"Going from Dark to Light" – (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

Kryon.com, June 24, 2017

This live channelling was given in Buffalo, New York

Lee Carroll

To help the reader, this channelling has been revisited [by Lee and Kryon] to provide even clearer understanding. Sometime information is even added or condensed. Often what happens live has implied energy within it, which carries a kind of communication that the printed page does not. So enjoy this enhanced message given in Buffalo.

Greetings, dear ones, I am Kryon of Magnetic Service. I want you to put a bubble around this place, blocking out all other sounds and concepts. There is an energy here for you, and for some of you this day of teaching is an energy of "a-ha!" It's an energy that isn't new, for it's remembering.

Dear ones, for many of you there will be many of these rememberings, and this is what you expected at this time. You are going to start remembering the things of ancient days that made sense. These are the things you learned and experienced as shamanic beings in your past. The ancients were you, old soul, and there's a lot to remember.

You'll remember the various prophecies that even you, as ancients, participated in - knowing at some level you'd actually be in that future some day - and now here you are. All of these things began to make sense within the feelings that you are now starting to have. This particular channel is one that asks a question, "How are you going to perform life now, going from the dark to the light?" When you, as an old soul, have literally been on the planet for thousands of years, from the very creation story, you are literally imbued with the knowledge of light and dark. You've been alive at some level, civilization after civilization. You've even been here in civilizations that history books don't know about yet.

That's how old you are. Yet each time you were on this planet, you returned into a low consciousness. On a scale of one to 10, meaning one is starting consciousness and 10 is the wisest consciousness, Human civilization is still only at about three-and-a-half. That is as far as it has developed within any civilization on this planet. Be aware that some started with more, but de-volved into what you have now. You have lived thousands of years within an older energy, and here you are with a changing energy where light is starting to show itself and where darkness is starting to flail in its dysfunction.

Low consciousness (darkness) is losing because the very attributes of what used to feed it are no longer viable. The systems that featured the lack of integrity and greed are going to start to crumble. Different parts of the planet will be affected first, and others will follow. However, they will crumble because light is winning. How are you doing personally? How will it be, walking into the light from thousands of years of darkness? What habits are you going to carry into this new era that will keep you in the dark?

I wish to share with you just a few attributes in these few moments. These will be what you call food for thought, old soul. You are the hope of the planet, the light of the planet, old soul. You are the experienced ones of the planet, yet so many of you are still working the puzzle in the dark. How are you going to do it? I'm going to make a list of attributes, as I often do, and it's not a long one. The list will represent steps and insights into the process of moving from the dark to the light.

Belief

Like so many other lists we have given you, number one goes like this: Do you believe it? Do you really believe it? We've given channels about health and your ability to mine the Akash. We've spoken about you, talking to your cells and working with your innate. In all of these, number one is always: Do you believe it? The reason that this step is primary and the most important is that unless your consciousness takes it in as truth, the rest of your body hasn't got a chance. You are the boss of your cells and your consciousness talks to that which is your innate, and you have to be on board with all of it. You have to make it your own. Do you believe it? Do you really believe a shift is taking place?

As you look around the planet and see all that is happening in business and government, you may see something odd. Although these things all happened regularly in an old energy, they are floundering in this new energy, or at least appearing to be inappropriate. You have never seen this energy, which has never been tested in your lifetimes. No Human has ever seen these coming attributes yet. If you take salt-water fish and put them into fresh water, they will die unless there is a mechanism for them to refine their metabolism. They are aquatic, but not with that type of water. You're moving from dark to light, and although you have lived many lives, the paradigms are different. You will have to adjust. So number one is that you have to believe it.

Is this really happening on the planet, or is it something you heard at a seminar during a channel? Is it wishful thinking - something that you are not really on board with - or are you a part of it? If you are, then you have to say, "I see it! Wow, it's really happening! I am in the right place at the right time and I am part of the shift. It's one of the grandest things that has happened on the planet. I am alive at the right time, and I came for this."

