People of the Keys!

“If my people, on whom my name is called, should repent, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, I also will hear from heaven, and I will be merciful to their sins, and I will heal their land.”
(II Chronicles 7:14)
I Also Will Hear From Heaven

The Lord had told Oom Angus not to allow stalls or sellers of any kind, for this was to be a time of prayer alone; no commerce, profit, or distractions. Every person carried their own water, food, and any other necessities. Mike and I only had a small blanket to lay out on the grass, and were completely at the mercy of the midday sun. Unexpectedly, a couple nearby unfolded a small pop-up shade, and told us we could use it. How kind, and an example of the unity of the body of Christ that permeated the gathering.

Looking around, the valley was filled—I mean filled in every direction further than I could see!—with people of every age, color, shape, and size. Can you imagine an event of that size being prepared in six weeks? My guess is that there has never been such a gathering in recent history! We spent some time in praise and worship, and quietly talked with those around us. Then Oom Angus took the stage. Quietly, deliberately, and with undeniable authority, he called for change and repentance. He said the time for being passive Christians is long over, and that change has to be an everyday living of our faith.

Then, he made the call. “Let’s get on our knees, and let’s pray, right now.” And we did—more than a million individuals, different in many ways, but with the same purpose—to ask Almighty God for help.

I could feel the sincere pleas of our hearts mingling in the still air, as countless requests were made known. We prayed for the nation, finances, rain, a godly government, and against sickness, crime, divorce, racism, anger, gossip, laziness, doubt, and compromise.

As we finished praying, out of nowhere a wind came up and lifted hats, shade umbrellas, and other items into the air! To me, it felt like what you’d imagine the wind of the Holy Spirit or the blast of Jesus’ ascension feeling like. Yet, in this huge valley in the middle of a drought, there was no dust. It was a miracle, and many of us raised our hands and shouted praise to the Lord! Oom Angus laughed with tears in his eyes as he recognized the sign of approval from heaven.

As we all left the valley, there was a profound stillness. We all knew this was a historic day. The Bible says, “Can a nation be born in a day?”3I’d have to say, yes, it can! The people of God stood together and said to the Devil, “No further!” God’s people, called by His name, humbled themselves and prayed.

One can chase a thousand. Two can put ten thousand to flight. How about a million?! Thank You, Jesus!

1 2 Chronicles 7:14.

2 Genesis 6:3.

3 Isaiah 66:8.

For First Time in Millennia, Jewish Priests Will Undergo Training to Enter Temple's Holy of Holies (Although we do not agree with every statement made in this article it is never the less interesting in regards to the times in which we are living. Ed)
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz
July 31, 2017

The High Priest in the Tabernacle (Illustration from the 1890 Holman Bible/Wikimedia Commons)

For the first time in 2,000 years, a group of Kohanim (men of the Jewish priestly caste) living close to Jerusalem’s Old City are studying the relevant Jewish laws to be able to ascend the Temple Mount and enter the Holy of Holies, where God’s presence is said to dwell.

This development was initiated by Israel’s first responder organization ZAKA, based on a decision by the ZAKA Rabbinical Council following an event occurring during the three weeks of austerity leading up to the Ninth Day of Av: the July 14 Palestinian terror attack against Israeli police officers that left three dead (including the terrorist), the most powerful source of ritual impurity, on the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism.

Horrific as the attack was, one Temple activist said it may have served a divine purpose. “When the Jewish people are not moving ahead quickly enough, God does something to force it upon us,” Yaakov Hayman, a prominent Temple Mount activist and expert, told Breaking Israel News. “When those Arabs did what they did, they created a new situation on the ground. We weren’t preparing for it, so something happened that forced us to deal with it.”

The “new situation on the ground” is that Kohanim, men descended patrilineally from Aaron the Priest, will now be trained for the first time in millennia to enter the area where the Holy of Holies once stood. Their purpose will not be to offer sacrifices or pray for the Jewish people, but to retrieve dead bodies should the need arise again.

The ZAKA council, headed by Rabbi Avigdor Nebenzahl, ruled that there is a religious obligation to remove every dead body from the Temple Mount – Jewish, non-Jewish and even terrorist – but that in certain situations, only Kohanim can do the job.

Kohanim are forbidden from becoming ritually impure and have stringencies placed upon them that other Jews do not. Kohanim are forbidden from entering cemeteries or coming into proximity with dead bodies. Normally, contact with a dead body would be forbidden to a Kohen, but this ruling overrules that condition.

The training will require the revival of Torah laws “our people have [not] used for thousands of years, let alone on a yearly, monthly or daily basis, like most other laws,” explained ZAKA Chairman Yehuda Meshi-Zahav to Breaking Israel News.

“Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount) is the holiest place and there is a requirement that all ritually impure objects be removed as quickly as possible,” he continued. “So, in this case, the rabbis ruled that it is acceptable for a Kohen to become impure himself to remove something from the Temple Mount.”

Meshi-Zahav added that the ruling brought hopes of redemption. “Of course, we hope that by giving the Temple Mount the proper respect it deserves, we will bring about the Messiah. We want the redemption to come as quickly as possible.”

“There is certainly something interesting happening here,” Rabbi Ari Kahn, a member of the ZAKA Rabbinical Council and the head rabbi of the West Bank settlement Giv’at Ze’ev, said to Breaking Israel News.

Rabbi Kahn said there was “something natural” about watching rabbis rule on decisions they have not faced for hundreds and hundreds of years.

Due to the stringencies placed upon them, until now, Kohanim were not allowed to volunteer with ZAKA. Meshi-Zahav said the group is already in the process of hand-selecting these new first responders specifically tasked with Temple Mount duties. The members of the team of Kohanim will be “religious, God-fearing people, knowledgeable about Jewish law.” He noted that learning the laws pertaining to ascending the Temple Mount is not simple.

As one of the few ZAKA volunteers sufficiently familiar with Temple Mount laws, Joshua Wander was the first to go up after the July 14 attack. He pointed out the need to ZAKA for a Temple Mount team of volunteers able to cope with the halachot (Jewish laws) on the Temple Mount.

“The positive side of this whole thing that’s gone on in the past two weeks is that it’s really created an interest globally to relearn these laws, which have been almost lost, and thank God, we are bringing back these laws,” he told Breaking Israel News.

Before ascending, ZAKA volunteers will be required to immerse in a ritual bath. They will ascend wearing a minimum number of clothes, not wearing shoes, bringing in the smallest possible amount of equipment, and entering and leaving by the shortest possible route.

The guidelines Rabbi Nebenzahl used for his ruling were based on the writings of Rabbi Moses ben Nahman, a medieval Spanish Torah authority known by the acronym Ramban. The Ramban discussed the deaths of Aaron the Cohen’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, inside the Tabernacle.

Now Aharon’s sons Nadav and Avihu each took his fire pan, put fire in it, and laid incense on it; and they offered before Hashem alien fire, which He had not enjoined upon them. And fire came forth from Hashem and consumed them; thus they died at the instance of Hashem (Leviticus 10:1-2).

The Ramban explains that these bodies needed to be removed speedily by a priest, as described in a following verse of the Bible.

Moshe called Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aharon, and said to them, “Come forward and carry your kinsmen away from the front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp” (Leviticus 10:4).

This is not the first time an organization has acted to prepare Kohanim for the Messianic era. The Temple Institute, a non-profit government and privately funded center of “research and preparation for the Holy Temple” – located in Jerusalem’s Old City – established a “Kohanim Training Academy” last spring, in which Kohanic students are taught and practically prepared to serve in the Temple.

Reflecting on how a tragedy led to a miraculous renewal of Torah laws pertaining to the Temple, Hayman compared it to a parable in the Talmud which illustrated that the greatest light of redemption comes from the deepest darkness. The Talmudic story tells of a group of revered rabbis, including Rabbi Akiva, a first-century rabbi and a major contributor to the oral tradition, who visited the site of the Temple, then a pile of rubble. A fox ran out of the ruins, and one rabbi began to cry, but Rabbi Akiva laughed. Rabbi Akiva asked him why he cried and the rabbi cited the Biblical verse describing the holiness of the site.

