Monthly Archives: August 2017

Staying power: a poet’s place in God’s agenda – National Catholic Reporter

Posted: August 10, 2017 at 5:55 am

Milosz's poems suggest that he leaned towards Lithuania's mix of magic, pantheism and Christian mysticism. He was especially close to his maternal grandmother,Jozefa, who spent hours in prayer. Milosz later learned that her piety was blended with superstition.

Writing his first poem at 13, he published approximately 25 books, ending withAbout Journeys Through Time, a book of essays. Three other books were issued posthumously, includingNew and Collected Poems: 1931-2001, which was reprinted in April 2017.

Milosz was highly regarded for his many prose works, such as his autobiographical novel,TheIssaValley, his spiritual biography,The Land ofUlro, his reflections on literature,The Witness of Poetry, and his collection of essays refuting totalitarianism, The Captive Mind, which, he said, originated in a prayer.

Milosz wrote prose and poems about the devastation he experienced during invasions by Czarist and Soviet Russia as well as by Poland and Germany. He lived through both world wars, and afterward, his homeland was carved up and given over to the Soviets. Then, in the1990s, he witnessed the rise of the Solidarity Movement and the fall of the Soviet Union.

Through it all, he was sustained by his wife, brother, friends and faith. AsFranaszekquotes from one of Milosz's essays: "Had it not been for the Catholic faith and [being] able to pray in adulthood, I would have perished. I believed that I have a place in God's agenda, and I asked for the ability to fulfill the tasks awaiting me."

Milosz was friends with luminaries like Thomas Merton and Pope John Paul II, the latter of whom corresponded with him. Another friend, Lech Walesa, said that Milosz's poems inspired the Solidarity Movement. Ultimately, Milosz won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980 for clearly expressing "man's exposed condition in a world of severe conflicts."

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This World as Philosophically Necessary – Patheos (blog)

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In this post, I am going to consider the necessary property of God. God is often claimed to be philosophically necessary, with all other created things deemed to be contingent. I am going to challenge this prevailing idea.

First, let us consider what both terms (necessary and contingent) mean.

As mentioned, God is deemed to be necessary the fundamental foundation to reality. What might we understand by a logically necessary entity? As wiki explains:

The concept of a metaphysically necessary being plays an important role in certain arguments for the existence of God, especially theontological argument, but metaphysical necessity is also one of the central concepts in late 20th centuryanalytic philosophy. Metaphysical necessity has proved a controversial concept, and criticized byDavid Hume,Immanuel Kant,J. L. Mackie, andRichard Swinburne, among others.

Metaphysical necessity is contrasted with other types of necessity. For example, the philosophers of religionJohn Hick[2]andWilliam L. Rowe[3]distinguished the following three:

While many theologians (e.g.Anselm of Canterbury,Ren Descartes, andGottfried Leibniz) considered God as logically or metaphysically necessary being, Richard Swinburne argued for factual necessity, andAlvin Plantingaargues that God is a causally necessary being. Because a factually or causally necessary being does not exist by logical necessity, it does not exist in all logically possible worlds.[4]Therefore, Swinburne used the term ultimate brute fact for the existence of God.[5]

To me, there is a distinct potential, here, of confusingthe map with the terrain. We love to use logic and words as means to describe reality, but this does not mean they necessarily (no pun intended)arereality. After all, Christian philosophers have tried to use this technique to logic God into reality and existence, to much controversy.

Lets grant God as necessary, for the sake of argument. He is a necessary entity, existent in all possible worlds (itself a controversial idea).

Okay, so we have a necessary God with necessary properties. One must really assume that his properties are also necessary otherwise the term God as being necessary is really meaningless. We then get to some form of classical theism (the properties of which I roundly criticise in my ebookThe Problem with God: Classical Theism under the Spotlight) whereby God has the necessary ideals of perfect, or maximal, power, knowledge and love.

If God, then, as a necessary being, has necessary properties, and these properties necessarily cause a decision to create in a particular way the most perfect (since all of Gods decisions must be perfect) way then Gods decision to produce this world must also be necessary. It was the perfect choice (I cant, given the constraints on God in this way, see him being able to produce all or multiple versions of creation unless these be seen as perfect in some way) to create this world.

