Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

The Next Few Days will Transform Greece and Europe
Jun 29th, 2015
Daily NewsSydney Morning Herald
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The Greek banks are, or will soon be, out of money, and the ECB will be disinclined to open the floodgates again in the absence of a bailout deal.

As it turns out, the Greek crisis ends not with a bang, but with a referendum.

It has been easy to ignore the doings in Greece for the past few years, with the perpetual series of summits in Brussels that never seem to resolve anything. But it's time to pay attention. These next few days are shaping up to become a transformational moment in the 60-year project of building a unified Europe. We just don't yet know what sort of transformation it will be.

The immediate headlines that got us to this point are these: After an intractable series of negotiations over a bailout extension with Greece's creditors, the nation's left-wing government left the table Friday and said it would hold a referendum July 5. Greek leaders think the offer on the table from European governments and the International Monetary Fund is lousy, requiring still more pension cuts and tax increases in a depressed economy, and intend to throw to voters the question of whether to accept it.

Whatever the exact phrasing of the question (and assuming the referendum goes forward as planned), it really boils down to this simple choice:

A "Yes" vote means that Greece will continue the grinding era of austerity that has caused so much pain to its citizens over the past five years, in exchange for keeping the euro currency and the monetary stability it provides.

A "No" vote almost certainly means that the country will walk away from the euro and create its own currency (which will surely devalue sharply), bringing financial chaos in the near term but creating the possibility of a rebound in the medium term as the country becomes more competitive with its devalued currency.

The Greek government, led by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, disputes this framing, and argues that Greece could in fact reject the creditors' offer to extend the bailout program while sticking with the euro. Events over the weekend show how untenable that is. Thousands of Greeks lined up to withdraw euros from money machines, and the European Central Bank said it would not increase the size of the emergency lending program that Greek banks have been using to secure euros.

Ergo, the Greek banks are, or will soon be, out of money, and the ECB will be disinclined to open the floodgates again in the absence of a bailout deal. That's why the government has effectively frozen its financial system, closing banks and the stock market on Monday.

Capital controls that limit people's ability to withdraw and move money out of the country are, it is safe to say, not a sign of a healthy currency union. It would be hard to call the dollar the national currency of the United States if laws prevented me from taking Maryland dollars and depositing them in a Virginia bank.

The developments show how little power Tsipras and the Greek government really have if they want to keep using the euro currency, as their campaign platform called for and as is widely popular in Greek polls. European leaders in Brussels and Frankfurt, Germany, and Berlin may not be being fair, or democratic, and there's a good case that the economic policy they are advancing is not very sound. But they hold all the power in this situation, and are leaving Greeks to decide between two bad options.

But if you zoom out a little further from the brinkmanship, this standoff goes from remarkable and shocking to inevitable and even overdue.

For years Greece has muddled along with a depressed economy and an endless series of bailouts and austerity. It's fine to play the blame game over how public debt got out of control in the country, but by the time 2010 came around what was done was done, and the human consequences of austerity have been grave.

The Greek government apparently agrees that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again.

What happens now?

This isn't 2010. European banks, governments and financial markets have had years to develop contingency plans for what would happen if Greece exits the euro. There may be a middle ground, too, in which Greece semi-exits the euro: Imagine keeping the currency but with such strict and permanent capital controls that Greek's euros are actually a different currency from the one used in Paris or Rome.

Expect the ECB and European institutions to deploy enormous financial firepower to prevent a Greek exit from spilling over to Portugal and Italy and Spain. But saying that this won't be a Lehman Brothers-style economic catastrophe isn't the same as saying it would be a good thing. In geopolitical terms it would push Greece closer to a hostile Russia. It would set a precedent that the European currency, and the European Union more broadly, is more fragile than its leaders would like the world to think.

The world should be rooting for a happy outcome to this Greek tragedy. It's just not at all clear what a happy outcome would look like at this point.

Texas Attorney General: Religious Objections Trump Scotus Same - Sex Marriage Ruling
Jun 29th, 2015
Daily NewsDaily News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Moral Decline

Texas is lawyering up in a fight against the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic ruling on same-sex marriage.

State Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion on Sunday, claiming clerks, judges and justices of the peace could dodge their legal responsibilities to issue licenses and perform weddings based on their religious beliefs.

