Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Trans - Gendered, Trans-species and Trans-aged - Where Does It Stop?
Feb 16th, 2016
CommentaryKade Hawkins
Categories: Contemporary Issues

Alberta, Canada's most conservative province, recently elected a left-of-center government, ending a 44-year-old conservative party dynasty.

Alberta is sometimes called the Texas of the North.  Both share similar conservative values and a reputation for being associated with oil discovery. Alberta has the world's third largest oil reserves, with 170 billion barrels of proven reserves.

Houson, Texas, the state's most populous city, and Alberta have both found themselves at the center of controversy over LGBT issues after electing politicians who made no secret they would promote social values opposed by Conservatives. 

Former Houston Mayor Annise Parker, the first openly gay mayor of a major U.S. city, came under fire last year for her attempts to subpoena church sermons, among other documentation, from five local faith leaders. Officials requested that these preachers deliver communications that focused on homosexuality or the contentious equal rights ordinance, which these individuals have fervently opposed.

The subpoenas sought, "all speeches, presentations, or sermons related to the ordinance, the Petition, Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality, or gender identity prepared by, delivered by, revised by, or approved by you or in your possession," according to the Houston Chronicle.

Alberta has now introduced its new guidelines for all public schools to help create "learning environments" that were more inclusive and that "respect diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions." Here is just a sampling of some of these new guidelines and how the government expects them to play out in everyday life in schools:

No dividing students, or even class lists, by girls and boys, "When creating student/staff lists, school staff ensure gender designations are not included either beside individual names or as a composite number for the group."

Students choose their own pronouns, All individuals have the right to be addressed by their chosen name and to choose pronouns that align with their gender identity and/or gender expression. . . . Some individuals may not feel included in the use of the pronouns 'he' or 'she' and may prefer alternate pronouns, such as 'ze,' 'zir,' 'hir,' 'they' or 'them,' or might wish to express themselves or self-identify in other ways (e.g., Mx. instead or Mr., Mrs., Ms., or Miss, or no prefix at all)."

Students choose their own sports team. School staff should "avoid structuring courses or activities based on gender-specific roles such as 'boys' versus 'girls' in academic, athletic or talent competitions. If teams are divided by boys and girls, the student should be given the opportunity to participate on the team that reflects their gender identity and expression."

Students choose their own restroom and change room. "Students are able to access washrooms that are congruent with their gender identity." And if a student objects to sharing a washroom or change-room with a student who is trans or gender-diverse" the student that objects should be "offered an alternate facility."

Do not use the terms "Mr., Ms., Mrs., mother, father, him, her, etc.," but instead use "non-gendered and inclusive language" on school forms, websites, and letters such as "parents/guardians, caregivers, families, partners, student or their."

These new guidelines that the province of Alberta has put together are an attempt to be more "inclusive" and make sure everyone feels comfortable.

But few are thinking through the full ramifications of accepting such regulations.  Encouraging and enforcing the right of children to self-identify is a dangerous path.  

Who is to choose what is acceptable and what is not?  The Department of Education? How does one endorse Gay Marriage and not Polygamy? And where does it stop?  Or does it?

Do we endorse Sologamy Rights? Yes, sologamy, the right to marry yourself.  No joke.  Bethany Blankley reports on this growing trend in Charisma Magazine:

Timothy George highlights a revived trend in lifestyle choices in First Things, called "sologamy," which began over 20 years ago. George writes: "Sologamy is the marriage of someone to one's own self, the his- or her-ness is not relevant, although it seems to be mostly women who are doing it." Self marriage is not recognized in the U.S. or Europe, but nevertheless, more reports are surfacing of individuals marrying themselves.

The first person to marry herself to herself was Linda Baker in December 1993, George reports. Another is Sara Sharpe, "who wrote about her self-marriage in A Dress, A Ring, Promises to Self."

Last January, the Houston Chronicle reported that Yasmin Eleby "married herself at the Houston Museum of African American Culture ... in a lavish ceremony with 10 bridesmaids in attendance, plus family and other guests on hand to celebrate the event." Her ceremony was illegal, not recognized by the state or federal government as marriage. Her sister performed the "ceremony," and Yasmin went on a honeymoon with herself to "Cambodia, Laos, and a jazz festival in Dubai."

