Friday, December 16, 2005

Love forgives

This message is mostly to fellow Christians. Regardless of how long you have attended church or claimed to be a Christian, this is something we all need to remember. No matter what church we attend or what body of believers we fellowship with or where we encounter other believers, there is always going to be the opportunity for adversity between believers.

The Lord God puts people in our lives for a reason.

Whatever that reason is, we need to search Him for answers - not one another. Search His Word - it is faithful and true.

We cannot hold other believers - or even non-believers - responsible for the many feelings that swell up within us when someone or something offends us.

Unforgiveness does not show the love of God. God is love. Therefore, if we walk in the light as he is in the light then the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin and we have fellowship one with another. (paraphrase - 1 Jn 1:7)

There is going to be trouble in this world. Relationships are a challenge. But regardless of what has happened, it is so very important not to become bitter. Not to allow the cancer of unforgiveness to enter into our heart, soul, and mind and spew out of our tongues like poison to others' ears and spew out of our actions like soldiers combatting an adversary. Our fellow brothers & sisters in Christ are not adversaries. And those who are non-believers are not our adversaries.

Our enemies are not of flesh and blood.
We are complicated and intricate beings fashioned beautifully by the exact hand of God. All of us - believer or not. We need to learn to forgive and we can only learn by looking to the one who Forgave all of us: God. Through His Son, Jesus Christ - who was obedient to the Father all the way to death.

Let it go. Whatever it is. Lay it before God. He will not forgive you if you do not forgive others.


2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Sunday, November 27, 2005

Harry Potter series

Recently, I went to a movie and the trailer for the new Harry Potter movie came up on the screen. I sat there watching the horrific images of imagined beasts and spirits swirling through magical air as the boy-wizard attempted to evade their attacks or return an attack, sometimes while whooshing around the air on a broomstick. I could not help but wonder how much darker this trailer was from the prior Harry Potters (although, I missed the last episode's trailer, so this is new to me). I wondered to myself, "Parents would let their young children watch this??" Talk about having bad dreams! And the thought came to me that these parents who permitted their children to watch the first few episodes would be in a bind if they forbade their children from watching THIS one. I could hear the arguments from the children already. "You let me watch the first three/four!That's no fair!"

I mean really - how could you, in good conscience, prevent your child from watching this one if you permitted them the first ones? Would it not be a bit hypocritical to reason to your children, "Well - I was never really for you going to see Harry Potter to begin with and this movie just looks scarier than the first few."? Yes, you could argue this one is much darker. But the point is: You already let them go to the first few episodes. So really - what's the diff?

Where is my reasoning coming from?

The fact that anyone would sit in front of a Harry Potter movie already opens up this discussion. A "christian" co-worker of mine justified her reason for reading the books/seeing the movies: "It's about good versus evil!"

It's about good versus evil? I'm sorry - did I miss the kiosk that was handing out wools to pull over our eyes down the road somewhere?

Are you not aware that the so-called "good" versus the obvious "evil" is made up of a cast of WIZARDS, WARLOCKS, AND WITCHES?!!! Since when did those who practice these dark arts consider themselves GOOD?

Dark arts.
Do you know that the Ministry of Dark Arts is taught to these "good" wizards, warlocks, & witches in the story? *nod, nod* yeah. At least the author was telling the truth.

"But, but, white witches aren't bad witches. They're good witches. They use their magic to heal and to ward off bad spirits and.. and.." blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blaaaaah-dee-dee blaaaah.

I dont know what your bible says, but mine says:
(Exo 22:18 KJV) Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

Deu 18:10-14 KJV
(10) There shall not be found among you [any one] that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, [or] that useth divination, [or] an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
(11) Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
(12) For all that do these things [are] an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
(13) Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.
(14) For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so [to do].

Here it is again in plain terms:

Deu 18:10-14 MSG
(10) Don't you dare sacrifice your son or daughter in the fire. Don't practice divination, sorcery, fortunetelling, witchery,
(11) casting spells, holding seances, or channeling with the dead.
(12) People who do these things are an abomination to GOD. It's because of just such abominable practices that GOD, your God, is driving these nations out before you.
(13) Be completely loyal to GOD, your God.
(14) These nations that you're about to run out of the country consort with sorcerers and witches. But not you. GOD, your God, forbids it.

WAKE UP, CHRISTIAN WORLD!!! Are you so comfortable with your stinking thinking that you cannot SEE what's really going on, Private?!
Last time I checked, the Word of God said of the church (the body of believers that are usually labeled "Christian"): "...as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word," {Ephesians 5:25b,26}

He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word.
The word. Every word that proceeds from God's mouth. The word cleanses and renews your mind. Are you reading it??

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." {Romans 12:2}
"And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;" {Ephesians 4:23}

Now why would God want us to be renewed in our minds? For one, Romans 12:2 says so that we may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. But a strong reason is: "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." {Romans 8:7}

We cannot rightly discern or approve what is good for our children, our selves, our brothers & sisters in Christ, or anyone for that matter, if we are not reading the Word daily and obeying God. In order to teach others, we must first be taught. How can a Christian teach anyone anything that they have not already learned for their own self? "Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15) Look up the words "familiar spirit" in the bible. Grab yourself a concordanceand start studying. Look up the word "familiar" and be sure it is followed by the word "spirit". Then see what the Word says regarding those with familiar spirits. Become familiar with what those who have a familiar spirit do & how they were treated by those who followed Christ or God. For example, the sorcerer in Acts 8 who begged Peter to have the ability to lay hands on others to impart the Holy Ghost. Or in Acts 13, the sorcerer whom Paul encountered and was trying to turn the deputy away from the faith. Or how about the damsel with the spirit of divination in Acts 16 who grieved Paul by crying out after him, then when the spirit was cast out of her - she was useless to her masters because she couldn't (read tarot cards, read chicken gizzards/liver, read blood, read tea leaves, read palms, read the stars, read lines in your forehead, look into her crystal ball, create voodoo dolls, tell your future, consult with images/the dead) soothsay anymore. Or the King Saul in the Old Testament (1 Samuel 28:7; 1 Chronicles 10:13).

That's another one: divination. Look it up in the concordance. Become familiar with these things. So you can approve what is acceptable and pleasing to the Lord first and foremost in your lives.

These movies & books & games & such appear harmless. "Hollywood glam" we say. But don't be deceived. Garbage in, garbage out. Monitor what your children -- and you -- watch. Cut out some of this garbage hocus-pocus crap that teaches the wrong spirit. Edify yourselves with good wholesome movies.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Shame On Bush

Shame on Bush? The people living in the U.S.ofA. are going to put all the blame of a God-executed disaster on a measely little man simply because he possesses the title that bears the authority to oversee the affairs of this nation?

Shame on you.
Shame on you believers and self-professed Christians who participated in blaming Bush for anything regarding this disaster.
Shame on you.
Shame on you for trusting in the hand of man to deliver rather than the hand of our Creator.
Shame on you.
Shame on you for leaning on your own understanding rather than trusting in God.
Shame on you.

It is very clear that man cannot create a hurricane, is it not? Is it sound logic to reason that? Man cannot create hurricanes.

Then in knowing that simple truth, how is it that flesh and blood would ever think that mercy could come at the hand of a man -- or group of men -- when man was never the source of the disaster?

"Oh waaaaah, poor us! Precautions should have been taken! Precautions could have been taken! This would have NEVER happened if WE/THEY did this and WE/THEY did that! It's OUR/THEIR fault! We are poor! We are rich! We are hungry! We are in pain! We are without shelter! We are miserable and want others to be miserable with us! We want to blame others for our losses! We don't have transportation! We can't get jobs! It's too hot! It's too cold! We have no water! We have TOO MUCH water! The water is poisonous! The white President is to blame! The black Mayor is to blame! The brown enemies are to blame! The green paper is to blame! The black oil is to blame! The brown water is to blame!"

BUT WE ARE NEVER TO BE BLAMED RIGHT???

We, the people of the United States, are never to be blamed for the transgression of our lives against our Almighty Creator who watches down from Heaven on His glorious throne...
...as we indulge ourselves in riches that we cannot even haul on our backs in the face of danger, whether it is man-made (i.e. World Trade Towers) or God-made (i.e. Hurricane Katrina), but rather watch become value-less in our eyes and hearts despite how valuable they were when we FIRST wanted them.
...as we turn our backs on Him as a nation because He never answers us HOW we want, WHEN we want, WHERE we want in a day and age where we can get things right now, right here with all our nifty gadgets that are created with the brains God gave us and the resources God gave us. We want what we want, when we want it, and we don't want to wait for it. So if we can get it by stealing, manipulating, bypassing, or speeding up the system/process, then "Thank God!", huh?
...as we turn our backs on Him because we have no control over Him, since He does what He wants and has a way of life for us that we just cannot buy, let alone bypass, and we don't like a lot of what His book (that was translated & re-translated - one of our excuses for not reading it) says, plus it is as boring as the Lord of the Rings or the Chronicles of Narnia...or hey, even the Harry Potter series...so rather than read it, hear about it, look at it, know of it -- if we can just remain ignorant to God's laws, then maybe He'll leave us alone, right? (Ignorance of the law is no excuse.)

