Print Page - Signs of the Lord's Return and the End of the Age

Signs of the Lord's Return and the End of the Age
This is pretty much for the month of October. You can find I used Yahoo news for this since Yahoo, keeps their news links longer.

False Christs/Prophets (Matthew 24:4; 24:11)

*Google News Search: Cult (http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=cult&btnG=Search+News)
*Premises Of The New Age World View (http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/5977/newage.html)

Wars & Rumors of Wars (Matthew 24:6):

* Turkey: We will make Kurd rebels grieve - Yahoo! News (10-27)
* US says latest missile shield test succeeded - Reuters (10-27)
* Europeans ponder sanctions against Iran - Yahoo! News (10-27)
* Iran says it's safe from US attack - Yahoo! News (10-26)
* Turkey: Iraq attack waits for D.C. talks - Yahoo! News (10-26)
* Putin: US plan evokes '62 Cuban crisis - Yahoo! News (10-26)
* Al-Qaida angry at Jazeera on Laden tape - Yahoo! News (10-25)
* US levies harsh sanctions against Iran - Yahoo! News (10-25)
* Turkish planes pound rebels along border - Yahoo! News (10-25)
* Turks say US pressure won't stop attack - Yahoo! News (10-25)
* Putin warns against more Iran sanctions - Yahoo! News (10-25)
* US lacks labs to test for 'dirty bomb' - Yahoo! News (10-25)
* Bush touts European missile defense plan - Yahoo! News (10-23)
* US might delay missile defense - Yahoo! News (10-23)
* Turkey sends more troops to Iraq border - Yahoo! News (10-22)
* Bin Laden urges Iraq insurgents to unite - Yahoo! News (10-22)
* Bush asks for $46 billion more for wars - Yahoo! News (10-22)

Earthquakes (Matthew 24:7):

* No tsunami warning after quake near Indonesia's Sumatra - Yahoo! News (10-09)
* Strong quake rattles Indonesia - Yahoo! News (10-03)
* Earthquake hits western Indonesia - Yahoo! News (10-02)
* Volcano off Yemen kills 4; 2 rescued - Yahoo! News (10-01)

Famines (Matthew 24:7):

* North Korea on brink of famine after floods: study - Yahoo! News (10-18)
* Five million people going hungry in Myanmar: WFP - Yahoo! News (10-18)

Persecution (Matthew 24:8):

* Teen challenges moment-of-silence law - Yahoo! News (10-27)
* Muslims, Christians clash in Egypt - Yahoo! News (10-26)
* Arsonists attack Jerusalem church - Yahoo! News (10-24)
* Chinese activist beaten amid crackdown - Yahoo! News (10-17)
* Panel urges tighter scrutiny of Saudi abuses - Yahoo! News (10-17)
* China censors ratchet up Web monitoring - Yahoo! News (10-12)
* Miller, the Jesus-Mocking Beer - Yahoo! News (10-12)
* Baptist publicly tortured for 'spreading Christianity' - WND (10-10)
* China closes Christian-linked businesses - Yahoo! News (10-10)
* Rights group condemns China Net controls - Yahoo! News (10-10)
* Censor's grip tightening on Internet in China - Yahoo! News (10-10)
* Christian activist killed in Gaza - Yahoo! News (10-07)
* Turkish teen sentenced in priest killing - Yahoo! News (10-04)

Increase in Wickedness/Love Grows Cold (Matthew 24:12):

* Verdict in stolen-baby case: Execution - Yahoo! News (10-27)
* Man jailed for urinating on dying woman - Yahoo! News (10-26)
* 3 charged in Pa. college student's death - Yahoo! News (10-26)
* Suspected cannibal refuses to make plea - Yahoo! News (10-25)
* Prosecutor: Girl killed by 17-year-old - Yahoo! News (10-22)
* Pedophile suspect arrested in Thailand - Yahoo! News (10-19)
* Child "suitcase murder" shocks Sydney - Yahoo! News (10-18)
* Fury spreads in Puerto Rico pet massacre - Yahoo! News (10-17)
* Man accused of raping toddler arrested - Yahoo! News (10-16)
* Mexican experts say flesh was human - Yahoo! News (10-16)
* Outrage in Puerto Rico over pet deaths - Yahoo! News (10-15)
* Pets hurled off bridge in Puerto Rico - Yahoo! News (10-12)
* Mexican arrested in dismemberment case - Yahoo! News (10-12)

Signs & Wonders in the Heavens, Sun, Moon & Stars (Luke 21:11; 21:25):

* Hundreds of 'Missing' Black Holes Found - Yahoo! News (10-25)
* Hunt for extra-terrestrial life starts in California - Yahoo! News (10-11)
* Scientists lift veil on Saturn's weird moons - Yahoo! News (10-10)

Pestilence (Luke 21:11):

* Dengue fever outbreak hits parts of Asia - Yahoo! News (10-26)
* Inaction said hampers Russia AIDS crisis - Yahoo! News (10-25)
* Staph screening said may wipe out germ - Yahoo! News (10-24)
* Indonesian toddler dies of bird flu - Yahoo! News (10-23)
* Vaccine plan for flu pandemic drafted - Yahoo! News (10-22)
* 10 men contract staph infections in NY - Yahoo! News (10-19)
* Gates Foundation looks to fight malaria - Yahoo! News (10-18)
* Report: Kids overlooked in flu pandemic - Yahoo! News (10-17)
* Staph fatalities may exceed AIDS deaths - Yahoo! News (10-16)
* Teen who contracted staph infection dies - Yahoo! News (10-16)
* Study examines AIDS patients in Africa - Yahoo! News (10-15)
* Rare tropical fungus spreads to Wash. - Yahoo! News (10-15)

Fearsome Events (Luke 21:11):

* Californians endure 7 days of wildfires - Yahoo! News (10-27)
* Many states seen facing water shortages - Yahoo! News (10-26)
* Raging Calif. fires burn scores of homes - Yahoo! News (10-22)
* Heavy rains flood parts of New Orleans - Yahoo! News (10-22)
* 6 die in storms in Midwest, Wash. state - Yahoo! News (10-19)
* No backup if Atlanta's faucets run dry - Yahoo! News (10-19)
* NCDC: Drought spread through US in Sept. - Yahoo! News (10-16)
* Drought tightens its grip on Southeast - Yahoo! News (10-15)

Nations in Distress (Luke 21:25):

* Questions over plan for Darfur children - Yahoo! News (10-26)
* Bhutto blames extremists for bomb attack - Yahoo! News (10-19)
* Myanmar junta: 3,000 detained in protest - Yahoo! News (10-16)
* Myanmar says "deeply regrets" U.N. statement - Yahoo! News (10-12)
* Myanmar dissident dies under questioning - Yahoo! News (10-10)
* Debate heats up over Myanmar sanctions - Yahoo! News (10-10)

Roaring Seas & Tides (Luke 21:25):

* Caribbean urged to face warming risks - Yahoo! News (10-23)
* No tsunami warning after quake near Indonesia's Sumatra - Yahoo! News (10-09)
* Typhoon slams into Vietnam's coast - Yahoo! News (10-03)
* Island nations warn of warming threat - Yahoo! News (10-03)

Apprehensive for the Future (Luke 21:26):

* Geologists: Collier Glacier is shrinking - Yahoo! News (10-23)
* Rising temperatures said endanger Arctic - Yahoo! News (10-17)
* Austria to host global warming meeting - Yahoo! News (10-15)
* Experts: Climate change threatens peace - Yahoo! News (10-12)
* U.K. judge finds problems in Gore film - Yahoo! News (10-12)
* Greenland ice cap melting faster than expected - Yahoo! News (10-11)
* Gas emissions said at unsafe threshold - Yahoo! News (10-09)
* Melting ice pack displaces Alaska walrus - Yahoo! News (10-06)
* World moves into the ecological red - Yahoo! News (10-05)
* Island nations warn of warming threat - Yahoo! News (10-03)

These are mostly not posted on the forum. All the links are working, as I post this.

False Christs/Prophets (Matthew 24:4; 24:11)

Russian doomsday cult holed up in forest - Yahoo! News (11-16) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071116/ap_on_re_eu/russia_doomsday_cult)
Papers: Polygamist leader tried suicide - Yahoo! News (11-06) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071107/ap_on_re_us/polygamist_leader)
Pagan Holidays Added to Excused Absences - AP (11-01) (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jfiako0zJPXb5RfPv3YGqmdlwiCQD8SKOB400)
Polygamist leader said he was 'immoral' - Yahoo! News (11-01) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071101/ap_on_re_us/polygamist_leader)
Some Christian pastors embrace Scientology - CNN (10-31) (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/31/christian.scientology/)

Wars & Rumors of Wars (Matthew 24:6)

Chavez: US attack on Iran will spike oil - Yahoo! News (11-17) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071117/ap_on_re_mi_ea/opec)
Iran says ready to act if attacked - Yahoo! News (11-17) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071117/wl_nm/iran_usa_ahmadinejad_dc)
US air assault targets militants in Iraq - Yahoo! News (11-16) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071117/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq)
US general: Iran sticking by pledge - Yahoo! News (11-15) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071115/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq)
Wary of war, Gulf eyes Ahmadinejad visit for clues - Yahoo! News (11-15) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071115/wl_nm/ahmadinejad_bahrain_dc)
Turkish helicopters strike inside Iraq - Yahoo! News (11-13) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071113/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_turkey_kurds)
SKorea seen developing laser weapons - Yahoo! News (11-10) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071110/wl_asia_afp/skoreankoreamissilelaser)
U.S. urges restraint by Ethiopia and Eritrea - Yahoo! News (11-09) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071109/wl_nm/ethiopia_eritrea_usa_dc)
Gates: Japan, others must address NKorea - Yahoo! News (11-09) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071109/ap_on_re_as/gates_japan)
Iran's nuclear program "irreversible": president - Yahoo! News (11-07) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071107/wl_nm/iran_nuclear_dc)
Turkey says to eliminate PKK - Yahoo! News (11-07) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071107/wl_nm/turkey_iraq_pkk_dc)
Russia moves toward treaty suspension - Yahoo! News (11-07) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071107/ap_on_re_eu/russia_arms_control_treaty)
Gates cautious on North Korean threat - Yahoo! News (11-07) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071107/ap_on_re_as/gates_asia)
EU official presents anti-terror plan - Yahoo! News (11-06) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071106/ap_on_re_eu/eu_fighting_terror)
Turkish troops poised on Iraq border - Yahoo! News (11-06) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071106/ap_on_re_mi_ea/turkey_iraq)
Italy breaks up European terror cell - Yahoo! News (11-06) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071106/ap_on_re_eu/italy_terrorism)
Iran dismisses possibility of US strike - Yahoo! News (11-05) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071105/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_us_iraq)
U.S. wants new Iran sanctions expedited - Yahoo! News (11-02) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071102/ap_on_re_eu/nuclear_talks_iran)
ANALYSIS: Tensions rise in Balkans - Yahoo! News (11-02) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071102/ap_on_re_eu/balkans_soaring_tensions)
US official warns Iran on nuke program - Yahoo! News (11-01) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071102/ap_on_re_eu/iran_nuclear)
Pakistan troops kill up to 70 militants - Yahoo! News (11-01) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071101/ap_on_re_as/pakistan)
Hezbollah says it has grown stronger - Yahoo! News (11-01) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071101/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_hezbollah)
Israel says Hezbollah can hit Tel Aviv - Yahoo! News (11-01) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071101/ap_on_re_mi_ea/un_lebanon_israel)

Earthquakes (Matthew 24:7)

Chileans begin earthquake cleanup - Yahoo! News (11-16) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071117/wl_nm/chile_quake_aftermath_dc)
Small quake shakes Southern Calif. - Yahoo! News (11-16) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071117/ap_on_re_us/socal_quake)
Chile's president unshaken by aftershock - Yahoo! News (11-15) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071115/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/chile_earthquake)
Quake kills 2, damages homes in Chile - Yahoo! News (11-14) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071114/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/chile_quake)
Indonesia's Krakatau roars, dazzles with fireworks - Reuters India (11-12) (http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-30436520071111)
Moderate quake strikes Sumatra - Yahoo! News (11-11) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071111/ap_on_re_as/indonesia_earthquake_1)
Indonesian volcano roaring to life - Yahoo! News (11-10) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071110/ap_on_re_as/indonesia_volcano_nation)
3 earthquakes strike Greece - Yahoo! News (11-09) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071109/ap_on_re_eu/greece_quakes)
Ground said rising at Yellowstone Park - Yahoo! News (11-09) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071109/ap_on_sc/yellowstone_rising)
Quake jolts coast of Bangladesh - Yahoo! News (11-07) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071107/ap_on_re_as/bangladesh_earthquake)
Indonesian volcano activity peaks - Yahoo! News (11-01) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071101/ap_on_re_as/indonesia_volcano)

Persecution (Matthew 24: 8 )

China to quash protests at Olympics - Yahoo! News (11-16) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071116/ap_on_re_as/olympics_protesters)
China officials deny media file reports - Yahoo! News (11-13) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071113/ap_on_re_as/china_reporters)
Beijing denies ban on Bibles at Olympics - Yahoo! News (11-08) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071108/ap_on_re_as/oly_beijing_olympics_bibles)
Pope lauds Christian presence in Saudi - Yahoo! News (11-06) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071106/ap_on_re_eu/vatican_saudi_king)
Yahoo execs defend role in arrest - Yahoo! News (11-06) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071106/ap_on_hi_te/congress_yahoo)

Wickedness/Love Grows Cold (Matthew 24:12)

Disabled kids abused in Serbia - Yahoo! News (11-15) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071115/ap_on_re_eu/serbia_abused_children)
Pet massacres carried out in Puerto Rico - Yahoo! News (11-14) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071114/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/puerto_rico_pet_massacres)
One-Third of Popular Songs Refer to Substance Abuse - Yahoo! News (11-09) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20071109/hl_hsn/onethirdofpopularsongsrefertosubstanceabuse)
Teenage killer leaves suicide note - Yahoo! News (11-08) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071108/ap_on_re_eu/finland_school_shooting)
School shooter kills 8, self in Finland - Yahoo! News (11-07) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071108/ap_on_re_eu/finland_school_shooting)

Worldwide Dissemination of the Gospel/church News (Matthew 24:14)

Christian group prays for celebuwrecks - Yahoo! News (11-15) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071115/ap_en_ot/praying_for_hollywood)
Video Web site gets religion - Yahoo! News (11-01) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071101/ap_on_hi_te/godtube)
Homeless sleep in church parking lot - Yahoo! News (10-11) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071011/ap_on_re_us/dallas_homeless)

Wonders in the Heavens, Sun, Moon & Stars (Luke 21:11; 21:25)

Full moon will soon overshadow comet - Yahoo! News (11-16) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071116/ap_on_sc/bright_comet)
Leonid Meteor Shower Peaks This Weekend - Yahoo! News (11-16) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20071116/sc_space/leonidmeteorshowerpeaksthisweekend)
Comet Holmes' display captivates stargazers - Yahoo! News (11-15) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071115/sc_nm/comet_dc)
UFOs are no joke, group says - Yahoo! News (11-13) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071113/ts_afp/usspaceufo)
Astronomers find system with five planets - Yahoo! News (11-06) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071106/sc_nm/space_planet_dc)
Comet draws scientific, amateur interest - Yahoo! News (11-06) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071106/ap_on_sc/brighter_comet)

Pestilence (Luke 21:11)

CDC: New respiratory bug has killed 10 - Yahoo! News (11-15) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071116/ap_on_he_me/deadly_virus)
Iraq says 2 orphan boys die of cholera - Yahoo! News (11-15) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071115/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_cholera)
Britain battle bird flu outbreak - Yahoo! News (11-15) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071115/ap_on_re_eu/britain_bird_flu)
Ariz. biologist likely died of plague - Yahoo! News (11-10) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071110/ap_on_re_us/biologist_dies)
AIDS vaccine doesn't guard against virus - Yahoo! News (11-08) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071108/ap_on_he_me/aids_vaccine)
Delegates to discuss combatting TB, AIDS - Yahoo! News (11-07) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071108/ap_on_he_me/south_africa_tb)
Guyana reports drop in malaria cases - Yahoo! News (11-06) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071106/ap_on_he_me/guyana_malaria)
HIV infection rate drops in Zimbabwe - Yahoo! News (11-02) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071102/ap_on_he_me/zimbabwe_aids)

cont'd next post

Fearsome Events (Luke 21:11)

Bangladeshi cyclone kills at least 1,723 - Yahoo! News (11-17) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071118/ap_on_re_as/bangladesh_cyclone)
Atlanta may have to drink the dregs - Yahoo! News (11-16) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071116/ap_on_re_us/drought_dregs)
Bangladesh cyclone said to kill 1,100 - Yahoo! News (11-16) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071116/ap_on_re_as/bangladesh_cyclone)
Powerful cyclone strikes Bangladesh - Yahoo! News (11-15) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071115/ap_on_re_as/bangladesh_cyclone)
Georgia plans service to pray for rain - Yahoo! News (11-08) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071108/ap_on_re_us/southern_drought_prayer)
Stocks plunge with dollar; Dow down 360 - Yahoo! News (11-07) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071108/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/wall_street)
Mexican flood victims scramble for food - Yahoo! News (11-05) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071106/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/mexico_flooding)
Tennessee town has run out of water - Yahoo! News (11-02) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071102/ap_on_re_us/town_without_water)

Nations in Distress (Luke 21:25)

Bhutto placed under house arrest again - Yahoo! News (11-13) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071113/ap_on_re_as/pakistan)
Hunted Myanmar monks flee monasteries - Yahoo! News (11-11) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071111/ap_on_re_as/myanmar_empty_monasteries)
Georgia defies critics, backs state of emergency - Yahoo! News (11-09) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071109/wl_nm/georgia_dc)
Unrest could distract Pakistan military - Yahoo! News (11-09) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071109/ap_on_re_as/gates_pakistan)
Lawyers: Pakistan political conscience - Yahoo! News (11-08) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071108/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_lawyers__struggle)
Georgia declares state of emergency - Yahoo! News (11-08) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071107/wl_nm/georgia_dc)
At least 2 shot in Venezuela after anti-Chavez march - Yahoo! News (11-08) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071108/wl_nm/venezuela_referendum_violence_dc)
Police use force to stop Georgia protest - Yahoo! News (11-07) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071107/ap_on_re_eu/georgia_opposition)
Bhutto challenges Pakistan's president - Yahoo! News (11-07) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071107/ap_on_re_as/pakistan)
Emergency targets Pakistani activists - Yahoo! News (11-06) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071106/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_activists_under_fire)
Pakistan's ousted top judge urges revolt - Yahoo! News (11-06) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071106/ap_on_re_as/pakistan)
Troops clash with Venezuelan protesters - Yahoo! News (11-02) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071102/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/venezuela_protest)
Myanmar Internet access severely limited: official - Yahoo! News (11-02) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071102/wl_asia_afp/myanmarunrestinternet)

Roaring Seas & Tides (Luke 21:25)

Powerful cyclone strikes Bangladesh - Yahoo! News (11-15) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071115/ap_on_re_as/bangladesh_cyclone)
Europe storm kicks up surging waters - Yahoo! News (11-09) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071109/ap_on_re_eu/europe_storm)
Dutch, British coasts braced for storm, flooding - Yahoo! News (11-09) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071109/wl_nm/dutch_britain_flood_dc)
Noel soaks Bahamas, Cuba, toll at 115 - Yahoo! News (11-02) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071102/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/tropical_weather)
Tropical storm death toll rises to 81 - Yahoo! News (11-01) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071101/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/tropical_weather)

Apprehensive for the Future (Luke 21:26)

UN panel gives dire warming forecast - Yahoo! News (11-17) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071118/ap_on_sc/climate_change_conference)
Key findings of UN scientific report - Yahoo! News (11-17) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071117/ap_on_sc/climate_key_findings)
UK Dolly creator gives up cloning method - Yahoo! News (11-17) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071117/ap_on_sc/cloning_pioneer)
Climate change talks reach agreement - Yahoo! News (11-16) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071117/ap_on_sc/climate_change_conference)
Cooling begins for doomsday seed bank - Yahoo! News (11-15) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071116/ap_on_sc/arctic_seed_vault)
Monkey clones unlikely to bring new care - Yahoo! News (11-14) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071115/ap_on_sc/monkey_clones)
Unknown health impact of nanotech worries some - Yahoo! News (11-14) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071114/sc_nm/nano_dc)
UN report: Human cloning ban needed - Yahoo! News (11-10) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071110/ap_on_sc/human_cloning)
Experts to prepare global warming report - Yahoo! News (11-10) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071110/ap_on_sc/climate_change_conference)
Remnant of Yellowstone volcano rising: study - Yahoo! News (11-09) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071109/us_nm/volcano_yellowstone_dc)
Experts warn Fla. about climate change - Yahoo! News (11-06) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071106/ap_on_sc/climate_change)
Advocates sue to enforce pesticide order - Yahoo! News (11-05) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071106/ap_on_sc/pesticides_salmon)
UN panel OKs resolution on nuclear alert - Yahoo! News (11-02) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071102/ap_on_re_us/un_nuclear_risk)
Religious leaders act on climate change - Yahoo! News (11-01) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071101/ap_on_sc/global_warming_churches)

And I think thats enough links for today.... :-X

Brothers and Sisters,

I'll just say AMEN AND AMEN!

The pieces of a huge and eternal puzzle are falling together. This would be better stated that GOD is placing the pieces of the eternal puzzle together most perfectly. The number of details are vast, but they were known by GOD in eternity past. ONLY HE can put all the pieces together with such precision. The timing will be HIS alone, and the time appears to be near.

This world is getting more evil and out of control by the hour. If someone wonders, GOD is allowing this. The Holy Bible tells us that the time will come when the "Great Restrainer" will be removed and the devil will be free to do what he wants on the earth. Most Christians will know that the "Great Restrainer" is the HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD. Mankind has desired evil, and mankind will get all they can handle. It will be a time of unimagined horror. Much of mankind has had it with GOOD standing in the way of evil, and they will finally get their wish.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, the times for us might grow very difficult quickly. We must remember that this world IS NOT our home. Our Citizenship is in Heaven and our hopes aren't of this world. We are Children of THE KING OF KINGS and we await going HOME. Let us all pray that GOD gives us the strength, courage, and guidance to yield to HIS Use until the last moment. Brothers and Sisters, let's finish our course, finish our fight, and complete our race. We do "Love HIS Appearing"!

Love In Christ,
Tom

2 Timothy 4:5-8 NASB
But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Small Asteroids Pose Big New Threat

Charles Q. Choi
Special to SPACE.com
SPACE.com Wed Dec 19, 6:45 AM ET

The infamous Tunguska explosion, which mysteriously leveled an area of Siberian forest nearly the size of Tokyo a century ago, might have been caused by an impacting asteroid far smaller than previously thought.

The fact that a relatively small asteroid could still cause such a massive explosion suggests "we should be making more efforts at detecting the smaller ones than we have till now," said researcher Mark Boslough, a physicist at Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, N.M.

The explosion near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River on June 30, 1908, flattened some 500,000 acres (2,000 square kilometers) of Siberian forest. Scientists calculated the Tunguska explosion could have been roughly as strong as 10 to 20 megatons of TNT — 1,000 times more powerful than the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Wild theories have been bandied about for a century regarding what caused the Tunguska explosion, including a UFO crash, antimatter, a black hole and famed inventor Nikola Tesla's "death ray." In the last decade, researchers have conjectured the event was triggered by an asteroid exploding in Earth's atmosphere that was roughly 100 feet wide (30 meters) and 560,000 metric tons in mass — more than 10 times that of the Titanic.

The space rock is thought to have blown up above the surface, only fragments possibly striking the ground.

Now new supercomputer simulations suggest "the asteroid that caused the extensive damage was much smaller than we had thought," Boslough said. Specifically, he and his colleagues say it would have been a factor of three or four smaller in mass and perhaps 65 feet (20 meters) in diameter.

The simulations run on Sandia's Red Storm supercomputer — the third fastest in the world — detail how an asteroid that explodes as it runs into Earth's atmosphere will generate a supersonic jet of expanding superheated gas. This fireball would have caused blast waves that were stronger at the surface than previously thought.

At the same time, previous estimates seem to have overstated the devastation the event caused. The forest back then was not healthy, according to foresters, "and it doesn't take as much energy to blow down a diseased tree than a healthy tree," Boslough said. In addition, the winds from the explosion would naturally get amplified above ridgelines, making the explosion seem more powerful than it actually was. What scientists had thought to be an explosion between 10 and 20 megatons was more likely only three to five megatons, he explained.

All in all, the researchers suggest that smaller asteroids may pose a greater danger than previously believed. Moreover, "there are a lot more objects that size," Boslough told SPACE.com.

NASA Ames Research Center planetary scientist and astrobiologist David Morrison, who did not participate in this study, said, "If he's right, we can expect more Tunguska-sized explosions — perhaps every couple of centuries instead of every millennia or two." He added, "It raises the bar in the long term — ultimately, we'd like to have a survey system that can detect things this small."

Boslough and his colleagues detailed their findings at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco on Dec. 11. A paper on the phenomenon has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Impact Engineering.

Small Asteroids Pose Big New Threat (http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20071219/sc_space/smallasteroidsposebignewthreat;_ylt=AqKJWeeK.mfzYC8zIQUznqis0NUE)

Asteroid Has High Odds of Hitting Mars in Next Month

Friday, December 21, 2007

LOS ANGELES — Mars could be in for an asteroid hit.

A newly discovered hunk of space rock has a 1-in-75 chance of slamming into the Red Planet on Jan. 30, scientists said Thursday.

"These odds are extremely unusual. We frequently work with really long odds when we track ... threatening asteroids," said Steve Chesley, an astronomer with the Near Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The asteroid, known as 2007 WD5, was discovered in late November and is similar in size — about 50 yards across — to an object that hit remote central Siberia in 1908, unleashing energy equivalent to a 15-megaton nuclear bomb and wiping out 60 million trees.

Scientists tracking the asteroid, currently halfway between Earth and Mars, initially put the odds of impact at 1 in 350 but increased the chances this week.

Scientists expect the odds to diminish again early next month after getting new observations of the asteroid's orbit, Chesley said.

"We know that it's going to fly by Mars and most likely going to miss, but there's a possibility of an impact," he said.

If the asteroid does smash into Mars, it will probably hit near the equator. close to where the rover Opportunity has been exploring the Martian plains since 2004.

The robot is not in danger because it lies outside the impact zone.

Speeding at 8 miles a second, a collision would carve a hole the size of the famed Meteor Crater in Arizona, which is nearly a mile wide and was created by an object roughly 50 yards across 50,000 years ago.

In 1994, fragments of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 smacked into Jupiter, creating a series of overlapping fireballs in space. Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.

"Unlike an Earth impact, we're not afraid, but we're excited," Chesley said.