Some of you may be super analytical and say, "I couldn't have come for this new darkness/light shift because I'm too old. This or that is wrong with me, so I can't proceed with something so different with so much change." Dear one, the creation of light is something you do best no matter who you are, how old you are or what's happening in your body. The creation of compassion and light is consciousness working in its most elegant way, and all of you can do this.

There are so many who have said, "I'm not coming back. I've done my job!" Yes, you are! I'll say it again and again. You wouldn't miss the party! Dear ones, you're not going to make the same mistakes you did this time. You will come in with freshness and an Akashic remembrance that will create wisdom that is new. That's what is going to happen later, but for now we need you, old soul. You are here now to literally win this war of light and dark while you're still alive, and that is why we offer you information for extended life when you start to understand how you can heal your body, talk to your cells, and create that which medicine has said is impossible.

Some are sitting here right now and you've already done it. I know who's here, and I know who sits in front of me. Miracles abound with you and synchronicities are here in the audience. I know what has happened in your life. Spirit knows. You are so ripe for this information! Once you have decided that it's real, and decide to own it for yourself, then you can begin the journey into the light. Next you have to ask: If it's real, what am I going to do to cooperate with it? What changes within me because I have cognized or owned the fact that there is a dark/light shift happening? This is the fulfillment of the prophecy of the ages, and you are in a time that is unusual and ripe with change. What is your next step? What are you going to do?

Old Consciousness Habits

Human, you contain old habits and this is nothing to be ashamed of or be guilty about. Habits are habits, and you've done what you've done to survive all your life, and now the fabric of what you are used to has started to shift. So what if you were to analyze your reaction to things? Are you a complainer? You may not even realize you are because it's so easy to chime in with other complainers without thinking about it. Did you know this is a habit? It's a cultural habit. You may not actually believe the things that you say, but it's a habit.

Do you have a positive approach to the future? You may say you do, but when others around you say, "We're all doomed and it will never get better. It's all going downhill!" Do you say nothing and nod your head yes? That's easy to do.

Perhaps you are more proactive. Perhaps, without being contrary or anti-social, you instead think about the negative statements and say, "Well, I'm not really sure. I've heard some good things. I'm a little more positive than that." Perhaps you have learned to be more positive without stating something that would make your friends uncomfortable or wrong? Have you figured out the diplomacy of common sense and balance? Perhaps you have figured out how to go against the grain of the negative habits of those around you, yet not be seen as somebody who is out of touch, but rather one who is forward thinking and positive? There's a difference.

With what you now know about the shift, can you start looking at things differently? What thing is possible now, when before you thought it wasn't? In your own life, will you start taking stock of perhaps of what might be instead of that which you've already decided can't be? I'm talking to some here who have defined the planet and themselves, and feel that nothing will change it. That's just not true, dear ones. I gave a channel recently about the delusions of the darkness and the great untruths and one untruth is this: Nothing will ever change; Human nature will always be the same, and history proves it. Can you get out of the box of the past and start looking forward to something you don't expect?

When somebody says to you, "Look, these are the facts. Cleaning this up just can't happen! Look, these are the facts! This is what happened in the past over and over, and it will continue to happen." Can you then say, "I don't know how it's going to happen, but I feel confident that we are not the same as in the past, and the future is not what we've been told. You see, we don't know everything. You don't know what you don't know and, therefore, there is hope - not just hope, there's promise"? Are you one who believes in the shift? How, then, do you change old habits to show it? That was number two.

Marketing the Drama and Unseen Truth

Number three: There are some very old energies in your society and in your culture that have always been the same and represent past Human nature, and you have to decide what to do with them. You may not be able to change them, but you have a choice on what to do with them.

If you believe in the shift and you are starting to think more positive, then let me tell you something that will help. There is light on this planet that is not being reported. There is the beginning of high consciousness ideas and new thought about the future of humanity in very powerful places. These are seeds of new thought that are beginning to grow, and some of them make so much sense and are elegant, yet you'll never know about them. The reason? Your media is filled with the old dark consciousness of drama above all else and many of you willingly create a platform to sustain it.

