Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Friday 16 January 2015

The European Union Times


Posted: 15 Jan 2015 10:08 AM PST


British government engaging in “cynical opportunism” following attack in France.
The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, wants President Obama to pressure social media to cooperate with GCHQ, the British intelligence service that works closely with the NSA in the United States to surveil the internet and private electronic communication.
Intelligence services are increasingly critical of encryption methods used by Facebook and Twitter to secure the communications of users.
MI5 boss Andrew Parker took the tech giants to task for encryption and warned the “dark places from where those who wish us harm can plot and plan are increasing.”
Parker said tech companies must offer “greater co-operation” in the fight against terrorism and added that “privacy has never been an absolute right.”
Cameron’s request follows an earlier suggestion that the United Kingdom may outlaw online messaging services that use encryption.
Cameron, in a meeting scheduled for Friday in Washington, will ask Obama to support an effort to deny people the government considers terrorists and terrorist sympathizers a “safe place” on the internet.
Privacy International has accused Cameron and the British government of “cynical opportunism” and of using this terrorist act for their own selfish gains in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attack.
“Government officials … rally in the name of freedom and human rights claiming that the terrorists will never win and hate us for our freedoms. Then moments later … they attempt to curtail our rights they boldly proclaim in public as unassailable,” a spokesman for the group said.
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Posted: 15 Jan 2015 09:46 AM PST


Christianity and many other religions sets forth the tenet that God gave all humans a soul, the “breath of life,” which is the essence of consciousness (the ability to be aware of the past, present and future) and the essence of their awareness of being. Christians believe that we were created in God’s image and are a part of God, the Creator of our Universe and probably many more universes [1-2]. As a religious physicist, I have argued that God is an infinite (or at least higher dimensional) entity who may simultaneously exist inside our Universe and outside of our universe via the Holy Trinity [1]. Consequently, I have struggled to understand how we as finite humans residing in finite four-dimensional spacetime (x,y,z, and t) could also be a part of God who is likely infinite. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, also resided in our four-dimensional Universe. There are details associated with His glorious resurrection that I think may offer tremendous insight and clues into what our soul may constitute, which, thinking deeply about gave me an epiphany of sorts that I will presently discuss.
One of the most fascinating aspects of being human is the ability to create. Creation, in some sense, requires the ability to “think outside of the box” and to distance or separate the mind from the problem to be solved or studies as an external, unbiased observer. In fact, mathematics might be viewed as our effort to establish a logical template for our apparently infinite ability to create (at least in our minds which I call the playground of the infinities). Yet our mathematics goes far beyond conventional four dimensional spacetime – beyond our learned and physical intuition – and predicts higher dimensions (as required for String Theory, e.g.) and even predicted non-Euclidean (Lobachevskian and Riemannian space) which was later integrated into Einstein’s relativity (via spacetime curvature). Thus, it would appear that there is something fundamental associated with our ability to create that can transcend spacetime and biology which I argue is integral to our soul.
When Jesus perished on the Cross and was resurrected three days later, numerous witnesses attested to the fact that He could pass through walls. How could one person living in our universe be able to go through walls? Well, if one lives in a higher dimension encompassing our universe, it becomes very easy to go through walls. This reminds me of the famous novel, Flatland [3-4], where a three dimensional sphere visits a two dimensional square imprisoned in a two dimensional jail and the sphere seemingly appears (to the square) as a two dimensional circle, which first grows in diameter, then diminishes, and then disappears. Thus, if resurrected Jesus had higher dimensional properties, then His ability to literally appear and disappear from rooms and walk through walls could be a logical possibility [5]. Beyond this, considering all of the miracles attributed to Jesus, where and what was His energy source? How could God appear to Moses as a cool fire? Could they not have come from other dimensions that we just can’t see?
On top of this, I have always wondered how souls could manage to travel the full span/dimensions of our Universe – assuming that it is bounded, and if they were so inclined – without the requirement that the journey would require thousands of years assuming they travel at the speed of light [1-2]. Now for pure energy traveling at this speed, time does cease, but for those of us rooted as physical matter (i.e. with physical bodies), we would never be able to witness their full journey to the ends of spacetime in our lifetimes.
Thus, it occurred to me that we, like God, must have a component of our being that transcends four dimensional spacetime just as we can so easily do in our imagination. In that spirit (literally), our soul must be infinitely- or at least higher- dimensional to enable our creativity. Then, travel of enormous distances (e.g. parsecs) becomes trivial for the untethered soul – moving from one four dimensional spacetime point to another – by moving to a higher dimension and back to four dimensions. For example, traveling from the North pole to the South pole along the curved surface of the Earth is far longer than by tunneling through the center of the Earth. Wormholes have been postulated as a means to enable and assist the astonishingly enormous distances associated with space and/or time travel [6-7]. These distances may be nearly impossible for us to journey as four dimensional matter-constituent creatures (except for Jesus, of course, the Son of God – the Creator of everything), but our soul can probably easily travel them if it has a higher dimensional component. Viewed in this way, we can better understand how someone resurrected might be able to appear out of nowhere and easily pass through walls. There are of course other means (e.g. quantum tunneling) to traverse seemingly impossible barriers but that would take us too far afield.
Human soul is tiny piece of infinite whole
We can also better understand the efforts of those who seek to deny or take us away from God to “prove” that all of our existence is completely confined within the “reality” of four dimensional spacetime which, in my opinion, is not completely. We do live in a spacetime “bubble” of sorts which works quite nicely on its own principles of physics. However, the very fact that our universe is expanding into nothingness just as a two dimensional balloon surface expands in three dimensions of space demonstrates in my opinion that there are higher dimensions outside of our universe. Even String Theory predicts this [8].
Materialism can be considered as an attempt to confine our free dimensionally-transcending spirits within the limits of our universe and to forget that we have something inside each of us that is far greater and to hide us away and from and make us forget about the likely infinitely-dimensional Creator of spacetime and of many more universes of potentially varying dimensions – God. When our material/physical bodies perish, our infinitely-dimensional or higher dimensional soul returns to its Creator and escapes the confines of our universe. In my opinion, our souls are tiny pieces of an infinite and yet ever-growing whole. This is how we were created in God’s image – we are infinitely or at least higher dimensional pieces of God. I do not pretend to claim that my simple theory explains everything, nor that it is necessarily “correct.” It is only a theory, of course. But it certainly inspires me to continue the quest for better understanding of my Creator which I suspect will never end. It also demonstrates that science and theology are not at odds with one another but in my opinion, mutually inspire and complement one another [9]. You can be a scientist and believe in God despite those who ignorantly claim otherwise.
I will close my essay with a vision that I just can’t seem to get of my head. That is of large numbers of fireflies (souls), generating their own creative energy/light within a span of different universes of varying dimensions flying into the infinite expanse of darkness/nothingness, illuminating it, all in the presence of an infinitely bright light (God) that created them all. It’s a truly beautiful vision. Glory be to God!
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Posted: 15 Jan 2015 08:04 AM PST


