Indonesia executes six drug convicts, five of them foreigners

Indonesia executes six drug convicts, five of them foreigners
Widodo has pledged to bring reform to Indonesia

Ban appeals to Indonesia to stop death row executions

Ban appeals to Indonesia to stop death row executions
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has pleaded to Indonesia to stop the execution of prisoners on death row for drug crimes. AFP PHOTO

Pope: 'Death penalty represents failure' – no 'humane' way to kill a person

Pope: 'Death penalty represents failure' – no 'humane' way to kill a person
The pope wrote that the principle of legitimate personal defense isn’t adequate justification to execute someone. Photograph: Zuma/Rex

Obama becomes first president to visit US prison (US Justice Systems / Human Rights)

Obama becomes first president to visit US prison   (US Justice Systems / Human Rights)
US President Barack Obama speaks as he tours the El Reno Federal Correctional Institution in El Reno, Oklahoma, July 16, 2015 (AFP Photo/Saul Loeb)

US Death Penalty (Justice Systems / Human Rights)

US Death Penalty (Justice Systems / Human Rights)
Woman who spent 23 years on US death row cleared (Photo: dpa)



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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

AirAsia, Indonesia and Effective Crisis Management

Jakarta Globe, Bloomberg, Dec 31, 2014

President Joko Widodo on board a Hercules plane taking part in the
search for AirAsia Flight QZ8501, on Tuesday.(Antara Photo/Andika Wahyu)

In his run for president this year, Joko Widodo pledged to bring greater openness and accountability to Indonesia. As his administration faces its first international crisis, the mysterious crash of an AirAsia jet, he’s proving to be a man of his word.

You can tell a lot about a nation from its response to great tragedy, whether it’s Japan’s 2011 Fukushima crisis, Malaysia’s lost Boeing 777 in March or South Korea’s deadly ferry accident in April. So far, Joko has performed admirably.

Since news broke on Sunday that an Airbus A320 flying from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore vanished with 162 people on board, Joko has coordinated search-and-rescue efforts, demanded a review of air safety regulations and called on weather agencies to provide timelier information. His government is giving steady updates, and Joko has sought help from Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Australia and, remarkably, China and the US in finding Flight QZ8501.

In contrast, last spring, Malaysia was widely criticized for the secrecy and paranoia that surrounded its search for a Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared with 239 people aboard. Welcoming US and Chinese military ships into Indonesia’s orbit speaks to Joko’s confidence as a leader.

Let’s hope this is a harbinger of future competence. Joko is the fifth president since dictator Suharto was ousted in 1998 but the first true political outsider to run Southeast Asia’s biggest economy. Because he’s not a member of a dynastic family or the military, he isn’t beholden to vested interests looking to siphon the benefits of Indonesia’s 5 percent growth. That gives him latitude to dismantle the kleptocracy that Suharto built during his 32-year reign and raise Indonesia’s competitiveness.

As governor of Jakarta, starting in 2012, Joko brought a surprising level of transparency. He moved budget procurement and tax collection processes online. He’s now working to make national government services electronic to reduce opportunities for graft and improve efficiency. Opening up the process of granting licenses for developing infrastructure, mines and plantations alone would do much to clean up the nation’s political and business climate.

Indonesia’s aviation industry also has long cried out for greater oversight. Its carriers, air traffic controllers and the skies around the archipelago of 250 million people are notorious for their regulatory laxity. As recently as 2009, state carrier Garuda was banned from European Union airspace. That laxity is a product of decades of cronyism and institutional neglect.

While Joko’s predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made inroads against graft, Indonesia’s still ranks behind Djibouti and Argentina and a sober 22 rungs below India in Transparency International’s latest corruption perceptions index. The daylight Joko wants to shine on the government is needed to attract more foreign investment and ensure that scarce revenues are spent on education, health care and poverty programs.

The openness and assertiveness with which Joko has responded to Flight QZ8501 gives me reason to hope that Indonesia will be prepared for whatever comes its way.

William Pesek is a Bloomberg View columnist based in Tokyo and writes on economics, markets and politics throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

President Joko Widodo, center, talks to the head of Indonesia’s national search
 and rescue agency, Soelistyo, left, and Chief of the Sea Security Coordinating
 Agency, Vice Admiral Desi Albert Mamahit, right, shortly before a news conference
 about missing Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ 8501 in Jakarta, on Dec. 29, 2014.
 (EPA Photo/Bagus Indahono)

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Human Rights Group Questions Impartiality of Paniai Shooting Investigation

Jakarta Globe, Dec 30, 2014

Some students from Papua in Bandung demonstrate against the shooting
in Papua, on Dec. 10, 2014. (Antara Photo/Agus Bebeng)

Jakarta. A total of 53 people are being questioned over the fatal shootings of at least five young civilians by security forces in Papua earlier this month, police say, but there are doubts about the credibility and impartiality of the investigation.

Papua Police spokesman Adj. Sen. Cmr. Patridge Renwarin said the witnesses included civilians, members of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) and police.

He told Antara news agency that the National Police were questioning their officers and the TNI was conducting its own investigation into possible involvement of its soldiers.

The announcement comes just days after President Joko Widodo told a crowd in Papua that the civilian killings were deplorable and he wanted the case solved immediately.

Security forces opened fire on about 800 peaceful demonstrators, including women and children in Enarotali in Paniai district on Dec. 8. Five protesters were killed and at least 17 others — including elementary school students — were injured, according to a report from Human Rights Watch. Local media reported another died of gunshot wounds on Dec. 10.

