“The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.”
(Proverbs 18:10)

Strong Tower

Dear Friends,

Greetings!

If we did not know Jesus and have the Bible to see the end from the beginning, events now happening in the world today could certainly be disconcerting, to say the least.

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil.” (Hebrews 6:19)

With the various problems the world is facing, as you will read in,“Russia Stunned After Japanese Plan to Evacuate 40 Million Revealed” and “2 Years After the BP Oil Spill, Is the Gulf Ecosystem Collapsing?”, it is easy to see why those who have rejected Jesus would turn to and follow a man who would be able to save the world from extinction--the forthcoming anti-christ. “So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.” (Job 2:4)

If the events taking place in Japan and the Gulf of Mexico are true, then civilization is in big trouble. Even then, all of this is only the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:8)

Never has it been more important and vital that our relationship with Jesus and His Word be on a firm footing.

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.”

"But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall." (Matthew 7:24-27)

The articles below are in no way meant to cause fear or anxiety. We want them to help us be aware of the times in which we are living and not be as those whom Jesus referred to in Matthew, chapter twenty four.

"But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.“ (Matthew 24:37-39)

A friend who has contributed material to “People Of The Keys” on various occasions has done an 'End Time' compilation which we are including this week. It focuses on the increasing interest in the UFO phenomenon and includes two articles by L. A. Marzulli. “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9)

The article, “Marine insurance: the stranglehold on Iran?”, sheds interesting light on another way in which boycotts and sanctions work.

In closing this introduction we would like to leave you with the encouraging words of Martin Luther’s well known song, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”.

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;


Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:


For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;


His craft and pow’r are great, and, armed with cruel hate,


On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing,


Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:


Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;


Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,


And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,


We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us;


The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;


His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,


One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly pow’rs, no thanks to them, abideth;


The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth;


Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;


The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,


His kingdom is forever.

***

The European Union Times

Russia Stunned After Japanese Plan to Evacuate 40 Million Revealed

18 April 12

A new report circulating in the Kremlin today prepared by the Foreign Ministry on the planned re-opening of talks with Japan over the disputed Kuril Islands during the next fortnight states that Russian diplomats were “stunned” after being told by their Japanese counterparts that upwards of 40 million of their peoples were in “extreme danger” of life threatening radiation poisoning and could very well likely be faced with forced evacuations away from their countries eastern most located cities… including the world’s largest one, Tokyo.

The Kuril Islands are located in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region and stretch approximately 1,300 km (810 miles) northeast from Hokkaido-, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many more minor rocks. It consists of Greater Kuril Ridge and Lesser Kuril Ridge, all of which were captured by Soviet Forces in the closing days of World War II from the Japanese.

The “extreme danger” facing tens of millions of the Japanese peoples is the result of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster that was a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns, and releases of radioactive materials at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, following the To-hoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011.

According to this report, Japanese diplomats have signaled to their Russian counterparts that the returning of the Kuril Islands to Japan is “critical” as they have no other place to resettle so many people that would, in essence, become the largest migration of human beings since the 1930’s when Soviet leader Stalin forced tens of millions to resettle Russia’s far eastern regions.

Important to note, this report continues, are that Japanese diplomats told their Russian counterparts that they were, also, “seriously considering” an offer by China to relocate tens of millions of their citizens to the Chinese mainland to inhabit what are called the “ghost cities,” built for reasons still unknown and described, in part, by London’s Daily Mail News Service in their 18 December 2010 article titled: “The Ghost Towns Of China: Amazing Satellite Images Show Cities Meant To Be Home To Millions Lying Deserted” that says:

“These amazing satellite images show sprawling cities built in remote parts of China that have been left completely abandoned, sometimes years after their construction. Elaborate public buildings and open spaces are completely unused, with the exception of a few government vehicles near communist authority offices. Some estimates put the number of empty homes at as many as 64 million, with up to 20 new cities being built every year in the country's vast swathes of free land.”

Foreign Ministry experts in this report note that should Japan accept China’s offer, the combined power of these two Asian peoples would make them the largest super-power in human history with an economy larger than that of the United States and European Union combined and able to field a combined military force of over 200 million.

(Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates."

So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. Revelation 9:13-16)

To how dire the situation is in Japan was recently articulated by Japanese diplomat Akio Matsumura who warned that the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant may ultimately turn into an event capable of extinguishing all life on Earth.

“Matsumura posted [this] startling entry on his blog following a statement made by Japan’s former ambassador to Switzerland, Mitsuhei Murata, on the situation at Fukushima.

Speaking at a public hearing of the Budgetary Committee of the House of Councilors on 22 March 2012, Murata warned that “if the crippled building of reactor unit 4 – with 1,535 fuel rods in the spent fuel pool 100 feet (30 meters) above the ground – collapses, not only will it cause a shutdown of all six reactors but will also affect the common spent fuel pool containing 6,375 fuel rods, located some 50 meters from reactor 4,” writes Matsumura.

In both cases the radioactive rods are not protected by a containment vessel; dangerously, they are open to the air. This would certainly cause a global catastrophe like we have never before experienced. He stressed that the responsibility of Japan to the rest of the world is immeasurable. Such a catastrophe would affect us all for centuries. Ambassador Murata informed us that the total numbers of the spent fuel rods at the Fukushima Daiichi site excluding the rods in the pressure vessel is 11,421.”

Disturbingly, the desperate situation facing Japan is, also, facing the United States as Russian military observers overflying the US this week as part of the Open Skies Treaty are reporting “unprecedented” amounts of radiation in the Western regions of that country, a finding that was further confirmed by scientists with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute who have confirmed that a wave of highly radioactive waste is headed directly for the US west coast.

Important to note is that this new wave of Fukushima radiation headed towards the US is in addition to earlier radiation events that American scientists are now blaming for radioactive particles from Japan being detected in California kelp.

Though the news of this ongoing global catastrophe is still being heavily censored in the US, the same cannot be said about Japan, and as recently reported by the leading Japanese newspaper The Mainichi Daily News that reports:

“One of the biggest issues that we face is the possibility that the spent nuclear fuel pool of the No. 4 reactor at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant will collapse. This is something that experts from both within and outside Japan have pointed out since the massive quake struck. TEPCO, meanwhile, says that the situation is under control. However, not only independent experts, but also sources within the government say that it’s a grave concern.

The storage pool in the No. 4 reactor building has a total of 1,535 fuel rods, or 460 tons of nuclear fuel, in it. The 7-story building itself has suffered great damage, with the storage pool barely intact on the building’s third and fourth floors. The roof has been blown away. If the storage pool breaks and runs dry, the nuclear fuel inside will overheat and explode, causing a massive amount of radioactive substances to spread over a wide area. Both the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and French nuclear energy company Areva have warned about this risk.