Some of you will come home from work and feel it's a nice idea to turn on the media and watch all of the horrible things that happened on the planet that day. Perhaps you don't want the news, so you go for entertainment instead. So you turn on a program where you can watch families in drama, arguing and complaining. What I'm telling you, dear ones, is that your media is broken, and you watch it anyway.

Right now, it continues in the old energy and the management in charge thinks it knows best what you and your neighbors want. So it's going to deliver darkness on a regular basis, and if there's nothing dark, it will create it for you. That is what you're faced with. Here is my advice. Select the media carefully that you believe is true and accurate. Wouldn't you rather have fun things to watch? Perhaps you'd like to watch cute pets or animals doing fun things? How about children doing amazing and hilarious things, or great stories of heroism with uplifting endings? How about amazing nature or comedy that is hilarious? Right now with new devices, you can see all of that as much as you want, without commercials. This is the newest trend and evolution of your media selection - personal control over programs in your home, without commercial interruption. Did you see this happening and wonder why now?

So the solution to drama-biased media is simple: Don't watch or listen to standard broadcast! Instead, find out about the alternates and be selective. Select news that is less biased in bringing you full-time drama. Of course, you need to stay in touch with what is happening, but you don't have to accept a program that is dedicated to enhancing and promoting the drama of the day and making it worse - or that gives no news at all about the good things going on.

I say this because broadcast not only is broken, it's dangerous, since it gives false impressions of the overview of the planet. They are stuck in the old energy and haven't caught up yet with the overview of what might really be happening on the planet. Not yet. Even the channels that will give you supposedly good education and history are biased in ways that you would not even expect. They continue to believe in slanting even historic or documentary stories to be horrific and dark. They believe that is what people really want.

What would happen if these companies started programming things people really wanted to watch? What would happen is exactly what they want, and their revenues would go up! I hope they're listening. There will come some day, dear ones, where there'll be more than one good news channel and you can tune in to hear the most heroic and heart-rendering things that have happened on that day on the planet. It will be balanced, perhaps with some other things that also happened. But it will be a balance that you have not seen yet anywhere.

Disabling Drama

Let me give you another: Dear ones, some of you have friends, family and colleagues at work who are difficult to be around. Each time you show up, there is drama. It hurts your heart. Sometimes it makes you afraid to be there, and it always makes you tired. It's not anything you can change. It's the nature of darkness.

I want to tell you something I've never said before. There are two kinds of situations here and two kinds of answers to these kinds of issues. One is consistent drama. If this is something that is happening where you now live, it would serve you, old soul, to find an avenue out of the drama, whatever that means to you. Disengage from the drama and when you do you're going to find that you're going to live longer, light is going to come in, and you're going to laugh more.

Lightworker, listen to me. Old soul, listen to me. Get out of the drama. Don't let any situation go to a dramatic place over and over and over while you sit there and let it. If you cannot control it, if you cannot be part of changing it, then remove yourself. Why would you sit around poison? Why would you continue to ingest things that are going to kill you? Then why stay with drama?

Two is temporary drama. The hardest one? Drama often spins and spins in families and it's the reason that so many of you in this room and listening have disengaged from the core family. You have become the black sheep. Actually, you are the white sheep and what is black is the drama that the family spins within! That is why holidays are so difficult for you. It's a time where there is an obligation to visit and, in the process, you must pop back into the family drama for a day or two and it's very uncomfortable, often confrontational, and difficult.

When you go, don't let them push your anger or frustration buttons. Stay balanced and be ready for potential family drama. If they try to get you to be involved in their drama process, just stay balanced and show them what you have learned - how to be positive and not be affected by their process.

This is difficult, but if you can do it, they notice. They notice that they can't upset you or frustrate you or bully you with something that is very old, karmically not tuned to you any longer or inappropriate. No matter how much they try, you laugh it off and clearly are not "taking the bait". You have no idea how empowering this is for you and how much light it creates in dark places. You just won't "play" drama with them. This is what mastery is really about.

Role of the Inner Child 

I want you to invite the inner child back into your life. Can you remember, dear ones, a time where you had nothing to worry about? Can you remember when the biggest issue in your life was how long you could play and when you had to come back in the house? That wonderful feeling of release from life's issues is still inside. It's not an invitation to be irresponsible, but rather it's an invitation to find the joy of the child and to paste it back upon your current life when you need to.

