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Domingo, 24 / 11 / 19

The 5D Crystalline Energy Grid

The 9D Arcturian Council.

Daniel Scranton.

Posted October 23rd, 2019. 

 

.The 5D Crystalline Energy Grid ∞The 9D Arcturian Council, Channeled by Daniel Scranton, channeler of ets, aliens, archangel michael


 

 

Greetings. We are the Arcturian Council. We are pleased to connect with all of you.
We have been noticing the ways in which you all have been accessing the power of the crystalline grid of energy that runs across the entire surface of your planet. Now, of course, there are certain grid points, and there are grid lines that are powerful enough to affect you even if you are not directly on that point or that line or the intersection of two lines. And this is how it affects the entirety of the surface of your planet. Therefore, it does not matter where you live or where you are standing at any time. You have the ability to tap in to the strength and power of this fifth-dimensional grid.
You have been co-creating it, in fact. You who are awakened have been contributing to it and receiving from it, and we love to witness this. We also see it as yet another point in the physical through which we can add our love and light, our downloads and upgrades. We love working with this grid and through this grid to support you. We are answering your prayers and finding different delivery methods to do so. Of course, when you ask for something like more abundance, you might then go looking in your bank account for that abundance. And if you don’t see it right away, or even after several years, you might give up hope.
However, we want you to start to see that you can access the energy of what it is you have been asking for through this crystalline, fifth-dimensional grid. And when you can feel something flowing through you, then the universe will match that in the physical realm. You will have a representation of the energy that you’ve tapped in to, that has been flowing through you. And so, we recommend that you feel for this energetic grid that is beneath you, that is right there, running along the surface of your planet. Reach for it, feel for it, and receive from it.
We are not the only ones contributing to this grid. Those of you who are awake, and some who are asleep, are contributing. You might as well receive from it, because you are contributing to it, and you might as well receive the answers to your prayers because they are yours and yours alone to claim. You are the ones who are holding space, along with many others who are unseen, for humanity to complete this shift in consciousness, and to do so easily and joyously, and in the next decade. We are one of the groups supporting this, and we want you to know how much power there is right beneath your feet and how easy it is to access this power, this energy, this answer to your prayers.
We are the Arcturian Council, and we have enjoyed connecting with you
Daniel Scranton
 
 
 



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No religious or political creed is advocated here.

Organised religion is unnecessary to spirituality.

Excellent teachings of the masters have been contaminated by the dogmatic control of these religions.

Discernment yes; judgement does not.
If you use discernment you are free to research with an open mind. 

With discernment it is possible to reach the spirit of the letter of any writing and it is also much easier to listen to the voice of the soul that comes from the heart.
Individually you can be helped to find your Truth that is different of everyone. 


Please respect all credits.

 
Discernment is recommended.
 

All articles are of the respective authors and/or publishers responsibility. 



 

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publicado por achama às 01:47
Domingo, 24 / 11 / 19

You were gifted with free will.

 

The Angels 

Through Ann Albers. 

November 23, 2019.

 
 
 
.
 
 
 
 
 
My dear friends, we love you so very much,
Can you imagine, dear ones, that the creator of universes imagined you? The Source of all being wondered what it would be like to be the unique soul that you are, and in that one moment of dreaming, your soul was born.
You, and we, exist within the Divine mind. We are thoughts molded into form. We are the vehicles through which the Creator experiences itself and all that it can become. You and we are as fingers on a hand, waves upon an ocean, and colors within a spectrum of light.
You were gifted with free will. Imagine a hand allows the fingers to move independently, or an ocean that allows the waves to move as they please and you will understand the very great love that is present for you at all times. As a mother or father loves their children and shares both their joy and pain, so too the Source lives in you and loves you, feels your joy and your pain.
Take a moment and ponder the fact that you are Divine Love in form. As such, you have free will and the chance, in this body, to experience your true Self in the diversity of all creation. You are given the ability to love, to touch, to taste, to smell in ways that feel far more tangible and real than the virtual reality you experience in the heavens. You can see your light in the setting sun. You can experience your vastness in the expanse of the sky. You can know your turmoil in the storms, and your peace in the stillness of dawn.
Dear ones, being human is a gift. Touch your own hands with love and appreciate the sensations that you feel. Taste your food today and marvel at the explosion of pleasure in knowing your Self this way. Look in the eyes of a beloved and realize that God is looking at itself in both of you. “Mind blowing,” you might say. “Heart opening,” we reply.
Drop into your heart and feel the appreciation of the Divine for the experience it is being given, through the way you choose to live your life, and through what you choose to create.
Many of you celebrate Thanksgiving during this season. Many of you give thanks for family, food, and friends. The beauty of your light and gratitude tipples into the cosmos and into the heavens. We feel it. We appreciate you.
Perhaps this year you can also take time to drop into your heart and feel the appreciation the Divine has for the experience of living as you.
Perhaps you can take time to be very present, to taste, to touch, to smell, to see, to feel the amazing diversity that you are all around you.
Look into the eyes of another and witness the Divine. Look into the beauty around you and know Divine love. Look into your own eyes in the mirror and witness the Source itself looking back… for each one of you is that and only that.
It is there upon your earth that you can both experience the great diversity of the true Self, and as well, experience yourself as an individual embodiment of Divine love. You can interact with others as unique souls, and yet you can also dive deep within – through love, through appreciation, and through Presence – to know yourselves as One.
Give thanks for this gift of life. Whether easy or challenging, energizing or exhausting, loving or not, you are always, as is all of creation, the One in the many.
We, the angels, love and appreciate you and your work to find unity in the diversity, far more than you can possibly imagine. As the healthy cells nourish the body, so too, your joy, your love, your kindness nourishes the entire “Body of the Divine.” We love you. We feel you. We appreciate and give thanks for each and every one of you.
God Bless You! We love you so very much.
The Angels.
Ann Albers.
 



No religious or political creed is advocated here.

Organised religion is unnecessary to spirituality.

Excellent teachings of the masters have been contaminated by the dogmatic control of these religions.

Discernment yes; judgement does not.
If you use discernment you are free to research with an open mind. 

With discernment it is possible to reach the spirit of the letter of any writing and it is also much easier to listen to the voice of the soul that comes from the heart.
Individually you can be helped to find your Truth that is different of everyone. 


Please respect all credits.

 
Discernment is recommended.
 

All articles are of the respective authors and/or publishers responsibility. 

 



 

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publicado por achama às 01:36
Domingo, 24 / 11 / 19

The truth cannot be held back indefinitely.

Mike Quinsey's Higher Self.

Channeled by Mike Quinsey.

November 22nd, 2019

 

  
Immediately after the 21st Century commenced the world appeared about ready to make a dramatic leap forward, with the announcement that ET’s were intending to show themselves as part of First Contact, and it was planned to make numerous fly-overs all over the world with their craft. That event never took place and in accordance with instructions from the higher command of the Galactic Federation, it was seen that it would not have been an appropriate time for such an event. Consequently although First Contact remains to be officially carried out, naturally other events have continued to unfold, and in general terms you are clearly much more informed and aware than previously. The fact that the dark Forces have since developed their own technology sufficiently to have their own interstellar craft causes confusion, so sightings are generally looked upon as being off world.

Many years have since passed, yet First Contact remains strong and is still to be part of your evolution. Meeting your brothers and sisters from other worlds and dimensions will be a prelude to learning the truth of your history and your future. You are so near to the “Event” and already there are early changes taking place that will eventually lead to your ascension. You are all greater souls than you have been led to believe, but the truth cannot be held back indefinitely. It was long, long ago that the Annunaki were your Masters when you were not much more than slaves to them and worked accordingly. However, that phase has long passed and you have gradually evolved and become more aware of your true selves. In truth in time you are to be fully returned to your angelic state that you were before you elected to drop down into the lower vibrations for a greater experience.

Understand that at no time have you been left without help or guidance, and every opportunity is taken to ensure that you progress in accordance with your agreed life plan. Guidance is most important at this time as in real terms there is little time left before things start to take off, and we do want you to be totally prepared. There are certainly many distractions at this time as the changes do not come easily, but come they must and as matters settle down you will be that much nearer the final events that lead to your ascension. You of course knew beforehand what was coming if not necessarily exactly how it would take place. Knowing that it would be the first time ever that souls would ascend in their physical bodies, and it was considered by you as a most exciting prospect that you did not want to miss.

Meantime you try to understand what is happening upon Earth, as it is the most chaotic time since the last wars. The changes are being led by the young people who understand what is needed to move mankind forward. It is a painful process because those in authority have little or no idea what powers the movement for change. Change will come and clear the way for a greater future and the fulfillment of predictions made for this period. Heaven stands with those who know what is required to move on and strengthens their hand. The destiny of Man is written in stone with God’s blessing and no mortal shall be able to change it.