And didn't this hurricane manifest what is really in this nation's heart of hearts?

-People were just grateful for the cold meals they got weren't they? ("They didn't even give us warm meals!! WAAAAAH!")
-People have matured and their limited minds no longer revealed they were seeing in colors or classes, huh? ("It was the rich white people's fault because the poor black people couldn't escape or get the help they needed! WAAAAAAH!!! If this was in a white neighborhood as opposed to a black neighborhood, then....!!! If the President was black and the mayor was white, then.....!!! If the people in Iraq were actually black, red, purple or green... and the people of the United States were violet, maroon, orange or light blue, then we wouldn't have all these wars and more attention would be focused in this God-executed disaster area!!!!")

***UNFINISHED, STAY TUNED***

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Not hardly a terrorist

Watching the news the other day, I heard it said that someone was upset because the U.S. was "harboring a terrorist". This was in reference to Pat Robertson.

Granted I did not like the words that came from his lips -- for even if he thought it, he should not have spoke it: "I think we should go ahead and..." -- the plain truth of the matter is Pat Robertson is not a terrorist. So get off that bandwagon.

Mr. Robertson has apologized for his statement. He knows now that he should have never uttered those words from his lips. Whether or not the other party wishes to forgive him for the statement is up to that party. But I do believe Mr. Robertson repents for speaking those words.

The history of Mr. Robertson does not bear any testimony to him being (as he is being falsely accused) a "terrorist". He is far from that. He inappropriately made an inappropriate statement from a thought that entered into his mind and he would never, by the grace and spirit of God, encourage the United States and its leadership to maim, kill, and destroy another person or people. For that spirit is not of God. And he repents of it.

Let it go.

Mr. Robertson be reminded: We war not with flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Though the flesh manifests these, the war is in the spirit. So choose either salt water or fresh water to spew from the fountain in you. Not both.

James 3


1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. 2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. 3 Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. 4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. 7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: 8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? 12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. 13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. 14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. 15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

Friday, August 26, 2005

Gaza Strip

It was wrong to give the Palestinians this strip of land. The one who made the decision to do this obviously does not know the history between God & Abraham regarding everywhere Abraham's feet were to tread.

Today's headlines declare that the Palestinian leader is accusing the Israelis for deaths of Palestinian teenagers... whom the Israelis claim are part of an Islamic Jihad. I read and I think:

"Peace? Where is it? When will there be peace in the Middle East?"

The answer comes: Not in this present age.
And knowing that answer - which is an obvious one - the Gaza Strip should have never been an option for negotiations on the side of Israel. But what is done is done.

Habakkuk 2:3 - For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Absence

Lately, I have not been writing because I have been immersed in studying. However, I have often wanted to come on here and share things that the Lord has been teaching me. There is so much going on ... it amazes me how we (in general) live in this physical world and can become so wrapped up in the day-to-day living with all its activities (mostly problems needing solutions) & forget that there are greater things beyond our little individual, self-absorbed existences. There is so much happening in the spiritual realm. So much evil has been loosed into this flesh-hungry world system. I woke up last week to see splattered across the news that gay marriage was approved in Canada and Spain. Jews were being removed from the Gaza strip by military troops as it was declared a military zone. I was like, "What the heck just happened? Did I wake up five years later?" I mean, it really could have been any amount of years...but my point is, these were events I did not expect to occur in "my day". As in "overnight". As in "right now". Which simply proves to me that things are happening really fast. We are being pushed forward to the sovereign plan of God: Jesus Christ is coming back to judge this world of ungodliness...and those who are not found written in the Lamb's book of life have nothing much to look forward to other than to cease existing. Oh - and some unbearable pain & heartache without comfort.

Yeah. Like...that sucks & stuff for them.

Last night, this thought totally crossed my mind & I spoke it out loud: Whether you like it or not, God's word will prevail. It will come to pass. You can hate me, you can disown me, you can stop talking to me, you can yell at me, you can get very angry at me... but the fact is that I will speak the truth. And if that truth cuts and hurts, then perhaps you should take a deep look into yourself as to why it does. I can only speak the truth. How another reacts to that truth is not in my control. I am required to speak truth. The rest is your choice. You are given a choice: receive it or reject it. My part is finished once that truth is disseminated. It is left into your hands to do with as you please. There is One who judges you. The Word judges and that is why it can hurt when it pierces our hearts. But when you reject the Word - regardless of the messenger - you ultimately reject God's love. And He it is whom you will face in the end.

I am just the messenger. Do I fear man? No. I fear God. For greater He is and sovereign is He over man & the flesh. He gives authority & He takes it away. My life is in the hand of no man. My life is in the hand of my Abba. So it is written, so it shall be.

So it is written. None can contend. None.

Monday, May 23, 2005

Don't Tread On Me

First the natural, then the spiritual.

Here is how other countries are showing their dislike for the USofA.


25 stars & 14 stripes eh? DOH! Korea's encouragement for countrymen to step on the USA flag.

DEMONSTRATIONS OF SUPPORT FOR IRAQ, BURNING AMERICAN & ISRAELI FLAGS "Land Day" in the Arab sector, which took place this Sunday (March 30) was marked by demonstrations of support for Saddam Hussein.

On Wednesday, [Muqtada al-Sadr] said a statement that "believers within (Iraq) especially those who reject occupation should respond to the profaning of God's holy book and for their violations of holy places by drawing the American and Israeli flags in the ground in front of mosques." God's holy book? More like Mohammed's book isn't it? The protests follow Muqtada al-Sadr's call Wednesday to reject the U.S. occupation of Iraq by painting Israeli and American flags on the ground outside mosques to be stepped on in protest raids against holy places. What does Israel have to do with this? Oh I know - let's just group them (Israel & the U.S.) together because we don't like them both for our own personal religous reasons, right?

Shiites burning the american flag Al-Sadr followers in Najaf, Kufa and Nasiriyah painted American and Israeli flags on most streets near mosques before stepping on them, chanting: "Down, down Israel; down, down USA".

more flag burning information BEIRUT -- In his workshop in suburban Beirut, Reef Hammoudi has been painting Israeli and American flags at the rate of 50 a day, so high is the demand from people demonstrating in support of the new Palestinian "intifada." He does them on nonabsorbant cloth just an hour or so before they are due for ritual burning because, he says, "I can't stand them in my shop and they disgust my clients."



Ok - so we get the point. They don't like the U.S.A. -- or Israel for that matter. What's new?
Do they want us to cry because they're burning replicas of our flag or stomping on inaccurate hand-drawn images? Sorry. No tears from me.

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Offended

CNN Headline news continued to cover the story yesterday about the uproar in Pakistan regarding "the desecration of the Qu'ran." All I could think was, "If someone or some group 'desecrated' the Bible, I have all the confidence in heaven & earth that God's arm is not too short to take care of the matter Himself. He certainly does not need help in recompensing any human error -- whether it is accidental through ignorance or blatant through willfulness."

Whether the story had any truth in it is not really the issue anymore after witnessing the response from the Muslims. What ensued afterwards was hardly the kind of response that would come from a living, Almighty God. It was most definitely a flesh-driven response and costed some folks their lives. And for no reason at all really. Except that Ishmael's seed follows after Ishmael, "And he will be a wild man; his hand [will be] against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren." (Genesis 16:12)

When people profane/desecrate/pollute/defile the holy things of God, including Him, then this is what He says about it: "Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD. " (Ezekiel 22:31)

So what's the fuss really all about? God will take care of what is important to Him.


Friday, May 06, 2005

Perversion in the Pulpits – part 1

Tonight, on Channel 11 news, I watched & listened to the most disgusting thing I have ever heard in my short existence of a life thus far. I thought Faces of Death was disgusting when I was living a worldly existence, but nothing…NOTHING could be as disgusting (that I know of yet) as this apostasy, perversion, manipulation, diversion of the Word of God: A Priest…a “man of God”… ordained or appointed or anointed, licensed (or whatever it takes these days, cracker jack box application maybe?) into a position as the head of the Body of Christ…and behind closed doors (or in the shadows where none can see… or hidden away behind a dual identity …or however deceitful the application)… NOT ONLY HIM/HER-SELF PRACTICES/ENGAGES IN PERVERSION, but also engages/encourages another in the same perversion!

I just wanted to puke.

KTVA
The following is an excerpt from the recording:

"Fred May: But uh, you're Dracula?

Father Bob Bester: Yes. When I was twenty I would have drunk you without you're saying anything.

Fred May: Drinking the semen, you would have just hold me down and drink the semen?

Father Bob Bester: Uh-huh.

Fred May: Ohhh...

Father Bob Bester: But I've developed more manners.

Fred May: You also know, you also know that the angel that sits beside me has great strength and great authority. You also know that.

Father Bob Bester: Yes.

Fred May: He has great strength.

Father Bob: And I combat them often.

Fred May: Yeah, I knew that. I knew that.

Father Bob: Are you surprised that I'm Dracula?"

Read the article. Click on the link. Bring a barf bag first!

