Balance of Give and Receive

By Sanat Kumara, through Linda Dillon, March 23, 2013

I am Sanat Kumara, old friend, keeper of the Law on Earth and beyond. The Law of the Universe is balanced, and you cannot enter into partnership with your intergalactic friend or each other without this.

Many of you have skirted the law during this life. You are prepared to give and give and give but turn away from receiving. Now I ask you, what shall I do? Shall I arrest you? I think not. I am here to remind you of the two sides of your being and you cannot live in one area.

You cannot live in spirit and be in a physical body. You must do both. You cannot live in only a part of yourself. You cannot love another without cherishing yourself. What you create within will be what is.

That is why you have worked with Archangel Gabrielle to relinquish your lack of worthiness that you may know that you are prepared to go forward. My request of you lawbreakers is simple. I wish for you to eliminate this phrase, “but” from your very soul, your essence. It was not our invention, it was yours.

Relinquish it. I will remind you daily with my golden flame to let go of this limitation. This sense of limitation causes upheaval throughout the universe. Please do it not only for yourselves but for many.

Allow creation to take place. In the spirit of partnership, I ask you to receive. You have accomplished much my friends from any perspective, from Venus, from Mars, from the ship, and from the center of your earth. You have done well. But it is not enough. You have need to expand some.

You have need to experience the wholeness of your own potential. Know this. It is the time of the transformation and it is the time for the return of many to this place, this dimension, and to this planet. I suggest you stay and enjoy the party.

Key US decision on Cuba terror-designation coming

Secretary of State John Kerry, left, followed by National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, arrives for the joint news conference between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Israel,Wednesday, March 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

HAVANA (AP) — A normally routine bit of Washingtonbureaucracy could have a big impact on U.S. relations with Cuba, either ushering in a long-stalled detente or slamming the door on rapprochement, perhaps until the scheduled end of the Castro era in 2018.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry must decide within a few weeks whether to advocate that President Barack Obama should take Cuba off a list of state sponsors of terrorism, a collection of Washington foes that also includes Iran, Syria and Sudan.

Cuban officials have long seen the terror designation as unjustified and told visiting American delegations privately in recent weeks that they view Kerry's recommendation as a litmus test for improved ties. They also hinted the decision could affect discussions over the release of jailed U.S. subcontractor Alan Gross, whose detention in 2009 torpedoed hopes of a diplomatic thaw.

Inclusion on the list means a ban not only on arms sales to Cuba but also on items that can have dual uses, including some hospital equipment. It also requires that the United States oppose any loans to Cuba by the World Bank or other international lending institutions, among other measures.

U.S. officials agree the recommendation, which Kerry must make before the State Department's annual terror report is published April 30, has become ensnared in the standoff over Gross. The American was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he was caught bringing communications equipment onto the island illegally while working for a USAID-funded democracy-building program.

Cuba has been on the terror list since 1982, and is also the target of a 51-year U.S. economic embargo — the reason why the island of beaches, music and rum is the only country Americans cannot visit as tourists. Removal from the list would not change that.

Critics say Cuba's inclusion on the list has little to do with any real threat posed by the Communist-run Caribbean island, and they say the list has become so politicized it's useless. North Korea was removed in 2008 during nuclear negotiations that ultimately failed, and was never put back on. Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden had been hiding out, is not on the list in large part because of its strategic importance.

Longtime Cuba analyst Philip Peters of the Virginia-based think tank the Lexington Institute said removing Cuba from the list "makes sense ... just because it's been a specious allegation that the United States has repeated for many years ... It would improve the atmosphere."

Others argue against rewarding Havana unless it releases Gross.

"I have long believed it's in our interest to see an improvement in relations with Cuba," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Gross's home state of Maryland who traveled with a congressional delegation to Havana last month. But "the first step needs to be resolving Alan Gross's situation."

Voices calling for a change in the policy are growing louder, however.

Last month, The Boston Globe cited administration sources saying high-level diplomats determined Cuba should be dropped from the list. That prompted State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland to say there were "no current plans" to do so, though she did not explicitly rule out the possibility.

Last week, a Los Angeles Times editorial called for Cuba's removal from the list, and other newspapers have voiced similar opinions. The Cuba Study Group, a Washington-based exile organization that advocates engagement to promote democratic change, issued a white paper in February calling for an "apolitical" reexamination of the terror designation.

While Kerry can review the designation even after the State Department's report comes out, Cuba's continued inclusion on the list in April would almost certainly rule out its chances of removal in 2013.

A U.S. official involved in deliberations told The Associated Press that Kerry will ultimately decide and nobody under him is in a position to predict what will happen. "It's very much up in the air," he said.

But another administration official said that lifting the terror designation will be a hard sell while Gross remains imprisoned.

"It's very unlikely," the second official said. "There is no consensus. And if you are on (the list), you stay on as long as there is no consensus on taking you off."

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Ostensibly, Cuba has been designated a terror sponsor because it harbors members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group, the Basque militant organization ETA and a handful of U.S. fugitives, many of whom have lived here since the 1970s.

But much has changed in recent years.

Late last year, peace talks began in Havana between Colombia and the FARC, and even Washington has voiced hope that the negotiations will end Colombia's half-century old conflict.

ETA announced a permanent cease-fire in 2011, and Madrid has not openly called for the return of any Basque fugitives. Cuba has enjoyed improved relations with Spain and Colombia in recent years, and both countries routinely vote at the U.N. against continuing the U.S. embargo.

Under President Raul Castro, Cuba has freed dozens of dissidents and has begun opening its economy and society, though it remains a one-party political system that permits no legal opposition. Castro announced in February that he would step down in 2018 and signaled a likely successor.

