Saturday, June 28, 2008
THE NEW RANCH HAND
A successful rancher died and left everything to his devoted wife. She was a very good-looking woman and determined to keep the ranch, but knew very little about ranching, so she decided to place an ad in the newspaper for a ranch hand.
Two cowboys applied for the job. One was gay and the other a drunk. She thought long and hard about it, and when no one else applied she decided to hire the gay guy, figuring it would be safer to have him around the house than the drunk. He proved to be a hard worker who put in long hours every day and knew a lot about ranching.
For weeks, the two of them worked, and the ranch was doing very well. Then one day, the rancher's widow said to the hired hand, 'You have done a really good job, and the ranch looks great. You should go into town and kick up your heels.'
The hired hand readily agreed and went into town one Saturday night. One o'clock came, however, and he didn't return. Two o'clock and no hired hand. Finally he returned around two-thirty, and upon entering the room, he found the rancher's widow sitting by the fireplace with a glass of wine, waiting for him.
She quietly called him over to her. 'Unbutton my blouse and take it off,' she said. Trembling, he did as she directed. 'Now take off my boots.' He did as she asked, ever so slowly. 'Now take off my socks.'
He removed each gently and placed them neatly by her boots. 'Now take off my skirt.' He slowly unbuttoned it, constantly watching her eyes in the fire light. 'Now take off my bra.' Again, with trembling hands, he did as he was told and dropped it to the floor.
Then she looked at him and said, 'If you ever wear my clothes into town again, you're fired.'
(P.S. I didn't see it coming, either.)
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
My Tribute To George Carlson
Then click the You Tube Play Button & Turn up your speakers your in for a mind expanding moment. As you may have heard...
George Carlin died Sunday evening in LA. He was 71. ...
Religion has convinced people that there’s an invisible man…living in the sky, ...
George Carlin died Sunday evening in LA. He was 71. ...
Religion has convinced people that there’s an invisible man…living in the sky, ...
Earth near tipping point, climatologist warns
JUDD PATTERSON PHOTO
The Athabasca Glacier in June 2006. The vast source of fresh water for much of the west is melting at a rate some say could see it disappear.
June 24, 2008
Tim HarperWASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON–James Hansen returned to Capitol Hill a hero yesterday, but certainly not a conquering hero.
The soft-spoken scientist, hailed as the "whistle-blower for the planet,'' tried to quiet a standing ovation from environmentalists here with a typically blunt admonition.
"It is not a time to celebrate,'' said Hansen, 20 years to the day since he became the first leading scientist to warn of the dangers of global warming before a congressional committee.
He returned not to bask in any adulation, but to warn that the Earth is nearing a tipping point, to call for a national carbon tax and to say that CEOs of energy companies may be guilty of crimes against humanity and nature.
On June 23, 1988, by most accounts, the temperature in the committee room hovered at 38C and the U.S. was in the midst of a historic drought when Hansen told a Senate committee he was "99 per cent certain'' that humans were warming the global climate.
His comments brought the issue to American consciousness.
The following day, The New York Times carried an account under the headline:
Global warming has begun, expert tells Senate.
Although global warming alarms had been sounding for more than a decade and Canadian scientists were warning of the greenhouse effect in the early 1980s, Hansen's testimony seemed to crystallize the concern and provide the first jolt to the mass media in this country.
Two decades later, now 67 and director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, his message has not changed.
"We have reached a point of planetary emergency,'' he said.
"There are tipping points in the climate system, which we are very close to, and if we pass them, the dynamics of the system take over and carry you to very large changes which are out of your control.''
During a speech at the National Press Club, he rambled, as if his ideas were sprinting well ahead of his words, but he kept an overflow ballroom audience rapt.
Already, he said, the world's safe level of atmospheric carbon dioxide has been exceeded.
Yet, in the 20 years since he first testified, no major U.S. law restricting greenhouse gas emissions has been passed, 21 new coal-fired generating units have been built at power plants in this country and total U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide have climbed by about 18 per cent.
"If there is any single moment that marked the turning point where the climate issue became a serious public policy issue, June 23, 1988, had to be seen as that moment,'' said Christopher Flavin, president of the Worldwatch Institute.
"(Yesterday) may mark a second kind of turning point.''
Tim Wirth, the onetime Democratic Colorado senator who organized the hearing that day, said he knew he had made much progress with Hansen's testimony when a report made the swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated.
"It was a brave and lonely leadership role he played then, and he hasn't stopped one day since,'' Wirth said.
Hansen's second Capitol Hill appearance in 1989 was before a committee chaired by a Tennessee senator named Al Gore, but the White House edited his statement before Gore's committee, throwing into question his certainty about the link between human activity and global warming.
Hansen was told he could accept the revisions, or he would not be able to testify.
So, in advance of the hearing, he asked Gore to question him on the edited parts, he then revealed the White House edit and the story led all U.S. network newscasts that evening. Hansen then moved out of the political spotlight for 15 years.
Yesterday, Hansen warned of greater forest fire risk in Canada, the extinction of polar and alpine species, danger to the coral reefs and the ocean life that depends on them because of carbon dioxide in the oceans, and refugees from melting ice sheets in Greenland and the western Antarctic.
He called for a phase-out of all coal-burning power plants by 2030 except those in which carbon dioxide is captured and buried and he called for a carbon tax on coal, oil and gas.
The tax, he said, should be returned in full to the public – not used by government – in equal amounts for each adult and a half-share for children, deposited directly into bank accounts or credited to debit cards.
Such a non-regressive tax, Hansen says, will spur low and middle-income people to limit their tax while profligate users will pay for their excesses.
He also accused corporate America of a "greenwash'' in which their environmentally friendly words are not backed by actions and he supported criminal charges against CEOs of corporations such as ExxonMobil who are smart enough to know the situation but are intent on continuing their fossil fuel ways.
"When their descendants look back on them, they should not to be able to pretend that they didn't know,'' Hansen said.
"They do know.''
They are also guilty of funding and promoting contrarian views from scientists, furthering a charade that confuses the public into believing there is debate among scientists in this country, Hansen said.
"There is no debate,'' he said.
Next year, with a new president, a new direction is desperately needed, Hansen said.
He said a call for offshore drilling, sounded last week both by U.S. President George W. Bush and Republican presumptive nominee John McCain is "crazy."
"To go around drilling for the last drop of oil on the continental shelf will extend our addiction a little bit, but it will put us past the tipping point,'' he said.
Americans put faith in God, survey finds
Americans put faith in God, survey finds
More than half pray at least once a day – and even some atheists believe in higher power
June 24, 2008
Jacqueline L. SalmonWASHINGTON POST
More than 90 per cent of Americans – including one in five who say they are atheists – believe in God or a universal power, and more than half pray at least once a day, according to results of a poll released yesterday that takes an in-depth look at Americans' religious beliefs.