Meantime, keep a level headed approach to whatever you may do, and all will work out to your liking in the end. The future is planned because of Ascension. but it is up to you which path you take to reach it. From a personal point of view work towards your own goal and remember that at this particular time it is most important to you. As time passes you will find that things will become easier for you, as the vibrations lift you past the point of challenges that may come your way. You are living the chance of a lifetime that is not to be missed. Indeed all will become clear in good time as your consciousness continues to expand.

You have come so far in your present incarnation and have been given every opportunity to make fast progress. Do not worry if you wander of course, and simply adjust and carry on with your determination to be successful on your path to a higher level of evolution. Everything you need is within your reach, and we are cheering you on knowing that you do have the ability and experience to succeed. Enjoy those quiet moments when you can contemplate your future and decide what you want from life. Many opportunities are being opened for you and very soon you will get much assistance and advice to ensure your success.

Your evolution has been tied in with the animal kingdom who over a very long period have provided for you even to the extent of giving up their lives. They too are evolving and progressing because of their close link with humanity, and have often suffered extreme treatment at their hands. They are aware of the sacrifices that they had to experience but through them have also evolved as a species that agreed to help you. Although they have experienced abuse and cruelty, through it have earned the reward of better lives ahead.

Animals have a group soul except for those that have become domesticated through contact with you, and become individual souls. Things no doubt seem at times without any plan for their evolution, yet all sentient life forms have the potential to make progress. When you think of the love, trust and affection that some animals have for humans it is obvious that they have had prior contact with them. Love is the answer and the energy that can move mountains, heal the unwell and bring peace all around. When all else is removed all you have left is the great love of the Supreme Creator, the Fountainhead of All That Is.

I leave you with love and blessings, and may the Light brighten your days and path to completion. Every day you move nearer to the completion of this particular period, and as they pass your consciousness also grows. This message comes through my Higher Self, my God Self, and every soul has the same internal connection with God.


In Love and Light.

Mike Quinsey.





 


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No religious or political creed is advocated here.

Organised religion is unnecessary to spirituality.

Excellent teachings of the masters have been contaminated by the dogmatic control of these religions.

Discernment yes; judgement does not.
If you use discernment you are free to research with an open mind. 
 
With discernment it is possible to reach the spirit of the letter of any writing and it is also much easier to listen to the voice of the soul that comes from the heart.
Individually you can be helped to find your Truth that is different of everyone. 


Please respect all credits.
 
 
Discernment is recommended.
 
 
All articles are of the respective authors and/or publishers responsibility. 



 

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publicado por achama às 01:24
Domingo, 24 / 11 / 19

A Message to Lightworkers – November 22, 2019

Collective of Guides.

Through Caroline Oceana Ryan.

November 22, 2019

 
.

This week’s guidance from the Ascended Masters, Galactics, Earth Elementals, Faery Elders, Angelic legions, and Archangels known as the Collective:

 

 
Greetings, dear ones! We are very pleased to have this moment to speak with you today.
Today we will answer a question sent in by a Light Bearer, who asks:
Recently I opened up to a friend about Ascension and my involvement as a Lightworker, and the in-depth energy work I do for Mother Earth.
My friend now thinks I am schizophrenic; completely crazy. Their reaction caught me off guard, because I thought they were more open to such things.
Is there a good way to share with others about the Ascension, and what Lightworkers do? Or is it best just to keep quiet about it?
This is an excellent question! And one that many face now.
We would say, that though your impulse to share with your friend was high and positive, it may be helpful to remember that not all “speak the same language” regarding the Ascension process.
Many would simply offer a blank look, were someone to mention the word “Ascension,” as it has not yet worked its way into everyday speech.
You are aware that everyone’s path is sacred, yet any one path can vary widely from another regarding a person’s conscious understanding.
So that what is natural and positive to you, and a very conscious process, may be strange-sounding and hard to follow for another.
That “cognitive dissonance” reaction is simply the ego-mind struggling to take in a possibility it had not counted on as possibly “real.”
Photo by Jennifer Scalia
Some are so practiced at meditation that they regularly move consciously amongst the dimensions, speak with beings who are entirely in Spirit, such as their guides and higher self, and feel energetic presences far more keenly and consciously than others.
This does not mean that their friends and family are not also seeking the Light, merely that their conscious minds have labeled that journey in different or more mainstream terms.
Or their minds have compartmentalized their path as “spiritual stuff,” and not for everyday discussion.
When you wish to share a bit about your path with a friend or family member, or even a complete stranger, understand that a number of things are happening.
For one, this person and millions of others are actually experiencing much of what you yourself are experiencing, it’s just that they do it quite unconsciously.
 
The Universal travel you undertake, and the higher beings you are with as you heal and purify the Earth, amongst other Lightwork, is done in your sleep state as well as in your waking hours.
 
Yet for many who have not yet acquired a sense of ease and comfort with that sort of conscious ceremony and energy work, this is too much to integrate at the moment.

Many do similar work to what you yourself perform, yet they do it unconsciously. 
Their etheric travels and much of their energy work take place in their sleep state.
In their waking hours, they simply live as they were trained to live, with no conscious connection to their etheric travels or the Light they are integrating into Earth life.
You have consciously tapped into past life memories in which you performed much the same ceremony and healing that you perform now.
Many are experiencing the surfacing of memories in which they were healers, shamans, seers, astrologers, animal and plant communicators, and far more.
Yet they seek to repress these memories at times, as so many with these gifts were, in other Earth lives, persecuted and ostracized, or punished and executed traumatically.
Not only are the memories difficult to unearth, due to the pain within them, but the subconscious will often seek to protect its “person” by keeping knowledge of spiritual gifts and abilities hidden from them.
Photo by Lynne Newman
Though the lid is lifting on these abilities and conscious awareness of them (and a person’s whole soul history), there are still a number of layers to be gone through before the average person is more fully aware of Who they really are, and what they have traveled through.
And so we would say, before you speak with someone about things that are deeply important to you, you might want to muscle test first, to see if you should mention them only lightly, if at all.
Ask the question inwardly, “Would they be open to this, even unconsciously?” and see if your body seems to lean forward a bit, for example, as a Yes answer, or if it pulls back as a No.
You might also feel a Yes or No deep in your being, according to whether your body tightens up a bit, particularly in the gut area, or relaxes.
To mention something in a light way, you might say, for example, “I have a few spiritual practices I do that are very Earth-based. They’re a sort of prayer of healing for the Earth.”
More detail can be offered if the person asks to hear more.
If the whole issue feels to be too heavy to wander into, they may not say anything, or just respond with a polite “Oh! That’s good . . . ” or something similar.
Again—listen to your intuition, and take a moment to ask your higher self if this is someone who will be relaxed and open to hearing more about your spiritual journey.
It can help tremendously to join groups of spiritually aware people whom you are happy and comfortable around, as it is deep in human consciousness to want a “tribal” or intuitive connection with others.
Yet in general, we would say, venture a bit of information first. See how that is received, then proceed if the other person is open to it.
It can happen that a person acts interested, then later mentions to someone else, “My friend is really nuts!” This is not usual.
Understand that you cannot make someone who operates on a very young-and-untraveled level move forward any more quickly than they desire to.
You yourself may desire to move ahead more quickly some days in your evolvement, yet your higher self will hold you back from certain forms of Knowing until you have dealt with certain areas of your spirit and psyche that require more growth or healing.
You may be wondering, “What if I ask my Spirit team whether to open up about these issues, and I don’t get an answer?”
Many Light Bringers will say they cannot hear or sense their intuitive inner voice, yet we have found this to be true of only a very few.
Photo by Jennifer Scalia
The difficult part is recognizing the voice of your higher self—your intuition—and honoring it, even when you do not yet have the outer evidence to see why that is the wiser path to take.
So start small, and do it each day. Ask inwardly something simple, such as “Should I have a salad for lunch?” or something similar—something with no real risk involved.
Listen inwardly for words or inner nudges. Note physical responses to an idea.
Let your higher self know you require that he or she speak to you energetically, and that those ideas filter into your own thinking.
That wisdom will come in as a thought with a beautiful feeling of Lightness around it.
As you have the courage to follow that higher path, and to honor the messages you are given—yes, it becomes increasingly easier to hear and act upon that wisdom.
Namaste, dear ones!
We are thrilled at your willingness to celebrate your travels with others, and we bow to your grace and innate capability to straddle so many worlds at once, while remaking your own!

We are with you, always.

Caroline Oceana Ryan
Copyright Caroline Oceana Ryan 2019.

If you repost, please maintain the integrity of this information by reprinting it exactly as you find it here, and including the link to the original post. Thank you.

 
 
 



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Discernment is recommended.
 
