Air Force pursuing antimatter weapons

Program was touted publicly, then came official gag order RINF NEWS - By Keay Davidson - December 29, 2006 -- The U.S. Air Force is quietly spending millions of dollars investigating ways to use a radical power source — antimatter, the eerie “mirror” of ordinary matter — in future weapons.... Following an initial inquiry from The Chronicle this summer, the Air Force forbade its employees from publicly discussing the antimatter research program. Still, details on the program appear in numerous Air Force documents distributed over the Internet prior to the ban. These include an outline of a March 2004 speech by an Air Force official who, in effect, spilled the beans about the Air Force’s high hopes for antimatter weapons. On March 24, Kenneth Edwards, director of the “revolutionary munitions” team at the Munitions Directorate at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida was keynote speaker at the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) conference in Arlington, Va. In that talk, Edwards discussed the potential uses of a type of antimatter called positrons. Physicists have known about positrons or “antielectrons” since the early 1930s, when Caltech scientist Carl Anderson discovered a positron flying through a detector in his laboratory. That discovery, and the later discovery of “antiprotons” by Berkeley scientists in the 1950s, upheld a 1920s theory of antimatter proposed by physicist Paul Dirac. In 1929, Dirac suggested that the building blocks of atoms — electrons (negatively charged particles) and protons (positively charged particles) — have antimatter counterparts: antielectrons and antiprotons. One fundamental difference between matter and antimatter is that their subatomic building blocks carry opposite electric charges. Thus, while an ordinary electron is negatively charged, an antielectron is positively charged (hence the term positrons, which means “positive electrons”); and while an ordinary proton is positively charged, an antiproton is negative. The real excitement, though, is this: If electrons or protons collide with their antimatter counterparts, they annihilate each other. In so doing, they unleash more energy than any other known energy source, even thermonuclear bombs. The energy from colliding positrons and antielectrons “is 10 billion times … that of high explosive,” Edwards explained in his March speech. Moreover, 1 gram of antimatter, about 1/25th of an ounce, would equal “23 space shuttle fuel tanks of energy.” Thus “positron energy conversion,” as he called it, would be a “revolutionary energy source” of interest to those who wage war. It almost defies belief, the amount of explosive force available in a speck of antimatter — even a speck that is too small to see. For example: One millionth of a gram of positrons contain as much energy as 37.8 kilograms (83 pounds) of TNT, according to Edwards’ March speech. A simple calculation, then, shows that about 50-millionths of a gram could generate a blast equal to the explosion (roughly 4,000 pounds of TNT, according to the FBI) at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. Unlike regular nuclear bombs, positron bombs wouldn’t eject plumes of radioactive debris. When large numbers of positrons and antielectrons collide, the primary product is an invisible but extremely dangerous burst of gamma radiation. Thus, in principle, a positron bomb could be a step toward one of the military’s dreams from the early Cold War: a so-called “clean” superbomb that could kill large numbers of soldiers without ejecting radioactive contaminants over the countryside. A copy of Edwards’ speech onNIAC’s Web site emphasizes this advantage of positron weapons in bright red letters: “No Nuclear Residue.” But talk of “clean” superbombs worries critics. ” ‘Clean’ nuclear weapons are more dangerous than dirty ones because they are more likely to be used,” said an e-mail from science historian George Dyson of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., author of “Project Orion,” a 2002 study on a Cold war-era attempt to design a nuclear spaceship. Still, Dyson adds, antimatter weapons are “a long, long way off.” Why so far off? One reason is that at present, there’s no fast way to mass produce large amounts of antimatter from particle accelerators. With present techniques, the price tag for 100-billionths of a gram of antimatter would be $6 billion, according to an estimate by scientists at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and elsewhere, who hope to launch antimatter-fueled spaceships. Another problem is the terribly unruly behavior of positrons whenever physicists try to corral them into a special container. Inside these containers, known as Penning traps, magnetic fields prevent the antiparticles from contacting the material wall of the container — lest they annihilate on contact. Unfortunately, because like-charged particles repel each other, the positrons push each other apart and quickly squirt out of the trap. If positrons can’t be stored for long periods, they’re as useless to the military as an armored personnel carrier without a gas tank. So Edwards is funding investigations of ways to make positrons last longer in storage. ... http://www.rinf.com/columnists/news/air-force-pursuing-antimatter-weapons FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

'Frankenstein farming' fears

Alert Focus: As in the days of Noah Genesis 6:1-4 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. HERALD SUN - CONSUMER groups have warned of "Frankenstein farming" after US food chiefs declared meat and milk from cloned animals safe to eat. The US Food and Drug Administration concluded cloned animals were no different from conventional livestock and food from them will not need to be labelled as such. But the UK Food Commission, Britain's independent food watchdog, condemned the proposal as "a giant step in the wrong direction". If the FDA fully approves cloning, which is still on hold pending public consultation, US farmers will be able to export produce from these animals without any labelling. The proposals have horrified animal welfare and consumer groups. A report by FDA scientists Larisa Rudenko and John C. Matheson concludes that cloned animals are "virtually indistinguishable" from conventional livestock and therefore no labelling is required. In time, fast-growing, super-size animals could be made capable of delivering big profits for farmers. Consumer groups say not enough is known about the effects of eating cloned animals because the technology to produce them has been available only for a few years. They also point out many people might have an ethical objection and will want labelling to ensure they are allowed to make an informed choice about what they buy and eat. Carol Tucker Foreman, of the Consumer Federation of America, said the FDA was ignoring research showing cloning results in more animal deaths and deformities than other reproductive technologies. A UK Food Commission spokesman said: "I think consumers would be rightly wary and suspicious. We don't know if there would be any health risk, but many people would feel it is somehow wrong. It is a giant step in the wrong direction." http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20987447-663,00.html FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Ghosts in the Machine