Asteroid Has High Odds of Hitting Mars in Next Month (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,317749,00.html)
~~~~~~~~~

Better Mars, then here in Arizona again. :D

Israel is in the throes of a major religious awakening
December 22, 2007 Tevet 13, 5768

By Anshel Pfeffer

The farewell party in the dining hall of Ashrei Ha'ish Yeshiva, in Jerusalem's Bayit Vegan neighborhood, resembled any other celebration in a place of Torah learning. The rabbis sat at the head of the table, on either side of the excited guest of honor. On the tables were various bottles of cheap wine and the normal kitchen fare: salads, bourekas, hummus and pita bread. One after another, rabbis and students got up to say a few words about the man of the hour: his love of Torah, his devotion to prayer, his secret acts of hesed (charity) and everyone's certainty that he would fulfill his destiny. But the tall, starry-eyed, soft-spoken almost-graduate was not leaving to become a rabbi or a Torah teacher in some other outpost of the Orthodox world. He was returning to northern Israel to resume his career as a top-division basketballer.

In his 34 years, Doron Sheffer has led three of Israel's top basketball squads to national and international titles, was a top player for the University of Connecticut's Huskies for three years, fought cancer and spent a year in a commune in Central America. During the past two years, he has devoted himself to study and contemplation. Now he was going back to his old life. The only real question was which had changed more - the yeshiva that was giving its blessing to a graduate who was leaving for the world of professional sports, or Hapoel Galil Elyon, the team that was willing to take on a veteran player regarded by many as a religious nutcase?

Israel is in the throes of a major religious awakening, reaching deep into all parts of society, but no one has been told about it yet. This renaissance of Jewish learning is going unreported and largely unremarked upon because it has not resulted in a perceptible shift toward one religious stream or denomination. There is no new mass movement, and none of the charismatic rabbis or teachers has turned into a guru with a following of thousands.

On the surface, the old fault lines between Haredi (ultra-Orthodox), dati (modern Orthodox), traditional and secular Israelis are still in place, but just beneath, these boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred.

Next week, over two thousand Jews of all ages and flavors will descend on the University of Warwick, in England, for this year's Limmud Conference. Founded 25 years ago, Limmud is a unique platform for volunteer-based, diverse, nondenominational Jewish learning. It has been transplanted successfully to Jewish communities from New York to the former Soviet Union. In Israel, however, similar events such as Hakhel at Ramat Efal and the Judaism festival at Kibbutz Kfar Blum have a much more structured and formal atmosphere. But at a grassroots level the country is coming alive with every possible form of learning and return to tradition.

On one level, this should not be surprising: Shouldn't the Jewish state be the easiest place to participate in Jewish life? But the truth is that for 50 years it has been impossible to be a Jew on your own terms here. There were a limited number of religious categories and you were automatically slotted into one of them by dint of your family, location, education and the way you spoke and dressed. Any deviation meant you had to change your entire way of life - zero tolerance for mavericks.

A secular Israeli undergoing hazara be'teshuva ("return to faith") would not only start observing Shabbat and praying three times a day, he or she would also dress differently, leave one's job and move to a religious neighborhood or settlement.

Leaving the Haredi world was even more traumatic, almost always involving a complete break from family and community.

New acronyms and euphemisms are being invented almost daily to define the ever-changing groupings. These include dati lite, Datlash (an acronym for dati lesheavar, formerly religious), Datlashlash (a formerly religious person who has returned to religion), Datlaf (dati lifamim, sometimes religious), mit'hazek ("getting stronger," anyone with a growing interest in religious observance) and Hardalnik (Haredi-leumi, Haredi Zionist).

While religious politics in Israel has remained as divisive as ever, the communities themselves have evolved dramatically in just a few years. In the secular world, there is suddenly much greater tolerance for those who engage in religious study, who assume a certain level of religious observance without leaving their jobs, homes and friends. Even in the Haredi community, at the same time that the rabbis are attempting to exercise ever more control over their followers, there have never been so many outlets for youth to express doubt, to challenge their elders and to indulge in non-approved pastimes while remaining within the fold as parents and teachers turn a blind eye.

The best analogy is to choosing an organic-diet lifestyle. In the not too distant past, if you wanted to live according to organic ideals, you had no choice but to move to one of the few organic communities in the Negev or Galilee. Today, every Tel Aviv supermarket offers a wide variety of organic products and nearly every city apartment can be adapted accordingly. As a result, organic urbanites abound. It's the same with religion. Israel is fast becoming a free market of Judaism, offering a range of widely available brands.

There is no way to measure the extent of the trend, in contrast to the past, when there were only a few hazara be'teshuva organizations. There are now so many unofficial communities that nothing is surprising anymore. It is no longer unusual to hear of a suburban Tel Aviv group that practices Vipassana meditation and also meets for Kabbalat Shabbat on Friday evening. Veteran Haredi educators who once persuaded young secular Israelis of the truth of the Torah and saw them through a total transformation grumble about the superficiality of it all. They view the new approach as having a lack of commitment, but they too have had to move with the times.

cont'd next post

Organizations such as Arachim, which once specialized in seminars lecturing participants on the proof of God's existence, now operate in converted movie theaters and nightclubs in downtown Tel Aviv. Stylishly dressed twenty- and thirty-somethings come for a lecture on "Lite Philosophy," often sanitized to remove even the slightest hint of religious brainwashing. The lectures are conveniently scheduled to allow for pub-crawling afterward.

Idealistic teens who want something meaningful between high school and army service, or before starting university, can go to one of the growing number of academies where secular and religious youths - males and females together - pore over a diverse curriculum of Jewish and non-Jewish philosophy and literature in what looks like a cross between a traditional Beit Midrash Jewish learning framework and a hippie comm une.

The mixture sometimes manifests itself in clothing. Many of the young men sport beards and even wear tzitzit (ritual fringes) under their shirts, but not a kippa, so as to avoid instant categorization. In secular high schools the large, white kippa of the Bratslav Hasidim has become a fashion accessory, while hip-hop and trance arrangements of traditional texts dominate the Israeli pop music charts.

Once-staunchly secular kibbutzim and moshavim have built new synagogues and conduct their own versions of Shabbat prayers. No, they are not becoming religious, they say, they just felt something was missing from their communal lives.

The traditional yeshiva scene is also changing rapidly. Some rabbis are actually prepared to confront the formerly taboo subject of dropping out. Some yeshivot now have a table tennis or even a pool table in the basement, and will turn a blind eye if a student goes out to work or just hangs out for most of the day as long as he commits himself to a couple of hours of daily study in the morning or evening.

Many ultra-Orthodox spend hours on the Internet, and despite strict rabbinical rulings against the practice thousands participate daily in forums such as "B'hadrei Haredim," where issues of Haredi life are freely debated. Some sociologists believe the easy access to information provided by the Internet will cause Haredi society to disintegrate within a decade, but for now it seems to be having the opposite effect. Many Haredi youth are finding it easier to remain within the community now that they have a chance to let off steam with other anonymous Web users.

It is easier to analyze the process whereby Israelis became much more relaxed about Judaism than to predict where it will lead. The first generation of Zionism was a clear rebellion against the religious authority of parents and rabbis. As a result, most Israelis in the first decades of independence were staunchly secular and highly suspicious of religion and religious people. Their children firmly defended this ideology and cultivated a state identity of secular nationalism, almost totally devoid of traditional religious content. But the third generation had fewer of these inhibitions. They had traveled to India after their army service, where they experienced ill-defined religious feelings or signed on to the New Age movement. When they returned to Israel, the novelty wore off, but they still felt the need for something more spiritual, closer to home this time. At the same time, in the mid-1990s, it became fashionable for groups of academics, artists and media types to get together occasionally for impromptu lectures centered on what came to be known as "the Jewish bookshelf."

Both of these developments were met by a growing self-confidence on the part of younger Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jews, who were prepared to shed their ghetto mentality and engage with their secular counterparts on equal terms. Suddenly, their religious knowledge and background was actually seen as an advantage in social interactions.

More and more Israelis are preferring not to define themselves religiously within Judaism. There is no movement of those who want to meet Judaism on their own terms and there are no leaders. Politicians and rabbis can only lose out as a result of this breakdown of boundaries. The once wildly successful Shinui Party, which campaigned on an anti-religious platform, has been wiped off the electoral map. In the national-religious community, many rabbis, worried about what they see as a laxity in observance, have joined the Hardal camp, fusing ultra-Orthodox codes of religious adherence with right-wing politics. They have attracted thousands of young people to a new, radical code of devotion to mitzvot and to the Land of Israel. But it seems that for every religious teenager signing on to this new, radical style of piety, there is another who is drawn to the new sub-strata of Israeli society, learning Torah and embracing tradition without need of formal commitment or recourse to coercion.

Israel is in the throes of a major religious awakening (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/936847.html)

Again these are mostly not posted on the forum. All the links are working, as I post this.

False Christs/Prophets (Matthew 24:4; 24:11)

Mexicans crowd shrine despite church's troubles (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071212/wl_nm/mexico_virgin_dc)

Germany seeking to ban Scientology (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071207/ap_on_re_eu/germany_scientology)

Theology divides Mormons, evangelicals (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071205/ap_on_el_pr/romney_mormons)

Questions surround TV preacher inquiry (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071204/ap_on_re_us/televangelists_probe)

Analysis: Romney's 'Mormon speech' risk (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071203/ap_po/romney_religion_speech)

Wars & Rumors of Wars (Matthew 24:6)

Al-Qaida No. 2 criticizes peace talks (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071215/ap_on_re_mi_ea/al_qaida_message)

EU decides to deploy police mission to Kosovo (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071214/wl_afp/eusummitkosovo_071214221921)

U.S., Japan tighten missile-defense ties (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071214/wl_nm/missile_japan_usa_dc)

NATO allies agree to develop Afghan master plan (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071214/pl_afp/britainusnatoafghanistanmilitary_071214204257)

NATO-led nations meet to tackle Afghan insurgency (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071214/wl_nm/nato_afghan_dc)

Rice: Iran, North Korea still dangerous (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071213/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/rice_ap_interview)

Algeria bombings show al-Qaida's reach (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071212/ap_on_re_eu/algeria_al_qaida_s_reach)

Russia's moratorium on treaty starts (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071212/ap_on_re_eu/russia_arms_treaty)

Al-Qaida claims bloody Algiers bombings (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071212/ap_on_re_af/algeria_explosion)

No deal at Kosovo talks hands world the problem (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071207/wl_nm/serbia_kosovo_dc)

Diplomats: No Russian buildup on border (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071206/ap_on_re_eu/russia_arms_treaty)

Iran leader claims win in nuke faceoff (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071206/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_nuclear)

US: Al-Qaida active in Afghanistan (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071203/ap_on_re_as/gates_afghanistan)

US: Iran halted weapons program in 2003 (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071204/ap_on_go_ot/iran_nuclear)

Earthquakes (Matthew 24:7)

Medium strength quake strikes eastern Venezuela (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071212/wl_nm/venezuela_quake_dc)

Quake jolts Indonesia's Bali (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071207/ap_on_re_as/indonesia_earthquake)

Persecution (Matthew 24:8 )

Attacks force churches to boost security (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071211/ap_on_re_us/church_shootings_security)

Christian biologist fired for beliefs, suit says (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071210/od_nm/evolution_lawsuit_dc)

Baghdad Christians celebrate Sunday Mass (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071209/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_christians)

Cuba apologizes for police raid on Catholic church (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071207/wl_nm/cuba_church_dc)

Preacher rebuffs Senate spending inquiry (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071206/ap_on_re_us/televangelists_finances)

Philippine Catholics afraid of Muslim homeland deal (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071205/wl_nm/philippines_rebels_dc)

China's Catholic Church ordains a bishop (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071204/ap_on_re_as/china_new_bishop)

China: Reporters welcome at its Olympics (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071204/ap_on_re_as/olympics_media)

Pledge, motto cases to be heard by court (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071204/ap_on_re_us/pledge_of_allegiance)

Increase in Wickedness/Love Grows Cold (Matthew 24:12)

Woman convicted in husband's acid murder (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071213/ap_on_re_us/acid_vat_slaying)

Crime gangs make billions from Bulgaria sex slaves (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071212/wl_nm/bulgaria_prostitution_dc)

6 shot after leaving Vegas school bus (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071212/ap_on_re_us/bus_stop_shooting)

Colo. church gunman had been kicked out (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071211/ap_on_re_us/church_shootings)

Suburban sex parties draw complaints (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071208/ap_on_re_us/suburban_sex_club)

Holiday cheer shattered in an instant (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071207/ap_on_re_us/mall_shooting_day_of_tragedy)

9 dead in Nebraska mall shooting (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071206/ap_on_re_us/mall_shooting)

Group cites video game sex, violence (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071204/ap_en_ot/video_games_report_card)

Jet-setters charged with identity theft (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071205/ap_on_re_us/young_couple_fraud)

Worldwide Dissemination of the Gospel/church News (Matthew 24:14)

Vatican defends right to spread message (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071214/ap_on_re_eu/vatican_converts)

Bethlehem expects Christmas tourist boom (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071212/ap_on_re_mi_ea/palestinians_bethlehem)

Hotel chain offers free rooms for Marys and Josephs at Christmas (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071211/od_afp/britainhotelchristmasoffbeat)

Baghdad Christians celebrate Sunday Mass (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071209/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_christians)

Bloggers keep the faith, contentiously (http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20071127/tc_usatoday/bloggerskeepthefaithcontentiously)

Christian group prays for celebuwrecks (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071115/ap_en_ot/praying_for_hollywood)

Signs & Wonders in the Heavens, Sun, Moon & Stars (Luke 21:11; 21:25)

Scientists find what makes the solar wind howl (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071206/sc_nm/sun_solarwind_dc)

I've posted quite a bit in the past few weeks.

Pestilence (Luke 21:11)

Bird flu flares again in Asia (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071214/ap_on_re_as/asia_bird_flu)

Panic spreads as Uganda reports 101 Ebola cases (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071207/sc_nm/uganda_ebola_dc)

Study shows how Chikungunya virus spread so far (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071207/sc_nm/chikungunya_mosquitoes_dc)

WHO says victim's dad also has bird flu (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071207/ap_on_he_me/china_bird_flu)

Man jailed for not taking TB medication (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071207/ap_on_re_us/tuberculosis_confinement)

Donors pledge extra $406 mln in bird flu funds (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071206/sc_nm/birdflu_india_pledges_dc)

Cont'd next post

Fearsome Events (Luke 21:11)

Thousands shiver after Midwest ice storm (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071212/ap_on_re_us/winter_storm)
Natural disasters have quadrupled in two decades: study (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071125/sc_afp/britainweatherclimate)
Bangladeshi cyclone kills at least 1,723 (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071118/ap_on_re_as/bangladesh_cyclone)

Nations in Distress (Luke 21:25)

Clooney and Cheadle get peace award for Darfur (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071213/wl_nm/sudan_darfur_clooney_dc)
Spree of musician killings shocks Mexico (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071204/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/mexico_musicians_killed)
AIDS monastery ordered shut in Myanmar (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071130/ap_on_re_as/myanmar)
Arroyo quashes latest challenge (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071129/ap_on_re_as/philippines_coup_suspects)

Roaring Seas & Tides (Luke 21:25)

Red tide blamed for Calif. bird deaths (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071130/ap_on_sc/red_tide_birds)
Rising sea floods Indonesian capital (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071128/ap_on_re_as/indonesia_flooding)
Typhoon death toll rises as floods sweep Philippines (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071128/wl_nm/philippines_typhoon_dc)

Apprehensive for the Future (Luke 21:26)

EU threatens to boycott US climate talks (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071213/ap_on_re_as/bali_climate_conference)
2007 among warmest years on record (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071213/ap_on_go_ot/warm_weather) <--- Could have fooled me, it's been colder then normal this year.
Climate skeptics say debate stifled (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071213/ap_on_re_eu/climate_naysayers)
Ominous Arctic melt worries experts (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071212/ap_on_sc/arctic_melt)
Gore accepts Nobel Peace Prize (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071211/ap_on_re_eu/nobel_prizes)
China says West should deal with warming (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071207/ap_on_re_as/bali_climate_conference)
Global warming puts Amazon at risk (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071206/ap_on_re_as/bali_disappearing_amazon)
Global warming wreaks havoc with nature (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071206/ap_on_sc/bali_animals_in_flux)
Scientists beg for climate action ::) (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071205/ap_on_sc/climate_scientists)

Knowledge Increases (Daniel 12:4)

SKoreans clone cats that glow in the dark (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071212/sc_afp/healthscienceskoreacloning)
Scientists cure mice with sickle cell (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071207/ap_on_sc/stem_cells_sickle_cell)
IBM says breakthrough heralds supercomputer on chip (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071206/tc_nm/ibm_chip_supercomputing_dc)
Duke scientists map 'silenced genes' (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071130/ap_on_sc/silenced_genes)
Stem Cell Breakthrough Could Stifle Research (http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20071127/sc_livescience/stemcellbreakthroughcouldstifleresearch)

And I think thats enough links for today........ ;D

Less than ten percent of all born again Christians have a Biblical world view

George Barna, a pollster with an independent marketing research company, found in a recent survey that only 4% of the overall population of America and 9% of born-again Christians have a biblical world view, suggesting that many of the nation's moral and spiritual challenges are directly attributable to this fact.

For the purposes of the research, a biblical world view was defined as believing that absolute moral truth exists, that such truth is defined by the Bible, and that the Bible is accurate in all of its teachings.

A biblical world view based upon understanding Bible prophecy is essential for an understanding of the times we live in today.

Let's look at the provision in scripture for a biblical world view. All scripture is God breathed. That means it's inspired and is profitable for doctrine, for correction, and instruction in righteousness, that's II Timothy 3:16. God gave the scriptures to the Jew to preserve and communicate to mankind, Romans 3:1-2. And thus, we have His written Word for us today. Our blessings and understanding comes from God's provision of His heart, His mind, His thoughts in written form, the Bible.

Now, let's look at the priority for studying a biblical world view. The Apostle Paul wrote that we must study the Word of God, a workman that need not be ashamed, relying on God's Word for all of life's questions. We must rightly divide the Word of truth, the Bible, to ascertain its true meaning. These two principles, study and rightly dividing the Word of God, are instruction for the End Times and they come from Paul's exhortation to young Timothy found in II Timothy 2:15.

Finally, let's look at the prophetic scenario of a biblical world view. A study of Bible prophecy reveals the scenario for the Last Days with a seven year period of judgment in our world followed by the return of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, to establish His Kingdom here on earth. However, preceeding that seven years of judgment, those who are true born again Christians will be taken out of this world to be with Jesus Christ, that's the Rapture.

Allowing the Bible to form our world view prepares us for these future events and gives us evidence as to how close they may be.

AMEN PASTOR ROGER!

The truth of this article is really staggering. Bluntly, many self-proclaimed Christians of today don't think that Bible Study is important enough to do every day. As a result, we have tons of baby Christians who have never progressed past the soft food and Milk of THE WORD. GOD has prepared a "Huge Buffet" of all good things in terms of "Spiritual Food", but many Christians don't have the teeth to eat it. In terms of problems for Christians, I think this is one of the greatest ones Christians face today. One needs more than just the "Milk" of THE WORD to grow Strong in CHRIST! We all need a full set of "Spiritual Teeth" to eat the "MEAT" of GOD'S WORD, and we need to be eating a healthy diet of "Spiritual Food" every day. Food for our Spirit should be more important than food for our physical bodies. Without adequate nourishment, our physical bodies become weak and ill. The same is TRUE for our Spirit. As Christians, we should be thinking about an ultimate REALITY: we will only be using these physical bodies for a short period of time. It's just a temporary residence that the Bible compares to a tent. As a contrast, we are our Spirit for Eternity, and GOD will give us a glorified body at HIS Appointed Time. We need to eat the good things that GOD has provided for us and FEED our Spirit!

Love In Christ,
Tom

Colossians 1:9-12 NASB
For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.

Rhode Island school to track students with RFID tags

A Rhode Island school district plans to begin using Radio Frequency Identification -- or RFID -- technology to track students, starting next week. But the plan is not without opposition. Neal McCluskey with the Cato Institute says while the program may have good intentions, it is still a bad idea.

The Middletown, Rhode Island, school district will attach RFID tags to the book bags of about 80 children who ride buses to and from school. The system is supposed to allow the district and parents to know whether their children are on the bus. Global Positioning System (GPS) devices will also allow officials and parents to locate buses.

A spokesperson for the district told Associated Press that the system will improve accountability and efficiency of the schools' transportation services. But McCluskey, education policy analyst for the Cato Institute, says Americans should be concerned any time any government entity, like a public school, wants to gather more information about them.

"And I think a lot of people, with good reason, see this sort of as the camel's nose under the tent of greater tracking, more intrusion on personal freedom and independence," he says.

"It'll all be cast in terms like 'It's for their safety. It's for efficiency' -- which, you know, might be legitimate reasons to do it," the Cato Institute analyst acknowledges. "But when it comes from a government entity ... unless it's truly, fully voluntary, people are very worried that it's going to become something much bigger than it starts out as and it's a legitimate concern."

The fundamental problem, according to McCluskey, is that the plan will be imposed upon parents who pay for the school through their taxes and who may have legitimate concerns about privacy and other tracking applications of the technology -- such as tracking students during and after school.

In addition to privacy concerns and fears of expanded use of such electronic monitoring of children, security experts point out that the system would only track whether the RFID tag, not the actual child, is or is not on the bus. Advocates for school choice say the program is evidence of the laziness of some public school administrators, who should -- they say -- already have systems in place to know the location of every student for the entire school day.

Hospitals tagging babies with electronic chips
Privacy advocates protest as half of Ohio birthing centers turn to tracking technology

Over half the birthing facilities in Ohio are being equipped with an RFID infant protection system placed on infants at birth to prevent them from being abducted from the hospital or from being given to the wrong mother.

"Standard protocol in the hospitals using the VeriChip system is that the baby receives an RFID anklet at birth and the mother receives a matching wristband," VeriChip spokeswoman Allison Tomek told WND. "The mothers are not asked."

VeriChip Corp., a publicly listed company headquartered in Delray Beach, Fla., is marketing though its wholly-owned subsidiary, Xmark, a HUGS brand tag-and-bracelet infant security system. The RFID tag is attached to an infant at birth by an ankle bracelet that is detected by monitors positioned throughout the hospital.

Critics charge the VeriChip system is an intrusive technology solution to a problem that is rare.

"The VeriChip infant security system is a technology looking for a solution," said Katherine Albrecht, founder and director of CASPIAN, Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering.

"Baby snatching from hospital facilities is a diaper full of nonsense," Albrecht told WND.

She cited a January 2003 report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children concluding that of approximately 4.2 million births per year at 3,500 birthing centers in the U.S., abductions by non-family members are estimated at between zero and 12 per year. Of those, the mother is re-united with the child 95 percent of the time.

"Ironically, relying on RFID technology could end up making a rare occurrence more likely," Albrecht said. "Once hospital staffers rely on computer systems to track the human inventory in their care, they become less vigilant."

Albrecht is co-author along with Liz McIntyre of "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Purchase and Watch Your Every Move."

The HUGS system can detect if the RFID tag is lifted from the baby's skin, if the ankle strap broken or if the baby's RFID tag and the mother's don't match.

If a newborn is removed from the ward without authorization or a baby is placed with the wrong mother, the system triggers an alarm that can cause hospital entrances and exits to lock shut.

"The infant abductions that do occur tend to happen in larger, more impersonal hospitals," Albrecht emphasized.

"We actually investigated an abduction that involved a baby who was wearing an RFID ankle bracelet at the time of the abduction," Albrecht said. "What happened was a woman dressed up in hospital scrubs. Even though the other staffers in the maternity ward did not recognize this woman, nobody reported her, because they thought the RFID system would take care of any problem."

The woman figured out how to turn the RFID system off, Albrecht said, 'and she just walked right out of the hospital carrying the baby, without anybody stopping her."

VeriChip objects, claiming its RFID anklet-and-bracelet infant security system has prevented baby abductions. Spokeswoman Tomek, however, declined to cite specific proof, claiming privacy issues and the need to keep hospital security procedures confidential.

The VeriChip RFID anklets and bracelets are removed by the birthing facility when the mothers and babies are released.

HUGS system RFID anklets and bracelets are not equipped with GPS technology.

VeriChip also produces a human implantable RFID chip that is marketed in the health care area for chronic diseases, including diabetes or stroke, or memory impairment illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease.

"The only viable part of the VeriChip market right now is this infant security system," Albrecht told WND. "People in the United States don't want the human implantable RFID chips VeriChip thought was going to be the core of their business."

Albrecht said VeriChip hopes eventually there will be a mandatory program such as the UK has for implanting RFID chips in prisoners."

The VeriChip human implantable RFID chip was cleared for medical use in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration in October 2004.

VeriChip currently has a market capitalization of about $20 million and 2006 sales of more than $27 million.

VeriChip stock closed yesterday at $2.02 a share.

One more step to force this technology onto people whether they want it or not.

Scientists call for "Evidence-Based" teaching of evolution in schools

A statement signed by 67 national science academies says evidence of the origins of life is being concealed, denied, or confused and the world's top scientists are calling for "Evidence-Based" teaching of evolution in schools.

These scientists say the key facts of evolution, which they claim is scientific evidence which has never been contradicted, also includes the fact that the earth is 4.5 billion years old and the onset of life was at least 2.5 billion years ago.

The world's top scientists believe that every classroom must teach "Evidence-Based" evolution to explain the origins of man, which is in reality a precursor to the fulfillment of Bible prophecy for the Last Days. There has been growing concern within the scientific community that children are not being taught basic facts on evolution and the nature of scientific inquiry.

The world's top scientists say in some countries the simple theory of evolution is denied in the teaching of children in schools. Now, these scientists want evidence based evolution taught in all schools.

I must remind you, it is indeed the theory of evolution and it never has been determined scientifically to be absolute. It is still a theory. This report is however, evidence that Jesus Christ is preparing to come back to the earth, seemingly in the near future. The Apostle Peter, in the content of his last book, II Peter 3:2-7, wrote that in the Last Days supposedly intelligent people will be willingly ignorant, or actually dumb on purpose, ignorant of the truth of the biblical account of Creation and the origins of all of life, all that is in our universe.

The denial by the world's top scientists that the God of the Bible created everything in six 24-hour days around 6,000 years ago is evidence that Jesus Christ is coming soon.

2Pe 3:2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
2Pe 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
2Pe 3:4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
2Pe 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
2Pe 3:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
2Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

Again these are mostly not posted on the forum. All the links are working, as I post this.

False Christs/Prophets

Senator to question televangelists again (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080117/ap_on_re/televangelists_probe)
Georgia church leader turns himself in (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080116/ap_on_re_us/preacher_paternity)
Megachurch leader charged with perjury (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080115/ap_on_re_us/preacher_paternity)
'Islamic Jesus' hits Iranian movie screens (http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hEJp8g5Ip07SZM6RoHz9OlRs5zBg)
Hinn, Hilliard resign ORU regents posts (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080111/ap_on_re_us/oral_roberts_scandal)
Correction: Germany-Scientology story (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080102/ap_on_re_eu/germany_scientology_corrective)

Wars & Rumors of Wars

Pakistan rebuffs U.S. plan for CIA buildup (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080127/ts_nm/pakistan_usa_dc)
New Taliban chief entering limelight (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080126/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_taliban_leader)
Iran says it could attack US bases (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080126/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_us_gulf)
Gadhafi's son said tied to Iraq attack (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080126/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq)
Pakistan says nuclear assets are safe (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080126/ap_on_re_as/pakistan)
Chavez: Pull reserves from US (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080126/ap_on_bi_ge/venezuela_alba_summit)
Islamists planned attacks across Europe (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080126/wl_nm/spain_attack_dc)
Chavez: Colombia plans 'aggression' (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080126/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/venezuela_colombia)
Iraqi reinforcements rush to Mosul (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080125/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq)
6 powers propose new Iran sanctions (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080125/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_sanctions)
Pakistan's Musharraf says no US troops (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080125/ap_on_re_as/world_forum_pakistan)
Pakistan test fires nuke-capable missile (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080125/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_missile_test)
Forum faces world conflicts (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080125/ap_on_re_eu/world_economic_forum)
German court convicts terror suspect (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080125/ap_on_re_eu/germany_terror_trial)
Student Convicted in Attack Against Estonian Web Site (http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20080124/tc_pcworld/141730)
Britain unveils terror law proposals (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080124/ap_on_re_eu/britain_terror_laws)
Russia: No peacekeepers to Kosovo (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080124/ap_on_re_eu/russia_nato)
Pakistan troops kils 40 militants (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080124/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_violence)
U.S. commander orders plans on Pakistan (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080124/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_afghanistan_pakistan)
Karzai warns of spreading terrorism (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080124/ap_on_re_eu/world_economic_forum)
Dutch to ban burqas in schools and government offices (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080123/wl_nm/dutch_burqa_dc)
17 years for ex-'dirty bomb' suspect (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080123/ap_on_re_us/padilla_terror_charges)
Musharraf: Pakistan isn't hunting Osama (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080123/ap_on_re_eu/europe_musharraf)
Israel launches advanced spy satellite (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080121/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_spy_satellite)
Lebanese troops fire on Israeli jets (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080121/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_israel)
3-way standoff fuels Mideast violence (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080121/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_triple_standoff)
Spain wants to question terror suspects (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080121/ap_on_re_eu/spain_terror_arrests)

Earthquakes

Colombia volcano erupts (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080118/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/colombia_volcano)
Small quake reported at Mount St. Helens (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080117/ap_on_sc/mount_st__helens)

Famines

UN warns of biofuels' environmental risk (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080123/ap_on_sc/biofuels_fears) ::) ::)

I will post more links, later. Right now i'm going to lay down for a nap. I haven't slept good the past few days.

Persecution

China calls for stepped-up propaganda (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080123/ap_on_re_as/china_propaganda)
Students stage new anti-Catholic protest in Rome (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080117/wl_nm/pope_protests_dc)
Pope's visit to university canceled (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080115/ap_on_re_eu/vatican_pope_university)
Judge bars deportation of Egyptian (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080111/ap_on_re_us/egyptian_deportation)
British Airways worker loses cross row case (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080108/wl_uk_afp/britainaviationreligion)
Malaysia maintains limited 'Allah' ban (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080104/ap_on_re_as/malaysia_allah_ban)
China limits providers of Internet video (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080104/ap_on_hi_te/china_internet_video)
Kenya church torched, 50 reported killed (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/kenya_elections)

Increase in Wickedness/Love Grows Cold

Family pets fall victim to subprime crisis (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080125/ts_afp/uspropertyfinanceanimals)
Ohio nurse accused of raping elderly (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080124/ap_on_re_us/nursing_home_rape_charges)
Tenn. man fatally beaten, 3 arrested (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080121/ap_on_re_us/elderly_kidnapping)
Child thrown to death on Hawaii freeway (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080118/ap_on_re_us/child_dead_overpass)
Baby, toddler killed in mothers' arms (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080116/ap_on_re_us/four_killed)
Cops: Teen gang made girls prostitutes (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080116/ap_on_re_us/teen_pimps)

Worldwide Dissemination of the Gospel/Church News

Praise the Lord online: Major hymn book goes digital (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080117/tc_nm/religion_praise_life_tech_dc)
"God doesn't do waste," says archbishop on YouTube (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071231/tc_nm/britain_archbishop_dc)

Signs & Wonders in the Heavens, Sun, Moon & Stars

Disabled spy satellite threatens Earth (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080127/ap_on_go_ot/dead_satellite)
Giant Storms Erupt on Jupiter (http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20080125/sc_space/giantstormseruptonjupiter)
Spectacular Sky Show: Venus, Jupiter and the Moon (http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20080125/sc_space/spectacularskyshowvenusjupiterandthemoon)
Dust samples prompt rethink about comets (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080125/sc_nm/comet_dc)
Astronomers to get rare look at visiting asteroid (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080125/sc_nm/asteroid_dc)
Asteroid will swing by, but won't stop (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080125/ap_on_sc/earth_asteroid)
Female Figure on Mars Just a Rock (http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20080124/sc_space/femalefigureonmarsjustarock)
Mars' Natural Sculptures Pose Mystery (http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20080124/sc_space/marsnaturalsculpturesposemystery)
Large Asteroid to Fly Past Earth (http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20080124/sc_space/largeasteroidtoflypastearth)
F-16s were in area where UFO reported (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080123/ap_on_re_us/ufo_sightings)
Dozens in Texas town report seeing UFO (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080114/ap_on_fe_st/odd_ufo_sightings)
NASA spacecraft speeds by Mercury (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080114/ap_on_sc/mercury_messenger)
No big bang: Asteroid will miss Mars (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080111/ap_on_sc/mars_asteroid)
NOAA confirms start of new sunspot cycle (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080104/ap_on_sc/sunspot)
Microsoft bigwigs donate to telescope (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080104/ap_on_sc/large_telescope) Hmmmm, could they be looking for "Wormwood?"
Meteor Shower Friday Morning (http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20080103/sc_space/mustseemeteorshowerfridaymorning)
Data shed new light on night clouds (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080103/ap_on_sc/night_clouds)

Pestilence

Bird flu threat still real, scientists say (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080123/sc_nm/birdflu_dc)
Initiative reduces unneeded antibiotics slightly (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080124/hl_nm/antibiotics_dc)
Experts call for rethinking AIDS money (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080118/ap_on_he_me/rethinking_aids)
Ignorance of dangers hampers India bird flu fight (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080118/hl_nm/birdflu_india_dc)
Indonesian boy dies of bird flu (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080118/hl_nm/birdflu_indonesia_dc)
Over 550 cholera cases in Congo mining capital (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080118/hl_nm/congo_democratic_cholera_dc)
Ukraine finds H5N1 bird flu in Crimea (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080118/hl_nm/ukraine_birdflu_dc)
U.S. to study bizarre medical condition (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080117/ap_on_he_me/morgellons_cdc)
Plague a growing but overlooked threat (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080115/sc_nm/plague_threat_dc)
Proteins found that AIDS virus preys on (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080111/ap_on_he_me/hiv_proteins)
Incurable dengue disease could spread in US (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080109/ts_alt_afp/ushealthdengue_080109025121)
Tuberculosis exposure feared on India-to-U.S. flight (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080104/hl_nm/tuberculosis_usa_dc)
Dengue fever killed 407 in Cambodia (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080104/ap_on_he_me/cambodia_dengue)
Thousands of Britons sickened by virus (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080104/ap_on_he_me/britain_vomiting_virus)
Bird flu discovered in northern Israel (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080103/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_bird_flu)
Passenger with TB in Calif. hospital (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080101/ap_on_he_me/tuberculosis_infection)

Fearsome Events

Stock markets plunge worldwide (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080121/ap_on_bi_ge/world_markets)
Once Mighty Britain Tumbles, Its ETF Sinks (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ibd/20080117/bs_ibd_ibd/20080117etf)
Floods displace thousands in southern Africa (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080108/wl_nm/africa_floods_dc)
Midwest tornadoes kill 1, injure several (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080108/ap_on_re_us/severe_weather)
More than 1M lose power in Calif. storm (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080104/ap_on_re_us/winter_storm)

Nations in Distress

Death toll in latest Kenya clashes at 25 (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080127/ap_on_re_af/kenya_election_violence)
Fighting erupts in western Kenyan town (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080125/ap_on_re_af/kenya_election_violence)
Power cuts cripple southern Africa (http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20080125/wl_csm/odark)
Kenyans hacked to death with machetes (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080121/ap_on_re_af/kenya_election)
Violence spikes in Mexico (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080118/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/mexico_violence)

Apprehensive for the Future

Arctic ice-cap loss twice the size of France (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080123/sc_afp/arcticfranceclimatewarmingscience_080123230414)
EU sets emissions targets to fight climate change (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080123/sc_afp/euclimatewarmingenvironment_080123223023)
China, India among worst environmental performers (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080123/sc_afp/davosenvironment_080123173759)
US moves to avert economic meltdown (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080123/ap_on_bi_ge/economy_stimulus)
Stock markets plunge worldwide (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080121/ap_on_bi_ge/world_markets)
Nuclear revival rekindles waste concerns (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080120/ap_on_bi_ge/nuclear_waste_worries)
With nuclear rebirth come new worries (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080113/ap_on_sc/nuclear_world)
Gold hits record $900 an ounce (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080111/ap_on_bi_ge/gold_at900)
Pakistan rejects nuclear watchdog's worries (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080109/wl_nm/pakistan_nuclear_dc)
UN climate chief to visit Antarctica (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080108/ap_on_re_eu/un_climate_change)

Knowledge Increases

Researchers a step closer to synthetic life (http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20080125/tc_usatoday/researchersastepclosertosyntheticlife)
Doctors report transplant breakthrough (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080124/ap_on_he_me/transplant_breakthrough)
Scientists make human embryo clones (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080118/ap_on_sc/cloned_embryos)
New material pushes the boundary of blackness (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080115/sc_nm/nano_black_dc)
Glowing pig passes genes to piglets (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080110/ap_on_sc/china_fluorescent_pig)
Deep Impact spacecraft zips past Earth (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080101/ap_on_sc/comet_mission)
Iran says first cloned sheep thriving (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080101/ap_on_sc/iran_cloned_sheep)

Quote from: DreamWeaver on January 28, 2008, 05:12:30 PM

AMEN!!

I hope you know why I only do this once a month.

Brother,

I'll guess this is the most logical way to do it. Shorter periods of time might not reflect the change and escalation, but we might not be here over longer periods of time. I do believe that CHRIST could RAPTURE HIS CHURCH at any time now. Am I close?

Love In Christ,
Tom

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NASB
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 NASB
Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

The top US Spy Chief warns Congress about China, Russia and OPEC oil producing countries

The US National Director of Intelligence, Michael McConnel, spoke of his concerns in the annual assessment of potential threats when addressing Congress recently and suggested that the threats in which economic matters join terrorism, nuclear proliferation and computer networking vulnerabilities were the top security issues.

McConnel said he was concerned about the financial capabilities of Russia, China and the OPEC countries and the potential use of their market access to exert financial leverage to political ends.

The intelligence assessment by the US chief spy referring to the threat from China, Russia and the OPEC oil producing nations is a page out of Bible prophecy for the Last Days.

An intelligence report that focuses on China, Russia and the OPEC oil producing states has made it clear that these three different geopolitical entities can use economics to affect politics in the world. The world is today watching Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin, take control of energy sources that supply Europe and has positioned itself to impact geopolitical activities in Europe. At the same time, China with its almost twenty-five percent of the world's total population is developing a major military force with control of all the sea lanes from the OPEC nations to the refineries in China. OPEC oil producing nations can and are manipulating political activities through its control of oil production supplying the needs of nations with ever increasing needs.

These three political entities will be major players in the End Time scenario that is found in Bible prophecy. Russia leads a coalition of nations against the Jewish state of Israel in the Last Days, Ezekiel 38:2, where Magog is the political name for modern-day Russia. OPEC nations will be the nations that form the alliance led by Russia, Ezekiel 38:2-6. China is referred to as the Kings of the East, Revelation 16:12, that brings a mighty force to Jerusalem to form an army of nations to stop the Return of Jesus Christ.

A lot of situations seem to be converging all at the same time.

Does anyone watch 'Prophecy in the News'. a Christian news commentary, on Sky Angel? They were reviewing Bush's visit to Israel last month. I thought it might be interesting to add some of their observations about the events of that time. I hadn't heard a lot of this:

This was a very important visit because he (Bush) was opposed by all of the Orthodox Jews, in fact they wore sackcloth to the Western Wall in protest of George Bush's visit.

Gary Stearman said, 'There is voluminous evidence that God gave Israel to the Jews. It's become a bone of contention, even as the prophets said it would be in the last days, prophecy is being fulfilled.'

He went to Israel for one purpose, says J.R.Church, and that was to make the Prime Minister of Israel and PA President Abbas, to sit down over the next 12 months and hammer out a peace accord to create a Palestinian State. He went for the purpose of carving a Palestinian State out of the heartland of Israel, God's Holy land. ...he wants to remove the Jews from sections of Jerusalem, and give all of that territory to Palestine making Jerusalem the capital of Palestine. Needless to say, this goes against the will of God.

There is now a San Hedrin, the San Hedrin takes us back to the time of Christ and before. And even though they're not recognized politically, one of these days they will be. They will annoint the Messiah as the King of Israel. But until then, of course, there are conflicts.

In what is called 'The Bush Scroll', written on parchment (which we got off of the internet), published by the San Hedrin court, signed by the President of that court in Israel, and also the Temple Institute, signed by Chaim Richmon (? spelling) the man who has made all of the tools for a Jewish Temple to be built, this is what they say:

In the name of the LORD Eternal God, to the Honorable Mr. George Bush, President of the USA, who comes seeking the presence of the Most High God to Jerusalem, City of God, divinely chosen sight of the Holy Temple, eternal capital of our land, the joy of the entire earth (Psalm 48:3), may it be rebuilt and established speedily and in our days, Amen.

Esteemed Mr. George W. Bush, the Chief Prince of Meshach and Tubal, leader of the west....

That's the way it starts!! This esteemed council called the San Hedrin, referred to George W. Bush as the Chief Prince of Meshach and Tubal! Meshach and Tubal are Russia, and to our mind might be Vladimir Putin, however the San Hedrin had differnt ideas, a different way of looking at things. They see George W. Bush as essentially being the leader of the entire world, including the territories of Meshac and Tubal!

In this Bush Scroll, they go on to give him the opportunity to be like Cyrus or he can be forever labeled as an enemy of Israel. Either to be their friend or their enemy and they say "thus if you truly desire peace and benevolence, you would be counted in the company of the truly righteous. We call upon you to declare to all the world that the land of Israel was bequeathed to the nation of Israel by the Creator of the World..."

Bush said in his statement there, that they must go back to the Armistice lines of 1947. That would take all of Jerusalem away, from the Mendlebaum Gate eastward, that would create only a small corridor, that highway that goes from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and before the Jews fought the battle to free that little highway, they were being picked off by the enemy, there were snipers everywhere. Furthermore, the Temple Mt. at that time, was in the possession of the King of Jordan, but he doesn't want that, he just wanted the Jews to give up the territory. He's not going to give it back to Jordan, he's going to give it to the Palestinians. The interesting thing is Hamas is on the Temple Mount now and they have a radio station that broadcasts Moselm prayers 5 times a day!

Currently the de facto operators of the Temple Mount are the Arabs. But the San Hedrin are operating as though Israel is a whole country, in other words, they say by faith - you could say, Israel is ours - from the Jordan to the Mediterranean it should remain ours.

But George Bush said in Israel, the occupation of Palestine by the Jews must come to an end (he actually used those words).

Not only did the San Hedrin write him a letter and have it delivered, but also the once Head Rabbi of Israel, a Rabbi Modechai Eliyahu, published a letter that he had handed to the President. He told him that his agenda for peace goes against the will of God. He went on to say, granting the sight to murderers of women and children who blaspheme God, is an act against the Jewish people as well as God. Ever since the Jews of Gush Katif were expelled from their homes, (around the same time Katrina hit New Orleans, remarked J.R. Church), the Jewish communities have been bombarded with hundreds of rockets by Hamas as well as other Palestinian organizations. Hundreds of thousands of people who will live in similar danger if we were to abide by your peace plan. And then where would we end up? asked the Rabbi.

So, he's simply saying to Bush, you'd better take a stand for Israel if you understand the Bible. Anyone who believes the Bible is the Word of God, he said, has to understand that God gave this land to the Jews.

I thought this program was really interesting and wanted to share a little. If you'd like to see the show, they show it in it's entirety on their website. Very intersting!

Also got this from Bill Koenig:

Islam Infiltrating and Influencing Highest Levels of US Defense

by Bill Wilson, KIN Senior Analyst

A supporter of an Islamic terror organization with close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist group that has called for a "civilization jihad" against the US is using his bias to influence national defense policy in the war on terror as a high-ranking aide to Deputy Defense Secretary Gordan England. Hesham H. Islam is a special assitant to Mr. England. And according to World Net Daily, Mr. Islam used his position to criticize and orchestrate the removal of Major Stephen Coughlin, one of the military's leading authorities on Islamic war doctrine, because he was connecting Islam to terrorism.

WND reported that 'After Mr. Islam lodged complaints, Mr. Coughlin's contract with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon was not renewed.

Mr. Islam was also upset with briefings Coughlin recently prepared for the US military warning that major US Muslim groups were fronting for the Muslim Brotherhood, a worldwide jihadist movement based in Egypt. Mr. Islam, who was born and raised in Egypt, is heavily involved with one of the groups, the Islamic Society of North America.

During the recent terrorist funding trial of the Holy Land Foundation in Dallas, Texas, the US government named the Islamic Society of North America a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and an un-indicted co-consipirator in the trial.

The Muslim Brotherhood's strategic plan for N. America , written in May 1991, names the Islamic Society of N. America first on a list of "our organizations and the organizations of our friends." The Muslim Brotherhood plan, which was also submitted as evidence in the recent Holy Land Foundation terrorist funding trial, calls for the colonization and destruction of the US by Islam.

The plan says the Muslims must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western Civilization from within and sabotaging it's 'miserable' house by their hands and the hands of believers so that it is eliminated and god's religion is made victorious over all religions.

That this man named Islam, with ties to a terrorist front organization, could influence a deputy defense secretary to the point of dismissing a leading authority on our nation's military doctrine against terrorism is an example of political correctness gone awry. This man appears to be using the Muslim religion to hide his espionage.

The US government has a paradigm that there must be separation of church and state, so this guy can do whatever he wants regarding his private beliefs. But that's the danger of mixing Islam with national defense: One is inherantly trying to destroy the other.

Jesus warned in Matthew 24:4 "Take heed that no man deceive you. "Deception is operating at our highest levels of our national defense."

Crop Prices Rise
Friday February 1, 4:36 pm ET
USDA Report Shows Crop Prices on the Rise Signaling More Cost Hurdles for Food Makers

NEW YORK (AP) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture this week told food and meat producers something they already know -- agricultural commodity prices are on the rise.

According to the USDA's January report released Thursday on the average costs of good purchased by farmers to make agricultural commodities, prices overall are up 22 percent since January of last year.

ADVERTISEMENT
Specifically, prices for food grains are 72 percent higher than they were a year go, due largely to a big jump in wheat prices. Wheat has reached record levels due to soaring international demand and unfavorable weather which has cut into supply.

Many food makers depend on grain to make their products. Cereal and bread makers like Kellogg Co. and Kraft Foods Inc. have tried to offset the higher costs through price increases but the costs have still hit profit.

Shares of Kellogg rose 1 percent for the week, closing at $49.02 Friday. At Kraft, shares fell 0.8 percent this week to close at $29.42 Friday.

Feed grain prices, including corn and soybeans, are up 38 percent for the year. Meat and dairy producers, particularly, are affected by higher feed grains costs. If farmers must pay more to feed their animals, they typically pass along those costs to producers.

Corn and soybean prices soared in 2007 due largely to demand for the alternative fuel ethanol. Ethanol is made with corn, so more demand for the fuel led to higher prices of the grain. To take advantage of those prices, a number of grain farmers switched from planting soybeans to planting corn. That resulted in a smaller supply of soybeans, which pushed up the price of that grain as well.

Shares of Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest meat company, rose 11 percent this week to close at $14.41 Friday.

Meanwhile, shares of Pilgrim's Pride rose 7 percent to close at $25.93.

Crop Prices Rise (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080201/crop_prices_commodities_wrap.html?.v=1)
~~~~~~~~~

