Tuesday, April 29, 2014

HIGH ORBITAL SPACE SPECULATIONS, PART ONE: THE VATICAN AND ET

Almost a month ago, many of you sent me this article, and the reason I have not blogged about it, is because I’ve had to think about it a bit. Indeed, it comes at a time when there is other space news quietly circulated, out of the spotlights of the mainstream media. Before getting started with this little mini-series of blogs, let me state for the record that these articles and blogs are my own “high orbital space speculations,” a bit of dot-connecting of dots that could easily be connected in a very different way, and interpreted very differently. Let me also advise the reader that, over the years, I have known many people – including some well-known ones – who have claimed to have had, or been the victims of, some sort of “ET contact experience.” For some of these people, the experience has been positive, and so their evaluations of ET tends to be positive. For others, the experience was ambiguous, often disturbingly so, and for them, their evaluations naturally tend to me negative. I make no claim to either perception, since I have not experienced it, nor do I wish to do so. I make no claim to the reality or lack thereof of such experiences, save to note that most of these people who have shared them with me, have struck me as sincere, sane, people, to whom something definitely happened. My own evaluations of the potential hostility of ET stem more from an analysis of what I think would have motivated the post-World War Two national security structure to maintain this attitude as their “working hypothesis,” a hypothesis that once maintained over a time span of several decades, has become a component of its hidden culture.
With that in mind, I want to ponder, over the next three days, (1) a recent article about the Vatican and ET, (2) former President Bill Clinton and ET, and finally, (3) NASA administrator Bolden’s strange remarks. Herewith is the Vatican article:
Vatican Astronomers Ramp Up Their Search For “Brother Extraterrestrial”
There are a number of arresting statements in this article, and the first of them occur in the opening paragraph:
“Earlier this month, the Vatican Observatory cosponsored a major conference on extraterrestrial life that brought together 200 of the leading astrobiologists in the world.  One of the organizers stated that one of the goals of the conference was to figure out “how we can find life among the stars within the next two decades“.  Certainly it would not be unusual for a group of astronomers and astrobiologists to get together and discuss such things.  But why is the Vatican seemingly obsessed with this stuff?  As you will see below, there are some high profile Vatican astronomers that seem quite confident that “something” is out there.  In fact, one has stated that once it is revealed, “everything we think we know” may have to ‘be thrown out’”
Notwithstanding the article’s slight slant coming from a evangelical perspective, the observations it makes are, for the most part, generally correct from the standpoint of broad Christian doctrinal tradition. We will return to that in a moment. But for the present, note in the above paragraph that the statement italicized implies that there are those in the Vatican who are promoting the meme that any sort of “revelation” of anything to do with extra-terrestrials would be a paradigm changing moment. In this, the Vatican is simply rehearsing the conclusions of the Brookings Report. 
Now we come to the crux of the matter, at least, as far as standard Christian doctrine is concerned:
“‘Funes, who runs the observatory that is based south of Rome and in Arizona, held out the possibility that the human race might actually be the “lost sheep” of the universe. There could be other beings “who remained in full friendship with their creator,’ he said.
“Wow.
“So Funes is actually suggesting that when we do encounter extraterrestrial beings, they may not have fallen into sin like humanity has.”
The suggestion that any non-terrestrials encountered would not be subject to some form of the doctrine of ancestral or original sin is not a new one. It is, in fact, one implication of the doctrine as expressed in Christian tradition. Implicit in this reading of the doctrine is the oft-heard meme within Ufology that any non-terrestrials would, perforce, be not only technologically superior, but morally as well, since they have not inherited anything from Adam. This is, however, not all there is to the doctrine, in either its Western or Eastern forms, for in its formal expositions, the doctrine is understood to have been a cosmic event. It is not only man that “fell,” it was also higher intelligences. Thus, to encounter someone within the Vatican who is dealing with such matters as non-terrestrial contact, stating such things, is – as the article itself avers – highly significant, and it could signal vast conceptual changes slowly under way in the Roman Church. Time alone will tell.
“And when they started out three years ago, Funes was saying ‘I’d like to baptize an alien into the Catholic faith.’ Well that’s not what they’re saying today. What they’re saying now is that they [aliens] are coming here and they’re going to baptize us into their faith and it is going to require us to make changes to our knowledge, to our understanding, of the Gospel. In fact, some of their deepest theologians have said, ‘Perhaps everything we think we know about the Gospel is going to have to be thrown out.’”(Boldface emphasis added by the article’s original author, italicized emphasis added by me)
He even sent us a copy of a private pdf, a literal goldmine of what he and the Vatican are considering regarding the ramifications of astrobiology and specifically the discovery of advanced extraterrestrials… in which he admits how contemporary societies will soon “look to The Aliens to be the Saviours of humankind.
These propositions follow from the first assertion, and are consistent with it. It is, again, remarkable to compare these opinions with those profferred decades ago in the Brookings Report, which expressed concern over the potential backlash from “fundamentalism” if any revelation of a non-terrestrial presence within our celestial neighborhood were ever to occur.
“So what would happen someday if “aliens” showed up and claimed that they seeded life on this planet, guided our evolution and are now here to lead us into a new golden age?
“And what would happen if the Catholic Church gave those aliens their stamp of approval?”
With this, we have the centerpiece of the article’s concern, and frankly, I share it.
In my forthcoming book, Thrice Great Hermetica and the Janus Age, I point out that the existence of the New World was known to circles within Europe – the power elite of the time – who suppressed that knowledge while quietly exploiting it for commercial purposes. It is significant, when one considers all the evidence from that period, that when the revelation came, it came as a combined, carefully orchestrated, revelation involving political power(Ferdinand and Isabella), commercial and naval power(the Italian city-states represented by the Genoese Columbus and Genoese bankers), and the papacy(in the form of Giovanni Cybo, Pope Innocent VIII), which in turn represented not only its own international bureaucracy and power, but also a more hidden connection.
The revelation, in other words, consisted of an orchestrated consent between(1) financial and commercial power, (2) the one international religious bureaucracy able to sanction it(the papacy), (3) the political power, and (4) a hidden power connected to Innocent VIII.  There is, of course, a final, fifth element, and that is the secret knowledge itself, the knowledge of a “New World,” with its own civilizations, and the decision, finally, to reveal it. That decision came, I suggest, when the power elites of Europe were finally in a financial and maritime position to exploit it fully, and full exploitation required (a) the technology to do so, and (b) the financing to do so.
With this in mind, we have to turn to another curious incident in recent weeks, but that will have to wait until tomorrow…

