Perhaps you think a sixty-year-old threat posed by Axis of Evil - The Original Series leaders such as Benito Mussolini and Adolf "The Austrian" Hitler has nothing to do with your daily bread and meat. But you would be wrong, Mr. American meatloaf eater. It is precisely this type of apathetic dystopia that has kept citizens of the United States in the dark as to what words like "dystopia" really mean.

I first became aware of the Food Domination Network when, back in 1999, I was handed a copy of the Secret Chinese Menu. My wife (who grew up in Japan) and I (America) visited a local yet popular Chinese restaurant. The waiter (Pittsburg), mistaking my wife for someone of Chinese descent, spoke a message in Chinese code-speak and handed her the "secret menu."

This was not your typical Chinese restaurant menu, oh no. Gone were the traditional and authentic Mandarin, Szechwan, and Cantonese treats such as chop suey, glow-in-the-dark sweet and sour pork, fried rice with mini pork McNuggets, sushi, and Coca Cola. In their place were pictures of foods that were every bit as foreign as the Chinese characters that identified them. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't decipher the mystery of this bill of fare. It was as if the entire Chinese nation was collectively laughing at our inability to even feed ourselves. Perhaps the paper wasn't even a menu, but an encoded message meant only for Chinese spies. I trembled at the thought of what maniacal plan was being hatched right here in this local strip mall. I heard the voice of Chairman Mao issuing veiled threats through the mystery document: "First we took back Hong Kong, then Macao, and NEXT WE ARE COMING FOR YOU, VILE AMERICAN FOOD CONSUMER! BWAH HA HA HA HA!"

The waiter, on hearing that we were thinking in all upper-case letters, came and quickly swapped out the Top Secret Plans for ordinary Chinese menus. Shaken to my core, I lost much of my appetite, and was only able to eat some hot and sour soup, moo shu pork, General Tso's chicken, shrimp chow mein, vegetable delight with water chestnuts, and copious quantities of Jasmine tea. I was hungry again an hour later.

Fast forward to the twenty-first century and you will continue to see foreign powers attempting to infiltrate our taste buds through nefarious means. Japan, considered one of our most powerful and loyal allies, continues to spread its gastronomic influence worldwide through supposed entertainments such as the "Iron Chef" television program and Benihana restaurants. Why do we continue to fall into their trap? Didn't we get over someone cutting our meat for us when we were eight years old? Sadly, as a young nation, we Americans are naïve when it comes to issues of food and global dictatorial conquest. Were it not for the brave efforts of chef-spies like Julia Child, the terrorists might have already won.

Sadly, Julia is no longer with us. But we can rest safe in the knowledge that new chefs have taken up the mantle of defending our taste borders, chefs such as Wolfgang Puck, Martin Yan, Masaharu Morimoto, and Jacques Pepin.

I wonder where you can find some good Russian food?

The Republican candidate for president is a warmonger. There are no checks remaining in the Republican Party on the neocons’ proclivity for war. What Republican constituencies oppose war? Can anyone name one?

August 18, 2008

Article from vdare.com by Paul Craig Roberts

Pervez Musharraf, the puppet installed by the US to rule Pakistan in the interest of US hegemony, resigned August 18 to avoid impeachment. Karl Rove and the Diebold electronic voting machines were unable to control the result of the last election in Pakistan, the result of which gave Pakistanis a bigger voice in their government than America's.

It was obvious to anyone with any sense—which excludes the entire Bush Regime and almost all of the "foreign policy community"—that the illegal and gratuitous US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and Israel's 2006 bombing of Lebanon civilians with US blessing, would result in the overthrow of America's Pakistani puppet.

The imbecilic Bush Regime ensured Musharraf's overthrow by pressuring their puppet to conduct military operations against tribesmen in Pakistani border areas, whose loyalties were to fellow Muslims and not to American hegemony. When Musharraf's military operations didn't produce the desired result, the idiotic Americans began conducting their own military operations within Pakistan with bombs and missiles. This finished off Musharraf.

When the Bush Regime began its wars in the Middle East, I predicted, correctly, that Musharraf would be one victim. The American puppets in Egypt and Jordan may be the next to go.

Back during the Nixon years, my Ph.D. dissertation chairman, Warren Nutter, was Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. One day in his Pentagon office I asked him how the US government got foreign governments to do what the US wanted. "Money," he replied.

"You mean foreign aid?" I asked.

"No," he replied, "we just buy the leaders with money."

It wasn't a policy he had implemented. He inherited it and, although the policy rankled with him, he could do nothing about it. Nutter believed in persuasion and that if you could not persuade people, you did not have a policy.

Nutter did not mean merely third world potentates were bought. He meant the leaders of England, France, Germany, Italy, all the allies everywhere were bought and paid for.

They were allies because they were paid. Consider Tony Blair. Blair's own head of British intelligence told him that the Americans were fabricating the evidence to justify their already planned attack on Iraq. This was fine with Blair, and you can see why with his multi- million dollar payoff once he was out of office.

The American-educated thug, Saakashkvili the War Criminal, who is president of Georgia, was installed by the US taxpayer funded National Endowment for Democracy, a neocon operation whose purpose is to ring Russia with US military bases, so that America can exert hegemony over Russia.

Every agreement that President Reagan made with Mikhail Gorbachev has been broken by Reagan's successors. Reagan's was the last American government whose foreign policy was not made by the Israeli-allied neoconservatives. During the Reagan years, the neocons made several runs at it, but each ended in disaster for Reagan, and he eventually drove the modern day French Jacobins from his government.

Even the anti-Soviet Committee on the Present Danger regarded the neocons as dangerous lunatics. I remember the meeting when a member tried to bring the neocons into the committee, and old line American establishment representatives, such as former Treasury Secretary Douglas Dillon, hit the roof.