The whole reason this came to light is because this guy, Fred May, admitted he was no saint and nobody would believe him…but he wondered how many people or children had this supposed “man of God” done this to:
[the reporter] asked him, "What made you contact us?"
May responded, "I said, man, nobody's gonna believe me. This guy is way up in the church and I ain't no saint. I said they're not going to believe me and so I called Channel 11 News."

Recalling the conversation from the tape, Fred wondered, "I'm thinking, how many kids has this dude done this to? Or how many other people has this dude done did this to?"

First the easy stuff:
  1. Dracula doesn’t attend church.
  2. Dracula doesn’t exist.
  3. Priests cannot be Dracula.
  4. Priests are not appointed to become impregnated by other men.
  5. Priests are not appointed to speak foul garbage such as what was recorded by this man.
  6. This priest has no developed manners.
  7. Priests are not appointed to do the work of the Devil.
  8. This priest admits to combatting more than one angel that Fred refers to as sitting beside him & having great strength & great authority.
  9. Priests are not to hold the truth in unrighteousness.
  10. Priests are to shepherd God's people with a Godly love.
  11. What is done in secret will not remain hidden.

Several things about this story disgust me…and confirm something I’ve always believed, which is: The ROOT of that religion (Catholicism) is ROTTEN and now we are seeing the FRUIT.

Oh? You think I’m being too hard? You think I’m perhaps opposed to the Catholic church? You think I’m being controversial and starting an argument and that it is very un-Christian-like?

I tell you a truth: If your heart is truly after God’s heart, then you’d know what disgusts Him and you would not question where my words come from. To know the heart of the Father is to know His heart on issues like this. To know the heart of the Father requires spending time with Him as you would with an earthly father: communing with Him (through prayer), reading His word, which He inspired man to write what “is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness"(2 Timothy 3:16), thanking Him always, & loving Him with everything within you.
John 3:21 - But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

You are far from the truth if you question these things concerning my motives. The truth is: Too many people attend churches, accept Jesus Christ into their hearts, and then are fed poison. The truly sad thing about it? Not only are they fed the poison, but then they defend the poison-giver. The first thing that came to my mind as I wrote that sentence was a bunch of junkies being fed drugs by a drug-runner. Same difference except one is in the spiritual & one is in the natural. Getting high off a false doctrine. Getting a fix on Sunday. Going back to that teaching that’s comfortable, easy-going, puts you in a good mood, makes you happy.

You know it’s sad but true.

I detest false teaching. I detest perversion in the pulpits. I detest seeing shepherds lead the sheep astray. I detest seeing masses of people who are poor in spirit, seeking Jesus Christ, being snared into pits of destruction reserved for darkness & hell. I detest seeing the Truth manipulated to accommodate men’s pleasures.

Why? Because people want truth and they’re getting a lie ! They come to buy gold and they get fool’s gold ! They come to buy silver & get a cheap imitation ! They come to taste honey & get ethylene glycol instead, but don’t have a clue ! They think they’re worshipping the one true God, but they’re worshipping a man-made idolatrous image !

Can pure, clean water come from an infected, unclean vessel?

Can life-resuscitating breath be given from the mouth of a muffler?

Can successful heart-surgery be performed by a doctor who really does not care for the patient’s life? (Would you want to take that kind of a chance?)

Can sewage satisfy the thirst of parched person? Yet this is what the body of believers is getting from these men & women of God who are practicing what the LORD calls “abominations” –- disgusting, foul things – in their private lives and then come to church on whatever day of the week to give a tainted message to vessels that already have cracks & weaknesses in them. Sewage is spilled into them & they have no idea because it’s all they know. They don’t know there is better. They don’t seek for what is better. They sit in the same pews (or couch), listening to the same C.R.A.P. (carnal & religiously ambiguous portions) week after week.

But are their lives changed?


What is the fruit of their lives? That’s what we look for. What does it mean by “fruit of their lives?” It means what kind of behaviors, attitudes, and actions are seen in them? Is there a change from foul-mouthed, angry, and abusive to true humility, graciousness, and giving? Is the person changing day after day into someone better? (a.k.a. Is the Word working mightily in them?) Or are they still the same person – and maybe even worse?

What is evident?


Not only in people, but in that group that makes up a corporate people: the church. What is evident in the church?

I wonder if the Vatican is watching this case and whether they intend to expose it or cover it up along with many other cases of sexual abuse among its clergy.

Matthew 7
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

I know that Jesus Christ came to set the captives free because He spoke it, I have witnessed it & experienced it ! I know the power in the blood that was shed for the redemption of our sins ! I know the love of God and how it manifests !

But is the church manifesting God’s life-changing Word in their lives? We are to be changed from glory to glory. What church do you attend? Why do you attend it? Did you get a word from God that it’s where you are to commit yourself for His purposes? Or are you attending because it’s nearby; doesn’t spook you (because of your ignorance of the Word); feels friendly; family or friends go there; know the pastor; has “good” music; is popular; is on TV? (These are wrong reasons to attend.)

If you attend a church where you are snared by a perverse-spirited man such as this Bob Bester fellow, then it is about time you get on your face & cry out to God for true repentance in your life, for His Spirit of Truth to lead you, and for Him to set you free. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36)
Ephesians 5:13 - But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

Jeremiah 23:24 - Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

Ephesians 5
1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. 3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. 13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. 14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.


Archdiocese Investigation

Father Bester’s Past

How 11 News Approached this Story

How some of the parishioners feel

RECORDED CONVERSATION BETWEEN PRIEST & VICTIM

Sunday, May 01, 2005

TV show: Revelations

The TV show Revelations is -- as expected -- incredibly inaccurate. It became obviously clear why it was so inaccurate after learning that it was created by the creator of the movie The Omen. The first episode started with a dad whose daughter was killed by a satanist. The dad is a scientist so he rationalizes everything in his mind and needs to experience proof to believe. The satanist gets locked up in jail. The scientist-dad doesn't want to talk about what happened & tries to hide in spite of his face being plastered all over the news. Meanwhile, some nun is running around the world documenting phenomena that she (& others) attribute to being evidence of Christ on earth. Basically, she runs where ever there are "signs & wonders" & documents them. In this episode, she documents some shadow on a mountainside showing a man on a cross looking at her (or anyone for that matter who is on the ground watching). But there isn't anything in the sky that could make that shadow appear. (More TV glam talebearing & storytelling.) Ain't gonna happen in the real world. So then, in another household, a rebellious little girl is struck by lightning on her way to school after her dad yells out "Just for that, you're going to sunday school!" (Great. Portray going to church as a form of punishment. How appealing.) After she's struck by lightning, she's brought to a hospital where she's in a coma & rants in Latin. That's when the catholic church is brought in. (cringe) So the nun runs to document this "sign & wonder" as well. (Everything is inaccurate at this point, but even more so - check out this very inaccurate portrayal of a supposed "Christ-like" manifestation of a "sign & wonder"...) The little girl in a coma not only chants in Latin, but her hand starts spazzing out in the air. So the nun gets a notion
to put a stylus in the little girl's hand & hold a pad of paper to it. Now the TV show begins to portray something of a bit of Edgar Cayce necromancy phenomena here. Lo & behold, whaddya know? The little comatose girl begins to draw pictures on the pad of paper! The drawings lead the nun to the scientist-dad who comes to see the comatose girl for himself only to decide that some tooth fillings in her brain are being triggered by rainstorms (electrical activity in the atmosphere) and he's probably more accurate than what the so-called "miracle" portrayal would have us, the audience, believe. Though I'm sure many were duped into believing that little display of necromancy was indeed something "Christ-like" in nature. At any rate, the scientist-dad is only convinced after the comatose girl's heart flatlines on the EKG -- & the entire room goes into panic mode as nurses fight nuns for the possession of the girl -- & he walks over to hold the little girl's hand (while the scene behind him goes into bullet-mode all Matrix-like...the background of nuns & nurses fighting speedily behind him... while his little world with the girl runs in slow-mo) & the hand grips his in a spaz-like motion thus spurring on her heart again on the EKG monitor "bleep...bleep". Now the scientist-dad is convinced that this little girl -- who necromantically drew a picture that only HIS dead little daughter drew for him (a donkey) -- somehow harbors the spirit or is in touch with the spirit of his dead daughter.

Pretty freaky stuff. Definitely not Biblical. Again it amazes me that catholicism is portrayed...since it's being portrayed A LOT in these end times. Yet the fruit we have
seen manifest from that religion has been homosexuality, molestation, bribery...and these by the very heads of the church: the priests. And prayers to Mary or any of the Saints (i.e. Peter, Paul, John, & whomever else) is false teaching. Jesus himself said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, except by me." (John 14:6)

In the original Greek this sentence would read: "Jesus (Jehovah is Salvation) said (taught, pointed out with words, advised, commanded, directed) unto him, I am (exist, am present, happen, to be) the way (road, course of conduct, manner of thinking, feeling, deciding), the truth (in reality, in fact, certainly, that candour of mind which is free from affection, pretence, simulation, falsehood, deceit), and the life (vitality, the fullness of life which belongs to God, real & genuine life, devoted to God): no man (no
one, no thing
) cometh (appears, is established, becomes known, arises, shows itself, finds place or influence) unto (with regard to, towards, with) the Father (God), but (except, if not) by (through, with, in, by means of, on account of, by reason of) me."