God, in his necessary perfection, chose to create this world. And remember, without time (before the creation of spacetime) any decision to create would not be temporal or deliberative (since deliberation takes time) and would thus be instantaneous (for want of a non-temporal term). Therefore, it really does look like creation springs necessarily from a necessary god.

Ergo, this universe is also necessary.

I cannot think of a way that the universe is contingent upon God since it would exist simultaneously with God. There would be no spacetime, so God would exist in not even a temporal sense, and the universe would coexist as a necessary extension of Gods properties.

This universeisevery possible world. Or, if there are multiple worlds within the perfect creation scenario, thentheyexist in every possible world.

In a sense, arguably, if you have a necessary God, you have some form of pantheism or panentheism where the created is merely a sort of necessary extension of God.

I will formalise this into a syllogism in my next post.

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Survey Finds Most People Are Biased Against Atheists, Including … – Smithsonian

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SmartNews Keeping you current Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel (Public Domain)

smithsonian.com August 9, 2017 12:14PM

In many parts of the world, secularism is on the rise, even in the United States where there has been a slow but steady drop in the number of people who affiliate themselves with a religion. Despite those changes, Benedict Carey at The New York Times reports that a new study reveals that an implicit bias against atheists, or those who dont believe in any supernatural deity, remains, with most peoplejudging atheists as less moral than religious people.

For the study, researchers surveyed 3,256 people in 13 countries from North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, collecting data on their age, religious affiliation and belief in god. Among brain teasers and random questions on a questionnaire, they included aquery describing a man who tortured animals as a child and as an adult went on to abduct and kill five homeless peoplewho are buried in his basement. One half of the subjects were asked: Which is more probable? 1) The man is a teacher; or 2) The man is a teacher and does not believe in any gods.

The other half were asked: Which is more probable? 1) The man is a teacher; or 2) The man is a teacher and a religious believer.

Carey reports that 60 percent of people given the option selected the man as an atheist. Only 30 percent of people given the option selectedhim as a religious believer.

Agence France-Presse reports that the bias was strongest in more religious countries including the United States, United Arab Emirates and India. New Zealand and Finland, both very secular nations, were the only countries in the study that did not show a bias against non-believers. The study appears in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.

It is striking that even atheists appear to hold the same intuitive anti-atheist bias, study co-author Will Gervais, psychology professor at the University of Kentucky,tells AFP. I suspect that this stems from the prevalence of deeply entrenched pro-religious norms. Even in places that are currently quite overtly secular, people still seem to intuitively hold on to the belief that religion is a moral safeguard.

ButRyan F. Mandelbaum at Gizmodo reports that atheists dont exactly need to worry about villagers armed with implicit biases and pitchforks. In a commentary in Naturepublished along with the recent study, Arizona State University psychologists note that most relationships are not as cut and dryas the survey question presents. Atheism is rarely the only piece of information known about interaction partners, they write, and it is possible that, when included with the social information that individuals collect naturally, atheism will be perceived as less indicative of immoral behavior.

In the United States, at least, the social stigma around atheism may have caused people tochoose to hide their non-belief, however.Daniel Cox at FiveThirtyEight reports that Gervais was also the lead author on astudy published earlier this year which found that one in three people in the U.S. surveyed in the sample did not disclose their lack of belief. Using that data, theresearchers suggest thatnumber of people who identify as atheist in the U.S. might actually be as high as 20 percent to even35 percenta significant jump fromthe 3 percent to 11 percent who have self-identified as atheists on recent Pew and Gallup polls.

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Jason Daley is a Madison, Wisconsin-based writer specializing in natural history, science, travel, and the environment. His work has appeared in Discover, Popular Science, Outside, Mens Journal, and other magazines.

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What if Trump Was an Atheist? – Patheos (blog)

Posted: at 5:54 am

This is merely a thought experiment, though it is almost undoubtedly the case anyway, but what if he was outed as an atheist or openly admitted it? There is no way he is genuinely religious. He is unbelievablynarcissistic and the only god in his life is the one he sees in the mirror; the one who lives underneath the cat-fur rug.

The thought experiment has merit, perhaps. I wonder what would happen with the cognitive dissonance that those Republican voters would experience. Maybe it would allow them to reject him, finally, with warrant, giving them good rationalisation as to why we did end up being a completely lost cause.

On the other hand, it could really act as a moment of normalisation for atheism amongst those of the rabid right. They would have to admit, if they were (in their dissonance) to maintain that Trump was the awesomest of the most awesome, that atheists are okay, and that atheism doesnt turn you into the antichrist (Obama got there first, anyways).

