Meditation Focus #118

Protecting Democracy in America



Hello,

What follows is the 118th Meditation Focus suggested for the next 4 (FOUR) weeks beginning Sunday, October 3, 2004.

PROTECTING DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA

1. Summary
2. Meditation times
3. More information related to this Meditation Focus
4. Peace Vigil for the Middle East
5. Humanitarian Vigil For Haiti and Grenada
6. We Are Winning!
7. A Feedback and a Comment


See also this Special Addendum to the Meditation Focus #118: Protecting Democracy in America



1. SUMMARY

Following the stellar performance of Senator John Kerry during his first televised debate with President George Bush, there is renewed hope that the United States and the world may indeed be spared a continuation of the reckless policies and grave imbalances that have characterized the current US administration. A new momentum is boosting the Democratic campaign which offers the only alternative, however imperfect it may be, to the extreme policies implemented in the last 4 years by the Bush/Cheney consortium. Yet the next 30 days are fraught with potential dangers that may render useless all these efforts to make democracy play its ultimate role of allowing the American people to peacefully change those charged with governing their country. The fact that Kerry now has a fighting chance of dethroning an illegitimate president installed by a partial Supreme Court is tilting the balance of probabilities towards giving impetus to possible plans concocted by the true hidden powers controlling this Administration to derail the democratic process and possibly even indefinitely postpone the November 2 elections.

Whether such a possibility is implemented or not, the fact is that those who have so much to lose if the electoral tide turns against them are more likely than not to resort to some kind of desperate action or to do their utmost to subvert by trickery and deceit the electoral process so as to avoid a defeat and possible criminal charges if a new Kerry Administration decides or is forced by public pressures to seek and disclose the whole truth about the 9-11 events and other suspicious activities by these hidden elements. So it is reasonable to surmise that the integrity of the electoral process in the next 30 days and afterwards is pivotal to the upholding of democracy in America and an eventual change of administration.

Please dedicate your prayers and meditations, as guided by Spirit, in the coming four weeks, and especially in synchronous attunement at the usual time this Sunday and the following three Sundays, to contribute in defending democracy in the United States through focusing Light and Love not only in support of those seeking to bring a brighter future in this country and around the world, but also to reach deep into the souls of all those who may be involved in planning and executing schemes designed to prevent the November 2 elections from happening. May the Forces of Good arrayed to defend and uphold Peace, Love and Harmony on Earth succeed and may we all play an active role in protecting democracy in America, for the Highest Good of All.


This whole Meditation Focus has been archived for your convenience at
http://www.aei.ca/~cep/MeditationFocus118.htm


NOTE: If necessary, additional material will be circulated before November 2 to complement what is already featured in this Meditation Focus.



2. MEDITATION TIMES

i) Global Meditation Day: Sunday at 16:00 Universal Time (GMT) or at noon local time. Suggested duration: 30 minutes. Please dedicate the last few minutes of your Sunday meditation to the healing of the Earth as a whole. See the Earth as healthy and vibrant with life, and experience the healing of all relations as we awaken globally to the sacredness of all Life and to our underlying unity with All That Is.

ii) Golden Moment of At-Onement: Daily, at the top of any hour, or whenever it better suits you.

These times below are currently corresponding to 16:00 Universal Time/GMT:

Honolulu 6:00 AM -- Anchorage * 8:00 AM -- Los Angeles * 9:00 AM -- Mexico City, San Salvador & Denver * 10:00 AM -- Houston * & Chicago * 11:00 AM -- Santo Domingo, La Paz, Caracas, New York *, Toronto *. Montreal *, Asuncion & Santiago 12:00 AM -- Halifax *, Rio de Janeiro & Montevideo 1:00 PM -- Reykjavik & Casablanca 4 PM -- Lagos, Algiers, London *, Dublin * & Lisbon * 5:00 PM -- Jerusalem, Johannesburg, Geneva *, Rome *, Berlin *, Paris * & Madrid * 6:00 PM -- Ankara *, Athens *, Helsinki * & Istanbul * & Nairobi 7:00 PM -- Baghdad *, Moscow * 8:00 PM -- Tehran * 8:30 PM -- Islamabad 9:00 PM -- Calcutta & New Delhi 9:30 PM -- Dhaka 10:00 PM -- Rangoon 10:30 PM -- Hanoi, Bangkok & Jakarta 11:00 PM -- Hong Kong, Perth, Beijing & Kuala Lumpur +12:00 PM -- Seoul & Tokyo +1:00 AM -- Brisbane, Canberra & Melbourne +2:00 AM -- Wellington +4:00 AM

+ means the place is one day ahead of Universal Time/Greenwich Mean Time.

* means the place is observing daylight saving time (DST) at the moment.

You may also check at http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/full.htmlto find your current corresponding local time if a closeby city is not listed above.



3. MORE INFORMATION RELATED TO THIS MEDITATION FOCUS

This complement of information may help you to better understand the various aspects pertaining to the summary description of the subject of this Meditation Focus. It is recommended to view this information from a positive perspective, and not allow the details to tinge the positive vision we wish to hold in meditation. Since what we focus on grows, the more positive our mind-set, the more successful we will be in manifesting a vision of peace and healing. This complementary information is provided so that a greater knowledge of what needs healing and peace-nurturing vibrations may assist us to have an in-depth understanding of what is at stake and thus achieve a greater collective effectiveness.


CONTENT

1. Retreat Into a Substitute Reality
2. Democrats Fear 'October Surprise'
3. Iraq: Senior Democratic Senator Says War Makes U.S. More Vulnerable To Attack
4. A call for sanity



1.

From: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/comment/story/0,14259,1318185,00.html

Retreat Into a Substitute Reality

By Sidney Blumenthal

The Guardian U.K.

October 2, 2004

By touching on Bush's ambivalent relations with his father, Kerry exposed his delusions about Iraq.

After months of flawless execution in a well-orchestrated campaign, President Bush had to stand alone in an unpredictable debate. He had travelled the country, appearing before adoring pre-selected crowds, delivered a carefully crafted acceptance speech before his convention, and approved tens of millions of dollars in TV commercials to belittle his opponent. In the lead, Bush believed he had only to assert his superiority to end the contest once and for all.

But onstage the president ran out of talking points. Unable to explain the logic for his policies, or think on his feet, he was thrown back on the raw elements of his personality and leadership style.

Every time he was confronted with ambivalence, his impulse was to sweep it aside. He claimed he must be followed because he is the leader. Fate, in the form of September 11, had placed authority in his hands as a man of destiny. Scepticism, pragmatism and empiricism are enemies. Absolute faith prevails over open-ended reason, subjectivity over fact. Belief in belief is the ultimate sacrament of his political legitimacy.

