"The LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it."
(Genesis 2:16-17)

Not Eat Of It

Dear Friends,

Greetings! "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." (Genesis 3:6-7)

Most of us are pretty familiar with this story.

Have you ever wondered when the woman saw the tree, what Eve saw, and what the tree looked like? What the fruit, "the apple", looked like.

Well, believe it or not there is a description given of the tree. It is in the book of Enoch, a book we have quoted from a few times in the past.

"And I came to the Garden of Righteousness, and saw beyond those trees many large trees growing there and of goodly fragrance, large, very beautiful and glorious, and the tree of wisdom whereof they eat and know great wisdom.

That tree is in height like the fir, and its leaves are like (those of) the Carob tree: and its fruit is like the clusters of the vine, very beautiful: and the fragrance of the tree penetrates afar.

Then I said: 'How beautiful is the tree, and how attractive is its look!'

Then Raphael the holy angel, who was with me, answered me and said: 'This is the tree of wisdom, of which thy father old (in years) and thy aged mother, who were before thee, have eaten, and they learnt wisdom and their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked and they were driven out of the garden.' "(Enoch 32:3-6)

(The fir-tree - The word used here is commonly rendered, in our version, 'fir-tree' (Isaiah 60:13; Isaiah 55:13; Zechariah 11:2; Hosea 14:8-9; 2 Samuel 6:5; 1 Kings 5:8, 1 Kings 5:10; 1 Kings 6:15, 1 Kings 6:34; Nahum 2:3, and in other places). Our translators understood it evidently as referring to the cedar. It is often joined, however, with the cedar and evidently denotes another tree, probably of the same class. It is probable that the word usually denotes the cypress. There are various kinds of cypress. Some are evergreen, and some are deciduous, as the American white cedar. The wood of these trees is remarkable for its durability. Among the ancients, coffins were made of it, and the tree itself was an emblem of mourning. It is mentioned here because its extended branches and dense foliage would produce a grateful shade. (Barnes:' Notes on the Bible')

Below are some examples of Cypress trees that grow in Israel and the Middle East, as well as a photo of the leaves of a Carob tree and a grape clusters.

If Enoch is to be believed it was definitely not an apple that Adam and Eve ate!

Have a great week ahead!

***

WND

RABBIS ASK EVANGELICALS TO RESTORE VALUES TO AMERICA

'No country has lasted when it has become corrupt morally'

by BOB UNRUH

Voters in South Carolina - including the large numbers of evangelical Christians and Catholics there - are in the crosshairs of GOP political campaigns as they decide who should run against Democrat Barack Obama this fall.

And they are being asked by hundreds of Orthodox rabbis to think long and hard about their decision and "vote morality" instead of flash and dash of politics or the economy.

"No country, no empire has historically lasted past a certain stage when it has become corrupt morally," said Yehuda Levin, a rabbi who is a spokesman for the Rabbinical Alliance of America.

The request is coming from the organization's members, not the organization itself.

He noted that his organization doesn't officially endorse a political candidate, but he's warning South Carolina voters to think about the future of the nation.

"By all measuring sticks, Gov. [Mitt] Romney is not at all socially conservative. He is not biblically conservative. I don't think his positions are in accordance with his own Mormon faith," Levin said.

"Therefore, our country is now facing a terrible, terrible situation, where, God forbid, we continue this hurtling toward Gomorrah, this decline."

He said a loss of morality will be followed by a loss of economy, culture and religion.

"We are appealing to evangelicals, Catholics to put as a primary focus, a primary issue even before money, is morality and decency," he said.

"We plead with you to spread this message," he said. "Choose a candidate who has lived a pro-family life."

He also released his message on video:

"We all remember the story of Jonah and Nineveh. The prophet warned that God had decreed the destruction of the city in forty days," he said in a prepared statement. "America's fate will likely be determined in the South Carolina presidential primary January 21. The man who the voters choose will probably become the Republican presidential nominee, the man charged with defeating President Obama and reversing the moral and economic freefall he and his allies have encouraged."

He said Romney's "basic concern is money and power."

"In a recent televised Republican presidential debate, Gov. Romney, a dangerous homosexualist, boasted that he will continue to pander to the lowest elements of American society in many areas, including appointment to the (Supreme) court(s)," Levin said.

"Another candidate in that debate took the opposite position. He condemned the murder of defenseless babies, openly defied the rampant immorality promoted in the media, etc., and clearly pointed out the connection between America's financial and military success and its historical commitment to the biblical principles of jurisprudence and morality," he said.

"If America is to regain God's grace and rebuild our ruined economy, it is crucial that South Carolina actively reject Gov. Romney's previous record and future aspirations. Choose the right man. The man who has lived and shares our biblical values, the moral man with the uncompromising moral positions who will thus bring God's blessings, once again, to our society."

He said, "Capitalism alone can not save [America]. No amount of financial tinkering can save a country which is morally bankrupt - that is what we learn from the decline and fall of the great empires of history."

