Psalms 145:18
The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.

Zephaniah 3:4
Her prophets are reckless, treacherous men;
Her priests have profaned the sanctuary.
They have done violence to the law.

Warning on literal reading of Bible
THE DOMINION POST - By ANNA CHALMERS - July 22, 2006 - More church groups have condemned a Christian brochure advocating smacking, with one warning of the dangers of literal interpretation of the Bible.

At a parliamentary select committee hearing yesterday into the repeal of section 59 of the Crimes Act, submitters expressed concern that the Family Integrity group had used the Bible to justify its views.

Literal interpretation of Scriptures was "very dangerous", Sister Marcellin (Marcia Wilson), of the Sisters of Mercy, said. "It could see us stoning people for adultery, requiring compulsory circumcision of boys and extracting an eyeball for an eyeball."

Family Integrity's booklet says smacking drives the "foolishness" and "sinful manifestations" out of the child. Discipline sessions should last up to 15 minutes, it says.

The Sisters of Mercy supported repealing section 59, which gives parents the right to use reasonable force against their child, Sister Marcellin said.

The Churches' Agency on Social Issues, Quakers and Wesley Community Action also supported repealing the law.

A number of individual submitters, including some who claimed physical abuse by their own parents, did not support the bill's repeal.

Upper Hutt mother Rhonda Diprose said a law change would make it tougher to be a parent. "I don't want to be in a country where I'm too scared to discipline my child if I think that's appropriate action."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3738707a6160,00.html

Zechariah 12:2-3  
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

Palestinian terrorists prepare to target U.S.
Al Aqsa Brigades leader tells WND of threat amid concerns of Hezbollah on American soil

WORLDNETDAILY - By Aaron Klein - July 21, 2006 - JERUSALEM It is only a "question of time" before Palestinian terror groups and other Islamic organizations in the Middle East target the United States both abroad and on the home front, Abu Nasser, second-in-command of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, told WorldNetDaily in an exclusive interview.

The information comes after FBI officials told reporters earlier this week they are searching for possible Hezbollah agents operating inside the U.S. amid concerns escalating tensions with Iran could trigger attacks on American soil.

According to Israeli security officials, Abu Nasser and the overall leader of the Al Aqsa Brigades in northern Samaria, Ala Senakreh, coordinate their groups activities directly with Hezbollah. Sources in the Brigades admitted to WND they work in tandem with Hezbollah, which they say provides funding and training.

"The Americans deserve to be targeted because of their support to the enemy. ... It is a question of time before the revolutionary organizations in the Middle East will start targeting the Americans," said Abu Nasser, speaking to WND from Nablus.

The Al Aqsa Brigades, the declared "military wing" of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, is responsible for scores of rocket and shooting attacks, and together with Islamic Jihad for every suicide bombing since last February's so-called cease-fire.

"One can say that these threats are just rhetoric, but the near past proved that these threats come more and more into reality," said Abu Nasser. "Believe me, it is a new era and I am suggesting to the American people to adopt a different policy and strategy because very soon they will deal with a unified Muslim world, but without the help of their agents in the Middle East."

The Al Aqsa Brigades is not thought to possess the ability to attack inside the U.S., but there are concerns its ally, Hezbollah, has infiltrated America and is seeking to attack.

Hezbollah representatives in Iran warned earlier this week the group stood ready to target U.S. and Israeli interests worldwide.

American law enforcement officials said they are taking the Hezbollah threats seriously.

"Because of the heightened difficulties surrounding U.S.-Iranian relations, the FBI has increased its focus on Hezbollah," said FBI spokesman Paul Bresson in Washington.

"Those investigations relate particularly to the potential presence of Hezbollah members on U.S. soil."

William Kowalski, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI in Detroit, asked, "If the situation escalates, will Hezbollah take the gloves off, so to speak, and attack here in the United States, which they've been reluctant to do until now?"

Detroit is home to one of the largest Muslim communities in the United States. Hezbollah sympathizers have been caught fund-raising in the city.

Two men pled guilty earlier this month to racketeering charges in which a smuggling ring based in Michigan is accused of funneling profits to Hezbollah.

U.S. law enforcement agencies reportedly have indications Hezbollah agents are on U.S. soil and may be planning attacks.

In May, the New York Post cited law-enforcement and intelligence officials stating Hezbollah may be planning to activate sleeper cells in New York and other big cities as the U.S. confrontation with Iran escalates.

The sources told The Post about a dozen hard-core supporters of Hezbollah are operating in the New York area. They said the possible Hezbollah agents have been placed under heavy surveillance.

Hezbollah never has launched a strike on U.S. soil, but prior to al-Qaida's Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, it was responsible for more American deaths than any other terrorist group.

