Is there an emergency at the border? Did the President see it coming? Quite possibly.

President Obama asked Congress to act in regard to this emergency. And what did they say?

June 30, 2014
By Jim Kuhnhenn...Obama said (click here) he decided to bypass Congress after House speaker John Boehner informed him last week that the House would not vote on an immigration overhaul this year. A congressional leadership aide said Obama and Boehner spoke privately before an event last week at the white House honoring U.S. golfers who won last year's Presidents Cup,

Obama said there are enough Republicans and Democrats in the House to pass an immigration bill today, and says he would sign it....

It isn't as though the political right wing doesn't know this is occurring. Their media has been all over this as a reason to never pass immigration reform. It just goes to show the right wing is more interested in exploiting controversy than conduct the government's business. The politicians are running with their tail between their legs as fast they can. They are subservient to right wing media and if this isn't proof then I don't know what is. The people have control all right.

The people have no clue why this occurring, no clue about how to handle it, but, they have control to obstruct any response. There better now be human rights violations of this country because the right wing is crippled by it's electorate.

If workers aren't going to pay dues they don't representation. Just that simple.

I think the state being Illinois had something to do with it, too. It obviously is an attack against unions which we all know are the mainstay of Democratic Party strength. Justice Ginsberg is correct. This opens up the idea that corporations have rights that human beings have. Our democracy is rather wayward right now. It is anti-person and pro-corporation. The rise of the Plutocrats.

But, if employees are not members of the union they should never receive representation at the bargaining table and in their paychecks or otherwise. I don't see this hostile court decision effecting unions. People will quickly learn members are receiving raises and benefits they don't. There can literally be two classes of employees. Those with union representation and those without.

June 30, 2014
By Robert Barnes

The Supreme Court (click here) dealt a defeat to public employee unions Monday, saying that thousands of home health-care workers are not the kind of state employees who can be required to pay fees to cover a union’s cost of collective bargaining.

The court split 5 to 4 along ideological grounds in a case from Illinois. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said the state’s requirement of dues from those workers, who technically are employed under a government program for the persons they assist, violates workers’ rights to free speech.

To do otherwise, he wrote for the court’s other conservatives, “we would approve an unprecedented violation of the bedrock principle that, except perhaps in the rarest of circumstances, no person in this country may be compelled to subsidize speech by a third party that he or she does not wish to support.”...

What is wrong with these pictures of North Carolina Disabled Car Display Tags

The image to the left is the old display tag. Nothing wrong with it. Worked like a charm. It cost $5.00 every few years.

The display tag to the right is the new for the disabled. It is two piece. $5.00 for the paper tag which can be used independently if one doesn't mind it tearing the first time a mild breeze or air conditioner fan hits it. It is very flimsy. 

I said this new tag to the right is two pieces. The paper tag still costs $5.00 which goes to the state. But, the second piece is sold independently by the privately owned state registration centers. It costs $5.00. 

Today in North Carolina a handicapped individual is changed $10.00 where a good sturdy product was only $5.00.

This is the McCrory administration at work. It plays footsie with the private registration centers across the state, prints a paper tag that is completely worthless without the plastic covers. Yes, indeed, the elderly and handicapped in North Carolina are being taken for at least $5.00 each over the old cost of the Handicap Display Tag for parking in dedicated spots in public parking.

The reason the McCrory administration states this change was necessary was because the sturdy plastic tags hook would break off and it would not hang on the mirror anymore.

I don't know of one having that malady. My mother's old tag is still sturdy and in the glove compartment.

This is exploitation of every aspect of a person's life for profit. It is corruption. The answer to those that broke the old stand-by is to offer a plastic cover to place the old one in if it malfunctioned. Of have the state actually take responsibility for a defective product and replace it at any private DMV across the state free of charge.

This is Republicans at work. It doesn't matter whom you are, handicapped or not, if there is a way at making a buck, you can count on handing over the money. 

Democrats in North Carolina should be holding this example of greed in front of the public to show the level of indifference and poor judgement the Republicans are using. The Republicans are not trustworthy. With this state service alone they have doubled the cost in a covert manner. What do the disabled say? "I suppose it was necessary for some people, so we all had to pay the price." Excuse me? It wasn't necessary for any in North Carolina. This pure unadulterated corruption. 

It is religious zealotry.

If a private company is going to discriminate along religious preference of the owners it is just another form of corporate welfare.