The group, some 850 Orthodox Jewish rabbis in the U.S. and Canada, serving some 500,000 religious Jews, earlier noted that it was "compelled" to "condemn Mitt Romney's support and promotion of the immoral homosexual lifestyle and agenda."

A WND request for comment from the Romney campaign did not generate a response.

The earlier statement stemmed from a special conclave of the rabbis:

WND reported last month about the "Declaration on the Torah Approach to Homosexuality" from dozens of rabbis, community leaders and even mental health professionals.

It states that same-sex attractions can be modified and "healed," and condemns the "propaganda blitz" that has been launched "to persuade the public about the legitimacy of homosexuality."

"The media is rife with negative labels implying that one is 'hateful' or 'homophobic' if they do not accept the homosexual lifestyle as legitimate. This political coercion has silenced many into acquiescence. Unfortunately this attitude has seeped into the Torah community and many have become confused or have accepted the media's portrayal of this issue," the statement says.

"The Torah makes a clear statement that homosexuality is not an acceptable lifestyle or a genuine identity by severely prohibiting its conduct. Furthermore, the Torah, ever prescient about negative secular influences, warns us in Vayikra (Leviticus) 20:23 'Do not follow the traditions of the nations that I expel from before you...' Particularly the Torah writes this in regards to homosexuality and other forbidden sexual liaisons," the statement says.

The rabbis' statement today cited a new book from Amy Contrada that is called, "Mitt Romney's Deception." The book documents Romney's career promises to advance the homosexual agenda and issue proclamations celebrating homosexual youth pride.

Blaming Obama

It was just days earlier that a former lesbian now running a specialized ministry said Obama is using his worldwide influence "and the financial power of the government" to promote homosexuality.

That's from Janet Boynes of Janet Boynes Ministries, which states up-front that its goal is to "minister to individuals who question their sexuality or who wish to leave homosexuality. JBM will seek to inform and challenge churches and society about the issues surrounding sexuality and teach how to minister to the homosexual community."

She told WND that many "young and naïve secularists" are busy following Obama's leading on his sexually permissive agenda, and the result of that will lead "to the demise of traditional values and families," she said.

The Obama agenda also "propagates the attack of Judeo-Christian beliefs on a global level."

But while other ministries are critical of Obama's pro-homosexual drive - he's put more homosexuals in positions of power than any other president, opened the U.S. military to open homosexuality and signed into law a "hate crimes" plan that provides special protections for homosexuals - Boynes goes one step further.

"The Bible says that the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10)," she said. "It is his main objective to bring confusion and cause division within the church and he does this by altering God's truth in such a way that many Christians are deceived if they are not rooted and grounded in God's word."

WND recently reported on the policy of the Obama administration to be the new global sex cop and a recently signed executive order that some say is sure to promote "quotas" of LGBT hires for federal government jobs.

WND also reported on the push by various administration officials to normalize LGBT behavior, including the designation of "gender identity" as a protected status for federal jobs.

WND columnist Matt Barber wrote that liberals are "desperate" in their efforts "to dredge up some natural, biological rationalization - of which science has found none - to validate demonstrably unnatural behavior."

"That's why we see such visceral hatred on the left for the ex-gay community. From a political and legal standpoint, it's strategically critical that these same liberals undermine and marginalize the very real-life experiences of untold thousands of former homosexuals," he wrote. "This mean-spiritedness represents a profound lack of respect for other people's 'right to choose.' Their favorite dig is: 'You can't pray away the gay.' Once you've self-identified as - or been labeled - 'gay,' you're stuck with it, you see.

"Ironically, these same liberals will suggest with a straight face (no pun intended) that something that is innate - a person's biological sex - can change. If you're a man who, today, feels like a woman, why then, snippity-snip and voila! You're a woman," he said.

***

Washington's Blog

Russia: "Should Anything Happen to Iran ... This Will Be a Direct Threat to Our National Security"

January 14, 2012

Iran and China Would Consider An Attack On Iran - Or Syria - As An Attack On Their National Security

RT notes:

The escalating conflict around Iran should be contained by common effort, otherwise the promising Arab Spring will grow into a "scorching Arab Summer," says Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's deputy prime minister and former envoy to NATO.

­"Iran is our close neighbor, just south of the Caucasus. Should anything happen to Iran, should Iran get drawn into any political or military hardships, this will be a direct threat to our national security," stressed Rogozin.

Here's what Rogozin is talking about (notice how close the Southern tip of Russia is to Northern Iran):

A Chinese general has also allegedly said that China would launch World War III if Iran is attacked. And see this.

While many Americans still believe that our government would not be crazy enough to attack Iran, economic - not national security - considerations may be driving the warmongers.

In addition, Iran and Syria have had a mutual defense pact for years. And China and Russia might also defend Syria if it is attacked. So an attack on Syria could draw Iran into the war ... followed by China and Russia.

***

Veterans Today

Iran Signs Own Death Warrant

The Iran Attack is On. Which Weapons Group to Use?