The Committee on the Present Danger regarded the neocons as crazy people who would get America into a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. The neocons hated President Reagan, because he ended the cold war with diplomacy, when they desired a military victory over the Soviet Union.

Deprived of this, the neocons now want victory over Russia.

Today, Reagan is gone. The Republican Establishment is gone. There are no conservative power centers, only neoconservative power centers closely allied with Israel, which uses the billions of dollars funneled into Israeli coffers by US taxpayers to influence US elections and foreign policy.

The Republican candidate for president is a warmonger. There are no checks remaining in the Republican Party on the neocons' proclivity for war. What Republican constituencies oppose war? Can anyone name one?

The Democrats are not much better, but they have some constituencies that are not enamored of war in order to establish US world hegemony. The Rapture Evangelicals, who fervently desire Armageddon, are not Democrats; nor are the brainwashed Brownshirts desperate to vent their frustrations by striking at someone, somewhere, anywhere.

I get emails from these Brownshirts and attest that their hate-filled ignorance is extraordinary. They are all Republicans, and yet they think they are conservatives. They have no idea who I am, but since I criticize the Bush Regime and America's belligerent foreign policy, they think I am a "liberal commie pinko."

The only literate sentence this legion of imbeciles has ever managed is: "If you hate America so much, why don't you move to Cuba!"

Such is the current state of a Reagan political appointee in today's Republican Party. He is a "liberal commie pinko" who should move to Cuba.

The Republicans will get us into more wars. Indeed, they live for war. McCain is preaching war for 100 years. For these warmongers, it is like cheering for your home team. Win at all costs. They get a vicarious pleasure out of war. If the US has to tell lies in order to attack countries, what's wrong with that? "If we don't kill them over there, they will kill us over here."

The mindlessness is total.

Nothing real issues from the American media. The media is about demonizing Russia and Iran, about the vice presidential choices as if it matters, about whether Obama being on vacation let McCain score too many points.

The mindlessness of the news reflects the mindlessness of the government, for which it is a spokesperson.

The American media does not serve American democracy or American interests. It serves the few people who exercise power.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, the US and Israel made a run at controlling Russia and the former constituent parts of its empire. For awhile the US and Israel succeeded, but Putin put a stop to it.

Recognizing that the US had no intention of keeping any of the agreements it had made with Gorbachev, Putin directed the Russian military budget to upgrading the Russian nuclear deterrent. Consequently, the Russian army and air force lack the smart weapons and electronics of the US military.

When the Russian army went into Georgia to rescue the Russians in South Ossetia from the destruction being inflicted upon them by the American puppet Saakashvili, the Russians made it clear that if they were opposed by American troops with smart weapons, they would deal with the threat with tactical nuclear weapons.

The Americans were the first to announce preemptive nuclear attack as their permissible war doctrine. Now the Russians have announced the tactical use of nuclear weapons as their response to American smart weapons.

It is obvious that American foreign policy, with is goal of ringing Russia with US military bases, is leading directly to nuclear war. Every American needs to realize this fact. The US government's insane hegemonic foreign policy is a direct threat to life on the planet.

Russia has made no threats against America. The post-Soviet Russian government has sought to cooperate with the US and Europe. Russia has made it clear over and over that it is prepared to obey international law and treaties. It is the Americans who have thrown international law and treaties into the trash can, not the Russians.

In order to keep the billions of dollars in profits flowing to its contributors in the US military-security complex, the Bush Regime has rekindled the cold war. As American living standards decline and the prospects for university graduates deteriorate, "our" leaders in Washington commit us to a hundred years of war.

If you desire to be poor, oppressed, and eventually vaporized in a nuclear war, vote Republican.

Paul Craig Roberts [email him] was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s first term.  He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal.  He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He was awarded the Legion of Honor by French President Francois Mitterrand. He is the author of Supply-Side Revolution : An Insider's Account of Policymaking in Washington; Alienation and the Soviet Economy and Meltdown: Inside the Soviet Economy, and is the co-author with Lawrence M. Stratton of The Tyranny of Good Intentions : How Prosecutors and Bureaucrats Are Trampling the Constitution in the Name of Justice. Click here for Peter Brimelow’s Forbes Magazine interview with Roberts about the recent epidemic of prosecutorial misconduct.

With all the buzz flying around about actor Heath Ledger's death, and the recent posts I've written concerning Christopher Nolan's sequel to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, I've finally been able to go and see the film myself, and supply my own review. The films picks up within a short period of the Batman Begins ending, starting with a planned robbery of a mob bank by the Joker and his henchmen. Within the first five minutes, we are introduced to a small taste of The Joker's sinister personality, as he kills of each of his gang, and in the end, escapes the bank alone with the money.

The Joker is no longer the character brought to life by Cesaer Romero, or scarred by acid as portrayed by Jack Nicholson in the 1989 Batman Film, but rather an even darker and diabolical character. We see him as a tormented figure, who takes pleasure in mutilating his victims, and driving them to the edge of their minds with his relentless war again the Batman. Hollywood has taken a Comic Book story, and turned it into a horror flick, where Batman no longer battles petty criminals, but rather faces the challenge of taking on a man whose got nothing to lose.