Alert Focus: As in the days of Noah Deuteronomy 18:10-12 "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. "For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD; and because of these detestable things the LORD your God will drive them out before you. Note: The posting of the following opinion piece is not an endorsement of the authors views but rather a "heads up" as to the direction science is currently taking the human race. BE/\LERT! NEW YORK TIMES - By Op-Ed Contributor Deborah Blum - December 30, 2006 -- THE human brain is, in surprising part, an appliance powered by electricity. It constantly generates about 12 watts of energy, enough to keep a flashlight glowing. It works by sending out electrical impulses — bursts of power running along the cellular wires of the nervous system — to stimulate muscles into motion or thought into being. We’re mostly aware of this when the machine falters, when it short-circuits into epilepsy or frays into the tremors of Parkinson’s disease. So when scientists wrote in a recent issue of the journal Nature that they could induce phantom effects — the sensation of being haunted by a shadowy figure — by stimulating the brain with electricity, it made perfect neurological sense. One could even argue that the existence of such sensations explains away the so-called supernatural. In fact, as The Times reported, the researchers promptly concluded that ghosts are mere “bodily delusions,” electrical misfirings and nothing more. The report does look like a kind of proof — albeit very small proof, as this was a study of two people — if one happens already to believe that ghosts are no more than biological quirks. But what’s fascinating is that it can also look like proof that ghosts are real entities, to those inclined to believe as much. And so the findings also present a case study in two very different perspectives. The scientific study of the supernatural began in the late 19th century, in synchrony with the age of energy. It’s hardly coincidental that as traditional science began to reveal the hidden potential of nature’s powers — magnetic fields, radiation, radio waves, electrical currents — paranormal researchers began to suggest that the occult operated in similar ways. A fair number of these occult explorers were scientists who studied nature’s highly charged circuits. Marie Curie, who did some of the first research into radioactive elements like uranium, attended séances to assess the powers of mediums. So did the British physicist J. J. Thomson, who demonstrated the existence of the electron in 1897. And so did Thomson’s colleague, John Strutt, Lord Rayleigh, who won the 1904 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work with atmospheric gases. Rayleigh would later become president of the British Society for Psychical Research. And he would be joined in that organization by other physicists, including the wireless radio pioneer Sir Oliver Lodge, who proposed that both telepathy and ghostly appearances were achieved through energy transmissions connecting living minds to one another and perhaps even to the dead. Lodge argued that the human brain could function as a kind of receiver, picking up signals at a subconscious level. These were powered by some undiscovered energy, traveling perhaps in waves, perhaps in currents. Such transmissions lay behind telepathic experiences, including shared thoughts. Along the same lines, he thought it possible that a spirit’s appearance was really just its specific energy signal stimulating a response from the receiver’s brain. The theories developed by Lodge and his colleagues dovetail rather neatly with the electricity-produced hauntings that Olaf Blanke, a Swiss neuroscientist, reports in Nature. For example, he used an implanted electrode to send a current into a region of the brain called the angular gyrus. The test was focused on language processing. But as a side effect, one of the test subjects nervously reported sensing another person in bed with her, silent and shadowy. Her creepy companion came and went with the ebb and flow of current. It would be compelling — and more convincing — if the same result could be exhibited in a few more subjects. But Dr. Blanke believes that even this one subject’s experience serves as an example of how we may mistake errant signals in the brain for something more. Humans tend, he points out, to seek explanation, to impose meaning on events that may have none. The pure rationalists among us suggest that our need to add meaning to a basic, biological existence easily accounts for the way we organize religions and find evidence of otherworldly powers in the stuff of everyday life. The nonpurists suggest a different conclusion: willful scientific blindness. And there’s no reason Dr. Blanke’s study can’t support their theories of the paranormal. Perhaps his experimental electric current simply mimics the work of an equally powerful spirit. Much of the psychical research done today applies similar principles: brain-imaging machines highlight parts of the brain that respond to psychic phenomena, while other devices are used to search for infrared radiation or increased electrical activity in haunted houses. The American psychologist and philosopher William James, also a leader in the Victorian paranormal research movement, remarked even then on the culture clash: “How often has ‘Science’ killed off all spook philosophy, and laid ghosts and raps and ‘telepathy’ underground as so much popular delusion?” he wrote in 1909. And how often, James wondered rhetorically, had such efforts stopped people from seeing ghosts and believing in supernatural powers? Because in the end, of course, the conclusion has nothing to do with science at all and everything to do with how one sees the world. I suspect that we’ll dwell forever in the haunted landscape of our beliefs. To many people it’s a world more interesting — bigger, stranger, more mysterious — than the one offered by science. Why choose instead to be creatures of chemical impulse and electrical twitch? We would rather gamble on even a tiny, electrical spark of a chance that we are something more. Deborah Blum, a professor of journalism at the University of Wisconsin who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992, is the author of “Ghost Hunters: William James and the Scientific Search for Life After Death.” http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/30/opinion/30blum.html FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

A Few Reasons an Evolutionary Origin of Life Is Impossible (#403)

