"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools."
(Romans 1:22)
Professing Themselves To Be Wise
Dear Friends,
Greetings. A friend and contributor to "People of the Keys" supplied the introduction below, as well as the news articles concerning the Middle East. We hope that you find them a blessing.
"[Media] is altering the meaning of "being informed" by creating a species of information that might properly be called disinformation. ... Disinformation does not mean false information. It means misleading information--misplaced, irrelevant, fragmented or superficial information--information that creates the illusion of knowing something, but which in fact leads one away from knowing."--Neil Postman, "Amusing Ourselves to Death"
Over the past few days, I've been putting together the next 'Middle East News Update'. As I've mentioned in recent news bits, events are rapidly unfolding, and I wanted to send these News Headlines in advance, as a "Heads-Up". Meaning, it does appear events could escalate very soon in the Middle East, that could have very serious ramifications, spilling over and affecting not only the Middle East region, but the entire world. These days, are like none that have gone on before. I believe we are now nearing the precipice, where the peoples, and nations, of this planet, will soon be willing to accept, and receive, anything, and anyone, who is able to save them. (Contributor to "People of the Keys".)
***
israelnationalnews
Medvedev: Israel Strike on Iran Could Mean Nuclear War, Refugees
04.13.10
An official from Iran's Atomic Energy Organization announced Tuesday that the Islamic theocracy will "join the world nuclear club within a month in a bid to deter possible attacks on the country," the Fars news agency reported. "No country would even think about attacking Iran after Iran's membership in the club," Deputy Head of IAEO Behzad Soltani said.
Meanwhile, Dmitri Medvedev, President of Russia, said in an ABC interview that the situation with Iran is 'tragic' and speculated that an Israeli strike on Tehran could lead to nuclear war and a stream of refugees from Iran.
Speaking with George Stephanopoulos on 'Good Morning America', Medvedev said:
"I don't know what Iran wants... Are they pursuing the nuclear weapon or not? I don't know. But we should carefully monitor it. These steps to enrich by 20 percent in their own sites, despite that we offered to do it in Russia, France and Turkey. This could be considered as at least the desire to enter into conflict with the world community."
'Very tragic' - When Stephanopoulos noted that Iran is unveiling new centrifuges, Medvedev admitted: "In any case our attempts didn't bring success and this is tragic, especially that there were so many chances. We do have our own relationship with Iran, a very close one. We do have significant trade, we do work with Iran on energy, and we do deliver equipment to Iran. But we cannot watch without any concern how they develop their nuclear program."
Nuclear war and refugees -
Regarding the possibility that Israel would strike Iran, Medvedev said: "It would be the worst possible scenario. Because any war means lives lost. Secondly, what does a war in the Middle East mean? Everyone is so close over there that nobody would be unaffected. And if conflict of that kind happens, and a strike is performed, then you can expect anything, including use of nuclear weapons. And nuclear strikes in the Middle East, this means a global catastrophe. Many deaths."
israelinside
Sarkozy warns of Israel-Iran war
At the Nuclear Security Summit Monday night, French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned that if the world doesn't act to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear arms, it could be responsible for a war between Israel and the Islamic republic. "I would not want the world to wake up to a conflict between Israel and Iran, quite simply because the international community has been incapable of acting," he told CBS News.
He said that an IAF strike against Iran's nuclear facilities would be catastrophic. "It would be a disaster. I don't even want to think about that possibility," he said. "And the best way to avoid this disaster scenario is to take measures in order to get Israel to understand that we are determined to ensure its security. And Israel, furthermore, must equally make the necessary effort to bring about a fair and lasting peace with its Palestinian neighbors."
templemountfaithful.org
Temple Mount Faithful 2010 Pesach March to the Temple Mount
The Faithful Movement has held this Passover pilgrimage every year since the liberation of the Temple Mount by Israel in 1967. However, this year's pilgrimage was most unique because the pilgrims carried inside their pockets the "Omer" offering, which is one portion of freshly harvested wheat, and in this way they delivered it up to the Temple Mount. After 1,940 years of destruction, the Temple Mount location of the first, second and eventually the third Temple, and the place from where the Shekinah of G-d has never departed and for two millennia has expected the children of G-d to bring their "Omer" offerings, has once again welcomed her children with their "Omer" offerings as in biblical times.
nypost
The bear is back
April 13, 2010
The plane crash that killed Poland's president and 95 others is a tragedy for the Polish people and a loss of a good friend for the United States. For Poland's neighbor Russia, however, it's an opportunity to push for hegemony over Eastern Europe, as in the Iron Curtain days.
For the Russian bear is back. Like Dracula rising from his coffin, it now stalks the world long after we thought it dead and buried. And President Obama's feckless handling of foreign affairs is giving Russia's authoritarian leadership a chance like no other to expand its power -- and steadily diminish ours.
Some will believe the Russian account of the crash, that the Polish pilot deliberately endangered the lives of his president and the entire upper echelon of his country's leadership by trying to land in a thick fog despite repeated warnings from Russian ground control.
Others won't believe -- remembering that President Lech Kaczynski was a bitter foe of Russia's Vladimir Putin, and how Putin's dreaded FSB (the KGB's successor) was linked six years ago to a plot to poison Ukraine's president.