The poll, by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, also found nearly three-quarters of Americans believe in heaven as a place where people who have led good lives will be rewarded eternally. Almost 60 per cent believe in hell, where people who have led bad lives and die without repenting are punished eternally, the poll found.
Majorities also believe that angels and demons are at work in the world and that miracles occur today as they did in ancient times.
"These are common beliefs among the American public," said Gregory Smith, a research fellow at the Pew Forum, a D.C. think tank.
In a 2005 AP-IPSOS Reid poll, some 12 per cent of Canadian respondents said they did not believe in God or could not be certain of his existence. Another 24 per cent expressed their belief in "a higher power."
About six in 10 Canadians said they believed in God, even if occasionally in doubt. The rest were undecided or simply "not sure."
The Pew report is its second, based on one of the largest polls of religious beliefs ever conducted in the U.S., with more than 36,000 adults interviewed.
It found, among Jews who pray daily, 36 per cent are politically conservative; among evangelical Christians, 56 per cent who pray daily are politically conservative. Two-thirds of Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists who responded are Democrats or lean Democratic, compared with 22 per cent of Mormons polled.
Also, 77 per cent of those attending historically black church are Democrats or lean Democratic, while only a third of evangelical congregants are Democrats or lean Democratic.
More than 60 per cent of Americans across the religious-secular spectrum want the government to do more to help the needy and support stronger environmental laws. The report also found majorities in most religions believe that the United States should concentrate more on problems at home and pay less attention to problems overseas.
On these issues, "we can see a kind of consensus that exists across a great variety of religious groups," Smith said.
Among the surprises, 21 per cent of self-described atheists expressed a belief in God or a universal spirit.
Seventy per cent of those affiliated with a religion believe many religions, not just their own, can lead to eternal salvation.
Only about one-quarter believes there is only one true way to interpret their religion's teachings.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Toronto Parking tickets vanish-Whoosh
Leo (July 23 — Aug. 22)
It is only when you are confronted by a big challenge that you learn what you are capable of. You also, admittedly, get to make a very clear discovery about what you are intimidated by. You've learned much. Success awaits you.
Pisces (Feb. 20 — March 20)
Not only are you having a tense time trying to communicate with someone, you are struggling to keep your head above water financially. You don't deserve the hassle you are getting Try to relax. It won't be long before the good times come rolling in.
Gemini (May 21 — June 21)
Pessimists, in all shapes and sizes, are proclaiming messages of doom and destruction. There must be a factory somewhere churning them out. Don't let their motto become yours. Stay positive and you'll be blessed by friendly events.
Read Phil Booth at boothstars.com or at thestar.com/horoscope.
The Fixer: Parking tickets vanish
LUCAS OLENIUK/TORONTO STAR
Private investigator Derek Snowdy poses in his car with a stack of about 50 applications for trial which are given out by the city following contested parking tickets.
Thousands of drivers challenge $30 fines but few ever see their day in court
June 21, 2008
Jack LakeyStaff Reporter
Anyone who receives a $30 Toronto parking ticket can almost certainly dodge the fine by applying for a court date.
Since the start of 2006, figures provided by Toronto's court services show it accepted about 250,000 requests from drivers to contest a $30 parking ticket, but trial dates were issued for only about 4,300. In 2008, drivers have so far requested more than 37,000 trials for $30 parking tickets, but no court dates have been issued.
Court services, which schedules trials for everything from speeding tickets and workplace safety violations to municipal bylaw infractions, says a chronic shortage of courtrooms and justices of the peace, who serve as judges in parking ticket trials, has forced it to "prioritize" cases that make it to court.
With about 600,000 charges heard annually in city courts, the enormous number of trial requests for $30 tickets – the most frequently issued ticket, usually for overtime parking – is a "pretty low" priority, says court services director Barry Randell.
When drivers exercise their legal right to fight a parking ticket, they must go to one of four city offices, where a clerk accepts the request for a trial and provides confirmation on paper that a court date will be mailed to them.
But for several years, notices of trial have been issued for only a tiny fraction of $30 ticket requests.
"It's the dirty little secret city hall doesn't want people to know," says private investigator Derek Snowdy, who's run up more than 200 applications for trials he is convinced will never happen.
While he has avoided the fines, Snowdy said it is "dishonest" of the city to lead people to believe they'll get their day in court, when it has stopped holding trials for $30 tickets.
"If you're not giving court dates, you're not being legitimate with issuing the tickets. The tickets are disingenuous."
The outstanding requests are still "scheduled for court," said Randell, maintaining drivers could be mailed a trial date, even though the backlog continues to grow and exceeds the capacity of city courts to hear them.
"My job is to take a look at all the tickets that have to go to court in Toronto ... to look at making sure the more serious cases have the court time they need to go through the system," he said.
"Where courtrooms have been closed because there were no justices of the peace appointed by the province, we had to take a look at reorganizing the court system and the types of cases that go into each courtroom."
As many as six of Toronto's 23 municipal courts have been unavailable since 2004 for various reasons, including a shortage of justices of the peace, he said.
Each courtroom can handle about 25,000 charges a year, said Randell, which meant the capacity to hold trials was cut by 150,000 – about 25 per cent of total charges – whenever six courtrooms were out of service.
"You look at the numbers and you can start to understand why we have a backlog."
The Fixer has been poking into parking issues for months, which resulted in a meeting with Snowdy, who works on contract for parking operators and knows a lot about the business.
Over lunch, he produced a thick stack of yellow papers, saying they were acknowledgements from the city of requests for trials of $30 tickets. He said there were 50 to 60 in the pile, to go along with the others he's accumulated since figuring out the loophole in 2006.
"I park just about anywhere I want, because I know that as long as the ticket is for $30 and I'm willing to apply for a court date, I won't have to pay," he said.
Once a week, Snowdy said he or one of the people who work for him takes the tickets to Metro Hall or one of three other locations where requests for trials are processed.
When he first started asking around about it, he said a city hall staffer and a Toronto police official took him aside and said, "Don't dig on this any farther, court dates aren't being issued, it's not for public consumption," and that he was to "keep quiet."
He says he was told it was a cost-saving measure, but refused to name the police officer or city hall staffer.
The motivation for not holding trials isn't limited to a lack of court space and officials, said Snowdy, noting that record numbers of parking tickets issued over the past two years have netted the city an even bigger revenue boost due to greatly reduced trial costs. Last year the city collected $79 million from parking tickets.
When asked if it was likely that drivers who requested court dates for tickets issued several years ago might still get a trial, Randell said: "That's certainly a question the prosecutor might want to answer. I'm only going to respond to what they want to do, so it's their call whether they want to put it in court."
On Randell's advice, we asked George Bartlett, director of prosecutions with Toronto's legal services division, if people who applied for court dates in 2007 or earlier might still get a trial.
"I really don't know," said Bartlett. "I don't control the issue of notices of trial, obviously. I respond more to the other party, when it gets to court. The defendant is there and the prosecution is there, and we deal with the matters that get on the court list. We don't determine what gets on the court list."