In the split TV screen, how Bush felt was written all over his face. His grimaces exposed his irritation and anger at being challenged. Lacking intellectual stamina and repeating points as though on a feedback loop, he tried to close argument by assertion. With no one interrupting him, he protested, "Let me finish" - a phrase he occasionally deploys to great effect before the cowed White House press corps.

John Kerry was set up beforehand as Bush's foil: long-winded, dour, dull. But the Kerry who showed up was crisp, nimble and formidable. His thrusts brought out Bush's rigidity and stubbornness. The more Bush pleaded his own decisiveness, the more he appeared reactive.

Time and again, as he tried to halt Kerry, he accused him of "mixed signals" and "inconsistency." For Bush, certainty equals strength. Kerry responded with a devastating deconstruction of Bush's epistemology. Nothing like this critique of pure reason has ever been heard in a presidential debate. "It's one thing to be certain, but you can be certain and be wrong," said Kerry.

Kerry's analysis of Bush's "colossal error of judgment" in Iraq was systematic, factual and historical. The coup de grace was the citation of the president's father's actions in the Gulf war. "You know," said Kerry, "the president's father did not go into Iraq, into Baghdad, beyond Basra. And the reason he didn't is, he said - he wrote in his book - because there was no viable exit strategy. And he said our troops would be occupiers in a bitterly hostile land. That's exactly where we find ourselves today." With that, Kerry touched on Bush's most ambivalent relationship, the father he recently called "the wrong father," compared to the "Higher Father".

In flustered response, Bush simply insisted on his authority. "I just know how this world works ... there must be certainty from the US president." He reverted to his claim that September 11 justified the invasion of Iraq because "the enemy" - Saddam Hussein - "attacked us." A stunned but swift-footed Kerry observed: "The president just said something extraordinarily revealing and frankly very important ... he just said, 'The enemy attacked us'. Saddam Hussein didn't attack us. Osama bin Laden attacked us." In his effort to banish all doubt, Bush had retreated into a substitute reality, a delusional version of Iraq, ultimately faith-based.

Bush's attack lines on Kerry did not describe the surprising man standing opposite him. They had been effective last week, but were suddenly shopworn. But Bush couldn't adjust. The greater his frustration in the debate, the more frequently he spoke of his difficulties in coping with "my job." Ten times he spoke of his "hard work": listening to intelligence briefings, talking to allies, having to comfort a bereaved mother whose son was killed in Iraq.

Near the end, Kerry praised Bush for his public service, and his wife, and his daughters. "I'm trying to put a leash on them," Bush said. That was hard work, too. "Well, I don't know," replied Kerry, who also has daughters. "I've learned not to do that, Mr President." Even in the banter, Kerry gained the upper-hand.

But Bush lost more than control in the first debate. He has lost the plot.

---

See also:

Bush-Kerry Debate Draws 62.5 Million U.S. Viewers (October 2)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=615&ncid=2043&e=15&u=/nm/20041002/pl_nm/campaign_debate_ratings_dc

Kerry leaves Bush scowling (October 2, 2004)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1318121,00.html
John Kerry was yesterday widely declared the winner of the first presidential debate, after an aggressive performance left a scowling President George Bush sometimes groping for words.

Kerry Pulls Ahead of Bush in Newsweek Poll (October 2)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1896&ncid=2043&e=6&u=/nm/20041003/us_nm/campaign_newsweek_poll_dc
Democrat challenger John Kerry has pulled ahead of President Bush in a poll published by Newsweek magazine showing Thursday's television debate erased the lead Bush had enjoyed for the last month. In a two-way contest, the Kerry/Edwards ticket in the Nov. 2 presidential election led by 49 percent against 46 percent for Bush/Cheney, according to 1,013 registered voters polled by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. According to the poll, 61 percent of Americans who watched the first presidential debate on Sept. 30 said Kerry won, 19 percent said Bush won and 16 percent said they tied. The number of debate viewers surveyed was 770. Bush's job approval rating dropped two points from the Sept. 9-10 Newsweek poll to 46 percent -- a 6-point drop since the Republican national convention a month ago. Fifty-seven percent of all poll respondents -- a total of 1,144 adults -- said they were dissatisfied with the way things were going in the United States now. Sixty percent of registered voters said Bush administration policies and diplomatic efforts had led to more anti-Americanism around the world and 51 percent said the administration had not done enough to involve major allies and international organizations in trying to achieve its foreign policy goals, the poll showed. However, 46 percent of registered voters said they would still like to see Bush re-elected, against 48 percent who said they would not like to see him re-elected. When registered voters were asked who would handle issues better overall, Bush led Kerry 52 to 40 percent on terrorism and homeland security. Kerry scored better on the economy -- 52 percent against 39 percent -- and health care, including Medicare -- 56 percent to 34 percent. He was also seen to be better at handling American jobs and foreign competition -- 54 percent against 36 percent. CLIP

Springsteen and Stipe sing out for Kerry (October 3)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1318616,00.html
From documentaries such as Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 to plays like Tim Robbins's Embedded, the entertainment industry has taken sides. Now it is music's turn. (...) Springsteen's show in Philadelphia on Friday night kicked off the Vote for Change concert tour that will see some of the biggest rock stars in the world touring America's swing states. Their message is simple and direct: vote for John Kerry. Kick out George W Bush. Springsteen, in his first ever direct foray into trying to influence an election, took the stage hot on the heels of REM. 'Did you hear the presidential debate last night?' Springsteen asked the audience. 'We are on a roll,' he said and then he began another number. At the same time as Springsteen and REM were playing in Philadelphia, country band the Dixie Chicks were on stage in Pittsburgh on the other side of the state. Meanwhile, the Dave Matthews Band, Bonnie Raitt, John Mellencamp, Pearl Jam and a host of others were playing elsewhere. All in all, six Pennsylvania cities were hit on the same night. After Pennsylvania, the Vote For Change tour will head for Ohio, Florida, Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin in a 10-day blitz of 34 shows in 28 cities. It will end in a televised concert in Washington DC. Along the way it will raise millions of dollars for two organisations, MoveOn and America Coming Together, which are the Democrats' main weapons in the election, registering voters and campaigning on the ground. CLIP

Why Nader could be the nail in Democrats' coffin (October 3)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1318663,00.html
He holds just a few per cent of the votes, but that could be enough to tip the scales the Republican way - just as it did in 2000 (...) No figure divides America as much as Nader, the long-time liberal consumer activist turned political revolutionary, who is standing this time as an independent. Democrats blame him for robbing Al Gore of vital votes that cost him the 2000 election. Republicans love him for the same reason. Now both think it might happen again. Democrats are right to be worried. Nader has defied the odds and is in the final stages of crafting a presidential challenge across most of America. He is on the ballot in 31 states and expects that number to end up as nearer 40. Many are battleground states. That prospect has Democrats terrified. Last week, several new opinion polls showed how crucial Nader could be. In New Jersey the independent has just 2 per cent support, but Bush and Kerry are tied at 48 per cent. In New Hampshire, Bush and Kerry are tied at 46 per cent, while Nader again has 2 per cent. In Colorado, the former consumer crusader has 3 per cent, leaving Bush with a one-point lead over Kerry. Without Nader, Kerry would probably be winning there. Some Democrats are starting to see the nightmare of 2000 all over again.

