Joseph Herrin (07-23-2012)
Note Pyramid Imagery that Matches Olympic Stadium Lights
I have been trying to write a new teaching on hearing the voice of God as I often have people write to me to inquire on this subject. Due to a heavier volume than usual of e-mail, in addition to having guests twice over the course of the past four days, I have not made the progress I had hoped for. The recent posts on the Olympics and the movie The Dark Knight Rises, have elicited a lot of response. Today’s post will contain some insights tying these events together, then hopefully I can return to other topics.
A number of people had written to me suggesting various significance to the fact that the recent theater shooting occurred in a city named Aurora. As various individuals pointed out, Aurora is the name of the winged goddess of the dawn. The word “aurora” also refers to the first light before the dawn, or to the dawn itself.
As I pondered the meaning of this word, I sought to understand its connection to the phrase “The dark night rises.” (The spelling of the word “night” is intentional.) It is common to speak of the day “dawning,” but it is a contradiction to speak of the night dawning. The night is noted for its darkness, whereas the day is associated with brightness and light. Satan, however, is renowned for twisting and perverting the straight and true ways of Yahweh. It is in keeping with the great deceiver’s nature to call darkness light, and light darkness.
I intentionally withheld any comment on the significance of the name Aurora in the previous post on the shooting at the Dark Knight movie as I was not yet confident what was being indicated. One thing I believe is that the slaughter at the movie theater at that precise time and location was an act of Satanic inspiration. Christians often do not realize the power Satan has to accomplish his diabolical works. The book of Job should remove all doubt.
Consider the fact that just as soon as God gave Satan permission to afflict Job that Satan caused the following to happen all in a single moment of time.
Job 1:13-19
Now on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
That Satan is able to inspire evil men to do his bidding at a moment’s notice, with precise control, is revealed in these verses. Satan stirred up the Sabeans to attack Job’s servants who were plowing his fields with oxen and donkeys. He left one man alive to report the matter to Job. At the same moment Satan incited the Chaldeans to make a raid on Job’s camels, slaying the keepers and leaving only one man alive to report the matter. Just as remarkable we find that Satan caused a great wind to arise and directed it to the very walls of the house in which all of Job’s children were dining, causing it to fall and crush all inside. Again, only one household servant lived to tell the matter to Job.
I would have you to consider that it is within the power of Satan to inspire one man to entertain fantasies of wreaking havoc upon an unsuspecting group of people at a movie theater, to inspire that man to purchase guns, rifles, ammunition, and tear gas, and at the precise moment and place of Satan’s choosing to carry out a massacre. Witnesses to the shooting spoke of the calmness with which the man methodically tossed the tear gas into the theater and began to shoot seventy people, twelve of whom died. This was not the work of a shy, quiet, 24 year old college science major. It was a man under Satanic control carrying out with supernatural ability and calmness the desire of the evil one. This young man was no different than the Sabeans or the Chaldeans who were incited to murder Job’s servants and steal his flocks and herds.
I do not share these things to cause the saints of Yahweh to stand in awe, or terror, of the prince of the power of the air. It should be kept in mind that Satan could not touch Job apart from Yahweh granting him permission. Yahweh set limits to what Satan could do, and Satan did not deviate from God’s word. We see that this pattern continued into the New Testament. The Son of God spoke the following words to Peter.
Luke 22:31-32
"Simon! Behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."
Do you observe what occurred here? Satan had to acquire “permission” to touch Simeon Peter. Had Yahweh not granted permission, Satan could not touch Peter. Satan also has to receive permission to touch the lives of the sons and daughters of God in this hour. It is well that we walk faithfully with the Father, not rebelling, nor sinning wilfully. For if we stray from obedience to the Father we will invite the attack of the enemy, and Yahweh will let him chasten us for our correction. We should be careful to be where Yahweh wants us to be, and doing what He wants us to do, lest we needlessly place ourselves in harm’s way.
As I pondered this event in Aurora, and the meaning of the name of the city, wondering why Satan chose that particular venue to accomplish his act of barbarism, one thought that came to mind is that this was a sacrificial offering to Satan and from ancient times those pagan and occult men and women who practiced human sacrifice would do so in high places.
Numbers 22:41
Then it came about in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal...