Alert Focus: Creation / A Strong Delusion Colossians 1:16-17 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Romans 1:22-25 Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. INSTITUTE for CREATION RESEARCH - by Duane Gish, Ph.D.* - Impact #403 - January 2007 -- There were no human witnesses to the origin of life, and no physical geological evidence of its origin exists. Speaking of the origin of a hypothetical self-replicating molecule and its structure, Pross has recently admitted that "The simple answer is we do not know, and we may never know."1 Later, concerning the question of the origin of such a molecule, Pross said, ". . . one might facetiously rephrase the question as follows: given an effectively unknown reaction mixture, under effectively unknown reaction conditions, reacting to give unknown products by unknown mechanisms, could a particular product with a specific characteristic . . . have been included amongst the reaction products?"2 That pretty well summarizes the extent of the progress evolutionists have made toward establishing a mechanistic, atheistic scenario for the origin of life after more than half a century of physical, chemical, and geological research. It is possible, however, to derive facts that establish beyond doubt that an evolutionary origin of life on this planet would have been impossible. The origin of life could only have resulted from the action of an intelligent agent external to and independent of the natural universe. There is sufficient space here to describe only a few of the insuperable barriers to an evolutionary origin of life. 1. The absence of the required atmosphere. Our present atmosphere consists of 78% nitrogen (N2), 21% molecular oxygen (O2), and 1% of other gases, such as carbon dioxide CO2), argon (Ar), and water vapor H2O). An atmosphere containing free oxygen would be fatal to all origin of life schemes. While oxygen is necessary for life, free oxygen would oxidize and thus destroy all organic molecules required for the origin of life. Thus, in spite of much evidence that the earth has always had a significant quantity of free oxygen in the atmosphere,3 evolutionists persist in declaring that there was no oxygen in the earth's early atmosphere. However, this would also be fatal to an evolutionary origin of life. If there were no oxygen there would be no protective layer of ozone surrounding the earth. Ozone is produced by radiation from the sun on the oxygen in the atmosphere, converting the diatomic oxygen(O2) we breathe to triatomic oxygen O3), which is ozone. Thus if there were no oxygen there would be no ozone. The deadly destructive ultraviolet light from the sun would pour down on the surface of the earth unimpeded, destroying those organic molecules required for life, reducing them to simple gases, such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and water. Thus, evolutionists face an irresolvable dilemma: in the presence of oxygen, life could not evolve; without oxygen, thus no ozone, life could not evolve or exist. 2. All forms of raw energy are destructive. The energy available on a hypothetical primitive Earth would consist primarily of radiation from the sun, with some energy from electrical discharges (lightning), and minor sources of energy from radioactive decay and heat. The problem for evolution is that the rates of destruction of biological molecules by all sources of raw energy vastly exceed their rates of formation by such energy. The only reason Stanley Miller succeeded in obtaining a small amount of products in his experiment was the fact that he employed a trap to isolate his products from the energy source.4 Here evolutionists face two problems. First, there could be no trap available on a primitive Earth. Second, a trap by itself would be fatal to any evolutionary scenario, for once the products are isolated in the trap, no further evolutionary progress is possible, because no energy is available. In his comments on Miller's experiment, D. E. Hull stated that "These short lives for decomposition in the atmosphere or ocean clearly preclude the possibility of accumulating useful concentrations of organic compounds over eons of time. . . . The physical chemist guided by the proved principles of chemical thermodynamics and kinetics, cannot offer any encouragement to the biochemist, who needs an ocean full of organic compounds to form even lifeless coacervates."5 3. An evolutionary scenario for the origin of life would result in an incredible clutter. Let us suppose that, as evolutionists suggest, there actually was some way for organic, biologically important molecules to have formed in a significant quantity on a primitive Earth. An indescribable mess would have been the result. In addition to the 20 different amino acids found in proteins today, hundreds of other kinds of amino acids would have been produced. In addition to deoxyribose and ribose, the five-carbon sugars found in DNA and RNA today, a variety of other five-carbon sugars, four-carbon, six-carbon, and seven-carbon sugars would have been produced. In addition to the five purines and pyrimidines found in DNA and RNA today, a great variety of other purines and pyrimidines would exist. Further, of vital significance, the amino acids in proteins today are exclusively left-handed, but all amino acids on the primitive Earth would be 50% left-handed and 50% right-handed. The sugars in DNA and RNA today are exclusively right-handed, but, if they did exist, sugars on a primitive Earth would have been 50% right-handed and 50% left-handed. If just one right-handed amino acid is in a protein, or just one left-handed sugar is found in a DNA or RNA, all biological activity is destroyed. There would be no mechanism available on a primitive Earth to select the correct form. This fact alone destroys evolution. Evolutionists have been wrestling with this dilemma since it was first recognized, and there is no solution in sight. All these many varieties would compete with one another, and a great variety of other organic molecules, including aldehydes, ketones, acids, amines, lipids, carbohydrates, etc. would exist. If evolutionists really claim to simulate plausible primitive Earth conditions, why don't they place their reactants in a big mess like this and irradiate it with ultraviolet light, shock it with electric discharges, or heat it, and see what results? They don't do that because they know there wouldn't be the remotest possibility that anything useful for their evolutionary scenario would result. Rather, they carefully select just the starting materials they want to produce amino acids or sugars or purines or whatever, and, furthermore, they employ implausible experimental conditions that would not exist on a primitive Earth. They then claim in textbooks and journal articles that such and such biological molecules would have been produced in abundant quantities on the early earth. 4. Micromolecules do not spontaneously combine to form macromolecules. It is said that DNA is the secret of life. DNA is not the secret of life. Life is the secret of DNA. Evolutionists persistently claim that the initial stage in the origin of life was the origin of a self-replicating DNA or RNA molecule. There is no such thing as a self-replicating molecule, and no such molecule could ever exist.The formation of a molecule requires the input of a highly selected type of energy and the steady input of the building blocks required to form it. To produce a protein, the building blocks are amino acids. For DNA and RNA these building blocks are nucleotides, which are composed of purines, pyrimidines, sugars, and phosphoric acid. If amino acids are dissolved in water they do not spontaneously join together to make a protein. That would require an input of energy. If proteins are dissolved in water the chemical bonds between the amino acids slowly break apart, releasing energy (the protein is said to hydrolyze). The same is true of DNA and RNA. To form a protein in a laboratory the chemist, after dissolving the required amino acids in a solvent, adds a chemical that contains high energy bonds (referred to as a peptide reagent). The energy from this chemical is transferred to the amino acids. This provides the necessary energy to form the chemical bonds between the amino acids and releases H and OH to form H2O (water). This only happens in a chemistry laboratory or in the cells of living organisms. It could never have taken place in a primitive ocean or anywhere on a primitive Earth. Who or what would be there to provide a steady input of the appropriate energy? Destructive raw energy would not work. Who or what would be there to provide a steady supply of the appropriate building blocks rather than just junk? In speaking of a self-replicating DNA molecule, evolutionists are reaching for a pie in the sky. 5. DNA could not survive without repair mechanisms. DNA, as is true of messenger-RNA, transfer-RNA, and ribosomal-RNA, is destroyed by a variety of agents, including ultraviolet light, reactive oxygen species, alkylting agents, and water. A recent article reported that there are 130 known human DNA repair genes and that more will be found. The authors stated that "Genome DNA instability caused by the great variety of DNA-damaging agents would be an overwhelming problem for cells and organisms if it were not for DNA repair emphasis mine)."6 Note that even water is one of the agents that damages DNA! If DNA somehow evolved on the earth it would be dissolved in water. Thus water and many chemical agents dissolved in it, along with ultraviolet light would destroy DNA much faster than it could be produced by the wildest imaginary process. If it were not for DNA repair genes, the article effectively states, DNA could not survive even in the protective environment of a cell! How then could DNA survive when subjected to brutal attack by all the chemical and other DNA-damaging agents that would exist on the hypothetical primitive Earth of the evolutionists? What are the cellular agents that are necessary for DNA repair and survival? DNA genes! Thus, DNA is necessary for the survival of DNA! But it would have been impossible for DNA repair genes to evolve before ordinary DNA evolved and it would have been impossible for ordinary DNA to evolve before DNA repair genes had evolved. Here we see another impossible barrier for evolution. Furthermore, it is ridiculous to imagine that DNA repair genes could have evolved even if a cell existed. DNA genes encode the sequences of the hundreds of amino acids that constitute the proteins that are the actual agents that are involved in DNA repair. The code in the DNA is translated into a messenger RNA (mRNA). The mRNA must then move to and be incorporated into a ribosome (which is made up of three different ribosomal RNAs and 55 different protein molecules). Each amino acid must be coupled to a transfer RNA specific for that amino acid, and the coupling requires a protein enzyme specific for that amino acid and transfer-RNA. Responding to the code on the messenger RNA and utilizing the codes on transfer RNA's, the appropriate amino acids, attached to the transfer RNAs, are attached to the growing protein chain in the order prescribed by the code of the messenger RNA. Many enzymes are required along with appropriate energy. This is only a brief introduction to the incredible complexity of life that is found even in a bacterium. "Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?" (Job 12:9). Endnotes 1. Pross, Addy. 2004. Causation and the origin of life. Metabolism or replication first? Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biospheres 34:308. 2. Ibid., 316. 3. Davidson, C. F. 1965. Geochemical aspects of atomospheric evolution. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 53:1194; Brinkman, R. T., 1969. Dissociation of water vapor and evolution of oxygen in the terrestrial atmosphere. J. Geophys. Res., 74:5355; Clemmey, H., and N. Badham. 1982. Oxygen in the Precambrian atmosphere; an evaluation of the geological evidence. Geology 10:141; Dimroth, E., and M. M. Kimberley. 1976. Precambrian atmospheric oxygen: evidence in the sedimentary distributions of carbon, sulfur, uranium, and iron. Can. J. Earth Sci., 13:1161. 4. Miller, Stanley. 1953. A production of amino acids under possible primitive earth conditions. Science 117:528. 5. Hull, D. E. 1960. Thermodynamics and kinetics of spontaneous generation. Nature 186:693. 6. Wood, R. D., et al. 2001. Human DNA repair genes. Science 291:1284. *Dr. Duane Gish is Senior Vice President Emeritus of ICR. http://www.icr.org/article/3140/