Observers fear repeat of 2000 (October 1, 2004)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1316938,00.html
The Guardian International observers of the US election have highlighted concerns over voting machines, voter eligibility rules, and allegations of intimidation aimed at lowering the turnout of ethnic minorities. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe observers issued a report this week on preparations for the vote after a visit earlier this month, and warned that the result could again be delayed. "In general, the nationwide replacement of voting equipment, inspired by the disputes witnessed during the 2000 elections, primarily in Florida, may potentially become a source of even greater controversy during the forthcoming elections," the group said in the report posted on its website, http://www.osce.org/odihr. Many new machines did not produce a paper ballot to permit a manual recount, said the observers, who were invited by the Bush administration. Uneven application of rules on provisional ballots, which can be cast even when the voter's eligibility is unclear, "may cause post-election disputes and litigation, potentially delaying the announcement of final results," they added. CLIP

Full coverage on the Presidential Elections
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=index&cid=2043



2.

From: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&ncid=2043&e=5&u=/ap/20041003/ap_on_el_pr/october_surprise

Democrats Fear 'October Surprise'

October 2, 2004

WASHINGTON - In the presidential campaign's closing weeks, Democrats are bracing for an "October Surprise," an event so dramatic it could influence the election's outcome. The capture of Osama bin Laden, for instance.

It's part of American political lore: the party out of power worries about a last-minute surprise engineered by the party in power. Now that October has arrived and the election is just a month away, speculation is rife among Democrats that President Bush and political mastermind Karl Rove have some tricks up their sleeves.

"I assume that it will be something," said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California. "We have to be ready for that."

With the war in Iraq going badly and people concerned about terrorism, there also seems to be a better than usual chance for a significant event beyond either party's control.

Both sides know the possibilities: a major setback in Iraq or Afghanistan, a terrorist strike against the United States, a nuclear test by North Korea, an economic shock.

Three years after Bush said he wanted bin Laden "dead or alive," the capture of the fugitive al-Qaida leader tops nearly everyone's list as a supreme example of the kind of October surprise that could help seal Bush's re-election.

Democrat John Kerry made the failure to track down bin Laden a central part of his criticism of Bush in Thursday's first presidential debate. The Massachusetts senator claimed that Bush lost sight of that goal when he ordered the invasion of Iraq.

Some conspiracy buffs suggest bin Laden already has been captured or perhaps has been trapped by Pakistan in a cave, and will be produced just before the Nov. 2 election. No matter how far fetched, some Democrats have helped add to the speculation.

"I think it would be outrageous, frankly, but you know, there's those kind of rumors out there," former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told ABC.

Even if bin Laden remains elusive, the capture of a major terrorist leader — bin Laden deputy Ayman al-Zawahri or Iraq's Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of a militant group that has claimed to have beheaded two American hostages — could provide an October boost for Bush.

But Ross Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University, said the administration risks a backlash.

"Producing a high-level al-Qaida leader would immediately invite suspicion about whether this person has been cooling his heels in a safe house some place," Baker said.

CLIP

One "Hail Mary" pass could be for Vice President Dick Cheney to leave the ticket — perhaps to be replaced by a popular moderate such as former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Republican strategists scoff at such talk. But if Bush starts to fall behind, he and his advisers might want to try harder to reach out to moderates who dislike Cheney intensely. Cheney, who has had four heart attacks, could cite health concerns.

"The notion is that the October surprise is a Halloween trick for politicians. But the strongest possibility this time is something happening that nobody controls," said Princeton political science professor Fred Greenstein.

See also:

THE 'OKTOBER SURPRISE' IS....
http://www.surfingtheapocalypse.net/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?noframes;read=17308

OCTOBER SURPRISE EXPLAINED FURTHER (29 sept)
http://www.surfingtheapocalypse.net/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?noframes;read=17346

REPOSTS: US ABANDONS HAITI; CHINESE MILITARY ARRIVES
http://www.surfingtheapocalypse.net/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?noframes;read=17329

Five triggers for a Chinese attack on Taiwan (August 21, 2004) http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/FH21Ad05.html
With the re-election of Chen Shui-bian as president of the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan, continuing trends toward Taiwan's de jure independence and this summer's military exercises by China, the United States and Taiwan, it seems useful to review China's stated or implied "trigger" events for a People's Liberation Army (PLA) attack against the democratically governed nation of Taiwan. (...) The Chinese government has operationally deployed about 450 nuclear weapons. By summer 2004, the PLA had pointed nearly 600 short-range ballistic missiles (M-9s and M-11s) at Taiwan. By contrast, Taiwan has never operationalized a weapon of mass destruction (WMD), and threatens no one. (...) Of China's five war "triggers", the three that President Hu Jintao's government is currently emphasizing are a formal independence declaration, emergence of technology to defeat a PRC attack and lack of progress in negotiations. With no Taiwanese WMD in the picture, the Chen government being cautious on independence declaration rhetoric and continuing to make negotiation offers to Beijing, it seems to be the US-ROC defensive arms purchase that is most worrying Beijing. CLIP

China Blasts U.S. Arms Sales to Taiwan (September 30)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=542&ncid=542&e=2&u=/ap/20040930/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_china_2
WASHINGTON - After a meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites), China's top diplomat accused the United States on Thursday of endangering peace in the Taiwan Straits by selling weapons to Taiwan. (...) In recent months, the United States has watched warily at moves by Taiwan seen by some as a prelude to an independence declaration. Successive administrations have insisted for years that dialogue is the surest way to a peaceful solution of the 55-year old dispute. Another U.S. concern is the hundreds of missiles that China has pointed at the island.