Aurora is a suburb of Denver which is nicknamed “the mile high city.” Not only is Aurora in a high place, it is located near the center of the continental United States. Aurora means “dawn” and is associated with the daybreak. Yet the movie that the theater goers were attending was called “The Dark Knight (Night) Rises” and it was a midnight showing. It seemed to me that Satan was sending forth a statement that the dark night of his rule over mankind was rising. The night was dawning, according to his twisted logic and rebellion against the ways of Yahweh.
That this was the meaning Satan intended was confirmed when a brother in Christ sent me a link to a new album just released by Elton John and the Australian duo called Pnau. The album opened at number one on the British charts, the first time Elton John has had a number one album in England in twenty years. This is a significant event, and it is coming out the week before the Olympics are to begin. The name of the Album provides another witness to what Satan is speaking and what is about to occur.
Good Morning to the Night
There is much esoteric imagery on this album cover. The three men form an unholy trinity. Their heads are arranged in a pyramid shape. Elton John’s glasses have multiple pyramid images, some inverted, some upright. Note also the expressions on all faces. These are not happy, joyous, faces full of light. They are dark, brooding, angry. However, the central message is found in the album title, “Good Morning To The Night.” There is a two-fold message here. One is that the earth is falling into darkness as Babylon rises and Satan establishes his visible rule over the earth. The second is that “Good Morning” is a greeting, used as words of welcome.
There is no doubt that Elton John is in the service of Satan and is a man of abominations. He has been an unabashed homosexual for decades. It says something about the royal family of England that they would bestow a knighthood upon such men. The royal family honors those whom Yahweh says are dishonorable, heaping adulation upon those Yahweh condemns as vile and abominable.
Leviticus 18:22
“You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.”
Romans 1:25-27
For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
The main lyrics of this song are the oft repeated phrase “Turn around and say good morning to the night.” This is an invitation to worship the darkness. (Note, I could not find the full lyrics to this song online as it is a new release. I did hear some words in the song that also speak of the light going out. I am sure the rest of the song will only support this message.)
This song ties together the events in Aurora, Colorado and the London Olympics which begin in four more days. The theme of the Batman movie is “The dark night rises,” and it begins by announcing “A Storm is Coming.” Much of the movie takes place underground, and is dark and foreboding. Another electronic music duo, the British group Underworld have been selected as the musical directors for the Olympic opening ceremony. Between the movie and the Olympic ceremony, there is a profound emphasis on dark things arising from the pit, or abyss.
Satan is not only capable of carrying out a massacre at a high place, he is well able to cause a record to soar to the top of the charts when the performer has not had a number one album in the previous twenty years. The song Good Morning to the Night is an official song of the 2012 Olympics. This fact reveals that it contains a message that Satan wants to proclaim at this time.
Official Song of the London 2012 Olympic Games
There are a small number of songs by British artists selected as official songs of these games. The first one released was by a group called Muse.
Muse – Survival Lyrics
Race, life’s a race
And I am gonna win
Yes, I am gonna win
And I’ll light the fuse
And I’ll never lose
And I choose to survive
Whatever it takes
You won’t pull ahead
I’ll keep up the pace
And I’ll reveal my strength
To the whole human race
Yes I am prepared
To stay alive
I won’t forgive, the vengeance is mine
And I won’t give in
Because I choose to thrive
I’m gonna win
Race, it’s a race
But I’m gonna win
Yes I’m gonna win
And will light the fuse
I’ll never lose
And I choose to survive
Whatever it takes
You won’t pull ahead
I’ll keep up the pace
And I’ll reveal my strength
To the whole human race
Yes I’m gonna win
Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
Win! Win! Win! Win!
Yes I’m gonna win
As I consider these lyrics I am struck by the sense of these being words proclaimed by Satan in defiance of Yahweh. Can you not perceive of Satan saying, “I’ll reveal my strength to the whole human race.” As the lyrics declare, “I won’t forgive, the vengeance is mine and I won’t give in because I choose to thrive,” the hatred and pride of Satan is revealed. The Scriptures declare:
Romans 12:19-21
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
As the lyrics of these official Olympic songs are repeated over and over throughout the period of the games this message of vengeance, strife, pride, and fighting will be drummed into the minds of those singing along, or listening. This is Satan’s plan. He wants to “light the fuse,” and turn the entire world into a battleground where men slaughter one another senselessly.
