“The Lord smite thee with insanity, and blindness, and astonishment of mind. And thou shalt grope at mid-day, as a blind man would grope in the darkness.
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
(Deuteronomy 28:28-29, 2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
Light Of The Glorious Gospel

Dear Friends

Just last week I was trying to express to someone about the state of the world and I literally stopped talking, I was at a loss for words.

It is just absolute madness. The deception amongst so many people is just almost beyond words.

What came to me later is a quote we put up once before in 2011 that helps to express the world as we see it today.

"Look at the world today. Is there anything more pitiful? What madness there is. What blindness. What unintelligent leadership. A furiously racing mass of bewildered humanity, strengthening, not in wisdom but in vulgar passions, crashing headlong into each other, motivated by greed and propelled into brutality. The time must come when evil will destroy itself.

"When the day comes that the world begins to look for a new life, it is our hope they may find it here in Shangri-La. Here we shall be with our way of life based on one simple rule--love. And it is our hope that Shangri-La's brotherly love will then spread throughout the world. And when the strong have devoured each other, then at last the meek shall inherit the Earth."

No words more perfectly describe the global plight of the world today--and yet they were written over 80 years ago by the late James Hilton [1900-1954] to express the philosophy of the High Lama of Shangri-La in his classic novel, Lost Horizon [1933].

To illustrate the above point the following is a video that is an advertisement for Kenzo perfume that was featured in “The Independent” newspaper. The Independent is considered to be one of the UK's most important and influential newspapers.

We will warn you the video is disturbing. You may want to watch it with the sound very low or off completely. The occult symbolism is quite apparent.

The Independent

Spike Jonze directed the perfume ad to end all perfume ads

The new ad for Kenzo World features The Nice Guys' Margaret Qualley and choreography by 'Chandelier''s Ryan Heffington

“Thy God shall be with thee continually, and thou shalt be satisfied according as thy soul desires; and thy bones shall be made fat, and shall be as a well-watered garden, and as a fountain from which the water has not failed.” Isaiah 58:11

Have a great week ahead!

***

WND

WAS LATEST ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIND REALLY FROM JEWISH TEMPLE?

Traditional site was a Roman fort, critics say

Published: September 10, 2016

LEO HOHMANN

A representative of the Temple Sifting Project holds up one of the restored inlaid tiles.

Archeologists believe they have found new proof that Herod’s Second Temple once stood on the site of the current “Dome of the Rock” in Jerusalem, walked upon by Jesus, but others are saying “not so fast.”

Jerusalem-based Temple Mount Sifting Project announced earlier this week it has successfully restored a unique architectural element of the Second Temple.

It’s known as “opus sectile,” which Latin for “cut work,” an ancient Roman method of cutting polished stones and inlaying them in very expensive floors to make a beautiful design. The tile segments were inlaid with such precision that one could not insert a sharp blade between them.

These decorative tiles adorned the porticos atop the Temple Mount and likely featured prominently in the courtyards of the Second Temple during the period that King Herod ruled (37 to 4 BCE) in Jerusalem.

“It enables us to get an idea of the Temple’s incredible splendor,” stated Dr. Gabriel Barkay, co-founder and director of the Temple Mount Sifting Project. The restored tiles were presented to the public on Sept. 8, at the 17th Annual City of David Archaeological Conference.

The exact place where the tiles came from is not 100 percent locked down but Barkay says he is certain they originated from a building within the present-day Temple Mount.

“We do not know from where exactly they came but they came from within the present day Temple Mount. All the soil that we are sifting originates from inside the walls of the Herodian Temple Mount,” Barkay said. “They were discovered in the southeastern corner of the Temple Mount and we are sure that they belonged to that placement.

“As for the location we feel sure it comes from within the precincts of the Temple, which building I don’t know, but it comes from the Temple Mount complex.”

The dating of the tiles is not at all in doubt, he added.

“The materials of which they are made, colorful marble-like stones which originate from different locations and places around the basin of the Mediterranean. They were neither imported before the time of Herod the Great nor later, so we are sure of the date,” he said in answering questions from WND.

“The dimensions, they are following the fractions of the Roman foot, which fits well with an Italian team that could have been sent by Emperor Augustus to help Herod with his building operations,” Barkay continued.

“And, most importantly, we have parallels to these tiles coming from Herod’s palaces,” he said.

Approximately 600 colored-stone floor tiles have been uncovered, with more than 100 of them definitively dated to the Herodian Second Temple period. Opus Sectile flooring is consistent with the style of flooring found in Herod’s palaces at Masada, Herodian, and Jericho, among others, as well as in majestic palaces and villas in Italy during the time of Herod. The tile segments, mostly imported from Rome, Asia Minor, Tunisia and Egypt, were created from polished multicolored stones cut in a variety of geometric shapes.

But all are not sold on the idea that the luxurious tiles found and restored by the Temple Mount Sifting Project actually came from the Second Temple.

One of the skeptics is Robert Cornuke, who in 2014 published the results of a years-long investigation into the location of the ancient Jewish Temple. The true location, he believes, is not on the traditional site where Jews pray at the Wailing Wall and Muslims gather for Friday prayers at the Dome of the Rock. Rather, he says, the true Temple site is about 600 feet to the south in what is the ancient City of David. The traditional Temple Mount that includes the Wailing Wall and the Dome of the Rock is actually the remains of Fort Antonia, an ancient Roman fort that boarded thousands of Roman troops, he says.

Otherwise, how could Jesus’ prophecy about the Temple in Matthew 24 that “not one stone would be left standing upon another” be true?

When Cornuke’s book, “Temple: Amazing New Discoveries that Change Everything About the Location of Solomon’s Temple,” came out in late 2014 it turned heads in scholarly circles. Its pure audacity in challenging mulit-generational scholarly consent on the Temple location defied the established archaeological order among those who deal in biblical antiquities.

Cornuke calls his research “biblical kryptonite” because, if it’s true, it would set the established order on its head in terms of Jewish-Muslim relations. Right now the Muslim Waft controls the Temple Mount and dictates where Jews can pray, where Christian and Jewish pilgrims can walk, the whole shebang. But if the actual temple site was in the City of David, on a strip of land already under the control of the Israeli government, then the rebuilding of the ancient temple could begin without the consent of the Muslim Waft, which is based in Jordan.

Cornuke believes the Temple Mount Sifting Project is making a huge leap, an unwarranted assumption, by assigning the tiles to the actual Jewish Temple.

“Finding exquisite tiles does not necessarily make them from the Temple area and at best only proves there are beautiful tiles,” Cornuke told WND. “This find is an assumptive interpretation at best which may be correctly assigned to the temple or they also may have been for other Roman usage.”