Patridge said no suspects had been named and police had not figured out who was behind the shootings. A key part of the investigation seems to revolve around a bullet fragment found at the scene.

“We have to wait for the bullet fragment to be examined,” he said “the whole investigation depends on the result.”

Victims and activists have said the incident was prompted with the beating of a 12-year-old boy from Ipakiye village, five kilometers from Enarotali, when the boy confronted a group of men in an SUV for driving at night with their headlights off.

The beating resulted in villagers marching to the capital to demand an explanation the next day. At around 10 a.m. the crowd spotted the same SUV and began attacking it. Police then opened fire on the unarmed crowd, witnesses said.

But the National Police chief, Gen. Sutarman, gave a different account of what happened, claiming the victims were planning an attack against the local military base, where locals suspected the SUV driver was hiding. Police stopped the crowd from advancing by setting up a barricade.

Sutarman has previously suggested the shootings could be the work of gunmen affiliated with the Free Papua Movement (OPM).

‘Joint probe crucial’

Human Rights Watch Indonesia has called on Joko to form a joint fact-finding team to ensure a credible, impartial investigation into the deadly shootings.

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), police and military should all be involved, it said.

Komnas Ham is conducting its own enquiry into the incident, but the military has refused to cooperate and the Indonesia’s 1997 Law on Military Courts prevents civilian investigators from speaking with military personnel at the scene of crimes, Human Rights Watch said.

“The Papua inquiry has been stymied because civilian investigators can’t interview the soldiers who were at the scene,” said Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director at the organization said. “A joint probe with police, military, and human rights investigators is crucial to ensure that all information is collected and that the findings will be taken seriously.”

Human Rights Watch has also said numerous witnesses are afraid to speak out about the incident for fear or reprisals.

The Paniai shootings were one the worst acts of state violence in years. Hostilities between Papuan civilians and the security forces have frequently turned deadly since Indonesia annexed the region in 1969.

Related Article:


Sunday, December 28, 2014

Jokowi Breaks Silence on Killings in Paniai, Pledges to Resolve Shootings

Fact-Finding Team: The president will set up an independent probe into the deaths of five civilians at the hands of the police


President Joko Widodo says the killing of five young civilians by security
forces in Papua earlier this month is deplorable. (Antara Photo/Prasetyo Utomo)

Jayapura. President Joko Widodo has told a crowd in Papua that the shooting of five young civilians in the province earlier this month is unacceptable, and that the government will soon form a fact-finding team to investigate the case.

Joko, who is in Indonesia’s easternmost province to attend Christmas celebrations, said the incident, which occurred in the town of Enarotali in Paniai district on Dec. 8, was deplorable.

Security forces opened fire on about 800 peaceful demonstrators, including women and children. Five protesters were killed and at least 17 others — including elementary school students — were injured, according to a report from Human Rights Watch.

Joko, who addressed a crowd of hundreds at Mandala Stadium in Jayapura, the provincial capital, on Saturday, said he empathized with the grieving families.

“I want this case to be solved immediately so it won’t ever happen again in the future,” the president said. “By forming a fact-finding team, we hope to obtain valid information [about what actually happened], as well as find the root of the problems.”

Joko added he wanted peace in Papua.

“I want my visit to Papua to be useful, I want to listen to the people’s voices, and I’m willing to open dialogue for a better Papua,” he said.

Joko said the government needed to listen to Papuans in order to solve the long-running conflict in the restive region.

“I think that the people of Papua don’t only need health care, education, the construction of roads and bridges, but they also need to be listened to. That is what I will do in dealing with the problems in Papua,” he said.

Hostilities between Papuan civilians and the security forces have frequently turned deadly since Indonesia annexed the region in 1969.

The president had earlier faced strong calls from Papuans to abandon his plan to celebrate Christmas in the troubled eastern province due to his previous muted response to the Paniai shootings, which were one the worst acts of state violence in years.

Victims and activists have said the incident was prompted with the beating of a 12-year-old boy from Ipakiye village, five kilometers from Enarotali, when the boy confronted a group of men in an SUV for driving at night with their headlights off.

The beating resulted in villagers marching to the capital to demand an explanation the next day. At around 10 a.m. the crowd spotted the same SUV and began attacking it. Police then opened fire on the unarmed crowd, witnesses said.

But the National Police chief, Gen. Sutarman, gave a different account of what happened, claiming the victims were planning an attack against the local military base, where locals suspected the SUV driver was hiding.

Police stopped the crowd from advancing by setting up a barricade, he said.

“Amid the protest, some [unknown] gunmen fired shots from the hills far away, causing the 200 or so people to riot,” the police general claimed.

He also denied that a high school student was among the five people shot dead by officers, despite photographs obtained by HRW clearly showing young men in school uniforms among those shot.

The coordinator of the Papua Peace Network, or JDP, Rev. Neles Tebay, welcomed the president’s plan to form a fact-finding team, having previously criticized the police for being “very secretive” about their investigation.

“The president is willing to identify the problem, so surely this is a good commitment,” Neles said on Saturday.

Related Articles:

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Alleged Fixer Arrested in Cibubur After Group Stopped at Airport From Travelling to Syria

Jakarta Globe, Bayu Marhaenjati, Dec 27, 2014

Police in the capital arrested a man in Cibubur on Saturday afternoon after
 stopping six people at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport who were allegedly
attempting to travel to Syria. (JG Photo/Fajrin Raharjo)

Jakarta. Police in the capital have arrested a man in the southern suburb of Cibubur on suspicion of organizing travel arrangements for six Indonesians to travel to Syria. A group of six people, including a 10-year-old boy, were stopped at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Saturday morning before boarding a Qatar Airways flight.