We asked Bartlett if the charges might simply disappear, given the difficulties in holding so many trials, as well as delays in providing them in a reasonable length of time.
"No, charges don't disappear on their own," said Bartlett, adding there's a process for people who want to argue that they've been denied the right to a speedy trial.
"If a person feels that their charter rights – and that's what we'd be dealing with here – have been violated, they'd have to follow procedure and give notice to the prosecutor and to the attorney-general of the province, and of Canada ... and the court deals with that application."
But the notion of holding trials at some point in the future for $30 tickets issued two or three years ago raises serious questions, said Randell. "There's the whole issue around, `Is it the best use of court space?' Where are these people now at this point in their lives? Where are the officers who wrote these tickets?"
Drivers who are unlikely to ever be tried will not be disappointed they weren't convicted and fined, but is it honest for the city to maintain that they could still end up in court?
What's broken in your neighbourhood? We want to know. To email us, go to www.thestar.com/thefixer and click on the submit a problem link. Or call us at 416-869-4823.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Do Women make your head spin left or right?
Which way does she turn for you???
This is really amazing. Read the information and good luck,
you will need it. This will drive people crazy for hours.
you will need it. This will drive people crazy for hours.
If you see this lady turning in clockwise you are using your right brain.
If you see it the other way, you are using left brain.
Some people do see both ways, but most people see it only one way.
See if you can make her go one way and then the other by shifting
the brain's current. BOTH DIRECTIONS CAN BE SEEN
Experimentation has shown that the two different sides, or hemispheres of
the brain are responsible for different manners of thinking. The following
table illustrates the differences between left-brain and right-brain thinking:
Left Brain Right Brain
Logical Random
Sequential Intuitive
Rational Holistic
Analytical Synthesizing
Objective Subjective
Looks at Looks at
parts wholes
Most individuals have a distinct preference for one of these styles of thinking.
Some, however, are more whole-brained and equally adept at both modes. In
general, schools tend to favour left-brain modes of thinking, while downplaying
the right-brain activities. Left-brain scholastic subjects focus on logical thinking,
analysis, and accuracy. Right-brained subjects, on the other hand, focus on
aesthetics, feeling, and creativity.
If you look away, she may switch from one direction to the other.
I found that if I just look at her feet or relax and look at the floor where the
reflection shows, she will switch direction!
If you see it the other way, you are using left brain.
Some people do see both ways, but most people see it only one way.
See if you can make her go one way and then the other by shifting
the brain's current. BOTH DIRECTIONS CAN BE SEEN
Experimentation has shown that the two different sides, or hemispheres of
the brain are responsible for different manners of thinking. The following
table illustrates the differences between left-brain and right-brain thinking:
Left Brain Right Brain
Logical Random
Sequential Intuitive
Rational Holistic
Analytical Synthesizing
Objective Subjective
Looks at Looks at
parts wholes
Most individuals have a distinct preference for one of these styles of thinking.
Some, however, are more whole-brained and equally adept at both modes. In
general, schools tend to favour left-brain modes of thinking, while downplaying
the right-brain activities. Left-brain scholastic subjects focus on logical thinking,
analysis, and accuracy. Right-brained subjects, on the other hand, focus on
aesthetics, feeling, and creativity.
If you look away, she may switch from one direction to the other.
I found that if I just look at her feet or relax and look at the floor where the
reflection shows, she will switch direction!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
What a difference 100 years has made in the world
THE YEAR 1908
This will boggle your mind, I know it did mine!
The year is 1908.
One hundred years ago.
What a difference a century makes!
Here are some statistics for the Year 1908 :
************ ********* ********* ******
The average life expectancy was 47 years.
Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.
Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles
Of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower
The average wage in 1908 was 22 cents per hour.
The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year .
A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year,
A dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME ..
Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION!
Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which
Were condemned in the press AND the government as 'substandard. '
Sugar cost four cents a pound.
Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used
Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from
Entering into their country for any reason.
Five leading causes of death were:
1 Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke
The American flag had 45 stars.
The population of Las Vegas , Nevada, was only 30!!!!
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea
Hadn't been invented yet.
There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write.
Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, 'Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.' ( Shocking? )
Eighteen percent of households had at least
One full-time servant or domestic help.
There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE ! U.S.A. !
Now I copied this from someone else without typing it myself,
and it is being viewed by you and others all over Canada & U.S.A
Possibly the world, in a matter of seconds!
Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years.
IT STAGGERS THE MIND
Leo (July 23 — Aug. 22)
This will boggle your mind, I know it did mine!
The year is 1908.
One hundred years ago.
What a difference a century makes!
Here are some statistics for the Year 1908 :
************ ********* ********* ******
The average life expectancy was 47 years.
Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.
Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles
Of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower
The average wage in 1908 was 22 cents per hour.
The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year .
A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year,
A dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME ..
Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION!
Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which
Were condemned in the press AND the government as 'substandard. '
Sugar cost four cents a pound.
Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used
Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from
Entering into their country for any reason.
Five leading causes of death were:
1 Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke
The American flag had 45 stars.
The population of Las Vegas , Nevada, was only 30!!!!
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea
Hadn't been invented yet.
There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write.
Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, 'Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.' ( Shocking? )
Eighteen percent of households had at least
One full-time servant or domestic help.
There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE ! U.S.A. !
Now I copied this from someone else without typing it myself,
and it is being viewed by you and others all over Canada & U.S.A
Possibly the world, in a matter of seconds!
Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years.
IT STAGGERS THE MIND
Leo (July 23 — Aug. 22)
Mercury's return to forward motion in the next few days will make good things more possible. It will pave the way for something positive to happen. Doors will open and options will begin to appear. Things will be more likely to go well.
Gemini (May 21 — June 21)
The solution to a certain precarious situation is to either strengthen the fragile factor or spread the risk. These two options, however, are mutually exclusive. There's a third option. Wait! The pressure will ease with daysPisces (Feb. 20 — March 20)
If, at this time, you fear the future or feel ashamed of the past, it can only be because you are misinterpreting the implications of a dilemma. Success depends on coming to the realization that your situation is far more positive than you now believe.
Scorpio (Oct. 24 — Nov. 22)
Be glad of that which is proving so helpful in your life at this time. It is no sudden fluke. It comes as a reward for your trials. Make the most of your situation now that the tide is turning in your favour. The stars are intent on helping you out.
Read Phil Booth at boothstars.com or at thestar.com/horoscope.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Update...Wrong Prediction Yet Again
In their February 2006 Newsletter, Yisrayl Hawkins announced that the world should prepare for a nuclear war which will start September 12, 2006. Despite the fact that the prophesied nuclear war did not start on the predicted date, the official website of House of Yahweh continues to insist on the accuracy of its prophecy.
They have since modified their teaching by saying that September 12, 2006 was only the start of a nine month period; at the end of that time (June 12, 2007)[2], the prophesied nuclear war would start. As of December 2007 the website states that "It's 100% true and coming soon" although the nine month period has passed.
