Trump fires hawkish national security chief Bolton

Yahoo – AFP, Sebastian Smith, September 10, 2019

John Bolton denied being fired by Donald Trump, and insisted instead that
he'd resigned (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski)

Washington (AFP) - Donald Trump on Tuesday announced the firing of hawkish national security advisor John Bolton, a move widely seen as boosting the president's push to negotiate with US foes in Afghanistan, North Korea and other trouble spots.

Trump, who said he'd disagreed "strongly" with Bolton on policy, announced via Twitter "I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning."

A replacement -- the White House's fourth national security chief in less than three years -- would be named next week, Trump said.

Bolton, who had been due to give a press conference at the White House less than two hours later, denied being fired and insisted instead that he'd resigned.

The news, coming days after Trump caused uproar by revealing he was canceling secret talks with Afghanistan's Taliban, stunned Washington.

Bolton is a veteran and controversial figure closely linked to the invasion of Iraq and other aggressive foreign policy decisions. He had been seen as one of the main driving forces in the White House's muscular approach to Iran, Venezuela and elsewhere.

Famous for his large moustache and ever-present yellow legal pad, the hardline former US ambassador to the United Nations had pushed back against Trump's dramatic, though so far stumbling attempts to negotiate with the Taliban and North Korea's Chairman Kim Jong Un.

According to US media reports, the president's extraordinary, failed bid to fly Taliban leaders into the presidential retreat at Camp David last weekend sparked a major row.

National Security Advisor John Bolton was a frequent, controversial presence

alongside US President Donald Trump (AFP Photo/MARK WILSON)

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cautioned that Bolton's exit should not be interpreted as heralding strategy changes.

"I don't think any leader around the world should make any assumption that because someone of us departs that President Trump's foreign policy will change in a material way," Pompeo told reporters.

And Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin underlined that Trump and top aides remain "completely aligned" on Washington's crippling sanctions against Iran, known as the maximum pressure campaign.

But when asked if Trump was still open to a high-stakes meeting with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani at the United Nations General Assembly this month, Pompeo said "sure."

Fired or resigned?

As so often in the Trump presidency, the handling of the abrupt reshuffle appeared chaotic.

Bolton joins a stack of senior officials to have come and gone during the Republican businessman's tumultuous first term in office.

Trump, who has a habit of announcing major domestic and international news on his personal Twitter account, revealed the sacking at around midday. He said that he'd informed Bolton of his decision Monday night.

The White House press office, however, seemed unaware. It sent out a message announcing that Bolton would shortly be giving a press conference on terrorism issues alongside Pompeo.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he often disagreed 

with John Bolton (AFP Photo/MANDEL NGAN)

Bolton disputed Trump's version of events, saying that the president had not fired him in person, as he claimed, late Monday.

"I offered to resign last night and President Trump said, 'Let's talk about it tomorrow,'" Bolton tweeted.

A Fox News television reporter said Bolton texted him to say: "Let's be clear, I resigned."

Mnuchin, one of the Trump administration's most senior figures, called a reporter's question about whether the national security team was in chaos "ridiculous."

But asked if he was surprised by news of Bolton's ouster, Pompeo laughed. "I'm never surprised," he said.

Anti-war camp boost?

Trump came into office promising to extricate the United States from military entanglements. Bolton was often seen as offering a hawkish counterbalance, which Trump would then take into consideration.

"He has strong views on things but that's okay. I actually temper John, which is pretty amazing," Trump said in May.

Rob Malley, president of the International Crisis Group consultancy, said Bolton's departure could realign White House policy on Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea and Venezuela.

Trump "has had two voices whispering in his ears: the one counseling diplomacy and warning against conflict, the other recommending belligerence," he said.

"With Bolton gone, the second voice undeniably has lost its loudest proponent."

Prominent Republican Senator Rand Paul agreed, tweeting: "The President has great instincts on foreign policy and ending our endless wars. He should be served by those who share those view."

Pompeo said he did not want to discuss palace intrigue in the Trump administration.

