Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

The Nine Wars of the End Times
Oct 27th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Commentary

I have been to Israel 45 times, and every time my spiritual life has been enriched. I recently took a video cameraman with me and had him shoot on the fly as I led a pilgrimage group through the land. We began in Tel Aviv, and went from there to Tiberias in the north, and then back to Jerusalem.

I'll continue to share some of the sermons I presented from that trip with you. As I do so, I think you'll come to understand why a person once wrote, "A pilgrimage to the Holy Land converts the Bible from black and white into Technicolor."

My fifth message was presented at the ancient fortress of Megiddo that overlooks the Valley of Armageddon. There we will survey the nine prophetic wars of the end times.

The Only War They Know

Most people have heard of only one war of the end times, what is normally referred to as the Battle of Armageddon. But, the Bible speaks of nine end time wars. I want to talk to you about the final battles of the end times.

Every time a war breaks out over in Israel, without exception Lamb & Lion Ministries gets calls and email messages all asking, "Is this the Battle of Armageddon?" The reason for that is because most people are only familiar with one battle of the end times, and that's the Battle of Armageddon. So, every time a war breaks out, people want to know, "Is this the Battle of Armageddon?"

Most people know the name Armageddon, even people in the secular world. We've had movies named Armageddon. Secular writers talk about how we are in the time of Armageddon, and on and on it goes.

What I want to point out to you is that I believe that Bible prophecy mentions nine wars in the end times, and only one of them is the Battle of Armageddon. As you're going to find out, the Battle of Armageddon is really no battle at all.

Let's take a look for a moment at what those wars are that are prophesied to happen in the end times.

The First War of Gog & Magog — Ezekiel 38 and 39

The end time war that most people talk about is found in Ezekiel 38 and 39 — the War of Gog and Magog. There's a man who has written a lot recently about this. His name is Joel Rosenberg. He's a very fine writer and a great fiction writer. He is also a student of Bible prophecy and truly loves the subject. I've been with him on several podiums which we've shared at conferences. I've got to know him well, and he's really a great guy.

Joel Rosenberg is the one who has really popularized the idea that the next major prophetic war will be Ezekiel 38 and 39. But, I think he's wrong about that, because Ezekiel 38 and 39 says that it will occur at a time when Israel is living in peace and without walls. In truth, Israel is not living in peace today. It's certainly is not living without walls. It has a wall that runs the entire length of the country. By the time it does all it zigzags, the wall runs 400 miles long. In some places it's more of a scientific wall, in the sense a technological wall, because if you cross it sets off all kinds of alarms. In other places it's a big tall wall. The wall's been necessary to stop terrorists from coming into Israel. It's been extremely effective in stopping them. And so, Israel is not living in peace right now.

Another thing that is interesting about the Ezekiel 38 and 39 War is it says that it's going to be an invasion led by Russia with certain specified allies. All the allies are specified, and all of them are Muslim states today. The thing that is most interesting is not one single nation that's mentioned in Ezekiel 38 and 39 has a common border with Israel. So, it begs the question, "Why is it that none of the states that have a common border with Israel are mentioned?"

The War of Extermination — Psalm 83

The person who has come up with an answer for that question in recent years is a man named Bill Salus, who is a good, personal friend of mine. Bill wrote a book called Isralestine. In his book he states that the first war of the end times in Bible prophecy is the War of Psalm 83.

If you read that Psalm, and it's a short psalm, it talks about the fact that all the Arab states in the end times will get together and say, "Now is the time for us to annihilate the State of Israel." So, we call it the Psalm 83 War of Annihilation.

An interesting fact about Psalm 83 is that it names the nations that are going to come against Israel, and every nation it names is one that has a common boundary with Israel today. Those names are Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Syria. They are the ones that come against Israel to annihilate it, as Psalm 83 foretells. I think the Psalm 83 War is going to be the next great war in the Middle East.

Something interesting about Psalm 83 is that it doesn't tell who wins the war, but we know who wins it, because Zechariah 12 says in the end times one of the miracles that God is going to perform is that Israel will have one of the greatest military forces in the world. As you know, Israel is one of the smallest countries in the world, but it is always ranked in the top four in terms of military power. Many rank it number one in the effective use of its power.

I think that probably the first war of the end times in prophecy is going to be the Psalm 83 War. That's when the nations that have a common boundary with Israel will come against and try to destroy Israel. I also think that is most likely when Damascus will be destroyed, because two times in the Old Testament we are told that Damascus will cease to exist in the end times.

The Syrians have highly sophisticated missiles. They could put a missile right down the smokestack of any building in Tel Aviv if they wanted to, and they are only shooting them 125 miles, not thousands of miles. Syria also has all kinds of chemical weapons. If they were to attack Tel Aviv with chemical weapons, probably the only way the Israelis would be able to defend themselves is to use one of their tactical nuclear weapons to blow up the city of Damascus. So, it could very well be that that very first war of the end times is the one in which Damascus will cease to exist.

The Psalm 83 War is a war between Israel and all the inner circle of Muslim States that have a common boundary with Israel. I think that's going to be the first war.

That makes the second war of the end times the one described in Ezekiel 38 and 39, when Russia comes down with certain specified Muslim allies. Those countries form an outer ring. None of them have a single common border with Israel.

I think what will happen is in the first war Israel will conquer all the states around it and will finally have peace. At that point the Muslim world will turn to its natural ally, Russia. The Russians will come smiling from ear to ear because they've always wanted to dominate the Middle East. What they really want is not so much the annihilation of Israel as much as they want access to all the Arab oil fields.

The Arabs will invite the Russians in, and surely they'll come. But, the great horde of invaders will all be destroyed supernaturally upon the hills of Israel. They won't be destroyed by the Israeli Defense Forces like in the first war of Psalm 83. This time God will personally provide the victory, and He'll do it in such a way that even the people of Israel will realize that God did it.

The result of God's victory is that many of the Jewish people will begin to believe. I also think that includes many of our tour guides who have heads full of Scripture, but hearts that are cold to the Gospel, they will suddenly see God intervene and deliver the nation of Israel. Boom! They're eyes will be opened.

To summarize, the first prophetic end times war is going to be the Psalm 83 War and the next one will be the Ezekiel 38 and 39 War, but we don't know when these are going to occur. There's lots of debate among prophecy scholars as to when they will occur. Some think it's going to occur in the middle of the Tribulation, while some at the beginning of the Tribulation. Some think it will start before the Tribulation.

I tend to think these two wars are going to start before the Tribulation, because Ezekiel talks about the fact that when the Gog-Magog War is over, the Israelis are going to spend seven months cleaning up the battle field. We know that in the middle of the Tribulation the Antichrist is going to run the Jews out of the country. They are not going to be there to clean up the battle field after that. That's why I think most likely the war of Ezekiel 38 and 39 will start 3.5 years before the Tribulation begins. Israel therefore will finish cleaning up the battlefields in the middle of the Tribulation.

The Final Outcome of Contemplative Prayer
Oct 27th, 2014
CommentaryRay Yungen
Categories: One World Church;Commentary

The final outcome of contemplative prayer is interspirituality. If you have truly grasped the portrait I have tried to paint in my book and articles, you have begun to see what this term signifies. The focus of my criticism of mystical prayer must be understood in the light of interspirituality.

Just what exactly is interspirituality? The premise behind interspirituality is that divinity (God) is in all things, and the presence of God is in all religions; there is a connecting together of all things, and through mysticism (i.e., meditation) this state of divinity can be recognized. Consequently, this is a premise that is based on and upheld by an experience that occurs during a self-hypnotic trance linking one to an unseen world rather than to the sound doctrine of the Bible.