As we have observed, the London Olympics were inaugurated in blood during the 7/7 subway bombings. Now there has been a further ritual blood shedding just prior to the opening ceremony. Days of great darkness are rising. Let the people of God walk wisely in this hour and let them understand that it is not the will of Christ to fight fire with fire. Vengeance belongs to Yahweh. We are to overcome evil with good. Do not give into the spirit of vengeance, for this is the spirit of Satan.
It has taken more than 25 years for me to fully comprehend a conclusion that I never wanted to reach, namely, that there is an organized war against the price of silver that has come to include the US Government. I think the US Government involvement came into being almost accidently, but even if it was an accident of sorts, that does not diminish the serious nature of what must be described as illegal activity at the highest levels. I am conflicted between feelings of sadness and outrage.
Starting around 1985, I became convinced that the price of silver was being manipulated by collusive and concentrated short selling by certain commercial entities on the world’s leading precious metals commodity exchange, the COMEX. Having a background in futures trading going back to 1972, it dawned on me that the concentrated and orchestrated short selling was dominating and, therefore, manipulating the price of silver. The very first thing I did after this discovery was to petition the regulators at the CFTC and the COMEX to alert them to the existence of the most serious market crime possible. My petitions fell on deaf ears but I continued to petition them through the present. Since this was in the pre-Internet era, I was limited in convincing others of the silver manipulation due to distribution restrictions. Communication was very different 25 years ago.
Around 1996, I was exposed to the Internet for the first time and began to write in my spare time on that medium about the silver (and gold) manipulation. As a result, more observers came to appreciate the manipulation and took up the cause of exposing and terminating this serious market crime. Were it not for the Internet there would be no broad discussion of a silver or gold price manipulation, even to this day. Certainly, the discussion has led to multiple official inquiries into a silver manipulation by the CFTC over the past ten years. I am unaware of any investigation in any other market based upon wide public contacts to the agency. For sure, there are many who still reject the premise of a silver or gold manipulation; but at least there is a discussion about it now, thanks to the Internet.
So why did it take me so long to recognize a US government involvement in the decades-old silver manipulation? For one thing, I still don’t believe that the silver manipulation (which began in 1983) was a government creation from the get go. I know many believe the motive for the silver and gold manipulation is as a means for the US Government to help keep the dollar strong in currency markets. I don’t agree. Instead, I believe the origins of the manipulation can be traced to collusive and concentrated short selling for profit by large financial institutions, starting with Drexel Burnham, then on to AIG Trading, Bear Stearns and finally to JPMorgan. These were the firms at war with higher silver prices, which the US Government subsequently joined.
The war against silver is not between producers and consumers, as these vital market participants interact in every market, as they must. All commodity producers want strong and consistent demand for their products from financially-healthy consumers who will continue to buy. While all commodity producers desire the highest price possible for their production, no producer wishes harm to the buyers of that production. There is no war between the actual commodity producers and consumers; both interact continuously under the law of supply and demand.
The war has been waged against all silver market participants by a few well-connected financial firms and banks for the purpose of price control. This price control enables JPMorgan and others to capture profits on a variety of derivatives transactions, including COMEX futures and options contracts. This is exactly the same motive that caused Barclays to manipulate LIBOR; interest rates were manipulated for mostly short-term payoffs on derivatives contracts valued by the rates being manipulated. Likewise, JPMorgan and others manipulate the price of silver on the COMEX to capture short term profits on silver derivatives contracts.
An important characteristic of the war on silver is that it is centered in the world of derivatives, as opposed to the actual world of metal production and consumption. The main objective of JPMorgan and the other silver manipulators is to take as much money as possible away from those holding the counterparty and opposite derivatives positions. Nevertheless, all producers and holders of metal are harmed when derivatives manipulation causes silver prices to fall for no legitimate supply/demand explanation, as is a regular feature of the silver market. That’s because the size and intensity of trading in COMEX derivatives has grown to be much larger than the actual market for metal. In a very real sense, actual producers and holders of metal are innocent bystanders and victims of a private gun battle between opposing silver derivatives traders. Real producers and holders are being terrorized by a few derivatives traders, led by JPMorgan.
