United Nations Declaration (Articles 1 - 30):

Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2: Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

Incoming UN chief names three women to top posts

Incoming UN chief names three women to top posts
Nigerian Minister of the Environment Amina Mohammed, seen in 2015, will be the UN's number two official (AFP Photo/Mireya ACIERTO)

Sustainable Development
"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) -
"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013. They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."
"Update on Current Events" – Jul 23, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: The Humanization of God, Gaia, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Benevolent Design, Financial Institutes (Recession, System to Change ...), Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Nuclear Power Revealed, Geothermal Power, Hydro Power, Drinking Water from Seawater, No need for Oil as Much, Middle East in Peace, Persia/Iran Uprising, Muhammad, Israel, DNA, Two Dictators to fall soon, Africa, China, (Old) Souls, Species to go, Whales to Humans, Global Unity,..... etc.)
(Subjects: Who/What is Kryon ?, Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" Managed Business, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)


The Declaration of Human Freedom

Archangel Michael (Via Steve Beckow), Feb. 19, 2011

Every being is a divine and eternal soul living in a temporal body. Every being was alive before birth and will live after death.

Every soul enters into physical life for the purpose of experience and education, that it may, in the course of many lifetimes, learn its true identity as a fragment of the Divine.

Life itself is a constant process of spiritual evolution and unfoldment, based on free choice, that continues until such time as we realize our true nature and return to the Divine from which we came.

No soul enters life to serve another, except by choice, but to serve its own purpose and that of the Divine from which it came.

All life is governed by natural and universal laws which precede and outweigh the laws of humanity. These laws, such as the law of karma, the law of attraction, and the law of free will, are decreed by God to order existence and assist each person to achieve life’s purpose.

No government can or should survive that derives its existence from the enforced submission of its people or that denies its people their basic rights and freedoms.

Life is a movement from one existence to another, in varied venues throughout the universe and in other universes and dimensions of existence. We are not alone in the universe but share it with other civilizations, most of them peace-loving, many of whom are more advanced than we are, some of whom can be seen with our eyes and some of whom cannot.

The evidence of our five senses is not the final arbiter of existence. Humans are spiritual as well as physical entities and the spiritual side of life transcends the physical. God is a Spirit and the final touchstone of God’s Truth is not physical but spiritual. The Truth is to be found within.

God is one and, because of this, souls are one. They form a unity. They are meant to live in peace and harmony together in a “common unity” or community. The use of force to settle affairs runs contrary to natural law. Every person should have the right to conduct his or her own affairs without force, as long as his or her choices do not harm another.

No person shall be forced into marriage against his or her will. No woman shall be forced to bear or not bear children, against her will. No person shall be forced to hold or not hold views or worship in a manner contrary to his or her choice. Nothing vital to existence shall be withheld from another if it is within the community’s power to give.

Every person shall retain the ability to think, speak, and act as they choose, as long as they not harm another. Every person has the right to choose, study and practice the education and career of their choice without interference, provided they not harm another.

No one has the right to kill another. No one has the right to steal from another. No one has the right to force himself or herself upon another in any way.

Any government that harms its citizens, deprives them of their property or rights without their consent, or makes offensive war upon its neighbors, no matter how it misrepresents the situation, has lost its legitimacy. No government may govern without the consent of its people. All governments are tasked with seeing to the wellbeing of their citizens. Any government which forces its citizens to see to its own wellbeing without attending to theirs has lost its legitimacy.

Men and women are meant to live fulfilling lives, free of want, wherever they wish and under the conditions they desire, providing their choices do not harm another and are humanly attainable.

Children are meant to live lives under the beneficent protection of all, free of exploitation, with unhindered access to the necessities of life, education, and health care.

All forms of exploitation, oppression, and persecution run counter to universal and natural law. All disagreements are meant to be resolved amicably.

Any human law that runs counter to natural and universal law is invalid and should not survive. The enactment or enforcement of human law that runs counter to natural and universal law brings consequences that cannot be escaped, in this life or another. While one may escape temporal justice, one does not escape divine justice.

All outcomes are to the greater glory of God and to God do we look for the fulfillment of our needs and for love, peace, and wisdom. So let it be. Aum/Amen.


Pope Francis arrives for historic first US visit

Pope Francis arrives for historic first US visit
Pope Francis laughs alongside US President Barack Obama upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, on September 22, 2015, on the start of a 3-day trip to Washington (AFP Photo/Saul Loeb)


Today's doodle in the U.S. celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech on its 50th anniversary (28 Aug 2013)

'Love is love': Obama lauds gay marriage activists in hailing 'a victory for America'

'Love is love': Obama lauds gay marriage activists in hailing 'a victory for America'
The White House released this image, of the building colored like the rainbow flag, on Facebook following the supreme court’s ruling. Photograph: Facebook

Same-sex marriage around the world

"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. …

Merkel says Turkey media crackdown 'highly alarming'

Merkel says Turkey media crackdown 'highly alarming'
Reporters Without Borders labels Erdogan as 'enemy of press freedom'

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Friday, September 26, 2014

International arms trade treaty gains momentum

As the 50th country is expected to ratify the international arms trade treaty, the treaty will finally enter into force 90 days later. Amnesty International's Rasha Abul-Rahim explains the treaty's global significance.

