know what it took to wear down Mr. Nash. I forgot something, New York.
CIM Group has been buying properties in New York, they have partnered with a Mr. Macklowe.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Excuse Me Kids
Zuma Dogg himself addressed me. Wow. Mr. Zuma Dogg, I will address you in person, soon. You have come here, read my blog and know me first. You are not an idiot and neither am I. Let us know each other. Read my stuff and tell me when you wish to meet.
Labor Day
Lets talk about jobs. The President plans on unveiling his plan on Wednesday. He says he will be focused on infrastructure and roads. They want to put one million people back to work in construction. In Detroit the Mayor is planning of giving houses to police officers. At the same time Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are afraid to drop almost a half a million houses on the market because it will further deflate prices.
By the way, I feel much better today. Back to jobs. As I had told people, the stimulus failed, it was intended to fail. The jobs had to be shovel ready which meant that projects that were designed; but, were not funded (because they weren't good projects) were what was used. Most of the work was contracted out which meant that no permanent or long term jobs were created. Finally, lots of profit for private companies meant low paying, temp jobs. The worst part was that the infrastructure that needed repairs was not addressed much. We need to repair what we have more than make more infrastructure.
The biggest problem we are facing is not jobs and it is not housing, it is the lack of cooperation. We have to want to make things work again, we have to think about all of us rather than just ourselves. We need jobs that will bring us together, a sense of community, a sense that we are all in this together.
We need to have a top down fix. That means putting people in charge who actually care about the work and the workers. We also need workers to think that they are part of a team. How would you organize people to achieve these goals. We need new heroes, not the lazy and privileged, people who actually work for the common goal.
Millions of people have had two years off, two years without work, are they ready to go back to work? What about taking pride in the work we do, are people ready to do that again?
By the way, I feel much better today. Back to jobs. As I had told people, the stimulus failed, it was intended to fail. The jobs had to be shovel ready which meant that projects that were designed; but, were not funded (because they weren't good projects) were what was used. Most of the work was contracted out which meant that no permanent or long term jobs were created. Finally, lots of profit for private companies meant low paying, temp jobs. The worst part was that the infrastructure that needed repairs was not addressed much. We need to repair what we have more than make more infrastructure.
The biggest problem we are facing is not jobs and it is not housing, it is the lack of cooperation. We have to want to make things work again, we have to think about all of us rather than just ourselves. We need jobs that will bring us together, a sense of community, a sense that we are all in this together.
We need to have a top down fix. That means putting people in charge who actually care about the work and the workers. We also need workers to think that they are part of a team. How would you organize people to achieve these goals. We need new heroes, not the lazy and privileged, people who actually work for the common goal.
Millions of people have had two years off, two years without work, are they ready to go back to work? What about taking pride in the work we do, are people ready to do that again?
Sunday, September 4, 2011
My Stomach is Bothering Me
I have a sensitive stomach and sometimes it acts up, like today. Nothing serious. It just makes it hard for me to concentrate on writing. There isn't much in the news worthy of writing about anyways.
For those who are interested in the great pension fraud, here is a nice post by Zuma Dogg. I recommend that you listen to the radio posts.
If you listen to the show, you will hear the speaker talking about a company called Vivendi. Vivendi is into privatizing water companies. Hmmm. Isn't it strange how LADWP seems to be intentionally doing things to upset the residents of Los Angeles? Lets not forget about the CIM Group, remember when they bought that land in Kern County that LADWP wanted to buy; but, after it came out they sold it to the City of Vernon; but, kept the water rights. That deal was never about a solar or wind farm, it was always about the water.
Something I found interesting was that David Martin, Vice President of CIM Group from 1999 to 2009, has just become the Director of Planning for the City of Santa Monica. My guess is that his old job paid better.
Lets follow a trail. Mr. Ari Swiller was a principal in the Yucaipa Private Equity Funds and managed their Board of Advisors with included Bill Clinton and Henry Cisneros. Our friend Zuma Dogg needs to follow the Ari Swiller trail. Mr. Swiller also was a Vice President of Ralphs. Now that is interesting. Now Mr. Swiller was a friend and adviser to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and was a partner in a company with David Freeman who became the General Manager of DWP. Oh yeah, Mr. Swiller also worked for Ron Burkle along with Mr. Villaraigosa, Mr. Burkle, he owns a lot of stock in Ralphs Supermarkets.