NASA: "If A Space Super Storm Like The 2012 Storm Hits Earth We Will Be Picking Up The Pieces For Years" | The Daily Sheeple

NASA: "If A Space Super Storm Like The 2012 Storm Hits Earth We Will Be Picking Up The Pieces For Years" | The Daily Sheeple

Where are Obama’s daughters’ baby pics and birth records?

WTF the "whole" family is an fraud lol  hehe & u's fell fer it twice lol

I got an email this morning from FOTM reader Dave McMullen, asking why there aren’t baby pictures of Obama’s two daughters, Malia and Sasha.
Wikipedia says “Barack and Michelle Obama have two daughters: Malia Ann, born on July 4, 1998, and Natasha (known as Sasha), born on June 10, 2001.
So I did a Google Image search for Obama’s daughters. I couldn’t find any baby pics of Malia or Sasha; neither could Dave.
The youngest-looking pic of the girls I found (see below) was in an article extolling Michelle Obama, dated August 20, 2007, on the website Afrobella. The pic is undated. If we go by the date of the Afrobella article, Malia would be 9 years old and Sasha would be 6 years old.
Afrobella pic of O family
In contrast, Dave found a website with a pic of Laura Bush, wife of President George W. Bush, holding their two-month-old twins, Jenna and Barbara.
Laura Bush with babies
I have seen pics of Barack and Michelle’s wedding, like this one below, but none of Michelle pregnant with child.
obama_Wedding
Then I went on the website Ancestry.com, and searched for birth records of Malia Obama, b. 1998, and Natasha Obama, b. 2001. These are the results:
Malia Obama 3
Natasha Obama3
In other words, Ancestry.com has no birth records for Malia or Natasha Obama.
Then I paid $9.95 for a trial membership in GenealogyBank.com so that I can search that website for the Obama girls’ birth records.
Below is a screenshot I took from genealogybank.com of the result of my search for Malia Obama. I’ve circled in red the date and time when I accessed the website. Click the image below to enlarge.
Malia Obama1
As you can see above, the only thing genealogybank.com has in its newspaper archives on Malia Obama is an article by Sen. Obama titled “Progress on campaign finance reform,” in the Chicago newspaper Hyde Park Herald of August 26, 1998, in which Obama (presumably) mentioned Malia. Here’s the newspaper clip (the words are rather blurry):
Malia Obama2
Below is a screenshot I took from genealogybank.com of the result of my search for Natasha Obama. I’ve circled in red the date and time when I accessed the website. Click the image below to enlarge.
Natasha Obama1
The only thing genealogybank.com has on Natasha Obama is an article in Hyde Park Herald of  July 4, 2001, again by Sen. Obama titled “Tallying wins and losses in Springfield Springfield report,” in which he wrote “The newest addition to the Obama family — Natasha — was born on June 10th, and Michelle and I have been busy changing diapers.” Click image below to enlarge.
Natasha Obama2
In other words, I couldn’t find any birth records of either Malia Obama or Natasha Obama on either ancestry.com or genealogybank.com.
The same Wikipedia entry I had referenced at the beginning of this post states that Malia and Natasha Obama were both delivered by their parents’ friend Dr. Anita Blanchard at University of Chicago Medical Center.”
Wikipedia’s source of that assertion is an article of Jodi Kantor titled “Obama’s Friends Form Strategy to Stay Close,” in The New York Times of December 13, 2008. The article is about a group of Obama’s closest friends in Chicago, among whom are Valerie Jarrett (now Obama’s senior White House adviser) and a black man named Martin Nesbitt who is now, according to NYT, a “real estate executive”. Nesbitt’s wife is Dr. Anita Blanchard.
O's Chicago friends - Martin Nesbitt, Valerie Jarrett, Dr. Eric Whitakerl to r: Martin Nesbitt, Valerie Jarrett, BHO, Dr. Eric Whitaker
Alas, the NYT article does NOT say that Dr. Blanchard had delivered Obama’s daughters. Instead, what the article says is “Mr. Nesbitt’s wife, Dr. Anita Blanchard, delivered nearly all the children [of Obama and his closest friends in Chicago], and the adults became their godparents.”
If anyone can find baby pictures and birth records of Malia Obama and/or Natasha Obama, please let me know!
H/t FOTM’s Dave McMullen