It is important to understand that interspirituality is a uniting of the world’s religions through the common thread of mysticism. Wayne Teasdale, a lay monk who coined the term interspirituality, says that interspirituality is “the spiritual common ground which exists among the world’s religions.”1 Teasdale, in talking about this universal church also states:

She [the church] also has a responsibility in our age to be a bridge for reconciling the human family . . . the Spirit is inspiring her through the signs of the times to open to Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, Taoists, Confucians, and indigenous peoples. As matrix [a binding substance], the Church would no longer see members of other traditions as outside her life. She would promote the study of these traditions, seek common ground and parallel insights.2 (emphasis mine)

An article in my local newspaper revealed just how well received interspirituality has become in certain circles. One Presbyterian elder who was described as a “Spiritual Director” made it clear when she said:

I also have a strong interest in Buddhism and do a sitting meditation in Portland [Oregon] as often as I can. I considered myself ecumenical not only in the Christian tradition, but with all religions.3 (emphasis mine)

There is a profound and imminent danger taking place within the walls of Christianity. Doctrine has become less important than feeling, and this has led to a mystical paradigm shift. Sound doctrine must be central to this debate because New Ageism has a very idealistic side to it, offering a mystical approach to solve human problems. Everyone would like to have his or her problems solved. Right? That is the practical aspect I wrote about in the last chapter—a seemingly direct route to a happy and fulfilled life. However, one can promote the attributes of God without actually having God.

People who promote a presumably godly form of spirituality can indeed come against the truth of Christ. Then how can you be assured what you believe and practice is of God?

The Christian message has been clear from the beginning—God has sent a Savior. If man only had to practice some kind of mystical prayer to gain access to God then the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ was a fruitless, hollow endeavor.

Sound Christian doctrine comes from the understanding that mankind is sinful, fallen, and separated from God. Man needs a saving work by God! A teaching like panentheism (God is in everybody) cannot be reconciled to the finished work of Christ. How could Jesus be our Savior then? New Age constituents will say He is a model for Christ consciousness, but the Bible teaches He is the Savior of mankind. Therefore, panentheism cannot be a true doctrine.

The problem is that many well-intentioned people embrace the teachings of panentheism because it sounds so good. It appears less bigoted on God’s part. No one is left out—all are connected to God. There is a great appeal in this message. Nevertheless, the Bible does not teach a universal salvation for man. In contrast, Jesus said:

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Christ’s message is the polar opposite of these universalist teachings. Many people (even Christians) today think only a few really bad people will be sent to hell. But in Matthew, the words of Jesus make it clear that this just is not so.
While God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for the sins of the world, He did not say all would be saved. His words are clear that many would reject the salvation He provided. But those who are saved have been given the “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18) making an appeal to those who are perishing (2 Corinthians 4:3). The Christian message is not samadhi, Zen, kundalini, or the contemplative silence. It is the power of the Cross!

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)

Yes, perishing, and not just unaware of their true self.

In an opinion poll, the startling results describe how Americans actually view God. Spirituality and Health magazine hired a reputable pollster organization to gauge the spiritual beliefs of the American public. This national poll revealed that 84 percent of those questioned believed God to be “everywhere and in everything” rather than “someone somewhere.”4 This means panentheism is now the more popular view of God. If true, then a high percentage of evangelical Christians in America already lean towards a panentheistic view of God. Perhaps many of these Christians are fuzzy about the true nature of God.

How could this mystical revolution have come about? How could this perspective have become so widespread? The answer is that over the last thirty or forty years a number of authors have struck a deep chord with millions of readers and seekers within Christendom. These writers have presented and promoted the contemplative view to the extent that many now see it as the only way to “go deeper” in the Christian life. They are the ones who prompt men and women to plunge into contemplative practice. It is their message that leads people to experience the “lights” and the “inner adviser!”

Endnotes:

1.  Wayne Teasdale, “Mysticism as the Crossing of Ultimate Boundaries: A Theological Reflection” (The Golden String newsletter, http://clarusbooks.com/Teasdale.html, accessed 10/2009).
2. Wayne Teasdale, A Monk in the World (Novato, CA: New World Library, 2002), p. 64.
3. Jan Alsever quoted in Statesman Journal, January 27th, 1996, Religion Section.
4. Katherine Kurs, “Are You Religious or Are You Spiritual?” (Spirituality & Health Magazine, Spring 2001), p. 28.

More Than 10,000 Ebola Cases in Eight Countries
Oct 27th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Sydney Morning Herald
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Millions of Ebola vaccine doses by 2015

World Health Organization says millions of doses of two experimental Ebola vaccines could be ready for use in 2015 and five more experimental vaccines would start being tested in March.

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The number of people infected with the Ebola virus has passed 10,000, with 4992 deaths, according to the World Health Organisation, as the United States announced its ambassador to the United Nations would visit the three worst-affected West African nations.

It says 10,141 people have been diagnosed with the deadly disease, which is an increase from the previous estimate of about nine thousand cases.

Almost five thousand people have died from the virus, which has hit Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone the hardest. Washington's ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, was set to land in the capital of Guinea, Conakry, last night.

A chid stands near a sign advising of a quarantined home in Sierra Leone. Photo: AP

Mali became the latest nation to record a death when a two-year-old girl died there on Saturday. More than 40 people known to have come into contact with her have been placed in quarantine.

The toddler had taken a 1000-kilometre bus journey from neighbouring Guinea before being treated.

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita told French radio:  "We are doing everything to prevent panic and psychosis.

Gearing up: A nurse demonstrates protective equipment during an Ebola educational session for healthcare workers in New York. Photo: Reuters

"Since the start of this epidemic, we in Mali took all measures to be safe, but we can never hermetically seal ourselves from this," he said. "Guinea is a neighbouring country, we have a common border that we have not closed and that we will not close."

Mauritania, which neighbours Mali,  reinforced controls on its border, according to local sources.

The WHO said it was treating the situation in Mali as an "emergency" because the toddler had travelled for hundreds of kilometres on public transport with her grandmother while showing symptoms of the disease - meaning that she was contagious.

The girl and her grandmother travelled by public transport from Keweni in Guinea through the towns of Kankan, Sigouri and Kouremale to the Malian capital, Bamako.

Mali's health ministry however denied that the girl had been showing symptoms before she reached the town of Kayes.

A tonne of medical supplies was dispatched from WHO stocks in Liberia to Bamako late on Friday.

New York City's first Ebola case, 33-year-old doctor Craig Spencer who fell ill one week after returning from treating patients in Guinea, was said to be in a stable condition in isolation at the city's Bellevue Hospital Center.

His fiancee and two of his friends are in quarantine but appear healthy, officials said.

In the wake of his diagnosis in the country's largest city, the US states of New York and New Jersey ordered mandatory quarantines of 21 days - the maximum gestation period for Ebola - for any individuals who have had direct contact with an Ebola patient while in the worst affected countries.

One nurse who was being quarantined at a New Jersey hospital after working with Ebola patients in Sierra Leone criticised her treatment as an overreaction after an initial test found that she did not have the virus.

"I am scared about how health care workers will be treated at airports when they declare that they have been fighting Ebola in West Africa," the nurse, Kaci Hickox, wrote in an essay on the website of The Dallas Morning News. "I am scared that, like me, they will arrive and see a frenzy of disorganisation, fear, and most frightening, quarantine."