I suppose some might say that this is the silver big league and that there will always be winners and losers. I can understand that, but that implies a level playing field and no cheating. Quite simply, the game is rigged and JPMorgan and the others do nothing but cheat. The proof lies in the hugely concentrated short position held by JPMorgan ever since its takeover of Bear Stearns in March 2008. Throw in the crooked High Frequency Trading encouraged by the CME Group and you have all the ingredients necessary to prove manipulation and end the war on silver.
Yet the war on silver has persisted, despite the clear evidence that this market is manipulated. The reason it has persisted is because the federal agency whose primary mission is to prevent manipulation has decided to look the other way. I know that my discussions of market structure and concentration can get complicated and confusing to many, as much as I try to simplify it. But what I allege that is happening in silver is not over the heads of the CFTC. I take pains to explain it to them in their own terms and legal perspective and by using their own data. Because of those explanations, the CFTC has said it has been investigating for a silver manipulation for almost 4 years, but with no conclusion reached. By any standard, that’s way too long.
What finally convinced me that the CFTC is aligned with JPMorgan and the other silver manipulators on the COMEX rests on a few specific facts. One is that the agency has continued to ignore the glaring concentration on the short side of COMEX silver by JPMorgan and a few other traders. Concentration is not some term I dreamed up on a whim; it is the CFTC’s most important frontline defense against manipulation. That is why the agency publishes and monitors highly detailed concentration data every week for every regulated market in the Commitment of Traders Report (COT). The Commission doesn’t publish this data on my request; the concentration data are the most important feature of the COT. What the COT report has documented for years is that COMEX silver is the most concentrated major market of all on the short side. That the agency won’t address this fact is beyond troubling.
The second fact is the two unusual silver price events of 2011. In the first week of May 2011, the price of silver fell more than 30% and later, over a three-day period in September 2011, the price fell 35%. For a world commodity to fall that much in price within days is beyond unusual. It may be unprecedented, as I don’t recall many or any such price drops in my 40 year experience with markets. Certainly, for such a price decline to occur in the same commodity within six months is unthinkable. Further, all the circumstances surrounding these two price plunges in silver point to these being manipulative moves, as nothing occurred in the real world of silver supply and demand to account for them. These price drops were shocking in that world commodities don’t move like that for no reason.
I had been waiting for the CFTC to file enforcement charges against JPMorgan and the CME Group for these deliberate silver price smashes; or at the very least, for the agency to make special reference to these two unprecedented price declines. It would be impossible for any other world commodity under the Commission’s jurisdiction to fall 35% in days without the agency commenting on the price fall. Yet there has been no statement and no enforcement filing from the CFTC in silver.At some point, one must conclude that the CFTC does not intend to file charges or comment on what transpired in silver. By reaching that conclusion, one must also assign an alternative explanation for the agency’s lack of action. The most plausible is that the agency has thrown in with the likes of JPMorgan, the CME and the other silver crooks.
As I indicated previously, my best guess is that the CFTC was compromised in dealing appropriately with the silver manipulation by interference from the US Treasury Secretary who oversaw the takeover of Bear Stearns (and its giant silver and gold short positions) by JPMorgan. It now appears clear that JPMorgan extracted guarantees of future immunity for manipulation as a condition of the takeover. The Bear Stearns takeover gave JPMorgan a free “get out of jail” card from the US Treasury Dept for the continued silver manipulation. In the political pecking order, the CFTC is many rungs below the Treasury Dept. It was a deal structured that was not in the best interest of the American investing public
To recap to this point, there is a war on silver being waged by JPMorgan, the CME and others on the COMEX. This war necessarily includes innocent casualties throughout the world of real silver producers and holders, even though US commodity law strictly forbids such artificial price setting. Worst of all, it is now apparent that the prime market regulator and public protector, the CFTC, has thrown in with the crooks. This is so bad, on so many levels, that one must carefully consider the future investment merits of silver. Having already done so, please allow me to share my thoughts, especially in light of the ongoing wave of almost daily revelations of impropriety and probable criminal behavior on the part of the big banks. We certainly live in an unusual time.
Perhaps perversely, because of the ongoing silver manipulation and evidence that the CFTC may be complicit in illegal behavior, I believe the future price prospects for silver never looked better. Huh? Please hear me out. The continuing flow of news pointing to widespread wrongdoing by the big banks, including interest rate manipulation, increases the chance that silver has been manipulated. It appears to me that the punishment for institutional wrongdoing is quickly moving towards a criminal phase, which will likely include jail time. It would not surprise me if some regulators or self regulators were included in future criminal findings. Certainly, those swearing an oath to protect the public are not above the law. But how can I be positive about the future price prospects for silver in such an environment?