However, he admitted what many had been saying for months: "There were many times Ambassador Bolton and I disagreed, that's to be sure."

Speaking at the White House after John Bolton's surprise exit, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo couldn't hide a smile of satisfaction as he becomes the undisputed king of President Trump's foreign policy https://t.co/BQJgGTR5ls pic.twitter.com/tNfZ3jbGAi

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 14 september 2019

Washington sets aside divisions for Bush state funeral

Yahoo – AFP, Michael Mathes, December 5, 2018

George W. Bush delivers a eulogy beside the flag-draped casket of his father 

George H.W. Bush, during his state funeral at Washington National Cathedral

(AFP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Washington (AFP) - A divided Washington led by the nation's five living presidents put on a show of unity Wednesday at the poignant state funeral of George H.W. Bush, as America bade farewell to its 41st president.

Donald and Melania Trump shared a front row pew at Washington National Cathedral with past presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and their wives as an honor guard brought Bush's flag-draped casket into the packed prayer hall.

George W. Bush delivered a rousing and deeply personal eulogy -- at times punctuated by laughter -- as he sang the praises of his father and predecessor as commander-in-chief, who died Friday at age 94.

"He was born with just two settings -- full throttle, then sleep," Bush said. "To us, his was the brightest of a thousand points of light," he added in reference to his father's signature call to volunteerism.

George W. Bush (R) and his brother Jeb Bush arrive at the state funeral of their 

father, former president George H. W. Bush, at Washington National Cathedral

(AFP Photo/Alex Edelman)

"When the history books are written, they will say that George H.W. Bush was a great president of the United States."

Bush's eulogy followed an uplifting performance by Irish tenor Ronan Tynan -- a friend of Bush who sang to the president in his dying hours.

Wednesday's state funeral caps a day-long homage that saw Bush lie in state for two days in the US Capitol rotunda.

Since Bush's death, Trump has traded his usual provocative posture for one of respect and solemnity, tweeting before heading to the cathedral about "a day of celebration for a great man."

But while the service allowed Washington to hit pause on the toxic rhetoric that has engulfed the country's politics, Trump and his Democratic predecessors appeared locked in an uneasy truce as it got underway.

Presidential couples Donald and Melania Trump, Barack and Michelle Obama, and 

Bill and Hillary Clinton shared a front row pew at the state funeral for George 

H.W. Bush at Washington National Cathedral (AFP Photo/Brendan SMIALOWSKI)

Trump arrived and promptly shook hands with Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama. But his greetings stopped there, as he failed to acknowledge Hillary Clinton, his defeated Democratic rival in 2016.

Clinton sat stone faced, looking straight ahead, and the pair did not make eye contact.

Other dignitaries in the cathedral included Britain's Prince Charles, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former Polish president Lech Walesa, former vice presidents Dan Quayle, Dick Cheney, Al Gore and Joe Biden, and former secretaries of state James Baker, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice.

Wednesday was a day of precision, patriotic ritual, and ceremony. George W. Bush and wife Laura stood stoically outside the US Capitol as an honor guard carried his father's flag-draped casket to the hearse.

The flag-draped casket of former US president George H.W. Bush is carried by a 

military honor guard into Washington National Cathedral for his state funeral 

on December 5, 2018 (AFP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

In a show of respect, Pennsylvania Avenue was lined with well-wishers as the cortege proceeded toward the Neo-Gothic cathedral in the first presidential funeral since Gerald Ford died in late 2006.

Earlier, tens of thousands of Americans had quietly filed in to the Capitol to pay their respects to a man who steered the nation through turbulent times including the end of the Cold War -- and in a style dramatically different to the combative current president.

Trump's ascendancy to the head of the Republican Party saw him exchange vitriolic attacks with the Bushes, notably slamming the presidential son's 2003 invasion of Iraq as "one of the worst decisions in the history of our country."

But he has taken pains to demonstrate unity since Bush's death, and made a low-key visit to the Capitol late Monday with First Lady Melania Trump to salute Bush's casket.