One Thing You Can't Do in Heaven

Alert Focus: The Gospel Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." Posted on CHRISTIANWORLDVIEWNETWORK.com - By Mark Cahill "Every Christian is either a missionary or an impostor." -Charles Haddon Spurgeon South Beach, Miami, Florida. If you have never been there, it is truly an amazing place. Beach, sun, sand, tans, Lamborghinis, drinking, drugs, nightlife, and sin is what South Beach is all about. It is wild, it is crazy, and it is America's version of Sodom and Gomorrah. And I just love going there! I know that sounds strange, but I try to get to South Beach at least once a year. The spiritual darkness there is unbelievable. So many people are hurting, and they are looking for truth and love. As a matter of fact, it is so dark there that it is easy for a believer's light to shine very brightly. A couple of years ago I was in South Beach witnessing. I like to hit the streets around 8:00 p.m. and stay until about 4:00 a.m. It makes for an interesting, but very long, evening. One night as I was walking along a street, I saw a young woman sitting on top of a newspaper stand. I approached her and struck up a conversation, then I asked her this question: "When you die, what do you think is on the other side?" She gave me a most interesting answer: "A whole bunch of naked women." I have heard that answer from guys before, but never from a girl! As we talked, I learned that she was a seventeen-year-old Jewish girl who was struggling with lesbianism. She opened up, and had a lot of very in-depth questions about God and sin. She had really thought about the eternal side of life. About halfway through the conversation, she admitted that her curfew was midnight; it was now 12:40 in the morning. She explained that, as she was driving home to arrive before her curfew, something in her mind told her not to go home, but to go to South Beach instead. So she did. She then pointed a finger at me and said, "You are the whole reason that I came to South Beach tonight!" My jaw almost hit the concrete. We typically think that people don't want to talk with us about eternity and Jesus, but that's just a lie from the devil. This young lady was searching for eternal truth, and God had her out way past her curfew to hear the information that she had truly been seeking. God has placed an awareness of His truth in the heart of every man and woman. No matter how deep people may push it down, it's still there. They know there is something more than this life's relativism. It is our job to help them find the truth of what is waiting for them in eternity, who God is, and how they can commit to Him and live by His principles. Toward the end of our conversation, this young lady looked at me and asked, "Are you an angel from God?" What she was saying was that God had touched her life, and He just happened to use me to do that. What a humbling thought that the God of this universe would use fallen mankind to plant seeds in the hearts of the lost! Five times in my life someone has asked me if I was an angel from God. It is a little unnerving, but when we step out in faith and boldly share the good news of Jesus Christ with all the love we can, people will begin to see Jesus through our lives. I will never forget that young lady. But what would cause me to even want to talk with her that night? Here is one of those reasons, and it is a weighty piece of eternal truth. I can guarantee that there is one thing you cannot do in Heaven that you can do on earth. You can worship God in Heaven. You can praise God in Heaven. You can sing songs to God in Heaven. You can learn God's Word in Heaven. But one thing you cannot do in Heaven is share your faith with a nonbeliever. Why? Because everyone in Heaven is a believer. Do you realize that when you take your last breath, you will never again be able to talk with a lost person? Since that is true, shouldn't it be a priority of your life to reach out to all the lost people on earth while you can? I firmly believe that witnessing is a learned talent. God burdens our hearts to reach the lost, but we must get out there and start practicing those conversations. The funny thing is, though, the more you practice the easier it becomes. Practice. Practice. Practice. Can you think of someone you need to practice with today? Adapted from One Thing You Cant Do in Heaven. For very practical, biblical techniques for reaching the lost, see all of Mark's resources at http://www.markcahill.org/resource.html. http://www.worldviewweekend.com/secure/cwnetwork/article.php?ArticleID=1404 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

The World's Strong Delusion

Alert Focus: Deception / A Burdensome Stone Luke 21:24b ...Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Jeremiah 8:11 "They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, `Peace, peace,' But there is no peace. OLIVE TREE MINISTRIES - Understanding The Times Weekly eUpdate by Jan Markell - January 3, 2007 -- Lest you think this is just a "bashing" commentary, let me say that I believe there are decent, hard-working Palestinians who wish to raise their families, obtain good jobs, and live in peace and safety. It is likely they have all been indoctrinated with Israel-hatred for 40 years when Yaser Arafat revised history and said that most of Israel was really "Palestinian" land, in spite of the fact that there has never been an Arab Palestine. Before the 1960s, today's Palestinians were known as Jordanians, Syrians, etc. Yet this tiny representation of people is either the key to world peace and/or Mideast peace. How is this possible? The new U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon stated in the last few days that the Israeli-Palestinian issue was the core to solving all the problems in the Mideast including Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, and Syria! What is his twisted logic? He said nothing about Islamic radicalism and extremism and the nearly 40-year hatred instilled in the Palestinian people via their schools and radical leaders. He said nothing about the fact that their leaders pocket money from nations wishing to assist the Palestinian people. He only emphasized that all the turmoil would go away if Israel and the Palestinians could live side by side in peace. But it is not just Ki-Moon echoing such nonsense. So did Kofi Annan, Prime Minister Tony Blair, the U.S. State Department, and the Vatican. President Bush is on record saying he wants a Palestinian state this year and then there will be peace at least in that specific area. Fortunately there are conditions to the President's goals, conditions the Palestinians and their terrorist leaders cannot meet. Let's turn back the clock a few days and let me remind you that Saddam Hussein's last words were nothing about Iraq or the Iraqi people. Rather, he stated, "Palestine is Arab." This is the Arab obsession even as they face a noose around their neck! Nobody stood with the Palestinians as did Saddam. Over the years he gave families of Palestinian terror bombers as much as $35 million just to blow up innocent Israelis. The Palestinians cheered when Saddam reigned down scuds on Tel Aviv in 1991. They danced in the streets when America was hit on 9/11. It's a group of people that should not be rewarded with much of anything, and the assumption that world peace or Mideast peace is to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has got to be the strongest delusion of the 20th and 21st centuries. Nonetheless, this week in the town of Bethlehem, a "house of condolences" opened where people can come and mourn the death of Saddam. The mourning Palestinians had Iraqi flags and pictures of Saddam everywhere. Iraqi revolutionary songs blared over the Palestinian media. Nonetheless, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is seen as a "moderate," eager to come to some "peace agreement" with Israel, and one who desires to clamp down on the violence. The timing is eerie as after 33 years of cover-up of the murder of senior American diplomats by Arafat, spanning the course of seven consecutive U.S. presidents, the State Department is finally coming clean on this atrocity. The killing of Americans by Palestinian terrorists has been conveniently swept under the rug starting with the State Department and followed by the media. Yet Yaser Arafat was the most frequent foreign "dignitary" welcomed to the White House by President Clinton. Rather than welcoming him, America should have demanded his extradition and tried him for murder. But American tax dollars still go to Fatah, Hamas, the PLO, and Palestinian Authority. All have the same goal in their charters: Crush Israel and say one thing to the West and another to the Arab world. They hope America and other Western nations that have lost diplomats will carry on with a serious case of amnesia even though now the facts are coming out. It remains unknown what the West will do with these facts. My guess is to continue to pour millions into the coffers of corrupt Palestinian leadership and continue the mantra that much world turmoil will be quieted if we just treat the Palestinians properly and if Israel gives up more land for peace. To learn more about this and to view two moving mini film clips, visit the "Palestine" category at my Web site at this link: http://www.olivetreeviews.org/topics/palestine.shtml