Deutsche Welle, 25 Sep 2014


The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is the first-ever United Nations treaty that regulates the international arms trade. It's aimed at halting the flow of weapons to countries that are known to use them to commit or facilitate serious human rights abuses.

Along with other groups, Amnesty International has been campaigning for this treaty for more than two decades.

DW: What exactly does this arms trade treaty regulate, and who will control whether arms trading will happen according to the treaty?

Rasha Abdul-Rahim: The treaty regulates a series of conventional weapons that include things like small arms and light weapons, ammunition, explosives, bombs, missiles, tanks, military vehicles, military aircraft, naval ships, et cetera. Under the terms of the treaty, the onus is on the governments to control these weapons and to assess the risk that transferring the arms, the ammunition or the components to another country could be used for serious human rights violations or violations of international humanitarian law.

The treaty asks states to establish and maintain effective national control systems to control the export, the import, the transit of arms. States are also asked to maintain a national control list which they share with other states that are party to the treaty. On the other part of the treaty, states are actually obliged to report annually on their arms exports.

Abdul-Rahim says the treaty will
be a giant leap forward
For Amnesty International, the most important provision of the treaty is the one to do with human rights. There's a prohibition that states are not allowed to transfer arms if they will be used for serious crimes, like war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the like. The second part is more of a risk assessment - the states have to conduct a risk assessment to assess whether there's a substantial risk that the arms they're transferring to another country could be used for serious human rights abuses.

When we look at the current situation in Iraq, where there's talk about supplying Kurdish fighters with weapons, how can it be ensured that such arms are not used to commit human rights violations?

Amnesty International is calling for a more preventive approach and strict safeguards to mitigate and remove the substantial risk of arms being used. So before there's any chance that military equipment is authorized, we're asking governments to use concrete, enforceable, transparent and verifiable mechanisms to make sure that the military equipment being supplied isn't likely to be misused, or diverted and then misused. That's really to prevent the people on the ground and prevent serious human rights violations from occurring.

That sounds very theoretical, given that many countries have not signed or will certainly not ratify this agreement, like for instance Syria. Won't arms and equipment continue to be sold to these countries, whether legally or illegally?

To tackle the illicit trade, we first need to control the legal and legitimate trade - most of the weapons that end up in the illegal trade start in the authorized trade. To reduce the risk of diversion for unauthorized uses, and to minimize the risk of loopholes and weaknesses being exploited by unscrupulous arms dealers, we need a global treaty like an arms trade treaty with strong human rights protections and we need that treaty to be effectively implemented.

What difference will it make for people on the ground - who are now victims of conflict - that this treaty will now come into effect this December?

If the treaty is implemented effectively, it could help stop irresponsible arms flows from fueling serious violations that we're seeing in places like Syria and Iraq. It's about making a real difference to people's lives by stopping arms from going to places where they're used for atrocities.

No one is saying the treaty is a panacea. But if it's effectively and robustly implemented, it'll be a giant leap forward in making sure there's greater protection for the hundreds of millions of people whose lives and livelihoods are affected by this.

Of course, we want more states to ratify and effectively implement the ATT, but there's already real international momentum building behind this. It's important, obviously, that the world's largest arms-exporting countries are part of the treaty. But it's also important to stress that over half of all [the world's] states have already signed the ATT, and over a quarter have ratified it in a little over a year - which is really a fast pace for such a global treaty.

So if civil society keeps pushing, the most skeptical states will join the treaty eventually. Five of the top ten arms-exporting states have already ratified the treaty - including the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

What about the United States?

We're often [told], well the US will never ratify. That may be the case, because there's a huge pro-gun lobby inside the US. But, for example, in January 2014, the US issued a new policy directive on conventional arms sales, and that was the first one since the mid-90s. Basically the directive pledges not to export arms where there's a likelihood that the weapons transferred will be likely to be used for genocide or other atrocities, or will be used to violate human rights law or international humanitarian law. This is a positive development and an indication that the US could ratify in the future.

If you look at the mine ban convention that came into force in 1999 - the US had not signed it. But in June 2014, the Obama administration announced the US would no longer produce anti-personnel landmines, or acquire new ones. The US also said it was diligently pursuing other policies that would allow it to agree to the landmine treaty. This is more than 15 years after the treaty came into force. Just the other day (22.09.2014), the US pledged to destroy existing stockpiles of anti-personnel landmines outside the Korean Peninsula. So the arms trade treaty will have an effect, even if it takes a long time.

Rasha Abdul-Rahim is an expert on arms control, security, trade and human rights with Amnesty International in London.

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