Hezbollah is accused of attacking the U.S. embassy in Lebanon, killing 63, and of a spate of kidnappings and murders of Americans in Lebanon. Hezbollah's deadliest attack against Americans was the 1983 bombing of Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241 U.S. servicemen.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51170

IAF attempts to assassinate Hizbullah leadership
THE JERUSALEM POST - By YAAKOV KATZ, AP AND JPOST.COM STAFF - July 20, 2006 - IAF fighter jets dropped 23 tons of explosives late Wednesday night on a Hizbullah bunker, possibly the hiding place of the group's leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, in the Bourj al-Barajneh refugee camp in southeast Beirut. It was still unclear who was in the bunker at the time and what their fate was, but IDF sources said the bunker was totally destroyed and that all that was left was a crater.
The IDF obtained intelligence information late Wednesday night that Hizbullah leaders possibly including Nasrallah had taken refuge inside the bunker. A wave of aircraft immediately took to the air and dropped 23 tons of explosives on the bunker.
IDF sources would not confirm that Nasrallah was in the bunker at the time, but said that high-ranking Hizbullah leaders were inside, and that it appeared that the attack was successful.
Hizbullah has said none of its "leaders or members" died in the IAF strike.
"The truth is that the building targeted by the enemy warplanes with 23 tons of explosives is just a building under construction to be a mosque for prayers," said the statement, issued on the group's Al-Manar TV and faxed to The Associated Press.…
Also early Thursday morning, Israel's UN Ambassador Gillerman said in a CNN interview that "I can assure you that we know exactly what we hit. ... This was no religious site. This was indeed the headquarters of the Hizbullah leadership."
Since the IDF went to war with Lebanon last Wednesday, fighter jets have repeatedly bombed another bunker in the Dahiya neighborhood in Beirut, also said to be the main nerve center and headquarters of Hizbullah.
The IAF has so far carried over 3,000 sorties over Lebanon, and in the past day attacked 200 targets throughout the country, including Hizbullah headquarters, cars carrying terrorists, Katyusha launchers and weapons warehouses.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=2&cid=1153291951954&
pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Lebanon 'has been torn to shreds'
BBC NEWS - July 20, 2006 - The Lebanese prime minister has called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah militants, saying his country "has been torn to shreds".
Fouad Siniora said more than 300 people had been killed and 500,000 others displaced in a week of Israeli attacks.
Israel says it carried out 80 air strikes in Lebanon in the early hours of Thursday morning.
And it says its soldiers are now fighting Hezbollah militants along the border just inside Lebanon.
The clashes are taking place north of the Israeli village of Avivim, an Israeli Defence Force spokeswoman said….
Twenty-nine Israelis have died - including 15 civilians killed by rocket attacks - since the Israeli offensive against Hezbollah militants began eight days ago.
On Wednesday, two children were killed in Nazareth by Hezbollah rockets.
Wednesday's air strikes from Israel killed more than 60 Lebanese civilians, as two Israeli soldiers and a Hezbollah militant died in clashes.
Barrages of Hezbollah rockets were fired into northern Israel….
Many thousands continue to flee Lebanon, and several countries have sent ships and helicopters to move their nationals.
But thousands of others remain trapped, with major roads cut by Israeli bombing, and no supplies reaching many areas.
In other developments:
- Relief agencies say there is a growing need for water, sanitation and medical facilities for those displaced within Lebanon
- French President Jacques Chirac called for humanitarian corridors in Lebanon to protect civilians from Israeli air raids as they flee the fighting
- UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are to discuss the crisis on Thursday.
'Callous retribution'
In an emotional televised appeal, the Lebanese prime minister urged the international community to intervene.
"I call upon you all to respond immediately... and provide urgent international humanitarian assistance to our war-stricken country," Mr Siniora said.
"Can the international community stand by while such callous retribution by the state of Israel is inflicted on us?"
He vowed to make Israel pay compensation to Lebanon for the "barbaric destruction".
The Israelis say they are fighting to end the control of Hezbollah over the lives of ordinary people on both sides of the border.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the campaign against the militants would continue "as long as necessary" to free its captured soldiers and ensure Hezbollah is not a threat.
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres told the BBC that Israel wanted peace, but could not sit back while Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel.
Wednesday saw further Israeli strikes in the east, south and Beirut, where a Christian district came under fire for the first time.
At least 12 people were killed in a southern village near the city of Tyre and civilian deaths were also reported in other parts of the south and near Baalbek in the east.
The strikes came as Israeli ground troops continued what they call "restricted pinpoint attacks" into southern Lebanon.
Heavy exchanges of fire erupted after Israeli tanks and infantry crossed the border in search of Hezbollah weapons and facilities.
For their part, Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at Israeli cities including Haifa and Tiberias.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5196800.stm

Hezbollah threat to U.S. 'serious'
Agents seized at border, while Iranians ID targets to 'end Anglo-Saxon civilization'

WORLDNETDAILY - From Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin - July 19, 2006 - WASHINGTON The Iranian-sponsored terrorist organization Hezbollah' threats to attack U.S. interests around the world are being taken seriously by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials who say the group's agents have attempted illegal entry into the country through the southern border and have staked out 20 potential sensitive targets that Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad boasted could "end Anglo-Saxon civilization," Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin reports.

"We have 2,000 volunteers who have registered since last year," Hezbollah spokesman Mojtaba Bigdeli told Reuters yesterday. "They have been trained and they can become fully armed. We are ready to dispatch them to every corner of the world to jeopardize Israel and America's interests. We are only waiting for the supreme leader's green light to take action. If America wants to ignite World War III … we welcome it."

The "supreme leader" is Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei.

Hezbollah and Iranian officials are known for their hyperbolic rhetoric, but U.S. officials say it would be a mistake to dismiss them categorically.