The only way we can have audience with God is by accepting His Son, Jesus Christ as being His only begotten Son who was crucified & rose on the third day & now sits at His right hand. For to please the Father is to love His Son of whom it is said that "whosoever believeth upon him shall not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

1 Timothy 2:5 - For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

mediator here means 1) one who intervenes between two, either in order to make or restore peace and friendship, or form a compact, or for ratifying a covenant 2) a medium of communication, arbitrator

More and more we need to remember this one truth: Jesus Christ is the only way to God.

Unless Jesus Christ is preached, then do not listen or pay heed. Do not follow or go after another doctrine. Do not bow down or worship another "god".

As for this Revelations TV show. I fell asleep through the second episode after learning the nun was not backed by the Vatican because the Pope wouldn't want to lose his place as the mediator between men and Jesus if Jesus could be proven to be found on earth.

Jesus will never be FOUND on earth, folks. Only his likeness will be found in his people. Those who are Christ-like will be found. But Jesus will not be found on earth. I promise you this. So don't go looking for him if people say, "Here he is!" or "We've seen him there!" Because they're lying. Jesus gave parables (stories meant to reveal their sayings to those they were revealed to, but to hide these same sayings from those they were meant to be hid from) that explained WHEN he would return.

He will return at the end. Even when it seems like it should be the end...it won't be the end.

The end is at the end.

Monday, April 11, 2005

Dude, Wake Up & change

The content of Dude, Wake Up is going to change. As you have noticed (and can see by the dates), nothing has been posted here for one (1) month. Most of what has been posted on Dude, Wake Up are news-worthy events from around the world. Now and then there has been a post about something trivial. But as the events of the world are broadcasted over the news, I cannot deny the reality of my faith in Jesus Christ and how these events are simply leading to his return.

I noticed a commercial today on television advertising a new show called Revelations. The thing that stood out most to me about the trailer was that it was a show about things in the Bible. Particularly this show appears to be geared toward either bringing to light that the end times are not as far off as we think...or perhaps toward drawing on the words of Jesus Christ about the end times and then displaying examples of events he discussed. We won't really know until the show begins airing, but ...wow. Media networks are actually airing Christian-based shows? Isn't that against the Anti-Christian Leave-God-out-of-everything Union (better known as the ACLU) bylaws, rules, regulations, charter, constitution, provisions, and governing protocols? They are probably steamed, sitting in their stuffy offices, seedily drawing up some kind of charge against airing such shows as I write this anyway.

Ah well. Who really cares. They are just another bunch of rebellious murmurers and complainers who fear to acknowledge the Most High. Trying (word is used on purpose to state a point)...trying to kick out the Maker. Trying to kick God out of everyday life is like trying not to have toenails by pulling them all out. (They grow back eventually.) Trying to kick God out is like trying to put a lid on a volcano so it won't blow ...or do damage when it does. (Ain't gonna happen.) Trying to prevent God from "interfering" is like facing a tornado and sticking your hand out to stop it. (Be prepared to meet your Maker...face down.)

Yeah so when did the world suddenly become God-conscious?
Was it when the ISLAMIC terrorists became bold and struck at the U.S. ? (September 2001)
Was it when the Iraq war broke out and their sons, daughters, wives, husbands, fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters were sent over? (March 2002)
Was it when the SARS virus, Avian Flu virus, skin-eating virus, and other kinds of viruses began appearing and killing people? (2001-2003)
Was it when the Tsunamis washed over several HINDU and MUSLIM countries...destroying homes, businesses, lands, and killing thousands of people for the world to witness? (December 2004)
Was it when Pope John Paul II suffered complications prior to his physical body finally releasing his spirit? (April 2005)

[Dates will be corrected upon research & discovery of errors.]

These are just small things, folks.

Let me just state this for the record: People don't turn to God until they have nothing left to turn to.

And I'm not saying it's a bad thing. But it IS a sad thing. What that tells me is that until a person is completely broken...until a person is empty of self and selfishness...until all the world's intelligent reasoning cannot answer their simple question of "why?"...they will not turn to the very One Who gives grace and mercy freely...Who loves deeply beyond our comprehension...Who works all things together for GOOD to those who LOVE him and are called according to his purpose (not according to their works, not according to their good deeds, not according to their deserving it...but according to his purpose).

It is sad that a person has to come to such heartache and loss to recognize the awesome love of God.

WHAT?! How can you talk about the love of God when there is destruction and devastation?! I don't see any love in that!

Of course you don't. Because you don't know God. If you knew Him, you would recognize his love even in the most horrific of circumstances. But first - you have to want to know Him. Without that desire in you, nothing more can be shown to your closed heart.

So Dude, Wake Up is going to gear toward Waking Up God's people by reporting news that reflect the moanings and groanings of this world for the manifestation of the sons of God. Waking Up those who have been asleep (zombie-like, catatonic) going through the motions of everyday living and exposing them to truths that Jesus Christ spoke of concerning the end times and how everything that gears toward the end times affects EVERYONE. Yes, everyone.

Strong language advisory warning will be in effect. Mincing words will not be a requirement, but as the Holy Spirit leads me to use tact when it is fitting...so shall I do. My character & God's character are not to be confused. Though I pray daily for God to search my heart & remove what is not placed there by Him, my flesh strives against spirit. The personality God has given to me from the time I was in my mother's womb is one that loves deeply, but can be very firm & unyielding. Building a relationship with me will reveal that deep love he has placed there, thus establishing trust which will reveal the motives behind my words. So if the words cut, then let the flesh be severed. The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12) And that is what God is after: OUR HEARTS.

He warns us to keep (preserve, guard, observe) our hearts (inner man, mind, will, understanding, moral character) with all diligence (observances); for out of it are the issues (it is the source) of life. (Proverbs 4:23) To rephrase this a little, using the definitions prior (in paranthesis) of words from the original Hebrew translation: We have to defend our mind, will, and emotions -- those things that make up our soul realm -- our seat of appetites, of courage, of emotions and passions with a careful watch...continually watching...because from the heart comes the source, escape, the outgoing of life.

Perhaps that shall be the next article: The heart & how it impacts life according to God.

Until then, Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. (Luke 21:36)

That word watch is agrupneo {ag-roop-neh'-o} and it means in the original Greek 1) to be sleepless, keep awake, watch 2) to be circumspect, attentive, ready

written 4/11/05, edited & posted 4/22/05

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Sanhedrin disapproves of expulsion ("uprooting") of Jews from Gaza

The Sanhedrin's Declaration Concerning the Disengagement
6 March 2005 / 26 Adar 1 5765

Since its meeting on 28th Shvat 5765, the Sanhedrin has deliberated the initiative of the Prime Minister of Israel, the decisions of the government, and legislation enacted by the Knesset regarding the plan known as "The Disengagement," henceforth referred to in this document as "the uprooting."

This plan involves the uprooting of Jewish communities in the Gaza strip and northern Samaria, the forced expulsion of Jews from their homes, and the willful transfer of these lands to a foreign power.

Following an intensive study which took place regarding the halachic (authentic Jewish law) questions that arise from the government's decision, the Sanhedrin hereby brings its conclusions and decisions to the public's attention.

1). The Prime Minister's program of uprooting stands in direct contradiction to the Torah of Israel.

2). The decision to implement the uprooting will cause large numbers of Jews to transgress many of the Torah's commandments. This applies to many varied commandments, including both those that are practiced between man and God, as well as those between man and his fellow man; those that apply to the nation as a whole, and those that apply to every individual.

3). The Government of Israel and the Knesset, in their present form and power structure, do not constitute institutions that have any authority according to halacha to render decisions that contradict the Torah of Israel.

4). Government ministers who have deemed this plan of uprooting to be wrongful have been removed from their positions, and likewise senior officials of the security establishment who have expressed independent opinions about the matter have been ousted.

5). THEREFORE, the decision of this government - which has also violated its promises to its own electorate - is null and void.

6). THUS: No Jew is permitted to cooperate with the program of uprooting, in any way whatsoever.

7). Any Jew - including a soldier or policeman - who supports the uprooting, whether directly or indirectly, whether by voting in its favor, or by giving council, or by supplying vehicles or materials, and obviously, anyone who actively participates in the uprooting... by so doing, transgresses a large number of Torah commandments.

8). The uprooting of the residents of the Gaza Strip and Samaria is a crime, and an injustice to the residents, and places many other communities - in fact, all citizens of the State of IsraelÊ- in mortal danger.

9). Any Jew who participates in, or cooperates with this plan, whether actively, or even by merely remaining silent, transgresses the commandment "You shall not stand idly by your neighbor's blood (Lev. 19:17)," and in the future will be judged by God for this sin.

10). The leaders and their agents - including soldiers and policemen who support the uprooting and participate in it - may be brought to bear personal responsibility for all damages caused to those who are hurt, and to their property.

11). By this declaration, the Sanhedrin, as the link of continuity of the Torah received by Moses at Sinai, hereby expresses the stance of Israel's Torah. For if, Heaven forbid, the present government carries out this, or some other, program of uprooting - this action has no validity. The Land of Israel is holy land, and all of its regions belong exclusively to the nation of Israel, forever.