China's Party Chief Tells Army to Be Ready for War (September 30)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&ncid=564&e=34&u=/nm/20040930/ts_nm/china_taiwan_dc_8
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Communist Party chief and President Hu Jintao has urged the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to prepare for a military struggle, but stopped short of singling out rival Taiwan as the target. Many security analysts see the Taiwan Strait as the most dangerous flashpoint in Asia. China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has threatened to attack if the democratic island of 23 million people declares independence. Hu, who assumed the role of military chief less than two weeks ago, told the 2.5-million-strong PLA to "seize the moment and do a good job of preparing for a military struggle," the People's Daily and the Liberation Army Daily said on Thursday. Hu did not say against whom the struggle might be fought. But on Wednesday, a spokesman for China's policymaking Taiwan Affairs Office accused Taiwan Premier Yu Shyi-kun of clamoring for war with threats to fire missiles at Shanghai if the PLA attacked the self-ruled island. Taiwan needed a counter-strike capability, Yu said in defense of plans to buy T$610.8 billion (US$18.2 billion) worth of weapons from the United States. CLIP

U.S. losing title as the world's sole superpower (September 29, 2004)
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040929/OPINION04/409290324/-1/OPINION
IT COULD simply be this year's edition of the morose introspection that sometimes accompanies autumn. But it could also be the case that the relatively short epoch of the United States as the world's sole superpower is drawing to a close.A U.N. Conference on Trade and Development report released last week indicated that China was the largest recipient of foreign direct investment in 2003, having overtaken the United States. In the past year, foreign investment in the U.S. had dropped by 53 percent, taking it to the lowest level in 12 years.The Chinese growth rate is now projected for this year at 9.6 percent. The U.S. economy is estimated to grow only at a respectable but unexciting 4.4 percent, less than half the Chinese rate.U.S. manufacturing and service jobs are being out-sourced to China and India. China is graduating thousands more engineers and scientists per year than the United States.The United States is dependent on huge dollops of Chinese purchases of U.S. Treasury bonds to be able to continue to finance the soaring Bush Administration budget deficit. A precipitous drop in Chinese confidence in the health of the American economy would be disastrous in financial terms for the United States.U.S. military capacity is now so overstretched by the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts that a Chinese move to realize its own top strategic objective, the scooping up of Taiwan to complete the hat trick with Hong Kong and Macao, would find the United States hard-pressed to be able to respond at all. A U.S. threat of a nuclear attack on China - with China's inevitable nuclear counterstrike - would be so wildly unacceptable in political terms in the United States itself as to be out of the question for any U.S. administration. The idea of causing Los Angeles to disappear because China had seized Taiwan would be a trade-off that no American leader would even dare contemplate. (...) The Chinese themselves will avoid direct confrontation with the United States at all costs. It is not their way. Conflict between the two countries would be asymmetrical in the extreme in any case. Basically, the two can't attack each other. Nuclear warfare is out. The million-man People's Liberation Army isn't portable. The Chinese are definitely not into terrorism. CLIP



3.

Iraq: Senior Democratic Senator Says War Makes U.S. More Vulnerable To Attack (Sept 29)
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/09/f7df91ba-5849-4ca3-b030-4fd16f8b2b80.html
U.S. President George W. Bush has said repeatedly that the war in Iraq is the leading front in the war against terrorism. As he runs for a second four-year term, Bush says he -- not his Democratic challenger, Senator John Kerry -- is better able to protect the American people from a recurrence of the attacks of 11 September 2001, blamed on Al-Qaeda. Bush's opponents counter that going to war in Iraq has actually made the United States more vulnerable. That view was articulated strongly in Washington this week by leading Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy.Washington, 29 September 2004 -- Veteran U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said the United States not only faces an increased threat of a terrorist attack, but that it risks a nuclear attack. "The greatest danger we face in the days and weeks and months ahead is a nuclear '9/11' that we hope and pray it is not too late to prevent. The war in Iraq has made the mushroom cloud more likely, not less likely, and it never should have happened," Kennedy said. In a speech on 27 September at George Washington University in Washington, Kennedy listed 13 reasons why he believes that Bush's policies have made America weaker. They include the anger that such policies have sparked among Muslims, increasing recruitment of young men into groups like Al-Qaeda; the alienation of many traditional U.S. allies; the overuse of the country's armed forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan; and the distraction from what he called the primary job for defending America -- hunting down Al-Qaeda leaders themselves. CLIP

Edwards to Imus: Bush Left U.S. Open to Nuke Attack (Sept 29)
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/9/29/104934.shtml
In his harshest attack yet during the presidential campaign, vice presidential candidate John Edwards said Wednesday that the Bush administration had left the U.S. more vulnerable to a nuclear attack by terrorists - then began to backpedal on the charge moments later. Asked if he agreed with Sen. Ted Kennedy, who accused the White House on Monday of leaving America vulnerable to a terrorist nuclear strike, Edwards told radio host Don Imus: "I do. ... It certainly has made us more vulnerable to the possibility of a nuclear attack." CLIP

Bin Laden top lieutenant calls for attacks on U.S., U.K. (01 Oct 2004)
http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/10/01/alqaeda041001
DUBAI - Ayman al-Zawahri, the second in command of al-Qaeda and a close aide to Osama bin Laden, has purportedly called for attacks on U.S. and British interests everywhere, according to a new audiotape.

Terror Threat Sparks Fear of Attack (October 2) http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3574182
(...) The audiotape aired by Al-Jazeera television on Friday identified the speaker as Ayman al-Zawahri, an Egyptian-born confidante of al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. Following a technical analysis, a US intelligence official said authorities were able to determine with "high confidence" that the tape was authentic.

US confident Al Qaeda threat tape authentic (Oct 01)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200410/s1211805.htm
PMA tape in which a voice attributed to senior Al Qaeda official Ayman al-Zawahri urged Muslims to hit the interests of "crusader America" and its allies throughout the world, including Australia, is authentic according to CIA analysts.

US 'may delay vote if attacked' (12 July, 2004)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3885663.stm
Security is a major issue in the upcoming US elections - The Bush administration is reported to be investigating the possibility of postponing the presidential election in the event of a terror attack. US counter-terrorism officials are examining what steps would be needed to permit a delay, Newsweek reports. Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge last week warned al-Qaeda was planning to attack the US to disrupt the poll but conceded he had no precise information. CLIP