Paxton advises clerks opposed to the Supreme Court’s “lawless” opinion could pawn off their work of issuing licenses to more liberal-minded deputies.

He acknowledged the clerks run the risk of being sued and fined.

“But, numerous lawyers stand ready to assist clerks defending their religious beliefs, in many cases on a pro-bono basis, and I will do everything I can from this office to be a public voice for those standing in defense of their rights,” he said in a tough-talking statement.

 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton claims clerks and justices of the peace can reject same-sex marriages if they have a religious objection.

Judges and others who perform the weddings could simply refuse on religious grounds because there are plenty of others who can marry people, Paxton said.

“Importantly, the reach of the Court’s opinion stops at the door of the First Amendment and our laws protecting religious liberty,” Paxton said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, along with Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, has vowed to buck the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling, which guaranteed same-sex couples the right to marry nationwide.

Several Texas counties immediately began issuing licenses on Friday in compliance with the ruling, and octogenarians Jack Evans and George Harris became the first gay couple to wed in Dallas County after 54 years together.

But Abbott claimed the court “abandoned its role as an impartial judicial arbiter and has become an unelected nine-member legislature.”

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick asked Paxton to advise the state on the impact of the ruling.

In his response, Paxton claimed religious freedoms of government workers trumped the “flawed” federal ruling.

“Our religious liberties find protection in state and federal constitutions and statutes,” Paxton wrote. “While they are indisputably our first freedom, we should not let them be our last.”

His opinion did little to impress at least one clerk who has begun issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

“I don’t believe there is a lot of merit in their opinion,” Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir told the Houston Chronicle after speaking to the county attorney, adding. “We are public servants in a secular role to uphold the law of the land. We have separation of church and state. We need to remember that.”

Supreme Court Shakes Puny Fist At God, But He's Still on His Throne
Jun 29th, 2015
CommentaryDavid Cloud
Categories: Warning

On Friday, the majority members of a divided U.S. Supreme Court exalted themselves against God and His Word and the U.S. Constitution by ruling that same-sex couples can "marry" in all states, invalidating existing laws against this practice. 

This is not a surprise, of course, in light of the court's rulings over the past 50 years in which it has created law rather than ruled on law (e.g., removing prayer and Bible reading from schools in 1962 and 1963, inventing a right to abortion in 1973, striking down sodomy laws in 2003, and decriminalizing most forms of pornography). 

This flies in the face of the teaching of Jesus Christ that marriage is between one man and one woman.

"And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder" (Matthew19:4-6).

The ruling was not only against God's Word; it was against the U.S. Constitution. There is not a hint of support for same-sex "marriage" in the founding documents.

To their credit, justices Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, John Roberts, and Samuel Alito issued insightful and scathing dissents. 

Justice Roberts said, "The majority's decision is an act of will, not legal judgment. The right it announces has no basis in the Constitution or this Court's precedent. Just who do we think we are? ... Those who founded our country would not recognize the majority's conception of the judicial role ... They would never have imagined yielding that right on a question of social policy to unaccountable and unelected judges" ("Chief Justice Roberts," Business Insider, Jun. 26, 2015). 

Justice Scalia said that the Supreme Court has become a threat to democracy, explaining: "Today's decree says that my Ruler, and the Ruler of 320 million Americans coast-to-coast, is a majority of the nine lawyers on the Supreme Court. This practice of constitutional revision by an unelected committee of nine, always accompanied (as it is today) by extravagant praise of liberty, robs the People of the most important liberty they asserted in the Declaration of Independence and won in the Revolution of 1776: the freedom to govern themselves." 

Scalia warned that "the majority's decision threatens the religious liberty our Nation has long sought to protect." 

This is a sad day for America and the ruling will hasten the persecution that has already begun, but God is still God; He is still on his throne, His word is still true, and Jesus is still coming. 

This type of thing only reminds the true child of God that he is a pilgrim in a strange land. We claim to believe God's promises. Let's act like it in the face of adversity and not be a people who wring their hands at the mere thought of trouble and what might come.

God's Word has some things to say about this situation:

"Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart" (Psalm 37:1-4).

"Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" (Matthew 6:34).

"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you" (Matthew 5:10-12). 

Do we really believe God's Word? 

Throughout history, God's people have had to make a choice as to whom they will obey when there have been conflicts of authority, and conflicts of authority have been the norm. 