12). The Sanhedrin, as the representative of the Jewish people throughout history, hereby affirms that the Jewish people - regardless of this or that government - does not relinquish, and is not entitled to relinquish, so much as the span of a solitary man's foot of the Land of Israel according to its Biblical boundaries... for it is God's land.

13). The commandment to "inherit and dwell" (Deut. 12:29) in the Land of Israel is obligatory upon every Israeli government. In this regard Israel is commanded by God to conquer the entire expanse of the Land of Israel within its Biblical boundaries, including the Gaza strip.

14). THEREFORE: Even if (Heaven forbid) the residents are forcibly removed from their homes - when the government changes, and a government in Israel arises that conducts itself according to the Torah, the armies of Israel will return and re-conquer this strip of land, to reinstate the people of Israel to their rightful place. This applies not only to this area, but to all the expanses of the Land of Israel that were stolen and are presently in foreign hands.

15). We are permeated with faith in the God of the Legions of Israel, that the oath which He swore to our forefather Abraham at the "Covenant Between the Halves" will be fulfilled precisely as it is stated, and with God's help, speedily - as it is written (Gen. 15:18):

"On that day the Lord made a covenant with Avram, saying, to your seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates river... "

Trumpet Sound: PM Sharon plans expulsion of Jews from Gaza.

Rut roh. Trouble brewing.

Disengagement Chiefs Meet to Plan Specifics of Expulsion
Wednesday, March 9, 2005 / 28 Adar 5765

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon held a high-level meeting Tuesday to plan the logistics of the expulsion of the Jews of Gaza and the northern Shomron from their homes.

The meeting included Defense Minister Sha’ul Mofaz, Vice Premier Shimon Peres, Disengagement Authority head Yonatan Bassi and incoming IDF Chief of Staff Major General Dan Halutz.

PM Sharon told the group that IDF soldiers should be sent to occupy homes emptied of their residents in Gush Katif and the northern Shomron, to ensure that the buildings not be used to house new residents.

Mofaz told the group that in addition to 400-450 empty caravans (trailer homes) throughout Gaza and the northern Shomron, the IDF is concerned that the homes of people who leave voluntarily will be populated by new residents seeking to strengthen the communities. The Defense Minister rejected the idea of removing or destroying empty buildings before the actual expulsion of residents begins.

An initiative to refurbish homes in various states of disrepair and fill them with new residents was launched earlier this week and was reported exclusively by IsraelNN.com.

Logistics of the actual expulsion were discussed at the meeting as well. Yonatan Bassi, who heads the Disengagement Authority, proposed housing the expelled residents in hotels. The cost was said to be some 30-40 million shekels.

Minister Mofaz said that outside firms were being hired to pack up the contents of homes and cart them to warehouses for storage. In the evacuation from the Sinai communities in 1982, soldiers packed up the residents' belongings.

PM Sharon said the group would meet periodically in the coming months. He urged all participants to speed up their preparations for the disengagement.

The Sanhedrin ascends Temple Mount on Chanukah

An amazing event in history!
Two months after being re-established, the Sanhedrin ascends the Temple Mount during the eve of Chanukah, "which celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple."

Words in BOLD & underlined letters are mine.

Members of Reestablished Sanhedrin Ascend Temple Mount
Wednesday, December 8, 2004 / 25 Kislev 5765

In a dramatic but unpublicized move, members of the newly established Sanhedrin ascended the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, this past Monday.

Close to 50 recently ordained s'muchim, members of the Sanhedrin, lined up at the foot of the Temple Mount Monday morning. [The word s'muchim comes from the same root as s'michah, rabbinic ordination.] The men, many ascending the Temple Mount for the first time, had immersed in mikvaot (ritual baths) that morning, and planned to ascend as a group. Despite prior approval from the Israeli police who oversee entry to the Mount, the officers barred the group from entering the Mount all together, and allowed them to visit only in groups of ten.


Given the newly-mandated restrictive conditions, many of the s'muchim refused to ascend at all, especially as a group of over 100 non-Jewish tourists filed past the waiting rabbis and up towards the holy site. “It is unconscionable that on the eve of Chanukah, which celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple, we should once again be barred from worshipping – by our own people,” Rabbi Chaim Richman of Jerusalem’s Temple Institute told IsraelNN’s Ezra HaLevi.


The Sanhedrin, a religious-legal assembly of 71 sages that convened during the Holy Temple period and for several centuries afterwards, was the highest Jewish judicial tribunal in the Land of Israel. The great court used to convene in one of the Temple’s chambers in Jerusalem.

This past October, the Sanhedrin was reestablished for the first time in 1,600 years, at the site of its last meeting in Tiberias.

“There is a special mitzvah [commandment], not connected to time, but tied to our presence in Israel, to establish a Sanhedrin,” Rabbi Meir HaLevi, one of the 71 members of the new Sanhedrin, told Israel National Radio’s Weekend Edition. “The Rambam [12th-century Torah scholar Maimonides] describes the process exactly in the Mishna Torah [his seminal work codifying Jewish Law]. When he wrote it, there was no Sanhedrin, and he therefore outlines the steps necessary to establish one. When there is a majority of rabbis, in Israel, who authorize one person to be a samuch, , an authority, he can then reestablish the Sanhedrin.”

Those behind the revival of the Sanhedrin stress that the revival of the legal body is not optional, but mandated by the Torah. “We don’t have a choice,” says Rabbi Richman. “It is a religious mandate for us to establish a Sanhedrin.”

The Sanhedrin was reestablished through the ordination of one rabbi agreed upon by many prominent rabbis in Israel and approved as “fitting to serve” by former Chief Sefardi Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef and leading Ashkenazi Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv. That rabbi, who is then considered to have received authentic ordination as handed down from Moses, was then able to give ordination to 70 others, making up the quorum of 71 necessary for the Sanhedrin.

“Even Mordechai HaYehudi of the Purim story was accepted, as it is written, only ‘by the majority of his brethren,’ and not by everybody," Rabbi HaLevi explained. "Anyone who deals with public issues can not be unanimously accepted.”

The rabbis behind the Sanhedrin’s reconstitution claim that, like the State of Israel, the old-new Sanhedrin is a work-in-progress. They see it as a vessel that, once established, will reach the stature and authority that it once had.


“The first members requested that their names not be published, so as to allow it to grow without public criticism of individuals,” HaLevi said. “We want to give it time to develop and strengthen the institution, giving a chance for more rabbis to join.” He added that each of the current members of the Sanhedrin has agreed to be a conditional member until a more knowledgeable rabbi joins, taking his place.

Rabbi Richman, also a member of the Sanhedrin, hopes the body will bring about a revolution in Jewish jurisprudence. Declining to discuss exactly what issues are on the Sanhedrin’s agenda, Richman said that one of the main long-term goals of the Sanhedrin is to reunify Jewish observance in Israel. The Sanhedrin includes members of Ashkenazi, Sefardi, Hasidic, National-Religious and Hareidi communities.

“We Jews went into exiles all over the world,” Rabbi HaLevi said. “Every community established its own court. We are talking about more than 50 different legal systems developing separately from one another. Part of our return to Israel is the reunification of our Jewish practices.”


A tradition is recorded in the Talmud (Tractate Megillah 17b, Rashi) that the Sanhedrin will be restored after a partial ingathering of the Jewish exiles, but before Jerusalem is completely rebuilt and restored. Another Talmudic tradition (Eruvin 43b; Maharatz Chajas ad loc; Rashash to Sanhedrin 13b) states that Elijah the Prophet will present himself before a duly-ordained Sanhedrin when he announces the coming of the Messiah. This indicates that despite common misconceptions, a Sanhedrin is a pre-, not post-messianic institution.

Re-establishing the Sanhedrin

I missed this event in the news - yet it's the very kind of thing I wish to report on. This event is, how shall I say, PARAMOUNT...consequential, influential, meaningful, powerful, serious, momentous, crucial!

For the world, for mankind, let me explain: This is a fulfillment of prophecy prior to Jesus returning the second time. And it is happening in our lifetime. Right now. I am breathing and witnessing this event. It is as powerful as the Exodus of the Jews a decade ago - another prophetic event.

I cannot explain the incredible joy I have in my spirit to watch this unveil. The next prophetic event to watch for is the rebuilding of the Holy Temple.

But for now, let us read about this step:

Sanhedrin Launched In Tiberias
Wednesday, October 13, 2004 / 28 Tishrei 5765

A unique ceremony - probably only the 2nd of its kind in the past 1,600 years - took place in Tiberias today: The launching of a Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish-legal tribunal in the Land of Israel.

A unique ceremony - probably only the second of its kind in the past 1,600 years - is taking place in Tiberias today: The launching of a Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish-legal tribunal in the Land of Israel.

The Sanhedrin, a religious assembly that convened in one of the Holy Temple chambers in Jerusalem, comprised 71 sages and existed during the Tannaitic period, from several decades before the Common Era until roughly 425 C.E. Details of today's ceremony are still sketchy, but the organizers' announced their intention to convene 71 rabbis who have received special rabbinic ordination as specified by Maimonides.