Further details are only available in the book Birth Of the Nuclear Baby: The Explosion Of Sin, which requires a "$25 donation" to obtain from the author.
Thousands Follow Self-Proclaimed Prophet Yisrayl 'Buffalo Bill' Hawkins of Abilene
By BRIAN ROSS and VIC WALTER
June 6, 2008
Nuclear war will begin next Thursday, June 12, or sooner, according to the latest prediction of self-proclaimed prophet Yisrayl "Buffalo Bill" Hawkins, the founder of a religious sect in Abilene, Texas.
Founder of a religious sect in Texas predicts the world will end June 12.
"It could be turned loose before then," Hawkins told 20/20 for a report to be broadcast tonight. "You're going to see this very soon, really soon," he said.
Hundreds of truck trailers have been loaded with food and water on the group's 44-acre compound, in preparation for the coming war.
Unfortunately for Hawkins, it is not the first time he predicted the outbreak of nuclear war.
Most recently, Hawkins set Sept. 12, 2006 as the beginning of the end.
His followers produced an on-line video with a countdown to doomsday.
In Kenya, hundreds of his followers actually hid in basement bomb shelters and donned gas masks on the date.
They went home in humiliation when there was no war.
Related
WATCH: The End of the World? Again?
WATCH: Sect Leader Predicts Doomsday
WATCH: Current and Former Yahweh Brides Speak
Hawkins says he does not care if people consider him a laughing stock.
"You know, the savior himself, told me not to worry about that. He said, 'They're going to hate you above all people on the face of the earth,' " Hawkins explained.
Former members say there is a method to Hawkins' madness, that the doomsday predictions help him make money and keep disillusioned members from leaving, for fear they will be killed when the end comes.
"He's been saying just give me two more years, we're right at the end," said former member Miriam Martin who left in 2004.
"Why would you give up now? That's how he controls people, is through fear," Martin said.
Other former members say they are required to buy doomsday food and supplies from a company that Hawkins owns personally, Life Nutrition Products.
"Everything that he preaches has to do with people buying something," said former House of Yahweh elder David Als of New York City.
Like many of the his followers, Als actually legally changed his last name to Hawkins because he became convinced that only those named Hawkins would be saved.
"I'm a Black man from New York city. We're supposed to be slick and wise to the street and he had me hook, line and sinker," Als told 20/20.
Hawkins
(Hand Out)
"No one else has the right to the tree of life, except those that keep the laws of Yahweh," Hawkins has said in his sermons, which are broadcast around the world.
Related
Kenyans Won't Buy Doomsday Prediction Again
Hawkins says as a prophet he knows that nuclear outbreak will come 'round the great river Euphrates.
In addition to dealing with the beginning of the end, Hawkins is also dealing with some serious legal problems.
The Callahan County district attorney has filed felony bigamy charges against Hawkins, alleging he has multiple wives.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and says he is being targeted because authorities do not like his brand of religion.
They have since modified their teaching by saying that September 12, 2006 was only the start of a nine month period; at the end of that time (June 12, 2007)[2], the prophesied nuclear war would start. As of December 2007 the website states that "It's 100% true and coming soon" although the nine month period has passed.
Further details are only available in the book Birth Of the Nuclear Baby: The Explosion Of Sin, which requires a "$25 donation" to obtain from the author.
Thousands Follow Self-Proclaimed Prophet Yisrayl 'Buffalo Bill' Hawkins of Abilene
By BRIAN ROSS and VIC WALTER
June 6, 2008
Nuclear war will begin next Thursday, June 12, or sooner, according to the latest prediction of self-proclaimed prophet Yisrayl "Buffalo Bill" Hawkins, the founder of a religious sect in Abilene, Texas.
Founder of a religious sect in Texas predicts the world will end June 12.
"It could be turned loose before then," Hawkins told 20/20 for a report to be broadcast tonight. "You're going to see this very soon, really soon," he said.
Hundreds of truck trailers have been loaded with food and water on the group's 44-acre compound, in preparation for the coming war.
Unfortunately for Hawkins, it is not the first time he predicted the outbreak of nuclear war.
Most recently, Hawkins set Sept. 12, 2006 as the beginning of the end.
His followers produced an on-line video with a countdown to doomsday.
In Kenya, hundreds of his followers actually hid in basement bomb shelters and donned gas masks on the date.
They went home in humiliation when there was no war.
Related
WATCH: The End of the World? Again?
WATCH: Sect Leader Predicts Doomsday
WATCH: Current and Former Yahweh Brides Speak
Hawkins says he does not care if people consider him a laughing stock.
"You know, the savior himself, told me not to worry about that. He said, 'They're going to hate you above all people on the face of the earth,' " Hawkins explained.
Former members say there is a method to Hawkins' madness, that the doomsday predictions help him make money and keep disillusioned members from leaving, for fear they will be killed when the end comes.
"He's been saying just give me two more years, we're right at the end," said former member Miriam Martin who left in 2004.
"Why would you give up now? That's how he controls people, is through fear," Martin said.
Other former members say they are required to buy doomsday food and supplies from a company that Hawkins owns personally, Life Nutrition Products.
"Everything that he preaches has to do with people buying something," said former House of Yahweh elder David Als of New York City.
Like many of the his followers, Als actually legally changed his last name to Hawkins because he became convinced that only those named Hawkins would be saved.
"I'm a Black man from New York city. We're supposed to be slick and wise to the street and he had me hook, line and sinker," Als told 20/20.
Hawkins
(Hand Out)
"No one else has the right to the tree of life, except those that keep the laws of Yahweh," Hawkins has said in his sermons, which are broadcast around the world.
Related
Kenyans Won't Buy Doomsday Prediction Again
Hawkins says as a prophet he knows that nuclear outbreak will come 'round the great river Euphrates.
In addition to dealing with the beginning of the end, Hawkins is also dealing with some serious legal problems.
The Callahan County district attorney has filed felony bigamy charges against Hawkins, alleging he has multiple wives.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and says he is being targeted because authorities do not like his brand of religion.
Hundreds of Kenyans Made Doomsday Plans Two Years Ago
Hawkins' Sect Was Booming in Kenya Until His Prediction Failed To Come True
By DANA HUGHES
NAIROBI, June 6, 2008 —
Yisrayl "Buffalo Bill" Hawkins' popularity was not limited to Texas, or even the United States. For years his House of Yahweh sect was booming in the nation of Kenya, at least until his last doomsday prediction in September 2006, which ended up dooming the group's success in the East African country.
"We do not refer to him as God but as Yahweh," Moshe Sang, one of the Kenyan sect's leaders told local Kenyan reporters in 2006, right before Hawkins' prediction that doomsday would occur on September 12th, 2006.