David Sielaff, director of Oregon-based Associates for Scriptural Knowledge, said Cornuke’s investigation served as independent verification of his organization’s research, originally performed more than 20 years ago by the late Dr. Ernest Martin.

He said opus sectile tiling has even been found in the flooring of the Dome of the Rock mosque.

“The tiles without any representation of animals or humans is a particularly Islamic thing after a certain period of time. These don’t have animals, and they look similar to ones right now in the Dome of the Rock. Not exactly the same but similar.”

Sielaff and Cornuke believe the whole structure of the Temple Mount was a Roman fort and the temple was further south, above Gihon Springs. About 5,400 men were stationed there and Jesus would have been judged at the Dome of the Rock, which was a massive stone according to Jewish historian Josephus about 50 cubits high.

“The rest of that is filled-in area. So this whole platform is not an original platform. It’s mostly fill. Fort Antonia was much larger and much grander than the temple sanctuary, so if that whole platform is the temple, and Josephus was there as a child and as he was growing up and he was there when it was destroyed, and he says it was larger and dominated the temple, that means it was taller than the temple.”

In fact, another discovery of an opus sectile receiving scant media coverage is a stone fragment that can be found today on display in the Israeli Museum in Jerusalem with the following attached descriptive signage:

“This Greek inscription, discovered in excavations south of the temple mount records the construction of a pavement paid for with a donation by a man from Rhodes. It is possible that the pavement was a costly opus sectile floor, in keeping with Josephus’ description: the open court was from end to end variegated with paving of all manner of stones. (Jewish Wars 5, 192).”

It is probable from this inscription on the stone that it was a memorial marker for a donor to the Temple, Cornuke said.

“But the most interesting fact about the stone mounted on the wall of the museum was that it was not found on the Temple Mount but south of the Temple Mount in the general area of the Ophal/City of David,” Cornuke said. “Does this mean that the temple was really located in the City of David? This could very well be the case but archaeology is, by its very nature, a best-guess proposition and assumptions should not translate into verifiable, empirical declarations by finding some nice tiles.”

Barkay dismissed Cornuke’s research and that of others who have postulated the real site of the Jewish Temple was within the City of David.

“This view, which is advocated by Bob Cornuke, is a minority view,” he said. “There are no serious scholars that follow that view, and there is a consensus among I would say 99.9 percent of the scholars about the location of the Temple and that is agreed upon for generations of scholars and it is agreed upon by scholars today.”

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BREAKINGISRAELNEWS

Recent Appearance of Dry Land in Sea of Galilee Named as Sign of Coming Messiah

By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz September 7, 2016 , 12:30 pm

“He turned the sea into dry land; they went through the river on foot; there let us rejoice in Him!” Psalms 66:6 (The Israel Bible™)

Dry land has appeared in the Sea of Galilee, September 2016. (Aerial photo courtesy of Rahaf)

An island that has recently appeared in the middle of the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret) is a cause of ecologic alarm, but, more importantly, it is also a sign mentioned explicitly in the Talmud as presaging the coming of the Messiah from the House of David.

The sudden appearance of the island is not entirely unusual or unexpected. It frequently appears in particularly dry seasons when the level of the Sea of Galilee drops significantly, and to be sure, this year is exceptionally arid.

Since summer’s beginning, the water level in the Kinneret has gone down by 40 inches, a worrying 14.76 inches below the lowest red line, the Jewish Press reported.

The drying up of the Kinneret has clear Messianic implications. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 97a) discusses the signs that will appear just prior to the coming of “the Son of David” (the Messiah from the House of King David).

Rabbi Yehuda, a Talmudic sage, states that one of the signs presaging the Messiah will be that the Sea of Galilee and Gablan, the upper Jordan River in the Golan, will become desolate and destroyed (“khorban” in Hebrew).

This Talmudic prophecy is consistent with the verse in Isaiah, which uses the same word, khorban, to describe rivers drying up in the days of the Messiah.

“And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be drained dry.” Isaiah 19:5

The year began with the sea at the lowest level since 1926. As it stands today, 38 feet shy of being full, the Sea of Galilee has never before been so close to fulfilling this prophecy.
The Zohar, the foundational work of Jewish mysticism, cites the Galilee as the place in which the beginnings of the Messiah can first be seen.

“The Messiah… will arise in the land of Galilee… the Messiah shall reveal himself in the land of Galilee because in this part of the Holy Land the desolation (Babylonian exile) first began, therefore he will manifest himself there first.” [Zohar III, Shemoth 7b, 8b, 220a; Otzar Midrashim, 466]

When considered alongside a prophecy in Zechariah which states that in the times of the Messiah water will flow from Jerusalem, it is clear that great changes are coming.

“And it shall come to pass in that day that living waters shall go out from Yerushalayim: half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; in summer and in winter shall it be.” Zechariah 14:8

The big picture created by these different prophecies demonstrate how drastically the Messianic process will alter the land. Jerusalem, a dry mountaintop city, will become a source of flowing water while the Galilee and Jordan, perennial sources of Israel’s water, will become desolate and dry. In yet another turnaround, the Dead Sea will fill up with life in the days of the Messiah.

Rabbi Yosef Berger, the rabbi of David’s Tomb in Jerusalem, explained that we should understand the destruction of the Galilee as the drought that is occurring right now.

“That section of the Talmud is full of signs that indicate the coming of the Messiah, and every single one of them is undeniably coming true,” Rabbi Berger explained.

“The simple reading of the prophecy in the Talmud is that the cities in the Galilee will be destroyed, but in trying to understand this particular sign pertaining to the Galilee, it is important to note what the Zohar says about learning such things.”

He referred to a core Jewish tenant: the idea that man can alter decreed Heavenly events with prayer and understanding. “By virtue of interpreting a prophecy a certain way, people can influence the way in which Heaven chooses to bring it into the world,” Rabbi Berger told Breaking Israel News.

The rabbi explained how this applied to the present situation. “By learning that our present drought condition in the Galilee is what the prophecy called ‘destruction’ (khorban), our interpretation of the destruction of the Galilee can influence, even change, what was originally intended,” he said.

“Just like in prayer, which is a dialogue with God, our thoughts are taken into account in Heaven, and can bring the desired prophecy into existence… By people believing that the Galilee drying up is part of the prophecy, it will help the Messiah come.”