Washington Post calls Bush moves to postpone US elections “appropriate” (15 July 2004)
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jul2004/wash-15j.shtml
The major daily newspaper in the US capital has endorsed the Bush administration’s review of possible actions to suspend the 2004 elections in the event of a major terrorist attack inside the United States. The Washington Post published an editorial on July 14, headlined “Tuesday in November”, which presents the preparations initiated by the Department of Homeland Security as “useful” and “appropriate”, and casts them as a legitimate exercise in contingency planning.The whole approach of the Post is saturated with contempt for those who are alarmed about the implications of such an action for American democracy. The newspaper dismisses such concerns as “a few suspicious, even hysterical reactions, and talk of stolen elections.” Even the length and positioning of the editorial—a brief four paragraphs, placed second on the page under a comment on the gay marriage amendment—were meant to convey that nothing monumental was under discussion.While counseling caution, the Post editors do not express any principled objection to a decision to call off the elections. Instead, they devote the bulk of their abbreviated comment to advising the Bush administration on how to counteract those who are suspicious of its political motives. They urge that Congress, not the executive branch, take the lead, possibly by appointing a bipartisan commission headed by such figures as ex-senators Bob Dole and George Mitchell, to study the issue. (...) In the first case, the force allegedly aiming to disrupt the US elections is a foreign terrorist organization. In the second case, the force admittedly considering postponement of the US elections is the US government itself, acting through Bush appointees in the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the Election Assistance Commission.The fundamental truth, which the corporate-controlled media seeks to suppress, is that the US government is a far greater threat to American democracy than Osama bin Laden. Al Qaeda is a small band of stateless terrorists who can murder innocent people, but are incapable of imposing their reactionary vision of an Islamic fundamentalist state even in the Middle East, let alone in the United States. The Bush administration, however, directs the most powerful imperialist state, using its powers to attack the living standards and democratic rights of the American people while enriching the wealthy elite that constitutes Bush’s principal social basis.Under Bush, the US government has already conquered two formerly independent countries, subjecting 50 million people to the rule of American puppets. Now the outcome of Bush’s self-proclaimed “war for freedom” in the Middle East is the open preparation for the suppression of democracy within the United States itself. CLIP

NEWSWEEK: Proposal To Postpone U.S. Elections If Terrorist Attack On Election Eve Or Day
http://themoderatevoice.typepad.com/blog/2004/07/newsweek_propos.html
A proposal is being floated and may be submitted to Congress -- and it should be opposed by voters and officials of BOTH parties. According to Reuters, citing a Newsweek report, US counterterrrorism officials want to get a plan in place that will allow U.S. elections to be postponed if there's a terrorist attack on the day before or of the election. Granted, there is the example of Spain, where brutal train bombings altered the course of the elections. But the two parties there were the ruling Popular Party (moderate to conservative) and the Socialist Party (leftist). There is a greater consensus here among the two parties' elites on terrorism and even the overall goal in Iraq (get the situation stabilized and eventually reduce the U.S. role). You can read the full details of the proposal at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5411741/site/newsweek/. But here are some cautionary notes -- and hopefully this will never come to pass: CLIP

Postponement of the November Election by Michael C. Ruppert
http://www.fourwinds10.com/news/05-government/C-fraud/05-elections/2004/05C5-08-12-04-postponement-of-the-november-election.html
What had been merely a rumor has now become fact. The Bush administration has asked for legislation enabling it to postpone the November election as a result of a terror attack. While worded very carefully to suggest that an attack must take place for such a move; I do not see either of the below stories unequivocally state that, if granted, these powers might not also permit elections to be “postponed” on merely a well-publicized threat. Don’t believe the press stories. Read the legislation when it is introduced to see what it says there. If that discretion is included then we are at the edge of an abyss more dangerous than anything we have ever faced. These powers, if enacted, will go to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS would also be the entity to decide when, or if, postponed elections would be held. CLIP

Google search with "postponement of US elections"
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=postponement+of+US+elections&meta=



4.

From: http://www.share-international.org/magazine/SI_current.htm

A call for sanity

Benjamin Creme

The citizens of the United States of America are approaching a time of critical decision. On their decision, in November, this year, may depend the future happiness of many millions, not alone American, but of many other countries. One would have thought that this decision would not be difficult to make, that the choice was surely obvious to all who treasure peace and right relationship.

However, it appears that there are those who think otherwise, who reserve for themselves the right to invade other countries on the pretext that they might be plotting harm for them. Such pre-emptive action, one would have assumed, was long ago abandoned by modern, civilized states, and relegated to man’s illegal past.

Not so, sadly, we are assured. The present American administration, far from showing remorse for their unjust and cruel invasion of Iraq, proudly assert, if re-elected, their firm resolve to continue their programme of pillage in their ‘war on terror’.

A phantom

To fight a ‘war on terror’ is to fight a phantom, a useless, costly and dangerous exercise. Terror is the Hydra, a many-headed monster: each head severed, as Hercules discovered, is replaced by two. This US administration, in its arrogance and ignorance, has fallen blindly into the trap. Those who suffer are the American people, their victims, and the world as a whole.

There is but one way to deal with terror, to end, forever, this canker in our midst: to seek its cause.

There are, of course, several causes of terrorism, but above all in importance is the unbalanced distribution of the world’s resources. This creates the dangerous gulf between the nations which drives men to use terror to realize their dreams. They are desperate men, who feel they have nothing to lose. There is an immense, untapped army of such desperate people ready to die, if necessary, for the justice they long for which, rightly, they see as theirs.

No ‘war on terror’ can defeat such an army. No arrogant posturing can drive them away from the bastions of the Western world. No nation, however strong, can by itself defeat terrorism. It is born of the injustice which disfigures this world.

Share

Only when men learn to share will we see the end of terrorism. Only through sharing can the goal of justice and freedom be realized. Our appeal to you, citizens of the great and blessed United States of America, is to think carefully, and from the heart, as is your wont, when you deliver your vote. Cast your vote for peace, justice and the rule of Law.



4. PEACE VIGIL FOR THE MIDDLE EAST

Here are some of the latest developments in the Middle East. Please also keep this situation in mind during your meditations in the coming two weeks to help ensure that peace prevail there as well.


From: http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/100304I.shtml

Originally from http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-gaza2oct02,1,3761177.story

Israeli Push into Gaza Widens

By Laura King

The Los Angeles Times

02 October 2004

In a tactical shift, troops and tanks are deployed in a crowded area for a long occupation.

Jerusalem - Israeli troops consolidated their grip Friday on a densely populated swath of the northern Gaza Strip, widening an already bloody offensive and signaling their intent to settle in for a prolonged occupation - a significant change of tactics in the volatile seaside territory.

At least eight Palestinians were killed Friday in confrontations with Israeli forces around Jabaliya, the area's largest refugee camp, which is home to more than 100,000 people. The latest deaths pushed the Palestinian toll in the 3-day-old offensive over 40. Three Israelis have died.

Israel's decision to deploy hundreds of troops and scores of tanks and armored vehicles in such a crowded area - and keep them there for an extended period - poses new risks and dilemmas for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as he fights to keep alive his initiative to withdraw Israeli troops and Jewish settlers from Gaza by the end of next year.

The immediate goal of the offensive, code-named Days of Reckoning, is to end the almost-daily attacks on nearby Israeli towns by militants firing homemade Kassam rockets. More broadly, the Israeli army and Palestinian militants apparently have been trying to inflict ever-heavier blows before any pullout to avoid seeming to be the vanquished party.

Supporters of a withdrawal cite the spiraling violence as proof that Israel should get out of Gaza now; opponents say it is all the more reason to stay and fight.

