| 1. Where is the United States in Prophecy? New Legislation Authorizes FEMA Camps In U.S.
A new bill introduced in Congress authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to set up a network of FEMA camp facilities to be used to house U.S. citizens in the event of a national emergency. The National Emergency Centers Act or HR 645 mandates the establishment of “national emergency centers” to be located on military installations for the purpose of to providing “temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster,” according to the bill. The legislation also states that the camps will be used to “provide centralized locations to improve the coordination of preparedness, response, and recovery efforts of government, private, and not-for-profit entities and faith-based organizations”. Ominously, the bill also states that the camps can be used to “meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security,” an open ended mandate which many fear could mean the forced detention of American citizens in the event of widespread rioting after a national emergency or total economic collapse. Many credible forecasters have predicted riots and rebellions in America that will dwarf those already witnessed in countries like Iceland and Greece. With active duty military personnel already being stationed inside the U.S. under Northcom, partly for purposes of “crowd control,” fears that Americans could be incarcerated in detainment camps are all too real................... read more A New Era Of Eugenics Coming Soon?
A little-discussed provision in President Obama's economic stimulus plan would demand that every American submit to a government program for electronic medical records without a choice to opt out, and it has privacy advocates more than a little alarmed. Patients might be alarmed, too, privacy advocates said, if they realized information such as documentation on abortions, mental health problems, impotence, being labeled as a non-compliant patient, lawsuits against doctors and sexual problems could be shared electronically with, perhaps, millions of people. Sue A. Blevins, president of the Institute for Health Freedom, said unless people have the right to decide "if and when" their health information is shared, there is no real privacy. "Without those protections, Americans' electronic health records could be shared – without their consent – with over 600,000 covered entities through the forthcoming nationally linked electronic health-records network," Blevins said. According to the institute, the measure currently includes plans for: An electronic health record "for each person in the United States by 2014." WND previously has reported on attempts in Minnesota by state lawmakers to authorize the collection and warehousing of newborns' DNA without parental consent. Twila Brase, president of CCHC, said at the time the problem is that "researchers already are looking for genes related to violence, crime and different behaviors. "In England they decided they should have doctors looking for problem children, and have those children reported, and their DNA taken in case they would become criminals." In fact, published reports in Britain note that senior police forensics experts believe genetic samples should be studied, because it may be possible to identify potential criminals as young as age 5. Brase said efforts to study traits and gene factors and classify people would be just the beginning. What could happen through subsequent programs to address such conditions, she wondered. "I think people have forgotten about eugenics. The fact of the matter is that the eugenicists have not gone away. Newborn genetic testing is the entry into the 21st Century version of eugenics," she said................... read more
2. Israel - God's Timepiece Obama hails 'anti-Israel' Arab plan
Following scores of denials he would trumpet the plan, President Obama today hailed a so-called "Saudi Peace Initiative," which offers normalization of ties with the Jewish state in exchange for extreme Israeli concessions. Defenders of Israel warn the plan would leave the Jewish state with truncated, difficult-to-defend borders and could threaten Israel's Jewish character by compelling it to accept millions of foreign Arabs. WND was first to report last November advisers to then-presidential candidate Obama gave positive reception in meetings with Arab diplomats to the Saudi plan – but the reports were strongly denied by Obama's campaign. Today, in an interview with an Arab television network – his first formal interview as president – Obama trumpeted the Saudi initiative. One senior Obama adviser was quoted telling the Times that on a visit to the Middle East last July, Obama said privately to the Palestinian leadership it would be "crazy" for Israel to refuse the Saudi Initiative, which Obama purportedly said could "give them peace with the Muslim world." The Saudi Initiative, originally proposed by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in 2002, states that Israel would receive "normal relations" with the Arab world in exchange for a full withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip, West Bank, Golan Heights and eastern Jerusalem, which includes the Temple Mount. The West Bank contains important Jewish biblical sites and borders central Israeli population centers, while the Golan Heights looks down on Israeli civilian zones and twice was used by Syria to mount ground invasions into the Jewish state. The Saudi plan also demands the imposition of a non-binding U.N. resolution that calls for so-called Palestinian refugees who wish to move inside Israel to be permitted to do so at the "earliest practicable date." Palestinians have long demanded the "right of return" for millions of "refugees," a formula Israeli officials across the political spectrum warn is code for Israel's destruction by flooding the Jewish state with millions of Arabs, thereby changing its demographics. ..................... read more How Gaza conflict could have become regional war - Israel warned Syria during Gaza op: If Hizbullah attacks we'll attack you'
During Operation Cast Lead, Israel warned Syria that it would bomb sites and facilities in Damascus if Hizbullah fires rockets on Israeli towns and communities in the North, Egyptian paper Al Ahram reported Tuesday. The report said Israel conveyed the warning to Syrian President Bashar Assad through a European interlocutor. Israel warned Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah against entering a confrontation with the Jewish State and even demanded he make an official statement on the matter, according to Al Ahram...................... read more Post-Gaza realism
As US Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell arrives here for his first mission, a couple of weeks before Israel's general election, two questions arise. One is whether the new American administration is correct in assuming that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be brought to an end just by "trying harder" with what has consistently failed in the past fifteen years. The second question is whether electing an Israeli government which does not share that assumption might not spell trouble for the future of Israel's "special relationship" with the United States. The answer to both questions is no. Israel has not been ignoring the need to find what pundits call a "political solution." Without getting into the blame game, the fact is that negotiations have been conducted, unsuccessfully, for the past 15 years. If the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be solved in the short term, it has to be managed. But how? The rationale of the disengagement strategy was that, since the conflict seems unsolvable and since the status quo is untenable, Israel might as well get the Palestinians off its back. If only. We left Gaza, but Gaza did not leave us. Yet if the price for preventing rocket firing is the yearly reenactment of a "Cast Lead" kind of military operation, one question must be asked. Not a single rocket was fired at us from the south when Israel fully controlled the Gaza Strip (i.e. before the Oslo agreements). The price for this quiet status quo was a military occupation for which both Israeli society and world public opinion had lost patience. But how exactly was that occupation less moral than the death and destruction we now had to inflict to stop Hamas from firing rockets? Since relinquishing control over Gaza means destroying it every so often to protect our citizens, it is not only that Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza generated a more challenging military and strategic threat. ...................... read more Netanyahu: Obama Will Try to Internationalize Jerusalem Sites
Likud party chairman and Knesset Opposition leader MK Binyamin Netanyahu warned at the Jerusalem Conference Wednesday that the Obama administration and leftist Israeli politicians will try to internationalize holy sites in Jerusalem -- and he vowed to fight the move. Netanyahu told the audience, “Some politicians are trying to blur the importance of the Temple Mount to the Jewish People by referring to it as the ‘Holy Basin.’ We, as Jews, know who built the Temple Mount.” The term “Holy Basin” refers to the area of the Temple Mount, the Mount of Olives, Mount Zion and a variety of Christian holy sites which the administration of former U.S. President Bill Clinton recommended be administered under a “special regime.” Former prime minister Netanyahu, who will likely return to his old leadership role after the February 10 Israel elections, repeatedly emphasized the Likud’s loyalty to the concept of a united Jerusalem. “What would have happened had we not built all those neighborhoods” around the central part of the capital after the Six-Day War, Netanyahu asked. “Jerusalem would have been choked.” Moreover, he said, transferring sovereignty over those areas to the Palestinian Authority is not an option. “Everyone knows what will happen if we were to leave those areas and divide Jerusalem. Someone will enter – and that someone will be Hamas.”....................... read more
4. The Gog/Magog War Iran on track for first nuke in 2009