Either way, expect new, perhaps irresistible, pressure on Poland to toe the Kremlin line. Throw in the START treaty that Russia extracted from our president just last week, and anyone who imagined we won the Cold War had better think again.
jpost
'Iran to go nuclear within month'
Iran will join the global nuclear club within one month, according to the deputy research chief of the Islamic republic's Atomic Energy of Iran (AEOI). - - Fars on Tuesday quoted Behzad Soltani, who also serves as the secretary-general of the AEOI's Scientific Cooperation Council, as saying that "no country would ever think about attacking Iran" once the nuclear threshold has been crossed. - - "We do not intend to use the peaceful nuclear energy merely for generating electricity and energy, rather our next step would be expanding use of this technology," Soltani reportedly said. Radiation, he said, can ensure that "foodstuff, proteins and vegetables are preserved for a longer time and with a higher quality."
israelnationalnews
Smoke or Fire? US Denies 'Final Status 'Plan
The Obama administration has denied that it is preparing to impose on Israel its own "final status" plan for a new Palestinian Authority state, despite specific advice to that effect by an unofficial advisor.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, who advised former President Bill Clinton and was sidelined from being an official Obama advisor because of his anti-Israel views, suggested to the White House that it scrap its attempts to continue the PA-Israeli track for mediated talks.
The New York Times recently detailed a meeting of presidential aides at which Brzezinski made his proposal. President Obama attended part of the meeting, and media reports of details of discussions may have been a trial balloon.
The Washington Post reported that a senior Obama official said that an American plan is "absolutely not on the table right now" but implied that "right now" is likely to arrive in the near future. He was quoted as saying that American-mediated talks, if they ever resume, would "undoubtedly get mired down, and then you can expect that we would go in with something."
An Obama final status plan would almost assuredly include dividing Jerusalem, with the Palestinian Authority declaring it as its capital.
ynetnews
Brzezinski: Bold move needed to advance peace
‪WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama should make a dramatic trip to the Middle East, introduce a new peace plan, and refer it to the United Nations should Israel or the Palestinians refuse to endorse it, a former senior US official says.‬
"He should do so in the company of Arab leaders and members of the Quartet," he wrote. "A subsequent speech by Obama in Jerusalem's Old City, addressed to all the people in the region and evocative of his Cairo speech to the Muslim world in June 2009, could be the culminating event in this journey for peace."
The peace initiative proposed in the article includes the following principles: Resolution of the refugee problem by granting them compensation and resettling them in the new Palestinian state, rather than in Israel; Jerusalem's division and shifting the Old City to international control; Israeli withdrawal based on the Green Line, with minor adjustments; and the deployment of international forces between the Palestinian state and Jordan.
However, Brzezinski warns that "If the Israelis or the Palestinians refuse to accept this basic formula as the point of departure for negotiations, the Obama administration must be prepared to pursue its initiative by different means."
"The administration must convey to the parties that if the offer is rejected by either or both, the United States will seek the UN Security Council's endorsement of this framework for peace," he wrote, "thus generating worldwide pressure on the recalcitrant party."
The proposal echoes recent reports whereby Washington will consider an abstention in a Security Council vote on Israel's east Jerusalem construction, as opposed to the traditional US veto in such cases.
washingtonpost
Obama weighs new peace plan for the Middle East
Despite recent turbulence in U.S. relations with Israel, President Obama is "seriously considering" proposing an American peace plan to resolve the Palestinian conflict, according to two top administration officials.
"Everyone knows the basic outlines of a peace deal," said one of the senior officials, citing the agreement that was nearly reached at Camp David in 2000 and in subsequent negotiations. He said that an American plan, if launched, would build upon past progress on such issues as borders, the "right of return" for Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem. The second senior official said that "90 percent of the map would look the same" as what has been agreed in previous bargaining.
The American peace plan would be linked with the issue of confronting Iran, which is Israel's top priority, explained the second senior official. He described the issues as two halves of a single strategic problem: "We want to get the debate away from settlements and East Jerusalem and take it to a 30,000-feet level that can involve Jordan, Syria and other countries in the region," as well as the Israelis and Palestinians.
"Incrementalism hasn't worked," continued the second official, explaining that the United States cannot allow the Palestinian problem to keep festering -- providing fodder for Iran and other extremists. "As a global power with global responsibilities, we have to do something." He said the plan would "take on the absolute requirements of Israeli security and the requirements of Palestinian sovereignty in a way that makes sense."
presstv
No trace of Israel will remain if Iran attacked'
Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi has lashed out at the United States for its dual-based nuclear policies. - - "The US is working on a new generation of nuclear bombs. It also defends Israel that has tens of nuclear warheads but it opposes Iran's peaceful use of nuclear energy. This shows a double-standard in their nuclear policies," ISNA quoted Vahidi as saying on Wednesday. - - The Iranian minister also rejected the possibility of a military strike against Iran's nuclear sites by Israel or the United States. - - "The Zionist regime of Israel is too weak to attack Iran," he added. - - "No trace of Israel will remain if the Zionist regime declares a war on Iran," he warned.