Isaiah's words ring true today. We are in a world where good is called evil and evil good. RADIO THIS WEEKEND: Nonie Darwish on her new book, "Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror." She is a primary spokeswoman in the film, "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West." I will also highlight the outstanding ministry of Truth for Muslims. The director, John Marion, will tell us how to pray for all Muslims and the war on terror. If we're not airing in your hometown, you can listen live at the Web site of my home station, AM980 KKMS, Minneapolis/St. Paul. We are live Saturdays, 9 to 11 AM CST with a complete rebroadcast Sunday from 12 to 2 PM. You can "listen live" either day here: http://www.kkms.com/ All programming goes on our "radio archives" on our Web site by Monday of the following week. See link below for podcasting information. Awaiting His return, Jan Markell http://www.olivetreeviews.org/articles/Jans_eUpdates.shtml#newsitemEEyZlyZpEZMtyKVlIE

Main Site: http://www.olivetreeviews.org/

Robertson Predicts 'Mass Killing'

Alert Focus: False Teachers / Deception / The Falling Away Peter 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Deuteronomy 18:20-22 `But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.' "You may say in your heart, `How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?' "When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. ASSOCIATED PRESS - January 2, 2007 -- In what has become an annual tradition of prognostications, religious broadcaster Pat Robertson predicted Tuesday that a terrorist attack on the United States would result in "mass killing" late in 2007. "I'm not necessarily saying it's going to be nuclear," he said during his news-and-talk television show "The 700 Club" on the Christian Broadcasting Network. "The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that." Robertson said God told him during a recent prayer retreat that major cities and possibly millions of people will be affected by the attack, which should take place sometime after September. Robertson said God also told him that the U.S. only feigns friendship with Israel and that U.S. policies are pushing Israel toward "national suicide." Robertson suggested in January 2006 that God punished then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with a stroke for ceding Israeli- controlled land to the Palestinians. The broadcaster predicted in January 2004 that President Bush would easily win re-election. Bush won 51 percent of the vote that fall, beating Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. He also predicted Bush's victory for a second term in 2005. "I have a relatively good track record," he said. "Sometimes I miss." In May, Robertson said God told him that storms and possibly a tsunami were to crash into America's coastline in 2006. Even though the U.S. was not hit with a tsunami, Robertson on Tuesday cited last spring's heavy rains and flooding in New England as partly fulfilling the prediction. http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/01/02/D8MDEM380.html See Also: Pat Robertson False Prohecy for 2006 by Bud Press, Christian Research Service, 12/31/06 Pat Robertson, False Prophet, Again by David E. Lister, Moriel Ministries, 10/04 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

But It's Thomas Jefferson's Koran!

Alert Focus: The Fruit of Islam / A Horde of Judgment Habakkuk 1:2-3 How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And You will not hear? I cry out to You, "Violence!" Yet You do not save. Why do You make me see iniquity, And cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises. THE WASHINGTON POST - By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts - January 3, 2007 -- Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, found himself under attack last month when he announced he'd take his oath of office on the Koran -- especially from Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode, who called it a threat to American values. Yet the holy book at tomorrow's ceremony has an unassailably all-American provenance. We've learned that the new congressman -- in a savvy bit of political symbolism -- will hold the personal copy once owned by Thomas Jefferson. "He wanted to use a Koran that was special," said Mark Dimunation, chief of the rare book and special collections division at the Library of Congress, who was contacted by the Minnesota Dem early in December. Dimunation, who grew up in Ellison's 5th District, was happy to help. Jefferson's copy is an English translation by George Sale published in the 1750s; it survived the 1851 fire that destroyed most of Jefferson's collection and has his customary initialing on the pages. This isn't the first historic book used for swearing-in ceremonies -- the Library has allowed VIPs to use rare Bibles for inaugurations and other special occasions. ... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/03/AR2007010300075_pf.html

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Olmert Must Be Insane

Alert Focus: A Burdensome Stone / A Cup of Trembling Romans 11:25-26 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery--so that you will not be wise in your own estimation--that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB." Don't stop terror rockets, says Israeli prime minister WORLDNETDAILY - By Aaron Klein - December 25, 2006 -- JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday rejected a plan by military leaders here to allow the Israeli Defense Forces to take out Palestinian militants it catches in the process of launching rockets from the Gaza Strip into nearby Jewish cities, WND has learned. IDF leaders charged Olmert was "damaging" Israeli security. Following a cease-fire imposed in Gaza Nov. 26, Olmert has restrained the IDF from taking any defensive measures to stop the regular firing of Palestinian Qassam rockets into Israeli communities. Since the truce went into effect, nearly 50 rockets were fired from Gaza. Yesterday, the IDF spotted militants in the northern Gaza Strip setting up rocket launchers, military sources told WND. Two rockets then were fired into Israel. One landed near Sderot, a large city about 3 miles from Gaza; the second landed in an open field near Gaza. As WND reported, the IDF several times last week spotted militants in the process of launching rockets but the military was unable to take any action. Olmert's government changed the rules of engagement following the cease-fire. Now, if Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are caught launching rockets at Jewish cities, the Israeli military is forbidden to respond. Previously, the IDF used artillery units and aerial strikes against militants discovered in the process of launching rockets. ... http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53501 Olmert decision has military 'up in arms' WORLDNETDAILY - By Aaron Klein - December 26, 2006 -- TEL AVIV -- The Israeli army is "up in arms" regarding an order issued yesterday by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to remove a series of West Bank security checkpoints that regularly stop terrorists from infiltrating Jewish cities, according to military officials. In accordance with promises made to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during a summit this weekend, Olmert instructed the IDF to remove 49 West Bank roadblocks and checkpoints. Twenty-seven roadblocks are to be removed immediately, and the rest within about a week, subject to a final decision by government officials. Olmert also instructed IDF soldiers to not thoroughly examine every vehicle at 16 of the West Bank's largest roadblocks. Vehicle examinations usually cause long delays at the checkpoints. Olmert said the moves were aimed at bolstering Abbas at a time when his Fatah party is engaging in infighting with rival Hamas factions. Abbas last weekend called for new Palestinian elections in a move widely seen as attempting to dismantle the Hamas-led government. Palestinians say the West Bank roadblocks and checkpoints are degrading. They complain of waiting in long lines to pass through West Bank cities. But according to IDF statistics, upwards of 60 percent of all attempted suicide bombings are stopped at the checkpoints. Israeli soldiers routinely catch Palestinians at checkpoints en route to central Israel with explosives or suicide belts. Many of the terrorists are caught during vehicle inspections. At a meeting yesterday, Olmert told the heads of Israel's major security services he hopes the checkpoints will be dismantled by the Muslim holiday of Id al-Adha, which takes place next week.... The Israeli security establishment largely opposes the roadblock removals, saying their dismantlement will likely lead to an increase in terror attacks. ... http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53512 Olmert lets army stop terror rockets after boys critically injured WORLDNETDAILY - By Aaron Klein - December 27, 2006 -- TEL AVIV -- After two 14-year old Jewish boys were seriously injured last night by Palestinian rocket fire, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert today decided to allow the army to carry out select anti-rocket operations aimed at militants in Gaza discovered in the process of launching projectiles. Since a cease-fire was agreed to 33 days ago, Olmert had been restraining the IDF from taking any measures to stop the regular firing of Palestinian Qassam rockets into Israeli communities, even in cases where the army had the ability to take out launching cells before rockets were fired. Nearly 60 rockets were launched from Gaza the last four weeks. As WND reported the IDF several times last week spotted militants in the process of launching rockets but the military was unable to take any action. Olmert's government changed the rules of engagement following the cease-fire, forbidding the Israeli army from responding to Palestinians caught launching rockets at Jewish cities. Previously, the IDF used artillery units and aerial strikes against militants discovered in the process of launching rockets. Military leaders, including Defense Minister Amir Peretz, petitioned Olmert the past three weeks to allow the IDF to take out Palestinian rocket crews, but to no avail. One military official, speaking to WND last week, warned Israelis would be hurt or killed by Israel's failure to stop the rockets. ... http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53527 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. 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'Israeli weapons transfer to be used against Jews'