This creates a more relaxed Human and a kindness and balance that only the remembrance of the innocence of a child can create. This is a critical step to staying balanced and not letting the adult world dictate your depression or your clinical feelings toward life.

This actually may be the hardest of the steps because of what is around you and the situations you encounter and the increasing battle of light and dark. Within all of this, I'm asking you to find joy. In order to do that, you bring back remembrances of the most joyful things that have ever happened to you. This often has to do with your childhood. You create the feelings of the day before Christmas, or your birthday or the day before some event that you've been looking forward to for so long. The excitement that you have for these things makes you want to jump up and down and smile. Life is good.

These things are all still part of the inner child within you. Dear ones, the evolved Human Being is the one who has the opportunity to have this as part of every day life until the last breath. It doesn't just belong to children. It belongs to an evolved Human Being. That's what makes the difference between the old and the new.

Compassion will play its part here naturally. It becomes automatic and self-evident. Love will play its part naturally. Common sense will, too. Balance prevails with common sense. You don't have to try to love; you don't have to try to be compassionate; it's just who you are.

Can you cognize this? Is it really happening? Is the shift happening? The wind is finally at your back. We've said that before. This is the new energy. Welcome to the new earth!

Go from this place changed. There will be some who listen to this and say that Kryon is crazy. "There is no improvement or light coming." It's not what they see on the news. Exactly! So why watch it? There are things on this planet that are beautiful and are happening now that are not being seen. I want you to cognize that and know it, believe it, and understand it. Light is winning.

And so it is.

KRYON

Trump to approve sale of military equipment to police

Yahoo – AFP, August 28, 2017

US President Donald Trump will restart the flow of military equipment, like this
armored vehicle seen in Charlottesville, Virginia, to US police forces (AFP Photo/
CHIP SOMODEVILLA)

Washington (AFP) - Donald Trump is set to approve the controversial sale of military equipment -- including rifles and armored vehicles -- to US police forces, White House sources said Monday, upending an Obama-era ban.

According to officials familiar with deliberations said Trump will restart the military equipment flow to police forces -- which was worth $5.4 billion over 25 years -- sending another message that he is a "law-and-order" president.

Critics said providing police with items like bayonets, grenade launchers and drones had strained police-community relations and led to a virtual arms-race on America's streets.

But supporters argue the equipment allows police to better protect public safety and makes use of military surplus stock.

In May 2015, then president Barack Obama issued an executive order stopping military transfers, after controversy over the policing of high-profile protests in Baltimore, Maryland and Ferguson, Missouri.

Eight months later the government began recalling prohibited items.

"At times, the law enforcement response to those protests was characterized as a 'military‐style' operation," a 50-page report commissioned by Obama's White House found.

Those disturbances showed "law enforcement officers atop armored vehicles, wearing uniforms often associated with the military, and holding military-type weapons."

The protests were prompted by the killing of unarmed black men by police.

According to US law, the use of deadly force by police is only justifiable if a suspect poses a credible threat to the officer or the public.

Even after Obama's reforms, police were still allowed to use wheeled armored vehicles, Humvees, drones and riot batons, but only in very specific circumstances.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions previewed the decision by saying Trump is "doing all he can to restore law and order and support our police across America."

In response, Republican Senator Rand Paul said "the militarization of our law enforcement is due to an unprecedented expansion of government power in this realm."

"Americans must never sacrifice their liberty for an illusive and dangerous, or false, security."

#UPDATE President Trump will restart controversial sale of military equipment to US police forces https://t.co/uZ2wjnrihd pic.twitter.com/cTHzpq2Qw3

— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 28, 2017

Related Article:

Obama moves to demilitarize US cops

Holes in cigarette filters more dangerous than thought: Dutch health body

DutchNews, August 25, 2017

The small holes in cigarette filters are doing more harm than good, the government institute for health and the environment RIVM said on Friday. 

