Goals and Objectives, Introduction and Outlines

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INTRODUCTION

Whenever persons set out to do something in an organized fashion and ultimately it will involve the assistance and cooperation of others, they will need to bring all their efforts into a focused and coordinated way. As many groups organize to fight against the death penalty, they often aren’t able to assist the masses of prisoners that need help, because the majority of their efforts are focused on fighting at a larger scale. All in all that strategy does have its ups and downs. In the meanwhile, persons as myself are focused to venture out by oneself and do all we can to gather the support and momentum we need to defeat the forces against us.

When trying to organize help, people always want to know what needs to be done and what would be expected of them. So, I have decided to present a few of my own personal thoughts and directions. These issues deal directly with me and what I’d like to manifest to make success a reality for my plight. I would like to make it known from the outset that I have NO faith in this system to do the right thing! I’ve witnessed what this system thinks Justice is and it’s not less than a slaughter. I can strongly state that I DO have faith in the people and in the people I believe the power of manifesting things into existence is possible through Strategy, Thoughts and Actions. Through organized efforts and dedicated people, change can come about and this is why I put my faith in the hands of the people … everyday people … just as I am … and not those that seek fame and fortune at the expense of others.

I hope that I present reasonable Goals and Objectives and I hope these are Goals and Objectives that people will join me in establishing. I have NO hesitations in presenting my case to the public, and I can only ask people to take out the time to understand it and also realize that change is a slowly building momentum and when United help can save my life, while other larger scale campaigns are barely saving any, I feel that we should accept the Victory of saving that I life at least and seek to continue that process. The more these groups working on these larger scales realize how the Law is binding and connects prisoners appeals to other prisoners appeals, thus meaning reversals on certain cases would bring reversals to many other cases, they’d probably give more assistance to them individually and/or strategically chose cases they have this type of situation. Through this more people would get off of death row. The front of they are fighting on a larger scale is just that … mostly a front. Until other Governments (who say they want the USA to cease the inhumane actions) sanction the USA and get for real and stop bluffing, the USA will continue to be the Big Bully it is and continue violating people and on top of that murdering them.

Being that I legally and factually have a case where I should never have been tried nor convicted of a Capital crime I’ve been on a quest to expose this. For too many persons who try to take interest in assisting a persons case, if their Innocence does not fall right but in heir lap, they have no interest to Look and Search or take out the time to find the Truth, so without a doubt this means they truly have no interest to seek Justice for people. Patience and Understanding must be had for any person who is diligently seeking help to be released from their illegal sentence. If he’s not given that, he’ll eventually be forgotten and cast into an abyss of neglect which most definitely will lead to his execution. Without a doubt, even some persons with great support has still be murdered by the state, so this should be a living testament to how much this system will go out its way to cover up its VILE ways. Allow all those lessons to act as the inspiration that takes into your next step of this Movement. There is no failure except in no longer trying and the only true defeat is in our weakness of purpose. We will eventually learn more from our mistakes than from our success, because one that never made a mistake, probably never made a discovery! Our success comes from finding meaning in this Movement despite our losses. My struggle, like so many others, comes from WITHOUT … but as I extend OUTWARDS for help and to at least open eyes and hearts, that Joy is reached on the INSIDE of many, thus VICTORY is within reach of everybody in this world.

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FOR THE PEOPLE 

One of my first and main Goals and Objectives is more of a personal one and through this Goal I extend myself to the public at large. Through my struggles here I’ve come to see the importance of talking with people on a one on one basis. Most of the people that reach out to us here are everyday people and they are beautiful people. These are people that just seek to be talked to and listened to just as we do. A lot of times for those that don’t live in this country (and then sometimes surprisingly for some that do) they truly don’t understand how the death penalty works and why it is like it is. The death penalty is now a very hot subject and it is at the top of politics. People need to understand why the death penalty is truly used and that it’s not used to render Justice or deter crime. I’ve personally written people who have been for the death penalty and just through us genuinely talking and then me subtly releasing Facts and Truths to them, their opinions did change. I can only look at this as a blessing. If the people saw that the only reason the Politicians put the death penalty into effect is, because they support it and the only reason they support it is because they’ve been mislead by the politicians who have convinced them this is the right things to do, but if the tide turned and the public went against it … the politicians would go against. It has nothing to do with Justice, only control. I want to play my part Socially for Social Enlightenment and Social Awareness, which will lead to our Social Development.