A report released in February by the Independent Investigation Commission on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident stated that the storage pool of the plant’s No. 4 reactor has clearly been shown to be “the weakest link” in the parallel, chain-reaction crises of the nuclear disaster. The worse-case scenario drawn up by the government includes not only the collapse of the No. 4 reactor pool, but the disintegration of spent fuel rods from all the plant’s other reactors. If this were to happen, residents in the Tokyo metropolitan area would be forced to evacuate.”

Even though this crisis in Japan has been described as “a nuclear war without a war” and the US Military is being reported is now stocking up on massive amounts of anti-radiation pills in preparation for nuclear fallout, there remains no evidence at all the ordinary peoples are being warned about this danger in any way whatsoever.

***

Washington’s Blog

George Washington: 2 Years After the BP Oil Spill, Is the Gulf Ecosystem Collapsing?

The Gulf Ecosystem Is Being Decimated

The BP oil spill started on April 20, 2010. We’ve previously warned that the BP oil spill could severely damage the Gulf ecosystem.

Since then, there are numerous signs that the worst-case scenario may be playing out:

New York Times: “Gulf Dolphins Exposed to Oil Are Seriously Ill, Agency Says

MSNBC: Gulf shrimp scarce this season (and see the Herald Tribune‘s report)

Mother Jones: Eyeless shrimp are being found all over the Gulf

NYT: Oil Spill Affected Gulf Fish’s Cell Function, Study Finds

CBS:Expert: BP spill likely cause of sick Gulf fish (and see the Press Register’s report)

Study confirms oil from Deepwater spill entered food chain

Pensacola News Journal: “Sick fish” archive

Agence France Presse: Mystery illnesses plague Louisiana oil spill crews

MSNBC: Sea turtle deaths up along Gulf, joining dolphin trend

MSNBC:Exclusive: Submarine Dive Finds Oil, Dead Sea Life at Bottom of Gulf of Mexico

AP: BP oil spill the culprit for slow death of deep-sea coral, scientists say (and see the Guardian and AFP‘s write ups)

A recent report also notes that there are flesh-eating bacteria in tar balls of BP oil washing up on Gulf beaches

And all of that lovely Corexit dispersant sprayed on water, land and air? It inhibits the ability of microbes to break down oil, and allows oil and other chemicals to be speed past the normal barriers of human skin. Background here. NYT: Impact of Gulf Spill’s Underwater Dispersants Is Examined Speaking on the chemical ingredients of the dispersants used, “The report finds that “Of the 57 ingredients: 5 chemicals are associated with cancer; 33 are associated with skin irritation from rashes to burns; 33 are linked to eye irritation; 11 are or are suspected of being potential respiratory toxins or irritants; 10 are suspected kidney toxins; 8 are suspected or known to be toxic to aquatic organisms; and 5 are suspected to have a moderate acute toxicity to fish.”

If you still don’t have a sense of the devastation to the Gulf, American reporter Dahr Jamail lays it out pretty clearly:

“The fishermen have never seen anything like this,” Dr Jim Cowan told Al Jazeera. “And in my 20 years working on red snapper, looking at somewhere between 20 and 30,000 fish, I’ve never seen anything like this either.”

Dr Cowan, with Louisiana State University’s Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences started hearing about fish with sores and lesions from fishermen in November 2010.

Cowan’s findings replicate those of others living along vast areas of the Gulf Coast that have been impacted by BP’s oil and dispersants.

Gulf of Mexico fishermen, scientists and seafood processors have told Al Jazeera they are finding disturbing numbers of mutated shrimp, crab and fish that they believe are deformed by chemicals released during BP’s 2010 oil disaster.

Along with collapsing fisheries, signs of malignant impact on the regional ecosystem are ominous: horribly mutated shrimp, fish with oozing sores, underdeveloped blue crabs lacking claws, eyeless crabs and shrimp – and interviewees’ fingers point towards BP’s oil pollution disaster as being the cause.

Eyeless shrimp

Tracy Kuhns and her husband Mike Roberts, commercial fishers from Barataria, Louisiana, are finding eyeless shrimp.

“At the height of the last white shrimp season, in September, one of our friends caught 400 pounds of these,” Kuhns told Al Jazeera while showing a sample of the eyeless shrimp.

According to Kuhns, at least 50 per cent of the shrimp caught in that period in Barataria Bay, a popular shrimping area that was heavily impacted by BP’s oil and dispersants, were eyeless. Kuhns added: “Disturbingly, not only do the shrimp lack eyes, they even lack eye sockets.”
Eyeless shrimp, from a catch of 400 pounds of eyeless shrimp, said to be caught September 22, 2011, in Barataria Bay, Louisiana [Erika Blumenfeld/Al Jazeera]

“Some shrimpers are catching these out in the open Gulf [of Mexico],” she added, “They are also catching them in Alabama and Mississippi. We are also finding eyeless crabs, crabs with their shells soft instead of hard, full grown crabs that are one-fifth their normal size, clawless crabs, and crabs with shells that don’t have their usual spikes … they look like they’ve been burned off by chemicals.”

On April 20, 2010, BP’s Deepwater Horizon oilrig exploded, and began the release of at least 4.9 million barrels of oil. BP then used at least 1.9 million gallons of toxic Corexit dispersants to sink the oil.

Keath Ladner, a third generation seafood processor in Hancock County, Mississippi, is also disturbed by what he is seeing.

“I’ve seen the brown shrimp catch drop by two-thirds, and so far the white shrimp have been wiped out,” Ladner told Al Jazeera. “The shrimp are immune compromised. We are finding shrimp with tumors on their heads, and are seeing this everyday.”

While on a shrimp boat in Mobile Bay with Sidney Schwartz, the fourth-generation fisherman said that he had seen shrimp with defects on their gills, and “their shells missing around their gills and head”.

“We’ve fished here all our lives and have never seen anything like this,” he added.

Ladner has also seen crates of blue crabs, all of which were lacking at least one of their claws.

Darla Rooks, a lifelong fisherperson from Port Sulfur, Louisiana, told Al Jazeera she is finding crabs “with holes in their shells, shells with all the points burned off so all the spikes on their shells and claws are gone, misshapen shells, and crabs that are dying from within … they are still alive, but you open them up and they smell like they’ve been dead for a week”.

Rooks is also finding eyeless shrimp, shrimp with abnormal growths, female shrimp with their babies still attached to them, and shrimp with oiled gills.