Although the holes should in theory lessen the amount of damaging chemicals a smoker inhales, they actually compensate for the lack of nicotine by sucking harder on their cigarettes or smoking more, the RIVM says. 

This adds to the amount of chemicals which the smoker inhales, the RIVM says in its report, a summary of various research papers into the effects of the filter. 

The RIVM’s warning comes at a time when lawyer Bénédicte Ficq and a group of smokers are preparing to take big tobacco producers to court on the ground of ‘aggravated assault resulting in death’. 

They say tobacco firms have lied to smokers about the damaging side effects of their addiction, particularly by using cigarettes that give false readings in test results through the use of the tiny ventilation holes in filters.

‘Now even the government is saying how dangerous cigarettes are. As far as I’m concerned that means they should be banned,’ Ficq told the the AD. 

Junior health minister Martin van Rijn will use the data to see if more needs to be done to discourage smoking, a health ministry spokesperson told the AD. 

Related Articles:

Doctors and physiotherapists join Dutch law suit against big tobacco

Doctors help finance lawsuit against tobacco companies

Tobacco kills 7 million a year, wreaks environmental havoc: WHO

Light cigarettes linked to specific form of lung cancer

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once),Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Wrongly jailed 'satanic' daycare couple gets $3.4 mn

Yahoo – AFP, August 24, 2017

The Kellers were freed from prison that year, but not fully cleared of the charges
against them until last June, when prosecutors finally declared them innocent

A US couple wrongly jailed for 21 years on charges of sexually assaulting children as part of a satanic cult, received $3.4 million Wednesday from the state of Texas, months after prosecutors acknowledged their innocence.

Operators of a daycare facility, Dan and Fran Keller were at the center of a sensational case in 1991, accused by children of abuse and dark rituals that included dismembering babies and torturing pets.

Authorities later acknowledged that the children were improperly interviewed, triggering false memories, amid a climate of fear fueled by a belief around the nation that satanists were preying upon children.

The physician who claimed to have discovered physical evidence of abuse also acknowledged in 2013 that he had made a mistake in assessing the source of one of the children's injuries.

The Kellers were freed from prison that year, but not fully cleared of the charges against them until last June, when prosecutors finally declared them innocent.

By Texas law, both are entitled to $80,000 compensation for each year they spent in prison. They picked up a $3.4 million payment on Wednesday, their lawyer Keith Hampton told AFP.

"They are happy," Hampton said.

The couple had been living in poverty since their release, unable to find work in their advanced age and with their past legal troubles, according to the Austin American-Statesman newspaper.

"This means we don't have to worry about pinching pennies on Social Security, and late bills. It means we will actually be free. We can start living -- and no more nightmares," Fran Keller, 67, told the newspaper.

She broke down in tears Tuesday in front of news cameras as she found out on the phone that the state would provide compensation.

"I really would like an apology from the state. But since we're not going to get it verbally, this will be good enough," the American-Statesman reported Fran Keller as saying.

Between 1991 and mid-2016, Texas had paid 101 wrongfully convicted prisoners $93.6 million, according to the Texas Tribune.

Related Article:

US convict granted stay of execution after new DNA evidence

Bannon out as Trump chief strategist

Yahoo – AFP, August 18, 2017

Steve Bannon, the former head of ultra conservative outlet Breitbart News, has
been described as being the nucleus of one of several competing power centers
in what has been a chaotic White House (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski)

Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump on Friday finally parted ways with controversial far-right chief strategist Steve Bannon, after weeks of speculation and as the administration reels from the fallout over Trump's response to a violent white supremacist rally.

Seen as the driving force behind Trump's nationalist-populist agenda -- making him a hero of the so-called "alt right" and a bete noire for centrists -- Bannon's presence at the White House has been contested from the start.

He was the latest in a series of high-profile casualties in Trump's inner circle, including press secretary Sean Spicer, chief of staff Reince Priebus and communications director Anthony Scaramucci.

With Trump under fire from all sides for insisting anti-racism protesters were equally to blame for violence stemming from a weekend rally staged by neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, the president faced renewed pressure to let go of his firebrand aide.