God tells His people to obey Caesar (Romans 13:1-7) but not when Caesar exalts himself against the Most High. 

"And when they had brought them, they set thembefore the council: and the high priest asked them, Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the otherapostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:27-29).

Sodom & Gomorrah
Jun 29th, 2015
Outlook
Categories: Today's Headlines;Archaeology

Genesis tells us that God thoroughly destroyed "the cities of the plain", including Sodom and Gomorrah.  God said,  

"And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know" (Genesis 18:20-21).    "For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it" (Genesis 19:13).

 The five cities of the plain have been located and the evidence is staggering. For the first time in modern history we have found round balls of brimstone, or nearly pure sulfur, embedded in an ashen area near the Dead Sea, which show clear signs of having once been ancient building structures!

Ziggurat stands amidst ashen ruins in Gomorrah, with darker terrain in rear.  Government sign with gate, attempting to keep vehicles out

The Cities in Ancient History

The cities were located in the plain, so they should not be located in the low area now covered by the Dead Sea.  These cities were well known in the first century, as Josephus said, "The traces or shadows of the five cities are still to be seen."  If Josephus could see them, then we should be able to see them also.  The water level of the Dead Sea has fallen since the time of Josephus, so the areas Josephus saw in his day are still visible today.

Ninety degree angles extending out from a wall demonstrating unnatural architecture

Biblical Warning For All

The cities of the plain were destroyed as a warning for all that this same event will happen again one day to the wicked. One would think God is capable of preserving this ancient lesson for us to see and to learn from.

GEN 19:24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; II Peter 2:6. (The word for "example" means an exhibit for warning.)

Millions of Brimstone balls

Each of the cities of the plain contain evidence of brimstone which God rained down upon the cities to destroy them.  We're talking about millions of brimstone balls.  The brimstone is composed of 96-98 percent sulfur, with trace amounts of magnesium which create an extremely high temperature burn. This is the only place on earth where you can find 96 percent pure monoclinic sulfur in a round ball. This brimstone is NOT from any type of geo-thermal activity as there is no evidence of such in the area, and geo-thermal sulfur nodules are only 40 percent pure sulfur and are of the rhombic type.

Located on the side of a ziggurat, this brimstone in a shell is opened to reveal the unburned sulfur inside

Analysis of the Brimstone

These sulfur balls are mostly golf ball sized, and some have burn marks all around them! Webster's Dictionary says that "brimstone" = sulfur.  Accordingly, we have found the absolute proof that we have finally located Sodom and Gomorrah - the cities of the plain.

A chunk of ash that has a burned ring which surrounds an unburned ball of sulfur

Analysis of the Ash

Everything in these cities burned and turned into ash, including the buildings themselves as the Bible says that the cities were to be destroyed also. The Bible told us that God rained down "fire and brimstone" When God rains down fire, it is a consuming fire, just like the time of Elijah when God sent down fire to destroy the stone altar, the limestone buildings here were totally destroyed and turned into ash.

The extremely high burning temperatures created a multi-shaded layering of ash that was formed by thermal ionization, caused by electrons repelling and attracting, creating a swirling effect in the remains. The intense fire which God rained down upon these cities was so hot that it burned the limestone blocks that were used in the construction of the cities. The ash there today is composed of Calcium Sulfate and Calcium Carbonate which are by-products of the limestone and sulfur burning.

Secret Russian Hypersonic Nuke Glider Can Pierce Any Missile Defense
Jun 29th, 2015
Daily NewsSputnik
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Extremely maneuverable, ultra-fast and elusive, the hypersonic Yu-71 can break through any missile defense system, military experts said. Russia has reportedly carried out four tests already.

Hitting Everything That Flies: New Russian MANPAD Verba Knows No Equals

Russia is test-launching a new hypersonic attack aircraft that can carry nuclear warheads and penetrate missile defense systems, US media said citing a report by Jane's Information Group.

The development of the Yu-71 vehicle took several years, and Russia reportedly conducted the most recent test flight on February 26, with an SS-19 missile trying to deliver the Yu-71 to space. The new hypersonic aircraft is part of Moscow's plans to modernize its Strategic Missile Forces.

Yu-71, a secret missile program codenamed "Project 4202", has probable speed of up to 11,200 kmh (7,000 mph) and is extremely maneuverable, which makes it an incredibly dangerous and a hardly targetable weapon.