She described having been held in isolation for about seven hours at Newark Liberty International Airport on Friday, left alone for long stretches and given only a granola bar when she had said she was hungry.

Ms Hickox disputed that she had had a fever. She wrote that at the airport, a forehead scanner showed her temperature to be 38 degrees, but that came after four hours during which she had not been allowed to leave.

"My cheeks were flushed, I was upset at being held with no explanation," she wrote. "The female officer looked smug. 'You have a fever now,' she said."

She was eventually escorted by eight police cars to University Hospital in Newark and taken to a tent outside the building. An oral thermometer showed her temperature to be 98 degrees Fahrenheit [36.6 Celsius], she wrote.

Asked about the nurse's essay while visiting Iowa, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said: "My heart goes out to her because she's someone who has been trying to help others and is obviously ill.

"I'm sorry if in any way she was inconvenienced, but inconvenience that could occur from having folks that are symptomatic and ill out amongst the public is a much, much greater concern of mine," he added.

In a telephone interview on Saturday night, Ms Hickox's father, Leon Hickox, said his daughter "is not ill in any way".

Mayor Reveals Jerusalem Went from 200 to 5,000 Monthly Attacks
Oct 27th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Mayor Nir Barkat

Flash 90

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat outlined the sorry state of security in the capital Monday, in a session of the Knesset's Interior Committee.

Barkat disputed the claims that the deterioration in security began around the time of Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.

“Even before Operation Protective Edge, the state of affairs in Jerusalem as regards riots, rock throwing and enforcement was shoddy. We were talking about 200 events of rock throwing [per month]. Even before Protective Edge, we held a discussion about the changes needed to bring back the rule of law in Jerusalem."

"The Arab residents are complaining about the situation no less than the Jews," he noted.

"Protective Edge began – and we jumped from 200 events to 5,000 events. Throwing rocks on cars is life-threatening, as is throwing firebombs at the homes of Jews who live in Arab neighborhoods. There is a huge mass of disturbances. The Jerusalem police fanned out with its available forces as defense. It defends Jewish homes and the seam line, and we all realize this cannot continue.”

MK Miri Regev, the committee chairperson, accused the police of failure to provide security in Jerusalem in general and on the Temple Mount in particular. “East Jerusalem is a part of Jerusalem, this is our capital,” she stressed. “A person who riots in Jerusalem should be treated just like someone who riots in Taibeh or Tel Aviv.”

Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich claimed that the deterioration began at the time of the abduction and murder of three yeshiva students, which was followed by the murder of an Arab teen, and that matters got worse during Operation Protective Edge and then “the holiday season.”

He denied that there are orders to police not to enter Arab villages to apprehend the perpetrators of attacks and said that there have been almost 900 arrests, and about 300 charge sheets have been filed, since the present wave of violence began. About 1,000 policemen from special forces have been added to the Jerusalem police force, he said, and in addition, there are discussions with the Economics Ministry about stopping the import of firework hives.

"I asked to slap a fine on parents of rock throwers and this was approved,” he added. “Harming the parents financially will restrain the children.”

In addition, Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday issued instructions to speed up the legislation of a law stiffening punishment for rock-throwers, which would mandate prison terms of up to 20-years in some cases.

It follows the formation of a special police task force specifically to deal with the violence in Jerusalem.

Let the Headlines Speak
Oct 27th, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Justice Department claims black and Hispanic voters are dumb and unsophisticated
the Justice Department has testified time and again that black and Hispanic voters are less capable than white voters of obtaining the necessary ID and in understanding the candidates and issues.  

No hope for Israeli-Palestinian peace
t was a depressing meeting. The man we spoke to, who is one of a handful of American diplomats who have been trying for years to find the golden key to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, didn't leave a glimmer of hope.  

Israelis more likely to blame Obama, not Netanyahu, for 'crisis' in ties with US
Ties with the Obama administration might indeed be lacking, but Israeli-US relations go far beyond the administration and extend to the Pentagon, Congress, the business sector and the public.  

UPDATE 1-NYC boy being observed for possible Ebola symptoms -reports
A 5-year-old boy who arrived from Guinea was being observed in isolation at Bellevue Hospital in New York City for possible Ebola symptoms, media reports said on Monday.  

Abbas to Obama: Stop 'Israeli Escalation' in Jerusalem
Abbas called on Obama to act to end what he called the “Israeli escalation” in eastern Jerusalem. Abbas warned in the letter that the steps taken by Israel “will bring about a widespread explosion that cannot be controlled.”  

To Fight Obama Pressure, American-Israelis Must Get Out and Vote
US citizens in Israel should register absentee ballots to stop Obama, Kerry 'bullying' Israel into concessions.  

Christie predicts quarantine will be 'national policy'
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he has no second thoughts about enacting a 21-day medical quarantine on medical workers returning from treating Ebola patients in West Africa. "I think this is a policy that will become a national policy sooner rather than later," the Republican governor said on "Fox News Sunday," emphasizing the population density of his state and the New York metropolitan area.  

Christian right key to Republican performance in U.S. midterms
If Republicans win control of the Senate in the midterm elections they should say a prayer of thanks for Christian conservatives. Although they get little attention from candidates, white evangelical Christian voters are likely to be fundamental to any Republican victories in the key Senate races, especially in the South.  

GIANT SUNSPOT CRACKLING WITH FLARES
AR2192 is the biggest sunspot in nearly 25 years, and it is still growing. The active region now covers 2750 millionths of the solar disk, an area equivalent to 33 planet Earths skinned and spread out flat. It is so large that sky watchers are seeing it with the naked eye when the sun is dimmed by low-hanging clouds...  

Elon Musk: 'We are summoning the demon' with artificial intelligence
"With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon," Musk said last week at the MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics Department's 2014 Centennial Symposium. "You know all those stories where there's the guy with the pentagram and the holy water and he's like... yeah, he's sure he can control the demon, [but] it doesn't work out." This has become a recurring theme in Musk's public comments, and each time he warns of the AI bogeyman it seems even more dire.  

Southern Dominican Republic Shaken By 4.2-Magnitude Earthquake
The Southern Dominican Republic was shaken by a 4.2-magnitude earthquake on Sunday morning, according to data from the United States Geological Survey. The quake occurred at a depth of 114 kilometres, with an epicentre about 8 kilometres west of Esperalvillo and about 37 kilometres north-northwest of Santo Domingo.  

5.3 earthquake felt in Phuket
A Monday morning earthquake of 5.3-magnitude off the western Indonesian island of Sumatra was felt by Phuket residents, but there was no damage or casualties reported, according to the Seismological Bureau.  

Jeb Bush 'moving forward' on 2016 bid, son says
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is "moving forward" on a potential 2016 White House run and it appears more likely he will enter the Republican field, according to his son, who's running for office in Texas. George P. Bush told ABC's "This Week" that his father is "still assessing" a presidential bid, but suggested it was more likely that he would seek the White House this time.  

Law Lets I.R.S. Seize Accounts on Suspicion, No Crime Required
..Carole Hinders has...modest cash-only restaurant...she deposited the earnings at a small bank...two tax agents... informed her that they had seized her checking account, almost $33,000. The Internal Revenue Service agents did not accuse...her...with any crime. Instead, the money was seized solely because she had deposited less than $10,000 at a time, which they viewed as an attempt to avoid triggering a required government report.  