With prices rising the way they are it is easy to see Revelations 6:6 happening in Tribulation.

Revelations 6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

This is from the Hal Lindsey Report:

"The head of Israel's Internal Security Service says that after Hamas blew up the border wall between Gaza and Egypt 2 weeks ago, they smuggled heavy weapons into Gaza. As reported last week, the breech allowed hundreds of thousands of Gazans to cross into Egypt without restriction. Ordinary Palestinians mobbed the border towns buying up huge amounts of supplies of food and fuel. Those are the pictures you saw in the media. But while the TV cameras focused on them, Hamas terrorists were busy smuggling tons of advanced rockets, weapons, high explosives and ammuntion from Egypt into Gaza.

Under an agreement that the US brokered between Israel and the Palestinians, Egypt and the PA operated the border crossing at Rafa. Worthless EU moniters were deployed on the Palestinian side. During the final Hamas takeover of Gaza last June, the Europeans ran for their lives. That allowed Hamas to gain control of ther border terminal unchallenged.

Yuval Diskin is the Director of Shin Bet, Israel's Security Service. He recently told the Israeli cabinet that terrorists affiliated with various organizations from Iran, Syria and Egypt were smuggled into Gaza at the same time. Diskin said that using the training they received in Iran, Hamas is upgrading for future attacks against Israel. Among the heavy weapons Hamas has now added to it's arsenal are longer range rockets, and anti-tank, anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles. The improved rockets bring hundreds of thousands more Israelis within range of the Hamas launchers. According to the Jerusalem Post, Diskin's report is based on intelligence only obtained in recent days. Diskin also revealed that the IDF has identified 30 different routes accross the Sinai Negev border in the southern part of Israel, used by terrorists to infiltrate Israel. It's believed that hundreds of foreign fighters have already made their way through the border regions.

The border breech was carefully planned to tap the world's sympathy to the plight of the Palestinians caught in the crossfire between Hamas and Israel. While global attention was focused on the Palestinians buying cigarettes and diesel fuel, Hamas and Egypt used this cover to augment Gaza's military arsenal. The complex breeching operation took several months to prepare. Despite Egypt's official denials it's unlikely that Hamas could have managed the operation without Cairo's knowlege or cooperation.

As a watchman on the wall, Lindsey says, let me seek to summarize the danger that Israel has come to face over the last few weeks. I believe that Israel faces a more dangerous situation than ever before. Because of recent developments, Israel faces enemies whose reason for being enemies is not political differences or even strictly ethnic differences, Israel's foes oppose them because of an irreconcilable religion. For the same reason, Israel does not war with one nation, it is at war with many nations that are united against her because of this one common religion, Islam. Therefore, political and economic solutions will not work because they only address structure and conditions, and not the root cause of the conflict. Frankly, the approach of the west to solve the so-called Middle East conflict continues to deal with it only in political and economic terms. It's akin to a physician who keeps treating only the symptoms, but never diagnoses the disease that causes those symptoms.

Now, Israel faces a much graver situaion. Hamas' recent breech of the border wall has enabled, perhaps hundreds of highly trained terrorists to move into Gaza. It also permitted Gazan terrorists to join with other groups in the Sinai. They're now deploying along Israel's lightly guarded, 220 km southern border. They're now able to set up missile launch locations in range of Dimona, Beersheba and Elat - each of these cities were previously out of their reach. Hamas also imported much more advanced and deadly munitions to be used against Israel's population centers, from within Gaza. Even Tel-Aviv may soon be in rocket range. The situation is further exacerbated by intense pressure from the Bush administration upon Israel to reach some sort of a deal - apparently any deal with the Palestinians. They think that forcing democracy upon the Palestinaians and improving their economic situation will settle the centuries old religious differences. The unrealistic time table Bush slapped on the process makes it likely that the Olmert government will agree to very unwise concessions. Things that more competent leaders with cooler heads would never consent to.

The recent Lenigrad Report says, because of incompetent leadership at the top, the former vaunted Israeli Defense Force is now inadequately trained. Rather than this report giving Israel cause for relief, it signals the Muslim nations that the time to anniahlate Israel is now. They know that if a tough leader like Netanyahu gets in, their chances are greatly diminished. The report tells the Muslim world that they don't have to fear Olmert. It signals them that he's a man that can't move quickly and decisively to defeat an attacking enemy.

Chertoff is not sleeping any better than he was last year at this time, but he's not sleeping any worse. He feels the pieces are being put in place to counter an attack from al Qaida, and win the war on terror.

'Earth-Shattering' Events

February 11, 2008 - 10:48am
J.J. Green, WTOP Radio

WASHINGTON - Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff's eyes narrow and his voice develops a stern, urgent tone as he reveals America's biggest vulnerability to terrorism.

"The great weapon they have is persistence and patience, and the one weakness that we have is the tendency to lose patience and become complacent," Chertoff tells WTOP.

"It strikes me as hard to accept that anybody would believe the threat is over. There is nothing these terrorists are doing or saying that could lead a reasonable person to believe that they have somehow lost interest. Our biggest challenge is making sure we do not drop our guard because time passes."

Chertoff recognizes it has been more than six years since al Qaida launched the Sept. 11 attacks, but some experts say that's how long it took to plan them, suggesting the U.S. may close in on another spectacular attempt by Osama bin Laden to topple the U.S. economy.

"If you're asking me what keeps me up at night or what I most worry about -- in the short term, obviously, you worry about homegrown terrorists or somebody coming in with an explosive device or the kind of act of violence or terror that we've actually seen occasionally carried out in this country by people who are simply nuts or like a Timothy McVeigh.

"But in the longer run, in terms of something that would really be earth-shattering, the kinds of things I'm worried about are a nuclear or a dirty bomb attack or a nuclear or biological attack. Now I don't believe that the capability to do that is around the corner."

What worries him, worries U.S. intelligence officials as well.

CIA Director Michael Hayden told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last week that al Qaida will continue trying to "acquire chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials (CBRN), and would not hesitate to use them in attacks."

Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell said at that same hearing that "al-Qaida remains the pre-eminent threat against the United States."

Europe is at the top of the list of possible launch points for an attack against the U.S.

"One of the things we've become concerned about lately is the possibility of Europe becoming a platform for a threat against the United States," Chertoff told the British Broadcasting Company in mid-January.

Chertoff tells WTOP he's convinced by evidence from 2007 that the stakes are high.

"Just look at what's happened in the last year. We had the attacks in Britain. We had the disrupted plot in Germany. We had the arrests in Spain," Chertoff said. "Clearly terrorists and militants are able to operate within Europe."

The special travel relationship between the U.S. and Europe is worrisome for Chertoff.

"We have a visa waiver program with respect to Europe that allows people to come without getting visas. There's an obvious concern that people might seize that as they tried in August 2006 to use Europe as a platform to attack us."

And CBRN attacks, which are most likely from an organized al Qaida threat, would require the largest protective investment.

"I don't believe that the capability to do that is around the corner, but I also think that the preparations that we need to have in place to deal with this threat are going to take a while to build, and we're building them as we speak.

"But they're not going to be done in six weeks or even six months. So what is important is to stay focused on making the investments now that we will be very grateful for in several years if someone does get their hands on nuclear materials or a biological agent."

What is the Department of Homeland Security doing to prepare for the possibility? Chertoff recites a long list, including scanning capability, the ability to disarm, better intelligence focus and better capability to make sure that the radioactive material in this country is properly accounted for and secured.

"With respect to biological agents, we've got widely deployed biological sensors, but we now want to move to the next generation of sensor, which would be quicker, cheaper and even easier to disperse. We're creating an integrated intelligence fusion capability focused on biological threats, so that we can merge intelligence, clinical information and sensor data in order to rapidly identify and characterize a biological attack."

Chertoff is not sleeping any better than he was last year at this time, but he's not sleeping any worse. He feels the pieces are being put in place to counter an attack from al Qaida, and win the war on terror.

But there is one lingering question that has yet to be answered: Will the nation remain focused enough to finish it?

"We're moving properly and efficiently, but it only works if we don't lose interest in it. If we decide that it's no longer a concern, then we're going to be putting ourselves in danger."