FBI Director Robert Mueller confirmed earlier this spring that Hezbollah agents were caught trying to enter the country illegally through the Mexican border.

Likewise, James Woolsey, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in February that "Ahmadinejad who is close to Hezbollah, says that he knows of the 29 sensitive sites in the U.S. and the West, which he has spied out and is ready to attack in order to, quote: 'End Anglo-Saxon civilization."

In May long before the recent escalation of conflict with Israel more than 100 "martyrdom-seeking volunteers" affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps gathered to warn the U.S. they would blow up American interests around the world if their country's nuclear installations came under attack.

Mohammad-Ali Samadi, spokesman for a government-orchestrated campaign to recruit suicide bombers, said more than 55,000 volunteers had been registered, according to Iran Focus.

The group called the Headquarters to Commemorate the Martyrs of the Global Islamic Movement was established in 2004 to carry out suicide attacks against three targets: "The infidels occupying Iraq," Israel and author Salman Rushdie.

In February, it launched a new recruitment drive to fight "global blasphemy."

Iran estimated then that Israel would strike Tehran's nuclear facilities within a year and has been planning retaliatory attacks against Israeli, American and British interests, according to senior Lebanese political sources who spoke to WorldNetDaily on condition of anonymity.

The sources said while Iran is expecting lone Israeli military action, Iranian intelligence estimates the Jewish state is coordinating a planned attack with the U.S.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51129

Israel quietly threatens to attack Syria
Warns Damascus immediately to halt arms transfers to Hezbollah

WORLDNETDAILY - From The Galil Report, By Aaron Klein - July 19, 2006 - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office has delivered through diplomatic channels a threat to attack Syria if Damascus continues facilitating arms transfers from its borders to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Galil Report has learned.

Israeli military officials here told the Galil Report today they estimate the threat is more a pressure tactic being used by Olmert. But they said if any order to attack Syria is indeed given which they maintained is unlikely the Israeli Defense Forces would be ready to act.

The Israeli threats which are detailed in today's edition of the Galil Report follow Israeli Air Force operations yesterday in which two Hezbollah-bound trucks carrying weapons and ammunition were attacked while driving through Lebanon's Bekaa section after having crossed the border from Syria.

The IAF also targeted a Hezbollah truck carrying long-range rockets that could strike Tel Aviv, including Iranian-made "Zilzals," which have a range of about 120 miles. The force of the blast sent at least one Zilzal missile flying into the air, but it fell nearby.

The Israeli military thus far has operated very carefully along the Syria-Lebanese border to keep Syria out of the fighting.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51138

Special Newsletter: News From The Front
MORIEL MINISTRIES ISRAEL - By Ronnie Cohen - July 16, 2006 - Events here are changing rapidly every minute. An example; let's say a good friend has just given birth...the next day you call...
"Congratulations! I hear it's a boy. How is he doing?"
"Well, he graduated from Harvard - is a professor - and has stopped global warming and has found a cure for cancer"
That's how fast events are changing.
It all started with a Hamas attack outside the Gaza Strip on an Israeli army unit. Two soldiers killed and one abducted into Gaza. Immediately Hamas demands the release of thousands of terrorists. But theres no deal and the Israeli army rips into Gaza. Two weeks later, in a show of camaraderie with their Moslem buddies, Hezbollah starts firing all over the Lebanese - Israeli border, which was actually a diversion.
While all this was going on Hezbollah terrorists ambushed an Israeli army patrol on the Israeli side of the international border, killed three soldiers and abducted two others back into Southern Lebanon. They assumed that the Israelis would react like they did the last time they kidnapped three soldiers with the release of thousands of terrorists from Israeli prisons.
Well, something happened that they didn't bargain for. The Israelis did not just go after them, but also placed almost all of the blame on the Lebanese Government for allowing an armed terror group to do whatever they wanted along the southern border and basically telling the sovereign Lebanese Gov't to jump in the lake.
So, the Israeli Air Force has been pounding Hezbollah positions all over Lebanon and Gov't infrastructures as well.
What does the world say? Well, as usual most nations condemn Israel for overreacting while some surprisingly have given much support.
Many of the outspoken U.S. Christian leaders have also voiced their support for Israel. Amazingly, enough tour groups planning to arrive in the next few months have not canceled their trips. Many have stated that they have total faith in God that the outcome would be in the Israeli peoples better interests and that all would be over by the time they come.
One thing should be remembered...faith and belief that the Lord has His hand over Israel and her people. Amen!!!

Thousands flee as Israel threatens all-out war
LONDON TIMES - By Stephen Farrell in Haifa and Philip Webster in St Petersburg - July 18, 2006 - THE Israeli Prime Minister vowed last night to continue his countrys offensive in Lebanon until Hezbollahs ability to threaten his nation was destroyed and the captured Israeli soldiers were returned.

Ehud Olmert made his impassioned speech to the Israeli parliament as thousands of Westerners fled the onslaught. Britain, the United States, France, Germany and many other countries mounted operations to evacuate their citizens from Beirut as Israeli warplanes continued their bombardment of the Lebanese capital. More than 60 of the most vulnerable Britons were airlifted to the safety of a military base in Cyprus.