Iran will have enough enriched uranium to make a single nuclear weapon later this year, the prestigious International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) predicts. The think tank's Mark Fitzpatrick made the announcement at today's launch of its annual global review of military powers. "But being able to enrich uranium is not the same as having a nuclear weapon." However, the survey reports doubts over US Intelligence estimates that Iran halted its work on nuclear weapons six years ago. This points to Tehran's continued development of long-range ballistic missiles able to reach targets in Israel and beyond... ................. read more
6. The Rise of Islam Christian students a rarity in some Church of England schools as Muslims become majority
Christian families are such a rarity in some inner-city communities that two Church of England schools now cater exclusively for Muslim pupils, The Times has learnt. In many church primary schools in English cities, more than half of the pupils are Muslim. In at least a dozen such schools, more than 80 per cent are from Islamic homes. Five church schools, in Blackburn, Birmingham, Bradford, Oldham and London, have become 99 per cent Muslim and in two – another school in Blackburn and one in Dewsbury – every pupil is Muslim. The Church has defended its continuing educational role in such areas and is putting £750,000 towards the construction of a new primary school in Blackburn whose intake will be almost 100 per cent Muslim. The Times has been told that some parishes in the town – where eight of the 24 church primary schools have a majority of Muslim pupils – have questioned the justification for the investment. It is also understood that at least one Church school no longer observes the requirement to have an act of daily collective worship that is “consistently and recognisably Christian”. A former school governor in Bradford has warned that some Christians in her city have chosen to send their children to secular schools, fearing they would be isolated at their local, Muslim-dominated church school. In 1998 the General Synod resolved that church schools should “stand at the centre of the Church’s mission to the nation”. Three years later, the Dearing Commission recommended that “all church schools must be distinctively . . . Christian institutions”. It said the four-part mission of the Church was to proclaim the gospel, to “nourish Christians in their faith”, to “bring others into the faith” and “to nurture and maintain the dignity of human beings through service”. The first three aims are not achievable in a school where every pupil is Muslim, because “the beliefs and practices of other faiths must be respected” and “church schools . . . should not be agents of proselytism”... ................. read more Christian convert from Islam threatened with death by Islamic judge
A woman arrested at the Cairo airport because her identity card described her as a Christian has been threatened for her faith by the judge in her case, according to a new report. As WND reported, authorities in Egypt deprived the woman's two children, ages 2 and 4, of food to try to coerce her to abandon Christianity and return to Islam. According to the Assyrian International News Agency, a woman identified as Martha Samuel Makkar was arrested Dec. 13 as she, her husband, Fadl Thabet, and two sons were trying to leave Cairo for Russia. Makkar, formerly known as Zainab Said Abdel-Aziz, was accused of carrying forged government documents, because she identified herself as a Christian. Islamic law forbids Muslims from abandoning the faith. The decision to grant her bail came Saturday in the hearing before Hashem after Makkar told the judge about her new Christian faith and her abandonment of Islam. Tawfiq told Compass Direct "the judge then said, 'I want to talk with Martha alone,' so we all left the room, and he said to her, 'Nobody changes from Muslim to Christian – you are a Muslim.' "And she said, 'No, I am a Christian.' He told her, 'If I had a knife now, I would kill you,'" the lawyer said... ................. read more
7. Increase in Knowledge/New Technologies Google plans to make PCs history
Google is to launch a service that would enable users to access their personal computer from any internet connection, according to industry reports. But campaigners warn that it would give the online behemoth unprecedented control over individuals' personal data. The Google Drive, or "GDrive", could kill off the desktop computer, which relies on a powerful hard drive. Instead a user's personal files and operating system could be stored on Google's own servers and accessed via the internet. The long-rumoured GDrive is expected to be launched this year, according to the technology news website TG Daily, which described it as "the most anticipated Google product so far". It is seen as a paradigm shift away from Microsoft's Windows operating system, which runs inside most of the world's computers, in favour of "cloud computing", where the processing and storage is done thousands of miles away in remote data centres. Home and business users are increasingly