The simple fact is that silver has been manipulated for decades and that has not prevented it from climbing, at times more than any other commodity. The war on silver rages on, but it does so in starts and fits, with notable price advances having been recorded along the way. The silver war cannot be considered to be in its infancy. After all, I’ve petitioned the CFTC about it for more than 25 years, which is an extraordinarily long period for such a thing to exist. Like all widespread financial frauds, they become undone when a critical number of observers recognize the scam and adjust accordingly. Therefore, since the silver manipulation has been in place for so many years and is now more widely discussed because of the Internet, the odds favor it ending sooner, rather than later. I know that it feels like these crooks can pull it off forever, but common sense and historical experience suggest otherwise.
More importantly, this war on silver will eventually be decided on the physical level. Even though it is the derivatives world dictating (false) prices to the actual world of silver presently, it is impossible for that circumstance to exist indefinitely. Paper can overwhelm physical only as long as there is enough physical silver to go around. The point at which the current tight supply situation in silver slips into the slightest shortage, additional paper short sales won’t satisfy new buyers of physical silver. That’s not a theoretical discussion for silver any longer, as it had been prior to April 2011. For years, it was thought there would always be a sufficient amount of silver available, given the large world supplies thought to exist. But shortages were starting to come into place last year, which accounted for the run to near $50. Yes, the deliberate price smash on May 1, 2011 broke both the silver price and the budding shortage; but it could have easily gone the other way and if it did, we would now be looking (way) down at the $50 price mark. My point is that having come so close to a genuine silver shortage last year only increases the odds that a shortage will reemerge. The conditions that existed in the spring of 2011 are more likely to appear again than not.
While it is unfortunate not to have the CFTC as an ally in the fight against the silver manipulation, there never was any previous support from the agency. Instead, time after time, the Commission always sided with the big short silver manipulators. Undoubtedly, those past denials of a silver manipulation would create embarrassing questions about the agency’s historical competence if it were to admit to wrongdoing in silver now. Still, I admit to a particular disappointment in Chairman Gensler and Commissioner Chilton since they had offered so much hope through their public statements about manipulation, concentration, position limits and the need to protect the public.
The war on silver is real and ongoing. Because it has lasted so long, it may feel like a war without end. Because the war mongers appear so powerful and well-connected, it may feel like they are invincible. But feelings do not always project fact. The fact is that the silver manipulators have been in retreat. This can be seen in the overall rising price and the fact that previous silver short kingpins like Drexel, AIG and Bear Stearns have truly bit the dust. The recent news surrounding the current big silver short, JPMorgan, seems to project weakness and trouble, not invincibility. Since the CFTC never aided silver producers and investors in the past, there is no great loss in the agency continuing not to do its job.
If you are going to be in a war, I would think it is better to recognize that and react accordingly. That means immunizing yourself against the artificial pricing as much as possible. The best way to do that is by holding fully-paid silver positions and no margin. The worst way is by playing the very derivatives used to manipulate the price. This war is coming to an end and when it does, the wisdom of owning silver will become obvious. Lastly, it never hurts to let the regulators know what type of a job they are doing.
Ted Butler
BRUSSELS – Greece is unlikely to be able to pay what it owes and further debt restructuring is likely to be necessary, three EU officials said on Tuesday, a cost that would have to fall on the European Central Bank and eurozone governments.
The officials said that twice bailed-out Greece would be found to be way off track by EU and International Monetary Fund officials who have been assessing the country.
Inspectors from the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF — together known as the troika — returned to Athens on Tuesday and will complete their debt-sustainability analysis next month, but the sources said the conclusions were already becoming clear.
It means Greece’s official-sector creditors — the ECB and eurozone governments — will have to restructure some of the estimated 200-billion euros of Greek government debt they own if Athens is to be put back on a sustainable footing.
But there is no willingness among member states or the ECB to take such dramatic action at this stage.
“Greece is hugely off track,” one of the officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. “The debt-sustainability analysis will be pretty terrible.”