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WND

'ANGEL' IN BEAMS OF LIGHT AT WORLD TRADE CENTER 9/11 MEMORIAL

Photographer: 'Almost looked like a vision of the Lord'

Published: September 16, 2016

Image being called the Angel of the World Trade Center. This image was captured by Richard McCormack. He is a photographer at the New Jersey Journal.

Copyright: Richard McCormack

A startling image has emerged from the recent memorial light display in New York City commemorating the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attack on America by Islamic terrorists: an image that is being described as an angel.

“I did a double-take not knowing really what it was, but as I zoomed in it almost looked like a vision of the Lord with his arms crossed,” photographer Rich McCormack told a New Jersey station. “I got very emotional, and I got tears in my eyes.”

He’s posted his images on social media.

Yvette Cid, who lost two sons in the 9/11 terror attacks, told him, “Rich I know you don’t photo shop that’s an awesome pic wow I lost my two boys and I believe this is a sign to all that have lost a loved one.”

Here’s a zoomed-in view:

Copyright: Rich McCormack

And another even closer:

Copyright: Rich McCormack

Helena Padget added, “The Lord is with us and this is just another reminder. It’s beautiful.”

McCormack, of Jersey City, reported he’d taken multiple images of the light, but the figure appeared only in one.

Associated Media Coverage

Due To Religious Intolerance Facebook Bans All Christian Themed Content

By George Drivas - September 7, 2016

Left Image: Photo by Tech Crunch via Flicker (CC BY 4.0)

Representatives from Facebook, the social media giant known for making overnight changes in policy have announced their newest policy update, which is being viewed as one of the company’s most controversial changes to date.

According to Facebook representative Riker Jepson, the company’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, has made the decision to ban all Christian themed content in attempt to celebrate religious diversity while at the same time reducing religious intolerance among the social network’s estimated 1.65 billion monthly active users.

According to Jepson, one of the most frequent complaints made by Facebook users each month is what many of the website’s members describe as religious intolerance or bullying by the social network’s Christian population. Many Facebook users have complained that the website has become “over-saturated” with Christian posts, groups, pages, meme’s, and even Christian themed hashtags.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the social networking website contains a myriad of Christian themed content as Christianity is currently the world’s largest religion with over 2.4 billion adherents. It’s believed that approximately 32% of the global population identifies with some form of Christianity.

According to Jepson, the company’s developers are currently working to create an algorithm that will alert staff of any content that appears to be related to Christianity. All flagged content will be reviewed by a dedicated team and will be immediately removed if found to be in violation of community standards. According to Jepson, repeated offenders will have their credentials suspended and will no longer have access to their Facebook accounts. Though Jepson estimates their developers will have mastered the necessary algorithm within the next few weeks, the company is giving users until November 15, 2016, to ensure compliance with the newest policy update.

Though Facebook will be void of all Christian related content, not all religious themed content will be banned. Several religions will still have free-reign on the social network including but not limited to, Buddhism, Deity, Druid, Eckankar, Ethical Culture, Hindu, Humanist, Jewish, Mormonism, Muslim, Native American Spirituality, New Age, Pagan, Rastafarian, Santeria, Scientologist, Secular, Sikh, Spiritualist, Taoist, and Unitarian Universalist.

As news of Facebook’s most recent policy update travels through mainstream and social media, many users have expressed their disagreement with the policy, however a large population of users have expressed their appreciation for Zuckerberg’s decision. One Facebook user, Ivan Soren, told reporters, “I’m honestly very excited about this new policy. I’ve been running a non-Christian religious group on Facebook for the past 3-years and it’s pretty much impossible to get noticed among the overwhelming amount of Christian content. This will definitely even the playing field.”

Business analysts widely anticipate Facebook to experience a slight decline in active users within the next few months, however estimate the company will see an increase in user engagement throughout 2017.

UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS

UCCB General Counsel Urges NIH Not To Fund Unethical Human/Animal Chimera Research

September 2, 2016

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) submitted comments September 2 to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Science Policy on the proposed authorization of federally-funded human/animal chimera research. Comments objecting to that proposal were submitted by Anthony Picarello, USCCB associate general secretary and general counsel, and Michael Moses, associate general counsel.

The comments outlined the USCCB's objections to the newly-proposed research guidelines: "the bottom line is that the Federal government will begin expending taxpayer dollars on the creation and manipulation of new beings whose very existence blurs the line between humanity and animals such as mice and rats. In doing so, the government is ignoring the fact that federally funded research of this kind is prohibited by Federal statute and is also grossly unethical."

Human/animal chimera research results in "beings who do not fully belong to either the human race or the host animal species."

"Herein lies the key moral problem involved in this proposal, beyond the already grave problem of exploiting human embryos as cell factories for research," they wrote. "For if one cannot tell to what extent, if any, the resulting organism may have human status or characteristics, it will be impossible to determine what one's moral obligations may be regarding that organism."

The comments noted that Catholic morality allows for "the respectful use of animals in research that can benefit humanity. But because of the unique dignity of the human person, there are limits to what can morally be done…."

They listed the ways in which chimera research violates ethical principles: "It relies on the destruction of human embryos; it contemplates producing entities with partly or wholly human brains (without any additional level of scrutiny in the case of rodents); and it allows for producing living entities who have human gametes (though researchers will be told to take precautions so these entities do not engage in 'breeding')."

"[T]he dignity and inviolability of human life at every stage of development is a foundational principle of any truly civilized society," they wrote. "The core ethical norms protecting human research subjects, affirmed in the Nuremberg Code and many subsequent documents, reflect this principle. The right not to be subjected to harmful experimentation without one's express and informed consent is an innate human right…."

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SPUTNIK

Tech Giants Urge US Congress to Speed Up Internet Handover to Int’l Agency

© Photo: Pixabay

As the Obama Administration prepares to cede America’s control of the internet, major tech companies have written a letter urging the president to follow through. Currently overseen by the US Department of Commerce, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is used to coordinate internet domain names across the globe. Washington has vowed for years to cede control of ICANN to an independent global oversight committee, and is set to do so next month.

"NTIA [National Telecommunications & Information Administration] has thoroughly reviewed the report. We informed ICANN today that based on that review and barring any significant impediment, NTIA intends to allow the [Internet Assigned Numbers Authority] functions contract to expire as of October 1," NTIA Assistant Secretary Lawrence Strickling wrote last month. There remain a number of vocal opponents to the plan, including Texas Senator and former presidential hopeful Ted Cruz. To voice their support for the transition, tech giants including Google, Facebook, and Twitter wrote a letter to the US Congress on Tuesday. "A global, interoperable and stable internet is essential for our economic and national security, and we remain committed to completing the nearly twenty year transition to the multi stakeholder model that will best serve US interests," the letter states.