All articles are of the respective authors and/or publishers responsibility. 

No religious or political belief is defended here. (Investigate yourself)

Individually you can be helped to find your Truth that is different of everyone. 

If you use discernment you are free to research with an open mind. 


 



 

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publicado por achama às 00:56
Domingo, 24 / 11 / 19

Hello From The Crystal People ~video

The Crystal People.

Via Dianne Robinns.

Posted November 23, 2019.

 

 

 
https://youtu.be/K-5gq4fDw8I



 



Compiled by http://violetflame.biz.ly from: 
 
Archives:



No religious or political creed is advocated here.

Organised religion is unnecessary to spirituality.

Excellent teachings of the masters have been contaminated by the dogmatic control of these religions.

Discernment yes; judgement does not.
If you use discernment you are free to research with an open mind. 

With discernment it is possible to reach the spirit of the letter of any writing and it is also much easier to listen to the voice of the soul that comes from the heart.
Individually you can be helped to find your Truth that is different of everyone. 


Please respect all credits.

 
Discernment is recommended.
 

All articles are of the respective authors and/or publishers responsibility. 


 

 

Like this! please bookmark. It is updated daily

 


 
 
 
Free counters!

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publicado por achama às 00:42
Domingo, 24 / 11 / 19

Foster Gentleness

The Creator Writings.

Transcribed by Jennifer Farley.

Posted November 23rd, 2019

 

 

.

 

 
It has been said before but, you are being asked to remember that each person on your Earth plane carries a secret struggle.  

Some have been working very diligently to release it and others have not recognized it yet. 

Criticism and judgment hinder the process, love and empathy assists.  

Regardless of where they are on this very personal journey, each deserves compassionate kindness so they can continue to move forward.  

Be aware and, in that awareness, foster gentleness…the greatest gift you can offer.   

 
Creator.


 



Compiled by http://violetflame.biz.ly from: 

 
Archives:



No religious or political creed is advocated here.

Organised religion is unnecessary to spirituality.

Excellent teachings of the masters have been contaminated by the dogmatic control of these religions.

Discernment yes; judgement does not.
If you use discernment you are free to research with an open mind. 

With discernment it is possible to reach the spirit of the letter of any writing and it is also much easier to listen to the voice of the soul that comes from the heart.
Individually you can be helped to find your Truth that is different of everyone. 


Please respect all credits.

 
Discernment is recommended.
 

All articles are of the respective authors and/or publishers responsibility. 
 
 
 
Free counters!

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publicado por achama às 00:14
Sábado, 23 / 11 / 19

The goal of Big Tech is to erase knowledge from your consciousness

 

By Mike Adams.

2019/11/22

Mike Adams



Big Tech is no longer interested in sharing human knowledge for the benefit of humankind. 

Instead, they are now wholly focused on destroying human knowledge and suppressing human consciousness.  

We ended slavery. We defeated Hitler. We abolished Apartheid. Now we must dismantle Big Tech.

 

Image: Tech giants now MEMORY HOLING facts they want to erase from your consciousness.

Tech giants now MEMORY HOLING facts they want to erase from your consciousness.



(Natural News) If you use Google, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube, you are not living in the real world… you’re living in an artificially constructed psycho-fabrication that’s engineered by the tech giants to isolate you from actual knowledge.

The goal of the tech giants, simply stated, is to obliterate human knowledge and enslave humanity under endless layers of engineered disinformation and propaganda that makes humans easier to control (or kill, as the climate activists are now demanding with their depopulation agenda).

As an independent publisher, our goal has always been to uplift human consciousness and connect people with knowledge about natural health, nutrition, liberty, divinity and more. That’s why the tech giants are de-platforming anyone who promotes real human knowledge, since knowledge is the enemy of tyranny.

As Gary Barnett writes at Alt-Market.com:

The ruling class fully understands that the only way to control people, and to finally control the world, is to stifle individual excellence by creating a society that refuses to think…

The monopoly of power that is held by the few over the rest of society is all consuming, and the ultimate control sought by these elites is getting ever closer to fruition. It has been affected over long periods of time through incremental measures. It did not happen overnight, but over centuries, and at this point, the final objectives desired are within sight.

This is the most dangerous time for man as I see it, as the elite design for future economic decision-making for all is to be placed in the hands of so-called chosen experts, with power over the entire world economy. All economic decisions are to be based on a controlled allocation for society, which is simply centrally planned socialism, with a top-down hierarchy of control by the few. This ruling system is known as Technocracy, and when implemented, it will be the end of liberty.

This all helps explain why the tech giants have run coordinated memory-holing operations to eliminate from public consciousness all the following things (and much more):
The name of the so-called “whistleblower” who is actually part of a deep state coup plot against the President of the United States.
The fact that the CDC used to publish, on its own website, an admission that 98 million Americans were exposed to cancer viruses that were accidentally incubated in polio vaccines (or perhaps on purpose).
The admission of a top CDC scientist who publicly admitted to taking part in a coordinated cover-up to bury the scientific evidence that links vaccines to autism, especially in young black babies.
The fact that there were three buildings which fell on September 11, 2001 during the 9/11 attacks. The third building was called “WTC 7” and it was not hit by an airplane. It was actually brought down by controlled demolition, which means the entire “attack” was a planned false flag operation run by the same deep state that’s now trying to overthrow our elections.
The truth that FLIR footage exists, showing government agents gunning down innocent women and children during the Waco raids of 1993, which were used by the ATF to create a false flag operation to justify huge increases in future funding. (See video, below.)

I cover all this in great detail in this thought-provoking podcast, hosted on the H.R. Report channel on Brighteon.com:
 
 
Read more stories about human freedom, knowledge and consciousness at Freedom.news.
 
 

We ended slavery.

We defeated Hitler.

We abolished Apartheid.

Now we must DISMANTLE Big Tech.






 
All articles are of the respective authors and/or publishers responsibility. 
 
 



Compiled by http://violetflame.biz.ly from: 
 
Archives:



No religious or political creed is advocated here.

Organised religion is unnecessary to spirituality.

Excellent teachings of the masters have been contaminated by the dogmatic control of these religions.

Discernment yes; judgement does not.
If you use discernment you are free to research with an open mind. 

With discernment it is possible to reach the spirit of the letter of any writing and it is also much easier to listen to the voice of the soul that comes from the heart.

Individually you can be helped to find your Truth that is different of everyone. 


Please respect all credits.

 
Discernment is recommended.
 

All articles are of the respective authors and/or publishers responsibility. 


 



 

Like this! please bookmark. It is updated daily

 


 
 
 
Free counters!

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publicado por achama às 14:45
Sábado, 23 / 11 / 19

The Day John Kennedy was Assassinated President and Mrs Kennedy are driven into the city of Dallas, Texas

 

Steve Beckow.

Golden Age of Gaia.

Posted November 22, 2019 by Wes Annac.

 
.
President and Mrs Kennedy are driven into the city of Dallas, Texas
 

 
The day John Kennedy was assassinated, I was 18 and in grade twelve.
 
As school president, I was summoned down to the office to read Psalm 23:4 over the PA system:
 
““Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
 
After the announcement of his death, no one could study so we were all sent home.
 
I went to my girfriend’s home, nearby, where we watched the unfolding events in stunned silence. I will never forget that day.
 
As I recall we remained at home the next day, declared a public holiday, to watch his funeral.
 
 
I believed everything I was told. Lee Harvey Oswald killed Kennedy and then he himself was killed by Jack Ruby, who was himself killed.
 
Then Martin Luther King was assassinated and Robert Kennedy. The hits never seemed to stop. And my spirits never seemed to stop sagging.
 
“The suits” were back, I thought. The old men who’d ruled government since forever would return and Camelot would rapidly disappear. And it did.
 
I didn’t know that Kennedy was planing to disclose the ET presence, end the Federal Reserve, etc., etc.
 
I didn’t know about the shooters on the grassy knoll, one of whom was rewarded by being made a general and figured largely in Operation Desert Storm.
 
I didn’t know that Kennedy’s secret service driver, William Greer, delivered the coup de grace. I didn’t know anything except that Camelot was gone.
 
 

At 0:52 we see an explosion happening in front of President Kennedy, coming from the weapon wielded by Secret Service agent and driver William Greer. (1)
 
The world which had been so promising under Kennedy’s influence was now washed in grey once again. The New Frontier was gone.
 
Well, not quite. We had the tremendous flowering of consciousness in the later 1960s and 70s but then that also was gone, wiped out in the Recession of the early 1980s, probably by the same forces that killed Kennedy.
 
But now here it is again. And we’ve even had John Kennedy talk to us. And we’ve heard Michael say that he’ll return as an Earth ambassador.
 
Here we are, at last, throwing off the chains that we’ve been under since forever.
 
