Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Was a Pro - Israel Messianic Jewish Christian the Primary Target of the San Bernardino Shootings?
Dec 8th, 2015
CommentaryMichael Snyder
Categories: Antisemitism

The Bible's Amazingly Accurate Account of the Flood
Dec 8th, 2015
Commentarycreationmoments.com
Categories: Creation - Evolution

Preparing for What is to Come
Dec 8th, 2015
CommentaryJan Markell - Olive Tree Ministries
Categories: Warning

Pastors in India Beaten and Jailed Simply for Praying in Their Own Homes
Dec 8th, 2015
Daily NewsChristian Today Online
Categories: Persecution

Our Homeland Security Secretary Just Declared This on Behalf of Islam‏ (excerpts)
Dec 8th, 2015
Daily NewsPJ Media
Categories: Contemporary Issues

In a Monday visit to a Northern Virginia mosque, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson declared "anyone who does not understand" that Muslims want peace "does not understand Islam."

Johnson dropped in on at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society in Sterling, Va., the day after President Obama said Americans have a responsibility to respect their Muslim neighbors.

Johnson said the "new phase" of the terror war -- with "terrorist-directed and terrorist-inspired attacks" -- requires "a whole new approach to counterterrorism and homeland security," including Muslim outreach as he's done over the past couple of years.

One of the "most meaningful discussions" on his "tour," he called it, was in June with the ADAMS Center imam, which began with a Boy Scout Troop leading meeting participants in the Pledge of Allegiance. That imam, Mohamed Magid, is a past president of the Islamic Society of North America, an organization linked to the Holy Land Foundation in its terror-financing trial and to the Muslim Brotherhood.

"In responding to this new environment, we must not vilify American Muslims. We must not throw a net of suspicion over American Muslims and an entire religion. We must not force American Muslims to run and hide, and retreat to the shadows," Johnson said. "This would be counter to our homeland security efforts, and it is un-American. Now, more than ever, is the time to work together, to protect and defend our communities, our families, and our homeland."

"...The overwhelming, overwhelming majority of American Muslims, and Muslims worldwide, are men, women and children of peace, who seek to live their lives in peace, and want nothing to do with terrorism. Anyone who does not understand this does not understand Islam. The very essence of the Islamic faith is peace. The standard greeting As-salamu alaykum is 'peace be upon you.'"

Johnson promised the imam that he would "continue to speak out against the discrimination, vilification and isolation that American Muslims face in these challenging times."

Mother Earth: UN Draft Global Warming Treaty Promotes Gaia Worship
Dec 8th, 2015
Daily NewsThe Daily Caller
Categories: Contemporary Issues

The United Nations draft global warming treaty calls for countries to protect “the integrity of ecosystems and of Mother Earth” while cutting carbon dioxide emissions to fight global warming.

The draft U.N. treaty also emphasizes “promoting, protecting and respecting all human rights, the right to development, the right to health, and the rights of indigenous peoples, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable climate situations … as well as promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women.”

All “while taking into account the needs of local communities, intergenerational equity concerns, and the integrity of ecosystems and of Mother Earth, when taking action to address climate change,” according to the treaty.

U.N. delegates are in Paris trying to hash out a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol — the last legally-binding climate agreement that failed to stem the rise in global CO2 emissions. Delegates are hoping Paris will yield a legally-binding agreement, but it’s not clear if developing nations will agree to cut emissions.

Environmentalists and scientists have increasingly turned to religion to gain support for regulations aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions. Activists hope support for a treaty from prominent religious figures, like Pope Francis, will add moral weight to their call to fight global warming.

But would Pope Francis support protecting “Mother Earth”? — a phrase explicitly referring to Greek pagan mythology in which Earth was personified as the mother of all things. The phrase also harkens to the Gaia hypothesis, which essentially postulates that all living things are interconnected with Earth’s biosphere and other climatic systems.

Anglican and some Islamic religious leaders have also called for countries to fight global warming. A group of influential Islamic leaders called for a jihad against global warming earlier this year, and Church of England officials have been pushing for more people of faith to take global warming seriously.

One Texas Tech University climatologist has been quoting the Bible to convince evangelical Christians to be concerned about global warming. Katharine Hayhoe even tailors her presentations to cater to Christian beliefs, including showing temperature graphs only going back 6,000 years — she’s trying to cater to creationists.