Thanks to its speed and unpredictable trajectory, Yu-71 can evade an enemy's missile defense systems.

"This would give Russia the ability to deliver a guaranteed small-scale strike against a target of choice; if coupled with an ability to penetrate missile defenses, Moscow would also retain the option of launching a successful single-missile attack."

The report's authors assume that Russia may put into service up to 24 nuclear-capable Yu-71 aircraft between 2020 and 2025.  Moreover, by that time Russia may have developed the Sarmat - a new ICBM that will carry the new hypersonic device.

The report also said that Russia's next generation strategic stealth bomber PAK DA will carry hypersonic cruise missiles.

Faster Than Light: China's Hypersonic WU-14 Getting on Pentagon's Nerves

China has tested its hypersonic strike vehicle Wu-14 at least four times since January 2014, seriously alarming the Pentagon, as the device may reportedly neutralize the US anti-missile shield.

The United States is also engineering a similar device AHW (Advanced Hypersonic Weapon) as a part of its Prompt Global Strike program, which is not covered by the 2010 New START Treaty with Russia.  

Jane's experts predict that Moscow may use the new hypersonic aircraft as an ace in the sleeve during arms control talks with Washington.

PLA Could use Neutron Bomb in Event of U.S. Invasion: Duowei
Jun 29th, 2015
Daily NewsWant Ch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Concept art of a neutron bomb explosion.

Unconfirmed reports on various websites in China claim the People's Liberation Army possesses a neutron bomb and would use it as a last resort against a potential US invasion, Duowei News, a news outlet run by overseas Chinese reported on June 26.

One online article said a neutron bomb could take out a US convoy of M1A2 Abrams main battle tank and M2A3 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, killing all military personnel without doing significant damage to the vehicles themselves.

A neutron bomb sends a massive wave of neutron and gamma radiation that can penetrate armor or several feet of earth and is extremely destructive to living tissue. The bomb was developed to counter a potential Soviet invasion of Western Europe during the Cold War.

General Zhang Aiping, former deputy chief of PLA's general staff department, wrote in a poem for the Communist party mouthpiece People's Daily on Sept. 21, 1977, only months after the US tested its first neutron bomb, that it would not be difficult for China to develop the weapon. On Dec. 19, 1984. China tested its first neutron bomb two years after Zhang was appointed defense minister.

China successfully completed a neutron bomb test on Sept. 29, 1988.

Obama: Justice Arrives 'Like a Thunderbolt'
Jun 29th, 2015
Daily NewsObama: Justice arrives 'like a thunderbolt'
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

New Missiles to be Introduced to Chinese Submarines
Jun 29th, 2015
Daily NewsWant China Times
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

China's Type 094 Jin-class submarine will adopt JL-2 ballistic missiles.

The People's Liberation Army Navy has been developing new missiles for its newly developed submarines, according to Moscow-based Military Parade in a June 25 report.

The PLA Navy currently uses Type 093 Shang-class nuclear-powered attack submarines and Type 039A Yuan-class and Type 039 Song-class diesel-electric submarines. These vessels are all currently equipped with YJ-82 cruise missiles. The YJ-82 is set to be replaced by the SS-N-13, however, which has an operational range of 222 kilometers, according to the website.

China is currently carrying out tests on its Type 096 Tang-class ballistic missile submarine. JL-3 submarine-launched ballistic missiles are also being tested and will likely replace the JL-2 missile. Equipped with a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle, the JL-2 can carry between three and four warheads. It is estimated to have an attack range of 7,400 kilometers. When launched from the waters east of Hawaii, the entire United States is in range of the JL-2 missile.

With only a single JL-2, China would be capable of striking between three and four US targets. China is also developing a new third-generation attack-submarine, the Type 095, the website reported. The PLA Navy will use this new submarine to attack enemy surface combat vessels 100 nautical miles away, the website said.

NATO Military Buildup Close to Russia 'Has No Parallel in Cold War History'
Jun 29th, 2015
Daily NewsSputnik
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

NATO's unprecedented decision to deploy troops and heavy weaponry to Russia's western border spells the beginning of a "new and potentially more dangerous cold war," which will lead to increasingly strained relations with Moscow and escalating violence in Ukraine, the National Interest reported.