“We also seeing eyeless fish, and fish lacking even eye-sockets, and fish with lesions, fish without covers over their gills, and others with large pink masses hanging off their eyes and gills.”

Rooks, who grew up fishing with her parents, said she had never seen such things in these waters, and her seafood catch last year was “ten per cent what it normally is”.

“I’ve never seen this,” he said, a statement Al Jazeera heard from every scientist, fisherman, and seafood processor we spoke with about the seafood deformities.

Given that the Gulf of Mexico provides more than 40 per cent of all the seafood caught in the continental US, this phenomenon does not bode well for the region, or the country.

***

The Head in the Sand Mentality and the Church!

A Post by lamarzulli, April 12, 2012

The church celebrates Christmas and Easter on a yearly basis. These are the churches biggest days, it's when most everyone shows up, special musical programs are performed, the children participate, midnight celebrations and early morning Easter rise services are also part of the proceedings. We are celebrating SUPERNATURAL events. The first, the virgin birth of the God-man Jesus, the second, His rising from the dead. There's no way around this fact, we are acknowledging that the events that are being celebrated, are far beyond the norm, are in fact miraculous, and defy the scientific paradigm that holds sway over western civilization.

This begs the question, if supernatural events happened thousands of years ago have they ceased in the modern era? Is there any place in our treasured, Guidebook to the Supernatural i.e. the Bible, that tells us this is so? The simple answer to this is, no, there is no place in all of scripture that tells us the miraculous, or supernatural events have ceased. In fact in 2nd Thessalonians, Paul warns us in the last days we should be aware that The Fallen One, Satan, will come with all signs and lying wonders. Should we take Paul literally or should we dismiss his warning as allegory, or writings that are no longer applicable in modernity?

I travel to a variety of venues all over the country and everywhere I go I hear the same thing. "Our church just doesn't want to discuss the topic of the Nephilim, UFOs, etc, etc, or anything that might scare our people, we want a safe landing-place here." With all due respect, I would call this attitude, a head in the sand mentality. Here's why. Our own government is making preparation for so-called Alien Contact. Here's a link: And Now... U.S. Military Plans for Alien Invasion http://cryptogon.com/?p=28506

I start my presentations with a clip from FOX news, and Steve Basset, who is the head of the Disclosure Project: I do this because this clip takes my discussion out of the realm of fantasy and speculation and anchors it the reality of our Prime Time News Media. In most cases the room goes really quiet after the clip is finished. Most people in the room are not aware that disclosure of the so-called UFO/Extraterrestrial presence, is actually taking place, all-be-it slowly and with a managed agenda.

In my opinion, the church needs to come to an understanding that this phenomena is real, burgeoning and not going away. Pastors need to begin to do their homework and understand that the Fallen One, is a master of deception and he has been planning his final moves, in what I would call the Cosmic Chess match for millennia.

There is a viscous ignorance sometimes displayed by pastors and churchgoers who think they know everything there is to know, and thus, won't even put forth a modicum of effort into exploring the Nephilim or the UFO phenomena. When, not if we see three-mile wide mother ships begin to manifest, what will your pastor say? How will the church react to this? Will it shake your faith? Please recall the words of Jesus who states, that men would faint from fear from what is coming on the earth; that even the elect would be deceived if that were possible, and Paul's warning, Satan comes with all signs and lying wonders. The Great Deception is coming and we would do well to get our heads out of the sand, and understand that we are living in a time which is similar to the days of Noah. The Nephilim are returning and with them the Fallen Ones of old, for as the days of Noah were, so it will be when the son of man returns. The gates and portals are being opened by those in the New Age movement who think these beings are our progenitors. It's time to get our heads out of the sand and understand the unprecedented times we are living in.

(The following was originally sent out Oct, 2009)

From Luke

Would the truth really be that much stranger than fiction? Or, has Hollywood been a little more than instrumental, in preparing the masses for such an event? Howbeit, not to receive the antichrist, but rather a superior intelligence from a distant star system, who will arrive at just the right juncture in world history, as our saviors, being scientific gods, with all the answers facing the human race and planet earth.

"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." (Matthew 24:24)

"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Revelation 12:9)

These scriptures tell us what's coming is going to be so deceptive, it's going to deceive the whole world. And the Lord warned His disciples of this, so that they, so that we, upon whom the ends of the world are come, would not be deceived, looking after those things which are coming on the earth. (1 Cor 10:11, Luke 21:26) It's commonly understood the Lord's mention of the very elect, is not in reference to Christianity at large, but rather to His most dedicated followers, the very elect. This begs the question as to, what in the world could possibly be so deceptive that the whole world would be deceived? Even to the point that the armies of this world would unite together, believing they could possibly defeat the Lord, and His armies coming in the clouds to take over this world? (Rev 19:19)

Regan's ALIEN speech to UN General Assembly (Sept 21, 1987)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag44dRO8LEA&feature=PlayList&p=71847B4CF6C3F0E5&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=24

"I occasionally think how quickly our differences, worldwide, would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world." (President Ronald Reagan, from a speech with President Mikail Gorbachev, 1988)

If this world was somehow deceived into believing, the Lord's coming with the armies of heaven, had absolutely nothing to do with God, but rather was a hostile "alien invasion", from another star system or galaxy. this world would unite and fight together against an alien threat. Such a scenario was depicted in the Hollywood blockbuster "Independence Day".

We've often referred to the Lord's coming, with the armies of heaven, as an Invasion of planet earth. (Rev 19:11-16) Which indeed it will be. But the Bible also makes reference to another invasion of planet earth, that takes place at least three and a half years before the Lord and the armies of heaven come down.

