Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

The Momentum to Build the Third Temple is Growing
Aug 1st, 2009
Main StoriesArt Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter;Prophecy;The Nation Of Israel

The Bible tells us about four Temples in Jerusalem. Solomon built the first Temple which was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. Nehemiah built the second Temple and Herod beautified it, it was destroyed by the Roman's in 70 AD. The scripture tells us about a third Temple, the Tribulation Temple. There will also be a fourth Temple, the Millennial Temple.

For several decades now a group called the Temple Mount Faithful have been preparing for the rebuilding of the Temple. All of the instruments for the Temple service have been fashioned according to the biblical pattern. The Menorah, the table for the show bread, the training of the priests and the High Priests garment along with the breastplate and the golden crown are prepared and in readiness. The Sanhedrin has been appointed and meets regularly to supervise the religious activity of the nation.  A plan for the construction of the Temple has been prepared and the blueprints are being readied. Authorization has been given to begin to construct the Temple in portable sections, ready to be assembled when approval is given.

This week construction began on the sacrificial altar. The altar will be 3 meters wide, 3 meters long and 2 meters tall. The plans are to bring the altar to the Temple Mount when the Temple is rebuilt.

In recent days there has been an acceleration of expectancy and activity over the rebuilding of the Temple. For the first time the people of Israel are calling for the Temple to be rebuilt, this is great change in the mood of the Israeli people.  In a recent survey two thirds of the Jewish people are calling for the Temple to be built. Even the secular Jews are in favour.

In response to the survey results, Rabbi Danny Tropper said, "We are a nation with a remarkable historic affinity. The Temple was destroyed 1,942 years ago, and almost two thirds of the population want to see it rebuilt, including 47% of seculars."

The whole nation has reacted to Obama`s demand that the Jews stop building in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria. There has also been a reaction against the idea that America is willing to allow Iran to obtain nuclear bombs, while selling out Israeli interests for the approval of the Muslim world. There is now taking place a coming together of Israelis such has not been seen in modern times. It seems to me that the whole end time scenario has been ratcheted up considerably in this last week.

One demonstration of this growing Zeal by Israelis is the announcement that a first-of-its-kind all night Holy Temple Festival will be held on Saturday night in the Jewish town of Tapuach in Samaria.

Another display of Jewish zeal is that the nationalist activists in Judea and Samaria have set about to establish 11 new outpost settlements in the Negev desert. Daphna Ronen, a member of the Land of Israel Faithful said, "We are sending a strong message to the people of Israel and the people of the world that we love the land and we are here to stay."

In yet another display of Jewish zeal thousands of Jews rallied to protest Obama’s demands that Israel cease building in East Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. They said that they could build homes in any city in the world, what authority has Obama to deny us this right in our own land?

In a current article in Israeli news, Hillel Fendel thoroughly documents that it is Jewish roots and not Arab roots that are established in Judea and Samaria. The documentation shows that up until 60 years ago it was Israelis and not the Palestinians who dwelt in these areas.

Jewish hopes for the rebuilding of the Temple are beginning to run at a fever pitch. Israel now dreams of two things, Peace and the Temple. The sad truth is that Israel will be involved in building a Temple for antichrist. The stage is being set for the Roman prince to come along and deceive Israel. Satan wants a temple so that he and his man can be worshipped as God in the very place where God has been worshipped in the past. Antichrist will offer Israel a false peace and a temple that he will usurp at the mid-tribulation point (2 Thess. 2:4).

The whole scenario in Israel screams out that antichrist is about to appear on the scene. But before that happens, Jesus is coming; the trumpet is soon to sound; are you ready?          

The End of the Theocratic Kingdom
Aug 1st, 2009
Main StoriesArt Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter;Prophecy;Warning

For 400 years God sought to establish His Theocratic Kingdom on earth. God desired to rule over Israel through divinely appointed kings. It was, and still is, God`s purpose to establish His kingdom on earth through the nation of Israel, with His man on the throne, the second Adam. However, both Israel and her kings rebelled against and refused to trust and obey God.                     .

