Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

When the Fullness of Time Was Come
Dec 25th, 2009
CommentaryT. B. C.
Categories: Inspirational;Prophecy

"But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law" (Galatians 4:4).

[TBC: Jesus came in the fullness of time. He came when Rome dominated the known world with its Pax Romana (peace) making travel safer and a common language (Greek) made sharing information easier. He came when the practice of crucifixion, hitherto unknown in Israel, but prophesied in Psalm 22, was the Roman capital punishment. He came when the Law had been shown to be "our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Galatians 3:24). He came when everything was ready.]

Rabbi's Murderers Trained By Barack and Barak?
Dec 25th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Gil Ronen
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Warning

 

The announcement by the Al Aksa Martyrs organization that its men are the ones who killed Rabbi Meir Avshalom Chai raises some difficult questions, when one bears in mind that the United States assists the Fatah organization through military training under the supervision of Gen. Keith Dayton.

Interviewed by Ben Bresky Thursday night, journalist David Bedein reminded Arutz Sheva's audience that the Al Aksa Martyrs formally joined Fatah's security forces at the Fatah convention in August. Fatah receives military training from US military forces with the full approval of Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

Bedein noted that as a journalist, he recently submitted a query to the Minister of Defense and directed a similar question to the US authorities. In his queries he noted that despite their claims otherwise, the Al Aksa Martyrs are a terror group whose men receive financial aid which the US gives the group.

He has not received an answer to the query.

Bedein's description of the matter means that the United States (headed by President Barack Obama), with the Israeli government's passive agreement, has indirect responsibility for training and funding the terror force which murdered Rabbi Meir Chai.

Palestinian Gunmen Kill Israeli Motorist
Dec 25th, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Palestinian terrorist gunmen shot and killed an Israeli motorist traveling in northern Samaria on Thursday. The attack occurred between the Jewish communities of Shavei Shomron and Einav.

The assailants managed to flee the scene, and a manhunt was launched to bring them to justice.

The last fatal terrorist shooting in Judea and Samaria occurred in March 2009.

In other terror-related news, security forces on Thursday revealed that a major traffic disruption last week on the highway that runs from northern Jerusalem to Tel Aviv had been caused by a roadside bomb.

The bomb had several firecrackers attached to it, which were supposed to set off the high-grade explosives. But only the firecrackers went off, possibly saving many lives. Israeli security forces destroyed the rest of the bomb in a controlled explosion.

Netanyahu Offers Unity Gov't to Kadima
Dec 25th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Hillel Fendel
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

 
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu threw a political bombshell into the national arena, offering Kadima membership in a national unity government. He made the offer in a Thursday afternoon meeting with Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni.

The move would apparently save Kadima from an internal split; one MK has already announced his leaving Kadima, and six more – unnamed – have initialed an agreement to do so. Livni has come under great criticism for her leadership of the party in the opposition, and the party’s #2, Sha’ul Mofaz, earlier in the day demanded new elections for party leader.

Livni’s first response: “I have always said that if it’s genuine, it is worth discussing.” She has staunchly opposed joining the Netanyahu-led government from the day it was formed, demanding nothing less than a rotating premiership with Netanyahu.

If Kadima joins the government, this would give Israel one of its largest government coalitions ever, with 102 Knesset Members, while the Opposition would comprise only 18 MKs (including 10 Arabs): four each from the National Union, Raam-Taal (Arab), and Hadash (Arab-Jewish) parties, and three each from Meretz and Balad (Arab).

The official Knesset position of Head of the Opposition would be assigned to the candidate who wins a majority of opposition MK votes – and would therefore likely be an Arab Knesset Member.

Netanyahu said he would give Kadima four ministerial positions in the Cabinet, without portfolios. This would bring the number of government members to 34.

The Kadima Knesset faction convened on Thursday afternoon for a previously-scheduled meeting. The original objective was to discuss ways to prevent the party from splitting, but this will apparently be replaced by a discussion of Netanyahu’s offer.

Model Altar of Unhewn Stones Completed At Temple Institute
Dec 25th, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Gil Ronen
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

The Temple Institute in Jerusalem announced Friday the completion of a model of the biblical altar which G-d, through Moses, commanded the nation of Israel to build at the Mount of Eval (Ebal) overlooking Shechem:  

“And there you shall build an altar unto Hashem your God, an altar of stones: you shall lift up no iron tool upon them. You shall build the altar of Hashem your G-d of unhewn stones.” (Dvarim / Deuteronomy 27:5,6).

The model altar / Temple Institute

For many years, the Institute has been examining ways of building a model of the altar from whole stones that had not been touched by iron tools. In the end, the Institute commissioned artist Assaf Kidron of Givot Olam Farm at Itamar, Samaria, to design and create a model which conforms with the specifications described by authoritative Jewish sage Rambam (Maimonides) – one cubit wide, one cubit deep, and three cubits high. 

It has been placed in the Institute's visitor center.

The rocks were collected from the Dead Sea as documented in the accomanying video. The additional material for filling the cracks between the stones was collected with a gold-plated shovel, to prevent any contact with the iron.