Another official pointed to the latest growth estimates from Athens, which show the economy contracting by 7% this year rather than the 5% previously forecast, meaning that the debt burden is only increasing in relation to GDP.
“Nothing has been done in Greece for the past three or four months,” said the official, referring to the delays caused by the two elections held since May.
“The situation just goes from bad to worse, and with it the debt ratio,” said the official, a policymaker directly involved in trying to find solutions to the crisis.
Financial Post
JERUSALEM, July 25 (UPI) -- The number of Israelis seeking gas masks has increased amid fears Syria's chemical weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists, officials said.
Officials said fears are growing the weapons could fall into the hands of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Hebrew language Maariv newspaper said Wednesday.
The number of Israelis seeking to obtain gas masks has risen by 70 percent since the beginning of the week, with 3,700 masks distributed daily compared with an average of 2,200 masks handed out daily since the distribution campaign began in February 2010, the paper said.
Since the beginning of the Israeli army's distribution campaign, some 4.12 million gas masks have been handed out at distribution centers set up in seven postal authority buildings.
Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz said Tuesday Israel could face a large scale conflict in the aftermath of an attack on Syria's chemical weapons. Speaking before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Gantz said the weapons are still under President Bashar Assad's control, The Jerusalem Post said.
Gantz said the dilemma Israel faces is identifying when to take action to prevent the chemical weapons from falling into terrorist hands.
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/07/25/Gas-mask-distribution-on-rise-in-Israel/UPI-36061343214896/#ixzz21dwNbAiQ
Maybe it's because U.N. is the great whore!!!
A report issued by the United Nations-backed Global Commission on HIV and the Law; recommends that nations around the world get rid of “punitive” laws against prostitution – or what it calls “consensual sex work” -- and decriminalize the voluntary use of illegal injection drugs in order to combat the HIV epidemic.
The commission, which is made up of 15 former heads of state, legal scholars and HIV/AIDS activists, was convened in 2010 by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and is jointly backed by the United Nations Development Programme and UNAIDS – the Joint U.N. Programme on AIDS/HIV.
The commission recommends repealing all laws that prohibit “adult consensual sex work,” as well as clearly distinguishing in law and practice between sexual trafficking and prostitution.
The report--“HIV and the Law: Risks, Rights & Health”--cites a recommendation by the International Labour Organization, which recommends that “sex work” should be recognized as an occupation in order to be regulated “in a way that protects workers and customers.”
Specifically, the commission wants to:
-- “Decriminalise private and consensual adult sexual behaviours, including same-sex sexual acts and voluntary sex work.”
-- “Reform approaches towards drug use. Rather than punishing people who use drugs but do no harm to others, governments must offer them access to elective HIV and health services, including harm reduction programmes and voluntary, evidence-based treatment for drug dependence.”
-- “Work with the guardians of customary and religious law to promote traditions and religious practice that promote rights and acceptance of diversity and that protect privacy.”
The commission calls laws against prostitution “bad laws,” and said criminalizing injecting drug use and prostitution stands in the way of “effective HIV responses.”
“Laws that criminalize and dehumanize populations at the highest risk of HIV--including men who have sex with men, sex workers, transgender people and injecting drug users--drive people underground, away from essential health services and heighten their risk of HIV,” the commission said in a July 9 press release announcing the report.
The commission says 116 countries and territories have punitive laws against sex work and 80 countries or territories have some legal protections for sex workers.
According to the report: “Some governments deploy anti-human trafficking laws so broadly that they conflate voluntary and consensual exchanges of sex for money with the exploitative, coerced, often violent trafficking of people (primarily women and girls) for the purposes of sex.”
The report quotes Secretary-General Ban, who stated his support in 2009 for removing all laws which criminalize “sex workers” – or prostitutes.
“I urge all countries to remove punitive laws, policies and practices that hamper the AIDS response,” Ban said. “Successful AIDS responses do not punish people: they protect them. We must ensure that AIDS responses are based on evidence, not ideology, and reach those most in need and most affected.”
Other recommendations include: abolishing national drug registries and mandatory HIV testing, and shutting down all compulsory drug detention centers and replacing them with voluntary services for treating drug abuse.
The commission specifically recommended that the United States should also repeal its federal ban on funding of needle and syringe exchange services that inhibit access to HIV services for people who inject drugs.