The suburban area of Cibubur is in the south of Jakarta, contiguous to the border of West Java province.

“We have arrested someone identified as A.M. who is the sponsor of the trip,” Jakarta Police spokesman Sr.Cmr. Rikwanto said on Saturday. “He facilitated the trip up to their [intended arrival] in Syria. He is being questioned right now.”

A.M. was arrested at his house in Cibubur. Police said they found jihadist literature at his house. They said he housed the six, who were all from Makassar, South Sulawesi, before they departed to Syria.

“One of the books was titled “Why Densus 88 [the police's specialist anti-terror unit] Must be Dissolved,” Rikwanto said.

Police believe that it was the group’s intention to travel on fake passports and join the Islamic State organization in Syria.

“There is a case of mismatched identity in the passports,” Rikwanto said. “We will coordinate with the immigration office and the National Police to check,” Rikwanto said.

He added that investigators would be looking into A.M.’s background and checking for links to known extremists.

“We are still investigating who funded A.M., who initiated this and what group he belongs to,” he said.

Related Articles:


"Revelations of Darkness" - Oct 1, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) (Text version)
“ .. Do Not Despair

There's too much information to give you in one channelling, in one sitting, so I refer to past messages for you to better understand and reference the information in order to get the bigger picture. So I wish to remind you of something I also told you in a recent channelling called Do Not DespairYou're winning! It's because you're winning that the dark consciousness on this planet is feeling it, and the humanity that represents darkness is pulling out everything it has to survive.

It Has Always Been There

Let's look at it, because it's all over the news. Are you shocked at the sudden existence of the organization that will remain unnamed [for this channelling]? Where did it come from? How could it be so organized? How could it be so well funded? This organization could have its own country soon! They might as well name it, “The Old Energy Dark Country”, for that's what it will represent.

The barbaric past of humanity comes forward to show its face. It has always been there, hiding under the rocks and between the cracks of civilized humanity. It couldn't show itself until now, but now it has to. It's ugly and it's not for the faint at heart, is it, dear ones? Seeing evil personified in Human action is abhorrent. It is so ugly and so dark that you cannot look upon it with a gentle heart. God is not a part of it and this is obvious.

You're winning! Light is winning! The uprising of dark consciousness would not have shown itself with this strength, or this quickly, if this were not so. This is exactly what I told you to look for, and it is proof that those representing this dark consciousness are in trouble. Dear ones, dark consciousness has always had a tried-and-true system. It lurks in the shadows and influences all the power places of the planet - government, commerce, finance. Suddenly, it can't hide there as well anymore and it's out in the open.

Where is the funding coming from? It is coming from a storehouse that has always been there, dear ones. It uses income that has been generated from low consciousness acts, collected for a very long time. Funding didn't just appear. It has been stored, waiting to be used in order to spread fear and darkness to save what they believe is their way.

Who Will Win?

Dear ones, they haven't got a chance! But it looks like they do, doesn't it? Everything that they are doing is calculated to scare you into submission. Are they winning? Now, that's a question I want you to take from here and examine every day.

Fear is black. If you're in fear, there is no light. You can be the grandest Lightworker, or even be the channeller, but if you're in fear, it doesn't matter how many years you've done light work, or how much light you've accumulated personally. It all goes away with fear, and then they've won the battle for your mind. Do you understand this?

The Strength of the Old Soul - YOU

Old souls, Lightworkers reading this, the experiences you have had over lifetimes and lifetimes are incredible! The old soul knows fear. I don't want to be too graphic, but I want you to understand! What was it like when you put your head in the guillotine because you talked about God in a way that was inappropriate? What was it like to be bound hand and foot when they lit the match at your feet? Old soul, that's fear! You carry those experiences in your Akash.

I want to tell you they haven't got a chance to scare you! You absolutely know what fear is, and they haven't got a chance as long as you cling to that part of you that is the strength of God. You've been through it all. That means you've got the weapons of truth, wisdom and light. Don't forget it. Don't forget who you are!

Do you see how fast they assembled? It seemed like only yesterday that there was no organization at all. Where did they come from? Have you noticed a certain hesitancy to fight them? Why is it that the citizens of the lands that they are invading are hesitant to fight them? Instead, these leaders are calling on others to help. Why is it that the others are also hesitant? I want to show you that there are some anomalies of logic that are not making sense, because this is a battle you have never seen before on this planet. We've expected it, but you haven't. It's about consciousness, not land or resources.

How to Win?

We gave you the secret before of how to defeat them without taking even one life: Simply take away their funding. They cannot exist without their funding. The funding has to be organized, stored, and distributed. It has to be generated in such a way that it must also go through institutions. Did you hear that? All you have to do is stop the system. Winning won't be done with bombing. It's going to be done with intelligence, clever thinking and financial forensics. It's time to get smart on some of these things and not to be afraid to look at this puzzle differently than you have before. Do not apply the energy they are using in order to fight them, because you won't win. Figure it out. It's the last bastion of organized darkness and evil thinking on this planet coming together to try to survive the assault of your light. Don't be afraid to look at the funding trail, no matter where it takes you.