There is evidence to suggest that atheists are the bottom of the pile for candidates US voters would opt for. In 2011, this research by Gervais, Norenzayan and Sharifffound the following:

METHODOLOGY: With the help of fellow UBC researcherAra Norenzayanand University of OregonsAzim Shariff, Gervais posed several hypothetical questions and scenarios to 350 American adults and nearly 420 university students in Canada.

CONCLUSION: Lack of trust is the reason why some people of faith are prejudiced against atheists.

IMPLICATION: Political aspirants who dont believe in God or are members of religious minorities may need to convince voters that they are trustworthy. A 2007 Gallup poll found that only 45 percent of Americans would vote for a qualified atheist president, the lowest figure among several hypothetical minority candidates.

SOURCE: The full study, Do You Believe in Atheists? Distrust Is Central to Anti-Atheist Prejudice (PDF), is published in theJournal of Personality and Social Psychology.

How do we go about breaking this prejudice down? Would Trump admitting he was an atheist help us?

I dont like being categorised with rapists

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Hubble Telescope sees merging ‘David and Goliath’ galaxy pair – Fox News

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The Hubble Space Telescope has taken a close look at the fascinating gravitational effects caused by a diminutive dwarf galaxy as it orbits its massive neighbor. The galactic pair will eventually merge, with the dwarf being eaten but it's not going down without a fight.

NGC 1512 is a colossal barred spiral galaxy containing billions of stars, plus active regions of star formation. Hubble, a joint project of NASA and the European Space Agency, can easily detect star formation in the galaxy's outer ring. That region is dotted with many blueish HII-emission regions, meaning that blasts of powerful radiation coming from nearby young stars are ionizing the clouds of hydrogen gas. In this observation of NGC 1512, however, the bright blue inner hub of star formation takes center-stage.

Known as a "circumnuclear starburst ring," this intense star-formation region measures 2,400 light-years across. It is fed by a conveyor belt of gas streaming down the two prominent bars from the galaxy's outer rim to the galactic core (hence the "barred spiral galaxy" designation). Astronomers think that the 400-million-year-old gravitational battle between NGC 1512 and its tiny buddy, NGC 1510 (on the right in the image), is driving the massive galaxy's gas supply and starburst ring, researchers said in a statement.

Although NGC 1510 seems to be holding its own against its neighboring gravitational bully, the unfortunate dwarf galaxy faces the beginning of the end. Already, the bigger galaxy's gravity is dragging extended tendrils of gas from the tiny galaxy, and NGC 1510's stars will eventually assimilate with NGC 1512's stellar metropolis. Astronomers know this because 2015 observations of the massive galaxy revealed that the outer regions of NGC 1512's spiral arms once belonged to another galaxy, one that was cannibalized and ingested a grim fate that also awaits NGC 1510. But in the cosmic ecosystem, this is the galactic cycle of life.

Although the doomed dwarf galaxy is small, it has a big impact on its larger companion, the statement said. Observations of these effects will help astronomers learn more about the dramatic consequences galactic mergers have for star formation in massive galaxies, according to the statement.

Note: Space.com senior producer Steve Spaleta contributed to this report.

Follow Ian O'Neill @astroengine . Follow us @Spacedotcom , Facebook or Google+ . Originally published on Space.com .

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German Social Democrats rule out NATO defense spending target – POLITICO.eu

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Thomas Oppermann, Bundestag faction leader of the German Social Democrats (SPD) | Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Thomas Opperman, the SPDs parliamentary leader, doubled down on partys opposition to defense spending target backed by NATO members.

By Connor Murphy

8/10/17, 9:23 AM CET

Updated 8/10/17, 10:57 AM CET

The parliamentary leader of Germanys Social Democratic Party (SPD) rejected NATOs 2 percent of GDP defense spending target and called for strategic investment in the German armed forces in an interview published Thursday.

We think this is the wrong way, and with the SPD in the government there will be no such thing, Thomas Oppermann told Rheinische Post.

Opperman called for greater investment in Germanys Bundeswehr, rather than adhering to an he said he considers an arbitrary spending goal. Defense expenditures will increase, but this must not be followed by an irrelevant quotas logic, but a comprehensive security logic, he said.