Late US President George H. W. Bush's service dog, Sully, sits by the coffin of 

the late president in the US Capitol's rotunda (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski)

'Civility and good will'

Trump declared Wednesday a national day of mourning. Many federal offices are closed along with Wall Street stock markets.

Congress also suspended votes -- even in the midst of a looming potential shutdown that requires congressional action before midnight Friday.

Bush was a decorated World War II aviator who nearly lost his life when he was shot down on a bombing mission.

He served as a congressman, envoy to China and ambassador to the United Nations, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and vice president to Ronald Reagan before winning the White House.

Profile of George H. W. Bush (AFP Photo/Gillian HANDYSIDE)

At a time of extraordinary and deep political fissures, Bush was looked to this week as a gracious servant of country who aimed to bridge the political divide.

Bush "was America's last great soldier statesman," presidential historian Jon Meacham told the guests.

"His life code, as he said, was tell the truth, don't blame people, be strong, do your best, try hard, forgive, stay the course."

After the Washington service, Bush's casket will be flown back to Houston. The former head of state will lie in repose at St Martin's Episcopal Church, where the Bushes worshipped for decades, until Thursday's funeral.

He will be interred at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Center in College Station, Texas, next to his wife, who died in April, and their daughter Robin who died of leukemia at age three.

A divided Washington led by the nation's five living presidents put on a show of unity at the poignant state funeral of George H.W. Bush, as America bade farewell to its 41st president https://t.co/YIbN23IHMB pic.twitter.com/IdZAsvQ1vb

— AFP news agency (@AFP) December 5, 2018

Workplace harassment blights industries across board

Yahoo – AFP, October 25, 2017

The Harvey Weinstein scandal illustrates the problem at its most extreme: the
disgraced Hollywood producer stands accused by around 40 actresses of charges
ranging from harassment to assault to rape (AFP Photo/STAFF)

New York (AFP) - Sexual harassment in the workplace is a global scourge. From sport to cuisine, from fashion to finance, here is a round-up of industries in the United States dogged by revelations in the wake of Harvey Weinstein's disgrace.

Cinema

Since early October, more than 50 women have accused the Hollywood mogul Weinstein of sexual misconduct ranging from inappropriate touching to rape and stretching back decades. His accusers include Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow.

This week actress Dominique Huett filed a lawsuit charging that The Weinstein Company was complicit in the abuse in knowing for years of its co-founder's "repeated acts of sexual misconduct with women."

Oscar-winner Reese Witherspoon has said she was 16 when she was assaulted for the first time by an unnamed director, saying she felt "anger" at "the agents and the producers who made me feel that silence was a condition of my employment."

Dozens of accusations have been made against director James Toback for unwanted sexual encounters. Pop singer Bjork also said she was harassed by an unnamed director, saying "it is a universal thing that a director can touch and harass his actresses at will and the institution of film allows it".

Fashion

Conde Nast this week axed Terry Richardson, a 65-year-old New York photographer famed for sexually explicit images, effectively blacklisting his work from some of the biggest magazines in the world.

The media company acted only after a British newspaper called him the "Harvey Weinstein of fashion" despite the years of allegations.

US model Cameron Russell launched an Instagram campaign called #MyJobShouldNotIncludeAbuse that swiftly garnered more than 70 anonymous accounts of abuse, lewd behavior and harassment.

Finance

Fidelity Investments, one of the biggest finance firms in the world, sacked two senior executives including one who ran a $16 billion tech fund, over sexual harassment allegations, it has emerged post-Weinstein.

The company is presided over by CEO Abigail Johnson, widely considered the most powerful woman in the male-dominated world of US finance.

"We simply will not, and do not, tolerate this type of behavior," a company spokesman told AFP by email.

Food

Celebrity chef John Besh, who fed world leaders and appeared on television, stepped down from his company on Monday following complaints of sexual harassment at his restaurants.

But he denied an abusive culture at his company where women alleged co-workers and supervisors engaged in unwanted touching, made inappropriate comments, and at times tried to coerce women for sex.