"The Internet is defined by its inclusiveness and openness. Those critical characteristics are reflected in the work that…went into the drafting of the transition." Other signatories to the letter include Amazon, Yahoo, and Cloudflare. The global community has long supported the transition, as well as current ICANN head Fadi Chehade. "I feel the proposal will lead us to a global, independent, neutral, well-governed organization,” he said last year. "I’m never comfortable, but I am optimistic and I believe that all interests are now aligned…Everybody sees that this makes sense." Senator Cruz has argued against the plan to “give away the Internet” and create an environment so that "countries like Russia, China, and Iran could be able to censor speech on the Internet."

THEWEEK

America launched more than 60 airstrikes in 6 countries last weekend alone

September 9, 2016

Over the course of the long Labor Day weekend, American bombs rained down on targets spanning nearly 4,000 miles across the Mideast and North Africa.

The strikes hit six countries — Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen — and targeted terrorist groups including the Islamic State (in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria), al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (in Yemen), al Shabab (in Somalia), and the Taliban (also in Afghanistan). About 45 strikes took place in Iraq and Syria alone, plus another 20 or so in Libya and smaller totals in the remaining three nations.

These campaigns, as well as occasional drone strikes in Pakistan, will almost certainly continue past President Obama's term in office. "This administration really wanted to end these wars," said Paul Scharre of the Center for a New American Security. "Now, we've got U.S. combat operations on multiple fronts and we're dropping bombs in six countries. That's just the unfortunate reality of the terrorism threat today." Bonnie Kristian

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LIBERTY BLITZKRIEG

A Political Hurricane is About to Sweep Across Europe

Michael Krieger | Posted Thursday Sep 8, 2016 at 2:51 pm

If you’ve been paying attention, you could see this coming a mile away. Although I’ve forecast huge political shifts in the West for years now, I made my strongest prediction on European changes late last year following the Paris terror attacks.

In the post, A Message to Europe – Prepare for Nationalism I wrote:

Actions have consequences, and people can only be pushed so far before they snap. I believe the Paris terror attacks will be a major catalyst that will ultimately usher in nationalist type governments in many parts of Europe, culminating in an end of the EU as we know it and a return to true nation-states. Although I think a return to regional government and democracy is what Europeans need and deserve, the way in which it will come about, and the types of governments we could see emerge, are unlikely to be particularly enlightened or democratic after the dust has settled.

A few months later, Brexit shocked the world when the British public voted to leave the European Union. While this event represents a moment of huge historical significance, Brexit is just the start of a much, much bigger trend.

As the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week in a very important article:

BERLIN—Growing populist forces shook Europe’s pillar of stability this weekend, as an unprecedented defeat for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives in Germany signaled more political tumult across the continent.

For the first time in postwar history, Ms. Merkel’s Christian Democrats finished behind a populist challenger to their political right in a state election. Riding a wave of discontent with her migration policy, the Alternative for Germany—a three-year-old anti-immigrant party—beat the chancellor’s party in her home state, spurring her allies to debate Monday whether she should change course.

Beyond Germany, more political crossroads are approaching that could jolt Europe—as the migrant influx, terrorism fears, and antiestablishment sentiment complicate the recovery from years of economic problems.

A week from Sunday, an election in the city-state of Berlin is likely to deliver Ms. Merkel another setback, according to opinion polls. Two weeks after that, polls show voters in Austria’s second-round presidential election could crown postwar Western Europe’s first right-wing, populist head of state.

Later in the fall, Italy faces a constitutional referendum seen as an up-or-down vote on Premier Matteo Renzi’s pro-European government. And in December, Spain could face its third parliamentary elections in a year if its troubles in forming a government persist—a symptom of the same political fragmentation and antiestablishment sentiment dogging much of Europe.

Every populist success in one European country appears to be emboldening the populists in the next. “That which was impossible yesterday has become possible,” French nationalist leader Marine Le Penwrote in a Twitter post late Sunday after the initial results of the populist Alternative for Germany, or AfD, came in. “The patriots of the AfD have swept away the party of Ms. Merkel. All my congratulations!” Polls show Ms. Le Pen is likely to make it into the second round when France votes for a president in the spring.

The precise contours of the political debate differ across Europe, but the mounting disaffection with the establishment—often in favor of immigration, greater EU integration, and free trade—echoes from country to country.

With slogans such as “Politics for our own people!” the AfD finished with 20.8% of the vote, ahead of the 19% won by Ms. Merkel’s center-right Christian Democrats, traditionally the big-tent home for conservatives in a country long wary of nationalist populism. The AfD will now hold seats in nine of Germany’s 16 powerful state parliaments, building momentum ahead of the Berlin election later this month and the national election in September 2017.

Sound familiar? Yep, this is exactly the type of language Trump is using. The backlash we are witnessing represents a worldwide revolt against globalism and the disconnected and hopelessly corrupt status quo.

“People have a diffuse feeling that the state no longer has this challenge under control,” said Mike Mohring, the Christian Democrats’ party chairman in the state of Thuringia. “More than anything, it’s a question of emotions and of rhetoric.”

“One cannot act in politics against the people, against the will of the people,” lawmaker Hans Michelbach, a conservative ally of Ms. Merkel, said Monday, urging her to be more responsive to public criticism of her refugee policy. “One must of course also take the concerns and fears of the people seriously.”

Of course, this is sound advice. Advice that Ms. Merkel and none of the other leaders in the EU will pay any attention to.

A tumultuous political season is in store for the rest of Europe as well: Austria’s October runoff election for president, a largely symbolic post, could be won for the first time by a right-wing populist, Norbert Hofer, according to polls.

In November, Italy is expected to hold a plebiscite on a constitutional reform aimed at creating more stable governments that has emerged as a referendum on Mr. Renzi, who has tried to rally support for the EU. The likely beneficiary if the referendum fails and Mr. Renzi resigns: the populist 5 Star Movement, founded by comic Beppe Grillo, which has surged to about 30% in the polls and whose left-right politics reflect the breadth of anger among Italians at their political class.

Meanwhile, Spain is struggling to form a government, despite two parliamentary elections since last December. The problem: two upstarts, including left-wing populists Podemos, have fragmented the political landscape and blocked efforts by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to negotiate a governing coalition. If the quagmire drags on, Spain faces yet another election this December.

Did you get all that? Italy, France, Germany, Spain and Austria. These aren’t small countries. This is the core of what’s left of the EU.

It’s about to get interesting.