The company can't even get out of it's own way to hire the general public and pay for birth control it's employees need. 

It is nonsense.

A corporate 'clear conscience' is overbearing and oppressive. The CEO does not live the lives of it's employees. It is crazy. It's zealotry. It also cuts the employer's costs. Corporate welfare.

The evangelicals can go to countries best served by oppression like Russia where gays are considered non-citizens. They have no rights to live their lives as they choose. They have no freedoms to be who they are. In all honesty, when the intolerance in Russia manifested along religious lines I was astounded. I did not expect a communist nation to take up the mantel of religious zealotry.

It is not the responsibility of religion to IMPOSE standards of living on citizens. Religion has it's responsibility as a counselor to it's members. Membership in most religions is a cognitive choice. Faith is viewed as the reward structure as taught by clergy of most religions without exception. But, this is a decision by the Supreme Court that brings government imposition on non-believers. Employees are not members of a faith in the case of multi-billion dollar corporations.

This 'practice' is discriminatory along gender lines as well. Do these companies employ the LGBT community? Do they provide a hostile workplace for their employees? It seems me if they don't discriminate against other religious dogma they should not discriminate against women. The reason this is being pursued is not that they adhere to christian directives, it is about profits.

I sincerely believe this is a slippery slope to undermining our democracy. 2008 saw the loss of large amounts of companies. They were replaced by industries like Hobby Lobby and Koch. These private corporations are global companies and impose a value system that it far to ridge to accommodate the varied values of Americans. It is a problem.

I really think this Hobby Lobby decision needs to be reviewed for many reasons, including the fact Supreme Court Justices, such as Alito are imposing personal preference over democratic values.

Hobby Lobby practices religious bigotry. It is called a private company because it does not issue stocks. Another Koch Industries oppressor.

Hobby Lobby is one of those private industry businesses, that really isn't a private company. It has sales of $3.3 billion annually and has 23,000 employees. Many of the employees are women. 

Hobby Lobby is ranked as 135th by Forbes as a privately owned company. (click here)

The decision against women in the case of Hobby Lobby continues to enforce right wing extremism. There will be other companies to follow simply because it cuts the expense of health care insurance to the company.

David Green is the CEO and has a personal value of $5.1 billion. (click here)

Boycott companies that practice religious bigotry. He is an evangelical that spreads hate across the globe. This international ministries bring political pressures in countries placing human beings in the path of HIV and unwanted pregnancy. This decision will continue to victimize women on many fronts. This makes the women working for Hobby Lobby second class citizens.

...The arts and crafts retailer (click here) now has 555 locations across the country, all of which are closed on Sundays. Green is a big contributor to evangelical education, giving $10.5 million to Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in 2004 and bailing out Oral Robert University in 2007 with $70 million. He has also put nearly 1.4 billion copies of gospel literature in homes in more than 100 countries, mostly in Africa and Asia. He joined the Giving Pledge in 2010.

Private industry status is being exploited for political power. They seek to use their wealth to conduct the spread of their form of religion and morality. It foments hatred and intolerance. The evangelicals are dangerous to any peace initiative and rely ONLY on their faith to solve problems. This is an issue. How can a company with incomes of $3.3 billion, a CEO with a net worth of $5.1 billion and hires 23,000 people be considered exempt from rules governing the public companies.

Hobby Lobby and the other private companies claiming this status are owned by a family, but, hire strangers. There is an obligation to those outside the family they hire in regards to discriminatory practices. This is religious discrimination and is bigotry. These companies are not sincerely private companies when they involve the employment of strangers with different values. Their claim to being part of the American fabric is that they give people jobs. They do. But, they do it as the integrity of the people they hire.

It tracks that Alito wrote the majority opinion. It is probably the only opinions he is capable of writing. Those opinions that hate democratic values.

The court decision isn't really conclusive. I am sure there are legislative measures that can be taken to remove the discriminatory practices from such a large, global corporation.

This is still going on?

July 1, 2014

Washington (AP) The U.S. Supreme Court (click here) says lawsuits by victims' families and survivors of the Sept. 11 attacks can proceed, but without relatives of Osama bin Laden and businesses that allegedly supported al-Qaida before the terrorist attacks as defendants.

The justices declined Monday to review a lower court ruling that dismissed claims against 25 defendants. The lawsuits were filed by more than 3,000 Sept 11 survivors, relatives, victims' representatives and insurance carriers. Among the defendants are al-Qaida, its members and associates, along with charities, banks, terrorist organizations and financiers.

