TIME TO WAKE UP?
Time for just about all of us to really wake up!
News and views of Constance Cumbey concerning "Radical Middle", New Age Movement, Communitarianism, "planetary humanism," "global governance," European Union, Javier Solana, Jeremy Rifkin, "New Age Politics," law in the USA, combined with life in general -- sometimes humorous, sometimes not!
"Brussels - The European Union's top diplomat, Javier Solana, plans to tour the Middle East next week as part of international efforts to find a resolution to the Israeli-Arab conflict, officials in Brussels said Friday. Solana, whose official title is "EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy", is expected in Damascus on Sunday for meetings with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and Foreign Minister Walid Al-Mouallem."On Monday, Solana travels to Israel for talks with President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli government ministers."Those meetings will take place against the backdrop of a simmering row between Israel and Sweden, the current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, over a recent Swedish tabloid report alleging that Israeli soldiers stole the organs of Palestinian children."Solana will then head to Ramallah, where he plans to meet Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and officials from the EU's EUPOL mission, which is providing training and equipment to the local police force."The EU foreign policy chief will on Tuesday head to Beirut before evening talks in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak."
Senator Ted Kennedy died very early this morning. His sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, preceded him in death only a few short weeks ago. I once met the Senator and his son Ted Kennedy, Jr. at Cobo Hall. His son Ted Kennedy, Jr. was a teenager then. I chatted at some length with young Patrick Kennedy and was introduced to Senator Kennedy in a private meeting room where I was privileged to be invited into a high level Democratic Party cloistered meeting. I was active in the Michigan Democratic Party in those days. His son had lost a leg to cancer. He was a nice, polite young man. His father seemed to connect with all in the room.
Certainly, as with us all, myself included, Ted Kennedy had his human flaws and imperfections. His attitude on what he called "narrowness" referring to "Christian fundamentalism" or "narrowness of any type" distressed me. Nevertheless, his sponsorship of the Civil Rights Act, Americans with Disabilities Act and many other legislative endeavors made a change in many peoples lives, ours included for the better. (My husband lost both legs above the knees in an October 15, 1979 accident.)
Jesus said that the commandments were summed as follows:
THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, ALL THY MIND, AND ALL THY SOUL A N D THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
The EU attacks press freedom in Moldova
Javier Solana's spokesperson sent the following letter to "Jurnal de Chisinau", a leading independent newspaper in Moldova:
Brussels, 14 August 2009
Mrs. Rodica Mahu
Editor in Chief
Jurnal de Chisinau
Dear Ms. Rodica Mahu,
The European Union expresses bewilderment with the article published on the website jurnal.md on August 12 and in the newspaper "Jurnal de Chisinau", on August 14. The article contains unsubstantiated allegations of criminal activities and treachery allegedly committed by the Special Representative of the European Union (EUSR) for Moldova, Mr Kalman Mizsei. We expect from a professional mass media organisation that any article containing such serious allegations be carefully examined by the editor-in-chief, using established codes of ethics and the professional journalistic practices of verification of information.
The EUSR, Mr Kalman Mizsei, enjoys the full confidence of the High Representative of the European Union, Mr. Javier Solana, and of the Foreign Ministers from all 27 EU Member States who on an annual basis have reconfirmed that trust by extending his mandate. We expect above-mentioned article to be removed from the site jurnal.md, and that a denial will be published in next edition of Jurnal de Chisinau.
Regards,
(signed)
Cristina GallaghSpokesperson of the SG / HR Javier Solana"
"Arriving in the United States in 1964, Sri Chinmoy had vast ambitions. He aimed to infiltrate the United Nations, win a Nobel Prize and gain a worldwide following. His disciples were to lead austere, celibate lives, devoting themselves and their financial resources entirely to his mission. In 1970 when my mother became pregnant — a clear breach of the rules — the guru saved face by divining me as his chosen soul.I was raised in the ashram of this man who declared himself an incarnation of God. Before I could walk, my parents dressed me in a sari and took me on their recruiting trips. Instead of acting in school plays and playing soccer, I distributed leaflets proclaiming the guru's divinity from parade floats that wound through city streets. I spent summers scrubbing the cages of the zoo housed in the basement of the guru's Queens home.
When Chinmoy wanted to attract more media attention, he staged elaborate weightlifting feats, hoisting elephants, helicopters and even Nelson Mandela and Mikhail Gorbachev — a smoke-and-mirrors spectacle I never understood. How could lifting elephants illuminate and ultimately transform the world? When I was a teenager, the guru's strict rules banning all contact and relationships with the "outside" world provoked questions and longings for everything he forbade — college, career and family. When he told me to neglect the mind and forever remain in the heart "like a 7-year-old," I finally realized that he was a narcissistic charlatan, shamelessly exploiting the faithful.
"At 25, older than my parents had been when they renounced the world to serve the guru, I was formally banished, losing all my connections to the community I'd known since birth. Fortunately, I was young enough to forge a life on my own terms.
"For years, I have struggled with the reckless decision of some in my parents' generation to entrust their present and future to those who claimed to be spiritually enlightened. Cultural historians today portray the '60s as a unique time. I hope they are right. That is, I hope that the cast of corrupt opportunists — gurus, prophets and messiahs — who profited from others' naive belief is indeed a unique '60s phenomenon, safely encapsulated in those glossy anniversary books."
Well, so much for "peace, light, and love." I am going to do my level best to track Professor Tamm down and interview her on my internet radio show.
Stay tuned!
CONSTANCE
"The Transportation Security Administration wants to know more about who's boarding commercial flights in the United States."Beginning Saturday [August 15], the federal agency will begin collecting additional data from airline passengers at booking time, including [not limited to?] full name, date of birth and gender."That data must match whatever is on the form of government-issued identification . . ."The new requirement will affect all airline bookings made beginning Aug. 15 and is just the first phase of a larger program called Secure Flight.""That program's goal is to vet 100 percent of airline passengers through the TSA's watch lists by next year . . ."
A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as a security operative for the company have made a series of explosive allegations in sworn statements filed on August 3 in federal court in Virginia. The two men claim that the company's owner, Erik Prince, may have murdered or facilitated the murder of individuals who were cooperating with federal authorities investigating the company. The former employee also alleges that Prince "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe," and that Prince's companies "encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life."