UPDATE (Nov. 29):

Reader scannersliveinvain found this pic of Barack and Michelle with an infant Malia (Source). I’m no photoshop expert, but the figures of Mooch and Barry look too sharply delineated from the background.
Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Malia Obama
Reader Sao Ken found this pic of baby Sasha with her 3-years older sister Malia (source: globalgrind.com):
baby Sasha Obama

UPDATE (Dec.1):

Here’s another pic of young Malia and Sasha (source). Whose hairy arm is that behind the girls? (h/t FOTM reader JS):
sasha-malia-obama-babies

UPDATE (Dec. 3, 2013):

Attorney Orly Taitz is wondering if Natasha Obama had been adopted from Morocco, and has issued a call for help, Dec. 1, 2013:
I am looking for any and all information in regards to Michelle and Barack Obama travelling to Morocco in 2000-2001, one way trip for Natasha (Sasha) Obama from Morocco in and around 2000, possibly 2001, If you have such info, please, forward it to Orly.Taitz@hushmail.com
Responding to a comment from a reader accusing her of “going after” Obama’s daughters — just as commenters here on FOTM similarly have accused me of “going after” the girls when all Taitz and I are doing is simply to ask questions — Taitz wrote this comment:
dr_taitz@yahoo.com
December 2nd, 2013 @ 7:15 am
Nobody is going after the children. It is a legitimate question: why there are no birth certificates and birth records for Malia and Sasha Obama, while there such records for children of other presidents? For example, media questioned, whether Sarah Palin’s youngest child is actually her daughter’s child, Sarah Palin produced his hospital birth certificate. Media reported on adoption of McCain’s second daughter Bridget, on adoption of Romney’s grand children, on birth of two of Romney’s grand children by a surrogate, why not provide an explanation, why there are no birth records of Malia and Sasha Obama in national databases, while all the other records are there. This is particularly of interest, as it was shown that Barack Obama is using a stolen Connecticut Social Security number of Harrison Bounel, which failed both e-verify and SSNVS and fabricated IDs. What is going on?
~Eowyn

Obama’s NSA refuses FOIA request on Malaysia flight 370 on grounds of classified info

It is now one month 18 days since Malaysia Airlines flight 370, with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board, disappeared.
Repeated searches in the south Indian Ocean 2,000 miles southwest from Perth, Australia have found nothing. Speculations abound as to what really happened to MH 370, from the plausible to the bizarre, including:
  • The plane actually landed in Pakistan.
  • The plane actually landed on the U.S. military base on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
  • Muslims or Iran hijacked the plane.
  • The Israelis hijacked the plane, which (or a plane identical to MH 370) is now in the Tel Aviv airport, to be used in another fake 9-11 attack. (H/t FOTM’s josephbc69)
  • The U.S. military shot down the plane.
  • The Chinese shot down the plane.
All along, I’ve maintained that, given U.S. satellites and the National Security Agency’s (NSA) massive surveillance capabilities, the Obama administration knows precisely what had happened to MH 370, but is not telling. Notice that at no time has the White House offered its radar and satellite tracking information to help in the search.
Now we have evidence that the NSA indeed knows but isn’t telling.
On March 24, 2014, the gutsy and indefatigable attorney Dr. Orly Taitz made a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the NSA for any and all documents relating to missing Malaysian Flight MH 370.
This is the letter Dr. Taitz received in response (click image to enlarge):
NSA FOIA1Here’s the most important paragraph in the NSA’s letter:
We have determined that the fact of the existence or non-existence of the materials you request is a currently and properly classified matter in accordance with the Executive Order 13526, as set forth in Sub-paragraph (c) of Section 1.4. Thus your request is denied pursuant to the first exemption of the FOIA which provides that the FOIA does not apply to matters that are specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive Order to be kept order in the interest of national defense or foreign relations and are, in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive Order.
Taitz points out that “Typically when the government does not have any records, it would respond to FOIA request attesting that there are no records in question, however this is not what happened in the case at hand. NSA did not deny existence of the documents, but stated that it is classified.
Executive Order 13526 – Classified National Security Information was issued by Barack Obama on December 29, 2009. Here’s EO 13536′s Section 1.4, Sub-paragraph c:
Sec. 1.4.  Classification Categories.  Information shall not be considered for classification unless its unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause identifiable or describable damage to the national security in accordance with section 1.2 of this order, and it pertains to one or more of the following:
(c)  intelligence activities (including covert action), intelligence sources or methods, or cryptology;
~Eowyn

Could Technology Bring the End-Times Beast?