"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the dragon was cast out, ...................he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.........Woe to the inhabiters of the earth................for the devil is come down unto you," (Rev 12:7-12)

It's somewhat been assumed but not fully addressed, that when the Devil and his angels are cast out of heaven to the earth, that they'll be "invisible" spiritual beings, entering the bodies of humans by possession. However, if we consider the fact that angels, as well as fallen angels, do have bodies. Super-natural bodies. There are several examples in the Bible of the Lord's angels appearing as men, with bodies that could be touched, seen walking, heard talking, as well as eating physical food, and with an apparent ability to navigate, or travel between the physical and spiritual dimensions. We're even admonished to, "entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares". (Hebrews 13:2) On the other hand, all encounters with "demons" (known as "unclean spirits", "familiar spirits" or "devils") in the New Testament did not have bodies of their own, which is why they seek after a place to dwell and live, as in possession, even to the point of desiring a herd of swine, rather than nothing. It's been suggested, that Demons may well be the disembodied spirits of the giants, that existed in the days of Noah before the flood. The fallen angels, (or sons of God in Genesis 6) apparently, not only had bodies you could touch, but also fathered children with the "daughters of men". (Genesis 6:1-4, Jude 1:6, 2 Peter 2:4-5)

In light of these characteristics regarding the angels, if we were to consider the more likely probability, when the Devil and his angels are cast out of heaven to the earth, with "heaven being the entire spiritual dimension or realm of existence", that these beings would need to physically manifest themselves in our plane of existence, visibly, here on earth. Just as the sons of God did in the days of Noah before the Flood. (Genesis 6:1-4) If so, when the Devil and his angels arrive on earth, after being "cast out of heaven", they're not going to come begging in shameful defeat, saying, "God just kicked us out of heaven and we need a place to stay, can you take us in?" To the contrary, the Devil does not even want us to know that God exist. And he's had the past two thousand years, and more, to plan and prepare for this eventuality, as a contingency plan if needed, like a "plan B". And he's no doubt been rehearsing extensively, which is more than likely what the whole modern UFO and alien abduction craze is all about. And when he arrives here on earth with his army of angels, the scriptures allude to the fact, that they're going to arrive triumphantly, as our saviors, with all kinds of technological wizardry, signs and lying wonders. Mankind will look, and in reality seem rather primitive by comparison, and worship these beings, a "strange new God", more than they have their previous sports idols, music heroes and movie stars. These will be Atlantean gods by comparison, and in a literal sense related. This too will be an Invasion of earth, but echoing the slogan "we come in peace", planting the seeds of the "alien gospel", of a superior intelligence who have arrived to oversee humanities next "evolutionary" stage of growth and development into a new era of galactic peace, space exploration, and the promised secrets of longevity and the fountain of youth. But it all comes with a price - there is no God, and all of earths holy men, prophets and saviors were simply misunderstood by the peoples of their time. Then, in time, a warning is given, of certain hostile alien forces in the universe, who are out to subjugate, conquer and exploit the weak, saying, "we have battled some of these hostile beings for thousands of years throughout the galaxies, and we have now learned they are headed toward earth. We must unite together and defeat these beings once and for all".

If such a scenario is in any way close to reality, the future of planet earth would seem to be, a true to life - Star Wars Epic - in real-time. The theory, or possibility, does seem somewhat plausible in light of what the scriptures reveal about the future. But with the projection of enough time, technological advances, and development in all fields of scientific research and discovery, each day showers fresh new impetus on such a scenario, as being the norm, contemporary with the times, and no longer to be considered science "fiction".

There are numerous references in the Bible that may support such a scenario. Below are just a few:

"Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders," (2 Thessalonians 2:9) What if we consider a "lying wonder" to be a Flying saucer? With the lie being, fallen angels, disguised as aliens, saying they've come from another star system, when in reality they've come from another dimension, the spirit world, they've just been evicted from?

"....; because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:" (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11) The love of the truth, is the simple fact that God created the heavens and the earth. And the strong delusion being evolution takes a quantum leap into the future, after hearing the "alien gospel" from the fallen angels disguised as aliens. And believe the lie, that there is no God, just scientific discovery and advancement.

"Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken." (Luke 21:26) When the original "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast was aired in 1938, a wave of mass hysteria, fear and panic, reportedly seized thousands of listeners, believing the Martian Invasion to be real. If a real Invasion of earth were to happen, such as suggested above, men's hearts would indeed be failing them for fear, in mass, looking after (seeing) those things (UFO's - Flying Saucers) which are coming on the earth. This particular verse may make reference to those things (UFO's?) coming on the earth, in conjunction, with the Powers of heaven shaken. The powers of heaven will in fact be shaken when the Devil and his angels are cast out onto the earth.

"Remember, everything the Devil does is an imitation......., the Devil has never thought up anything new. He simply imitates God's methods, he imitates His whole organisation. He's the imitation saviour, the imitation messiah". If the Devil is going to imitate God, in presenting "his son" to the world, is it possible that the antichrist does not have a human father, but is a hybrid, the offspring of the "alien" fallen angels? And that's what would be "revealed" to the world, that was possibly kept secret? It's been done many times before, (Genesis 6:1-4) why not now, once again? He's called the "man of sin". In 2 Peter 2:4, the "angels that sinned" are in reference to the "sons of God" fathering children with the "daughters of men" before the flood. There's a lot of scriptural support behind this theory. At the same time it's all speculation. The scientific community is rapidly making advances in the area of genetics, with the blending and mixing of species. Something that displeased the Lord so much it resulted in the Flood. "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:5) The world seems to be moving very quickly in the same direction, "As it was in the days of Noah". And just as before the flood, the fallen angels may very well be involved once again, helping humanity down the road to destruction. "They shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another," (Daniel 2:43) Some see this as a reference to the fallen angels being, "They", who would mingle their seed, with the human race, but done scientifically, as in a laboratory. Not cleaving one to another, as when a man and a women procreate. Seems to fit quite well into some of the strange stories we hear about the "alien abduction phenomena". We shall see.

In the book of Hebrews 12:26-27 it says, "Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things that cannot be shaken may remain". And in Luke 21:26 it says, "Men's hearts failing them for fear: and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken."

(The following was originally sent out Oct, 2010)

Is the Truth really that much stranger than Fiction?

Or, are the people of earth being setup, conditioned and manipulated - "to believe a lie"?

The search for intelligent life in the universe accelerates with each passing day. The Press is pregnant with testimonials of every kind imaginable. Former government and military officials are coming forward internationally, campaigning for "Full-Disclosure", acknowledging before the media the history of their personal encounters with UFO's. More and more the theme being proposed of an Alien Invasion permeates "the media" in all sectors of society. Students and scholars of Biblical eschatology are suggesting the very real possibility of such an event occurring during some type of Global crisis or conflict, in the very near future. A major war erupting in the Middle East, in which the Antichrist would arrive on the scene masquerading as an Extraterrestrial "with all power and signs and lying wonders". With the Middle East Peace Process on the verge of collapse, and war being the only visible alternative, the need for supernatural intervention has never been greater. Without such intervention, divine or otherwise, the future of our planet draws ever more closer, to a war of Biblical proportions that this world has never seen, commonly referred to as Armageddon. The Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said in a statement ... that "the moment of truth" had arrived for those seeking to resolve the conflict and that "the consequences of failure this time are too catastrophic to imagine." The stage has been set and the lineup of nations predicted for the final acts are almost complete.