The rabbi lamented that now, even wild animals could roam through the site. Rabbi Akiva explained that the Prophet Micah described the tragic scene they were seeing in front of their eyes.

“Assuredly, because of you Tzion shall be plowed as a field, And Yerushalayim shall become heaps of ruins, And the Har Habayit A shrine in the woods.” Micah 3:12

Rabbi Akiva explained that just as this prophecy of destruction had already come to pass, it was inevitable that the prophecy of Zechariah on the same subject would also come to pass.

“Thus said God of Hosts: There shall yet be old men and women in the squares of Yerushalayim, each with staff in hand because of their great age.” Zechariah 8:4

According to Hayman, the prophecy can be interpreted to mean that if the Jewish people do not take control of the Temple for holy purposes, another nation will take the opportunity to profane it.

“It is a like a lion being pestered by flies. Every now and again he wags his tail, but it doesn’t do much. Then he roars and that changes the whole picture,” said Hayman. “We are just waiting for the Lion of Judah to roar, to give the blast that will turn everything on its heels and indicate redemption is here.”

“The “new situation on the ground” is that Kohanim, men descended patrilineally from Aaron the Priest...”

Regarding this subject you may know that to be accepted as a Jew in Israel today you must trace your linage and ancestry through you mother.)

The “mockers” are coming out of the woodwork, but one pastor says their time is coming.

The total solar eclipse that will traverse the continental United States on Aug. 21 is fascinating much of the world. But it’s also drawing scoffing and snark from those who astronomical events of this kind have no significance.

A sheriff in Oconee County, Georgia, posted a joking message on his Facebook page, saying he expected “each of you to begin panicking today.” Humorously predicting “vast hordes” descending on grocery stores, he further sarcastically advised “pregnant woman should smoke and drink liquor during the eclipse.”

On the other hand, one conspiracy theorist, David Meade, is claiming the eclipse heralds the arrival of “Nibiru,” or “Planet X.” The planet, he predicts, will crash into the Earth on Sept. 23, 2017, leading to massive death and destruction. His prophecy is partially based on what Meade calls the “33 Convergence,” a string of coincidences surrounding the event that all include the number 33.

Mark Biltz, the man who discovered the “Blood Moons” phenomenon, shies away from specific predictions of this kind. But he argues it is similarly misguided to simply laugh off extraordinary signs in the heavens as having no meaning.

“As far as how I respond to those who are ‘laughing’ at the idea the eclipse could mean something, it depends on who is doing the laughing or mocking,” Biltz told WND.

“I expect people who do not believe in the God of Israel to mock. Look where that got them in Noah’s day. To those who do believe and still mock, look at Lot’s family with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. His was a completely different situation than Abraham’s family.”

The pastor contends it isn’t remarkable to say the developments in the sky are a sign from God to believers. The Bible, claims Biltz, says the same thing.

“God said He created the sun, the moon and the stars for ‘signs’ at creation,” explained Biltz. “Yeshua [Jesus Christ] said in Luke 21 that there would be signs in the sun, moon and stars at His return. So I see this as a sign we should pay attention to of trouble ahead if we don’t repent as a nation.”

Biltz also quoted 2 Peter 3 3-4, which speaks of “scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”

The same chapter states in verse 10, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent hear, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”

Biltz believes he has identified the patterns God uses to determine when He intervenes in human history. He describes these keys to prophecy in his new book “God’s Day Timer.”

Biltz further claims he can identify on what day Jesus Christ will return. According to Biltz, the first coming of Jesus Christ fulfilled the meaning of the biblical feast days in the spring – Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits and Pentecost. Now Biltz argues Jesus Christ’s second coming will fulfill the fall feasts listed in the Bible – Rosh Hashanah (Trumpets), Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and Sukkot (Tabernacles). Biltz believes the Resurrection of the Dead will take place on the Feast of Trumpets and Jesus’s return will take place on Yom Kippur.

Biltz acknowledges he does not know the year. However, he believes history, contemporary events and the words of Scripture indicate the time is coming very soon.

“I do not predict the future as much as I like to analyze the past,” he told WND. “But based on past patterns and biblical truths from both Judaism and Christianity we realize that we are definitely in the times of the Messiah. Even in Islam they believe the Mahdi is ready to appear as well. I would believe we are in the times of the Messiah even if there were no eclipse happening. The eclipse is just confirming this. God always warns before He brings judgment and these signs really are for the unbelievers and mockers so they will be without excuse.”

Indeed, Biltz argues contemporary geopolitical developments are providing plenty of signs the day of the Lord is approaching.

“God declared in the last days Jerusalem would become a cup of trembling for all nations, which is exactly what is happening,” the pastor intoned. “Israel becoming a nation in a day was a fulfillment of end-times prophecy. Jerusalem being restored to Jewish hands in 1967 was a fulfillment of end-times prophecy. The Balfour declaration in 1917 and the first Zionist congress in 1897 are all signs the end times are closing in.

“The total lunar eclipses in 2014/2015 on Passover and Sukkot were signs Messiah is at the door. The solar eclipse this August is a sign as well as the sign in the stars at the end of September. So yes, we have been in the last of the last days since 1897. Where does that put us now? Well, I would say it is about time to look up, for our redemption is drawing nigh.”

Biltz suggests Americans should “enjoy” the eclipse, “as it has been 100 years since the last one.”

In his view, it is not a cause for panic or worry. But he does say God is communicating with the faithful, warning them to repent. They ignore this warning, Pastor Biltz said, at their peril.

“Remember the Scriptures, as it says in Psalms 89, that the moon is God’s faithful witness in heaven,” Biltz told WND. “As the moon darkens the sun know that dark times are ahead if we as a nation do not turn back to God and again keep covenant. There is plenty of mockery. Well, the mockers might as well enjoy the time while they can as their day is coming.”

(We respect Mark Blitz but would caution on his timings for Jesus' return. He could be correct in his reference to Jewish holy days, but we believe he could be incorrect as well. Time will tell. Ed)

12 CRITICAL EVENTS THAT ARE GOING TO HAPPEN OVER A 40 DAY PERIOD FROM AUGUST 21ST TO SEPTEMBER 30TH

The truth is out there, and if you diligently seek it you will eventually find it

We are about to witness an extremely unusual convergence of events that many believe could represent a major turning point for our nation.

By now you have probably heard that on August 21^st a total solar eclipse will move across the entire continental United States for the first time in decades. In fact, we have not seen a total solar eclipse cross from the west coast to the east coast in 99 years. And it will be the very first total solar eclipse that is only visible in this country since the United States first became a nation. Starting with that event, there is going to be a whole lot going on until we reach the end of September. The following are 12 critical events that are going to happen over a 40 day period from August 21st to September 30th…

August 21 – The “Great American Eclipse” will sweep across portions of Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Seven years later, another very unusual total solar eclipse will move across our nation, and when you plot the paths of both eclipses on a map, they form a giant “X” right over the center of the United States.

August 23 – A FEMA exercise known as “EarthEX2017” will simulate “catastrophes such as mega earthquakes, cyber terrorism or high altitude electromagnetic pulse attacks”…

“An exercise sponsored by FEMA and the U.S. Department of Energy set to take place on August 23 called EarthEX2017 will wargame responses to catastrophes such as mega earthquakes, cyber terrorism or high altitude electromagnetic pulse attacks.

The exercise will simulate a “subcontinent-scale, long duration power outage, with cascading failures of all other infrastructures,” according to the official Earth Ex website.

“Black sky events” are defined as, “Catastrophic occurrences caused by man or nature that bring society to its knees.”

September 1 – This marks the start of FEMA’s annual “National Preparedness Month“.

September 1 – The U.S. State Department’s ban on U.S. citizens traveling into North Korea goes into effect. Many are concerned that this is yet another sign that we are moving toward war with North Korea.

September 23 – This is the date of what has become known as “the Revelation 12 sign”. If you are not familiar with this alignment yet, the following is a very brief summary…

“On September 23rd a unique astronomical alignment of the Sun, Moon, constellation Virgo, constellation Leo, and planets Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and Venus is going to fulfill this passage from the book of Revelation:

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.”