Dr. Janice Crouse, the director of the Beverly LaHaye Institute at Concerned Women for America in Washington, D.C., says the proposal to redefine and decriminalize prostitution worldwide is not new.
“(L)iberals have always used the term ‘sex work’ instead of prostitution,” Crouse told CNSNews.com.
“They like to legitimize the whole industry that way so that it can be regulated and so that it can be considered a ‘legitimate option’ for women and give it more respectability. But, the sad fact is in every instance where prostitution has been legalized, illegal prostitution has flourished,” she said.
“The pimps all want prostitution legalized; they like that. The sex traffickers want it legalized because they gain far more traction with their own illegal activities anytime that is the case – it’s happened in Germany, it happened in Amsterdam, it’s been shown over and over again.”
Linking the elimination of laws against “sex work” with AIDS is a cop out, according to Crouse, because it ignores the role of behavior change and personal responsibility.
“It’s fascinating to me the way they (the report’s authors) dance around to avoid addressing the issue of behavior and to avoid the issue of consequences of promiscuity,” Crouse said.
“This is an example; they don’t want anything that would suggest to anybody that they ought to curb their sexual behavior. They don’t want anything to curb anybody’s enjoyment of sexual activity without consequences and all of this is an attempt to mainstream behaviors and then deal with the consequences -- and that plan does not work.”
The U.N.-backed commission interviewed prostitutes, activists and public health advocates in 140 countries across the world to come to its conclusions.
The study received funding from the governments of Canada, Norway, Australia, the U.S. (through USAID) and from billionaire Geroge Soros through his Open Society Foundations.
CNS News
NEW DELHI: India has to be prepared militarily to deal with an "assertive" China even as it seeks to build bridges of cooperation with Beijing, the Naresh Chandra Task Force on national security has recommended.
The committee's suggestions for the military — details of which have been accessed by TOI — also buries the proposal for a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the single point military adviser to the government. Instead, it has recommended that a permanent Chairman Chiefs Of Staff Committee be appointed from among the three service chiefs, allowing India to have four four-star generals.
The panel has given a set of recommendations for reforming the national security architecture, covering both intelligence and military apparatus, as part of its mandate to review it.
It has recommended a re-look at the process of blacklisting truant defence firms, separating the post of DRDO chief and scientific advisor to the defence minister, appointing military officers upto the rank of joint secretary in the ministry of defence (MoD), creating new Special Forces Command etc.
The recommendations of the panel are being studied by individual services and agencies that would be affected by the changes. Their responses are expected to be with the government over the next few weeks.
While conceding that there has been improvement in Sino-Indian relations in recent years, the report has conceded that it is "still clouded in mistrust". The committee, headed by the former cabinet secretary, says, "There is concern about China's policy of "containment" of India, marked by growing Chinese interest in countries of South Asia. China will continue to utilize Pakistan as part of its grand strategy for containing India in a "South Asian box"."
"China's growing assertiveness on the border and in its territorial claims on Arunachal Pradesh has intensified misgivings," the committee says. "The crucial concern is whether China will become militarily more assertive and nationalistic as its economic and military power grows, or whether it will abide by the policies advocated by Deng Xiao Ping," the report says.
More importantly, across Asia there is concern that as Beijing grows "the United states will become more circumspect and accommodating in dealing with China," the panel says.
The committee has recommended that the government take an immediate decision on the existing recommendation that the Army be given management of Sino-Indian borders, and retain operational control over forces deployed in the areas.
On Pakistan, the committee suggests that it "remains both unable and unwilling to set its house in order, or put in place economic policies that can increase or sustain growth". And there is "nothing to suggest that the Pakistani military has given up the use of radical Islamic groups to promote terrorism in both India and Afghanistan." But its biggest concern is Pakistan's ambition to use Afghanistan for strategic depth. The panel has recommended that India "should spare no effort, politically, diplomatically, economically and through military assistance to ensure that Pakistani efforts to convert Afghanistan into an extremist run, pliant and client state are frustrated".
Calling for better coordination between the ministries of defence and foreign affairs, the panel recommends that the MoD set up a bureau of politico-military affairs. "The primary role of this Bureau would be liaison with the ministry of external affairs (MEA) on issues and actions having foreign policy applications," the committee says.
It has recommended that MEA affairs also consider accepting officials from civil services and armed forces on short duration (five years) deputations.
Times of India