This is a moment of truth for Israel, Mr Olmert said. We will fight with all the strength we are capable of. We will strike anyone who would strike at us.

We shall seek out every installation, hit every terrorist helping to attack Israeli citizens, destroy all the terrorist infrastructure in every place . . . When missiles are launched at our residents and our towns, our answer will be war waged at full strength, with all determination, courage and sacrifice. ....

An Israeli security source told Reuters that Israel believed that it had a week to inflict as much damage as it could on Hezbollah before the US, Israels strongest supporter, became unable to resist international pressure for a ceasefire. Israeli forces will have to accelerate the bombardment, he said.

Fouad Siniora, the Lebanese Prime Minister, said that Israel had now inflicted billions of dollars of damage and was trying to set his country back 50 years. Hezbollah retaliated with more missile strikes on Israeli towns, including a rocket attack that smashed into an apartment block in the coastal town of Haifa. So far 24 Israelis have been killed and hundreds injured....

As the day of violence unfolded, world leaders desperately sought ways to end the fighting. Speaking at the G8 summit in St Petersburg, Tony Blair and Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, led demands for an international force to be sent into southern Lebanon to stop Hezbollah attacks on Israel and Israeli retaliation.

The only way that we are going to have a cessation of violence is if we have an international force deployed into that area, Mr Blair said, but the idea received a lukewarm response from Israel and the United States.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2274659,00.html

Israel : Long-Range Missile Destroyed
ASSOCIATED PRESS - July 17, 2006 - JERUSALEM: An Israeli airstrike in Lebanon on Monday destroyed at least one long- range Iranian missile capable of hitting Tel Aviv, military officials said.

Israeli aircraft targeted a truck carrying the weapons before they could be launched, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of military regulations. The force of the blast sent at least one missile flying into the air, but it fell nearby.

During nearly a week of fighting, Hezbollah militants have fired missiles up to 25 miles into Israel. But officials have raised concerns the guerrilla group could strike Tel Aviv, about 80 miles south of the border with Lebanon.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/07/17/D8ITS54O8.html

The Iron and the Clay

Daniel 7:3  
"And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another.

Russia may send troops to Middle East
ASSOCIATED PRESS - July 17, 2006 - ST. PETERSBURG, Russia: President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia would consider contributing troops to an international force in the Middle East if the United Nations approves deployment.

"So far there is no decision yet on sending peacekeeping troops. When there will be a decision we will consider whether to take part," Putin said.

Putin said he was not certain that the return of abducted Israeli soldiers would stop fighting in the Middle East.

"I don't think the situation has gotten out of control but I don't have the certainty that the return of the soldiers will stop the conflict," Putin said in response to a question on the gravity of the conflict in the Middle East.

Putin was speaking at the end of a summit of the Group of Eight industrial nations. The G-8 leaders on Sunday called for the Israeli soldiers abducted in Gaza and Lebanon to be released.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150886025247&pagename=
JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Black Sea Fleet May Move to Syria 
KOINONIA HOUSE - from the July 11, 2006 eNews issue - Russia may be planning to move its Black Sea Fleet to the Syrian port of Tarsus.

Russia 's Black Sea Fleet currently uses a range of naval facilities in the Ukrainian region of Crimea. They operate in the region under a 1997 agreement that allowed Russia to continue its presence in the former Soviet republic for rent of $93 million per year.

The fleet is not scheduled to withdraw until 2017. However the Ukraine has recently voiced concerns that Russia is not paying enough for the facilities and has demanded that a new agreement be signed. Russia says that it will not make any concessions and negotiations between Russia and the Ukraine have stalled.

On June 23, 2006, Ukrainian officials attempted to seize a building and equipment belonging to the Black Sea Fleet, further aggravating the disagreement.

Recently a respected Russian newspaper quoted multiple sources in Russia's diplomatic service and the Defense Ministry, indicating that Russia may be planning to move its Black Sea Fleet to Syria. Russia has started dredging at the Syrian port of Tarsus where it maintains a logistical supply point and it may have plans to turn it into a full-fledged naval base. Russia has also launched a modernization project at the port of Latakia, located about 60 miles to the north of Tarsus.

A Defense Ministry source said that Moscow was planning to form a squadron led by the Moskva, the Black Sea Fleet's flagship missile cruiser, within the next three years. The squadron would operate in the Mediterranean Sea on a permanent basis.

Over the past two years, partly as a consequence of the war in Iraq, Russia has been carefully cultivating ties with Turkey, Iran and Syria. After losing the Mid-East foothold provided by Saddam Hussein's Iraq, the Russians have been building a new axis of power based on those three key countries. Russia is now Turkey's second-largest trading partner, with a volume of $10 billion in trade per year; Russia strengthened ties with Iran by supplying it with nuclear-related technologies; and last year Russia and Syria made plans to increase diplomatic and military cooperation. Russia wrote-off approximately 10 billion dollars of Syrias Soviet-era debt and has supplied Syria with Russian made SA-18 surface-to-air missiles.