January 17th, 2012

Posted by Bob Nichols

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visits Natanz enrichment plant

The Iran Attack is On. Which Weapons Group to Use?

by Bob Nichols

(San Francisco) - For more than 20 years American Presidential campaigns have warned about the exquisitely elaborate fantasy and dire danger of a nuclear armed Iran; nuclear weapons that Iran does not have and does not have the tools to make. So, why the continued big donor Presidential campaign interest?

The huge uranium business in the United States wields enormous power and influence in American military, business and political circles. In stark contrast, the US Navy has possession of two thirds of America's nuclear weapons. Since they do not make big campaign contributions the Admirals and Chiefs therefore have no voice in this Doomsday scenario. An interested party must "pay to play."

However, 104 American reactors and the very profitable associated businesses do make intense campaign contributions and expect real results from temporarily leased or fractionally owned politicians, American Presidents included. The pro-nukers also fully expect the powerful American military to protect their global nuclear related businesses in addition to the politicians handing out lavish cash subsidies.

Nuclear reactors make heat, high level nuclear waste and plutonium for nuclear weapons. Additionally, "All Reactors Leak Radiation All the Time." The radiation routinely kills utility company customers and their kids.

The focused logic of nuclear weapons and "facilities" anywhere dictates that a family's loss of a parent, fetus  or child is always less important than the government's desire to own thousands of nuclear weapons. This is true even though the nuclear destruction of the entire world requires only about 300 nuclear weapons.

Iran's building nuclear weapons is not the pro-nuker businesses concern, though. The making and selling of nuclear fuel rods for reactors world wide with Russia backing them is their worst nightmare.

Iran Makes Its First Uranium Fuel Rod

Iran openly held a press conference and announced the manufacture of their first nuclear fuel rod on Jan 2, 2012. On Mar 8, 2008 President Admadinejad announced  Iran's intention to build 50,000 centrifuges for refining Uranium 235 to fuel rod purity (3% to 5% U235) for power reactors. By way of contrast, the US produces all the uranium nuclear fuel it needs with only 3,000 centrifuges.

It appears Iran has every intention of entering the world wide nuclear reactor fuel market and competing with American, English, French, Japanese and/or any other nuclear fuel businesses. With 50,000 centrifuges refining uranium Iran [as the Ruskies client state] can easily supply the uranium fuel needs for all the power and research reactors on the planet at a very competitive price, even a subsidized price if bought with a big reactor from the friendly Russian salesmen and women.

That is a direct threat to the continued Super Power status of the US and will not be tolerated. The US has clearly stated it is grounds for a preemptive nuclear strike.

Iran's used-to-be-a-Super Power protector, Russia, is likely to look very favorably upon a request from any non-aligned country, existing Russian client state, or even an American client state for power or research reactors to be fueled by Iran. This will easily amount to orders for hundreds of Russian nuclear reactors from Muslim countries.

That means it is a multi-trillion Ruble series of transactions. These transactions would change the balance of power in the world; thus, the US opposes the transactions.

Russian backing makes killing the Iranian salesmanship of uranium fuel rods for Muslim nuclear reactors built by Russians much more dangerous. The cold, calculating psychopathic officials involved get off on the thrill of staring death in the face, though.

An Iranian official holds container of UF6 Tuscon Citizen l9049-1

The whole situation will quickly escalate. It may have already escalated behind the carefully staged "events" we get to see to one of open international economic warfare. This situation can turn on a dime into real warfare utilizing the oldest to the most advanced weapons available to the US Superpower and its client states.

One of the leading American Presidential candidates has already promised to strategically bomb Iran's "nuclear sites." Iran in return promised an "immediate and overwhelming response." The currently sitting American President stated, as a matter of fact, that Iran would not be permitted to have "nuclear capabilities."

Only British Member of Parliament George Galloway points out to anyone, including callers on his radio show, that there are "more than 80 Iranian nuclear sites." Thank you for that much needed voice of sanity, Mr. Galloway. That is called "war" in my book; not just a so-called simple, strategic and clean "surgical" strike.

Coded Phrases

American politicians typically talk in coded phrases about any nation's nuclear capability since it would be extremely politically incorrect for the nation to clearly interfere in another nation's business activities. Economic Warfare is a critical speciality of the so-called Department of Defense, or War Department, in all stark reality. These word games are to fool a huge number of unquestioning American Consumers.

A Bewildering Array of Weapons

The American President and his successors may see fit to utilize a vast array of weapons for the attack on Iran. First off, it is vitally important to get a handle on the idea that Iran is the indirect target of a covert nuclear war and the war has preceeded without a break for the past 20 years. Hundreds of thousands of tons of vaporized uranium munitions in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan are brought to Iran throughout the year on the monsoon winds.

As a result of the wind and rain borne fine uranium dust, Iran's Total Fertility Rate has plummeted in the past two decades. Iran's people cannot now produce enough babies to continue the nation of Iran. In this regard, the US Army's Involuntary Sterilization of the Heathens & Population Control Program is a blazing success. Continued and even increased funding is assured under all the foreseeable American Presidents.

As a result of the success of these secret and hidden wars with Iran, which is a real world power, not an empty shell like Iraq, it is clear that the successive American war-making Presidents usually choose hidden, covert ways to kill and maim lots of people and destabilize whole countries and regions. In fact, that is the name of the game for the huge American "Chaos Agency," the CIA.