North Dakota argues 'right-to-life' measure intent
...The single-sentence measure would be the nation's first to amend a state constitution and require the "inalienable right to life" at "any stage of development." Supporters say it's meant to protect the state's current abortion laws from judicial activism. Those opposed believe the intent is to outlaw abortion altogether and say the vague wording could affect birth control, end-of-life care plans and in vitro fertilization.  

Hungarians stage Budapest protest against internet tax
Thousands of protesters in the Hungarian capital Budapest have demanded a halt to a proposed law which would place a tax on internet use. Demonstrators held their mobile phones aloft outside the economy ministry and hurled old computer parts at the gates of the ruling Fidesz party. Campaigners say the legislation is "anti-democratic" and will hit the poor.  

Ukraine pro-Western parties set for election victory
Ukraine's president plans to begin coalition talks after what appears to be a victory for pro-Western parties in Sunday's parliamentary elections. Early results showed Petro Poroshenko's bloc and that of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk each taking 22% of the vote. The president thanked voters for backing a "democratic, reformist, pro-Ukrainian and pro-European majority".  

Cyclone Nilofar approaches India's Gujarat state
Authorities in India have alerted fishermen going out into the sea as a powerful cyclone is heading for the western coast. Cyclone Nilofar, categorised as "severe" by weather forecasters, is expected to hit the western state of Gujarat during the "next 24 hours". The Meteorological Department has predicted the storm will bring winds of up to 145km/h (90 mph).  

Netanyahu approves over 1,000 new housing units in east Jerusalem
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized planning to advance 1,060 new housing units in neighborhoods in Jerusalem beyond the 1967 lines, officials in the Prime Minister's Office said Monday. According to the officials, 600 of these units will be constructed in the northern neighborhood of Ramot Shlomo, and another 660 in Har Homa.  

Atheist Group to Distribute Pamphlets in Schools of Cartoon Bible Sexually Assaulting Woman

An atheist group is planning to distribute a pamphlet in several Florida public high schools that depicts an illustration of a cartoon Bible sexually assaulting a young woman.  

American held for nearly 6 months in North Korea attends Sunday services at his Ohio church
LEBANON, Ohio – An American arrested and held for nearly six months in North Korea for leaving a Bible at a nightclub attended services Sunday in his home church in southwest Ohio.  

World War 3? Russia says U.S. to blame, activist calls Vladimir Putin a 'threat'
Is World War 3 closer than some Americans might think? Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, gave a public speech this week in which he blamed the U.S. for problems in the Ukraine as well as terrorism in the Middle East.  

Violence in Jerusalem Has Dramatically Increased. Is It a New ‘Intifada’?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday blamed “Islamic extremist elements” for the escalation of violence in Jerusalem, saying they were trying to ignite the holy city The Palestinians aim to establish east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.  

Hazing’: Obama Administration Reportedly Designed Snub of Israeli Defense Minister to Intentionally ‘Humiliate’ Him
The Obama administration’s mass snubbing of Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon last week was designed to “humiliate” him, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported, adding that Obama officials would continue to “ostracize” him until Ya’alon further apologizes for off-the-record comments he made about Kerry more than nine months ago.  

AP Slammed for Biased Jerusalem Attack Headline
JERUSALEM, Israel -- The Associated Press is facing some heat for its offensive headline following Thursday's terror attack in Jerusalem. The initial headline read, "Israeli Police Shoot Man in East Jerusalem," with no mention that police were responding to a terror attack.  

Abbas asks US to stop Israeli ‘escalations’ in East Jerusalem
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sent an urgent message to the United States Sunday, asking the administration to stop “Israeli escalations” in East Jerusalem.The missive came as the capital has been rocked by days of unrest in East Jerusalem, as Palestinian protesters have clashed with police in the wake of a terror attack on the Jerusalem Light Rail by Silwan resident Abdelrahman al-Shaludi that left two people dead.  

Rep. Mike Rogers: Lone-wolf terror threat ‘huge and getting worse’
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers argued Sunday that the threat of lone-wolf terrorists pose to national security is “huge and getting worse.”  

Behind the ISIS Smokescreen
It stands to reason that a considerable proportion of the cadres of fighters on the various jihad fronts around the world, headed by those currently in Syria and Iraq may eventually choose to join Al Qaeda.Israel is not currently a top priority for Al Qaeda, Jabhat al-Nusra, or even for ISIS. Yet in light of the situation described above, and since these organizations regard Israel as a partner in the Western coalition, they may choose to undertake action against it at an earlier stage than originally planned stage.  

The Left’s Worst Crime in the Middle East
The left’s worst crime in the Middle East has been its support for the region’s Arab-Muslim majority at the expense of its minorities. It has supported the majority’s terrorism, atrocities, ethnic cleansing and repression of the region’s minorities.  

Moses was 'Barbaric, Schizophrenic,' Says 'Exodus: Gods and Kings' Actor Christian Bale
the latest in a series of biblically-based or inspired films. Director Ridley Scott adds that in his movie, the parting of the Red Sea will be caused by an earthquake, and not by God or Moses.  

6.0 earthquake registered in Ucayali
Residents of Ucayali had an unexpected visitor early Sunday morning when an earthquake rattled the Amazonian region at 05:45 a.m. According to Peru’s Geophysical Institute (IGP) the earthquake registered a magnitude of 6.0 on the Richter scale.  

Leaked Dhs Report Reveals 13 Foreign Suspected Terrorists Illegally Entered Canada from U.S.
Oct 27th, 2014
Daily NewsBreitbart
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

LUBBOCK, Texas — At least 13 men from Africa with terrorist-related records illegally entered Canada from the U.S. since 2010, according to a leaked Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Intelligence Information Report exclusively obtained by Breitbart Texas. The data pertains only to one small region of the vast U.S.-Canadian border. The report reveals that as of September 9, 2014, there have been 155 encounters in the area “involving 344 ethnic Somalis, 21 ethnic Ethiopians, five ethnic Kenyans, two ethnic Djiboutians, two ethnic Nigerians, and one ethnic Sudanese and Congolese subjects who have attempted or succeeded in entering Canada illegally near the Pembina, ND Port of Entry (POE) since June 2010. These encounters INCLUDE 13 SUBJECTS WITH TERRORIST-RELATED RECORDS [Emphasis Added] who have utilized this method of circumventing designated POEs.”

The report lists several ethnic Somalis who have U.S. addresses and official Alien Registration Numbers issued by the U.S. government, who the report indicates are either included, or should be included, into the Terrorist Screening Database. The subjects’ addresses span from Southern California to Ohio.

Though much of the report is based upon human intelligence and a source, the data pertaining to the apprehensions and crossings is verifiable and taken directly from the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) database, according to the document and to the source of the leaked report. That source, a federal agent in the CBP, provided the document and spoke with Breitbart Texas on the condition of anonymity.

The information in the report that is not based upon official records was deemed credible enough for a plethora of agencies in the U.S. Intelligence Community to be alerted. 

The document is marked law enforcement sensitive, but unclassified. Breitbart Texas redacted certain identifying information pertaining to individual persons and addresses. The leaked document is provided below.

Lava from Hawaii Volcano Prompts Evacuation Concerns
Oct 27th, 2014
Daily NewsCTV News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Jim Rickards
Oct 27th, 2014
Daily NewsDaily Reckoning
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary;Exhortation

[Editor's Note from Jim Rickards: The following article describes a fictional dystopia in the spirit of Brave New World or 1984. It is not a firm forecast or prediction in the usual analytic sense. Instead, it's intended to provide warning, and encourage readers to be alert to dangerous trends in society, some of which are already in place. Thank you.]