Russia 's arms exports in 2005 totalled a record breaking 6.1 billion dollars. Despite the ongoing controversy about Iran's nuclear program, Russia intends to sell Iran up to 30 Tor M-1 surface-to-air missiles in a deal estimated to be worth up to 700 million dollars. Russia claims to be our ally and partner in the war against terrorism. However despite US objections, Russia is all too willing to sell advanced weaponry to countries (like Syria and Iran) which support the insurgency in Iraq. Russia has also made overtures to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian government. Russia does not consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization, even though Hamas has claimed responsibility for the murder of more than 500 people in at least 350 separate terrorist attacks since 1993.

Russia is a co-sponsor of the Road Map Peace Plan, but that does not mean they are a friend to Israel. Prior to the elections in January, Russian military experts were sent to the Gaza Strip to train Palestinian security forces. In addition to training, Russia is prepared to provide the Palestinians with armored vehicles, ammunition, and helicopters. In past speeches Putin has called on Israel to make concessions and withdraw "from all the occupied Arab lands back to the June 4, 1967 border."

Tensions in the Middle East continue to increase and recent events indicate that the famed battle prophesied in Ezekiel 38 and 39 could be on our near horizon. It is during this battle, that God will directly intercede to protect Israel from Magog and its allies. For more information on this topic see the links below.

http://www.khouse.org/enews_article/2006/1087/print

Brussels to unveil plan on EU rapid border teams
EUOBSERVER - By Lucia Kubosova - July 17, 2006 - BRUSSELS - The European Commission is this week set to adopt a plan to establish EU rapid reaction teams aimed at safeguarding the bloc's external borders.
At their last meeting before the summer break, commissioners are set on Wednesday (19 July), to approve a document - seen by the EUobserver - which outlines the tasks and rules under which "rapid border intervention teams" would operate.
The plan is based on a voluntary scheme where member states willing to participate in the project would be asked to draw up a list of national border guards available to other countries in critical situations.
The rapid intervention teams would work on an ad hoc basis and only be deployed in times of crises to "fill any gaps in the control and surveillance performed by the national border guard service of the requesting member states." ...
http://euobserver.com/9/22103

Chinese black helicopters circle Google Earth
THE REGISTER - By Lester Haines - July 19, 2006 - Those among you who like your skies darkened by black helicopters are invited to mosey on down to the remote Chinese village of Huangyangtan which hosts what must be the strangest military installation ever spotted ( http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php/Cat/0/Number/484568/page/vc) by the Google Earth Community: Zooming in for a closer look, we have what appears to be a 900x700m scale model of a mountainous landscape... ...complete with lakes, valleys and snow-capped peaks: .......... You Have to Check Out The Link For This One ........... BE/\LERT!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/19/huangyangtan_mystery/print.html

Are You Ready for Your North American Union ID Card?
HUMAN EVENTS ONLINE - by James Plummer - July 17, 2006 - Human Events Online has been leading the coverage of the so-called Security and Prosperity Partnership, a unilateral program implemented by the Bush Administration designed to set the course for a North American Union that would subsume our national sovereignty. A de facto treaty signed by the leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the U.S., the agreement was never submitted to the Senate for ratification. Now it can be revealed that plans for the North American Union include a tri-national North American Union ID card.

Recent testimony to Congress by a Homeland Security official reinforces the point. At a June 8 hearing before an immigration subcommittee, DHS counselor and acting assistant secretary Paul Rosenzweig touted something called the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). In doing so, he cited the SPP and bragged that under the SPP, Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers convened trilateral working groups to develop concrete work plans and specific timetables for securing North America and ensuring legitimate travelers and cargo efficiently cross our shared borders.

The WHTI was established to implement legislation passed as part of the 2004 intelligence reform bill, which was in turn spurred on by the findings of the federal governments ad hoc 9/11 Commission. A provision in that legislation required that everyone entering the United States, including Americans, present identity documents -- but all of the details were left to the Department of Homeland Security. The result was the WHTI, which aims to require that people entering the U.S. from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, or Bermuda present either a new document called a Passport Card or other documents to be named which will meet certain standards to be determined. This requirement would also apply to Americans, who currently do not need a passport to travel to those countries but would need a document compliant with WHTI to return home.

By folding the WHTI into the SPPs agenda for a North American Union, the Bush Administration is brazenly laying the foundation to turn WHTI into a backdoor tri-national ID system. And Americans may have little choice but to be integrated into it.

What forms of identification will be acceptable for the WHTI have yet to be finalized by DHS and the State Department. But as the Government Accountability Office reported to Congress, A number of stakeholders are advocating a drivers license with enhanced security features as a substitute for a passport. They maintain that when states adopt drivers licenses with enhanced security features in accordance with the REAL ID Act, the document should be sufficient for land border crossings under the Travel Initiative.

The REAL ID Act will force Homeland-Security-written standards onto state drivers licenses and link the state databases into a national ID system. Each draft of the legislation before the final version (passed as an amendment to emergency Iraq spending) said that national standards for state drivers licenses should be based on those recommended in a document called the Driver License Agreement. The DLA was a separate 23-page document drafted by American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, a kind of trade association of states DMV offices. Buried in the glossary of that document is a note that states eligible to join the standardized database system included provinces of Canada and states of Mexico. The provision referring to the DLA was pulled from the bill after Liberty Coalition and other groups brought attention to the matter. So this scheme for a North American Union ID is nothing new.