An attempt to reconvene the Sanhedrin was made several centuries ago in Tzfat. The body in fact ordained such greats as Rabbi Yosef Karo, the author of the classic Jewish Law code Shulhan Arukh. However, the opposition of other leading rabbis soon forced the end of the endeavor.

One of the leaders of today's attempt to revive the Sanhedrin is Rabbi Yeshai Ba'avad of Beit El. He said that the 71 rabbis "from across the spectrum received the special ordination, in accordance with Maimonides' rulings, over the past several months." Rabbi Ba'avad explained that the membership of the new body is not permanent: "What is much more crucial is the establishment of this body. Those who are members of it today will not necessarily be its members tomorrow. But the goal is to have one rabbinic body in Jerusalem that will convene monthly and issue rulings on central issues. This is the need of the generation and of the hour."

Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, who heads the Temple institute in Jerusalem, is one of the participating rabbis. He told Arutz-7 today, "Whether this will be the actual Sanhedrin that we await, is a question of time - just like the establishment of the State; we rejoiced in it, but we are still awaiting something much more ideal. It's a process. Today's ceremony is really the continuation of the renewal of the Ordination process in Israel, which we marked several months ago. Our Talmudic Sages describe the ten stages of exile of the Sanhedrin from Jerusalem to other locations, until it ended in Tiberias - and this is the place where it was foretold that it would be renewed, and from here it will be relocated to Jerusalem."

Rabbi Ariel said that the rabbis there included many from the entire spectrum:
"Hareidi, religious-Zionist, Sephardi, Ashkenazi, hassidi, and many others - such as Rabbi Yoel Schwartz, Rabbi Adin Shteinzaltz, and many others... We can't expect a great consensus; that's not how things work here. But sometimes that's how the process goes, from the bottom up."

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Gravatars & Security Measures

Gravatars
Recently, I signed up for a gravatar at www.gravatar.com. A "gravatar" is a globally recognized avatar. I thought that was a cool concept. The first time I saw these gravatars was on Say Anything's blog. Then, I noticed my comments section allowed for a gravatar. (I use HaloScan for comments right now. That may change in the future. Depends on if I start getting comments. I think maybe I talk about stuff that people don't care about or maybe, as in person, I intimidate people with the stuff I discuss.)

The whole idea of a gravatar was really cool so I signed up. I think the idea will catch on because there appears to be a desire in people to have something that represents who they are when they are online. We have had avatars in chat rooms/programs, 3D world programs, and public boards. Now we move to the world of blogging and again, we have the ability to select an image that represents us. The fact that www.gravatar.com experienced its 100,000,000th avatar account on March 5 (the day after I signed up for mine) is just astounding...and shows that desire in folks to have an online representation of themselves.

Why do people choose avatars to represent themselves?
In my opinion, the Internet is a-whole-nother world in itself. We choose screen names with the same idea: to give us an identity. But an avatar is a visual representation and can be used to really shape an identity. The amazing thing that www.gravatar.com does is it RATES each avatar based on the Motion Picture Assocation of America's moving ratings. Isn't that just a cool concept? So after you sign up for an avatar, it goes into a waiting period for a rating. The turn-around time on my rating after I made my gravatar request was the same day. (I think I am lucky because if this idea catches on like wildfire, then it may take a couple of days for a gravatar to get rated!) The purpose of rating the gravatar appears to be the same reason movies are rated: they're made available to the public. As a result of being public, the audience may be of various backgrounds. Most families would not wish to expose their young children to violent or sexual images. Christian families do not wish to view these things. Some folks may visit websites that depict images or discuss subject matter that may be offensive to others and thus wish to portray their gravatar along the same lines as the content of the areas they venture into.

An Idea that was proposed for the Gravatar...
...was the ability to check out every comment that a user posted by clicking on that user's gravatar. Doing so would give a curious observer the ability to find out what other things that particular user discussed. The idea was from the gravatar author himself and he goes on to talk about how on one hand it may be a great idea for anyone who wants to display to the Internet universe all the things they have commented on, but on the other hand it may be too much for some folks who appreciate the ability to have privacy while surfing the Internet.

Solution to this idea
I have seen this idea used on the Public Ezboards website. "Gravatars" of a sort were used by folks to display some sort of representation about themselves. When their image was clicked, it would then take the curious observer to a place where that user chose to make certain information available to the public. Like I said earlier and will paraphrase here, there are different kinds of people surfing the vast universe of the Internet. Different personalities log on to the cyberspace highway and cruise its networks. Some folks are open-and-out-there and have no issues with privacy, but there are other folks who prefer anonymity for one reason or another. (In this day and age, that is not incomprehensible.) If the gravatar user had control of what sort of information he or she could make available to the public, then this might be an acceptable solution. As it is, Blogger allows each account user to choose what to display regarding the user's details as well. Perhaps, if Gravatar.com would permit the gravatar account users to not only enable or disable certain fields such as location, comments posted, hobbies/favorites, and whatever...but also permit the users to "paint images" of themselves for the viewing public, then that may be an acceptable solution.

What does it mean to "paint images" of themselves?
It means that the user can give details that are not accurate about themselves. For example, I may live in Bend, Oregon and be a New Age herb freak living in a mobile trailer on a large farm. But I may not want the world to know that. So I bluntly lie about myself for my own reasons.
  • Perhaps I wish not to be easily found by "Internet stalkers".
  • Or I do not really wish to live in Bend, Oregon - if I had it my way, then I would be living in Cancun and sun-tanning for a living.
  • Or I don't want people knowing anything about me so I just make up some information for the heck of "filling in the blanks".
There are many reasons people would lie about themselves. Some of those reasons are criminal in nature. So that is something to consider when allowing this possibility for account users. Yet, there are groups of people who meet on the same website about the same topics and want to be able to depict themselves accordingly. A bunch of RPGamers from EverCrack...erm...Quest may want to show their character's face as their gravatar. A group of bakers may use baking or baked items as their gravatar.

Security issues
The good news in the realm of cyberspace security is that not everyone is as anonymous as they think. Including the best hackers. Every packet of information comes from somewhere and can lead back to that "somewhere". Pieces of you are left where ever you touch. So malicious folks cannot completely hide in cyberspace. Just as in a crime scene, if you touch it - your NANOBYTE DNA CODE *lol* has been there leaving trace evidence of your presence. It just takes savvy investigators who understand something about computers, networks, IP addresses, routers, and the like to find their criminal butt and incarcerate them. And websites like Gravatar.com and its server can provide information to authorities that are passed on to them by the victims in question.

What can people do to protect themselves?
  • FULL HEADERS
In your email client, make sure that FULL HEADERS are displayed on every email that comes into you. Yeah yeah - this information may seem like a bunch of garbeldy-gook to you and you have no clue what it means when it tells you MOZILLA sent you the email from IP ###.###.###.## via blah-blah-blah.net -- but to an investigator it is good information to use. When you get spammed and sent attachments from entities you do not recognize, then take a look at what IP address sends that information to you.
  • STORE INFORMATION
Keep a notebook to write down certain information such as TIME, DATE, IP ADDRESS (if you can get it), USER NAME, WEBSITE NAME, CHATROOM NAME, OTHER USERS PRESENT at time of chat. If you know how, then take screen shots and preserve that image file on a diskette, CD, Sandisk, or other external storage device that is not connected to your PC (i.e. attaches via USB). That way your PC cannot be maliciously hacked and that information lost/erased. Take notes in Notepad (Start/Programs/Accessories/Notepad) or Wordpad and save it to that same external storage device or disk. It may seem like a chore to take notes and screen shots and save it to a diskette, but it may save your life or someone else's. I know most of us like to come online and not be harrassed. We want to get on, do our thing, and get off. But other folks "live" online 24 hours a day. And not all of them are nice folks.
  • KEEP ALERT
When you are in a chat room and observe the conversation between a couple of users as sending you a "red flag" -- maybe one of the users keeps asking personal questions of the other user who is obviously trying to avoid answering them, but not escaping completely... then go to a Moderator and alert them to the conversation, if one is available. Whether or not they are available, take a screen shot of what is being said. Some chats give the option of saving the chat conversation: Do it. If that option isn't available, try clicking inside the chat and then [CTRL] and [A] at the same time to copy ALL the chat. Paste the chat into Notepad, Wordpad, or some other Word program. Save the chat in an external storage device or disk with the date and time somewhere. You might get a call from a law enforcement agency if you happen to be in a chatroom at the time something criminal was going on...so either you were paying attention to the activity or you weren't. But if you can help in anyway, then these measures will assist those authorities to help the victim(s).
  • DON'T GIVE OUT PERSONAL INFORMATION
This is the one most of us already know. And though we know it, some of us still give SOME information out about ourselves. For certain, do not give out things like:
  • Your phone number
  • Do you know that there are websites people can go to, INCLUDING GOOGLE, where all someone has to do is type in a phone number and it will pinpoint where you live? yeah. So don't give it out.
  • Your address
  • I think this is a given - unless you want people knocking on your door whom you know online as D@Z=d&c0NfuZ=D ? Or how about as Me+hBaLLeR? Yeah, thought so. This includes giving out your city or town name. If someone is persistent, give them the name of the most popular city there...or most unpopular. Either way. Or just tell them to buzz off.
  • Your real name
  • Unless your name is Sue Jones. Or how about Bob Jones? Or Jessica Simpson? Find a name in the phone book that is listed about 100 times and choose that for a name. *LOL* Remember the movie with Arnold Schwarzennegar where he goes back in time to find some woman and he uses the phone book and starts killing every person by that name? Yeah. Point taken. (That movie was Terminator, by the way.) That's why you don't give out your location and name.
  • Where you work
  • I sent daffodils to someone for their birthday at their place of work when I found out that information from them. I met them on the Internet. Kind of shocked them. See, all I did was learn their GENERAL PLACE of work. Then from there, I knew how to find them. That's why I make a good (but scary) investigator. Scary because I can think in the frame of mind that criminals use to do bad things. Except I use that mindset to do good things - like help people (like this post)...or send beneficial gifts.
  • Your childrens' school name
  • Bad decision when put in bad hands. Yeah. Children are innocent and say things they shouldn't because most do not understand the whole concept of security. They're trusting little individuals and a criminal can manipulate them into believing he or she is harmless, helping, or a good person. yeah.
  • WOMEN!
  • Listen women. A lot of us have the gift of gab. Watch out what you tell others. Be careful how much information you share with another person YOU DON'T KNOW except over the Internet. I do not care if you WEBCAM them and they "SUPPOSEDLY" share their life history with you. HELLO! A pregnant woman in Kentucky got her stomach slashed open and her fetus removed at EIGHT MONTHS because she trusted another woman on the other side of the state! yeah. Ok. Get the point? Not a good scenario there. If you want to go telling people how happy you are about something...complications you are experiencing in something...how upset you are about something or somebody...just beware. Don't offer to meet them - and if you do, BRING YOUR HUSBAND WITH YOU. Or your boyfriend. Or brother. AND -- notice I did not say OR...I said AND -- meet them in a public place where there are plenty of other people around. Malls are cool because you can park on one side of the building and they can park on the other. If they exit one way and that's the same direction you parked, then you can exit another way and watch for them to leave if you do not trust them. Or better yet, get the security staff to walk with you to your vehicle. It is not enough to simply meet at a public place. Remaining alive after the meeting is essential.