As I awoke this morning, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, from restless dreams, I found the insect-sized sensor implanted in my arm was already awake. We call it a “bug.” U.S. citizens have been required to have them since 2022 to access government health care.

The bug knew from its biometric monitoring of my brain wave frequencies and rapid eye movement that I would awake momentarily. It was already at work launching systems, including the coffee maker. I could smell the coffee brewing in the kitchen. The information screens on the inside of my panopticon goggles were already flashing before my eyes.

Images of world leaders were on the screen. They were issuing proclamations about the fine health of their economies and the advent of world peace. Citizens, they explained, needed to work in accordance with the New World Order Growth Plan to maximize wealth for all. I knew this was propaganda, but I couldn’t ignore it. Removing your panopticon goggles is viewed with suspicion by the neighborhood watch committees. Your “bug” controls all the channels.

I’m mostly interested in economics and finance, as I have been for decades. I’ve told the central authorities that I’m an economic historian, so they’ve given me access to archives and information denied to most citizens in the name of national economic security.

My work now is only historical, because markets were abolished after the Panic of 2018. That was not the original intent of the authorities. They meant to close markets “temporarily” to stop the panic, but once the markets were shut, there was no way to reopen them without the panic starting again.

Today, trust in markets is completely gone. All investors want is their money back. Authorities started printing money after the Panic of 2008, but that solution stopped working by 2018. Probably because so much had been printed in 2017 under QE7. When the panic hit, money was viewed as worthless. So markets were simply closed.

Between 2018–20, the Group of 20 major powers, the G-20, abolished all currencies except for the dollar, the euro and the ruasia. The dollar became the local currency in North and South America. Europe, Africa and Australia used the euro. The ruasia was the only new currency — a combination of the old Russian ruble, Chinese yuan and Japanese yen — and was adopted as the local currency in Asia.

There is also new world money called special drawing rights, or SDRs for short. They’re used only for settlements between countries, however. Everyday citizens use the dollar, euro or ruasia for daily transactions. The SDR is also used to set energy prices and as a benchmark for the value of the three local currencies. The World Central Bank, formerly the IMF, administers the SDR system under the direction of the G-20. As a result of the fixed exchange rates, there’s no currency trading.

All of the gold in the world was confiscated in 2020 and placed in a nuclear bomb-proof vault dug into the Swiss Alps. The mountain vault had been vacated by the Swiss army and made available to the World Central Bank for this purpose. All G-20 nations contributed their national gold to the vault. All private gold was forcibly confiscated and added to the Swiss vault as well. All gold mining had been nationalized and suspended on environmental grounds.

The purpose of the Swiss vault was not to have gold backing for currencies, but rather to remove gold from the financial system entirely so it could never be used as money again. Thus, gold trading ceased because its production, use and possession were banned. By these means, the G-20 and the World Central Bank control the only forms of money.

Some lucky ones had purchased gold in 2014 and sold it when it reached $40,000 per ounce in 2019. By then, inflation was out of control and the power elites knew that all confidence in paper currencies had been lost. The only way to re-establish control of money was to confiscate gold. But those who sold near the top were able to purchase land or art, which the authorities did not confiscate.

Those who never owned gold in the first place saw their savings, retirement incomes, pensions and insurance policies turn to dust once the hyperinflation began. Now it seems so obvious. The only way to preserve wealth through the Panic of 2018 was to have gold, land and fine art. But investors not only needed to have the foresight to buy it… they also had to be nimble enough to sell the gold before the confiscation in 2020, and then buy more land and art and hang onto it. For that reason, many lost everything.

Land and personal property were not confiscated, because much of it was needed for living arrangements and agriculture. Personal property was too difficult to confiscate and of little use to the state. Fine art was lumped in with cheap art and mundane personal property and ignored.

ISIS School of Jihad Trains Small Children How to Behead, Torture and U.S.e Ak - 47s
Oct 27th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;War;Commentary

Forced viewings of beheadings and torture, training with weapons almost as big as they are and daily lessons in extremist theology: if you're a boy growing up in ISIS-controlled territory across Syria and Iraq, the word education means something very different to the rest of the world.

Official ISIS media outlets are circulating videos and images which they claim show life in the "School of Jihad", where children under the age of 10 are encouraged to fire AK-47 rifles and acclimatized to the horrors of war.

As part of a series of propaganda releases created by Muassissat al-Furqan for the group's media wing, young children appear in videos that experts say are an attempt to show the "utopia" of the world under ISIS.

Yet what they actually portray has been described by a UN human rights council report as "a war crime" — the recruitment and military use of children under the age of 15.

One video has been titled on YouTube " Cubs of the Islamic State" — the name by which ISIS now refers to itself. A voice-over in Arabic boasts that these "cubs" are sure in their faith and in the auspices of ISIS.

Another clip posted as part of the "Messages from the Land of the Final Battles" series appears to be a graduation video.

It shows the new "School of Jihad" graduates lined up before a stage, listening to a speaker, while rows of adults who are thought to be their parents can be seen watching on.

The video has been produced by Al-I'tisaam Media, another official media wing of ISIS, which focusses on publicizing the kind of society created in the controlled territories. As with the former video, it has been interspersed with bloody and violent footage from the militants' operations in the field — the sorts of videos escaped children have said they are made to watch.

Though the precise time and location when the videos were shot cannot be independently verified, references to "Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham" suggest they pre-date 29 June, when the caliphate and rebranding were announced.

It is unknown why they have surfaced now — but they coincide with tweets from ISIS-linked social media accounts that claim to show "new graduates of Jihad School".

They come after the UN human rights council found that ISIS "has established training camps to recruit children into armed roles under the guise of education".

"At the camps, the children recruited received weapons training and religious education," the report reads. "The existence of such camps seems to indicate that ISIS systematically provides weapons training for children. Subsequently, they were deployed in active combat during military operations, including suicide-bombing missions."

Human rights activists condemned the videos as "deeply disturbing", showing ISIS's tendency to "imitate traditional institutions with their own 'courts' and 'schools'".

Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty International UK's campaign manager for Syria, said: "The sight of armed and masked men on stage 'educating' young boys is obviously a distressing one.

"These supposedly 'inspirational' videos are actually fresh evidence that ISIS is cruelly robbing an untold number of young people of their childhood, brainwashing them and almost certainly exposing them to terrible dangers.

"Children should never be involved in the fighting in Syria and Iraq — or anywhere else for that matter — even if they volunteer, and even if they're acting in an auxiliary capacity such as delivering messages or other non-combat tasks.

"International law clearly prohibits the deployment of child soldiers and where ISIS have used under-age fighters it's just one more crime to add to the charge-sheet against them."

Charlie Winter, a spokesperson for the anti-extremism think tank the Quilliam Foundation, said: "It is unsurprising that (ISIS) has included footage of children — be it of them firing rifles or learning theology — in the lands that it occupies.

"It is just another part of (ISIS) trying to portray itself as a utopian manifestation of the salafi-jihadist ideology."

Iraqi Kurds Decline to Join Ground Fighting in Kobane, ISIS Losing Ground
Oct 27th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Iraqi Kurdish forces will not participate in the ground fighting in the Syrian-Turkish border town of Kobane but instead intend to provide artillery support for fellow Kurds who are fighting off Islamic State militants, according to a report by Reuters, wherein they cite a Kurdish spokesman’s statement from yesterday (Sunday).