Most of the people in the world are in the same boats, but we’ve allowed our minds to be filled with many illusions (failures, limitations, racism, doubt, etc…) The majority of the people face similar problems and struggles everyday, because it is a set Ruling/Circle in the world that inflicts our communities and families with these problems and trust me … although they may act like they care about you, they don’t! They use people to inflict the hate and problems in our communities. WHY? Because it keeps the working class people divided and when they are divided and full of confusion they cannot fight the powers that be. (these are the capitalist and imperialist). Although I’m still learning I would like to help people see these realities and also I would like people to help me as well. I was criticized once for writing that I wanted to teach others. Well, I still stand on that statement. The real teacher is always the student, he forever wants to learn and this is me. The truly learned man is he who understands that what he knows is but little in comparison with what he does not know. I will always strive to do what I can in Uplifting the people and I only wish that one day I’ll physically be able to lead by example in this.

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WITH THE PEOPLE 

The above was my individual endeavor and insights of that I would like for the many Organizations and groups to reach out to me and persons with similar interest like me. We are the living testaments to what is going on with the death penalty fight and if our experiences are not utilized and shown to the masses, people will continue to be in the dark. We offer our writings, poems and drawings to these groups to help send messages on the world. We all want to help the RIGHTEOUS Organizations speak to society. We’ve come to see quite often that people are in denial of how the capitalist regimen distributes the death penalty among 2 things, Race and Class and the more this is denied, the further we will be from finding Victory in this fight.

RACE – the reason racism spreads through the world is because the imperialist use this false tactic to keep the working class people separated. Who makes the wealth of the world ? YOU, the working class people and if you all UNITED you could own and control what is rightfully yours. But, the ruling circle of the world doesn’t want that, so they use these tactics to keep you all divided, fighting and rendering destruction among your own common people.

CLASS – the reason poverty spreads through the world is because the wealth has been monopolized by the capitalist and through poverty and unequal wealth people must commit crimes, not only just wanting to do it, but to barely survive. If people would be able to benefit from the work they did, no one would need to commit crimes against others. Why should the people that produce the wealth of the world not enjoy it ? Analyze those thoughts and other answers will fill your mind … Why people get violated trials, why we have the death penalty and the problems in society. Too look deeper is what these groups need to ask of you.

I’ve been able to do a few things for Petra Richter with ALIVE by interview and a few other things and these are the type of affords we need from all the groups. Allow us to be tools, because if our experiences go unused, our trials, tribulations and the lives lost here will be meaningless.

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MY PLIGHT 

I hope that the majority of the people that read my legal work posted on this site will agree that I have a case worth fighting for. However, I do know that I will have ones that don’t feel that way and that is something I just have to respect, for everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But, for those of you that do feel my case is as JUST as I feel and as all of my supporters feel and you think you’d like to do something but don’t know what, I have a few suggestions to where I’d like to head with my plight.

The first thing that a person must do to speak about my case is to Know and Understand the legalities to my case. The main issues that need to be understood are not very hard to understand, but through the District Attorneys deceptive ways they have succeeded in confusing people. Although we have cited 12 legit Constitutional violations my trial suffered, there are some that stand out stronger than others and these are the issues that should be fully concentrated on and used as my vanguard in fighting this system. A person must have a foundation in knowledge about my case. From there, no one could sway them from the facts and when persecutors come at them, they will not be shaken. It is my goal through my current supporters to provide those serious about aiding my case with whatever paperwork they need to gather facts. I do stress those who are SERIOUS! Due to our limited help, fight for time and no funds we can’t just serve everybody with loads of documents, but we will sacrifice and do all we can for those SERIOUS! Also, I personally will do all that I can through my letters to enlighten a person to what they seek to know. Below is a list of e-mail addresses of persons that can be reached to discuss my case and on-going campaign.