  • INSTALL AN ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE PROGRAM AND A FIREWALL
Both. Not one or the other. Both. There are good ones out there. I've used ZoneAlarm Pro in the past as a firewall and it was a really good firewall. I have used Norton SystemWorks and McAfee and decided I liked Norton better. Personal preference maybe? I like when pop-ups display on my screen with messages like IP ADDRESS ###.###.###.## ATTEMPTED TO SEND A TROJAN SUBSEVEN VIRUS THROUGH UDP PORT 67 or something like that. Then I go do my little thing with finding out where that IP address registers, logging & storing that information in a database where I can perform matches & compare dates/times, and eventually send letters to the right folks who can get things done to knock them offline. A computer user should not be harrassed by hack attempts, but they are out there. And if you wish to put an end to it, then you'll need to keep a log of all the information. ZoneAlarm keeps those logs for you as do other programs. I just keep specific information separate from those general logs.

At any rate, if a gravatar account user chose to display all the comment links of every comment he or she made all over the Internet, then that should be an option to turn on or off. Profiling someone is made easy by reading the things they type about and the websites they "hit". This could be good or bad, depending on who is using that information...if they are. But for the lackadaisical throng of folks who surf the Net for enjoyment, this information is simply a way for them to go and read more interesting material from someone they either love to hate or have found to be a skilled writer. *shrug*

Pros and cons to everything. I tend to see a big picture so I try to paint as much of it as possible for people to make their own decisions about things. It's all a matter of personal preference. Truly.

Sunday, February 27, 2005

Comments at Say Anything

My comments to this article:

I'm just wondering then, how so much HIV is spreading so rapidly among straight populations?

Promiscuous sex with multiple sex partners. BBC News
What are "multiple sex partners"? Having more than one partner. Usually in the form of:
  • Infidelity - Having sex with someone other than your lover.
  • Adultery - Having sex with someone other than your spouse.
  • Bisexual sex - Having sex with both men and women (includes "three-somes" and orgies.
  • Transgendered sex - Having sex with those of the same sex who are undergoing transition into the opposite sex.
In all these cases, the sexual partner (at the time of sex) could be carrying HIV and did not disclose that information to the "straight person" (per se) or did not know they had HIV because they did not get tested in spite of their sexually active lifestyle.

Adultery:
AIDS IN BRAZILIn fact, I was told by an AIDS physician that the fastest growing risk group in the country is now married straight women. Upon my asking why this is so, she told me that single women are insisting on "safe sex" (they buy condoms if they can afford them) but married women aren't, although their husbands often engaged in high-risk behaviors out-side the marriage, including bisexuality.


Most sexually active folks do not get tested because of fear, for one. The anxiety of waiting for the test results is too much to think about. There are other reasons as explained by Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners that can apply to all people.
A client may decide not to test because of: false information; insufficient/ inadequate pre-test counseling; lack of social support; fear of a breach of confidentiality; fear of testing procedure; fear of stigma; cultural values; a history of past or present abuse.
Page 31 of this pamphlet, Students for International Change: HIV Education and Prevention Curriculum, suggests role-playing to address the fear of getting tested.


In fact, in Africa and Asia, the majority of infectants, of which there are millions, are heterosexual and women. See below for the African study.
CHINA:
According to HIV Insite: Center for HIV information, injecting drug users count for 35-80% of those infected in Xinjiang, China & 20% in Guangdong, China. Three of China's provinces are named where "HIV gained a foothold in the early 1990s among rural people who were selling blood plasma to supplement their meager farm incomes."

UNAIDS, WHO: ASIA"A rare survey of men who have sex with men in Beijing, conducted in 2001-2002, found that approximately 3% of the men were HIV-infected (almost all of whom had been unaware of their serostatus) (Choi et al.,2003)." SCARY, they didn't know.

JAPAN:
The reason for HIV infection is not listed. Only that "There is also evidence of more widespread sexual activity among Japanese youth (reflected in the increase in the percentage of young people who have had sex by the time they turn 19 years of age)."

Papua New Guinea:
"Very low levels of condom use and wide sexual networking (amid low awareness and knowledge of HIV/AIDS) means the country could be facing a severe epidemic." [UNAIDS, Fact Sheet: Asia and the Pacific, December 2002]
Also mentioned are the sex workers and their clients: "High levels of other sexually transmitted infections indicate behavioral patterns that would also facilitate HIV transmission beyond sex workers and their clients." So in the "straight populations" I can see how the clients could give their wives and other female lovers HIV after receiving it from a sex worker.


The reason it is so common in third world countries is in large part due to the fact that there is so little availability of condoms, with little education on safe sex. Negative. Drug injection, sex workers, homosexual sex, and infidelity play the largest part according to UNAIDS, WHO. Don't sell us the lie of "little availability of condoms." I'll buy the "little education" part. Little education on HIV/AIDS and how its transmitted, that is. Nobody's really having safe sex anywhere on this planet - whether it is a third world country or not.

INDIA:
UNAIDS, WHO: ASIA "In Tamil Nadu, HIV prevalence of 50% has been found among sex workers, while in each of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Nagaland, HIV prevalence has crossed the 1% mark among pregnant women. In Manipur, meanwhile, an epidemic driven by injecting drug use has been in full swing for more than a decade and has acquired a firm presence in the wider population (UNAIDS/WHO, 2003). HIV prevalence measured at antenatal clinics in the Manipur cities of Imphal and Churachand has risen from below 1% to 5%, with many of the women testing positive appearing to be the sex partners of male drug injectors. Several factors look set to sustain Manipur's epidemic, including the large proportion (about 20%) of female sex workers who inject drugs and the young ages of many injectors (40% of male injectors surveyed in 2002 were under 25 years of age) (MAP, 2004)."