And CNN's Anderson Cooper interviewed a North Dakota woman, Nadine Schweigert, who married herself in front of her roughly 40 close friends. These were her vows:

"I, Nadine," she said to herself, "promise to enjoy inhabiting my own life and to relish a lifelong love affair with my beautiful self."

Whereas there are certain limits, I think, to how people are going to choose a marriage context, the idea that we can choose to self-identify whatever we want is limitless.

Can we self-identify as another race?  The most famous case debating this issue was Rachel Dolezal of Spokane Washington, who led her local chapter of the NAACP and claimed to be black, although she was born to white parents. 

Forget Trans-Gendered - how about Trans-Species. Take for instance, Nano, a 20-year-old Norwegian, who says, "I was born in the wrong species." Nano believes she is trapped in a human female body instead of a feline body.

She hisses at dogs and claims her night vision and sense of smell is better because she is really a cat. She even meows in "cat language," The Daily Mail reports.

Or how about the rights of the Trans-Aged: individuals whose age does not align with the date they were assigned at birth. Take the case of Paul Wolscht, a 52-year-old Canadian man who, after having seven children, asserted that he identifies as a 6-year-old girl and left his wife and children to lead a more "liberating" life and not have to "think about adult stuff."

Wolscht has support from transgender advocates, and is now considered uniquely special because of his trans-ageism. Wolscht has two adoptive "parents" who have welcomed him into their family and treat him as a 6-year-old girl.

Wolshct's case indicates that transgender advocacy ultimately means that all self-defined identities must be enshrined in anti-discrimination law. Just as transgender activists will tell you not to conflate gender with sex, so no one should conflate age with time. Trans-aged individuals are just as entitled to anti-discrimination protection as transgender individuals.

And this is what Alberta's schools are now setting as a precedent to help train our youth in this type of thinking.  If it can happen in Conservative Alberta, it can happen anywhere.

The Family Policy Institute of Washington recently released a video titled "Truth is Compassion," in which interviewer Caleb Bonham asked Seattle residents if there are any limits to the way someone can self-identify.

The goal of the video is to challenge people to view themselves and others "in a way that conforms to reality." The message is clear: "The real problem is that people dont want to deal with reality."

"The left is now aggressively pushing protected class status based on what someone says they are irrespective of reality". People should be free to 'identify' as something if they want to, but no one should have the power of government to be able to force someone else to agree with you."

"Everyone wants to be compassionate. But before we start down the path of giving people protected-class status based on what they say they are, we need to think about where that road could lead.

Saudi Arabia and Turkey Preparing for Massive Ground Invasion of Syria?
Feb 16th, 2016
Daily NewsMichael Snyder
Categories: Contemporary Issues

350,000 soldiers, 20,000 tanks, 2,450 warplanes and 460 military helicopters are massing in northern Saudi Arabia for a military exercise that is being called "Northern Thunder".  

According to the official announcement, forces are being contributed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Sudan, Kuwait, Morocco, Pakistan, Tunisia, Oman, Qatar, Malaysia and several other nations.  

This exercise will reportedly last for 18 days, and during that time the airspace over northern Saudi Arabia will be closed to air traffic.  This will be the largest military exercise in the history of the region, and it comes amid rumors that Saudi Arabia and Turkey are preparing for a massive ground invasion of Syria.

If you were going to gather forces for an invasion, this is precisely how you would do it.  Governments never come out and publicly admit that forces are moving into position for an invasion ahead of time, so military exercises are a common excuse that gets used for this sort of thing.

If these exercises are actually being used as an excuse to mass forces near the northern Saudi border, then we should expect an invasion to begin within the next couple of weeks.  If it happens, we should expect to see the Saudi coalition storm through western Iraq and into Syria from the south, and it is likely that Turkey will come in from the north.

The goal would be to take out the Assad regime before Russia, Iran and Hezbollah could react.  For the past couple of years, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and their allies have been funding the Sunni insurgency in Syria, and they were counting on those insurgents to be able to take down the Assad regime by themselves.

You see, the truth is that ISIS was never supposed to lose in Syria.  Saudi Arabia and her allies have been funneling massive amounts of money to ISIS, and hundreds of millions of dollars of ISIS oil has been shipped into Turkey where it is sold to the rest of the world.