Chief among those stakeholders mentioned in the GAO report are many Chambers of Commerce (interestingly, the SPP is being run through the Department of Commerce) and other businesses along both sides of the border, working together under the name Business for Economic Security, Tourism, and Trade (BESTT). Rather than searching for a way to preserve both free markets and national sovereignty, BESTT dispatched 9/11 Commissioner Slade Gorton to testify to Congress on how machine-readable REAL ID drivers licenses can be combined with other requirements, like the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, for purposes like border crossing. Another BESTT representative, Luke Ford, has been telling Congressional staffers that Canadian drivers licenses could easily be tweaked enough to integrate into a REAL ID border-crossing system.

But will this ultimately happen? The GAO report points out that Congress would have to pass legislation authorizing Homeland Security to require that an indicator of U.S. citizenship be explicitly included in the machine-readable data on nationalized REAL ID drivers licenses. Assuming DHS doesnt go ahead and do so anyway when it releases REAL ID standards later this year, there is already legislation introduced in the House to include that information. The PACT Act, introduced by Reps. Louise Slaughter and John McHugh would also require the U.S. and Canada to develop identical documents for use under WHTI.

What all this means is that we are facing a situation where U.S. and Canadian drivers licenses, which Americans need to drive to work, go to a tavern, and generally navigate day-to-day life, will contain sensitive personal biometric information, interlinked and readable by the governments of Canada and Mexico. And depending on the standards decided upon by Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff, our drivers licenses could contain more information than the documents Mexicans use to cross into the U.S. legally; nevermind those who cross our insecure southern border without permission.

Mr. Plummer is policy director for Liberty Coalition.

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=16058

And now the opposing viewpoint:
The Passport Requirement of the WHTI Needs to be Implemented Without Delay
COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG - By Michael Cutler - July 18, 2006 - I was quoted in the Canadian press concerning the arrest of 17 terrorism suspects in Canada several weeks ago. I was subsequently contacted by a staffer from the Canadian Senate who asked me to prepare a paper concerning my position on the WHTI (Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative) which will require citizens of Canada and the United States to carry a passport or other secure identity documentation to be developed, when they cross the border separating our two countries.
Needless to say, I was honored to have been contacted by the Canadian government so that I could provide them with my perspective on this important issue. I have complied with this request and a copy of my paper that I have provided to the Canadian Senate follows. I have been told that it will be circulated among all of the members of the Canadian Senate's Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce which is involved with this issue.
It is my belief that in the perilous times in which we live, the requirement established by the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) that citizens of the United States and Canada carry passports when they travel across the international border that separates these two countries is entirely reasonable and should be implemented without any additional delay....
Terrorists have apparently used Canada as a staging point for carrying out, or attempting to carry out terrorist attacks in the United States. The ease with which they can move between our two countries is certainly an inducement for terrorists to come to Canada with the anticipation that they could then move easily across our border to carry out an attack in the United States. This factor also may well attract terrorists to enter Canada as a part of their overall plan to attack the United States. Meanwhile, as they live in Canada, their presence may well also represent a threat to your country as well. The recent arrest of terrorists in Canada, while a tribute to the effectiveness of your law enforcement officials, also makes it clear that Canada is also a potential target for those who are engaged in terrorism.
I can tell you from personal experience, having worked closely with law enforcement officers from Canada, most often with members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, that where these dedicated men and women are concerned; Canada has every reason to be proud of them. They are every bit as competent and professional as are the best law enforcement officers to be found in the United States. The best law enforcement officers alone, however, cannot be the most effective that they can be without the support of the legislators who establish the laws and regulations that facilitate their efforts when they are on duty.
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, (WHTI), establishes a deadline whereby a requirement will be implemented that when citizens of our respective nations travel between out two countries that they carry with them passports or at the least, suitable identity documents to help screen out those who might be traveling into our respective nations who pose a threat to our safety. This would make it more difficult for terrorists and criminals to enter our respective nations under false identities to conceal their true identities and the true purposes of their travel. This requirement is the direct result of the findings of the Presidential Commission on the Attacks of September 11, 2001. This requirement may well represent an inconvenience to the citizens of both of our nations who desire to travel across our mutual border, but in my judgment, this measure would provide both of our nations with enhanced security. ...
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/07/the_passport_requitement_of_th.php

Jeremiah 23:19-20
"Behold, the storm of the LORD has gone forth in wrath,
Even a whirling tempest;
It will swirl down on the head of the wicked.
"The anger of the LORD will not turn back
Until He has performed and carried out the purposes of His heart;
In the last days you will clearly understand it.

Hebrews 12:26  
And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, "YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN."

Luke 21:25
"There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,...

