Starbucks in Finland at last

The second Starbucks coffee shop is opening soon in Helsinki center, Finland.

After McDonald's,  H&M and Ikea, Starbucks is finally 

opening a café in the city center of Finland's capital. First 

café of the brand from Seattle opened in spring 2012 at the 

international Helsinki-Vantaa airport.

 This second shop will open in autumn 2013, and is located in the Stockmann bookshop Akateeminen at the crossing of the Pohjois-Esplanadi and Keskuskatu where previously the magazines were sold. The American coffee shop will bring some international atmosphere in the building designed by the famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto in 1969. At the second floor of the largest bookshop of Scandinavia is established the café Aalto. The manager told that he does not think that the café will suffer the new competitor under the same roof.

Atheist Police Detective finds Christ

Kevin Kwan's Rich Rich World

In this book by ex-Singaporean American author Kevin Kwan, only the rich elite and their families, fashions, couture, cuisine, businesses, properties, etc.....matter. And these are people from China, Hong Kong and Singapore. It is their world as they jet from city to city, have their meals in the poshest restaurants, stay in the exclusive hotels for the very wealthy.

They are cocooned in oases of luxury, away from the mundane grind of daily life. They attend gala events where the women compete to show off the latest in clothes and fashions and flashy jewellery. They live on gossip, praising one another on the latest acquisitions of things, while whispering juicy bad takes once backs are turned. It is a one-dimensional world free from wars, daily grind, traffic jams and average to low life of the rest of us.

The plot is paper thin as the characters flit from city to city. A film is being hatched out of the novel. Social climbers and those who are voyeurs on the lives of the rich may pick up the things of the world of fashion from Kwan, who used to study such high-class stuff for glamour magazines.

Sexual Sadism madness

A badly written novel depicting sexual sadism/ masochism has taken the world by storm. It has become the world's bestseller toppling JR Rowling's novels. And it has been made into a film, as has been a lot of written sewerage.

This is a sign that that the world has gone bonkers; moral standards are zero and anything parading sexual abuse in its worst forms is sought after.

Fifty Shades of Grey has topped best-seller lists around the world, selling over 125 million copies worldwide by June 2015. It has been translated into 52 languages, and set a record in the United Kingdom as the fastest-selling paperback of all time. Critical reception of the book, however, has tended toward the negative, with the quality of its prose generally seen as poor. Universal Pictures and Focus Features produced a film adaptation, which was released on 13 February 2015 which also received generally unfavourable reviews.

 Sir Salman Rushdie said about the book: "I've never read anything so badly written that got published. It made Twilight look like War and Peace."^] Maureen Dowd described the book in The New York Times as being written "like a Bronte devoid of talent," and said it was "dull and poorly written." Jesse Kornbluth of The Huffington Post said: "As a reading experience, Fifty Shades ... is a sad joke, puny of plot".

Hyde Park London

Malaysian Mr Teflon - Kee Thuan Chye

The very boldly outspoken and patriotic Malaysian

Kee Thuan Chye aged 61 is a Malaysian actor, dramatist, poet and journalist. Acting in theatre, films, and on television for more than 30 years, he continues to do so. In 1981, Kee co-founded the theatre group, KAMI, in Kuala Lumpur. A noted civil rights activist, he would express in his plays whatever he could not express through the newspapers under Malaysia's repressive Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA).

For speaking out without fear or favour, Kee was among the first recipients of The Annexe Heroes Freedom of Expression Awards when it was launched in 2008. In 2010, he was also voted the 34th Most Trusted Malaysian in a poll conducted by Reader's Digest.

At the New Straits Times, Kee Thuan Chye received numerous memos from his editor-in-chief for trying to push the parameters and opening up public discourse on what was deemed 'sensitive' issues. Firmly believing that the responsibility of a journalist to the public is to inform them of the truth, he had to battle with his superiors and as a consequence, he was often punished, marginalised, and shut out. In 1988, Kee received his master's degree in drama from the University of Essex, after being awarded a British Council Fellowship for postgraduate studies in England.

In 2001, Kee Thuan Chye became the Associate Editor of The Star in Kuala Lumpur, creating and editing the English column, Mind Our English, until retirement in May 2009. His Sunday Star column, Playing the Fool, which he began in April 2001, ran for only two instalments before it was cancelled. In his inaugural article, Kee had written that he would be speaking out frankly on social and political issues, without fear or favour. His second article, hitting out at racial discrimination in Malaysia, was published but when it came to his third article, the editors got jittery and suppressed it. The Star finally decided to terminate the column after Kee submitted his fourth article.