Fifty-six years after the event, I still weep as I write this.
 
 
 
At 0:52 we see an explosion happening in front of President Kennedy, coming from the weapon wielded by Secret Service agent and driver William Greer. (1)


The world which had been so promising under Kennedy’s influence was now washed in grey once again. The New Frontier was gone.
Well, not quite. We had the tremendous flowering of consciousness in the later 1960s and 70s but then that also was gone, wiped out in the Recession of the early 1980s, probably by the same forces that killed Kennedy.
But now here it is again. And we’ve even had John Kennedy talk to us. And we’ve heard Michael say that he’ll return as an Earth ambassador.
Here we are, at last, throwing off the chains that we’ve been under since forever.
Fifty-six years after the event, I still weep as I write this.
 
 
Footnotes
 
(1) Years ago I saw versions of the Zapruder video which clearly showed Greer turning around and aiming a specially-designed weapon at Kennedy and firing. I can no longer find those videos. I assume the existing videos have been edited. This one of the frontal explosion as the projectile hits Kennedy is the most accurate that I’m aware of.
 

 

 

Compiled by http://violetflame.biz.ly from: 



No religious or political creed is advocated here.

Organised religion is unnecessary to spirituality.

Excellent teachings of the masters have been contaminated by the dogmatic control of these religions.

Discernment yes; judgement does not.
If you use discernment you are free to research with an open mind. 

With discernment it is possible to reach the spirit of the letter of any writing and it is also much easier to listen to the voice of the soul that comes from the heart.
Individually you can be helped to find your Truth that is different of everyone. 


Please respect all credits.

 
Discernment is recommended.
 

All articles are of the respective authors and/or publishers responsibility. 






 

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publicado por achama às 14:20
Sábado, 23 / 11 / 19

3 Ways Freedom of Thought Is Being Compromised Today and What to Do

Janey Davies.

https://www.learning-mind.com

November 22nd, 2019.

 
FREEDOM OF THOUGHT.
 
 

 
Luckily, the majority of us have free speech, but what about freedom of thought? Surely we own our thoughts? There is nothing that can influence them? I mean, we are not living in some dystopian future where we have to monitor what we think. And as far as I’m aware, no one can delve into our minds to know exactly what we are thinking.
 
But we are being influenced. So how is this happening and what can we do about it?
 
Why Freedom of Thought Ιs So Important
 
First of all, why is the freedom to have an uninfluenced thought process so important? Undoubtedly, the Theory of Mind (ToM) is what sets us apart from other animals. This is the ability to think and to process thoughts. It’s what makes us human. But what exactly is a thought?
 
Thinking allows us to make sense of the world around us. Therefore, a thought is a single product of this thinking. The way we ponder, process emotions, plan for the future, daydream about a loved one, construct a mental shopping list, or go over an argument in our minds. These are all examples of different thoughts.
 
Lots of things influence our thoughts. Our senses, past experiences, our environment, what we read, see and hear our family and friends, basically everything around us. Thoughts are important because they lead to decisions and actions. They affect us in our daily lives. We make choices based on our thoughts. Anything from what kind of sandwich to eat at lunch to who we’ll vote for at an election.
 
Therefore, freedom of thought is essential. We don’t want anyone or anything influencing our way of thinking. But research shows this is exactly what is happening.
The Way We Think Is Changing
 
We have made great strides in psychology over the past few decades. In the 19-century, a person with a mental illness would be labelled ‘feebleminded’. Fast forward to the 21-century and we now have 265 actual mental disorder diagnoses in the most recent DSM-5. We should know how freedom of thought can be compromised. Instead, the very advances in understanding the human mind are being used to restrict it.
 
Likewise, the way technology works now compared to even a decade ago is far-reaching. Was the term ‘fake news’ even a thing 10 years ago? Who had heard of Russian troll farms or bots a few years ago? However, these technological innovations are manipulating our thoughts, even though we still believe we have the freedom to think the way we do.
How Freedom of Thought Is Compromised
Psychological Understanding
 
Understanding the way we think is crucial if you want to manipulate it. Now experts in psychology know all about mental biases, how we make decisions and what influences our behaviour.
 
So, how does this work in the real world? Say you were a small company selling your products. You wanted to increase sales. You would use every psychological trick in the book to get your customers to buy, not only in the first place but repeatedly. This is a basic example of how thought and the freedom to think clearly are compromised.
 
 
Anyone with this knowledge can use it to their advantage. For example, politicians, social media sites, large brands. Politician play on their voter’s natural stereotypes or biases. Big brands exploit customer’s mental affiliation with their logos and symbols. Social media sites have a huge pool of data, ready to be captured, analysed and put to use.
Social Media Manipulation
 
Talking of social media, the founder of Facebook got into a lot of trouble in 2014. He admitted to a ‘mood experiment’ carried out on its users. In a vast experiment, the social media site found that by posting certain information on people’s pages it could make them feel more positive or negative.
 
Now, obviously this has far-reaching ramifications. We assume Facebook is not purposely manipulating the way we feel. But this is just the tip of the iceberg.
 
Facebook has recently acquired a ‘mind-reading’ company. The company makes a wristband that decodes electronic signals from the brain. The purpose? To control your computer with your mind. As one Facebook member said:
 
 
“Oh. Look at that. Facebook’s newest venture: harvesting thoughts,” Facebook member
 
But Facebook isn’t the only one who is using mindreading tech. Other major computer tech firms, such as Microsoft, are also in the game of gathering up our thoughts and restricting our freedom in the process.
Advanced Technology
 
We are certainly influenced by social media. Many of us, in fact, get our news from online sources, and not the paper versions. This is highly susceptible to manipulation. In fact, only yesterday, one political party was severely warned by Twitter for changing their Twitter name to FactCheckUK, during a contentious leader’s debate in the UK.
How to Ensure Your Thoughts Are Not Manipulated
 
We often react instinctively and quickly. This reflex action comes from the old reptilian part of our brain. This old ancient brain makes quick mental shortcuts. It has to, in order for us to survive. It helped our ancestors quickly make decisions that were life-saving.
 
 
But, in today’s world, we don’t need this rapid reflex-thinking so much. The problem with thinking instinctively and quickly is that we rely on past stereotypes. And this is where biases can occur.
 
We can stop these biases by taking a reasonable amount of time to think and then make our decision. In this way, we weigh up all the evidence, not just what is being presented to us, but what we research ourselves. Then we can make an informed choice.
 
Furthermore, if we have a clearer understanding of how our minds work, we can spot the manipulators a mile off. Don’t con a con I always say!
Tips to Protect the Freedom of Your Thoughts
Don’t make instant decisions
Allow yourself the space to walk away and come back to the issue
Think about why you are getting so emotional
Has what you have read/watched quickly reinforced your own beliefs?
Are you only getting the same views echoed back to you?
Take time to get other people’s views
Don’t be pressurised to make a choice
Participate in discussions where others share an opposing view
Final Thoughts
 
It’s hard not to feel instantly gratified when someone agrees with you. Or when you get your bias confirmed. It is much harder to step back and analyse your own way of thinking.
 
Are you really expressing your own thoughts? Or has your freedom been compromised? Ensuring that we have the freedom to think an authentic thought is essential. Otherwise, how will we ever know if the choices and decisions we make are from our true self?
 
References:
Janey Davies

 





About the Author: Janey Davies.
Janey Davies has been published online for over 8 years. She is the head writer for Shoppersbase.com, she also writes for AvecAgnes.co.uk, Ewawigs.com and has contributed to inside3DP.com. She has an Honours Degree in Psychology and her passions include learning about the mind, popular science and politics. When she is relaxing she likes to walk her dog, read science fiction and listen to Muse.
 
 
COPYRIGHT © 2019 LEARNING MIND. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. FOR PERMISSION TO REPRINT, CONTACT US.
 
 
 



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No religious or political creed is advocated here.

Organised religion is unnecessary to spirituality.

Excellent teachings of the masters have been contaminated by the dogmatic control of these religions.

Discernment yes; judgement does not.
If you use discernment you are free to research with an open mind. 

With discernment it is possible to reach the spirit of the letter of any writing and it is also much easier to listen to the voice of the soul that comes from the heart.
Individually you can be helped to find your Truth that is different of everyone. 


Please respect all credits.

 
Discernment is recommended.
 

All articles are of the respective authors and/or publishers responsibility. 




 

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publicado por achama às 13:34
Sábado, 23 / 11 / 19

How to Overcome Mental Blocks with These 3 Science-Backed Strategies

Becky Storey.

https://www.learning-mind.com/

November 22nd, 2019.

 



Mental blocks are stressful and sometimes painful things to experience and quite hard to overcome. When you have a mental block, your own brain is preventing the recall of memories or your ability to understand something.