"Taking this perhaps fateful step is, in fact, going far beyond the 'Cold War playbook' and has no parallel in Cold War history," James Carden said, referring to earlier reports that US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter would advise his counterparts to throw away the aforementioned playbook on dealing with Moscow during his visit to Europe.

NATO Exploiting Ukraine to Expand to Russian Borders - UK Anti-War Group

Earlier this week, the North Atlantic Alliance also announced that it would increase the number of servicemen in its rapid response force to 40,000.

The latest decisions are part of a larger campaign to increase the American and NATO military presence in Eastern Europe and the Baltics, as well as intensify the bloc's war-games close to Russia's borders. NATO's largest military drills since the end of the Cold War will be held from September 28 until November 6.

Russia has repeatedly expressed its concerns over NATO's increasing belligerence, which threatens to undermine security and stability in Europe. The bloc has persistently brushed aside these legitimate worries, saying all its activities are defensive in their nature.

"And so the events of this week have extinguished any glimmer of hope that may have been sparked by John Kerry's diplomatic parley with the Russians in Sochi this past May," the executive editor for the American Committee for East-West Accord noted.

"Meanwhile, transatlantic efforts to undermine last February's Minsk II cease-fire accords continue without surcease," James Carden said.

The fragile Minsk peace process, endorsed by Russia, Germany and France, as well as the parties to the conflict, is seen as the only way to resolve the deadly crisis. Yet powerful forces try to derail it. The inconvenient truth, according to the National Interest, is that subversive activities are mainly led from within Ukraine.

"All the Sturm und Drang over the sanctions, NATO troop buildups, and nuclear saber rattling masks the uncomfortable fact that it is our clients in Kiev who are acting as the primary – though, of course, not only – obstacles to implementing Minsk II," James Carden concluded.

Let the Headlines Speak
Jun 29th, 2015
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Voting-Rights Advocates Get Win at Supreme Court
Monday’s big election law news came from the Supreme Court’s penultimate decision of the term upholding Arizona’s congressional districts. But before handing down its last three decisions, the court made voting-rights advocates happy by deciding not to review a different election case. “Arizona citizens can continue to participate in voter registration drives without worrying about not having proof of citizenship documents,” Shirley Sandelands, of the League of Women Voters of Arizona, said in a statement Monday.  

Epicenter of latest earthquake also near Nissan Plant
(Mississippi News Now) - USGS has confirmed a 3.2 magnitude earthquake hit about 4.3 miles southwest of Canton at 8:23 am. The epicenter of today's earthquake is just east of I-55, near the Nissan Plant, within less than a mile of one that happened in May.  

Deadline likely missed in nuclear deal - Hayden says Iran has 'upper hand'
Former CIA Director Michael Hayden said Sunday that the United States has lost its edge going into the final days of a nuclear negotiation with Iran. “I would actually fear that the Iranians have the upper hand right now,” Hayden said on “Fox News Sunday.” “I actually fear we have painted ourselves into a corner where we believe that any deal is better than no deal at the present time.”  

Russia's Putin reaffirms supposrt for Syrian Leadership
Vladimir Putin said at the start of talks with Syria's foreign minister on Monday that there was no change in Russia's support for the Syrian leadership. Putin said he hoped for an end to Syria's 4-1/2 year-old conflict, adding: "We are convinced that in the end the Syrian people will win."  

Greece in shock as banks shut after snap referendum call
Greeks struggled to adjust to shuttered banks, closed cash machines and a climate of rumours and conspiracy theories on Monday as a breakdown in talks between Athens and its creditors plunged the country deep into crisis.  

US Officials Warn of ISIS Attacks on July 4
American police forces from coast to coast are on alert from federal officials that the Islamic State (ISIS) is planning to terrorize the country during the July 4 Independence Day holiday.  

Earthquake of 5 magnitude rocks Nepal
A 5-magnitude earthquake on Monday rocked Nepal, triggering panic among the people already battered by the two devastating earthquakes two months ago and over 330 aftershocks.  

Earthquake of 5.8 magnitude strikes off Peru: USGS
An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 struck off the coast of Peru on Monday, the United States Geological Survey reported. The USGS said the quake's epicentre was 145 kilometres (90 miles) south of Puquio and 34 kilometres deep.  

Puerto Rico governor says island can't pay its public debt
The governor is warning that Puerto Rico can't pay its $72 billion public debt, delivering another jolt to the recession-gripped U.S. island as well as a world financial system already worrying over Greece's collapsing finances.  