For 400 years the Lord sent His prophets to warn Israel to repent and return to Him. The Lord sent Jeremiah to give Israel the last warning. For 42 years Jeremiah warned of coming judgment and for 42 years Judah steadfastly refused to repent. Finally the Lord said to Jeremiah, Judah has crossed the line! Their fate is sealed! Judgment is inevitable! We read in Jeremiah 5:23 "But this people hath a revolting and rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone."  They have passed the point of no return. They have passed the point of repentance. There is a sign on the banks of the Niagara River, on that sign are the words, "Past Redemption Point."  You can hear the thundering waters of the mighty falls. You can see the raging, swirling, white waters of the river. For any soul that passes beyond that point in the river, all hope is gone.
We read in Jeremiah 7:16, "Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee."  Israel passed redemption point; the enemy came, burned the city and slaughtered the people.
I believe our society stands on the brink of a holocaust, the coming tribulation period. I suspect that our society has passed redemption point.              .
As Jeremiah stood on the brink of holocaust we see that he had three things to encourage him:       .

--- First he had a Divine Mandate   Jeremiah stands as God`s anointed messenger to confront a nation headed for certain disaster. In the midst of that God gives him a mandate, "Then the word of the Lord came unto him..." Jer. 1:4. We have a divine mandate, we are under a command. We are ambassadors.

--- Second he had a Divine Message Jeremiah preached repentance. What do we say to this generation as they face a holocaust?  What do we give them?  We are to give them the Word of God, we are to confront sin. For fifty years New Evangelicalism has taught us not to confront sin. Our message is a message that confronts sin. We have a message that can deliver men and women from the impending holocaust, but it is predicated upon repentance from sin.

---Third  he had a Deep Mourning  Jeremiah said, "Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people," Jer. 9:1. As we look out at our world we must weep over our neighbours and friends as they stand on the brink of the judgment of God. If you don`t preach judgment with tears, you have missed it. As we look at the unsaved around we must see them in the light of the holocaust that awaits them.                     

Temple Institute Prepares To Build Sacrificial Alter For Rebuilt Temple
Aug 1st, 2009
Daily Newsisraelnationalnews.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

The Temple Institute will begin building the sacrificial altar on Thursday, Tisha B’av, a fast day when Jews mourn the destruction of the Temple some 2,000 years ago. 

The sacrificial altar was located in the center of the Temple, and upon it the Kohanim (priests) offered the numerous voluntary and obligatory sacrifices commanded in the Bible.

The Temple Institute, which has already built many of the vessels for the Holy Temple, such as the ark and the menorah, has now embarked on a project to build the altar. Construction begins Thursday in Mitzpe Yericho (east of Jerusalem) at 5:30 p.m.

“Unfortunately, we cannot currently build the altar in its proper place, on the Temple Mount,” Temple Institute director Yehudah Glick said. “We are building an altar of the minimum possible size so that we will be able to transport it to the Temple when it is rebuilt."

Even a minimum size altar will work out to be approximately 4 meters tall, 6 meters long, and 6 meters wide. Workers have collected around 10 cubic meters of rocks weighing several tons already.

The rocks were gathered from the Dead Sea area and wrapped individually to assure they remain whole and are not touched by metal, as the Bible requires.

“The Torah says that no iron tools should be used on the altar’s stones,” Glick explained. “The altar represents a connection to life and to the creation of the world. Iron is the opposite – it is used to build tools of war, death, and destruction.”

The stones will be cemented together with a mixture of sand, clay, tar, and asphalt. Researchers from the Temple Institute visited the Finish glass factory near Yerucham to learn how to create a mixture which would remain as cool as possible under the altar’s unremitting fires and protect the Kohanim, who always worked in the Temple barefoot.

Glick said that Tisha B’av, a day associated with mourning, is really the ideal time to begin to build the Temple. “People mistakenly think Tisha B’av is only a day to cry,” he explained. “It also has to be a day of action. We have the ability in our era to begin the construction of the Temple."

“There are many positive developments recently with regard to the Temple,” Glick added. “Hundreds of Jews visited the Temple Mount this week, and more and more continue to come, after undergoing the requisite ritual immersion.”

Survey: 64% want Jewish Temple rebuilt
Aug 1st, 2009
Daily NewsYnet News
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

About two thirds of the public want the Temple rebuilt, including about half of secular Israelis, a new survey conducted for Ynet and the Gesher organization revealed. 