“How loving is it to ignore when developed countries do things that actively harm developing nations?” Hayhoe told a group of Christians. “When people who have resources do things that harm people who do not, right here in our country?”

“That’s why our Christian values are integral to how we treat this issue,” Hayhoe said. “Far from holding us back, or making us doubt, or saying there’s nothing we can do, our values demand we be on the forefront of this issue. That’s what we as Christians are called to do.”

Pope Francis supported a climate treaty in his encyclical “Laudato Si,” and has praised President Barack Obama’s domestic agenda to limit CO2 emissions.

“It seems clear to me also that climate change is a problem that can no longer be left to a future generation,” Francis said on his U.S. visit in September. “When it comes to the care of our common home, we are living at a critical moment in history.”

Francis’ June encyclical does refer to Earth as our “mother”, including taking quotes from Saint Francis of Assisi, but he clearly does so to highlight the importance of God’s creation and the alleged interconnectedness of all things.

“Everything is related,” Francis wrote, “and we human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of his creatures and which also unites us in fond affection with brother sun, sister moon, brother river and mother earth.”

Let the Headlines Speak
Dec 8th, 2015
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines

Preparing for What Is to Come - Markell
I'd like to prepare you for what is likely to come, so consider this information a warning and perhaps a harbinger of things to come. Fascism starts slowly. It did in Nazi Germany and it has here. Christianity is not appreciated by the Left any longer. They just mocked conservatives and Christians over guns, faith, and prayer. It started with the New York Daily News but moved on to scolding by many on the Left.  

North Korea prepares for nuclear tests as Kim Jong Un survives 'assassination attempt'
NORTH Korea is preparing to launch another round of nuclear testing, newly-released satellite images appear to show, amid reports the tyrannical despot Kim Jong Un narrowly avoided being killed in an assassination attempt.

ISIS now recruiting in CHINA for fight against the West with twisted song in Mandarin
The terror group - also called Daesh - has released a song in Mandarin which calls on its "Muslim brothers" to awaken.  

Ahead of the Game: Russia Moving Faster in Syria Than US Media Can Report
US diplomacy expert Robert Farley has put forward what he considers “Russia’s five next big moves in Syria”, which are set to come in the nearest days or weeks; however, as it turns out, the first four are already very active on the ground.  

EU will FALL APART in a decade, admits European Parliament head - He did not specify what exactly was threatening the EU but focused heavily on the migrant crisis, which has stretched Europe's unity and many of its member countries' tolerance this year. The European Parliament head said the EU was not without alternatives and "could of course be reversed". He warned other options included a removal of the free-movement Schengen zone to a Europe in which nationalism, borders and walls were prevalent. 

Norway – Record Rain Causes Flooding in South

Severe flooding has been reported in parts of southern Norway after heavy rain brought by storm Synne between 04 and 06 December 2015. Maudal in Gjesdal, Rogaland saw just under 300 mm of rain in 3 days. No injuries or deaths have been reported. However the flooding has caused some damage to roads, bridges and homes in Rogaland, Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder counties. Around 100 families had to be evacuated from their homes in Eigersund,  

El Hierro Volcano activity report - 2 new earthquakes on Sunday
2 new earthquakes in the deeper zone South-West of the island (29 to 35 km). A shallower series in the 20 to 25 km range would be a significant change.  

Northeastern Indian Lost Israelite Tribe Lighting Hanukkah Candles
Hundreds of the Bnei Menashe community from across northeastern India gathered Sunday in the town of Churachandpur in the Indian state of Manipur to light the first Hanukkah candle. “Even in far-off Manipur, the flame of Jewish survival continues to burn brightly.”  

Obama now wants guns from these 47,000 people
If the federal government doesn’t want the 47,000 people on its No-Fly List to board airplanes, those individuals should be banned from ever owning guns, President Obama argued in his Sunday address from the Oval Office – but if his proposal ever becomes law, America could see U.S. Marines, congressmen, journalists and even federal air marshals mistakenly stripped of their firearms.  

Netanyahu: Gas plan is vital to Israel's existence
PM argues the need to develop additional gas fields, revealing that Israel's power plants were hit with rockets in the past, and a lone gas rig could face a similar threat.  

Turkish PM says wants to visit Baghdad amid row over troops
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Tuesday he wanted to visit Baghdad as soon as possible to try to calm a row over Turkish troops deployed to train their Iraqi counterparts in the fight against Islamic State.  