A new SPD position paper, which Oppermann is due to in Berlin Thursday, will call for more parliamentary involvement in the development of the German armed forces, according to the Rheinische Post report.

Defense Minister Ursula Von der Leyen on Monday defended the 2 percent spending commitment which was agreed by NATO member states in 2006 saying it was in Europes best interest that Berlin keeps its word on reaching the NATO target. The SPDs rhetoric, she added, was part of a totally messed up election campaign.

Inan oped co-authored with SPD leader and Merkel-challenger Martin Schulz, the SPD official harshly criticized Von der Leyen on Sunday for pledging to step up military spending to reach the NATO target by 2024.

That would require almost doubling the current defense spending level of 37 billion, making Germany the largest military force in Europe a bad idea because of our past, Schulz and Opperman argued, suggesting moving forward on the development of a pan-European army force instead.

The SPD continues to trail the CDU by double-digits in the polls, ahead of the election on September 24.

This article has been updated.

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North Korean attack on Guam could invoke Article 5 of NATO Treaty if carried out – NEWS.com.au

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Eddie Calvo, the Governor of Guam, said on Wednesday, August 9, that there had been no change in the threat level to Guam after North Korea and US President Donald Trump traded threats. At a press conference, Calvo said, There has been a lot of rhetoric coming out, and its important to bring that message to the people of Guam that this is not a time to panic. On August 7, Trump said North Korea should not threaten the US again, and that if they do, they will be met with fire and fury. In response, the North Korean government issued a statement that it was carefully examining an attack on Guam, a US territory located in the Pacific Ocean. Credit: Facebook/Eddie Baza Calvo via Storyful

Trumps tough talk with North Korea has led a precarious situation, however experts believe people remain safe. Picture: AFP PHOTO / NICHOLAS KAMM

AN ATTACK on the tiny Pacific territory of Guam could escalate to draw in the worlds most powerful nations within 24 hours under a rarely-used clause of the NATO military alliance.

Thats if members of the North Atlantic Council make the political decision that a strike against the island would invoke the key Article 5 of NATOs collective defence strategy that deems an attack against a member state an attack against all.

NATO spokesman Dylan White would not speculate on the possibility, but said the alliance is concerned" by North Koreas pattern of inflammatory and threatening rhetoric.

We call on North Korea to refrain from further provocations and abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, as required by the United Nations, he told news.com.au.

We call on Pyongyang not to raise tensions further, and to engage in a credible dialogue with the international community.

On Wednesday, President Trump continued to ramp up his aggressive rhetoric against North Korea despite being at odds with other world leaders who deemed it unhelpful.

My first order as President was to renovate and modernise our nuclear arsenal. It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before, he tweeted.

Hopefully we will never have to use this power, but there will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world!

It follows earlier comments in which he said North Korea would see fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before if it continued to push its nuclear program, leading to a threat against Guam from the rogue state.

Meanwhile US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called for calm and said people should sleep well at night.

Nothing that I have seen and nothing that I know of would indicate that the situation has dramatically changed in the last 24 hours, he said.

North Koreas missiles are believed to be capable of hitting the mainland US. Picture: AP Photo/Lee Jin-manSource:AP

Guams status as an unincorporated territory of the United States means it is essentially considered part of the country for military purposes, despite residents not being able to vote.

Following the North Korea threat, Governor Eddie Baza Calvo said he was in touch with the White House and told residents there is no threat to our island or the Marianas.

He also reassured worried residents an attack on Guam is an attack or threat on the United States and said, Guam is on American soil.

We are not just a military installation ... I want to ensure we are prepared for any eventuality.

Article 6 of the NATO treaty states an armed attack against a member is also deemed to include their territories, vessels, forces or aircraft inside that territory.

A missile that analysts believe could be the North Korean Hwasong-12 is paraded across Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang in April. This week intelligence documents showed North Korean plans are further along than anticipated. Picture: AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, FileSource:AP

24 HOUR WINDOW

The collective defence clause was invoked for the first time by the North Atlantic Council following the 9/11 terror attacks when countries moved within 24 hours.

Within one month an alliance of nations had agreed on eight measures to be deployed in NATOs first counter-terrorism operation. It has since been used in Syria and the wake of the Ukraine-Russia crisis.

Last month the North Atlantic Council council condemned North Koreas launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile and called for UN-led sanctions on the issue.