Reflecting a bit on some past posts here on CatholicDiscussion, we've touched up a bit on the essential code of morality which governs us all. That is, God's Law inscribed in our hearts. (Referring to some comments where we've had discussions with atheists.) One of the Joker's lines catches me, "The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules." And come to think of it, yes, it's quite true. In the sense of the world of course. For all that Religion and Theology do is simply lay rules and constrictions which stop us from having 'fun!' This is the Joker's mentality, as he commits crime after senseless atrocity in order to make Batman turn himself in. Summing it all up, the movie is great in the sense of action sequence after action sequence, able to keep a story going, (unlike other sequels that have been floating around lately), but takes a darker and even 'demonic' turn when it comes to the Joker. As I was discussing this movie with a friend of mine, it basically comes down to this: "I do not recommend this film." It WAS a good 'thinking' film, in the sense that it was everything I wrote about in my pervious post entitled: "Why So Serious," but aside from that, people must be pretty sick in order to watch the Joker go up to a man and give the reason for his scars, (quoting directly from the film script)

Wanna know how I got these scars? My father was....a drinker. And a fiend. And one night he goes off crazier than usual. Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend herself. He doesn't like that. Not. One. Bit. So, me watching, he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it. Turns to me and he says "Why so serious?" Comes at me with the knife,"Why so serious?" He sticks the blade in my mouth. "Let's put a smile on that face!" And..... Why so serious?

He simply states it all in that line. That is what made the film disturbing. Was the particular way the Joker 'hated' his father. Indeed, there is nothing wrong with having a character whose had a bad past with his/her parents, but this simply blows the top, as through the film, the Joker mentions, "You remind me of my father, I HATED my father." Is this the type of entertainment which people need? Not quite. Society must be pretty low if they call this film actual 'entertainment.' The Joker surpasses the limits of the classic villain, he isn't in this for money, he isn't in this for some sort of reward, he's in it for the 'fun.' "I'm like a dog chasing cars...i-if I were to catch the car, I actually just wouldn't know what to do with it!" So this puts no limits on the horror he splashes across the screen. Here is a quick look for yourself if you question my critique: The Magic Trick. "It's...gone."

Though I'm one for Comic Book Film Adaptions, The Dark Knight pushes the limits, turning the classic stance of the Joker from a classic villain, to a heartless mercenary, who will stop at nothing for a few laughs, and to see the Batman take off his mask. If you do see it, be prepared to see the face of evil. My father went to go see it with me, and he simply states, "That is one of the most disturbingly evil movies I've ever seen. You'd never get me to watch it again." The evil is present. And if you still dare to argue that this role DID NOT have an affect on Heath Ledger's mind, then you must definitely be out there with him as well.

Please, no comments asking "Why So Serious" of a review. :)

Another view of one of the sharks in the Shark Aquarium in Ocean Park Hong Kong.

Burn Notice is a dramedy featuring intelligence work. Mike Weston used to work in intelligence, but got burned. He’s now stuck in Miami and has spent most of last season looking for the ones who put a burn notice out on him. He’s joined by an old friend Sam (Bruce Campbell), who is keeping tabs on him for the FBI counter-intelligence unit, and Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar), an Irish gun totting ex-girlfriend, doing low-key operations in Miami, trying to help out and to make some money.

I thought that Burn Notice was enjoyable. It’s not the best of shows, but certainly follows the comedic elements put forth by Psych. We didn’t learn much about Mike. There was not a lot revealed about who Mike really works for. In the past, intelligence operatives worked exclusively for countries. Now corporate interests are also represented. Some of the largest corporations have profits well in excess of those of some countries. It’s just natural that the intelligence field was privatized as well, just like the armed forces are slowly being replaced by mercenary outfits run by giant corporations.

Mike has to help an old family friend with his troubles. He's been framed in an accounting scheme and the rapper he works for isn't known for being forgiven. Mike also has to work with a new agent named Victor, who's a pain in the ass. Carla wants them to hijack something.

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

* * * * *

Carla's message told him to meet Victor. He calls himself the wrangler and wants Mike to do an op. He gives him a phone. He asks Sam to go over to stay with his mom. At Madelyn's place, he meets Ricky, an old family friend. Ricky is an accountant and works for a hip-hop mogul named Valentine. Recently, he found 2 million missing from a charity account. He thinks that Eddie, Valentine's right hand man, is responsible.

Mike is called away to meet Victor. He wants Mike to hijack something. Victor lets him know that he's got an enhanced GPS in his cellphone. Mike removes it, but finds a message from Victor. Vic wants the GPS left intact. Mike uses call forwarding instead.

Fi calls in a bomb threat to the building next door to Valentine's. The firefighters have the whole block evacuated. Mike uses this as a diversion to get into Eddie's office.

Eddie is looking for a front business in order to launder the money that he stole from Valentine. Eddie made it look like Ricky stole the money.

Mike wants and introduction thanks to Barry the money launderer. Sam has set-up Mike's cover ID. He meets Eddie in a bar. It looks like Eddie likes what he's seeing. He shows him an empty condo development. Eddie gets called away to a meeting with Valentine. Valentine gets physical with one of his employees. Eddie fingered him for trying to lure one of Valentine's artists away. Valentine whacks him with a platinum record.

Mike is about to close the deal with Eddie when Victor shows up. Victor burns the deal and Mike isn't happy. He decides to reverse the situation. He goes to the offensive and talks with Eddie. He plays on Eddie's paranoia. Sam pretends to surveil him to freak him out.

Victor is an ass. He gives Mike some indications on what is going to happen. Mike rigs a homemade x-ray machine in his trunk.

Eddie gives him a call. Mike said that he was moving his money offshore. Eddie wants his moved as well. Eddie tells Mike that he's got guys taking care of the loose ends right now. Mike calls Fi and says that a hit squad is on his way to get Ricky. Fi is able to hold them off.

Mike tells Eddie that the feds are on their backs because of Ricky. Eddie says that the people that he sent to kill Ricky ran away. Mike provokes him into trying to kill Ricky himself. Eddie goes to see Ricky to kill him. Eddie doesn't know that Valentine is there. Eddie is frustrated because Valentine made half a billion dollars. Eddie is still on a paycheck. He gets table scraps. The gun that Mike gave him is filled with blanks. Eddie doesn't know that Valentine is in the house. Eddie has been killed by Valentine.

Mike's op with Victor goes by without a cinch. Mike uses a shotgun with some incendiary rounds as a diversion. Thanks to the x-ray machine, they find out that Victor hijacked a sniper rifle.