Militant says rifles, ammo provided to Fatah will be utilized to 'fight the Zionists'

Alert Focus: A Burdensome Stone / A Cup of Trembling Zechariah 12:2-3 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. WORLDNETDAILY - By Aaron Klein - December 28, 2006 -- JERUSALEM -- Weapons transferred yesterday with the help of Israel to militants from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party will be used in attacks against the Jewish state, a senior Fatah militant told WND. Also, a leader of the Popular Resistance Committees, a major Palestinian terror group suspected of attacks against U.S. Middle East targets, told WND his organization has infiltrated Fatah and likely will obtain some of the new arms. According to reports here, Egypt yesterday transferred 2,000 AK-47 assault rifles, 20,000 magazines and two million rounds of ammunition to Fatah security organizations in the Gaza Strip to bolster the groups in clashes against rival Hamas factions. Hamas and Fatah have engaged in heavy firefights since Abbas earlier this month called for new Palestinian elections in a move widely seen as an attempt to dismantle the Hamas-led PA. The Egyptian weapons were delivered yesterday with the help of the Israeli Defense Forces and with authorization from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, according to Israel's Haaretz daily newspaper. Israeli and Palestinian security officials confirmed the Egyptian weapons shipments to WND.... Israel's Defense Ministry said Olmert approved the Egyptian weapons shipment to bolster peace in the region.... But according to Abu Yousuf, a senior member of Fatah's Force 17, which received the Egyptian weapons, the Egyptian arms shipment will be used to attack Jews and "fight Israeli occupation.".... "These weapons are an attempt by Egypt, backed by Israel and the U.S., to fuel a civil war in the Palestinian territories, but this conspiracy won't work. We will not use any weapons against Hamas unless they attack Abu Mazen (Abbas). The weapons will be used against Israel," Abu Yousuf told WND.... Anti-U.S. terror group: We'll obtain Israeli weapons shipment Meanwhile, in an interview with WND, Muhammad Abdel-Al, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, said his terror group would likely obtain some of the Egyptian weapons.... "In all the security services, including in Force 17, there are activists affiliated with all the Palestinian groups, including ours, and Hamas," he said. "We vow that there will be no use (of these arms) in a civil war, as we promise that should these arms reach us we will use them against the occupation and the Zionist enemy.".... WND reported exclusively the U.S. sent assault rifles and ammunition earlier this month to Fatah groups in Gaza. The weapons were delivered by an Israeli army convoy, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials involved in the transfer.... U.S. weapons prompting Palestinian arms race? Also, Abu Abdullah, considered one of the most important operational members of Hamas' so-called military wing, told WND in an exclusive interview last week the U.S. weapons shipments prompted a Palestinian arms race. The Hamas leader said weapons procured as a result of the U.S. shipment will be used against Israel. "The more the Americans give Abu Mazen (Abbas) weapons, the more we will have in the future weapons to use against the Israelis, because it incites the different organizations to intensify their own supply of weapons," said Abu Abdullah of Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades, Hamas' declared "resistance" department. ... See Full Article Here http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53544

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'China-level' Christian persecution coming

Alert Focus: Persecution Matthew 24:9 "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. WORLDNETDAILY - August 17, 2006 -- A few more court decisions like this week's over a display of a Bible in Houston and the United States will be approaching the "China-level" for Christian persecution, according to a leader in the midst of that battle. The ruling from the Fifth Court of Appeals said the display of a Bible on public ground in Houston to honor the founder of a mission has to go, not because it was unconstitutional itself, but because it became unconstitutional when a Christian group rallied around it. The pastor's group said that means any monument, building, or even feature of nature is an illegal "establishment of religion" if a church ceremony is held there. "Connecting the dots between the eminent domain case, which says all of your churches are up for grabs if a town wants a mall, secondly you now have been told you do not have constitutional rights in the public square," Dave Welch, executive director of the Houston Area Pastors Conference, told WorldNetDaily. "Any kind of an event is okay, as long as you didn't express any religious faith. What is that telling you? "We're not persecuted yet, we know that. But we're on our way there. Add that to the surprising acceptance of militant Islam, the fear of speaking against that from a Christian standpoint and then we're dangerously approaching the point where we have literally given away and yielded our freedoms that were earned," Welch said. "We have history, law and the founding fathers who adopted the Constitution collectively affirming the truth expressed by revered Justice Joseph Story in 1840 that, 'We are not to attribute this prohibition of a national religious establishment to an indifference to religion in general, and especially to Christianity,'" said a statement issued by the pastor's group. Welch told WND that the court's conclusion was "ludicrous" and if followed logically, could mean that a religious rally at any public building would therefore make the building unconstitutional so it would have to be removed. The Bible was installed on county property about five decades ago in honor of William Mosher, the founder of Star of Hope Mission, and was replaced in 1996 with donated funds. However, an atheist challenged the monument, and on an appeal from the District Court decision that the Bible was unconstitutional, the appeals court carried the argument further. Its ruling said that the monument became an unconstitutional "establishment" after a 2003 rally was held by Christians to defend the display. That rally involved prayers and clergy, the court noted. "The ramifications of this tortured decision are breath-taking and without any historic or legitimate Constitutional rationale," said the pastors' organization. "For the court to state that if a private citizen exercises his or her First Amendment rights of religious expression and assembly on public property, that any monument, building or fixed item of any kind that contains religious references becomes 'establishment of religion' is simply irrational." The conclusion, if applied nationwide, would result in the sandblasting of hundreds of monuments and buildings "including the capstone on the Washington Monument, which reads, 'Laus Deo,' or 'Praise be to God,'" the pastors group continued. "For this panel majority of two justices to claim that words and actions by private citizens or elected officials with religious content, expressed about a building or monument, convert it from 'secular' and constitutional to 'sacred' and unconstitutional amounts to an act of blatant judicial activism against the freedoms and Constitution," the HAPC said. The group Battle For The Bible also is working on the case, and Welch said there are experts on constitutional law who have been and plan to continue assisting the county in its fight over the representation of the Bible. "They are of the opinion this needs to be appealed directly to the Supreme Court, and we're working on that right now," Welch told WND. He called the logic "twisted" that could conclude the monument once was constitutional, but since "some action by a private citizen" it now becomes unconstitutional. Because the atheist's lawsuit was against the county over the monument on county land, the pastors and their advisors have been assisting County Attorney Michael Stafford in the fight. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51571 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. 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For Sunnis, Dictator’s Degrading End Signals Ominous Dawn for the New Iraq