"The beginning of the end of institutionalized Meathead Culture in the restaurant business," tweeted celebrity TV chef Anthony Bourdain.

Media

Fox News has long been rocked by allegations that its late former chairman Roger Ailes and ex-star presenter Bill O'Reilly settled multiple allegations of sexual harassment brought by female colleagues.

The New York Times reported last week that O'Reilly, who has since been fired, settled one harassment claim for $32 million in January.

"What on Earth would justify that amount? What awfulness went on?" former Fox anchor Megyn Kelly said on her NBC morning show on Monday.

Leon Wieseltier, a prominent editor at The New Republic, apologized this week after women accused him of sexual harassment, The New York Times reported.

"I am ashamed to know that I made any of them feel demeaned and disrespected," he reportedly wrote.

Music

Shock rocker Marilyn Manson announced late Tuesday that he had "decided to part ways" with longtime band member Jeordie White, whose former girlfriend accused him of rape. "I wish him well," Manson tweeted, offering no further details.

Politics

Former US president George H.W. Bush, 93, issued an apology on Wednesday after an actress accused him of groping her from his wheelchair four years ago and telling a dirty joke with his wife Barbara by his side.

"President Bush would never -- under any circumstance -- intentionally cause anyone distress," said a spokesman.

An open letter is circulating in Illinois that, without naming individuals outlines incidents of powerful male politicians making inappropriate advances toward female staff in the midwestern state.

More than 140 female politicians and staffers signed a similar open letter in California last week.

In Europe, lawmakers debated ways to end all forms of sexual harassment and were due to vote on a resolution on the subject Thursday.

Sport

Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast McKayla Maroney revealed on October 18 that she was molested throughout her career, starting at the age of 13, by former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar.

Nassar, who is facing trial on more than 20 counts of assault, molested her at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo, she said.

More than 350 gymnasts were reportedly abused, according to the Indianapolis Star and the scandal forced the resignation of USA Gymnastics chief Steve Penny earlier this year. 

Fox dumps embattled host over harassment allegations

Yahoo – AFP, April 19, 2017

Bill O'Reilly, shown in this 2016 photo, had originally planned to return to
 his nightly show on April 24 after taking a "long-planned break" (AFP Photo/
Ilya S. Savenok)

New York (AFP) - Fox News severed its relationship with Bill O'Reilly on Wednesday, dumping America's most-watched cable news anchor over a flood of sexual harassment allegations and dwindling advertising.

"After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the company and Bill O'Reilly have agreed that Bill O'Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel," 21st Century Fox said in a statement.

The announcement followed growing reports that the corporation headed by Rupert Murdoch intended to sack the veteran host and just hours after the right-wing television personality was photographed shaking hands with Pope Francis in Rome.

The combative host, who has worked at Fox for 21 years, is currently on what he called a "long-planned break" but had originally intended to return to his nightly show on April 24.

New York magazine reported Wednesday that executives were preparing to announce O'Reilly's departure before his return from Italy and were holding emergency meetings to discuss how to sever the relationship without damaging the network.

O'Reilly shot into the headlines earlier this month when the New York Times reported that he and Fox had paid five women a total of $13 million in cases spanning 15 years, in exchange for their silence and agreement not to sue.

O'Reilly had not directly denied the allegations, saying he was "vulnerable to lawsuits from individuals who want me to pay them to avoid negative publicity."

His dismissal on Wednesday comes less than a year after Roger Ailes, the 76-year-old former executive who built up Fox News, resigned under a cloud of his own sexual harassment accusations.

President Donald Trump, an avid Fox News watcher, had leapt to O'Reilly's defense following the New York Times report, calling him "a good person."

But despite rising ratings, dozens of companies yanked their advertising from his show.

"The O'Reilly Factor" has been hosted by a rotating cast of substitutes in his absence, including Dana Perino, former spokeswoman for president George W. Bush.