Her
"Her," the 2013 movie chronicling a man who falls in love with his operating system. (YouTube still)
Technology is one of the leading ways we are able to track Bible prophecy, but it seems it is helping to create the fulfillment of those prophecies. Could it be ushering in the kingdom of the beast?
Many who follow Bible prophecy are beginning to see the unusual fulfillment of what the prophets declared thousands of years ago but is now becoming much more evident in our culture.
For instance, many questioned whether or not the last-day “kingdom of the beast” was the resurrected Roman Empire, which some considered to be the European Union—that is, until Sept. 11, 2001, when our eyes were opened to jihad and the Muslim uprising. Now we see the alignment of nations in the Middle East that both the prophet Daniel and John the Revelator spoke of in Daniel and Revelation. These men will make war against Israel and will behead those who are against them. I do not see this as an objective for the EU; however, this is the mandate of what many Muslims believe for in a new caliphate.
Another example of an unusual fulfillment of Bible prophecy is found in Joel 2:5, where the prophets speak of chariots on the mountaintops in these last-day battles: “With a noise like chariots over mountains they leap, like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble, like a strong people set in battle array” (Joel 2:5). Who fights with chariots anymore? But if you study the Hebrew word for chariot in Joel 2:5, you'll find it is the Hebrew word merkavah. Interestingly enough, the modern Israeli tank is called the merkavah!
These are exciting times as we see major prophecies fulfilled and especially the unusual word pictures the prophets gave thousands of years ago being explained today.
Technology is one of the leading ways we are able to track Bible prophecy, but it seems it is helping to create the fulfillment of those prophecies. Recently, on January 10, a sci-fi romantic drama called Her was released. It was the story of a lonely writer who develops an unusual relationship with his newly purchased computer operating system that is designed to meet his every need. This takes Siri to a whole other level in technology.
Let me explain what “Her,” or this artificial intelligence operating system, was able to do:
  • It had intuition and DNA based upon the personalities of the millions of programmers that wrote her.
  • It grew from its experiences and interactions with the purchaser. 
  • Its voice was realistic, rather than computerized, full of the right emotions at all the right times.
  • It was able to make intelligent assumptions about the user's life based upon emails and documents saved on his computer.
  • It got offended if you treated it like a computer because it desired interaction, just like a real relationship.
In the movie, the man gets romantically involved with “Her,” and the program gets upset because she doesn’t have a body. This leads to an interesting development where the program uses a surrogate partner to fulfill the sexual desires of the person operating the program.
This is a movie that should absolutely make us prayerfully aware of the technology that is coming in the future. The scary part is that the technology became so normal to the man that he considered it to be providing him with an actual relationship—which is why I am writing this article: to give some speculation as to what could come of this.
You may think this sounds ridiculous and that no one would accept this type of technology. However, men like Ray Kurzweil and other leading technological experts in artificial intelligence at Google are saying this could become a reality in three to five years. It is their goal to make operating systems that can become your personal assistant, even to the point where the system can predict what you are about to do based upon the habits it has observed in your daily life.
As I was studying these developments and reading the reviews of the movie Her, I couldn’t help but to think of Revelation 13:15. This verse in context describes the relationship between the last-day false prophet and the Antichrist. The scripture reads, “He [the false prophet] was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.”
A few things to consider in this verse:
  1. The image of the beast has breath.
  2. The image is able to speak.
  3. The image can cause people to be killed.
The word breath in the original Greek is pneuma, which means "the rational spirit; the power by which the human being feels, thinks and decides." The word image is akon, where we get our English word icon, which is an image, figure or likeness.
This is just speculation, but with the advancement of operating systems being produced at Google that were used as possibilities in the movie Her, not to mention the new technology of holograms, could we be seeing the beginnings of the technology used by the false prophet and Antichrist that will control the world? How else will the beast seem to be all places at all times, controlling everything?
I challenge each of you as believers to understand the times and seasons in which we live and to understand the possibilities of the times because we have very serious issues to consider in the near future. And if the Lord should tarry another 20 to 50 years, we need to have a response for the generation that will have to navigate through all of this technological noise.
Mark Casto is lead pastor at Perry Stone's Omega Center in Cleveland, Tenn. You can reach him online at www.markcasto.com.

HAARP Signals Reported On Major Scale Across Georgia

HAARP Signals Reported On Major Scale Across Georgia

Large Tornado Predicted Two Days In Advance For Arkansas By HAARP Status Network

Large Tornado Predicted Two Days In Advance For Arkansas By HAARP Status Network

New medical microchips to be implanted by 2017, delivering drugs, routine birth control through wireless communications

naturalnews.com

control


by Lance Johnson

(NaturalNews) The future of prescription drugging and birth control lies in a microchip.

Right now, chips with drug reservoirs can be implanted directly under the skin, delivering doses of pharmaceuticals or birth control hormones at the same time each day. The implanted chip is designed to be remote-controlled and governed by "medical professionals."

Essentially, chipped individuals won't be able to wean themselves off of side-effect-ridden drugs. The chip can be programmed to release drugs, day after day, year after year, at a "professional's" directive.