Fighters of the “Islamic State” terror organization have been trying to capture Kobane for more than a month, despite US-led air strikes on their positions and the deaths of hundreds of their fighters.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an NGO which has been monitoring the violence in Syria's three-and-a-half-year-old conflict, announced on Sunday it had confirmed that 815 people had been killed in the fighting for Kobane over the last 40 days, with more than half of them Islamic State fighters.

Ioyama Volcano Raises Fears Japan
Oct 27th, 2014
Daily Newsnews.com.au
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

FIRST it was an earthquake. Then it was a tsunami. Now Japan fears another nuclear disaster — this time because of a stirring volcano.

The Japan Times has reported a sleeping volcano next to its already damaged Sendai nuclear power facility has woken, and is beginning to shake.

The new activity comes barely a month after the sudden and unexpected eruption of Mount Ontake killed 57 hikers enjoying its until-then scenic slopes.

Volcanologists have warned that the enormous magnitude 9.0 earthquake of March 2011 may have increased the likelihood of volcanic activity throughout Japan — which sits on the “Ring of Fire” band of more than 100 volcanoes which forms the Pacific Rim.

Now the signs appear to be proving them right.

Toppled plans ... Factory facilities look damaged in an industrial complex in Sendai, northern Japan, after a giant, quake-fed tsunami killed hundreds of people and turned the north-eastern coast into a swampy wasteland, sparking fears of a possible meltdown at the nuclear reactor. Source: AP

The waking of Mount Ioyama on the island of Kyushu comes after a recent warning from a prominent Japanese volcanologist about the Sendai nuclear plant’s vulnerability.

A cauldron eruption at one of several volcanoes surrounding the Sendai nuclear power plant could hit the reactors and cause a nationwide disaster, said Toshitsugu Fujii, head of a government-commissioned panel on volcanic eruption prediction.

Mount Ioyama sits virtually next door to the power plant. In recent weeks it has started experiencing tremors, the Japanese Metrological Agency’s volcano bureau says.

The implications for restarting the repaired Sendai nuclear power plant are serious.

The spectre of the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which experienced a partial meltdown, continues to cause scandal and controversy.

A second such crisis would do irreparable damage to the industry.

Now Mount Ioyama has suddenly gone from the dormant end of the threat scale to the second-highest. This means the area around the crater can be regarded as dangerous, and that small-scale eruptions are likely.

Another volatile giant, Mount Sakurajima, sits some 40km from the Sendai facility. This is a very active volcano with frequent minor eruptions.

German Spies Warn is Has Anti - Aircraft Rockets: Report ISIS
Oct 27th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Times of Israel
Categories: Today's Headlines;War

BND intelligence service claims terror group in northern Iraq may be capable of taking down passenger aircraft

An Islamic State fighter with an anti-aircraft weapon in Raqqa, Syria (photo credit: YouTube screen cap/Vice)

For Israel and the U.S., Trouble in Paradise
Oct 27th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Ask anyone on the record in Washington, and they’ll tell you there is no crisis. During his visit here this week, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said as much – even while he was snubbed by Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden. 

Lobbyists say it when they’re asked about the slow resupply of Israel with arms during and following the war in Gaza over the summer. 

Earlier this month Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama were at pains to show their friendliness – literally hours before the administration issued an unusually harsh condemnation of Israeli building plans in a contested Jerusalem neighborhood.

You’d think the special friendship was as ironclad as ever, and it’s business as usual. Only it isn’t.

Finance Minister Yair Lapid called a crisis a crisis this week, and although he may have done so largely as a jibe at his own coalition partners, the simple fact remains: ties between Jerusalem and Washington are at a nadir. Hardly a week – and certainly not a month – goes by without insults and recriminations. Diplomatic snubs, critical press secretaries, censorious ministers, and tension-spurring tweets have all conspired to create an atmosphere that is unmistakable – at least in Washington.

If Netanyahu truly thinks that he and Obama are like “an old couple,” as he stated when he was last here a month ago, perhaps the most apt comparison would be to one of those couples that, after weathering 50 rocky years of quarrels, is now fantasizing about divorce. Israel and the US can no longer be mistaken for one big, happy family.

On Iran, for instance, the president and the prime minister are the couple who talk to each other but don’t necessarily listen. An Iran deal is simmering on the stove, and so far, the US has been impervious to Israel’s demands that any comprehensive agreement ensure an enrichment-free Iranian nuclear program. 

The US’s top nuclear negotiator, Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman, took the time this week to pillory in a speech those who do not want a nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic. Yes, the administration has been consulting with Israel; no, it does not seem to be interested in Israel’s big message.

The past few weeks have been characteristic of the recent period in the relationship, with an endless back-and-forth of snipes and barbs. Ten days ago, Kerry spoke at a festive dinner and said that leaders in the Middle East had expressed concern that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “was a cause of recruitment” — for groups like the Islamic State — “and of street anger and agitation.”

Israel’s Economy Minister Naftali Bennett promptly played the anti-Semitism card in response to the perceived affront, complaining that “even when a British Muslim decapitates a British Christian, there will always be someone to blame the Jew. There is no justifying terror, only fighting it. To say that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is strengthening the Islamic State is encouraging global terror.”

Gilad Erdan, the communications minister in Netanyahu’s cabinet, also jumped into the fray, saying that “Kerry is breaking records for a lack of understanding of what is going on in our region.”

Former peace negotiator Martin Indyk fired back a tweet: “There they go again: Israeli rightist ministers attack Kerry for wanting Israeli-Palestinian peace to help fight IS.”

You know things are going badly when it is the often-acerbic Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman who sounds the voice of calm, talking up the many virtues of the relationship with the US.

For a few days, things seemed to be back on track. Ya’alon came to Washington sounding uncharacteristically conciliatory, but was denied requests to meet with a number of officials. And on Friday, the Washington Post published an interview with the minister, who implied that the United States was way out of its depth in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, with sensitivities running high, the State Department dragged its legs before acknowledging that a baby killed in a Jerusalem terror attack on Wednesday was a US citizen; then, much to the consternation of pro-Israel commentators, it wasted little time in announcing that Israeli security forces had shot and killed a Palestinian-American youth who was throwing Molotov cocktails.

The State Department soft-pedaled questions as to why Washington did not call on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to condemn Wednesday’s terror attack, but did quickly express its “condolences to the family” of the teenager killed by security forces and called for Israel to conduct “a speedy and transparent investigation” into the incident.

And that wasn’t even close to being the most strident US criticism of Israeli actions in recent months. During the war in Gaza, the State Department deplored the reported Israeli shelling of an UNRWA school as “appalling” and “disgraceful.”

And yet almost everyone but Lapid is reiterating that everything is more or less fine, as if repeating it, like a soothing mantra, will make it so.

Still, it’s important to bear in mind that this isn’t the first time relations have hit the skids in a big way. Under president George H. W. Bush, $10 billion in loan guarantees were held up by Washington in protest of prime minister Yitzhak Shamir’s settlement policy. Then, as now, leaders on both sides stressed the strength of the historical friendship between the two states.

During George W. Bush’s second term, relations also took a turn for the worse – in spite of some very friendly rhetoric – following the Second Lebanon War, when the administration delayed transferring weapons requested by Israel to replenish stockpiles, including the Joint Direct Attack Munition, which turns unguided munitions into “smart bombs.” 

During that dust-up, the US went so far as to block military contractor Northrop Grummond from revealing details on US-made missile defense technology that Israel hoped to purchase, effectively suspending the deal altogether. An Israeli military delegation’s trip to the US was canceled as media reported that relations had hit an all-time low for the Bush administration.