The first president of the United Nations General Assembly in 1946, Paul-Henri Spaak, who was also a secretary-general of NATO in 1956, affirmed, "We do not want another committee, we have too many already. What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all the people and to lift us up out of the economic morass into which we are sinking. Send us such a man, and whether he be God or devil, we will receive him." And according to the prophecies found in the Bible, the latter is exactly who the world is soon going to receive, "even him whose coming is after the working of Satan."

The Bible says, "because they received not the love of the truth, (i.e. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth) for this cause God shall send them strong delusion (Fallen angels arriving on earth, masquerading as Aliens from distant star systems in UFO's?) that they should believe a lie." (The lie of evolution and a scientific alien gospel? "But though....... an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you........ let him be accursed." Galatians 1:8) Intelligent alien life found elsewhere in the universe is the holy grail, the "missing link", the scientific community must have in order to elevate the theory of evolution as scientific fact, not only on earth but throughout the entire physical cosmos. When these alien beings (the fallen angels) arrive on earth preaching an alien scientific gospel, that there is no God, with a history and genealogy that spans millions of years (a lie), the Bible will be reduced to the status of Greek and Roman mythology, overnight, no longer considered "God's holy word", but rather a philosophical book of morals not to be taken literally. Worldwide Christendom may exist in name only, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. "Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:7-8) The context of the Lord's question seems to suggest otherwise. The arrival of these fallen angels on earth, coming from heaven, i.e. the spiritual realm of existence, may in fact be the literal fulfillment of the foretold "falling away that would come first, before that day, of Christ's second coming. (Hebrews 12:26-27, Luke 21:26)

In 1978, David Berg, proposed such a possibility saying, "The Devil is going to really put on some phenomenal manifestations like that in the last days.........In a lot of movies and TV that I have seen (over 30 years ago!!!), the enemy is preparing the world to receive the imitation saviour, the imitation messiah". The Lord warned us of this deception, that the delusion would be so strong, if it were possible, even the very elect would be deceived. I realize a scenario such as this is a bit difficult to accept and believe. On the other hand however, it would indeed deceive the whole world, and I personally don't see how anything short of this would accomplish that. It helps to remind ourselves that we are not at war with mere mortal men and earthly governments, but "against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places", i.e. the fallen angels and their demonic cousins. The Antichrist himself may even be a hybrid. Why not? it's happened before! (Genesis 6) But maybe not again. It is hard to believe, I agree. We shall see. And we may find out sooner, rather than later.

"Invasion from outer space, what a way for the antichrist to arrive!--Just like the Second Coming of Christ!--To arrive like he was coming from outer space, like he was a superior being, a higher intelligence arriving from some other planet to solve the world's problems.

Imitate the coming of Christ and make it all sound scientific so the people would believe him. People will believe anything that smacks of science or sounds scientific. If it smacks of religion or spiritually or anything like that, forget it! But if they can just make it sound and look scientific, then the people will receive him as a superior being who has come to help solve all these terrible problems we have, like a god.

He will be like a god to them, but his whole thing is to try to put it in a plausible scientific form that people will believe. The Antichrist will be sort of a scientific God, if you want to put it that way.

So I wouldn't be a bit surprised that the antichrist, the Devil incarnate, is going to stage some kind of phoney invasion from outer space. Well, in a way, since that's the Devil and his demons, the fallen angels, they are from outer space." (David Berg)

The Coming Great Deception!

Commentary & Analysis (Excerpts)

by L. A. Marzulli

The Great Deception is coming. Bet on it. I don't know when it will hit like a firestorm, but when it does it will cause the great falling away, the apostasia - apostasy - that we are warned will come in the last days.

The Great Deception is coming and it links up with the unlikely bedfellows of Darwinism and the Vatican. You see ET is the missing link for Darwinism as it solves where life originated from! According to Monsiegnior Funes, a Vatican spokesperson who went on the record last year saying, ET should be regarded as our brother. Now the Pope's chief astronomer tells us that ET would have a soul and that if asked he would baptize one.

Over the weekend the astronomer to the Pope announced that, he would love to baptize ET. Here's the link to the article:

The Great Deception is on it's way, last night the pilot for the TV show, "The Event" aired on NBC. I believe this show deals with ET and how the government has covered up their existence for decades. According to what I've read about the show a new president wants to reveal to the public that ET is real. Of course the bad guys in the government want to keep everything under wraps and this results in a struggle.

At the end of the pilot, a plane, which is on a suicide mission and about to crash into the Presidents motorcade, suddenly vanishes in thin air! You see ET is here to help! They (will claim to have) created us, genetically manipulated early man, created the world's civilizations, and now are back at this critical juncture in human history to usher mankind into a new world order of peace, enlightenment and prosperity!

We are warned by Yashua/Jesus, that even the elect would be deceived if that were possible. I consider this a sobering and dire warning that what is coming is off the hook!

We must realize that the Fallen One has had millennia to construct his program of deception. He knows that his time grows short and yet he believes that he can defeat the Most High God. He is going to pull out all the stops when he manifests in full.

UFOs are real burgeoning and not going away! It would appear, from the rash of sightings and reports that are coming out, that we may be nearing some kind of partial disclosure of the so-called extraterrestrial presence. The Fallen One has been at work, carefully crafting his deception. It links back to Darwinism, that declares that there is no God and that man evolved. This of course raises the question, how and where did life begin?

I believe that we are on the doorstep to the last days. There are those who will disagree and that's fine. I really am not interested in debating it, as it goes nowhere. However, from my perspective, the signs are here. The writing is on the wall, for those who have eyes to see. As I have stated before, is it business as usual, or something more? The Great Deception is coming and it will shake many and it will cause many to fall away and believe the lie....

The Coming Great Deception is, in my opinion, a reality. It will happen at some point. We will see massive UFOs over the skies, but it will happen after some catastrophic event, like a nuclear exchange in the Middle East.

We have to understand that when, not if the revealing happens, it is going to be a shock to many people. There are those who will embrace the change. There are those who will be terrified by it. Still there are Christians, some of whom have read this Blog and the works of others of like mind, who will call this revealing for what it is, the Great Deception.

How will you fare? What will you say to your wife or husband? How will you explain it to your children, your parents? How will you and I cope when we are looked at like Neanderthals for believing that Yashua/Jesus was God and that aliens did not create Him!

The line in the sand has been drawn. As events seem to accelerate toward full disclosure, we must realize that when it happens it will be too late to form an opinion. Now is the time to do our homework, to understand the deception that is influencing us through, movies, books, TV, and talk radio. There is a hidden agenda and those who promote it have been working quietly behind the scenes for millennia, and now, in these unprecedented times, it is about to reach its zenith. The deception is coming. In fact I would say that it is beginning. It is here, now. Wake up! Tell your friends, your loved ones of the deception that is in direct contradiction to everything we believe as Christians....