The major Sunni nations wanted ISIS and the other Sunni insurgent groups to take down Assad.  In the aftermath, Saudi Arabia and her allies intended to transform Syria into a full-blown Sunni nation.

But then Russia, Iran and Hezbollah stepped forward to assist the Assad regime.  Russian air support completely turned the tide of the war, and now the Sunni insurgents are on the brink of losing.

Aleppo was once the largest city in Syria, and Sunni insurgents have controlled it since 2012.  But now relentless Russian airstrikes have made it possible for Syrian, Iranian and Hezbollah ground forces to surround the city, and it is about to fall back into the hands of the Syrian government.

If this happens, the war will essentially be over.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and their allies have invested massive amounts of time, money and effort into overthrowing Assad, and they arent about to walk away now.

If the war was to end right at this moment, a weakened Assad regime would remain in power, and Iran and Hezbollah would be the dominant powers in the country for years to come.  And once Assad died, it would be inevitable that Iran and Hezbollah would attempt to transform Syria into a full-blown Shiite nation.  This is something that Saudi Arabia and Turkey want to avoid at all costs.

So they are actually considering what was once absolutely unthinkable  a massive ground invasion of Syria.

But if Saudi Arabia, Turkey and their allies go in, they run the risk of a full-blown war with Russia, Iran and Hezbollah.  Just consider some of the comments that we have seen in recent days...

Reacting to a potential troop deployment, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said Saturday, "Let no one think they can attack Syria or violate its sovereignty because I assure you any aggressor will return to their country in a wooden coffin."

Pavel Krasheninnikov, a deputy of Russias State Duma, has warned Saudi Arabia that any military ground operation in Syria without Damascus consent would amount to a declaration of war, Press TV reported.

We could literally be looking at the spark that sets off World War 3.  I cant believe that Saudi Arabia and Turkey are actually considering this.

And if it does happen, you can rest assured that Barack Obama gave them the green light to go in.

Unfortunately, it sounds like the decision may have already been made.  Just consider what Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is saying&

"If we have such a strategy, then Turkey and Saudi Arabia may launch a ground operation," he added, fueling concerns that a foreign troop invasion may soon further complicate the already turbulent situation in the war-torn country.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE voiced their readiness to contribute troops for a ground operation in Syria on the condition that the US would lead the intervention. Damascus and its key regional ally, Iran, warned that such a foreign force would face strong resistance.

And in addition to all of the forces massing in northern Saudi Arabia, the London Independent is reporting that the Saudis have sent troops and aircraft to a military base in Turkey...

Saudi Arabia is sending troops and fighter jets to Turkeys Incirlik military base ahead of a possible ground invasion of Syria.

The Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, confirmed the deployment in a statement to the Yeni ^afak newspaper on Saturday, days before a temporary ceasefire is due to come into force.

There are reports that Saudi officials are saying that the decision to send in ground troops is "irreversible", and Reuters is reporting that the Syrian government claims that some Turkish troops have already entered the country&

The Syrian government says Turkish forces were believed to be among 100 gunmen it said entered Syria on Saturday accompanied by 12 pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns, in an ongoing supply operation to insurgents fighting Damascus.

"The operation of supplying ammunition and weapons is continuing via the Bab al-Salama crossing to the Syrian area of Azaz," the Syrian foreign ministry said in a letter to the U.N. Security Council published by state news agency SANA.

Of course the Turkish government is not going to confirm that report, but what we do know is that Turkey is shelling Kurdish forces on the Syrian side of the border.  The funny thing is that these Kurdish forces are actually being supported and supplied by the U.S. government.

So the Turks are not supposed to be doing this, but according to Reuters they have been doing it for two days in a row anyway&

The Turkish army shelled positions held by Kurdish-backed militia in northern Syria for a second day on Sunday, killing two fighters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

Turkey on Saturday demanded the powerful Syrian Kurdish YPG militia withdraw from areas that it had captured in the northern Aleppo region in recent days from insurgents in Syria, including the Menagh air base. The shelling has targeted those areas.

Let the Headlines Speak
Feb 16th, 2016
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines

Top secret CIA poison dart gun 'gives targets deadly HEART ATTACKS and leaves no trace'
A WHISTLEBLOWER has claimed the CIA developed a "heart attack gun" laced with deadly poison to carry out assassinations. ...the toxin would not appear in an autopsy – so there would be "no way of perceiving that the target was hit".  