Remember your school days. Did you ever feel like no matter how many times the teacher explained something, you just couldn’t get it into your mind? What about trying to recall information you previously knew, but now can’t seem to find the memory in your brain at all? These are both examples of mental blocks. Writer’s block is also a type of mental block which is difficult to overcome.

Mental blocks can be caused by a deep lack of focus, such as that caused in times of great stress. They can also be the result of repression. When we’ve experienced traumas and events in our past we wouldn’t like to think about, our psyche’s shove it down deep for us, so we never have to be reminded of the difficulties. This makes it very difficult to remember correctly if one day we want to, turning it into a mental black.

Overcoming mental blocks can be challenging to say the least – but not impossible. Scientists have spent years researching how to overcome mental blocks and have come up with several, science-backed strategies for you.


3 Strategies to Overcome Mental Blocks


Nature
As it turns out, our Mothers were right all along. Going outside does make us feel better and help us overcome mental blocks. Many studies have been done over the years into the theory that we can overcome mental blocks by spending time in nature.

One study in particular, from the University of Stanford in California, has proven what we often assumed. These studies were based on a theory that was published in the 1980s. Attention Restoration Theory (ART) is the theory that nature can restore all kinds of memories and focus which has been lost.

This study, carried out in 2008, then again in 2015, proved once and for all that spending time in nature provided all kinds of cognitive benefits, including overcoming mental blocks. Participants were given tests on memory, alertness, mental wellbeing and other types of cognitive functions. They were then split into groups and sent on two separate walks. Some walked in an urban environment while the others were sent to a natural area.

When the participants returned, they were tested again. Those who walked in nature showed an impressive increase in all their previous results, especially memory and general mental health. In a second experiment, participants were only shown photographs of natural or urban landscapes. Still, the results were the same.

These studies ultimately proved that nature can help us overcome mental blocks. If you’re struggling to locate a memory or focus on some studying, you could try spending time outside (or even just looking at pictures if you don’t have time).


Exercise
Another old wives’ tale has always told us that exercising will help us overcome our mental blocks. Science has now proven that to be true. A study by the University of British Columbia investigated whether exercising really does improve cognitive functioning, and by association, help us overcome mental blocks.

Their experiments showed that regular aerobic exercise actually boosts the size of the hippocampus – a part of the brain responsible for our verbal memory and learning. Exercises like strength training and balance didn’t yield the same results. In order to reap the benefits, you have to get your heart pounding and your body sweating!

The study concluded that there are both direct and indirect ways that exercise helps us to overcome mental blocks. Aerobic exercises have direct health benefits on the brain. These include reducing inflammation and stimulating the release of chemicals that affect the health of current brain cells and the growth of new ones.

More blood flow and healthy brain cells definitely aid us in overcoming mental blocks. Indirectly, exercising reduces stress and tension, improves our mood and helps us to sleep better. All these things contribute to clearer thinking and less confusing brain fog.

This exercise can be as simple as going for a walk (consider it being in nature too for a double whammy) or even cleaning. Anything that gets your heart rate higher than usual will ultimately help you to overcome those tedious mental blocks.


Napping
Finally, snoozing in the day has been recognized as beneficial, instead of just “lazy”. Science has now proven that taking a nap during the day can, in fact, help you overcome your mental blocks.

Research from the Weill Cornell Medical College has shown that napping can improve our overall cognitive functioning. They studied the results of several experiments that looked into the effects of napping on thinking, processing, and mental blocks.

In all the experiments, the participants were tested using monitors while they slept, as well as mental tests after they woke. These psychological tests included reaction times and vigilance. No matter the method, the results were always the same. Napping improved their cognitive abilities and helped them think clearer and learn faster.

Now, this strategy is still in the early stages of experiments, but it’s one I firmly agree with. The skeptics question the benefits of long naps due to the grogginess and confusion we feel when we first wake up. This is known as sleep inertia.

Some advocate for shorter naps as they show better cognitive results immediately after waking. They assume this makes it easier to get over mental blocks. However, overall studies show that the length of the nap didn’t matter. There was no difference seen in the results once a delay was given for the sleep inertia to fade.

So, next time you’re feeling blocked and can’t seem to overcome it, try packing it all in and taking a midday nap instead!

References:

  1. https://news.stanford.edu
  2. https://www.pnas.org
  3. https://www.health.harvard.edu
  4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
  5. https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat
  6. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Becky Storey
 

 




 

About the Author: Becky Storey


 
Becky Storey is a professional writer who has been passionate about the way we think and the human mind since she developed chronic anxiety many years ago. Now she loves to write and educate people on mental health and wellbeing. When Becky is not writing, you’ll find her outside with her Labrador, sitting behind a jigsaw puzzle, or baking something with too much sugar.
 
Copyright © 2012-2019 Learning Mind. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint, contact us.
 



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No religious or political creed is advocated here.

Organised religion is unnecessary to spirituality.

Excellent teachings of the masters have been contaminated by the dogmatic control of these religions.

Discernment yes; judgement does not.
If you use discernment you are free to research with an open mind. 

With discernment it is possible to reach the spirit of the letter of any writing and it is also much easier to listen to the voice of the soul that comes from the heart.
Individually you can be helped to find your Truth that is different of everyone. 


Please respect all credits.

 
Discernment is recommended.
 

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publicado por achama às 13:22
Sábado, 23 / 11 / 19

How To Stay Calm and Present Throughout The Day

Joe Martino.

Published on August 12, 2019.

collective-evolution.com

Posted November 22, 2019
 
.

 
 
IN BRIEF
 
The Facts:
 
A simple process to bring you back to presence and freedom throughout the day.
 
Reflect On:
 
Can we expect our world to change if we don't change our inner states of everyday being?
 
 
Do you notice yourself feeling tense shoulders? A cleansed jaw? Perhaps you’re holding your breath in some ways and you don’t even know it? Maybe you feel a clenched tummy from time to time and have tricky digestion. You might notice yourself rushing through life, tasks, wanting to get to the next thing. You may not be paying full attention to your life and everything feels like autopilot.
 
 
If this is the case, you’re not alone.
 
This is a very calm state of being for most people in highly developed countries who are living the ‘average everyday life.’ You wake up, go to your job, work all day, come home and then either veg out or spend time with family and go to sleep. This is the ‘modern life’ that we have accepted as ‘ a good life’ and yet almost every aspect of it presents a challenge to our health and well being. But, at this time, money is required to live our lives, and so we must play within this system in some way or another as we actively change it.
 
The good news is, you have ultimate freedom within yourself to perceive your reality as you wish to perceive it. When we are unconscious, or allowing our programmed states of being to run our lives, we typically move through life on autopilot, moving from one habit to another. However, when we begin to gain presence, and pull ourselves out of all these unconscious habits, we begin to gain some freedom back. This builds over time.
 
Before we get to the exercise, I want to add that for those that pay a lot of attention to the news and media side of our work here at CE, using these practices to gain more presence and self-awareness in your life will play deeply into the CE Protocol which is designed to help us gain more clarity on what’s happening in the world, and be an active part of changing it. Skipping the personal transformation end of our journeys only holds us in our current state of being and understanding.
 
 
A Simple Process
 
One powerful thing you can do to begin seeing the subtleties in life, noticing the magic and incredible beauty around you and within you at all times is going back to the breath. Combine that with a few processes in releasing tension and getting into your heart, and you’ll truly begin waking up to who you truly are on a daily basis. The best part is, this muscle grows with time, the more you practice, the more present you become, and the more your monkey mind goes into the passenger seat instead of the driver seat.
 
 
Approx time needed: 5 mins
 
1. There are two ways to initiate the exercise, either you do it when you notice yourself tense or not present, or you set an alarm that goes off about 6 times per day. If you choose the first method, you want to know that your awareness already catches yourself about 6 times a day so you can make sure you are doing this enough.
 
2. When the alarm goes off, or when you notice yourself, stop what you are doing and take a couple of deep breaths. In through the nose and out through the mouth. Do this slowly and controlled. Nothing too fast and nothing too out of control.
 
3. After about 2 to 5 breaths, allow yourself to breathe normally, making sure it is still through the nose. Begin to say within yourself. ‘I am releasing all tension in my head, my neck, my shoulders, my jaw, my stomach, my fists, and my legs.” This is like a mini mantra if you will, but don’t take it too seriously in that it has to be said any particular way. You’re simply noticing and instructing the body to relax.
 
4. After you have gone through the releasing, and you notice your body is more relaxed and your breathing has brought you back to the moment. Sense yourself in your chair or where you stand. Feel the air around you, notice any breezes on your skin or any scents that you smell. Notice all the various sounds around you, not focusing on anyone or feeling any as a distraction, but noticing them and allowing them to be. This is presence, while in this state. Noticing.
 