A leading contender for the weapon to destroy Iran is the War Department's ability to wage a hidden war utilizing the Earth's own processes against Iran. That includes such war making capabilities as turning off or amping up monsoons; guiding typhoons, hurricanes and tornadoes; producing huge amounts of precipitation; generating bone numbing cold; droughts; and triggering earthquakes.

But, the simple fact is that Iran's premier Russian Nuclear Power Reactor at Bushehr isn't fully turned on yet after more than 35 years of construction. The Iranians and Russians are afraid to turn it on and run the billion watt reactor at full power. They have every reason to be scared. Bushehr sits obscenely astride the convergence of three geologic fault lines.

I predict that the Bushehr Nuclear Power Reactor will suffer a devastating Earth Quake as soon as the Iranian and Russian Powers-That-Be order the billion watt reactor switched "On" and build up about 200 Tons of high level radioactive poison in the reactor. The American Strike will be over in minutes and leave behind utterly devastating damage and tons of air-borne radiation from lethally radioactive current and used reactor cores.

The ensuing cascade of deadly radiation in Western and Central Asia will take out many countries that are already weakened by 20 years of nuclear war in Central Asia, including Turkey, Israel, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia; for Muslims world wide - this does include Mecca and Medina. About 20 nations and a billion people will pay the price for Iran's nuclear enterprise folly.

This is but another case of where the psychopathic "smartest guys in the room" at the DOD create a life on Earth ending apocalypse as the air-borne killer radiation spreads throughout the Northern Hemisphere.

Bushehr's soon to be vaporized 200 tons of lethal reactor cores are projected to produce no less than a life choking 26,128.20 hot particles per cubic meter in the Northern Hemisphere up to 3000 meters in the sky (9,842.51 feet.)

Each highly radioactive hot particle is at least 85.78 times the Maximum Allowable Human Dose Permissible Per Year after 300 days in the doomed Bushehr reactor.  The resultant RadPoison takes about a year to go world wide.

The then current American President can generously offer vast amounts of American Aid from CIA Contractors in response to an "Act of God," ... as the now quite quaint saying goes. Isn't "plausible deniability" Grand for the most lethal armed force on the Planet!

Will the peace loving Normals ever learn? The only God on Earth is the American President and the right hand of God is the Almighty US Military. - [End]

Copyright 2012 by Bob Nichols. Re-print only with Notes and Sources included.

Notes and Sources.

All radiation data is IAEA sourced.

***

The Economic Collapse

Warning Signs That We Should Prepare For The Worst

January 19, 2012

The warning signs are all around us.  All we have to do is open up our eyes and look at them.  Almost every single day there are more prominent voices in the financial world telling us that a massive economic crisis is coming and that we need to prepare for the worst.

On Wednesday, it was the World Bank itself that issued a very chilling warning.  In an absolutely startling report, the World Bank revised GDP growth estimates for 2012 downward very sharply, warned that Europe could be on the verge of a devastating financial crisis, and declared that the rest of the world better "prepare for the worst."  You would expect to hear this kind of thing on The Economic Collapse Blog, but this is not the kind of language that you would normally expect to hear from the stuffed suits at the World Bank.  Obviously things have gotten bad enough that nobody is even really trying to deny it anymore.  Andrew Burns, the lead author of the report, said that if the sovereign debt crisis gets even worse we could be looking at an economic crisis that could be even worse than the last one: "An escalation of the crisis would spare no-one. Developed- and developing-country growth rates could fall by as much or more than in 2008/09."  Burns also stated that the "importance of contingency planning cannot be stressed enough."  In other words, Burns is saying that it is time to prepare for the worst.  So are you ready?

But of course it isn't just the World Bank that is warning about these things.  The chorus of voices that is warning about the next great financial crisis just seems to grow by the day.

Some of these voices were profiled in a Bloomberg article the other day entitled "Apocalypse How? Dire '12 Forecasts".  The following is just a sampling of quotes from that article....

-John Mauldin, president of Millennium Wave Advisors: "We've got a cancer. That cancer is debt"

-Mark Spitznagel of Universa Investments: "Too much malinvestment has been kept alive, and history shows an inevitable wipeout, which started in 2000."

-Michael Panzner of Financial Armageddon: "The fundamental outlook is even worse now than it was a few weeks ago, given (the lack of positive) developments in Europe and growing evidence that the economies of major countries around the world are deteriorating fast."

If you have time, you should go check out the rest of that article.  It really is fascinating.

When this crisis is over, all sorts of people are going to be running around claiming that they predicted it.  But it does not take a genius to see what is coming.  All you have to do is open up your eyes and look at the flashing red warning signs.

So what should we all be looking for next?

March 20th is a key date to keep your eye on.  That is the day when Greece will either makes its 14.5 billion euro bond payment or it will default.

Greece does not have a prayer of making that payment without help.  If Greece can convince the EU and the IMF to release the next scheduled bailout payment and if Greece can reach a satisfactory deal with private bondholders, then the coming Greek default might be "orderly".  But if something goes wrong, the coming Greek default might be quite "disorderly".