Alert Focus: Nation rising against nation / The Fruit of Islam NEW YORK TIMES - By Sabrina Tavernise - December 31, 2006 -- BAGHDAD -— For Sunni Arabs here, the ugly reality of the new Iraq seemed to crystallize in a two-minute segment of Saddam Hussein’s hanging, filmed surreptitiously on a cellphone. The video featured excited taunting of Mr. Hussein by hooded Shiite guards. Passed around from cellphone to cellphone on Sunday, the images had echoes of the videos Sunni militants take of beheadings. “Yes, he was a dictator, but he was killed by a death squad,” said a Sunni Arab woman in western Baghdad who was too afraid to give her name. “What’s the difference between him and them?” There was, of course, a difference. Mr. Hussein was a brutal dictator, while the Shiite organizers of the execution are members of the popularly elected Iraqi government that the United States helped put in place as an attempt to implant a democracy. It was supposed to be a formal and solemn proceeding carried out by a dispassionate state. But the grainy recording of the execution’s cruel theater summed up what has become increasingly clear on the streets of the capital: that the Shiite-led government that assumed power in the American effort here is running the state under an undisguised sectarian banner. The hanging was hasty. Laws governing its timing were bypassed, and the guards charged with keeping order in the chamber instead disrupted it, shouting Shiite militia slogans. It was a degrading end for a vicious leader, and an ominous beginning for the new Iraq. The Bush administration has already scaled back its hopes for a democracy here. But as the Iraqi government has become ever more set on protecting its Shiite constituency, often at the expense of the Sunni minority, the goal of stopping the sectarian war seems to be slipping out of reach. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/01/world/middleeast/01sunnis.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Chronology: Disasters to hit Indonesia since 2004

Alert Focus: The Fruit of Islam / Creation Groans Your prayers are requested please for God's will to be done with Indonesia. Indonesia is the nation that reportedly was responsible for 200,000 - 300,000 deaths in East Timor over 26 years, operates a corrupt legal system and allows its soldiers and Muslims to: cut heads off Christians; excise female sex organs with razor blades, torture prisoners with lit cigarettes, gang rape and electricity; apply one standard for Christians and another for Muslims; commit cowardly barbarous murders in West Papua; and according to many witnesses since 1964, has Australia marked on its maps as South Irian. - Geoff Pickering Jeremiah 23:19-20 "Behold, the storm of the LORD has gone forth in wrath, Even a whirling tempest; It will swirl down on the head of the wicked."The anger of the LORD will not turn back Until He has performed and carried out the purposes of His heart; In the last days you will clearly understand it. REUTERS -- December 30, 2006 -- An Indonesian ferry with at least 600 aboard sank during a stormy night voyage as it travelled between Borneo and Java, officials said on Saturday. Following is a list of some of the other disasters, man-made and natural, to hit Indonesia since the Asian tsunami of 2004: Dec 26, 2004 - Nearly 132,000 Indonesians are killed and more than 37,000 listed as missing after a 9.15 magnitude earthquake off Indonesia and a tsunami triggered by it in the Indian ocean region. The global toll reaches nearly 230,000 dead with more than 43,000 missing. Feb 21, 2005 - At least 96 are killed in landslide that sweeps through two West Java villages near a garbage dump. March 28, 2005 - Nearly 1,000 are believed killed after a quake of magnitude 8.7 hits the coast of Sumatra. May 28, 2005 - Explosion rocks a market in eastern Indonesian town of Tentena, on island of Sulawesi, killing 22. July 20, 2005 - Indonesia confirms first deaths from bird flu. To date the disease has killed 57 people in Indonesia, the world's highest bird flu death toll. Sept 1, 2005 - Landslide on island of Sumatra kills 14 and leaves more than a dozen missing. Sept 5, 2005 - Domestic airliner operated by local carrier Mandala Airlines crashes in residential area of Indonesia's third biggest city Medan, killing 102 aboard and 47 local residents in an inferno on the ground. Oct 1, 2005 - Three bombs rip through popular tourist areas on Indonesian resort island of Bali, killing 23, including three suicide bombers. Around 150 are wounded in attacks at Jimbaran beach and Kuta beach. Attacks came almost three years after 202 people, mainly tourists, are killed in another bombing. Dec 31, 2005 - Bomb packed with nails explodes in crowded Christian market selling pork ahead of New Year celebrations in eastern Indonesian city of Palu, capital of volatile Central Sulawesi province, killing seven people and wounding 53. May 15, 2006 - Mount Merapi volcano erupts with clouds of hot gas and rains ash on surrounding areas. May 27, 2006 - Earthquake rocks area around ancient royal city of Yogyakarta killing at least 5,000 and destroying or damaging 150,000 homes. July 17, 2006 - A tsunami after a 7.7 magnitude quake in West Java province kills at least 550 people. At least 54,000 people are displaced. July 19, 2006 - A 6.2 magnitude quake strikes Jakarta and nearby parts of Java. Dec 30, 2006 - A ferry with at least 600 aboard sinks during a stormy night voyage as it travelled between Borneo and Java. Ed. Note: This list strangely left out the flooding that took place last week in Indonesia's Aceh and North Sumatra provinces that left 104 dead. 200,000 people still remain displaced and are in shelters. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L30861109.htm FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