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SPUTNIK

Hungary Must Leave EU for Building Fences to Deter Refugees - Luxembourg FM

Hungary must be forced out of the European Union for violating its core values and mistreating refugees, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said in an interview published Tuesday. MOSCOW (Sputnik) — He slammed Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban for giving the European Union a bad name by making it look like it is preaching values it is unable to enforce within the bloc. Asselborn said Orban’s administration was not far from allowing to shoot refugees and was treating them worse than animals. "

We cannot accept that EU’s basic values are being greatly undermined. Those who, like Hungary, build fences to deter war refugees or violate press freedom and judicial independence should be temporarily or, if need be, permanently excluded from the EU," Asselborn told German newspaper Die Welt.

Hungary will vote next month on whether refugees should be resettled to the country under the European Commission’s quotas. The government has been fiercely opposed to the plan since its inception.

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RT

Russia prepares for gas divorce from Europe

Published time: 13 Sep, 2016 14:09

Political tension with Europe and the increasing role of liquefied natural gas (LNG) has the world’s biggest supplier looking to increase exports to the Asia-Pacific region, according to Russia’s Federal Subsoil Resources Management Agency.

"The crisis in relations between Russia and the West has already led to a reduction in Russian gas exports to the EU and Ukraine...Lower demand for pipeline gas deliveries from Russia's Western partners is not a local problem, but a long-term trend that will have a direct impact on Russia’s raw material and trade policies in the coming decades," said the agency in its outlook for the country’s mineral reserves development until 2030.

One of the key problems for Russia is LNG getting a bigger share on the European market.

"The significant reduction in the cost of liquefaction of natural gas destroys the monopoly of pipeline systems in transporting gas to consumers. As a result, instead of several regional markets with specific conditions and prices there is now a single global market for natural gas,” the document says.

According to the outlook, the problem should be solved by an 800-900 percent increase of gas exports to the Asia-Pacific region. To do this, Russia should increase annual natural gas production to at least 800 billion cubic meters per year.

Some analysts have warned that Asia-Pacific nations have long-term gas delivery contracts, forcing most of the LNG glut to head to Europe.

Gazprom is more optimistic about pipeline gas supplies in the future, saying that European gas demand could grow by 150 billion cubic meters per year by 2035.

Company CEO Aleksey Miller said European facilities for LNG gas reconstitution are running at about quarter capacity, while the Nord Stream pipeline delivering Russian gas through the Baltic Sea to the region saw a load increase despite limitations from regulators.

In August, China’s CNPC said Beijing may increase imports of gas from the current 53 billion cubic meters per year to 190-270 billion by 2030. Russia intends to deliver 38 billion cubic meters of gas to China annually through the Power of Siberia pipeline, and is in talks with Beijing to build the Power of Siberia-2 for an additional 30 billion cubic meters of gas.

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NEO

The March for Riyadh – Yemen’s War Takes on the Colour of Revolution

12.09.16

Yemen’s war has taken an unprecedented turn … Let me rephrase my statement: Yemen’s war took a turn Saudi Arabia and its many great Western allies never anticipated, let alone planned for.

I would say here that Fate, not to use another word, has a sense of humour. 18 months into what has arguably been one of the most violent, cruel, and vicious military interventions of our generation, impoverished Yemen is set to teach wealthy Saudi Arabia a lesson in Resistance, it is unlikely to ever forget.

As I sit at my computer typing Yemen’s military prowess, it is two of Saudi Arabia southern provinces which stand under the control of Yemen Resistance Movement: Asir and Najran. In the face of aggravated political, financial, military and humanitarian pressure, Yemen has managed to rise a revolutionary tide against the very Tyranny which has blotted the Sun of Arabia for one too many centuries.

The very war which should have ended all others – yes, Yemen was meant to serve as a cautionary tale against those nations foolish enough to think themselves free under the blade of Wahhabist Saudi Arabia and neocon America; has flipped so completely against the aggressors, that the wolf has now become the prey!

And while Yemen still burns bright under the fire of al-Saud … vengeance as it were, comes easy to al-Saud, especially when it involves the slaughtering of innocent civilians, a nation has answered genocide with absolute defiance.

Far from surrendering to the will of the mighty, Yemen has carved itself a way into the kingdom – together an inspiration and a hope, proof, that valour lies in the hearts of those who wield courage, instead of money.

I don’t think the public appreciates still the extent of Yemen’s pain – the systemic destruction, and blackmail an entire people was subjected to so that al-Saud could claim control over Arabia altogether, and the world oil route entirely. It would have been much easier to give up! Yemen it needs to be said could have long ago sold out to al-Saud’s Wahhabi theocracy to be reborn as yet another gulf monarchy.

Let me be abundantly clear here, Yemen’s war is a war of political enslavement and religious indoctrination – talks of democracy, and institutional legitimacy have been but distraction thrown at a gullible public, by an accommodating media. Twice-resigned, runaway President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi could not have possibly warrant such a furious military storm.

Why would foreign powers even attempt to rescue this pale figure of a politician’s presidency, if not to serve their own interests?

According to the Shafaqna Institute for Middle Eastern Studies and the Mona Relief Organization over 12,000 civilians have died since March 2015, notwithstanding an excess of 70,000 casualties … not exactly what the United Nations has been parading around.

Need I remind readers how Riyadh has played its billions of dollars to whitewash its many despicable crimes and land blame at the feet of those acting in self-defence. Any criticism today of Yemen Resistance Movement really translates in the negation of Yemen’s right to protect its national sovereignty and integrity.

How can we challenge a nation’s right to protect the integrity of its territories and the future of its institutions, when we ourselves take such rights for granted? However insane and ludicrous this may sound, this is exactly what the world has asked of Yemen.

An echo to Saudi Arabia imperialism, the international community has campaigned, and argued for Yemen’ surrender, making such injustice palatable by dressing it in political righteousness.

But Yemen is not of those who bow before tyranny.

Yemen fights, Yemen has fought when all others would have surrendered … Why you may ask? Why fight an impossible war? Why stand alone against the multitude? Because doing otherwise would go against Yemen’s very nature.

Worth we ought to learn cannot be measured one’s riches …

Should you still entertain the idea that Yemen Resistance Movement, those warriors Western press labelled rebels to manipulate you into denigrating them, ask yourself what you would do to defend your land, your people, and your national identity?

Finally ask yourself why again your willing media have drowned you in sectarian adjectives, playing maestro to the orchestra of your prejudices. Your governments quite simply did not want you to associate with the Houthis – the carriers of Yemen’s independence.

They did not want you to recognise in Yemen’s Resistance the expression of your own nationalism … because you would then have clamoured for Saudi Arabia to withdraw.

