Saturday, March 5, 2022

Georgia man sentenced for stealing 100 disabled veterans and Social Security beneficiaries

Man sentenced for stealing veteran, Social Security benefits

A Georgia man has been sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison in South Florida for his part in running a scheme to steal more than $1.8 million in veteran and Social Security benefits
By The Associated Press
March 4, 2022
From 2012 to 2017, Green and others attempted to redirect more than $1.8 million in benefits from more than 100 disabled veterans and Social Security beneficiaries, officials said. The scheme resulted in the actual loss of nearly $1 million although the federal government reimbursed the victims for the full amounts of their stolen benefits.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A Georgia man has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison in South Florida for his part in running a scheme to steal more than $1.8 million in veteran and Social Security benefits.

Ronaldo Garfield Green, 29, was sentenced Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale federal court, according to court records. A federal jury found him guilty in November to conspiracy to commit fraud. He must also pay $915,000 in restitution.
read more here



Guardian Angels Fly Over Ukraine. Why Isn't NATO?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 5, 2022

We have all heard the leaders of NATO nations say they will not enforce a "no-fly zone" over Ukraine. They say they don't want to start WWIII. The problem with that is, it already started. It started when Putin decided to invade Ukraine and didn't care what came with that choice for war.

Why aren't they explaining at what point do they plan to actually do something to stop him? What is risk of stopping him now? Do they actually think that prolonging the end result will be better than minimizing the slaughter of the Ukrainian people?

Putin hates many things. Democracy is bad for him. NATO is bad for him. His own people don't matter to him so what makes anyone think he will stop after Ukraine? He already started WWIII. The other thing they're missing is the simple fact that angels are already flying over Ukriane and could really use some help.
(WESH) "Kyiv needs you and your drone at this moment of fury!" read a Facebook post late last week from the Ukrainian military, calling for citizens to donate hobby drones and to volunteer as experienced pilots to operate them.

One entrepreneur who runs a retail store selling consumer drones in the capital said its entire stock of some 300 drones made by Chinese company DJI has been dispersed for the cause. Others are working to get more drones across the border from friends and colleagues in Poland and elsewhere in Europe.

"Why are we doing this? We have no other choice. This is our land, our home," said Denys Sushko, head of operations at Kyiv-based industrial drone technology company DroneUA, which before the war was helping to provide drone services to farmers and energy companies.

Putin has targeted civilian populations, hospitals, schools and power plants without ever once considering how that will expose the entire world to poisonous clouds. How many more civilians deaths are acceptable? 
The Times UK
Kurilo, from Chuhuiv in the eastern Kharkiv region, narrowly escaped after a Russian missile struck her home on Thursday and she thanked a “guardian angel” for saving her life. “I never thought such a thing could happen. I never thought this would truly happen in this lifetime,” she said as she emerged in shock from the town hospital after treatment. Her comments were reported by Euronews and AFP.
Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception angels
Some say we should mind our own business because their eyes are closed to the simple fact that the entire world can in fact become another target of Putin's hatred. He started WWIII and it is up to the rest of the world to stop him.

I believe in God. I believe that we will all have to answer for what we have done while on this earth. We will all die one day and it will be too late to do the right thing when we had the chance to. Will the leaders of NATO have to explain whey they did do everything in their power to prevent more death?

I am praying for all of them to open their eyes and see what evil and lies are. Praying they see what truth and goodness are. Praying they open their hearts and minds so that God will give them the courage and strength to do the right thing. Praying God shows them the way to do the right thing before it is too late.

Putin already had his prayers answered when Satan began to deliver death at his hands.

It is time for better angels to fly over Ukraine!

Thursday, March 3, 2022

The people of Ukraine are fighting many battles

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 3, 2022

The people of Ukraine are fighting many battles right now. Some have decided to stay and fight the Russian invaders. Some decided to leave Ukraine to get away from the bombs, tanks and bullets. No one should judge any of them or assume that what you think you would do, is what they should do. No one knows but them. What you think you may do is something you will ever know until you too have to decide what choice to make. All we can do is pray for the best for all of them.

People are all different. 
One Body but Many Parts
There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. We were all baptized by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink. 14 So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts. 1 Corinthians 12:12-14

Most of us do not know what to do to help them. If the NATO nations joined in defending Ukraine, with our military forces there, it would unleash another world war, but this one would not end until the death and destruction of the entire planet. So please get that idea out of your head if you are thinking it would be an easy thing to do. Putin has shown no interest in doing the right thing at all.

So what can we do? What can the people of Ukraine do?

All of us are given different gifts. 

There are different kinds of gifts. But they are all given to believers by the same Spirit. There are different ways to serve. But they all come from the same Lord. There are different ways the Spirit works. But the same God is working in all these ways and in all people.

The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all. To some people the Spirit gives a message of wisdom. To others the same Spirit gives a message of knowledge. To others the same Spirit gives faith. To others that one Spirit gives gifts of healing. To others he gives the power to do miracles. To others he gives the ability to prophesy. To others he gives the ability to tell the spirits apart. To others he gives the ability to speak in different kinds of languages they had not known before. And to still others he gives the ability to explain what was said in those languages. All the gifts are produced by one and the same Spirit. He gives gifts to each person, just as he decides. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

What gift were you given to help them with? While some are fighting the Russian invaders, all of them are fighting the trauma inflicted on that nation. We can help them fight that one by letting them know they should not judge the actions of others. If they have chosen to leave, some will be regretting that decision but they should not. Not everyone has the ability to put their lives on the line. If they decided to stay and fight, they should not judge the actions of others who decided to leave. Again, not everyone has the same ability. Each of them are making hard choices based on their own capabilities.