Obama, Clinton meet for secret lunch as they pursue tech industry over encryption, terror threats
Before their secret White House lunch on Monday,....Obama and Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton made remarks on national security and implied their support for bypassing encryption technology to stop terrorists.  

Outbreak of flesh-eating skin disease grips ISIS-controlled areas in Syria
The collapse of the medical services in the terrorist-controlled territory of war-torn Syria is responsible for the spread of a flesh-eating virus, known as Leishmaniasis, transmitted through parasites which abundantly munch on corpses dumped in the streets.  

POLAR GEOMAGNETIC STORMS
Earth is moving through a broad stream of solar wind flowing from a coronal hole on the sun. As a result, auroras are dancing around the Arctic Circle.  

A far-right, pro-Israel France? Expert says this is where all of Europe is heading
France went to the polls on Sunday in regional elections and the far-right National Front party, formerly known for its anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant stances but now known for its support of Israel and opposition to radical Islam, came out as a winner across the country.  

Groundbreaking Petition Signed by Leading Rabbis Calls for Increased Partnership Between Jews and Christians
While not the first initiative of its kind, the petition is proving historic. “The real importance of this Orthodox statement is that it calls for fraternal partnership between Jewish and Christian religious leaders, while also acknowledging the positive theological status of the Christian faith. Jews and Christians must be in the forefront of teaching basic moral values to the world,” said Riskin in a statement released by the CJCUC.  

Largest destroyer ever built for US Navy heads to Atlantic for testing
The largest destroyer ever built for the US Navy cut an imposing figure as it drifted down the Kennebec River in Maine and toward the open ocean on Monday. The USS Zumwalt, a 610-foot, 15,000-ton behemoth, will undergo sea trials before joining the US fleet some time next year.  

Strong earthquake strikes near Escuintla in Guatemala, southwest of capital city
A strongly felt earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.7 has struck near the city of Escuintla in south central Guatemala, not far from the capital, seismologists say. (  

Bacteria containing mcr-1 gene resistant to all known antibiotics found in Denmark
JUST weeks after the discovery in China of bacteria resistant to all known forms of treatment, the same strain has been found in Denmark. Worse: It’s been there since 2012. Late last week researchers at the Technical University of Denmark announced they had found the feared ‘invulnerability’ gene among E. coli bacteria samples taken from humans and food.  

'Spell-check for hate' needed, says Google's Schmidt
Technology companies should work on tools to disrupt terrorism - such as creating a hate speech "spell-checker" - Google's chairman Eric Schmidt has said. Writing in the New York Times, Mr Schmidt said using technology to automatically filter-out extremist material would "de-escalate tensions on social media" and "remove videos before they spread".  

ISIS Manifesto Lays Out Frightening Preparations for European Dominance
According to the manifesto, refugees arriving from Syria to places like Italy had ties to ISIS and other Islamic extremist groups. “No doubt, some of these refugees were undercover fighters of Al Qa’idah and the Islamic State.” The manifesto also explains that these sleeper agents are highly trained in combat techniques and encouraged to build ties with other cells as well as local communities.  

Pope Francis opens St Peter's Holy Door to launch jubilee
Pope Francis pushed opened the huge bronze Holy Door of St Peter's Basilica in Rome to launch the Catholic Church's "Year of Mercy." ...Under the year's theme of mercy, the Pope has said priests can absolve women who have had abortions. During the jubilee celebrations, one of the most important events in the Roman Catholic Church, pilgrims travel to Rome and religious sites around the world.  

Chennai begins floods clean-up
A major clean-up operation is under way in the southern Indian city of Chennai (Madras) after a week of devastating floods. Water levels are receding from most parts of Tamil Nadu state, where at least 280 people are now known to have died in floods since last month. Garbage and sludge have collected on the streets and sewage has entered homes, damaging properties.  

China pollution: First ever red alert in effect in Beijing
Schools in Beijing are closed and outdoor construction halted as the Chinese capital's first ever pollution "red alert" came into effect. The alert, the highest possible warning level, was issued late Monday and will last until midday on Thursday. Limits have been placed on car use and some factories have been ordered to stop operations.  

An Unlikely Damascus Road
A few days before the 74th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks, I was introduced to a little book which revealed to me one of the most amazing stories of Christian conversion I had ever heard or read. The book—FROM PEARL HARBOR TO CALVARY (originally published in 1959 as From Pearl Harbor to Golgotha)—tells the story of Capt. Mitsuo Fuchida, a pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy, who commanded the entire first wave of the attacks on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941.  