Fox News boss Ailes looking at exit: media

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Blair defends Iraq war after damning inquiry report

Yahoo – AFP, Alice Ritchie, July 6, 2016

Iraq Inquiry chairman John Chilcot presents the findings of his report at the QEII
Centre in London, on July 6, 2016 (AFP Photo/Dan Kitwood)

London (AFP) - Former British prime minister Tony Blair on Wednesday made a passionate defence of the 2003 war in Iraq, after a long-awaited official inquiry condemned it as woefully executed and based on flawed evidence.

His voice cracking with emotion, Blair said he had "more sorrow, regret and apology than you may ever know or can believe" for some mistakes in the planning of a war that deeply divided Britain.

But, in a two-hour press conference, he stuck resolutely to his defence, as more than 100 anti-war protesters rallied in London, shouting: "Blair lied, thousands died" and "war criminal Tony Blair."

Former prime minister Tony Blair said 

he acted "in good faith and in what I

 believed to be the best interests of the

country" (AFP Photo/Stefan Rousseau)

"I believe we made the right decision and the world is better and safer" without Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Blair told reporters.

The long-awaited Chilcot report offered a damning verdict on Britain's role in the US-led war, detailing the flawed intelligence, questionable legal basis and "woefully inadequate" preparation for the occupation.

Iraq's descent into violence and loss of life following the invasion saw 150,000 Iraqis killed by the time most British troops left in 2009.

The report said Britain deployed troops before diplomatic options had been exhausted.

It also highlighted how Blair wrote to president George W. Bush in July 2002, the year before the war saying: "I will be with you, whatever."

The inquiry found that "military action in Iraq might have been necessary at some point. But in March 2003 there was no imminent threat from Saddam Hussein".

Shortly after Blair had responded to the report, current Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn -- a top figure in the anti-war campaign -- directly contradicted the former Labour premier.

"The invasion and occupation of Iraq was a catastrophe," Corbyn, who formed the Stop the War coalition, said in a speech to the families of British soldiers who died.

"I now apologise sincerely on behalf of my party for the disastrous decision to go to war in Iraq," he said.

'No lies, parliament not misled'

The war was justified at the time by claims that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, but they were never found and the intelligence was later withdrawn.

Inquiry chairman John Chilcot laid the blame for this firmly on spy chiefs, clearing Blair's officials of "improperly" influencing a key intelligence paper published in September 2002.

The report also criticised Blair for failing to challenge Bush on the lack of planning for the post-invasion phase -- and dismissed his assertion that the impact of local militia and Iran could not have been predicted.

Britain's Iraq War Inquiry said Tony Blair (left) promised George W. Bush in 2002 that

 he would be with him on Iraq "whatever" happened, nearly a year before the US-led

invasion (AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards)

"I accept that especially in hindsight we should have approached the situation differently," said Blair, who was prime minister from 1997 to 2007.

But he added: "There were no lies, parliament and cabinet were not misled, there was no secret commitment to war. The intelligence was not falsified and the decision was made in good faith."

Iraq remains plagued by sectarian violence -- on Sunday at least 250 people were killed by a Baghdad suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group.

Blair rejected claims the war led to the rise of Islamist groups in the region, saying Saddam was "himself a wellspring of terror" -- but admitted many disagreed.

'I hold him responsible'

Relatives of some of the 179 British soldiers who died in Iraq said they would scrutinise the findings for possible grounds for legal action against Blair and other officials.

"The inquiry has confirmed all our fears that these young men and women were deployed on the back of a falsehood," said Roger Bacon, whose son Matthew, 34, died in 2005.

The legality of the invasion was not in his remit, but Chilcot said the process of deciding the legal basis for war was "far from satisfactory".

"We have concluded that the UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted. Military action at that time was not a last resort," he said.