* * * * *

Relevant Posts

• Burn Notice S01E01
• Burn Notice S01E02
• Burn Notice S01E03
• Burn Notice S01E04
• Burn Notice S01E05
• Burn Notice Review
• Burn Notice S01E06
• Burn Notice S01E07
• Burn Notice S01E08
• Burn Notice S01E09
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One of the more interesting photos of the Down Fuxing North Road Series.

Burn Notice is a dramedy featuring intelligence work. Mike Weston used to work in intelligence, but got burned. He’s now stuck in Miami and has spent most of last season looking for the ones who put a burn notice out on him. He’s joined by an old friend Sam (Bruce Campbell), who is keeping tabs on him for the FBI counter-intelligence unit, and Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar), an Irish gun totting ex-girlfriend, doing low-key operations in Miami, trying to help out and to make some money.

I thought that Burn Notice was enjoyable. It’s not the best of shows, but certainly follows the comedic elements put forth by Psych. We didn’t learn much about Mike. There was not a lot revealed about who Mike really works for. In the past, intelligence operatives worked exclusively for countries. Now corporate interests are also represented. Some of the largest corporations have profits well in excess of those of some countries. It’s just natural that the intelligence field was privatized as well, just like the armed forces are slowly being replaced by mercenary outfits run by giant corporations.

Mike has to stop a crew from completing a heist. His day job is interfering with his hunt for answers. In the end, it partially works out. This was a good episode.

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

* * * * *

Fi and Mike have been waiting for 4 hours for Carla to pick up her mail. They follow an old lady. She goes to an old building. It's being watched by covert security.

Sam pulled the building records. It's going to break in. Some guy named Trevor is waiting to see Mike. He's a wheelman. He just came out of prison. His old boss has forced him to participate in an armed robbery. He can't leave the state without breaking his parole.

The crew is formed out of CJ the hustler, Gilbert is the safe-cracker, Kandi is the muscle, and Timo, the boss. Sam thinks that Gilbert is the easy mark. He's not supposed to drive because of his DUIs.

Mike ropes in Fi to make him drink a glass. Gilbert already spotted Sam. The cops pull up. Sam has to improvise. Gilbert is arrested. Trevor tells Mike that the job hasn't been called off. Mike will pose as the new safe-cracker. Mike puts a webcam up on Carla's place. Sam spots a gap in the security.

Veronica is taking Sam out to dinner. They are celebrating their 1 month since they said I love you. Veronica asks him to marry her.

Timo tests Mike and he passes easily. Trevor finds out where the robbery will take place. The trouble is that CJ is working as security at the jewelry exchange.

Sam and Fi are helping Mike break into Carla's place. It turns out that Sam is already married. He was married in the 70s. Fi tells Sam to tell Veronica the truth. When Sam is about to get into the building, he gets a call from Timo. The robbery is about to take place.

Mike is able to get a message to Fi and Sam. Sam trips the alarm as the crew is about to complete the heist. Timo has everyone leave. Sam gives Timo's car a flat tire before leaving.

The crew arrives at their hideout. Sam tells the others that he got the jewels and gave them to Timo. Mike has Fi and Sam blow up the boathouse. The crew thinks that Timo screwed them over.

Kandi finds Timo. She isn't happy. She kills him.

Veronica kicked Sam out of her life after his confession. Fi and Mike are leaving to break into Carla's place. He arrives and finds a digital picture frame waiting for him. It contains a message from Carla. He was made the day before when he canceled the op. He finds another message from Carla.

* * * * *

Relevant Posts

• Burn Notice S01E01
• Burn Notice S01E02
• Burn Notice S01E03
• Burn Notice S01E04
• Burn Notice S01E05
• Burn Notice Review
• Burn Notice S01E06
• Burn Notice S01E07
• Burn Notice S01E08
• Burn Notice S01E09
• Burn Notice S01E10
• Burn Notice S02E01
• Burn Notice S02E02
• Burn Notice S02E03

Do you know who's really on your side?  Do you truly know who your friends are?  Every military soldier is taught to know their enemy.  Have you ever wondered why knowing your enemy is important?  Have you ever tried to fight against an enemy who you dont know anything about?  You dont know his strengths; you dont know his weaknesses; you dont know how he thinks, what he knows, where he's been, where he's going, or even how he will get there.  The more you know about your enemy, the better things will be.  Though God was with Joshua in all his endeavors, Joshua still had to use wisdom for the task God had just given him.  Joshua in all his endeavors, Joshua still had to use wisdom for the task God had just given him.  Joshua and the Israelites were preparing to enter into the land God promised. The land was now occupied by the Canaanites, Israel's enemy.

Chapter 2 begins with Joshua sending two spies into the land to gather information needed for Joshua's military campaign.  They were to collect information to paint a picture for Joshua.  This information would answer Joshua's questions.  What was the region and the people like?  Where were their forces arrayed in the land?  What was the mindset of the people?  Questions like these were keys to success, especially when God is in the midst. How many of you know that there are three truths when God is on our side?

1) Know that when God is on our side, others recognize it.  (Read Joshua 2:1-11).  Chapter 2 begins as Joshua sends out spies to Canaan.  Upon arriving, these spies come to the house of the harlot, Rahab.  Their presence, however, wasnt as secretive as they thought for word is brought to the Jericho king concerning their location.  Do you think the king looked upon tehir presence in the land positively or did he see them as a threat to his well being? Alerted of their presence and aware of their history, the king sends out his forces to seize these men, but much to their dismay, they arrive at the house of Rahab only to find these men had fled the scene or so they thought.  They leave to pursue their enemy, not knowing they were hidden away in the house. Now, Rahab, who knew of Israel's reputation seeks her survival.  She confesses to them all she's heard and knows.  She tells them the people's mindset.  She acknowledges that she knows the power of God is the source of Israels success and strength, and pleads for their mercy upon their return. Do you notice two reactions the spies experience?  The majority of the people were threatened by their presence, but a remnant (Rahab) embraces them.