Then, as now, both sides appeared to share a vested interest in publicly downplaying the rift. Indeed, the amiable rhetoric averted a larger crisis. But can this latest crisis have a similar outcome?

During the current rough patch, a number of factors have come into play. Kerry has taken the failure to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, and all of the rhetoric surrounding it, personally, and the Obama administration has certainly signaled repeatedly that it is unhappy with the vocal right flank of Netanyahu’s coalition. 

On the other hand, Democrats are particularly concerned about the possibility of losing the Senate in the upcoming November elections, and are not particularly eager to see the administration do anything that could alienate even a single voter in a number of key states. Meanwhile, support for Israel on Capitol Hill is as emphatic as ever, and a number of representatives have signaled their willingness to go head-to-head with the administration over its policies in the Middle East.

In the meantime, Israel also has to play nice. There is simply too much riding on the friendship in the near future – the Iranian nuclear deal, Washington’s support of Israel in UN forums where Abbas is trying to score easy goals – to risk calling a crisis a crisis.

Will Lapid’s very public acknowledgment of the truth make the situation any different? That is unlikely, given his own very clear, and very internal, political motivations. With no resolution in sight, the “old couple” seems set to continue to bicker behind closed doors, and while the president and the prime minister may try to keep their voices down, it will remain patently clear to anyone standing outside that there’s deep trouble in paradise.

Elon Musk: 'We are Summoning the Demon' With Artificial Intelligence
Oct 27th, 2014
Daily NewsC/Net
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Musk says this guy could be the least of our fears. Video screenshot of "Far Cry 3" by CNET Australia

Elon Musk, a chief advocate of cars smart enough to park and drive themselves, continues to escalate his spooky speech when it comes to the next level of computation -- the malicious potential of artificial intelligence continues to freak him out.

"With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon," Musk said last week at the MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics Department's 2014 Centennial Symposium. "You know all those stories where there's the guy with the pentagram and the holy water and he's like... yeah, he's sure he can control the demon, [but] it doesn't work out."

This has become a recurring theme in Musk's public comments, and each time he warns of the AI bogeyman it seems even more dire.

In June, Musk raised the specter of the "Terminator" franchise, saying that he invests in companies working on artificial intelligence just to be able to keep an eye on the technology. In August, he reiterated his concerns in a tweet, writing that AI is "potentially more dangerous than nukes." Just a few weeks ago, Musk half-joked on a different stage that a future AI system tasked with eliminating spam might decide that the best way to accomplish this task is to eliminate humans.

But this is the first time I'm aware of that Musk has kicked up the rhetoric another notch -- perhaps anticipating this week's onslaught of Halloween costumes -- to compare AI to something supernatural like demons.

How to deal with the demonic forces of AI in the future? In a strange move for a tech mogul, Musk suggests it might be a good idea to fight one bogeyman with another (depending on your political perspective) in the form of government regulators.

"If I were to guess at what our biggest existential threat is, it's probably that," he said, referring to artificial intelligence. "I'm increasingly inclined to thing there should be some regulatory oversight, maybe at the national and international level just to make sure that we don't do something very foolish."

Indeed. Who knows what demonic hellscape could emerge if we ever let artificially intelligent machines get ahold of a Ouija board.

Christian TV Personality Launches New Prophecy Show
Oct 27th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Speculation about where end-time prophecy guru and Christian TV personality Gary Stearman would land following his resignation last month from “Prophecy in the News” has finally been put to rest.

Stearman is joining Christian book author and publisher Tom Horn to form SkyWatch TV, which will begin filming pilot programs in October from a new studio in Missouri. The shows will be syndicated for cable channels nationwide.

Horn told WND that landing Stearman, considered by many as “the face of prophetic programming,” was a big catch for his fledgling Christian television project.

Stearman spent 28 years as host of the syndicated TV show “Prophecy in the News” and editor of a companion magazine by the same name. He left that organization in August.

Horn is CEO of Defender Publishing Group and has authored several books including “Zenith 2016” and “Blood on the Altar: The Coming War Between Christian vs. Christian.”

He also produces the Raiders News Update.

Both Stearman and Horn said their vision for SkyWatch is to create an edgy, investigative TV program that isn’t afraid to cover controversial topics of interest to Christian viewers.

“It’ll be almost like a Christian version of ’20/20,’” said Horn. “If you’ve seen Raiders News, it’s just different. We probably do a lot of shows others would be afraid to touch.”

Stearman and Horn have appeared on air together for years during segments of “Prophecy in the News,” discussing everything from trans-humanism to biometrics and other advances being rolled out at mind-numbing speed – all leading to greater control over the everyday lives of humanity. They share an interest in world events, culture, history and technology as they relate to end-times prophecies in the Bible.

“We were appearing on Sid Roth or Jim Bakker or some other show and doing media with other people, so it just made sense for us to start our own media company,” Horn said of Raiders News. “So a year-and-a-half ago, we bought five acres of commercial land in Crane, Missouri, and we have another 150 acres there where we have plans for a retreat and conference center.”

Horn said the new TV program will bring in journalists, authors, criminologists, geneticists and other experts.

“Whatever the subject matter is that’s in the news that needs to be addressed and that might not be adequately addressed through other outlets – that’s what we want to do,” he said.

Horn told WND, “There was no conspiracy involving Gary Stearman. We didn’t go out to get him.”

“Prophecy in the News” was founded in 1976 by Bible teacher J.R. Church, who died in 2011 following a three-year battle with cancer. The show continues to be produced by his family members. A message from Church’s wife, Linda, appeared on the ministry’s website this week announcing that Kevin Clarkson will take over as the new host of “Prophecy in the News,” replacing Stearman.

But after Stearman left Church’s ministry, Horn said he became the natural fit for the anchor position he was looking to fill at SkyWatch.

“Gary has many attributes, not the least of which is he’s a fabulous scholar, knows history, has just a steel trap for a mind in the amount of information he can process, and not to mention the camera likes him,” Horn said. “We do intend to film our pilot shows in October, and we intend to begin broadcasting in November.”

Horn said he is building three studios on the five-acre site in Crane. Studio A, designated for the SkyWatch program, is already built. A website for the show is under construction.

Investigating the ‘dark corners’ of the Bible

Stearman said he is eager to start filming.

“Tom has a long history as a publisher and as an author, dealing with cutting-edge subjects like trans-humanism, the merging of genetics and computer sciences, and artificial intelligence,” he said. “Artificial intelligence will rise to become a power on its own in a few years and that will tie into Bible prophecies of the rise of Antichrist, and so we find a correlation between Bible prophecies and various scientific advances.”

Stearman refers to these types of topics as “the dark corners of the Bible.”

“That’s something Tom, and myself, have been looking into for years, the dark corners that the Bible talks about but people don’t investigate very much,” he said. “There’s a sort of inertia, so people stay away.”

When he’s not producing TV shows or interviewing guests, Stearman is an author, Bible teacher and pastor. He is the author of “Time Travelers of the Bible” and pastor of Grace Fellowship, a nondenominational Bible church in Oklahoma City.

“Over the years, Tom and I have come to realize we have been operating on two sides to the same coin,” Stearman said. “We’re going to be trying to develop these cutting-edge subjects with experts like L.A. Marzulli (author of “The Watcher” series) and Bill Salus and a number of authors, talking about prophetic developments that are brand new, happening as we speak.”

Stearman said he will remain based in Oklahoma City and travel to Missouri as needed.