The time is now....

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Irish Central

Priest says Vatican control of Irish Catholic Church is crushing

Tyranny when open inquiry and honest dissent are disallowed

ByIrishCentral Contributer,

Published: April 15, 2012

The following was supplied by an Irish Catholic priest known to the Irish Central editors who did not want his name used for fear of retribution - - Fr Tony Flannery, a founder member of the Association of Catholic Priests, has been "invited" by Rome to take some time out to consider his position.

He has been one of those who have been calling for reform in the Catholic Church in such areas as the role of women, ecumenism etc. It is not possible to speak about "reform" in the Church , be it in Ireland or elsewhere, without bearing in mind the ever present elephant in the room, namely the roman Curia and the Papacy.

The need for reform here has been and remains paramount. No question in contemporary Catholicism, however, is proving more intractable and more acutely sensitive.

Roman control of the Church is now more centralised and rigid than ever before. It would seem that they now demand total conformity with papal ideas and ideals in all things and not merely in those which are essential to the unity of the Catholic and Christian faith. Those who hold this position seek to derive their theological, political, and even cultural ideals from the Pope and Curia of their time.

They frown upon legitimate local autonomy, regional diversity and freedom to explore issues of theology and Church policy  on which Rome is particularly sensitive. It has come to a point where the Bishop of Rome is regarded less of a bond of unity and charity in the Church than as an oracular figure to be reverenced in his person with quasi sacramental fervour. It becomes a tyranny whenever it successfully creates an atmosphere in which open enquiry and honest dissent are  construed as disloyalty or worse.

It is a form of fundamentalism, and it trivialises debate, particularly in the theological field by reducing all issues to questions of authority and obedience. Thus from the start the controversy over Humanae Vitae (family planning) there was a damaging ambiguity over whether the substantive issue was contraception or Papal authority.

The same has happened to such topics as infallibility, the role of women in the Church, ecumenical concelebration of the Eucharist and so on. One is left with the impression that these areas are simply off limit to any Catholic who cannot guarantee that his or her findings will support the contemporary conservative Roman position.

When one uses the term "Vatican II" nowadays, as far as many are concerned, one could well be speaking about the Pope's second residence. The period of the Council was certainly one which promised much, flashed with brilliance and yet was ultimately riddled with disappointment.

Initially there was a mood of optimism and buoyancy among many Catholic scholars. Yet in little more than a generation this noble exercise has become a debacle, a shambles. If John XXIII threw open the windows his recent successors have called in the triple glazers.

Vatican II seemed to promise a changed atmosphere. Many of us welcomed the new openess, the abandoning of paranoid attitudes to the world, the renewed interest in different forms of prayer, liturgical reform, emphasis on the responsible use of freedom, ecumenical initiatives, and all the other ideas and activities which had hitherto been either inaccessible or forbidden to us. Now, it would appear that we are returning to an authoritarian era where the Church will meet its problems, not by discussion and open investigation but by decree. Fr Tony Flannery is the latest to learn this lesson. Nevertheless we "hang in there".

In a shipwreck one does not give up one's seat in the lifeboat merely because the crew have delusions of grandeur. In the last analysis many of us traipse on because we still believe in the possibility of a synthesis between the essential truths of our religion and the essential truths of modernity.

A century ago a great Irishman, Fr George Tyrell spoke of his dream for the Church: "When the Catholic people represented by their bishops and their Pope will assemble, not to decide and impose points of theology, ethics and politics "under the pain of eternal damnation", but to proclaim the gospel of God's Kingdom upon earth as it was proclaimed by Jesus Christ; to preach unity in essentials, liberty in non-essential things, charity in all things".

That seems to be as good a programme as any that might be put forward in church circles today or any day.

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Croatian Times

Quake Expert: Earth Cracking Up

A leading earthquake scientist has warned that the planet could be cracking up after a series of massive quakes in just 48 hours. - - Expert Gheorghe Marmureanu - from Romania's National Institute of Earth Physics - says 39 quakes had hit the globe within two days. - - The series started with two massive quakes in Indonesia measuring 8.6 and 8.2 on the Richter scale rapidly followed by three more only slightly smaller in Mexico within hours. - - "There is no doubt that something is seriously wrong. There have been too many strong earthquakes," said Marmureanu. - - He added: "The quakes are a surprise that cannot be easily explained by current scientific knowledge. With the Indonesian quake for example, statistically, there should be one big earthquake in this part of Asia every 500 years. However, since 2004, there were already three quakes with a magnitude of over 8, which is not normal.

Reuters

Analysis: Marine insurance: the stranglehold on Iran?

By Clare Baldwin and Osamu Tsukimori

HONG KONG/TOKYO | Tue Apr 17, 2012 9:06am BST

(Reuters) - Marine insurance, or lack of it, may yet turn out to be the most effective sanction used by Western nations in 17 years of tightening the screws on Iran's nuclear program.

A European Union oil embargo on Iran, set to take effect in July, prohibits EU insurers from covering Iranian oil exports anywhere in the world. With around 90 percent of the world's tanker insurance based in the West, the arcane world of reinsurance and liability coverage has become a powerful weapon.

Iran, OPEC's second-largest producer, exports most of its 2.2 million barrels of oil per day to Asia, and the four main buyers - China, India, Japan and South Korea - have yet to find a way to replace the predominantly Western cover for the giant crude oil cargoes en route from Iran to refineries across Asia.

And that could dent Iranian crude exports to key markets, particularly Japan, cutting off a valuable source of Tehran's foreign exchange income. Crude oil prices have risen close to 40 percent to above $100 per barrel since October, partly on fears over supply disruptions from Iran.

"The bottleneck is insurance. If that's not settled, we will no longer be able to transport oil," said one Japanese buyer of Iranian oil, who wished not to be named.

Most maritime insurers pool their coverage and tap into the reinsurance market when coverage exceeds $8 million. A typical supertanker - the biggest can ferry some 2 million barrels of crude - is covered for $1 billion against personal injury and pollution claims.

"In China and Russia, the top players still need reinsurance support. The key reinsurance support and the top players always come from Europe," said Vivian Ho, chairwoman of the Marine Insurance Association at the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers.

As the deadline draws near, shippers are asking whether governments should guarantee the clean-up costs of any spills. Others are checking local laws to see if they can bring in shipments on Iranian tankers insured by Iran.

Japan and South Korea are lobbying EU officials to provide exemptions to the sanctions beyond July, but insurance and shipping executives believe a complete ban is likely. EU officials are due to meet on the issue in mid-May.