Please do not hesitate to contact them:

USA

Adam Weiss (Massachusetts): adamw79@hotmail.com  

Justine Dymond (Massachusetts): Jdymond@english.edu 

Tom Keene (San Antonio, Texas): tomkeene@satx.rr.com 

England

Christine Short (Nottingham): christine.short1@ntlworld.com   

Italy 

Paolo Scanabucci (Ancona): p.skanna@libero.it 

Germany

Petra E. Richter (Bocholt): Petra.E@t-online.de (through this website)

Esther Große (Freiburg): esther.x@gmx.de 

Me at my address kenneth.foster@todesstrafe-usa.de 

My Attorney is hamplaw@swbell.net  

Once the proper supporters would be attained we’d like to pursue some very sensible publicity through some of these means:

Newspapers

Group campaigning (speaking out and petitions when and if needed)

Radio

Personal interviews with supporters of mine, me or my attorneys.

We feel that spreading the word of my Injustice through either of these means will greatly help my plight if done conductively on my behalf. Even those that can just pass out a flyer or contact people is a big step … all help is needed. Strategically publicity will open up doors to many things. I stress Strategically because we want to deliver messages and valid points in what we do. We want to back our fight up no not just by talk, but with the facts that we have. It’s very hard to deny Justice when we face the system head on with it’s own laws cited defending me. We must fight fire with fire.

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FUND RAISING  

This issue is usually the one that scares everyone away and being a struggler myself. I know how hard it is to focus in this area. I know all to clearly the burdens the capitalist regimen puts on its citizens and how it effects others in other countries and this is why the major groups that fight the death penalty need to target this big corporations and such for financial support. Now, being the most big corporations are ran by capitalist and most capitalist are in the Government and the government is also ran by the imperialist and they are the ones supporting and administering these laws, yes it is hard to get their help. But, they still must be targeted and put on the spot.

I have 2 points to bring out, one concerning Lawyers and the second concerning myself that interrelates with the first.

Our pen-friends often wonder why we are in such dire need to fund raise. Plain and simple its because money is what this American society runs off of. (Not saying money will automatically make everything happen, but it is a major asset to helping get things done). This society has a very expensive living rate and this is why you see more poor people than rich people. The best qualified people to present trials and appeals are people that charge very much for their services. For these are the ones that are good and do get results, so I actually don’t blame them, because this can be very tedious and difficult work. Being a lawyer does take a lot of work, I will admit that. Thus, when fighting a system who will provide its best fighters and will use all its power to get what it wants, for those of us with inexperienced lawyers and ones that don’t care, we don’t stand a chance in the courts. Remember that appeals are filed by lawyers (at different levels of your appeal a different level of lawyer will be needed), many types of doctors, investigators, legal assistants etc. … All these people are professionals and they must work to live and the system doesn’t pay them properly as it is. So, facing that, they either try to avoid taking court appointed cases or when they get one they do half the job on a case. For people with complex cases, cost could be millions. This is how one of the governments biggest fraud statements about saving tax payers money has been exposed. They suck tax payers dry to carry out a death penalty case and appeal, while giving a person a life sentence would only be a fraction of those millions. But, the public is allowing themselves to be fooled or as its starting to seem, the people just don’t care.

Let me show you what happens during this process. Take a lawyer who works very hard to defend somebody. Most lawyers are usually overloading themselves with cases, due to the fact the system wont pay them appropriate funds. So they end up not being able to adequately represent a few of their clients, because they have so many to tend to. Well, an attorney may spend many hours a day working on a case … the case will then be submitted to the appeals judge and than the judges turn around and reject the litigation without as much as reading it. The courts are filled with so many PRO death penalty judges that they don’t care what your legal issues are, they just want to kill you. So, even good attorneys work is denied just for the heck of it. How do you think those lawyers begin to feel??? After a while they get discouraged and you what their attitudes become!?! They began to say, “Why should I spend hours upon hours working on a case … the courts are just going to deny it anyway. I could spend half the time and save myself the problems. I don’t have to worry about a prisoner filling against me for being ineffective, because its so any ineffective attorneys already in the system, the courts wont recognize that issues, because if they did, than they’d have to recognize the thousands of other issues just like it. And they’ll NEVER do that, so I’ll slide through.” (I believe that attorneys that file extraordinary legal work, even if it’s granted or not should be paid bonuses for doing outstanding work. This way, lawyers would have an extra incentive to want to do good work. But we know why they refuse this don’t we. Because if they did that the greedy capitalist would have to come out off their money [which is your money anyway], they’d be showing how much they violate people and would end up letting thousands of people out of their corrupt prisons. So, we know they’ll never want to do that.) The system is turning the defenders against us. If we were able to help pay this lawyers to get the help they need, death penalty cases would have higher success rates. Then, when you need professionals and experts, the courts pay them meager wages as well or just totally deny you the funds to get them. So, once again your attorney is trying to be an investigator, doctor, assistant, etc … So, what this does is renders them ineffective (even if by circumstances) somewhere on your appeal, because they can not do 5 jobs at once. People must be realistic with this and realize this is what the system does to us when we have no funds to help our cases and they purposely keep it like this so they can stay inflicting these conditions on us. They’ve done it to me in the past and we’ve had to beg and plead for help. This is why we need your help in fund raising for us..