If they choose to not fight, they can help those who do by offering to help their families and get their children out of the war zones. They can organize help to get them the supplies, weapons and support they need to defend Ukraine. They can always pray for God to show those who stay the way to defeat the invaders.

We have seen the actions of people who have found compassion for Russian soldiers who did not know what they are being ordered to do and have refused to do it. We have seen citizens form large groups to stop the tanks and do what they can to defend what they can. We have also seen miracles when tanks have gotten stuck in long lines giving people more time to evacuate and prepare for the battles that were forced on them.

If they are among those who left, they can open their eyes to see all the good people in other nations opening their arms to take care of them. They can help one another speak about what they are trying to recover from so they can begin to heal together.

They can all fight the enemy they are carrying inside of themselves so that they begin to heal even as the Russian invaders are still trying to destroy all they had. They can recover their own power by taking away the power of the evil invaders by using the power they do have to help others in whatever way they can with the gifts they have been given by the Holy Spirit inside of them.

As for the rest of us, remember, the Ukrainian people were just like the rest of us. Living their lives, doing their jobs, taking care of them families and living in peace at the same time Putin surrendered his soul to Satan.

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

PTSD? Surviving was the first miracle


Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 2, 2022

When you survive the cause of PTSD, it sometimes feels as if it is torture. People in your life don't understand what happened to you. They can't figure out why you changed. You hear stupid things like "Well look on the bright side, you're still alive." That isn't very helpful when all you can see is darkness surrounding you. Fear consumes you. At the time when you need to be comforted by someone, you are pushing them away out of fear you will be judged instead of being understood. 

You need help to heal, but may not feel as if you deserve it, even if there is a tiny glimmer of hope you can be. If you feel alone, and everyone is walking away from you, no one comes to help you, and all you see are news reports of others suffering too, you can't see hope.

I know what that's like. I survived over ten events in my life. I still know what that is like when there are many times when I can't find anyone to help me. I end up feeling as if they must not think I deserve any help from them, or even their time to listen to me. I know what it is like to need comforting and reassurance
that these dark days will not last, just like all the other dark days were taken over by brighter ones.

For me, when faced with great need and no one answer my plea for help, I turn toward times in my life when things were really bleak and remember what it felt like to have a miracle happen just when I needed it most of all, even when I felt as if the world was telling me I didn't deserve one.

There are miracles happening all around us. I can't explain why they come or when they come. I can only explain how they come. They come when people hear God and do what they can to answer our prayers.

Oh, sure there are some that come directly from God. The Bible is full of them. Sometimes they are huge ones. Other times they are small ones but when you are in great need and put your trust in God, that mini-miracle makes all the difference in the world to you.

Consider this one I found while searching for something to comfort me this morning. 
From Way Nation
The Never Ending Flour Jar and Oil Jug
For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!”

So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah. 1 Kings 17:14-16


Why It’s Awesome:
I love this miracle because of its small-ness. It wasn’t big and loud. It didn’t help a huge number of people. And it’s not even the biggest miracle in this chapter. It’s just a woman and her son, yet God sees to it that their suffering and fear are alleviated.

It can be hard to believe that God cares about me and my struggles when so many other big things are going on in the world, but this miracle reminds me that’s just not the case.

 I had no idea this site was even out there, but I found it when I needed to. That was a mini-miracle for me. The fact you are reading this at all is mini-miracle for you, since that is the only way anyone finds this work.

The thing is, when we are forgotten by others, it is easy to forget about the times when we had people in our lives. Easy to forget when we knew we had God in our lives and found hope. I went to sleep last night after crying, feeling defeated because no matter how many times I tried to get help for what I need, no one replied. No one on this earth answered. God did. This morning I woke up with enough hope to even sit here and write this. Considering how much misery I was in last night, that is a monumental miracle for me, even though it may only seem like a mini-miracle to others.

When you survived the cause of PTSD, people helped you do it. You didn't expect strangers to show up, but they did. They showed up because they were sent to let you know you were safe again because God sent them to you and they responded. Every time we survive, we have a choice to make. Do we focus only on what was done to us, or do we focus on what was done for us?

We need to honor the feelings we have as survivors so we can begin to heal. Cry-scream-get angry-and get it out of your system. Then focus on the people who came to help you and let their acts of kindness fill you. Those who came to help, outnumbers those who came to harm. Those are the people I am remembering this morning and remembering they came when I least expected them to help.

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

UN diplomats say "Da nyet” to Russia and walk out

Dozens of diplomats walk out during Russian foreign minister's UN speech – video 


Dozens of diplomats walked out of a speech by the Russian foreign minister to the UN human rights forum on Tuesday. Sergei Lavrov was addressing the UN human rights council remotely, after cancelling his attendance previously because of what the Russian mission in Geneva said on Monday were EU states blocking his flight path, when delegates from the UK, US and EU started to walk out in protest. Yevheniia Filipenko, Ukraine's ambassador to the UN, said the organisation was taking a 'very strong stance in defence of its own principles' Russia-Ukraine war latest updates At a glance: what we know so far on day six of Russian invasion 

Guardian News
March 1, 2022

Dozens of diplomats walked out of a speech by the Russian foreign minister to the UN human rights forum on Tuesday.