HONG KONG — Hong Kong lawmakers on Thursday rejected a Beijing-backed electoral reform package derided as “fake democracy” during mass protests last year, leaving the city in deadlock over how its leader should be chosen.

The government’s electoral roadmap would have given all residents the right to vote for the chief executive for the first time in 2017, but only able to choose from candidates vetted by a Beijing loyalist committee.

In an unprecedented rebuke, the proposal was voted down by 28 votes to eight, with the majority of pro-government lawmakers walking out of the legislative chamber without casting their ballots as defeat loomed.

Beijing Will ‘press ahead’

“This result is not what we want to see,” Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said after the vote, which required support from two-thirds of the assembly’s 70 lawmakers to pass.

He added that China wanted to “press ahead with the democratic development of Hong Kong” in the interests of stability and prosperity in the former British colony.

But analysts agreed that Beijing was unlikely to alter its stance on the vetting of candidates, and authorities in Hong Kong have said the political reform debate is now off the table for 2017.

That means the next chief executive will be chosen by a 1,200-strong pro-Beijing committee, as was the unpopular current leader, Leung Chun-ying.

“I, the government and millions of Hong Kong people are naturally disappointed,” Leung said after the vote, accusing the democrats of denying residents the opportunity to choose a leader.

Leung added it was time for the community to “move on” and focus on other issues.

“Political reform will effectively grind to a halt,” said Shi Yinhong, international relations professor at Beijing’s Renmin University.

“There is unlikely to be a new (reform) proposal from China’s government,” he said.

Pro-democracy lawmakers did not cast their defeat of the vote as a victory, with some saying that it was just the beginning of a long battle.

“I think in the short-term we cannot see any opportunity or incentive for them to sit together and start up another round of negotiations,” said Ivan Choy, a senior lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

“Political reform may be in a deadlock for two or three years.”

Hong Kong is largely self-governing after being handed back to China by the United Kingdom in 1997 and enjoys much greater freedoms than on the mainland, but there are fears that these are being eroded.

Analysts say that despite Thursday’s vote, the pro-democracy campaign risks fragmenting as frustrations grow over the lack of progress, and that smaller radical splinter groups could emerge.

June 20, 2015 by The Beat Man

Selective outrage Dylann Roof & the negro pt1 5723 Michael

June 20, 2015 by The Beat Man

Lower house passes controversial bill on temp workers

http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/lower-house-passes-controversial-bill-on-temp-workers

TOKYO —

After two failed attempts, the lower house of the Diet on Friday passed a bill designed to encourage temporary workers to get full-time jobs.

The passage of the bill, which now goes to the upper house for ratification, is a victory for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

The largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) boycotted the vote.

Last Friday, lawmakers scuffled in the Diet during deliberations over the bill which is expected to go into force Sept 1 after the upper house OKs it.

Under the bill, a three-year limit will be imposed on the use of all temporary workers in one position through staffing agencies, and employers will be urged to hire them as full-time employees.

But opposition parties have fiercely opposed the bill, claiming temporary workers would simply lose their jobs and employers would be allowed to easily swap temporary workers every three years, rather than hiring them full-time.

June 20, 2015 by The Beat Man

DANIEL 9 -TRUTH of DANIEL’s 70 WEEK Prophecy – Rabbi Michael Skobac

Many Christians mistakenly believe that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel 9: 24-27, which they claim prophesies that the Jewish Messiah had to be killed before the Holy Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 C.E. Rabbi Michael Skobac sheds light on the truth of this controversial passage and clearly explains how the Christian interpretation is incorrect and is based on mistranslations and miscalculations.

http://messiahtruth.yuku.com/topic/398/Daniel-9-one-more-time#.VYX8eflViko

24 Seventy septets have been decreed upon your people and upon your holy city to terminate transgression, to end sin, to wipe away iniquity, to bring everlasting righteousness, to confirm the visions and prophets and to anoint the Holy of Holies.

25 Know and comprehend: From the emergence of the word to return and to build Jerusalem until the anointment of the prince will be seven septets, and fir sixty-two septets it will be rebuilt, street and moat but in troubled times.

26 Then, after the sixty-two septets , the anointed one will be cut off and will exist no longer; the people of the prince will come and will destroy the city and the Sanctuary; but his end will be (to be swept away as) in a flood. Then, until the end of the war, desolation is decreed.

27 He will also forge a strong covenant with the great ones, for one septet, but for half of that septet he will abolish sacrifice and meal offerings and the mute abominations will be upon soaring heights, until extermination as decreed will pour down upon the mute (abomination).

9:24 Lit., seventy weeks, this phrase refers to seventy times seven years or 490 years. This refers to the seventy years of exile that have passed sine the Destruction of the First Temple (Sophiee’s note: see 9:2-3 quoted above) until this vision and the entire 420 year period of the Second Temple (Rashi).

9:25 The septets (shavuim) refer to full seven-year periods. The prince of this verse is Cyrus, who gave permission to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. He ascended to the throne fifty-two years (seven full septets plus three years) after the exile has begun. From then until the second destruction of Jerusalem was 438 years, or sixty two septets and four years (Rashi).

9:26 I.e., Agrippa, the last Jewish king, at the end of the second Temple era. After his death, the prince of this verse the Roman Titus, would command the destruction of the Temple, which will not rebuilt until after the War of Gog and Magog in messianic times (Rashi).