Yahoo News
Polish leader, 96 others dead in Russia jet crash
By VICTORIA BURAVCHENKO and MONIKA SCISLOWSKA, Associated Press Writer -
Apr 10, 2010
SMOLENSK, Russia - The crash of an aging Russian airliner ravaged the top levels of Poland's military, political and church elite Saturday, killing the Polish president and dozens of other dignitaries as they traveled to a ceremony commemorating a slaughter that has divided the two nations for seven decades.
Poles wept before their televisions, lowered flags to half-staff and taped black ribbons in their windows after hearing that President Lech Kaczynski and the upper echelons of the establishment lay dead in woods a short drive from the site of the Katyn forest massacre, where 22,000 Polish officers were killed by Soviet secret police in one of Poland's greatest national traumas.
Thousands of people, many in tears, placed candles and flowers at the presidential palace in central Warsaw. Many called the crash Poland's worst disaster since World War II.
Twenty monks rang the Zygmunt bell at Krakow's Wawel Cathedral -- the burial spot of Polish kings -- a tolling reserved for times of profound importance or grief.
Examiner.com
Special army unit ready to be deployed on American soil just before Nov. elections
Anthony G. Martin
April 13, 2010
In October of this year, one month prior to the November midterm elections, a special army unit known as 'Consequence Management Response Force' will be ready for deployment on American soil if so ordered by the President.
The special force, which is the new name being given to the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry, has been training at Fort Stewart, Georgia and is composed of 80,000 troops.
According to the Army Times,
They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.
The key phrase is 'may be called upon to help with civil unrest.'
This afternoon a local radio talk show host reported that he had been in contact with a member of the military. This military source stated that the armed forces have been alerted to the strong possibility that civil unrest may occur in the United States this summer, prior to the midterm elections of 2010.
The source described this as 'our long, hot summer of discontent' that could be eerily reminiscent of the summer of 1968 when riots broke out in many of our largest cities.
However, the summer of 2010 could well be much worse due to the players involved. In 1968 the major players were war protesters. This time, the outrage simmering beneath the surface of American society involves a broad cross-section of the heartland, and most of them are heavily armed.
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NPR
Sheriff To Texas Border Town: 'Arm Yourselves'
by JOHN BURNETT
LM Otero/AP
A U.S. Border Patrol agent parks beside the border fence at Fort Hancock, Texas. With fears rising that the drug violence in Mexico could spill into the U.S., Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West said at a town-hall meeting last week: "You farmers, I'm telling you right now, arm yourselves."
April 9, 2010
Along the border, fears are growing that the escalating drug violence in Mexico will spill into the United States.
Last month, a well-known rancher was murdered in southeastern Arizona. Authorities suspect an illegal immigrant did it.
The murder prompted governors in New Mexico and Texas to send forces to the border. This week, the Mexican government sent dozens of police and soldiers to the Juarez Valley to restore order.
For many on both sides of the border, the fear is very real.
'Arm Yourselves'
Last week, residents held a town-hall meeting in Fort Hancock, Texas -- a sleepy agricultural town on the border, about an hour southeast of El Paso, that looks like the bleak set of No Country for Old Men.
A couple hundred people crowded into the grade-school gym to hear a chilling message from Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West.
"You farmers, I'm telling you right now, arm yourselves," he said. "As they say the old story is, it's better to be tried by 12 than carried by six. Damn it, I don't want to see six people carrying you."
You farmers, I'm telling you right now, arm yourselves. As they say the old story is, it's better to be tried by 12 than carried by six. Damn it, I don't want to see six people carrying you.
- Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West
His warning was prompted by the killing of the Arizona rancher, and the spiraling violence a couple of miles away in Mexico in a region known as the Valley of Juarez. The notorious smuggling territory is being fought over by the Sinaloa and the Juarez cartels.
WKYC
Ashtabula County: Judge tells residents to "Arm themselves"
Jeff Maynor
Updated: 4/9/2010
JEFFERSON -- In the ongoing financial crisis in Ashtabula County, the Sheriff's Department has been cut from 112 to 49 deputies. With deputies assigned to transport prisoners, serve warrants and
other duties, only one patrol car is assigned to patrol the entire county of 720 square miles.
"I did the best with what they (the county commissioners) gave me.If it wasn't enough, don't
blame me, don't blame this department," said Sheriff Billy Johnson.
"I just can't do it anymore," he said. "I have to have the court explain to the commissioners and to me what my statutory duties are."
The Ashtabula County Jail has confined as many as 140 prisoners. It now houses only 30 because of
reductions in the staff of corrections officers.
All told, 700 accused criminals are on a waiting list to serve time in the jail.
Are there dangerous people free among the 700 who cannot be locked up?
"There probably are," Sheriff Johnson said, "but I'm telling you, any known violent criminal, we're
housing them.We've got murderers in there."
Ashtabula County is the largest county in Ohio by land area.
Ashtabula County Common Pleas Judge Alfred Mackey was asked what residents should do to
protect themselves and their families with the severe cutback in law enforcement.
"Arm themselves," the judge said. "Be very careful, be vigilant, get in touch with your neighbors, because we're going to have to look after each other."