In announcing the 63-year-old Bannon's departure, the White House did not specify whether he had resigned or -- as was widely reported -- was forced out.

"White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve's last day," Trump's press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. "We are grateful for his service and wish him the best."

From Goldman to Breitbart to West Wing

Labelled a white supremacist by his critics, the one-time Goldman Sachs investment banker and former head of ultra conservative outlet Breitbart News joined the Trump campaign less than three months before the November 2016 vote and was credited with playing a major role in the real estate magnate's upset victory over Hillary Clinton.

Having privately boasted about handpicking Trump's cabinet, he went on to become the nucleus of one of several competing power centers in what has been a chaotic West Wing.

But Bannon reportedly fell into disfavor for allegedly leaking stories about White House colleagues who he felt did not sufficiently adhere to his populist agenda.

The president's new chief of staff, Kelly, had reportedly warned he would not tolerate what he saw as Bannon's behind the scenes maneuvering.

Bannon had earlier this year lost his coveted place on the National Security Council, which decides issues of war and peace.

And the president -- said to have grown increasingly irritated by Bannon's high profile -- was reportedly furious about an interview his aide gave this week to a left-leaning publication in which he contradicted the Republican billionaire's position on North Korea.

The New York Times quoted a person close to Bannon as insisting the parting of ways was his own idea, and that he had submitted his resignation on August 7, to be announced at the start of this week -- but that it was delayed by the chaotic developments of recent days.

Bannon's departure came as the US president faced a firestorm of criticism over his failure to unequivocally rebuke the white supremacists who rallied in Charlottesville.

That unrest ended when a suspected Nazi sympathizer drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer.

Trump who rose to political prominence by casting doubt on whether Barack Obama, America's first black president, was born in the United States, did condemn neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan on several occasions this week, but many across the political spectrum say he did not go far enough.

The honeymoon is definitely over. #Trump, the businessman president, begins to lose CEO support https://t.co/FTPMIleNsE pic.twitter.com/ltEc7aMdBc

— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 16, 2017

Related Article:

Trump isolated after Charlottesville remarks

Trump isolated after Charlottesville remarks

Yahoo – AFP, Jerome CARTILLIER, August 16, 2017

US President Donald Trump's defiant and caustic statements about Charlottesville
 on Tuesday left many lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats alike, speechless
(AFP Photo/JIM WATSON)

New York (AFP) - Donald Trump found himself in the eye of a political storm Wednesday after his stunning remarks on the unrest in Charlottesville, which sparked unease within his own camp and could mark a turning point in his already chaotic presidency.

His assessment that there was "blame on both sides" for the deadly melee sparked a rare comment on current affairs from his two Republican predecessors, George Bush and George W. Bush, who called on Americans to "reject racial bigotry... in all its forms."

The violent fracas in the Virginia college town began Saturday when a rally by white supremacists over the removal of a Confederate statue turned violent, as they clashed with counter-protesters.

It ended in tragedy when a 20-year-old suspected Nazi sympathizer, James Fields, plowed his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters, leaving one woman dead and 19 others injured.

Trump's defiant statements on Tuesday, delivered in a caustic way at Trump Tower and immediately hailed by a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan for their "courage," left many lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats alike, speechless.

The Republican billionaire seemed to have crossed a red line with his statements, just over 200 days into his presidency.

Many observers were left with the impression that the unscripted Trump of Tuesday was the real Trump -- rather than the man who delivered a more measured statement from the White House on Monday in which he firmly denounced "racist violence."

Protesters have marched outside Trump Tower since the president returned to

his New York home earlier this week (AFP Photo/Eduardo MUNOZ ALVAREZ)

'He has to fix this'

In a clear sign of embarrassment, Republican lawmakers did not line up to defend the real estate mogul-turned-president, as they have repeatedly done since he took office in January. Those who did speak criticized him.

"In Charlottesville, the blame lays squarely on the KKK and white supremacists," the leader of the Republican National Committee, Ronna Romney McDaniel, told ABC News.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a regular Trump critic, said many Republicans would "fight back against the idea that the party of Lincoln has a welcome mat out for the David Dukes of the world."