'Earth-Shattering' Events (http://www.wtopnews.com/?sid=1342138&nid=251)
~~~~~~~~

I think that the next administration won't view the threat as real and basically sideline homeland security, or use it solely for political purposes.

Iranian President Ahmadinejad has made a historic visit to Iraq

Iranian President Ahmadinejad received a warm welcome in Baghdad, Iraq on the first ever visit to Iraq by an Iranian President. This visit marking the culmination of a process of normalization between the two countries after the eight year long war they fought back in the 1980's.

At a joint news conference with Iraqi President Talabani, the Iranian President said that his visit to Iraq opened a new page in the Iraqi-Iranian relations and that the two nations were determined to strengthen their political and economic cooperation, adding that a united and powerful Iraq is in the interest of all countries in the region.

The Iraqi President Talabani, who warmly greeted the Iranian President, said that Ahmadinejad's visit to Iraq was truly an historic event.

The visit of an Iranian President to Iraq is not only an historic event, but a prophetic event as well.

Iranian President Ahmadinejad's state visit to Iraq, the first ever by an Iranian President, marks the end of normalization for the two Middle Eastern nations who fought an eight year long war that resulted in the deaths of millions of Iraqi's and Iranian's.

During Ahmadinejad's visit he called for the United States military to withdraw from Iraq so that this war-torn nation could rebuild itself and become a major power in the region.

President Ahmadinejad's counterpart in Iraq is President Talabani who you may recall is not only the President of Iraq but also the leader of the Kurdish people of Iraq. Let me remind you that the Iranians of today are the Persians of Biblical times. And the Kurds of northern Iraq are the Medes of Biblical times, the Medes and the Persians.

Ahmadinejad spoke prophetic words as he called for Iraq to become an economic and political powerhouse in the region. That's exactly what Bible prophecy says will happen. Iraq today was Babylon in Biblical times and will become the economic, political, governmental capital of the world in the last days.

Revelation 18 reveals this scenario, a scenario that calls for the world leader during that time to be the antichrist, who will set up his headquarters in Iraq or Biblical Babylon, only to have it destroyed in one hour, Revelation 18: 10, 17 and 19 and also Revelation 16:17-20.

By the way, the Medes will assist in that destruction and that's found in Jeremiah 51:11. The Medes in this passage are the Kurds of today. Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.

Quote

President Ahmadinejad's counterpart in Iraq is President Talabani who you may recall is not only the President of Iraq but also the leader of the Kurdish people of Iraq. Let me remind you that the Iranians of today are the Persians of Biblical times. And the Kurds of northern Iraq are the Medes of Biblical times, the Medes and the Persians.

Ahmadinejad spoke prophetic words as he called for Iraq to become an economic and political powerhouse in the region. That's exactly what Bible prophecy says will happen. Iraq today was Babylon in Biblical times and will become the economic, political, governmental capital of the world in the last days.

Revelation 18 reveals this scenario, a scenario that calls for the world leader during that time to be the antichrist, who will set up his headquarters in Iraq or Biblical Babylon, only to have it destroyed in one hour, Revelation 18: 10, 17 and 19 and also Revelation 16:17-20.

By the way, the Medes will assist in that destruction and that's found in Jeremiah 51:11. The Medes in this passage are the Kurds of today. Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.

It's fascinating that the Holy Bible is 100% accurate - down to the most TINY detail. Christians of today are getting more and more concrete evidence by the day that the Holy Bible IS and ALWAYS has been THE ULTIMATE TRUTH OF ALL AGES! I just hope and pray that the lost will see this. As for Christians, our faith should be strengthened by the day.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Ephesians 1:18-23 NASB I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Britain to issue national ID cards

Britain will begin issuing national identity cards within months and target foreigners, airport staff and students in the first wave of the program, the government said yesterday.

Foreign nationals will need to provide fingerprints and personal data for a database linked to the plan starting in November, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said.

The program will cost an estimated $11.1 billion and involve the creation of a new national database, which will store a wide range of individual data.

Government ministers say the cards and database will help thwart terrorism, crime and illegal immigration. But opponents insist the system will be too expensive, provide little added security and erode personal freedom.

Foreigners from outside the European Economic Area — the 27-nation European Union plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein — deemed at most risk of committing immigration offenses will be targeted first, Mrs. Smith said, including those using student or marriage visas to live in Britain.

The identity cards will contain details of the holders' immigration status, entitlements and specifics on how long they can stay in Britain, she said.

Beginning in 2009, citizens of the European Economic Area who live in Britain and Britons working in secure sites, including some airport staffers, power station workers and staff at the London 2012 Olympics, will be required to sign up for identity cards.

Students and young people will be asked to join the program voluntarily starting in 2010, Mrs. Smith said.

She said that, starting in 2011, everyone in Britain applying to renew a passport will have his or her details added to the national database. She expects most people to be registered by 2017.

"As citizens, it will offer us a new, convenient, secure way to prove our identity," Mrs. Smith said.

Opposition lawmakers and civil liberties campaigners bitterly oppose the program; some question the government's ability to handle sensitive data.

In recent months, tax officials have lost sensitive information — including banking records — on nearly half the population; transport officials misplaced records of 3 million would-be drivers; and the Defense Ministry lost a laptop storing details of 600,000 military applicants.

"The National Identity Register, which will contain dozens of personal details of every adult in this country in one place, will be a severe threat to our security and a real target for criminals, hackers and terrorists," said David Davis, home affairs spokesman with the main opposition Conservative Party.

Mrs. Smith said internal government polling shows 60 percent of Britons support the idea.

King Abdullah extends hand of friendship to Catholic Church
March 17, 2008
Richard Owen in Rome

The Vatican is believed to be holding talks with Saudi authorities over opening the first Roman Catholic church in the Islamic kingdom, where Christian worship is banned and even to possess a Bible, rosary or crucifix is an offence.

The disclosure came the day after the first Catholic church in Qatar was inaugurated in a service attended by 15,000 people and conducted by a senior Vatican official.

The Vatican and Saudi Arabia do not have diplomatic relations. However, Archbishop Paul-Mounged El-Hachem, the Papal Nuncio to Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, Yemen and Bahrain, who attended the Doha inauguration, said that moves towards diplomatic ties were under way after an unprecedented visit to the Vatican last November by King Abdullah. This would involve negotiations for the “authorisation of the building of Catholic churches” in Saudi Arabia, he said.

The move would amount to a potential revolution in Christian-Muslim relations, since Saudi Arabia adheres to a hardline Wahhabi version of Sunni Islam and is home to Mecca and Medina, the most holy sites of the religion. No faith other than Islam may be practised.

Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said that he could not confirm that the two sides were in negotiations. However, he added: “If, as we hope, we reach an agreement authorising the construction of the first church in Saudi Arabia, it will be a step of historic importance.”

Saudi religious police search the homes of Christians regularly; even private prayer services are forbidden in practice. Foreign workers have to observe Ramadan but are not allowed to celebrate Christmas or Easter.

La Stampa, the Italian daily, said that the talks would have been “unthinkable” until recently. The way was paved by King Abdullah's talks with the Pope and by the recent setting up of a permanent Catholic-Muslim forum to repair relations between the two faiths after the Pope's controversial remarks on Islam at the University of Regensburg in 2006.

The Pope said that his apparent reference to Islam as inherently violent had been misunderstood and he made amends by praying at the Blue Mosque in Istanbul soon afterwards.

Of the Saudi Arabian population, 94 per cent are Muslim and less than 4 per cent - nearly a million people - Christian, nearly all of them foreign workers. The last Christian priest was expelled from Saudi Arabia in 1985.

Qtar, which hopes to bid to host the Olympic Games in 2016, has approved five churches for other Christian denominations, including the Anglican Communion.

Land of one faith

— Saudi laws do not recognise or protect freedom of religion. Non- nationals are severely restricted in practising different faiths

— Missionaries are banned and face imprisonment if caught. Sunni Muslims face severe repercussions from the Mutawwain, or religious police, for breaking Muslim law

— The official policy of allowing non-Muslims to worship freely at home is not reliably enforced

— In the courts, once fault is determined, a Muslim receives all of the amount of compensation determined, a Jew or Christian half, and all others a sixteenth

King Abdullah extends hand of friendship to Catholic Church (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3571835.ece)

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has called for an interfaith conference between Moslems, Christians and Jews

In a rare departure from government practice, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah is planning to convene an interfaith conference that will include Moslems, Christians and even Jews and this conference has received a green light from Saudi Arabia's top Islamic clerics.

King Abdullah said that he had proposed to Pope Benedict a couple of months ago, the idea of a summit to promote religious dialog telling the Pope he wanted to address Allah by means of the Bible, the New Testament and the Koran. The Saudi monarch said that he is disturbed by the breakdown in the family unit across the world as well as the damage to the principle of loyalty to humanity and he wants to hold a number of these interfaith summits in the future.

An interfaith summit of Moslems, Christians and Jews led by the King of Saudi Arabia is a precursor to the fulfillment of Bible prophecy.

Recently, Pope Benedict announced the Vatican's plan to hold a conference where Christians and Moslems will get together to share what their two faiths have in common. The King wants to include Jews in the conference. King Abdullah says that an open discussion of the three faiths: Islam, Christianity and Judaism will promote a better understanding between them.

This proposed interfaith summit is preparing the world for the one world religion that is called for in Bible prophecy. Revelation 17 is the prophecy of the coming one world religion that will be headquartered in Rome, Italy. It will be a mother-son cult that was established 4,500 years ago in Babylon. This false religion will be led by the individual known in Bible prophecy by 27 names, the best known name, the Antichrist. Revelation 13 and in Daniel chapters 7 and 11 all give us prophetic Biblical passages about this coming world religious leader.

King Abdullah's call for this interfaith summit is indeed a precursor to Bible prophecy that will be fulfilled.

Western Antarctic ice chunk collapses

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer 2 hours, 34 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - A chunk of Antarctic ice about seven times the size of Manhattan suddenly collapsed, putting an even greater portion of glacial ice at risk, scientists said Tuesday.

Satellite images show the runaway disintegration of a 160-square-mile chunk in western Antarctica, which started Feb. 28. It was the edge of the Wilkins ice shelf and has been there for hundreds, maybe 1,500 years.

This is the result of global warming, said British Antarctic Survey scientist David Vaughan.

Because scientists noticed satellite images within hours, they diverted satellite cameras and even flew an airplane over the ongoing collapse for rare pictures and video.

"It's an event we don't get to see very often," said Ted Scambos, lead scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. "The cracks fill with water and slice off and topple... That gets to be a runaway situation."

While icebergs naturally break away from the mainland, collapses like this are unusual but are happening more frequently in recent decades, Vaughan said. The collapse is similar to what happens to hardened glass when it is smashed with a hammer, he said.

The rest of the Wilkins ice shelf, which is about the size of Connecticut, is holding on by a narrow beam of thin ice. Scientists worry that it too may collapse. Larger, more dramatic ice collapses occurred in 2002 and 1995.

Vaughan had predicted the Wilkins shelf would collapse about 15 years from now. The part that recently gave way makes up about 4 percent of the overall shelf, but it's an important part that can trigger further collapse.

There's still a chance the rest of the ice shelf will survive until next year because this is the end of the Antarctic summer and colder weather is setting in, Vaughan said.

Scientists said they are not concerned about a rise in sea level from the latest event, but say it's a sign of worsening global warming.

Such occurrences are "more indicative of a tipping point or trigger in the climate system," said Sarah Das, a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

"These are things that are not re-forming," Das said. "So once they're gone, they're gone."

Climate in Antarctica is complicated and more isolated from the rest of the world.

Much of the continent is not warming and some parts are even cooling, Vaughan said. However, the western peninsula, which includes the Wilkins ice shelf, juts out into the ocean and is warming. This is the part of the continent where scientists are most concern about ice-melt triggering sea level rise.

Western Antarctic ice chunk collapses (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080325/ap_on_sc/antarctica_collapse)

Russia will hold a Middle East peace conference whether Israel likes it or not

A very defiant Russian Foreign Minister (FM) says that Russia is determined to go ahead with an international Middle East peace conference in Moscow this coming June, whether the Israelis like it or not and the FM Sergey Lavrov made that clear to Israeli officials on a recent visit in Jerusalem.

At the same time, Russia and Egypt have announced the signing a nuclear deal between the two countries with Russian President Vladimir Putin assuring Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that Russia's overall foreign policy and energy policy will not change after Medvedev becomes president.

The Russians demanding an international Middle East peace conference in Moscow and signing a nuclear deal with Egypt is in reality a page out of Bible prophecy for the End Times.

On a recent trip to Jerusalem, the Russian FM was very demanding in that the Russians will hold an international Middle East peace conference in Moscow this next summer as a follow-up to the Annapolis Middle East Summit in the US last Fall. Russia is watching Iran become more influential in the Middle East with its connections to Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Gaza and in Iraq. The Russian leadership of Putin and Medvedev want to bring Iran under control and make certain of their position in the Middle East, thus the plan for the summit in Moscow.

This scenario is truly a page out of Bible prophecy. The ancient Jewish prophet Ezekiel wrote 2,500 years ago of a coalition of nations that will form an alignment against the Jewish state of Israel, Ezekiel 38. Ezekiel 38:2 introduces Gog, the leader, in the land of Magog, the place, and Bible geography reveals that Magog is modern-day Russia. Ezekiel 38:5 mentions Persia, modern-day Iran, and Daniel 11 and Psalm 83 mention the other nations that Russia will lead against Israel.

Russia's demand for an international Middle East peace conference does indeed set the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

Heavy fighting in Southern Iraq between Iraqi security forces and Islamic Messiah's Army has caused concern across the world

Recent reports of intensive exchanges of gunfire in Southern Iraq between the Iraqi security forces and the Mahdi Army, the Islamic militia of the Shiite radical cleric Muqtada al Sadr who is also a political leader in Iraq, has retained the world's attention as this radical Islamic cleric pursues more power both religiously and politically.

The Mahdi Army, the Messiah's Army in English, has been the most fierce of militias in Iraq and had been quiet during a recent cease fire arranged by Muqtada al Sadr, a cease fire that seems to have been broken. The main fighting has been centered in Bosra which is where a major oil pipeline is located which the Iraqi forces are seeking to defend, while at the same time, in Sadr City, a section of Baghdad, there are additional clashes between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi security forces.

The fighting for control of war torn Iraq and its vast oil fields is a scenario that is key to understanding the prophetic scenario for Iraq that is found in Bible prophecy.

The radical Islamic cleric Muqtada al Sadr and his Mahdi Army have been waging an ongoing battle for the religious and political control of Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein. The Arabic word Mahdi means, "Messiah" and Muqtada al Sadr believes this is a battle to control Iraq in the final days of history before Allah, the Islamic god, sets up his Islamic kingdom here on Earth.

Islamic eschatology has an interesting parallel to true Biblical eschatology, eschatology of course, the study of End Time events. In Biblical eschatology, Iraq, modern-day Biblical Babylon, will be the center of world power as the coming false messiah, the Antichrist, will set up his headquarters in Babylon, located on the Euphrates River in Iraq just outside of Baghdad, Revelation 16 and 18. Jeremiah 50 and 51 says that Babylon will be destroyed just prior to the Return of Jesus Christ to the Earth.

The control of Iraq and its vast oil fields is on the agenda of events that will indeed set the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

Middle East Peace Envoy Tony Blair tells Israel to drop it's indifference and skepticism about the prospects for peace with the Palestinians

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, now the Middle East Peace Envoy for the Quartet, has told the Israeli's that they need to make a psychological shift from indifference and skepticism about the prospects of progress with the Palestinians to an active determination to make it happen on the right terms.

Blair, in an interview with the Jerusalem Post, said that Israel, which will be 60 years old next May, would absolutely still be here in another 60 years but that to guarantee it's long-term security, he believes that Israel needs a viable Palestinian state.

The recent exhortation to Israel from Middle East Peace envoy Tony Blair, that Israel can have peace with the Palestinians, has positive and negative prophetic significance, that is according to Bible prophecy.

After serving a number of years as the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Tony Blair was named as the Middle East Peace Envoy for the Quartet, which includes the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.

The peace envoy believes that the Israeli's and the Palestinians can co-exist in the Middle East into the future. This thought pattern displayed by Blair is in contradiction to Bible prophecy.

The ancient Jewish prophet's wrote that the Jews, descendants of Jacob, and the Palestinians, descendants of Esau will continue to fight each other until the Messiah, Jesus Christ comes back to earth, Malachi 1:2-4, Ezekiel 35 and Obediah.

Tony Blair's position as Middle East Peace Envoy is a prototype for a leader who will come to power out of the Revived Roman Empire, that would be the European Union, today, and will indeed establish a peace; howbeit a short-term peace between the Jewish state of Israel and it's Arab and Moslem neighboring states. This scenario is found in Daniel 7 and also Daniel 9:27.

Let me hasten to say; however, I do not believe that that leader, the Antichrist, will be fulfilled by Tony Blair, but indeed he is a perfect prototype. Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.

'We Make Our Own Heaven'
Atheist Minority Finds Spiritual Home in Palo Alto
By JOHN DONVAN and STEVEN BAKER

March 28, 2008—

It is hard not to notice the bells that ring on Sunday morning. But at churches, synagogues and mosques around the globe there are some for whom that religion is lost. This group is part of America's atheist minority.

While Christians, Muslims and Jews can celebrate their beliefs, and fellowship in the company of others in churches, mosques and synagogues, where can non-believers find a spiritual home?

One answer lies in Palo Alto, Calif., if you spot the sign by the roadside. It's at the Humanist Community, where for a few hours every Sunday the humanists, as they call themselves, come together in what one might call a congregation. It even has its own Sunday school.

Without church bells, but with music, this group of humanists believe in a lot of things but God isn't one of them.

Eight-year-old: "I Like To Think Freely"

They get together and, with lectures for the older congregants and stories and games for the younger ones, discuss not their faith, but the opposite of faith -- the idea that truth arises from reason, from science, from free thought.

"I like to think freely, but still I can really think freely whenever I want 'cause I think thinking freely is good," said eight-year-old Jane Kovak, one of the humanists' younger congregants. Jane's parents, John and Kimberly teach in the community.

"I don't believe there is a God," Jane continues, "but there is a possibility that there can be. I don't really think there is."

When Time magazine wrote up their version of the Humanist Center and called it Atheist Sunday School, some at the center took issue at the description, because humanism, they say, is so much more than atheism.

The Atheist Named Bishop

Peter Bishop is the group's intellectual guide. "People are the force for good in the world and so I believe in people that their goodness will create the goodness that we have in the world," he says.

Bishop is an MIT graduate who works now as a software writer in Silicon Valley. His parents encouraged the idea of free thought during his childhood.

What's interesting about this non-church is some of its churchlike aspects. There's a hymn book, talks that sound like homilies and, at one point, an actual collection plate passed through the aisles after one song.

And of course, there's the atheist named Bishop. The manner in which he teaches is similar to how some fired-up preachers preach. But if he's not preaching faith and he has a Sunday school, what is Bishop teaching?

"Community," he said, "a sense of community, that they get to know other kids& It's a place where, I don't know, Jane, what do you think?"

"It's cool 'cause you can, like, think freely by yourself," she said.

Too Young to Not Believe?

Some outside the church might take issue with the humanist teachings being taught to a child as young as Jane.

One congregant disagrees. "I do believe that this is important to start when they are very, very young," said Beverly Crowell, a member of the congregation. "Because our culture, especially now, is so permeated with religion views, and so in order to counteract that with children that are malleable and very impressive or impressionable, it's good to get them early and teach them that they can be individuals on their own."

But if people want to believe in God, why not?

"Oh absolutely, if they get comfort from that... more power to them, I think that's wonderful, I don't get anything from that," said Crowell. "The way they do, I'm not impressed. I believe we make our own heaven right here, or hell, and I said, I'm going to come back in an afterlife as a leaf on a tree."

Religious Decision up to Humanist

As for Jane, her parents believe that her religious beliefs, or lack thereof, should be up to her.

"They have had many discussions about this, and we've had our discussions too," said her mother. "I think that we just give our view, I always tell Jane that she has to make up her own mind, she has to experience her experiences -- figure it out for herself."

And Jane is doing just that -- trying to figure out for herself the answers to life's difficult questions, like what happens when people die. "Well, usually you kind of go in the earth, but I don't believe that heaven's not really real," she says. "It would be cool if it was real. But there is a possibility that it is real, but I don't think so. "

'We Make Our Own Heaven' (http://www.abcnews.go.com/print?id=4539323)

The Israeli government has allowed Hamas to broadcast incitement against the Jews from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem

Rabbi Chaim Richmond, a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin and leader of the Temple Institute, claims that the Israeli government is responsible for allowing Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organization, to broadcast live from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem while at the same time Jews and Christians were banned from the holy site.

Rami Kaoud, a manager of Hamas-al Aqsa Radio, said that broadcasting daily from the Temple Mount helps to bring al Aqsa to the Gaza Strip and to challenge the siege imposed on the Palestinian people by the Zionist state of Israel.

Live radio broadcast by the Palestinian terror group Hamas from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is evidence of the nearness of both the positive and negative scenarios that can be found in Bible prophecy for the Last Days.

For a number of years, the Palestinian Authority has broadcast the Friday Moslem services from the Al Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Now, the Palestinian terrorist group, Hamas, has been granted permission to broadcast live and daily to the Hamas followers in the Gaza Strip from the Temple Mount.

In a joint statement by the New Jewish Congress, the different Jewish Temple Movements and the Sanhedrin, they claimed that the Israeli government has decided to give over the Temple Mount, the apple of the Jewish nation's eye, for the use of enemy incitement as Hamas calls for the destruction of the Jewish state of Israel.

There is a positive and negative aspect to this story as it relates to the prophetic scenarios that can be found in bible prophecy for the Last Days.

The ancient Jewish prophet Micah revealed that the Word of the Lord, Word from the Messiah, will go forth from the House of the Lord, the Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, in the future Kingdom Period, Micah 4:1-2.

However, this story also reveals to us that the Palestinian people, people in Biblical times known as Edomites, descendants of Esau; these Palestinians would call for the destruction of the Jewish state and the demise of the Jewish people in the Last Days, Ezekiel 35.

Live radio broadcasts by Hamas from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is indeed evidence that Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.

A pamphlet is being distributed in synagogues across Judea and Samaria calling for a second Jewish state

There is a campaign underway in Judea and Samaria, the West Bank, to choose a flag and anthem for the new Jewish state that is being planned in the event the Israeli government follows through on promises made at the Annapolis Peace Summit to withdraw all Jews from the settlements in Judea and Samaria.

The initiative, published in the pamphlet, "Our Land of Israel", which is distributed in synagogues on the Sabbath, is offering a prize of several thousand shekels to be awarded to the participant whose design is adopted. Rabbi Dov Wolpe, the spokesperson for this initiative, says the only solution is to declare the establishment of an autonomous Jewish state in Judea and Samaria that will unite the Jewish settlements as a state to be.

The very serious initiative to establish a second Jewish state in Judea and Samaria is in perfect harmony with the End Time scenario that can be found in Bible prophecy.

In the aftermath of the Middle East Peace Summit held in Annapolis, Maryland recently, there is a major move among rabbis in the Judea and Samaria region to establish a second Jewish state as an alternative to the proposed withdrawal of the Jewish settlements from the region. The possibility of a second Jewish state in Judea and Samaria has been discussed for a number of years, but the concessions made by the Israeli government to the Palestinians to remove the Jewish settlers for a future Palestinian state has now put in motion a serious plan to erect this state to be.

As I previously mentioned, this initiative is in perfect harmony with Bible prophecy. The ancient Jewish prophets, Malachi, Jeremiah and Ezekiel all wrote about a second Jewish state during the End Times near the time of the Coming of the Messiah, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, Malachi 2, Jeremiah 3 and Ezekiel 37. Ezekiel wrote that the two states would be called Israel and Judah, Ezekiel 37:15-23.

The concessions by the Israeli government and the Jewish settler's initiative for a second Jewish state has indeed set the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

A new movie and television special presents an Islamic Jesus to the Moslem world

A film producer, who shares the ideas of Iran's hard-line president, has produced what he says is the first film giving an Islamic view of Jesus Christ in a bid to show the common ground, he says, between Moslems and Christians.

The film, Jesus the spirit of Allah, and it's television version which will further explore the links between Jesus and the Immam Mahdi, the Moslem Messiah, who will usher in, with Jesus, a new era of peace and harmony.

The film and TV version of the Islamic Jesus says that Jesus was not crucified but was taken by Allah directly into heaven to await His return with the Islamic Messiah.

An Islamic Jesus, who did not die on a cross and resurrect from the dead, is not the Jesus of the Bible, and a film depicting such a Jesus to the Moslem world has great prophetic significance for the end times.

In an effort to make a bridge between Christianity and Islam, despite the stark divergence from Christian doctrine about the final hours of Jesus Christ before His death, the Iranian film producer believes he can open the door for dialog between Christians and Moslems.

The film, by saying that Allah saved Jesus from death on a cross with Judas taking His place, is a stark contradiction to the Bible records in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is the foundation of the Christian faith.

The Apostle Paul wrote the Corinthians two thousand years ago that if Jesus Christ did not die and resurrect from the dead, He was not the Son of God and we Christians are still in sin, I Corinthians 15:1-20.

In that same letter to the Christians in Corinth, Paul wrote of the Rapture of the Church, I Corinthians 15:51-53, when Jesus will take us from Earth to Heaven to be with Him forevermore. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a must if the Rapture is to take place.

Anyone, Islamists or whomever, who says that Jesus Christ did not die and raise from the dead is of an Anti-Christ philosophy, I John 2.

Global Jihad is on the rise

Islamic expert and historian Bernard Lewis and former CIA director James Woolsey, both speaking at the Herzliya Conference in Israel, warned that global Jihad was on the rise, with Lewis adding that the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979 signified the first major victory in the global Islamic push toward that goal.

Lewis said that the whole Arab and Muslim world is experiencing the second stage of the Islamic revolution in Iraq and James Woolsey lamented the fate of Europe which he sees as already having been compromised in what he calls World War IV, the third having been the Cold War. Both Lewis and Woolsey warned that the Iranian Shiite sect is not the only threat posed by Islam, they included the radical Wahabism of the Sunni sect of Islam as well.

The warning of a global Jihad, a worldwide holy war, from a former director of the world's largest intelligence agency has a similarity to the prophetic scenario that is found in Bible prophecy for the End Times.

At the Herzliya Conference in Israel, a gathering of academics, politicos, military personnel and the media, the warning of a global Jihad on the near horizon rang out through the meeting halls of the conference confirmed by two experts on Islam. All of the Islamic world, including the Shiite sect as well as the Sunni sect are preparing for what the ancient Jewish prophet Joel revealed would happen in the Last Days.

Joel, in chapter 2:2-3, reveals the prophecy of the largest military militia ever to move on the Earth, they will make their way towards Jerusalem to destroy the Jewish state. This army will be a Muslim army as confirmed by the nations involved in the alignment of nations found in Daniel 11, Ezekiel 38, and Psalm 83. Ezekiel 38:18-39:6 says that this Muslim militia involved in global Jihad will be destroyed early on in the seven year Tribulation Period soon after the Rapture.

The warning of the rise of global Jihad is evidence we're quickly approaching the time when Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.

Bio-chip implant arrives for cashless transactions
Announcement at global security confab unveils syringe-injectable ID microchip

Posted: November 21, 2003 -7:42 p.m. Eastern
By Sherrie Gossett
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

At a global security conference held today in Paris, an American company announced a new syringe-injectable microchip implant for humans, designed to be used as a fraud-proof payment method for cash and credit-card transactions.
The chip implant is being presented as an advance over credit cards and smart cards, which, absent biometrics and appropriate safeguard technologies, are subject to theft, resulting in identity fraud.
Identity fraud costs the banking and financial industry some $48 billion a year, and consumers $5 billion, according to 2002 Federal Trade Commission estimates.

Verichip portable reader
In his speech today at the ID World 2003 conference in Paris, France, Scott R. Silverman, CEO of Applied Digital Solutions, called the chip a "loss-proof solution" and said that the chip's "unique under-the-skin format" could be used for a variety of identification applications in the security and financial worlds.
The company will have to compete, though, with organizations using just a fingerprint scan for similar applications.
The ID World Conference, held yesterday and today at the Charles de Gaulle Hilton, focused on current and future applications of radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies, biometrics, smart cards and data collection.
The company's various "VeriChips" are RFID chips, which contain a unique identification number and can carry other personal data about the implantee. When radio-frequency energy passes from a scanner, it energizes the chip, which is passive (not independently powered), and which then emits a radio-frequency signal transmitting the chip's information to the reader, which in turn links with a database.
ADS has previously touted its radio frequency identification (RFID) chips for secure building access, computer access, storage of medical records, anti-kidnapping initiatives and a variety of law-enforcement applications. The company has also developed proprietary hand-held readers and portal readers that can scan data when an implantee enters a building or room.

Verichip pocket reader
The "cashless society" application is not new – it has been discussed previously by Applied Digital. Today's speech, however, represented the first formal public announcement by the company of such a program.
In announcing VeriPay to ID World delegates, Silverman stated the implant has "enormous marketplace potential" and invited banking and credit companies to partner with VeriChip Corporation (a subsidiary of ADS) in developing specific commercial applications beginning with pilot programs and market tests.
Applied Digital's announcement in Paris suggested wireless technologies, RFID development, new software solutions, smart-card applications and subdermal implants might one day merge as the ultimate solution for a world fraught with identity theft, threatened by terrorism, buffeted by cash-strapped governments and law-enforcement agencies looking for easy data-collection, and corporations interested in the marketing bonanza that cutting-edge identification, payment, and location-based technologies can afford.

Verichip
Cashless payment systems are now part of a larger technology development subset: government identification experiments that seek to combine cashless payment applications with national ID information on media (such as a "smart" card), which contain a whole host of government, personal, employment and commercial data and applications on a single, contactless RFID chip.
In some scenarios, government-corporate coalitions are advocating such a chip be used by employees also to access entry to their workplace and the company computer network, reducing the cost outlay of the corporations for individual ID cards.
Malaysia's "MyKad" national ID "smart" card is the foremost example.
Meanwhile, privacy advocates have expressed concern over RFID technology rollouts, citing database concerns and the specter of individuals' RFID chips being read without permission by people who have their own hand-held readers.
Several privacy and civil liberties groups have recently called for a voluntary moratorium on RFID tagging "until a formal technology assessment process involving all stakeholders, including consumers, can take place." Signatories to the petition include the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Privacy International and the Foundation for Information Policy Research, a British think tank.
Commenting on today's announcement, Richard Smith, a computer industry consultant, referred to what some "netizens" are already calling "chipectomies": "VeriChips can still be stolen. It's just a bit gruesome when to think how the crooks will do these kinds of robberies."
Citing MasterCard's PayPass, Smith pointed out that most of the major credit-card companies are looking at RFID chips to make credit cards quicker, easier, and safer to use.
"The big problem is money," said Smith. "It will take billions of dollars to upgrade the credit-card networks from magstripe readers to RFID readers. During the transition, a credit card is going to need both a magstripe and an RFID chip so that it is universally accepted."
Some industry professionals advocate having citizens pay for combined national ID/cashless pay chips, which would be embedded in a chosen medium.
Identification technologies using RFID can take a wide variety of physical forms and show no sign yet of coalescing into a single worldwide standard.
Prior to today's announcement, Art Kranzley, senior vice president at MasterCard, commented on the Pay Pass system in a USA Today interview: "We're certainly looking at designs like key fobs. It could be in a pen or a pair of earrings. Ultimately, it could be embedded in anything – someday, maybe even under the skin."

Also check out this link:
http://www.revlu.com/grail.html (http://www.revlu.com/grail.html)

The Roots of Evil in Jerusalem.
by Jerry Golden
This report will shock and upset some; it is one I have put off for over 4 years. After struggling with it I have decided now is the time to write it. Knowing it could be misunderstood as anti-Semitic. God forbid that I a Jew should ever say or do anything that would be remotely considered as such, but I must admit this report does not come easy for me. The fact still remains that an evil force has been put into place in Jerusalem and has spread throughout Israel, in preparations for the end time and the seat of the anti-Christ. For if we are to believe that the anti-Christ is to have his seat on the Temple Mount, then we must come to grips with some truths not being preached today. One such truth is the foundation for such a move of the Devil must be underway even as we speak if this is to happen. Or we simply are not in the end days. This report will prove that such a move is underway and has been for quiet some time. It will be accepted by some and rejected by others, but that is the way it goes.
In this report I will use many pictures showing the establishment of the Illuminati and establish proof that there has been a diabolical plot by those we refer to as the New World Order. Showing the architectural design of the New Israeli Supreme Court Building designed and paid for by the Rothchilds reflex the presence of Free Masonry and the Illuminati. I took all but one of the pictures you are about to see so I can assure that what you are seeing is real and in place.
The same families who own and control the Federal Reserve and other major financial institutions have their eyes set on the Temple Mount, and the Holy City of Jerusalem. Just as Scriptures say, the man who will be revealed as the anti-Christ will sit in that place, before the appearance of the Jewish Messiah Yeshua HaMashiach, and many will receive him as their messiah. Just actually how that will come about remains to be seen, but one thing I am convinced of is that Holy men of God will not be the ones to rebuild the Temple, it will be the Illuminati. For God would not send men to that place to perform blood sacrifices. His Son’s blood was the perfect sacrifice; there is no need to shed the blood of dumb animals any longer. Yeshua did a perfect work, and it was finished. But He will return and take control of the New Temple that I feel will be built soon. But before He will return this world will have to get in such bad shape that the anti-Christ can be accepted by most as the savior who can bring peace and order to the world. But then you know the rest of that story so lets go on.
For those who may think this article is anti-Semitic remember there are those who call themselves Jews but who are of the house of Satan. And many have found their way into the Israeli Knesset.
Once again Yeshua will enter into that place, the Holy Mountain of God and cleanse it, but before that happens all hell will break loose in Jerusalem and the world. So with all that said I will now show you some things that have never been published before, for the few who are aware have been afraid to speak of it. So I ask you to pray over this servant of God for protection as we go forth with these truths. These truths must be revealed in order for the Body to know how close we are to the Second Coming of Yeshua HaMasiach (Jesus the Messiah).
As this entire report will be built around the construction of this building order by the Rothchilds I should show you a picture of the building. A friend of mine took this picture as he and his wife flew over the area a couple years ago. The Supreme Court building sits on a plot of land opposite the Knesset and next to the Foreign Ministry and the Central bank of Israel. It is important to keep in mind that it sits in line with the Knesset, for we will be talking about Ley-Lines that cross under this pyramid running to the Knesset, with other ley-lines that cross in perfect order to the center of Jerusalem and on to the Rockefellow Museum. Everything about this building has been thought out to the very finest detail, and it is diabolical. The Devils plan has been put into place before we ever had an idea of his plan. He knows his final battle will be here in Jerusalem.
The engineer of the Israeli Supreme Court is the grandson of Ben-Zion Guini, who was the engineer for Baron Rothschild. The two architects are Ram Karmi, born in Jerusalem in 1931 and his sister Ada Karmi-Melamede, born in Tel Avivnin 1936. For those who can make something out of the numbers. It was important to the builder to have everything done according to the correct numbers. There were 1,000 sheets of plans, 1,200 cement posts; they worked on the building for 3 years or 750 days. 20 workers each day, for 200,000 workdays, 250,000 building stones, each hand placed.

(http://www.shilohouse.org/supremecourt.jpg)

The Israeli Supreme Court in Jerusalem.
The first thing you will notice is the pyramid with the all Seeing Eye just like the one you will see on the American dollar bill, it sits in a circle to the left. We will elaborate on this a little later in this article. The larger circle you see at the bottom of the picture is an inverted-cross designed to walk on. It is the only religious emblem designed to be trampled on under foot. At the top of the picture is a Moslem Gravesite, and just out of view to the right is an Egyptian Obelisk.

(http://www.shilohouse.org/invertedcross.jpg)

(http://www.shilohouse.org/obelisk.jpg)

To the left just out of sight is a god of the Far East.

Cont.....

cont.

(http://www.shilohouse.org/fareastgod.jpg)

And all through the building you will detect Hindu Altars. All of this will make more sense as we go along, keep in mind we are talking about the establishment of a form of Government that will usher in the anti-Christ.
There is little proof on the building itself of the presence of the Rothschild’s but on an outside wall we find these two items.

(http://www.shilohouse.org/rothschild1.jpg)

Pointing to the garden that displays the Egyptian obelisk.

(http://www.shilohouse.org/rothschild2.jpg)

Giving recognition to the Rothschilds, you will notice the Rothschilds emblem at the top. It is the symbol for the founder of the Rothschild Dynasty and his five sons, who established central banks throughout Europe. The Rothschilds made several stipulations with the Israeli Government before the building began, among them were. The Rothschilds would pick the plot of land to build the Supreme Court; they would use their own architects, and no one would ever know how much the building cost. It took them four years to build this structure with many secrets built into it.
After passing through security the first thing you will notice on the left wall is a large picture.

(http://www.shilohouse.org/pictureonthewall.jpg)

From the right you will see Teddy Kollek, then Lord Rothschild, on the left standing you will see Shimon Peres, and setting at the bottom left Yhzhak Rabin. And others who brought us the Oslo death process that we are now faced with.
But this is where our journey begins as we begin to enter into the building, for this entire journey is intended to bring one from darkness into the light, and become an Illuminated one.
You first enter into an area with very dim lighting, but as you look up the stairs you see the bright light that comes from a very large window that over looks parts of Jerusalem.

(http://www.shilohouse.org/largewindow.jpg)

(http://www.shilohouse.org/darknesstolight.jpg)

Here it is very important to count the steps; there are three sets of 10 steps, making a total of 30. As you ascend these 30 steps you come from the darkness into the light. And from here you can see the world or in this case the city of Jerusalem like you haven’t seen it before. It is also worth mentioning that on the right side you will see the old Jerusalem Stone, some even believe these same stones were used in the second Temple, but I have no way to prove that. On the other side you will see the smooth modern wall. There are 6 lamp stands going up that speaks to man in his journey to gain knowledge and become illuminated. But once again I feel it necessary to tell you that it’s very important to the ones who built this building that everything be perfect and in their order of things, even numerically.

(http://www.shilohouse.org/leylines.jpg)

As we turn to the left and begin to walk towards the Pyramid we notice a metal strip in the marble floor. The Ley-Lines cross directly under the pyramid they run from this place to different places in the city. It is where the Judges and others can stand to receive knowledge and power. Standing directly over a piece of crystal with the all Seeing Eye of Lucifer the light bearer above them.
For those who are not aware of the term Ley-Lines, it is lines in geographical places that Witches, Warlock, and Wizards walk claiming for the Devil. If you will notice in every large city all palm readers and such are usually on the same street that is a ley-line.
Here is a map of Jerusalem, you can see that the Supreme Court Building and the Knesset are connected with one straight line, and at a 90% angle to that line half way is a Ley-line that runs perpendicular. That line runs straight down the middle of a street known as Ben Yehuda, a place where all the crazies meet, and at any given day you can find at least one who calls himself Elijah or Moses. Israelis call Ben Yehuda the freak show. That line runs on to the Rockefeller Museum; and from the Rockefeller Museum a line runs through the Moslem Quarters to the Temple Mount.

I will make this map a little larger to help you out some.

(http://www.shilohouse.org/leylines2.jpg)

Just before entering under the pyramid there is a window you can look up at the pyramid, you will notice the
ley-line that runs to the center of the pyramid.

(http://www.shilohouse.org/pyramid2.jpg)

For a moment lets go back to the top of the 30 steps, as we know there are 33 degrees in Free Masonry but the last three are the ones of higher learning and preparations to enter the Illuminati. So as we move from the top of the stairs towards the Pyramid we see a great library with three tiers to those three levels of higher learner. They three final steps in Free Masonry and after that if ones choose to go higher and have been accepted they enter the highest levels of the Illuminati. It is also important in this building to note that the 33rd level ends at the base of the Pyramid.

Cont....

cont.

(http://www.shilohouse.org/library.jpg)

This is a very large and expensive Library, but there is something else about this one that should be mentioned. The first tier is "only" for Lawyers; the second tier is "only" for setting Judges. The highest and third tier is "only" for retired judges. Which also speaks of the order of things in the Illuminati, as one must be accepted and move to the higher level before the knowledge at that level is available to them. And directly above that third tier is the Pyramid with the all seeing eye of Luther. That begins the journey into the Illuminati.
Directly under the Pyramid you see 6 squares. Six being the number of man, and each square has 4 sides speaking to the world. In the center directly under the point of the pyramid a crystal so that when one stand over it he of she is in direct line from the point of the pyramid and the crystal below.

(http://www.shilohouse.org/sixsquares.jpg)

There are five Courtrooms, each has an entrance in the shape of a Jewish Tomb, with the opening above the door for the spirit to have freedom to enter or leave. The wall with the courtroom entrances has a curve to it, while the outer wall is straight. There are two things said about his, some say it speaks to the straight line of Justice, and the curve line of Mercy, yet others say it speaks of order out of chaos. The motto of the Illuminati. There are three Judges who set in each courtroom, and above the seats of the Judges there are smaller pyramids that shed light onto the Judges as they sit over those who are brought up from the prisons cells below. The Judges chambers are above the courtrooms and they come down to bring light to those who are brought up from below.

(http://www.shilohouse.org/courtrooms.jpg)

I have done a small cut away from the whole plan of the building in order to show you the design of a Jewish Miskan brought into the plan, as all the other major religions of the world are represented in one form or another. As you walk from the pyramid you can go either to the courtrooms or towards the Judges chambers. But this is what that part of the building looks like, making the pyramid the holy of holies in this evil Miskan "Temple".

(http://www.shilohouse.org/likemiskan.jpg)

The bottom part of the above picture is the courtyard, and here we find finished stones brought in from the desert near Mitzpe Ramon where we find the worlds largest natural crater. A narrow channel of water that runs continually divides the stones. The architects claim to have been inspired from the Scriptures in Psalms 85:11 Truth shall spring up from the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. For the Judges sit above this courtyard looking down.

(http://www.shilohouse.org/courtyard.jpg)

When you leave the center Courtroom or main courtroom directly across the opening you find the stairs going downstairs, at the base of the stairs you will find the fertility symbol always present in any illuminati structure, often hidden but always there. Much can be said about this symbol and the symbol of the masons with the compass and square with the "G" in the middle, but I will leave that for another time or for someone else.

(http://www.shilohouse.org/fertility.jpg)

In Conclusion
We have just lightly touched on the significance of this building for there are literally hundreds of details that point to the Illuminati and their plans for mankind. But more important to this report it establishes a base for the seat of the one that will be accepted by most as the messiah, before Yeshua returns to set up his reign and rule over the earth. I have no doubt that many will come against this report, and that the messenger rather than the message will be attacked. But I have tried to lay it out with proof and facts much more could be said and I am sure this will provoke others to say them, and possibly that is the intent of this article.
But as we all know God has a plan and it will not be stopped or detoured. Part of His plan is for His people the Jews to return home to Israel. For some Scriptures on that you could read the following verses. Isaiah 60:9, 43:5-6, Jeremiah 16:14-15, 16:16, Isaiah 49:22, Ezekiel 36:8, 36:24, 37:12, 39:28 just to mention a few.
So as always I will close with by asking you to pray about helping us purchase the needed vessel for that purpose.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, for our son Joel and all the IDF soldiers, for al those who have come to fight the Islamic enemy. Pray for this Ministry and your part in it. Shalom, jerry golden

Met Police officers to be 'microchipped' by top brass in Big Brother style tracking scheme
Last updated at 10:46am on 10th April 2008

Every single Metropolitan police officer will be 'microchipped' so top brass can monitor their movements on a Big Brother style tracking scheme, it can be revealed today.

According to respected industry magazine Police Review, the plan - which affects all 31,000 serving officers in the Met, including Sir Ian Blair - is set to replace the unreliable Airwave radio system currently used to help monitor officer's movements.

The new electronic tracking device - called the Automated Personal Location System (APLS) - means that officers will never be out of range of supervising officers.

But many serving officers fear being turned into "Robocops" - controlled by bosses who have not been out on the beat in years.

According to service providers Telent, the new technology 'will enable operators in the Service's operations centres to identify the location of each police officer' at any time they are on duty - whether overground or underground.

Although police chiefs say the new technology is about 'improving officer safety' and reacting to incidents more quickly, many rank and file believe it is just a Big Brother style system to keep tabs on them and make sure they don't 'doze off on duty'.

Some officers are concerned that the system - which will be able to pinpoint any of the 31,000 officers in the Met to within a few feet of their location - will put a complete end to community policing and leave officers purely at the beck and call of control room staff rather than reacting to members of the public on the ground.

Pete Smyth, chairman of the Met Police Federation, said: "This could be very good for officers' safety but it could also involve an element of Big Brother.

"We need to look at it very carefully."

Other officers, however, were more scathing, saying the new system - set to be implemented within the next few weeks - will turn them into 'Robocops' simply obeying instructions from above rather than using their own judgement.

One officer, working in Peckham, south London, said: "They are keeping the exact workings of the system very hush-hush at the moment - although it will be similar to the way criminals are electronically tagged. There will not be any choice about wearing one.

"We depend on our own ability and local knowledge to react to situations accordingly.

"Obviously we need the back up and information from control, but a lot of us feel that we will simply be used as machines, or robots, to do what we are told with little or no chance to put in anything ourselves."

He added: "Most of us joined up so we could apply the law and think for ourselves, but if Sarge knows where we are every second of the day it just makes it difficult."

Another officer, who did not want to be named, said: "A lot of my time is spent speaking to people in cafes, parks or just wherever I'm approached. If I feel I've got my chief breathing down my neck to make another arrest I won't feel I'm doing my job properly."

The system is one of the largest of its kind in the world, according to Telent, the company behind the technology, although neither the Met nor Telent would provide Police Review with any more information about exactly how the system will work or what sort of devices officers will wear.

Nigel Lee, a workstream manager at the Met, said: "Safety is a primary concern for all police forces.

"The area served by our force covers 620 miles and knowing the location of our officers means that not only can we provision resource more quickly, but should an officer need assistance, we can get to them even more quickly."

Forces currently have the facility to track all their officers through GPS devices on their Airwave radio headsets, but this is subject to headsets being up to date and forces buying the back office systems to accompany them, according to Airwave.

Steve Rands, health and safety head for the Met Police Federation, told Police Review: "This is so that we know where officers are. Let us say that when voice distortion or sound quality over the radio is lost, if you cannot hear where that officer telling you where he is, you can still pinpoint his exact position by global positioning system.

"If he needs help but you cannot hear him for whatever reason, APLS will say where he is."

Met Police officers to be 'microchipped' by top brass in Big Brother style tracking scheme (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=558597&in_page_id=1770)

Quote from: DreamWeaver on April 12, 2008, 11:02:16 PM

Great Britain is really becoming an example of how the Big Brother System of the Anti Christ will work.

It does not say how the microchips will be placed, but they already have tracking systems in their walkie talkies, so it would seem that they are looking at more secure systems, maybe ones that can't be left behind by accident or stolen. I just hope they are not going to mandate the police to get injected with microchips.

Once government employees are micro chipped, it will become much easier to get the rest of society to follow suit.

Brother Bob,

This doesn't sound like officer safety at all. There's already all kinds of excellent technology for officer safety that's off the shelf and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Some of them are as simple mercury devices inside radios to measure impacts and sends out a signal if the officer gets knocked down. There are other systems just as simple for location and response. I think there's much more to this device than what's being published. If this is something to inject into an officer's body, I think they can forget about it for most officers I know, and I do know some officers from Great Britain and around the world. The officers I know wouldn't permit ANY KIND of device into their bodies! I really think this would be the end of the story for COPS! Police officers are typically grossly underpaid, undermanned, underequipped, undertrained, and even mistreated in many jurisdictions. I THINK THEY NEED TO START WITH POLITICIANS AND BROADCAST EVERYTHING THEY DO 24/7.After all, they have huge salaries, huge retirements they can start drawing after only 8 years of service, and benefits of all kinds they have VOTED IN FOR THEMSELVES. Monitors to track the politicians should be placed in EVERY eating place in the country, and private monitors should be available for checkout in every public library or BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO! LET'S DO A 5 YEAR PILOT PROGRAM WITH DEMOCRATIC POLITICIANS AND ALL CANDIDATES FOR PUBLIC OFFICE!

Pope Benedict says that the Roman Catholic Church is the one church that Jesus Christ established on earth

In a document issued by the Vatican's congregation for the doctrine of the faith, it contained Pope Benedict's assertion that the Roman Catholic Church is the one church that Jesus Christ established on earth.

The Pope's statement also said that other Christian denominations cannot be called "churches" in the proper sense of the word, a comment that has prompted condemnation and confusion from Protestants and the Orthodox.

The pronouncement from the Vatican said that Pope Benedict was trying to clarify teachings from the second Vatican council of 1962-1965 which the current Pope attended and has been very concerned over its liberal interpretations.

Pope Benedict's statement that the Catholic Church is the church that Christ established on earth has a prophetic significance that is played out during the End Times according to Bible prophecy.

Pope Benedict, the very conservative leader of the world-wide Catholic Church, has made another very controversial statement. Last summer, the Pope angered the Muslim world when he referred to Islam as a dangerous religion.

This summer, the Pope's new assertion that the Catholic Church is the church that Jesus Christ establish here on earth has brought about condemnation and confusion. What is interesting is that the Pope's assertion parallels the prophecy found in the book of Revelation about a one-world church in the future.

John the Apostle, who wrote Revelation, wrote in Revelation 17 of a one-world church coming to power in the first half of the Tribulation Period and being led by the Antichrist. That church described in Revelation 17 will be headquartered in Rome, Italy and will be the only church of that time in history.

John, in Revelation 17, describes in detail that coming false church during the Tribulation Period. Hear me please now, I did not say that the Catholic Church is that false church of Revelation 17.

I have only reported the latest news from the Vatican which does indeed set the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

The world must accept Israel's imminent collapse

Speaking to a large crowd in Iran's Southern port city of Bushehr, the site of Iran's nuclear facility, Iranian President Ahmadinejad called on the world to acknowledge Israel's imminent collapse. The Iranian president told world leaders to stop supporting the Zionists, that their regime had reached its final stages and that the Palestinians and regional nations will confront and eventually bring to an end to the Israeli atrocities.

Iran does not acknowledge Israel and Ahmadinejad has called the Holocaust of Jews in WWII a myth and has called for Israel to be wiped off the map and their name to be forgotten forever.

The scenario that Iranian President Ahmadinejad describes as the imminent collapse of Israel with the Middle East nations destroying the Jewish state does fit Bible prophecy; however, it has a different conclusion.

Standing near the nuclear facility located in Iran's port city of Bushehr, Iranian President Ahmadinejad has warned the world of the imminent collapse of the Jewish state of Israel. This warning is a continuation of his radical rhetoric focused on Israel and the claims that Israel is an illegitimate state and will soon be wiped off the map.

Ahmadinejad's statement that the Palestinians and other Middle East nations will eventually attack to help speed Israel's collapse is a page out of Bible prophecy. Daniel 11, Ezekiel 38 and Psalm 83 all lay out the scenario that brings these Middle Eastern nations, including Iran, to attack the Jewish state. Psalm 83:4 reveals that the plan for these attacks is to wipe the nation of Israel off the map and that the name Israel be forgotten forever. Daniel 12:1 and Ezekiel 39:2 says that God will intercede and all of the attacking nations will be destroyed.

Ahmadinejad's claim of the imminent collapse of Israel does indeed set the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

Quote

The only collapse coming is that of Iran, and that is Bible prophecy to be fulfilled one day. Muslims are drawn to the collapse of Israel, like a moth to fire. Iran is one of the countries that will attack Israel, in Ezekiel 38 & 39.

Ezekiel 38 & 39 Prophesy that several Arab and North African nations will rally together in the Latter Years and mount a massive military operation against the Nation of Israel. Despite the fall of the Berlin Wall and the "collapse" of communism, Ezekiel Prophesies that a "hook in the jaw" will be placed in Russia 39;s mouth and she will be dragged into this war virtually against her will. It will not be her smartest move. It will be the end of her armed forces.

As with most of Bible Prophecy, Ezekiel 39, prophetic language is literal, requiring an enlightened view of all Scripture. Therefore, we must carefully examine the prophetical books of the Bible and compare them with other Scripture. Prophetical books are not meant just for "filler" material. they are intended to guide generations by revealing the future *before* it occurs. All of Bible prophecy will be fulfilled!!

Generally Prophecy books are arranged in chronological sequence. Occasionally, Prophecy will take quick jumps backwards or forwards to make a point. In this case, the Prophecies in Ezekiel 38-39 are dependent on the Prophecies of Ezekiel 36-37 being already fulfilled. In other words, Russia and the Arabs cannot attack the Nation of Israel until after the Nation of Israel had been restored. In the 20th century, the Nation of Israel has been restored, just as Prophesied in Ezekiel 36:24, Ezekiel 37 and Isaiah 66:8.

Israel is the Apple of Gods Eye. The Bible also says, in Ezekiel 38 & 39, that God will throw fire against Gog and her allies. Only 1/6 of those armies will be left, as well as usable land.

Although the Russian-Arab invasion of Israel is foretold in the Prophecy of Ezekiel 38 & 39 after Israel is restored as a nation Ezekiel 36 & 37 this invasion is not the Battle of Armageddon.

1^st, in Ezekiel there are definite allies mentioned and they are limited in number while other nations stand in opposition. In the Campaign of Armageddon all nations are allied together against Jerusalem without exception.

2^nd, the Ezekiel invasion comes from the north, the Armageddon invasion comes from the whole Earth.

3^rd, the purpose of the Russian [38:6] invasion is to take spoil, the purpose of the Armageddon Campaign is to destroy all the Jews.

4^th, in the Ezekiel invasion there is a protest against the invasion, Armageddon Campaign there is no protest since all the nations are involved.

5^th, the Ezekiel invasion is destroyed through convulsions of nature, Armageddon invasion is destroyed by the personal Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

6^th, the Ezekiel invasion is destroyed on the mountains of Israel, Armageddon Campaign is destroyed in the area between Petra and Jerusalem.

7^th, the Russian invasion takes place while Israel is living securely in the land; the Armageddon Campaign takes place while Israel is in flight and in hiding.

North Africa has no shortage of issues, from war in Sierra Leone, to the battles between Ethiopia and Eritrea, to ongoing persecution in Sudan, Algeria, Togo and Burkina Faso. Libya is busy constructing chemical and perhaps biological weaponry. And now, due primarily to AIDS, most South African teenagers have an average life expectancy of just 33 years; down from 70 years a scant 5 years ago.

The arrogance of Imanutjob (Ahmadinejad) is second to none right now.

You can read Ezekiel 38 here (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ezekiel%2038&version=45) and Ezekiel 39 here. (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ezekiel%2039;&version=45;)

Quote from: Pastor Roger on April 14, 2008, 12:53:07 PM

Pastor Roger,

I've thought about this many times and consider it to be a SAD and EVIL distortion of GOD'S WORD. Most real, born again Christians know that the ONE TRUE CHURCH is not made with human hands and IS NOT headed by a man. THE ONE TRUE CHURCH has JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF as the HEAD. The teachings of the HOLY BIBLE are so clear and blunt on this issue that it's hard to see how anyone would misunderstand it.

YES - I do think that the Vatican and the Pope are helping to set the stage for the End Days of this Age of Grace. Further, I think that the Vatican will have a major role in the Tribulation Period. CHRIST HIMSELF will prove that HE is GOD at the end of the Tribulation Period, and HE will subject all things under HIS FEET.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Isaiah 9:2-7 NASB
The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them. You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

Brothers and Sisters,

We live in a time of great confusion, but Christians have the TRUTH about what's happening and what will happen in GOD'S WORD. As the times of this world grow worse and more EVIL, the Beautiful and Wonderful Promises of GOD to Christians grow nearer. We can and should give thanks every day for the Promises GOD will most certainly be fulfilled perfectly. If it's GOD'S Will that we should be persecuted or suffer in HIS NAME before we go HOME, we should consider it to be an honor and privilege! If so, I would hope and pray that GOD gives us the courage and strength to proclaim the GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD through it all and BOLDLY to the end. HE IS WORTHY!

2 Timothy 1:7-12 NASB
For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

Philippians 4:12-13 NASB
I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Romans 8:16-23
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

America in a permanent decline?
July 2, 2008

The dollar is plunging. Detroit's car dominance is history. London claims to be outfinancing Wall Street. So maybe it's time to ask whether the era of US dominance is over for good.

By Ernest Beck, MSN Money

Forbes magazine's annual list of the world's richest people is eagerly anticipated as a barometer of wealth and power. And each year the mighty U.S., whose economy is often described as the envy of the world, has dominated the rankings.

Until now, that is.

In its most recent survey, the Forbes billionaire list changed dramatically: The United States made only four appearances in the top 20, compared with 10 names two years ago. India, by contrast, posted an astonishing four in the top 10, twice as many as the U.S. While America still leads the overall list, Russia, the new nation of raging capitalism, ranked second. Its 87 billionaires pushed aside Germany, the former runner-up. Is Wall Street's dominance over?

Many Americans are still rich, of course; many more are comfortably middle class. And the economy, though weak, is nowhere near collapse. But the shift in the billionaire allotment reflects broader trends. While globalization is indeed producing fabulous wealth in countries that were once considered basket cases, many are asking whether the U.S. is losing its competitive edge and surrendering its long-held leadership positions in business, finance and innovation to foreign competitors.

"The U.S. was always No. 1 and assumed it would be No. 1 and acted accordingly," says Doug Rediker, a former investment banker and a co-director of the Global Strategic Finance Initiative at the New America Foundation, a Washington, D.C., think tank. "Now other nations are catching up. There are competitors fighting for market share in every industry. The U.S. is under pressure."

Consider the sinking value of the dollar: The greenback is still the world's reserve currency, but its continuing erosion carries a symbolic value, telling the world that the U.S. doesn't have its financial house in order. At home, that means higher prices for food and fuel; it also means more-expensive vacations for Americans traveling abroad.

Talk Back: Do you think America is locked into decline?

The incredible shrinking dollar has also made America a great place for Europeans -- wielding their strong euros and pounds -- to go on cheap shopping sprees, swamping our department stores and designer boutiques to pick up bargains. The U.S., once an elite shopping destination, is becoming their giant outlet mall. Foreign tourists on shopping sprees

And what about Detroit's once-vaunted role as an auto industry leader? That has been diminished by more-nimble global competitors. Companies such as Japan's Toyota are threatening the once-indomitable General Motors with more-stylish design and advanced engineering. While GM was turning out gas-guzzling

SUVs and Hummers, Toyota got on the green bandwagon early with hybrids and other fuel-efficient cars, and is now reaping the rewards as gas prices soar. Meanwhile, Wall Street faces rivals in cities such as London, which is attracting so many international banks and companies to its booming stock and capital markets that it now claims to be the new center for global business and finance -- a title disputed, of course, by New York City boosters.

Still, argues Michael Charlton, the chief executive of Think London, the city's official foreign-direct-investment agency, "It is a valid claim that London is the world financial capital because its status is based on its international credentials and because we trade so successfully internationally." Is London the next global capital?

Even New York's pre-eminent position as the center of the booming global art market is being challenged -- again by London, a city that once shunned contemporary art. Nowadays, London's galleries and auction houses are crowded with new collectors, including many newly rich Russians, clamoring for the work of blue-chip artists.

Taken together, some say, the evidence suggests the U.S. might be heading into a twilight phase -- one in which it is ceding to other nations its usual claim to superlatives and leadership as well as its adventurous, cutting-edge spirit. A spate of recent books has explored this development, including Newsweek editor Fareed Zakaria's "The Post-American World." Among the examples he cites: The world's tallest building is in Taipei, Taiwan; the largest publicly traded company is in China; India will soon have the world's biggest oil refinery; and Macau has overtaken Las Vegas in gambling revenue. Map: Global markets on the rise

The reality is a bit more complex, but we do now live in a multipolar world, and we had better get used to it. Forget the superpower rivalry between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union, as well as the brief time in which the U.S. was the only superpower. Forget the time when there was no Airbus, only Boeing and Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas.

Today the centers of power, finance and trade have realigned into three heavyweight blocks: the U.S., the European Union and Asia, with the last dominated by China and India, boasting massive populations and rapidly developing economies. Each group is looking out for its own interests and using its might to influence economic policy and world affairs.

So where does that leave the U.S.?

Rediker, of the New America Foundation, says the U.S. is still a major player in the global economy and isn't likely to become a second-tier nation anytime soon. But, he adds, it's time to recognize that "it's also not the only player, and as such, can't dictate terms to the rest of the world."

In the short term, that shift in thinking might not cut prices at the pump or in grocery stores, or restore strength in the dollar. But it could become part of a wider strategy on how the U.S. can deal with the world's evolving economic structure and encourage business leaders to adopt a broader, bolder outlook to remain competitive in the global marketplace.

Despite the challenges and gloomy outlook fostered by the credit crunch and subprime mortgage mess, many believe the U.S. economy remains both formidable and resilient, with deep reserves of talent, entrepreneurship and continuing investment in research and development.

Even General Motors is trying to change: It has vowed to design an electric car and have it on the road by 2010.

"We should not underestimate the ability of the U.S. economy to transform itself," says Mauro Guillen, a professor of international management at The Wharton School in Philadelphia. "It has one of the most flexible economies and continues to be a magnet for the best and the brightest." Although the nation is at a crossroads in many respects, Guillen adds, "The U.S. will weather the storm."

America in a permanent decline? (http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/StockInvestingTrading/americaonthedecline_article.aspx?page=all)

Quote from: DreamWeaver on July 11, 2008, 06:52:20 PM

Mainly, this is the predictable nay-saying and horse whipping we see from the media

I firmly believe that the US must lose its status as the top dog on the global scene as we get nearer to the End. This does not surprise me and to me is just another indicator that we are closer to the Rapture.

Yes it is sad, but inevitable. Everything is proceeding according to His will. Every earthly kingdom is destined to fall. America is no different. Praise God we are citizens of an Eternal Kingdom that will never fall.

AMEN BROTHER!

I believe this is exactly what we're watching. I'm convinced that the End Times for this Age of Grace are drawing near. In fact, these days might be much nearer than any of us imagine. I feel extremely sad for the lost in this world, but Christians await the GLORIOUS PROMISES OF GOD! They are so sure that we can consider them already done! The evil have much to fear, but what do we as Christians have to fear?

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NASB
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 NASB
Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

Brazil wants its say in new financial order

By ALAN CLENDENNING, AP Business Writer Fri Oct 10, 6:26 PM ET

SAO PAULO, Brazil - Brazil's president said Friday that emerging market nations like Brazil must have a strong say in developing strict international rules for financial institutions.

Brazil and other developing countries "need to learn from this crisis to construct a new world economic order," President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in a speech to Brazilian and American trade investment forum attended by U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.

Silva demanded tighter regulations for high risk investments in rich nations that he and many other leaders of developing market nations blame for eroding their economies after they spent decades adopting U.S. backed reforms.

New rules are crucial to "control the anarchy that is hitting the world economy," Silva said, laying out harsh criticism for bankers who made risky bets on mortgage-backed securities that went bad.

"What happened is that some people acted like they were teenagers with failing grades on their report cards, wanting to hide them from their parents," Silva said.

Central banks around the planet must adopt new rules, and governments must make sure financial institutions comply or are punished to prevent another debacle like the U.S.-born crisis, Silva said.

The president reiterated his belief that Brazil is better insulated from a deep domestic economic crisis because it has put its financial house in order, paying off its foreign debt and accumulating more than US$200 billion in foreign reserves.

However, shares on Brazil's Ibovespa index fell for the fifth day in a row, closing down 4 percent at 35,610. And Brazil's currency fell another 4.5 percent against the dollar, as the central bank auctioned reserves to halt the slide. The real has lost more than 30 percent of its value since Aug. 1.

Silva said Brazil will stick to its plans for hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure investment in coming years, including hydroelectric dams, highway improvements and railways.

He also called Friday for a new global free trade agreement as an important step to prevent economic chaos.

In an interview with The Associated Press, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gutierrez acknowledged the anger across the planet aimed at the United States for causing the crisis, but said regulatory reforms must wait until the U.S. bailout package starts rippling through the economy and restoring credit.

"We are working as hard as we can to fix it," he said.

Silva said he lobbied for progress on the stalled World Trade Organization trade negotiations several days ago in a phone call with President Bush, and will deliver the same message in India next week to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Gutierrez echoed Silva's message that free trade — and not protectionism — is needed to bolster the global economy. But he said there is little hope of an agreement on a world trade treaty until after the inauguration of a new U.S. president in January.

Brazil wants its say in new financial order (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081010/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_meltdown_global_trade;_ylt=At.PcWgqQm8YNyBi8nD63Ia3IxIF)

Mysterious glowing aurora over Saturn confounds scientists

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:24 PM on 13th November 2008

A stunning light display over Saturn has stumped scientists who say it behaves unlike any other planetary aurora known in our solar system.

Picture #1 (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/11/13/article-1085354-02742975000005DC-662_468x387.jpg)

Picture #2 (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/11/13/article-1085354-02752318000005DC-771_468x363.jpg)

The blueish-green glow was found over the ringed planet's north polar region just like Earth's northern lights.

It was discovered by the infrared instruments on NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

'We've never seen an aurora like this elsewhere,' said Tom Stallard, a scientist working with Cassini data at the University of Leicester.

'This aurora covers an enormous area across the pole. Our current ideas on what forms Saturn's aurora predict that this region should be empty, so finding such a bright aurora here is a fantastic surprise.'

Auroras are caused by charged particles streaming along the magnetic field lines of a planet into its atmosphere.

Particles from the sun cause Earth's auroras. Many, but not all, of the auroras at Jupiter and Saturn are caused by particles trapped within the magnetic environments of those planets.

Jupiter's main auroral ring is caused by interactions in Jupiter's magnetic environment and remains constant in size. Saturn's main aurora is caused by the solar wind, and changes size dramatically as the wind varies. However, the newly observed aurora at Saturn doesn't fit into either category.

The new infrared aurora appears in a region hidden from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Cassini observed it when the spacecraft flew near Saturn's polar region.

In infrared light, the aurora sometimes fills the region from around 82 degrees north all the way over the pole. This new aurora is also constantly changing, even disappearing within a 45 minute-period.

'There is something special and unforeseen about this planet's magnetosphere and the way it interacts with the solar wind and the planet's atmosphere,' Cassini scientist Nick Achilleos from the University College London said.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.

Mysterious glowing aurora over Saturn confounds scientists (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1085354/Mysterious-glowing-aurora-Saturn-confounds-scientists.html)

VeriChip rises from the ashes
Written by Chris Perver
Saturday, 15 November 2008

This link from my friend Adam. Earlier in the year, the VeriChip Corporation, which manufactures the human-implantable RFID tags, sold its Xmark subsidiary to the Canadian firm Stanley Works, after the company fell into financial difficulties. VeriChip corporation had embarked on an extensive rebranding scheme to make its products more appealing to the public, following negative publicity over their product's link with cancerous tumours in mice. A three month advertising campaign was also undertaken in order to promote its products among the medical industry, and a partnership with a well known hearing aid manufacturer was also announced. But the scheme failed and the company reported losses of around $1.9 million in the first quarter of 2008. Stanley Works bought Xmark with the intention of integrating its the technology into its own security business. The money went to pay off VeriChip's loan from its parent company, Digital Angel, which manufactures livestock implants and external RFID devices. Civil liberties advocates heralded the sale of Xmark as a death blow to human RFID implants. But now former CEO Scott Silverman is back in control, after his company R & R Consulting Partners, bought a controlling share of the VeriChip Corporation.

Quote: "Silverman commented on the transaction, "The prior controlling stockholder of the Company preferred a different path for the Company, which could have jeopardized the value of our FDA-cleared, first-of-a-kind medical device for patient identification. I couldn't let that happen. Our stockholders and the medical community believe in the value of our technology and its ability to evolve patient care and medical record access. I am eager to reignite the VeriMed Health Link business including our patient, hospital and physician outreach activities. We will focus once again on our core geographies and ensure our important relationships with advocacy groups are maintained and successful. Furthermore, we will continue the development of the glucose-sensing microchip in conjunction with RECEPTORS LLC, who is making good progress. In the near future, we will update the investor community on the results of our Phase I development of the glucose sensor."

As you can see, the issue of the implantation and personal identification of human beings has not gone away. And with the present global financial turmoil and speculation about the crash of world currencies due to mounting world debt, we should be expecting these issues to be coming to the fore. The Bible speaks of a day in which it will be impossible for a person to buy or sell without having a name, a number or an identifying 'mark' in their right hand or forehead (Revelation 13:16-18). Many of the people that come to buy goods in our bookshop will use a credit card, even for very small transactions. How long will it be before cash is done away with completely and a new electronic currency is launched, with the aim of replacing our failed currencies and improving our personal and national security? As British Prime Minister Gordon Brown states, we now have the perfect opportunity to set such a system up. How do you establish, in Gordon Brown's own words, a true global society? One of the first things you need is a global currency. And it seems the prospect of that happening gets closer by the day. Jesus Christ is coming back. The Bible prophesies that financial turmoil would be one of the major conditions that would characterize the last days (Revelation 6:5-6). Amos 4:12 states, "Prepare to meet thy God". Have you made the proper preparation to meet God? Have you had your sins forgiven through trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation today.

VeriChip rises from the ashes (http://www.prophecynews.co.uk/content/view/1061/1/)

Scientists find new penguin, extinct for 500 years

Ray Lilley
Wed Nov 19, 3:39 pm ET

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Researchers studying a rare and endangered species of penguin have uncovered a previously unknown species that disappeared about 500 years ago.

The research suggests that the first humans in New Zealand hunted the newly found Waitaha penguin to extinction by 1500, about 250 years after their arrival on the islands. But the loss of the Waitaha allowed another kind of penguin to thrive — the yellow-eyed species that now also faces extinction, Philip Seddon of Otago University, a co-author of the study, said Wednesday.

The team was testing DNA from the bones of prehistoric modern yellow-eyed penguins for genetic changes associated with human settlement when it found some bones that were older — and had different DNA.

Tests on the older bones "lead us to describe a new penguin species that became extinct only a few hundred years ago," the team reported in a paper in the biological research journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

Polynesian settlers came to New Zealand around 1250 and are known to have hunted species such as the large, flightless moa bird to extinction.

Seddon said dating techniques used on bones pulled from old Maori trash pits revealed a gap in time between the disappearance of the Waitaha and the arrival of the yellow-eyed penguin.

The gap indicates the extinction of the older bird created the opportunity for the newer to colonize New Zealand's main islands around 500 years ago, said Sanne Boessenkool, an Otago University doctoral student who led the team of researchers, including some from Australia's Adelaide University and New Zealand's Canterbury Museum.

Competition between the two penguin species may have previously prevented the yellow-eyed penguin from expanding north, the researchers noted.

David Penny of New Zealand's Massey University, who was not involved in the research, said the Waitaha was an example of another native species that was unable to adapt to a human presence.

"In addition, it is vitally important to know how species, such as the yellow-eyed penguin, are able to respond to new opportunities," he said. "It is becoming apparent that some species can respond to things like climate change, and others cannot. The more we know, the more we can help."

The yellow-eyed penguin is considered one of the world's rarest. An estimated population of 7,000 in New Zealand is the focus of an extensive conservation effort.

Scientists find new penguin, extinct for 500 years (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081119/ap_on_sc/as_sci_new_zealand_new_penguin_6;_ylt=AnxPMf8oWJsMh_EO_UhVbde9j7AB)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Huh??

If this penguin is not extinct, as scientists have said............. it show the limited knowledge of man. Ever wonder how many species are still alive, that are called extinct.

Super-Ant Taking Over Europe
by Robert Roy Britt
Wed Dec 3, 9:05 am ET

An ant species that originated in the Black Sea region has invaded more than 100 areas across Europe and is moving north. Scientists say if it is not stopped, it will reach Northern Germany, Scandinavia and Britain and could invade the whole world.

The pest, called Lasius neglectus, destroys native ant species as it invades new territory. It has also invaded much of Asia.

This week in the journal PLoS ONE, scientists presented the first thorough study of the intruder, which was discovered in 1990 after moving into Hungary.

"Its rapid spread through Europe and Asia [is] the most recent example of a pest ant that may become a global problem," the scientists write.

Ants rule

Ants thrive all over the world because they are very adaptive. Urban ants, for example, have adapted to the extreme heat of city living. Scientists estimate there are about 20,000 different species globally. The combined weight of ants in the Brazilian Amazon is thought to be four times greater than the combined mass of all of the mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians there.

When they arrive in new locations, ants can be extremely aggressive and very detrimental to local flora and fauna.

For example, The non-native red fire ant causes about $750 million of damage in the United States every year, the authors of the new study point out. And the Argentine ant has spread along thousands of miles of coastline in southern Europe, exterminating the natural insect fauna. In California, the Argentine ant armies have nearly wiped out all native ants.

Unbelieveable numbers

L. neglectus resembles the common black garden ant, but its colonies involve up to 100 times more workers. It frequently settles in parks and gardens, the researchers say, and it quickly exterminates native ants.

"When I saw this ant for the first time, I simply could not believe there could be so many garden ants in the same lawn," said University of Copenhagen researcher Jacobus J. Boomsma, a co-discoverer of the ant.

L. neglectus live in networks of interconnected nests, with many queens that mate underground and don't fly.

So how do they spread across a continent? They infest potted plants, and humans carry them far and wide, the researchers said.

"The future will therefore see many more ants become invasive, so it is about time we understand their biology and this study is a major step in that direction," said Jes S. Pedersen, who coordinates the invasive ant program in Copenhagen.

Super-Ant Taking Over Europe (http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20081203/sc_livescience/superanttakingovereurope/print;_ylt=AuCYTP_dSwBCbBfztfrvgHOzvtEF)

Christmas visit supports peace plan

Mahmoud Habboush
December 26. 2008 12:18AM UAE

ABU DHABI - Capping a symbolic trip to the Palestinian Territories, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the Foreign Minister, attended midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, on Christmas Eve.

Earlier in the day, Sheikh Abdullah reiterated the UAE’s support for the Arab Peace Initiative, and gave his strong backing to Mr Abbas’s Palestinian Authority, which is struggling to control Hamas militants who continue to fire rockets into Israel and have started to openly question the legitimacy of his presidency.

The Foreign Minister urged Mr Abbas to continue to lead the Palestinian people after his term expires on Jan 9.

The UAE’s support of Mr Abbas is in line with the view of many Arab nations that a power vacuum in the occupied territories needs to be avoided to prevent further intra-Palestinian violence. The Emirates also believes the fresh impetus to the Middle East peace process that is likely to take place with the accession of the US president-elect, Barack Obama, will be the best opportunity in years to move forward the Arab initiative launched in 2002.

“We feel that it is in the interest of the Palestinian people and of the region at large that [Mr Abbas] should continue to lead his people, regardless of what effect this laborious task might have to his health and efforts,” Sheikh Abdullah said at a press conference with the Palestinian leader on Wednesday afternoon, according to the state news agency WAM.

After their talks, which coincided with Christmas celebrations in the West Bank city famed as the birthplace of Jesus, Sheikh Abdullah said the UAE hoped to persuade the Obama administration to adopt the Arab plan that was relaunched at an Arab summit in Riyadh last year.

The plan calls for a resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict in return for Israel’s withdrawal from the Arab lands that it occupied in the 1967 Six Day War, including east Jerusalem. Israel initially expressed support for the plan, but its leaders have since voiced deep reservations over pulling out of east Jerusalem and resettling Palestinian refugees in Israel.

“The initiative is considered the solution to the region’s problems, to make our region a safe and stable place, enjoying development and prosperity,” Sheikh Abdullah said.

“We should bear in mind that the initiative has been driven not only by Arab countries, but also by the Islamic countries who unanimously adopted it during their conference in Tehran,” he said, referring to a meeting of Islamic nations in the Iranian capital last month, an apparent suggestion that even Iran would support the effort.

He noted that the 57 countries in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference said at the Tehran summit that they would be willing to normalise relations with Israel if the Jewish state adopts the initiative.

Both Mr Obama and Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, are believed to be favourably disposed to its general outlines, and Sheikh Abdullah suggested that after the Israeli elections would be an ideal time to move the plan forward.

Later on Wednesday evening, Sheikh Abdullah and his delegation joined Mr Abbas and Salam Fayad, the Palestinian prime minister, for mass at the Church of the Nativity before dining together, WAM said.

After the meal, Sheikh Abdullah again made clear the country’s support of Mr Abbas: “The UAE Government and people are all with the Palestinian people. We support you and Abu Mazen. I feel happy to be here in Palestine with our people to celebrate Christmas,” referring to the Palestinian leader by his Arab nickname.

Mr Abbas’s Fatah movement is struggling with Hamas, the Islamist group which seized control of Gaza in June 2007 and won national elections in Jan 2006. An Egyptian-brokered truce between Hamas and Israel in Gaza expired on Dec 19.

Since then, Israel has attacked presumed Hamas militants, while armed groups have fired rockets on Israeli cities bordering Gaza.Arab and western backing of Mr Abbas has allowed him in recent months to consolidate his authority in the West Bank, which is relatively quiet.

The deployment of newly trained Palestinian policemen in Jenin and Hebron and more development projects have created stability that contrasts with the dire living conditions in Gaza, which remains under Israeli siege. Rami Khouri, a Palestinian-Jordanian journalist and analyst, applauded Sheikh Abdullah’s visit but warned of the pitfalls of the appearance of taking sides in internal Palestinian disputes.

“Both Hamas and Fatah have popular legitimacy and both won elections, but both have also acted in immature ways,” Mr Khouri said.

Christmas visit supports peace plan (http://www.thenational.ae/article/20081226/NATIONAL/150371866/-1/OPINION)
~~~~~~~~~