At this point, almost everyone in the financial world is anticipating a Greek default of one form or another....

-Edward Parker, the managing director for Fitch's sovereign and supranational group in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, recently declared that a Greek default is inevitable....

"It is going to happen. Greece is insolvent so it will default."

-Moritz Kraemer, the head of S&P's European sovereign ratings unit, made the following statement on Bloomberg Television on Monday:

"Greece will default very shortly. Whether there will be a solution at the end of the current rocky negotiations I cannot say."

-Richard McGuire, a strategist at Dutch bank Rabobank, was recently quoted by CNBC as saying the following....

"People often ask if Greece is going to default which ... is a misnomer because Greece is (already) defaulting"

-Diane Swonk, the chief economist at Mesirow Financial in Chicago, says that the default by Greece will probably be an "orderly" one but that the situationcould change at any moment....

"It appears at the moment that the market is accepting a Greek default as inevitable, and it will be an orderly default. But that can change on a dime."

But whether there is a default or not, the reality is that Greece is already experiencing a full-blown economic depression.  In Greece, 20 percent of all retail stores have already shut down.  The unemployment rate for those under the age of 24 is now at 39 percent.  Large numbers of Greeks are trying to get themselves and their money out of the country while they still can.

Pessimism regarding Greece is at an all-time high.  Michael Fuchs, the deputy leader of Angela Merkel's political party, recently made the following statement....

"I don't think that Greece, in its current condition, can be saved."

But of course Greece is not the only declining economy in Europe by a long shot.

Italy has a much larger economy, and if Italy totally collapses it will be an absolute nightmare for the entire globe.

Right now, the Bank of Italy is forecasting a significant recession for the Italian economy in 2012.  The following is from a statement that Bank of Italy has just released....

"The uncertainty that surrounds the medium-term perspectives of the Italian economy ... are extraordinarily high and are directly linked to the evolution of the eurozone debt crisis"

Italy's youth unemployment rate has hit the highest level ever, and nearly all sectors of the Italian economy are showing signs of slowing down.

Plus there is the looming problem of Italian debt.  As I wrote about yesterday, when you add the maturing debt that the Italian government must roll over in 2012 to their projected budget deficit, it comes to 23.1 percent of Italy's GDP.

Originally it was hoped that the economic problems in Europe could be contained to just a few countries.  But now it has become clear that is just not going to happen.

Trends forecaster Gerald Celente recently explained to ABC Australia that much of Europe is already essentially experiencing an economic depression....

"If you live in Greece, you're in a depression; if you live in Spain, you're in a depression; if you live in Portugal or Ireland, you're in a depression," Celente said. "If you live in Lithuania, you're running to the bank to get your money out of the bank as the bank runs go on. It's a depression. Hungary, there's a depression, and much of Eastern Europe, Romania, Bulgaria. And there are a lot of depressions going on [already]."

The troubling news out of Europe just seems to keep coming in waves.  Here are some more recent examples....

-Manufacturing activity in the euro zone has fallen for five months in a row.

-Germany's economy actually contracted during the 4th quarter of 2011.

-It is being reported that the Spanish economy contracted during the 4th quarter of 2011.

-Bad loans in Spain recently hit a 17-year high and the unemployment rate is at a 15-year high.

So will all of this economic trouble eventually spread to the United States?

Of course it will.

The global economy is more interconnected today than ever.  Back in 2008 the financial crisis that started on Wall Street ended up devastating economies all over the planet.  The same thing will happen during this next great financial crisis.

Only this time the U.S. is in a much weaker position.  The U.S. debt problem has gotten much worse since the last crisis.

During 2008, our national debt crossed the 10 trillion dollar mark.  Less than 4 years later, we have crossed the 15 trillion dollar mark.

So what are we going to do the next time large numbers of banks fail and unemployment skyrockets?

Where are we going to get the money to bail out all of those banks and to take care of all of those newly unemployed people?

Some people say that socialism is the answer, but the truth is that we are already a socialist welfare state.  If you can believe it, nearly half of all Americans live in a household that receives some form of financial benefits from the U.S. government.

During the next great crisis, the number of people that are dependent on the government will go even higher.

If you don't want to end up dependent on the government, you should heed the warning signs and you should use this time to prepare for the hard times that are coming.

When even the World Bank tells us to hope for the best but to prepare for the worst, you know that it is late in the game.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of people out there only believe what they want to believe.  They don't want to believe that a great economic crisis is coming, and so when it does happen they are going to be absolutely blindsided by it.