                              Books Authored:

·        Ask for No Bullshit, Get Some More! 2013

·        No More Bullshit, Please, We're All Malaysians, 2012

·        8 March: Time for Real Change, 2010

·        8 March: The Day Malaysia Woke Up, 2008

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Malaysia insults Israeli Wind Surfer

Facebook user Jonathan Ong Ujang is heating up the social network with his apology post on behalf of Malaysia and an “I love Israel” remark after the Middle Eastern nation’s sports body accused Putrajaya of being difficult, forcing it to withdraw its two athletes from an international windsurfing tournament in Langkawi.

Ong, whose Facebook profile shows him to be a Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris student from Kuching, Sarawak, sparked debate with his sympathy for the Israeli athletes caught in a diplomatic policy row.

“On behalf of Malaysia, I would like to sincerely apologise for causing Israel much humiliation and burden. You are an national entity and have the right to be proud of your nation and national symbols. It is too bad that the government policy dictates that they do not recognise the State of Israel. Once again, deepest apologies to Israel. I love Israel,” he wrote yesterday on the Facebook page of Israeli news portal, The Jerusalem Post.

According to The Jerusalem Post, Israel Sailing Association chairman Amir Gill blamed Malaysia for delaying the visa application and putting “unacceptable” restrictions on its two athletes Yoav Omer and Noy Drihan who were set to defend this titles at the Langkawi youth windsurfing tournament Sunday.

Gill claimed Omer and Drihan would not be allowed to compete under the Israel flag, nor would they be allowed to wear any symbol to identify them as Israeli, or even have their national anthem played if they should win the gold medal, as is customary.

He reportedly added that Israel is considering suing Malaysia and the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) for not allowing its athletes to participate.

Starbuck CEO Howard Schultz

Schultz was born to a Jewish family on July 19, 1953 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of ex-United States Army trooper and then truck driver Fred Schultz, and his wife Elaine. As Schultz's family was poor, he saw an escape in sports such as baseball, football, and basketball, as well as the Boys and Girls Club. He went to Canarsie High School, from which he graduated in 1971. In high school, Schultz excelled at sports and was awarded an athletic scholarship to Northern Michigan University – the first person in his family to go to college. A member of Tau Kappa Epsilon, Schultz received his bachelor's degree in Communications in 1975.

After graduating, Schultz worked as a salesperson for Xerox Corporation and was quickly promoted to a full sales representative. In 1979 he became a general manager for Swedish drip coffee maker manufacturer, Hammarplast, where he became responsible for their U.S. operations with a staff of twenty. In 1981, Schultz visited a client of Hammarplast, a fledgling coffee-bean shop called Starbucks Coffee Company in Seattle, curious as to why it ordered so many plastic cone filters. He was impressed with the company's knowledge of coffee and kept in contact over the next year, expressing interest in working with them. A year later, he joined Starbucks as the Director of Marketing. On a buying trip to Milan, Italy for Starbucks, Schultz noted that coffee bars existed on practically every street. He learned that they not only served excellent espresso, they also served as meeting places or public squares; they were a big part of Italy's societal glue, and there were 200,000 of them in the country.

On his return, he tried to persuade the owners (including Jerry Baldwin) to offer traditional espresso beverages in addition to the whole bean coffee, leaf teas and spices they had long offered. After a successful pilot of the cafe concept, the owners refused to roll it out company-wide, saying they didn't want to get into the restaurant business. Frustrated, Schultz decided to leave Starbucks in 1985. He needed $400,000 to open the first store and start the business. He simply did not have the money and his wife was pregnant with their first baby. Jerry Baldwin and Gordon Bowker offered to help. Schultz also received $100,000 from a doctor who was impressed by Schultz’s energy to “take a gamble”. By 1986, he raised all the money he needed to open the first store 'Il Giornale' after the Milanese newspaper. Two years later, the original Starbucks management decided to focus on Peet's Coffee & Tea and sold its Starbucks retail unit to Schultz and Il Giornale for $3.8 million.

Schultz renamed Il Giornale with the Starbucks name, and aggressively expanded its reach across the United States. Schultz's keen insight in real estate and his hard-line focus on growth drove him to expand the company rapidly. Schultz did not believe in franchising, and made a point of having Starbucks retain ownership of every domestic outlet.