Fear is Their Weapon

I want you to know something as you look at your news. It may appear that you are unable to stop them. In many places, they will gain strength as they create fear. The fear is easily created in those who are not old souls and who don't know fear like you do and who don't have the armor of your spiritual experiences. This puts you in the front line, dear one. Did you realize that? But you don't have to go fight them on their terms. All you have to do is broadcast light. High consciousness will beat fear any day.. .”

Police Out in Numbers as Jokowi Visits Papua

Jakarta Globe, Banjir Ambarita, Dec 27, 2014

Protesters outside the Malang Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) earlier
in December demanded President Joko Widodo cancel his visit to Papua
at Christmas. (Antara Photo/Ari Bowo)

Jayapura. Indonesian police and military deployed officers from throughout Papua on Saturday as President Joko Widodo arrived in the separatist eastern province to attend a Christmas celebration.

“We will deploy the officers from Sentani and Wamena for security, but that’s only for the external security. For the internal security hundreds of soldiers will also be deployed,” Cendrawasih military commander Maj.Gen. Fransen. G. Siahaan told the Jakarta Globe on Saturday.

Joko was scheduled to attend a Christmas celebration at Mandala stadium in Jayapura. Fransen said thousands of police officers would be mobilized to secure streets used by the president to and from the stadium.

Fransen said security would also be focused in Wamena.

“The dangerous spot is in Wamena where the president will visit on his second day here before he heads to Sorong then Jakarta,” he said.

Joko was scheduled to arrive in Jayapura at 2:45 p.m. Eastern Indonesia Time accompanied by 11 cabinet ministers.

Friday, December 26, 2014

As world honours the dead, Indonesia begins tsunami memorials

Yahoo – AFP, Nurdin Hasan, 26 Dec 2014

Women attend a prayer service at Baiturrahman Mosque in Banda Aceh, in
 the northern Sumatra island, on December 25, 2014, prior to the 10th anniversary
 of the tsunami that hit the west coast of Aceh province (AFP Photo/
Chaideer Mahyuddin)

Thousands of people held a memorial Thursday in Indonesia's Aceh province, the epicentre of the Indian Ocean tsunami, as the world prepared to mark a decade since a disaster that took 220,00 lives and laid waste to coastal areas in 14 countries.

On December 26, 2004 a 9.3-magnitude earthquake off Indonesia's western coast sparked a series of towering waves that wrought destruction across countries as far apart as Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Somalia.

Among the victims were thousands of foreign holidaymakers enjoying Christmas on the region's sun-kissed beaches, striking tragedy into homes around the world.

A tourist rides a bicycle past a poster
 ahead of the tenth anniversary of the 2004
 tsunami at Patong beach in Phuket
 province on December 25, 2014 (AFP\
 Photo/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)
Muslim clerics, tsunami survivors and rescue workers led around 7,000 mourners gathered at Banda Aceh's black-domed Baiturrahman Grand Mosque for memorial prayers late Thursday.

Malaysian cleric Syeikh Ismail Kassim said he and several hundred compatriots attended to show support for Aceh.

"We hope Aceh people will not waver as a result of the calamity that has befallen them," he told AFP.

Aceh governor Zaini Abdullah thanked Indonesians and the international community in his address at the mosque, one of the few buildings which withstood the wrath of the massive earthquake and ensuing waves which left 170,000 people in the country dead or missing.

"The tsunami had caused deep sorrow to Aceh residents from having lost their loved ones," he said.

"Sympathy from Indonesians and the international community has helped (Aceh) to recover," he added.

He also called on residents not to "dwell in our grief, so that we could rise from adversity and achieve a better Aceh".

Kamaruddin, a fisherman who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said he attended the prayers to remember his wife and three children who died in the tsunami.

"I hope there will be no more disasters in Aceh," the 50-year-old said.

In Meulaboh, a fishing town considered to be the ground zero of the tsunami -- where 35 metre-high waves flattened almost everything -- Indonesian flags were flown at half-mast as small groups of residents held night prayers at mosques.

The main memorials were planned for Friday morning, starting in Aceh which was hit first by the waves, then moving to Thailand where candlelit ceremonies are expected in the resort hubs of Phuket and Khao Lak.

There will also be events in Sri Lanka, including at the site where a train carrying 1,500 people was washed away, as well as in several European capitals to remember foreign nationals who perished.

'Like being in a washing machine'

Many of the tsunami's victims died in dark, churning waters laden with uprooted trees, boats, cars and eviscerated beach bungalows, as the waves surged miles inland and then retreated, sucking many more into the sea.

Thailand saw 5,395 people killed by the disaster -- half of them foreign holidaymakers.

British survivor Andy Chaggar was in a bungalow on Thailand's Khao Lak when the tsunami waves struck, taking his girlfriend's life and sweeping him inland.

This picture taken on December 4, 2014 shows people visiting the Ban Nam
Khem tsunami memorial park wall in Khao Lak (AFP Photo/Nicolas Asfouri)

"I came to in the water... there was glass, metal, there were pieces of wood, bricks, it was like being in a washing machine full of nails," he told AFP on Thursday, on the same beach where he lost his girlfriend.

As the scale of the tragedy emerged, disaster-stricken nations struggled to mobilise a relief effort, leaving bloated bodies to pile up under the tropical sun or in makeshift morgues.

The world poured money and expertise into the relief and reconstruction, with more than $13.5 billion collected in the months after the disaster.

Almost $7 billion in aid went into rebuilding more than 140,000 houses across Aceh, thousands of kilometres of roads, and new schools and hospitals.