September 29 – Yom Kippur begins at sunset, and it concludes on September 30th. Of course September 30th will be the end of a 40 day period that began back on the day of the Great American Eclipse on August 21st.

September 29 – U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says that the debt ceiling will be breached on this day if Congress does not raise it by then.

September 30 – If Congress does not pass a budget by the end of this day, there will be a government shutdown just like we witnessed in 2013.

On top of everything else, the month of September is when the Federal Reserve is scheduled to begin unwinding their 4.5 trillion dollar balance sheet…

“The other big market force that could ruffle markets is clearly the Fed, which is expected to begin the untested task of unwinding its $4.5 trillion balance sheet in September.”

In addition, it is very interesting to note that a large asteroid will come within 4,200 miles of our planet on October 12th…

“The asteroid has not been seen since its 2012 discovery, when it sped past Earth at about one-fourth the distance from Earth to the moon. It’s been too distant and too faint to be detected over the last five years. As it starts to approach Earth this summer, large telescopes will be used to detect it and re-establish the asteroid’s precise trajectory.

The asteroid, known as 2012 TC4, could come as close as 4,200 miles to Earth, NASA said. That’s actually fairly close, when you consider that the moon is about 239,000 miles away.”

I don’t know, but I am sure that I will receive even more criticism for putting this list together. Those of us that monitor global events and warn about where things are headed are often highly criticized. But in this day and age, we desperately need independent thinkers that are willing to challenge the system. Way too often people just go with the herd and will believe whatever the mainstream media tells them to think.

Never let someone else do your thinking for you. Investigate things for yourself and come to your own conclusions. Learning to think critically is one of the most important skills that you can have, and you will find that it is one of the most common traits among those that are truly “awake” to what is going on in the world.

The truth is out there, and if you diligently seek it you will eventually find it.

We’ve heard a lot about “fake news” this year, and last week we were treated to a flurry of fake news aimed at the reliability of the Bible. A study published in the American Journal of Human Genetics reported that DNA from 3,700-year-old Canaanite remains closely matches that of the modern Lebanese. In other words, a major biblical people are alive and well, still living in the region!

It was an exciting confirmation of the Bible’s history. But for a dozen or so major media outlets, it was precisely the opposite.

“Study disproves the Bible’s suggestion that the ancient Canaanites were wiped out,” trumpeted the UK Telegraph.

The Independent declared, “The Bible says Canaanites were wiped out by Israelites but scientists just found their descendants living in Lebanon.”

And ABC Online reported: “Canaanites survived Biblical ‘slaughter,’ ancient DNA shows.”

Even the journal, Science, joined the debacle with the headline, “Ancient DNA counters biblical account of the mysterious Canaanites.” Science soon issued a casual correction, saying, “The story and its headline have been updated to reflect that in the Bible, God ordered the destruction of the Canaanites, but that some cities and people may have survived.”

“May have?” Uh, these reporters might want to re-read their Bibles. Or maybe read them for the first time. Because far from claiming the Canaanites were wiped out, Scripture records in numerous places that large Canaanite populations survived and thrived in the region.

As David Klinghoffer at Evolution News points out, “The first chapter in Judges lists all the places in Israel where the Canaanites persisted…’for they [the Israelites] did not drive them out.’”

And in the next chapter, God rebukes Israel for not driving the Canaanites out, saying “They shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” Much of the remainder of the Old Testament is the sad fulfillment of this prophecy.

Some Canaanites, like Rahab, who hid the spies at Jericho, converted to the Hebrew religion and were incorporated into Israel. And in Joshua 9, we learn that the entire Canaanite city of Gibeon tricked Israel into a peace treaty, and its people were allowed to stay.

Even in the New Testament, in Matthew 15, we read of a Canaanite woman who begged Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter. He famously rebuffs her before seeing her “great faith” and granting the request.

And according to the genealogies of Matthew and Luke, Jesus Himself had Canaanite DNA, as he was descended from David through Jesse, Obed, and Boaz whose mother was…Rahab.

The fate of the Canaanites sets the stage for much of the biblical drama. In other words, knowing it isn’t a matter of being religious, but of having a basic acquaintance with the most influential book in Western civilization.

So there are two takeaways here. First, archaeology continues to reinforce key elements of biblical history. Our faith is based on a real God Who worked through real events in history, not some dreamtime legend. The Canaanites were as real as their descendants are today.

Second, you can’t always believe what you read in the press, particularly when it comes to the Bible. Open it up, and do your own fact-check. Reporters miss things, but the story of our faith was authored by a perfect God who, unsurprisingly, never has to retract a word.

Vladimir Putin has once again demonstrated why he is the most perceptive, farsighted, and for a politician, the most honest world leader to come around in quite a while. If it had not been for his patient and wise statesmanship, the world may have already been embroiled in an all encompassing global configuration with the possibility of thermonuclear destruction.

His latest comments on the purported head of the Catholic Church may have been his most perceptive as of yet and should be heeded not only by Western secular leaders, but by the globe’s one billion or so Catholics, most of whom regard Jorge Bergoglio as pope.

The Russian President’s statement came on a visit to the Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Kronstadt. Mr. Putin succinctly sums up what Pope Francis is not: “If you look around at what he (the Pope) says it’s clear that he is not a man of God. At least not the Christian God, not the God of the Bible.”

No truer words have as yet been said about this cretin by a world leader since his wretched pontifical reign began in 2013!

While Mr. Putin and those with “eyes to see and ears to hear” recognize that “Pope Francis” is not a Christian, the current occupant of St. Peter’s Chair is disqualified for that position on theological grounds. To be a legitimate pope, one must be “bishop of Rome,” and prior to becoming a bishop, one must be a priest. Jorge Bergoglio was not ordained (1969) in the traditional Apostolic ordination rite of the Church, nor was he consecrated (1992) as a true bishop in that rite. His predecessor, Benedict XVI, was, likewise, not consecrated in the traditional rite although he was ordained as a priest under the “old rite.”

Simply put: Jorge Bergoglio is just a layman masquerading as a pope as are all of the other priests and bishops which were given Holy Orders under the new rites which came into effect in the aftermath of the Second Vatican Anti-Council (1962-65).

Not only is Pope Francis a Christian fraud as Vladimir Putin and other perceptive commentators have observed, but in secular matters he is a neo-Marxist in economic thought, a One-World Government advocate, and an enthusiast of open borders and mass migration. In other words, an enemy of what is left of Western Civilization.

If these despicable qualities are not bad enough, there is a seedier side of Bergoglio that Mr. Putin did not address. Pope Francis is now the third Paedophile Pope who has presided over the Church’s Great Sex and Embezzlement Scandal. Neither Francis, or his two derelict predecessors (Benedict XVI, JPII) have done anything to either punish or root out the child predators under their charge. On the contrary, Francis has encouraged perversion with his now infamous statement of “who am I to judge.”

The debauchery continues to take place with the latest coming right under the nose of the Argentine heretic. An apartment occupied by the secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts, Franecesco Coccopalmerio, was raided in July to break up a “gay” orgy. The police found drugs and men engaged in orgiastic sex.

Coccopalmerio, who Bergoglio had considered for promotion to bishop, was hauled away and jailed by authorities.

This came on the heels of Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s Chief Financial Officer, being charged with sex crimes against ten children. Pell has since left Rome in disgrace for his native Australia to answer the charges.

While Western Civilization is on the decline due to economic stupidity and open borders promoted by the likes of Pope Francis, there are a few bright spots, the brightest of which is Vladimir Putin. If the West is ever going to regain its sanity, it should take the sage counsel of the Russian president especially when he speaks of phonies like Pope Francis.

Despite Arab threats, thousands march around Old City walls, marking beginning of Tisha B'Av.

Thousands of Israelis converged on Jerusalem's Old City Monday night, marching around the walls of Jerusalem to commemorate the destruction of the Temple.

The event has taken place every year since 1994, but was almost canceled by the police due to fears of Arab violence. Despite information received by the police of calls on Facebook to 'Stop the settlers from walking to the Western Wall', Jerusalem Police District Commander Yoram Halevi decided not to prevent the traditional event from taking place, and gave the go-ahead.

