Michael Savage on Civilian National Security Force of Barack Hussein Obama and Upcoming Fears – Aired on January 20, 2009
Gianni Vattimo on Freedom of information in Italy
Speech by Gianni Vattimo MEP (ALDE-ADLE) on : Freedom of information in Italy [MEP Speech] [Language IT original] Vattimo_091008_101314_mesp_it
Latest Church And State Auctions
Hey, check out these auctions:
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Ghana Sits on Borrowed Money & Borrowed Time
Ghana Sits on Borrowed Money & Borrowed Time
The World Bank Ghana Country Office’s Conference Room was the scene of lively discussions and startling revelations on Friday last week (18th June 2010).
Read more on Ghanaweb.com
Kyrgyz vote on constitution aims to legitimize interim leaders; investigators dig up corpses
Kyrgyz vote on constitution aims to legitimize interim leaders; investigators dig up corpses
Kyrgyzstan holds a referendum on a new constitution Sunday, a risky gamble amid deadly ethnic tensions but one the interim government hopes will legitimize its power until new elections in October.
Read more on Times & Transcript
Chief of Staff receives National Freedom Award
Image taken on 2010-02-15 03:39:52 by The U.S. Army.
Tuning The C’s Of Freedom
Being a performer all of my life I’ve come to see that the formula for freedom has existed around me every day of my life. Whether it is through music or business the parallels are undeniable.
Many folks have heard of the Pythagorean theorem which says “In any right triangle, the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side of a right triangle opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of areas of the squares whose sides are the two legs (i.e. the two sides other than the hypotenuse) or more simply a squared + b squared = c squared.
Pythagoras went on to discover a relationship in mathematics in harmonic relationships where sounding a fundamental note produce a series of overtones.
What does this really mean to you the reader? Simply this – when an initial choice is made (or note is sounded) that is fully resonant with who you are, it instantly sets up a chain of events that will create abundance.
So starting with lowest C on the piano…
C1 is Choice. What are you choosing? Choose – choose the Freedom path – the abundance. There are many different words for freedom including love, joy, happiness, peace of mind.
If you don’t choose freedom I assure you – you are choosing fear. Remember, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. If you think that someone else has chosen for you, consider that you have chosen to abdicate your choice.
The choice when sounded in perfect resonance with our being has the ability to produce a series of overtones that all at once encompasses all of the “C’s” contained in this list. You may find that you’ll revisit major choices as each choice continues to bring you into alignment with your greater purpose and/or passion.
Remember the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Each of the following “C’s” is within the realm of “choice”. You will make a choice to be clear, to be clear, to communicate, to change, to create, to consent, to commit and to connect.
What will your choices be right now?
C2 is Clarity. Where are you going? Looking backward or looking forward? Be clear about your freedom, about what you desire. The more precise you are about your desire the faster it will be realized.
If your choice is something you aspire “toward” you have a greater opportunity of achieving the desired end result and continuing to progress beyond that level. If, on the other hand, your goal is something that you desire because it is in hopes of “moving away from” something else, you will come back and see that “negative result” either in the same form or some variation on a theme.
Consider the fact that basing your performance on proving to someone else that you are not a failure, slacker or incompetent doesn’t give you the ultimate satisfaction or freedom you are looking for. As Henry Thoreau stated, “When one advances confidently in the direction of one’s dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with success unexpected in common hours.” While he used the word confidently – one could just as easily insert “clearly” and maintain the same intent.
In business if all you are asking for is “more” money then a penny works. If you want a lot more money then $100 might work; the word “lot” is subjective. It’s not clear. Think about the words small vs. large, tall vs. short, hot vs. cold – these words fall short of creating clear outcomes. Be clear.
C3 is Communicate. Be willing to put it out there – ASK. Allow your whole being to communicate the openness; through your thoughts words and actions. Use words that communicate abundance. Be part of the solution remembering there are no problems just limited thinking.
Stay focused on your desires. Remember that Mother Theresa wouldn’t attend an “Anti-War” Rally but she would attend a “Peace” Rally.