The time might also be ripe in terms of U.S. politics.

While in the Senate, Kerry was an outspoken critic of America's policy on Cuba, saying it has "manifestly failed for nearly 50 years." He called for travel restrictions to end and held up millions of dollars in funding for the type of programs Gross worked with.

His boss, President Obama, no longer has to worry about reelection or pleasing Cuban-Americans, an all-important voting bloc in the crucial swing state of Florida.

Ann Louise Bardach, a longtime Cuba observer and the author of "Without Fidel: A Death Foretold in Miami, Havana and Washington," said all the political winds would seem to point toward a reboot in relations — except for Havana's decision to hold Gross and try to swap him for five Cuban agents in the U.S.

"In a way they cooked their goose with Alan Gross," she said. "The Cubans thought, 'Gee what a brilliant idea, we'll have a chit to trade.' Little did they know that they would be at this moment where you have considerable momentum to move on in Washington, and politically, because of the Gross mess, Washington can't act."

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Associated Press reporters Bradley Klapper and Jessica Gresko in Washington, and Peter Orsi in Havana contributed to this report.

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Kerry sees Abbas and Netanyahu after Obama trip

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — U.S Secretary of State John Kerry met Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Saturday, following up on President Barack Obama's talks with each earlier in the week, but a return to negotiations did not appear to the main agenda item.

While making his first trip to Israel and the Palestinian Authority as president, Obama pressed for a resumption in peace talks between the two sides, but a U.S. statement released after Kerry's meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not mention the matter at all. Instead, the four-sentence statement focused on an agreement between Israel and Turkey to normalize strained relations that Obama brokered on Friday.

The White House championed the rapprochement as a major success of Obama's trip, a view Kerry echoed.

"The reconciliation between Israel and Turkey is a very important development that will help advance the cause of peace and stability in the region," Kerry said in the statement. He said Netanyahu and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erodgan "deserve great credit for showing the leadership necessary to make this possible."

"As I discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu this evening, this will help Israel meet the many challenges it faces in the region," Kerry said. "We look forward to an expeditious implementation of the agreement and the full normalization of relations so Israel and Turkey can work together to advance their common interests."

Once-strong ties between the Jewish state and NATO's only Muslim majority country have been badly strained since Israel's 2010 raid on a Turkish flotilla bound for Gaza that killed eight Turks. Israel had until Friday refused to apologize, drawing the ire of the Turks.

But with Obama listening in, Netanyahu called Erdogan from the tarmac of the airport in Tel Aviv on Friday to apologize for operational errors in the raid that led to the deaths. Erdogan accepted the apology and both said they would begin the work of restoring full relations.

Although Obama said that he had instructed Kerry to look into what would be needed to restart talks between Israelis and the Palestinians, Saturday's statement said nothing about peace talks. Nor did it even mention Kerry's Saturday meeting with Abbas, which took place in Amman, Jordan, before Kerry went to Jerusalem to see Netanyahu.

In Israel and the Palestinian Authority last week, Obama urged both sides to recognize the importance of restarting talks to end their decades-old conflict. But he rolled back earlier support for a Palestinian demand that Israel stop housing construction in disputed territory before negotiations begin. The new position has angered some in the Palestinian community who believe that Obama is biased in favor of Israel.

Bloomberg, mayor group tout big gun control push

NEW YORK (AP) — A new $12 million television ad campaign from Mayors Against Illegal Guns will push senators in key states to back gun control efforts, including comprehensive background checks.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the ad buy Saturday — just days after Senate Democrats touted stronger background checks while acknowledging insufficient support to restore a ban on assault-style weapons to federal gun control legislation.

"These ads bring the voices of Americans — who overwhelmingly support comprehensive and enforceable background checks — into the discussion to move senators to immediately take action to prevent gun violence," Bloomberg said in a statement issued by the group he co-founded in 2006.

The two ads posted on the group's website, called "Responsible" and "Family," show a gun owner holding a rifle while sitting on the back of a pickup truck.

In one ad, the man says he'll defend the Second Amendment but adds "with rights come responsibilities." The ad then urges viewers to tell Congress to support background checks.

In the other ad, the man, a hunter, says "background checks have nothing to do with taking guns away from anyone." The man then says closing loopholes will stop criminals and the mentally ill from obtaining weapons.

The Senate is scheduled to debate federal gun control legislation next month. On March 28, the group plans for more than 100 events nationwide in support of passing gun control legislation that includes background checks.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns and other gun-control advocates frequently cite a mid-1990s study that suggests about 40 percent of U.S. gun transfers were conducted by private sellers not subject to federal background checks. Based on 2011 FBI data, the group estimates 6.6 million firearms transfers are made without a background check for the receiver.

A spokesman for Bloomberg could not immediately say if the $12 million was coming from Bloomberg or the mayor's political action committee, Independence USA. The New York Times, which first reported the ad campaign Saturday night, said Bloomberg was bankrolling the ad buy.

A spokesman for the National Rifle Association blasted Bloomberg and the new ads, saying NRA members and supporters would be calling senators directly and urging them to vote against proposed gun control legislation.

"What Michael Bloomberg is trying to do is ... intimidate senators into not listening to constituents and instead pledge their allegiance to him and his money," said spokesman Andrew Arulanandam.

Bloomberg has long supported efforts to curb gun violence, including sending New York City undercover investigators into other states to conduct straw purchases from dealers. Last month, Bloomberg's PAC poured more than $2 million into ads supporting Illinois state Rep. Robin Kelly, who won a special primary and ran partly on a platform of supporting tougher gun restrictions.

The new ads will air in 13 states the group believes are divided on gun control: Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio and Pennsylvania.