The House of Yahweh was introduced to Kenya by an American in 1997. By 2006 it boasted it had grown to hundreds of members, with the sect publicly declaring the world was coming to an end. They horded food, members sold all their belongings and dug underground bunkers to protect them from the nuclear bombs they believed were coming .
"A nuclear bomb will be launched from underneath the sea then move up and cover the whole sky," said Sang. "It will then spread through out the whole world, and that's what we are expecting," he added.
The Kenyan government, fearing a repeat of a situation in neighboring Uganda where hundreds were murdered in another doomsday sect, cracked down. They rounded up members and arrested them for inciting fear, not taking their children to school and forcing believers to sell all their possessions.
"The government was a bit more sensitive of cult activities and feared useless deaths like in Uganda," Pastor Gowi Odera of Kenya's National Alliance of Church Leaders, told ABC News. "They were especially concerned about minors in those cults."
Eventually members were let go, after promising to keep their doomsday predictions to themselves.
But the sect continued to insist that the world would end on September 12th. In interviews the day before, Sang displayed some of their equipment, including gas masks, protective nylon clothing and goggles. Sang, who was a strong believer with the sect, stopped his children from going to school. He told reporters he was preparing his tomb, which was going to help him and his family get through the 'forbidden year' as he termed it.
"The tomb is not a permanent place, it's only for the nuclear period, we will only get in there when the nuclear strikes, since it only moves through the wind," he said.
But when September 12th came and went without the world coming to an end, the Kenyan government did not have to arrest the leaders; they were chased out by angry villagers, and laughed at by the general Kenyan public.
"Kenyans are very religious, maybe well over half the population profess some time of Christian faith," says Odera. "They knew these people were not Jesus Christ; they're not God. They're a hoax."
Today Odera says no-one really talks about the House of Yahweh anymore.
"Religious leaders warned they were a false prophet and called them a 'passing cloud'," he says. After the world didn't end, "they kind of just fizzled out."
Wilfred Wambura contributed to this report
Friday, June 13, 2008
The Truth About Mortgage Insurance
The Truth About Mortgage Insurance- Be Aware
If you have a mortgage on your home, chances are good you also have mortgage insurance. The idea is that if you should become seriously ill or die before paying off the mortgage, the coverage will kick in and pay it off for you. It’s meant to offer peace of mind and to reassure you that your family will be able to stay in your home if anything should happen to you.
The reality falls a little short of that. In this week’s Marketplace investigation, we meet two families who bought the coverage and thought they were protected, only to have their claims denied when they became sick or died. In each case, the insurer said the applicant person had lied on their initial application form.
It turns out a routine test at the doctor could be reason to deny your claim, if you don't mention it. Had a cuff inflated on your bicep? That counts as being tested for high blood pressure.
As Erica Johnson reports, the bank staffers selling mortgage insurance are unlicenced and rarely trained to explain the details and legalities of those insurance products. The result is people who pay premiums and think they are covered, only to realize later that they are not.
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2008/02/06/mortgage_insurance_not_always/
If you have a mortgage on your home, chances are good you also have mortgage insurance. The idea is that if you should become seriously ill or die before paying off the mortgage, the coverage will kick in and pay it off for you. It’s meant to offer peace of mind and to reassure you that your family will be able to stay in your home if anything should happen to you.
The reality falls a little short of that. In this week’s Marketplace investigation, we meet two families who bought the coverage and thought they were protected, only to have their claims denied when they became sick or died. In each case, the insurer said the applicant person had lied on their initial application form.
It turns out a routine test at the doctor could be reason to deny your claim, if you don't mention it. Had a cuff inflated on your bicep? That counts as being tested for high blood pressure.
As Erica Johnson reports, the bank staffers selling mortgage insurance are unlicenced and rarely trained to explain the details and legalities of those insurance products. The result is people who pay premiums and think they are covered, only to realize later that they are not.
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2008/02/06/mortgage_insurance_not_always/
Friday 13th :Troubling details in new downloading law
Leo (July 23 — Aug. 22)
There is no need to let go of any long-cherished hopes and desires. A recent problematic change in circumstances will ultimately straighten itself out. A surge of power, thanks to Mars, will give your flagging confidence a welcome boost.
TheStar.com - Canada - Troubling details in new downloading law
Despite what Tories say, change is not all that friendly to Canadian consumers
June 13, 2008
Michael Geist
Special to the Star
In 2004, the Supreme Court of Canada issued a landmark copyright decision in a battle between the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Ontario bar association, and CCH Canadian, a leading legal publisher. The court was faced with a dispute over an old technology – photocopying in a law library – and in a unanimous decision it ruled that the underlying purpose of copyright law is to serve the public interest. That interest, reasoned Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, is best served by balancing both user rights and creator rights.
Yesterday, Industry Minister Jim Prentice and Heritage Minister Josée Verner delivered what amounts to a stinging rebuke to the Supreme Court's copyright vision of public interest and balance. After months of internal discussions (though precious little public consultation), the government unveiled its much-anticipated copyright reform bill.
Casting aside the concerns of major business, education and consumer groups, the bill seeks to dramatically tilt Canadian law toward greater enforcement and restrictions on the use of digital content, leading Liberal industry critic Scott Brison to warn that it could result in a "police state."
Prentice's strategy appears to have been to include a series of headline-grabbing provisions that would attract the support of the Canadian public and simultaneously mask rules that will reshape Canadians' rights over their personal property. Accordingly, the bill includes a time-shifting provision that legalizes recording of television programs, a private copying of music provision that allows consumers to copy music onto their iPods, and a format-shifting provision that permits transferring content from analog to digital formats.
While those provisions sound attractive, Canadians would do well to read the fine print. The new rules are subject to a host of limitations – Canadians can't retain recorded programs and making backup copies of DVDs is not permitted – that lessen their attractiveness.
More worrisome are the "anti-circumvention provisions," which undermine not only these new consumer rights but also hold the prospect of locking Canadians out of their own digital content.
The law creates a blanket prohibition on picking the digital locks (often referred to as circumventing technological protection measures) that frequently accompany consumer products such as CDs, DVDs and electronic books. In other words, Canadians who seek to circumvent those products – even if the Copyright Act permits their intended use – will now violate the law.
While this sounds technical, circumvention is not uncommon. Under the Prentice bill, transferring music from a copy-protected CD to an iPod could violate the law. So, too, could efforts to play a region-coded DVD from a non-Canadian region or attempts by students to copy-and-paste content from some electronic books.
The bill includes a few limited circumvention exceptions for privacy, encryption research, interoperable computer programs and security. Yet the exceptions are largely illusory, since the software programs needed to pick the digital lock in order to protect privacy or engage in research are banned.
Canadians should therefore check the fine print again – the law suggests that they can protect their privacy, but renders the distribution of the tools to do so illegal.
The need to read the fine print does not end there – a new statutory damage award of $500 for personal-use infringement applies to music downloading that many believe is legal, while it does not cover uploading files onto peer-to-peer networks or even posting videos to YouTube.