"The issue everybody has is that somehow they are reinsured or insured into Europe," said a UK-based ship insurance broker. "There's no obvious solution after sanctions are implemented."

Japanese non-life insurers have warned they will only cover a single tanker at a time carrying Iranian crude oil through the Middle East Gulf, industry sources have said.

THE STATE PAYS?

Without some kind of EU exemption, Tokyo and Seoul may need to provide sovereign guarantees to replace lost shipping insurance or force refiners to go elsewhere for crude supplies.

A source at South Korea's Economy Ministry said Seoul was considering sovereign guarantees, but needed to assess the financial impact before making any decision.

"We need to discuss this with other ministries and we're doing so now because government insurance means people's tax money. We need to check the costs and benefits," said the source who has direct knowledge of the matter.

India, too, is considering sovereign guarantees - where the state covers the clean-up cost of an oil spill or other damage - for its shipping lines, or importing oil on tankers insured by Iran, a shipping industry source said.

Some, though, hold out little hope that Tehran would pay up in the event of a collision or spill involving any of its 39-strong tanker fleet.

"The chance is zero," said another Japanese buyer of Iranian oil, who did not want to be named. "Even if Iran said it would, we would have no collateral for that, so we don't know if they really would deliver if such accidents happened."

Asked if Japan would accept Iranian P&I (protection and indemnity) insurance on independent Tehran-based NITC tankers bound for Japan, the source said: "No, we won't consider that. We have no plans to rely on Iranian P&I as we don't really know if they're going to deliver."

There would also be doubts about whether Iranian-backed insurance would be able to pay out against any claim as Western sanctions prohibit transferring cash out of Iran. Similarly, many ships are heavily mortgaged, and bank loan covenants typically state that vessels must be covered by triple-A rated insurers - raising the question as to whether any stop-gap insurance provider would meet that condition.

Another source at a major South Korean shipping firm noted it could be illegal to ship Iranian crude via NITC tankers insured by Iran into South Korea. "Port authorities would not allow the entry of such shipments unless they are insured by large firms such as P&I Club members."

However, a source at South Korea's Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs noted Iran-insured Iranian tankers may be allowed into South Korea, but it would be tough to let them in as Seoul is a close ally of the United States.

"Without European insurance, it will be impossible for South Korea to import Iranian oil from July 1,' the source said.

Iain Anderson, Singapore-based partner at law firm Ince & Co, said it was "difficult to see how sovereign guarantees could replace the essential P&I risk transfer."

"Something close to half of the world's oil passes through the Strait of Singapore. How would a sovereign guarantee respond to a serious collision or grounding situation in the Strait which involves pollution from such a "guaranteed" vessel?" he said.

CLOSER TO HOME

Most of China's tanker fleet, owned by firms such as China Shipping, COSCO Group and Nanjing Tankers, are covered by European insurers and would not be able to transport Iranian oil unless Chinese insurers step in to fill the void once sanctions hit, analysts said.

That's proving tougher since officials with private ship insurer, China P&I Club, told Reuters this month it would not provide cover for tankers carrying Iranian oil.

China's biggest property and casualty (P&C) insurer, the state-owned People's Insurance Company of China Group (PICC), has yet to decide whether to provide such coverage.

"It's not certain whether state-owned insurers like PICC will have to underwrite the business, or whether the government will take out the money, or whether oil companies will have to share some of the risks," said a Beijing-based marine underwriter with PICC. "The risks involved are huge and you often have to pay out more than what you get."

A source with China's only state-owned reinsurer, China Re, said the firm was acting "very cautiously" on Iran-related business, and had not yet decided on whether to cover oil tankers carrying Iranian crude after July.

But Chinese oil buyers may be more open than others to importing Iranian oil on tankers insured by the Middle East country, if the price is right.

"If the oil is shipping from Iran and freight is at a fair rate, of course we can consider taking more," said a trader with a Chinese oil firm that imports Iranian crude.

Relying more on Iranian-insured tankers could help China maintain its substantial crude imports from the OPEC producer. Iran's NITC plans to add at least 12 more supertankers by the end of next year.

(Additional reporting by Samuel Shen in SHANGHAI, Meeyoung Cho in SEOUL, Nidhi Verma in NEW DELHI, Myles Neligan in LONDON and Luke Pachymuthu in SINGAPORE; Writing by Randy Fabi; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)

Market Watch

Hacking Expert David Chalk Joins Urgent Call to Halt Smart Grid

"100% certainty of catastrophic failure of energy grid within 3 years"

April 12, 2012,

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Apr 12, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The vulnerability of the energy industry's new wireless smart grid will inevitably lead to lights out for everyone, according to leading cyber expert David Chalk. In an online interview for an upcoming documentary film entitled 'Take Back Your Power' ( www.ThePowerFilm.org ), Chalk says the entire power grid will be at risk to being taken down by cyber attack, and if installations continue it's only a matter of time.

"We're in a state of crisis," said Chalk. "The front door is open and there is no lock to be had. There is not a power meter or device on the grid that is protected from hacking - if not already infected - with some sort of trojan horse that can cause the grid to be shut down or completely annihilated."

"One of the most amazing things that has happened to mankind in the last 100 years is the Internet. It's given us possibility beyond our wildest imagination. But we also know the vulnerabilities that exist inside of it. And then we have the backbone, the power grid that powers our nations. Those two are coming together. And it's the smart meter on your home or business that's now allowing that connectivity."

Chalk also issued a challenge to governments, media and technology producers to show him one piece of digital technology that is hack-proof.

"The computer companies that are involved, the manufacturers that are involved, bring forward a technology and I will show you that it's penetrable," said Chalk. "I'll do it on national TV, I'll do it anywhere. But I can guarantee you 100% that there is nothing out there today -- nothing -- that can't be penetrated."

Chalk's strong words come amidst increasing reports of the smart grid's fatal insecurities, even from the governments and energy companies who are forcing their hand with the smart program. "Every endpoint [meter] is a new potential threat vector," according to Doug Powell, manager, SMI Security, Privacy & Safety, for Canadian utility BC Hydro.

And in an interview with EnergyNow.com, former CIA Director James Woolsey was also highly critical of energy policy makers, whose plans received multi-billion dollar funding as part of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. "The so-called 'smart grid' that is as vulnerable as what we've got now is not smart at all," said Woolsey. "It's a really, really stupid grid."

But there's more. In an audit released in January, the US Inspector General Gregory Friedman was also highly critical. "Without a formal risk assessment and associated mitigation strategy, threats and weaknesses may go unidentified and expose the ... systems to an unacceptable level of risk," Friedman wrote.