Hawaii declares state of emergency over Zika virus, dengue fever outbreak
Hawaii Gov. David Ige declared a state of emergency to fight mosquito borne illnesses including dengue fever and the Zika virus. The state has been in the midst of a dengue fever outbreak on Hawaii's Big Island, where there were more than 250 confirmed cases. There have been no locally transmitted cases of the Zika virus in Hawaii, Ige said in a news conference Friday.  

Michael Savage: 'Was Scalia murdered?'
With confirmation that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead Saturday morning with a pillow over his head and his clothes unwrinkled, nationally syndicated talk-radio host Michael Savage called for an investigation on the level of the presidentially appointed probe into President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963.  

France presents Israel, Palestinians with peace plan
Israeli and Palestinian officials say France has presented the two sides with a proposal for an international peace conference.  

‘Christians are under pressure in many developed countries’ – Russian Patriarch Kirill
In an exclusive interview to RT's Ed Schultz Patriarch Kirill stressed the importance of his meeting with Pope Francis in Cuba, which he said came “at the right time.”  

US Ambassador to UN: “UN is Part of the Problem”
US Ambassador Samantha Power vigorously criticized the UN’s bias against Israel in her speech at the Israel Middle East Model UN Conference at the American International School in Even Yehuda.  

Obama Reluctantly Signs BDS Bill Recognizing Territories as Part of Israel
A trade bill which passed a senate vote Thursday is set to be signed into law by US President Barack Obama, despite his objections to its pro-Israel portions.  

5.7M earthquake adds shaking to gales on Tongatapu
A short tremor was felt in Tongatapu tonight at around 4:03 am. The earthquake rattled houses and woke people, who stayed indoors sheltering from the gale force winds and heavy rains brought to Tonga overnight by Tropical Cyclone Winston.  

Thousands of Blacktip Sharks Clog the Coastline of Florida in Palm Beach County
People aren’t the only ones heading to Florida for warmer weather. Over 10,000 sharks have situated themselves just off the Palm Beach County coastline for the winter, although further north than usual. The blacktip sharks are only several hundred feet away from the shore, according to Stephen Kajiura, an associate professor at Florida Atlantic University whose research interests include the sensory biology of fish.  

Negative central bank interest rates now herald new danger for the world
The world's tentative experiment with negative interest rates got off to an unremarkable start. Sweden's Riksbank - the world's oldest central bank - became the first major monetary authority to cross the rubicon and take its main policy rate into the red exactly a year ago to the month (see map above).  

Doctors 3D-print 'living' body parts
Custom-made, living body parts have been 3D-printed in a significant advance for regenerative medicine, say scientists. The sections of bone, muscle and cartilage all functioned normally when implanted into animals. The breakthrough, published in Nature Biotechnology, raises the hope of using living tissues to repair the body.  

Antonin Scalia death: Obama to act after Senate returns next week
A new US Supreme Court judge to replace justice Antonin Scalia will be nominated by the president after next week, the White House has said. There will be no announcement before the Senate returns on 22 February, said deputy press secretary Eric Schultz. Republicans have demanded President Barack Obama - a Democrat - leave the nomination to his successor next year.  

Earthquakes hit Greece just MILES from popular holiday hotspot
THREE earthquakes have struck the Greek city of Patras, just miles from holiday hotspot Zakynthos. The initial quake, which measured 5.3 on the richter scale, struck the area just before 9pm local time. Two more aftershocks, each measuring around 3 on the scale then followed.  

Four oil producing nations agree to freeze output
Oil ministers from three Opec countries, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Venezuela, as well as Russia, have agreed to freeze oil output at January levels, as long as others follow suit. The announcement came after the four ministers met in Doha on Tuesday. The move is designed to support the oil price, which has dropped sharply in recent months.  

Russia rejects Syria war crimes claim over hospital attacks
Russia says it "categorically rejects" accusations of war crimes over the bombing of hospitals in Syria. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "those who make such statements are not capable of backing them up with proof". Up to 50 people were killed in missile attacks on at least four hospitals and a school in rebel-held areas of northern Syria on Monday.  