Among those dismissed were four bin Laden relatives who purportedly managed the Saudi Binladin Group, one of the largest engineering and construction companies in the Arab world and a successor to a company founded by bin Laden's father, and the company itself.

WASHINGTON (AP) The U.S. Supreme Court (click here) has rejected an appeal to lift sanctions imposed by a judge on Arab Bank, PLC in lawsuits seeking to hold the bank partially responsible for terrorist acts in the Middle East.

The high court let stand a lower court ruling penalizing the Jordan-based bank for not turning over financial records. Survivors and relatives of victims of terrorist attacks in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza between 1995 and 2004 claim in lawsuits that the institution supported terror groups by providing financial services to them.

The bank said turning over the records would break the law in other countries.

But a judge imposed sanctions that would make it easier for the plaintiffs to prove their case and recover treble damages.

The case is Arab Bank v. Linde. (click here)

The USA government does not have a blanket plan or set of rules for emails.

The IRS is within the Department of the Treasury.

The Department of the Treasury has an Information Management Plan. (click here)

At first glance the IRS makes a vision statement and strategic mission statement, but, mostly the IRS sees it's employees as professionals capable of managing their own emails and files. There is no violation by Lois Lerner of government policies in regard to her emails.

I looked through other agencies, including the State Department and the US Coast Guard. They directly address the issue of emails. The State Department more or less has the tone of the IRS, but, when examining the email rules of the Coast Guard there is always personal discretion with specific guidance on keeping paper files. 

From the IRS:

IT Strategy Mission 
“to enable the mission of Treasury and to leverage information technology to 
steward services for citizens, government, and industry;” 

Treasury IRM Vision 
“information technology that is secure; accessible; adds value across the 

enterprise; and exceeds customer expectations.” 

So, while Mr. Issa throws his hissy fit over IRS emails, there is no violation of any policy or law. If the emails disappeared, then he is out of luck.

5.8 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 

This section of the Treasury Information Resource Management Plan deals directly with the IRS. It makes absolutely no statements about the handling of emails. I've never known the IRS to communicate with clients through email, it has always been through the US Postal Service. The issue of emails is not really considered paramount to a well run department. 

The State Department's Foreign Service calls upon specific legislation to determine the place and handling of emails.

5 FAM 751.3 AUTHORITIES 

(CT:IM-122; 11-14-2011) 

a. Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C. 552(a)). 

b. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) of 1966, as amended; privacy 

exemptions (5 U.S.C. 552(b)6 and (b)7(c)). 

c. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). 

d. E-Government Act of 2002, Section 208 (44 U.S.C. 3602). 

e. Safeguarding Against and Responding to the Breach of Personally 

Identifiable Information, M-07-16 (May 22, 2007). 

f. 36 CFR Parts 1220, 1222, 1228, and1234 Electronic Mail Systems August 

28, 1995.

g. Executive Order 13526, Classified National Security Information 

h. The authorities found in 1 FAM 271.5 and 5 FAM 113. 

i. The Federal Records Act (44 U.S.C. 31).

The State Department Foreign Service actually discourages the use of the servers for email. The staff is welcome to hold files on the computer, but, emphasizes the limit of size any attachment for an email.

I found this paragraph fairly interesting.

b. When a user’s mailbox reaches its limit, IRM works with the user to apply 

best practices/email tips to reduce the mailbox size, and/or create 

personal folders and help move mailbox items to the .pst file. To ensure 

this is done in a timely manner, IRM reserves the right to create .pst files 

and move items to them on behalf of the user. This is necessary in cases 

when the user is out of the office on leave/travel or delays taking action 

to reduce the .pst file size. Should this become necessary, IRM records 

the location of the personal folder and ensures the user is notified of the 

change. 

The American consumer is quite familiar with an unlimited e-mail when accommodated by G-mail or Hotmail or Yahoo. But, the government IT is not an unending storage unit. Employees are encouraged to maintain a limit on the capacity of a person's email and will even be assisted by the information system personnel should they be out of the country or on leave.

The IRS didn't have an unlimited e-mail capacity. Besides the crashing of an obviously outdated IT system, the e-mails Mr. Issa would be looking for was probably erased ages ago and systematically removed for confidentiality reasons of both the government and the citizen. 