A detail of a declassified handwritten letter sent by the then British Prime Minister

 Tony Blair, to former U.S President George W. Bush, is seen as part of the Iraq Inquiry

 Report presented by Sir John Chilcot at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London, 

Wednesday, July 6, 2016. The head of Britain's Iraq War inquiry has released a 

damning verdict on a conflict he says was mounted on flawed intelligence, executed

 with "wholly inadequate" planning. (Jeff J Mitchell/Pool via AP)

The families are not the only ones considering legal action against Blair -- a cross-party group of MPs is also looking into the possibility, including of taking a case to the International Criminal Court.

The war, which at one point saw 46,000 British troops deployed, mostly in southern Iraq around the strategic oil hub of Basra, still looms large over British politics.

Britain's scarring experience in Iraq has made it deeply wary of committing ground troops to international military interventions in countries like Syria and Libya.

Retired civil servant Chilcot said his report was "an account of an intervention which went badly wrong, with consequences to this day".

In a statement to the House of Commons, Prime Minister David Cameron said: "We cannot turn the clock back but can ensure that lessons are learned and acted on".

Rage against Blair as families mourn Iraq war dead https://t.co/q06JFb9D7l pic.twitter.com/4ZpUxakiFg

— AFP news agency (@AFP) July 6, 2016

Related Article:

UK press condemn Blair 'arrogance' over Iraq war

Matthew message (Channelled by Suzanne Ward, March 20, 2016)

Matthew Ward - April 20, 2016

Matthew Ward

With loving greetings from all souls at this station, this is Matthew. We begin by addressing the issue that most of your expressed concerns pertain to, global reset. What is its purpose, who is behind it, and how will it affect your bank accounts and investments? While we have not used the more recently-coined term, “global reset,” several years ago we started talking about what it is—the changeover from your current monetary system, which has no foundation whatsoever, to a system based on precious metals. The transition process will be handled as smoothly as possible to minimize disruption in financial services and anyone whose money has been honestly earned and invested need have no concerns.

Whoever sets the rules for the world’s banking and lending institutions and interest rates controls the economy. After individuals in Bavaria who felt superior to the masses designated themselves “the Illuminati” and subsequently expanded their influence in all directions, that secret society has applied their rules worldwide. They did so with ease, as long before they came on the scene, the stage had been set by a few rich and powerful families whose greed, ingenuity and ruthlessness gave them economic control.

Global reset is a significant step toward ending that centuries-long control. Although the term is not used, its purpose—to stabilize the global economy by putting all currencies on the gold standard—is one of several provisions in NESARA, the acronym for National Economic Security and Reformation Act that was written by some of Earth’s Golden Age master planners in collaboration with evolved residents of Earth. Even today relatively few people are aware of this United States legislation signed by President Bill Clinton in 2000 because those who knew about it were bound by a “gag order” that he and other Illuminati members of the government imposed.

After the Act became publicized to some extent via dissemination of information transmitted by off-planet sources to their receivers, the government set up a disinformation Web site—National Economic Stabilization [later changed to Security] and Recovery Act—and incorrect information about NESARA was circulated to mislead people who had heard about it. Never has it been an investment program, nor does it include the delivery of “prosperity packages,” depositing millions of dollars in bank accounts or cancelling legitimate debts.

The authentic NESARA was to be announced worldwide and go into effect September 12, 2001. To prevent that world-changing event, President George W. Bush and his Illuminati colleagues ordered the infamous betrayal of their country commonly known as “9/11.” That also let them move forward on their pre-planned invasion of Iraq under the “war on terror” banner.

It would be natural to wonder why a program that has monumental global ramifications began with legislation in the United States. First, NESARA’s provisions had to be framed within your laws; otherwise, it would be a matter of souls from other civilizations imposing their ideas upon the people of Earth, and universal laws prohibit that kind of interference even when it is in the people’s best interests.

Second, it was imperative that the profound changes the Act contains be implemented first in the United States because it was the most Illuminati-ridden and the most powerful nation in your world. Although the latter status now shares the spotlight, that government’s actions still heavily influence what happens in many other countries. And it was necessary to act on NESARA’s provision that changes the United States’ corporate status that had been surreptitiously set up by the Illuminati to a republic, as was intended by the colonists who waged the war for independence.