The survey was held by the Panels Institute among 516 respondents that are a representative sample of the adult Jewish population. The margin of error was 4.3%. 

Initially, the respondents were asked what happened on Tisha B'Av (Ninth of Av), and showed impressive knowledge. Ninety-seven percent responded that the Temple was destroyed, while only 2% said they did not know. 

The second question was whether respondents wanted to see the Temple rebuilt. Sixty-four percent responded favorably, while 36% said no. An analysis of the answers showed that not only the ultra-Orthodox and the religious look forward to the rebuilding of the Temple (100% and 97% respectively), but also the traditional public (91%) and many seculars – 47%. 

When asked whether it was at all justified to mark something that had happened 2,000 years ago, 80% said that it was, while 13% said only events related to the State of Israel should be commemorated. 

Another 7% categorically replied with a "no." 

Here too an analysis of the answers revealed that the positions on Tisha B'Av transcended religious divisions – 74% of seculars and 100% of ultra-Orthodox responded that dates like Tisha B'Av should be commemorated. 

Gesher Director General Rabbi Danny Tropper told Ynet in response to the survey results: "We are a nation with a remarkable historic affinity. The Temple was destroyed 1,942 years ago, and almost two thirds of the population want to see it rebuilt, including 47% of seculars. 

"I don't think this is a practical proposal, but it seems that Tisha B'Av really does constitute a day of meaningful memory to most of the people."

Saudi FM: No gestures toward Israel
Aug 1st, 2009
Daily NewsJpost - HILARY LEILA KRIEGER,
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Peace Process

Saudi FM: No gestures toward Israel | Jerusalem Post

Saudi Arabia on Friday sharply rejected American calls for gestures towards Israel, a central component of US efforts to pave the way for peace talks.

"Incrementalism and a step-by-step approach has not and - we believe - will not achieve peace. Temporary security, confidence-building measures will also not bring peace," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said at a State Department press conference. "What is required is a comprehensive approach that defines the final outcome at the outset and launches into negotiations over final status issues: borders, Jerusalem, water, refugees and security."

Yet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who appeared alongside Saud following their meeting Friday afternoon, downplayed his comments and the extent to which the attitude damages the US's Arab-Israeli peace program.

Asked repeatedly whether Saud's comments made America's efforts more difficult, Clinton responded, "No, I don't think so at all."

Instead, she said, "I think that the efforts we are undertaking are to create a negotiation that will lead to a comprehensive settlement in the interests of both the Palestinian and the Israeli people," and indicated that Saud's perspective was in line with that.

To that end, US Mideast Envoy George Mitchell has been meeting with Israeli, Palestinian and Arab officials to restart talks. The US has demanded a settlement freeze from Israel, and that Palestinians stop incitement against Israel and continue security reforms, but have also repeatedly called for Arab countries to take steps to indicate they are serious about peace and are moving towards normalizing ties with Israel.

The Arab Peace Initiative, of which Saudi Arabia was the chief architect and which Saud endorsed again at the press conference, promises Israel full normalization in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from the territories it captured in 1967 as well as resolutions on Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.

But both Israel and the US, which has praised the Arab initiative as a positive move, would like to see some steps taken now as a show of goodwill that could encourage the Israeli public to make difficult compromises.

US officials have spoken of the possibility of Arab countries opening up trade missions with Israel, allowing Israeli aircraft overflight rights and granting tourist visas to Israelis.

But Saud charged, "Israel is trying to distract by shifting attention from the core issue - an end to the occupation that began in '67 and the establishment of a Palestinian state - to incidental issues such as academic conferences and civil aviation matters. This is not the way to peace."

He also indicated that Israel's adherence to a settlement freeze would not change his position when questioned on the subject by a reporter. "Israel has refused a settlement freeze. And this is why we believe that making conditions right for a settlement is not by making gestures. It is by delving into the real issues."

Saud, however, did praise the US intensification of diplomacy in the region and suggested that "a bold and historic step" from the United States would be helpful. Indeed, several Arab leaders have been urging the US to present its own initiative, though so far, the US efforts have focused on pressing for the incremental moves Saud rejected in order to create a new dynamic. The US push for a total settlement freeze is part of this program, with the US expectation being that such a dramatic move would enable the Saudis and other Arab states to take the steps they are now resisting.