***

"For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." Romans 8:22 "He (Jesus) answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." Luke 19:40!? Could these verses indicate that nothing is inanimate 'no sign of being alive' since God created everything? )

***

ieeespectrum

UK Pharmacy to Sell Pill with Ingestible Microchip

POSTED BY: ROBERT CHARETTE

JANUARY 16, 2012

A few years ago, a report by the New England Healthcare Institute claimed that patients not taking their medications as prescribed incur a staggering US $290 billion in increased medical costs - or about 13 percent of total US health expenditures. Technology reaching drug store shelves later this year in the UK and which is under review in the US could help cut the costs significantly. First, a little background. - - About a year before the Institute's report came out in 2009, there was an article in MIT's Technology Review magazine about a Silicon Valley start-up company called Proteus Biomedical that was developing a microchip about the size of a grain of sand called an "ingestible event marker" (IEM). It was to be embedded within a pill and swallowed along with a patient's medicine. The IEM, reported the TR article, consists of:

"... a thin-film battery that is activated on ingestion, as it is exposed to water. The battery, Proteus says, is nontoxic because it is made from materials similar to those in a vitamin pill. Once swallowed, the IEM sends through the body's tissues a high-frequency electrical current that's modulated in such a way that it provides a unique marker of the pill. It's not an RFID technology: it uses the conductive tissues of the body to conduct the signal, rather than a radio, and the signal is confined within the body."

The high-frequency current is picked up by a disposable monitoring patch worn by the patient or a monitor placed under their skin. The monitoring system is able to discern biophysical parameters such as a patient's heart rate, respiration, body posture as well as sleeping patterns. The information can then be transmitted to a patient's cell phone or the computer of the patient's physician. Based on what the physician is seeing, he or she might decided to change dosages or change medications altogether. - - Monitoring chemistry-based parameters which would greatly help understand a drug's efficacy is "possible in principle" says the TR article, but that application wasn't what Proteus Biomedical was first targeting.

You can watch the Spectrum video interview with Proteus from December (above). - - At the time of the TR article, the company was planning clinical trials in 2009 and hoped to be bringing its "Raisin" system on the market by 2011. - - Well, in today's Financial Times of London, there is an article that reports that the UK's Lloydspharmacy chain will be selling pill's using the Raisin system in September. The program, called Helius, will "... include a red placebo sugar pill containing a safe and soluble microchip developed by Proteus that patients swallow alongside their existing medicines; an adhesive patch to be changed once a week; and data support."  The cost of the monitoring service is slated to be £50 a month. - - Currently, the Helius program operates outside the UK's National Health Service (patients wanting it will need to pay for the monitoring capability out-of-pocket), the NHS is interested in it for some medical problems such as "... monitoring complex and costly treatments such as organ transplant rejection therapies," the FT reports. - - According to a press release at Proteus Biomedical's web site, Lloydspharmacy has 1640 pharmacies in the UK. It also states that Proteus Biomedical is "... developing and commercializing a range of digital health care products in partnership with global leaders from multiple industries, including Novartis, Medtronic, ON Semiconductor, [and] Kaiser Permanente..." in addition to Lloydspharmacy. - - The TR article raised a couple of privacy issues (e.g., "... a company wanting to know what medications its prospective employees are taking"), which seemed to focus mainly on ensuring that the information being transmitted from the monitoring system to the patient's call phone or physician's PC wasn't being intercepted (the information from the IEM itself is secure since it isn't transmitted). Proteus Biomedical said that it was confident that it could manage any privacy issue that arose. However, there may be a different type of  privacy issue that needs to be thought about assuming the use of the technology becomes widespread, which looks likely.

For example, given the cost of medical prescription non-compliance in the US, I can easily envision a time when this type of technology becomes a mandatory practice, i.e., required by your health insurance company (or your employer who is paying for your insurance or maybe even the U.S. government in the case of Medicare or Medicaid) for getting your prescription covered/reimbursed. And given that the information is being electronically captured, I can also see a point in future where such information automatically becomes part of a person's electronic health record. For those on medications for a long period of time, especially those with mental health issues, such technology could be seen to be pretty intrusive.

Addicting Info

New Bill Known As Enemy Expatriation Act Would Allow Government To Strip Citizenship Without Conviction

January 6, 2012

First, Congress considered the National Defense Authorization Act, sections of which gave the President the authority to use the military to arrest and indefinitely detain Americans without trial or charge. The language was revised because of strong condemnation from the American people. But now a new bill has emerged that poses yet another threat to the American citizenry.

Congress is considering HR 3166 and S. 1698 also known as the Enemy Expatriation Act, sponsored by Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Charles Dent (R-PA). This bill would give the US government the power to strip Americans of their citizenship without being convicted of being "hostile" against the United States. In other words, you can be stripped of your nationality for "engaging in, or purposefully and materially supporting, hostilities against the United States." Legally, the term "hostilities" means any conflict subject to the laws of war but considering the fact that the War on Terror is a little ambiguous and encompassing, any action could be labeled as supporting terrorism. Since the Occupy movement began, conservatives have been trying to paint the protesters as terrorists.

The new law would change a part of US Code 1481 which can be read in full here. Compare 3166 to 1481 and the change is small. The new section makes no reference to being convicted as it does in section (7). So even though the language of the NDAA has been revised to exclude American citizens, the US government merely has to strip Americans of their citizenship and the NDAA will apply. And they will be able to do so without convicting the accused in a court of law.