Mr. Issa should be aware of the limit of e-mails by the federal IT capacity. He, after all knows by his own experience within his office and staff using an email account as a storage facility is not at all possible. 

Mr. Issa and Mr. Boehner are conducting a witch hunt for the purpose of politics. Again they are in violation of ethics as the government is suppose to conduct the business of the country and not that of the RNC.

"Morning Papers" - It's Origins (click here)

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

The ministry of Jesus Christ didn't involve violence. It was a passive movement very similar to that of Martin Luther King, Jr. The only swords mentioned in the Bible belonged to the Romans.

Women were in the Bible in a variety of passages. They were welcome into the movement (click here). It could be easily said they still remained second class citizens. They never Apostles.

Children were viewed as assets making the family larger and more mouths to feed, but, they were also workers. More children secured the family, both as protection in numbers and caring for the aged. 

June 30, 2014

Islamist militant group Isis (click here) has said it is establishing a caliphate, or Islamic state, on the territories it controls in Iraq and Syria.

Setting up a caliphate ruled by the strict Islamic law has long been a goal of many jihadists.

The BBC's Jeremy Bowen takes a closer look at the word, saying it harks back to the rise of Islam when the Prophet Muhammad's followers conquered vast territories in the Middle Ages.

Interesting thought, but, the reason there are so many conflicts in the history of the Middle East. A caliphate would dictate only one form of Islam. It would mean killing off the Shia and/or the Sunnis. So, the chance of a caliphate in 2014 is impossible.

I might note along with the Islamic aspirations of a caliphate, Israel has a doctrine of expansive settlements. The tensions that exist regarding the growing number of Israeli settlements in Palestine has to end and provide a stable Gaza.

"Good Night, Moon"

Waxing Crescent

7% Full

2.5 days old

June 29, 2014

The sighting of a sliver of a new moon (click here) indicates the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan, for observant Muslims, is a time of fasting, prayer and charitable giving.

The teachings of the Bible according to me.

There is little doubt something happened to change deity worship from polytheism to monotheism. There is also little doubt the change occurred during the Roman Empire as the power moved from west, in particular Italy to the east, Turkey, Constantinople and Byzantium.

The time of Jesus Christ aligns with all the noted findings in the halls of archaeology. I believed he was here and he taught of a monotheistic god. He was able to learn of all that because he was a Jew. He was taught of a single deity. So was his cousin John the Baptist. 

He obviously was well liked and John the Baptist was the movement so many admired. I have no doubt the Hebrews of the time wanted a Messiah. They wanted to be liberated. They were tired of the struggle to satisfy Rome and the Romans. The Romans were very oppressive. The conquests of Rome made slaves of all they conquered. The riches of any land was their's to have. 

So, to the extent the Bible elevates Jesus, his movement and his followers to the status of most holy, I agree with it. There was definitely a change in history at that point and it had to start somewhere. 

The records across the spectrum are diffuse at best. The books exist and the Bible compiled. The best of the writings were that of the first four books of the New Testament; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They are consistent in their record in many ways of Jesus and his life. 

Who is anyone to say absolutely there is or isn't a single god that is the creator. That is a personal journey and if John the Baptist were here today I think he would say the same thing. 

I believe Jesus was a civil rights leader. He never saw the Romans as better than the Jews. He saw them as wayward and aloof. He was correct. I also believe he was very human and very charismatic. I do believe he turned the page on slavery with Rome. The most obvious win for him was that of Paul. But, as with James the Greater and John (James the Less) Jesus found a welcome and refreshed ideology with the younger of the Romans. They were ready to move on to a higher understanding of morality and almost seemed to long for it.

The beauty of the Bible is the story telling. Sure, people can pick and chose passages to relate their own ideas of ideology. But, the story telling, understanding the people, their lay of the land, their methods of survival and merchandising and most of all the challenge of freeing a people from bondage that limited their opportunities in living in comfort and freedom is a fantastic story. 

I like the Bible. I believe in it's message of freedom, hope and finding happiness. It is very human in it's content and very life affirming. There is room in the Bible for everyone and their own spiritual searching.

I just felt it was time to get acquainted with the 'real Bible' and it's story of great men and women that changed the course of history and defined freedom and morality. Morality as related to clothing and otherwise is simply the 'style of the day.' But, morality in understanding what comfort and happiness sincerely is and it's importance to a human life is more than anyone can over look.

Good night.

There are many Marys in the Bible. There was a Mary Magdalene.