Surely then, you would have called Saudi Arabia’s massacres against unarmed civilians the Terror they truly are, demanding that your governments end all dealings with such grand war criminals.

Sadly the veil of deceit remains as thick as our Western capitals’ greed.

But think not Yemen beaten! In fact, as Professor Mohammad Marandi from Tehran University noted in an interview he conducted with me for the Shafaqna Institute of Middle Eastern Studies: “Saudi Arabia, however difficult it is to say, did Yemen a favour by uniting its people under one common banner.”

Indeed, before Riyadh’s murderous colonialism Yemen rose united in its Resistance Movement. No longer fragmented, no longer opposed to one another Yemen was truly reborn in the fires of war.

Today, this Phoenix is reclaiming its due.

Today, Yemen is calling for the return of its land, and the fall of the House of Saud.

Today, Yemen has asserted control over two out of three of its former provinces: Asir and Najran …. Soon maybe Jizan.

Yemen Resistance Movement is no longer fighting a losing battle. And while for now nations have still shun away from the battlefield, Yemen is certainly not alone. Tribes in Asir, Jizan and Najran have longed declared their loyalty to Yemen – their homeland.

And why would not they when they have suffered in their flesh and in their faith the brutal intolerance of Wahhabism – this cult which has called upon the murder of all religions but its own?

Catherine Shakdam is the Director of Programs of the Shafaqna Institute for Middle Eastern Studies and a political analyst specializing in radical movements, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.

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Global Research

Fukushima Backlash Hits Japan Prime Minister. Fukushima is NOT under Control

By Robert Hunziker

Global Research, September 14, 2016

Counterpunch 12 September 2016

Nuclear power may never recover its cachet as a clean energy source, irrespective of safety concerns, because of the ongoing saga of meltdown 3/11/11 at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Over time, the story only grows more horrific, painful, deceitful. It’s a story that will continue for generations to come.

Here’s why it holds pertinence: As a result of total 100% meltdown, TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) cannot locate or remove the radioactive molten core or corium from the reactors. Nobody knows where it is. It is missing. If it is missing from within the reactor structures, has it burrowed into the ground? There are no ready answers.

And, the destroyed nuclear plants are way too radioactive for humans to get close enough for inspection. And, robotic cameras get zapped! Corium is highly radioactive material, begging the question: If it has burrowed thru the containment vessel, does it spread underground, contaminating farmland and water resources and if so, how far away? Nobody knows?

According to TEPCO, removing the melted cores from reactors 1,2 and 3 will take upwards of 20 years, or more, again who knows.

But still, Japan will hold Olympic events in Fukushima in 2020 whilst out-of-control radioactive masses of goo are nowhere to be found. TEPCO expects decades before the cleanup is complete, if ever. Fortunately, for Tokyo 2020 (the Olympic designation) radiation’s impact has a latency effect, i.e., it takes a few years to show up as cancer in the human body.

A week ago on September 7th, Former PM Junichiro Koizumi, one of Japan’s most revered former prime ministers, lambasted the current Abe administration, as well as recovery efforts by TEPCO. At a news conference he said PM Shinzō Abe lied to the Olympic committee in 2013 in order to host the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan.

“That was a lie,” Mr Koizumi told reporters when asked about Mr Abe’s remark that Fukushima was “under control,” Abe Lied to IOC About Nuke Plant, ex-PM Says, The Straits Times, Sep 8, 2016. The former PM also went on to explain TEPCO, after 5 years of struggling, still has not been able to effectively control contaminated water at the plant.

According to The Straits Times article: “Speaking to the IOC in September 2013, before the Olympic vote, PM Abe acknowledged concerns but stressed there was no need to worry: “Let me assure you, the situation is under control.”

PM Abe’s irresponsible statement before the world community essentially puts a dagger into the heart of nuclear advocacy and former PM Koizumi deepens the insertion. After all, who can be truthfully trusted? Mr Koizumi was a supporter of nuclear power while in office from 2001-2006, but he has since turned into a vocal opponent.

Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan in Tokyo, Mr Koizumi said: “The nuclear power industry says safety is their top priority, but profit is in fact what comes first… Japan can grow if the country relies on more renewable energy,” (Ayako Mie, staff writer, Despite Dwindling Momentum, Koizumi Pursues Anti-Nuclear Goals, The Japan Times, Sept. 7, 2016).

Mr Koizumi makes a good point. There have been no blackouts in Japan sans nuclear power. The country functioned well without nuclear.

Further to the point of nuclear versus nonnuclear, Katsunobu Sakurai, mayor of Minamisoma, a city of 70,000 located 25 km north of Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, at a news conference in Tokyo, said: “As a citizen and as a resident of an area affected by the nuclear power plant disaster, I must express great anger at this act… it is necessary for all of Japan to change its way of thinking, and its way of life too – to move to become a society like Germany, which is no longer reliant on nuclear power,” (Sarai Flores, Minamisoma Mayor Sees Future for Fukushima ‘Nonnuclear’ City in Energy Independence, The Japan Times, March 9, 2016).

In March of 2015, Minamisoma declared as a Nonnuclear City, turning to solar and wind power in tandem with energy-saving measures.

Meanwhile, at the insistence of the Abe administration, seven nuclear reactors could restart by the end of FY2016 followed by a total of 19 units over the next 12 months (Source: Japanese Institute Sees 19 Reactor Restarts by March 2018, World Nuclear News, July 28, 2016).

Greenpeace/Japan Discovers Widespread Radioactivity

One of the issues surrounding the Fukushima incident and the upcoming Olympics is whom to trust. Already TEPCO has admitted to misleading the public about reports on the status of the nuclear meltdown, and PM Abe has been caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar, but even much worse, lying to a major international sports tribunal. His credibility is down the drain.

As such, maybe third party sources can be trusted to tell the truth. In that regard, Greenpeace/Japan, which does not have a vested interest in nuclear power, may be one of the only reliable sources, especially since it has boots on the ground, testing for radiation. Since 2011, Greenpeace has conducted over 25 extensive surveys for radiation throughout Fukushima Prefecture.

In which case, the Japanese people should take heed because PM Abe is pushing hard to reopen nuclear plants and pushing hard to repopulate Fukushima, of course, well ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics since there will be events held in Fukushima Prefecture. After all, how can one expect Olympians to populate Fukushima if Japan’s own citizens do not? But, as of now to a certain extent citizens are pushing back. Maybe they instinctively do not trust their own government’s assurances.