Zero Hedge
IMF Prepares For Global Cataclysm, Expands Backup Rescue Facility By Half A Trillion For "Contribution To Global Financial Stability"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/12/2010
And all the pundits thought that the IMF would be on the hook for just €10 billion... The IMF has just announced that it is expanding its New Arrangement to Borrow (NAB) multilateral facility from its existing $50 billion by a whopping $500 billion (SDR333.5 billion), to $550 billion. The current lending participant group of 26 entities will be increased by 13 new members all of whom will contribute token amount of capital to the NAB. The one country most on the hook in the new and revised NAB - the United States of America, will provide over $105 billion in total commitments, or 20% of the total facility. The US is currently on the hook for just $10 billion, meaning its participation in global bail outs just increased by $95 billion. And the bulk of these bailouts will certainly be located across the Atlantic. What is most troublesome is the massive expansion of the NAR. If the IMF believes that over half a trillion in short-term funding is needed imminently, is all hell about to break loose.
Funds Hub
Markets could be derailed again, warns Soros
Railway porter-turned-billionaire financier George Soros delivered a stark warning last night tha the financial world is on the wrong track and that we may be hurtling towards an even bigger boom and bust than in the credit crisis.
The man who 'broke' the Bank of England (and who is still able to earn a cool $3.3 bln in a year) said the same strategy of borrowing and spending that had got us out of the Asian crisis could shunt us towards another crisis unless tough lessons are learned.
Soros, who worked as a porter to pay for his studies at the London School of Economics after emigrating from Hungary, warned us to heed the lesson that modern economics had got it wrong and that markets are not inherently stable.
"The success in bailing out the system on the previous occasion led to a superbubble, except that in 2008 we used the same methods," he told a meeting hosted by The Economist at the City of London's modern and impressive Haberdashers' Hall.
"Unless we learn the lessons, that markets are inherently unstable and that stability needs to the objective of public policy, we are facing a yet larger bubble.
"We have added to the leverage by replacing private credit with sovereign credit and increasing national debt by a significant amount."
CNN
Travel chaos as ash closes air space
By the CNN Wire Staff
April 15, 2010
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: UK extends air space closure until at least 7 a.m. BST Friday
Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, France and the Netherlands also ground flights
Fears volcanic ash cloud from Iceland could cause engine failure
Ash emanating from volcanic eruption beneath Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier
London, England (CNN) -- European countries shut their airspace one after the other Thursday as a cloud of volcanic ash wafted over from Iceland and posed a danger to flights.
Airspace over the United Kingdom was due to be closed for six hours from midday but air authorities later extended the closure until at least 7 a.m. BST (2 a.m. EDT) Friday.
Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands also announced the closure of their air space, authorities in each country said.
Norway also closed its ocean territory and canceled helicopter flights to off-shore oil installations, according to Avinor, the Norwegian agency responsible for the Norwegian airport network.
France planned to shut eight airports in the country's north from 5 p.m. CET (11 a.m. EDT) , followed by a further 16 airports at 11 p.m. CET (5 p.m. EDT) including Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.
In all, around 3,000 flights across Europe were expected to be affected by the closures, according to Eurocontrol, the intergovernmental body that manages European air travel.
Many airports were already shut and flights were grounded across the United Kingdom on Thursday because of the ash, which came after an eruption under an Icelandic glacier early Wednesday, airport authorities said.
The ash cloud came from an eruption of a volcano beneath Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier early Wednesday.
The eruption -- the latest in a series that began on March 20 -- blew a hole in the mass of ice and created a cloud of smoke and ash that went high into the air.
Explainer: Why ash cloud endangers aircraft
The volcano was still active Thursday, creating floods in the area and producing a lot of volcanic ash, a spokesman for Iceland's Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management told CNN.
The disruption was causing havoc for air travel around the world.
"There will be an immediate impact today in terms of passengers not being able to travel," said independent air transport consultant John Strickland, of JLS Consulting in England. "The key thing is we don't know how long it's going to last ... but even if that were to be resolved, it will take some significant time for airlines to recover."
Pravda
Icelandic Ash Cloud: Is This the Beginning of an Ecological Disaster?
In just one day, volcanic ash spewing forth from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull has brought airports to a halt in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland and is expected to spread over other areas of Europe by Thursday evening. The last time this volcano blew, it was deadly, emitting large quantities of toxic fluoride gas.
Horrific history
The last time Eyjafjallajokull had an episode was in 1821, pouring tonnes of ash containing toxic fluoride gas into the atmosphere. It lasted not 24 hours, but until 1823, causing the deaths of many cattle and sheep through fluor poisoning. Eyjafjallajokull has had four eruptions in the last thousand years: in 920, 1612, 1821-1823 and now in 2010. All of the previous eruptions were precursors to more massive activity from the neighbouring Katla volcano but as yet geologists have not registered any seismic activity.
Eyjafjallajokull, a glacier covering a volcano of 1,600 metres in height and with a crater of 3 to 4 km in diameter, started becoming unstable at the end of 2009, when a number of small earthquakes fuelled by building pressure seven kilometres beneath the volcano gave rise to a peak in activity - 3,000 earthquakes were registered between March 3 and 5 this year. This in turn was followed by an eruption on March 20.