She is called "the Penitent". She did have a personal relationship with Jesus. She is noted frequently in the Bible.

Eventually she would become St. Mary. She was given the name 'Magdalen' because, though a Jewish girl, she lived in a Gentile town called Magdale, in northern Galilee, and her culture and manners were those of a Gentile. 

St. Luke records that she was a notorious sinner, and had seven devils removed from her. 

She was present at the crucifixion of Jesus, and with Joanna, Mary, and Salome the mother of James, at Jesus' empty tomb. 

Fourteen years after Jesus died, St. Mary was put in a boat by the Jews without sails or oars - along with Sts. Lazarus and Martha, St. Maximin (who baptized her), St. Sidonius ("the man born blind"), her maid Sera, and the body of St. Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin. 

Now, these folks were main stage players in this Messiah story. Those that never wanted to have anything to do with a man more important than Herod had even less use for them. So, when they were exiled they were cast out to sea. Folks didn't necessarily know there was another side to the sea the boat was cast into.

They were sent drifting out to sea (The Mediterranean Sea) and landed on the shores of Southern France, where St. Mary spent the rest of her life as a contemplative in a cave known as Sainte-Baume. She was given the Holy Eucharist daily by angels as her only food, and died when she was 72. St. Mary was transported miraculously, just before she died, to the chapel of St. Maximin, where she received the last sacraments.

The stories in the Bible are rather exceptional and mystical about the women. According to James the Lesser, the mother of Jesus was a virgin birth as well. Supposedly, Mary the mother of Jesus never touched the ground until she was placed on the steps of a temple at the age of three years old. She was then attended to by angels and fed nothing but manna. That story never made the Bible. But, it portrays the mystery of the women in the Bible and in the Roman Catholic bible there are more books by women than in many other versions of the Bible. The women are Ruth, Judith and Esther. There are many more women mentioned in the Bible that have a role in the life of Christianity and Judaism. 

Saint John the Baptist, Saint Mary Magdalene, Saint James the Less (John) and Saint Paul

Interesting bunch. But, to add some more information about James the Less. 

James the Less is sometimes mentioned as the brother of Jesus. That is not accurate. Jesus was the only son of Mary. And of course, he was supposed to have been conceived without any help from Joseph. 

The word that means brother in Aramaic also means cousin or nephew. James the Less appears to be very close to Jesus most of the time. He was probably depicted as a first cousin on many occassion, but, he was actually the second of the first two disciples.

James the Lesser is also written as the first Bishop of Jerusalem. He was among the disciples when it was decided Jewish laws were not to be imposed on Gentile converts. He was also known by the populous as "The Just." 

He went to Rome to be martyred in the name of Jesus Christ. When he got there he was set at the pinnacle of a temple to deny Jesus as the Messiah. Instead, he launched into song about the savior. He was pushed from the temple by those in attendance, but, alas he did not die. 

This is where some of the teachings get a bit twisted. Some have him saling off to exile while the Roman emperor was still alive as St. John. The other version of his life has him stoned to death at the foot of the temple. He knelt before those so angry and prayed for him. According to this version he died at the temples steps at 62 AD and was buried there. 

If that is the case then are these two separate James the lesser? I can invision him being beaten and stoned, but, also being wisked away to write in exile. Most Bibles have him as St. John. Yet, sometimes within the same Bible there is this confusion about him. 

For me. he survived to life and laugh another day. That is most consistent with the majority of text. But, I had to add this in just in case my understanding is not the best understanding.

The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci

From left to right: Bartholomew, James, son of Alphaeus and Andrew form a group of three, all are surprised. Judas Iscariot, Peter and John form another group of three. Then Jesus in the center. Apostle Thomas, James the Greater and Philip are the next group of three. Matthew, Jude Thaddeus and Simon the Zealot are the final group of three.

This is the kind of stuff John the Baptist was preaching about. Pleasures of the flesh kind of stuff.

Some may remember the vixon named Salome. She is not the same woman married to Zebedee. She is somehow in the Herod lineage.