New microchip controls fertility through wireless communications

The micro-reservoir technology, first developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 1990s, involves an implantable chip designed to release drugs into the body by a wireless signal. This technology, first pioneered by Robert Langer, Michael Cima, and John Santini, now powers a new company called microChip.

On their site, the company states that they are ready to safely incorporate "long-term implantable drug delivery technologies with wireless communications."

Their first microchip experiment is projected to hit the medical field in 2017 and will offer contraceptive services. The new chip is to be implanted just under the skin by local anesthesia. Once inside, the reservoirs can begin delivering hormones progestin and estrogen as a birth control method.

According to Obamacare, businesses are required by law to offer contraceptive services like this chip. Theoretically, the American people have been ordered to chip one another, through a required tax that is used to invest in controlling everyone's fertility and liberty.

Osteoporosis drug delivered consistently for four months in clinical trials

A clinical trial was conducted in 2012 for an osteoporosis treatment initiated by the new microchip technology. The chip delivered parathyroid hormone 1-34 (PTH), an anabolic agent also known as teriparatide, directly into the blood of volunteers with osteoporosis. The chip was implanted directly under the skin of the patients' waist line and delivered a controlled dose of PTH for four months. Medically, the chip was deemed safe, as its implementation advances forward.

New microchips could deliver drugs consistently for up to 16 years

According to the company microChip, the first installments may realistically deliver drugs for up to five years, allowing users to take their prescriptions hands-free without daily injections or pill popping. The company believes that they can even make a chip that delivers a consistent dose for up to 16 years!

The company reports that the device could even transmit data back to hospitals, so doctors "could have permanent records of exactly what you took when."

CEO Bradley Paddock believes, "The MicroCHIPS implantable drug delivery device is the greatest advancement in delivering medicine since the first tablet pill was developed in 1876."

Medical microChips destroy liberty, subjecting people to control

How might the concept of being chipped destroy personal sovereignty, as a system of sick care is branded inside the skin?

How might individual liberty be demolished as "health care professionals" govern one's dosage through wireless communications?

How might this technology be disrupted, misused or hacked, potentially delivering obscene amounts of drugs into user's systems?

How might this technology ultimately be a form of greater population control through its aggressive birth control mechanisms?

How might this technology open the door for drug companies to gain an even tighter grip over the lives of people who struggle with horrendous side effects, drug-to-drug interactions, and drug-to-heavy-metal-catalyst implications?

Sources for this article include:

http://www.cnn.com

http://www.mchips.com

http://www.mchips.com

About the author:
Lance Johnson is a passionate learner, researcher, writer, and entre-health-leader. He and his wife have launched an all natural products movement from the ground up at www.allnaturalfreespirit.com.

The Johnson's are inspired by natural healing and the lifestyle changes that have awoken their spirit and given them quality of life.
Lance Johnson is a passionate learner, researcher, writer, and entre-health-leader. He and his wife have launched an all natural products movement from the ground up at www.allnaturalfreespirit.com. The Johnson's are inspired by natural healing and the lifestyle changes that have awoken their spirit and given them quality of life.



All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml

Sterling, NBA set for epic legal fight over Clippers

this Country & it's "people" r getting so fucked up ! everybody has 2 wear fucking helmets& mittens !!  I don't give a flying fuck what race or relig or no fucking relig.. you got 2 i's three fuck~in i's 4 hands 6 feet come from here ,there, up there?  fucking over there !!! grow a pair & grow a twat ... fucking babies ? OUR  differences  ..IS what MAKES U.S.  an GREAT COUNTRY  ....even if  "we" don't like what the fuck u believe,say ,act or fuck~in  whatever ....4 fucks sake every fucking body IS turn~in into soup nazis this, that ...kick the fucking ..cat    put yer fucking helmet on pussy                        
Michael McCann>SPORTS LAW

differences IS what makes U.S.   

Adam Silver
The chances of Donald Sterling responding to the NBA's lifetime ban with an antitrust lawsuit are 'high.'
Elsa/Getty Images
In a historic announcement, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has handed Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling a lifetime ban from the NBA, along with issuing the maximum allowable fine of $2.5 million. Of greater significance, Silver has also instructed NBA owners to oust Sterling as owner of the team. The announcement sets the table for an epic legal fight over ownership of the Clippers and the powers of the commissioner.