Greece imposes capital controls, banks to remain shut
Greece's five-year financial crisis took its most dramatic turn yet, with the cabinet deciding after an 8-hour session that Greek banks would remain shut for six business days and restrictions would be imposed on cash withdrawals.  

Earthquake Hits Sinai Coast, Felt From Eilat to Tel Aviv
An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale occurred off the coast of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula shortly after 6:30 p.m. Saturday and was felt all the way from Eilat at the southernmost tip of Israel to the greater Tel Aviv area in central Israel.  

The green mirage—and con job
Elon Musk and his fellow barons of Climate Crisis, Inc. recently got a huge boost from Pope Francis. Musk et al. say fossil fuels are causing unprecedented warming and weather disasters. The Pope agrees and says Catholics must “ask God for a positive outcome” to negotiations over another UN climate treaty.  

President who opposed gay marriage three years ago turns White House into rainbow extravaganza
It’s not Barack Obama’s style to win a victory with any sort of humility, you understand. That’s not in his makeup. And there’s really little point in mentioning that he was “opposed” to gay marriage as recently as 2012 when he announced his big evolution on the issue, because everyone knows he wasn’t really opposed at all. He pretended to be until he sensed correctly that the politics of the country were changing and it was OK to admit he was for it - which he had been all along.  

The Supreme Court Has Ruled: Principled People Will Not Obey!
Following the Supreme Court’s illegal, immoral, and incredible “gay” rights decision, the White House (owned by the American people, not the President) was flooded with rainbow-color lights in celebration of that disgusting, dangerous, and decadent decision. Such impudence and defiance was an insult to America and a goading of God. However, be assured that God sees the evil and the good and He is involved in our world. Sometime His judgment seems slow, but it is always sure and severe. Judgment is on the way!  

Christie Blatchford: Three Year Sentence Brings Sad, Sickening End to Onetime Education Superstar
Jun 29th, 2015
Daily NewsNational Post
Categories: Contemporary Issues

It is a common enough scene in the criminal courts, and not without its own special heartbreak.

An accused person, the long judicial process over at last and no more stalling possible, is formally sentenced, and as he is led off to jail, hands cuffed behind his back, he scans the seats for final glimpses of familiar faces and the world as he once knew it.

But Friday, at a suburban Toronto courthouse located in a strip mall, the handcuffed man was one of Canadian education’s highest flyers and biggest stars and the exit from courtroom 304 was the denouement to an unprecedented fall from grace.

Ben Levin, a former deputy education minister in two provinces, former member of Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s transition team and a global expert in childhood learning, was sentenced to three years in prison Friday by Ontario Court Judge Heather McArthur.

The 63-year-old Levin earlier this spring pleaded guilty to one count each of possessing child pornography (for his small, but with violent and sadistic elements, collection of child porn), making child pornography (this in relation to a story he wrote for an undercover police officer from New Zealand posing as a single woman with an interest in incest, in which he detailed the violent sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl) and counselling the indictable offence of sexual assault (in which he acted, as the judge said, as “a deviant mentor” to a Toronto undercover officer posing online as a mother purportedly fighting her attraction to her own eight-year-old daughter).

As well, the judge noted that though Levin didn’t plead guilty to this offence, he unquestionably “also distributed child pornography,’’ sending the New Zealand officer, among others, “an image of a bound girl, with a gag in her mouth and an adult woman standing over her” which he described in a comment this way: “Mmm, so hot to imagine a mother doing that to her girl to please her lover.”

And, despite Levin’s purported suspicions that the “mother” with the eight-year-old, whom he was grooming, wasn’t “real,” McArthur said he “knew he might be wrong; the woman he was chatting with could, in fact, be a mother who was sexually interested” in her own child – and egged her on anyway.

Indeed, McArthur wrote in a smart and thoughtful 23-page decision, while Levin did much good in his life and had an illustrious career, it was precisely that background “as a leading expert in childhood education” which “renders his moral blameworthiness particularly high.

“It is an understatement to say that Mr. Levin would know that the young victims in the images he possessed were not getting the best start in school, let alone life,” the judge said.

This was a reference to Levin’s role as one of the major architects of Manitoba’s “K-S4 Agenda for Student Success,” which focused on improving student learning outcomes.