But, more chilling yet, after extensive boots-on-the-ground analyses, Greenpeace issued the following statement in March 2016: “Unfortunately, the crux of the nuclear contamination issue – from Kyshtym to Chernobyl to Fukushima- is this: When a major radiological disaster happens and impacts vast tracts of land, it cannot be ‘cleaned up’ or ‘fixed’.” (Source: Hanis Maketab, Environmental Impacts of Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Will Last ‘decades to centuries’ – Greenpeace, Asia Correspondent, March 4, 2016).

That is a blunt way of saying sayonara to habitation on radioactive contaminated land. That’s why Chernobyl is a permanently closed restricted zone for the past 30 years.

As far as “returning home” goes, if Greenpeace/Japan ran the show rather than PM Abe, it appears they would say ‘no’. Greenpeace does not believe it is safe. Greenpeace International issued a press release a little over one month ago with the headline: Radiation Along Fukushima Rivers up to 200 Times Higher Than Pacific Ocean Seabed – Greenpeace Press Release, July 21, 2016.

Here’s what they discovered: “The extremely high levels of radioactivity we found along the river systems highlights the enormity and longevity of both the environmental contamination and the public health risks resulting from the Fukushima disaster,” says Ai Kashiwagi, Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace Japan.

“These river samples were taken in areas where the Abe government is stating it is safe for people to live. But the results show there is no return to normal after this nuclear catastrophe,” claims Kashiwagi.

Riverbank sediment samples taken along the Niida River in Minami Soma, measured as high as 29,800 Bq/kg for radiocaesium (Cs-134 and 137). The Niida samples were taken where there are no restrictions on people living, as were other river samples. At the estuary of the Abukuma River in Miyagi prefecture, which lies more than 90km north of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, levels measured in sediment samples were as high as 6,500 Bq/kg” (Greenpeace)

The prescribed safe limit of radioactive cesium for drinking water is 200 Bq/kg. A Becquerel (“Bq”) is a gauge of strength of radioactivity in materials such as Iodine-131 and Cesium-137 (Source: Safe Limits for Consuming Radiation-Contaminated Food, Bloomberg, March 20, 2011).

The lifting of evacuation orders in March 2017 for areas that remain highly contaminated is a looming human rights crisis and cannot be permitted to stand. The vast expanses of contaminated forests and freshwater systems will remain a perennial source of radioactivity for the foreseeable future, as these ecosystems cannot simply be decontaminated. (Greenpeace).

Still, the Abe administration is to be commended for its herculean effort to try to clean up radioactivity throughout Fukushima Prefecture, but at the end of the day, it may be for naught. A massive cleanup effort is impossible in the hills, in the mountains, in the valleys, in the vast forests, along riverbeds and lakes, across extensive meadows in the wild where radiation levels remain deadly dangerous. Over time, it leaches back into decontaminated areas.

And as significantly, if not more so, what happens to the out-of-control radioactive blobs of corium? Nobody knows where those are, or what to do about it. It’s kinda like the mystery surrounding black holes in outer space, but nobody dares go there.

Fukushima is a story for the ages because radiation doesn’t quit. Still, the Olympics must go on, but where?

***

PRESSTV

Floods hitting North Korea ‘worst’ since WWII: KCNA

Wed Sep 14, 2016 11:59AM

This handout photo taken on September 7, 2016, and released on September 13 by UNICEF DPRK shows the damage to crops and houses caused by heavy flooding of Tumen River along the road from Musan to Yonsa in Hoeryong, North Hamgyong province, North Korea. (Via AFP)

North Korea says recent flash floods that affected the country’s far north have been the worst since World War II, admitting that significant damage has been inflicted on public and private properties.

“The flood that resulted from the typhoon that hit North Hamgyong province from August 29 to September 2 was the worst disaster since liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 1945,” the official KCNA said, adding that 29,800 homes and 900 public buildings had been destroyed in the natural disaster.

The Korean Central News Agency did not provide any details on the number of those killed and missing, but said 68,900 people had been forced from their homes in the area along Tumen River, which partially marks the border with China and Russia.

The KCNA said all efforts were being put into rebuilding the northeastern border region and that people and the military were helping the government in rescue efforts.

It is the first time that official sources in Pyongyang provide figures on the flood damage and the displaced, although the data released by the KCNA differed from a report published by the United Nations. The UN said 138 people had died and 400 were missing after torrential rains tore through villages, washing away buildings and leaving thousands in urgent need of food and shelter, adding that 107,000 people, 30,000 more than the figure announced by the government, had been displaced as a result of the floods.

Experts say poverty in North Korea, a nuclear power in East Asia, is to blame for the country’s increasing vulnerability to natural disasters. They say many mountains and hills have long been stripped bare for fuel or turned into terraced rice fields, allowing rainwater to flow downhill unchecked.

Hundreds of thousands of people were killed between 1994 and 1998, when a series of floods and droughts led to a famine in North Korea. The country was then experiencing mounting economic pressure as it had lost the support of the Soviet Union.

***

Natural News

Apple's new 'wireless' headphones emit radiation ... right next to your brain

Wednesday, September 14, 2016 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer


(NaturalNews) To much fanfare and excitement, Apple has announced that the iPhone 7 will come with wireless earbuds, ditching the much-reviled and ever-tangled cords of conventional earbuds. The wireless earbuds, dubbed "AirPods," will be water-resistant and are, in the words of company CEO Tim Cook, the first step to a "wireless future."

They will also fire dangerous, cancer-causing radiation directly into the brains of users, experts have warned.

The iPhone will communicate via Bluetooth directly with the right earbud, which will send a separate Bluetooth signal to the left earbud. This means the radiation carrying the signal will pass directly through the user's brain.

"Playing with fire"

According to Apple, all Bluetooth devices emit radiofrequency radiation (RFR) within the guidelines set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). But according to Joel Moskowitz of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, more than 200 scientists who study the effects of electromagnetic fields on the body have gone on record criticizing the FCC guidelines as far too lenient.

"We are playing with fire here," Moskowitz said. "You are putting a microwave-emitting device next to your brain."

The public health implications of people doing this on a massive scale are daunting, Moskowitz and other experts have warned.

Traditionally, scientists have claimed that RFR does not carry enough energy to cause cellular or DNA damage -- in contrast to the more high-energy ionizing radiation, such as X-rays, that has been shown to cause cancer.

Yet ionizing or not, a large body of research continues to show negative health effects in humans and other animals exposed to RFR.

"This has been observed over several decades," Moskowitz said. "It's like we keep rediscovering that Bluetooth is harmful and trying to forget it because we don't know how to handle it from a policy standpoint."

Brain cancer link is PROVEN

Contrary to the claims of industry representatives, studies have in fact established ways that RFR leads directly to health harm.

For example, RFR has been shown to degrade the blood-brain barrier, thereby allowing more toxins to pass into the brain. This is a major concern with placing RFR transmitters directly next to the brain.

"Although we don't know the long-term risks from using Bluetooth devices, why would anyone insert microwave-emitting devices in their ears near their brain when there are safer ways to use a cell phone?" Moskowitz said. "Essentially I recommend using corded headsets or hands-free use of cell phones, not wireless ear buds."

But even without Bluetooth, any cell phone use is hazardous. Cell phones also operate using RFR signals, as do smart meters and wireless internet.

Another mechanism by which RFR can cause health problems -- including cancer -- was identified in a 2015 study published in the journal Electromagnetic Biology & Medicine. The researchers found that numerous prior studies have shown that RFR can induce oxidative stress, a condition in which the body's antioxidant defenses are overwhelmed and free radicals run amok.

Free radicals are molecules that damage cells and DNA, and are considered among the major causes of cancer, heart disease, dementia, and numerous other health problems.

Indeed, all studies that have shown health concerns with cell phone radiation apply equally to Bluetooth, and therefore to Apple's AirPods. Thus, iPhone 7 purchasers should be concerned about the findings of the 2010 industry-funded Interphone study, which found dramatic increases in the risk of brain tumors, acoustic nerve tumors and parotid gland tumors among people who had used cell phones for 10 years or more -- and even higher risks among those who started using phones before age 20.

Earlier this year, scientists from across the United States gathered at a pediatric conference in Baltimore to declare that there is no longer a debate about the cell phone-brain cancer link.

"The weight of the evidence is clear: cell phones do cause brain cancer," said Dr. Devras Davis, president of the Environmental Health Trust.

Sources:
DailyMail.co.uk
YouTube.com
NaturalNews.com

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Zero Hedge

The Majority Of The World's Population Lives In This Circle

by Tyler Durden

Sep 12, 2016 3:00 AM

Back in 2013, a meme circulated quickly off of a Reddit post that showed the incredible population density of the southeast corner of Asia.

As Visual Capitalist's Jeff Desjardins notes, the satellite map showed, quite simply, that “more people live inside this circle, than outside of it”.

Courtesy of: Visual Capitalist

THE POPULATION EPICENTER

We are in the business of explaining the world through compelling and intuitive visuals – and we thought that this powerful “meme” could use a refresh with some additional graphical context.

To start, we’ve used 2016 information on population. There are now at least 3.8 billion people living inside the highlighted circle, and that’s not even including the tally from countries that are partially in the circle like Pakistan or Russia.

The circle holds 22 of the world’s 37 megacities – massive cities that hold at least 10 million inhabitants. It also includes the five most populous cities on the planet: Tokyo, Jakarta, Seoul, Karachi, and Shanghai, which alone combine to hold 144.5 million people.

This geographical region also holds many of the emerging markets of the future, countries that the World Economic Forum expects will lead global growth in years to come. Vietnam, Myanmar, Philippines, Indonesia, and Bangladesh are in the area highlighted, and Pakistan is partially there as well.

POINTS OF INTEREST

As a website called BrilliantMaps explains, there are some other subtleties to the circle that are worth detailing:

The circle contains a lot of people, but it also has:

• The highest mountain (Everest)

• The deepest ocean trench (Mariana)

• More Muslims than outside of it.

• More Hindus than outside of it.

• More Buddhists than outside of it.

• More communists than outside of it.

• The least sparsely populated country on earth (Mongolia)

What a fascinating world we live in.

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Natural Blaze

Drinking Water Can Be Harvested From The Air Using This Invaluable New Technology

POSTED ON

SEPTEMBER 10, 2016NATURAL LIVING

By Christina Sarich

The earth’s atmosphere contains just as much water as all our lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, underground well water, and oceans, combined. It’s a veritable Niagara Falls of water that could be used by people living under extreme drought conditions, who have been hit by natural disasters, or who live in remote desert areas, if only we could figure out how to harness it.

A new technology developed by Israeli scientists captures water from the air with 65 percent more efficiency than previous water vapor-collection methods. According to Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor, one billion people worldwide live without clean, safe drinking water, and two billion more live without basic sanitation for the water that is available to them.

The latest technology simply augments ancient fog-harvesting methods. Ways to collect water from atmospheric humidity have been around for more than 2000 years. Air wells can be found in archeological sites in the Middle East and various parts of Europe, and dew ponds along with fog fences were around in the 1400s to collect water, too.

Native Americans once survived long, hot summers in desert areas by collecting dew every night and in the early morning on a hung blanket, before the sun could burn the water away. Once the blanket became saturated, they would wring it out, filter the water, and drink it. This practice would provide enough drinking water for the day.

In ancient castles throughout Europe, you can observe small, oddly shaped buildings with outer walls made of ceramic-like blocks with holes. These were used to collect dew in the mornings. With a cistern inside, the water would drip from the walls and collect in the cistern. Nothing more was needed, except the humidity in the air.

As far back as 586 B.C., you can find sophisticated water collection systems, many of them reliant upon some sort of humidity-collection. The Nabataeans were an ancient people who inhabited northern Arabia and the Southern Levant. They built an impressive trade with surrounding tribes based on their ability to collect water in the desert.

These way-showers also used aqueducts, terraces, dams, cisterns, and reservoirs, as well as methods for harvesting rainwater, flood water, groundwater, and natural springs — but even the water in the air was not wasted.

It should come as no surprise that scientists from a country with a plethora of semi-desert and desert regions might come up with a “liquid-desiccant vapor separation process” that “reduces the energy requirements of atmospheric moisture harvesting.”

In order to obtain 5 to 65 percent energy savings, water vapor is separated from the air prior to its cooling and condensation.

The scientists say that their invention can work under a wide range of environmental conditions, even using low-grade solar heating as a source of energy in the water collection cycle.

Only 0.05 percent of all water is currently available for use for all our needs around the globe — that includes drinking water, agricultural use, and water for sanitation purposes.

Our groundwater is being used much more quickly than it can be replenished due to faulty urban planning and industrial agricultural practices that cause runoff full of pesticides and other toxic chemicals to contaminate fresh drinking water supplies.

Additionally, fewer than 10 countries possess 60 percent of the world’s total available freshwater supply, so creative, affordable ways to generate clean water are needed more than ever for all the others.

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Until next week...keep on believing.
Almondtree Productions
“He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”

(John 7:38)