Vladimir Putin has been silent lately. But if anyone thought he had been shamed into defeat or marginalized, then think again.
In the last few hours Russia has announced two key strategic decisions that show they are not going to stand idly by while their economy and way of life are destroyed by Western forces.
First, presumably in response to stiff sanctions leveled by the United States and the European Union after the annexation of Crimea last year, Russia has cut off 60% of Europe’s gas supplies right in the middle of winter. This has caused an almost immediate crisis in six European nations that have seen a complete cut-off to their supplies – Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Croatia and Turkey – with more to follow. According to reports via Zero Hedge, the effect has been almost instantaneous.
Without Russia residents across Europe have no way of staying warm.
Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian state energy giant Gazprom to cut supplies to and through Ukraine amid accusations, according to The Daily Mail, that its neighbor has been siphoning off and stealing Russian gas. Due to these “transit risks for European consumers in the territory of Ukraine,” Gazprom cut gas exports to Europe by 60%, plunging the continent into an energy crisis “within hours.” Perhaps explaining the explosion higher in NatGas prices (and oil) today, gas companies in Ukraine confirmed that Russia had cut off supply; and six countries reported a complete shut-off of Russian gas. The EU raged that the sudden cut-off to some of its member countries was “completely unacceptable,” but Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller later added that Russia plans to shift all its natural gas flows crossing Ukraine to a route via Turkey; and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak stated unequivocally, “the decision has been made.”
Russia has taken similar steps in the past because of non-payment but turned the gas supplies back on once deals were reached.
This time, however, there won’t be a deal.
Russia says it will deliver the gas through Turkey, and then it’s up to the European Union to build the infrastructure that will transport it to the rest of the continent, as noted by Bloomberg.
“Transit risks for European consumers on the territory of Ukraine remain,” Miller said in an e-mailed statement. “There are no other options” except for the planned Turkish Stream link, he said.
“We have informed our European partners, and now it is up to them to put in place the necessary infrastructure starting from the Turkish-Greek border,” Miller said.
…
“The decision has been made,” Novak said. “We are diversifying and eliminating the risks of unreliable countries that caused problems in past years, including for European consumers.”
Europe, of course, does not have the necessary infrastructure in place for this, and Vladimir Putin most certainly knew this before he shut off the spigots.
Second, and perhaps even more significant than the overt move to show Europe who’s boss, Putin took a direct shot at the United States.
Also from Zero Hedge:
As Bloomberg reports Russia “may unseal its $88 billion Reserve Fund and convert some of its foreign-currency holdings into rubles, the latest government effort to prop up an economy veering into its worst slump since 2009.”
These are dollars which Russia would have otherwise recycled into US denominated assets. Instead, Russia will purchase even more Rubles and use the proceeds for FX and economic stabilization purposes.
“Together with the central bank, we are selling a part of our foreign-currency reserves,” Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in Moscow today. “We’ll get rubles and place them in deposits for banks, giving liquidity to the economy.”
Call it less than amicable divorce, call it what you will: what it is, is Russia violently leaving the ranks of countries that exchange crude for US paper.
What we are seeing are the strategic moves that will eventually catalyze the next great war. And make no mistake, this is exactly what’s in store for the world should these escalations continue.
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Posted: 15 Jan 2015 07:13 AM PST
Inactivity kills more than obesity.
A new major study says exercise is beneficial for people of any age, warning that physical inactivity could kill twice as many people as obesity.
A 12-year study of more than 300,000 European people, who had an average age of around 50, suggests that about 676,000 deaths each year were attributed to physical inactivity, compared with 337,000 associated to obesity.
The researchers at the University of Cambridge, however, said that the risk of early death could be reduced by between 16 and 30 percent through taking at least a 20-minute brisk walk every daily.
“Just a small amount of physical activity each day could have substantial health benefits,” Professor Ulf Ekelund, who led the study, said. “…Although we found that just 20 minutes would make a difference, we should really be looking to do more than this.”
The researchers assessed exercise levels and waistlines while recording every death during the study.
They also found out that keeping waists trim had a similar impact on death rates as exercise.
The diseases caused by inactivity and obesity were largely the same but type 2 diabetes was more common with obesity.
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Posted: 15 Jan 2015 04:39 AM PST