Hmmmmmmmm A possible "Covenant with Many"??

North Korea vows to bolster its military in 2009
By HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press Writer Hyung-jin Kim, Associated Press Writer Thu Jan 1, 5:50 am ET

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea ushered in 2009 with an appeal Thursday to unite around leader Kim Jong Il and bolster the country's military while reaffirming its commitment to denuclearization.

North Korea traditionally marks New Year's Day with a joint editorial by the country's three major state-run newspapers representing its communist party, military and youth militia force. Outside observers pore over the statement for insight on the reclusive country's policy direction.

This year's message accused South Korea of an "anachronistic confrontation policy" and stressed the need to strengthen the country's 1.2 million-member military — the backbone of Kim's totalitarian rule.

However, it lacked the country's usual criticisms of the United States, an indication the country may hope to build up ties with the incoming government of President-elect Barack Obama.

"North Korea didn't issue insults for the U.S. in this year's editorial. That showed North Korea's expectation for the Obama government," said Paik Hak-soon, an analyst at the security think tank Sejong Institute in South Korea.

Obama has sought to emphasize his willingness to hold direct talks with the North — including possibly meeting with leader Kim.

Kim Ho-nyeon, a spokesman at the South Korean Unification Ministry, noted later Thursday that New Year's messages in 1993 and 2001 also didn't criticize the U.S., shortly before former President Bill Clinton and current President George W. Bush were inaugurated.

In other New Year's messages, the North has accused the U.S. of plotting a war against it and demanded that Washington withdraw its 28,000 troops from South Korea.

Tension on the Korean peninsula has run high since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, a pro-U.S. conservative, took office in February with a pledge to take a tough line on the North. Ties worsened last month as North Korea restricted traffic at the border, expelled some South Koreans from a joint industrial zone and suspended a tour program to an ancient North Korean city.

Lee has questioned key reconciliation accords his liberal predecessors signed with the North and recently sponsored a U.N. resolution denouncing North Korea's human rights record. The North has also bristled at Seoul's failure to stop activists from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.

On Thursday, a group of South Korean activists flew balloons carrying about 3,000 leaflets to the North from Imjingak, a South Korean border town. The leaflets criticized Kim Jong Il's dictatorship and policies that have put the country's 23 million people on the brink of starvation.

The New Year message, carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency and broadcast by state television, said the North's military should strengthen its discipline by upholding "the idea, intention, order and instruction of the Supreme Commander."

The title refers to Kim, who has initiated a "military-first policy" making the country's top priority the strengthening of its armed forces.

"We should continue to put utmost efforts to building up the country's military strength in line with the requirements of the prevailing situation," it said.

Kim has been the focus of intense speculation since he reportedly suffered a stroke and underwent brain surgery in August. The North has denied its 66-year-old was ever ill, churning out a slew of reports and photos depicting him as healthy and active.

The statement also restated the country's commitment to a nuclear-free Korea.

"The independent foreign policy of our Republic to denuclearize the Korean peninsula and defend peace and security of Northeast Asia and the rest of the world is demonstrating its validity more fully as the days go by," it said.

The editorial said the North plans to develop relations with "the countries friendly toward us."

Paik said the remarks show the North's willingness to "actively" cooperate in furthering disarmament talks if it has improved ties with the U.S. under Obama's new administration.

The North Korean nuclear talks ended in a stalemate last month over Pyongyang's refusal to put into writing commitments on inspecting its past nuclear activities, blocking progress on an aid-for-disarmament agreement reached last year.

North Korea vows to bolster its military in 2009 (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090101/ap_on_re_as/as_nkorea_new_year_s_message/print;_ylt=AjsaDRl_uq7AQlCX8nCVUD_9xg8F)

Very interesting signs coming in the sun and the moon in 2014-2015, according to 'Prophecy in the News' with J.R. Church and Gary Stearman.

This past Sept. 2008 at Rosh HaShanna, began a sabbatical week of years according to the Jewish calendar. That 7 years will end in a very unusual way. Beginning September 25, 2014 and ending September 13, 2015, there will be a series of 4 lunar eclipses. The first happens to fall on Passover, April 15, 2014 will be a blood red moon, and another on the Feast of Tabernacles, October 8, 2014. Then another on Passover, April 4, 2015, and the following feast of Tabernacles, September 28, 2015.

This doesn't happen that often in history. Four, total blood red moons is called a 'Tetrad'. These are the only ones that happen on Passover and Tabernacles in the whole century. The last time this happened was in 1967/68 running parallel to Jerusalem being recaptured in the Six Day War. Before those in 67/68, was another 'Tetrad' in 1949, immediately after Israel became a nation. Very interesting! Again, the next time this 'Tetrad' fell on Passover and Tabernacles was in 1493/94 after the Jews were kicked out of Spain. So each time these happened it looks as if it is tied to the Jewish people. Passover, by the way, is the first of the 7 Feast of Israel and Tabernacles is the 7th of those feasts as recorded in Leviticus.

There seems to be a distinct astronomical parenthesis around these events. Stearman goes on to quote Matthew 24:29:

"Immediately after the Tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon not give her light..."

Could this be a natural cycle of the eclipses happening in the 7th year of the cycle? Interestingly enough, there is also a solar eclipse on Rosh HaShanna, 2015, and 6 months later, a total solar eclipse on Nisan 1, 2015, which is the beginning of the year on the Jewish calendar, which is also when Moses set up the Tabernacle and the Glory of God fell. J.R. Church goes on to say this is no coincidence, you can go on a computer site and look these up and there are no more for the rest of the century that fall on these feasts listed in Leviticus. He believes something could very well be marked by God for us around this time and we should be aware of this unusual occurence.

In 2008, 2009 and 2010 there are 3 solar eclipses that fall on the Jewish calendar on the 1st of Av (usually around our August).

Some very interesting information. Is God showing us something?

Brothers and Sisters,

I've read several highly detailed and complex studies regarding signs in the Heavens. There is a common denominator in most of them: they forget that GOD can cause whatever signs in the Heavens that HE wants to at any time. HE is not bound by the laws of nature that HE devised and put into place. However, I have found the studies to be very interesting. Another common denominator appears to revolve around known cycles and alignments of various stars. We must remember that GOD is in charge of all and can change whatever he pleases. I specifically remember a lengthy study done by a friend that obviously took him years to complete. Unfortunately, he set a date, and that date came and went.