Event organizers and Woman in Green headed co-founders Nadia Matar and Yehudit Katzover praised the decision."It is brave, moral, and the obvious thing to do" they said "It shows that the police do not submit to terrorism. Any place that is threatened by terrorism should be strengthened and protected by the police."

The evening started with a joint reading of 'Eicha' (Lamentations) in Independence Park, and continued with the participants marching around the Old City walls up to the Lions Gate, where speeches were given by Deputy Defense Minister MK Eli Ben Dahan (Jewish Home), MK Yehuda Glick (Likud), and Yishai Fleisher, International Spokesman for the Jewish Community of Hevron.

MK Glick, a noted Temple Mount activist, focused his speech on the recent terror attacks that rocked Israel. "This past year, the police have paid a very high price. Five policemen were killed here" he said. "We've gotten to the root of everything, the Temple Mount"

Glick noted the sharp increase of Jewish visitors on the Temple Mount. calling it a miracle, along with the re-settlement of Judea and Samaria saying that "The IDF can defeat its enemies in battle, but those who give them the power to win are the people tonight, mothers and children who are putting facts on the ground."

Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben Dahan echoed Glick's remarks, saying that "everyone who came here tonight proved with his feet that we want the Temple back - and quickly."

Ben Dahan also called on the government to make Jewish prayer possible on the Temple Mount.

Archaeologists believe Julias, the home of Jesus' apostles Peter, Andrew and Philip, was located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee

Archaeologists think they may have found the lost Roman city of Julias, the home of three apostles of Jesus: Peter, Andrew and Philip (John 1:44; 12:21). A multi-layered site discovered on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, in the Bethsaida Valley Nature Reserve, is the spot, the team believes.

The key discovery is of an advanced Roman-style bathhouse. That in and of itself indicates that there had been a city there, not just a fishing village, Dr. Mordechai Aviam of Kinneret College told Haaretz.

None other than the Jewish historian Josephus Flavius – in fact the only source describing this city's existence – wrote that the Jewish monarch King Philip Herod, son of the great vassal King Herod, transformed Bethsaida, which had been a Jewish fishing village, into a real Roman polis (Ant. 18:28. Though whether it was built on Bethsaida, or by it, remains unknown.)

Philip flatteringly renamed the city "Julias" after Livia Drusilla, who after marriage would become known as Julia Augusta, the mother of the Roman Emperor Tiberius.

"Josephus reported that the king had upgraded Bethsaida from a village into a polis, a proper city," Aviam says meticulously. "He didn't say it had been built on or beside or underneath it. And indeed, all this time, we have not known where it was. But the bathhouse attests to the existence of urban culture."

Josephus himself would take over fortifying Bethsaida's defenses (as reported by himself) ahead of the Great Jewish Revolt against Rome that began in 67 C.E., and would end in disaster for the Jews in 70 C.E. Josephus himself claims to have been hurt in battle in the swamp near Julias (Life 399-403).

There are actually three candidates for Julias: this one, called el-Araj; and two nearby sites by the lake. After unexpectedly finding the bathhouse and other Roman-era remains below the (previously known) Byzantine ruins at the site, the archaeologists think this site, at the delta of the River Jordan on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, is the strongest candidate.

What the archaeologists found at el-Araj is an older layer dating from the late Roman period, the 1st to 3rd centuries C.E., two meters below the Byzantine level. That Roman layer contained pottery sherds from the 1st to the 3rd centuries B.C.E., a mosaic, and the remains of the bathhouse. Two coins were found, a bronze coin from the late 2nd century and a silver denarius featuring the Emperor Nero from the year 65-66 C.E.

And has a major missing church been found too? The excavators found walls with gilded glass tesserae for a mosaic, an indication of a wealthy and important church. Willibald, the bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria, visited the Holy Land in 725 C.E., and in his itinerary, he describes his visit to a church at Bethsaida that was built over the house of Peter and Andrew. It may well be that the current excavations have unearthed evidence for that church, say the archaeologists.

A key argument in favor of el-Araj being Julias lies in a mistake about the level of the Sea of Galilee, claim the archaeologists.

Based on calculations by the excavators of nearby Magdala, most archaeologists assume that the level of the lake was 209 meters below sea level during the Roman period. They therefore assume that the site of el-Araj was under water until the Byzantine period. But either the ancient Romans had gills, or it wasn't.

The Roman layer discovered is 211 meters below sea level. The level of the lake was evidently lower than previously thought, "and el-Araj most certainly was not under water in the Roman period," they state.

Geologists Prof. Noam Greenbaum from Haifa University and Dr. Nati Bergman from the Yigal Alon Kinneret Limnological Laboratory, studied the layers of the site and concluded that the site was covered with mud and clay that were carried by the Jordan River in the late Roman period, which corresponds to a gap in material remains from about 250 C.E. to 350 C.E. Later, in the Byzantine period, the site was resettled, the archaeologists conclude. Stay tuned for further discoveries as excavations, funding permitting, continue.

Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, a leader in the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, died in 1994. But some of his followers claimed he was the Messiah and would eventually return from the dead. Now, Zev Porat, a Messianic Jewish Rabbi who preaches the Gospel, claims just such a movement is underway in his homeland of Israel.

Porat explained the story in a recent appearance on “Freedom Friday” with Carl Gallups, author of the end times examination “When The Lion Roars” and ‘The Rabbi Who Found Messiah,” an examination of the revival of Messianic Judaism in Israel. Porat explained it is this very revival of belief in Jesus Christ as the Jewish Messiah which may be inspiring the startling claims about the late Rabbi Schneerson.

“Rabbi Schneerson is one of the leaders of the Lubavitcher organization in New York and of course also in Israel,” Porat explained to Gallups. “He passed away in 1994… and right now we’re in the middle of 2017 and his followers are saying that he has resurrected and that he’s walking around somewhere right now in the world and that he’s going to appear to the people, and he’s doing a lot of miracles right now. This is really amazing. And I’ll tell you right now, Carl, it’s because they for years have been saying that Yeshua cannot be God, cannot be the Messiah because it is impossible God would manifest Himself as a man. And now, they’re doing the same thing. They’re not saying Schneerson is God but they’re glorifying him in the same way, meaning they’re actually using the words they were once using against us [Messianic Jews].”

Porat is one of the leading evangelists in the “Kaduri Revival,” a Messianic movement sparked by the revelation the esteemed rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri may have identified Yeshua, Jesus Christ, as the Jewish Messiah in a letter opened one year after the rabbi’s death. Gallups explores the story in “The Rabbi Who Found Messiah,” which was also turned into a blockbuster documentary by WND Films.

Porat’s own discovery of Messiah was dramatic, featuring an extraordinary experience he recounted to Gallups.

“I never found any fulfillment in being a religious Jew; I was just forced into being religious,” he recounted. “Then one day, I started examining the Scriptures, someone was witnessing to me. And I had a Damascus road experience like Paul. And Yeshua spoke to me in Hebrew, and confirmed to me that He is the Messiah. He spoke to me and from that time on I just had a new revelation. I knew who He was. I was born again. And God has put me into full-time ministry. I started preaching the Gospel over in Israel in the beginning, later to the nations and to the world, using Hebrew roots. And it’s very important to do that because I do witness Yeshua HaMashiach using His Hebrew name… to reach the Jewish people.”

Porat argued Jews need to be witnessed to in a way appropriate to their own cultural background.

“We [Jews] didn’t recognize who Yeshua was because He was dressed like a Catholic Pope,” Porat said wryly, alluding to how many Jews think of image of the Christian church within their community. “It’s very important that we bring back the Hebraic roots so the Jews do see who Yeshua was and who He is.”

Such a Jewish-centered approach is meeting with increasing success, claimed Porat. The emergence of a strange story about a rabbi being raised from the dead, he argued, is rooted in a crisis of confidence for Orthodox Judaism as well as the larger sense the world is on the brink of a massive change.