2) When God is on our side, Hope replaces Fear.  (Read Joshua 2:12-21).  In verse 12, Rahab asks for mercy and loving kindness from them when they return to take the city.  They agree to her request with three conditions: FIrst, she must hang a red cord form the window of her house to mark her location.  Second, only her family located inside her house would be spared and finally, all her relatives would be sworn to secrecy.  In two cases, verse 14 and verse 18, the spies show hope in their very words when they use the word "when" to show their confidence of their return.  At no time do they fear what is to come.  They know God is on their side and will deliver all He promised.  It's not "if", but "when".  The people of this city are not as confident.  In fact, they fear the events to come and are terrified for they know that God is not on their side, but on the side of Israel.  For the spies and Rahab, hope replaced fear, knowing that God is on their side.

3) When God is on our side, victory is ours. (Read Joshua 2: 22-23)  There is a unaminous decision by both spies that, surely the Lord had given the land into Israel's hands.  Surely they had victory because the Lord was on their side as they prepared to build a bridge to victory out of their faith.  Romans 8:31 says, "if God is for us, who can be against us"  Nothing!  They had victory.

I stumbled upon this forum where internals including those who are asking for accountability have a very lively discussion - apparently Mr. Cymbala answers to NO ONE......

Some excerpts by the first guy who is asking for accountability (obviously a member) and then one of his internal people who comments on the site:

Paul White:Like I said- He's got you all hoodwinked. While you were working there did you ever see a financial statement that was made available to the public? The answer is no, you never have. So what that he GIVES ALL the proceeds of his books back to the church, he's said plenty of times from the pulpit that he recieves no salary, so my question to you is- how then does he support himself? The bottom line is this, he has NO RIGHT at all not to disclose financial info. You obviously think that he is above being held accountable thereby deifing him. 

Anonymous Insider:  I hate to say it but Paul White is 100% Correct. BT is in financial trouble. A recent meeting where the Financial Pastor told the leaders "please do not share this with anyone, but once we pay the mortgage we have no money left in the bank". Some of the leaders in the room suggested sharing the situation with the congregation but The Financial Pastor said he does not even share his financial matters at home with his children so why would he share it with the leaders or the church. They are currently undergoing a construction project worth appx 250,000.00 for childrens ministry space at thier 180 location. Pastor Cymbala has become a fund raiser and in my 25+ years at that church he has never begged for money as he does now. The financail pressure is killing him. He has lost his annointing. In a recent Leaders Meeting July 2008 he told the leaders "This is my church, Things will be done my way, If you do not like it there is the door". "I do not trust any of the leaders and If you think I am going to hand over my church that my wife and I built for 30 years you have another thing coming" "There is only one choir in the church MY WIFE'S CHOIR". "I am sending my spies into your meetings to bring back to me reports so you better beware".

An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph has now uncovered just how much personal data is being collected about individuals by the Government, law enforcement agencies and private companies each day.

In one week, the average person living in Britain has 3,254 pieces of personal information stored about him or her, most of which is kept in databases for years and in some cases indefinitely.

The data include details about shopping habits, mobile phone use, emails, locations during the day, journeys and internet searches.

In many cases this information is kept by companies such as banks and shops, but in certain circumstances they can be asked to hand it over to a range of legal authorities.

Read more

• Julia Child was once a spy;
• Alanis wrote that song about Uncle Joey;
• Amy's, y'know, not doing so well;
• Madonna is effing old and scary as all get out;

but for good  measure, here's some fresh new fun:

I don't know quite how to put this, but... I'm kind of a big deal.

I must be, because while everyone else in the world -- including the Associated Press, Matt Lauer, Carmen San Diego, and ManBearPig -- were totally ohmygodding about the recently uncovered evidence of Julia Child's service in the OSS during World War II, Pax Arcana was all like "whatevs, that shit is old news."

Hell, way back in 2002, the National Women's History Museum had an exhibit called Clandestine Women: The Untold Stories of Women in Espionage. Can you guess who was featured in that exhibit? I'll give you a hint. It was Julia Child.

Also, her spying days were included in a 1998 book called "Sisterhood of Spies," the prequel to the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants."

Shit, the CIA posted a long passage about Child and the OSS last year, and most obituaries mentioned it when she died in 2004.

Anyway, Andrew Ryan of the Globe sums it up nicely:

The Cambridge chef's tenure with the Office of Strategic Services was about as top secret as her recipe for Coq au Vin.

I don't know why this bothers me so much. Coq au Vin is awesome. I need a vacation.

Revealed: Julia Child was a U.S. spy in World War II [Newsday]
Not top secret: Julia Child's work for spy agency [Globe]

There was the young woman who became TV chef Julia Child. And labor lawyer Arthur Goldberg who became a Supreme Court justice. And young scholar Arthur Schlesinger who became a presidential adviser.

The legendary chef is one of several high-profile figures who were involved with the undercover World War II intelligence agency, called the Office of Strategic Services.

Yesterday, the National Archives released the names of Americans who worked as civilian and military spies for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II.

Along with Child, other spies for the OSS include former Chicago White Socks catcher Moe Berg, Godfather actor Sterling Hayden, and author Thomas Braden who penned Eight is Enough, the book that inspired the popular 1970s television series.

Where have you people been?  This is common knowledge.  Julia even spoke about it in many interviews over the years before her death.  May I suggest that you people learn to pay attention and little will surprise you.

Peace!  Out!