Anyways, Ari Swiller and CIM Group partnered together to buy the land in Kern County for the wind farm that LADWP was going to buy. Mr. Villaraigosa said that he had never discussed any of what DWP was doing, nobody ever asked Mr. Freedman. Well that land got sold to the City of Vernon. Recently, John Perez (the Mayor's cousin and speaker of the assembly) attempted to get Vernon decertified as a city; but, just couldn't get the votes. I wonder how serious he was or why anyone would have voted to not decertify Vernon.
Water, unions, Democrats, Redevelopment Agencies, Public Pensions, the Clintons, why do they all keep crossing paths? Did you ever get the feeling that there is an in crowd and that you are not part of it? There is a lady named, Mercedes Marquez, in 2009 she was appointed as Assistant Secretary for HUD's Community Planning and Development. She had previously been the General Manager of the City of Los Angeles' Housing Department. This is the same Housing Department that is under an FBI investigation that has been going on for quite a while.
For those who are interested in the great pension fraud, here is a nice post by Zuma Dogg. I recommend that you listen to the radio posts.
If you listen to the show, you will hear the speaker talking about a company called Vivendi. Vivendi is into privatizing water companies. Hmmm. Isn't it strange how LADWP seems to be intentionally doing things to upset the residents of Los Angeles? Lets not forget about the CIM Group, remember when they bought that land in Kern County that LADWP wanted to buy; but, after it came out they sold it to the City of Vernon; but, kept the water rights. That deal was never about a solar or wind farm, it was always about the water.
Something I found interesting was that David Martin, Vice President of CIM Group from 1999 to 2009, has just become the Director of Planning for the City of Santa Monica. My guess is that his old job paid better.
Lets follow a trail. Mr. Ari Swiller was a principal in the Yucaipa Private Equity Funds and managed their Board of Advisors with included Bill Clinton and Henry Cisneros. Our friend Zuma Dogg needs to follow the Ari Swiller trail. Mr. Swiller also was a Vice President of Ralphs. Now that is interesting. Now Mr. Swiller was a friend and adviser to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and was a partner in a company with David Freeman who became the General Manager of DWP. Oh yeah, Mr. Swiller also worked for Ron Burkle along with Mr. Villaraigosa, Mr. Burkle, he owns a lot of stock in Ralphs Supermarkets.
Anyways, Ari Swiller and CIM Group partnered together to buy the land in Kern County for the wind farm that LADWP was going to buy. Mr. Villaraigosa said that he had never discussed any of what DWP was doing, nobody ever asked Mr. Freedman. Well that land got sold to the City of Vernon. Recently, John Perez (the Mayor's cousin and speaker of the assembly) attempted to get Vernon decertified as a city; but, just couldn't get the votes. I wonder how serious he was or why anyone would have voted to not decertify Vernon.
Water, unions, Democrats, Redevelopment Agencies, Public Pensions, the Clintons, why do they all keep crossing paths? Did you ever get the feeling that there is an in crowd and that you are not part of it? There is a lady named, Mercedes Marquez, in 2009 she was appointed as Assistant Secretary for HUD's Community Planning and Development. She had previously been the General Manager of the City of Los Angeles' Housing Department. This is the same Housing Department that is under an FBI investigation that has been going on for quite a while.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Almost Had a Thought
So what defines us the most? What makes us, us? Emotions, choices, control over both or either? What do you treasure, is it things or being you? Would you trade being you, free will, for absolute pleasure?
If you will not trade pleasure for being you, then how much pain can you take to be you? I mean, how much pain are you willing to take to be you?
Heaven is reached when you have met your limits, when you know who you are. When you define yourself and have faced all of your fears, proven yourself to be you, then you experience your heaven. If you choose X over Y then you have chosen your destination.
If you will not trade pleasure for being you, then how much pain can you take to be you? I mean, how much pain are you willing to take to be you?
Heaven is reached when you have met your limits, when you know who you are. When you define yourself and have faced all of your fears, proven yourself to be you, then you experience your heaven. If you choose X over Y then you have chosen your destination.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Transhumanism and the Bible
I was reading some articles and came across one on transhumanism. I have written about it and the singularity a few times on this blog.
