A former Bridgeport police officer who claimed someone left a racist memo on police letterhead in his mailbox at headquarters in February admitted to writing the letter himself and has been charged with filing a false report, according to police.
Former Officer Clive Higgins reported that he found a racist hate letter in his police mailbox the morning of Monday, Feb. 9 and feared for his life because of it.
The letter, printed on paper marked with the department’s official letterhead, started off with “WHITE POWER” and went on to say “Officer Clive Higgins doesn’t belong here in this Police Department” and “These Black Officers belong in the toilet.”
A month earlier, Higgins was acquitted in connection with a 2011 police brutality case in which officers were caught on camera beating a suspect at Beardsley Park and shooting him with a stun gun. Two other officers were convicted, but a federal jury found Higgins not guilty . . .
The report of the racist letter prompted the Bridgeport Guardians, a minority officers’ organization, to hold a news conference, calling the letter “racial, insensitive and threatening.” They said it was the most recent of at least three hateful notes to circulate within the department within a year. (Read more from “Connecticut Police Officer Who Reported Racist Letter Wrote It” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-12-03 21:50:562016-04-11 10:55:31Connecticut Police Officer Who Reported Racist Letter Wrote It
One of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes points out, as only Lewis could, that Jesus was either the Messiah (and the Son of God) as prophesied in the ancient Jewish scriptures, or He was a liar, a lunatic, or, worse, the “Devil of Hell.”
Wrote Lewis: “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
Indeed, to my Jewish friends, I say this: We Christ followers love your Messiah. And make no mistake about it, Jesus is your Messiah. He is our Messiah. He is the Messiah. Messiah means savior, and Jesus is the Savior of all mankind.
To be sure, if both Christ’s words and the Holy Spirit-inspired teachings throughout both the Old and New Testaments are to be believed, and they are, then Christianity and Judaism are not competing religions at odds with one another. Rather, Christianity merely represents the final culmination of Judaism, and Christ’s promised incarnation, death and resurrection, the fulfillment of the long awaited Jewish Messiah prophesied throughout the Old Testament.
In his latest book, “The Emmaus Code: Finding Jesus in the Old Testament,” author and attorney David Limbaugh thoroughly unpacks this reality and “unlocks the mysteries of the Old Testament and reveals hints of Jesus Christ’s arrival through all thirty-nine Old Testament books.”
“The key to the secrets of the Old Testament, Limbaugh argues, is the crucial New Testament encounter between the risen Jesus and two travelers on the road to Emmaus,” notes the book’s description. “With that key, and with Limbaugh as a deft guide, readers of ‘The Emmaus Code’ will come to a startling new understanding of the Old Testament as a clear and powerful heralding of Jesus Christ’s arrival. Limbaugh takes readers on a revealing journey from Genesis through Malachi, demonstrating that a consistent message courses through every one of the Old Testament’s thirty-nine books: the power, wonder, and everlasting love of Jesus Christ.”
The “Emmaus Code” is a project that God long-ago placed on Limbaugh’s heart. “Jesus is prophesied in the Old Testament and fulfills those prophecies in the New Testament,” he writes. “For years, I have wanted to write a book to share my enthusiasm for the Old Testament and explain how it is foundational to the New Testament as the first act of a two-act play. I have wanted to show the many ways Christ is foreshadowed in the Old Testament.
“My new book, ‘The Emmaus Code: Finding Jesus in the Old Testament,’ is the culmination of a project I began some 20 years ago. In the book, I try to demonstrate that the Christ-centeredness of the Old Testament is the key to understanding all of Scripture. The book is a primer on the Old Testament. I take you through each period of Old Testament history, introduce and discuss all the threads and themes pointing to Jesus in the Old Testament, and finally give you an overview of each book of the Old Testament and detail how each one prefigures Jesus Christ.
“My goal is to increase the reader’s appreciation for the Old Testament and for its Christ-centeredness, for once we have a better handle on the Old Testament and understand that Jesus is its focus, the Bible will come alive for us in ways we never anticipated and our faith will be strengthened and energized. That is certainly my experience, and I pray the same thing happens for you.”