As threat of Islamic Terrorism expands Obama admin remains stuck on radicalization
The photo of Tashfeen Malik and Syed Rizwan Farook going through customs at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, unearthed by ABC and riding the Internet today, says it all. It tells us the critical information about who they were, which is far more important than in which country they may have been radicalized. Photographed at O’Hare, Malik and Farook were terrorists on their way back into the United States to commit unspeakable evil. The camera doesn’t lie. The coming mission of Malik and Farook was written on their faces even back in 2014.  

Thanks Obama: Smith & Wesson And Sturm, Ruger Are Soaring
Following President Obama's speech last night, Smith & Wesson is up 7.75% today (its best day in 4 months) and Sturm Ruger is up 8.25% today (most in 8 months)...  

Russia appears to have 'gone ballistic' in Syria — and it may be helping ISIS
Russia is showing no signs that it intends to forgive and forget Turkey’s decision to down a Russian warplane two weeks ago. Moscow has chosen to retaliate for the incident asymmetrically, hitting Turkish economic and military interests instead of engaging in a direct conflict with Ankara that might lead to a military confrontation with NATO.  

‘Mother Earth’: UN Draft Global Warming Treaty Promotes Gaia Worship
Environmentalists and scientists have increasingly turned to religion to gain support for regulations aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions. Activists hope support for a treaty from prominent religious figures, like Pope Francis, will add moral weight to their call to fight global warming. But would Pope Francis support protecting “Mother Earth”? — a phrase explicitly referring to Greek pagan mythology....  

Trump Calls For Moratorium On Muslims Entering United States
Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on. According to Pew Research, among others, there is great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population.  

Rick Santorum Lashes Out At Bill Clinton: ‘What Kind Of Darkness Do You Have In You?
“To take that moment and put it in a context of some sort of twisted political game, that’s just really disturbing. And I felt like that that maybe provided some insight as to that world in which Bill and Hillary Clinton live.”  

Hated of All Nations - Israel Blamed Again and Again By UN for Middle East Woes
Dec 8th, 2015
CommentaryMatt Ward
Categories: The Nation Of Israel

Guess What Happened the Last Time the Price of Oil Plunged Below 38 Dollars a Barrel?
Dec 8th, 2015
CommentaryMichael Snyder
Categories: Contemporary Issues

EU will Fall Apart in a Decade, Admits European Parliament Headeu will Fall Apart in a Decade
Dec 8th, 2015
Daily NewsExpress.co.uk
Categories: Revived Roman Empire

THE European Union is at risk of falling apart over the next 10-years due to the migrant crisis, the head of the European Parliament suggested.

Getty

The EU could crumble in just a decade, Mr Schulz said

Martin Schulz said the EU was in danger as there are forces trying to rip it apart.

He was responding to a recent warning from Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg's foreign affairs and migration minister, the union might break apart.

Mr Schulz said: "No one can say whether the EU will still exist in this form in 10-years' time.

"If we want that then we need to fight very hard for it."

He did not specify what exactly was threatening the EU but focused heavily on the migrant crisis, which has stretched Europe's unity and many of its member countries' tolerance this year.

The European Parliament head said the EU was not without alternatives and "could of course be reversed".

He warned other options included a removal of the free-movement Schengen zone to a Europe in which nationalism, borders and walls were prevalent.

Mr Schulz said: "That would be disastrous because that kind of Europe has repeatedly led our continent into catastrophe."

Divisions are rife within the EU over the thousands of migrants and refugees coming into Europe from war-torn countries such as Syria.

One of the most notable is between German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has led efforts to take in more Syrians, and leaders of the formerly Communist east who oppose EU schemes to make them take in more asylum seekers.

Britain has also refused to join a quota system for refugees coming into Europe approved by the EU, but instead is housing Syrian refugees in the UK directly from camps in and around Syria.

The passport-free Schengen zone, which Britain is not party to, looks under threat as well as some countries re-introduce border controls.

Last Thursday Greece, which has some of the most amounts of refugees arriving on its shores, asked for European help to secure its borders and care for crowds of migrants, defusing threats from EU allies to bar it from the Schengen zone if it failed to gain control.

Mr Schulz added no country could single-handedly tackle challenges like migration, adding this was only possible as a unified EU.