Similarly, a provision designed to allow librarians to create digital copies for patrons suffers from an exception that requires the digital copy to self-destruct within five days.
Had Prentice and Verner respected the Supreme Court's emphasis on balance and the public interest, they could have easily avoided this one-sided approach. Canada's earlier copyright bill, which died on the order paper in 2005, along with the approach in countries such as New Zealand, has identified a more balanced framework that preserves user rights by only prohibiting circumvention where the underlying purpose is to infringe copyright. That approach ensures that the law targets commercial piracy rather than consumer property.
Instead, their self-described "made in Canada" solution actually looks an awful lot like the much-criticized U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Once Canadians read the fine print on this bill, many may demand that the government go back to the drawing board.
Michael Geist holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law.
Manson follower Susan Atkins ill, mulled for release
TheStar.com - World - Manson follower Susan Atkins ill, mulled for release
June 13, 2008
Associated Press
CORONA, Calif. – Former Charles Manson follower Susan Atkins, convicted in the 1969 murder of actress Sharon Tate, could soon be released from prison because she is near death, authorities said.
Atkins, 59, is terminally ill and being considered for so-called "compassionate release," state corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said. She gave no details of Atkins' illness, but said a doctor had determined she had less than six months to live.
The corrections department was reviewing the request, which if approved would then be passed to the state Board of Parole which has the power to release Atkins under state law so they can die with loved ones, at their expense.
Such releases are relatively rare – only 10 of the 60 requests made last year were granted, Thornton said. The prisoners must have family members willing and able to care for them.
Atkins, now a gray-haired, matronly looking woman, was one of cult leader Manson's ersatz hippie "family" of young killers who burst into a Beverly Hills home 39 years ago and killed Tate, the pregnant wife of filmmaker Roman Polanski, along with four others. The following night they stabbed to death a wealthy couple in their Los Angeles home.
Atkins has been denied parole 11 times, most recently in 2005.
She was housed in the California Institution for Women in Corona for 37 years, but has been in a nearby hospital since March.
June 13, 2008
Associated Press
CORONA, Calif. – Former Charles Manson follower Susan Atkins, convicted in the 1969 murder of actress Sharon Tate, could soon be released from prison because she is near death, authorities said.
Atkins, 59, is terminally ill and being considered for so-called "compassionate release," state corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said. She gave no details of Atkins' illness, but said a doctor had determined she had less than six months to live.
The corrections department was reviewing the request, which if approved would then be passed to the state Board of Parole which has the power to release Atkins under state law so they can die with loved ones, at their expense.
Such releases are relatively rare – only 10 of the 60 requests made last year were granted, Thornton said. The prisoners must have family members willing and able to care for them.
Atkins, now a gray-haired, matronly looking woman, was one of cult leader Manson's ersatz hippie "family" of young killers who burst into a Beverly Hills home 39 years ago and killed Tate, the pregnant wife of filmmaker Roman Polanski, along with four others. The following night they stabbed to death a wealthy couple in their Los Angeles home.
Atkins has been denied parole 11 times, most recently in 2005.
She was housed in the California Institution for Women in Corona for 37 years, but has been in a nearby hospital since March.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
oil-tax proposal was one of two energy-related bills that failed to advance
  |
2 Energy Bills, Including Windfall Tax, Stall in Senate
WASHINGTON — A Democratic proposal to impose heavier taxes on big oil companies stalled in the Senate on Tuesday as Republicans and Democrats offered different ideas on how to deal with soaring energy costs.
A bill that would have rolled back some $17 billion in tax breaks on Big Oil and pressured the companies to invest in new energy sources by hitting them with a windfall-profits tax if they did not failed to get enough votes to move forward. Fifty-one senators voted to bring the measure up for consideration, but that was nine short of the number needed under Senate rules. Forty-three senators, most of them Republicans, voted “no.”
The oil-tax proposal was one of two energy-related bills that failed to advance. The other was a proposal to amend the Internal Revenue Code by providing “incentives for energy production and conservation, to extend certain expiring provisions, to provide individual income tax relief, and for other purposes,” as the measure to promote new energy sources was officially described. The vote to take up that legislation was 50-44, or 10 “yes” votes fewer than necessary.
The votes were against a backdrop of $4-a-gallon gasoline and oil prices that have gone over $139 a barrel just at the start of the summer vacation season.
“I remember when gas was about a buck, 40 cents,” Senator Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat whose constituents often have to drive long distances, lamented before the votes.
Republican opponents of the oil-tax measure have argued that higher taxes on Big Oil would backfire, driving up gasoline prices and discouraging new domestic oil production and exploration. If the bill were approved, the American people “will get exactly what they don’t want,” said Senator Pete Domenici, Republican of New Mexico, who predicted higher prices and more reliance on imports.
As for the alternative-energy bill that was sidelined, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican minority leader, summed up the argument of most of his party colleagues by asserting that “those who think we can tax our way out of this problem” are wrong.
The White House said the United States was “paying a price today for decades of Democratic opposition and regulatory obstacles to increasing domestic oil production,” as President Bush’s spokesman Tony Fratto put it. “Instead of populist votes that would do nothing for gas prices, we need to allow domestic oil production in environmentally sensitive ways,” Mr. Fratto said, in an apparent allusion to the idea of exploring in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge..
Senate Democratic leaders were reportedly resigned to defeat on the oil-tax bill and did not ask Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, who just completed their months-long competition for the presidential nomination, to show up for the vote. The other four absentees were John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee for president; Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, Democrats who have been ill.
Six Republicans voted “yes” on the oil-tax bill. They were Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, John W. Warner of Virginia, Gordon Smith of Oregon and Susan M. Collins and Olympia J. Snowe, both of Maine. Only two Democrats voted “no,” Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Harry Reid of Nevada. Mr. Reid, the majority leader, may have voted “no” in a parliamentary move to preserve his right to bring up the proposal again.
In the House, meanwhile, Republicans pushed for consideration of a bill offered by Representative Mac Thornberry of Texas that Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican minority leader, said would offer real solutions to the country’s energy problems.
Mr. Boehner said the Thornberry bill “will open new American oil refineries, invest in alternative energy sources and increase environmentally safe exploration of untapped oil resources in the United States.” Mr. Boehner was apparently referring to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
“Where Democrats refuse to lead, Republicans will,” Mr. Boehner said, saying that Republicans would offer a series of petitions to try to force the Democratic House leadership to move on Republican proposals.
George Carlin's Solution to Save Gasoline :
George Carlin's
Solution to Save Gasoline :
Bush wants us
to cut the amount of gas we use.....
The best way
to stop using so much gas is to deport 11 million illegal immigrants!
That would be
11 million less people using our gas. The price of gas would come down.....
Bring our troops home from Iraq to
guard the Border....
When they catch an illegal immigrant crossing the border, hand him a
canteen, rifle and some ammo and ship him to Iraq ...
Tell him if he wants to come to America then he must serve a tour in the military....