Rapture Ready - John McTernan - Singularity and The Image of the Beast
Here is a video on the subject. Infiltrated Nation: Pandemonium's Engine.
Now, if you wish, ignore the religious aspects; but, do not ignore what is going on and where science is headed, this is scary stuff. I strongly urge my readers to watch the whole video and if you are a believer then I recommend the article.
43 minutes into the video the speaker mentions a congressman, Mr. Brad Sherman. He is the same person who changed when daylight savings time begins and is also the congressman who stated that some congressman had been told that if the TARP bill had not been passed that we would have had Marshall law.
After reading what Mr. McTernan wrote, I decided to go back and read parts of Revelations. In Revelations it says that Satan is thrown down from heaven and only has a little bit of time. It seems that Satan was going back and forth between earth and heaven and then is not allowed back up; but, that is how he knows his time is limited. Lets look at what it says he does.
Revelations 12:13 says that once Satan understood that he was not going back up to heaven he went after the woman who had given birth to the child. This child is someone special. What is interesting is that rather than go after the child, Satan goes after the woman that gave birth to him. Perhaps the child is protected as he grows; but, why go after the woman at all? Perhaps to upset the child or effect his upbringing. The next thing that happens is that the woman is flown into the desert and Satan unleashes a river of water to kill her; but, it fails. Satan then goes after her other children who are Christians.
After all that a beast comes out of the ocean, many believe this to be a form of government and it is usually assumed to be the European Union. "The Beast", this supposed government is given great authority and Satan's throne. Now we know that Satan is the prince of this world therefore it appears that Satan allows this organization to run the earth, why would he do that? Maybe to show that we are incapable of managing ourselves?
In Revelations 13:3 we are told that one of the heads of the beast (some country maybe) was dealt a fatal wound; but, was able to heal itself and it amazed the world. Given the current economic situation it is easy to see a country go completely bankrupt, find a solution to the problem and become the wealthiest of all. That would be something that would cause other nations to follow in it's footsteps.
The beast is given 3 1/2 years to speak arrogant and blasphemous things. This beast is given authority over all the world and the right to make war against believers. In Revelations 13:11 we are told a second beast will come out of the earth. Beast one comes from the sea (an Island Nation) and beast two comes from the land. Beast two appears friendly enough; but, speaks like Satan. This probably refers to the fact that the second nation will be all about doing what you want.
It is possible that these beasts are the leaders of nations rather than nations themselves. Please remember that Revelations is the hardest of all the books to understand and is very much filled with imagery. It says the second beast will make everybody worship the first beast. This second beast does miraculous things including making fire come down from heaven in front of people.
Revelations 13:14 says something odd. It says, "And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live." Now I couldn't have said what I am going to say thirty years ago; but, I can now.
An image is a representation of something. Currently computers are being programmed to imitate human thinking, the algorithms of the internet are images of human thinking. As we continually allow the internet to do our thinking for us we become more controlled by it. You see the singularity is already here, it is the algorithms of the internet. You need to get scared at this point.
The new leader tells the people that they must make an image of the beast. Think of it this way, a brilliant leaders is duplicated as the logic and thinking of the internet, the gatekeeper to what you are able to read and see and interact with over the internet. Yes, this is already possible and I have written about it before.
The second beast gives the image breath, the power of life. This new being requires all to worship it and any who refuse are allowed to be killed. Now, this is when all are required to have a mark in order to buy or sell. That is when the bad stuff happens.
Now I could be completely off, this is a hypothetical. Lets think about it though. Artificial intelligence is getting better and better. Think about the video games that you play. Some of you may remember an article I wrote a long time ago about how the U.S. Air Force had put a whole bunch of Playstations together to create a super computer.
Now if all that I have said sounds crazy (and personally I think what we are doing is) then wait till you follow this link.
Cornell Creative Machines Lab - AI vs, AI: Two chatbots talking to each other. As you can see, the intent is to use bots to learn how we think and then fool us into believing we are dealing with humans when in fact we are dealing with artificial intelligence. Your children may well be taught by artificial intelligence rather than real humans. At that point, he who controls the artificial intelligence controls what humans learn.
Rapture Ready - John McTernan - Singularity and The Image of the Beast
Here is a video on the subject. Infiltrated Nation: Pandemonium's Engine.
Now, if you wish, ignore the religious aspects; but, do not ignore what is going on and where science is headed, this is scary stuff. I strongly urge my readers to watch the whole video and if you are a believer then I recommend the article.
43 minutes into the video the speaker mentions a congressman, Mr. Brad Sherman. He is the same person who changed when daylight savings time begins and is also the congressman who stated that some congressman had been told that if the TARP bill had not been passed that we would have had Marshall law.
After reading what Mr. McTernan wrote, I decided to go back and read parts of Revelations. In Revelations it says that Satan is thrown down from heaven and only has a little bit of time. It seems that Satan was going back and forth between earth and heaven and then is not allowed back up; but, that is how he knows his time is limited. Lets look at what it says he does.
Revelations 12:13 says that once Satan understood that he was not going back up to heaven he went after the woman who had given birth to the child. This child is someone special. What is interesting is that rather than go after the child, Satan goes after the woman that gave birth to him. Perhaps the child is protected as he grows; but, why go after the woman at all? Perhaps to upset the child or effect his upbringing. The next thing that happens is that the woman is flown into the desert and Satan unleashes a river of water to kill her; but, it fails. Satan then goes after her other children who are Christians.
After all that a beast comes out of the ocean, many believe this to be a form of government and it is usually assumed to be the European Union. "The Beast", this supposed government is given great authority and Satan's throne. Now we know that Satan is the prince of this world therefore it appears that Satan allows this organization to run the earth, why would he do that? Maybe to show that we are incapable of managing ourselves?
In Revelations 13:3 we are told that one of the heads of the beast (some country maybe) was dealt a fatal wound; but, was able to heal itself and it amazed the world. Given the current economic situation it is easy to see a country go completely bankrupt, find a solution to the problem and become the wealthiest of all. That would be something that would cause other nations to follow in it's footsteps.
The beast is given 3 1/2 years to speak arrogant and blasphemous things. This beast is given authority over all the world and the right to make war against believers. In Revelations 13:11 we are told a second beast will come out of the earth. Beast one comes from the sea (an Island Nation) and beast two comes from the land. Beast two appears friendly enough; but, speaks like Satan. This probably refers to the fact that the second nation will be all about doing what you want.
It is possible that these beasts are the leaders of nations rather than nations themselves. Please remember that Revelations is the hardest of all the books to understand and is very much filled with imagery. It says the second beast will make everybody worship the first beast. This second beast does miraculous things including making fire come down from heaven in front of people.
Revelations 13:14 says something odd. It says, "And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live." Now I couldn't have said what I am going to say thirty years ago; but, I can now.
An image is a representation of something. Currently computers are being programmed to imitate human thinking, the algorithms of the internet are images of human thinking. As we continually allow the internet to do our thinking for us we become more controlled by it. You see the singularity is already here, it is the algorithms of the internet. You need to get scared at this point.
The new leader tells the people that they must make an image of the beast. Think of it this way, a brilliant leaders is duplicated as the logic and thinking of the internet, the gatekeeper to what you are able to read and see and interact with over the internet. Yes, this is already possible and I have written about it before.
The second beast gives the image breath, the power of life. This new being requires all to worship it and any who refuse are allowed to be killed. Now, this is when all are required to have a mark in order to buy or sell. That is when the bad stuff happens.
Now I could be completely off, this is a hypothetical. Lets think about it though. Artificial intelligence is getting better and better. Think about the video games that you play. Some of you may remember an article I wrote a long time ago about how the U.S. Air Force had put a whole bunch of Playstations together to create a super computer.
Now if all that I have said sounds crazy (and personally I think what we are doing is) then wait till you follow this link.
Cornell Creative Machines Lab - AI vs, AI: Two chatbots talking to each other. As you can see, the intent is to use bots to learn how we think and then fool us into believing we are dealing with humans when in fact we are dealing with artificial intelligence. Your children may well be taught by artificial intelligence rather than real humans. At that point, he who controls the artificial intelligence controls what humans learn.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)