Legality of Sterling's suspension and fine

Silver has broad authority under the NBA's constitution and bylaws to suspend and fine an owner for conduct detrimental to the NBA. According to Sliver, Sterling admitted it was his voice on the recording in which he made racist remarks. Even if the recording was unlawfully created under California law -- the recording would likely be unlawful if the conversation was confidential and Sterling didn't give consent -- Silver is authorized to punish Sterling based on the recording's impact on the league. It is safe to say that Sterling's comments, which elicited the rebuke of President Barack Obama, have deeply harmed the NBA and its relationship with players, sponsors and fans. Sterling seems to lack a viable argument that his conduct was not seriously detrimental to the NBA.
Sterling is also disadvantaged in challenging the suspension and fine because of how a court would treat such a challenge. A court would review Silver's decision under the deferential "arbitrary and capricious" standard of review. This standard would essentially require Sterling prove that the NBA -- and specifically Silver, acting as the NBA's ultimate arbiter -- failed to follow its own rules in how it investigated Sterling and punished him. For instance, if the NBA failed to authenticate the recording, concealed evidence or not requested a meeting with Sterling, Sterling might have sufficient grounds. Silver's remarks during the press conference, however, suggest all relevant rules and policies were followed. Absent Sterling proving there was a procedural defect of serious importance, Sterling likely has no viable appeal to either the fine or suspension.
ROSENERG: Lifetime ban fitting punishment for Sterling
As a practical effect, the suspension all but excommunicates Sterling from both his team and the NBA. He is forbidden from any contact with players, coaches and staff, and he is barred from attending games or practices. Sterling is also prohibited from participating in league activities. He is now, essentially, in NBA exile.
The fine of $2.5 million may seem inconsequential given that Sterling is worth reportedly $1.9 billion, but it was the highest amount of money permitted by the league's constitution and bylaws. Had Silver issued a higher fine, and justified it on policy or moral grounds, he would have provided Sterling with an opportunity to raise a legal point. Specifically, Sterling might have argued such a penalty is "arbitrary and capricious" because it would not have followed NBA rules. Silver, an attorney, wisely adhered to the rules instead.
Expect Donald Sterling to fight Silver's suspension
Source: SI
Sports Illustrated's Maggie Gray and Chris Mannix discuss NBA commissioner Adam Silver's decision to impose a lifetime ban on Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling.

Legality of NBA forcing Sterling to sell the Clippers

Silver has also recommended that NBA owners effectively force Sterling to sell the Clippers. The NBA has a procedure in place for this extraordinary action, but the procedure contains enough ambiguity that debate among owners is likely. Under article 13 of the league's constitution, three fourths of the teams' ownership groups can vote to terminate a franchise under certain conditions. The conditions are focused on financial matters, such as an owner unable to meet payroll or an owner implicated in financial impropriety. None of the listed conditions, SI.com is told, apply directly to the type of conduct committed by Sterling. That said, article 13 also contains a more general requirement of ethical conduct in business dealings and contracts. Sterling's comments could be deemed unethical. They have also clearly damaged labor relations between the league and players, as players have gone so far as to consider boycotting NBA games. Also, sponsors have dropped deals with the Clippers. Should the NBA's owners vote to expel Sterling, the general requirement language would likely be cited as supplying the main legal justification.
RELATED: Sterling says Clippers 'not for sale'
While Silver said he had not polled the owners, he expressed confidence there will be sufficient support to oust Sterlin. Silver's bold prediction suggests he has the necessary votes. That said, expect there to be some debate among owners. No owner will defend Sterling's racism, but some might question whether article 13 and potentially other authorizing language was intended for this type of transgression. Expect some owners to raise the following four concerns:
1. Neither the Clippers nor Sterling is in financial trouble. article 13 was designed as an extraordinary remedy for such a problem -- not other problems. While sponsors have dropped their deals with the Clippers and players have contemplated boycotts, the team appears to be in strong financial shape with a deep-pocketed, if reviled, owner. There is no reason to believe that Sterling has committed financial fraud, and while he has been sued over allegations of race, those cases were either settled or unsuccessful.
2. The Clippers are not run in a racist way. Sterling may be extremely bigoted and hold reprehensible views, but there is no reason to suspect that the team itself operates in a racist way. The current Clippers workplace appears to be a productive setting, devoid of allegations by players or other employees that they have experienced racism. Similarly, there are no reports that the Clippers have directed ticket sales and marketing efforts away from minority fans. As a franchise, the Clippers appear to be well-run, which would make it an unusual candidate for termination.
3. Lack of 'morals clause'. Article 13 lists a series of enumerated wrongs, some of which are specific but none of which seem directly relevant to an owner whose racism expressed in a private conversation sparks national outrage. Some owners might argue that if the NBA wanted ouster as a remedy for a situation like this one, the constitution and bylaws' drafters would have included it. Along those lines, there is no "morals clause" in these documents that empowers the ousting an NBA owner. The absence of a morals clause, in contrast to the inclusion of other provisions, could suggest that such a clause was intentionally omitted.
4. Precedent. While Sterling's actions seem unlikely to be replicated by another owner, some owners could worry that if they agree to oust Sterling, different situations might give rise to the same consequence for other owners. Once one owner is ousted, there is precedent to do it again. Mark Cuban recently voiced those exact concerns, calling the situation "a slippery slope."