There were two further eruptions on April 13 and 14, under the glacier causing meltwater floods to force the evacuation of 800 people from the slopes. From Wednesday to Thursday a huge cloud of ash, which continues to billow from the volcano, spread eastwards, causing flights to be cancelled across Western and Northern Europe.
Threat to aircraft
Apart from reducing visibility and affecting flight control mechanisms, volcanic ash can damage the engines of aircraft and according to international regulations, the risk is sufficiently high to merit a closing of air space. An aircraft engine takes in air, compresses it and turns it into thrust by expelling it at high speed. If the air is mixed with particles of ash, it can clog hydraulic and electronic systems.
Wider health threat
The last time this volcano erupted in 1821-1823, sheep and cows on its slopes were killed by toxic fluoride gas which also affects horses and humans. Easily absorbed through the skin or eyes, a quantity as small as 28 mg per kilo of body mass is fatal.
It is currently not possible to predict how long the ash cloud will remain over Europe's skies, especially because if the volcano continues to spew forth tonnes of material every hour, the situation can only worsen if the wind continues to push the plume eastwards. The plume itself reaches 30 to 35,000 feet high.
A network of Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers are monitoring the movements of the cloud, using a technique which models the plume (taking into consideration its altitude, time of formation and volume) and this model is placed onto a graphical forecaster program format which uses wind plans to predict movements.
The bottom line of this equation is the direction of the wind, and that depends on Mother Nature.
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru
Examiner.com
China Earthquake 2010 - 100,000 homeless and death toll rises
April 15, 2010 Christian Activism ExaminerLynda Ackert
Christians are encouraged to continue praying for the people in the remote earthquake zone of China's Qinghai Province. - - The death toll has now risen over 600 and rescue workers are hampered by a lack of heavy equipment, damaged and blocked roads, and high altitude. There are still 300 people reported missing, 9000 injured and over 100,000 homeless.
"Relief operations face massive difficulties, including severe weather, cold, and altitude sickness," said Miao Chonggang, deputy director of disaster relief at the China Earthquake Administration.
CNN
Massive fireball reported across Midwestern sky
By the CNN Wire Staff
April 15, 2010
Mysterious fireball lights up sky
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Huge fireball spotted Wednesday night in Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri
National Weather Service got reports of sonic boom, houses and trees shaking
No official cause determined, NWS says, but meteor shower was at its peak
(CNN) -- Authorities in several Midwestern states were flooded Wednesday night with reports of a gigantic fireball lighting up the sky, the National Weather Service said.
The fireball was visible for about 15 minutes beginning about 10 p.m., said the National Weather Service in Sullivan, Wisconsin, just west of Milwaukee.
"The fireball was seen over the northern sky, moving from west to east," said the NWS in the Quad Cities area, which includes parts of Iowa and Illinois.
"Well before it reached the horizon, it broke up into smaller pieces and was lost from sight," the service said. "Several reports of a prolonged sonic boom were received from areas north of Highway 20, along with shaking of homes, trees and various other objects including wind chimes," it said.
It said the fireball was seen across parts of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. CNN affiliate WISN-TV said that people in Ohio also saw it.
Video from WISN showed a massive ball of light exploding across the sky. The Doppler Radar from the Quad Cities weather service appeared to capture a portion of the smoke trail from the fireball at just after 10 p.m., the NWS said. It appears as a thin line extending across portions of Grant and Iowa Counties in Wisconsin.
There has been no official determination as to what caused the fireball, the NWS in Sullivan said.
However, it said there is a meteor shower called Gamma Virginids that occurs from April 4 to April 21, with peak activity expected on Wednesday and Thursday.
"A large meteorite could have caused the brilliant fireball that has been reported," the National Weather Service said.
The NWS in Quad Cities said that it was unknown if any part of a meteorite hit the ground.
According to NASA, a meteor appears when a meteoroid -- a particle, chunk of metal or stony matter -- enters the Earth's atmosphere from outer space.
"Air friction heats the meteoroid so that it glows and creates a shining trail of gases and melted meteoroid particles," it said. "People sometimes call the brightest meteors fireballs."
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MailOnline
Is this REALLY a UFO being chased down the M5 by RAF fighter jets? 'Video footage' captured at a service station
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER -
10th April 2010 -
Footage of two fighter jets chasing what appears to be a UFO has emerged.
The 30-second clip, thought to be shot from a West Midlands service station park, reveals the saucer-shaped craft zipping over the M5, with the two jets in its wake.
Former Ministry of Defence UFO expert Nick Pope told The Sun: 'This is one of the best videos I've seen.
Mystery: The saucer-shaped object is seen hovering in the sky above HGVs on the M5
Pursuit: Two military jets arrive on the scene - hot on the trail of the mystery object. The real thing? The orb hangs in the sky, prompting UFO expert Nick Pope to claim it is one of the best sightings he has ever seen
'It could be a new drone - that might explain the military jets.
'But you don't normally test-fly secret projects in daylight. Alternatively, this could be the real thing - a UFO in our airspace and military aircraft scrambled to intercept, probably due to it being tracked on radar.'