Israel has so far agreed to some limits on settlement activity, but has rebuffed calls for a halt to "natural growth," or all construction in existing settlements. Reports indicate, however, that Mitchell is hammering out a deal whereby Israel would be able to continue certain projects which have already started while stopping all others. He has met with top Israeli leaders over the past few weeks and Clinton, who declined to discuss the details of such a deal at the press conference, did say that "we feel like we're making headway."

Meanwhile, some 224 members of Congress signed a letter to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah calling for precisely the measures that Saud rejected and chastising the country for its stance.

"In his address to the Muslim world in Cairo, President Barack Obama called on Arab states to live up to their responsibility and recognize Israeli legitimacy," reads the letter, which was co-sponsored by Brad Sherman (D-California) and whose bi-partisan co-signatories including leading members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "We have been disappointed thus far to see the public reaction of your government to President Obama's request. Rather than expressing willingness to break down barriers between Arabs and Israelis, your foreign minister asserted that Saudi Arabia could not take any step toward normalization before the return of all Arab land."

The missive also refers to the overtures to Israel made by Jordan's King Hussein and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, the latter who visited Jerusalem before signing a peace treaty with Israel.

"We urge you to assert a strong leadership role and help lead the Middle East to a new era of peace and reconciliation by stepping forward with a dramatic gesture toward Israel akin to the steps taken earlier by the leaders of Egypt and Jordan," the letter states. "We believe that such a step on your part can help open the door to a better future and will reinforce the initiative undertaken by President Obama in Cairo."

Peace- Peace and There is no Peace
Aug 1st, 2009
Main StoriesArt Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter;Prophecy;Peace Process

There is a massive deception going on in our world today! The whole world is focused on bringing about peace in the mid-east, which they seem to believe will bring about world peace.  All nations of the world are fixated on pressuring Israel to allow the Palestinians to take possession of the land God has promised to them and has miraculously returned to them in 1947 and 1967. We need to give the Palestinians what they so desperately need and want, the land of Israel, if they get that the world will suddenly become a utopia of peace and prosperity.
That is all a facade. When you peel back the cover and find what the Muslim world really wants it has no relationship to the drive of the nations of the world to divide the land of Israel. I believe that there are some among the leaders of the nations that are anti-semitic, they hate Israel, perhaps they do not even know why they have this hatred in their hearts, but it is motivating them. I believe there are some leaders who are just plain deceived, they are deceived into believing that Israel has no claim on the land of Israel. Jesus said that a mark of the last days would be deception; we are seeing this deception now sweeping over the whole world.
A leading member of the ruling Palestinian faction said in a televised interview recently, "Those who believe the land- for-peace process will bring an end to the bloodshed between Arabs and Israel’s are deluding themselves".
It seems some Palestinians were becoming worried that increasingly active American involvement would bring the war against Israel to an end before they had a chance to destroy the Jewish state.

Kifah Radaydeh, deputy head of the Jerusalem chapter of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas faction, speaking on Palestinian TV, in seeking to reassure them said. “It has been said that we are negotiating for peace, but our goal has never been peace. Peace is a means; the goal is Palestine". Raaydeh made it clear that by "Palestine" she meant all of the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea by admitting that when the time is right, Fatah will fully rejoin the campaign of violence against Israel.

In March, Mohammed Dahlan, a top advisor to Abbas, said on Palestinian TV. “I want to say for the thousandth time, in my own name and in the name of all my fellow members of the Fatah movement: We do not demand that Hamas recognize Israel. On the contrary, we demand that Hamas not recognize Israel, because Fatah does not recognize Israel, even today.

On July 24, senior members of Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah announced that their group will never recognize Israel, and will continue to call for war against Israel. "Fatah does not recognize Israel's right to exist, nor have we ever asked others to do so."  They went on to say, not only will Fatah never recognize, but it will never end its call for armed struggle against Israel, let those who are deluding themselves hear: this will never happen."

In spite of the clear, repeated statements by Palestinian leaders, the world in its blindness and deception continues to demand that Israel allow her avowed enemies to crowd in around her and have an advantageous position to defeat her.