On 26 June 1992, Starbucks had its initial public offering and trading of its common stock under the stock ticker NASDAQ-NMS: SBUX. The offering was done by Alex, Brown & Sons Inc. and Wertheim Schroder & Co. Inc.

Python swallows Alligator

Dr. David Gibbs lawyer and preacher

CHRISTIAN LAW ASSOCIATION

Since 1969, CLA has been providing free legal assistance to Bible-believing churches and Christians who are experiencing difficulty in practicing their religious faith because of governmental regulation, intrusion, or prohibition in one form or another.

The Christian Law Association exists to preserve Christian liberty for your children and grandchildren.

CLA received in excess of 100,000 phone calls annually, not counting the thousands of pieces of correspondence from those who are in some way facing legal difficulties for doing what the Bible commands. These cases involve Christians arrested for witnessing to others in public, public school students being told they do not have the right to read their Bibles at school, churches being excluded from communities, Christians being fired for sharing their faith at work, and thousands of other shocking assaults on our precious religious freedoms. CLA provides free legal services based in part on the generosity of God's people. Your contribution to CLA is 501(c)(3) tax deductible.

More than 40 years ago, the ministry of the Christian Law Association effectively began with a phone call from a pastor in Ohio.

As a young attorney, David C. Gibbs, Jr. could hardly believe his ears as the pastor relayed how his church was being sued by the state for operating its ministry. As he reviewed the legal documents, Dr. Gibbs was astonished that such a thing could happen in modern America. From that very first case through the present day, God has blessed Dr. Gibbs' commitment to legally help churches, pastors, and Christians free of charge. The ministry has grown substantially through God's blessing over the last 40 years as attorneys, legal assistants, and other ministry workers have joined our team of "legal missionaries." 

Jimmy Carter on grandson's sudden death

Jimmy Carter Addresses Sunday School Class Hours After The Sudden Death Of His Grandson

“I should be joyful and thankful to God for giving me both life and freedom."

 12/20/2015 Marina Fang Associate Politics Editor, The Huffington Post

Former President Jimmy Carter broke the news to his church on Sunday that his grandson Jeremy Carter died suddenly at the age of 28, using the occasion to speak candidly about grief.

As first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Carter arrived at church about 25 minutes late and told his Sunday school class that Jeremy had died just hours earlier.

Despite his sudden loss, Carter told the congregation to “be filled with a sense of joy and thanksgiving." “I should be joyful and thankful to God for giving me both life and freedom,” he said.

The former president regularly teaches Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. Just two weeks ago, Carter, 91, appeared under more happy circumstances -- he announced to the church that radiation treatment had successfully eliminated his cancer.

The church's pastor, Jeremy Shoulta, confirmed Sunday's announcement to CNN, saying that the death of Carter's grandson was "very unexpected" and "shocking news." 

"Jeremy Carter had not been feeling well [on Saturday], and at some point later in the day he had gone to sleep, and during the course of that time, his heart stopped," he said. "[President Carter] was shaken. He was obviously sad, although he was able to teach and he was able to present the lesson as well as he always has. But it was apparent to everyone there that this was weighing on him very heavily."

Carter told the church that it was the first time he had been late to services. Fellow members told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that they were moved by his words. “I’m not surprised,” Jan Williams said. “That’s the kind of Christian he is. Everything that happens in life, good or bad, he uses as a teaching experience. He lives his life as a lesson for other people to see.”

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Song "Until Then" by William McCrea

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Singapore Old Fashioned Gospel Song

The Old Fashioned Gospel is the pure and simple Gospel preached by Christ and the apostles. It differs from the modern perverted Gospel of Joel Osteen and his ilk.

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Island State of Venice

Venice was an island state about the size of Singapore, about 200 square miles. It survived the ravages of the barbarians who conquered Rome in the fifth century, depending on its naval power for protection.

The Four Candles

Joel Osteen criticised

Biggest Megachurches USA

The Poorest Town of USA

                   POOREST  TOWN  of  USA   

Beattyville sits at the northern tip of a belt of the most 

enduring rural poverty in America. The belt runs from 

eastern Kentucky through the Mississippi delta to the Texas 

border with Mexico, taking in two of the other towns – one 

overwhelmingly African American and the other exclusively 

Latino – at the bottom of the low income scale. The town at 

the very bottom of that census list is an outlier far to the west 

on an Indian reservation in Arizona.