The Act’s primary economic thrust is something that could not be spelled out in any legislation: legally obtaining the vast wealth that has been illegally and immorally amassed by the Illuminati and using those funds to eliminate impoverishment, which, by and large, is of their creating. Let us cite an example that you may remember from previous messages. The hurricane that devastated Haiti was caused by the Illuminati’s weather control technology; after the storm subsided, former US presidents Bush and Clinton went there to divert into their own pockets the monies donated for aid and reconstruction. As for the people of Haiti, these six years later they still are living in unsanitary, substandard conditions just as before the hurricane hit, and many residences are makeshift hovels amidst the rubble of destroyed communities.

The unconscionable disparity between the haves and the have-nots in your world caused an imbalance in Earth’s energy field that must be remedied, and other NESARA provisions also are designed to do that. They cancel debts incurred through IMF loans; end usurious interest rates; topple the privately-owned Federal Reserve System, whose tentacles span the globe, and its collection agency, the IRS; and end the currency trading that has enabled the Illuminati to reap fortunes, and that is where global reset fits in.

Recently a reader wrote: “I remember last year, or the year before...he [Matthew] said we wouldn’t get the global money exchange till 2017.” That is a considerable misinterpretation of what we said:

That said, we happily tell you that the decade of delay in your society’s advancement will end in your year 2017, a most propitious timeframe indeed with a celestial window similar to the one during the December 2012 solstice that eased Earth into fourth density. [September 23, 2014]

After that message went out, numerous readers had questions about that statement, and we want to mention one: Do you mean that no important developments can happen until the end of 2017? Dear brothers and sisters, important developments have been happening ever since Earth embarked on her ascension course 80-some years ago! However, it is likely that the first development to be unmistakably obvious to your whole world will be global reset. This complex process requires the cooperation of a large number of national leaders, and, with ever-rising vibrations, their agreement to proceed could come this year. If not that soon, please don’t be disappointed—an honest, secure foundation for your global economy is on the near horizon.

The “Panama papers” will lead to another significant economic reform. The international law firm whose records were hacked and released to the media always has acted within the laws that regulate the establishing of shell companies; firms in the United States and other countries that also set up these kinds of companies for their clients are regulated as well. After providing this service, the firms no longer are involved. While it has long been known that many wealthy individuals are using shell companies to hide their money and avoid paying taxes on it, there was no evidence to prove their criminal activity. The Panamanian firm’s files with names of their clients’ companies gave a starting point for the ongoing investigation into the maze of illegal steps taken by the owners to cover their tracks, discoveries that will result in striking down the laws that permit the formation of “shells.”

“This year I've been receiving a lot of messages from different people about the tithe. I would like to know what Matthew has to say about it.” Giving 10% of one’s income to the church was a Vatican edict that enabled popes and others high in the church hierarchy to live in opulence and parish priests to live comfortably while poverty was the lot of many in the Catholic congregation. Other religions adopted the tithe to build grand churches to “praise God.” Church is nota building, it is each individual’s personal relationship with God; sharing from the heart is godliness, the tithe was devised by man with greed as its taproot. When the peoples realize that Christianity was organized by the heads of church and state to control the masses and enrich themselves and other religions also were corrupted by the infiltration of dark minds, all dogmas will fall by the wayside and the pureness of spirituality will endure.

“I just heard about this movement for a new world government. Matthew assured us this would neverhappen!!!!” In many messages we have assured you that the Illuminati never will attain their goal of world domination. Without knowing what this reader heard, all we can say to all of you is, please do not associate a centralized governing body with One World Government or New World Order, two designations for the Illuminati’s global domination plan that includes eliminating most of the population—the “useless eaters,” as attributed to Henry Kissinger. We reassure you, that plan is doomed because their global network came apart at the seams and the fragments are unraveling.