Dress for success and allow your appearance to communicate prosperity. Clean out your thinking by communicating with yourself the idea that you believe in what you have to offer. Communicate your passion and pride in yourself and your performance, product or service at all times.
C4 is Change. In nature everything is dynamic, it always changes. Use a journal to assist you in self-observation of change. The person you are today is not the same as the person you were yesterday, let alone a year ago.
Like all of nature the change may happen so gradually you may not notice it until someone or something else calls it to your attention. As a vocalist the skill of breath management happens while one is focusing on the total aspect of performing. In business there are few things that “never change”. You may see mineral ingredients improve or technology improve but time marches on and growth is desired on so be flexible and change.
C5 is Creation. Allow yourself to be in the creative phase of “who you are”. Be passionate about what you are bringing to the world and create an environment that allows the abundance.
If your performance preparation is uncomfortable consider the choices that have brought you to this moment in time. If your place of business is so cluttered that there is no room to allow in the new systems, equipment, supplies or products you are effectively saying that you don’t really want what you are asking for and you will find yourself looping by experiencing that feast and famine routine.
Do whatever it takes and make a statement to yourself by creating the space of abundance.
C6 is Consent. When you are given the opportunity to soar say “YES”! Recognize that freedom is there just for the allowing. The freedom is around you at all times.
The first five steps opened up the channel and the key is to remember that you have the choice to allow it in. However you define freedom – accept it, allow it. Consent to receiving it.
While in the “working”, “striving”, “pursuit” of excellence, of your dreams and goals, remember they are already there so consider allowing more and “pursuing” less.
C7 is Commitment. Be willing to follow your passion – your dream – your purpose and willing to always go back to C1. It may be that the path you’ve been on no longer serves you and you are best served by following a new path.
At all times be committed to your path of freedom. When things don’t look as positive as you’d like, go back to the first C of “choice” and make the choice again. Remember these words of Aristotle, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”
Allow your habits to be committed to YOUR excellence.
C8 is Connection. Everything is connected and be aware that there are no accidents or coincidences. Allow yourself to make the connections by using all of your senses. Consider letting your mind, body and spirit become connected.
Allow yourself to function as a whole being, not some separated automaton that has allowed the labels of society to compartmentalize the different hats you may wear throughout your daily life. You may learn much more in one moment of true connection that you ever could even if you read all of the books in the Library of Congress.
There is a universal connection that propagates all thought. Be open to the opportunities that are around you. If you have set your intention on a specific outcome stay connected to the fact that you are receiving feedback from the moment that you stated your intent.
Kira Wagner is a living example of recognizing choices to achieve tremendous results. Born to blind parents, she’s aware that the only handicaps are those we place on ourselves.
Kira Wagner is a speaker, writer and seminar leader. For additional information visit my website at http://www.freedomsformula.com.
Peace Quadriga, Constitution Hill, London (LOC)
Image taken on 1910-01-01 00:00:00 by The Library of Congress.
President Obama, a Christian formed in the American Black church
Considered a man of faith, Barack Obama, the American President of the United States, is formed as a Christian. The Reverend Jeremiah Wright, pastor Trinity United Church of Christ (TUCC), Chicago, where the Obama’s worshiped for 20 years in Illinois is his Obama’s former minister. What kind of Christian was the Church? The church website proclaims: “We are a congregation which is unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian…”
Trinity United Church of Christ occupies a tan brick building on West 95th Street across railroad tracks from a public housing project, reports The Christian Science Monitor.
The President said about leaving, “Too much press harassment, people couldn’t’ worship in peace.” That wasn’t his reason for leaving, but a complaint on the news media attention. The reasons were politically controversial remarks by Trinity’s pastor, Reverend Wright.
Wright’s comments contradicted one of Obama’s central messages — that the candidate can transcend past divisions such as those involving race.
Regarding the Church, on Bill Moyers Journal, Wright says we are unashamedly Black. His philosophy embodies, “Use the culture of which we are a part.” He preaches there is hope, that life has meaning, and that God is still in control. “We can change. We can do better.” Black Liberation theology is Wright’s United Church of Christ (UCC) message. It is a UCC message he offers, since he is a UCC minister who studied under Martin Marty. Martin E. Marty, distinguished Lutheran Pastor, teacher, and writer who has been on the University of Chicago faculty since 1963.