Beattyville’s median household income is just $12,361 (about £8,000) a year, placing it as the third lowest income town in the US, according to that Census Bureau 2008-12 survey.

Nationally, the median household income was $53,915 in 2012. In real terms, the income of people in Beattyville is lower than it was in 1980.

The town’s poverty rate is 44% above the national average. Half of its families live below the poverty line. That includes three-quarters of those with children, with the attendant consequences. More than one-third of teenagers drop out of high school or leave without graduating. Just 5% of residents have college degrees.

Surrounding communities are little better. Beattyville is the capital of Lee County, named after the commander of the Confederate army of Northern Virginia in the civil war, General Robert E Lee.

Five of the 10 poorest counties in the US run in a line through eastern Kentucky and they include Lee County. Life expectancy in the county is among the worst in the US, which is not unconnected to the fact that more than half the population is obese. Men lived an average of just 68.3 years in 2013, a little more than eight years short of the national average. Women lived 76.4 years on average, about five years short of national life expectancy.

Doolittle's bombing raid on Tokyo 2nd WW

Pilot Doolittle bombed Tokyo after Pearl Harbour

Following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and the US entry into World War II, Doolittle was promoted to lieutenant colonel and transferred to Headquarters Army Air Force to aid in planning an attack against the Japanese home islands. Volunteering to lead the raid, Doolittle planned to fly sixteen B-25 Mitchell medium bombers off the deck the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, bomb targets in Japan, then fly through to bases in China. Approved by General Henry Arnold, Doolittle relentlessly trained his volunteer crews in Florida before embarking aboard Hornet.

Sailing under a veil of secrecy, Hornet's task force was spotted by Japanese picket on April 18, 1942. Though 170 miles short of their intended launch point, Doolittle decided to immediately commence the operation. Taking off, the raiders successfully hit their targets and proceeded on to China where most were forced to bail out short of their intended landing sites. Though the raid inflicted little material damage, it provided a massive boost to Allied morale and forced the Japanese to redeploy their forces to protect the home islands. For leading the strike, Doolittle received the Congressional Medal of Honor.

US Politician speaks on Second Coming

Michele Bachmann on the Coming of Jesus

In 2012 Michele Bachmann was a Republican candidate for 

the US Presidential Election. She is a fervent Evangelical

 Christian.

Former Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has an urgent message for Christians everywhere: convert as many people as possible, especially Jews, because Jesus is "coming soon."

“We recognize the shortness of the hour," she said in an interview with right-wing radio host Tony Perkins last week. "That’s why we as a remnant want to be faithful in these days and do what it is that the Holy Spirit is speaking to each one of us, to be faithful in the Kingdom and to help bring in as many as we can -- even among the Jews -- share Jesus Christ with everyone that we possibly can because, again, he’s coming soon."

Bachmann and Perkins, president of the conservative group Family Research Council, taped the interview during their tour of Israel. She shared what she learned from the trip, including her belief that increasing violence in the region suggests that the second coming of Christ is imminent.

"This week really was about biblical prophecy in many ways," she said. "And we’re seeing as events are speeding up, events are speeding up so quickly right now, and we see how relevant the Bible is, and we’re reading our newspaper, at the same time we’re learning about these biblical events, and it’s literally day by day by day, we’re seeing the fulfillment of scripture right in front of our eyes, even while we’re on the ground."

Bachmann, who unsuccessfully ran for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012, frequently prophesies about biblical matters. Earlier this year, she warned that President Barack Obama's foreign policy would bring about the rapture.

"We need to realize how close this clock is getting to the midnight hour," she said in April. "We are literally watching, month by month, the speed move up to a level we’ve never seen before with these events."

Australia's Size

       

            Australia's land mass

Australia comprises 7.692 million square kilometres.

Although this is just five per cent of the world's land

 mass (149.45 million square kilometres), Australia is

 the planet's 6th largest country after Russia, Canada, 

China, the United States of America and Brazil. It is

also the only one of the largest six nations that is

 completely surrounded by water.

Australia's land mass is:

• almost as great as that of the USA
• about 50 per cent greater than Europe, and
• 32 times greater than the United Kingdom.

Australia is the smallest of the world's continents. It is

 also the lowest, flattest & apart from Antarctica the 

driest. 