As with the violence (click here) associated in most biblical tales, the appearance of women in the Bible, not the most feminist of books, has been expanded into many theatrical tickets sales for decades. It’s worth noting that John the Baptist is one of the New Testament’s greatest heroes. He foretold the Christ’s arrival before the messiah appeared and is believed to be the man who baptized Jesus Christ as an early follower of his teachings. And yet, while appearing in many films, including in one as biblical triple-threat Charlton Heston with The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), there is not a single movie named after pious John or his journeys. Conversely, Salome, the woman believed to order John the Baptist’s head on a silver platter after an erotic dance performed for father King Herod’s court, has had at least six films made where she is the titular star. It is a remarkable achievement when she is not even actually named in the Bible as the female dancer who ordered John’s head à la carte, but like the myth of Mary Magdalene being a prostitute, many know the story of the devilishly dangerous succubus named Salome. In fact, she was a box office draw when she got the glam treatment as played by Rita Hayworth in 1953’s Salome. Based on the 1891 Oscar Wilde play of the same name, the auburn-haired star, who turned Gilda into a classic simply with the suggestive flick of a glove off her wrist, played Salome as a tragic heroine, one whose sexy “Dance of the Seven Veils” was performed to save John the Baptist’s life! It may not have been scripture, but it was a hit, just like the movie that inspired it, Cecil B. DeMille’s Samson and Delilah(1949), a picture that turned Delilah’s (Hedy Lemarr) seductive manipulation of Hebrew judge Samson into an epic love story, and the biggest hit of that year.

There is one thing very true about the stories told about or out of the Bible, they do demonstrate a good deal of violence. The Romans really did not think much of the Jews. They had no regard for them.

Jesus and John the Baptist were rebels. Jesus was Hebrew, so was John the Baptist. Who were they to tell a Roman Governor his days as the supreme voice of the land is soon to be over?

But, nowhere in the Bible is anyone carrying a gun. A sword, but, never a gun.

John the Baptist is a different guy.

He is primarily the cousin of Jesus. His mother was Mary's cousin, Elizabeth. They were pregnant with their children at the same time. John is said to have jumped in joy inside the womb when first in the presence of Mary. It is said John was filled with the Holy Spirit in Elizabeth's womb.

Zechariah was John's father. He said the Angle Gabriel came to him as well as Mary to foretell the pregnancy of Elizabeth and the foreshadowing of John. It would seem as though up to the point where Gabe showed up she was barren. So, the Angel Gabriel knocked out both the profit to the Messiah and the Messiah all in one Earthly visit.

John spent most of his life preaching and bringing people to God. He practiced his faith by baptizing them in the Jordan River.

John the Baptist was a bit of an iconoclast. He had an unusual flair for fashion, wearing wild-looking clothing made of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist. He lived in the desert wilderness of Judea, ate locust and wild honey.

He was confident the Messiah was coming and wanted people to prepare for it. He believed through baptism a person could repent and prepare for the coming of the Messiah. Evidently, the morality when one is facing slavery wasn't what John considered admirable.

John would eventually come to baptize Jesus in the River Jordan. Some speculate that Jesus actually began his message modeling it after John's message of repentance. The question is what came first, the chicken or the egg?

John the Baptist would set the stage for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. John had even asked Herod Antipas to come to be baptized. This is the same Herod that saw the coming of the Messiah and had all the male babies under 2 years old slaughtered.

Matthew 2:16

New International Version (NIV)

16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

Well, it seemed as though Herod didn't take lightly of John's insistence the Messiah was coming and beheaded him in the year 29 AD. Jesus said of him in Luke 7:28, Jesus declared John the Baptist to be the greatest man to have ever lived: "I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John ...".

He was a hot topic. John the Baptist was even invisioned by others. In Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 4:5, John's coming was foretold. All four Gospels mention John the Baptist: Matthew 3, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17; Mark 6 and 8; Luke 7 and 9; John 1. He is also referenced several times throughout the book of Acts.

Laborers in the Bible

Matthew 20:1-16

New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’5 So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

James the Lesser becomes John

Most of the images of St. John shows two men. A young John and an older John. There is every reason to believe he lived to a ripe old age of 106. (6 AD - 100 AD) Jesus would die between 30 AD and 33 AD depending on who one reads.

When an image of a young John is found he usually curly hair. 

He is attributed to have written the Fourth Gospel. He was considered an evangelical. He was also said to have written the Apocalypse (AKA Revelations - It is a dream sequence of the Apostle John). He is also credited for three epistles in the Bible.

John has quite an ego as well. He states he is "the disciple whom Jesus loved." It is stated that was proved by at the Last Supper where he sat or reclined next to Jesus and he was present at the crucifixion and entrusted with protecting the Blessed Mother (of Jesus.)

