Word: ever
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...questions include "Do you believe in a supreme being?" It doesn't specify one particular religion, but because of the way the rituals have evolved, it's assumed a Mason is going to have a non-specific belief in a God or deity. It also asks if you've ever been convicted of a serious crime. That is a deal breaker. The main other thing is they want confirmation that you're self-supporting, that you're not joining the Masons to mooch off the lodge...
...note that one of the darkest episodes in Masonic history led to the first-ever third U.S. political party, the Anti-Masonic Party. How did that come about? There was a man named William Morgan who was - and there's some controversy about this - a disaffected Mason who decided to write a book on Masonic degrees. This was in 1826 in upstate New York, the frontier at the time. He was kidnapped and was never heard from after that. It appears that it was a group of Masons who abducted him. And because he was never seen again...
...doing anyway. We respect one of the guiding principles of the ICC that the international court has jurisdiction that is secondary to the national court. Whether we are part of the ICC or not, we will conduct ourselves so that no prosecutor at the international level would ever have cause to take up a case against an American citizen...
...justice? I think we've learned that contrary to fears, holding people accountable for atrocities does not make the problem worse - it makes it better. When Milosevic was indicted for ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, people were convinced that they would never have peace and he would be worse than ever. Within a short time he was charged and jailed in his own country. In Sierra Leone there was a peace agreement that gave the rebels amnesty, but that was not genuine peace. When the government said they needed to try those that bore the greatest responsibility, that's what hastened...
...days later, Berlusconi went on a verbal rampage full of quotable gems. His confirmation that showgirls were frequent guests at his dinners: "Of the males here, raise your hands who wouldn't want to eat in front of [beautiful women] instead of [less attractive] people." His denial of ever knowingly being involved in prostitution: "I have never paid a lira, a euro for sex. I say this also because, for those who love to conquer, the joy and the most beautiful satisfaction are in the conquest. If you have to pay, I ask you, what joy is there?" And finally...