Benjamin Netanyahu, one of Sharon's chief critics within the ruling Likud Party, said Friday that if Palestinian attacks reached "catastrophic" levels, the withdrawal initiative would have to be scrapped.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli called on Israel "to take every measure to ensure that only proportional force is used to counter the threats it faces."

"We urge Israel to avoid civilian casualties and minimize humanitarian consequences," he said. "These kinds of casualties can only make all of our efforts to achieve a durable peace more difficult."

The offensive, which Sharon's security Cabinet designated as open-ended, fueled debate in Israeli political and security circles about whether such an overwhelming show of force was the most effective strategy against small, mobile cells of militants firing Kassams.

The rockets usually fall harmlessly, but this week a strike in the Negev desert town of Sderot killed two young children.

Amid mounting casualties, Justice Minister Tommy Lapid said that the offensive probably would cause large numbers of civilian deaths without achieving real success in halting the rocket attacks.

"Some problems just don't have an immediate solution, and Kassams appear to be an example of this," Lapid told Israel Radio. "It is such a simple weapon that we simply cannot guarantee that a pipe containing some explosives won't be lying in any backyard in Jabaliya.

"Yes, we can bomb and destroy whole neighborhoods in Gaza, but this would be a crime against humanity and will expose Israel to fierce international condemnation," the justice minister added.

Others, though, said the takeover of northern Gaza did not go far enough. Yuval Steinitz, chairman of the powerful foreign affairs and defense committee of the Knesset, or parliament, urged seizing the entire coastal strip to "deal a harsh blow to the Kassam infrastructure for years to come."

Israel besieged the village of Beit Hanoun for a month this summer, but its forces mainly had relied on pinpoint raids and after-the-fact retaliation to try to halt the rocket attacks.

This incursion was the first time that Israel broadcast its intention to establish and police a "buffer zone" six miles into northern Gaza.

For many Israelis, the move revived memories of southern Lebanon, where Israel was bloodied by a two-decade occupation that ended with the withdrawal of its troops in 2000. By Friday, Israeli commentary on the Gaza offensive was laced with such terms as "quagmire," "war of attrition" and "bogged down."

In Lebanon, too, the troops were sent to prevent attacks on Israeli border towns, but never succeeded in choking off hit-and-run Katyusha rocket attacks by guerrillas of the Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah.

The Kassam attacks, however, have left Israeli officials feeling helpless and furious - particularly after the most recent, which occurred on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. It also carried a highly emotional charge because the victims were so young.

Israeli television Friday repeatedly broadcast images of sobbing mourners at the tiny coffins of 2-year-old Dorit Inanso-Geneto and 4-year-old Yuval Abeba, both from Ethiopian immigrant families. The only other fatal Kassam attack, in June, also killed a toddler, along with an Israeli man.

Statements by top Israeli officials betrayed a raw desire to make the Palestinians pay. Israeli media quoted Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz as ordering troops and commanders to "exact a price" from Palestinian militants responsible for the rocket attacks.

For most of the conflict, now 4 years old, the Israeli army has avoided incursions into Jabaliya, considered prime turf for militant groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Military planners traditionally have been reluctant to wage urban warfare in the camp's maze of narrow, sandy alleyways, which become perilous for troops and civilians alike.

Running battles raged again Friday throughout Jabaliya. The sound of explosions periodically tore through the rundown neighborhoods, punctuated by screams and ambulance sirens.

Masked Palestinian gunmen laid homemade landmines, lobbed hand grenades and fired on Israeli armored vehicles with assault rifles and antitank missiles. The Israelis responded with barrages of tank shells.

Israel closed the main Erez border crossing into Gaza, largely sealing off the battle from outside view. But Palestinians living in Jabaliya described scenes of fear and suffering.

"I heard a huge explosion and rushed to see what had happened," said 15-year-old Ghassan Abassi. "I saw bodies on the ground; I helped collect the pieces. It was unbearable."

In almost every corner of the camp were mourning tents for those killed over the last three days. Black flags fluttered, loudspeakers blared Koranic verses or nationalistic songs and smoke from piles of burning tires - set ablaze by militants seeking cover from aerial-surveillance drones - darkened the sky.

Although even Palestinian hospitals acknowledged that many of the dead were militants, at least one of those killed Friday was a child, and many of the injured were civilians, they said. At least five people died in two missile strikes - one that killed a pair of Hamas members on a motorbike and another that targeted men near a school.

The Israeli military said members of six rocket-launching cells had been killed since the start of the fighting. The army, which accuses the militants of using civilians as cover, also released a surveillance video of fighters preparing to launch a rocket from a residential area.

---

See also:

Israeli tanks start to reoccupy northern Gaza (October 2)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1318106,00.html
Israeli tanks and troops yesterday began the largest reoccupation of northern Gaza since the start of the Palestinian uprising four years ago. Ariel Sharon ordered the tanks in to prevent Hamas from scuppering his plan to withdraw Jewish settlers from the territory and impose an emasculated state on the Palestinians. CLIP

Four years into intifada, no closer to peace
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20040929/a_intifada29.art.htm
Both Israelis and Palestinians are divided on how they can ever resolve the conflict -- JERUSALEM — Even before a Palestinian suicide bomber blew herself up at a crowded Jerusalem intersection last week, the first major attack in the city since February, the longtime owner of a nearby photo shop had no illusions that the Palestinian uprising that started four years ago would end any time soon. After months of relative quiet and signs that an Israeli-driven plan to disengage Jewish settlers and troops from Palestinian areas is moving forward, many Israelis believe peace cannot be achieved by Israel on its own. But like the Palestinians, they are divided on how to end the conflict that has engulfed the region since Sept. 28, 2000, and killed about 2,800 Palestinians and nearly 1,000 Israelis. Those divisions are threatening to erupt into internal strife.Like many other Israelis, Katz said he is exhausted from the conflict but unsure how peace can be restored. “I agree we should leave Gaza,” he said, referring to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to pull all Jewish settlers and forces out of the Palestinian territory and parts of the West Bank next summer. “But only after the Palestinians commit to ending the violence. Unless it's done in the framework of a peace agreement, things could get even worse,” Katz warned.The plan would uproot 8,000 people in 21 Gaza settlements and four settlements in the West Bank. The remaining 210,000 West Bank settlers would not be affected. Although the Palestinian leadership has long demanded a full Israeli withdrawal from all territory Israel captured during the 1967 Middle East war, it opposes Israel's disengagement plan, especially in the West Bank. In addition to objecting to the limited pullout from the area, Palestinians say a security barrier Israel is building in parts of the West Bank is establishing the de facto border of a future Palestinian state — without negotiations. Sharon, who says Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has failed to stop attacks on Israelis, insists there is no Palestinian with whom he can negotiate. Roughly three-quarters of Israelis support a pullout from Gaza, according to a May poll by the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research for the Ma'ariv newspaper. While 40% say they support a Gaza evacuation without a peace agreement with the Palestinians, 30% say they oppose unilateral withdrawal. (...) Despite the tremendous toll the uprising and Israel's response has taken on the Palestinian people, surveys show most Palestinians support the notion of armed struggle against Israel. One poll, conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research and Hebrew University in June, found that 69% of Palestinians believe armed attacks against Israelis have helped achieve their national goals. Fifty-nine percent said they support suicide bombings in Israel. However, 41%, opposed such attacks. Palestinians appear to be as divided about the best way to achieve peace as Israelis. CLIP

Full coverage on the Middle East conflict
http://story.news.yahoo.com/fc?cid=34&tmpl=fc&in=World&cat=Mideast_Conflict



5. HUMANITARIAN VIGIL FOR HAITI AND GRENADA

Here are some of the latest developments in Haiti and Grenada. Please also keep this situation in mind during your meditations in the coming weeks to help ensure that peace prevail there as well and humanitarian assistance is provided in a timely manner to everyone in need of such assistance.