Senior Palestinian official calls on Jews to 'return to country of origin'
Palestinian Authority envoy to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Ibrahim Khreisheh, said that all Jews living in Israel "should all return to their country of origin,"... In an interview with Palestinian Authority TV earlier this month, Khreisheh posited that Jews are not indigenous to the land of Israel, and their presence today is a product of years-long colonization.  

First Chinese train arrives in Tehran to revive Silk Road
Iran's state TV says the first Chinese commercial train has arrived in Tehran to revive the Silk Road — an ancient network of trade routes running through Asia.  

Britain wants to ban boycotts on Israeli goods
The British government intends to ban public institutions in the country from themselves banning the purchase of goods from Israel. It will unveil rules later this week that will make it harder for local town halls and public universities to enact boycotts on Israeli products, spurred by growing popular anger around the collapse of the Middle East peace process.  

EU future not what it once was with 2 big crises at summit
After decades of often unbridled expansion and increasing prosperity, the once-robust European Union is this week looking at its biggest challenge — crumbling from within, says EU President Donald Tusk.  

White House says expects China will support new sanctions on North Korea
President Barack Obama's top national security adviser Susan Rice said on Monday that she expects China will support new international sanctions on North Korea for its recent rocket launches.  

Missiles in Syria kill 50 as schools, hospitals hit; Turkey accuses Russia
Turkey on Monday accused Russia of an "obvious war crime" after missile attacks in northern Syria killed scores of people, and warned Kurdish militia fighters there they would face the "harshest reaction" if they tried to capture a town near the Turkish border.  

Germany expects 500,000 refugees this year: newspaper
The German government expects 500,000 refugees to come to Germany this year, German newspaper Rheinische Post cited sources from the Federal Labor Office as saying.  

'Severe' 6.0 magnitude earthquake hits New Zealand's south coast – just two days after another massive tremor rocked Christchurch
A 'severe' 6.0 magnitude earthquake has hit off the south coast of New Zealand just two days after Christchurch was rocked by a powerful quake. The 10km-deep earthquake struck 160km south-west of Snares Islands at 8.28am on Tuesday, with shaking felt near Roxburgh, Invercargill, Dunedin and Christchurch.  

Explosive device found on rental car at Albuquerque airport
The Albuquerque International Sunport did not shut down Sunday morning, but customers returning rental cars were diverted to another location after what officials called a “safe and credible explosive device” was discovered at the airport’s Avis Budget rental car facility.  

Sri Lankan 'witch doctor' claims he used black magic to elect president of the Maldives
The autocratic president of the Maldives is already known to have one prominent international adviser on his payroll: Cherie Blair and her law firm. But now a Sri Lankan "witch doctor" has gone public with claims he deployed black magic to win the presidency for Abdulla Yameen. "We invited the devil to destroy the political power of Mr Yameen's opponents...  

After Atheist Richard Dawkins Suffers Stroke, Twitter Users Debate over Praying for Him
Twitter user John Cumberbatch similarly tweeted, “Richard Dawkins has had a stroke :( Pray for him.” Other Twitter users, however, knowing that Dawkins was an avowed atheist, wished Dawkins well, but said they would not be praying for him.  

DARPA's fully-loaded quadcopter autonomously navigates an indoor maze at 45 mph
A fully-laden quadcopter recently flew through an indoor obstacle course at 45 mph (72 km/h) as part of DARPA's Fast Lightweight Autonomy (FLA) program. The test flight was conducted entirely under autonomous control with the goal of developing small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) with the ability to navigate through tight spaces without the need for outside control or GPS.  

Graphene successfully interfaced with neurons in the brain
"For the first time we interfaced graphene to neurons directly," said Professor Laura Ballerini of the University of Trieste in Italy. "We then tested the ability of neurons to generate electrical signals known to represent brain activities, and found that the neurons retained their neuronal signaling properties unaltered.  

UN releases stamps celebrating homosexuality, gay parenting, transexualism
Dark naked figures dancing around a fire and a powerful Greek god presided over the unveiling of six explicit UN postage stamps to promote homosexuality, transexuality, and gay parenting at UN headquarters last week.  

Urgent calls begin for Scalia autopsy
“The horrid reaction and comments about his death expressed by many liberals online illustrate that Scalia was hated by many people. His death hands the power of the Supreme Court to the modern left for the first time in American history. The court can now vote, even without a replacement of Scalia, to radically change the United States of America.