9:27 The Roman emperor would make a treaty with the Jewish nation for seven years, but for the second half of the term the Romans would violate that covenant and impede the Temple service. The mute abomination, i.e. a temple idolatry, was erected by the emperor Hadrian on the Temple Mount (Rashi).

June 20, 2015 by The Beat Man

Senator Don Meredith who preached against pre-marital sex outed as a hypocrite

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Meredith_(politician)

Meredith is a social conservative who has spoken out against pre-marital sex and stated that “when we have marriages, we don’t have these social problems.”^[15] Meredith has also stated that he would like to see the age of sexual consent raised to 18 from 14 which is it at odds with the Conservative government’s stated intention to raise the age of consent from 14 to 16.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/06/17/teen-alleges-two-year-affair-with-senator-don-meredith.html

A Canadian senator who is under investigation for workplace sexual harassment is facing a new allegation that he had a sexual relationship with a teenager during the past two years.

Don Meredith, 50, has been a senator since 2010 and is also a Pentecostal pastor with the Praise Centre in Toronto.

Soon after the allegations against Meredith were published on the Star website, the Prime Minister’s Office took swift action to oust him from Conservative circles.

“Senator Meredith is no longer a member of the Caucus,” spokesman Stephen Lecce said in an email.

According to the young woman, who is now 18, the relationship began soon after she turned 16. She met Meredith at a church event in Ottawa.

She said it began with sexually explicit chats over Skype and Viber in which Meredith asked her to remove her top and underwear. She said he then masturbated on camera.

The relationship progressed to physical intimacy, kissing and touching before the girl turned 18. Soon after she turned 18, the woman said, they had intercourse twice.

When the senator broke it off earlier this year, he told her in a text message that he did so because “God has spoken to me and am (sic) not happy with me … I should be leading you not making you.”

The Star has conducted detailed interviews with the woman in person and over the telephone. The Star has also viewed text and email messages the two exchanged.

Meredith, reached by the Star on Tuesday, said he was too busy to answer questions.

“I’m just in a meeting right now; I can’t speak to you,” Meredith said. The senator hung up when the Star began asking questions.

Following the call, the Star sent two sets of written questions to Meredith. The Star left requests for comment on the issue of an alleged inappropriate relationship on Meredith’s cellphone, at his Toronto area church, and his Senate office in Ottawa. Meredith has yet to respond.

In Canada, the age of consent for sexual relations is 16. However, the age of consent is 18 if there is a relationship of authority, trust or dependency.

Meredith was appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2010. He had run unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate in the 2008 byelection in Toronto Centre. A landscaper by trade — his company is called Donscape Landscaping Services — Meredith had become prominent in Toronto for speaking out against youth violence.

Last week, CTV’s Robert Fife reported that Meredith is under investigation by the Senate for “allegations of workplace sexual harassment and bullying.” According to the CTV report, “four of Meredith’s former female employees and four other Senate staffers allege he made sexual advances, used sexual innuendo, and was often rude and vindictive.”

Senate Speaker Leo Housakos confirmed to media outlets that an investigation he called a “workplace assessment” is underway. The woman the Star interviewed did not work for the senator and has no connection to the workplace harassment allegations.

In an online biography at the Pentecostal Praise Centre in Vaughan, Meredith is described as having a strong commitment to religion and youth. He is also known for his comments on the importance of family values.

“He has a heart for people and desires nothing more than to see all people come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and His glorious Kingdom. With a strong passion for Youth and their families, he wants to empower them through education,” the biography states. “He has dedicated his life to work with other Faith Leaders, Politicians, and Police to bring about change in how we Engage, Encourage and Empower our youth across Canada.”

Meredith met the young woman, who was then a girl, at a religious event. The woman is embarrassed and troubled by the relationship. Because of the nature of the allegations and her young age, the Star agreed to protect her anonymity.

In February 2013, Meredith was invited to speak at a celebration of Black History Month at a church in Ottawa.

The girl, who had just turned 16, was in attendance.

“He was cute. I was meeting a senator. I got a picture with him,” said the woman, recalling the meeting.

“There were a lot of people waiting to speak to him. It was a celebrity experience. He kept telling me to wait. Then he came and talked to me and gave me his card and wrote his cellphone number on the back and told me to call him.”

On Valentine’s Day in 2013, she said, Meredith invited her to dinner. She did not go on the advice of her family. “I was scared; it did not seem right.”

Over the next three months, Meredith and the young woman texted. He used his government cellphone, she said. He invited her to visit his Senate office and she did in June. She said Meredith hugged her and squeezed her buttocks with his hands.

“Why would you do that? What’s wrong with you?” she recalls asking him. On that occasion and others when she queried why a married man who was much older would be involved with her, she said he replied, “I am a man.”

The woman said she found Meredith charismatic and interesting, despite what she described as his inappropriate touching.

He then asked her to go back to his hotel, the Chateau Laurier. She said he promised he would “only take off my socks.” She said no. They went for Chinese food instead. She said he asked her for a kiss goodnight and she said she refused.

They began an on-again, off-again relationship that always stopped short of intercourse. “He said no, I’m not going to lie down or anything. He made it clear he did not want to have sex with me until I was 18.”

Instead, the woman recalls, their relationship included “kissing and (sexual) touching.” This occurred in the place she was living in Ottawa.

She said the senator initially thought she was over 18, but that within six weeks of their first meeting she told him she was 16.

The Star has put allegations to Meredith that he had an improper and sexual relationship with a person under the age of 18. Meredith has not responded.