If you happen to have any rampant thoughts or feelings of stress arise during this at any point, simply notice it and say within yourself “OK stress or OK task I have to complete, I see you, I will take care of you momentarily” and allow it to pass.
 
5. Once in presence, turn your attention to the area of your sternum, the heart centre. You may put your hand or fingers on this area, and simply focus your attention on this space. See your awareness moving into this space as if you yourself are moving from your mind to your heart. However that looks or feels to you is OK. It doesn’t have to be anything mystical. This is a common mistake of overcomplicating simple methods.
 
6. Finally, allow yourself to be in that space for as long as you like. 1 min, 10 mins, whatever works. Usually I say this exercise is meant to be done as a check-in for about 5 mins.
 
Repeat this each time your alarm goes off or when you notice yourself tense. Through this, you are gaining more awareness of self more regularly. You are also beginning to realize you have a lot more control over your state of being than once thought. This is a key step to emotional freedom. In this space, your mind does not run you, nor do your emotions.
 
Bonus: As an extended tip, once you gain a sense of what that short meditation felt like. Even if you notice yourself for a moment 20 or 30 minutes later being tense, just take one deep breath and recall the energy and feeling of your meditation.
 
The Takeaway
 
When will things like full disclosure happen, or big changes in our world? When people focus deeply enough on personal transformation that our consciousness becomes ready to hear what’s being hidden and becomes ready for a world that is grounded in a state of peace, love, and freedom as opposed to monkey mind behavior.
 
Joe Martino 
 
 
 
 



Compiled by http://violetflame.biz.ly from: 
 
Archives:



No religious or political creed is advocated here.

Organised religion is unnecessary to spirituality.

Excellent teachings of the masters have been contaminated by the dogmatic control of these religions.

Discernment yes; judgement does not.
If you use discernment you are free to research with an open mind. 

With discernment it is possible to reach the spirit of the letter of any writing and it is also much easier to listen to the voice of the soul that comes from the heart.
Individually you can be helped to find your Truth that is different of everyone. 


Please respect all credits.

 
Discernment is recommended.
 

All articles are of the respective authors and/or publishers responsibility. 


 

 

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publicado por achama às 13:09
Sábado, 23 / 11 / 19

USA: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.

By Eric Boehm.

https://reason.com/

Posted November 22, 2019 by Edward Morgan.

 
.

 

 

An 83-year-old retired engineer in Michigan underpaid his property taxes by $8.41. In response, Oakland County seized his property, auctioned it off to settle the debt, and pocketed nearly $24,500 in excess revenue from the sale.
Under Michigan law, it was all legal. And hardly uncommon.
Uri Rafaeli, who lost his property and all the equity associated with it, is just one of thousands of people to be victimized by Michigan’s uniquely aggressive property tax statute. The law, passed in 1999 in an attempt to accelerate the rehabilitation of abandoned properties, empowers county treasurers to act as debt collectors. In the process, it creates a perverse incentive by allowing treasurers’ offices to retain excess revenue raised by seizing and selling properties with delinquent taxes—even when the amount owed is miniscule, and even when the homes aren’t abandoned or blighted at all.
Organizations representing property owners like Rafaeli say the practice is unconstitutional, inequitable, and unreasonably harsh. They call it “home equity theft”—a process that’s a close relative to the civil asset forfeiture laws that have been used by police departments to similarly deprive innocent Americans of their property without due process. They are now asking the state Supreme Court to restrict the practice.
 
“Michigan is currently stealing from people across the state,” says Christina Martin, an attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation, a nonprofit law firm now representing Rafaeli and other homeowners in a class-action lawsuit that will go before the Michigan Supreme Court in early November.
“Counties have been authorized to take not just what they are owed, but to take people’s life savings.”

A Win-Win Situation

Rafaeli’s case—which has the potential to stop the predatory behavior of county treasurers across the state—began with a simple mistake.
 
 
Uri Rafaeli
 
Photo courtesy Pacific Legal Foundation
In August 2011, Rafaeli purchased a three-bedroom, 1,500-square-foot home in the predominantly African American community of Southfield, Michigan, a lower-middle-class suburb just north of Detroit. “The investment was good to the state economy, and [at] the same time, it may produce a good rent for my retirement. A ‘win-win’ situation,” says Rafaeli, who lived in neighboring Macomb County at the time. (He no longer lives in Michigan.)
The $60,000 purchase was recorded by the Oakland County Register of Deeds on January 6, 2012. About six months later, in June 2012, Rafaeli was notified that he had underpaid his 2011 property tax bill by $496. Rafaeli made subsequent property tax payments on time and in full—and, in January 2013, he attempted to settle the unpaid tax debt, according to court documents.
But he made a mistake in calculating the interest owed, resulting in another underpayment of $8.41.
A little more than a year later, in February 2014, Rafaeli’s rental property was one of 11,000 properties put up for auction by Oakland County. It was sold for $24,500 in August of the same year—far less than what Rafaeli had paid for the property just three years earlier.
Today, real estate service Zillow, which rates the Southfield region as a “hot” market in the Detroit region, estimates the property is worth $128,000, But Rafaeli has missed out on reaping a financial reward for being an early investor in the area.
 
 
Uri Rafaeli’s house and surrounding property in Southfield, Michigan.
 
Source: Google Maps
“I believed in the power of the U.S. to withstand the difficulties,” says Rafaeli, “and I believed in its fairness and dignity in doing business there.” Now, he says, he thinks differently.

“Punitive for Property Owners, and Profitable for the County”

In court documents, Rafaeli’s attorneys estimate there have been more than 100,000 properties—along with the “entire equity in them”—that have been taken by Michigan counties since 2002. “In thousands of instances each year, the proceeds for a given property sold at auction far exceed the delinquent tax amount and are far less than a delinquent taxpayer’s equity in the property,” they argue. “This results in millions of dollars in surplus proceeds and equity for the counties and tax sale purchasers.”
At the root of those seizures is a 1999 update to Michigan’s general property tax statute. That legislation, Act 123 of 1999, gave Michigan’s 83 county treasurers the authority to act as the primary agents for handing the foreclosure and auction of properties with unpaid taxes. It also expedited the process for seizing and auctioning homes that owed taxes, allowing county treasuries to sweep aside liens and other speed bumps in the tax foreclosure process.
 
The legislation’s goals were “to encourage the rapid reuse of property, prevent the onset of blight, and improve the overall use of property” in the state, according to a 2011 University of Michigan report about the effects of Act 123 in Wayne County—where Detroit is located, and where the 1999 law has had the most devastating effects on homeowners.
Over the past decade, more than 150,000 properties in Detroit have gone through the tax forfeiture process, according to data collected by Jerry Paffendorf, the founder of Loveland Technologies, a Detroit-based mapping firm. The process, says Paffendorf, is “punitive for property owners and profitable for the county.”
Paffendorf became increasingly interested in Michigan’s unique tax foreclosure rules shortly after Detroit’s 2013 bankruptcy, when his company worked with an anti-blight task force to identify and photograph abandoned properties across the city. At the time, the media was fascinated with Detroit’s economic collapse—one of the most memorable signs of which were the homes being auctioned for $1,000 or less.
As he began tracking the supposedly vacant homes being auctioned off by the city, Paffendorf noticed an odd trend: Lots of them weren’t actually vacant.
“There was sort of an assumption that tax foreclosures were happening to abandoned buildings. You know, properties that people had left,” he tells Reason. But that wasn’t always the case. “We saw thousands of properties that had people living in them being auctioned.”
That was happening because of the accelerated foreclosure process created by Act 123, which harshly punished any Michigander for falling behind on property tax payments. Prior to 1999, the average time between a property falling into tax delinquency and foreclosure was five to seven years, but Act 123 reduced that timeline to a little over two years. The accelerated foreclosure process caught many homeowners who fell behind on their taxes during the Great Recession.
In Michigan, property taxes are due twice per year. Bills are sent in July and December, with payments due in April and November. If there are outstanding debts from the previous year, delinquent properties are turned over to the county in March the following year. The county buys the debt from municipalities—the funding comes from the county’s “delinquent tax revolving fund” (DTRF)—and the county effectively becomes the debt collector for the unpaid taxes. Under state law, counties are allowed to impose a one-time 4 percent administrative fee to each delinquent property, and may charge 1 percent interest for every month the tax remains unpaid.
If the property owner still owes back taxes by March 31 of the third year of delinquency—that is, two years and 31 days after the county took over the collection process—the county can foreclose and take the property to auction.
Source: Oakland County Treasurer’s Office 
After a property is auctioned, the county keeps the proceeds and recycles the revenue through the same DTRF used to buy the debt from municipalities in the first place.
 