One of the cornerstones of the Arab, so called peace initiative, is the “right of return," which Obama has endorsed when he advocated the Saudi Peace plan. The PA and the Arab world are demanding the right of return to Israel proper for millions of Palestinians, who fled Israel during the war of Israel's independence, in 1947.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated that the demand for the "right of return" reflects the Arab will to destroy Israel after signing a peace accord with it. It seems to escape the minds of the leaders of America and the EU that this multitude of returning Palestinians would simply out vote the Israel’s at the ballot box and Israel would be no more.
For over sixty years Israel has seemingly lived on the edge of extinction. Contrary to those who mistakenly believe in replacement theology, there will always be an Israel, the nations of the world, including the Obama administration, will never destroy Israel. God will use the nations and the antichrist to bring Israel through the fire, but when He has refined her she will come forth as gold.
In Zechariah 13:9, we have the climax of God's dealing with Israel. "And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and and I will hear them: I will say, it is my people: and they shall say, the Lord is my God."

Mr. Obama, Mr. Harper and all other world leaders, you are on a collision course with the God of Israel. There is a solemn warning in Joel 3:2, "I will also gather all nations, and bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead (judge) with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land."

Military planning for possible H1N1 outbreak
Aug 1st, 2009
Daily NewsCNN. com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

The U.S. military wants to establish regional teams of military personnel to assist civilian authorities in the event of a significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall, according to Defense Department officials.

The proposal is awaiting final approval from Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

The officials would not be identified because the proposal from U.S. Northern Command's Gen. Victor Renuart has not been approved by the secretary.

The plan calls for military task forces to work in conjunction with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. There is no final decision on how the military effort would be manned, but one source said it would likely include personnel from all branches of the military. 

It has yet to be determined how many troops would be needed and whether they would come from the active duty or the National Guard and Reserve forces.

Civilian authorities would lead any relief efforts in the event of a major outbreak, the official said. The military, as they would for a natural disaster or other significant emergency situation, could provide support and fulfill any tasks that civilian authorities could not, such as air transport or testing of large numbers of viral samples from infected patients.

As a first step, Gates is being asked to sign a so-called "execution order" that would authorize the military to begin to conduct the detailed planning to execute the proposed plan. 

Orders to deploy actual forces would be reviewed later, depending on how much of a health threat the flu poses this fall, the officials said.

Editors Note.....It seems that there are some implcations here that could facilitate a police state?

It’s Crunch Time for Israel on Iran - no surprise if Israel strikes by year’s end
Aug 1st, 2009
Daily Newsonline.wsj.com
Categories: Commentary;Warning

Legions of senior American officials have descended on Jerusalem recently, but the most important of them has been Defense Secretary Robert Gates. His central objective was to dissuade Israel from carrying out military strikes against Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities. Under the guise of counseling “patience,” Mr. Gates again conveyed President Barack Obama’s emphatic thumbs down on military force. 

The public outcome of Mr. Gates’s visit appeared polite but inconclusive. Yet Iran’s progress with nuclear weapons and air defenses means Israel’s military option is declining over time. It will have to make a decision soon, and it will be no surprise if Israel strikes by year’s end. Israel’s choice could determine whether Iran obtains nuclear weapons in the foreseeable future. 

Mr. Obama’s approach to Tehran has been his “open hand,” yet his gesture has not only been ignored by Iran but deemed irrelevant as the country looks inward to resolve the aftermath of its fraudulent election. The hardliner “winner” of that election, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was recently forced to fire a deputy who once said something vaguely soothing about Israel. Clearly, negotiations with the White House are not exactly topping the Iranian agenda. 

Beyond that, Mr. Obama’s negotiation strategy faces insuperable time pressure. French President Nicolas Sarkozy proclaimed that Iran must re-start negotiations with the West by September’s G-20 summit. But this means little when, with each passing day, Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile laboratories, production facilities and military bases are all churning. Israel is focused on these facts, not the illusion of “tough” diplomacy. 

Israel rejects another feature of Mr. Obama’s diplomatic stance. The Israelis do not believe that progress with the Palestinians will facilitate a deal on Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Though Mr. Gates and others have pressed this fanciful analysis, Israel will not be moved. 