“I believe one of the reasons this is happening is because we’re getting close to the second coming of Yeshua HaMashiach [a term referring to Jesus often used by Messianic Jews] and because people are hungry for truth,” Porat told Gallups. “People are lost. And they’re seeing the salvations [the conversions to Messianic Judaism] in Israel, especially in the Orthodox movement, and they don’t know what to do. So they’re coming up with this method, this trick if you want to call it, and trying to deceive the people, those that are already deceived [into not recognizing Yeshua as Messiah].”

“Many of these people here in Israel, I’m talking about secular Jews are beginning to follow!” he exclaimed. “There are signs all over in Israel. People are protesting in the streets. There’s parades. You don’t know what’s going on Israel with Rabbi Schneerson here, guys. There’s signs everywhere saying he’s resurrected.

“For us it’s an opportunity to preach the Gospel, of course. But this is end times stuff. This is exactly what’s supposed to be happening. And I’ve heard in Brooklyn and New York they’re having parties and dancing in the street proclaiming he’s going to show up in Central Park or something.”

Gallups said Jesus Himself prophesied this kind of frenzy would occur before His second coming, including in Israel, “especially in Israel, especially God’s people, the Jews, would be running around saying ‘here’s the Christ, there’s the Christ!'” However, Gallups said when Jesus Christ really does come back, “you will not be able to miss that.”

Gallups said Christians are right to be concerned because it is a “false Christ” and a “false hope” which is being offered to those Jews who believe these wild rumors. However, he sees a silver lining.

“The exciting thing is it does open up opportunities, especially to speak to Orthodox Jews in Israel, of the true Christ,” said Gallups. “And the very things they have been condemning Christians for, about Jesus and the resurrection, and appearing after the resurrection and performing miracles, they have been condemning Christians for and now they’re proclaiming the very same thing with Rabbi Schneerson.”

Porat said though the Schneerson story is sad, because it isn’t true, he argued it is important for missionaries not to condemn Jews for believing it. Instead of trying to angrily rebut the stories, he said, it is better to preach the Gospel.

And both Porat and Gallups agreed this strange story is a sign of larger developments on the way.

“If this isn’t tied to last days prophecies and fulfilling exactly what Jesus said would happen, I don’t know what is,” concluded Gallups.

WASHINGTON – Some among modern people regard the book of Genesis as a “myth,” but what if evidence exists for the creation story beyond the Bible?

What if non-Christians kept historical records detailing the biblical account of creation?

In the new book “Genesis Characters and Events in Ancient Greek Art,” Robert Bowie Johnson, Jr., outlines the plethora of evidence in Greek art that backs the Genesis story.

According to Johnson, “Ancient Greek religious art boasts of the triumph of the way of Cain over Noah and his God-fearing offspring after the flood, telling the same story as the early chapters of the book of Genesis.”

“The Greeks remembered the original paradise calling it the Garden of the Hesperides, always depicting it with a serpent-entwined apple tree. The book of Genesis doesn’t say what kind of fruit it was: It’s from the Greek tradition we get the idea that Eve ate an apple,” Johnson continues.

The evidence for Johnson’s claims are vast: numerous works of art and Greek legends mirror the account found in Genesis.

“Both the Judeo-Christian tradition and the Greek religious tradition insist that their respective first couples came from an ancient paradise with a serpent-entwined fruit tree. Two opposite spiritual standpoints – the former looking to the Creator as the source of truth, and the latter looking to the serpent for it – share the same factual basis,” Johnson posits.

On this vase from 350 B.C., one of the Hesperides, Greek nymphs, tends to a serpent as another tends to a tree. The parallel to Genesis is obvious here.

On the eastern pediment of the Pantheon, the great Greek temple, a serpent-entwined tree can be seen to the right of a group of Hesperides.

Johnson is not saying pagan depictions of the Genesis creation are correct, but rather that they show the historical reality of the Garden of Eden.

“On one hand, ancient Greek ancestor worship with its exaltation of the serpent’s “enlightenment” contradicts the teaching of the word of God; on the other, if properly understood – as we see in the many Greek depictions of the ancient garden paradise – it reinforces the truth about our origins as revealed in the early chapters of Genesis,” Johnson explains.

“Genesis Characters and Events in Ancient Greek Art” contains more than 140 color images from ancient Greek temple and vase art, a treasure trove of evidence.

Experts currently scanning the Great Pyramid of Giza believe that there is at least one secret chamber hidden inside. They say they have detected “cavities” inside the monument that could prove what many assume are hidden rooms containing 4,000-year-old secrets.

A project called ScanPyramids uses infrared thermography, and various other techniques to search for hidden chambers inside the Great Pyramid of Giza. So far, experts have found several anomalies inside the pyramid and say they could soon reveal their contents.

Using Infrared Thermography, scientists detect energy emitted from an object converting it into temperature. It displays an image of the temperature distribution, allowing experts to detect objects that are hidden.

Experts also use 3D scans with lasers. Lasers bounce narrow pulses of light off the interiors of a structure in order to create a detailed map. Once experts complete the scanning, obtained data can be converted into an extremely detailed 3D model.

And last but not least, scientists use Cosmic-ray detectors. This allows scientists to detect muons that are created when cosmic rays crash against our planet’s atmosphere. Muons are completely harmless and pass through people and buildings with ease. Muons pass through rock and other dense materials but eventually slow down and come to a stop. Scientists want to catch muons after they’ve traveled through a strcuture—like a pyramid—and measure their trajectories and energy. This can help scientists create a #d image that can reveal hidden chambers.

Researchers with ScanPyramids hope solve numerous enigmas surrounding the Great Pyramid.

It is understood how one of the “voids” is hidden behind the north face of the Pyramid. “It could have the form of at least one corridor going inside the Great Pyramid,” Scan Pyramid reported last year.
However, scientists now also believe they may be a second hidden void located beneath one of the descending corridors inside the Great Pyramid of Giza.

‘All the devices we put in place are intended to find where the cavity is located. We know there is one, but we’re trying to find out where,’ said Mehdi Tayoubi, chairman of the HIP Institute overseeing the ScanPyramids project.

The Great Pyramid of Giza is one of the most impressive ancien structures on the surface of the planet and remained the tallest man-made structure on earth for nearly 4,000 years. And is the only surviving monument from the ancient Seven Wonders of the World.

Last October experts announced that the Great Pyramid m ay contain several undiscovered recesses, but experts say that its still not clear what these hidden rooms may contain. However, the technology currently un use could help archaeologists in the near future “take a look inside an ancient Egyptian time capsule,” which could help sole many mysteries surrounding the civilization of the river Nile.

Depending on what experts find out at the Great Pyramid of Giza, archaeologists hope to use similar techniques and tools to locate the eternal resting place of legendary Queen Nefertiti, wife of Akhenaten—one of the most controversial rulers ever to rule over ancient Egypt.

After Decades of Searching, the Causeway for the Great Pyramid of Egypt has been Found

Dozens of foreign missions carried out over three decades using the latest high-tech instruments failed to find the causeway of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Now, unexpectedly, the passage has finally been located by a local resident living near the Giza Plateau... when he discovered a tunnel leading to the Pyramid of Khufu. For now, very little information has been released regarding the discovery of the passageway leading to the Great Pyramid in Giza.

A Spanish-Italian archaeological team, in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, has made an incredible discovery in the necropolis of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, on the West Bank at Thebes, Egypt – an enormous ancient reproduction of the mythical Tomb of Osiris as described by Egyptian legend, complete with multiple shafts and chambers.

The tomb embodies all the features of the tomb of Osiris, as told in ancient Egyptian legends

“The symbolism of Osiris is very evident here, since all the elements recalling the mythical Osiris tomb are present,” writes Luxor Times Magazine

Most Bible scholars who study Bible prophecy concur that Apollyon/Osiris/Nimrod are the same entity only referred to by different names.

The information below will give more insight into the importance of these recent discoveries.