From: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=574&e=7&u=/nm/20041001/wl_nm/haiti_un_dc_1

UN Seeks $59 Million for Flood-Hit Haiti, Grenada

October 1

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations on Friday asked wealthy nations to donate an extra $59 million in aid to help about 400,000 people in Grenada and Haiti recover from a recent wave of storms and flooding.

"These programs will help meet urgent needs like shelter, food and clean water, and also for longer term reconstruction of schools and infrastructure as well as laying foundations for economic recovery," U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland said.

Haiti requires $32 million to meet urgent needs, while Grenada seeks $27 million, the world body estimated.

Governments, U.N. agencies and private relief groups are already rushing food, water and other emergency supplies to the region following a month of storms, but the new appeal is intended to address anticipated needs over the next six months, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.

Hurricane Ivan and Tropical Storm Jeanne killed more than 1,500 people in Haiti and affected another 300,000 people there, the statement said.

Local officials have estimated that as many as 2,400 people have died during flooding in Haiti, where aid workers are still struggling to feed unruly crowds of hungry people.

In Grenada, the storms touched all of the island's 100,000 inhabitants, where Hurricane Ivan damaged or destroyed 90 percent of the three-island nation's houses and wiped out nearly all its crops, the United Nations said.

---

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3750473.stm

Haiti's vicious circle

By Richard Black
BBC science correspondent

Reports from Haiti say that tropical storm Jeanne has caused over 1,000 deaths, mainly in the north-west. The interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue says that tens of thousands more are without food and water.

It's the latest in a long line of natural disasters for the impoverished Caribbean state. Environmental destruction and lack of economic development are major factors behind the trend.

Flash floods

Haiti is one of the poorest, most densely populated and most deforested countries on Earth. These three factors are all interlinked, in a vicious circle which makes Haiti particularly vulnerable to storms like Jeanne.

Poverty means that people take what they can from the land - in this case, wood, either burnt locally or converted into charcoal for use in the cities.

Because there are so many people - around eight million - there is more deforestation - a United Nations report ten years ago said that forest cover was 'impaired' in 97% of the country.

Without tree roots to bind soil together, it's simply washed away by heavy rain. After the flood, there is even less land to use - resulting in yet more poverty.

Normal rainfall slowly removes soil underneath houses, meaning that a flash flood will tear them away in seconds. In May this year, heavy rains and floods caused another 500 deaths.

Then and now, the neighbouring Dominican Republic fared much better, largely because living standards are much higher.

None of this is news to development agencies working in Haiti - but what they can do about it, given the country's turbulent history, the vast disparities between rich and poor, and the scale of environmental destruction, is another matter.

---

See also:

UN struggles with Haiti violence (October 2)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3709378.stm
UN troops are finding it hard to co-ordinate the relief effort UN peacekeepers in Haiti have struggled for a second day to control protests by supporters of deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Shops in the capital Port-au-Prince closed as armed Aristide loyalists smashed cars and set up roadblocks. Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue said local police had killed several Aristide supporters, but he gave no further details.

Agony piled on agony in Haiti ( 26 September) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3691226.stm
(...) For many people this is the tragedy of Haiti - as soon as one crisis passes another one comes along Aid agencies are still dealing with aftermath of that disaster and many people still have no permanent home. The island is particularly vulnerable to the damage wrought by heavy rains. Intense deforestation has stripped the hills and mountains of trees so there is nothing to hold back water and even small storms can cause major problems. There is also the continuing insecurity caused by the collapse of the government. (...)

HAITI FACTS

Poorest country in Western Hemisphere
80% live below absolute poverty threshold
Malnutrition widespread
Severe or moderate stunting affects 47% of under fives

*Data from UN World Food Programme

Full coverage on Haiti
http://story.news.yahoo.com/fc?cid=34&tmpl=fc&in=World&cat=Haiti

Ivan leaves Grenada blown and bewildered (Sept 30) http://www.iht.com/articles/541297.html
(...) Like thousands of other Grenadians, Morain is struggling to rebuild amid the wreckage left behind by Ivan, one of the most powerful storms to hit the Caribbean and United States in the last several decades. Perhaps no island suffered more physical damage than Grenada, a relatively prosperous former British colony where tourism and the spice trade are the mainstays of the economy; three-quarters of the nutmeg consumed in the United States is produced on the island. Now it is an island where the houses have no roofs and the streets are lined with debris and downed power lines. The winds ripped the tops off of most buildings, destroyed churches and schools, knocked down most of the island's power lines and left corrugated steel roofing littered along the streets like used tissue paper. Looting broke out on the island, twice the size of Washington, D.C., after the storm hit on Sept. 7, damaging at least 90 percent of the buildings and leaving several thousand of the 100,000 residents here without homes. CLIP

News about the situation in Grenada
http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=News+Stories&p=grenada



6. WE ARE WINNING!

The tide is turning. The Power of Love is taking over at this very moment the shadow of death and hate that has been hanging over this beloved planet for so many centuries. The prophesied era of lasting peace and rejuvenation of this world back into its primal state of Edenic harmony is manifesting as thousands, hundreds of thousands and now hundreds of millions of people have heard the inner call to focus their common will towards achieving Peace on Earth and harmony with all Life forms. Assistance has been requested by a critical number of people and is now being provided by divine servers of the One Will of God. Streams of Light are pushing back the minions of chaos and darkness into oblivion as millions of angels are circling the world and countless battleships of Love have been put to sea by the prayers and peace-filled meditations of embodied souls.

This symbolic language which speaks the truth from the soul into the ear of man is expressing what can only be hinted at and understood from the highest spiritual perspective one may reach. The shifting point, the critical juncture when enough positive vibrations have been created not only to offset the illegitimate creations of ignorance and spiritual blindness but also to actually establish on Earth the true seeds of centuries of peaceful coexistence of man with man and of man with Nature and all other invisible living beings inhabiting this world and the Universe.