turning to web-based services, usually free, ranging from email (such as Hotmail and Gmail) and digital photo storage (such as Flickr and Picasa) to more applications for documents and spreadsheets (such as Google Apps). The loss of a laptop or crash of a hard drive does not jeopardise the data because it is regularly saved in "the cloud" and can be accessed via the web from any machine. The GDrive would follow this logic to its conclusion by shifting the contents of a user's hard drive to the Google servers. The PC would be a simpler, cheaper device acting as a portal to the web, perhaps via an adaptation of Google's operating system for mobile phones, Android. Users would think of their computer as software rather than hardware. It is this prospect that alarms critics of Google's ambitions. Peter Brown, executive director of the Free Software Foundation, a charity defending computer users' liberties, did not dispute the convenience offered, but said: "It's a little bit like saying, 'we're in a dictatorship, the trains are running on time.' But does it matter to you that someone can see everything on your computer? Does it matter that Google can be subpoenaed at any time to hand over all your data to the American government?" .......................... read more Ten sci-fi devices that could soon be in your hands
Cast your mind back 30 years, if you are old enough, and you may just remember a rather humdrum, though retrospectively momentous, event. In 1979, the Japanese firm NET launched the first cellular phone network in Tokyo. For decades the objects remained toys of the super-rich. Who would have thought that today there would be enough cellphones for half the world's population to have one. That's not the only recent technological revolution. Would you have dreamed that an entire record collection could one day fit in your pocket? How about a system that helps you communicate and share information across the world instantly? Crystal-ball gazing is a fraught endeavour, but we've decided to take the plunge. In this special feature, we assess the prospects of 10 of the coolest gadgets that in 30 years' time may change our lives as much - or maybe more - than cellphones, iPods and the internet .......................... read more Smile! You're on Candid Surveillance
If you walk through any big city in America these days, there's a good chance you're being watched. From Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, cities from coast to coast are installing thousands of surveillance cameras. You can find them in shopping malls, public bathrooms, airports, on street corners and even in residential neighborhoods. The claim is that these cameras will help deter and idenitfy criminals while also guarding against terrorists. Proponents point to a recent incident on a Philadelphia subway car in which a napping commuter was brutally attacked with a hammer as proof that the cameras are an invaluable crimefighting tool. The assailant quickly fled the scene--but the entire incident was captured on tape. He was indentified and arrested a few days later. Philadelphia has spent millions on these cameras to help fight crime. So have New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and Washington, D.C. "We see a reduction in crime in the areas around the cameras," said Commander.Jonathan Lewin of the Chicago Police Department. "It may not be feasible to put a police officer on every corner, but some day, it may be possible to put a camera on every corner."Who's Being Watched? That's exactly what worries civil liberties advocates. They fear it's not just the bad guys who are being watched. "Let's be frank about this," privacy expert Jim Harper said. "Most surveillance is of law-abiding citizens." Harper is the director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. He says that while the use of cameras is well-intentioned, they infringe on the privacy of average Americans. "When we walk around a city, we don't want our movements recorded," Harper said. "We want to be left well enough alone and we don't want to be subject to surveillance." .......................... read more
8. Christian Worldview/Issues 'Bible Bee' to challenge children nationwide to memorize scripture
A new competition is providing another opportunity for churches to encourage Scripture memorization among their children. The Bible Bee, a Bible memory competition for children and youth from 7 to 18, adds a new twist to the traditional Bible Drills that Southern Baptists have used for decades. "The goal of the Bible Bee is to build godly character in young people by calling them back to the lost discipline of Scripture memorization," a news release from the organizers stated. "Most people are familiar with the Scripps National Spelling Bee, where youth compete annually in the nation's longest-running educational contest. While it is certainly beneficial for our children to commit the spelling of words to memory, imagine how much more life-changing it will be for them to memorize the Word of God," the release said. The bee is coordinated by the Shelby Kennedy Foundation, named after