Worse, Mr. Obama has no new strategic thinking on Iran. He vaguely promises to offer the country the carrot of diplomacy—followed by an empty threat of sanctions down the road if Iran does not comply with the U.S.’s requests. This is precisely the European Union’s approach, which has failed for over six years. 

There’s no reason Iran would suddenly now bow to Mr. Obama’s diplomatic efforts, especially after its embarrassing election in June. So with diplomacy out the door, how will Iran be tamed? 

Mr. Gates’ mission had extraordinary significance. Israel sees the political and military landscape in a very inauspicious light. It also worries that, once ensnared in negotiations, the Obama administration will find it very hard to extricate itself. The Israelis are probably right. To prove the success of his “open hand,” Mr. Obama will declare victory for “diplomacy” even if it means little to no gains on Iran’s nuclear program. 

Under the worst-case scenario, Iran will continue improving its nuclear facilities and Mr. Obama will become the first U.S. president to tie the issue of Israel’s nuclear capabilities into negotiations about Iran’s.

Israel understands that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent commitment to extend the U.S. “defense umbrella” to Israel is not a guarantee of nuclear retaliation, and that it is wholly insufficient to deter Iran from obliterating Israel if it so decides. In fact, Mrs. Clinton’s comment tacitly concedes that Iran will acquire nuclear weapons, exactly the wrong message. Since Israel, like the U.S., is well aware its missile defense system is imperfect, whatever Mr. Gates said about the “defense umbrella” will be politely ignored.

Relations between the U.S. and Israel are more strained now than at any time since the 1956 Suez Canal crisis. Mr. Gates’s message for Israel not to act on Iran, and the U.S. pressure he brought to bear, highlight the weight of Israel’s lonely burden. 

Striking Iran’s nuclear program will not be precipitous or poorly thought out. Israel’s attack, if it happens, will have followed enormously difficult deliberation over terrible imponderables, and years of patiently waiting on innumerable failed diplomatic efforts. Absent Israeli action, prepare for a nuclear Iran.

Congressman Warns US Grid Can be Wiped Out By Electromagnetic Weapons
Aug 1st, 2009
Daily NewsReuters.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

There's been plenty of evidence recently that the Smart Grid could become a serious security risk for IT and households. Now comes something potentially just as troubling: A U.S. Congressman warns that the grid can be taken down by an electromagnetic weapon. 

Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (Rep.-Md.) issued that warning recently. He's not your typical "the-sky-is-falling" Congressman --- he's a former research scientist and engineer and has previously has worked on projects for NASA and the military. Bartlett issued his warning yesterday at a House Science subcommittee hearing about how to roll out the Smart Grid. 

At the hearing, he warned that a weapon that fired an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) could wipe out significant sections of the Smart Grid. According to a Science News account of the hearings: 

EMP is a powerful and potentially devastating form of electromagnetic "fallout." It's usually associated with nuclear weapons, although it can be triggered by any major explosive bursts. Unlike radioactive fallout, this rain won't directly harm living things. It will just catastrophically fry all electronics and modern electrical systems by inducing staggeringly large and rapid current or voltage surges. 

The magazine goes on to report that Bartlett warns small nations could use the weapon against the Smart Grid, when it is developed: 
All one needs to wreak some serious EMP damage, he charges, is a sea-worthy steamer, $100,000 to buy a scud-missile launcher, and a crude nuclear weapon. Then fling the device high into the air and detonate its warhead. 

Such a system might not paralyze the entire United States, he concedes. "But you could shut down all of New England. And if you missed by 100 miles, it's as good as a bulls eye." 

At the hearing, various people testified about how the grid might be hardened against attack, by protecting key components of it. Bartlett, though, isn't convinced that we're doing enough and wants EMP protection built directly into it.