Animal Cloning Factories Only the Beginning
Dec 8th, 2015
CommentaryTom Alago
Categories: Warning

About two decades back, Dolly the sheep became the world’s first and most famous mammal to be cloned from an adult cell. Fast forward to 2015: cloning is now much more commonplace and in ‘open season’. 

China is one nation that well exemplifies the growth rate of the cloning industry - she is now working on a ‘cloning factory’ to produce cattle, racehorses and pets. China has been cloning sheep, cattle and pigs for the past 15 years and is now taking it all to a whole new level.

The factory, which will include a 15,000 square meter laboratory, an animal center, a gene bank and an exhibition hall, is currently being built in the port city of Tianjin, near Beijing, and is due to open in the first half of 2016. Neil Connor’s recent account for The Telegraph states that the animal “cloning factory” will be the world’s biggest, producing one million calves a year, sniffer dogs and even genetic copies of the family pet.

The core motivation for this project is being fronted as mainly due to the increasing interest in agricultural biotechnology, spawned by beef shortages. Chinese farmers are reportedly battling to provide enough beef for the country’s growing middle class and eager to find ways to increase supply. The price of meat is said to have tripled between the years 2000 to 2013 in response to market demand.

According to Chinese Media, the £21 million ($32 million) “commercial” facility will edge the controversial cloning science “closer to mainstream acceptance." The new facility will initially produce 100,000 cattle embryos a year, eventually increasing to one million.

Connor notes that the center may cause alarm in Europe, where the cloning of animals for farming was banned in September due to animal welfare considerations. Another influential factor for the ban was that the cloning process was described as “not fully mature”. 

The European Parliament’s environmental committee co-rapporteur, Renate Sommer, protested the apparent lack of progress, stating: “The mortality rate remains equally high. Many of the animals which are born alive die in the first few weeks, and they die painfully. Should we allow that?"

However, Xu Xiaochun, chairman of Chinese biotechnology company BoyaLife that is backing the facility, dismissed such concerns in an interview. Implying that it was cheap politics rather than “scientific rationale or ethical rationale” that was behind Europe’s ban, Xiaochun concluded: “Legislation is always behind science. But in the area of cloning, I think we are going the wrong way and starting to kill the technology.”

Xiaochun said his new facility will clone racehorses and a handful of dogs for people with “emotional ties” to their pets, but its main focus was producing cattle. He was also reportedly keen about the factory’s ability to churn out sniffer dogs: “The dog has to be smart and obedient, strong, sensitive…That's one in one hundred. You would normally have to look at a large number of dogs to find this one."

Xiaochun’s views would certainly be popular with many animal lovers worldwide. Not just with pet owners who love their pets and want to see them ‘live on’ through cloning, but also with owners of special and champion breeds. 

According to new.spectator.co.uk, Adolfo Cambiaso, has cloned dozens of his favorite horses with great success. Cambiaso is so keen that he has become a partner in a cloning company, Crestview, which has its own laboratory near Buenos Aires. 

One day, he’s said, he’d like to play in an entire match that involves only cloned horses. They are turning out to be in hot demand. In 2010, a clone of one of Cambiaso’s best horses, Cuartetera, sold for $800,000.

BoyaLife will reportedly operate the facility with its South Korean partner, Sooam Biotech, which runs a centre that can clone dogs for customers willing to pay $100,000 (£66,000). Sooam Biotech has already produced more than 550 puppies. Company head Hwang Woo-Suk was considered a national hero when he pioneered the world’s first cloned dog in 2005, although his research into creating human stem cells was found in 2006 to have been faked.

The cloning culture also continues to grow in the U.S, as recent developments show. Amy Harmon for the New York Times reported that with the federal government’s approval last week of a fast-growing salmon as the first genetically altered animal Americans can eat, a menagerie of gene-edited animals is already being raised on farms and in laboratories around the world — some designed for food, some to fight disease and some, perhaps, as pets.

Harmon lists a number of other examples:

• Bull calves being bred in Sioux City, Iowa were genetically modified to have their DNA edited by scientists at a start-up company called Recombinetics, so that they do not grow horns. In a few months, their sperm will be harvested, each with edited DNA, which will be used to create a new generation of hornless cattle.

• The value of this development is said to be to in the discontinuation of the physical dehorning process which may produce injuries to cattle and is “considered to be quite painful”, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. 