Defender Publishing Exclusive
OFFICIAL DISCLOSURE - Prepare for contact
By Donna Anderson
2010 Defender Publishing Group
In January, The Royal Society, the national academy of science of the UK and the Commonwealth hosted representatives from NASA, the European Space Agency and the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, during its 350th anniversary celebration. The event offered some dizzying intellects in the featured discussion, "The Detection Of Extraterrestrial Life and the Consequences for Science and Society." Lord Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society and Astronomer Royal, announced that aliens may be "staring us in the face" in a form humans are unable to recognize. Other speakers used words like "overwhelming evidence" and "unprecedented proof" to signify how close we are to making irrefutable discovery of alien life. Some, like Simon Conway Morris, professor of evolutionary paleobiology at Cambridge University, worried that contact with these unknowns might not be a good thing. "Extra-terrestrials might not only resemble us but have our foibles, such as greed, violence and a tendency to exploit others' resources," he said. "And while aliens could come in peace they are quite as likely to be searching for somewhere to live, and to help themselves to water, minerals and fuel."
Vatican astronomers likewise weighed in on this question, "Are we alone in the Universe," and their top scholars hinted that discovery of alien life, including intelligent life, might be made in the near future. Father Jose Gabriel Funes in a long interview with the L'Osservatore Romano newspaper said there is a certain possibility of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, and that such notion "doesn't contradict our faith." Another Vatican astronomer, Guy Consolmagno concluded that chances are better than not that mankind is facing a near-future discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence (Monsignor Corrado Balducci even went so far a few years ago to suggest that aliens were already interacting with earth and that some of the Vatican's leaders are aware of it).
"How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere," asked Funes. "Just as we consider earthly creatures as 'a brother,' and 'sister,' why should we not talk about an 'extraterrestrial brother'? It would still be part of creation."
Muslim and Jewish leaders joined Funes to say their religion could accommodate an ET reality, while a scholar for the Russian Orthodoxy excluded the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence.
The question of how the world's political and religious communities would respond if suddenly faced with visitors from beyond is something world religions and even the US Government has studied. Paul Davies of The Atlantic Monthly wrote in 2003 that the discovery of even a single bacterium somewhere beyond Earth could force mankind to revise its understanding of who we are and where we fit into the cosmic scheme of things. Davies speculated that such a find could throw the human race into a spiritual identity crisis that could leave some gasping for faith in God.
Evidently things have changed since 2003. Recent polls show a majority of people believe ET disclosure would not challenge their faith in God, findings supported by a study at the University of California, Berkeley in 2008. A Reuters Ipsos poll of 23,000 adults in 22 countries taken in April, 2010 found similar responses, adding that more than 40 percent of people from India and China believe aliens are already here and are walking among us disguised as humans.
Professor Anthony Tambasco of Georgetown University not only believes the world is ready for ET, but responding to NASA's recent press releases about life potentially existing on Mars, said that if the discovery of life is substantiated, "it will not unravel traditional biblical convictions, but rather provide an opportunity to enlarge or broaden them."
In a related CCN article, Sayyid Syeed of the Islamic Society of North America said, "Most Muslims would also welcome the discovery of life off of Earth." The Koran refers to Allah as the God of 'worlds,' he said, not just one world.
Rabbi James Ruden of the American Jewish Committee says most Jews also leave open the possibility of life on other planets in their interpretation of Genesis.
But not everybody in the faith community agrees. Many conservative evangelicals in particular take a more suspicious view of aliens, stating that they could be demonic manifestations or play a role in a future great delusion that gives rise to the appearance of Antichrist.
"I have become thoroughly convinced that UFOs are real," popular Christian writer Hal Lindsey wrote. "I believe these beings are not only extraterrestrial but supernatural in origin. To be blunt, I think they are demons."
As In The Days Of Noah - Associate professor of psychology Elizabeth L. Hillstrom in her book Testing the Spirits documented a growing number of scholars who support Lindsey's conclusions that UFOnauts are synonymous with historical demons.
"From a Christian perspective," she wrote, "Vallee's explanation of UFOs is the most striking because of its parallels with demonic activity. Vallee himself, drawing from extrabiblical literature on demonic activities, establishes a number of parallels between UFOnauts and demons.... Pierre Guerin, a UFO researcher and a scientist associated with the French National Council for Scientific Research, is not so cautious: 'The modern UFOnauts and the demons of past days are probably identical.' Veteran researcher John Keel, who wrote UFOs: Operation Trojan Horse and other books on the subject, comes to the same conclusion: 'The UFO manifestations seem to be, by and large, merely minor variations of the age-old demonological phenomenon.'"
While open to the idea that demons may play a role in ufology, theologians such as Michael Heiser caution against automatically connecting UFOs with demonology, saying if UFOs do represent something supernatural, the unidentified objects could just as likely be manifestations of good angels, while phenomenon such as so-called alien abduction is more in line with manifestations of demons.
In addition to extrasolar planet discovery or the sudden appearance of a UFO armada, some believe contact with alien intelligence could eventually happen as a result of man-made super technology that opens new dimensions or discovers parallel worlds. Sergio Bertolucci, a top scientist at CERN, surprised reporters for the British newspaper The Register recently by saying the Large Hadron Collider may create "an extra dimension" and that "out of this door might come something."