Christ Will Rule
Aug 1st, 2009
Main StoriesA.W. Tozer
Categories: Printed Newsletter;Inspirational

I am not surprised that I still meet people who do not believe that Jesus Christ is going to return to earth. In fact, some of them, armed with their own Bibles and interpretations, are insistent on setting me "straight." One gentleman has written saying that I have it all wrong, and that Paul did not mean what I had said he meant, as I applied Paul's statement to everyday life. I took time to write a reply: "When it comes to saying what he meant, Paul's batting average has been pretty good up to now. So, I will string along with what Paul plainly, clearly said." I did not figure I needed someone to straighten me out-particularly someone who had decided the Bible does not mean what it says. No one is going to argue me out of my faith in what God has revealed and what God has said. As far as I am concerned, it is a fact that Jesus is coming again! The question I do raise is this: Are we prepared spiritually for His coming? Are we tolerating conditions in our midst that will cause us embarrassment when He does come?

Big Brother is watching you with RFID microchips
Aug 1st, 2009
Daily Newswww.straight.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

Imagine you’re at the grocery store and you take some tortellini from the cooler. Embedded in the packaging is a microchip that emits radio waves. The next thing you know, an ad for a high-end pasta sauce is flashing on a screen mounted on your shopping cart.

Then imagine that by scanning your house for the tiny chips implanted in every manufactured item you own, a thief generates an inventory of your clothing, DVDs, and pricey electronics, and decides to rob your house.

Finally, imagine you walk into an airport and a security officer is immediately able to find out your identity, banking information, and travel history by reading data stored in a chip in your passport—or even implanted under your skin.

Although these scenarios may sound like science fiction, the technology—known as radio-frequency identification, or RFID—is already being used to track goods such as Gillette razor blades and Gap clothing in stores. The patent for a chip that could be used in passports to monitor people in airports belongs to IBM, and a company called VeriChip is marketing a chip that is implanted under the skin in order for people to keep tabs on children, the elderly, and prisoners.

Consumer-privacy advocate Katherine Albrecht, who has briefed Canada’s federal privacy commissioner on the technology, advises Canadians to resist RFID. 

“There are certainly things you can do with RFID that might be cool, but the costs of introducing this technology into our society so vastly outweigh the benefits, the technology shouldn’t be deployed at all,” Albrecht told the Georgia Straight.

Since May, enhanced driver’s licences containing RFID chips have been available to British Columbians for an extra fee of $35. The licences broadcast data that can be read by U.S. border officials up to 50 metres away, and allow the cardholder to enter the U.S. without a passport.

In the 2005 book Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move, Albrecht and coauthor Liz McIntyre argue that the use of RFID in identification cards sets up governments to misuse private information. 

“If you went to a political event, such as a peace march, political rally, or gun show,” Albrecht explained from her New York office, “with RFID, all the law-enforcement agents would have to do is mill around the crowd with an RFID reader in their backpack and they would be able to pick up all of the ID cards of everybody within a 30-foot radius of where they stood.”

While RFID chips aren’t new—the technology has been in development for some 50 years—companies have only recently embraced their consumer applications. The chips are so small—smaller than a grain of rice—that they are virtually invisible when contained in a product, and are superior to bar codes because they contain data specific to each individual item and can be read through packaging up to 10 metres away. At a cost of about five cents each, RFID chips are an inexpensive way to track inventory as it’s shipped, distributed, and sold.

Having researched hundreds of RFID patents for her book, Albrecht said that companies also plan to track products after they are sold to learn about “how consumers interact with products” for marketing purposes. 

“The end point is that every physical object manufactured on planet Earth would have an RFID tag instead of a bar code,” she said. “There would be reader devices to pick up signals everywhere you go, including in our refrigerators to keep track of what we’re eating.”

What is most alarming to NDP MLA Maurine Karagianis, is that consumers aren’t aware that RFID tags are already widespread. 

“First and foremost, it [RFID] is being embedded in consumerism without our knowledge or approval,” Karagianis said in a phone interview.

The representative for Esquimalt–Royal Roads is concerned that Canada’s privacy laws aren’t sufficiently robust to deal with the unique challenges of RFID. “We have no regulation around the use or prohibition or restriction on RFID,” she said. “I’m worried that, without adequate discussions of RFID use and application and what the ramifications could be in the future at a legislative level, the discussion will be led by consumer advocates or corporate retail interests.”