Meteor explosion recorded over Oslo Fjord area
AFTENPOSTEN MULTIMEDIA - July 14, 2006 - Astronomers were fending off scores of calls on Friday from Norwegians who reported hearing what experts are calling a meteor explosion over southeast Norway, somewhere over the Oslo Fjord area.
NORSAR, in Kjeller, has registered a signal from the explosion. Officials at NORSAR and at the University of Oslo said there likely are remnants of the meteor lying on the ground between Gardermoen to the northeast of Oslo and Askim to the southeast.
"I urge people to search for particles that may have fallen to earth," astronomer Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard told Aftenposten.no. He said the stones would be black and magnetic.
Seismologist Johannes Schweitzer was on duty at NORSAR Friday morning, when the meteor is believed to have exploded around 10:15am.
He said he got a signal from one of NORSAR's stations about 10 minutes after the explosion. "That correlates to information we have had from astronomers," he said. He thinks the meteor explosion was probably somewhat less forceful than the one recorded at NORSAR stations on June 7 in northern Norway.
Calls streamed in all day from Strømstad, Sweden in the south to Notodden and Jessheim in the north, placed by people who heard the explosion or saw a flash streaking through the bright blue sky Friday morning.
It was said to have been travelling in a north, northwest direction.
"This sounds extremely exciting," said astronomer Kaare Aksnes of the astro-physics institute at the University of Oslo.
He received a call from Stein Kjetil Overrein in Halden, near the Swedish border, who reported seeing a flash hurtling through the sky, and hearing an explosion minutes later. After calling the police, he called Aksnes.
E-mailed reports of the incident were also streaming in to the university from all over the Oslo area.
It's at least the second meteor incident in Norway in recent weeks. A meteorite was photographed streaking through the light night sky east of Tromsø on June 7, and last week a resident of Stavanger reported finding a meteorite in his yard. The latter report, however, hasn't been confirmed and may have been a hoax.
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1388515.ece

Indonesia leader wants tsunami search to continue
REUTERS - By Ed Davies - July 21, 2006 - - PANGANDARAN, Indonesia, - Indonesia's president told search teams on Friday to keep looking for survivors of Java's tsunami, saying people had been found alive a week after after the massive 2004 Indian Ocean killer waves.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was speaking on a visit to the beach town hardest hit by Monday's tsunami that killed at least 610 people, left 312 missing and displaced some 45,000 along a 300-km (185-mile) stretch of the south coast of Java, Indonesia's most populous island.

The 2004 tsunami killed 230,000 around the Indian Ocean, a majority of them in Indonesia's Aceh province.

Yudhoyono walked along the Pangandaran beach to survey the damage from the massive waves that rolled in on Monday, smashing kiosks, houses and fishing boats, and then visited a disaster recovery command centre and the main mosque for Friday prayers.

Urging the fastest possible clean-up operations, he told officials: "if you need more heavy machinery, ask for it."

"I want the local government to implement a plan so that Pangandaran can recover, and even develop better," he said, while urging displaced people to return to the town.

Several thousand people fled to camps in hills above Pangandaran after the waves struck, and have been staying there since. While some lost their homes, many simply fear being caught in another tsunami if they go back.

West Java provincial Governor Danny Setiawan said earlier: "There is very little possibility of another tsunami. They should return to their homes, but they should be alert."

The tsunami, sparked by an undersea earthquake of 7.7 magnitude, struck without any warning to coastal residents. Various glitches kept any word from going out except to government officials, and then too late for them to pass it on to the public actually facing the danger....

STRING OF DISASTERS

The Java tsunami is the latest in a string of disasters since Yudhoyono took office in late 2004, beginning with that year's tsunami and since then including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, deadly landslides, floods, and a massive mud flow. ...

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/JAK275663.htm

Floods ravage south China, kill at least 170
REUTERS - July 17, 2006 - BEIJING: Torrential rains have killed at least 170 people across south China since the weekend, flooding cities, sweeping away houses and cutting off utilities as well as rail and road links, state media reported on Monday.

The rains were triggered by Tropical Storm Bilis, which killed dozens in the Philippines and Taiwan before hitting China on Friday, where it was supposed to weaken but instead wrought havoc across six provinces.

At least 170 died and 138 were still missing as downpours continued on Monday in many of the worst-hit areas in Hunan, Guangdong and Fujian provinces, state-run Xinhua news agency and China Central Television (CCTV) said.

Xinhua cited the national disaster relief office as saying that a total of 20 million people had been affected by the rains, 2.2 million of whom had been evacuated.

Direct economic losses as a result of the storm totalled 12 billion yuan ($1.5 billion), Xinhua said, as 160,000 hectares of crops and 113,000 houses were destroyed.

Rains are forecast to continue over the next two days in Fujian, Hunan and Guangdong provinces.

Nearly two million residents and soldiers have been mobilised in Hunan to battle back flood waters that are expected to peak along the province's primary river, the Xiang, on Tuesday, Xinhua said.

CCTV showed footage of flooded rice fields and of soldiers evacuating villagers stranded on the roofs of their homes.

A section of the Beijing-Zhuhai highway that links the country's capital to China's southern industrial hubs has been submerged by water as deep as three metres (9 ft 10 in) in Hunan, Xinhua said, adding that "its resumption is unlikely in the near future".

More than 8,800 train passengers were stranded for hours when the Beijing-Guangzhou railway was cut, CCTV said, adding that authorities have suspended service on more than 100 passenger trains along the rail link, one of the country's most important.