Having just finished the book, I can say with enthusiastic certainty that Limbaugh accomplishes his goal. He demonstrates, like the trial lawyer proving his case beyond any reasonable doubt, that Jesus is not just hinted at in the Old Testament, but that His presence permeates the ancient Jewish texts. As John 1:1 reminds us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Christ is the Word and the Word is God.
The “Emmaus Code” will change your whole perspective on the Bible. The Old Testament will come to life for you and you will see clearly, perhaps for the first time, that its primary purpose was, and is, the foretelling of the coming of Christ Jesus.
When Jesus asked the apostle Peter, “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God” (see Matthew 16:15-16).
“Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven’” (Matthew 16:17).
Christ points to Himself as the Old Testament Messiah.
David Limbaugh establishes, masterfully, the veracity of Christ’s claim. (For more from the author of “Incredible Book ‘Emmaus Code’ Shows Jesus Is the Messiah” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-12-03 03:39:262016-04-11 10:55:32Incredible Book ‘Emmaus Code’ Shows Jesus Is the Messiah
More Americans had their backgrounds checked purchasing guns on Black Friday than any day in the on record, according to data released by the FBI this week.
The National Instant Criminal Background Check System processed 185,345 requests on Nov. 27, one of the largest retail sales days in the country.
“This was an approximate 5% increase over the 175,754 received on Black Friday 2014,” wrote Stephen Fischer, the FBI’s chief of multimedia productions. “The previous high for receipts were the 177,170 received on 12/21/2012.”
Previous spikes for background checks, conducted before a gun buyer can obtain a firearm, occurred after prominent mass shootings, like in December 2012 in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Other Black Friday shopping days in 2014, 2013 and 2012 occupied the FBI’s “top 10” list of the most background checks processed in a 24-hour period. (Read more from “Black Friday Breaks Record with 185K Gun Background Checks” HERE)
The Chinese scientist behind the world’s biggest cloning factory has technology advanced enough to replicate humans, he told AFP, and is only holding off for fear of the public reaction.
Boyalife Group and its partners are building the giant plant in the northern Chinese port of Tianjin, where it is due to go into production within the next seven months and aims for an output of one million cloned cows a year by 2020 . . .
Boyalife is already working with its South Korean partner Sooam and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to improve primate cloning capacity to create better test animals for disease research . . .
The firm does not currently engage in human cloning activities, Xu said, adding that it has to be “self-restrained” because of possible adverse reaction.
But social values can change, he pointed out, citing changing views of homosexuality and suggesting that in time humans could have more choices about their own reproduction. (Read more from “China ‘Clone Factory’ Scientist Eyes Human Replication” HERE)
An 18-year-veteran of the Marine Corps who did tours of service in Iraq and Afghanistan earning a Bronze Star was hoping for some much-needed dad time with his kids.
So retired 1st Sgt. Jeromie Slaughter, 38, planned a deer-hunting trip with them a few hours from his Houston-area home — a trip that became an odyssey when he took a wrong turn and wound up arrested in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, for carrying weapons.
And when his family tried to find a Mexican lawyer to represent him, the ones they contacted asked for cash in U.S. dollars to help secure his release, Slaughter’s mother, Beverly McKinney, said . . .
According to McKinney, the Texas City resident piled into his pickup with his 14-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter after Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. They were heading for a deer lease – private property that’s open to hunters for a fee – near Rocksprings, about 70 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, about a 6-hour drive.
Instead, Slaughter made a wrong turn and, at about 1 a.m. Friday morning, wound up crossing a bridge into Ciudad Acuña, across the border from Del Rio, Texas. . . It was frustrating, [Slaughter’s mother told Fox] on Monday, because Mexican officials “were treating him like he is a terrorist. He was on a hunting trip, [he is] not a terrorist. He has fought them, he isn’t one.” (Read more from “Former U.S. Marine on Hunting Trip With Kids Arrested After Entering Mexico by Mistake” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-12-01 01:13:352016-04-11 10:55:36Former U.S. Marine on Hunting Trip With Kids Arrested After Entering Mexico by Innocent Mistake
Jennifer Doudna and her research partner Emmanuelle Charpentier both won the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, Massry Prize. You’d see that and decide these were a couple scientific eggheads, winning some special award. Then you’d forget about it. Unless you see the film clip of Cameron Diaz handing them an award that, at quick glance, could be an Emmy or an Oscar. Then the average person’s attention perks up. This must be some big deal to have a movie star give them the award. And it is. They won for a breakthrough study in genome editing.