The highest point on the Australian mainland is Mount

 Kosciuszko, New South Wales, at 2228 metres above 

sea level. The lowest point is the dry bed of Lake Eyre,

 South Australia, which is 15 metres below sea level.

The mainland and Tasmania are surrounded by many 

thousands of small islands and numerous larger ones.

 Nearly 40 per cent of the total coastline length

comprises island coastlines. As an island nation,

 coastlines play an important role in defining national, 

state and territory boundaries.

Nearly 20 per cent of Australia's land mass is 

classified as desert. As well as having a low average 

annual rainfall, rainfall across Australia is also variable.

 The rainfall pattern is concentric around the extensive

 arid core of the continent, with rainfall intensity high 

in the tropics and some coastal areas.

7 Names of the Coming Child

                            7  NAMES  OF  JESUS

Five of our Saviour’s names are disclosed in the magnificent and majestic words of Isaiah 9.6, 

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace“ 

1. Wonderful: 

“His Name shall be called Wonderful.” When Christ was born the shepherds marveled at the glorious circumstances. During His earthly ministry all were astounded at the miracles He wrought, and in Luke 11.14 it is recorded, “… and the people wondered.”

This very same name, or title, was used when the Angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah, the father of Samson. When Manoah inquired of the Angel of the Lord what His name was, He answered, “Why asketh thou thus after My name, seeing it is secret (‘pil'iy’ :‘wonderful’ )” (Jud 13. 18 -19) This account is just one of many OT ‘theophanies’, the Angel of the Lord being none other than a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ Himself.

2.“Counsellor.” 

To all who would hear and heed He gave divine counsel. He who was “full of grace and truth” (John 1.14) spoke with authority, “And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine: For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes……And they were astonished at His doctrine: for He taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes” (Matt 7.28-29; Mark 1.22). Even the unbelieving officers, returning to the Pharisees who had sent them to arrest Christ, answered their superiors, saying, “Never man spake like this Man” (John 7.46)

In the Hebrew this same word is used in Isaiah 11.2, “And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD”; while the two words, “wonderful” and “counsels” are found together in Isaiah 25.1,“O LORD, Thou art my God; I will exalt Thee, I will praise Thy Name; for Thou hast done wonderful things; Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth”

3.“The Mighty God.” 

Christ is God! He was in the bosom of the Father from eternity, “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him” (John 1.18) and He is revealed as the Jehovah of the Old Testament, for He and the Father are One (10.30).

In the Hebrew text, “El” is God, the last syllable of “Immanuel.” “El” is contrasted with man in Hosea 11.9, “I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city”, while “mighty” is used of God in Deuteronomy 10.17, “For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward” and elsewhere in the Scriptures.

4.“The Everlasting Father.” 

A better translation of this would, be, “the Father of the Ages.” Our Lord Jesus Christ is eternal and before His incarnation all things were created by Him and for Him, “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made….. For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him” (John 1.3; Col 1.16) and by Him the ages were fitted together. He is the Architect of the Ages, the Designer of all created things.

There is a twofold revelation in this name, “For thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose Name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isa 57.15)He inhabits and possesses eternity and He is loving, tender and compassionate, the all-wise Instructor, Trainer and Provider.

All things find their coherence and continuity in Him! “And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist” (Col 1.17)

5.“The Prince of Peace.” 

A just and lasting peace which so many sincere men seek today will never be realized until “the Prince of Peace” comes to the earth a second time. In that day He will not come as a Child, but in power and great glory, “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory…….Which in His times He shall shew, who is the Blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords….” (Matt 25.31; 1 Tim 6.15); not as the Lamb to die, but as the Lion of the tribe of Judah to reign in righteousness, “And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof…..” (Rev 5.5). 

Our Lord Jesus Christ is “the Prince of Peace” for no one can have “peace with God” except through genuine faith in the Son of God who died on the cross for our sins and rose again, thereby freely providing salvation and peace for the believing sinner, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:…..And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven” (Rom 5.1; Col 1.20)

6. The sixth name of our Saviour is disclosed in the familiar words of Isaiah 7.14, “Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His Name Immanuel”

“Immanuel.” This Hebrew name means “God with us.” To those who witnessed Christ’s miracles and heard His gracious words, it was evident that God was indeed among men!

  7. This seventh name of our Saviour is revealed in Matthew 1.21, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His Name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins”