“And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.”
(Ezekiel 33:33)

It Will Come

Dear Friends,

Greetings! Many of the news articles posted below almost sound as though they could be used as reference points for several of the prophetic books of the Bible.

Headlines such as:

“‘The foundations of Christian civilization are crumbling’

Leading British cleric speaks of how the nightmare of moral anarchy could become a reality”,

“Church 'is on the brink of extinction': Ex-Archbishop George Carey warns of Christianity crisis”.

“And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he (the antichrist) shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.” Daniel 12:7

Jews and Muslims to share al-Aqsa Mosque?

Israel braces for reaction to proposed law that would allow Jews to pray in the grounds of Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque.

He shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain.” Daniel 11:45

'Comet of the century' set to light up the night sky as it skirts just 600,000 miles from the sun - if it avoids being vapourised by 2,700-degree heat. Comet ISON will skirt 150 times closer than us to the sun on November 28. It will either light up in a magnificent spectacle... or be vapourised. Comet has already become visible without a telescope for the first time. Some scientists have even claimed it could shine brighter than the moon.

Sun will 'flip upside down' within weeks, says Nasa

The sun’s magnetic field will reverse polarity at some point in the coming weeks, sending ripples to the edge of interstellar space

“Fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.” Luke 21:11

“Scientists: We Can’t Do Anything About The Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs That Will Soon Kill Millions Of Us”

“...and pestilences” (a contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating; especially bubonic plague..Dictionary) Luke 21:11

“Did the Philippines become a target of Weather Weapons?”

Is this possible that typhoon Haiyan was caused by the use of sophisticated weather manipulation technology?

It has been said the devil has no original ideas, he can only imitate what he has seen God is able to do.

Has God used weather manipulation to accomplish His will? Yes, many times in the past and He will continue to do so in the future.

“And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.” Zechariah 14:16-19

“The bloody disaster of Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan is laid bare

Bombs and militia violence make clear the folly of Britain's wars – the removal of law and order from a nation is devastating”

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Matthew 24:6

“Houston Anthropologist Reveals Irrefutable Proof that Recorded History Is Wrong”

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. There were giants in the earth in those days.” Matthew 24:37 Genesis 6:4

It would seem we are getting close, very close to the rise of the antichrist, the seven year covenant, the three and one half years of the Church going through the Tribulation and finally the return of Jesus and the rapture and resurrection.

We will end our introduction this week with comforting verses from Psalm 91.

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.”

Psalm 91:1-10

Have a great week ahead.

***

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA 
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

‘The foundations of Christian civilization are crumbling’

Leading British cleric speaks of how the nightmare of moral anarchy could become a reality

By Charles Gardner

Special to ASSIST News Service

DONCASTER, UK (ANS) -- The “red line” has been crossed in Britain as the foundations of Western civilization crumble, a leading clergyman has stated. And as “a spirit of madness” grips the nations, he said, European Christians may well be driven underground in the very near future.

Dr. Clifford Hill during an interviewIn a paper on the current world scene released on behalf of Issachar Ministries (www.issacharministries.co.uk), which seeks to understand the times in which we live, Dr. Clifford Hill, a sociologist and theologian, pointed out that almost half of Britain’s babies were now born out of wedlock as opposed to just five per cent in the 1960s.

A prolific author of more than 30 books and also a Congregational minister, Dr. Hill has been conducting research into family breakdown for more than 30 years and says: “All the research shows that the children of fragmented families are more likely to do badly at school, have health problems, emotional or behavioural problems, are less likely to get good jobs, and will have a poor record in forming stable relationships which, of course, greatly increases the instability of the next generation.

“What we are seeing happening in the nation is the crumbling of the value system of society. This means that personal and social values are breaking down at an alarming rate because children are not being taught the basics of right and wrong. The world of confused morality into which they are born gives them no clear teaching to guide their behaviour. They are left to work out their own rules which are inevitably defined by what they perceive to be ‘self-interest’ and getting what they want.

“This is incredibly serious for the future of the nation because it means that the next generation will be even more unstable. They will lack a basic code of behaviour or standards to guide their personal relationships which means that everyone will do what is right in their own eyes.

“This kind of moral anarchy is a nightmare scenario that is not just a fantasy in a Hollywood horror movie. It will actually become a reality in Britain if family life continues to disintegrate at the current rate.”

Vandalism on a massive scale – and at the hands of a king no less – has left beautiful Rievaulx Abbey (pictured above) in ruins. Now our new leaders are attempting to do the same with our Christian foundations as a whole. 
(Photo: Charles Gardner)Now the European Parliament has proposed the surveillance of any EU citizen suspected of being “intolerant”, to which Dr Hill responds: “This really is the death of free speech and is yet another blow directed at Bible-believing Christians who would dare to speak out against anything that might offend anybody else.”

One of the statements in Section 4 of the EU document says “There is no need to be tolerant to the intolerant”.

Dr. Hill said, “It is a spirit of madness that is gripping the nations and driving us towards destruction. It looks as though Christianity may very well be driven underground in the very near future. It is therefore essential that Christian parents and grandparents teach their children the faith so that they will be able to stand firm through the coming onslaught.”

He said that Christians would have to learn to live in Babylon (a figure of speech for hedonism and godlessness) for a season until the tide inevitably turns amid the chaos.

Young schoolchildren in the UKAnd if I might make a personal observation, the “spirit of madness” to which Dr. Hill refers seems also to have gripped our educationalists who are now proposing that children start full-time school at the age of two!

Clearly they have forgotten what education is all about – teaching children what is right and wrong so that they can best contribute to the building up of a healthy and integrated society where the needs of others should come before their own. This is the basis of the Christian civilization now crumbling around our ears under the weight of sycophantic political correctness, cocking a snook [a derisive gesture] at the faith that motivated philanthropists in Britain to start education for all in the first place.

Shame on our leaders in Britain! And shame on us for putting up with it with little more than a squeak of protest!

Note: Issachar Ministries derives its name from the tribe of Issachar who “understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chronicles 12.32). This ministry seeks to bring Biblical teaching on current issues in the life of the nation (and internationally) by understanding the times, listening to the Lord and knowing what should be done.

***

MailOnline

Church 'is on the brink of extinction': Ex-Archbishop George Carey warns of Christianity crisis

• Lord Carey said Church of England is at risk if 'urgent' action is not taken

• He warned Church could be just one generation away from extinction

• The 78-year-old Reverend laid the blame at the feet of Church leaders

• He said should they be 'ashamed' of their failure to bring youngsters in

• Lord Carey's stark message has been echoed by the Archbishop of York

• The former Archbishop stepped down from Lambeth Palace in 2002

By STEVE DOUGHTY

PUBLISHED: 11:36 EST, 18 November 2013 | UPDATED: 20:46 EST, 18 November 2013

We ought to be ashamed: Reverend Dr George Carey said the Church had failed to invest in younger generations and now risked extinction

The Church of England is just 'one generation away from extinction', the former Archbishop of Canterbury said yesterday.

Lord Carey laid the blame at the feet of Church leaders who he said should be 'ashamed' of their failure to bring youngsters into their services.

His stark message was echoed by the Archbishop of York, who told the General Synod that compared to the need to attract new worshippers, 'everything else is like re-arranging furniture when the house is on fire'.

The Most Reverend John Sentamu told the Synod – where leaders will debate how to persuade traditionalists to accept women bishops – that they spent too long 'arguing over words and phrases, while the people of England are left floundering amid meaninglessness, anxiety and despair'.

Lord Carey, who stepped down from Lambeth Palace in 2002, remains among the most high-profile campaigners for Christianity in the country.

He said: 'We ought to be ashamed of ourselves. We are one generation away from extinction – if we do not invest in young people there is going to be no one in the future.'

The series of high-level warnings about a looming crisis comes at a time when Christian belief and the Church of England appear under attack on a number of fronts.

Recent census figures have shown a decline of more than 10 per cent in a decade in numbers of people who call themselves Christian, and the courts have rejected a series of pleas from Christians for respect from the law for their beliefs.

Last month one of the country's most senior judges delivered a further blow. President of the Family Division Sir James Munby declared the courts are not Christian and 'the days are past when the business of judges was the enforcement of morals or religious beliefs'.

Ministers – who ignored the CofE's objections to same-sex marriage – have gone so far as to threaten the autonomy of the Church of England by hinting that the Government will intervene to force its hand if it cannot bring itself to approve the appointment of women bishops.

Lord Carey's warning was delivered in a speech at Holy Trinity Church in Shrewsbury as part of the Shropshire Churches Conference 2013.

The Most Reverend John Sentamu told the Synod that they spent too long 'arguing over words and phrases

'I am convinced that churches can grow, must grow and should grow,' he told his audience. However, he said that going to church 'is not something that is natural to people in their lives nowadays'.

But he added: 'There is so much violence, too many divided families, too little job security, too many young people with nothing to aim for. It is still the case that people are essentially looking for spiritual fulfilment.'

The warning from Dr Sentamu came in a document – also approved by the current Archbishop of Canterbury The Most Reverend Justin Welby – that spelled out the real danger of the Church's collapse to the Synod, the CofE's parliament.

Their paper spoke of a 'growing wariness and antipathy towards faith', adding: 'Put simply, fewer clergy are now ministering to a larger population and having to oversee a roughly similar number of buildings with fewer worshippers to pay for them.

'Further significant decline would make it impossible to maintain the Church of England as a national institution, which is present in every community.'

Church of England Sunday congregations are running at half the numbers of the 1960s, and over the past two decades Roman Catholic churchgoing has seen a similar decline.

Christian numbers are rising fast in some parts of the world, notably in Africa. Worldwide, the Anglican churches have between 70 and 80 million followers – many of whom look to the Church of England for a lead.

However Christian churches are under pressure from Islam, particularly in West Africa, and persecution and violence in parts of the Middle East and Pakistan.

'The issue of how we support each other, and how we understand and confront violent attacks is certainly one of the greatest of our age,' Archbishop Welby said.

***

ALJAZEERA

Jews and Muslims to share al-Aqsa Mosque?

Israel braces for reaction to proposed law that would allow Jews to pray in the grounds of Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque.

Khalid Amayreh Last updated: 13 Nov 2013 14:05

The al-Aqsa Mosque is one of Islam's three most holy sites [Getty Images]

Occupied East Jerusalem - Until a few weeks ago, most Israeli and Palestinian pundits dismissed the possibility of a Palestinian uprising in the near future.

However, a draft Israeli law granting Jews the right to pray at the al-Aqsa Mosque esplanade - one of the three most holy sites in Islam - is forcing some observers to reconsider their previous assessments.

The draft law, which is being discussed in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, would designate "time and space" for Jews wishing to pray there.

The haram al-sharif, or "noble sanctuary", has been an exclusively Islamic shrine since the Arab conquest of Palestine in the 7th century AD. But the mosque was built upon the Temple Mount, itself one of Judaism's most sacred sites.

(The al-Aqsa Mosque esplanade is not the correct location of either Solomon's or Herod's Temple. See “If I Forget Thee part1” and “Tradition”.)

Since the Israeli army occupied Jerusalem in 1967, the site has borne witness to several provocative events. In 1969, an Australian Christian-Zionist named Denis Michael Rohan torched the mosque's exquisite pulpit, which was put in place by Saladin upon retaking Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187. In 1982, Alan Goodman - a Jewish American Israeli soldier - fired an automatic rifle at Muslim worshippers in the Dome of the Rock, killing two and wounding 11.

And in 2000, then-Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount, accompanied by 1,000 policemen, asserting that the site would remain perpetually "in our hands" - an act that helped to spark the Second Intifada.

Muslims view any Jewish encroachment on the site as being at their expense and constituting an assault on their faith. Sheikh Muhammed Hussein is the head of the Supreme Muslim Council, which manages the site. "[The mosque] is part of our creed: It is expressly mentioned by name in the Holy Quran," he said. "Thus, an Israeli aggression against the mosque and the haram al-sharif is tantamount to attacking the Kaaba in Mecca, the most sacred spot in Islam."

He added: "I cannot imagine that Muslims around the world will remain idle as they see Jews desecrating their holy site. This issue transcends politics. It is greater than politics."

Heart of Judaism

Israelis, too, claim the place as holy. Until a few years ago, the Chief Rabbinate in Israel strictly prohibited Jews from praying or even walking in the area known to Jews as the Temple Mount. Observant Jews would instead only pray at the outside wall. But in recent years, the Rabbinate seems to have somewhat relaxed its prohibitions in this regard, perhaps to appease Zionists who adopt a messianic ideology combining Judaism and political Zionism.

However, spokespersons of the Chief Rabbinate vehemently deny any policy change regarding the prohibition on praying at the spot. Yefrach Toker, a spokesperson for Israel's Chief Rabbi, David Lau, said the ruling forbidding Jews to pray at the Temple Mount "is still in effect":

"The edict remains unchanged. I am giving you the official Jewish religious judgement." Toker did not answer when asked why some Jews ignore the Rabbinate's instructions forbidding them to pray and walk in the area. However, it is widely believed that most of the non-abiders are affiliated with politically inspired right wing factions, which do not always heed the Rabbinate's rulings.

Zeev Maor, also a Rabbinate spokesperson, said that "according to halacha or Jewish religious law, no Jew may walk in the designated area", due to ritual impurity and the need to avoid stepping on the holiest spot on the site, where the Ark of the Covenant was said to have been kept. "For thousands of years, the Temple Mount was the centre of Jewish religion," he explained. "Hence, it is inconceivable that Jews would cede the place to non-Jews."

Some Muslim religious leaders, however, dispute the site's importance to Judaism. "Judaism survived thousands of years without the Temple and without Jerusalem," argued Ikrema Sabri, an imam at the al-Aqsa Mosque. "This place has been an exclusive Muslim house of worship almost uninterruptedly for 14 centuries. We as Muslims cannot succumb to Jewish myths and whims."

Tinder box

Both Palestinian and Israeli officials agree that the controversy over the site has the potential to spark an uncontrollable conflagration. "There is no doubt that this issue has the potential of provoking ordinary people like no other issue does," said Ihab Bsiso, head of the Palestinian government press office in Ramallah.

"This is why I can say that the Israeli government is really, really playing with fire. Israel must rein in its pyromaniacs."

An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, who didn't want her name published because she was voicing her personal opinion, concurred: "I agree that this issue is very sensitive and could spark off a huge explosion. I believe that the draft law allowing Jews to pray at the holy site won't pass. The government and the prime minister are aware of the potential disastrous ramifications of such a decision."

But Hani al-Masri, a prominent Palestinian political analyst, is not sure that this is the case. "We are accustomed to seeing Israel embark on foolish acts that provoke our people," he said. "I am sorry; I can not give the Netanyahu government the benefit of the doubt."

***

HAARETZ

Gag order lifted || Israel's former chief rabbi arrested on suspicion of accepting millions in bribes

Rabbi Yona Metzger is suspected of accepting bribes from heads of organizations in order to advance their interests during the time he served as Ashkenazi chief rabbi.

By Yaniv Kubovich | Nov. 18, 2013 | 1:58 PM by AP

Israel's religious leadership under investigation

By Yair Ettinger | Nov. 19, 2013

Former chief rabbi Rabbi Yona Metzger was arrested Monday morning on suspicion he had received bribes and committed other crimes during the period he had served as Ashkenazi chief rabbi. A gag order was lifted on the case on Monday.

Metzger is suspected of bribery, money laundering, obstructing an investigation, fraud and other violations.

Police suspect that Metzger had accepted bribes of money and goods from the heads of various nonprofit associations in return for advancing their interests. Police said the amounts involved totaled millions of shekels.

The Israel Police National Fraud squad has been investigating Metzger for several months. It was decided to take Metzger into custody because the investigation has made significant progress, with strong evidence available to back the allegations, police said. The police also suspect that in recent months, Metzger had tried to suborn witnesses and obstruct the investigation. Additional suspects have been detained for questioning.

That Metzger was under suspicion was made public in June on the approval of the attorney general and the state prosecutor. Metzger was questioned under caution at the time for 10 hours and was released to house arrest for five days. Metzger, who at the time was in the final weeks of his tenure as chief rabbi, suspended himself from several of his tasks.

Metzger was elected chief rabbi in April 2003, and was also named a dayan (rabbinic judge) on the Supreme Rabbinical Court. In 2005 he was investigated on suspicion he had received tens of thousands of shekels in benefits from Jerusalem hotels that accommodated him and his family during the holidays, even though the state was renting him a luxury apartment in the capital.

In a detailed legal opinion, then-Attorney General Menahem Mazuz decided that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to put Metzger on trial; however, Mazuz called on Metzger to take responsibility for his actions and draw the proper personal conclusions, and also recommended that he be removed from his post. In February 2008, the Rabbinical Court Judge Selection Committee decided not to remove Metzger.

Back in 2003, there were reports that Metzger had allegedly sexually harassed other men. Then-Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein decided not to launch a criminal investigation. Two of the four men who had told the Maariv newspaper that Metzger had harassed them took polygraph tests and were found to be telling the truth. Metzger, however, presented his own polygraph tests that showed he was telling the truth and that no harassment had ever occurred.

A series of documents published by Haaretz in 2003 described how the Chief Rabbinate decided to ignore serious suspicions that had accumulated against Metzger when the latter was a candidate for chief rabbi of Tel Aviv in 1998, in exchange for him dropping out of the race. Then Sephardic Chief Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron was aware, in 1998, of at least one complaint of sexual harassment against Metzger, but despite this, he signed a document in which he committed to drop an investigation of those suspicions.

Thus, the various allegations of Metzger’s violation of halacha and the law that remain open include: sexual harassment, forging signatures on ketubot (marriage contracts), improper conduct toward couples seeking to get married and their families, extortion and threats against Rabbi Shlomo Dichovsky and more. According to the documents obtained 10 years ago by Haaretz, Dichovsky had complained in 1998 that Metzger had tried to extort and threaten him so that he should not compete against him for the post of Ashkenazi chief rabbi in Tel Aviv.

***

CNN (Edited from much longer article.)

Ted Turner wants to go to heaven

By Ann O'Neill, CNN

November 17, 2013 -- Updated 1538 GMT

Eat burgers, save bison

(CNN) -- What will matter most about Ted Turner's life story when they roll the final credits?

That he started the first 24-hour news network? Built a fortune once worth $10 billion? Was Time magazine's "Man of the Year"? Received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame? Made The New York Times best-seller list?

Maybe it was that time he raced a sailboat faster than anyone else. Or the year his baseball team won the World Series. Impressed yet? Did you know he had a president for a fishing buddy and won the heart of a movie star?

Turner turns 75 on November 19 and yes, he has done or been all of these things. There's also his "Captain Outrageous" side. He kept a pet alligator, compared rival Rupert Murdoch to Hitler and called Christianity "a religion for losers." He stuck his foot in his mouth -- and apologized -- too many times to count.

But there's more to Turner than the swashbuckling sportsman, Forbes list billionaire (No. 260, $2.1 billion) or infamous "Mouth of the South." After he rose to great heights, he fell to earth with a humbling thud and his better self emerged as a humanitarian and large-scale philanthropist hell-bent on setting a good example for other billionaires. As Turner sees it, what's the point of making billions if you can't give most of it away?

Even considering all his accomplishments and feats of derring-do, Ted Turner is only human. And so, with three-quarters of a century in his rear-view mirror, he's also thinking about the things ordinary people think about as the sun goes down.

You can be a billionaire or a bum, win sailing's biggest prize or swab decks, own a television network or have trouble paying the cable bill: By the final curtain, life boils down to a few simple things.

Did I make my Mama and Daddy proud?

Am I loved?

Will anybody remember me?

Do I get into heaven?

'Somebody's out there'

It doesn't seem to matter that for most of his life Turner swore that God and religion are so much hooey, and there's no way he could ever settle down with just one woman. He seems more open now to the possibility that something larger than himself is out there -- a higher power, perhaps, or his one true love. Maybe even both.

A conversation with Ted Turner on a recent Tuesday morning revealed a couple of surprises:

A man who has been virulently anti-religious admitted he tosses off a little prayer now and then, hoping there's "somebody out there" to hear it.

Turner has mellowed; if he's not exactly warm and cuddly, he is a kinder, gentler Ted. The man who had little quality time for family while his five children from two wives grew up now sends them daily newsletters. If he wasn't a particularly attentive father, he's a hands-on grandfather.

He seems genuinely touched that people still care about what he has to say. Especially if they work for his baby, CNN.

Turner acknowledges in "Call Me Ted," a 2008 book about his life, that he is not comfortable when left in his own company. He compulsively fills his schedule so he doesn't have to sit still or be alone. His former wife, Jane Fonda, has said he lives his life as though he is trying to outrun his inner demons.

Ted Turner is starting to contemplate his own mortality. And his legacy.

Years ago he joked, "I know what I'm having 'em put on my tombstone: 'I have nothing more to say.'" He also joked that he'd like Willie Nelson to sing at his funeral. His request: "To All the Girls I've Loved Before."

These days Turner talks instead about being cremated and having his ashes scattered over his favorite ranches.

It's better for the environment.

'I don't want to go to hell'

Even though he is a son of the Bible Belt, Ted Turner and God haven't been on the best of terms. Despite his strong stance against religion in the past, he's not an atheist. He's an agnostic, trying to make sense of it all -- his way.

He revised the Ten Commandments, which he considered outdated, coming up instead with his Eleven Voluntary Initiatives, which he printed on cards small enough to carry in a wallet. He tossed out the commandments that struck him as outdated -- a host of the "thou shalt nots," particularly the one banning adultery. "People have had a lot of fun breaking that one. I know I did."

Turner's initiatives focus instead on caring for the Earth "and all living things," treating others with dignity, looking out for the poor, having no more than two children, and avoiding the use of toxic materials.

As with most things, Turner's rocky relationship with his supreme being, assuming there is one, stems back to childhood.

When he was very young, he dreamed of being a missionary. Then his little sister, Mary Jean, got sick at age 12. He watched as she suffered terribly from a rare form of lupus and complications that left her with brain damage and screaming in pain for years until she died. It shook his faith profoundly.

He could not understand why any God would let an innocent suffer.

"She was sick for five years before she passed away. And it just seemed so unfair, because she hadn't done anything wrong," he said. "What had she done wrong? And I couldn't get any answers. Christianity couldn't give me any answers to that. So my faith got shaken somewhat."

He once walked into the CNN newsroom on Ash Wednesday and, spotting several staffers with smudges on their foreheads, blurted out, "What are you? A bunch of Jesus freaks? You ought to be working for Fox."

He has said famously that "Christianity is a religion for losers," even though some of his closest friends have a deep and profound faith.

"He knew I was a Christian when he said that," said former President Carter. "Ted had a tendency to say things like that just to be provocative. And to stir people's interest. But later he retracted that statement."

Carter continues to hope his friend will someday "have a profound religious experience."

Turner said he respects the position of his religious friends, but he's a skeptic by nature. He described himself as an agnostic, although as a younger man he was an atheist, and virulently anti-religious. These days, he keeps the door open a crack. He allows for the possibility.

"When I have a friend that's dying of cancer, I say a prayer for them," he said.

To whom does he direct the prayer?

"Whoever is listening."

Fonda said she believes Turner's childhood traumas left him so protective of himself that he had trouble opening up emotionally. But, she said, he does want to get into heaven. And, she said, he's a shoo-in.

Finally, with our 23 minutes with Turner ticking down, we've gotten his full attention. We let him in on what Fonda has told CNN about his heavenly prospects:

"Given his childhood," Fonda said, "he should've become a dictator. He should've become a not nice person. The miracle is that he became what he is. A man who will go to heaven, and there'll be a lot of animals up there welcoming him, animals that have been brought back from the edge of extinction because of Ted. He's turned out to be a good guy. And he says he's not religious. But he, the whole time I was with him, every speech -- and he likes to give speeches -- he always ends his speech with 'God bless.' And he'll get into heaven. He's a miracle."

Turner listened intently. There was a long pause. Was he tearing up? Finally, he spoke.

"She said that?"

Another long pause.

"Well, I sure don't want to go to hell."

Pause.

"Did she say I was gonna buy my way in?"

The old Ted Turner -- the one who made billions and won the America's Cup and the World Series and launched CNN -- probably would have tried to buy his way in. But the do-gooder Ted is earning his way in by saving bison and other endangered species and fighting for the oceans and preserving 2 million acres of ranch land and standing up for women and supporting causes near and dear to the United Nations.

That Ted Turner gets into heaven, by Jane Fonda's accounting.

He has said he "can't see myself sitting on a cloud and playing the harp day in and day out." So what is Ted Turner's notion of heaven?

"Montana in the summer."

***

MailOnline

• 'Comet of the century' set to light up the night sky as it skirts just 600,000 miles from the sun - if it avoids being vapourised by 2,700-degree heat

• Comet ISON will skirt 150 times closer than us to the sun on November 28

• It will either light up in magnificent spectacle... or be vapourised

• Comet has already become visible without a telescope for the first time

• Some scientists have even claimed it could shine brighter than the moon

By DAN BLOOM

PUBLISHED: 11:50 EST, 16 November 2013 | UPDATED: 09:41 EST, 17 November 2013

A comet which could become the brightest for a century is racing into our inner solar system, to the delight of astronomers.

Comet ISON will pass exceptionally close to the sun in just under a fortnight, creating a spellbinding cosmic spectacle as ice in its body vapourises and forms a distinct bright tail.

At least, it will if the heat does not blast the comet to smithereens - which scientists warn is not out of the question.

Cosmic show: Comet ISON, which is heading to within 600,000 miles of our sun on November 28

The comet was discovered in September last year by two amateur astronomers using Russia's International Scientific Optical Network, ISON, who marvelled at how bright it was even beyond Jupiter's orbit.

On November 28 it will pass just 621,000 miles from the sun's surface - 150 times closer to our star than we are.

It will be more than 100 times closer to the sun than the Hale-Bopp comet, one of the brightest of the last century which was visible with the naked eye for a record 18 months, passed at its peak in 1997.

As it blasts towards the sun, the intense gravitational pull will make it speed up to 234 miles per second.

The sun's rays will also heat the ball of ice, metal and rock to 2,760 degrees Celsius, making it much brighter than most comets - with some scientists claiming it could outshine the moon.

The comet, top right, has so far been photographed through telescopes and long exposures but is expected to be visible to the naked eye throughout December and January. It could be the brightest for 100 years

An image taken and annotated by astronomers in Maryland, U.S., showing the tail pointing away from the sun

Some have warned that the intense pressure on the comet could simply blast it apart, as the heat melts not just the ice but also rock and metal.

However, recent calculations have shown ISON is more likely than not to survive.

Over the weekend, amateur astronomers began posting the first pictures of the comet on the Internet that were taken with just binoculars or small telescopes.

Pilot Brian Whittaker wrote on the SpaceWeather.com website: 'I finally saw Comet ISON for the first time using small binoculars! It was faint, but is predicted to brighten and move each day! Exciting!'

It is expected to be visible to the naked eye in early mornings throughout December and during the night in January. It is currently passing through the constellation Virgo in the east of the morning sky.

Comets are believed to be frozen remains left over from the formation of the solar system four and a half billion years ago.

Supercomet: ISON could prove brighter than Hale-Bopp, pictured, which lit up the skies in 1997

ISON, which has never visited our inner solar system before, has emerged from the Oort Cloud, a reservoir of icy bodies beyond Neptune's orbit.

These balls of ice are occasionally 'bumped' by the sun's gravity out of the cloud and into a flight path that brings them into the inner solar system.

The vast majority of comets are invisible to the naked eye, but the most famous is Halley's Comet.

That is because it is the only comet which visits often enough and shines brightly enough to be seen by most people in their lifetime.

It comes to our inner solar system between every 75 and 76 years and last visited in 1986. Among other things, it inspired the name of 1950s rock and roll outfit Bill Haley and His Comets.

EndTimeInfo

THE COMING “ISON” COMET

By Joseph Candel

“Eight things there be a comet brings when on high it doth horrid range: Wind, famine, plague and death to kings, War, earthquake, floods and direful change!” (old German poem)

This year we could witness a spectacular event with the appearance of a huge new comet called “ISON” expected to be so “spectacularly bright” that it will be visible to the naked eye in daylight. Comet Ison was discovered accidentally in September last year by astronomers Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok. They stumbled upon what could be one of the biggest astronomical events of the decade. Amateur astronomers will have the best chance of seeing Ison in November and December, leading scientists to call it the ‘Christmas Day Comet’.

It is due to come to life in October this year, say experts and it would become visible to the naked eye as early as November, its newly formed tail stretching far into the sky above the horizon.

Exactly what this new comet signifies we cannot tell, but we’ve already told enough to get a pretty good idea of what it could signify in portending the end of things as they now are, including present world powers, economic systems, etc.

The appearance of every major comet has always heralded some major change or coming event. The first recorded appearance of the giant Halley’s Comet in 1066 A.D. coincided with a major turning point in history, the conquest of England by William the Conqueror from the Continent, as well as immediately preceding the revival of the Islamic Empire under the Turks, which was soon to threaten the very existence of Europe.

Its appearance in succeeding centuries, every 76 years, hailed such major events as the Crusades, the Magna Carta, Genghis Khan, the establishment of the Order of St. Francis, Kublai Khan in China, the Renaissance, the Great Black Plague of Europe, the Reformation, the discovery of the New World.

In 1910, Halley’s Comet immediately preceded World War 1 and the toppling of most of the monarchies and ruling houses of Europe. In 1912, the world witnessed the tragic sinking of the Titanic, coined as the ship that God couldn’t sink!

Comets have nearly always signaled some major disaster or collapse of empires, and many confirmations of their importance as warning signs from the heavens above to the earth below are found throughout the accounts of various ancient historians. The ancients nearly always associated comet visitations with rape of disaster and the death of great leaders and empires, as well as the birth of the new!

Comets also signaled the deaths of such greats as Attila and the emperors Valentinian, Vespasian and Charlemagne. Vespasian scoffed at the Great comet of 79 A.D., but he died within the year! The great Jewish Historian Josephus described Halley’s Comet of 66 A.D. as a “SWORD OF FIRE” hanging over Jerusalem shortly before its destruction by the Romans in 70 A.D.! The same comet later signaled the fall of Constantinople to the Turks and Britain to the Normans!

A Great comet of 1528 was so horribly frightening to Europe that it produced such terror as to scare some people to death and sicken many others with its giant tail the color of blood!

In 1860, Boston’s famous oratorical preacher, Increase Mather, spoke of the Comet of that year as “HEAVEN’S ALARM TO THE WORLD”, which presaged great changes, calamities and judgements, God’s lightning bolt of warning to a sinful world!

So these heavenly events have a definite correlation with those on earth and the time of every great comet, therefore, has always been a special time in Earth’s history!

Forty years ago the Comet Kohoutek in 1973-74 raced towards the earth and the “Yom Kippur War” broke out in October of 1973. Israel was attacked by Egypt and Syria. At the same time, the emerging nations of OPEC declared an oil embargo that lasted into early 1974. The price of oil quadrupled in a matter of months, bringing on the stock market calamity of 1973-74. After the Comet passed in January 1974, in August of that year, American President Richard Nixon resigned in shame from the Watergate Scandal.

Remember history also shows us that sometimes great events can happen about 4 years after the Comet’s warning of OMEN! The most important battles and cataclysmic changes occur behind the scenes in the spirit world and are sometimes only manifested through these astronomical and astrological signs in the sky before we actually observe their effects, results or fulfillments on Earth. (Luke 21:11,25) Four years after the Hale-Bopp Comet whizzed by in 1997, visible to the naked eye, we witnessed the tragic 9/11/2001 event that changed the world & especially the U.S.A. with its tightening restrictions.

God, before He smites the world, sometimes causes such a sign in Heaven to awaken us out of our security and to open our eyes to the “Signs of the Times”. Could ISON Comet portend the collapse of the US dollar & other currencies and/or the worldwide economic system, or the great worldwide confusion brought on by the economic crash and war soon to transpire in the Mid-East & possibly cause energy shortages? Will we witness major disasters like Great Earthquakes in different places, famines, & pestilences etc.?

This remains to be seen and felt, whatever its influence may be! Whatever its effects and meaning, like a boomerang from the hand of its Maker, it will slice through our lives and return to the hand of Him that flung it, as it begins to depart from us by the end of January 2014, having accomplished its mission, wreaked its havoc or portended its crises and decided its events, whatever these may be! Will the Comet “ISON” raise in our minds the conception of God? Will “ISON” make you think about the Lord and His destiny for you and the world? You cannot escape it! Are you ready for it?

University of Guam Planetarium (Edited from longer article.)
Deep Impact Since time immemorial, man has looked up at the heavens, sometimes awed by what he has seen, while at other times terrorized by the same. Ancient records are filled with the accounts of sages, magi, sorcerers, magicians and astrologers who attempted to interpret the stars for their leaders. A favorable reading or prediction could result in fame, wealth and prestige being bestowed upon the seer, while failed or negative predictions could result in imprisonment, or even death.

If there was one thing that ancient soothsayers feared the most, it was the seemingly sudden appearance in the night sky of a "komētēs"; that is, a long-haired or hairy star -- a comet. Until even a few hundred years ago, comets were viewed as bad omens which signaled coming evil: famine, disease, the fall of a nation or the death of a king.

From ancient Greek and Roman texts to more modern literature, English and otherwise, we find a plethora of references to the dire consequences which have become associated with the arrival of these "hairy stars". Sixteenth Century poet and playwright William Shakespeare, Seventeenth Century English poet John Milton, Thirteenth Century Italian poet Dante and many others make mention of comets in their works. For example, consider the following lines from some of William Shakespeare's works:

When beggars die there are no comets seen;

The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.

-- Julius Caesar Act II Scene 2

. . . Now shine it like a comet of revenge,

A prophet to the fall of all our foes!

-- Henry VI Part 1 Act III 3 Scene 2

"As Stars with trains of fire and dews of blood,

Disasters in the Sun."

-- Hamlet Act I, Scene 1

In Books II and XII of his epic work "Paradise Lost", English poet John Milton metaphorically uses comets in the following manner:

"Incens'd with indignation, Satan stood

Unterrified, and like a comet burn'd,

That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge

In the Artick sky, and from his horrid hair

Shakes pestilence and war."

The brandisht Sword of God before them blaz'd

Fierce as a Comet; which with torrid heat,

And vapour as the LIBYAN Air adust,

Began to parch that temperate Clime;

In the April 22, 1843 edition of the Illustrated London News -- the same year that the great Comet of 1843 appeared -- a poet by the name of W. Lattey published a poem entitled "To The Comet", which included the following lines:

Lone wanderer of the trackless sky!

Companionless! Say, dost thou fly

Along thy solitary path,

A flaming messenger of wrath

Warning with thy portentous train

Of earthquake, plague and battle-plain?

Some say that thou dost never fail

To bring some evil in thy tail.

There is likewise an old Germanic poem which includes the following lines:

Eight things there be a comet brings,

When on high it doth horrid range:

Wind, famine, plague, and death to kings;

War, earthquakes, floods,

And direful change.

It becomes clear then that from ancient times, to even our more recent history, comets have been traditionally viewed as being bad omens. If you are interested in reading more about this subject, you may want to read "Comet Lore: Halley's Comet in History and Astronomy" By Edwin Emerson, as well as "The Story Of The Comets Simply Told For General Readers" by George F. Chambers.They may be difficult to find, but they do make for interesting reading.

***

The Independent

Sun will 'flip upside down' within weeks, says Nasa

The sun’s magnetic field will reverse polarity at some point in the coming weeks, sending ripples to the edge of interstellar space

TOMAS JIVANDA

Friday 15 November 2013

The Sun is set to “flip upside down” within weeks as its magnetic field reverses polarity in an event that will send ripple effects throughout the solar system.

Although it may sound like a catastrophic occurrence, there’s no need to run for cover. The sun switches its polarity, flipping its magnetic north and south, once every eleven years through an internal mechanism about which little is understood.

The swap could however cause intergalactic weather fronts such as geomagnetic storms, which can interfere with satellites and cause radio blackouts.

Nasa said in August that the change would happen in three to four months time, but it is impossible to give a more specific date. Scientist won’t know for around another three weeks whether the flip is complete.

The impact of the transfer will be widespread as the sun’s magnetic field exerts influence well beyond Pluto, past Nasa's Voyager probes positioned near the edge of interstellar space.

The event will be watched closely by researchers at Stanford University’s Wilcox Solar Observatory, which monitors the sun's magnetic field on a daily basis.

Todd Hoeksema, director of the Wilcox Solar Observatory, said the polarity change is built up throughout the eleven year cycle through areas of intense magnetic activity known as sunspots which gradually move towards the poles, eroding the existing opposite polarity.

Eventually, the magnetic field reduces to zero, before rebounding with the opposite polarity. “It's kind of like a tide coming in or going out,” Hoeksema said. “Each little wave brings a little more water in, and eventually you get to the full reversal.”

One of the most noticeable effect on Earth will be a boost in the occurrence, range and visibility of auroras - the Northern Lights. “It’s not a catastrophic event, it’s a large scale event that has some real implications, but its not something we need to worry about,” added Hoeksema.

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BLACKLISTED NEWS

Scientists: We Can’t Do Anything About The Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs That Will Soon Kill Millions Of Us

November 18, 2013

Source: Michael Snyder, Guest Post

The “wonder drugs” that we have been using since the middle of the last century are rapidly losing their effectiveness, and medical authorities are warning that the emergence of very powerful antibiotic-resistant superbugs represents “one of the gravest threats in the history of medicine“. Of course the “wonder drugs” that I am talking about are known today as antibiotics. These drugs attack bacteria, and when they first began to be developed back in the 1950s and 1960s they were hailed as “miracles” that would save countless numbers of lives. Well, it turns out that nature is having the last laugh. All over the planet bacteria are developing resistance to these drugs, and scientists are warning that they can’t really do anything to stop these superbugs. With each passing year these superbugs are gaining ground, and there appears to be not much hope on the horizon of being able to fight them. In fact, no new classes of antibiotics have been invented since 1987, and none are being developed right now. Meanwhile, scientists are telling us that many current antibiotic treatments will be completely obsolete by the year 2030. Are you starting to understand why so many high profile members of the scientific community are using the words “catastrophic threat” to describe this crisis?

An article about these superbugs that appeared in the Independent the other day got a lot of attention all around the world. That article claims that prominent British doctors are warning that these superbugs could undo “a century of medical advances”…

Drug-resistant “superbugs” represent one of the gravest threats in the history of medicine, leading experts have warned.

Routine operations could become deadly “in the very near future” as bacteria evolve to resist the drugs we use to combat them. This process could erase a century of medical advances, say government doctors in a special editorial in The Lancet health journal.

That sounds quite serious.

So what would life be like without antibiotics?

Well, before antibiotics were invented if you scraped your knee and got an infection, there was a good chance that they would cut off your leg…

In the period before World War II … people that got infections, they had to cut it out. They had to cut off limbs, cut off toes, because there weren’t antibiotics. And oftentimes, when people talk about the fact that we might have to go back to a pre-antibiotic age, that’s what they mean — that a simple scrape on the playground could be fatal.

Are you ready to go back to such a time?

You might not have to wait long. According to one very prominent doctor quoted by the Daily Mail, we have already reached the end of the age of antibiotics…

A high-ranking official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared in an interview with PBS that the age of antibiotics has come to an end.

‘For a long time, there have been newspaper stories and covers of magazines that talked about “The end of antibiotics, question mark?”‘ said Dr Arjun Srinivasan. ‘Well, now I would say you can change the title to “The end of antibiotics, period.”’

And all over the world the number of people becoming infected with these superbugs is rapidly growing.

In fact, right now 23,000 people a year are being killed by these superbugs in the United States alone…

More than two million people are infected by drug-resistant germs each year, and 23,000 die of their infections, federal health officials reported Monday. The biggest killer by far is C. difficile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports in its first big overview of a growing problem.

Doctors have been warning of the problem for decades, yet up to half the prescriptions written for antibiotics are unnecessary, the CDC report says. And all these unneeded antibiotics are making the superbug problem worse.

Most Americans have never even heard of many of these superbugs, but they can be extremely deadly…

C. difficile has become a scourge of hospitals and infection is often made possible when patients are heavily treated with antibiotics to fight other infections. It can cause unstoppable diarrhea and the latest treatment doesn’t even involve antibiotics, but a transplant of so-called good bacteria from healthy patients.

CREs are a group of bacteria that resist even the strongest antibiotics. They include Klebsiella pneumoniae, which saw its infection rate jump 550 percent between 2001 and 2011.

“CRE is a nightmare bacteria we reported on in March, bacteria that can resist virtually all antibiotics,” Frieden said.

Gonorrhea may not be immediately life-threatening, but it’s developing resistance to the drugs that used to easily treat it. Patients can be left infertile, and, in January, Canadian researchers reported that seven percent of patients weren’t cured by the only pill left to treat gonorrhea.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Experts are warning that we could soon see millions of people a year die from these superbugs all around the globe.

So why haven’t we heard more about this?

Why is this not being widely publicized?

Some are suggesting that some of the governments of the western world are engaged in an effort to keep this under wraps. For example, just check out what has been going on in Canada…

The federal government is hobbling efforts to control antibiotic-resistant microbes by sitting on reports about bacteria that sicken and kill thousands of Canadians each year, several doctors say.

Infectious disease experts say Ottawa is treating national microbial surveillance reports like “sensitive government documents.” And the doctors are so frustrated, they are releasing the data they can obtain on their own website.

“Otherwise, it’s years before we see it on the federal website,” says Dr. Mark Joffe, president of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada (AMMI), which represents physicians, clinical microbiologists and researchers.

What would the motivation be for doing this?

Are they trying to avoid panic?

Or is a more sinister motive at work here?

Ultimately, this is a crisis that is only going to get worse as time goes by.

Antibiotic-resistant superbugs are rapidly spreading and becoming more powerful.

Meanwhile, scientists all over the world are telling us that there is not a thing that they can do to stop them.

The era of antibiotics has come to an end, and nobody is quite sure what is going to happen next.

***

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RT

Russian lawmaker seeks to ban US dollar, predicts 2017 collapse

Published time: November 13, 2013 19:53

Edited time: November 15, 2013 11:39

To protect Russians against the “collapsing US debt pyramid”, a Russian legislator has filed a draft bill to ban circulation of the currency in Russia.

Once a Moscow mayoral hopeful, Mikhail Degtyarev, 32, likens the US dollar to a worldwide ponzi scheme which he says is scheduled to end in 2017.

“If US national debt continues to grow at its current rate, the dollar system will collapse in 2017,” the submitted draft legislation says.

“In light of this, the fact that confidence in the US dollar is growing among Russian citizens is extremely dangerous,” Degtyarev wrote in his explanatory note attached to the bill.

The bill would impose a ban on dollars within a year of its passage, and any private citizen holding accounts in dollars would either need to spend the money or convert it to another currency. There is no proposed ban on the euro, British pound, yen, or yuan.

If one doesn’t exchange or transfer dollars within a year, the dollars will be seized by officials, and reimbursed in rubles within 30 calendar days.

Under the proposed legislation, Russians would still be able to use dollars abroad and have foreign bank accounts, as well as buy goods on the Internet in dollars.

The Russian government, Central Bank, Foreign Ministry, Federal Treasury, Federal Security Service, and other state branches would be exempt from the law.

To protect Russian nationals, Degtyarev proposes to end dollar transactions and deposits at Russian banks, which would give rise to the ruble, and end dependence on the world’s dominant currency.

Part of the bill aims to restore the prestige of the ruble, which has weakened as the Russian economy battles inflation and slow growth.

Raising the prestige of the ruble by nixing foreign currency isn’t a novel idea- it was practiced during the Soviet Union when holding foreign currencies was illegal. A similar ‘anti-dollar’ proposal was filed by Duma deputies in 2003, but completely flopped.

Moscow, a developing financial center, is home to several international corporations, and many companies pay their employees in dollars, or ruble salaries pegged to the dollar.

If the bill garners enough support, it will continue onto as many as three preliminary hearings before being passed into law.

Degtyarev has made a name for himself with his outlandish proposals- from giving women extra holidays during menstruation, to his declaration Russia would lead the fight in defeating the antichrist. He serves as the head of the science and technology committee in the lower house of the Duma.

The populist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) is a political platform for Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who is famous for political antics and outlandish bills.

On the same day, November 13, Belarus issued a statement denying rumors they were mulling a similar currency ban, after an opposition group reported a currency circulation ban that would get rid of dollars and euros in two months.

Citing Alexander Timoshenko, a representative of the Belarus’s National Bank, Interfax reported the rumors were “absolute nonsense” for a country with an open economy.

***

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21^st Century Wire

Did the Philippines become a target of Weather Weapons?

NOVEMBER 16, 2013 BY SHAWN HELTON

“Every conceivable type of weapon is being examined or explored by various individuals, if not with the support of their government.”

- Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen (1997-2001)

Shawn Helton

21st Century Wire

Do you believe that weather weapons exist?

In a United States Department of Defense transcript from April, 28th 1997, then Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, shocked the public by admitting that weaponized weather has been created through the use of “electromagnetic waves.” The Weather Modification Association has admitted that governments have been altering the weather since at least 1950.

The aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), has been truly tragic as the situation has descended into total chaos, however, one cannot ignore the bizarre weather anomalies leading up to the “world’s biggest storm“.

Weather Manipulation: Weather modification technology exists and could be weaponized.

In the past week, independent weatherman ‘Dutchsinse’ shot several YouTube videos dissecting the typhoon system passing through the Philippines, believing it to be produced by weather manipulation, specifically microwave pulse technology.

Weather modification technology and geo-engineering would be a powerful weapon if deployed for strategic ends. If this is the case, what would be the geopolitical motive?

In August of 2013, while the situation in Syria was reaching a boiling point over false chemical weapons allegations, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel met with Filipino President Benigno Aquino to discuss the expansion of the U.S. military in the Philippines. The Obama administration had already been negotiating a deal to secure space for the US military to conduct military maneuvers at several locations in the area. This military deal was met with harsh backlash from the public as Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin of the Philippines was looking to finalize the deal:

“We’d want them near disaster-prone areas so they can help out if problems occur“.

The Philippines was a U.S. colony from 1898 to 1946 and had shut down the last U.S. base in 1991, through a Senate vote.

Filipino officials have stated that the United States has been attempting to procure an old airport to use as a drone base. The Daniel Romualdez Airport which has been completely destroyed in the aftermath Haiyan has been placed under control by military and police since last Monday.

Will the airport remain in U.S.control under the guise of humanitarian oversight?

House Representative from the Akbayan Partylist, Walden Bello, was very outspoken in early September, condemning the actions of the Obama administration and their pursuit to strike Syria:

“Not only must President Aquino not repeat what his predecessor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, did with respect to Iraq, which was to join George W. Bush’s notorious “Coalition of the Willing.” He must forcefully register our country’s opposition to Mr. Obama’s dangerous plan, and here he can take a cue from the British Parliament, which has repudiated Prime Minister Cameron’s effort to drag Britain behind the American strike.”

Continuing, Bello added:

“Secondly, a US attack on Syria directly contradicts the national interest of the Philippines, which is bound up with the welfare of our OFWs. It will put at risk the lives of the several thousand OFWs that remain in Syria.

It’s clear from the statements above that there were those within the Filipino government strongly opposed to Western intervention in Syria.

Was the typhoon a ‘soft war’ strategy of tension technique employed on the Philippines, to pressure them into supporting future destabilization campaigns directed by the West?

Then there’s the question of the Trans Pacific Partnership in all its intellectual and economic power grabbing. The TPP, said to consolidate over forty percent of world trade once its fully implemented, effectively putting an end to national sovereignty.

Wikileaks recently revealed documents exposing the TPP deal with twelve other countries being involved.

Philippines Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo has stated that the Filipino Constitution has certain limitations on how they can conduct business with foreign entities. This could be a major stumbling block for the U.S. as they would also like to lay claim to territory for RIMPAC (the Rim of the Pacific shared naval exercises) in addition to the TPP deal.

Domingo further explained the pressure to be a part of TPP:

“It (TPP) is something we have to engage in. We have no choice because the US is our second largest trading partner and many of our neighbors will become members of TPP. If they have duty-free access, for example, in the US and we don’t, it will really handicap the Philippines and affect us in a significant way.”

Was the Syrian intervention, the TPP, or RIMPACthe motive for the use secretive technology to politically punish or coerce the Philippines?

Western interests and in particular the U.S., stand to lose quite a bit if they cannot implement their military and economic plans, any delay could cause a serious rift between countries and their ‘corporate elect’ leaders.

In 2012, Iran’s chief meteorologist Hassan Mousavi claimed that the West was launching a climate war against the southern region of Iran, deliberately causing a drought.

***

NaturalNews

More and more everyday people suddenly into 'prepping' for disaster

Thursday, November 14, 2013 by: J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) It's not just "fringe" types and end-of-the-world religious prognosticators; more and more "everyday people" are sensing that something is wrong with their country and the world, and are taking steps to prepare for turbulent times.

Yes, technically they are "preppers" in today's lexicon, but they are far from the kind of people that that term engenders. In fact, some of these "newbies" might even be your neighbors.

As reported by Fortune/CNN:

More and more Americans are spending money to get ready for an uncertain future -- gathering food, water, tools and skills to help them weather anything from a hurricane to a pandemic.

Contrary to images of deluded or gun-obsessed "lone wolves," many preppers are average consumers reacting to concrete worries, and their way of thinking is spreading, fueling an emerging lifestyle trend. That lifestyle is generating demand for a broad spectrum of products offering survival -- or even comfort -- when large-scale systems go down.

'It's not just country people anymore'

You can see the diversification of the prepper at many of the latest expos and conferences aimed at peddling goods to this emerging and ever-changing consumer demographic.

"To get a closer look," wrote David Z. Morris for Fortune, "I visited Life Changes, Be Ready!, or LCBR, a new expo that held its second event on the weekend of November 2nd and 3rd, in Lakeland, Fla. [emphasis added]. LCBR gave an immediate sense of one big way that the preparedness crowd isn't marginal at all -- economically. The show floor was packed with a dizzying array of small businesses and products that defied stereotypical 'prepper' classification -- not just ammunition and crossbows and camping gear, but also seed banks, beehives, financial planning, and acupressure."

Indeed, said many of the expo's vendors and entrepreneurs on the showroom floor, business has been rising.

One of these entrepreneurs, John Egger of Self Reliance Strategies, has been making and selling prepackaged seed banks for about four years. His market is expanding, he says.

"It's definitely picking up. It's not just country people anymore. We really cater to a suburban market ... We call it suburban homesteading," he told Morris.

Much of the new gear isn't directed at low-rent folks or cave-dwellers. Items vary in price from $5,600 for a portable solar charging station to $649 for "Stomp Supreme" field medic kits offered by a firm called Doom and Bloom, LLC.

"This is the one recommended for people expecting civil unrest," Morris quoted company officials as saying.

More reporting from Morris:

The diversity and type of products on offer was also remarkable. Egger's seeds, for example, were prominently labelled "Organic" and "Non-GMO" -- and so were all the other seeds on sale at the show. Those are distinctions you might not think were important to the same crowd in the market for a crossbow, but according to Egger, "you don't have to explain to people anymore" why eating organic matters.

Prepping: Not a 'fringe' activity anymore

In addition to new high-tech, high-end products, there were also some quirky items. Earthworm farms and beehives were for sale as well, and at least two companies were selling essential oils.

In a back corner of the showroom, Mike Mah - aka No Stress Mike - was offering $30 pain reduction sessions, employing a "Hoy Chi" energy healing technique. His flyers predominately stated that he attended every Tea Park event he possibly could. He manipulated spines of dozens of show patrons who were willing (even as he kept a handgun tucked into his beltline).

There are many things that are driving new crowds to prep shows: the unevenness of a skyrocketing stock market, even as job growth and wages stagnate; uncertainty about the nation's spiraling debt; angst over policies enacted by President Obama; the costs and requirements of Obamacare; and political partisanship.

But there is one common denominator among all: Prepping isn't a "fringe" activity anymore, and failure to be prepared is the worst sin of all.

Sources:

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com

http://www.youtube.com

http://www.naturalnews.com

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The Guardian

The bloody disaster of Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan is laid bare

Bombs and militia violence make clear the folly of Britain's wars – the removal of law and order from a nation is devastating

by Simon Jenkins

November 18, 2013

A militia member patrols during clashes with demonstrators on November 15, 2013 in Tripoli, Libya. Photograph: Xinhua/Landov/Barcroft Media

Forty-three people died on Friday in clashes between militias in Libya, as did 22 on Sunday from bombs in Iraq. In Helmand, a return of the Taliban to power is now confidently expected. Why should we care? Why should it feature on our news?

The answer is that we helped to bring it about. Britain's three foreign wars in the past decade were uninvited military interventions to topple installed governments. All have ended in disaster.

In each case – Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan – it was easy to see evil in the prevailing regime. These are bad guys that we need to go after, said the Americans. Yet the removal of law and order from a nation is devastating, however cruel that order may have been. Iraqis today repeat that, whatever the ills of Saddam Hussein, under his rule most ordinary citizens and their families could walk the streets at night without fear of murder or kidnap. Religious differences were tolerated. Iraq should have been an oil-rich modern state. Even the Kurds, scourged by Saddam in the past, enjoyed autonomy and relative peace.

In each of these cases Britain and its allies, chiefly America, intervened to overthrow the army, disband government, dismantle the judiciary and leave militias to run riot. Little or no attempt was made to replace anarchy with a new order. "Nation building" was a fiasco. The British bombs that flattened government buildings in Kabul, Baghdad and Tripoli did not replace them, or those who worked in them. Those who dropped them congratulated themselves on their work and went home.

It is hard to exaggerate the misery and chaos created by so-called "liberal interventionism". It is hard to think of a more immoral foreign policy, roaming the (chiefly Muslim) world, killing people and sowing anarchy. That is why the blood-stained consequence should be splashed across headlines. Those who seek political kudos by visiting violence on foreign peoples should never be allowed to forget their deeds.

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CLM

Houston Anthropologist Reveals Irrefutable Proof that Recorded History Is Wrong

Debbie West | Before It’s News | Nov 13th 2013

Evidence Found Across the Globe of Highly Evolved Human Species from before the Ice Age, Demand Scientific Recognition of our Past that Depicts Societies of Advanced Technology and Culture

Houston anthropologist, Dr. Semir Osmanagich, founder of the Bosnian Archaeology Park, the most active archaeology site in the world, declares that irrefutable scientific evidence exists of ancient civilizations with advanced technology that leaves us no choice but to change our recorded history. An examination of the age of structures across the earth reveals conclusively that they were built by advanced civilizations from over 29,000 years ago.

“Acknowledging that we are witness to fundamental proof of advanced civilizations dating back over 29,000 years and an examination of their societal structures forces the World to reconsider its understanding of the development of civilization and history,” explains Dr. Semir Osmanagich. “Conclusive data at the Bosnian Pyramid site revealed in 2008 and confirmed this year by several independent labs who conducted radio carbon testing dates the site at 29,400 +/-400 years minimum.”

The radiocarbon dating tests of 29,200 years +/- 400 years was done by Radiocarbon Lab from Kiew, Ukraine, on organic material found at the Bosnian Pyramid site. Physicist Dr. Anna Pazdur of Poland’s Silesian University first announced the news at a Press Conference in Sarajevo in August of 2008. Professor of Classical Archaeology from the University of Alexandria Dr. Mona Haggag called this discovery “writing new pages in European and World history.” The C14 date of 29,000 years at the Bosnian Archaeological Park was obtained from a piece of organic material retrieved from a clay layer inside the outer casing to the pyramid. It follows a sample date obtained during the 2012 dig season on material located above the concrete at 24,800 years, meaning this structure has a construction profile stretching back almost 30,000 years.

“The ancient people who built these pyramids knew the secrets of frequency and energy. They used these natural resources to develop technologies and undertake construction on scales we have never witnessed on earth,” said Dr. Osmanagich. Evidence clearly shows that the pyramids were built asancient energy machines aligned with the earth’s energy grid, providing energy for healing as well as power.

Ancient historians in the US have news just as astonishing as anything found in the far corners of the globe. For instance, the Rockwall discovery outside of Dallas, Texas, is only one example of how we are now re-examining ancient mysteries to reveal more about our past, right in the United States. H2 (History 2) popular series Unearthing Ancient America recently filmed an episode about the Rockwall that will air later this year. The Texas site is a complex and massive wall ten miles in diameter built over 20,000 years ago and covered by soil seven stories below the ground. The question is by whom was this structure built and for what purpose and, most importantly, how can knowledge left by these past civilizations help shape our future?

Newly-revealed or rediscovered traces of ancient civilizations have ignited an innate curiosity about human origins as reflected by recent coverage in mainstream media and TV. The November 2013 issue of National Geographic: 100 Greatest Mysteries Revealed-Ancient Civilizations Unearthed says,

“Sometimes cultures leave behind mysteries that baffle those who come after them, from standing stones to coded manuscripts, indications that ancient people indeed had a profound purpose.”

Forward-thinking scientists continue to pursue knowledge from our past that is useful to determine a better future. Renowned author Michal Cremo in his book Forbidden Archeology theorizes that knowledge of advanced Homo-sapiens has been suppressed or ignored by the scientific establishment because it contradicts the current views of human origins that don’t agree with the dominant paradigm. Cremo’s body of work has been described as “a useful teaching resource, raising a wide range of issues covering aspects of knowledge transfer, sure to be provocative in the classroom.” It has been reviewed with widespread appraisal by hundreds of academic journals.

Gobekli Tepe in Eastern Turkey

Results clearly indicate that similar advanced civilizations of humans were present all across the globe at that time in history. For example, Gobekli Tepe located in Eastern Turkey, is a vast complex of enormous megalithic stone circles with a radius of between 10 and 20 meters, much larger than the well-known Stonehenge in Great Britain. Excavations at Gobekli Tepe that began there in 1995 revealed radio carbon dating at least 11,600 years. German archaeologist Dr. Klaus Schmidt from the German Archaeological Institute, Berlin, Germany, with the support of ArchaeoNova Institute from Heidelberg, Germany, has led the excavation of these recently-discovered pre-historic megalithic circles at the Turkey location.

“Gobekli Tepe is one of the most fascinating Neolithic locations in the world,” Dr. Klaus Schmidt claims. But as he explains in a recent report, to understand the new finds, archaeologists need to work closely with specialists in comparative religion, architectural and art theory, cognitive and evolutionary psychology, sociologists using social network theory, and others.

“It is the complex story of the earliest, large settled communities, their extensive networking, and their communal understanding of their world, perhaps even the first organized religions and their symbolic representations of the cosmos,” as reported by Klaus Schmidt.

In addition to the megalithic structures, figures and carvings have been discovered, depicting animals of pre historic nature such as dinosaurs and other wild life. Since excavations started in 1995, four of the circles have been partially cleaned, but it is thought that there are a total of up to 50 circles hidden underground. These vast monoliths, soaring seven meters in height and 25 tons in mass at Gobekli Tepe, are situated right in the heart of what we perceive as the origin of civilization. This find offers new guidance to the true history of earth and our ancient civilizations.

“Our archaeological research goal is not to simply uncover all of the megalithic circles but to try to figure out their purpose,” adds Schmidt.

The Bosnian Valley of the Pyramids now in the eighth year of excavation spans six square kilometers in the Visoko River Basin 40km northwest of Sarajevo. Comprised of four ancient pyramids almost three times the size of Giza and an extensive subterranean pyramid tunnel complex, new discoveries each year continue to reveal proof of a much different history of mankind on earth. The central pyramid of the Sun rises a colossal 420 meters in to the air and has a mass of millions of tons. By comparison the Great pyramid of Cheops (Khufu) in the Giza plateau is 146 meters high, making the Bosnian Pyramids the largest and oldest known pyramids on the planet. Since research began at the Bosnian site, Dr. Osmanagich has amazed the scientific and archaeological community by gathering a team of interdisciplinary engineers, physicists and researchers from around the world to conduct open and transparent investigation of the site to try and discover the true nature and purpose of this pyramidal complex.

“This is an unknown culture presenting highly-advanced arts and sciences, technology capable of forming truly massive structures and we believe in that process demonstrating an ability to harness pure energy resources,” comments Tim Moon, who has recently joined Osmanagich as lead archeologist at the Bosnian site.

The archaeological project delivered another significant finding this year in the pyramid tunnel complex known as Ravine. Tunneling deep into a ridge line leading toward the Pyramid of the Sun the team has unearthed several megalith stones. In August an enormous stone estimated at 25,000 kgs was uncovered approximately 400 meters into the labyrinth. “This is a hugely significant find,” comments Moon. “Here we have a massive stone, possibly a constructed ceramic, buried under hundreds of thousands of tons of material. We are locating foundation walls around its perimeter and cut stone blocks.” Large quantities of artifacts have been recovered from the associated tunnels leading to the site, including effigies painted on stone, art objects and a series of hieroglyphics or ancient texts carved into the tunnel walls.

Dr. Osmangich stresses that it is time for open sharing of knowledge so we can understand and learn from our past.

“It is time for us to open our minds to the true nature of our origin and destruction of each other as a civilization on this planet. Our mission here is to realign science with spirituality in order to progress as a species, and this demands a clear path of shared knowledge.”

Visitors are welcome to the Bosnian Valley of the Pyramids and its Foundation offers a volunteer program each dig season, running June to September.

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The Blaze

FAMED ROCKER SLAMS LIBERAL IMMIGRATION POLICY: ‘I WILL NEVER FORGIVE THEM’

Nov. 18, 2013 8:28am Sharona Schwartz

The Who frontman Roger Daltrey has slammed the British Labor Party for its lax immigration policy which he says “destroyed the jobs of my mates.”

In a candid interview published this weekend in The Sunday Times magazine, Daltrey said he would never forgive the party which he used to support for welcoming the influx of immigrants, a policy he blames for the unemployment among Britain’s working class.

“I will never, ever forgive the Labor Party for allowing this mass immigration with no demands put on what people should be paid when they come to this country. I will never forgive them for destroying the jobs of my mates, because they allowed their jobs to be undercut with stupid thinking on Europe, letting them all in, so they can live 10 to a room, working for Polish wages,” Daltrey told the Sunday Times.

The Who frontman Roger Daltrey blasted liberal immigration policy for “destroying” his friends’ jobs. (Getty Images/Rick Diamond)

“I’ve got nothing against the Poles at all, but that was a political mistake and it made me very angry. And the people who get it in the neck are the immigrants, and it’s not their fault,” he said according to The Daily Telegraph.

The vocalist and songwriter laid blame not only on the Labor Party, but also the European Union as a whole for its “detrimental” bureaucracy which he said he “can’t stand.”

The United Kingdom joined the European Union when it was established in 1993, but opted out of adopting the euro as its currency, with British public opinion firmly against abandoning the pound sterling. Joining the E.U. meant citizens of other member countries willing to accept lower wages could enter Britain to legally work.

Daltrey has previously expressed his opinion on immigration policy. According to the Daily Mail, Daltrey in 2011 said the last government left “the British working man screwed like he’d never been screwed before.”

Besides immigration policy, Daltrey also offered his opinion on the negative effects of Twitter and modern technology overall which he believes has taken the joy out of life.

“I find it really worrying that politicians tweet. That really worries the f*** out of me,” he said. “They should be sitting there thinking about doing a good job rather than telling us what they had for breakfast or what color suit they’re wearing.”

The Sunday Times interviewer described the 69-year-old’s cellphone as “a Nokia from the Jurassic pre-predictive text era, the sort, he happily admits, you’d see on the Antiques Roadshow.”

Despite the advances in modern technology, “we’re just busy doing nothing now,” Daltrey lamented. “We’ve got no time to contemplate, no time to dream.”

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Why Microwave Popcorn Is An Absolute Health Nightmare

By Food Babe

If you or someone you know is still eating microwave popcorn, listen up! I can’t tell you how many countless times I used to eat microwave popcorn when I worked in an office. My co-workers would buy one of those packs from the vending machine in the break room and pop that sucker right into the microwave and the whole floor would smell DELICIOUS! I just couldn’t help myself. It was the one thing in the vending machine that always had to be refilled week after week – way before the stale peanuts.

I’m so glad I stopped that habit, when I finally gave up my use of microwaves, because let me tell you, this stuff is horrible for your health and here’s why…

The Bag

The bag almost all microwave popcorn varieties come in is lined with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). This chemical is the same toxic stuff found in teflon pots and pans. It can stay in the environment and in the human body for long periods of time. This chemical when heated has been linked to infertility, cancer and other diseases in lab animals. No long term studies have been conducted on humans, but the EPA lists this substance as a carcinogen.

The Contents

Here’s a snapshot of several popular popcorn brands and the ingredients they contain.

Even though there are no sources of genetically modified popcorn kernels being produced (that’s saved for other varieties of corn), there are several other GMO ingredients in the form of oil or emulsifiers to be found in these popcorn flavors. GMOs have never been tested long term on human beings and are linked to a slew of health issues that are rising in this country. All of these brands do not use organic corn either, so you can be sure they contain harmful pesticides.

Brands like PopSecret and Jolly Time still use trans fat, which is considered one of the most deadly fats available because it is associated with 20,000 heart attacks a year and over 7,000 deaths according to the CDC.

Proply Gallate that is found in PopSecret is one of those ingredients that’s being phased out in the rest of the world, but still being used here for a preservative in food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. It’s linked to all sorts of health issues like skin rashes, stomach issues and breathing problems.

TBHQ that is found in Smart Balance, stands for “Tertiary Butylhydroquinone.” It’s a dead giveaway that you shouldn’t be eating this, if food companies have to use an acronym for a long chemical name on the ingredient label.

TBHQ is a chemical made from butane (a very toxic gas) and can only be used at a rate of 0.02 percent of the total oil in a product. Why is there a limit to this? Maybe because eating only 1 gram of this toxic preservative has been shown to cause all sorts of issues, from ADHD in children, to asthma, allergies and dermatitis to dizziness and even has caused stomach cancer in laboratory animals.

Limiting TBHQ to a certain percentage, is the same logic the FDA made when allowing a product to still contain 0.5 grams of transfat and be labeled “transfat free.” If you are consuming processed foods, eating at fast food restaurants or chains that use processed foods you are consuming an overload of preservatives and other chemicals. The accumulation of eating all these different preservatives and man-made chemicals at once has not been studied by the food companies or the FDA for safety.

The Hidden Ingredients

Even though natural flavors and artificial flavors are listed on the ingredient label of microwave popcorn, we have no way of knowing what’s actually in these ingredients. Food manufacturers won’t tell you and they hide things in there like MSG, beaver’s anal glands and diacetyl butter flavoring. What’s so wrong with a little bit of artificial butter flavoring? Well a lot. This stuff is seriously toxic, which forced Conagra Foods to remove it from their Act branded Microwave popcorn recently because it causes lung issues in workers. This ingredient is also linked to brain issues which cause Alzheimer’s Disease too. Dr. Mercola reports:

“Researchers conducting test-tube studies revealed that diacetyl has several concerning properties for brain health. Not only can it pass through the blood-brain barrier, which is intended to help keep toxins out of your brain, but it can also cause brain proteins to misfold into the Alzheimer’s-linked form known as beta amyloid. It also inhibits mechanisms that help to naturally clear the dangerous beta amyloid from your brain.1

It’s not known at this time whether eating diacetyl-containing foods (it’s used not only in microwave popcorn but also in other snack foods, baked goods, pet foods, some fast foods and other food products) increases your risk of Alzheimer’s, but the finding that it may contribute to brain plaques linked to Alzheimer’s at very low concentrations is concerning, to say the least.“

Orville Redenbacher’s label explicitly says they do not use this flavoring anymore, but there are popcorn varieties that still do, so watch out, if you see the words “artificial flavor” on the label of any processed food, back up far away!

Make Your Own (It Takes 5 mins!)

Making your own popcorn from scratch is so EASY and you can avoid all of these health pitfalls. If you need to take some to the office or where ever you are going (like sneaking it into the movie theatre), I recommend making it in advance and throwing it in a reusable bag.

This recipe takes 5 mins. The extra 2 minutes (over microwave popcorn) is time definitely worth committing to.

I call this recipe “Superfood Popcorn” because it contains three amazing ingredients:

Coconut oil that is great for your metabolism

Hemp seeds that are full of omega 3 fatty acids

Red palm oil that contains the highest amounts of vitamins A and E of any plant-based oil

I have to say, the red palm oil took this popcorn from about an 9 to an 11 on a scale from 1 to 10. It looks and tastes like yummy comforting butter (and the color matches that movie theatre popcorn without all the added chemical ingredients). Also, the added texture of the hemp seeds combined with sea salt is so good and crunchy.

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Until next week...keep on believing.
Almondtree Productions

“Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”
Isaiah 53:10-11