When my attorney first saw my case, right away they asked themselves how was it they got a conviction on me. There was no factual evidence leading to such. Because of THEIR believe that I deserved help, they asked the courts to appoint them to my case. My lawyers are defense lawyers and I cant lie and say that they are not good and are not trying very hard. I am BLESSED to have them and I know it’s purpose that THEY are on my case and no others. They have been continuously let down by the courts by their great litigation being frivolously denied. My attorneys fight for death row prisoners and they are not too proud of how the system is right now. I would like to keep my attorneys on my appeal for the duration of my appeal and I would like to be sure they don’t have to struggle to get what they need, like they have been having to. They already work for meager wages and I want to be able to help them get any assistance they need to produce a victory on this appeal.

My lawyer has offered to speak to SERIOUS persons who want to know about the FACTS of my case. Now, how many attorneys do you know who would do that if they didn’t believe strongly in what they were representing? People should take them up on that and learn about my situation, if you don’t ask, you’ll never know.

People individually must put forth the effort to fund raise. My beloved friend Christine Short and her husband Pete asked people to sponsor a week long walk they did on my behalf. She and her husband did this walk in the name of Justice for me and raised close to $ 1,900 and this came just from the kindness of peoples hearts. Those funds immediately went into the helping of my case and helped tremendously. We need other acts like this, gatherings, sales, etc. We also need to ask major groups to help us fund raise and/or provide people that can help us do that. As you will see I have a poetry book advertised on this site, but that was a very simple and humble project I did more for the want of sharing my heart and spirit with people, breaking down the stereotypes of the men here. If projects could be collaborated on to sell items to the public, this would be good as well. I do know that people are quicker to give funds when they get things back and hey … its nothing wrong with that. If some of these major groups could use their contacts and provide legal help in the States, that would be acceptable. We would like to get Political representatives who would speak about my case publicly. We need politically founded persons that could get the attention in front of the court system that persons with cases like mine should not be receiving the death penalty. Pressure must be put on the courts to do the right thing and with Goal and Objective 1, 2 and 3, fund raising can become a successful reality.

Kenneth Foster Jr.

THE APPEALS PROCESS

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As people begin to pay more attention to the death penalty it is of great importance that they be able to understand the Appeal Process. Most don’t know how it functions, how many judges the panels consist of or the politics to the process. Although I suggest for those that want thorough and detailed info to do independent study, some information is better than no information. So, I wanted to outline the Appeal Process in brief and give insight to this Process. Once the public understands the truths to how their system works and they spot fallacies, then they can make changes. Just as an old philosopher said: „Most ignorance is the direct result of apathy; people don’t know because they don’t care. To act without clear understanding, to form habits without investigations, to follow the path all one’s life without knowing where it really leads – such is the behavior of the multitude. Ignorance is the beginning of knowledge: knowledge is the beginning of Wisdom; Wisdom is the awareness of ignorance.“ Let us all be wise!