I hope I'm wrong, but it sounds to me like this is a loophole for indefinitely detaining Americans. Once again, you just have to be accused of supporting hostilities which could be defined any way the government sees fit. Then the government can strip your citizenship and apply the indefinite detention section of the NDAA without the benefit of a trial. This certainly must be questioned by American citizens. The way these defense obsessed Republicans think, our rights are always in danger of being taken away.

Natural Society

Breaking: Fluoride Linked to #1 Cause of Death in New Research

Anthony Gucciardi

January 17, 2011

Groundbreaking new research has linked sodium fluoride to cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide. Researchers found that fluoride consumption directly stimulates the hardening of your arteries, a condition known as atherosclerosis that is highly correlated with the #1 killer. Sodium fluoride is currently added to the water supply of many cities worldwide, despite extreme opposition from health professionals and previous studies linking it to decreased IQ and infertility.

In their research, scientists examined the relationship between fluoride intake and the hardening (calcification) of the arteries. Studying more than 60 patients, the researchers found a significant correlation between fluoride consumption and the calcification of your arteries. Published in the January edition of the journal Nuclear Medicine Communications, the research highlights the fact that mass fluoride exposure may be to blame for the cardiovascular disease epidemic that takes more lives each year than cancer. In 2008, cardiovascular killed 17 million people.

According to the authors of the study:

"The coronary fluoride uptake value in patients with cardiovascular events was significantly higher than in patients without cardiovascular events."

Amazingly, this is not the first report to come out on the dangers of water fluoridation, however the United States government along with other nations have allowed for the continued fluoridation of the public water supply despite these key findings. In fact, the U.S. government has even gone on record stating that a reduction in water fluoridation needs to occur following the results of a massive study that found water fluoridation affected cognitive function to the point of lowering the IQ of children. It turns out that the announcement was little more than a public relations stunt to curtail the massive wave of activism that followed the findings.

Government Admits Dangers Yet Continues to Pump Fluoride Into Your Water Supply

Over 24 other studies have unanimously concluded that fluoride negatively impacts cognitive function. In addition to these 24 studies focusing on cognition, over 100 animal studies have linked fluoride to an increase in male infertility, diabetes, and a whole host of other health problems. In the latest study on cognition, it was found that 28% of the children who lived in an area where fluoride levels were low achieved the highest test scores. This means that the children exposed to less fluoride scored normal or advanced, while only 8% of fluoridated children did the same.

In fact, the safety precautions regarding sodium fluoride are quite telling themselves:

Risk and Safety Phrases.

R25 - Toxic if swallowed.

R32 - Contact with acid liberates very toxic gas.

R36/38 - Irritating to skin and eyes.

S1/2 - Keep locked up and out of reach of children.

S22 - Do not breathe dust.

S36 - Wear suitable protective clothing.

S45 - In case of accident or if you feel unwell, seek medical advice immediately

But what about cavity prevention?

Since 1962 the government has recommended fluoride levels between 0.7 and 1.2 milligrams per liter in the nations drinking water. Toted as an excellent cavity blocker, fluoride has been praised for its alleged power to prevent tooth decay and boost oral health. Research has now revealed that fluoride, the very substance that is supposed to prevent tooth decay, actually does nothing to prevent against cavities. In fact, vitamin D has been found to be significantly more effective in cavity prevention without the extreme side effects. Instead of damaging your body, vitamin D slashes your risk of just about everything fluoride consumption causes.

According to the latest numbers, over 72 percent of Americans drink water treated with fluoride. Is it any wonder that cardiovascular disease rates are off the charts? Perhaps most concerning is the fact that fluoride does not even prevent cavities, which is the very reason legislators have pushed to keep it in the public water supply despite the links to deadly disease. Even if fluoride was found to prevent cavities, would it be worth the adverse effects?

Fluoride should be completely removed from the international water supply as it is a threat to public health. Until the proper legislation is passed, acquiring a high-quality water filter that removes fluoride is vital for the health perseverance of you and your family.

The Times Of India

1,500-acre Japanese township to come up soon on OMR

Jan 11, 2012

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu government has signed a memorandum of understanding with a Japanese consortium and real estate developer Ascendas to build a 1,500-acre integrated township with residential and industrial facilities for Japanese investors. It will come up 50km south of Chennai along Old Mahabalipuram Road.

Chief minister J Jayalalithaa signed the MoU on Tuesday with the Ascendas Development Trust ( AIDT), which has built an IT park in Taramani, and a consortium comprising corporate finance provider Mizuho Corporate Bank and JGC Corporation, a programme management contractor and investment partner.

Ascendas Group president Chong Siak Ching said, "We are happy to have the support of the government of Tamil Nadu and to work with Japan's leading companies Mizuho and JGC." The government has promised collaboration with local government agencies for the project's implementation. The township is expected to have lifestyle amenities for up to 40,000 people," Ascendas officials said. "The infrastructure will be eco-friendly."

Shinya Fujii, director general of the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) said the township would house industries from the manufacturing sector.

Hating Tim Tebow

By Matt Barber

1-14-12

I grew up in Denver and am admittedly biased. I'm a Denver Broncos fanatic. In the Mile High City, the Broncos are more than just a football team; they're an institution.