We all know that those brave men and women who served the world in the Second World War are known as "the Greatest Generation". Fair enough. Enough of us have seen movies like The Great Escape, The Guns of Navarone, or The Longest Day to see how amazing these people are and were. If we are lucky enough, we have heard first hand accounts from our parents or grandparents. (My grandfather, unfortunately, didn't really get to do anything amazing. He joined the US Army, saying that he wanted to help in the Pacific Theater, but his last job had been as a stock boy at JC Penney's, so he was accepted as a supply Sergeant in Kingsburg, CA.)

The astonishment keeps coming, as people get older and their documentation becomes declassified.

Julia Child, that sweet old woman on PBS who stands around cooking, is one of those heroes. You would never look at this lady and think, "I bet she was a spy in World War II." This incredulous feeling may be due to the naïveté of my youth, but the truth astounds, nonetheless

Of course, she was not alone. It seems that every time we hear something new about this war, more and more people were involved: silent heroes who stood up when their countries and their world called upon them in need. Beyond personal need, beyond simple patriotism, and beyond fear for the worst, these men and women constantly show us why we should always uphold what is right.

"Here's a nifty dinner for four that's served on a chaffing dish right on the table...just add the poison before bringing it to the table so your guests don't suspect you're a spy."

Famed chef Julia Child shared a secret with Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg and Chicago White Sox catcher Moe Berg at a time when the Nazis threatened the world.

They served in an international spy ring managed by the Office of Strategic Services, an early version of the CIA created in World War II by President Franklin Roosevelt.

The full secret comes out Thursday, all of the names and previously classified files identifying nearly 24,000 spies who formed the first centralized intelligence effort by the United States. The National Archives, which this week released a list of the names found in the records, will make available for the first time all 750,000 pages identifying the vast spy network of military and civilian operatives.

They were soldiers, actors, historians, lawyers, athletes, professors, reporters. But for several years during World War II, they were known simply as the OSS. They studied military plans, created propaganda, infiltrated enemy ranks and stirred resistance among foreign troops.

Intel orgs and their reform are something I have studied and written about, though that is not my bailiwick.  It'll be interesting to get some of the orgporn on this one.

UPDATE: Perhaps the release will introduce some new background for the second edition of Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, one of the best reads I enjoyed this year. Incidentally, there may have been closer to 35,000 spies named in the release (assuming no duplicates) if the BBC is correct:

The release of the OSS archive, including 35,000 top-secret personnel files, unmasks one of the last secrets of the wartime intelligence agency, which was disbanded after three years in 1945.

The National Archives said the papers included "initial applications to join the OSS; preliminary training and subsequent work assignments; pay, leave and travel documents; evaluations, basic medical information; and awards, decorations and discharge papers".

MORE:  The National Archives press release indicated that CDs containing the released files would be distributed to the press yesterday.  This article in the Washington Post indicates that those files are available, at least within the media.  If there are CDs, I would expect that the newspapers and other sites will make those files available for search and download as soon as they work out how to do it.  Which should be this weekend or so.

KATHMANDU, Nepal, August 13 (Compass Direct News) – Father John Prakash Moyalan, the 62-year-old Catholic priest killed on July 1 by an underground militant Hindu organization in Nepal, might have been alive today – had he not been an Indian, according to the Himalayan republic’s Christian community.

With the law-and-order situation in the new republic plummeting since elections in April and relations with southern neighbor India becoming increasingly acrimonious, Christian leaders here said Indian Catholics in Nepal are facing a greater threat from Hindu extremists. The extremists blame New Delhi for the May 28 ouster of Nepal’s Hindu king Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev and the transformation of the world’s only Hindu kingdom into a secular state.

Father John Vianney, head of the Pastoral Animation Centre (PAC) in Lalitpur (located on the south side of the Bagmati River that separates it from Kathmandu), said PAC received five to six calls after the gunning down of Fr. Moyalan in Sirsiya town in south Nepal, the most volatile region in the country since the abolition of the monarchy.

“Fr. Prakash’s attackers took away his cellular phone,” Fr. Vianney told Compass. “Then they began calling the numbers stored in it, demanding money.”

Fr. Vianney himself took one of those calls.

“Are you a Nepali or Indian?” the caller asked the priest, who is from India’s Kerala state. “We are from the Nepal Defence Army [NDA], and we killed Fr. Prakash [Moyalan]. Our spies are everywhere. All of you are under surveillance. You better be on your guard.”

Nepal’s first bishop, Father Anthony Sharma, said he also received a similarly threatening call.

“Don’t engage in conversions,” the caller warned him. “Otherwise, we will chop you into little pieces.”

Most people who received the calls said the Nepali-speaking callers asserted that they were not against Christians. The jarring note came from their insistently as king if the recipients were Nepalese or Indian.

“The threats seem to have been directed towards Indians,” said Fr. Sharma. “Two more Indian priests, who had been working with Fr. Prakash in eastern Nepal on village development and education projects, also received warnings on the phone.”

Fr. Vianney estimated that there are about 40-45 Indian priests in Nepal. They are mostly from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa and West Bengal. Indian priests, he said, are the softest targets.

“If a western priest comes under attack, his government will take it up immediately,” he said. “If a Nepalese priest is attacked, other Nepalese and the media will raise a hue and cry. But the Indian government doesn’t take up cudgels on behalf of its citizens in Nepal, and people feel they can be targeted with impunity.”

After Fr. Moyalan’s death, Christian leaders gave a report to the Indian Embassy in Nepal, but they said there has been no discernible official action.

“Police arrested five men, said to be members of the NDA,” said Fr. Sharma. “But we don’t know what happened after that.”

Threatening Calls

Fr. Moyalan’s murder marked a period of violence directed towards Christians and triggered growing fear in the community.

On July 18, 17 days after the attack at the Don Bosco School in Sirsiya in which Fr. Moyalan was killed, a bomb exploded inside the Protestant Jyoti Church in Banke district in southern Nepal.