UK PM David Cameron may block encrypted messaging platforms Snapchat and WhatsApp if the Conservatives win May’s general election, as part of the party’s agenda to bolster surveillance powers following last week’s terror attacks in Paris.
During a meeting with Britain’s security chiefs, the Prime Minister pledged to halt the use of communications platforms that can withstand snooping from security services who are in possession of a warrant.
Such software applications focus on popular messaging and social networking apps that deploy encryption techniques to protect users data from intrusive governments and their ISPs around the world who spy on their people.
WhatsApp, Apple’s iMessage and FaceTime, which encrypt information in this manner, could all be targeted by the Conservatives’ proposed policy.
Cameron also pledged to revive the Tories’ much-criticized “snoopers charter” to aid security officials in monitoring online activity.
In April 2014, the European Court of Justice ruled against the introduction of the Snooper’s Charter, warning it would culminate in privacy rights violations. The Court outlined a more moderate data retention program that would aid criminal investigations.
But in early July it emerged the government was seeking to push through emergency legislation, which would flout the Court’s judgment and re-legislate for the blanket retention of data.
The snooper’s charter subsequently caused a rift in government, however, after it was blocked by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on the grounds it posed a risk to civil liberties.
Home Secretary Theresa May accused the Liberal Democrats of “outrageous irresponsibility” for blocking the legislation at the time.
Speaking on Monday, Cameron asked whether a platform of communication that is inaccessible by state authorities is wise.
In a climate of heightened mass surveillance, firms such as WhatsApp have remained determined to continue offering encrypted services.
Public awareness about the importance of encryption mushroomed in the aftermath of former NSA computer analyst and whistleblower Edward Snowden’s disclosures on NSA and GCHQ mass snooping.
Civil liberties groups warn attempts to limit the use of privacy tools under the auspices of protecting national security are a violation of citizens’ privacy rights. Privacy rights advocates say encrypted platforms are important tools for campaigners and activists.
In October 2014, Parker Higgern, an activist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, emphasized the importance of maintaining such privacy tools in an era of mass surveillance.
“It’s essential that the use of encryption, anonymization techniques, and other privacy practices is not deemed a suspicious activity,” he said.
“Rather, it must be recognized as an essential element for practicing freedom of speech in a digital environment.”
Campaigners say encryption can also help victims of criminal activity and those in oppressive regimes to remain safe and secure.
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Posted by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi at 09:46