Acknowledging this dawning reality in one's heart and soul will both precipitate its irresistible unfoldment and make manifest still more hidden powers of goodness and Love that have been dormant, up to this point in history, in countless individuals. A metamorphosis not unlike the reawakening of beauty and loving kindness as expressed in the visionary Beatles cartoon movie "Yellow Submarine" is now underway. The baddies and the meanies are retreating, and the flowers are blooming once again as the music of Love and brotherly compassion is resonating once again from the deepest recess of human nature, from the core goodness of soul-infused divinity shining brighter and clearer by the minute now in this world.

If your mind has not been overwhelmed yet by the revealing and triggering effect of this written expression of what IS, then turn off your critical mind for a minute and allow yourself to *feel*, mounting from deep within, the resonating vibrations of joy, victory and liberation that are emanating from the collective mind-soul of humanity and from much higher above our plane of existence...

J U S T D O I T

...and you'll partake in the blissful experience of actually knowing, without needing any more rational explanations, that we are winning.... that we - all of us - even the most ensconced souls lost in their own blinding self-created illusion, are coming out of darkness into a new realm of lighted magnificence, on the edge of a new era like no other before in the entire history of this planet. Let this felicitous tingling sensation wash over you and in-form you of what is going on...

After suffering for an untold number of incarnations through the sometimes harsh learning experiences of this material world, nowadays humanity is learning to let go of past self-inflicted erroneous misconceptions and open up to the emerging sense of oneness and brother/sisterhood that will soon pervade every aspect of human existence and reality. This will really spell the end of "business as usual". Just as we have learned to collectively respond with diligence and compassion to the plight of millions of people in desperate need of assistance and succor following every natural disaster that has struck at the heart of so many nations in the last few years, we, no matter our religious beliefs or racial allegiance, continue to respond with diligence to every new humanitarian disaster happening on Earth. This is not only a hopeful sign, it is the external expression of the turning tide of history as we now enter a new era in which the very notion of resorting to violent means to settle a conflict will elicit a deep shudder of utter revulsion and antipathy towards anyone foolish enough to express such a thought.

Soon, imminently, we will see in world affairs propositions and political decisions completely unthinkable only a few months ago. Instead of pursuing the madness of inhuman and unsustainable policies and now obsolete economic principles, humanity will band together as One big United family to help all those in need of physical assistance, whether they are in Asia, Africa, South or Central America or in the very middle of presumably prosperous nations in Europe and North America. In the same spirit of caring compassion expressed towards human existence, the rift between man and Nature will soon be healed as the Sons and Daughters of Gaia will rediscover their unique and precious role as caretakers of the natural balance of Life on planet Earth. The flow of species extinction will be stemmed while vast and still relatively pristine tracks of lands will become off-limit to all exploitation and human encroachment; and from there, we will help Nature gradually restore back the planet to its original pristine and exuberant beauty as this will become the basic mission humanity will assign itself to accomplish in this 21st century.

The Change, occurring at blinding speed, in an historical twinkling of an eye, will be felt by everyone on Earth as its growing energetic vibration will inevitably swell into a sudden cosmic realization that We Are All One. This New Reality is only a few more "moments" away and its emergence can already be felt like a tidal wave of Love extending its divine sparkling Presence and engulfing those sensitive and innerly-attuned enough to experience it as warm tears of happiness roll down their cheeks, wetting their appetite for ever more of this divine "manna", endlessly erupting from the inner volcano of Love that sits at the very center of our collective being.

The Power to make this world anew has been unleashed and the juggernaut of World Peace and Compassionate Love is finally rolling onward.

Your assistance in networking this message is heartily welcomed.


Slightly adapted from a text originally written on April 7, 1999 by Jean Hudon



7. A FEEDBACK AND A COMMENT

From: Anonymous per request
Subject: Re: [focus-group] Special Meditation Focus: Focusing Light on Kerry
Date: 1 Oct 2004

Dear Jean,

I don't know if you're making any attempt to keep up with how many people are actually participating around the world in the Global Meditation Focus, but I thought I'd check in and let you know that I have done it every Sunday since last March.

Thank you very much for your important work at this crucial time.

THE REPLY WAS:

Dear friend

I very much appreciate your confirmation of ongoing participation. I seldom hear feedback from anyone about all these Meditation Focus so it is always welcomed when someone thinks about letting me know. I've never tried to found out through any kind of survey to what extent people participate and feel that the fact that hardly anyone ever complains about receiving them - out of over 4000 people subscribed as first recipients of this material to whom I email it out each time, not to mention all those receiving this material as a forward from those first recipients - is at least an indication they are generally well received and favorably viewed. Moreover - but this is admittedly a bit subjective on my part, some would say - my inner gut feeling when I join the global meditation every Sunday and feel the powerful vibes experienced each time, lead me to believe that global participation is quite significant, and, incidentally, not only on this plane of existence as I've been assured through Matthew (see matthewbooks.com) that a considerable number of souls in the heavenly realm associated with our planet also join in, albeit not necessarily in specific connection with these Meditation Focus, not to mention souls from other dimensions and from extraterrestrial origin having a stake in what happens on Earth.

Nevertheless, to me it is not the actual number of people who join that matters but the intrinsic mystical quality of their contribution. I have a sense that to those whose awakening path led them to experience the high level energies generated in unison through such global meditation rendez-vous -- and who therefore are acutely aware of their immensely vital contribution to global awakening and healing of this world their heightened abilities to channel and anchor/step down higher spiritual energies through their human and psychic apparatus to a frequency level where they become available and powerfully influential at the physical frequency human beings live and resonate -- it is a given that they intuitively know this is something they ought to do and thus are spontaneously very motivated to join in whenever they can.

I would like also to mention that those who have adopted this Sunday meditation time (30 minutes or more) as part of their spiritual path of service for and in synch with All That Is, there is an added benefit that definitely increases their joyful participation to this global soul/heart meld. As more and more people/souls make it a priority to be involved on a sustained and regular basis in these very large communion of souls - be they the Sunday Meditation Focus or any other such global meditation rendez-vous - they also have the incredible privilege of being co-creators/co-activators of the most significant new evolutionary step for humanity as a whole on this planet: the conscious, potent emergence of the sense of Oneness, all together and with All That Is in all dimensions of existence universally, and thus the activation of the long dormant common abilities to regenerate Life on Terra Gaia and express some of the amazing natural abilities that come with being Who We Are...

I thank you once again for your feedback and for this opportunity you've given me to express these thoughts.

Love and Light will prevail

Jean
Focus Group Facilitator
http://www.aei.ca/~cep/focusgroup.htm



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