We are deeply concerned by the persistent, provocative, and destabilising behaviour of the DPRK, including both its ongoing nuclear weapons program and its numerous tests of ballistic missiles and ballistic missile technology in 2017, a statement from the council said following the unprecedented Independence Day test.

The DPRKs flagrant disregard of international agreements and confrontational actions undermine regional stability, jeopardise the prospects for lasting peace in the Korean Peninsula, and pose a growing threat to international peace and security.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been described by Trump as wacko but many analysts believe he is hellbent on regimen preservation and is not suicidal. Picture: KRT via AP Video, File.Source:AP

Australia is regarded as a NATO partner state that has contributed troops to missions in the past but is not a fully fledged member.

Earlier this year, NATO Military Committee Chair, General Petr Pavel, said he had the utmost respect for Australian forces and the country is a highly valued, reliable and respected partner.

The Australian government failed to respond to questions regarding preparations for a nuclear attack from North Korea.

China, Guam and Hawaii have recently conducted preparations to ready their military and citizens.

Hawaiis Emergency Management Authority made headlines after issuing emergency guidance advising people to seek shelter within minutes of an attack, avoid looking directly at light and staying in blast resistant shelters for up to 14 days.

Recent news reports indicate North Korea may have succeeded in building a nuclear warhead that can fit atop of one of the regime's intercontinental missiles. WSJ's Gerald F. Seib examines what that means for the U.S., where President Donald Trump Tuesday threatened Pyongyang with "fire and fury." Photo: AP

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You read that right, President Obama’s UN Representative is believed to have made hundreds of unmasking requests. – American Center for Law and…

Posted: at 5:52 am

Weve reported for months on the frightening Obama Administration unmasking scandal and other Obama deep state efforts to sabotage the new Administration and undermine the Constitution and what we are doing about it.

The momentum is starting to shift.

Recent reports show that President Obamas National Security Advisor Susan Rice is being implicated in the unmasking scandal and leaking disgrace which is being exposed for what it is. We sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the National Security Agency (NSA). They ignored it, so we took them to federal court our second federal lawsuit against the NSA in the past few months.

Reports just this month reveal that Samantha Power President Obamas Representative to the United Nations is believed to have requested hundreds of so-called unmaskings of United States persons.

You read that right, President Obamas U.N. Representative is believed to have made hundreds of unmasking requests.

According to the Washington Free Beacon:

Former United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power is believed to have made hundreds of unmasking requests to identify individuals named in classified intelligence community reports related to Trump and his presidential transition team, according to multiple sources who said the behavior is unprecedented for an official in her position. . . .

Efforts by the former Obama administration to obtain the names of Trump allies included in raw intelligence reports have fueled speculation that subsequent leaks to the press were orchestrated by the former administration and its allies in a bid to damage the current White House and smear Trumps most senior confidantes.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, in a recent letter to Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats, expressed the Committees findings, and alarm, that senior government officials offered remarkably few individualized justifications for access to this U.S. person information.

He went on:

For example, this Committee has learned that one official, whose position had no apparent intelligence-related function, made hundreds of unmasking requests during the final year of the Obama Administration. Of those requests, only one offered a justification that was not boilerplate and articulated why that specific official required the U.S. person information for the performance of his or her official duties.

That person, the one whose position had no apparent intelligence-related function, is believed to be Obama U.N. Representative, Samantha Power.

This is outrageous and despicable.

Interestingly, her attorney denied that she committed any of the leaks, but did not deny that she was the one implicated in the Washington Free Beacon report and Chairman Nunes letter.

Sometimes whats not said is more important than what is.

In the midst of misinformation and doublespeak, the ACLJ is pressing forward to get to the bottom of this latest shocking and embarrassing story, and to keep the pressure on to hold this lawless behavior accountable.

Today we took our next big step.

We sent what is now our third FOIA request to the NSA, seeking:

records pertaining to any and all requests former United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power made to National Security Agency (NSA) officials or personnel regarding the unmasking of the names and/or any other personal identifying information of then candidate and/or President-elect Donald J. Trump, his family, staff, transition team members, and/or advisors who were incidentally caught up in U.S. electronic surveillance.