Pamphlets left at the venue claimed the explosion to be the handiwork of the NDA.

Soon different Christian missions started receiving threatening calls. Alarmed Jesuits closed down the Don Bosco School and were on the verge of closing a second one, St. Mary’s School in Biratnagar, the home town of Nepal’s prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

Little is known about the NDA, a shadowy organization that hit the headlines last year when it claimed responsibility for a couple of minor explosions at the office of the former Maoist guerrillas in Kathmandu.

According to Nepalese weekly Ghatana R Bichar, it is run by a former policeman, who adopted the nom de guerre Parivartan, meaning “change.” The former policeman has claimed that NDA aims to re-establish Nepal as a Hindu kingdom and is training Hindu suicide bombers.

Parivartan also claims NDA has a large army of trained soldiers and has been putting together an arsenal of explosives, the ingredients for which are smuggled from India across the 1,800-kilometer open border.

Since the fall of the government headed by Gyanendra, the last king of Nepal, over two dozen armed gangs have been spreading terror in southern Nepal, the NDA among them. They are known to be involved in extortion, abduction and, at times, killings.

The NDA pamphlets left at the crime sites project a 21-point agenda, including restoration of Hinduism as the state religion, driving out all Muslims, putting an end to conversions, banning the slaughter of cows (considered a holy animal by Hindus) and a ban on having more than two children. The latter directive targets the Muslim population in southern Nepal, who consider family planning to be unlawful.

Anger grew among Nepal’s Christians over the government’s failure to provide security, and on July 28 Fr. Sharma held a meeting with home secretary Umesh Mainali in which he asked for police protection for Christian organizations.

“We received a letter from the Nepal Catholic Society,” said Home Ministry spokesman Modraj Dotel. “It was forwarded to the police headquarters for action.”

Now, the calls have stopped and people are rallying, said Fr. Sharma.

St. Mary’s reopened after students’ parents promised that they would provide security.

The Jesuits run 30 schools in Nepal and 40 social service centers. The beneficiaries are non-Christians from low-income households who have little or no access to education and health care. The projects are meant for mostly women and children.

About 2.5 percent of Nepal’s 25 million population are Christians. The majority – nearly 75 percent – are Hindus.

“Till parliament overwhelmingly declared Nepal a secular state, Christians, as non-Hindus, had been under some threat from the Hindu country,” said Fr. Sharma. “But threats don’t prevent us from carrying on.”

Fr. Vianney added a postscript. “Now we will be careful.”  

Report from Compass Direct News

From the article:

Famed chef Julia Child shared a secret with Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg and Chicago White Sox catcher Moe Berg at a time when the Nazis threatened the world. They served in an international spy ring managed by the Office of Strategic Services, an early version of the CIA created in World War II by President Franklin Roosevelt.

The secret comes out Thursday, all of the names and previously classified files identifying nearly 24,000 spies who formed the first centralized intelligence effort by the United States. The National Archives, which this week released a list of the names found in the records, will make available for the first time all 750,000 pages identifying the vast spy network of military and civilian operatives.

(Go here for the full text)

I'm amazed! I'm reminded by this news of Donald and Petie Kladstrup's highly enjoyable Wine & War, an account of several of France's leading wine estates during the Nazi occupation in the 1940s. Worth checking out if you haven't read it.

]]> http://range.wordpress.com/?p=3946 Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:31:17 +0000 range http://range.wordpress.com/?p=3946

Burn Notice is a dramedy featuring intelligence work. Mike Weston used to work in intelligence, but got burned. He’s now stuck in Miami and has spent most of last season looking for the ones who put a burn notice out on him. He’s joined by an old friend Sam (Bruce Campbell), who is keeping tabs on him for the FBI counter-intelligence unit, and Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar), an Irish gun totting ex-girlfriend, doing low-key operations in Miami, trying to help out and to make some money.

I thought that Burn Notice was enjoyable. It’s not the best of shows, but certainly follows the comedic elements put forth by Psych. We didn’t learn much about Mike. There was not a lot revealed about who Mike really works for. In the past, intelligence operatives worked exclusively for countries. Now corporate interests are also represented. Some of the largest corporations have profits well in excess of those of some countries. It’s just natural that the intelligence field was privatized as well, just like the armed forces are slowly being replaced by mercenary outfits run by giant corporations.

Nate gets Mike involved in a new op to take down some Russian human traffickers. Meanwhile, they get closer to the ever elusive Carla. Things don't always go as planned.

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

* * * * *

Mike is going over the file he obtained from Waseem. About a third of it is redacted, making it hard to find out a lot about her.

Fi spots that Mike is being followed. It's just Nate. He says that the receptionist at his work is being hassled by the Russian mob. They have her sister. She's at their mom's.

Katya tells a sob story. She tried to bring her sister over from the Ukraine. Some mobsters want money from her for getting her over. It's $50K. They already took $25K from her. Her sister got involved with human traffickers.

Mike has Sam looking into Carla's agriculture cover. She used that in Pakistan. She might still use a similar cover here.

Ivan is really part of the Russian mob. His Russian prison tattoos tell his story.

Sam is wining and dinning Harvey Gundarson, the agriculture man. He is putting together a list of irrigation specialists. After a $600 lunch, Sam hasn't got the last. Harvey just wants to drag it out.

Ivan is just the money man. Fi followed him all day. He doesn't go near the girls. Mike wants to grab him. Sam thinks that if they pose as government types and interrogate him, they'll get something out of him. Fi does the grabbing.

Fi uses her smoking hot body to nab Ivan. He sees her coming and they scuffle. Fi stuns herself and Ivan by stunning him while he holds her leg. Sam exclaims that Fi is nutters.

Mike and Sam prep their secret facility to question Ivan. They make it look like they torture people.