Give him a soldier's pay while he's there and tax him on it.....
After his tour, he will be allowed to become a citizen since he defended
this country.....
He will also be registered to be taxed and be a legal patriot..... .
This option will probably deter illegal immigration and provide a solution for the troops in Iraq and the aliens trying to make a better life for themselves..
....
If they refuse to serve, ship them to Iraq anyway, without the canteen,rifle or ammo....
Problem solved.....
Monday, June 9, 2008
Texas Sect Leader: Doomsday Begins Next Thursday, June 12 2007 or 2008?
In their February 2006 Newsletter, Yisrayl Hawkins announced that the world should prepare for a nuclear war which will start September 12, 2006. Despite the fact that the prophesied nuclear war did not start on the predicted date, the official website of House of Yahweh continues to insist on the accuracy of its prophecy.
They have since modified their teaching by saying that September 12, 2006 was only the start of a nine month period; at the end of that time (June 12, 2007)[2], the prophesied nuclear war would start. As of December 2007 the website states that "It's 100% true and coming soon" although the nine month period has passed.
Further details are only available in the book Birth Of the Nuclear Baby: The Explosion Of Sin, which requires a "$25 donation" to obtain from the author.
Thousands Follow Self-Proclaimed Prophet Yisrayl 'Buffalo Bill' Hawkins of Abilene
By BRIAN ROSS and VIC WALTER
June 6, 2008
Nuclear war will begin next Thursday, June 12, or sooner, according to the latest prediction of self-proclaimed prophet Yisrayl "Buffalo Bill" Hawkins, the founder of a religious sect in Abilene, Texas.
Founder of a religious sect in Texas predicts the world will end June 12.
"It could be turned loose before then," Hawkins told 20/20 for a report to be broadcast tonight. "You're going to see this very soon, really soon," he said.
Hundreds of truck trailers have been loaded with food and water on the group's 44-acre compound, in preparation for the coming war.
Unfortunately for Hawkins, it is not the first time he predicted the outbreak of nuclear war.
Most recently, Hawkins set Sept. 12, 2006 as the beginning of the end.
His followers produced an on-line video with a countdown to doomsday.
In Kenya, hundreds of his followers actually hid in basement bomb shelters and donned gas masks on the date.
They went home in humiliation when there was no war.
Related
WATCH: The End of the World? Again?
WATCH: Sect Leader Predicts Doomsday
WATCH: Current and Former Yahweh Brides Speak
Hawkins says he does not care if people consider him a laughing stock.
"You know, the savior himself, told me not to worry about that. He said, 'They're going to hate you above all people on the face of the earth,' " Hawkins explained.
Former members say there is a method to Hawkins' madness, that the doomsday predictions help him make money and keep disillusioned members from leaving, for fear they will be killed when the end comes.
"He's been saying just give me two more years, we're right at the end," said former member Miriam Martin who left in 2004.
"Why would you give up now? That's how he controls people, is through fear," Martin said.
Other former members say they are required to buy doomsday food and supplies from a company that Hawkins owns personally, Life Nutrition Products.
"Everything that he preaches has to do with people buying something," said former House of Yahweh elder David Als of New York City.
Like many of the his followers, Als actually legally changed his last name to Hawkins because he became convinced that only those named Hawkins would be saved.
"I'm a Black man from New York city. We're supposed to be slick and wise to the street and he had me hook, line and sinker," Als told 20/20.
Hawkins
(Hand Out)
"No one else has the right to the tree of life, except those that keep the laws of Yahweh," Hawkins has said in his sermons, which are broadcast around the world.
Related
Kenyans Won't Buy Doomsday Prediction Again
Hawkins says as a prophet he knows that nuclear outbreak will come 'round the great river Euphrates.
In addition to dealing with the beginning of the end, Hawkins is also dealing with some serious legal problems.
The Callahan County district attorney has filed felony bigamy charges against Hawkins, alleging he has multiple wives.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and says he is being targeted because authorities do not like his brand of religion.
They have since modified their teaching by saying that September 12, 2006 was only the start of a nine month period; at the end of that time (June 12, 2007)[2], the prophesied nuclear war would start. As of December 2007 the website states that "It's 100% true and coming soon" although the nine month period has passed.
Further details are only available in the book Birth Of the Nuclear Baby: The Explosion Of Sin, which requires a "$25 donation" to obtain from the author.
Thousands Follow Self-Proclaimed Prophet Yisrayl 'Buffalo Bill' Hawkins of Abilene
By BRIAN ROSS and VIC WALTER
June 6, 2008
Nuclear war will begin next Thursday, June 12, or sooner, according to the latest prediction of self-proclaimed prophet Yisrayl "Buffalo Bill" Hawkins, the founder of a religious sect in Abilene, Texas.
Founder of a religious sect in Texas predicts the world will end June 12.
"It could be turned loose before then," Hawkins told 20/20 for a report to be broadcast tonight. "You're going to see this very soon, really soon," he said.
Hundreds of truck trailers have been loaded with food and water on the group's 44-acre compound, in preparation for the coming war.
Unfortunately for Hawkins, it is not the first time he predicted the outbreak of nuclear war.
Most recently, Hawkins set Sept. 12, 2006 as the beginning of the end.
His followers produced an on-line video with a countdown to doomsday.
In Kenya, hundreds of his followers actually hid in basement bomb shelters and donned gas masks on the date.
They went home in humiliation when there was no war.
Related
WATCH: The End of the World? Again?
WATCH: Sect Leader Predicts Doomsday
WATCH: Current and Former Yahweh Brides Speak
Hawkins says he does not care if people consider him a laughing stock.
"You know, the savior himself, told me not to worry about that. He said, 'They're going to hate you above all people on the face of the earth,' " Hawkins explained.
Former members say there is a method to Hawkins' madness, that the doomsday predictions help him make money and keep disillusioned members from leaving, for fear they will be killed when the end comes.
"He's been saying just give me two more years, we're right at the end," said former member Miriam Martin who left in 2004.
"Why would you give up now? That's how he controls people, is through fear," Martin said.
Other former members say they are required to buy doomsday food and supplies from a company that Hawkins owns personally, Life Nutrition Products.
"Everything that he preaches has to do with people buying something," said former House of Yahweh elder David Als of New York City.
Like many of the his followers, Als actually legally changed his last name to Hawkins because he became convinced that only those named Hawkins would be saved.
"I'm a Black man from New York city. We're supposed to be slick and wise to the street and he had me hook, line and sinker," Als told 20/20.
Hawkins
(Hand Out)
"No one else has the right to the tree of life, except those that keep the laws of Yahweh," Hawkins has said in his sermons, which are broadcast around the world.
Related
Kenyans Won't Buy Doomsday Prediction Again
Hawkins says as a prophet he knows that nuclear outbreak will come 'round the great river Euphrates.
In addition to dealing with the beginning of the end, Hawkins is also dealing with some serious legal problems.