Grounded in the history of the African-American, Black theology is powerful stuff. He is little sorry about his comments, but in Bill Moyer’s interview, Reverend Wright does appear sorry he made the comment “God damn America” in the Pulpit-if only for a few moments. But it wasn’t one remark, but a string of them that caused the significant distancing between the candidate’s spiritual advisor and then candidate.
The press in the United States spent a lot of time and space talking about President Obama’s faith during the campaign, his church, and how he is a Christian-the President said he is Christian himself, and that is also news. Religion makes news, despite separation of Church and State. Time magazine says more voters saw President Obama as a strongly religious person than they did every major presidential hopeful during the campaign but Mitt Romney, the Republican former governor of Massachusetts. Romney’s Mormonism drew extensive news coverage.
President Obama was married in Trinity church. His children were baptized in the church, and also like his wedding, Reverend Wright performed the solemnizations. The President said on leaving the church, “Trinity was where I found Jesus Christ, where we were married, where our children were baptized. We have many friends among the 8,000 members…” It is a church where he was moved many times. When Wright preached one Sunday about the sustaining power of hope in the face of poverty and despair, Obama says he found himself in tears.
He said in one speech during the Presidential campaign:
* “For one thing, I believed and still believe in the power of the African-American religious tradition to spur social change… Because of its past, the black church understands in an intimate way the Biblical call to feed the hungry and clothe the naked and challenge powers and principalities. And in its historical struggles for freedom and the rights of man, I was able to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death, but rather as an active, palpable agent in the world. As a source of hope.”
It is the claim of Reverend Jeremiah Wright that Trinity is a church of Black theology. The Reverend Doctor John Cone, the Harvard Professor and African-American theologian interviewed on American Public Broadcasting System (PBS) by commentator Bill Moyers says on the PBS website:
* “As we examine what contemporary theologians are saying, we find that they are silent about the enslaved condition of black people. Evidently they see no relationship between black slavery and the Christian gospel. Consequently there has been no sharp confrontation of the gospel with white racism. There is, then, a desperate need for a black theology, a theology whose sole purpose is to apply the freeing power of the gospel to black people under white oppression.”
Cone says:
* The Cross is the same as the lynching tree for the Black American in a Harvard Speech. The Christian Reverend Cone wants to start a conversation on this subject. He offers that lynching was terrorism that “worked to a certain degree.” This includes spectacle lynchings where 5,000 would gather to watch.
Religion is one place where you have an imagination that no one can control.” Black Churches are a place of the spirit… (even though you are living under the shadow of the lynching tree).” … There were 246 years of slavery, and 100 years of segregation and lynching. America does not see itself as “not innocent,” according to Cone. “No human being is innocent.”
Reverend Cone is ordained in the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago. which is one of the city’s largest black churches and not far from Obama’s home in the South Side neighborhood of Hyde Park.
Apparently the President did not turning his back on Black theology yet, per se, since he spoke from the pulpit at that same mega-church in Chicago, which has 20,000 members and is also considered a Black American church. This in 2008.
It is the history of the African American church in the United States that it is a center of Black community life speaking to the needs of the church and larger community in social and political ways. But not in so partisan a manner as was recently ascribed to the theology and preaching of the Reverend Wright. So the perception became. But he still associates himself with the African American church in general.
President Obama spoke of the role of Black fathers and their responsibilities, perhaps more a campaign speech than sermon from a “religious” man whose campaign motto is “Change That Works for You.” Will he again become a member of a Black Church while serving in Washington, D.C. Time will tell. Nonetheless, there his Christian roots lie.
It is from the Black Church that President Obama learned many things about hope. Can he really take himself out of the African-American church ethos, as he has known it? Perhaps the Reverend Wright thinks not, though he is not saying. His official press release remark on then President Obama and his family’s leaving was, “…We are saddened by the news …”
Peter Menkin, an aspiring poet, lives in Mill Valley, CA USA (north of San Francisco).
My blog:
http://www.petermenkin.blogspot.com