They have 3 days. Sam wants to use Mike and Nate. Mike is going in posing as another prisoner. Nate is a guard. Mike uses Sambo, a Russian mixed martial art, to convince Ivan to confide in him. Mike's Russian is good enough.

Mike gets a location. Sam and Fi are on the case. Harvey only gave 2 names to Sam. Fi says that Harvey is working him good. Fi borrowed a thermal camera from her neighbors boat. He's been spying on her through her walls. She figures that they are even.

They spot Takarov, the Russian that runs half of the Russian mob in the city. Fi and Sam are in the restaurant. Sam stages the diversion. Fi goes up. She goes to the shielded room and only finds some software piracy.

Nate told Katy about the restaurant. She isn't happy. Mike isn't happy that Nate told her about the restaurant. She's very hot-tempered.

Sam isn't getting anywhere with Harvey. Sam tells Harvey that he's with the DEA. Harvey finally tells him that he will have the list tomorrow. They leave Ivan stewing.

Ivan reveals that the girls are in a safe house. His men have orders to kill the girls if anyone else but him arrive there. They also have until Friday.

Mike says that he's going to have to escape. Mike stages it right so it looks probable. Ivan leads Mike to the girls. He leaves Mike in charge. Ivan leaves. Sam, Fi and Mike take out the guards.

Ivan comes to tell Takarov that the operation in Tampa is gone. Ivan says that he talked with the CIA and Sergei took the girls. Takarov kills Ivan and skipped town.

Mike has got Carla's business card. Her cover name is Carla Baxter. They have a PO Box. They surveil it.

* * * * *

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The Israelis have been known to be involved in fake-passport scandals in Canada, Europe, New Zealand and Australia -- So since this is the case, why do we take for granted that the 'Arabs' who were/are accused of the World Trade Center tragedy are guilty, or even suspect? 

Bruharhahaha :mrgreen:

Ein Kommentator meinte, er sei ja schon froh, dass Bush wenigstens die richtige Flagge hochhält und nicht die Chinesische oder die von Paraguay, noch schlimmer wäre: Die Irakische oder Saudi-Arabische.

Quelle und Bild: Huffington Post

P.S. Mein Spieß früher beim Bund [1] war übrigens sehr patriotisch. Er veranstaltete jeden Morgen seine eigene Flaggenparade. Er erschien nämlich regelmässig mit Alkoholfahne zum Dienst! Das waren noch echte Patrioten damals :mrgreen:

[1] Das ist der lustige Verein, deren Mitglieder mit seltsamen Gewändern planlos in der Gegend herumlaufen.

I’m a self-confessed readaholic. It’s almost a compulsion with me and I’ve been this way for as long as I can remember. I read at least one book a day so when a book and its characters ‘stay’ with me, that’s a really good book! "His Dark and Dangerous Ways" by Edith Layton was just such a read. Recently I’ve been on quite the paranormal kick so I really enjoyed this refreshing read with not much real danger, exquisite sexual tension, and a hero and heroine I liked and enjoyed from page one.

Simon, Lord Granger, returned to England after being tortured for a year in a French prison thanks to a woman. He thought they were in love, but she played and then betrayed him. Now he doesn't trust anyone and no longer spends his time participating in the aimless frolics of the ton. Or at least he didn’t until an old friend from his spying days makes a special request that will require his presence at ton affairs. That’s where he meets Jane.

Jane is a gentlewoman down on her luck. Her family is gone, the estate passed to the next male heir, and she refuses to be just another needy charity case. So off to London she goes, determined to make her own way. Her dancing classes for children become the latest fad and she’s proud of the life she’s managing to make for herself. But in a strange twist of fate, she becomes entangled in a confusing mystery and three different people are asking her to spy on each other and report back to them about the others' activities! Which one, if any, should she trust?

I thought this was a very original plot. It would have been easy to play this off as a romantic farce, but Layton instead turned it into a deeper story about appearances and what lies beneath; the idiocy of pretension and fleeting fame versus the reality of honesty and truth; personal honor and how far is too far to prop up that honor? Her characters come alive. I want to hiss at the bad guys, at least once I figure out who they are! And I want to applaud every move the hero and heroine make as they reveal more and more of who they really are and learn to trust in each other.

What a superb historical romance. As I said, I enjoyed this read as I usually do Ms. Layton's books. No too stupid to live (TSTL) heroes or heroines for her, good use of sexual tension, and always a happily ever after (HEA). She even manages to bring a good bit of humor into the plot without allowing it to overwhelm the story. So if you want a nice escape for an afternoon, pick up "His Dark and Dangerous Ways" by Edith Layton. You’ll finish the afternoon smiling and feeling refreshed.

Until next time...

Julie

Cassandra was the rare exception.  About 5'7", blonde, absolutely lovely and completely feminine with curves that seemed to be asking you to set down your cares and stay a while.  She was always attached in a nebulous way to an embassy in a politically sensitive area and it was a testament to human frailty that she always seemed to get away with pulling her one trick over and over and over again.  It was as though the US government had put a bucket and a stick together a la Wile E. Coyote and a little sign around Cassandra's neck declaring "Honey Trap" only in this case the roadrunners kept falling for it. 

To tell the truth it had always made me just the slightest bit uneasy about her.  I wondered if sometime the government might find itself beneath that bucket with the stick pulled out.  That sort of thinking is what had me asking her, after a drink or two, if she didn't deep down hate men for being so weak and easy to manipulate.

"Hate them?  That's not how it is at all.  It's terrible you think that.  I see men as sweet and fragile, really.  I love men.  It breaks my heart sometimes to see how easily they get themselves in trouble.  They're like eggs I suppose, they look sturdy enough on the outside but the slightest tap..."  She smiled, a sweet wistful smile that must have induced much better men than I to betray creed and country.

In no way did her reassurance reassure me.