a woman who died of cancer in 2005 at age 23. Inspired by Kennedy's reliance on God's Word, the nonprofit ministry encourages children and youth to grow in Christ through Scripture memorization. Instead of asking children to spell a word, the Bible Bee requires contestants to learn Bible passages and facts -- with an ultimate goal of equipping the next generation to be bold ambassadors for Jesus. A written multiple-choice test and an oral round of questions involving Bible memory and knowledge are part of each Bible Bee competition. Local Bible Bees will be conducted throughout the country Sept. 12, and 100 finalists from each of three age categories will advance to the National Bible Bee in Washington, D.C., Nov. 5-6. The Bible Bee Competition will distribute more than $260,000 in prize money with $100,000 being awarded to the first-place winner of the top age category................... read more Faith Mixes with Football for the Big Game
Arizona running back Tim Hightower had just finished a thoughtful explanation of his religious beliefs when one of the media types who found their way into the Super Bowl stadium Tuesday decided he needed more proof. "Can you pray right now?" he asked. "I can pray that whatever is going on in your life right now that you find God," Hightower said. Hightower handled the question with the same ease he handled would-be tacklers to score the winning touchdown that got his team into the Super Bowl, which by itself was somewhat surprising since he is a rookie on the biggest stage of his young life. Even more surprising at this Super Bowl, though, is how so many players on both teams aren't hesitating to invoke the name of God as they prepare to play a violent game where there will be no mercy shown on either side. Usually that has writers setting down their pens and cameramen hitting the pause button until talk returns to the game itself. But the depth of convictions from evangelical Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner to the Steelers who will do their best to plant him face-first into the ground on Sunday has put religion squarely in play this week. All of a sudden the G-word is in vogue. "You just have to embrace it, whatever God does in your life and wherever he puts you," Warner said in one of his many religious references since landing in Tampa. "If it means being a role model in this game, I'm happy to do that. You are excited about that opportunity because you get the chance to speak to millions of people and, hopefully, we'll get an opportunity to impact some lives this week." Warner is the most vocal — and visible — Christian on the Cardinals, proclaiming his faith at every opportunity and underscoring it by carrying a Bible with him almost everywhere he goes. He had it with him at the postgame press conference after Arizona upset Philadelphia to reach the Super Bowl, and took time to credit his faith in God for the win before answering any other questions. The 37-year-old Warner's public display of faith has left an impression on his younger teammates, about 20 of whom join him in Bible studies after practice every Wednesday during the season. "Our quarterback is a definite leader and devout Christian," cornerback Roderick Hood said. "I think that has spearheaded our growth. Also, guys see the peace we have on the field and want to find that themselves."................ read more Georgia the New Christian Hollywood?
While Hollywood is the center of the movie industry, there's an East Coast phenomenon quickly becoming the 'Christian' movie capital. And it's all happening at a church in Albany, Georgia. Facing the Giants, an inspiring story about a losing high school football team that went on to victory, made more than $10 million a couple of years ago. But that's just the Hollywood scorecard from the efforts of Sherwood Baptist Church and there's much more to this story. So, how did this church, in small town Albany, Georgia, three hours away from a major airport and more than 2,000 miles away from Hollywood, make not only one but two major motion pictures? The answer, according to Sherwood member and movie director Alex Kendrick, has Hollywood scratching its head. "After opening weekend I got a phone call from the Hollywood Reporter where a guy, and I'm going to replace some of his language, but he said 'Who in the world are you guys and how in the world did you get to number four when I never saw you coming?,'" said Kendrick. Sherwood members Alex and Stephen Kendrick wrote, directed and produced both films. Alex also played the head coach in Facing the Giants. Their first movie Flywheel didn't make it to the big screen, but inspired them to keep trying. "We are surprised in one sense that it's working so well when we're amateurs. We're a church in South, Georgia. On the other hand, we're not surprised at God doing something incredible because He's God," said Alex Kendrick. But how does it happen with no big name stars, except Kirk Cameron, no unions and next to no budget? They made Giants for $100,000 and Fireproof for only $500,000. "When you understand that our God can walk on water, can raise the dead, can heal the sick, make the blind see, when you read the Bible, then you quit making excuses and you start looking for opportunities," said Michael Catt, Senior Pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church... .................. read more