We laid out several specific requests to make sure we cover all possible angles. Heres one example:

All records, communications or briefings created, generated, forwarded, transmitted, sent, shared, saved, received, or reviewed by any NSA official or employee, where one communicant was former United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power, including any communications, queries or requests made under an alias or pseudonym, and another communicant was the Director of the National Security Agency, the Chief of the Central Security Service, SIGINT production organization personnel, the Signals Intelligence Director, Deputy Signals Intelligence Director, or the Chief/Deputy/Senior Operations Officers of the National Security Operations Center, or any other NSA official or employee, referencing, connected to, or regarding in any way communication, request, query, submission, direction, instruction, or order, whereby Samantha Power sought access to or attempted to access SIGINT reports or other intelligence products or reports containing the name(s) or any personal identifying information related to [various individuals connected to President Trump] whether incidentally collected or otherwise . . . .

In the mean time, Attorney General Sessions recently announced that his Department of Justice is stepping up the investigations into illegal leaking. This is something weve been calling for and we applaud his announcement.

The momentum continues to build, and the ACLJ will stay at the forefront of the battle to protect the Constitution, defend our national security, fight government corruption, and demand accountability. We must preserve the integrity of our nations intelligence and national security apparatus. If we fail, the consequences would be devastating. Join us. Sign our Petition today.

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The Bitcoin Bubble: Hidden Risks And The NSA – Investing.com

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These digital currencies might make fiat currencies look good. Thats how bad they are. Peter Schiff

Until proven otherwise, , and all cryptocurrencies for that matter, are faith-based currencies, just like the U.S. dollar or any other fiat currency. Instead of full faith and credit of the U.S. Government, cryptocurrencies require full faith in blockchain technology. The Daily Coin posted an interview with Ken Schortgen of The Daily Economist in its revealed that: The NSA developed blockchain technology and released the information in a white paper that has been uncovered by Ken Schortgen, Jr., The Daily Economist LINK. The white paper can found here: How To Make A Mint: The Crytotography Of Anonymous Electronic Cash NSA, Cryptology Division, June 18, 1996.

Built to be skeptics, we have been wondering why Governments and Central Banks tolerate Bitcoin and all of the other cryptos if indeed the cryptos are the digital equivalent of the gold standard. As it turns out, the NSA de facto has the ability to hack crypto blockchains. We are certain the NSA is not the only entity globally with that ability. Furthermore, the cryptocurrencies are absorbing a lot of fiat currency that likely would otherwise be flowing into gold and silver. It reminds us of GLD (NYSE:) and SLV, both of which have absorbed billions of institutional cash into two black hole vaults that have yet to withstand a bona fide independent audit.

In this episode of we bravely shred the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mystique, which are more emblematic of the global asset bubble than a suitable substitute for gold and silvers monetary function:

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Active-duty military members sue Trump over transgender ban – Washington Post

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(Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Five active-duty service members sued President Trump Wednesday over his intentions to ban transgender personnel from serving in the military.

The directive to reinstate a ban on open service by transgender people violates both the Equal Protection component of the Fifth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, states the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington by five anonymous Jane Does.

They are represented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD).

Trump announced in a series of tweets on July 26 that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.

[Trump announces ban on transgender service members ]

(Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

The military has not issued a policy on how that directive would be carried out. The suit states that upon information and belief, the White House turned [Trumps] decision into official guidance, approved by the White House counsels office, to be communicated to the Department of Defense.

Since the Obama administration lifted the ban on transgender troops in June 2016, hundreds of service members have come out and are serving openly. A Rand Corp. study commissioned by the Pentagon last year estimates that there are about 11,000 transgender troops in the reserves and active-duty military.

All five of the plaintiffs said they relied on the 2016 policy change when they notified commanding officers they were transgender. Besides the constitutional challenges, they ask the court to find Trumps intentions would be a violation of the promises government has made to members of the military.

Because they identified themselves as transgender in reliance on defendants earlier promise, plaintiffs have lost the stability and certainty they had in their careers and benefits, including post-military and retirement benefits that depend on the length of their service, the suit states.

The suit is expected to be the first of several filed once the ban is officially issued.

The plaintiffs are a Coast Guard member who has written a prospective letter of resignation; an Air Force active-duty service member of nearly 20 years who served twice in Iraq; and three Army soldiers.

In a news release, one plaintiff says: My experience has been positive and I am prouder than ever to continue to serve. I am married and have three children, and the military has been my life. But now, Im worried about my familys future.

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Active-duty military members sue Trump over transgender ban - Washington Post

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