City dwellers poised to take over the world

Alert Focus: The Mystery of Lawlessness / Creation Groans Genesis 11:1-9 Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. They said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly." And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. They said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. The LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another's speech." So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth. THE INDEPENDENT - By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor - December 31, 2006 -- Humanity is about to undertake the greatest change of habitat in its entire history. Authoritative international reports to be published over the next months will show that, for the first time, we will soon be a predominantly urban species, with more people living in towns and cities than in the countryside. Official United Nations figures show that the world's urban population has more than quadrupled over the past 50 years. Almost half of us inhabit towns and cities: within a quarter of a century 60 per cent of us will do so. London, some 200 years ago, became the first city since ancient Rome to reach a million inhabitants: now, there are more than 200 such cities. About 20 of theseare "megacities" exceeding 10 million, and one, Tokyo, has become a "metacity", with more than 20 million. Reports by Washington's Worldwatch Institute, published next month, and by the UN Population Fund, due in the summer, will describe the imminent transition and grapple with how to cope with the rapidly swelling cities. The task is all the more difficult and urgent as 95 per cent of the increase is in developing countries, partly through births, but also through migration from the impoverished countryside to swelling slums that are home to a billion people. http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2114489.ece FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

World faces hottest year ever, as El Niño combines with global warming

Alert Focus: Creation Groans / Birth Pangs Isaiah 24:3-6 The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the LORD has spoken this word. The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left. Revelation 16:8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. THE INDEPENDENT - By Cahal Milmo - January 1, 2007 -- A combination of global warming and the El Niño weather system is set to make 2007 the warmest year on record with far-reaching consequences for the planet, one of Britain's leading climate experts has warned. As the new year was ushered in with stormy conditions across the UK, the forecast for the next 12 months is of extreme global weather patterns which could bring drought to Indonesia and leave California under a deluge. The warning, from Professor Phil Jones, director of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, was one of four sobering predictions from senior scientists and forecasters that 2007 will be a crucial year for determining the response to global warming and its effect on humanity. Professor Jones said the long-term trend of global warming - already blamed for bringing drought to the Horn of Africa and melting the Arctic ice shelf - is set to be exacerbated by the arrival of El Niño, the phenomenon caused by above-average sea temperatures in the Pacific. Combined, they are set to bring extreme conditions across the globe and make 2007 warmer than 1998, the hottest year on record. It is likely temperatures will also exceed 2006, which was declared in December the hottest in Britain since 1659 and the sixth warmest in global records. Professor Jones said: "El Niño makes the world warmer and we already have a warming trend that is increasing global temperatures by one to two tenths of a degrees celsius per decade. Together, they should make 2007 warmer than last year and it may even make the next 12 months the warmest year on record.".... El Niño, or "the Christ child" because it is usually noticed around Christmas, is a weather pattern occurring every two to seven years. The last severe El Niño, in 1997 and 1998, caused more than 2,000 deaths and a worldwide damage bill of more than £20bn. The WMO said its latest readings showed that a "moderate" El Niño, with sea temperatures 1.5C above average, was taking place which, in the worst case scenario, could develop into an extreme weather pattern lasting up to 18 months, as in 1997-98. The UN agency noted that the weather pattern was already having "early and intense" effects, including drought in Australia and dramatically warm seas in the Indian Ocean, which could affect the monsoons. It warned the El Niño could also bring extreme rainfall to parts of east Africa which were last year hit by a cycle of drought and floods. Its effect on the British climate is difficult to predict, according to experts. But it will probably add to the likelihood of record-breaking temperatures in the UK. The return of El Niño * Aside from the seasons, El Niño and its twin, La Niña, are the two largest single causes of variability in the world's climate from year to year. Both are dictated by shifts in temperature of the water in the tropical Pacific basin between Australia and South America. Named from the Spanish words for "Christ child" and "the girl" because of their proximity to Christmas, they lead to dramatic shifts in the entire system of oceanic and atmospheric factors from air pressure to currents. ... http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2116873.ece FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Saddam Hussein and Haman: Many similarities

Alert Focus: A Burdensome Stone Esther 3:5-6 When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage. But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus. Esther 7:9-10 Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were before the king said, "Behold indeed, the gallows standing at Haman's house fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai who spoke good on behalf of the king!" And the king said, "Hang him on it." So they hanged Haman on the gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai, and the king's anger subsided. Genesis 12:3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us--for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE"-- One thing that has clearly been missing from any of the debate about the US war in Iraq is the sovereignty of God. Whether President George W. Bush and his administrations intentions were simply based on bad intelligence (and that can be seriously debated if it ever was incorrect) or specifically to do with oil, gaining a permanent foothold in the Middle East, or even something more sinister, the bottom line is it really does not matter. Saddam Hussein spent much of the last thirteen years of his reign attacking the Jewish people. Some of this was direct military assault, but much more was the funding of other anti-Israeli terror organizations. It is well known that he gave financial support of suicide (homicide) bombers families as many WorldNetDaily articles have shown. I believe that despite what the US Government thought they were doing the LORD used this country to bring judgment on Saddam Hussein. It is also interesting to note that the first Gulf War ended on February 28, 1991, the date of Purim that year. The Second and current war in Iraq began with the invasion on March 20, 2003 which also happened to be the second day of Purim or Shushan Purim for that year. It is finally interesting to note that Saddam Hussein put out a figurative "noose" for the Jewish people only to be hung in a real noose that those of his own country would say was of his own making. Hussein also saw himself as the 2nd Nebuchadnezzar and spent untold amounts of money in rebuilding Babylon. It is sad that in the end he did not come to his senses like the real Nebuchadnezzar did. BE/\LERT! Here are the links to the many articles concerning the execution of Saddam Hussein: Saddam Hanged for War Crimes in Iraq Speechless Hussein trembled, struggled Dictator Who Ruled Iraq With Violence Is Hanged for Crimes Against Humanity ‘I Saw Fear, He Was Afraid’ Curfews Imposed After Saddam's Execution Vatican Spokesman Denounces Execution U.S., Iran Praise Execution of Saddam Saddam Hussein's execution filmed Unedited Video -- WARNING

Animal Sacrifices Maim 1,400 in Turkey

Alert Focus: The Fruit of Islam / False Religion 1 John 2:22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. ASSOCIATED PRESS - December 31, 2006 -- ANKARA, Turkey -- Over a thousand Turks spent the first day of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha in emergency wards on Sunday after stabbing themselves or suffering other injuries while sacrificing startled animals. At least 1,413 people - referred to as "amateur butchers" by the Turkish media - were treated at hospitals across the country, most suffering cuts to their hands and legs, the Anatolia news agency reported. Four people were severely injured, crushed under the weight of large animals that fell on top of them, the agency reported. Another person was hurt when a crane used to lift an animal tumbled onto him, the agency said. Three other people suffered heart attacks and died while trying to restrain animals, CNN-Turk television reported. Muslims sacrifice cows, sheep, goats and bulls during the four-day religious holiday, a ritual commemorating the biblical account of God's provision of a ram for Abraham to sacrifice as he was about to slay his son. They share the meat with friends, family and neighbors and give part of it to the poor. ... http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061231/D8MBUVG80.html FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.