The other common interest Stearman said he shares with Horn is to defend dispensationalism, or the view of end-times prophecy that breaks history into a church age and Israel age.

“We’re defending dispensationalism, which is the teaching that there’s a distinct period of the church on earth and that will end with the rapture,” Stearman said. “There are so many books coming out lately, the Mark Biltz story of the ‘Blood Moons’ for instance, that stirred a lot of people to say, ‘Wow we’re maybe within years of the end.’ I wouldn’t go that far, but on that basis, when I work with SkyWatch, we’re going to address this and have Blitz and other authors in, and present both sides and have a full discourse. I’m not dogmatic in my interviewing style.”

Tracking the trackers

Stearman refers to the burgeoning technocracy as a “multi-headed dragon,” which is growing at break-neck speed in its effort to track, monitor and control all human activity.

“From artificial intelligence and trans-humanism to DARPA developing the perfect soldier, we really can’t wait to sit down and start talking about these things because they’re happening so fast,” he said. DARPA, or the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is the research arm of the U.S. Department of Defense.

Bob Ulrich, who spent 25 years as a marketing agent for Prophecy in the News, has also left that ministry and will join Stearman and Horn in the new SkyWatch TV venture.

Stearman said Ulrich will be a critical player.

“Bob’s an absolute expert in marketing, and when it comes to developing markets for Christian books, CDs, DVDs, or scouring the latest offerings and coordinating the various authors, he acts as an agent and brings all these people together so we’ll have a real solid flow of guests and ideas,” Stearman said. “Bob Ulrich has demonstrated over the years that he is just really good at that.”

Stearman spent nearly 30 years hosting “Prophecy in the News” and felt like it was time for a change.

“Honestly, I really believe we live in remarkable times, and I think we’ll all look back at this time and be amazed at the revolutionary changes we lived through. If you are a student of Bible prophecy, you couldn’t be alive in a better time, as we’re seeing perhaps unprecedented developments since the days of Abraham, Moses and Jesus,” he said.

“I think we’re living in a historical moment at least as important as those biblical moments we read about. Tom and I have a very special relationship, he’s a very straight-forward and good-natured guy and open to new ideas and is constantly searching to break new ground and loves to find authors and presenters.”

At Knesset Opening Session, Netanyahu Draws Israel's Red Lines
Oct 27th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Binyamin Netanyahu

Flash 90

The Palestinian Arabs have been demanding a state, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated Monday - and Israel will refuse to yield. 

"Last time I stood here it was before [Operation] Protective Edge, an operation against a criminal terrorist attack," Netanyahu stated, while opening the winter Knesset session. 

"Hamas shot thousands of rockets at Israel's cities, planned attacks from the air and underground. We stopped most of them. We killed hundreds of terrorists and collapsed the towers of terror." 

Netanyahu then drew a parallel between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA). 

"We did not give into the dictates of Hamas that would have endangered Israel," the prime minister said. "The Palestinians are demanding a state without peace and without security - they want 1967 borders and the right of return. They won't take the basic step in making peace - mutual recognition. They demand we recognize them but they won't recognize us."

"Israel won't agree to a Palestinian state without a real peace treaty that will recognize Israel as a nation of Jewish people and include security arrangements," he declared. "We don't want a bi-national state, but we also don't want another Iranian satellite on our borders." 

Netanyahu further rejected criticism against Israel on two critical issues: the "status quo" on the Temple Mount, and renewed construction in Jerusalem. 

"Israel has every right to build in Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem," he said.

"Violence against us is not the result of construction in Jerusalem," he added. "[It] comes from the desire of our enemies for us not to be here at all."

He concluded by blasting the PA's demands, noting that they have demanded concessions without agreeing to make any in return. 

"The Palestinians demand the establishment of a Palestinian state without peace and without security," Netanyahu fired. "They demand a withdrawal, the right of return and a division of Jerusalem."

"They refuse to accept the elementary condition for peace between two nations – mutual recognition," he declared. "[But] the Palestinians must have a desire for peace as well, and unfortunately I see no such desire."

After Massive Data Breaches, Businesses Move to Make ID More Personal
Oct 27th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Increasingly, legions of sophisticated hackers are infiltrating the most state-of-the-art data security strategies out there. The recent data compromises at Kmart and JPMorgan are in no way similar, except they share a common enemy. And while free retina scanners are probably a stretch, biometrics – the use of your biological data like fingerprints -- may well be the next “less hackable” thing. 

During what will doubtless be a relatively brief window of opportunity before biometrics make the move from being “poised to replace older forms of authentication” to “the new normal,” there is a marketing advantage, which is why it’s crucial for companies that handle sensitive information to get in front of the trend. 

The cost of a data breach is terrifyingly high. Home Depot estimates that the massive data breach that affected 56 million customers this summer will cost the company several hundred million dollars—and that’s the figure they are using to assuage fears on the Street. The reality is probably much higher. Target’s breach may top out at the $1 billion mark. While the jury hasn’t even been empanelled as to what the JPMorgan breach will cost, it will leave a mark that will no doubt make news down the line. 

With so much to lose, the implementation of biometrics-based consumer authentication may be the cheaper option for companies that handle the kinds of information hackers find so irresistible. And as Ann Cavoukian, former Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, has pointed out, “Security by Design” is a marketable value add for consumers. A few years ago that would have met with a resounding “Duh,” but as we trundle further into the dark woods of data insecurity, a slogan like “We keep you safe” has enormous appeal. 

Apple appears to be working under this assumption, and the cost is built into your next phone contract. Apple Pay integrates the biometric thumb pass that was first launched as a whizbang feature on the iPhone 5S and is now available on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models. It’s a huge step forward in the realm of bio-specific authentication. Alaska Airlines has been experimenting with biometric thumb scans to streamline the check-in process. 

While scans of body parts are promising bits of old news finding new applications in the marketplace of data rapture, there has been a fair amount of noise this week about voiceprints when the Associated Press reported on the increasingly common practice of harvesting of voice samples for later use in the identity authentication process. Apparently, the variables that made Nipper the RCA dog tilt his head at the sound of his master’s voice are as unique as the whorls and lines of a thumbprint, and just as easy to collect—if not easier. While there are some critics, voice recognition seems—for the time being—a potentially promising security protocol in the authentication process. 

As companies roll out these high-tech upgrades, however, that’s no reason for consumers to be any less vigilant about protecting their identity. The 3 Ms should still be your mantra: Minimize your risk of exposure, Monitor and Manage the damage. Make yourself a harder target and know what to do if and when you become one. Keeping an eye on your credit scores and reports is one way to monitor your identity. You can check your credit reports for signs of identity theft (i.e. new accounts you didn’t open) for free once a year on AnnualCreditReport.com. And you can also track your credit scores for free every month on Credit.com. 

The new reality all companies face today is that there is no such thing as a completely secure system. Whether you protect files with a voiceprint or store your most valuable data offline on vellum scrolls, at some moment in time someone somewhere is going to get around your battlements. It doesn’t matter where or how it’s kept: It can be got. 

If you want to get anywhere in the penumbra of dangers out there, you have to embrace the reality of your risk and keep abreast of the latest thing that, for the time being, is keeping the snipers from hitting their mark. While the odds are forever not in your favor that you will stop your next data breach, you can contain the damage by being prepared. 

The window for cashing in on the marketing potential here is limited. Apple has already grabbed more than a little of that prize, but if there is a takeaway message here, it’s to be found in the Apple model, which doesn’t lead with a security solution so much as it incorporates it.