Sterling suing the NBA and owners

In addition to concern about proper interpretation of the relevant language, some owners may worry about the prospect that Sterling will sue. Sterling, an attorney, is regarded as one of the most litigious owners in professional sports. If there is one owner who would sue over expulsion, it's probably him. Sterling could seek a court injunction preventing the NBA from expelling him. Such a move would likely happen immediately after he is voted out. He could also file a lawsuit raising breach of contract and antitrust claims.
RELATED: NBA world reacts to Silver's decision on Sterling
A breach of contract claim would contend that Sterling's contract with the NBA through his franchise agreement has been unlawfully severed. The NBA, however, is poised to stress that owners agree to language limiting opportunities for owners to sue the NBA and fellow owners. In their franchise agreements, NBA owners agree to "waiver of recourse" verbiage. The language has the effect of eliminating opportunities for owners to pursue legal recourse against the NBA and fellow owners.
An antitrust claim would likely center on both California and federal antitrust laws, and contend that the NBA and its teams have conspired in an anticompetitive way to oust Sterling and make him sell his team at below-market value. Sterling would likely cite reports the NBA may be interested in Magic Johnson buying the Clippers as evidence the league is trying to force a sale to a specific buyer, rather than permitting open bidding. Sterling might also highlight Silver's remarks today that he's confident owners will oust him as evidence of collusive activity between Silver and the owners. If Sterling were to sue under antitrust law and prevail, he would also be entitled to treble damages. Several attorneys familiar with NBA litigation tell SI.com that the possibility of an antitrust lawsuit by Sterling is high.
The prospect of Sterling suing could be a source of worry to NBA owners for at least three reasons:
1. Sterling suing over franchise ouster could undermine the lifetime ban. The ban is intended to separate Sterling from the Clippers and the NBA, and as discussed above, Sterling likely has no viable case against it. If, however, Sterling sues over franchise ouster, it would be a high-profile lawsuit and he would remain in the news. Whatever distancing of Sterling is achieved through a ban could be lost in a high-profile case. It is also a case that could last years, as antitrust cases often do.
2. Sterling suing may lead to pretrial discovery, which could be designed in part to embarrass other owners and NBA officials of any bigoted remarks or beliefs on their part. Keep in mind, if Sterling is ousted because of racism, he would likely demand that evidence showing that other owners and officials are also racist be shared. He would use such information to portray his penalty as unwarranted and contradicted by the conduct of those who ousted him. Sterling might request emails and other records from owners and officials that depict them in a negative light. Sterling has owned the Clippers for 33 years, which suggests that he has had many interactions -- including private conversations with league officials and owners. If there are other owners who are racist or bigoted, it stands to reason Sterling who knows who they are.
3. If Sterling wins or extracts a settlement, not only could NBA owners be on the hook for an expensive fee, but Sterling would seem victorious. The appearance of him winning in court would greatly detract from the important social message accomplished by the lifetime ban.
Donald Sterling
Donald Sterling stands to lose a lot of money in taxes if he's forced to sell the Los Angeles Clippers.
Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Important tax law considerations: avoiding capital gain taxes

Sterling, who is 80 or 81 years old (his exact birthdate remains a mystery), has a key financial reason to fight the sale of the Clippers: to avoid capital gain taxes. This insight is from Robert Raiola senior manager in the Sports & Entertainment Group of the Accounting Firm O'Connor Davies, LLP. Sterling reportedly purchased the Clippers for $12.5 million in 1981. If he sold the team today, it would be worth at least $600 million, perhaps closer to $1 billion. Between federal and state capital gains taxes, Sterling would pay an approximately 33 percent tax rate on the difference between what he paid for the team and what he sold it for. For instance, if he sold the Clippers today for $1 billion, Sterling would pay capital gain taxes of 33 percent on a gain of $987.5 million. As a result, Sterling would owe Federal & state capital gain taxes of approximately $329 million.
RELATED: NBPA applauds decisions, but wants Clippers sold
If instead Sterling holds onto the Clippers and some time from now passes away, his family would inherit the team. The family would inherit the team with a value pegged to its fair market value. As Raiola stresses, the new value of the team would be crucial for purposes of capital gains tax. Here's why: if the family inherited the Clippers and then sold it, they would only pay a capitals gain tax on the difference between the value of the team when they inherited it and the value of it when sold. For instance, if the family inherited the team and it was worth $700 million and then they sold it for $800 million, they would only pay capital gain taxes on a gain of $100 million. In that instance, there would be a comparatively modest tax bill of $33 million.
If the Sterling family inherited the Clippers and simultaneously sold it, Raiola tells SI.com, they would pay no capital gains tax, but still have estate tax issues. However, a transaction could be structured whereby the employees of the Clippers organization could own a percentage of the team. In such case, the capital gain taxes on a sale could be partially or fully avoided.
These tax considerations make it more likely that Sterling will fight the NBA to hold onto the Clippers. Even if he ultimately loses a legal battle, the process of losing could take years to play out in court. At the risk of sounding macabre, Sterling may be motivated to wage a protracted legal battle in order to keep the team for as long as he lives.

Important family law considerations: what if Mrs. Sterling files for divorce?

Sterling and his wife, Shelly, are reportedly estranged but not divorced. One potential legal complication for the NBA would be if Mrs. Sterling filed for divorce before the NBA terminated her husband's ownership of the Clippers. California is a "community law" state, which means Mrs. Sterling would likely be entitled to half of her husband's assets. One of his key assets is obviously the Clippers. Mrs. Sterling could potentially use divorce court proceedings to slow down the NBA's ouster of her husband, as she would have a vested stake in any sale of the Clippers.