The Callahan County district attorney has filed felony bigamy charges against Hawkins, alleging he has multiple wives.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and says he is being targeted because authorities do not like his brand of religion.
Hundreds of Kenyans Made Doomsday Plans Two Years Ago
Hawkins' Sect Was Booming in Kenya Until His Prediction Failed To Come True
By DANA HUGHES
NAIROBI, June 6, 2008 —
Yisrayl "Buffalo Bill" Hawkins' popularity was not limited to Texas, or even the United States. For years his House of Yahweh sect was booming in the nation of Kenya, at least until his last doomsday prediction in September 2006, which ended up dooming the group's success in the East African country.
"We do not refer to him as God but as Yahweh," Moshe Sang, one of the Kenyan sect's leaders told local Kenyan reporters in 2006, right before Hawkins' prediction that doomsday would occur on September 12th, 2006.
The House of Yahweh was introduced to Kenya by an American in 1997. By 2006 it boasted it had grown to hundreds of members, with the sect publicly declaring the world was coming to an end. They horded food, members sold all their belongings and dug underground bunkers to protect them from the nuclear bombs they believed were coming .
"A nuclear bomb will be launched from underneath the sea then move up and cover the whole sky," said Sang. "It will then spread through out the whole world, and that's what we are expecting," he added.
The Kenyan government, fearing a repeat of a situation in neighboring Uganda where hundreds were murdered in another doomsday sect, cracked down. They rounded up members and arrested them for inciting fear, not taking their children to school and forcing believers to sell all their possessions.
"The government was a bit more sensitive of cult activities and feared useless deaths like in Uganda," Pastor Gowi Odera of Kenya's National Alliance of Church Leaders, told ABC News. "They were especially concerned about minors in those cults."
Eventually members were let go, after promising to keep their doomsday predictions to themselves.
But the sect continued to insist that the world would end on September 12th. In interviews the day before, Sang displayed some of their equipment, including gas masks, protective nylon clothing and goggles. Sang, who was a strong believer with the sect, stopped his children from going to school. He told reporters he was preparing his tomb, which was going to help him and his family get through the 'forbidden year' as he termed it.
"The tomb is not a permanent place, it's only for the nuclear period, we will only get in there when the nuclear strikes, since it only moves through the wind," he said.
But when September 12th came and went without the world coming to an end, the Kenyan government did not have to arrest the leaders; they were chased out by angry villagers, and laughed at by the general Kenyan public.
"Kenyans are very religious, maybe well over half the population profess some time of Christian faith," says Odera. "They knew these people were not Jesus Christ; they're not God. They're a hoax."
Today Odera says no-one really talks about the House of Yahweh anymore.
"Religious leaders warned they were a false prophet and called them a 'passing cloud'," he says. After the world didn't end, "they kind of just fizzled out."
Wilfred Wambura contributed to this report
CTV has purchased the rights to the Hockey Night in Canada theme song
The paradox of life's journey
Precious Yutangco
STAFF REPORTERS
"It is only when we realize that life is taking us nowhere that it begins to have meaning."
-- P.D. Ospensky
"All major mystical traditions have recognized that there is a paradox at the heart of the journey of return to Origin. ...Put simply, this is that we are already what we seek, and that what we are looking for on the Path with such an intensity of striving and passion and discipline is already within and around us at all moments. The journey and all its different ordeals are all emanations of the One Spirit that is manifesting everything in all dimensions; every rung of the ladder we climb toward final awareness is made of the divine stuff of awareness itself; Divine Consciousness is at once creating and manifesting all things and acting in and as all things in various states of self-disguise throughout all the different levels and dimensions of the universe."
-- Andrew Harvey
"Look at you, you madman, Screaming you are thirsty And are dying in a desert When all around you there is nothing but water!"
-- Kabir
"After changes upon changes, we are more or less the same."
--Paul Simon
Leo (July 23 — Aug. 22)
Feeling anger and frustration in response to the problem you face is normal. Your feelings must be recognized and acknowledged, but make sure you channel them into a constructive course of action.
CTV buys hockey night song
June 09, 2008
Curtis RushPrecious Yutangco
STAFF REPORTERS
In a shock announcement just before 4 p.m. today, CTV announced the public-relations coup.
CTV and Copyright Music and Visuals, the company that controls use of the classic song composed by Dolores Claman, said that CTV had acquired all rights to the song in perpetuity.
The network said it will use the song on NHL broadcasts on TSN, RDS and during the broadcaster’s coverage of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
"The song has a long and storied history in Canadian sports and has become ingrained in the hearts and minds of hockey fans across the country, said Rick Brace, president of Revenue, Business Planning and Sports for CTV Inc.
"It is an iconic tune, embraced by Canadians everywhere, and we felt it was imperative to save it. We know we will be in hockey forever, so there’s no doubt this acquisition will create value for us," he said in a statement on TSN’s website.
"It’s an honour and a privilege to own such a cherished piece of Canadiana."
Composer Claman also released a statement.
"I am very moved by how so many Canadians have taken the hockey theme to heart," she said.
"We are so pleased the song has found a new home. Throughout our negotiations, CTV displayed a tremendous amount of respect for my family and the song. ’The Hockey Theme’ means so much to Canadians, and we know it’s in good hands with CTV."
CTV says it made an agreement in principle last Friday with Copyright Music and Visuals after CBC announced a contest to find a new theme song.
Last week, Copyright Music & Visuals announced that the contract for the CBC's Hockey Night in Canada to use the song had expired at the end of this year’s Stanley Cup final.
It said the song would not be used during next season’s broadcasts because a royalty deal could not be reached with CBC.
CBC has scrambled ever since to save face in reaction to an outraged public.
As early as this morning, CBC proposed mediation in what they said was a final attempt to make a new deal for the rights to the song.
The public broadcaster said it had asked sports lawyer Gord Kirke to step in after negotiations broke down last week between CBC and the company that owns the rights to the song.
"We feel this song is worth one last attempt to save," Scott Moore, executive director of CBC Sports, said in a statement earlier today. "Canadians are passionate about its association with Hockey Night in Canada."
Talks between CBC and Copyright Music & Visuals, which holds the rights to the song, ended Friday after the two sided failed to meet a 5 p.m. deadline.
CBC then announced that it would begin a national contest to find a replacement song, awarding $100,000 to whoever can come up with the best theme as decided by fans and experts.
It was then that CTV apparently sealed a deal.
Under terms of the now-expired contract, CBC reportedly paid about $500 per broadcast for the rights to the song.
Talks for a new deal with composer Claman had stalled over a lawsuit launched four years ago against the CBC, claiming breach of contract, particularly over the use of the song on cellphone ring tones.
Last week, Moore cited the lawsuit as an impediment to reaching a new royalty agreement.
Jeff Keay, spokesperson for the CBC, said today that the CBC is still pushing ahead with its national contest to select a new theme song.
He said Hockey Night in Canada will incorporate the new music into the show.
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