Everybody loves a comeback. Former Broncos quarterback John Elway - one of the greatest QBs in NFL history - had comebacks in his DNA. Since he retired in 1999 after back-to-back Super Bowl wins, Denver fans have been jonesing for that regular shot of adrenaline Elway provided week in, week out.

Enter Tim Tebow. In the category of, "Holy cow, can he actually do it?" no Broncos QB since Elway has delivered like Tebow has. He feels familiar. This is what Broncos fans expect. We don't do steady. We prefer up and down, high and low until that improbable rocket launch to victory in the final seconds of the game.

Will Tebow end up an NFL great like John Elway? That remains to be seen. Opinions are all over the place. But what is certain is that Tim Tebow is more than just a sports phenomenon. He's a cultural phenomenon.

For starters, Tebow's very existence is somehow controversial. He's a walking pro-life testimonial. He's been pulling off comebacks since before he was born. Pam Tebow, Tim's mother, courageously chose to carry baby Tim to term despite doctors' recommendations that she abort him.

You may recall that before Tim went pro, the Christian group, Focus on the Family, commissioned an innocuous TV ad that ran during the 2010 Saints-Colts Super Bowl game. It briefly told the story of the Tebows' pre-natal struggle. The word "abortion" was never even uttered, but a positive portrayal of childbearing was all it took.

And so began the left's hate affair with Tim Tebow. Radical feminist groups, media-types and liberal pundits alike lost their collective noodle even before the ad ran.

Erin Mattson, vice president of The National Organization for Women (NOW), told ABC News that Tim's story of survival was "really quite offensive. This ad is hate masquerading as love!" she barked. Tim wasn't dismembered alive and scraped in pieces from his mother's womb, you see.

The New York-based Women's Media Center launched a failed censorship petition drive to pull the ad, framing it as an "attack on choice." Get it? Pam Tebow chose alright; she just happened to make the wrong "choice," and dared to share about it publicly.

But as a Denver Bronco, Tim Tebow's profile has grown exponentially. So too has the left's hatred for him.

This is due in large part to his very open Christian faith. After each game, Tim begins by thanking God: "First and foremost, I'd like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."

And who hasn't heard of "Tebowing," wherein one drops to a knee in prayer?

Then there's Tim's favorite Bible verse, John 3:16, which he's known to wear painted in black swaths under each eye. After the Broncos' recent electrifying playoff win against the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime, John 3:16 was reportedly the most popular search term on the Internet.

Remarkably, during the game Tebow passed for precisely 316 yards and averaged 31.6 yards per completed pass. The television viewing audience for the last 15 minutes of the game was 31.6 percent. This only added to the mystique.

So big was the story, in fact, that major news outlets like CNN ran the text of John 3:16 in its entirety: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

The attention that Tebow's bold Christian faith has drawn to the Gospel message has secular "progressives" and other God-deniers tied in knots.

American Atheists, a New Jersey-based group that promotes religious cleansing from the public sphere, says that Tebow is "full of cr*p."

"Tebow takes religion and injects it into the mix and divides the fan base," complained David Silverman, the group's president.

"[Religion] injects the divisive force into football," he continued (because, absent religion, football is just a touchy-feely snuggle fest). "Why in the world are we talking about religion when we are talking about football?" he demanded.

Of course, Tim Tebow is merely doing what Jesus asks of his followers: "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven." (Matthew 10:32)

The problem is that secular "progressives" don't want Christ acknowledged before anyone, period; and they endeavor to shut down or mock anybody who tries.

During the Broncos' regular season loss to the Buffalo Bills, for instance, "progressive" troglodyte and pseudo-intellectual funnyman Bill Maher tweeted about the game,

encapsulating the left's visceral hatred for Tim Tebow in 140 characters or less: "Wow, Jesus just [expletive deleted] #TimTebow bad! And on Xmas Eve! Somewhere in hell Satan is tebowing, saying to Hitler 'Hey, Buffalo's killing them.'"

Jesus addressed the Bill Mahers of the world - past, present and future - on more than one occasion. In John 15:18-20, for instance, He reminds His followers: "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."

Those who belong to the world do indeed hate Tim Tebow. He stands for much of what our postmodern popular culture despises: sexual purity within the bonds of natural marriage, the sanctity of human life, selflessness, personal charity, humility and much, much more.

I mean, Tim Tebow has never even been arrested for drug possession or sexual assault, for crying out loud. We simply can't allow children this kind of role model.

So, does God care about who wins NFL football games? Probably not. Does he care about those who play, watch and love football? Unquestionably.

Win or lose, no matter what happens with the rest of the Denver Broncos football season, one thing is for sure: people will keep talking about Tim Tebow. And when people are talking about Tim Tebow, they can't help but talk about the profound faith that drives him both on and off the field.

In the meantime: Go Broncos!

(First published at Daily Caller)

Matt Barber (@jmattbarber on Twitter) is an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. He serves as Vice President of Liberty Counsel Action . (This information is provided for identification purposes only.)

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"If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."
(John 15:19)