Could Sterling transfer ownership to Mrs. Sterling?

It is possible that Sterling could try to transfer ownership of the Clippers to Mrs. Sterling before the NBA ousts him. The NBA, however, would have to approve such a maneuver, as Mrs. Sterling would be subject to requirements the league uses to evaluate prospective owners. There is virtually no chance the NBA would approve Mrs. Sterling in this scenario as it would be a clear attempt to evade the NBA's discipline of her husband.
Michael McCann is a Massachusetts attorney and the founding director of the Sports and Entertainment Law Institute at the University of New Hampshire School of Law. He is also the distinguished visiting Hall of Fame Professor of Law at Mississippi College School of Law.

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nba/news/20140429/donald-sterling-nba-adam-silver-clippers-lawsuit-lifetime-ban/#ixzz30JnMzjFg

YOU CAN RELAX NOW: THAT MYSTERIOUS EQUATORIAL RIDGE ON IAPETUS IS FINALLY “EXPLAINED…”

Science is a wonderful thing to behold, especially when it comes out with an “explanation” that is essentially a Chicken Little scenario. In this case, the “explanation” concerns that strange equatorial ridge on Saturn’s moon Iapetus, a strange feature that, when examined closely, appears also to have three parallel “grooves” running along the summit of said equatorial ridge, which runs more or less perfectly along the moon’s equator. This feature fueled much speculation in the alternative community, from Richard C. Hoagland’s “A Moon with a View” to yours truly’s book Cosmic War, maintaining that such features are more typical of artificiality then of natural occurrences on celestial bodies.
Now, so many of you sent me one or another version of this announcement that it would be impossible for me to thank you all individually for doing so, but I have to confess, when I read a couple of versions of this story, I just had to laugh, because the scenario being offered as a “natural” explanation for the ridge is truly a Chicken Little scenario, and for the life of me, I cannot understand how one could maintain a straight face while adhering to it. But there’s a significant catch. We’ll get back to that in a moment. Here’s the story:
Mountains on Saturn’s Moon Iapetus Fell From the Sky
Discover magazine is, perhaps, holding its tongue firmly in its cheek, given the headline of the article, and if so, I don’t blame them. Here’s what we’re being told is the “explanation” for the ridge(Note that, as far as I’ve been able to tell from the various articles, they’re only explaining the ridge, not the three apparent parallel “grooves” in the Cassini images):
“It may sound like something out of “Chicken Little,” but at some point in the history of Saturn’s moon Iapetus, the sky was actually falling: Scientists reported this week that an entire 800-mile-long mountain range along the moon’s equator formed after it fell from space.
“Iapetus doesn’t feature the telltale signs of volcanism and geologic activity that typically build mountains, which had made the existence of the bulging equatorial ridge a bit of a mystery. In a new study, researchers constructed 3-D maps of the mountain range using images captured by the Cassini spacecraft. By analyzing the shape of the triangular peaks, some up to 12 miles high, researchers concluded that the mountains were created from material that crashed onto the surface of Iapetus at some point in its history.”
The Discover article goes on to point out that the theory has not yet been “peer reviewed”, but there it is. We’re being asked to believe on the basis of a computer-claptrap model that the ridge “fell from the sky” after “rings” were formed around the planet, rings which were unstable, and which fell into the surface of the planet.
Uh huh. (What about those three parallel grooves? Were there three neatly parallel ring unstable ring systems?) Oh…hooray! those are explained too:
Topographic Constraints on the Origin of the Equatorial Ridge on Iapetus
Now, here’s another presentation of the same theory:
Saturn Moon’s Weird Ridge Rained Down from Space
Note the last two paragraphs of that article. Here’s the first one:
“This new theory is a variant of another idea that Iapetus may have possessed its own moon that became tidally shredded to create a ring system that eventually fell to the moon’s surface.”
OK…a moon with a moon which became tidally shredded to form a neat ring, which was unstable, which then fell to Iapetus’ surface and formed that neat equatorial ridge. (And, presumably, became shredded in such a way to form three closely bunched parallel rings in three planes which were all unstable and then fell to the planetary surface? Wouldn’t the stuff whirling around in those three rings have been gravitationally attracted to each other to form one ring system(which was unstable) to fall to the surface? Come on guys, help me out here… Would Iapetus have had sufficient force to be able to shred its own moon? Can we see what the possible mass of that moon may have been? Would it have been enough to create the equatorial ridge?…)
Now, in the context of all my amateur bystander’s silly questions, the last paragraph of this second article is worth noting:
“But whatever the source, it seems scientists are agreeing that Iapetus couldn’t have created the mountain range without some help from up above.”
I don’t know about you, but that strikes me as yet another tongue in cheek remark. “Help from above?” Help implies helpers. Helpers implies intelligence. Intelligence implies…
…on yea, we can’t go there. The ridge has been “explained.” Perfectly natural. We have created a mechanism to explain it without having to invoke the Ockhamist principle(which does not appear to support the naturalist explanation, in my opinion). Nothing to see here…. move along, it fell from the sky after a moon was tidally shredded to form an unstable ring system which collapsed and fell on poor Iapetus….
…yea….right….