“Rudolf Steiner in his Egyptian Myths and Mysteries further acknowledged: “The Greeks… recognized that Osiris was the same as the god whom they called Apollo.” Convincing evidence also exists that even further back in time the historical figure upon whom these myths were based was the legendary King Enmerkar of Uruk, known in the Bible as Nimrod. Peter Goodgame makes reference to this in The Giza Discovery:

“And just who is this Greek god Apollyon who makes his strange appearance in the book of Revelation? Charles Penglase is an Australian professor who specializes in ancient Greek and Near Eastern religion and mythology. In his book, Greek Myths and Mesopotamia: Parallels and Influence in the Homeric Hymns and Hesiod, Penglase carefully and methodically demonstrates that the Greek myths and legends of Apollo were simply Greek retellings of the Babylonian myths involving the rise to power of the god Marduk, which were themselves based on earlier legends of the Sumerian hunter/hero known as Ninurta. Furthermore, according to David Rohl, the original name for Ninurta was in fact Nimurda, whose historical identity can be traced back to King Enmerkar of Uruk, the very same figure who is known in the Bible as Nimrod.”

Rudolf Steiner in his Egyptian Myths and Mysteries further acknowledged: “The Greeks… recognized that Osiris was the same as the god whom they called Apollo.” [9] Convincing evidence also exists that even further back in time the historical figure upon whom these myths were based was the legendary King Enmerkar of Uruk, known in the Bible as Nimrod. Peter Goodgame makes reference to this in The Giza Discovery.

"Belief that these gods—or more accurately the single entity represented by these many names—would return to rule the earth one day, is not limited to Masonic mystics or the divine manifestation from the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians (2 Thessalonians 2:3). The return of these gods “to an active and outward position as rulers of mankind is predicted in the Asclepius,” notes Peter Goodgame, “which is predicted to come after the long period of spiritual decline in Egypt.”

The prophecy Goodgame refers to from the ancient Asclepius says: “Those gods who rule the earth will be restored, and they will be installed in a city at the furthest threshold of Egypt, which will be founded towards the setting sun and to which all human kind will hasten by land and by sea.”

Goodgame notes the physical whereabouts of the “city” in this prophecy, it is the Giza Plateau, as located by Garth Fowden in his book, The Egyptian Hermes.

“… in answer to Asclepius enquiry where these gods are at the moment, Trismegistus replies (at Ascl. 27): ‘In a very great city, in the mountains of Libya (in monte Libyco)’, by which is meant the edge of the desert plateau to the west of the Nile valley. A subsequent reference (Ascl. 37) to the temple and tomb of Asclepius (Imhotep) in monte Libyae establishes that the allusion at Ascl. 27 is to the ancient and holy Memphite necropolis, which lay on the desert jabal to the west of Memphis itself.”

“The ‘mountains of Libya,’” Goodgame concludes, “is simply a reference to the plateau that rises above the desert on the west bank of the Nile, west of the ancient city of Memphis. In other words, according to this Hermetic prediction, when the Kosmokrators are ‘restored’ they will be ‘installed in a city’ on or near the Giza Plateau.”

Will the ancient super-man Apollo-Osiris rise from a hidden tomb at the Giza Plateau, as Goodgame believes may be the case? If so, the Asclepius could have been more than a pagan prophecy. It may have been a record pointing to where the body of the ‘god’ was stored in times past. Do the occult masters already know this, and is this why an unfinished pyramid adorns the Great Seal of the United States, over which the portentous eye of Apollo-Osiris glares from the ancient past? Has DNA been recovered from Giza that is needed for the return of this god? Will a forbidden ‘science’ that once allowed incarnation and ‘deity’ status to powerful fallen beings be restored in this modern age? Prophecy may suggest exactly this, and for the immediate future.”

Scientists admit they really have no idea what 75% of human genetic code is actually used for

(Natural News) A new study has found that three-fourths of the human genome is non-functional or “junk DNA,” which might mean it doesn’t do anything … or it could just mean that scientists have no idea what it is used for yet. They do know, however, what it doesn’t do: These garbled sequences of nucleotides do not encode the proteins responsible for our bodies’ chemical reactions.

In the 1950s, it was widely assumed that most DNA coded for proteins, but over the years it has become clear that only a portion of a genome is responsible for encoding functional proteins. The term “junk DNA” was first used in 1972 to refer to DNA that has no known function.

University of Houston researchers, led by Dan Graur, used mathematical calculations to determine that only somewhere between 10 and 25 percent of our DNA is functional. They made their calculations using the deleterious mutation rate, which is the rate of harmful mutations, along with the replacement fertility rate. The study was published in Genome Biology and Evolution.

This is in contrast to the ENCODE study of 2012, which claimed that as much as 80 percent of our DNA was functional. That study garnered some criticism for its broad definition of the term “functional.” For Graur’s purposes, DNA that is functional is the part that has evolved to have important evolutionary effects and has a function that is maintained through natural selection.

Graur does not believe the claims of the ENCODE study and dismissed it by saying, “They had spent $400 million, they wanted something big to say.”

Graur believes that a setup with a lower percentage of functional DNA is actually better for humankind’s evolutionary prospects because it exposes less DNA to the risk of mutation, which boosts one’s chances of early death. The non-functional DNA cannot be affected by mutations because it can neither be improved nor damaged. [RELATED: Government study deems gene editing a national security threat.]

He says that if the majority of human DNA was functional, people would accumulate lots of damaging mutations and would need to hit unrealistic birth rates in order to sustain the population.

“For 80 percent of the human genome to be functional, each couple in the world would have to beget on average 15 children and all but two would have to die or fail to reproduce,” he said.

According to historical population records, each couple per generation has had to produce a little more than two children in order to keep a stable population size. Over the past 200,000 years, the maintenance fertility rate has hovered between 2.1 and 3.0 children per couple; the global population remained pretty much static until infant mortality rates fell and fertility rates exceeded replacement levels in the 19th century.

Graur claims that knowing the exact amount of DNA that is functional could help biomedical researchers to focus their efforts only on the parts that could prevent or cure diseases rather than sequencing everything.

This estimate dovetails with a 2014 study that compared the human genome with that of other species and determined that around 8 percent is functional.

One of the authors of that study, The University of Edinburgh’s Chris Ponting, said that the two findings were supportive of each other, adding, “We are walking around with a genome where only 1 in 10 bases actually matters.”

Meanwhile, the University of Guelph’s Ryan Gregory says that we simply do not know just how much of human DNA has non-sequence related functions. He concedes that a lot of it could be “junk,” but cautions that we don’t yet know just how much DNA carries a non-sequence related function, adding that some parts of DNA are still useful despite having no important sequence.

Modification of genes in human embryos could mark turning point in human evolution

It appears, by all accounts, to be a momentous scientific achievement – and possibly a turning point in human evolution. In a study released last week, scientists at Oregon Health and Science University confirmed they were able to modify genes in viable human embryos, proving the potential to permanently alter the makeup of a genetic line.

In this case, that meant replacing and repairing a mutated gene that causes a common and deadly heart disorder. But the possibilities heralded by gene-editing technology are endless, the scenarios as divided as they are bold. In some visions, it leads to a population of designer babies or “consumer eugenics.” Others imagine a utopia of scientific advancement where humans live free of disease, and devastating conditions are eradicated for the betterment of humanity. What direction the technology will take is the topic of much debate.

“The big thing which is making the scientific and ethics community get excited, and on the other hand a little bit hot and bothered, is it’s a mechanism to change genes for multiple generations,” says Dr. Alice Virani, a genetic counsellor and director of ethics at British Columbia’s Provincial Health Services Authority. “There are two ways to look at it, the more realistic ramifications and the sci-fi, if-this-was-out-of-control ramifications.”

TEL AVIV – If the Islamic State is destroyed, the situation in the Middle East could end up being even more dire with the emergence of an “Iranian radical empire” in its wake, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger warned in an article published by CapX this week.

Kissinger cautioned that in the case of IS and Iran, the old aphorism “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” no longer holds water, since driving out the Sunni terror group would leave a “territorial belt reaching from Tehran to Beirut” that Iranian-trained Shia forces could occupy.