I think that one of the most important things to remember #1 is that GOD is totally in charge, and HE does what HE pleases in the Heavens and on the Earth. I'm convinced that ONLY GOD can align all the signs and events according to HIS Perfect Will and timing. We really don't know if the signs will resemble what we expect in NATURE using SCIENTIFIC methods. The key important thing to remember #2 is that NATURE belongs to GOD, and any sort of so-called SCIENCE must be based on what GOD CREATED. Mankind - with all of his supposed WISDOM - has only seen a glimpse of GOD'S CREATION, and we only THINK that we understand a tiny percentage of NATURE on our own planet - MUCH LESS THE HEAVENS. SO, mankind must be humbled before the CREATOR of ALL THINGS. All of our so-called discoveries of GREAT MAGNITUDE were BREATHED INTO PLACE by GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SON, AND GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT. We are really back to falling on our faces before GOD and trying to IMAGINE the GREAT MAGNITUDE OF GOD'S MAJESTY, MIGHT, POWER, AND GLORY! I'm convinced that GOD will prove to the world that ALL GLORY IS HIS AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN! There are no great men - JUST A GREAT GOD!

The ONLY REAL, GREAT, AND 100% ACCURATE SCIENCE BOOK IS THE HOLY BIBLE, GOD'S WORD. GOD told us things that HE wanted us to know, and most things that HE wants us to know can be understood even by humans if we are diligent. In the end, I'm convinced that the things of man will be insignificant and NOT worthy of study. I'm not trying to offend REAL SCIENTISTS, rather just state the obvious that they aren't GOD and don't have a clue. The BEST REAL SCIENTISTS look to GOD and HIS WORD FIRST as the ULTIMATE MEASUREMENT OF ALL TRUTH! I am the most impressed with any so-called PROFESSIONAL who LOOKS TO GOD FIRST! WHY? The greatest questions of HUMANITY are answered in the HOLY BIBLE, and diligent study of the HOLY BIBLE requires the help of GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT. If Christians sincerely pray for help in the study of HIS WORD, GOD will provide that help according to HIS Will.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Isaiah 12:2-3 NASB "Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the LORD GOD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation." Therefore you will joyously draw water From the springs of salvation.

Hello Sister Barbara,

I hope you don't think I was trying to argue. I merely wanted to add a thought to the discussion. Most Christians who seriously study Bible Prophecy would quickly agree that the End Days of this Age of Grace are growing near. We are currently watching the systems of man fall apart, certainly including this part of the world. We don't know what the resulting chaos will be yet, but this is only one piece of the Bible Prophecy Puzzle. We see many other things around the world that also clearly indicate the End Days of this Age of Grace are drawing near. How long? We really don't know, but this is a beautiful topic for Christians to discuss.

For Christians, this is a beautiful topic because it means that we will see our SAVIOUR face to face soon. It also means that the Promises of GOD will be fulfilled soon. These are things that the world doesn't want to hear about, and many might even think we've lost our minds in discussing the Precious Promises of GOD. One example I like to think about often is receiving our Glorified Body - Like the Body of JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF. Another example I love to think about is JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF making peace and taking HIS Rightful Throne in Jerusalem to rule over the world. Prior to the Rule and Reign of CHRIST, the world will experience 7 years of horror like nothing ever seen.

Sister Barbara, please accept my apology if you thought I was trying to argue. This is simply a topic I love to think about every day. All Christians should be anxiously awaiting HIS Glorious Appearance. The RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH WHICH IS THE BODY OF CHRIST could happen at any moment. These are exciting times for Christians as we consider what awaits us WITH CHRIST!

Love In Christ,
Tom

Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable GIFT, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour Forever!

Hello Sister Barbara,

Sister, I'm sorry to hear about your illness. If you mentioned it, I must have missed it. You will be in my prayers. I also suffer from a major illness and don't know what tomorrow might bring, but I've tried to learn how to live one day at a time IN CHRIST and know that my HOPE isn't in this world. Many Christians are suffering around the world with various kinds of trials, illness, persecution, imprisonment, beatings, and even execution. I think it's far past time for all Christians to pray for each other every day, even for the ones we don't know around the world. GOD didn't promise us an easy time in this short life, and we should know that the coming months and years may involve increasing difficulty. However, this day could also be our last day in this short life. We could physically die in many different ways, OR we could be caught up to meet the LORD in the air at any time. Regardless, we should simply place our trust and ourselves IN GOD. There should be JOY every morning in the sure knowledge of our HOPE, and there will be a day of rejoicing soon.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 89:13-16 NLT Powerful is your arm! Strong is your hand! Your right hand is lifted high in glorious strength. 14 Your throne is founded on two strong pillars-righteousness and justice. Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants. 15 Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of your presence, LORD. 16 They rejoice all day long in your wonderful reputation. They exult in your righteousness.

Psalms 118:19-24 NLT Open for me the gates where the righteous enter, and I will go in and thank the LORD. 20 Those gates lead to the presence of the LORD, and the godly enter there. 21 I thank you for answering my prayer and saving me! 22 The stone rejected by the builders has now become the cornerstone. 23 This is the LORD'S doing, and it is marvelous to see. 24 This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Biometric Palm Reader Sees Through Your Skin
01.08.09
by Dan Costa

Fingerprint readers watch out. What used to be state of the art security could soon be replaced by contact-free biometric authorization systems that can read the unique pattern of veins beneath your skin. This week at the CES 2009, Fujitsu is demonstrating just such a technology, dubbed PalmSecure as well as an integrated solution for companies dubbed LOGONDIRECTOR Enterprise Edition that will allow companies to manage security across their companies.

Palm vein scanning is far more secure and accurate than finger print," according to Dan Miller, business development manager for the new products group. "Finger print can be spoofed but vein technology is located in the palm of your hand and cannot be spoofed."

The PalmSecure reader uses near infrared light to capture your vein pattern, which is unique to each individual. This is then compared to a database of know patterns. The company claims its false acceptance is just 0.00008 percent.

Presumably, this biometric sensor could protect against the age-old sci-fi trope of using a detached finger to trick a biometric sensor. "You need to have blood flowing in order to get scanned." Miller says. "This virtually eliminates fraud."

Miller says the technology is already being deployed in multiple industries, including Healthcare, Physical Access, and Maintenance. For example, the company that administers the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), Pearson VUE is using the technology to identify test takers to prevent so-called "proxy" cheating. Hospitals such as ValleyCare Health System in Pleasanton, CA, BayCare Health System in Tampa, FL. and Carolinas HealthCare System, Charlotte, NC are currently using PalmSecure solutions to identify patients and prevent insurance fraud.

ATMs are another growing field. Customers not only present the Debit card and PIN, but scan the palm as a third factor," according to Miller. "If anyone gets your card and PIN, they still need your palm." And, just to be clear, blood would need to be moving through it.

I can't post the link because this is the sellers website.

Powerful Solar Storm Could Shut Down U.S. for Months

Friday , January 09, 2009
By Robert Roy Britt

A new study from the National Academy of Sciences outlines grim possibilities on Earth for a worst-case scenario solar storm.

Damage to power grids and other communications systems could be catastrophic, the scientists conclude, with effects leading to a potential loss of governmental control of the situation.

The prediction is based in part on a major solar storm in 1859 that caused telegraph wires to short out in the United States and Europe, igniting widespread fires.

It was perhaps the worst in the past 200 years, according to the new study, and with the advent of modern power grids and satellites, much more is at risk.

"A contemporary repetition of the [1859] event would cause significantly more extensive (and possibly catastrophic) social and economic disruptions," the researchers conclude.

'Command and control might be lost'

When the sun is in the active phase of its 11-year cycle, it can unleash powerful magnetic storms that disable satellites, threaten astronaut safety, and even disrupt communication systems on Earth.

The worst storms can knock out power grids by inducing currents that melt transformers.

Modern power grids are so interconnected that a big space storm — the type expected to occur about once a century — could cause a cascade of failures that would sweep across the United States, cutting power to 130 million people or more in this country alone, the new report concludes.

Such widespread power outages, though expected to be a rare possibility, would affect other vital systems.

"Impacts would be felt on interdependent infrastructures with, for example, potable water distribution affected within several hours; perishable foods and medications lost in 12-24 hours; immediate or eventual loss of heating/air conditioning, sewage disposal, phone service, transportation, fuel resupply and so on," the report states.

Outages could take months to fix, the researchers say. Banks might close, and trade with other countries might halt.

"Emergency services would be strained, and command and control might be lost," write the researchers, led by Daniel Baker, director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

"Whether it is terrestrial catastrophes or extreme space weather incidents, the results can be devastating to modern societies that depend in a myriad of ways on advanced technological systems," Baker said in a statement released with the report.

Stormy past

Solar storms have had significant effects in modern time:

— In 1989, the sun unleashed a tempest that knocked out power to all of Quebec, Canada.

— A remarkable 2003 rampage included 10 major solar flares over a two-week period, knocking out two Earth-orbiting satellites and crippling an instrument aboard a Mars orbiter.

"Obviously, the sun is Earth's life blood," said Richard Fisher, director of the Heliophysics division at NASA. "To mitigate possible public safety issues, it is vital that we better understand extreme space weather events caused by the sun's activity."

"Space weather can produce solar storm electromagnetic fields that induce extreme currents in wires, disrupting power lines, causing wide-spread blackouts and affecting communication cables that support the Internet," the report states. "Severe space weather also produces solar energetic particles and the dislocation of the Earth's radiation belts, which can damage satellites used for commercial communications, global positioning and weather forecasting."

Rush to prepare

The race is on for better forecasting abilities, as the next peak in solar activity is expected to come around 2012.

While the sun is in a lull now, activity can flare up at any moment, and severe space weather — how severe, nobody knows — will ramp up a year or two before the peak.

Some scientists expect the next peak to bring more severe events than other recent peaks.

"A catastrophic failure of commercial and government infrastructure in space and on the ground can be mitigated through raising public awareness, improving vulnerable infrastructure and developing advanced forecasting capabilities," the report states. "Without preventive actions or plans, the trend of increased dependency on modern space-weather sensitive assets could make society more vulnerable in the future."

The report was commissioned and funded by NASA. Experts from around the world in industry, government and academia participated. It was released this week.