• With a tool called Talens, Recombinetics says it has created gene-edited pigs that can be fattened with less food and Brazilian beef cattle that grow large muscles, yielding more meat that may also be more tender. 

• Others are working on chickens that produce only females for egg-laying and cattle that produce only males since females are less efficient at converting feed to muscle.

• Researchers reported having edited mosquitoes so that they will no longer carry the parasite that causes malaria. 

• Bruce Whitelaw, a professor of animal biotechnology at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh has changed three genes in domesticated pigs vulnerable to African swine fever, which can devastate herds, to resemble those from wild pigs that are resistant to the disease. He is now breeding them to put them to the test.

• Chinese researchers have produced meatier cashmere goats that also conveniently grow longer hair for soft sweaters, miniature pigs lacking a growth gene to be sold as novelty pets and bulky beagles lacking a muscle-inhibiting gene, an edit that could make for faster dogs.

• Using the most powerful of the new tools, called Crispr-Cas9, in pursuit of treatments for human disease, researchers are also altering pigs in hopes of making them grow human organs and creating “gene drives” that would ensure that the edit to make mosquitoes malaria-proof, for instance, would spread through the whole population.

• The National Science Foundation is underwriting an effort to create dairy cattle that can resist a parasite that causes sleeping sickness in sub-Saharan Africa, a blight often treated with an antimicrobial drug that ended up making its way into the meat consumed by humans.

• Bhanu Telugu, a University of Maryland researcher, is trying to design pigs so they can no longer serve as a reservoir for the flu virus.

Animal breeders seem to be among the most ardent supporters of genetic modifications, since they offer time shortcuts to natural breeding processes. This gene-editing trend is certainly snowballing in momentum, but is not without its risks. 

Concerns and warnings abound, including some from scientists and bioethicists. This despite many of the seemingly noble and beneficial rewards that mankind stands to reap from gene-editing successes. 

Harmon observes that the discussion of gene-edited animals in farming, in particular, will most likely be colored by the existing debate over the merits of genetically engineered food, notably genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. For decades largely centered on corn and soybeans, altered with older technology to resist pests and tolerate herbicides. 

Although embraced by many farmers and scientists, retailers and the general public continue to view them with a measure of suspicion.

Another concern cited is that many of the new generation of edited animals contain DNA from another species, a frequently cited concern among opponents of genetically engineered foods, which incorporate genes from bacteria. Other concerns vary and range from the fear of deformities and unforeseen developmental and health complications in the future.

Advocates of the technology argue that it can make farming more efficient to help feed a growing world population with less impact on the environment. Today’s chickens, for instance, reportedly produce nearly 80 percent more meat for the same amount of feed as the chickens of the 1950s. All courtesy of genome technology.

Still, some consumer advocates urge caution in applying techniques that are still so new to animals that will be consumed as food. Gene-editing tools are known to sometimes make changes to genes other than their intended targets, raising flags about how the changes might affect an animal’s health or the composition of milk or meat. 

Therefore, they urge for great caution with the tools. Others insist that no gene editing should be allowed without proper regulation and general public support.

Yet others seem to disagree with any form or extent of gene-editing. David Byer, a spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says people should stop consuming dairy or meat or eggs, rather than further manipulating animals by playing with their DNA.

The Food and Drug Administration has reportedly not said how or whether it will regulate the gene-edited animals to come. But even with the government’s stamp of approval, biotechnology advocates know that farmers are unlikely to embrace technology if they fear consumers will reject it.

Only time will tell to what extent the gene-editing processes will overshadow the benefits, as medical science continues with its attempts to play God by interfering with the natural processes of life and creation.

An Unlikely Damascus Road
Dec 8th, 2015
CommentaryA Review: From Pearl Harbor to Calvary - W. Thomas Smith Jr. - Courtesy Canada Free Press
Categories: Bible Salvation

A few days before the 74^th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks, I was introduced to a little book which revealed to me one of the most amazing stories of Christian conversion I had ever heard or read. The book—FROM PEARL HARBOR TO CALVARY (originally published in 1959 as From Pearl Harbor to Golgotha)—tells the story of Capt. Mitsuo Fuchida, a pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy, who commanded the entire first wave of the attacks on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941.

What makes Fuchida’s story extraordinary is that he not only participated in the infamous “sneak attack” which led to America’s entry into World War II; but he led the initial attack from the front. He survived the war, including two crash landings and an assignment as leader of a suicide-attack squadron; he become a Christian after the war, and in time a missionary in the U.S. leading others to Christ.