Genome editing. It sounds maybe innocent, maybe a little techie. Most people aren’t science oriented enough to know what a genome is without looking it up. And the word “editing” certainly sounds innocent enough. Dictionary.com defines genome as “a full set of chromosomes; all the inheritable traits of an organism.” The first entry in a Google search for “genome” says, “A genome is an organism’s complete set of DNA, including all of its genes. Each genome contains all of the information needed to build and maintain that organism. In humans, a copy of the entire genome—more than 3 billion DNA base pairs—is contained in all cells that have a nucleus.”
Suddenly, “genome editing” becomes more interesting. What these women won the award for is genetic manipulation. In a story by Norah O’Donnell on CBS This Morning, Mrs. Doudna said, among other things, that she was interested in the science not the monetary possibilities. And she seemed honest enough to believe that. But we don’t normally think of scientists “going for the big bucks.” Until you think about what this is.
As we gain more experience and knowledge in the field, there’s the possibility of editing out genetic diseases. Tendencies toward cancer could disappear, family genetics toward certain health issues could be eliminated. Perhaps, as we get better at it, we could develop corrective surgery at the genetic level. That’s all good. (Read more from “Will Genome Editing Allow Scientists to Create the Perfect Baby?” HERE)
President Barack Obama may warn that carbon dioxide is causing global warming, but his flight to Paris to join other world leaders at the United Nations climate summit emitted more CO2 than driving 72 cars for a year.
Obama’s Paris jaunt will send more CO2 into the atmosphere than 31 American homes‘ energy usage for an entire year. The president’s trip is equivalent to burning 368,331 pounds of coal or 797 barrels of oil, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon footprint calculator.
Just one leg of the president’s Sunday trip to Paris emitted 189 tons of CO2 after travelling 3,855 miles and burning 19,275 gallons of jet fuel, according to Daily Caller News Foundation calculations based on past presidential flights. Obama’s return flight to Washington, D.C., would double the amount of CO2 burned to 378 tons — more than 72 cars driving for a year.
Obama has been criticized for past plane rides in the name of fighting global warming. Earlier this year, Obama flew down to the Everglades for Earth Day and was hammered for potentially damaging the fragile eco-system and costing taxpayers more than $866,000.
World leaders will meet Monday in Paris to kick off the U.N.’s 21st attempt to get countries to sign onto a global agreement to cut carbon dioxide emissions. Obama wants signing a climate treaty to be a part of his presidential legacy, and administration staff have been working tirelessly to convince other countries, like China, to agree to emissions cuts. (Read more from “Obama’s Trip to the UN ‘Global Warming’ Summit Emits More CO2 Than Driving 72 Cars for a Year” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-12-01 01:09:532016-04-11 10:55:37Obama’s Trip to the UN ‘Global Warming’ Summit Emits More CO2 Than Driving 72 Cars for a Year
Americans increasingly support free speech as a concept but make lots of exceptions. A new Pew Research poll found that 40 percent of Millennials (ages 18 to 34) believe the government should be able to prevent people from making offensive statements about minority groups.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, certainly agree. Often rivals, they teamed up to remove a set of controversial subway ads advertising a new Amazon series that depicts an alternate history in which the Nazis and the Japanese won World War II and divided control of America between them. The show’s creators include director Ridley Scott (Alien and Blade Runner) and writer Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files). It has won rave reviews, including a 96 percent positive rating at Rotten Tomatoes.com.
The ads for Man in the High Castle, which appeared on a single subway line linking Times Square with Grand Central Station, featured a version of Japanese Rising Sun flags and Nazi-inspired imperial eagles (but no swastikas). The Metropolitan Transit Authority approved the ads because they did not violate MTA guidelines against political statements.