Maverick Iraqi Politician Claims Iran Could Go Nuclear Within Weeks
Dec 25th, 2009
Daily NewsHEATHER ROBINSON, Special to The Jerusalem Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

Iraqi parliamentarian Mithal al-Alusi is warning that Iran is much closer to attaining nuclear capability than most sources, including the International Atomic Energy Agency and the US State Department, believe. In fact, he predicts the Iranians could have a nuclear capability - and may announce that they have it - as soon as next month.

"We are receiving information which says Iran is so close to producing an atom bomb," Alusi said in an interview earlier this month, the latest in a series of interviews conducted since September. "All the international community, they don't realize how close [the Iranians] are to the goal... The Iranians will surprise us one day [soon] and say, 'We have it.'"

Alusi said he cannot reveal his sources of this information, because that would place in grave and imminent danger individuals within the Iranian "establishment" who risked their lives to share it with him.

"I am talking about Iranian insider information. Very clear, from inside Iran," he said. "There are people within Iran who want to be normal... They know this is a dangerous regime. You see how they treat their own people... Iran is terrorizing the world already. What will they do once they have the bomb and they are stronger?"

Asked whether his sources are members of the Iranian government, or Iranian nuclear scientists, Alusi said he could not be more specific, but that they are "people who are part of the system in Iran, but [who] do know how dangerous it will be if the fascists are in control. They are wanting a normal situation to live, and they know this might be their last chance."

Alusi's estimate, which is that Iran will have nuclear capability by January or February, "sounds a little soon... [but] it's not outside the realm of possibility," according to Ilan Berman, vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council, who has consulted for the CIA and Defense Department.

According to Israeli intelligence, however, Iran already has sufficient low-enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon but has yet to reach the breakout stage and begin enriching uranium to higher levels, needed for a nuclear weapon. Even once this happens, it would take the Iranians some time to perfect the weapons program and manufacture a warhead. This would likely take a few years - until 2014, according to Mossad chief Meir Dagan.

An ideological pioneer, Alusi has frequently been ahead of the curve. Iraqi-born and bred, he fled to Germany in 1977 after being sentenced to death by Saddam Hussein for circulating anti-Ba'athist flyers. Following Saddam's ouster, he returned to Iraq with his two sons to accept a leadership position in the Supreme National Commission of de-Ba'athification.

In September 2004, he traveled to Israel to attend a counterterrorism conference. He did so because, in his words, he believes "Israel is a modern state and an important part of the Middle East."

Then, in February 2005, terrorist insurgents murdered his two sons, Ayman, 30, and Gamal, 22, apparently as payback for Alusi's visiting the Jewish state - a taboo in Iraqi society. Minutes after the attack, he told reporters, "Even if these terrorists try to kill me again... peace with Israel is the only solution for Iraq. Peace with everybody, but no peace for the terrorists."

Refusing to be intimidated, Alusi continued to build his political party, the Iraqi Democratic Nation Party, which his sons had helped him establish. In December 2005, voters elected him to parliament as an independent.

In early September 2009, before Iran announced the existence of a previously unknown uranium enrichment plant near the city of Qom, Alusi told this reporter there were other major Iranian nuclear sites in addition to the four known to the international community. Now he says that in addition to the five currently known, there are even more Iranian nuclear sites.

In September, he also told this reporter that Iranian scientists were working feverishly to develop "[the] missiles and atom bomb program together." Soon afterward, Iran began testing short-and medium-range missiles, as well as the Shihab-3, a long-range missile that can reach Israel.

Earlier this month he said, "I believe the atom bomb will be declared... by January, February, with a nuclear bomb and missiles [to launch it]."

Alusi believes Teheran's announcement in late November that it intends to build 10 new uranium enrichment sites is a ploy designed to mislead the West into thinking Iran is farther away than it actually is from attaining nuclear capability.

Alusi said that the Iranian government cannot be appeased by compromise or concession. He believes they are determined to assert their hegemony; hence their brazen missile-testing.

Asked whether he thinks a military operation to set back Iran's nuclear program will prompt a surge in terrorism, Alusi argued this reasoning is flawed. "The opposite is correct," he said. "If Iran has [nuclear capability], there will be more terror attacks... If [after it attains nuclear capability] there is any clash, hundreds of thousands will die, at least."

He emphasized that admittedly painful sacrifice in the short-term will avert a catastrophic scenario in the long-term.

"We will pay a price [with a limited military operation to set back Iran's nuclear program], but nothing compared to the price if Iran has this kind of weapon and … all the international community will be in danger."

While the Iranian government is belligerent, those at the helm of its war machine are clear in their motives, which include the determined desire to become a superpower, according to Alusi. "They have goals. They want DC to accept them as a superpower. You don't know them. We do," he said.

Although he says he is generally averse to war, he believes a military operation is the only option now, the sooner the better. For every month that elapses, the human and environmental costs of undertaking such an operation will be greater, Alusi cautioned.

"Why do international leaders wait?" he said. "To act now is best to save [the most] human beings. In several months, the danger of radioactivity to human beings and nature will be far worse."