The vast majority of Indonesia's 170,000 victims perished in the province, among them tens of thousands of children.

But the disaster also ended a decades-long separatist conflict, with a peace deal between rebels and Jakarta struck less than a year later.

It also prompted the establishment of a pan-ocean tsunami warning system, made up of sea gauges and buoys, while individual countries have invested heavily in disaster preparedness.

But experts have cautioned against the perils of "disaster amnesia" creeping into communities vulnerable to natural disasters.

Related Articles:

Tsunami devastation remembered in Asia, 10 years on (+Video)

"Current" Events –  Apr 10, 2005 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

“… Mass Human Death

The final one, dear Human, is the hardest one for my partner and the one we wish to leave you with in this channeling tonight. This is the one that my partner doesn't want to even have me talk about. It's the appropriateness of mass death. For you, built in to your very essence is the honor for life, and the sorrow when it passes. It's correct and appropriate that this is there, and never let it be tempered. But the wisdom of understanding is also needed to help you get past some challenges of the Human heart.

"Dear Kryon, was the tsunami really necessary?" Yes it was. Almost 200,000 Human Beings passed over. It's an event that for you is filled with horror, sorrow, emotion, and challenge. Back in 1989, we told you of those that might have to leave the earth en masse, and here it is. Yet even my partner [Lee] asks the questions, "Why the children? Why the poorest parts of the earth? Why the seeming inappropriateness of all this death?"

And I say to you the same thing I said with respect to Terri: Do you understand yet that death is often as precious as life on this planet of many energies and lessons? They are not gone! They're all here [speaking from Kryon's perspective]. They're having a great time! They're joyful! It seems like a moment ago they leaned into the wind of birth with us beside them. We said, "How would you like to participate in an event that will change the compassion factor of the planet so that energies can move forward and provide faster acceleration of vibratory shift? How would you like to help create peace on earth through a consciousness shift within Gaia itself? And they said, "Show us the way!"

Do you understand why we are in love with humanity... that you would love the earth and the Universe so much that you would go through these things? So much of what you see is horrible tragedy, yet you're looking at the heroes of humanity as they deliver a gift that will change the very fabric of Gaia through the compassion created as a wave of humanity responds to their plight.

They knew the potentials and they went through with it. Even the children knew, for they're old souls within their divinity. There was so much compassion created at that time, in that one week, the earth has never seen anything like it in your lifetime. Billions of Humans were involved with a compassion that instantly went to the core of the planet. It went into the earth and it's still there. It changed the actual energy of where you walk and it planted a seeds that will grow that will indeed emerge later in Israel, and those surrounding Israel.

And that's what it's about. Yet some of you didn't want to hear that, did you? But they're here, with me now... and with you as well. How could you fit them all in this room, you might ask? They can fit on the head of a pin! That's interdimensional talk. They can go home in your purse or your pocket! That's interdimensional talk, too. And they've got a message for you that we've given before, but you can't hear it enough: "We did our part - now you do yours, Lighthouse! For the ones who remain are the only ones who can manipulate the tools we have helped create."

When you go home tonight, you're not going to be in a survival situation - in a tent in a tribe with no lights or clean water, with no food. You're not going to be in sorrow or despair. Instead, you go home to a warm place with plenty of food and friendship and the love of family. That's why you're the Lighthouses, because you have time for it. You've got the intellect for it. You're not in survival mode, as is so much of humanity on the earth. You have the education for it and the intuition for it. Now, do you understand why there are so many Lighthworkers in the western world? It's because your culture has created a situation where there's abundance of these things, and it allows you to lead the way in changing the energy of earth, instead of having all your time spent just trying to survive. Does this help you understand the responsibility of what you have before you?

Strike the light and send it to the Sudanese. Strike light and send it to those dark places with governments where there's corruption. Strike the light and send it to the scientists and researchers who already have the cures for the more virulent diseases on the planet, but can't begin their work due to the barriers of certain leadership and their old ways. Strike the light and send it to Israel and Palestine and get on with this solution! This is why you're here, and this is the agreement you made when you arrived and selected the culture you live in.

Achievable in your lifetime, it is. Peace and compassion will prevail. You shall see. You shall see.

And so it is.

Kryon

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Cuba prepares for Christmas with early gift from Obama

Yahoo – AFP, Francisco Jara, 24 Dec 2014

People wearing Santa Claus costumes give out leaflets promoting a restaurant
in the streets of Havana, Cuba, on December 23, 2014 (AFP Photo/Yamil Lage)

Havana (AFP) - Cubans prepared Wednesday to celebrate Christmas, a resurgent holiday banned for 38 years by the communist government, with an early gift from US President Barack Obama: a historic rapprochement.

Across the island, houses, restaurants, supermarkets, hotels and state-run stores have put up Christmas decorations, embracing a holiday eliminated by Fidel Castro soon after he came to power in the Cuban Revolution in 1959 and declared Cuba an atheist state.

"El Comandante" restored Christmas in 1998 after a landmark visit by pope John Paul II.

A Christmas tree adorns the lobby of a
 hotel in Havana, Cuba, on December 23,
2014 (AFP Photo/Yamil Lage)
After an initially hesitant revival, the Christmas spirit is once again booming on the island.

"Christmas was a very deep-rooted tradition in Cuba. It was interrupted for 38 years, which is no small thing, and yet it made a comeback," said the secretary of Cuba's Conference of Bishops, Jose Felix Perez.