"He has to fix this and Republicans have to speak out. Plain and simple," Ohio governor John Kasich, who battled Trump for the Republican presidential nomination last year, told NBC's "Today" show.

David Axelrod, a former top aide to Barack Obama, said: "Why are we surprised that a @POTUS, who began his campaign with appeals to bigotry, would give comfort to bigots?"

Trump's remarks -- made at an impromptu press conference that was expected to focus on infrastructure reforms -- put the white supremacists and counter-demonstrators on equal moral ground.

"I think there is blame on both sides," Trump said, as his new chief of staff, former Marine general John Kelly, stood rigidly near him and looked uncomfortable.

"You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that, but I'll say it right now," Trump continued.

"What about the alt-left that came charging... at the, as you say, the alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt? (...) There are two sides to a story."

He also said there were "very fine people, on both sides."

His remarks had led several top business executives to resign from White House advisory panels. On Wednesday, Trump simply dissolved the forums.

Map of the US state of Virginia locating Charlottesville, where hundreds of 

white supremacists held a rally on Saturday that deteriorated into violence

(AFP Photo/AFP)

"Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!" he tweeted.

Obama tweet makes history

Trump had suffered a first wave of indignation immediately after Saturday's events, when critics said his comments were too vague and did not go far enough to denounce neo-Nazis and KKK members at the Charlottesville rally.

Obama, his predecessor, had reacted by tweeting a quote from Nelson Mandela: "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion."

The tweet is now the most "liked" ever sent on the social network, Twitter said Wednesday.

In an editorial, The New York Times said Trump's behavior "has become distressingly unsurprising."

"Washington politicians had hoped the recent appointment of John Kelly, a retired Marine general, as his chief of staff would instill some discipline in his chaotic administration," the paper said.

"But the root of the problem is not the personnel; it is the man at the top."

In St Louis, where he was mounting a competitive comeback, even chess legend Garry Kasparov weighed in, saying: "My family & I were forced out of one home by ethnic violence and another by political persecution. America must both fight hate & stay free."

Trump says US culture, history being 'ripped apart' https://t.co/QmsiqC7Bcj pic.twitter.com/MsecmPGmko

— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 17, 2017

The honeymoon is definitely over. #Trump, the businessman president, begins to lose CEO support https://t.co/FTPMIleNsE pic.twitter.com/ltEc7aMdBc

— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 16, 2017

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Dutch banks and insurers fined €2.15bn since 2008 crisis

DutchNews, August 15, 2017

Large Dutch banks and insurance companies have been fined a combined €2.15bn since the global credit crisis broke out 10 years ago this summer, the Financieele Dagblad revealed on Tuesday. 

But the lion’s share of the fines was awarded to foreign financial watchdogs, the FD said. Only about €100m found its way to Dutch authorities. 

The credit crisis began when US banks began packaging low-grade mortgages and selling them as blue chip products. Huge fines were placed on offenders: US Authorities alone were awarded $150bn. 

utch banks and insurers were involved in the malpractice as well, but of the fines levied on them, €1.9bn was awarded to American authorities and €141m to their British counterparts.

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once),Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Commonwealth Bank boss to retire amid laundering claims

Yahoo – AFP, August 14, 2017

Ian Narev, the chief executive of Australia's biggest bank, the Commonwealth,
will retire, the company said on August 14, 2017, amid pressure from regulators
 over alleged breaches of money laundering and terrorism financing laws
(AFP Photo/SAEED KHAN)

Sydney (AFP) - The chief executive of Australia's biggest bank, the Commonwealth, will retire, the company said Monday, amid pressure from regulators over alleged breaches of laws on money laundering and terrorism financing.

The bank's chairwoman Catherine Livingstone said in a statement to the stock exchange that Ian Narev "will retire by the end of the 2018 financial year".

Narev faced calls to step down last week after the financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC launched a civil action against the bank alleging "serious and systemic non-compliance" with the laws more than 53,000 times.

The 50-year-old initially insisted he would stay on but Livingstone said Monday that the bank wanted to end speculation over his future.