Energy officials knew of these weaknesses but approved plans for the projects anyway, auditors said. "The initial weaknesses had not always been fully addressed, and did not include a number of security practices commonly recommended for federal government and industry systems."

And security is not the only technologically-based obstacle faced by smart grid proponents. In March, alarm bells were rung following current CIA Director David Patraeus' confirmation that governments will use wireless smart appliances to spy on citizens. "Items of interest will be located, identified, monitored, and remotely controlled through technologies such as radio-frequency identification, sensor networks, tiny embedded servers, and energy harvesters," Patraeus said at a meeting of In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture capital firm. He added that this will prompt a rethink of "our notions of identity and secrecy."

With strong criticism to the smart grid now coming from many directions, energy corporations and governments now have the challenge to explain to an increasingly unapproving public why they continue to fast-track smart grid installations.

Citizen groups and organizations throughout the US, Canada and Europe have launched legal actions to stop the installation of smart meters. They cite issues such as cost increases, health risks, privacy concerns, grid vulnerability and the lack of democratic process. In Chalk's home province of British Columbia, Citizens for Safe Technology ( www.citizensforsafetechnology.org ) and the BC Coalition to Stop Smart Meters are leading a growing challenge.

Options for opting out of the smart metering program have been announced in markets including California, Maine, Vermont, Louisiana, Michigan, Connecticut, Quebec, the UK and the Netherlands. In the US, several regions including the counties of Santa Cruz and Marin are enforcing outright moratoriums.

"Unless we wake up and realize what we're doing, there is 100% certainty of total catastrophic failure of the entire power infrastructure within 3 years," said Chalk. "This could actually be worse than a nuclear war, because it would happen everywhere. How governments and utilities are blindly merging the power grid with the Internet, and effectively without any protection, is insanity at its finest."

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Higgins Blog

Spain Bans Cash Transactions Over 2,500 Euros

Posted by Alexander Higgins - April 16, 2012

Spain has outlawed the use of cash in business transactions in excess 2,500 euros in order to crack down on the black market and tax evaders.

The motivations behind the push for digital currencies is exposed as Spain heads down the road of the Greeks in combating their sovereign debt crisis.

As the government scrambles for every tax dollar it can get its hands on, even though they already gave every Spaniard $23,000 Euros in debt last year alone (approximately $32,500), they are now banning all large cash business transactions.

Why? So they can track the transactions and make sure that people and business are paying taxes. Being able to track the transactions is also aimed to combat the growing black market in Spain.

Via Libre Mercado: (translated by google)

The Government Banned Cash Payments In Excess Of 2,500 Euros

Those who violate the ban will face fines of 25% of the payment made in cash.

The Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, has announced on Wednesday that the plan to combat tax evasion on Friday approved the Cabinet prohibit the payment in cash transactions of over € 2,500 and which at least involved a businessman professional.

During the control session the Government in the House of the Congress of Deputies and in response to a question about the tax amnesty made by the general coordinator of IU, Cayo Lara, the Prime Minister has revealed that those who violate the ban will face fines of 25% of the payment made in cash.

The Government had already advanced the plan to combat fraud limitations include the use of cash for certain operations, although he had not yet specified which would place the threshold (yes at the time there was talk that it could be 1,000 euros for self-employed).

Black money

This measure aims to prevent the use of black money in commercial transactions and, in the case of companies, give them an obstacle to not resort to false invoices. The plan to combat fraud adopted on Friday, the Cabinet intends to raise up to 8.171 million euros in 2012.

Rajoy has argued before Cayo Lara tax amnesty approved by the Government in the fight against the deficit, noting that a measure is "extraordinary and exceptional" only valid for 2012, adopted in a "very difficult" and to help improve revenue.

In fact, insisted that it is a measure recommended by the OECD in difficult situations and has already been used in countries like Germany, USA and Italy, which allowed the latter to raise 5,000 million euros in 2009 and 2010.

The president has also said that in Spain and there were three tax amnesties in the past (1977, 1984 and 1991) and, unlike then, when the fraudsters who paid nothing surfaced assets to the Treasury, in this case paid between 8% and 10%.

IU criticizes the tax amnesty

For its part, the general coordinator of IU, Cayo Lara, has warned the Government that the tax amnesty "is not the way to fight" the deficit has been reported that an initiative is "unfair and unconstitutional."

Rajoy Lara reminded that when the PP was in the opposition rejected the tax amnesty proposed by the Socialist government claiming it was "unfair and antisocial" in the words of the PP's general secretary and president of Castilla-La Mancha, María Dolores de Cospedal.

"We understand the serious situation, but the tax break allows us to continue to rob everyone with impunity. The problem of fraud all fails, cutting the budget of the tax and forgiving fraudsters," he broached Lara.

The general coordinator of IU Rajoy called on a real anti-fraud plan, with more resources to the tax office, and has taken the opportunity to ask the president that when you announce cuts of 10,000 million euros "do it in Parliament."

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Content

Incredible Images Show Giant Sinkhole In Sweden Keeps Expanding

Posted by: Zen Haven

It looks like something taken straight from a horror movie. An enormous hole leading to hell, some would say. But this is not a movie.

This is a real and dangerous phenomenon. New shocking images clearly show the enormous pit in Sweden is expanding.

The 200 foot wide open pit is called the "Fabiangropen" (Fabian pit) and is in the Malmberget area is located at Gallivare, 75km from Kiruna, Sweden.

As you can see on the map, it is in the northern regions of Sweden.

Due to presence of many orebodies, mining at Malmberget is conducted at different levels at 600m, 815m and 1,000m. - The mining company LKAB has now taken new pictures of the pit. - In the pictures you see the new Fabian pit which has expanded during the night between Tuesday and Wednesday in the former cavity full width. - The pit is square and 150—150 meters high. - This is naturally very bad news for people who live close to this giant sinkhole and many are afraid and also annoyed because of the loud noises.

According to the locals sometimes the tremor around here can last up to 45 minutes!

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If you do not already know Jesus, now would be a perfect time to receive Him as your Savior so that in the days ahead you will be able to claim His promises such as; “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.” (Proverbs 18:10) To receive Him all that is necessary is to pray a simple prayer: Dear Jesus I believe you are the Son of God who died that I might live. I ask you to please come into my heart, forgive my sin and give me your free gift of eternal life.

If you have at any time prayed this or a similar prayer you can have the assurance that Jesus is with you. Jesus said, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)

Until next week...keep on believing.

Almondtree Productions

"Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.
(Luke 21:28)