In Havana's old city, Santas brave the Caribbean heat in bushy white beards and red suits to hand out restaurant flyers alongside Mrs Clauses wearing decidedly skimpier red outfits -- a scene that would have been unthinkable under Fidel.

On the streets of the capital, the dashboards of cars are decked out with Santas, wreaths and mini Christmas trees.

Less playful decorations adorn the gates and courtyards of foreign embassies and the US interests section, set to regain its status as an embassy under last week's watershed announcement by Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro, who took over from his big brother Fidel in 2006.

The thawing of the two countries' Cold War animosity has raised many Cubans' hopes for an economic revival in a country scarred by the "special period" of hunger and shortages in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

This year, Perez said, "everything the two presidents announced is giving people hope that their lives will get better and there will be greater understanding."

In this country where Catholicism has long co-existed with local traditions that draw on both Christianity and African religions, state-run stores are brimming with Christmas gift baskets and restaurants and hotels are offering sumptuous Christmas dinners.

At the Ambos Mundos, where the great American writer Ernest Hemingway once lived, the four-course meal costs $40 -- twice the average monthly salary of around $20.

"Before there were no Christmas decorations. All this is totally new," a Latin American diplomat told AFP.

Communist Christmas

New Year's was long celebrated as the main holiday in Cuba, bolstered by the revolutionary significance of the date: January 1, 1959, is the day Castro's forces ousted dictator Fulgencio Batista.

A couple wearing Santa Claus costumes greet a little boy as they give out
leaflets promoting a restaurant in the streets of Havana, Cuba, on December 23,
2014 (AFP Photo/Yamil Lage)

Starting in 1960, December 25 was declared a working day.

Christians celebrated in secret, hoping to evade detection by the Revolutionary Defense Committees (CDRs) deployed across the country.

Even after the holiday was restored, Christmas celebrations were muted until Fidel handed over power amid a health crisis.

In 2010 the Cuban government opened talks with the Church, which led to the release of 130 political prisoners and the return of Church buildings confiscated in the 1960s.

Later that year the main architect of the detente, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, celebrated Cuba's first Christmas mass since 1959 inside a prison.

Today, Cuban bishops broadcast Christmas messages on television.

In a further goodwill gesture toward the Church, Raul Castro also restored Good Friday as a holiday when pope Benedict XVI visited the island in 2012.

This picture released by Estudios Revolucion shows relatives welcoming
 freed Cuban prisoner Geraldo Hernandez (C) on December 17, 2014 in Havana
upon his return from the United States (AFP Photo)

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Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Djarot to Visit Jakarta Churches on Christmas Eve as Security Operation Continues

Jakarta Globe, Lenny Tristia Tambun, Dec 24, 2014

Bomb squad officers inspect a church in Malang, East Java, ahead of
the Christmas Eve mass. (AFP Photo)

Jakarta. The capital’s deputy governor Djarot Syaiful Hidayat said on Wednesday he would visit six churches in the capital on Christmas Eve to monitor security and wish Jakarta’s Christian community a happy Christmas.

“I’ll conduct blusukan [impromptu visits to constituents] this evening,” Djarot told reporters at City Hall on Wednesday. “I will visit several churches to make sure that the services run safely and smoothly.”

Djarot will kick off his visit at 6:30 p.m. to six churches: St. Theresia Catholic Church and GKI Kwitang in Central Jakarta, Santo Yoseph Church and GPIB Surya Kasih in East Jakarta, and Gereja Salib Suci and Gereja Tugu in North Jakarta.

“I also want to personally wish them a merry Christmas,” Djarot said.

The National Police said earlier in the week that some 80,000 police officers would be tasked with ensuring security at Christmas and New Year celebrations, in what has become an annual operation known as Operation Candle.

A further 19,5000 personnel from the Indonesian military will join the security operation, which is set to run through Jan. 2.

“We will secure every place of worship, residential areas, tourism locations, stations, terminals, ports, airports and also other places where there would be a lot people gathering for Christmas and New Year celebrations,” National Police chief Gen. Sutarman said on Tuesday.

As officers in Jakarta monitored security at churches and selected public spaces, police in East Java and Sulawesi were conducting searches of churches to look for any suspicious devices. To the south of Jakarta, in the West Java city of Bogor, police and security officials were investigating a bomb threat circulated via SMS message that purported to be linked to ISIS supporters in Indonesia.

“There was message from someone claiming to speak in the name of the ISIS network saying there would be terrorism during New Year, and the plan was to bomb three crowded places in Bogor City,” Bogor Mayor Bima Arya said on Tuesday. “We take this threat seriously. That is why we decided in a meeting with the police [on Tuesday] that we’ll jointly beef up security at places that attract a lot of people.”

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Over 80,000 Cops to Secure Christmas, New Year Celebrations in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, Bayu Marhaenjati, Dec 23, 2014

Officers of the Sidoarjo Police in East Java pray for a successful Operation
Candle on Tuesday. (Antara Photo/Suryanto)

Jakarta. The National Police said on Tuesday that they would dispatch no fewer than 80,560 cops to safeguard Christmas and New Year celebrations throughout the country this year as part of their annual Operation Candle.

During the operation, which runs from Wednesday until Jan. 2, the police will get help from the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI), which will dispatch more than 19,500 personnel, and from other agencies, that will make available another 65,000 officers.

The officers will be stationed at 1,767 security posts and 603 service posts throughout the country and they will monitor 895 CCTV cameras especially set up for the operation.

“This operation consists of preemptive and preventive actions, which are supported by professional and proportional law enforcement,” Gen. Sutarman, the chief of the National Police, said on Tuesday in Jakarta.