It is stated he went to Rome to be martyred under the then emperor Domitian. But, escaped and banished to the island of Patmos. It was there he wrote the Apocalypse. After Domitian died in 96 AD, he returned to Ephesus (Ephesus was a city in eastern Turkey, otherwise known as East Rome and was one of the seven churches of Asia that are cited in the Book of Revelation). East Rome is the same as the Byzantine Empire. Constantinople (Modern day Istanbul) was the capital city of the Byzantine Empire.

John's writing are mostly known for their sense of charity. He was criticized at times for not teaching anything but charity. It was his belief charity was the Lord's commandment and until it was fulfilled he would speak of nothing else.

If Jesus was going to stop slavery within the Roman Empire and empower those unable to raise themselves to a sustainable life, he would require charity as a paramount importance in giving the poor a chance at a life from slavery. They were unable to pay Rome in any way. They received their food from the granaries (click here) of Rome only to serve the purpose of slave.

I am not a preacher or have studied a single book of the Bible for five years, but, Bishop Spong has.

June 11, 2013

By John Shelby Spong, Retired American Bishop of the Episcopal Church

...Among the conclusions (click here) that I have reached in my intensive five-year-long study of John's Gospel are these:

1) There is no way that the Fourth Gospel was written by John Zebedee or by any of the disciples of Jesus. The author of this book is not a single individual, but is at least three different writers/editors, who did their layered work over a period of 25 to 30 years.

2) There is probably not a single word attributed to Jesus in this book that the Jesus of history actually spoke. This includes all the "I Am" sayings and all of the "Farewell Discourses."

3) Not one of the signs (the Fourth Gospel's word for miracles) recorded in this book was, in all probability, something that actually happened. This means that Jesus never changed water into wine, fed a multitude with five loaves and two fish or raised Lazarus from the dead.

4) Many of the characters who appear in the pages of the Fourth Gospel are literary creations of its author and were never intended to be understood as real people, who actually lived in history. This includes Nathaniel, who is introduced with great fanfare in chapter one and is treated in John's Gospel as one of "the Twelve," as well as the enigmatic character called by the Fourth Gospel "the disciple whom Jesus loved," who is introduced in Chapter 13 and who stars in this narrative from then on up to and including the resurrection event. Between those two "bookend" characters, we run into such well-known figures as Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman by the well, the man crippled for 38 years and the man born blind, none of whom has ever been mentioned before in any written Christian source and each of whom in all probability is nothing more than the literary creation of the author....

To circumcise or not to circumcise.

Circumcision (click here) is a religious or cultural ritual for many Jewish and Islamic families, as well as certain aboriginal tribes in Africa and Australia. Circumcision can also be a matter of family tradition, personal hygiene or preventive health care. Sometimes there's a medical need for circumcision, such as when the foreskin is too tight to be pulled back (retracted) over the glans. In other cases, particularly in certain parts of Africa, circumcision is recommended for older boys or men to reduce the risk of certain sexually transmitted infections.

The Council at Jerusalem - Galatians 2:4
…3But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.4But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage. 5But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.…

Now there was to be freedom from bondage based on the identity of circumcision. This is not a joke. The Hebrews believe(d) that circumcision was prescribed by Moses. Acts 15:1 (NASB) "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved."

The Council of Jerusalem Acts 15 (click here)

...The Apostles and Elders of Jerusalem (click here) accepted Titus “uncircumcised”, thus recognizing the validity of Paul’s proclamation concerning the freedom of grace. The Assembly confirmed the main leaders of the Church and recognized the missionary vocation of Peter for the circumcised and that of Paul for the uncircumcised. As a matter of fact, a sort of partitioning of the missionary field occurred: James, Kephas and John were directed towards the Jews, while Paul and Barnabas were sent to preach to the pagans....

Circumcision was a way of identifying the Jews. The act of circumcision would enslave them forever given Romans focus on purity of the genetic pool of emperors. The Romans believed they were half god. This was a very big deal and a direct form of revolution for the disciples of Jesus Christ. 

The Council of Jerusalem occurred in 46 AD. It was two years after James the Greater had been beheaded. He was considered a martyr. These acts of rebellion against the Roman empire were serious and considered a threat to the purity of the race. They were still carrying the burden of the word of Jesus against the slavery of Rome. Jesus would live to see his church established. That would not occur until 50 AD when Paul began the teaching of a monotheistic faith.