Across large areas of Iraq and Syria, an ideologically radical religious army, Isis, has declared itself a relentless foe of modern civilisation, seeking violently to replace the international system’s multiplicity of states with a single Islamic empire governed by Sharia law. In these circumstances, the traditional adage that the enemy of your enemy can be regarded as your friend no longer applies. In the contemporary Middle East, the enemy of your enemy may also be your enemy. The Middle East affects the world by the volatility of its ideologies as much as by its specific actions.

The outside world’s war with Isis can serve as an illustration. Most non-Isis powers — including Shia Iran and the leading Sunni states — agree on the need to destroy it. But which entity is supposed to inherit its territory? A coalition of Sunnis? Or a sphere of influence dominated by Iran? The answer is elusive because Russia and the Nato countries support opposing factions. If the Isis territory is occupied by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards or Shia forces trained and directed by it, the result could be a territorial belt reaching from Tehran to Beirut, which could mark the emergence of an Iranian radical empire.

The 94-year-old former secretary of state has in the past warned that the Middle East will “explode” if the “domination of the region by an Iran that is both imperial and jihadist” is allowed to continue.

Mozilla Joins George Soros’s Efforts In Launching A Strike Against “Fake News”

Mozilla, the non-profit organization which runs the Firefox internet browser, said Wednesday it was launching an effort against “fake news,” as fact-checking software backed by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and George Soros got its first run-out in public to shape our Orwellian nightmare of future truth arbiters.

Mozilla said it was “investing in people, programs and projects” in a new initiative to “disrupt misinformation online” calling for a “Mozilla Information Trust Initiative,” or MITI for short, Business Insider reported.

They further stated the “internet’s ability to power democratic society suffers greatly” because of fabricated stories, such as the “Pope endorsing Donald Trump for the U.S. presidency” or a “dead FBI agent killed in a mysterious fire with information on former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton” – just two examples of stories that turned out to be bogus.

Mozilla’s innovations director, Katharina Borchert, told AFP that the organization was working on tools for Firefox and better online education with media groups, universities, and tech activists.

The “Mozilla Information Trust Initiative” comes just as an automated real-time fact-checking engine dubbed the “bullshit detector” was demonstrated in London.

The group that created the fact-checking engine, Full Fact foundation, is backed by Omidyar and our favorite billionaire tycoon Soros.

The organization stated its software is “capable” of spotting lies in real-time and was used to fact-check a live debate at the House of Commons. How that objective was achieved isn’t clear since it’s likely automated A.I., but algorithms are not 100% accurate.

“As the proponents of propaganda and misinformation become more sophisticated in their use of technology, it is important that fact checkers do not fall behind in our fight against it,” Full Fact said.

“This is an important investment in the future of fact-checking,” Stephen King, of the Omidyar Network, told The Guardian.

“You only have to look at the number of initiatives that have risen up to address this challenge, either by tech companies or other organizations to see how worrying this phenomenon is to so many,” Borchert added.

I worry more about those who want to act as fact checkers, blatantly ignoring propaganda and fake news by the MSM while targeting alternative media and dictating what is and isn’t important for public consumption.

“Whether it’s become a big enough priority is perhaps a better question,” Borchert said, arguing that it was time for rival news organizations to “rally around” each other to confront the spread of fake news.

Then you have Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales, planning to launch a crowd-funded news service called Wikitribune to help combat fake news.

So you have all these people, some of whom have even once advocated for a free and open Internet, now advocating for controlling the flow of information under the moniker of “fake news.”

How about all the fake news spread by the CIA and intelligence services called planted propaganda usually for pushing war? Especially as a new report questions the veracity of claims made by a shady firm Cloudstrike that “Russia hacked the election” – how about that fake news?

Putting the future of what we believe in anyone’s hands, let alone artificial intelligence, seems reckless; but a system backed by Soros and Omidyar seems like a dangerously stupid idea that can only lead to a path paved toward Orwellian censorship the likes of which even George Orwell couldn’t have imagined.

Russia suggests America has NEVER landed on the moon and calls for 'an investigation into what really happened'

A Russian official has has cast doubt on the first moon landings and demanded an investigation into what really happened after original Nasa footage of the event disappeared.

Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the Russian government's Investigative Committee, says he wants an inquiry after the video from 1969 and a piece of lunar rock, which was brought back to earth, went missing.

In an opinion piece in the Russian newspaper Izvestia, Mr Markin says that such an inquiry is vital to reveal new insights into the historical space journey.

Russian official Vladimir Markin has demanded an investigation into the first moon landing after original footage of the event went missing
According to the translation in the Moscow Times, Mr Markin claimed Russia were ‘not contending that they did not fly (to the moon) and simply made a film about it.'

But his comments are certain to be seen as a deliberate attempt to suggest there is reason to doubt the lunar landing was real – especially as he also attacked the US investigation into FIFA corruption.

It also comes despite Nasa admitting six years ago that the footage no longer existed after accidentally being erased.

Mr Markin said: 'All of these scientific - or perhaps cultural - artefacts are part of the legacy of humanity, and their disappearance without a trace is our common loss.

In 2009, Nasa said that it it probably erased its only high resolution images of the first moonwalk to make room for electronic data from a satellite.

It means the only original pictures that remain from the mission are the snowy, grainy images of Neil Armstrong's 'giant leap for mankind'.

Speaking at the time, Dick Nafzger, a video engineer at Nasa said: 'The inescapable conclusion is that the recordings are no longer.

'I don’t think anyone in the Nasa organisation did anything wrong. It slipped through the cracks, and nobody’s happy about it.'

His findings follow an exhaustive four-year search through archives and tens of thousands of boxes stored in dusty basements for 45 so-called 'lost tapes' from the Apollo 11 mission.

Also in his opinion piece, Mr Markin criticised the U.S. for launching a corruption probe into officials at football's world governing body, Fifa.

He wrote of how American prosecutors had 'declared themselves as supreme arbiters of international football' adding they had 'confused political bargaining with corruption'.

It comes after Fifa president Sepp Blatter announced he would stand down after allegations top officials took bribes in awarding the tournaments to host nations.

EU threatens to kick Poland out after the country demanded Germany pay it huge reparations for WWII amid escalating row

Donald Tusk has said Poland's future inside the EU is 'uncertain' amid an escalating row with the country's ruling conservative party.

The European Council President, who was the country's Prime Minister until 2014, said he 'understands' the concerns of Poles who are fearful about the direction their country is taking.

President Andrzej Duda and his Law and Justice party have been accused of undermining democracy as they exert growing control over state media, and attempt to seize power from the judiciary.

Tusk spoke in Warsaw after testifying in a case related to the 2010 plane crash that killed President Lech Kaczynski and 95 other senior officials.

Some see the trial as a politically-motivated attempt to discredit Tusk driven by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of the Law and Justice party and the twin brother of the dead former President.

'I do understand emotions of Poles who are concerned about courts, or Poland's future in the EU.'

Kaczynski holds no government position but is widely seen as the man who directs all major government decisions.

Ahead of Thursday's questioning in Warsaw, Kaczynski warned that Tusk 'should be afraid'.

Kaczynski has also suggested that Germany should pay 'huge' reparations to Poland for crimes committed by the Nazis during the Second World War.

'We are talking about huge sums and also the fact that the Germans have for years rejected their responsibility for World War II,' he said.

While tensions between Tusk and Kaczynski have been simmering for years, the latest crisis was caused when his party attempted to reform the Supreme Court.

The government recently attempted to pass a bill that would allow ministers to force Supreme Court judges into retirement before picking their replacements.

It passed both houses of the national assembly and was only stopped after widespread protests pressured President Dudas into vetoing it, in a major snub to Kaczynski.

Tusk's centrist Civic Platform party was in power for eight years until the Law and Justice party won the 2015 elections and swiftly moved to introduce reforms.

Although some Poles view their judiciary as corrupt and dominated by communist-era ways of thinking, others see the PiS-driven reform efforts as a power grab inimical to democracy.

'There are plenty of issues where the Polish government's actions seem very controversial from the point of view of the whole EU. Including Budapest, sometimes,' Tusk said.

Hungary, normally Poland's ally, voted for Tusk's re-election to the top EU post in March, disappointing the PiS.