"Succession planning is an ongoing process at all levels of the bank. In discussions with (Narev) we have also agreed it is important for the business that we deal with the speculation and questions about his tenure," she said.

"Today's statement provides that clarity and will ensure he can continue to focus, as CEO, on successfully managing the business."

Shares in CBA, Australia's biggest company by market capitalisation, rose by 1.40 percent to Aus$81.63 afternoon trade in Sydney.

"I'm not really that surprised that's happened," said TS Lim, a banking analyst at Bell Potter.

"The good thing is there's a lead time of a year or year-and-a-half, so there's continuity," he said. "I think it removes some of the volatility in the company."

New Zealand-born Narev took over the top job at the Commonwealth in late 2011.

He had previously been involved in its private banking arm and before that worked as a corporate lawyer.

His tenure has delivered bumper returns for shareholders, including a record Aus$9.93 billion (US$7.86 billion) annual net profit unveiled last week.

But it has also been marred by scandals over poor financial planning advice, insurance payouts and now allegations of money laundering.

In the latest case, the country's corporate regulator ASIC said Monday the bank was refunding some Aus$10 million in total to more than 65,000 customers after selling them "unsuitable consumer credit insurance".

The Commonwealth Bank is accused by AUSTRAC of failing to deliver on time 53,506 reports for cash transactions of Aus$10,000 or more at its cash deposit machines between November 2012 and September 2015, with a total value of Aus$624.7 million.

It also failed to report suspicious transactions on time, or at all, that totalled Aus$77 million, and did not monitor customers or manage the risk even after becoming aware of suspected money laundering, AUSTRAC claimed.

Each breach could attract Aus$18 million in fines, potentially running into the billions of dollars.

ASIC on Friday added it would also probe how the lender handled the alleged breaches.

Belgium admits it kept quiet about 'tainted' eggs probe

Yahoo – AFP, August 5, 2017

A laboratory assistant for the Dutch food safety board carries out tests on
eggs on August 1, 2017 (AFP Photo/Piroschka van de Wouw)

Brussels (AFP) - Belgian officials admitted Saturday they knew in early June there was a potential problem over insecticide-contaminated eggs but kept it secret because of an ongoing fraud investigation.

"We knew since early June there was potentially a problem with fipronil in the poultry sector," Katrien Stragier, a spokeswoman for Belgium's food safety agency (AFSCA), told Flemish television VRT.

"We immediately launched an investigation and we also informed the prosecutor because it was a matter of possible fraud," she added.

"From that point on the secrecy of the inquiry took precedent. We understand that people have questions about public health and we are trying to answer them," she added.

Contacted by AFP over the past few days, the prosecutor in Antwerp handling the case refused to give out any information on the specific orders of the investigating judge.

Belgian supermarkets have cleared eggs from the shelves of supermarkets as a precautionary measure while awaiting the results of tests.

In Germany and the Netherlands several million eggs from Dutch farms have already been recalled.

German Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt pressed the authorities, particularly in Belgium and The Netherlands, to clear up the situation.

"Someone has clearly proceeded with criminal intent to contaminate (the eggs) with a banned product," Schmidt told the daily Bild.

Dutch officials closed down 180 businesses earlier in the week and after tests, the Dutch food authority (NVWA) said 138 poultry farms -- about a fifth of those in the country -- would remain closed.

One batch of eggs posing in particular posed "an acute danger to public health", the agency said.

Eggs from another 59 farms contained high enough levels of the insecticide, fipronil, for the food authority to warn against any children eating them.

Fipronil is commonly used in veterinary products to get rid of fleas, lice and ticks. It is banned from being used to treat animals destined for human consumption, such as chickens.

In large quantities, the insecticide is considered to be "moderately hazardous" according to the World Health Organization, and can have dangerous effects on people's kidneys, liver and thyroid glands.

Farmers throw eggs at a poultry farm in Onstwedde, Netherlands, on August 3, 2017
after the Dutch Food and Welfare Authority (NVWA) highlighted the contamination of
eggs by fipronil, a toxic insecticide outlawed from use in the production of food (AFP
Photo/Patrick HUISMAN)

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