FROM PEARL HARBOR TO CALVARY is something of a Saul (Paul) of Tarsus tale, not so much in terms of any dramatic road-to-Damascus conversion, but in the sense of Fuchida firstly being a sworn enemy of America and secondly God’s tugging on the heart of a man we might otherwise deem wholly unsuited to be a leader tasked with furthering the Kingdom. But as we read in the book of Isaiah, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.”

Indeed. Who would have dreamed the first man to attack the anchored and sleeping American fleet in Pearl Harbor was destined to become a postwar Christian missionary, and commit himself to the service of the Lord until his passing in 1976?

The story begins with Fuchida’s birth, 1902, and boyhood growing up in a small village near Nara, Japan. It continues with his appointment in 1920 to the Japanese Naval Academy. Twenty-one years of service later, Fuchida found himself aboard the carrier Akagi, a 39-year-old Naval Aviation commander—soon to be promoted to captain—making his way to the admiral’s quarters on that fateful morning in 1941. He writes, “The Akagi pitched and rolled under my feet in the rough sea. White surf whipped across the flight deck in startling contrast to the predawn blackness.”

At 5:30 a.m., Fuchida was standing before and reporting to the great Admiral Chuichi Nagumo.

“I am ready for my mission!” Fuchida said.

Nagumo firmly grasped the younger officer’s hand and said, “Fuchida, I have confidence in you.”

Two hours later, the first wave (a mixed package of 183 warplanes including dive-bombers, torpedo-bombers, and fighters) was roaring over the northernmost tip of Oahu and deploying to attack

At 7:40 a.m., Fuchida, flying the lead in a Nakajima B5N “Kate” torpedo-bomber slid-open the canopy of his plane and fired a green flare. It was the signal to attack. The entire force was then ordered, “Plunge to attack!” The dive-bombers struck Hickam Field, Ford Island, and Wheeler Field. The torpedo-bombers—including Fuchida’s plane—struck the battleships, cruisers, and other vessels in the harbor. The fighters strafed the bases and roadways. 

At 07:53 a.m., Fuchida ordered the transmission of the code, “Tora! Tora! Tora!” signaling to the Japanese fleet that his squadron had achieved complete surprise. By the time the first-wave finished the initial strike a little after 8:05 a.m., Fuchida recalled, “My heart was ablaze with joy for my success in getting the whole main force of the American Pacific fleet in hand.” He added. “In the years that were to follow, I would put my whole hate-flamed effort into conducting the war.”

Fuchida’s wartime survival was nothing short of miraculous. He was literally blown into the sea by a terrific explosion when the Akagi was hit during the Battle of Midway in June 1942. He later crashed at sea and was rescued. He crashed in the jungle and was rescued. He was ordered to lead a suicide attack team that never deployed. And the day after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in August 1945, Fuchida was sent to assess the damage to the city. All the members of the assessment team reportedly died of radiation poisoning except Fuchida who never showed any symptoms of being exposed to the deadly radiation.

After the war, Fuchida struggled mentally and emotionally with what had happened to his country. It wasn’t simply the loss of the war, but the deep shame associated with that loss. “I was bitter and disillusioned,” he writes.

Fuchida settled into civilian life. He built a house, dug a well, and took up farming. And it was through his daily tilling of the soil that he began to see creation in nature. He also began to wrestle with ideas like forgiveness, absolute selflessness, and unconditional love which previously had been alien to him.

Encouraged to read the Bible by a tract handed him on the street in Tokyo and then a newspaper editorial about the Bible, Fuchida began to read the life-transforming Gospel of Luke, and was particularly moved by Jesus’ words as He was being crucified by the Roman soldiers: ““Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

FROM PEARL HARBOR TO CALVARY details Fuchida’s surrendering to God’s calling, his becoming a Christian missionary and returning to America, this time not as an enemy commander leading an attack. But as a simple man, seeking truth and bearing “the Good News.” Along the way, he meets and befriends the Rev. Billy Graham; Gen. Jimmy Doolittle, who led the famous B-25 raid on Tokyo in 1942; and various other theologians, dignitaries and military leaders.