If the county ends up with a positive balance in its DTRF, the excess funds can be channeled into the county budget.
That’s how Wayne County has funneled more than $382 million in delinquent tax surpluses into its general fund budget since 2012, according to an analysis by Bridge magazine, a Michigan-based nonprofit publication.
In Oakland County, where Rafaeli’s Southfield property was seized and sold in 2014, the process has been lucrative too. According to the county’s most recent comprehensive annual financial report, its DTRF had $196.8 million in net assets.
The same document details plans to use the DTRF for a number of pet projects, including the construction of a new animal shelter and adoption center. The county also “anticipates the continuation of annual transfers from the DTRF to support General Fund / General Purpose operations in the amount of $3.0 million annually for FY 2019 through FY 2023″—totals that are in line with historical norms, according to the annual report.
That’s hundreds of millions of dollars in private equity that have been transferred to the two counties’ control—completely legally, under the terms of Act 123.
“It is simply government-sanctioned theft,” says private attorney Philip Ellison. Ellison has been involved in a series of class-action lawsuits targeting nine Michigan counties’ use of home equity forfeiture over the past six years, during which time, he calculates, counties in Michigan have pocketed more than $36 million in surplus equity seized from tax delinquent properties.
Ellison represents people like Donald Freed, a resident of Alma, Michigan, who had his home and 35 acres of land seized by Gratiot County, Michigan, over a $750 tax debt. The property was auctioned for more than $100,000—and, of course, the county kept the change.
 
 
Romualdo and Erica Perez
 
Photo courtesy Pacific Legal Foundation
The same thing happened to Romualdo and Erica Perez, a father/daughter duo who bought a four-unit apartment building and an adjacent, abandoned single-family home in Detroit in 2012. Even though they were living in New Jersey at the time, Romualdo would drive 11 hours to Detroit on weekends to fix up the properties in the hopes of eventually relocating there to be closer to other relatives. Romualdo and Erica planned to live in the house and earn a living by renting the small apartment building.
“Every bit of money we saved and every spare minute we had went to fixing the house,” Erica says. “The plumbing, the electricity—everything.”
But the first year they owned the property, they underpaid their property taxes by $144. County tax records show that they made full payments, on time, every subsequent year. But Wayne County never informed them of the unpaid debt, they say, because the notices were sent to the wrong address. But the county should have known the correct address for the notices because more recent property tax payments indicated the proper address, says Martin.
In 2017, the county foreclosed on their property, sold it for $108,000, and kept the excess equity beyond the $359 owed in back taxes, fees, and interest. They, too, are suing the state with the assistance of the Pacific Legal Foundation, in a case that’s separate from Rafaeli’s.
 

Making Detroit a Worse Place to Live

In addition to destroying the livelihoods of individual property owners, Act 123 has made Detroit a less attractive place to live.
(Graphic courtesy Loveland Technologies / Jerry Paffendorf)
“Detroit’s collapsing structures and vacant lots didn’t just happen,” the Obama administration’s special Detroit Blight Removal Task Force concluded in its 2013 report. “They are the physical result of dire economic and social forces that pulled the city apart.”
The county’s aggressive home equity forfeiture scheme seems to be part of the problem. Over a two year period between 2017 and 2018, volunteers working with the Quicken Loan Community Fund, a Detroit-based nonprofit connected to the mortgage company, interviewed more than 60,000 property owners who owed taxes to the city. Most were aware that they owed taxes, but did not have accurate information about the process or the potential consequences.
Worse, the survey found that aggressive use of home equity forfeiture was leaving the city with more vacant properties, not fewer. “In theory, the annual tax foreclosure auctions are intended to take properties that are neglected and not generating tax revenue, and sell them to owners who will pay taxes and put the properties to productive use,” the Quicken Loans Community Fund report concluded. “In practice, most Detroit homes that have been tax foreclosed do not return to productive use. Instead, speculators who purchase cheap property at auction allow it to deteriorate without paying property taxes, leading to further depressed home values and blight.”
Paffendorf, whose company was involved in the Quicken survey, says that about 80 percent of tax-foreclosed properties end up abandoned. Some are vacant because they are going through forfeiture, and some are going through forfeiture because they are vacant, he says. But regardless of which way the causation runs, it’s fairly obvious that a law that was meant to return tax-delinquent abandoned properties to productive, tax-producing ones is failing to achieve that goal.
“If you sell houses with people living in them,” Paffendorf tells Reason, then “you’re only creating more vacant properties.”

An Incentive for County Officials to Steal 

The aggressive use of home equity forfeiture under Act 123 has not only failed at its stated goal of returning abandoned homes to productive use, it has created a perverse incentive for county officials to effectively steal from their constituents.
On the morning of April 1, 2014, Linda Irwin, Cass County’s treasurer, emailed a county contractor to say she was “tickled pink” to have the opportunity to seize a $3.5 million lakefront property. The deadline for the property owner to settle an unpaid property tax debt had passed the day before and the county was ready to foreclose. In subsequent emails, the contractor joked with Irwin about using the property to host cookouts for county employees, according to court documents attached to a lawsuit against Cass County.
It wasn’t until three weeks later that Douglas Anderson, the registered agent who was handling the property and overseeing the construction of a still-unfinished home, became aware anything was wrong. In court documents, lawyers representing Anderson and property owner Sergei Antipov allege the county failed to provide adequate notice about the unpaid property taxes. Cass County argues that it took the appropriate steps required under law, sending two certified letters to the address. Both were returned as undeliverable, likely because there was no one actually living at the address yet.
 
It was not until April 18, 2014, weeks after the foreclosure deadline had passed, that county officials called Anderson to tell him the property was being seized. When Anderson and Antipov offered to pay the back taxes, the county refused to accept it.
“It’s a done deal,” Irwin told a local newspaper in June 2014. “They’ve tried to send us a check for $100,000, and I’ve returned it. I’ve had my council look at it, and we’ve done everything right. We didn’t make any mistakes. They did.”
Maybe so. But the county—and the contractor, Title Check, which works with county treasurers across the state and gets to keep a portion of the proceeds from auctioned properties—does not appear to have done much to alert Antipov that he owed taxes.
Antipov’s situation bears many similarities to the forfeitures that targeted the Rafaeli and Perez properties, among others. In each case, the property owners alleged that they were not given sufficient warning about their delinquent taxes. In some cases, that’s because county officials were mailing notices to unfinished homes or properties without permanent residents. In others, like Rafaeli’s case, the notices were delivered to tenants who failed to pass along the information to their landlord, mistakenly believing that the county would inform the landlord separately.
The county officials involved in each of those lawsuits contend in court documents that they complied with the notification requirements written into state law. Although Act 123 does require that county treasurers make three attempts to contact tax delinquent property owners, attorneys representing the homeowners say more should be done.
“They don’t have to sue in the normal sense,” says Martin. Because the legal action—the forfeiture—is filed against the property itself, the notice required is significantly lower than what is required in other legal matters. And some counties don’t include delinquent taxes on subsequent property tax bills, she says. “There is no notice on the new assessments that says ‘you have not paid a prior year’s bill.'”
In Cass County, officials don’t appear to have done anything beyond the bare minimum. Antipov’s attorneys say it would have taken a quick online search to find that the property was owned by an LLC registered in Anderson’s name and with his Indiana address. Antipov, who owns a metal fabrication company in Indiana, owns another property in Cass County and would have been on the county’s tax rolls (and likely known to the treasurer’s office) But neither the county nor Title Check made anything other than the bare minimum effort to avoid running out the clock established by Act 123.
“This is a major asset,” Irwin said in 2014. “We can sit on it and decide what to do with it, or we can move forward with an auction.”
Irwin died in 2018, but Cass County is still engaged in a lawsuit over the property. The county has racked up more than $250,000 in legal fees since 2014 defending its right to seize Antipov’s property, documents show. The home is still unfinished.
 