When controversy about the ads first arose last week, the MTA at first stood its ground. Adam Lisberg, a spokesperson for the MTA, explained that the public agency had no choice but to allow the ads. “We cannot pick and choose the way WCBS radio can — whether it likes an ad or doesn’t like an ad,” he told WCBS Radio. “This advertising, whether you find it distasteful or not, obviously they’re not advertising Nazism; they’re advertising a TV show.”
Then the politicians got involved, with Mayor de Blasio blasting Amazon. “While these ads technically may be within MTA guidelines, they’re irresponsible and offensive to World War II and Holocaust survivors, their families, and countless other New Yorkers,” he said. Governor Cuomo turned up the heat. Last Tuesday, the MTA acknowledged that “Cuomo called the head of the MTA and asked him to ensure the ads came down.” The MTA quickly took the subway cars out of service. (Read more from “It’s Nuts to Censor Ads for Man in the High Castle, a Show About Freedom” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-11-29 23:22:522016-04-11 10:55:39It’s Nuts to Censor Ads for Man in the High Castle, a Show About Freedom
A team of European researchers have unveiled a scientific model showing that the Earth is likely to experience a “mini ice age” from 2030 to 2040 as a result of decreased solar activity.
Their findings will infuriate environmental campaigners who argue by 2030 we could be facing increased sea levels and flooding due to glacial melt at the poles.
However, at the National Astronomy Meeting in Wales, Northumbria University professor Valentina Zharkova said fluctuations an 11-year cycle of solar activity the sun goes through would be responsible for a freeze, the like of which has not been experienced since the 1600s . . .
Professor Zharkova said two magnetic waves will cancel each other out in about 2030, leading to a drop in sun spots and solar flares of about 60 per cent.
Sunspots are dark concentrations of magnetic field flux on the surface that reduce surface temperature in that area, while solar flares are burst of radiation and solar energy that fire out across the solar system, but the Earth’s atmosphere protects us from the otherwise devastating effects. (Read more from “Decade Long Ice Age Predicted as Sun ‘Hibernates'” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-11-29 23:21:322016-04-11 10:55:40Decade Long Ice Age Predicted as Sun ‘Hibernates’
Delegates at a crucial scientific summit this week are expected to debate a ban on the use of the controversial technique of gene-editing. Hundreds of the world’s leading biologists will gather in Washington to discuss the procedure, in which genes are removed from or added to human embryos.
Some researchers say gene-editing of humans could have unpredictable effects on future generations and is ethically unacceptable. They also warn that the technology could be used to create lineages of “enhanced” humans and want all work in the area halted until its implications are fully assessed.
As a result they are expected to call for a moratorium on future research at the summit, which is to be attended mostly by researchers from the UK, US and China, where gene-editing is most widely practiced. But other scientists say a moratorium would be harmful. Gene-editing has the potential to rid the planet of some fatal illnesses, they argue. Academics in favor of continuing the current research programe point to the work of Chinese scientists, who earlier this year reported they had used a gene-editing procedure called Crispr to modify an aberrant gene that causes beta thalassaemia, an inherited life-threatening blood disorder. This was done in IVF embryos obtained from fertility clinics. The embryos were not implanted into women once the modifications were made, however.
Other scientists say versions of genes that predispose humans to Alzheimer’s disease or make them susceptible to HIV and other infections could be removed from embryos and so free future generations from these conditions. The technology also offers ways to improve stem cell research, boost the effectiveness of IVF techniques and reduce human miscarriage rates. For good measure, techniques like Crispr will allow researchers to rewrite the genomes of plants and animals and transform agricultural science.
“There is a great deal to be gained through the use of gene-editing, but obviously we have be careful how we proceed,” said one conference organizers, Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, of the Francis Crick Institute, in London. “The point of this meeting is to determine just how quickly we should move.” (Read more from “Top Biologists Debate Ban on Gene-Editing” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-11-29 01:27:312016-04-11 10:55:40Top Biologists Debate Ban on Gene-Editing