9. Other Events To Watch Preparing The Way For The Kings Of The East: China Modernizing World's Biggest Army
The army parade to mark the 60th anniversary of modern China’s founding this fall - a rare chance for China to flaunt its military muscle - will showcase not only the country’s newest weaponry but the modernisation of its military too. China’s army is no longer content with military recruits drawn from the urban unemployed and the low-skilled peasant boys. Since last autumn the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been offering competitive grants to attract graduates from colleges and vocational schools, aiming to raise the army’s profile and enhance its skills. China’s 2.3 million-strong army is the biggest as far as numbers go. It is followed by the United States with 1.38 million troops, India with 1.3 million and Russia’s 1.24 million. Technological capability is another matter. The realisation that China needs to modernise its army was brought home forcefully last May. When a devastating 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit the province of Sichuan, killing nearly 80,000 people, Chinese soldiers deployed to conduct rescue and relief operations found themselves challenged by tasks requiring the use of life-detection devices and satellite navigation. China has been steadily increasing spending on its military, citing its overall backwardness in comparison to developed nations and a rise of internal and external security threats. In 2008 China’s official military budget was 61 billion dollars, up nearly 18 percent over the previous year....................... read more 2008 one of worst years for natural disasters this decade
Cyclones, earthquakes and hurricanes around the world made 2008 one of the worst years for natural disasters so far this decade, the United Nations said Thursday. At least 235,816 people were killed in 321 different disasters, some of the worst of which took place in Burma and China, according to the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. "Almost the entire bulk of the deaths... is explained by only two events: Cyclone Nargis and the Sichuan [earthquake]," said Debarati Guha-Sapir of the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, which conducted the tally. The UN estimates that nearly 84,000 people died and 54,000 went missing after Cyclone Nargis came crashing into Burma, also known as Myanmar, last May 3. About 2.5 million people were left destitute by the storm. Less than two weeks later, nearly 70,000 people were killed when an earthquake rocked a swath of central and southern China. An estimated five million people were rendered homeless. Last year's natural disaster death toll was more than three times the annual average between 2000 and 2007, which was 66,812. The world's disasters last year caused estimated damage of $227 billion, some 60 per cent of it — or $136 billion — in China. ........................ read more World Leaders Push For New Economic Order
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicholas Sarkozy have warned the US not to block attempts to build an international financial regulator, calling for a new economic body similar to the UN's Security Council. "I've always in my political life been a supporter of a close alliance with the United States but let's be clear: in the 21st century, a single nation can no longer say what we must do or what we must think," said Mr Sarkozy at an international symposium in Paris on Thursday. "We'll take our decisions on 2 April in London," he went on, referring to an upcoming meeting of the G20. "Perhaps the United States will join us in this change." Ms Merkel, also in attendance at the conference, echoed the French president's warning to Washington. "No country can act alone in this day and age, not even the United States, however powerful they may be," she said, Deutsche Welle reports. She said that hopes that out of the economic crisis, governments can construct a new architecture for managing global capitalism. "Our response to the economic crisis must be more than a few rules," she said. "The crisis is an opportunity to create an international architecture of institutions." The chancellor said the world needs an "economic council" in the United Nations as well as the existing body that deals with security matters. "It is possible that alongside the UN Security Council, we could also have an economic council," she said, adding that alongside the UN Charter, an economic sustainability charter "for a long-term reasonable economy" should be drafted establishing rules for global financial governance. "Our response must be more than a few rules," she added. "The crisis is an opportunity to create an international architecture of institutions." ....................... read more |
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