Freedom burns in the heart of humankind, yet rarely have Earth’s peoples lived freely. For long ages strongmen increased their landholdings and power by brutal conquest—troops were forced into battle; untold numbers were killed, captured, or sold into slavery; and all except the privileged few lived at bare subsistence level. After governing systems were labeled, the Illuminati made a mockery of democracy by putting ones within their ranks as candidates; rigging elections; and bribing, blackmailing, threatening or assassinating members of governments. They declared what country must be fought to keep us safe from that kind of government or that ideology, and they started civil and international wars.

Like their forbearers, they thrived on war. By producing and selling weapons, ammunitions and other war machinery to both sides, they profited handsomely. By setting new national borders or simply taking over a country and subjugating its populace, they kept expanding their empire. By infiltrating governments, military forces, intelligence agencies, judicial and economic systems, religions, education, media, commerce, multinational corporations, the medical field, film industry and entertainment venues, eventually they controlled everything that impacts life in your world. By relentlessly creating fear, grief, unjustness and poverty, conditions that produce the energy that fuels them, they have kept your world in their clutches.

That long sad chapter of your history is nearing its end. It is Gaia’s desire that all peoples of Earth live freely, peaceably, cooperatively across boundaries, across seas, and all share equally in the planet’s natural abundance. In keeping with her desire, the best aspects of your governing philosophies and visionary ideas will be blended into a global system led by individuals with moral and spiritual integrity and whose wise leadership will maintain peace and prosperity. Beloved family, the world you are helping to create in linear time and exists in the continuum—Earth’s Golden Age abloom in all its glory—is grandly flourishing within that benevolent governance.

“If Light on the planet actually is continually intensifying, why is there still so much random violence? Why aren’t peace talks successful in ending wars? It is lamentably so that progress in those respects is moving slowly. By and large, this is due to individuals’ resistance to change what they are accustomed to—a belief, policy, tradition, procedure, habit or anything else that is familiar. Let us give an example that you may not have considered as a deterrent to raising the consciousness level and spiritual awareness of your society.

Some candidates running for office in the United States are pledging adherence to the Constitution, a document compiled when owning slaves was white people’s right and only men were considered capable of voting intelligently. Well before the Bill of Rights granted citizenship to former slaves and permitted women to cast ballots, there was A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. The second amendment, written about 225 years ago, provided for the young country’s readiness in case the British tried to regain control and arms were muskets. Yet many citizens cite this amendment as their right to have weapons designed for today’s battlefields, and some believe they will need to use those weapons when “… they’re going to declare martial law so they can take our guns away.” Energy generated by those thoughts and feelings not only adds momentum to the proliferation of weapons, it is manifesting a standoff because it’s conflicting with energy directed toward ending violence and achieving a world at peace.

By no means is that the only resistance factor, but its deterrence to an awakened society needs to be recognized. What is greatly heartening is, as vibratory levels keep rising, increasingly people will become enlightened and eagerly welcome progressive changes.

“Would you please be so kind as to ask Matthew about the flat earth and the firmament as mentioned in the ancient scriptures and also, in the bible.” We say that individuals who long ago recorded their celestial observations did so without the knowledge that a solar system with one flat planet amidst the spheres defies universal laws of physics. The belief that Earth is flat gives no credence to your scientific knowledge, and it is the same with the belief that a few thousand years ago God created Earth in six days.

We also have been asked about the “New Earth,” described as a pristine planet where light beings will be transported while the dark ones stay on the “first” Earth to continue battling and devastating the environment. Eons ago in linear time the soul Gaia chose to incarnate as a planet, which somewhere along the line came to be called Earth, and she has no intention of abandoning her body or occupying two. Your technology, which has been suppressed and misused by the Illuminati, and the advanced technology that your universal family will bring when they can safely join you, will restore Earth to her original Eden self. It is her destiny to once again be a healthy, beauteous, peaceful homeland for all of her residents.

Lighted beings throughout this universe honor your steadfast service that is bringing ever nearer that wondrous era, and we are with you in loving spirit all along your journey.

LOVE and PEACE

Suzanne Ward

Website: The Matthew Books

Email: suzy@matthewbooks.com

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