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OUTLINE

Trial and Direct Appeal

Trial (the following process begins after a conviction and death sentence)

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA)

After the first trial, a lawyer, usually one of the trial lawyers, is appointed to handle the direct appeal (usually this happens because the trial lawyer would be familiar with any errors that took place, but many times new lawyers are appointed, especially if the defendant files against that attorney for being ineffective). This appeal is filed in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin, Texas. In this proceeding, the defendant cannot introduce any new evidence. Instead, he may appeal errors that appear in the written transcript of the trial, such as erroneous rulings on the admission of evidence, prejudicial comments by the prosecutor and erroneous jury instructions. These are a few among many.

United States Supreme Court

If the CCA denies relief, the defendant can ask the US. Supreme Court to review the case. This is known as a Certiorari. Review at this level is very rare because the Court receives 7.000 request to be heard each year, but only hears about 100 cases per year.

State Habeas Corpus Proceedings

After the trial, at the same time the direct appeal is being prepared, the trial court will appoint another lawyer to file a different appeal, an application for Writ of Habeas Corpus. (There is a catch to this which I‘ll mention shortly). This document is just the opposite of the direct appeal: the claims are based on new evidence that is not contained in the record, the court will not hear claims that could have been raised on direct appeal. This is the point in the process at which a person can bring in new evidence to support claims of innocence, prosecutorial misconduct, ineffective assistance of counsel etc.

[Let us break down a few things about the CCA so you can better understand how it truly works. First off, the CCA is composed of 9 judges. To win an favorable decisions from the 9 CCA judges, 5 out of the 9 judges must agree on a common error that you faced. Only then will you be granted relief of some sort. The fact that you must play see–saw is ridiculous from the start for the simple fact if you have an error, an error is an error and if 1 judge observes that, Justice should be delivered. The most important key to the CCA and why they have fell under such criticism is the political views and actions of the CCA. The whole CCA is made up of Republican judges, where as Republicans in this country have always stood out front as the more conservative and PRO-death penalty supporters. Does this mean Democrats aren’t the same? No! However, Republicans seem to make more of an effort to show where they stand. This Republican panel has been vicious in the relief they give, which has been close to nil. Let me reveal forms of politics that effect the way these judges rule and also who they get put into seat.

In 1982 the first execution took place since it had been reinstated. In the 80‘s Ann Richard’s (a Democrat) became Governor of Texas. From 1982 – 1992 only 41 executions were carried out. When Bush ran for Governor and appealed to the predominate Pro-death penalty Texas, from 1992 – 2000 198 executions were carried out. These judges seek to please the public and the Governor that sits above them. Justice is not sought, rather prestige and political favors are.

I spoke of a catch in the Writ of Habeas Corpus application. In 1995 after the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma, President Bill Clinton passed a Law called „The Federal Anti-Terrorism Effective Death Penalty Act. This Act was supposedly made to help clean up the abuse of appeal processes, but in essence was only made to speed up the appeal process. As executions sky rocketed under Bush people began to ask for Justice in seeing why men were being killed at such fast rates, however the majority of society was screaming kill them as fast you can and stop wasting our tax payers money on keeping them alive on death row. Of course that is such blasphemy when Texas spends an estimated $ 2,3 million per capital case and this is roughly three times the cost of keeping a person in prison for 40 years. As you notice, when the direct brief is being filed, the writ of habeas corpus is practically filed right behind it. Usually it can be filed within the next year to year and a half. The writ maybe filed even before the 1st step, the direct brief, is ruled on. Once upon a time, you didn’t have to file your writ until the brief was ruled on, thus giving you a fair chance to prepare everything you need to prepare for your writ. So now they not only speed your appeal up, but they cheat you out of the chance of a strategical defense by making you file your 1st and 2nd steps of your appeal simultaneously. How do you know how to truly adjust the strategy of your 2nd step without first seeing what was said and how on your 1st step? This is something that people must truly look at when we’re talking about delivering fair Justice, especially when the stake is a man’s life.]

PROCEEDINGS IN FEDERAL COURT

Federal Habeas Corpus Proceedings

If unsuccessful in state court, a person can petition the federal courts for relief. The only claims that may be raised in the federal proceedings are those that were raised in the state court (both direct appeal and state habeas claims). There are very strict time limits that govern the filing of federal habeas petitions, failure to file in time limits, in most cases, waives any further appeals.