“We will secure every place of worship, residential areas, tourism locations, stations, terminals, ports, airports and also other places where there would be a lot people gathering for Christmas and New Year celebrations,” he said.

Operation Candle, Sutarman said, would not only guarantee the safety of the people celebrating Christmas and New Year, but also make sure that the distribution of food and fuel is not disrupted.

Monday, December 22, 2014

Jokowi Pledges to Protect Female Human Rights Activists

Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite, Dec 22, 2014

Activists protesting against violence against women, in Central Jakarta
on Sunday. (Antara Photo/Reno Esnir)

Jakarta. Having granted clemency to a female activist just last week, President Joko Widodo on Monday promised that other female Indonesian activists would never be imprisoned again for defending human rights.

“We have to keep fighting for people’s rights. Female activists, who strive for their rights and also other people’s rights, should never be imprisoned. Something like that should never happen again,” Joko, also known as Jokowi, said on Monday in Jakarta.

The president was speaking on Indonesia’s Mother’s Day. It was not immediately clear whether his pledge would also apply to male human rights defenders.

Last Wednesday, the Justice and Human Rights Ministry issued a letter granting clemency to Eva Susanti Bande, a human rights activist who had been jailed after standing up for farmers’ rights in Luwuk, South Sulawesi, in 2010

Eva, who was released from the Petobo detention center in Palu, Central Sulawesi, on Friday, was convicted of instigation and vandalism for her involvement in a rally with a group of farmers against a palm oil company.

In 2010, the Luwuk District Court in Central Sulawesi sentenced Eva to 3.5 years in prison but her sentence was increased to four years on appeal. Eva requested presidential clemency after the Supreme Court turned down her appeal last year.

“I granted Eva’s plea for clemency because I’m fully aware of what she’s striving for, which is the people’s right to land,” Joko said.

Police Source: Syria-Bound Indonesians Financed by Terror Convict

Jakarta Globe, Farouk Arnaz, Dec 21, 2014

A motorcyclist rides past a wall with the Islamic State flag painted on it
in Solo, Central Java. (JG Photo/Ali Lutfi)

Jakarta. The alleged attempt by a group of 12 Indonesian nationals to join the Islamic State movement in Syria was financed by a convicted terrorist, a police source told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday.

“We’ve figured out that Bagus Maskuron, a former convict of the paramilitary training case in Aceh, was behind this,” said an investigator from the National Police’s anti-terror squad, Densus 88. “He told the nine people [out of a group of 12] to go to Syria and funded the trip. Bagus is in Syria. One of the women and one of the kids detained were Bagus’s wife and kid.”

Police raided a terrorist training camp in Aceh in March 2010.

The 12 Indonesians were detained after trying to leave for Syria from Malaysia. Nine of them, four women and five children, were released on Friday. Three men would still be questioned until Monday, police said.

It is not illegal for Indonesians to travel to Syria, and the only law that can be used in such cases, police say, is the one dealing with citizenship. Indonesians can lose their citizenship if they voluntarily take an oath or pledge allegiance to a foreign country or a part of it.

One of the men detained was M. Sibgotuloh, a former convict of a deadly CIMB bank robbery in Medan, North Sumatra, in 2010.

Members of the group were from Surabaya and Magetan in East Java, as well as Kutai Kertanegara in East Kalimantan.

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Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Faith matters: 7 things Christians, Jews and Muslims share

When it comes to discussing the world’s major religions, the focus is often on division. For our upcoming episode #forchristssake, we take a look at what the three monotheistic religions have in common.

Deutsche Welle, 15 Dec 2014


Jesus Christ is not just an important figure in Christianity. As a prophet, he also features in the Muslim faith - not to mention that he was Jewish. Here are seven lesser known facts about what unites the three major religions.

1. Abraham: the founding father

Painting of the moment when God promises Abraham many descendants.

Abraham is another important figure uniting the three religions. That’s why Christianity, Judaism and Islam are referred to as the Abrahamic religions. Abraham belongs to the Aramaic people and is believed to be the Patriarch of the Jewish people.

According to the Bible, he and his son are said to be the founding fathers of the Arabic people. But wait, there’s more. The Quran also explains (Quran 2:135) that Islam was not a new religion, but rather to be seen as a continuance of Abraham’s original religion.

2. Jerusalem: common holy city

View over Jerusalem's historic city center: the Western Wall (front) and
the golden cupola of The Dome of the Rock.

The historic center of Jerusalem is home to members of all three religions. The Dome of the Rock is holy for Muslims, who worship it as the place from where Muhammad ascended into heaven to receive revelations from God. Jerusalem is also considered the spiritual and ancestral homeland of the Jews. Christians worship Jerusalem as the place where Jesus was buried and resurrected. Among the most important places of Christian worship there is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

3. Scriptures

Old Lutheran Bible

The scriptures belonging to the three Abrahamic religions have similarities too. The Jewish holy book consists of the Tanakh and the Talmud. Christians adopted the Tanakh for their Bible, but call it Old Testament.

The Quran also tells the story of Jesus’ crucifixion. Muslims believe it represents a spiritual, rather than actual event and that God intervened to save Jesus in what would otherwise have been his final moments (Quran, 4:157).

4. Sing-song

Gospel choir in London

In the past, when churches were teeming with worshippers, a speaking voice alone couldn’t reach those seated in the back pew. The choral tradition of chanting and singing has its roots in the attempt to repair this acoustic deficit. Whether it’s church Gospel music, the chanting tradition in synagogues or the characteristic Muslim call to prayer, all these vocal traditions can be traced back to this primary need to get the message across.