Powerful Solar Storm Could Shut Down U.S. for Months (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,478024,00.html)
~~~~~~~~

Me thinks they forgot it may also increase the temperature of the earth.

Mystery Roar Detected From Faraway Space

Friday , January 09, 2009
By Andrea Thompson

LONG BEACH, Calif. —
Space is typically thought of as a very quiet place. But one team of astronomers has found a strange cosmic noise that booms six times louder than expected.

The roar is from the distant cosmos. Nobody knows what causes it.

Of course, sound waves can't travel in a vacuum (which is what most of space is), or at least they can't very efficiently. But radio waves can.

Radio waves are not sound waves, but they are still electromagnetic waves, situated on the low-frequency end of the light spectrum.

Many objects in the universe, including stars and quasars, emit radio waves. Even our home galaxy, the Milky Way, emits a static hiss (first detected in 1931 by physicist Karl Jansky). Other galaxies also send out a background radio hiss.

But the newly detected signal, described here today at the 213th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, is far louder than astronomers expected.

There is "something new and interesting going on in the universe," said Alan Kogut of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

A team led by Kogut detected the signal with a balloon-borne instrument named ARCADE (Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Diffuse Emission).

In July 2006, the instrument was launched from NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas, and reached an altitude of about 120,000 feet (36,500 meters), where the atmosphere thins into the vacuum of space.

ARCADE's mission was to search the sky for faint signs of heat from the first generation of stars, but instead they heard a roar from the distant reaches of the universe.

"The universe really threw us a curve," Kogut said. "Instead of the faint signal we hoped to find, here was this booming noise six times louder than anyone had predicted."

Detailed analysis of the signal ruled out primordial stars or any known radio sources, including gas in the outermost halo of our own galaxy.

Other radio galaxies also can't account for the noise — there just aren't enough of them.

"You'd have to pack them into the universe like sardines," said study team member Dale Fixsen of the University of Maryland. "There wouldn't be any space left between one galaxy and the next."

The signal is measured to be six times brighter than the combined emission of all known radio sources in the universe.

For now, the origin of the signal remains a mystery.

"We really don't know what it is,"said team member Michael Seiffert of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

And not only has it presented astronomers with a new puzzle, it is obscuring the sought-for signal from the earliest stars.

But the cosmic static may itself provide important clues to the development of galaxies when the universe was much younger, less than half its present age.

Because the radio waves come from far away, traveling at the speed of light, they therefore represent an earlier time in the universe.

"This is what makes science so exciting," Seiffert said. "You start out on a path to measure something — in this case, the heat from the very first stars — but run into something else entirely, some unexplained."

Mystery Roar Detected From Faraway Space (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,477880,00.html)
~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm going to let someone else say, what I'm thinking.

I'll just say that men only THINK they have partial explanations for what happens in the heavens - GOD'S CREATION. Solar storms are something that many scientists think they understand, but I really don't think so. Average people should simply know that solar storms on the SUN so far away can have dramatic effects on planet earth. Even relatively mild solar storms can cause havoc with many kinds of emergency communication systems - including police, fire, and ambulance. Some types of electronics and communications suffer less effects than others, but solar storms on the SUN have all kinds of horrendous effects. First, it should be obvious that increased or decreased solar activity OBVIOUSLY has an effect on temperatures on the earth. One doesn't need to be a scientist to understand that changes in the activity of the sun could cause man to freeze or fry. Second, even average people are beginning to understand how little our scientists understand about what happens in the heavens. The bottom line is we don't have a clue. We understand a few minor, basic things that would be appropriate for beginners. Why is this? -- Mankind doesn't have much more than a basic understanding of ANYTHING - much less about what happens in the heavens.

Brothers and Sisters, the main point I wanted to make is that mankind doesn't have a clue about the power locked up in GOD'S CREATION. Bluntly, I would first say that anyone claiming that mankind causes global warming is a DIMWIT! Just small changes in solar activity have dramatic effects, and we already know that there are trends in various kinds of solar activity. Is there something NATURAL in place that limits the magnitude of solar activity changes? I don't think so - NOT NATURAL - SUPERNATURAL - GOD! - THE CREATOR! As Christians, that word "NATURAL" should cause raised eyebrows. Anything that is so-called "NATURAL" is made by our SUPERNATURAL CREATOR - ALMIGHTY GOD! GOD determines what is NATURAL, or maybe "NORMAL" might be another good descriptor. GOD defined NATURAL AND NORMAL, and GOD CAN OBVIOUSLY CHANGE IT HOWEVER AND WHENEVER HE WISHES! If mankind tries to define natural and normal, we simply look at what has already been put in place by GOD, and we try to find explanations when things change. Let's get real - how often is mankind right? Isn't it really like a shot in the dark? The things that mankind gets right are usually VERY BASIC. I'll go out on a limb and say if you hit your toe with a hammer, it will probably HURT!

Many things are going to happen in the Tribulation Period that mankind won't be able to explain. Things will reach the absolute worst chaos, horror, and death before JESUS CHRIST will come and make the ONLY REAL PEACE this world has ever known. Three-fourths of the world population will be dead by this time, and all who are left will KNOW that GOD IS REAL and always has been. GOD has all of the answers that man will never get. Here's a little THINKING question for everyone - including Christians: how would one treat and act toward GOD if there was 100% ABSOLUTE - CONCRETE KNOWLEDGE HE IS REAL AND STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU? Brothers and Sisters, GOD is 100% REAL - AND HE LIVES IN OUR HEARTS!

Love In Christ,
Tom

Isaiah 2:1-5 NASB
The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths." For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war. Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

Isaiah 9:2-7 NASB
The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them. You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

Obama has begun discreet talks with Iran, Syria

Sunday, February 1 02:54 am

US President Barack Obama has already used experts within the last few months to hold high-level but discreet talks with both Iran and Syria, organizers of the meetings told AFP.

Officially, Obama's overtures toward both Tehran and Damascus have remained limited.

In an interview broadcast Monday, Obama said the United States would offer arch-foe Iran an extended hand of diplomacy if the Islamic Republic's leaders "unclenched their fist."

Meanwhile, his secretary of state Hillary Clinton warned that the Israeli-Syrian track of the Middle East peace negotiations took a back seat to the Israeli-Palestinian track, especially because of the recent war in Gaza.

However, even before winning the November 4 election, Obama unofficially used what experts call "track two" discussions to approach America's two foes in the region.

Nuclear non-proliferation experts had several "very, very high-level" contacts in the last few months with Iranian leaders, said Jeffrey Boutwell, executive director for the US branch of the Pugwash group, an international organization of scientists which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995.

Former defense secretary William Perry, who served in Obama's election campaign, participated in some of these meetings focused on "a wide range of issues that separate Iran from the West: not only their nuclear program but the Middle East peace process, Persian Gulf issues," Boutwell told AFP.

The Pugwash official declined to name the other participants, except to say they had considerable clout.

"We had very, very senior figures from both the Iranian policy establishment and from the US; people who have very close, good access to the top leaders in both countries," Boutwell said.

"The Cable," the blog of the specialist magazine Foreign Policy, said Iran's permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (AIEA), Ali Asghar Soltanieh, was "among the Iranian officials who attended the Pugwash dialogues."

Meanwhile, a group of experts under the auspices of the think tank, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), announced Thursday that they met for more than two hours in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The experts included Ellen Laipson, a former White House adviser under president Bill Clinton and a member of the Obama transition team.

Assad struck positive notes, the participants in the meeting said during a press conference at the Washington headquarters of USIP, a bipartisan think tank financed by Congress.

"His phrasing was 70 percent of our interests are potentially shared and 30 percent are not. And he said: let's work on the 70 percent," said Bruce Jentleson, who was the disarmament advisor to former vice president Al Gore.

The Syrian president himself revealed on Monday that "dialogue started some weeks ago in a serious manner through personalities who are close to the administration and who were dispatched by the administration."

The United States accuses Syria of supporting "terrorist" groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, of destabilizing Lebanon and of allowing armed men to transit its territory to fight US-led forces in Iraq.

Washington and Tehran, which have had no diplomatic ties for nearly 30 years, differ sharply over Iran's nuclear program. Washington charges the program is a covert military one, but Tehran says it is for nuclear energy.

Obama has begun discreet talks with Iran, Syria (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20090201/twl-obama-has-begun-discreet-talks-with-3cd7efd.html)

Mexican Drug Cartels Armed to the Hilt, Threatening National Security

Wednesday, February 04, 2009
By Matt Sanchez

In November, along the border with Texas, Mexican authorities arrested drug cartel leader Jaime "el Hummer" Gonzalez Duran — one of the founders of "Los Zetas," a paramilitary organization of former Mexican soldiers who decided there was more money to be made in selling drugs than in serving in the Mexican military.

As El Hummer was being transported to the airport in an armed vehicle, his fellow cartel members launched a brazen attack against the federales.

They were armed to the teeth. Their arsenal ranged from semi-automatic rifles to rocket-propelled grenades. When the smoke finally cleared and the government had prevailed, Mexican federal agents captured 540 assault rifles, more than 500,000 rounds of ammunition, 150 grenades, 14 cartridges of dynamite, 98 fragmentation grenades, 67 bulletproof vests, seven Barrett .50-caliber sniper rifles and a Light Anti Tank (LAW) rocket.

This is modern Mexico, where the leaders of the powerful drug cartels are armed to the teeth with sophisticated weapons, many of which are smuggled over the border from the United States. It is with this array of superior weapons that drug cartels are threatening the very stability of their own country. And it's why America's outgoing CIA Director, Michael Hayden, says violence in Mexico will pose the second greatest threat to U.S. security next year, right after Al Qaeda.

"Americans are understandably focused on the flow of drugs and migrants into the U.S. from Mexico," says Andreas Peter, author of "Border Games: Policing the U.S.-Mexico Divide."

"But too often glossed over in the border security debate is the flow of weapons across the border into Mexico," he told Foxnews.com in a statement via the Internet.

The cartels are obtaining arms from America by using "straw man" buyers, who legally purchase weapons at gun shops and gun shows in the U.S. The weapons cross into Mexico, where border security is much weaker heading south of the border than it is going north.

Authorities don't know how many firearms are sneaked across the border, but the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) says more than 7,700 guns sold in America were traced to Mexico last year, up from 3,300 the year before and about 2,100 in 2006. Mexican authorities say 90 percent of smuggled weapons come from the United States.

In Northern Mexico, high-powered American weapons have enabled drug cartels to control whole territories. There is the Colt AR-15, the civilian version of the military M-16. And there is the "cuernos de chivo" — Spanish for goat horns . . . the 30-shot curved banana clip of the AK-47.

The AK-47, long the symbol of guerrilla revolution, is not the most accurate or technical assault rifle, but it gets the job done. It is the workhorse of drug cartels, and ammunition can come from a variety of world sources, including the United States.

And then there are the sniper rifles.

"The .50-caliber was interesting because we haven't seen that type of arm used in Mexico yet," said Scott Stewart, a former U.S. Army intelligence officer and an analyst for Stratfor, a geopolitical security firm. The .50-caliber long-range sniper rifle is incredibly accurate and dangerous; a trained operator could kill a human being with a round from well over a mile away.

For criminal cartels like Los Zetas, greater firepower means greater influence in not only the drug trade; it has enabled them to infiltrate and threaten the entire power structure of Mexico. In December, the Mexican attorney general announced the arrest of Maj. Arturo Gonzalez Rodriguez for allegedly assisting Mexican drug trafficking organizations — allegedly for $100,000 a month.

The connection between the drug cartels and the Mexican army has given cartel leaders access to military grade weapons like the high powered Five-Seven semi-automatic pistols.

A favorite with the cartels, the Five-Seven has the advantage of being light: under 2 pounds, with a 20-round clip filled with bullets the cartels call "matapolicias' — "cop killers."

"The 5.7 x 28, armor piercing (AP) rounds are not available for sale to the general public and are probably coming from the Mexican military," said Stewart who has analyzed U.S.-Mexican border security issues for half a decade.

The drug-related murder rate in Mexico doubled in 2008 from just one year before, and as the violence escalates, the power of the drug cartels has destabilized Mexican authority to the point of threatening national security.

Last week Gen. Ángeles Dahuajare announced that more than 17,000 soldiers had deserted in 2008.

"The Mexican Army is becoming a revolving door for the enforcement arm of the drug cartels; they simply pay better," Stewart said.

"If they don't get the weapons from the U.S., they'll get it from somewhere else: Brazil, Guatemala, Argentina or even former satellite state 'gray markets,'" he said.

Despite the efforts of his comrades in crime, El Hummer wound up in jail — and Mexican authorities paraded him before the media to reassure the public that they are still in control.

But that was largely for show. As long as weapons flow into Mexico, the drug cartels will be able to develop an arsenal. "Control" will be unstable, at best.

Mexican Drug Cartels Armed to the Hilt, Threatening National Security (http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,487911,00.html)

Madagascar soldiers shoot protesters, some dead

Saturday, February 07, 2009

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — Soldiers opened fire on anti-government protesters Saturday near the presidential palace in Madagascar's capital, and radio stations reported some 30 people were killed.

An AP reporter witnessed the shootings in Antananarivo and saw protesters falling, but it was unclear whether they were wounded or dead.

The deaths were reported by both state-run and independent radio. There was no official confirmation, and officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

The protest was one in a series called by opposition leader Andry Rajoelina, whose challenge to the country's president sparked deadly violence last month. Unrest has been a hallmark of politics in Madagascar, an Indian Ocean island off Africa's southeast coast.

"(The army should) defend the people and stop these soldiers who are firing on people," Rajoelina declared Saturday on independent radio Viva.

The protest started at a central square where Rajoelina regularly addresses supporters. Thousands of demonstrators then headed toward the presidential palace.

Rajoelina, the former mayor of Antananarivo, had declared that presidential palace belonged to the city, but left the square before the march set off. He was ousted as mayor on Tuesday by an official appointed by the police minister.

As mayor, Rajoelina had used rallies and broadcast stations he owns to urge President Marc Ravalomanana to resign and offered himself as an alternative. Rajoelina accuses the president of misspending public money and threatening the nation's young democracy.

The president temporarily shut down the mayor's TV station in late January, sparking mass protests that turned into riots and looting sprees that left dozens of people dead.

The stakes in Madagascar, known for its eco-tourism and vanilla production, have risen since oil was discovered three years ago but most of its people still live in poverty.

Madagascar soldiers shoot protesters, some dead (http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2009Feb07/0,4670,AFMadagascar,00.html)

With armor, microchips, Mexicans gird for `days of terror'
Mexicans who can afford it go to great lengths to protect themselves from criminals.

Friday, 02.06.09
By NINOSKA MARCANO M.

MEXICO CITY -- Inside of 10 seconds, the microchip -- no bigger than a grain of rice -- can be injected under the skin.

From that moment on, workers in a high-tech monitoring room in Queretaro, Mexico track the recipient's movements.

No names are on the screens, just numbers. And for that service, the recipient pays roughly $5,000 a year to feel safe while living in a country wracked by violence.

Mexico's widespread drug-related crimes and soaring kidnapping rate have severely eroded citizens' trust in the government's capacity to deal with the country's growing violence.

The country is currently classified by international groups as the riskiest Latin American country for kidnappings. Things have gotten so bad that some are asking Mexican lawmakers to consider reinstating the death penalty.

In an effort to keep safe, many citizens who can afford it have invested an estimated $18 billion in private security measures, including the microchip, according to a 2008 report from the Center for Economic Studies.

Inserting the chip under the skin shows how far many middle-class Mexicans are willing to go to ensure their safety, said Francisco González, a sales manager for Xega, the only high-tech security company in the country that sells satellite-tracking microchips for humans.

Xega's VIP satellite tracking microchip is just one security method. There are others. Consider:

• Some are taking out loans to buy or lease armored vehicles.

• Some are investing in bodyguards-for-hire to go to the ATM, or run weekend errands.

• Watchdog groups such as Mexico United Against Crime have grown substantially.

''Mexico has changed,'' said María Elena Morera de Galindo, president of the watchdog group. ``The lifestyle of Mexicans has changed.''

She joined in 2001, after her husband was kidnapped and his captors mutilated four fingers.

Some 3,000 people use the chip device nationwide, and the number is rapidly growing.

''[The device] has become very popular,'' said González. ``Our number of clients is increasing.''

The VIP device operates like a GPS receiver in a car. The client presses a button on a watch, a cellular phone or key chain with a matching chip, which activates an alarm warning elite forces working with Xega when a client feels threatened. González, the sales manager, uses the satellite tracking device himself.

The kidnapping trend is so prevalent in Mexico that people know kidnappers believe they can collect between $15,000 and $22,400 within a week.

In one of the worst cases reported in Mexico City, a 5-year-old boy from a poor family also from Iztapalapa was kidnapped from a flea market. The boy's kidnappers requested the equivalent of about $22,400 in ransom, but killed the child by injecting acid into his heart before any money could be exchanged. They feared getting caught.

''We are not living in fear, these are days of terror,'' said González. ``People today feel more at risk, and they want to protect their families, their children.''.

STAB-PROOF JACKETS

Miguel Caballero, the Colombian producer of ''designer bulletproof fashion,'' has such high-profile clients as King Abdullah of Jordan, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and actor Stephen Segal, among others.

In 2007, his company, which operates in 16 countries, including Mexico, made $9 million.

In the first seven months of 2008, he matched that figure.

With armor, microchips, Mexicans gird for `days of terror' (http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/890545.html)

North Korea would use nuclear weapons in a 'merciless offensive'

Tuesday, 9 June 2009

North Korea today said it would use nuclear weapons in a "merciless offensive" if provoked — its latest bellicose rhetoric apparently aimed at deterring any international punishment for its recent atomic test blast.

The tensions emanating from Pyongyang are beginning to hit nascent business ties with the South: a Seoul-based fur manufacturer became the first South Korean company to announce Monday it was pulling out of an industrial complex in the North's border town of Kaesong.

The complex, which opened in 2004, is a key symbol of rapprochement between the two Koreas but the goodwill is evaporating quickly in the wake of North Korea's nuclear test on May 25 and subsequent missile tests.

Pyongyang raised tensions a notch by reviving its rhetoric in a commentary in the state-run Minju Joson newspaper today.

"Our nuclear deterrent will be a strong defensive means...as well as a merciless offensive means to deal a just retaliatory strike to those who touch the country's dignity and sovereignty even a bit," said the commentary, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

It appeared to be the first time that North Korea referred to its nuclear arsenal as "offensive" in nature. Pyongyang has long claimed that its nuclear weapons program is a deterrent and only for self-defense against what it calls US attempts to invade it.

The tough talk came as South Korea and the US lead an effort at the UN Security Council to have the North punished for its nuclear test with tough sanctions.

Seoul's Yonhap news agency reported today that South Korea had doubled the number of naval ships around the disputed sea border with the North amid concern the communist neighbor could provoke an armed clash there — the scene of skirmishes in 1999 and 2002.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff declined to confirm the report, but said the North has not shown any unusual military moves.

Relations between the two Koreas have significantly worsened since a pro-US, conservative government took office in Seoul last year, advocating a tougher policy on the North. Since then, reconciliation talks have been cut off and all key joint projects except the factory park in Kaesong have been suspended.

Some 40,000 North Koreans are employed at the zone, making everything from electronics and watches to shoes and utensils, providing a major source of revenue for the cash-strapped North. The park combines South Korean technology and management expertise with cheap North Korean labor.

A total of 106 South Korean companies operate in the park. That number will go down by the end of the month when Skinnet, the fur-maker, completes its pullout.

A Skinnet company official said the decision was primarily over "security concerns" for its employees, and also because of a decline in orders from clients concerned over possible disruptions to operations amid the soaring tensions.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with reporters.

The industrial park's fate has been in doubt since last month when North Korea threatened to scrap all contracts on running the joint complex and said it would write new rules of its own and the South must accept them or pull out of the zone.

The companies have also been concerned by the detention of a South Korean man working at the complex by North Korean authorities since late March for allegedly denouncing the regime's political system.

The two sides are to hold talks on the fate of the park Thursday.

Intensifying its confrontation with the US, North Korea handed down 12-year prison terms to two detained American journalists on Monday.

North Korea would use nuclear weapons in a 'merciless offensive' (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/north-korea-would-use-nuclear-weapons-in-a-merciless-offensive-1700590.html)

Defying sanctions, NKorea vows to make more nukes
By KWANG-TAE KIM, Associated Press Writer Kwang-tae Kim
Sat Jun 13

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea responded to new U.N. sanctions with more defiance, promising Saturday to step up its nuclear bomb-making program by enriching uranium and threatening war on any country that dares to stop its ships on the high seas.

The North's threats were the first public acknowledgment that the reclusive communist nation has been running a secret uranium enrichment program. Suspicions of the program touched off the latest nuclear crisis in 2002.

The country also vowed never to give up its nuclear ambitions as a way to protect its sovereignty amid signs of preparations for naming its ailing leader Kim Jong Il's youngest son, Jong Un, as his successor.

Despite repeated assurances from Washington, North Korea has harbored deep-rooted suspicions that the U.S. could invade to topple its regime.

"It has become an absolutely impossible option for (North Korea) to even think about giving up its nuclear weapons," the North's Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.

North Korea also warned that any attempted blockade by the U.S. and its allies would be regarded as "an act of war and met with a decisive military response."

The new threats came in response to tough new sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council over the North's second nuclear test on May 25.

The sanctions are aimed at depriving North Korea of the financing used to build its rogue nuclear program. The resolution also authorized searches of North Korean ships suspected of transporting illicit ballistic missile and nuclear materials.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the new U.N. penalties provide the necessary tools to help check North Korea's continued pursuit of nuclear weapons.

"This was a tremendous statement on behalf of the world community that North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons and the capacity to deliver those weapons through missiles is not going to be accepted by the neighbors as well as the greater international community," Clinton said Saturday at a news conference in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

"I think these sanctions ... give the world community the tools we need to take appropriate action."

In a move that could further escalate the nuclear standoff with the U.S., North Korea also said it has reprocessed more than a third of its spent nuclear fuel rods and vowed to weaponize its new plutonium, a key ingredient of atomic bombs along with enriched uranium.

North Korea is believed to have about 110 pounds (50 kilograms) of plutonium, enough for a half dozen bombs, said Yoon Deok-min, a professor at South Korea's state-run Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security.

Reprocessing 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods stored at North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex could yield an additional 18 to 22 pounds (8-10 kilograms) of plutonium — enough to make at least one more atomic bomb, he said.

The North's announcement represents a huge setback for an aid-for-disarmament deal aimed at ending its nuclear ambitions, and presents a new diplomatic headache for President Barack Obama as he prepares for talks with his South Korean counterpart on Tuesday on the North's missile and nuclear issues.

Analyst Kim Yong-hyun of Seoul's Dongguk University said North Korea was sending a stern message to Washington ahead of the meeting.

He said North Korea is engaging in a game of "chicken" with the U.S. that he predicted would eventually end in bilateral talks.

South Korea expressed serious concern and regret over the North's statement.

"The provocative steps can never be tolerated," the South's Foreign Ministry said in a statement, urging the North to return to stalled disarmament talks.

In a February 2007 deal, North Korea agreed to begin disabling Yongbyon in return for the equivalent of 1 million tons of fuel oil and other concessions from the U.S., South Korea, Russia, China and Japan.

But disablement came to a halt as North Korea wrangled with Washington over how to verify its past atomic activities. The latest round of talks, in December, failed to make any progress.

North Korea has said it will test a long-range missile and is suspected of preparing for a third nuclear test, but there is no evidence that either is imminent.

Meanwhile, South Korea's top admiral expressed a firm intention to fight back against any North Korean provocations along their disputed western sea border, saying another deadly naval skirmish could occur in the area, where there were deadly naval clashes in 1999 and 2002.

As a precaution, South Korea has dispatched hundreds more marines to two islands near the maritime border.

"Be ready to chop off the wrist of the enemy if it touches even the tip of our hand," navy Chief of Staff Jung Ok-keun said in the text of a speech to be read at a Monday ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the 1999 naval battle.

Defying sanctions, NKorea vows to make more nukes (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090613/ap_on_re_as/as_koreas_nuclear/print;_ylt=AqKmHYM8f8C8qbN8t3G2gDT9xg8F;_ylu=X3oDMTB1MjgxN2UzBHBvcwMxNARzZWMDdG9vbHMtdG9wBHNsawNwcmludA--)

Signs in the Heavens - Longest eclipse of the century coming up on July 22

prophecyinthenews.com/

The moon will hide the face of the sun again this month (Wednesday, July 22, 2009) in the longest solar eclipse in this 21st century. "It will be a monster, with a totality lasting more than 6.6 minutes at maximum," say Fred Espenak and Jay Anderson, writers for Sky & Telescope magazine.

You may recall that when we interviewed Mark Biltz for our May 2008 issue of Prophecy in the News magazine, we noted that he had discovered three solar eclipses that would occur on each of three annual calendar dates that introduce the Jewish month of Av for the years 2008, 2009, and 2010. The first eclipse occurred on August 1, 2008. The second solar eclipse is coming up this month — on July 22, 2009, and the third will happen on July 11, 2010. Though these dates vary in our Gregorian calendar, they occur on the same calendar date in the Jewish calendar — Av 1. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon travels across the face of the sun, thus blocking out its sunlight.

A "total" solar eclipse means that the moon is large enough (closer to Earth) to completely cover the surface of the sun, whereas, an "annular" solar eclipse means that the moon is farther away from Earth and appears smaller than the sun’s disk. A "partial" solar eclipse means that the moon only crosses part the sun’s surface, but does not completely block out its light. These three solar eclipses are "total" eclipses — last year in the far north, this year across the middle of Earth’s surface, and next year in the far south.

The solar eclipse last year (August 1, 2008) was seen in parts of the Arctic, Siberia, and central Asia. The second of these three solar eclipses will be coming up this month on July 22, 2009. Sky & Telescope magazine (December 2008) had a story about this solar eclipse, saying that it would be the longest eclipse of the century and would not be seen in this configuration again until 2132.

Fred Espenak and Jay Anderson, writers for Sky & Telescope said, "A total eclipse of the sun will cross China next summer. Unlike the eclipse last August, the one on July 22, 2009, will darken major cities, densely populated countryside, and a vast expanse of tropical ocean."

"The third total solar eclipse will happen on July 11, 2010, almost entirely over the South Pacific. Easter Island and southern Chile (at sunset) offer the only landfalls. The South Pacific is again the site of the next one, on November 13, 2012."

November 13, 2012 ... hmmm ... that’s in the fourth year of this Sabbatical cycle, near December 12, 2012, the final day in the Mayan calendar. Could these be heavenly signs?

The total solar eclipse this month will have a magnitude of 1.080 that will be visible from a narrow corridor through northern India, eastern Nepal, northern Bangladesh, Bhutan, the northern tip of Myanmar, central China and the Pacific Ocean, including Ryukyu Islands, Marshall Islands and Kiribati. Totality will be visible in many cities such as Surat, Varanasi, Patna, Thimphu, Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Hangzhou and Shanghai. A partial eclipse will be seen from the much broader path of the Moon‘s penumbra, including most of South East Asia and north-eastern Oceania. The northern Iwo Jima island is the landmass with totality time closest to maximum.

On Friday, August 1, 2008, a total eclipse of the Sun was visible from within a narrow corridor that traversed half the Earth. The path of the Moon’s umbral shadow began in Canada and extended across northern Greenland, the Arctic, central Russia, Mongolia, and China. A partial eclipse was seen within the much broader path of the Moon’s penumbral shadow, which included northeastern North America, most of Europe and Asia.

On Sunday, July 11, 2010, a third total eclipse of the Sun will be visible from within a narrow corridor that traverses Earth’s southern hemisphere. The path of the Moon’s umbral shadow will cross the South Pacific Ocean where it will make no landfall except for Mangaia (Cook Islands) and Easter Island (Isla de Pascua). The path of totality will end just after reaching southern Chile and Argentina. The Moon’s penumbral shadow will produce a partial eclipse visible from a much larger region covering the South Pacific and southern South America.

What is remarkable about these solar eclipses is the unusual way they occur on the Jewish calendar. There are several Scriptures that predict signs in the Sun and Moon around the time of the Tribulation Period. Isaiah wrote:

"Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, ... the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

"And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible" (Isa. 13:9-11).

John wrote: "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood" (Rev. 6:12).

It is possible that solar and lunar eclipses over the next few years hold heavenly messages for mankind.

UFOs: record number of sightings forecast for 2009

telegraph.co.uk/

A record number of UFOs are expected to be spotted this year in Britain after hundreds of sightings were reported in the first six months of 2009.

Strange floating orbs and unexplained hovering objects have all been recorded and reported to the Ministry of Defense in the last six months.

A total of 231 sightings of unidentified flying objects have been passed on to the MoD so far this year, according to The Sun.

This compares to 285 in 2008, 135 in 2007 and 97 in 2006.

The number of sightings is thought to have increased because many more people now carry digital cameras and are able to photograph strange objects.

Nick Pope, who used to run the Government's UFO project and is considered a leading authority on UFOs, told The Sun: "We are now on track for a record year.

"I thought the number of UFOs reported last year was high, but we now know they are being reported in increasing numbers."

Last year, the MoD released files detailing strange and unexplained sightings reported to them between 1986 and 1992.

In one instance, an Alitalia flight coming into land at Heathrow Airport reported a near miss with a UFO, which the pilot described as "similar to a missile - light brown or fawn, about three meters in length but without any exhaust flame''.

In the files, released by the National Archive, the military admitted the sighting in April 1991 could not be explained, having ruled out a British or American missile.

It concluded: "In the absence of any clear evidence which could identify the object, it is our intention to treat this sighting like that of any other Unidentified Flying Object.''

Two further near misses were reported in the summer of 1991, when one aircraft flying in to Gatwick Airport reported a "wingless projectile'' passing the left side of the plane, and another flight leaving Gatwick spotted a "small lozenge-shaped object'' speeding past the cockpit.

The files also went into detail about a US Air Force pilot who claims he was ordered to shoot down a UFO flying over southern England in 1957, and was later ordered never to speak about the incident.

Signs of the end? Euphrates River drying up
nytimes.com

Throughout the marshes, the reed gatherers, standing on land they once floated over, cry out to visitors in a passing boat.

“Maaku mai!” they shout, holding up their rusty sickles. “There is no water!”

The Euphrates is drying up. Strangled by the water policies of Iraq’s neighbors, Turkey and Syria; a two-year drought; and years of misuse by Iraq and its farmers, the river is significantly smaller than it was just a few years ago. Some officials worry that it could soon be half of what it is now.

The shrinking of the Euphrates, a river so crucial to the birth of civilization that the Book of Revelation prophesied its drying up as a sign of the end times, has decimated farms along its banks, has left fishermen impoverished and has depleted riverside towns as farmers flee to the cities looking for work.

The poor suffer more acutely, but all strata of society are feeling the effects: sheiks, diplomats and even members of Parliament who retreat to their farms after weeks in Baghdad.

Along the river, rice and wheat fields have turned to baked dirt. Canals have dwindled to shallow streams, and fishing boats sit on dry land. Pumps meant to feed water treatment plants dangle pointlessly over brown puddles.

“The old men say it’s the worst they remember,” said Sayid Diyia, 34, a fisherman in Hindiya, sitting in a riverside cafe full of his idle colleagues. “I’m depending on God’s blessings.”

The drought is widespread in Iraq. The area sown with wheat and barley in the rain-fed north is down roughly 95 percent from the usual, and the date palm and citrus orchards of the east are parched. For two years rainfall has been far below normal, leaving the reservoirs dry, and American officials predict that wheat and barley output will be a little over half of what it was two years ago.

It is a crisis that threatens the roots of Iraq’s identity, not only as the land between two rivers but as a nation that was once the largest exporter of dates in the world, that once supplied German beer with barley and that takes patriotic pride in its expensive Anbar rice.

Now Iraq is importing more and more grain. Farmers along the Euphrates say, with anger and despair, that they may have to abandon Anbar rice for cheaper varieties.

Droughts are not rare in Iraq, though officials say they have been more frequent in recent years. But drought is only part of what is choking the Euphrates and its larger, healthier twin, the Tigris.

The most frequently cited culprits are the Turkish and Syrian governments. Iraq has plenty of water, but it is a downstream country. There are at least seven dams on the Euphrates in Turkey and Syria, according to Iraqi water officials, and with no treaties or agreements, the Iraqi government is reduced to begging its neighbors for water.

At a conference in Baghdad — where participants drank bottled water from Saudi Arabia, a country with a fraction of Iraq’s fresh water — officials spoke of disaster.

“We have a real thirst in Iraq,” said Ali Baban, the minister of planning. “Our agriculture is going to die, our cities are going to wilt, and no state can keep quiet in such a situation.”

Recently, the Water Ministry announced that Turkey had doubled the water flow into the Euphrates, salvaging the planting phase of the rice season in some areas.

That move increased water flow to about 60 percent of its average, just enough to cover half of the irrigation requirements for the summer rice season. Though Turkey has agreed to keep this up and even increase it, there is no commitment binding the country to do so.

With the Euphrates showing few signs of increasing health, bitterness over Iraq’s water threatens to be a source of tension for months or even years to come between Iraq and its neighbors. Many American, Turkish and even Iraqi officials, disregarding the accusations as election-year posturing, say the real problem lies in Iraq’s own deplorable water management policies.

“There used to be water everywhere,” said Abduredha Joda, 40, sitting in his reed hut on a dry, rocky plot of land outside Karbala. Mr. Joda, who describes his dire circumstances with a tired smile, grew up near Basra but fled to Baghdad when Saddam Hussein drained the great marshes of southern Iraq in retaliation for the 1991 Shiite uprising. He came to Karbala in 2004 to fish and raise water buffaloes in the lush wetlands there that remind him of his home.

“This year it’s just a desert,” he said.

Along the river, there is no shortage of resentment at the Turks and Syrians. But there is also resentment at the Americans, Kurds, Iranians and the Iraqi government, all of whom are blamed. Scarcity makes foes of everyone.

The Sunni areas upriver seem to have enough water, Mr. Joda observed, a comment heavy with implication.

Officials say nothing will improve if Iraq does not seriously address its own water policies and its history of flawed water management. Leaky canals and wasteful irrigation practices squander the water, and poor drainage leaves fields so salty from evaporated water that women and children dredge huge white mounds from sitting pools of runoff.

On a scorching morning in Diwaniya, Bashia Mohammed, 60, was working in a drainage pool by the highway gathering salt, her family’s only source of income now that its rice farm has dried up. But the dead farm was not the real crisis.

“There’s no water in the river that we drink from,” she said, referring to a channel that flows from the Euphrates. “It’s now totally dry, and it contains sewage water. They dig wells but sometimes the water just cuts out and we have to drink from the river. All my kids are sick because of the water.”

In the southeast, where the Euphrates nears the end of its 1,730-mile journey and mingles with the less salty waters of the Tigris before emptying into the Persian Gulf, the situation is grave. The marshes there that were intentionally reflooded in 2003, rescuing the ancient culture of the marsh Arabs, are drying up again. Sheep graze on land in the middle of the river.

The farmers, reed gatherers and buffalo herders keep working, but they say they cannot continue if the water stays like this.

“Next winter will be the final chance,” said Hashem Hilead Shehi, a 73-year-old farmer who lives in a bone-dry village west of the marshes. “If we are not able to plant, then all of the families will leave.”

The Seven Bowl Judgments

Revelation 16:1-21 KJV And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. 2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. 3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. 4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. 7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. 8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. 10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds. 12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. 13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. 17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. 19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

Hezbollah stockpiles 40,000 rockets near Israel border

timesonline.co.uk

Three years after Israel fought a bloody war in Lebanon against Hezbollah, there are fears that hostilities could erupt again — this time with the militant group better armed than ever.

According to Israeli, United Nations and Hezbollah officials, the Shia Muslim militia is stronger than it was in 2006 when it took on the Israeli army in a war that killed 1,191 Lebanese and 43 Israeli civilians.

Hezbollah has up to 40,000 rockets and is training its forces to use ground-to-ground missiles capable of hitting Tel Aviv, and anti-aircraft missiles that could challenge Israel’s dominance of the skies over Lebanon.

Brigadier-General Alon Friedman, the deputy head of the Israeli Northern Command, told The Times from his headquarters overlooking the Israeli-Lebanese border that the peace of the past three years could “explode at any minute”.

His concerns were due partly to threats from Hezbollah’s leadership. Last month Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, warned that if the southern suburbs of Beirut were bombed as they were in the last war, he would strike back against Tel Aviv, the largest Israeli city.

“We have changed the equation that had existed previously,” he said. “Now the southern suburbs versus Tel Aviv, and not Beirut versus Tel Aviv.”

Hezbollah’s rearming is in the name of resistance against Israel. The real reason, however, probably has more to do with its ally Iran. If Israel carries out its threat to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, the main retaliation is likely to come from Hezbollah in Lebanon.

All sides agreed that the threat was not a bluff. Last month the scale of the Hezbollah build-up was revealed after an explosion at an ammunition bunker in the village of Khirbet Slim, 12 miles from the Israeli border.

Surveillance footage obtained by The Times showed Hezbollah fighters trying to salvage rockets and munitions from the site. Obstructions were placed in the way of Unifil peacekeepers going to investigate.

Alain Le Roy, the head of UN peacekeeping operations, told the Security Council last month that the explosion amounted to a serious violation of UN Resolution 1701, which imposed a ceasefire and arms ban after the war.

“A number of indications suggest that the depot belonged to Hezbollah and, in contrast to previous discoveries by Unifil and the Lebanese Armed Forces of weapons and ammunition, that it was not abandoned but, rather, actively maintained,” he said.

Unifil’s mandate is due to be renewed by the Security Council this month and Israel is pressing for the peacekeepers to be more robust in stopping Hezbollah and other armed groups from infiltrating the UN-patrolled region south of the Litani river. Hezbollah, which is armed, trained and financed by Iran, has been engaged in a recruitment, training and rearmament drive since the end of the 2006 war. Although basic training on firing weapons is taught at camps in the mountains flanking the Bekaa Valley, specialised courses are carried out in Iran. Hundreds of fighters have travelled to Iran since 2006 to learn about bomb-making, anti-tank missiles, sniping and firing rockets.

“War will definitely come,” said Hussam, a 33-year-old fighter who joined Hezbollah in 1987 as a scout. “Israel will never leave us alone.”

Military sources close to Hezbollah said that the group wanted to increase the number and effectiveness of its air defence systems. Hezbollah is believed to have acquired large numbers of SA18 shoulder-fired missiles that could mount a challenge to Israeli helicopters and low-flying jets. Western intelligence sources told The Times that Hezbollah fighters were receiving training in Syria on the SA8 system. The radar-guided SA8 missiles are launched from tracked vehicles and have a maximum altitude of 36,000ft (11,000m), which would pose a serious threat. Israeli jets and drones use Lebanese airspace almost daily. Israel said that the flights were necessary for reconnaissance purposes, although the UN considered them violations of Resolution 1701.

Israel said that Hezbollah’s acquisition of advanced anti-aircraft missiles could prompt a military response to destroy the systems. Israeli warnings relayed to Syria appear to have forestalled the entry of the SA8 system into Lebanon, the sources said.

Israel claims that Hezbollah has tripled the number of surface-to-surface rockets since 2006, to about 40,000.

“Hezbollah has not only replaced the munitions but upgraded their missiles,” Danny Ayalon, the Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister, said. “They are bragging now that they can hit Tel Aviv.”

According to Western intelligence sources, Hezbollah hopes to receive an improved version of the Iranian-manufactured Fateh-110 rocket, which can carry a 1,100lb (500kg) warhead more than 125 miles (200km).

Hezbollah officials refused to provide details on its military build-up but they did not deny that they were prepared for another war.

“Hezbollah today is in a better condition than it was in July 2006,” said Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy leader, in an interview with The Times. “And if the Israelis think they will cause more damage against us, they know that we also can inflict more damage on them.”

Signs of Jesus' Return
By Jim Bramlett
Contributing Writer

CBN.com – It is mind-boggling to think that our generation alone is uniquely standing on the precipice of time and where no generation has ever stood. We are living in the days spoken of by the ancient prophets.

These prophets spoke of the Israelites being gathered back into their own land, in passages such as Ezekiel 37:21:

This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.

This began in 1948. The “dry bones” of Ezekiel 37 have come alive.

As also prophesied, we are seeing the world turn against Israel.

On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations” (Zechariah 12:3).

The catalyst for this is oil, or petro-dollars, causing the world to sell out tiny, democratic Israel to despotic Muslim nations for purposes of greed.

These signs are historically unprecedented. Only this generation has seen them. But there are many other biblical signs, such as: increased violence worldwide (as in the days of Noah), increased apostasy, increased cults and false religions and false prophets, increased natural disasters such as frequency of earthquakes, and more.

For these and many other reasons, is it any wonder that millions believe the return of Christ is so near? Polls show that even non-believers think the world is at such a point. This is the most exciting time in all history to be alive!

But When is He Coming?

Just the question -- when? -- causes some Christians to cringe, protest, or even scoff! They quickly point out that Jesus said,

But of that day and hour knoweth no man (Matthew 24:36 KJV).

Some believers criticize other believers who are seeking God’s clues, either from the Scriptures or by personal revelation. It is interesting that it was apparently by personal revelation, not Scripture, that many people knew the exact day of Elijah's rapture (2 Kings 2)! Are there types in the Old Testament? Do God’s principles repeat themselves?

Some claim we should focus only on the Great Commission and evangelism and not be concerned when the Lord will return. However, the Bible repeatedly tells us to “watch” for the signs, so not doing so would be disobedient. Also, those who are watching and expecting Jesus’ soon return are probably the most zealous group of witnesses for the gospel among all Christians.

The doubters may mention Paul's words that the day of the Lord will come like "a thief in the night" (1 Thessalonians 5:2). But many believers have so misunderstood these verses that they are oblivious to the times, not watching for the Lord as He commanded, and are often absorbed by the cares of this world and their own agendas.

As to Matthew 24:36, some scholars point out that Jesus' words here are in the present tense, addressed to His hearers at the time, and not to those alive at the end of the age when Daniel's vision would be unsealed (Daniel 12:9). This would be similar to Matthew 16:20:

Then he warned His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ.

As evidence, many other Scriptures reveal to us that God will reveal at least the approximate time. (Even if the "day and hour" restriction is literally valid today, it may be because the Earth is in 24 time zones and always in two different days.)

Jesus also said, “but my Father only” knows, which pins the statement to His hearers at the time, when Jesus was still on the earth, because surely there are now no secrets in the Trinity between the Father and the glorified Son, who are truly One.

Also, in context, He seems to be speaking of heaven and earth passing away (v. 35), not other end-time events. In addition, Jesus said,

If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee (Revelation 3:3).

He is obviously saying that to the one who watches, He will not come as a thief and that person will know the hour! (Hour -- Greek hora -- Strong’s 5610; various meanings, including, “any definite time, point of time, moment.”

God’s Promises of Revelation

It is clear that Jesus will not come as a "thief in the night" for watchful believers, because in the very same passage, verse 4, Paul tells us,

But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.

If we are trusting in Christ and looking for His coming, Paul said that even the very day does not have to surprise us!

Also, Jesus exhorted, "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief" (Revelation 3:3, KJV), obviously saying He will come as a thief only to those not watching! It is obvious that for those watching, He will NOT come as a thief.

Jesus rebuked those who did not understand the signs of the times in His day:

O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky, but can ye not discern the signs of the times (Matthew 16:3).

Of the end of the age, Jesus said,

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh (Luke 21:28).

He said we would know when it is near!

God said, "Surely the sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing it to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7, NIV). God said "nothing," and He did not exclude Christ's return. I take Him at His word.

God not only knows the end from the beginning, He tells us that He makes it known!

I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. (Isaiah 46:10).

He has already made it known! I personally believe it has been hidden in His Word all along, to be unlocked in His timing. There is nothing wrong with seeking! No doubt, it pleases God.

God said,

I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee (Isaiah 48:5, KJV).

Jesus said the Holy Spirit "will teach you all things" (John 14:26). He said "all things." Did Jesus make a mistake, forgetting to exclude when He will return? I don't think so.

Friends confide in one another. Abraham was called God’s “friend” (Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23).

And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do (Genesis 18:17).

Now, because of Jesus’ atonement, we are called friends of God:

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends (Jesus, John 15:15).

The Bible also says that Jesus was crucified so that the blessing of Abraham, part of which was friendship with God, would come upon the Gentiles -- us (Galatians 3:14).

Ecclesiastes 1:9 says:

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun (NIV).

Many Bible students believe that ancient events and dating in the Bible are shadows and clues that foretell the coming of the Lord, even the timing. An example is the six days of creation, seen as 6,000 years of man’s dominion over the earth, before the return of the Lord and the seventh, or Sabbath Millennium of peace, with Christ ruling in Jerusalem. According to scholars, we are now at the end of 6,000 years since Adam.

There are other such passages. God clearly promised that we would know at least approximately when Christ will return, and even "the day" will not surprise us, as the Holy Spirit reveals through Paul!

In addition, there is ample precedent for God revealing specific times in advance.

* He gave Noah advance notice of when the flood would be (Genesis 6,7).
* He told Abraham how long the Israelites would be in Egypt (Genesis 15:13).
* As mentioned, He revealed to many the very day of Elijah's rapture (2 Kings 2).
* He told Jeremiah how long the Babylonian exile would be (Jeremiah 29:10).
* He told Daniel exactly when Messiah would come the first time (Daniel 9:25-26).

Some, including the brilliant Sir Isaac Newton, believe this same passage holds the key to the timing of His return.