And while some county officials use Michigan’s aggressive foreclosure law to benefit their budgets or to provide a setting for backyard barbeques, others use it in ways that are more openly designed to advance municipal self-interest.
Wayne County Treasurer Eric Sabree has also been caught on camera admitting that Wayne County and the city of Detroit will sometimes conspire to manipulate the auction process. During a 2015 appearance on “Detroit Wants To Know,” a local web series, Sabree talked about how the treasurer’s office will bundle properties together in order to make them more attractive to potential buyers—or perhaps less attractive, so the city of Detroit can keep certain parcels for itself.
“It’s a group of properties we put together, because we cooperated with the city of Detroit…Nobody will buy this bundle, and then we can just give it to the city, and then the city will use the demolition funds to tear them down,” he said. “And in the bundle, we also had some good properties, which the city then sold to fund the demolition and the management of the properties they took.”
It’s not only the city that benefits. In February, the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News published a joint expose showing that Sabree’s relatives purchased several homes in county-run tax foreclosure auctions. When confronted with the allegations, Sabree dismissed the rules that forbid treasurer’s office employees or their family members from bidding in those auctions as “intrusive and unrealistic.”
Sabree did not return requests for comment. But in July, an ethics board voted 5-1 to clear him of any wrongdoing, concluding that his wife’s purchase of properties in 2011 did not violate the ethics rules because the rules were adopted in 2012. Wayne County Executive Warren Evans told the Detroit Metro Times that he was “not sure that the Board’s action today did much to address” the concerns about Sabree’s behavior.
In Oakland County, the suburban county north of Detroit where Rafaeli’s property was seized and sold in 2014, there were 86 properties included in the county’s 2019 land auction, held in October. In 2018, the county auctioned off 79 properties that had been seized due to unpaid taxes, according to a list obtained by Reason via Michigan’s freedom of information law. That’s down from nearly 300 properties that went to the auction block as recently as 2015 in the same county.
County Treasurer Andrew Meisner, who is a defendant in the Rafaeli lawsuit going to the Michigan Supreme Court, did not return repeated requests for comment on this story.
His office says it tries to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. In a press release issued in March 2019, Meisner said his office has “contacted hundreds of property tax owners to discuss their options to avoid foreclosure” before the April 1 property tax payment deadline. “Preventing foreclosure is in everyone’s best interest,” said Meisner, in the same statement. Yet the evidence clearly shows that county officials and budgets have benefited from aggressive seizures and sales.
 

An Unconstitutional Fine

If Rafaeli is victorious before the Michigan Supreme Court, the next step would be to enter into negotiations with Oakland County to determine a fair market value for his lost property and he would be entitled to “just compensation.” And so would lots of other Michiganders. “If the Michigan Supreme Court in the Rafaeli case…rules in favor of the property owners, counties will be required to make an appropriate refund,” says Ellison.
Legally, the matter is fraught. Counties seizing excess revenue above and beyond the amount necessary to settle the unpaid debts could be considered a taking—in which case it would be subjected to the Fifth Amendment, which promises that “private property [shall not] be taken for public use, without just compensation.” The Michigan Constitution offers similar protections against government taking private property without compensation.
Oakland County has prevailed in lower courts by arguing that the seizure of Rafaeli’s property was a forfeiture. But that argument runs into other legal problems: For one, even under the wide leeway that is afforded in asset forfeiture laws, there must be an allegation of underlying criminal activity. Not paying property taxes is a civil violation, but not a criminal one.
“Traditionally, civil forfeiture would only apply to the product of the crime or the proceeds of the crime,” says Martin. Although many states and localities have stretched their use of civil asset forfeiture to include cases where no one is actually convicted of a crime—often as part of drug enforcement—the legal doctrine requires that the property seized must be “tainted with criminal activity,” she says.
But if that’s the way courts want to look at it, then the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against excessive fines would apply. It doesn’t matter that a state law, like Act 123, might authorize such a forfeiture if it is unconstitutional.
In a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case last year, Timbs v. Indiana, the high court ruled that the excessive fines clause applies to both state and federal proceedings. In Timbs, the state of Indiana attempted to seize a $42,000 vehicle that had been used to transport illegal drugs, but the Supreme Court determined that taking the value of the vehicle—which was many times in excess of the allowable monetary fine for the crime Tyson Timbs had committed—violated the Eighth Amendment.
That might matter for the Rafaeli case. “Tax foreclosure is not the same thing as a forfeiture,” Wesley Hottot, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit libertarian law firm, tells Reason. Hottot was the lead attorney in the Timbs case.
“But even if they were right,” Hottot adds, the forfeiture in this case violated the excessive fines clause of the U.S. Constitution, he says, “because it was grossly disproportionate to the minor offenses involved.”
 
 
Michigan Supreme Court
 
Wiki Commons
In a brief submitted to the state Supreme Court defending Oakland County’s use of home equity forfeiture against Rafaeli, the Michigan Association of County Treasurers makes several arguments in favor of the existing arrangement. The current system allows for counties to more easily? address blight, the group argues, despite evidence, like Paffendorf and Quicken found, that it has made blight worse in some places.
 
Elsewhere, the group’s arguments seem to contradict one another. Ruling that tax foreclosure is a taking “could eliminate any incentive for property owners to pay delinquent real property taxes,” the MACT argues, because the threat of punishment must exist for property owners to comply. But, later, the group argues that the seizure of an entire property to pay a smaller debt is “not intended to be punitive” and therefore does not run afoul of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on excessive fines.
At the very least, the group’s attorneys argue, the legislature—not the courts—should be responsible for fixing Act 123, because it would be able to do so “without destroying the tax collection process.”
At other times, county officials have pleaded poverty. “They were on the verge of [bankruptcy] for quite a while. It was up to elected officials and administrators of local governments to take the initial steps (to collect taxes) and somehow they just didn’t do it,” Ray Wojtowicz, a retired Wayne County treasurer, told Bridge in 2017. It’s clear that counties in Michigan now count on being able to pad their budgets with revenue from homes seized for having unpaid taxes.
The burden of aggressive property tax enforcement, meanwhile, falls heaviest on poor communities. Wealthier homeowners have easier access to the legal and accounting assistance necessary to avoid underpayments or to quickly address any problems. Once property is seized, there’s no guarantee of due process or even a court hearing. Homeowners don’t even have access to public defenders; those are allocated only in criminal cases.
In some counties, Act 123 has “created this incredibly unhealthy incentive where the county isn’t just satisfied when they make enough to cover what they would have made in taxes,” says Paffendorf. “They are relying on these surpluses from people who are in debt.”
University of Massachusetts law professor Ralph Clifford has spent years studying home equity forfeitures in Massachusetts. The state has a less aggressive foreclosure law, but similarly allows municipalities to pocket excess revenue when tax delinquent foreclosures occur. His research shows that an estimated $56 million is appropriated from Massachusetts taxpayers every year. After reviewing all such seizures—known as “tax deed” actions, under Massachusetts state law—that took place between August 2013 and July 2014, Clifford found that towns in the state collected $42.87 for every dollar in taxes owed. His analysis includes one instance in which a property assessed for a value of $24,000 was taken to cover a $26 tax bill.
“As far as I can tell,” he told Reason, “it’s all just blatantly unconstitutional.”

Reforming the System

“We’d had these situations for decades, where people have lost their entire homes over a few hundred dollars of unpaid property taxes,” Montana state Sen. Tom Jacobson (D–Great Falls) tells Reason. “They would lose their entire homes. Forty years. All that equity. Over a few hundred bucks.”
Shortly after his election to the state legislature in 2012, he introduced a bill to require that property owners be compensated for what is taken—minus the debt owed and any interest.
 
But Jacobson says he was surprised by the level of opposition he witnessed. Lobbyists for counties (which handle property taxes in Montana, like in Michigan) said the bill would hurt their budgets.
He reintroduced the bill during the 2015 and 2017 sessions—Montana lawmakers meet for a formal session only once every two years, though they have an interim session in off years where much of the groundwork is laid, though no votes are taken. By the third time though the process, lawmakers agreed to add additional notification requirements before a property could be seized.
This year, the state legislature passed, and Gov. Steve Bullock signed, a bill giving property owners the right to the remainder of the equity in their homes after the tax debt is settled. The bill also requires that properties cannot be sold for less than 50 percent of their assessed value—an important caveat that should prevent some of what has occurred in Michigan.
The reforms also flip the counties’ incentives. Instead of being able to profit off delinquent taxes, says Jacobson, officials will now have an incentive to make sure the taxes are paid up front and on time—or they’ll have an incentive to help taxpayers find ways to meet their obligations.

A Penalty More than 8,000 Times the Underlying Debt

FABIANO/SIPA/Newscom
In Michigan, however, the practice of seizing homes over tiny underpayments of property taxes is likely to remain in place unless the courts step in. A bill introduced in the Michigan state House by Rep. Gary Howell (R–Lapeer) to reform Act 123 collected a handful of co-sponsors this year but did not receive even a committee vote.
Which means there will be more people like Uri Rafeali, who lost a home over an $8.41 mistake. His property, bought as an investment, is valued at an estimated $136,000. The penalty imposed by Oakland County was more than 8,000 percent greater than the underlying debt.
But today, while the legal battle over its fate plays out, the house sits empty. It generates no tax revenue for the city or county. It earns no money for Rafaeli or his wife in their retirement.
“The Constitution was written to prevent the government from violating a right that preexists the Constitution,” says Martin. “If this can happen to multimillionaires and to the poor, to the elderly….If this can happen to Mr. Rafaeli, it can happen to anyone.”
 



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publicado por achama às 06:58
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