5. Pilgrimage

Muslim people praying at the Mount Arafat near Mecca in October 2014.

Mecca is the famous destination for Muslim pilgrims while Jews journey to Jerusalem and Roman Catholics to Santiago de Compostela, for example.

6. The unspoken name

"Allah" in Arabic lettering in the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

In all three religions, there are both common and specific names for “God”. Muslims use the Arabic word “Allah” to refer generally to God, as do Arabic-speaking Christians. But Muslims also use the term to speak specifically about their god. There is also a list with another 99 proper names, each describing one aspect of his nature. A 100th name is also said to exist, but is unspeakable. A popular belief is that Jesus, the Messias (Mehdi), will come and reveal it to the people. Similarly, Christians and Jews also have a specific name for their god - Elohim or Yahweh. However, “ the divine name was increasingly regarded as too sacred to be uttered” and was therefore replaced by referring to him, not with a particular name, but using the general terms “Lord” or “God”.

7. Need for space


In an increasingly secularized world, it can be hard for a religious person on the move to find a place to worship. But many public places, like airports, universities and hospitals now offer dedicated interreligious prayer rooms. These are rooms that were jointly created by people of a number of different faiths and where any believer can enjoy a moment of personal reflection. These spaces are neutral in design and tend to avoid displaying symbols of any kind. There is one exception though: the internationally recognized, and pretty uncontroversial, emergency exit signs which hang on the wall.

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"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

" ....Abraham, Father of the Jews

I want to honor Abraham [Abram], born in Ur, which is now part of modern Iraq, and I want to honor his sons, not all born of Sara. The one I wish to speak of is Ishmael. Abraham is Jewish... the great Jewish prophet. Ishmael is his son. There's no way that you could say Ishmael was not Jewish, and he is even to this day. Ishmael was born in Hebron. So in addition, he is very Israeli. Ishmael is a Jew.

Now some would argue, due to how the Jewish lineage is computed by men [mother's side]. But Spirit looks at the DNA and the Akashic lineage, so spiritually, Ishmael is a Jew. He came in to be part of the lineage of the Jews.

He fell from favor even with the Jewish people early on for political reasons. Then Ishmael went on to become that which is the ancestor of all Arabs... the father of Arabia. Therefore, you could say that the Arabs are with Jewish blood, that of Abraham flowing through them. But early on, the Jews cast Ishmael out. So although you have the one God and monotheism, and you have the principle of the love of God and the unity of God, there was a split. The truth was mixed with untruths and, even to this day, there would be a billion Human Beings who would say it was Ishmael and not Isaac who was almost sacrificed at the Temple Mount. They would also say that he is not a Jew.

So what is the truth here? Human Beings were not built to unify. In an older energy on the planet from those days, and even the days that you were born in, the energy laid upon you is for you to separate, not unify. And that is why we call it the old energy. Oh, they were wise men and women who knew better, but it is the old energy that separates and divides, and it is the old energy that has created the divisions of hatred within millions of those who are actually "all Jews."

Muhammad's Beautiful Message of Unity

Let me tell you about Muhammad, the prophet. Muhammad is of the lineage of Ishmael, who is of the lineage of Abraham. Therefore, Muhammad had Jewish blood, so that was his lineage but not necessarily his culture. But his Akashic lineage was from Abraham. [Abraham is the founder of Islam, according to the Quran.]

Muhammad had a beautiful meeting, more than one, with an angelic presence. The angels talked to humanity back then in basic 3D ways. But how many of you have put together that most of the angels in that time who spoke to Human Beings talked to those of Jewish lineage? Like Muhammad, like Moses, like Jesus, like Abraham. For this was part of a set-up of history, part of what makes the Jewish lineage important to the core Akash of humanity, and we have spoken before, "As go the Jews, go Earth." Indeed, there is something there to look at which is important, and it is going to change soon. For in our eyes, the "Jews" are all those in the Middle East.

Muhammad's information from the angel was this: "Unify the Arabs and give them the God of Israel." And he did! The information he had was beautiful and was written down later for his followers. It was all about the incredible love of God and the unity of man. Muhammad the prophet was a unifier, not a separatist.

Long before Muhammad, there came Jesus - Jesus the Jew. He became responsible for what you would call Christianity today. All of his disciples were Jewish. The Rock, Peter the fisherman, who started the Christian church, was Jewish. And we tell you these things to remind you that there's a unity here. Perhaps there is a reason, dear ones, why the 12 layers of DNA have Hebrew names? Indeed, it's in honor of the masters and the lineage, including that of Muhammad, of Ishmael, of Isaac, of Abraham and of Jesus. All of them, part of the original spiritual language [Hebrew].

"Oh," you might say, "there was Sumerian and before that there was Lemurian. There was Sanskrit and Tamil, and many other older languages." Correct, but we're speaking of a language of today - one that you can relate to, that has power, and that is spoken today by the pure lineage of the masters who walked the planet.

So what did humanity do with all this? What did they do with all this sacred information from these Jewish masters? They went to war, because Humans separate things. They don't put them together. So here we are with one beautiful God, creator of all there is, and millions who believe that very thing, yet they are going to war with each other over ideology about what God said, which prophet was best, and which group is in God's favor. That's ancient history, thousands of years old. But it shows exactly what the old energy is all about. ..."