To understand the social, scientific, and spiritual ramifications of possible contact with aliens and the larger scope of astrobiology and the search for life in the universe, a 20-hour interview series titled Official Disclosure: Prepare for Contact with some of the world's leading authorities recently took place. This included experts like Nick Pope, who was in attendance at the 2010 Royal Society Conference. Nick is Britian's former Military of Defence lead officer over UFO investigations.
The special multi-hour interview series covered numerous important issues that some believe could soon affect all mankind.
Questions such as:
* Is official disclosure of alien contact near?
* Do world authorities know something about ET they are not telling us?
* Would aliens be friendly or hostile?
* What is panspermia?
* What is happening during alien abduction?
* Are angels or demons involved?
The answers to these questions are often unnerving as ex-government agents with above top-secret security clearance, world-famous field investigators, physicists and theologians peel back the truth behind a reality so astonishing the personal destiny of every man, woman and child could be impacted by its implications.
CNN
U.S. standards on beef are lax, inspector general says
From Dugald McConnell, CNN
April 14, 2010
Lax standards on beef
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Official: Federal agencies fail to set limits on potentially harmful chemical residues
In U.S., there are no set limits for some heavy metals, like copper, in beef
Study focused on contamination by chemical residues, rather than bacteria
Washington (CNN) -- The U.S. government is not fully guarding against the contamination of meat by traces of antibiotics, pesticides or heavy metals, a new report warns.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's inspector general said federal agencies have failed to set limits on many potentially harmful chemical residues, which "has resulted in meat with these substances being distributed in commerce."
When it comes to pesticide traces, only one type is tested for, according to the report. There are also no set limits for some heavy metals, like copper.
In 2008, Mexican authorities turned away an American shipment of beef, because it did not meet Mexico's limits when tested for copper traces. But the very same rejected meat could be sold in the United States, since no limit has been set, the analysis says.
That example shows "the government has fallen down on the job here," said Tony Corbo of the consumer advocacy group Food and Water Watch.
"Some of the residues that the inspector general cited could be carcinogenic, as they accumulate over a period of time in the body," he said.
The study focused on contamination by chemical residues, rather than bacteria. While bacteria like E. coli and Salmonella can cause an illness that is acute but brief, chemical residues are more like to build up over time, and no amount of cooking will destroy them.
The USDA pledged to "swiftly implement the corrective actions" recommended by the inspector, which including testing for more kinds of residue and setting limits on how much of each substance is allowable. A department spokesman pointed out that this kind of fix, which is expected to require coordination with the FDA and the EPA, was one of the main reasons President Obama created a Food Safety Working Group last year.
telegraph.co.uk
Croatian teenager wakes from coma speaking fluent German
A 13-year-old Croatian girl who fell into a coma woke up speaking fluent German.
12 Apr 2010
The girl, from the southern town of Knin, had only just started studying German at school and had been reading German books and watching German TV to become better, but was by no means fluent, according to her parents.
Since waking up from her 24 hourcoma however, she has been unable to speak Croatian, but is able to communicate perfectly in German.
Doctors at Split's KB Hospital claim that the case is so unusual, various experts have examined the girl as they try to find out what triggered the change.
Hospital director Dujomir Marasovic said: "You never know when recovering from such a trauma how the brain will react. Obviously we have some theories although at the moment we are limited in what we can say because we have to respect the privacy of the patient."
Psychiatric expert Dr Mijo Milas added: "In earlier times this would have been referred to as a miracle, we prefer to think that there must be a logical explanation - its just that we haven't found it yet.
"There are references to cases where people who have been seriously ill and perhaps in a coma have woken up being able to speak other languages - sometimes even the Biblical languages such as that spoken in old Babylon or Egypt - at the moment though any speculation would remain just that - speculation - so it's better to continue tests until we actually know something."
***
- The Hairbrush Experience
By Beth Moore
(Note: Beth Moore is a Bible teacher and mother of two; this account is taken from her blog.)
April 20, 2005, at the airport in Knoxville, waiting to board the plane, I had the Bible on my lap and was very intent upon what I was reading. I'd had a marvelous morning with the Lord.
It is a scary thing to have the Spirit of God really working in you. You could end up doing some things you never would have done otherwise. Life in the Spirit can be dangerous for a thousand reasons, not the least of which is your ego.
I tried to keep from staring, but he was such a strange sight. Humped over in a wheelchair, he was skin and bones, dressed in clothes that obviously fit when he was at least twenty pounds heavier. His knees protruded from his trousers, and his shoulders looked like the coat hanger was still in his shirt. His hands looked like tangled masses of veins and bones. The strangest part of him was his hair and nails. Stringy, grey hair hung well over his shoulders and down part of his back. His fingernails were long, clean but strangely out of place on an old man.
I looked down at my Bible as fast as I could, discomfort burning my face. I tried to imagine what his story might have been. There I sat trying to concentrate on the Word to keep from being concerned about a thin slice of humanity served on a wheelchair only a few seats from me. All the while, my heart was growing more and more overwhelmed with a feeling for him.
I was awash with aching emotion for this bizarre-looking old man. I had walked with God long enough to see the handwriting on the wall. I've learned that when I begin to feel what God feels, something so contrary to my natural feelings, something dramatic is bound to happen. And it may be embarrassing.