[Now, this is where most cases get tricky and many have meet the gurney. We find controversial actions in federal court. Most death row inmates feel that federal court is the best place to receive relief if you have it, due to the fact the politics surrounding the CCA virtually makes it impossible to get relief from them. This is what the public must understand about the differences between the CCA and a Federal proceeding. There is only 1 federal judge that reviews your case. These federal judges are appointed to their seats, they do not have to run for election. Their appointment last until they retire or they die. This allows federal judges more leeway in granting relief, because they don’t have to worry about the public lashing back at them for giving prisoners relief. On the other hand, the CCA judges are elected by the people, and since the majority of the people in Texas are pro-death penalty, they seek to please that crowd, thus denying all relief (or as much as possible) under any circumstances. When we look at Laws like the federal Anti-Terrorism Act we must ask why we need laws like this, why are the prisons so overcrowded, why are men receiving hard time for small crimes (mostly drugs, which if you know your facts this country allows to flow into it), why aren’t these judges paying enough attention to these cases? The judges are overflooded with cases because they sit on them, they like to refuse people justice. They are also overcrowded with cases because they are flooding these prisons. Prisons have gone past the rehabilitation structure, to the Big Business structure. So, to make their money they must keep them full at all cost. Only when we pay attention to the larger picture will we understand why things exist like they do. Texas has close to 500 prisoners on death row and have killed close to 300 men since the death penalty was reinstated. But, look at California who has more men on death row, almost 600, but they have only executed approximately less than 20 since the death penalty was reinstated. Why do we have such differences from state to state, when Justice never changes and is the same from state to state? You must ask yourselves these questions because it is you who vote these people into office, thus they represent you. I will show how executions are being carried out in Federal Court and the last 2 steps are becoming virtually invisible]

United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit

If the federal district court denies relief, the case is appealed to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana. This court has rarely ever given a person relief and mostly because of the scheme they have on entering this court.

[After leaving federal court usually federal court will place a date of execution on you. It is their goal to kill you at this point, period! With the Terrorism Act speeding up your first 2 levels, by time you get to federal court and finish it, you may have on been on death row only 5 – 6 years and for those of us who are trying to gain support and build campaign behind their cases, 5 years is not alot of time when you must build network systems and above all trust and understanding towards your case. What will happen is, you will seek to get what is called a COA (Certificate of Appealability). You will need the federal court to give you this JUST so you can enter the 5th Circuit. If they do not give this to you, the 5th Circuit will not hear your case. It is virtually nonexistent for them to grant you entrance in their court after federal court denies you that COA. Now, think about this an how it is a well plotted out scheme. For you to be ranted a COA would be like federal court saying they did not do a good enough job and needs the higher court to look over their work. Do you think any judges want to look incompetent in their work? The decisions should not ever rest in the federal court for appealability, a separate party should be in place to decide that. So, what ends up happening is federal courts sets you a date and they execute you rather quickly, because the 5th Circuit has just cheated you out of your next stage of appeal. The final stage is the Supreme Court.

United States Supreme Court

If the 5th Circuit denies relief, the petitioner may seek review in the Supreme Court. Again, as stated, it is very rare that the Supreme Court will hear the case.

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This system is suffering from the „pass the buck“ method. When an injustice is given, instead of ones taking responsibility for it (which may cause mass criticism to fall upon them) they pass it along. The morality rate of politicians is falling and with our citizens. Since when does oppression, death and destruction bring about a better society? Although the death row appeal process carries a few more procedures (if granted, such as hearings) this was the basic outline of it and also the hidden events that the public doesn’t know. We need the people to become concerned with what is happening with its society, not just with the people in the streets, but the people in the offices as well. For those of us who are God fearing people, let’s make sure those overseeing the laws are God fearing, because man’s law can never override God’s law. Regardless of religion, race, color or creed, Righteous acts are righteous acts. So, keep in mind a small piece of knowledge, all people want freedom in life and all people want peace and justice, but without TRUTH, we will never have any of them. Until this country decides to stand on TRUTH, none of us will ever fully have any of that. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, MAKE OUR POWER TRUTH, TRUTH CONQUERS ALL!!!!!!!!