Although B.C. information and privacy commissioner David Loukidelis wonders why the U.S. government is pushing for the adoption of a relatively insecure technology for use in border identification documents, he questions the gravity of related privacy concerns. In a phone conversation with the Straight, he pointed out that along with the licences, the B.C. government is issuing a sleeve that blocks the RFID signal when it is not being used.

Loukidelis asserted that global-positioning-system tracking in cellphones is a much more significant privacy issue. “Nevertheless, the principle of being able to track people as they move about is what is of concern, regardless of the particular technology,” he said.

RFID is just one of a growing number of technologies—including Internet marketing, GPS devices, and store-loyalty cards—that threaten our privacy and are not fully understood by consumers, according to Richard Rosenberg, a UBC professor emeritus of computer science who sits on the board of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. 

“All of this taken together leads to a substantial decrease in privacy and a lessening of the importance of privacy in a democratic society,” Rosenberg told the Straight.

Art's Commentary.....The preparartions for the mark of the beast continue, realize that this mark will not come into use by antichrist until the mid-trib point, leaving plenty of time to ready it. An interesting news item reported that India has launched a program to micro chip its 1.16 billion people.

Analyst: Pakistan intervention on tap for U.S.?
Aug 1st, 2009
Daily NewsWND
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning;War

Pakistan – and not Afghanistan – stands to be the greater threat to U.S. strategic interests and offers the best chance through its military to align with al-Qaida while maintaining an arsenal of nuclear weapons, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin. 

And analysts say the result ultimately could be U.S. military intervention inside Pakistan – an invasion. 

This is due to Pakistan being considered "beyond retrieval" from state-failure despite massive U.S. strategic, political and economic assistance over time, including support for the Pakistan Army that remains "sluggish" in going after al-Qaida and the Taliban which it helped create. 

This assessment emerges as security analysts undertake a comparative risk forecast between Afghanistan and Pakistan. It comes as the U.S. puts the final touches on its Afghanistan-Pakistan Policy, now called the Af-Pak Policy, which reportedly dwells on Afghanistan but doesn't address the more dire threats from Pakistan. 

In essence, regional security analysts increasingly believe the Af-Pak Policy will not address the threats the U.S. seeks to eliminate. Instead, they believe approaches toward both countries need to be decoupled, with a greater emphasis placed on the dangers of a quickly eroding, failed-state that Pakistan is becoming. 

Last March, President Barack Obama announced his Af-Pak Policy with a greater focus on Afghanistan, an effort to work with less radical elements of the Taliban there and a greater development of civilian institutions such as schools, roads and clinics in the tribal areas in the south. It also calls for greater Pakistani Army cooperation with the U.S. in going after the more radical Taliban elements, and al-Qaida. U.S. aid to Pakistan would be intricately tied to such cooperation. 

"Afghanistan has a vested positive interest in the success of the U.S. Af-Pak Policy," said Subhash Kapila, an international relations and strategic affairs analyst with the South Asia Analysis Group. 

"Contrarily, the Pakistan Army has a vested interest in impeding the successful implementation of the U.S. Af-Pak Policy as it doubly neutralizes Pakistan Army's doctrine of 'strategic depth' in Afghanistan and liquidation of Pakistan Army's strategic assets, usable against Afghanistan and India, namely, al-Qaida and the Taliban," he said. "If ever the United States faces a Vietnam-like situation in the Af-Pak Region, it will not be in Afghanistan but in Pakistan." 

In this connection, Kapila and other analysts say that the next 12 to 18 months will be critical for the success of the Af-Pak Policy. They see the Pakistan Army "with its propensity to indulge in 'minimal military operations'" against al-Qaida and the Taliban coming under mounting U.S. pressure to deliver on "U.S. strategic end-aims." 

"Sustained pressure from the United States could once again prompt the Pakistan Army to divert attention by military adventurism against India, a repeat of Mumbai 9/11 and a possible repeat of 9/11 in the United States," Kapila said. 

Kapila is one who does not dismiss the notion that the Pakistani Directorate for Inter-Service Intelligence, or ISI, had some knowledge of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S., given its closeness to al-Qaida. 

He expects within the next 12 to 18 months, the likely direction will be that the Pakistan Army will face U.S. ultimatums of direct military intervention within Pakistan, should it be sluggish in its operations against al-Qaida and the Taliban.