Among the developments Alusi foresees if Iran attains nuclear capability are an immediate wave of international terrorism, unstable markets and economic chaos, and the ascendancy of Muslim fundamentalist governments and terrorist movements in the long-term.

Regarding the principle of mutually assured destruction serving as a deterrent against the use of a nuclear capability, Alusi warned, "There is no guarantee they will not use it. Maybe you can have a balance [that deters parties from using nuclear weapons] with China, with India, with some others, but you cannot have a balance with Iran. They might not use it right away but they might use it at a different time. And they will always use it as a threat.

"President Obama wants to talk … All of us need to talk and contain the problem. But we can't talk and contain the problem if Iran will have an atom bomb."

Asked if he thinks Israel should attempt a military operation alone, he said, "I think it is an international responsibility... the US, Israel, Iraq and NATO should stop the program, attack the 4 or 5 main centers... I think a military strike is the only hope now."

One of the main obstacles to effective negotiations, he maintained, is that the power centers in Iran are not accessible or interested in negotiating. "[At this point], no [individual] Iranian can stop it, not even [President] Ahmadinejad can," he said. "If they give the order [to stop the nuclear program,] they will be killed... The Revolutionary Guard are driving security."

Alusi believes that recent events such as Iran's missile testing and its announcement of its secret nuclear facility at Qom may have demonstrated to President Barack Obama that the Iranian government cannot be stopped via diplomacy. "[But] I don't believe the president will [organize a military operation] unless he sees there is no time," said Alusi. "We have to tell him there is no time. Then I believe he will act. Otherwise the Obama vision and the vision of others who look forward to freedom and peace will be a joke and a tragedy. The responsibilities are huge."

He went on: "Because I don't like war I think we need a limited, clear military operation, which everybody in the Middle East and Europe will understand, even if they don't support it. If it succeeds, everyone will support it."

The writer is an independent journalist who has contributed to The Wall Street Journal.

Darwin's Children
Dec 25th, 2009
CommentaryTimesonline.co.uk
Categories: Contemporary Issues;Creation - Evolution

Charles Darwin and the children of the evolution [Excerpts]

The naturalist outraged the church, prompting a bitter debate that still sets creationists against evolutionists. Now a sinister link has emerged between his work and the recent spate of high-school killings by crazed, nihilistic teenagers.

You wouldn't know from the celebrations of Charles Darwin's life this year that the amiable Victorian gent portrayed in those TV drama-docs pottering around the garden of his home in Kent has been fingered as a racist, an apologist for genocide, and the inspiration of a string of psychopathic killers.

With hardly a mention that his name has been associated with some of the most infamous crimes of modern history, it is as if there has been an unspoken agreement to accentuate the positive. Certainly, the milquetoast Darwin played by Paul Bettany in the recent film Creation provided little hint that there might be a dark side to the great man's bequest to posterity. The film focuses on Darwin's inner conflicts in the years leading up to the publication of On the Origin of Species. The scientist is reluctant to make his ideas public, not because he has foreseen dire social consequences, but chiefly because he fears that the theory of evolution will upset his wife and the Church of England.

In America, where Darwin's writings on morality and race have come under particularly intense critical scrutiny because of the enduring creationist debate, he has been accused of fostering moral nihilism and scientific racism, and even of promoting an ethic that found its ultimate expression in the Holocaust. Most startling of all, a connection has now been drawn between Darwin's theories and a rash of school shootings. In April, 1,000 people gathered at sunset in Littleton, Colorado, to commemorate the victims of the Columbine high school massacre, 10 years [ago]. Darrell Scott, whose daughter Rachel was the first of the 13 children to be murdered, and whose son Craig narrowly escaped being shot, cannot understand why so little attention has been paid to the motivation of the killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, and their interest in Charles Darwin's ideas. "Harris wore a 'Natural Selection' T-shirt on the day of the killings. They made remarks on video about helping out the process of natural selection by eliminating the weak. They also professed that they had evolved to a higher level than their classmates. I was amazed at the frequent references to evolution, and that the press completely ignored that aspect of the tapes."

Much of the evidence remains sealed under a court order issued to minimise the risk of copycat killings, but from those documents that are in the public domain, it is clear that Eric Harris fantasized about putting everyone into a violent computer game that only the fittest could survive. And, like Darwin himself, he noted how vaccination might be interfering with nature's weeding process. In his rantings Harris said he wished there were no vaccines, or even warning labels on dangerous goods, "and let natural selection take its course..."

Arabs May Demand Galilee and Negev in Future, Warns Minister
Dec 25th, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon warned on Tuesday that if Israel does not get serious about increasing the Jewish presence in the Galilee and Negev regions, the Arabs living there may try to break away in the future.

Following a speech at conference titled "The Realization of Zionism: Strengthening the Periphery," Ayalon told Israel National News that "if there won’t be a Jewish majority in the Negev and the Galilee it could lay the groundwork for a legal national claim by Arabs, either for autonomy or secession from the State of Israel."

Ayalon said he came to that conclusion after visiting both the Negev and Galilee and realizing how few Israeli Jews were living there, and how much Arab construction was taking place, both legal and illegal.

Israel is often wary of opposing the illegal Arab construction for fear of international condemnation.