There is evidence that the Bible reveals the exact number of years of "the times of the Gentiles" and the exact span of time to Israel's rebirth in 1948 and the recapture of Jerusalem in 1967.

Obviously, leaving us clueless now would violate God's own established pattern as revealed in His Word!

Also obviously, we are not left clueless. There are many signs. Let us remain watchful and ready, and be found doing the Master’s work.

Signs of Jesus' Return (http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/BibleStudyAndTheology/perspectives/Bramlett_Jesus_Return.aspx)

Quote

Signs of Jesus' Return
By Jim Bramlett
Contributing Writer

Thanks for sharing this with us. YES, I firmly believe this is the terminal generation before the Second Coming of Christ. That also means that the Rapture of the Church and the Tribulation Period are growing near.

As Christians, we have sorrow for the lost because we know what is about to happen to the world. If we can't see the signs around us that that world is spiraling down into chaos and evil, we would have to be blind. The same is obviously true in our own part of the world. Many things are insane and almost beyond explanation. We have recently watched mass deception, and it should be obvious that things are rapidly deteriorating. World systems are corrupt and falling apart. The stage is set for the Tribulation Period.

So, what do we do?

2 Corinthians 4:1-18 1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; 2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. 3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. 8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you. 13 We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; 14 Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. 15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. 16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Saudi Arabia: Israel's arrogance challenges the world
Associated Press Writer Abdullah Al-shihri,
Mar 24, 11:28 am ET

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Saudi Arabia on Wednesday condemned Israel's "arrogant" policies of building settlements in east Jerusalem, saying they violated the rights of Arabs and Muslims and cast doubt on its seriousness in peace negotiations.

In a strongly worded statement carried by the official news agency, a government official asked the Quartet sponsoring peace talks, consisting the U.S., EU, Russia and the U.N., to take Israel to task for its recent announcements to expand Jewish housing in east Jerusalem.

"Saudi Arabia is looking for explanations from the international Quartet for these arrogant Israeli policies and the insistence on challenging the international community," the official said. "These comments cast doubt on the peace process and the seriousness of the international efforts to relaunch negotiations."

Palestinians want east Jerusalem, annexed by Israel in 1967, as their future capital and see new settlement construction as land grabs. Israel insists the city cannot be divided and says it has the right to build anywhere.

The statement criticized Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for saying during his trip to Washington that settlement construction in Jerusalem would not be halted. He said Israel does not consider Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem to be settlements. About 180,000 Israelis live there.

"The kingdom strongly condemns the statements by the prime minister of the Israeli occupation in which he denied the rights of Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims in holy Jerusalem, without the slightest consideration for the legitimate rights of the Palestinians, especially in occupied holy Jerusalem, or for the international efforts to relaunch peace process," the statement said.

Netanyahu's comments came during a spat between the U.S. and Israel over its settlement construction as Washington is pressing to restart peace talks.

Israeli officials announced the construction of 1,600 new apartments in east Jerusalem during the visit of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to Israel.

The Saudi statement said the timing was "surprising and astonishing."

On Wednesday, Israel's Jerusalem municipality approved 20 new apartments for Jews on land bought by an American Jewish millionaire in an Arab neighborhood of east Jerusalem while Netanyahu is in Washington on a fence-mending visit.

Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, had initially backed efforts to start indirect U.S.-mediated talks, but there has been widespread outrage over the announcements of new construction.

Saudi Arabia: Israel's arrogance challenges the world (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100324/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_saudi_israel/print;_ylt=AhBKm9q8Rdqx0FgrjCJ5ymIUewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTBvajZzaTFyBHBvcwMxNQRzZWMDdG9wBHNsawNwcmludA--)

Arab League chief pushes for closer ties with Iran
Salah Nasrawi, Associated Press Writer
Mar 23, 9:23 am ET

CAIRO – The Arab League chief wants the 22-nation bloc to engage Iran directly over concerns about its growing influence and its nuclear activities, in a step that could undermine U.S. and Israeli efforts to isolate the country, diplomats said Tuesday.

Senior U.S. officials including Defense Secretary Robert Gates toured the region last month to urge Arab allies to back Western efforts to increase the heat on Iran over its nuclear program, including through tougher economic sanctions.

Arab diplomats said Secretary-General Amr Moussa will present his proposal in a policy document to a two-day Arab League leaders summit in Sirte, Libya, that starts Saturday. The leaders are expected to discuss a range of regional issues, including stalled Middle East peace efforts and Iran.

The engagement would take the form of a forum for regional cooperation and conflict resolution that would include non-Arab nations Iran and Turkey, two Arab League diplomats said. They agreed to discuss details of the proposal on condition of anonymity because of their sensitivity.

One of the diplomats, who has seen Moussa's document, said the League's chief hopes the inclusion of Turkey — an increasingly influential Sunni Muslim nation — will provide a powerful counterbalance to Shiite Iran.

Moussa also wants the leaders to authorize him to initiate direct talks with Tehran on Arabs' concerns over what they view as Iranian meddling in regional affairs, including through its support of militant groups beyond its borders.

A senior aide to Moussa, Hisham Youssef, confirmed the secretary-general would present the ideas to the summit.

It is not clear if Moussa has yet consulted with key Arab nations such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which have resisted closer ties with Iran in the past.

They and other U.S.-allied Arab nations — most of which are led by Sunni Muslims — have been deeply concerned over the rising power of mainly Shiite and Persian Iran in the Middle East.

They oppose its support of Iraqi Shiites and militant groups like the Palestinian Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah and share Washington's concern that Iran's nuclear program is aimed at producing weapons.

But the West's strategy in the standoff with Iran also troubles Arab leaders, who fear that its failure would lead to a military confrontation that could spill across their own borders.

The U.S. has tried to soothe those worries and has been bolstering defense systems in several Arab nations in the Gulf to combat the possible threat of missiles fired from Iran.

A year of efforts by President Barack Obama to engage Iran have hit repeated roadblocks, leaving Washington with few options other than to seek international support for more sanctions.

The United States and its Western allies are after a fourth round of U.N. sanctions to push Iran to stop enriching uranium, a technology that gives Iran a possible pathway to weapons making.

Iran says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes such as power generation.

Another factor behind the Arab push for their own Iran strategy is linked to their frustration over the failure of Washington to stand up to Israel over its insistence on building on land the Palestinians want for a future state.

Arab nations look increasingly less likely to align with the U.S. strategy on Iran if they feel they are getting nothing in return on Mideast peace efforts.

Skepticism is eroding Arab hopes that Obama will be able to help forge a deal between Israel and the Palestinians to end a conflict that has fueled anti-U.S. sentiment in the region.

In another sign of Arab disenchantment, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Tuesday that his country will press the summit to focus on what is widely believed to be a secret nuclear weapons program in Israel and pressure it to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"The priority of Arab countries should be to force Israel to join the NPT and place its nuclear facilities under the IAEA guarantees," Aboul Gheit said, referring to the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency.

Arab League chief pushes for closer ties with Iran (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100323/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_arabs_coaxing_iran/print;_ylt=AhBKm9q8Rdqx0FgrjCJ5ymIUewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTBvajZzaTFyBHBvcwMxNQRzZWMDdG9wBHNsawNwcmludA--)

Turkey rebuffs U.S. call to join Iran sanctions
By Selcuk Gokoluk Selcuk Gokoluk
Wed Mar 24, 9:11 am ET

ANKARA (Reuters) – NATO-member Turkey on Wednesday rebuffed calls from ally the United States to support more sanctions against Iran over Tehran's nuclear program, saying diplomacy should be given more chance.

Turkey, a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has been leery of a U.S.-led push to back new sanctions on fellow Muslim nation Iran, which the West suspects is trying to develop atomic bombs.

"There is still an opportunity ahead of us and we believe that this opportunity should be used effectively. Not less, but more diplomacy (is needed)," Turkey's Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin told a news conference.

Last week, Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon, the U.S. State Department's top diplomat for Europe, urged Turkey to support more sanctions against Iran, saying Ankara could face consequences if it moves out of step with the international community.

Turkey, which has applied to join the European Union, is not the only country that insists on more diplomacy with Iran, which says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

China, a permanent, veto-wielding member of the Security Council, along with non-permanent member Brazil, have urged more time for diplomacy with Iran.

Turkey has boosted ties with Iran and other Muslim neighbors since the Islamist-leaning AK Party first took office in 2002, and some commentators have expressed concern Ankara might be tilting away from its long-time Western allies.

Turkey has offered to use its access to the Iranian leadership to solve the nuclear dispute but frequent trips by Turkish officials to Tehran have failed to produce a breakthrough.

"We think that Iran has good intentions on this issue and wants a solution. Otherwise, we would not be making such efforts. We inform our Western friends regularly about the impressions we get (from talks with Iran)," Ozugergin said.

He reiterated Ankara's opposition to any Middle Eastern country acquiring nuclear weapons and said Iran had the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes like all other countries.

Turkey rebuffs U.S. call to join Iran sanctions (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100324/pl_nm/us_turkey_nuclear_iran/print;_ylt=AhBKm9q8Rdqx0FgrjCJ5ymIb.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTBvajZzaTFyBHBvcwMxNQRzZWMDdG9wBHNsawNwcmludA--)

Australia also likely to expel Israeli diplomat

Australian newspaper says that, contrary to what was originally thought, chances are high Canberra will follow suit with London over passport forgeries. Foreign Ministry vehemently denies claim

Ynet
03.24.10
Israel News

Israel is bracing itself for the possibility that Australia will follow in Britain's footsteps and will expel an Israeli diplomat in response to the use of forged Australian passports in the assassination of Hamas man Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, largely believe to have been carried out by Israel's spy agency, the Mossad.

Official Israeli sources told The Australian on Wednesday that among the countries whose passports were forged, Australia is the most likely to follow suit with Britain. However, the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem vehemently denied the claims. "This has no basis in reality," the ministry said.

The newspaper reported that Israel did not believe Australia would take such a drastic measure following reports of Britain's move, but that estimates have since changed.

"It appears that Israeli officials have received indications in Canberra that Australia is preparing to expel a diplomat," the newspaper reported.

Israel's Foreign Ministry denied these claims and said in a statement that "the report from Australia has no basis in reality."

The Foreign Ministry statement is based on talks Israeli Ambassador to Canberra Yuval Rotem held with the Australian government and on statements made by Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith during a radio interview in Australia Tuesday.

In a statement before British parliament Tuesday, British Foreign Minister David Miliband formally accused Israel of being responsible for forging the British passports used in the Dubai hit. He said that the act was a grave violation of Britain's sovereignty and a big insult, especially coming from a friendly nation.

Miliband confirmed that an Israeli diplomat had been asked to leave the country. Estimates are that the diplomat was the Mossad's representative in London.

Earlier Wednesday, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said that Miliband offered to hand over to Australia details from Britain's investigation of the passport cloning affair. Smith refused to comment whether his country will take similar measures as Britain, and noted that he does not know when Australia's own investigation will conclude.

Smith declined to say whether his government was likely to take similar action when the Australian investigation concludes. He said he did not know when that investigation would end.

"To make any commentary or remarks about what the United Kingdom government has done would necessarily cut across our own investigation and what decisions we might make," Smith told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

"Suffice to say we are treating this matter very seriously. Israel understands that and when I receive the (Australian) report, we'll make judgments which will be in Australia's national interest," he said.

Authorities in Canberra sent investigators to Israel a few weeks ago. The investigation was meant to take place under low profile, but received embarrassing coverage when members of the investigation were involved in a hit-and-run accident with a bicyclist in Tel Aviv.

Australia also likely to expel Israeli diplomat (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3867820,00.html)

Assad: It's either peace or war

Syrian president tells Hebzollah's al-Manar television, 'We are in a temporary situation which will either end in war or in peace. There is no other choice apart from these two.' Israel, he says, is an enemy which only understands the language of force

Roee Nahmias
Published: 03.25.10, 00:03 / Israel News

Syrian President Bashar Assad told Hezbollah's al-Manar television station on Wednesday evening, "We are in a situation of neither war nor peace, and this is a temporary situation which will either end in peace or in war. There is no other choice apart from these two."

According to Assad, "We believe we are facing an enemy which only understands the language of force. We believe peace is not at arm's length for the region, but in any event there are many ways to reach the goals and they must not necessarily go through war."

He noted that "the Syrian army is developing itself", and warned that Damascus "will enter any war imposed on us."

According to the Syrian president, his country cannot remain neutral when it comes to the "resistance". He also stressed that Syria was interested in having good relations with Lebanon.

Assad was asked during the interview why his country was avoiding launching a "war of liberation" against Israel.

"First of all," he replied, "we are talking about peace. War is the worst thing and no one is looking for war in any place in the world. We must continue seeking peace as long as there is hope. Do we have hope with the Israeli government? Not at all. But we believe that Israel today, according to what we are hearing from Israel's supporters, has no other alternatives apart from peace."

'Our army developing'
According to the Syrian president, "The Israeli power of deterrence has worn out over time, although Israel is boosting its power. However, at the same time, the 'resistance' perception is growing stronger as well in the Arab street. In practice, Israel has become weaker and its military force guarantees nothing.

"Many of its supporters, especially from the Zionist organizations and several radical Jewish organizations, have begun saying that they believed in war in the past, but now they believe that there is no solution for Israel other than peace. There is no escape but to look for the peace process first.

"As for me, in terms of a war of liberation or resistance, the resistance doesn't grow from a decision made by a country, but in a popular way. Syria is a country with a developing army."

Asked about the chances for a war against Israel, Assad said: "When a war is imposed on you, you must enter it regardless of the balance of power. But this is not a simple matter and it is not hidden in a declaration of war. This issue is not a matter of enthusiasm."

The Syrian president slammed former US President George W. Bush, who he said had failed in the move he led against Damascus. Addressing current US President Barack Obama, Assad said there was a clear difference between the two administrations.

"We don't hear the language of dictations. There are differences in the worldviews and its natural, but the dictation language no longer exists," he said.

Assad: It's either peace or war (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3867850,00.html)

Quote from: blackeyedpeas on March 24, 2010, 10:03:01 PM

UM? - Isn't a big picture emerging? The world is abandoning Israel, and the stage is being set for the Tribulation Period. The stage is also being set for horrible and huge events that may happen before the Tribulation Period. The time is growing near.

Brother, as you know it will get worse. I'm going to post some things that will show it getting worse. Unfortunately, I'm ashamed of President Obama-nation. Unfortunately, all it ever takes is to say God Bless Israel and the trolls come running to try and destroy Israel, on the forum.

I am also, staggered by the speed with which Obama has sought to undermine the Jewish people. Jews may then have tried to avoid Obama’s anti-Semitism, but they cannot now avoid the consequences of avoiding Obama’s anti-Semitism. He has unleashed an evil in this world the extent of which we are only now beginning to see. He has made the world safe for haters and killers. We have to be able and willing to make moral distinctions and stand up for the good and fight evil, and that is something that both the Europeans and Obama refuse to do. This was due to nationalism during World War 2.

Nationalism isn’t evil. British nationalism hasn’t been evil. French nationalism isn’t evil. German nationalism isn't evil, Polish nationalism isn’t evil. Russian nationalism isn't evil, American nationalism wasn’t evil and has never been evil. Contrary to Obama’s actions, American exceptionalism isn’t evil. The only difference between American Jews of the 2000s and the European Jews of the 1930s is Israel. This is what separates you from the dehumanization, the oven, the end. A Jewish homeland is the thin blue and white line between civilized men and bloodthirsty savages.

How the United States will hold onto a friendship to Israel. I don't know but, I will say all Christians need to be praying for Israel today, right NOW!!

Netanyahu humiliated after Barack Obama 'dumped him for dinner
March 26, 2010

For a head of government to visit the White House and not pose for photographers is rare. For a key ally to be left to his own devices while the President withdraws to have dinner in private was, until this week, unheard of. Yet that is how Binyamin Netanyahu was treated by President Obama on Tuesday night, according to Israeli reports on a trip viewed in Jerusalem as a humiliation.

After failing to extract a written promise of concessions on settlements, Mr Obama walked out of his meeting with Mr Netanyahu but invited him to stay at the White House, consult with advisers and “let me know if there is anything new”, a US congressman, who spoke to the Prime Minister, said.

“It was awful,” the congressman said. One Israeli newspaper called the meeting “a hazing in stages”, poisoned by such mistrust that the Israeli delegation eventually left rather than risk being eavesdropped on a White House telephone line. Another said that the Prime Minister had received “the treatment reserved for the President of Equatorial Guinea”.

Left to talk among themselves Mr Netanyahu and his aides retreated to the Roosevelt Room. He spent a further half-hour with Mr Obama and extended his stay for a day of emergency talks to try to restart peace negotiations. However, he left last night with no official statement from either side. He returned to Israel yesterday isolated after what Israeli media have called a White House ambush for which he is largely to blame.

Sources said that Mr Netanyahu failed to impress Mr Obama with a flow chart purporting to show that he was not responsible for the timing of announcements of new settlement projects in east Jerusalem. Mr Obama was said to be livid when such an announcement derailed the visit to Israel by Joe Biden, the Vice-President, this month and his anger towards Israel does not appear to have cooled.

Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, cast doubt on minor details in Israeli accounts of the meeting but did not deny claims that it amounted to a dressing down for the Prime Minister, whose refusal to freeze settlements is seen in Washington as the main barrier to resuming peace talks.

The Likud leader has to try to square the rigorous demands of the Obama Administration with his nationalist, ultra-Orthodox coalition partners, who want him to stand up to Washington even though Israel needs US backing in confronting the threat of a nuclear Iran.

“The Prime Minister leaves America disgraced, isolated and altogether weaker than when he came,” the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz said.

In their meeting Mr Obama set out expectations that Israel was to satisfy if it wanted to end the crisis, Israeli sources said. These included an extension of the freeze on Jewish settlement growth beyond the ten-month deadline next September, an end to building projects in east Jerusalem and a withdrawal of Israeli forces to positions held before the second intifada in September 2000.

Newspaper reports recounted how Mr Netanyahu looked “excessively concerned and upset” when he pulled out a flow chart to show Mr Obama how Jerusalem planning permission worked and how he could not have known that the announcement that hundreds more homes were to be built would be made when Mr Biden arrived in Jerusalem.

Mr Obama then suggested that Mr Netanyahu and his staff stay at the White House to consider his proposals so that if he changed his mind he could inform the President right away. “I’m still around,” the daily newspaper Yediot Aharonot quoted Mr Obama as saying. “Let me know if there is anything new.”

With the atmosphere so soured by the end of the evening, the Israelis decided that they could not trust the telephone line they had been lent for their consultations. Mr Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, his Defence Minister, went to the Israeli Embassy to ensure that the Americans were not listening in.

The meeting came barely a day after Mr Obama’s health reform victory. Israel had calculated that he would be too tied up with domestic issues to focus seriously on the Middle East.

Netanyahu humiliated after Barack Obama 'dumped him for dinner (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7076431.ece)

Silence that speaks volumes: blackout as Israel’s leader leaves White House
March 25, 2010

Two separate meetings between President Obama and Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, failed to produce so much as an official photograph as a chill settled over US-Israeli relations and secrecy shrouded any efforts to repair them.

The Israeli Prime Minister was due to fly home from Washington after three days marked by Israeli defiance on the issue of settlements and an extraordinary silence maintained by both sides after his three-and-a-half-hour visit to the White House.

The meeting was overshadowed by Israeli approval for 20 homes built for Jews in Arab east Jerusalem — a move denounced by one senior US official as “exactly what we expect Prime Minister Netanyahu to get control of”.

White House staff denied Mr Netanyahu the usual photo opportunities afforded to a visiting leader, issued only the vaguest summary of their talks — let alone a joint statement — and reversed a decision to release an official photo of their meetings.

It was speculated that the talks may have moved beyond the quarrel over Israeli construction in east Jerusalem to final status issues such as the borders of a Palestinian state, as well as Iran and its nuclear programme. However, Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, would say only that Mr Obama had asked Mr Netanyahu for confidence-building gestures and clarification of his position on settlements. He described the talks as “honest and straightforward”.

Mr Obama also held telephone talks yesterday with Gordon Brown, Angela Merkel and President Sarkozy on Iran, the Middle East peace process and global economic issues, Mr Gibbs said.

Before departing, Mr Netanyahu met with Mr Obama’s envoy George Mitchell, who worked for months to get the Palestinians to take part in indirect negotiations with Israel, only to see them balk when Israel revealed plans for 1,600 new homes in east Jerusalem. The announcement came on March 9, during Vice-President Joe Biden’s latest trip to Jerusalem.

The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said she wanted peace talks to resume as soon as possible, a sentiment echoed by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon, who said he will urge Arab leaders to support indirect talks.

In Jerusalem the government press office issued a terse statement saying that the talks had been held in a good atmosphere. They went on longer than expected with the leaders meeting for 90 minutes, then again for half an hour after a long private discussion between Mr Netanyahu and his advisers in the White House Roosevelt Room. The choreography of the evening suggested that the talks covered substantive proposals, possibly including an undertaking from Mr Netanyahu to prevent ill-timed announcements of Israeli construction. Yet there is little doubt that Mr Netanyahu’s stance on settlements has left him struggling to persuade a newly confident US President of his willingness to compromise for peace.

White House sources said that observers were right to infer from the news blackout that relations between the two sides were not good but later hinted that some Israeli proposals had been favourably received. Direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been shelved since 2008.

Palestinian leaders have said that they will not join any peace talks unless all Israeli construction east of the 1949 armistice line is stopped. Before Tuesday’s meeting Israeli experts expected Mr Netanyahu to agree to a secret freeze on building. However, the announcement of new apartments in a development funded by Irving Moskowitz, the Jewish-American billionaire, raised tempers again.

“Israel is digging itself into a hole that it will have to climb out of if it is serious about peace,” Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said. “There is overwhelming international consensus on the illegality of Israel’s settlements, including in east Jerusalem, and the damage they are doing to the two-state solution.”

Mr Netanyahu’s efforts to persuade Congress that his office had no oversight of the many construction projects in east Jerusalem were greeted with scepticism even within the Prime Minister’s coalition. “Netanyahu decided to spit into Obama’s eye, this time from up close,” said Eitan Cabel, an MP from the Labour Party, a coalition ally of Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party. “He and his pyromaniac ministers insist on setting the Middle East ablaze.”

Silence that speaks volumes: blackout as Israel’s leader leaves White House (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article7074832.ece)

Almost a quarter of Republicans think Obama 'may be the Antichrist' as 14 states sue over healthcare reforms

By David Gardner
Last updated at 10:23 PM on 24th March 2010

Americans who suggest Barack Obama should rot in hell are apparently deadly serious.

Nearly a quarter of Republicans believe the Democrat president 'may be the Antichrist', according to a survey.

An even greater number compared him to Hitler.

Mr Obama was jubilant this week after securing his £626billion healthcare reform plan.

But his triumph seems only to have inflamed his critics among the evangelical Christians from America's heartland who kept George Bush in power for eight years and have demonised his successor.

More than half of the Republicans quizzed by Harris Poll, 57 per cent, believed the president was secretly Muslim, something he has consistently denied.

And 67 per cent of Republicans who responded believed Obama was a socialist, despite his central leanings.

The startling results came as lawyers representing 14 U.S. states filed lawsuits yesterday challenging an overhaul of the country's $2.5trillion healthcare system, minutes after President Barack Obama signed the landmark legislation.

One joint lawsuit by a dozen Republican attorneys general and a Democrat claims the sweeping reforms violate state-government rights in the U.S. Constitution and will force massive new spending on hard-pressed state governments.

Virginia went to court separately, while Missouri Republican Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder said he would like to join the suit.

The joint suit, led by Florida, was filed with a federal court in Pensacola, according to the office of Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum.

In addition to McCollum, the Republican attorneys general from Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Washington joined the suit.

The lawsuit says the law - which expands government health plans for the poor, imposes new taxes on the wealthy and requires insurers to cover people with pre-existing medical conditions - violates the Constitution's commerce clause by requiring nearly all Americans to buy health insurance.

Mr McCollum said: 'It forces people to do something - in the sense of buying a healthcare policy or paying a penalty, a tax or a fine - that simply the Constitution does not allow Congress to do.'

Mr McCollum, who is seeking the Republican nomination to run for Florida governor, said the healthcare reforms would add $1.6billion to Florida's spending on the Medicaid health program for the poor.

The Justice Department, which is responsible for defending U.S. law in court, pledged to vigorously fight any challenges to the new healthcare law.

'We are confident that this statute is constitutional and we will prevail,' said Justice spokesman Charles Miller.

The White House agreed the suits would fail.

'There have been hearings about the constitutionality of the law, and I think there's pretty much widespread agreement that it is constitutional,' Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, said.

'I think we have governors who might be aiming for higher office who are starting to just send a message.'

The suits were filed just moments after Mr Obama signed the healthcare reforms into law.

But on the most historic occasion of his presidency so far, vice-president Joe Biden managed to put his foot in it.

Gaffe-prone Mr Biden inadvertently broadcast the F-word to America after he introduced the President to sign his much vaunted health reform bill into law yesterday.

After hugging Mr Obama at a a ceremony in the White House, Mr Biden leaned in and whispered in the President's ear: 'This is a big ******* deal.' (Edited: I didn't see the swearing DW)

The remark was caught on microphones recording the event that was shown live across the country. By last night, the clip was being replayed all over the internet.

White House aides seemed to be unembarrassed, with press secretary Robert Gibbs later tweeting: 'Yes, Mr Vice-President, you're right.'

Almost a quarter of Republicans think Obama 'may be the Antichrist (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1260195/U-S-healthcare-reform-14-rebel-states-sue.html)

Iran says Muslims must act over Jerusalem
Mar 26, 2010 5:44am EDT
Reporting by Ramin Mostafavi, writing by Andrew Hammond

Iran attacked Israel's settlement plans in occupied East Jerusalem on Friday, saying Muslims around the world needed to take action.

Announcements by Israel's right-wing government of new building projects in East Jerusalem -- which the Jewish state seized in a 1967 war -- have spoiled U.S. plans to get Palestinians and Israelis back into peace negotiations.

"Expansion of Israeli settlements, destruction of Islamic and Christian sites and wide-scale construction of new synagogues ... show the Zionist plans to accelerate Judaisation of East Jerusalem and unfortunately it is approved by American officials," Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said in comments reported on Iranian state radio.

"This has raised the alarm for all people around the world and doubled the need for Muslim and other countries to act seriously," he said, adding that the 22-nation Arab League should take a strong stance at its meeting in Libya this weekend.

U.S. officials have sought to coax Israel into suspending further East Jerusalem projects and discussing core issues such as borders and the status of Jerusalem as part of indirect talks with the Palestinians that have been blessed by the Arab League.

Iran is locked in dispute with the United States and its allies, including Arab states, over its nuclear energy program which they fear will allow Tehran to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says it has no such intention.

Israel says it considers a nuclear Iran as an existential threat and analysts say Israel, itself regarded as a nuclear power, could carry out raids on Iranian sites.

Iran, a major oil and gas producer, sees itself as the main champion of the Palestinian cause among Muslim countries.

Iran says Muslims must act over Jerusalem (http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62P1BL20100326)

NKorea threatens 'nuclear strikes' on SKorea, US
By Writer Kwang-tae Kim
Fri Mar 26, 6:34 am ET

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea's military threatened South Korea and the United States on Friday with "unprecedented nuclear strikes" as it expressed anger over a report the two countries plan to prepare for possible instability in the totalitarian country, a scenario it dismissed as a "pipe dream."

The North routinely issues such warnings. Diplomats in South Korea and the U.S. have repeatedly called on Pyongyang to return to international negotiations aimed at ending its nuclear programs.

"Those who seek to bring down the system in the (North), whether they play a main role or a passive role, will fall victim to the unprecedented nuclear strikes of the invincible army," North Korea's military said in comments carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

The North, believed have enough weaponized plutonium for at least half a dozen atomic bombs, conducted its second atomic test last year, drawing tighter U.N. sanctions.

Experts from South Korea, the U.S. and China will meet in China next month to share information on North Korea, assess possible contingencies in the country, and consider ways to cooperate in case of an emergency situation, South Korea's Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported earlier this month, citing unidentified sources in Seoul and Beijing. The experts will also hold follow-up meetings in Seoul in June and in Honolulu in July, it said.

The North Korean statement Friday specifically referred to the March 19 newspaper report.

A spokeswoman said the South Korean Defense Ministry had no information.

Gen. Walter Sharp, the top U.S. commander in South Korea, says the possibility of turmoil in the North is of real concern, citing the country's economic weakness, malnourishment in both the military and general population, and its nuclear weapons.

"The possibility of a sudden leadership change in the North could be destabilizing and unpredictable," he said in testimony before the House Appropriations Committee hearing earlier this week.

South Korean media have reported that Seoul has drawn up a military operations plan with the United States to cope with possible emergencies in the North. The North says the U.S. is plotting to topple its regime, a claim Washington has consistently denied.

Last month, the North also threatened a "powerful — even nuclear — attack," if the U.S. and South Korea went ahead with annual military drills. There was no military provocation from North Korea during the exercises.

China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. have been trying to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons in six party talks. The North quit the negotiations last year.

The fate of the North's nuclear weapons has taken on added urgency since late 2008 as concerns over the health of leader Kim Jong Il have intensified.

Kim, who suffered an apparent stroke in 2008, may die within three years, South Korean media have reported. His death is thought to have the potential to trigger instability and a power struggle in the North.

NKorea threatens 'nuclear strikes' on SKorea, US (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100326/ap_on_re_as/as_koreas_nuclear/print;_ylt=AhBKm9q8Rdqx0FgrjCJ5ymL9xg8F;_ylu=X3oDMTBvajZzaTFyBHBvcwMxNQRzZWMDdG9wBHNsawNwcmludA--)

Arabs close ranks on Jerusalem at Libya summit
Hala Boncompagni Hala Boncompagni – Sat Mar 27, 4:54 pm ET

SIRTE, Libya (AFP) – Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Saturday ruled out US-brokered indirect peace talks with Israel unless it halts settlements, as Arab leaders closed ranks over Jerusalem at a summit in Libya.

The summit in the Mediterranean city of Sirte also tackled relations with Israel's regional arch-foe Iran, with leaders discussing a proposal to engage in a dialogue with the Islamic republic.

In a speech at the opening of the two-day gathering, Abbas echoed widespread concern that the Middle East peace process was in peril and urged his Arab peers to "rescue" Jerusalem.

"We cannot resume indirect negotiations as long as Israel maintains its settlement policy and the status quo," he said after UN chief Ban Ki-moon had addressed the summit seeking Arab support for the talks.

Abbas accused Israel of seeking to wipe out the Arab identity of Jerusalem through "ethnic cleansing" and insisted that Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem must be the capital of any future Palestinian state.

"We have always said that Jerusalem is the jewel in the crown and the gate to peace," he said.

Ban urged Arab leaders to facilitate Israeli-Palestinian "proximity" talks, saying "our common goal should be to resolve all final-status issues within 24 months."

He also reiterated that Israel's settlement activity in mainly Arab east Jerusalem was "illegal" and stressed Jerusalem must emerge "as the capital of two states."

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, another guest speaker, blasted Israel's policy of dealing with the whole of Jerusalem as its united capital as "madness."

"Jerusalem is the apple of the eye of each and every Muslim... and we cannot at all accept any Israeli violation in Jerusalem or in Muslim sites," Erdogan said.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who was likewise invited by Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi to address the summit, said "now is the time to give peace a chance."

"We have the possibility, we have the responsibility and we feel the urgency," he said.

Fresh US efforts to broker indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks earlier this month were still-born when Israel announced plans to build 1,600 new homes for Jewish settlers in east Jerusalem. Related article: US standing firm in row with Israel

The timing of the announcement during a visit to Israel by US Vice President Joe Biden enraged Washington and the Palestinians, who just days earlier had agreed to give peace talks another chance after a year-long hiatus.

Arab leaders from both the pro-Western and radical camps have also been angered by the opening of a restored 17th-century synagogue near east Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third-holiest site in Islam.

The 13 Arab leaders attending the summit along with Kadhafi are due to adopt a resolution to raise 500 million dollars in aid to improve living conditions for Jerusalem Palestinians.

After a plenary session for speeches, the leaders broke for lunch and returned for talks behind closed doors before wrapping up the first day of meetings.

Arab League chief Amr Mussa, who said before the summit that peace talks with Israel had become "pointless," asked the leaders on Saturday to examine "the chances of failure of the peace process" due to Israel's policies.

He also said the Arabs should open a dialogue with Iran, which is locked in a dispute with the West over its controversial nuclear programme, and set up an "Arab Neighbourhood Zone" that would include the Islamic republic and Turkey.

"I understand that some of us have concerns about Iranian positions. This does not rule out but maybe confirms the need for a dialogue in order to define our future relations with Iran, with whom we differ on many issues," he said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit told reporters that the afternoon session discussed Mussa's proposal on Iran "but most of the Arab countries don't welcome this for now." He did not elaborate.

The Arab summit follows the worst violence in the blockaded Gaza Strip in 14 months, and comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected anew on Friday international calls to stop settlement building in east Jerusalem.

Israeli tanks carried out an incursion into southern Gaza and killed a Palestinian militant on Saturday after the army lost two soldiers in clashes the previous day along the border with the coastal strip.

The Sirte gathering is the first annual summit to be hosted by the maverick Kadhafi, who considers Israel an implacable "enemy" of the Arabs.

Arabs close ranks on Jerusalem at Libya summit (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100327/wl_afp/arabsummit)

With U.S.-Israel ties strained, Obama may make bold move
Warren P. Strobel, McClatchy Newspapers Warren P. Strobel, Mcclatchy Newspapers – Fri Mar 26, 8:38 pm ET

WASHINGTON — After 14 months of frustration over the moribund Mideast peace process and nearly three weeks of open confrontation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , President Barack Obama shows no sign of backing down — and may be about to double his bets.

The clash began when Vice President Joe Biden visited Jerusalem on March 9 and Israel announced construction of 1,600 new apartments for Jews in disputed East Jerusalem . Biden condemned the decision, and Obama's top aides publicly dressed down Netanyahu for a step they called "insulting."

Hoping to capitalize on Israel's embarrassment, the administration sought concessions on Jewish settlements and other issues to set the stage for renewed talks with the Palestinians.

That, too, didn't work. This past week, first Obama, then his aides held closed talks with Netanyahu at the White House for two days running. No reporter was allowed near the talks, no joint appearances were made and no statements were released afterward.

An Israeli newspaper commented that Netanyahu had been treated as if he were the leader of Equatorial Guinea .

Obama, fresh from his legislative victory on health care, is planning an attempt to turn the current disaster into a diplomatic opportunity, according to U.S. officials, former officials and diplomats.

The administration is said to be preparing a major peace initiative that would be Obama's most direct involvement in the conflict to date, and would go far beyond the tentative, indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks that were torpedoed earlier in the month.

"It is crystallizing that we have to do something now. That this can't go on this way," said one of the officials who, like the others, wouldn't speak for the record because of the issue's sensitivity.

Because of the U.S. political calendar, Obama has limited time to press Israel before it becomes a major domestic political issue during midterm elections. Netanyahu, who this weekend confers with his closest allies, has limited political space in which to operate, if he wants to stay in power.

His coalition at home is populated with Israeli politicians who support Jewish settlements in the West Bank , oppose any concessions on Jerusalem and are skeptical of an independent Palestinian state next door.

One irony of the current confrontation is that the administration, which had laboriously organized indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians, had planned to use Biden's visit to provide "strategic reassurance" to Israel , in hopes of improving relations with the closest U.S. ally in the Middle East after a year of strains.

Now, trust between the two sides seems to be at a very low ebb.

"There's not a great deal of trust that he believes deeply in the two-state solution," a former senior U.S. official in touch with the White House said of Netanyahu. "There's a belief that he's a reluctant peacemaker here."

The Obama administration is said to believe that Netanyahu has more control over Jewish settlements than he admits, and political flexibility to dump his right-wing partners and form a government with the moderate Kadima party if he chose.

"Fundamentally, he's going to have to decide between his coalition and his relationship with the United States ," the former official said.

From the day of his inauguration and his first major appointment — former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell of Maine as his special Middle East envoy, efforts by Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Mitchell have been a study in frustration.

Netanyahu turned aside a U.S. demand last year for a comprehensive settlement freeze, offering a 10-month moratorium that excluded East Jerusalem . Even under President George W. Bush , whose interest was episodic, Israeli and Palestinian leaders held direct talks. Obama has struggled just to start "proximity talks," in which U.S. mediators would shuttle between the two sides.

So American anger was white-hot when the March 9 announcement left the proximity talks stillborn.

Mitchell, who labored for months during frequent Mideast shuttles "is a patient man. . . . but this has to be aggravating," one State Department official said.

Senior U.S. officials are said to debate whether the unveiling of the 1,600 new apartments at Ramat Shlomo was a deliberate attempt by Netanyahu to avoid peace negotiations, or merely symptomatic of his tenuous control over his own government. The Interior Ministry is run by the ultra-orthodox Shas party.

Either conclusion bodes poorly for Obama's attempts at diplomacy. Israeli officials say Netanyahu was as blindsided by the announcement as Biden was.

On Friday, March 12 , Clinton and Netanyahu spoke by phone in a tense conservation, in which the secretary of state relayed U.S. anger at the move in Ramat Shlomo. She demanded that Israel take steps to revive hopes for peace.

The U.S. government has declined to list them, but they're said to include an end to provocative moves in East Jerusalem ; removing checkpoints and otherwise easing conditions on the West Bank ; and agreeing to immediately negotiate core disputes with the Palestinians.

Clinton and Netanyahu were both keenly aware that they were scheduled to speak on March 22 in Washington at the annual conference of the powerful Jewish-American lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Netanyahu called Clinton, who was in Moscow , on March 18 and delivered his response to the American demands. Israeli officials say he insisted that the Palestinians had to make concessions too, not just Israel .

Publicly, the administration moved to tone down the rhetoric, and meetings were arranged with Clinton and Obama, who had canceled an Asia trip to be in Washington for the health care vote.

Netanyahu's speech at AIPAC gave no ground. He declared: " Jerusalem is not a settlement; it's our capital" and described a limited U.S. role in the peace talks. The next morning, he went to Capitol Hill , where Democrats and Republicans alike showered him with promises of support for Israel .

It looked for a moment like the Israeli prime minister had weathered the storm.

At the White House , however, distrust of Netanyahu ran deep. Maps were prepared, showing how Israel had all but encircled Jerusalem's Old City with Jewish settlements and even religious theme parks — "facts on the ground" that would preclude a peace deal. Palestinians also claim the city as their capital.

By all accounts, the White House meetings went badly, both in substance and tone, as the Obama team pressed Netanyahu to make concessions on Jewish settlements and other issues. Netanyahu balked at some of the requests, which the administration hasn't made public.

Now, the ball is in his court.

With U.S.-Israel ties strained, Obama may make bold move (http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100327/wl_mcclatchy/3462504)

Replace Temple Mount mosques with Jewish Temple, rightist campaign says
By Chaim Levinson and Haaretz Service
14:51 28/03/2010

A right-wing group announced a campaign Sunday ahead of the Passover festival calling for the construction of the Jewish Temple on the location of the existing temple mount mosques.

The extreme right-wing Our Land of Israel party (Eretz Israel Shelanu) said it intended to mount an extensive bus campaign, with the slogan "May the Temple be built in our lifetime," along with an artist's rendition of the completed temple.

One of the party's leaders, Baruch Marzel, said that it was "a legitimate campaign meant to convey a message to the Arabs."
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"The mosque on the temple mount is temporary," Marzel continued, referring to the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosques, "and it's only a matter of time before the Temple which the entire people of Israel are waiting for will be built."

The Our Land of Israel party was formed in late 2008 by Marzel and Rabbi Shalom Wolpe as a reaction to what they saw as a weakening of more traditional right-wing parties such as Habayit Hayehudi.

"Habayit Hayehudi, which fancies itself as representing the right, has turned into a left-wing party that placed at its head an anonymous professor who is not ready to commit himself to the minimum - maintaining the settlements and Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria," Wolpe said at the time.

Wolpe and Marzel claimed at the party's formation that the Likud party had turned into a party that is persecuting all Jews loyal to the Land of Israel. They cited the efforts by the Likud party leadership to marginalize Moshe Feiglin as an example.

Wolpe added that the Israeli government has turned into "an enemy of the people.

"This government collaborates with the enemy and helps it during a time of war," he said. "Everyone should check the Even Shushan dictionary, in an effort to understand the definition of such behavior," Wolpe said.

Replace Temple Mount mosques with Jewish Temple, rightist campaign says (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1159678.html)

321 civilians killed in 2009 massacre in Congo
Rukmini Callimachi, Associated Press Writer
Mar 27, 8:04 pm ET

DAKAR, Senegal – At least 321 civilians were killed in a previously unreported massacre in Congo in late 2009, while villagers that escaped their rebel captors were sent back with their lips and ears cut off as a warning to others of what would happen if they tried to talk, according to an investigation by a human rights group.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said in its report released Saturday that at least 250 more people were abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army rebels during the attack in the Makombo area of northeastern Congo, including no less than 80 children.

Human Rights Watch's senior Africa researcher, Anneke Van Woudenberg, called the massacre "one of the worst ever committed by the LRA in its bloody 23-year history."

Yet the killing spree, which occurred from Dec. 14 to 17 in at least 10 villages, had gone unreported for months.

The majority of those killed were men who were tied up, some bound to trees, before being hacked to death with machetes or having their skulls crushed with axes. A 3-year-old girl was burnt to death, according to the report.

The rebels then abducted many of the children and women, who were forced to march to a town over 60 miles (96 kilometers) away. Those that walked too slowly were executed and villagers told the rights group that they found bodies all along the trail from Makombo to the town of Tapili in northern Congo.

The Lord's Resistance Army is considered one of Africa's most brutal rebel armies, and its leaders are the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant. Originally based in Uganda, the rebels were pushed into the area straddling the northern Congolese border with Central African Republic. The 2009 massacre is only the most recent of a pattern of atrocities.

Exactly a year earlier, after the governments of the region attacked an LRA position, the rebels retaliated by killing at least 865 civilians during the Christmas 2008 holiday season, according to Human Rights Watch.

The attack three months ago was especially horrific. Children abducted by the rebels were forced to execute other children who had disobeyed the rebels. In several instances documented by the rights group, the children were ordered to form a circle around their victim and take turns hitting the child on the head with a heavy object until the child died.

Adults were mutilated and sent back to their villages to act as a visual warning to those that might have considered alerting authorities.

In one instance the rebels cut off the lips and an ear of six victims who were sent back "with a chilling warning to others that anyone who heard or spoke about the LRA would be similarly punished," says the report.

321 civilians killed in 2009 massacre in Congo (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100328/ap_on_re_af/af_congo_massacre/print;_ylt=AhBKm9q8Rdqx0FgrjCJ5ymIV6w8F;_ylu=X3oDMTBvajZzaTFyBHBvcwMxNQRzZWMDdG9wBHNsawNwcmludA--)

How the murders of two elderly Jewish women shook France >:(

This is a long read
Two killings in Paris, one year apart, have inflamed the bitter French debate over antisemitism, race and religion.

By James McAuley

Tue 27 Nov 2018 01.00 EST
Last modified on Tue 27 Nov 2018 11.19 EST

The body landed in the courtyard, not far from the building’s bins. Shortly before 5am on 4 April 2017, a 65-year-old woman was hurled from the third-floor balcony of a social housing project in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, a rapidly gentrifying area on the eastern side of the French capital. An hour earlier, that same woman – a retired doctor and kindergarten teacher – had been asleep in the small apartment where she had lived for the past 30 years. When she woke up, she saw the face of her 27-year-old neighbour in the darkness. The man, who still lived with his family on the building’s second floor, had first stormed into another apartment, whose tenants had locked themselves in a bedroom and called the police. By the time he climbed up the fire escape into his victim’s apartment, three officers were present in the building.

The autopsy would later reveal that the woman’s skull had been crushed, most likely with the telephone on her bedside table. Before and after his victim lost consciousness, the assailant beat her until the nightgown she was wearing – white, with a blue floral pattern – was soaked with her blood. He then dragged her body to the balcony of the apartment, and threw her over the railing – exactly the same way, he told prosecutors, as John Travolta does in The Punisher, the film he had been watching before the attack. “I killed the sheitan!” he yelled from the balcony, according to testimonies given by neighbours. “Sheitan” is an Arabic word for “devil”. Neighbours heard him repeatedly chant “Allahu Akbar”.

More at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/27/how-the-murders-of-two-elderly-jewish-women-shook-france-antisemitism-mireille-knoll-sarah-halimi

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Theology => Prophecy - Current Events => Topic started by: Shammu on October 28, 2007, 05:48:25 PM