The reason it is common in Africa is in large part due to infidelity on the male's part, forced sex when he is questioned, and the inability of the woman to practice safe sex because of male coercion as this study shows:
Exploring the Association Between HIV and Violence: Young People's Experiences with Infidelity, Violence and Forced Sex in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (research article)This article examines the role violence plays in the sexual relationships of young people in Sub-Saharan Africa and its association with HIV. Men who were violent toward female partners also frequently described forced sex and sexual infidelity in these partnerships. Men with multiple concurrent sexual partners reported becoming violent when their female partners questioned their fidelity, and reported forcing regular partners to have sex when these partners resisted their sexual advances, thus the association between HIV and violence may be partially explained by these behaviors.
More about Africa and HIV infectants:
Research conducted in Soweto, South Africa, provided evidence supporting this association by finding that male partners who are abusive are more likely than those who are not to be HIV-positive. [Dunkle K et al., Gender-based violence, relationship power, and risk of HIV infection in women attending antenatal clinics in South Africa. Lancet, 2004, 363(9419):1415-1421.]
...
HIV-infected women reported significantly more sexual violence in their relationships, a larger mean number of physically violent partners in their lifetime and a larger number of physically violent episodes with their current partner.
...
A study conducted in Kigali, Rwanda, revealed that women with a history of sexual coercion were more likely than those without such a history to be HIV-positive. The study also found that violent male partners had elevated odds of being HIV-positive. [van der Straten A et al., Sexual coercion, physical violence, and HIV infection among women in steady relationships in Kigali, Rwanda, AIDS and Behavior, 1998, 2(1):61-73]
...Men in Tanzania, as in many other areas of the world, usually determine when, with whom and under what circumstances they have sex with their partners. [Creighton C and Omari C, eds., Gender, Family and Household in Tanzania, Brookfield, VT, USA: Avebury, 1995.] Most young women cannot freely choose safer sexual practices or refuse unsafe sexual activity, but instead must negotiate within unequal social relationships. [Holland J et al., The Male in the Head: Young People, Heterosexuality and Power, London: Tufnell Press, 1998.]
...
Qualitative research carried out with adolescent males in Latin America, Asia, North America and Sub-Saharan Africa suggests that attitudes that condone viewing women as sexual objects, seeing sex as performance-oriented and justifying sexual coercion as acceptable begin in adolescence. [Shephard B, Masculinity and the male role in sexual health, Planned Parenthood Challenges, 1996, 2(2):11-14]
Gay men mentality:
August 26, 1999: UNPROTECTED ANAL SEX INCREASING IN SAN FRANCISCO A study of more than 500 young gay men in San Francisco revealed that the
prevalence of unprotected anal sex rose by a third to a half in just four
years. Furthermore, about half of the men having unprotected anal sex had
partners of unknown or different HIV status. The results are published in the
current issue of the journal AIDS.
...
The researchers followed 510 gay men, aged 18 to 29, who were identified for
the San Francisco Young Men's Health Study (SFYMHS) in 1992. The participants
were tested for HIV and filled out a self-administered questionnaire on
numerous topics related to HIV and sexual behaviors during each study year
between 1993 and 1997.
...
Men who didn't know the HIV status of their partners or had a dissimilar status
were considered to be at high risk of transmission. This group made up nearly
one fourth of the total sample during the last year of the study.
Compared
with men who had the same HIV status as their partners or who practiced safe
sex, the men in the high-risk group were significantly more likely to be HIV
positive, have greater numbers of sexual partners, and have more frequent sex,

said Ekstrand. In addition, only 32 percent reported having disclosed their
HIV status to all of their anal sex partners.

...
The reasons for having unprotected sex differed among the different
transmission risk groups. Men who shared the same HIV status as their partners
were significantly more likely to say they had unprotected sex because they
were in love. The high-risk group reported they had unprotected sex because
condoms were unavailable, they were turned on, or they had been drinking or
using other drugs. This group was also more likely to use nitrate inhalants,
or "poppers," to enhance their sexual experience.

...
"Sexual expression is highly valued in the gay community," said Ekstrand.
...
"Gay men might think it's not that bad to become infected with HIV these days,
but in spite of treatment advances, it's still a big deal,"
said Ekstrand.
"Many of these young men have a lot to lose by getting infected."

New combination therapy treatments don't work for everyone, and for some men,
they result in terrible side effects, said Ekstrand. The emergence and spread
of resistant strains of HIV is also a danger.

...
...the researchers worry that
an increase in risky sexual behavior will result in higher rates of HIV
infection. Already, several US cities have reported an increase in rectal
gonorrhea, including San Francisco.
...
"We want to go back to the community with our findings before HIV rates follow
suit," said Ekstrand. "Unless we can find ways to help gay men devise
practical and long-term HIV prevention strategies, ongoing HIV infection will
remain a permanent problem among gay male populations."

...
NOTE: A copy of the AIDS journal article in PDF format can be found at
www.aidsonline.com under the latest issue icon.


More Gay men mentality:
BBC News: Promiscuity 'fuelling HIV spread'
The UK charity Terrence Higgins Trust expressed doubts about the ABC [abstinence, being faithful, and using condoms] strategy.

"I take the idea of promoting monogamy with a large pinch of salt," said Will Nutland, its head of gay men's health promotion.

"What has worked in Uganda doesn't necessarily translate to London.

"In some societies would people really be able to implement this, where women don't necessarily have control over their sexual encounters."
Such lack of faith. Always excuses.

Apparently there is truth in this: Gay men are a higher risk catagory.

Unprotected sex is high risk sex:
Aidsmap|Unprotected Sex says even having anal sex with oil-based lubricated condoms is risky. It is also risky to use condoms that have spermicides with nonoxynol-9. Are these the first things people check in regards to their condoms (if they even choose to use one) when they are turned on, "in the heat of the moment", inflamed with passion, or drug-induced?

This same link also says that even if you're HIV-positive, taking anti-HIV drugs and have an undetectable viral load in your blood (that sounds pretty scary...gives new meaning to "are you loaded?"), then you may still have enough virus in your semen or vaginal fluids to pass on HIV. I especially like this statement:
You should also be aware that in some countries including certain states of the USA you are legally required to disclose your HIV status to sexual partners. In the UK people have been recently been sent to prison after infecting their sexual partners with HIV.
That practice should be put into place in the U.S.of A. It will cause people to take extra precautions, to think twice, to consider the cost of jail versus disclosing the information to a partner/getting checked out just in case.

As for this statement within that Aidsmap link...
There is growing evidence that it is possible to be super-infected with a new strain or strains of HIV, which may either be more aggressive than or resistant to anti-HIV drugs. This could lead to the failure of treatments that might otherwise have been effective. This applies to both men and women.
...this has already proven true here.
"This case is a wake-up call. First, it's a wake-up call to men who have sex with men, particularly those who may use crystal methamphetamine," [New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas] Frieden said in a statement.
...
"Certainly CDC is alarmed by the apparent intersection between two dangerous conditions -- multidrug resistance and apparent rapid progression," said Jessica Frickey, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention.
...
"The patient is a male in his mid-40s who reported multiple male sex partners and unprotected anal intercourse, often while using crystal methamphetamine (crystal meth). He was first diagnosed with HIV in December 2004 and appears to have been recently infected," the New York Health Department said in a statement.

The AIDS virus mutates easily and patients often develop strains that resist the drugs they are taking. Such strains of multidrug-resistant virus can also be passed to newly infected patients, and several groups have reported on HIV patients who have drug-resistant infections before they take any of the cocktails of medications used to control the virus.


Dr. Susan Little and colleagues at the University of California San Diego found in 2002 that drug-resistant HIV was affecting as many as one in five newly infected people in the United States.
...
New York officials say more than 88,000 New Yorkers are infected with the AIDS virus, which has no cure, and estimates 20,000 more are infected and do not know it.
Great. Which is more reason to put into practice what the UK is doing: jail those who infect others. Why? How about: Why not? Bring those -- who are accountable for the choices they make with their lives and lifestyles -- into accountability for the results of their choices as well. If you choose to practice sexual immorality in any form and contract some horrible virus or STD infection AND continue to have sex with others knowing the risk of your behavior, but not disclosing it to your partners, then you should pay for the crime. To rob another's life, intentionally or unintentionally, requires a form of payment. "Sorry" doesn't bring back the life of a person. And the argument that "neither does putting the person in jail" comes from a debased mentality. Payment is required. "Sorry," but that's just how it goes.

The new aggressive strain was discovered Feb. 11 in New York. As a result of this finding:
Medline Plus: Urging a major shift in U.S. policy, some health experts this week began recommending that virtually all Americans be tested routinely for the AIDS virus, much as they are for cancer and other diseases.

Merck Source - New HIV Strain May Progress Quickly

Plenty of information I hope.

This is not about discrimination, Nicholas.

The only resolution I can propose to protecting the blood supply is to:
  1. continue to ban gay men from donating blood (wise decision based on all the information out there due to high risk behavior and the mentality in that population group)
  2. promote education on HIV/AIDS to children in grade school & how it is contracted through
    • drug injection
    • infidelity
    • promiscuity
    • unprotected sex
    • risky sex (i.e. anal intercourse, rimming)
  3. and go through with the policy of having everyone screened for HIV/AIDS since there seems to be a fear to get tested.
Make it just like screening for cancer - make the patient aware based on a little information given to the medical personnel (i.e. are you sexually active?) and then routinely test for it.

As for my statement earlier, “If the population of straight people who donate blood suddenly increased by a sizeable margin, the risk of HIV getting through the blood banks would increase," that is just common sense. If you have a larger population donating blood, there is likely going to be more HIV going into the testing phase because there would probably be more infected individuals donating. Think about it.

There is apparently no way to find out if someone has AIDS unless you trust they are telling you the truth before you have sex with them...and you CHOOSE to ask if they have anything you may contract.

The third option would probably be a better measure for protecting the blood supply. Those who are HIV-negative could be given the "official O.K." to donate blood.

But donating blood is a choice. It cannot be forced on anyone.

And when you make a choice to harm yourself (i.e. drug injection, unprotected sex, multiple sex partners), you are also inadvertantly harm others.