Tusk also criticised Prime Minister Beata Szydlo's government over the logging in the primeval Bialowieza Forest.

The European Court of Justice ordered an immediate halt to the logging last week, saying that Warsaw's attitude in the case hinted at 'a prelude to an announcement that Poland does not need the European Union and the European Union does not need Poland.'

‘Germany in three days and France in one hour’ Shock threat to EU from Erdogan backers

WARMONGERING rhetoric is being spewed by Turkey towards Europe after a newspaper close to the Turkish regime declared the country could overrun Germany in three days.

Newspaper Yeni Söz, closely aligned to the government, made the outlandish claim on the front page of its daily newspaper.

Carrying the provocative headline "Turkey can occupy Europe within 3 days”, the move is the latest in a political spat between Ankara and Berlin.

Turkey has been vying to join the EU for more than a decade, with official negotiants to become a member dragging into their 12th year.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attempted to use the migrant crisis as a bargaining chip, striking a deal with Brussels over the crisis in exchange for political sweeteners, which included kick-starting their membership bid.

But relations have turned sour with the EU, in particular Germany, and the two countries have been engaged in a public spat over the past few months.

The paper’s absurd claims appear to be a no more than a childish dig at Berlin, as it is a feat unlikely to be achieved.

Despite the outlandish statement, the paper attempts to back up its declaration by building their theory on a thesis of the American political scientist George Friedman, founder of the geopolitics institute Stratfor.

The paper said: "Friedman said the Turks could defeat Germany in one afternoon and France in one hour, if they have the courage to fight.

“If you believe the international research institute Gallup, that asked people if they would fight for their country, then the Europeans have already taken out the white flags in the event of a war.

"Germany is abandoned by its citizens. If we start in the morning, we can have our evening prayer in Bellevue Castle.”

The paper references a two-year-old survey which reportedly gaged how likely citizens were to fight for their country.

They pointed towards the results which said 18 per cent of Germans would fight for their country, compared to 29 per cent of the French and 27 per cent of the British.

That same month he called the EU “a continent that is rotting in every which way”.

And he also made reference to going to war with the EU, saying in another interview: "If you continue to behave like this, not a single European will be able to securely take a step on a road anywhere in the world by tomorrow.”

The bitter row between Germany and Turkey has seen relations steadily deteriorate.

Recently Berlin issued new travel warnings for tourists visiting the country, and foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel said he could no longer guarantee investment in Turkey following accusations made by Mr Erdogan.

The president accused German companies of colluding with the man he views as his political enemy - and who he suspects was behind the failed coup last year - Fethullah Gülen.

And in a painful move for Ankara, Mr Gabriel added he would discuss with other EU leaders the prospect of reviewing pre-accession funds being offered.

There’s a new kind of “privilege” in town, and if you suffer from it, you can’t help it any more than you can help your skin color or your gender. (Although, of late, gender seems to be completely open to debate and have nothing to do with biology.) If you are an intelligent person, you have “cognitive privilege” according to an op-ed in the Daily Iowan.

With all the “privileges” out there that need to be kept in check, may God help you if you are white, male, attractive, and smart. You are public enemy #1 to the social justice set, you privileged scumbag.

I’ll let the author, Dan Williams, explain cognitive privilege because I couldn’t possibly do it justice in a summary:

We now know that intelligence is not something we have significant control over but is something we are born with. We are living in a society in which success is increasingly linked to one’s intelligence. This is not to say that intelligence is the only factor that is important. All that is implied is that below a certain threshold of intelligence, there are fewer and fewer opportunities. These opportunities are being shifted upward to jobs that require heavier cognitive lifting or else are being replaced by robots. Thus, the accident of having been born smart enough to be able to be successful is a great benefit that you did absolutely nothing to earn. Consequently, you have nothing to be proud of for being smart.

So, in other words, if you’re not that smart, your job may be taken by a robot, and that isn’t your fault. I assume that this will eventually lead to the assumption that if you cognitively “disabled,” the world probably owes you something. Because we’re all about “fairness” in the United States, right? RIGHT?

Furthermore, if you are smart, in the wise (cough) words of former President Obama, “You didn’t build that.” You just hit the genetic lottery and should be humbled (and perhaps a little embarrassed) as opposed to proud.

Will this be the next thing that kiboshes people who deserve it from getting a job? “We wanted to hire her, but she is smart. We have already exceeded our quota of cognitively privileged individuals, so we’ll have to go hire that dumb guy or we’ll be breaking labor laws.”

Sometimes there is so much ridiculous stuff out there that you all must just think, “She has to be making this up.” Oh, that I was so creative. Nope, this is the society in which we dwell, with one ridiculous outrage on top of another.

Disregard the fact that you could do something about your lack of cognitive privilege.

Of course, none of this takes into account the possibilities we all have to improve our lots in life. Between libraries and the internet, opportunities abound to learn more about basically any topic you want. Perhaps you won’t end up being a neurosurgeon, but what is stopping you from being an expert on some other topic that perhaps takes a brain with common sense as opposed to book sense?

If we all devoted our time to improving ourselves, instead of watching reality television and walking around with our faces and thumbs firmly engaged with our cell phones, perhaps the “cognitive privilege” of those who do focus on learning would not provide so great a disparity amongst our opportunities.

So much of this is a choice about how we spend the hours in our days. It’s about our drive and the habits we intentionally develop.

Williams doesn’t want you to feel too guilty if you are intelligent. Just the right amount of guilt will do:

The purpose of pointing out someone’s privilege is to remind them of the infinite number of experiences that are possible and the very large number of experiences that are actual [sic] that they know very little about. The purpose is to enlarge their moral consciousness, to make them more sympathetic to people who are less fortunate than they are.

Feelings of guilt are natural when coming to consciousness of one’s place in the scheme of things — and noticing that one has been conferred benefits through sheer accident — but guilt is an impediment to social-justice action, not a motivator (guilt slides easily into resentment).

Okay, isn’t that possibly the worst kind of condescension that ever existed? You know how feminists always talk about men with whom they work “mansplaining” something to them and how it infuriates them? Wouldn’t “smartsplaining” and moral sympathy be every bit as infuriating to one without “cognitive privilege?”

I don’t know about you, but if I had a “disability” the last thing in the world I would want is sympathy. Particularly if my disability was that I was stupid, I wouldn’t want the intellectual elite fawning over me superciliously.

A while back, I wrote an article called The Great American Butthurt and it was all about how much I loathe any word ending in “ism.”

Words to express our affront are being made up left and right by the mere addition of “ism” to the ends of what were formerly perfectly neutral words. It seems like pundits can take basically any word and add “ism” to the end of it and that means they’re being slighted. The list of isms could go on and on, but instead of promoting more equality, all they’re doing is promoting more division. Isn’t that divisionism?

Personally, I’m affronted by the constant barrage of affronts. When did we, as a nation, become such weenies? How is it that such a collection of whiners has become the vocal majority? Certain people are constantly offended and demand the attention of others so they can express the epic level of their personal offendedness.

So vast is the recent level of Great American Butthurt that no mainstream news outlet is complete without breathlessly exposing a secret “ism” each day. These secret “isms” are called “microaggressions,” defined as “the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership.”

How can our country ever again expect to be united when we are constantly divided by a never-ending series of isms and privileges? What if we just stop labeling everyone and everything and just be human beings with choices and personal responsibility for those choices?

I’m not denying that racism and sexism exist – of course, they do – but why would people spend so much time focusing on some perceived negative instead of focusing on the positive aspects of self-improvement? I’m also not denying that being an intelligent person makes it easier to succeed, but there are plenty of very bright people who can’t make a go of it.

When everything is an ism or a privilege, doesn’t that take away from the true, serious issues that exist? If everyone is so busy competing for victimhood, don’t the actual victims get drowned out in the roar? And if everyone is angry at everyone else for accusations about isms and privileges, it’s a pretty good bet folks will never be able to get along.

Success isn’t about your privileges or your lack of isms. It’s about your drive. It’s about the choices that you make.

We can get out there and make opportunities happen or we can complain about it. Guess which decision will make you more successful?

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”
(Luke 21:28)

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