If there is a downside to this book it’s that, editorially speaking, the translation from Japanese to English should have been fine-tuned a bit. Though perhaps the raw translation leads to a better grasp of Fuchida’s voice. And the book, being short (just under 95 pages) lacks depth. The book’s strengths are, of course, the content, the obvious sincerity throughout the story, and—just as brevity was a downside—brevity is also a strength. Why? You can read FROM PEARL HARBOR TO CALVARY in an hour, and frankly it would be an hour worth spending this Pearl Harbor Day.

Ahead of the Game: Russia Moving Faster in Syria Than U.S. Media Can Report
Dec 8th, 2015
Daily NewsSPUTNIC
Categories: Contemporary Issues

In an attempt to predict Russia’s further moves in Syria, US diplomacy expert Robert Farley has put forward what he considers “Russia’s five next big moves in Syria”, which are set to come in the nearest days or weeks; however, as it turns out, the first four are already very active on the ground.

1.The Arrival of the Su-25 Grach (NATO Reporting Name “Frogfoot”)

“The shootdown of the Su-24 Fencer near Turkish territory demonstrated the vulnerability of the unescorted attack aircraft to modern jet fighters,” reads Farley’s article for The National Interest magazine.

​​The best way to protect the Russian air fleet in Syria, the author says, is to bring in “a tough, heavy attack plane like the Su-25 Frogfoot, which can have an immediate impact on the battlefield. “

"With some indication that Russia is about to massively step up its air campaign in Syria, we can be sure that additional attack aircraft, like the Frogfoot, will soon appear in the skies over rebel held territory,” the author says.

© Sputnik/ Dmitriy Vinogradov

Su-25 jets of the Russian Aerospace Forces at the Hmeymim airbase, Syria

However, Russia already has as much as 12 of the latest Su-25 ground attack planes in Syria, 12 even more powerful Su-34 (NATO reporting name Fullback) strike fighters and up to 16 Su-30 (NATO reporting name Flanker-C) supermaneuverable fighter aircraft, apart from its existing deployment of Su-24s and Su-27s.

From November 20, the size of the Russian air fleet in Syria was increased to 69 aircraft.

2.Deployment of S-400 Surface-to-Air Missile System

“[…] in political terms the S-400 offers the Assad regime insurance against either a Western no-fly zone or an anti-Assad air campaign. This means, in effect, that ISIS (also known as ISIL and Daesh) and other Syrian rebels will need to defeat Assad (and Russia) on their own, without the direct kinetic support of any of their allies,” the article reads.

​“The S-400 gives Russia a practical veto over any Western action against Assad.”

The author however acknowledged that the S-400 Triumf (NATO codename SA-21 Growler), an anti-aircraft and anti-missile system, which is capable of intercepting all types of modern air weaponry, including fifth-generation warplanes, as well as ballistic and cruise missiles at a maximum range of nearly 250 miles, has already been “delivered, deployed and put on air defense combat duty at Russia’s Hmeymim airbase in Syria.”

​3. Diplomacy

“The most important weapon that Russia can use to save the Assad regime is its diplomatic corps,” the author claims neglecting to mention that Russia has been using this “tool” since the very start of the conflict in Syria.

Among its latest proposals is a Russia-initiated counter-terrorism declaration already adopted by the foreign ministers of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Belgrade earlier in December.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has long called for the creation of a broad international coalition in the fight against  terrorism, particularly targeted towards Daesh. Putin stressed the need for global anti-terrorism efforts, conducted within a legal framework, at the UN General Assembly in September.

 4.Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance

The author somewhat laments that “Russia does not now, and has never had the kinds of ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) assets that the United States takes for granted.”

However “Russian assets in this regard include not only recon aircraft and drones, but also electronic warfare units that can analyze rebel communications,” he acknowledges.

Earlier in October the very same magazine made a special report on “Russia’s electronic spies which have become a key part of Moscow’s surge into Syria.”

5.Spetsnaz (Russian Special Forces)

“Russia has a lot of war left to fight in Syria,” the author predicts. “The first weeks of US intervention in Afghanistan, and of NATO intervention in Libya, showed few obvious fruits of progress. In both cases air attacks had weakened and fragmented the resistance, however, eventually allowing major ground offensives to roll up the country.”

 “Two or three months from now, the international community could be celebrating the successful efforts of the Russian military to defeat ISIS, and the Assad regime could be cheering the destruction of rebel factions in the west of the country.,” he therefore suggests.

However he fails to mention that Russian authorities, including President Putin, repeatedly ruled out any possible military presence on the ground in Syria.