I immediately began to resist, because I could feel God working on my spirit and I started arguing with God in my mind. "Oh, no, God, please, no." I looked up at the ceiling as if I could stare straight through it into heaven and said, "Don't make me witness to this man. Not right here and now. Please. I'll do anything. Put me on the same plane, but don't make me get up here and witness to this man in front of this gawking audience. Please, Lord!"
There I sat begging His Highness, "Please don't make me witness to this man. Not now. I'll do it on the plane." Then I heard it... "I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to brush his hair." The words were so clear, my heart leapt into my throat, and my thoughts spun like a top. I looked straight back up at the ceiling and said, "God, as I live and breathe, I want You to know I am ready to witness to this man. I'm on this, Lord. I'm your girl! You've never seen a woman witness to a man faster in your life. What difference does it make if his hair is a mess if he is not redeemed? I am going to witness to this man." Again as clearly as I've ever heard an audible word, God seemed to write this statement across the wall of my mind. "That is not what I said, Beth. I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to go brush his hair."
I looked up at God and quipped, "I don't have a hairbrush. It's in my suitcase on the plane. How am I supposed to brush his hair without a hairbrush?" God was so insistent that I almost involuntarily began to walk toward him as these thoughts came to me, "I will thoroughly furnish you unto all good works" (2 Timothy 3:17).
I stumbled over to the wheelchair thinking I could use one myself. Even as I retell this story, my pulse quickens and I feel those same butterflies. I knelt down in front of the man and asked as demurely as possible, "Sir, may I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?"
He looked back at me and said, "What did you say?"
"May I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?"
To which he responded in volume ten, "Little lady, if you expect me to hear you, you're going to have to talk louder than that."
At this point, I took a deep breath and blurted out, "SIR, MAY I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF BRUSHING YOUR HAIR?"
At which point every eye in the place darted right at me. I was the only thing in the room looking more peculiar than old Mr. Longlocks. Face crimson and forehead breaking out in a sweat, I watched him look up at me with absolute shock on his face, and say, "If you really want to."
Are you kidding? Of course I didn't want to. But God didn't seem interested in my personal preference right about then. He pressed on my heart until I could utter the words, "Yes, sir, I would be pleased. But I have one little problem. I don't have a hairbrush."
"I have one in my bag," he responded.
I went around to the back of that wheelchair, and I got on my hands and knees and unzipped the stranger's old carry-on, hardly believing what I was doing. I stood up and started brushing the old man's hair. It was perfectly clean, but it was tangled and matted. I don't do many things well, but must admit I've had notable experience untangling knotted hair mothering two little girls. Like I'd done with either Amanda or Melissa in such a condition, I began brushing at the very bottom of the strands, remembering to take my time not to pull.
A miraculous thing happened to me as I started brushing that old man's hair. Everybody else in the room disappeared. There was no one alive for those moments except that old man and me. I brushed and I brushed and I brushed until every tangle was out of that hair. I know this sounds so strange, but I've never felt that kind of love for another soul in my entire life. I believe with all my heart, I--for those few minutes--felt a portion of the very love of God. That He had overtaken my heart for a little while like someone renting a room and making Himself at home for a short while. The emotions were so strong and so pure that I knew they had to be God's. His hair was finally as soft and smooth as an infant's.
I slipped the brush back in the bag and went around the chair to face him. I got back down on my knees, put my hands on his knees and said, "Sir, do you know my Jesus?"
He said, "Yes, I do." Well, that figures, I thought.
He explained, "I've known Him since I married my bride. She wouldn't marry me until I got to know the Savior." He said, "You see, the problem is, I haven't seen my bride in months. I've had open-heart surgery, and she's been too ill to come see me. I was sitting here thinking to myself, what a mess I must be for my bride."
Only God knows how often He allows us to be part of a divine moment when we're completely unaware of the significance. This, on the other hand, was one of those rare encounters when I knew God had intervened in details only He could have known. It was a God moment, and I'll never forget it.
Our time came to board, and we were not on the same plane. I was deeply ashamed of how I'd acted earlier and would have been so proud to have accompanied him onto that aircraft.
I still had a few minutes, and as I gathered my things to board, the airline hostess returned from the corridor, tears streaming down her cheeks. She said, "That old man's sitting on the plane, sobbing. Why did you do that? What made you do that?"
I said, "Do you know Jesus? He can be the bossiest thing!"
And we got to share. I learned something about God that day. He knows if you're exhausted, you're hungry, you're serving in the wrong place or it is time to move on but you feel too responsible to budge. He knows if you're hurting or feeling rejected. He knows if you're sick or drowning under a wave of temptation. Or He knows if you just need your hair brushed. He sees you as an individual. Tell Him your need!
I got on my own flight, sobs choking my throat, wondering how many opportunities just like that one I had missed along the way, all because I didn't want people to think I was strange. God didn't send me to that old man. He sent that old man to me.
***
"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." (Matthew 25:34-40)
God bless you. We love you. Lord help us all to be faithful in the week ahead.
"And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities."(Luke 19:17)
We invite you to write us with any questions, comments, etc. you may have, or contact one of our Christian mystics if you may need help hearing from the Spirit world.
Until next week...
Almondtree Productions
"But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant."
(Matthew 23:11)