South China is plagued by rainstorms every summer, but this year's flood season has been particularly deadly, already claiming hundreds of lives before Bilis struck.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PEK262920.htm

Europe Sweltering in Record Heat Wave
ASSOCIATED PRESS - By LAURA-CLAIRE CORSON July 19, 2006 - Lions licked blood-flavored ice blocks in the zoo, judges went wigless in court and guards at Buckingham Palace ducked into the shade.
Britain faced the hottest day ever recorded in July on Wednesday as a heat wave swept much of Europe. Temperatures hit 96.6 degrees south of London _ so hot some road surfaces melted.
Two people died in Spain as temperatures climbed above 104 degrees, while officials in France said as many as nine people who died recently were believed to be victims of the heat.
But with its aging buildings and infrequent brushes with sweltering temperatures, Britain was particularly ill-equipped for the heat wave.
London's Underground has no air conditioning and the Evening Standard newspaper measured temperatures in the train system at 117 degrees. Operator Transport for London takes no measurements but did not dispute the figure.
"I don't even want to talk about it," said Jean Thurgood of east London, fanning herself frantically on a stuffy bus. "It feels like the hottest day of the century."
Construction workers in northwest England, meanwhile, dumped crushed rocks on highways because the liquefying pavement was sticking to vehicles, Cumbria's county council said.
Across Europe, health officials warned people to stay out of the sun and to drink plenty of water.
In France, several days of dry heat and high temperatures _ which reached 97 degrees in Paris on Wednesday and 102 degrees in Bordeaux a day earlier _ recalled a heat wave in 2003, when 15,000 people died from dehydration and heat-related disorders. Many were elderly and were in some cases left alone while families vacationed.
Since then, France's government has adopted measures to avoid a repeat of the disaster. On Wednesday, French Health Minister Xavier Bertrand and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin visited a retirement home to check on the prevention plan.
In Paris, heat-busters included four giant humidifiers placed around the Eiffel Tower, one at each foot, that sprayed passers-by with water vapor as they tried to escape the sun's punishing rays.
This week's victims of the heat in France likely included two people in their 80s who died Tuesday in the Bordeaux region, and a 53-year- old construction worker who collapsed in the central city of Macon.
Elsewhere in Europe, temperatures at 4 p.m., when daytime measurements generally peak, registered 95 degrees in Berlin, 93.9 in Brussels, Belgium, and 95.5 in the Dutch city of Utrecht.
In the Netherlands, the Nijmegen 4-Day March was canceled after two participants died in the heat. Some 300 people taking part in the popular walk became ill Tuesday in temperatures that reached 95 degrees and 30 were hospitalized.
In Britain, many people simply sought shelter indoors as the mercury rose. The temperature at Wisley in Surrey, south of London, peaked at 97.7 Fahrenheit _ the hottest temperature ever recorded in Britain in July.
The average temperature in southeastern England in July is 70 degrees _ and that figure has been the nighttime temperature the past few days.
Sancha Lancaster, spokeswoman for Britain's primary weather forecaster the Meteorological Office, said as the heat hangs on, temperatures could eclipse the record of 101 degrees in Faversham, Kent, on Aug. 10, 2003.
"There's no air conditioning anywhere, it seems," said 24-year-old Australian Mark Jones, who is living in London this summer. "In Australia, we're used to this, but here, a lot of people don't even have fans."
London officials advised people to carry a bottle of water.
Andrei Danilov, 32, dutifully cradled mineral water on a London bus.
"It gets worse and worse every year," he said. "I can't stand it."
At the historic Royal Courts of Justice, judges were allowed to remove their traditional wigs for court proceedings. One of Britain's largest trade union federations, the Trades Union Congress, issued a statement urging people to wear shorts to work.
And in a rare move, the two-hour shifts of the royal guards who stand outside Buckingham Palace were reduced to one hour at the beginning of the week in preparation for the heat, said the London headquarters spokesman, Col. David Sievwright.
At the Colchester Zoo, zookeepers gave lions ice blocks flavored with blood, and monkeys got blocks containing fruit.
But the heat failed to dash one of Queen Elizabeth II's annual garden parties. Nearly 8,000 people lined up to enter Buckingham Palace.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/07/19/D8IVCHBG8.html

2006 sets heat record, more to come
REUTERS - By Deborah Zabarenko July 19, 2006 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The first six months of 2006 were the warmest, on average, since the United States started keeping records in 1895, and global warming is a contributing factor, a U.S. climate expert said on Wednesday.
July, August and September are forecast to continue the hot trend over most of the United States, including the vast area of the country west of the Mississippi River, as well as New England, Florida and southern Alaska.
Only Hawaii is expected to have below-average temperatures, according to the U.S. Climate Prediction Center.
The heat wave gripping much of the United States may be uncomfortable but it is not unusual, said Jay Lawrimore of the National Climatic Data Center.
"Every summer we do see periods of above-normal temperatures, and heat waves are not uncommon in the United States, in the Northeast or in other parts of the country," Lawrimore said by telephone from Asheville, North Carolina.
Heat readings this week topped 100 F (38 C) from California to Texas and South Dakota to Kansas.
In Washington, D.C., a heat advisory urging the elderly, the young and the disabled to stay indoors or go to municipal cooling centers was in effect, and commuter trains were moving more slowly to conserve power in response to the sustained high temperatures.
What is unusual, Lawrimore said, is to have a six-month period as warm as the period from January to June this year.
Global warming is not a definitive cause of this warmth, but is a contributing factor, he said. So is the drought that has extended to 45 percent of the United States, because extremely dry soil can lead to high air temperatures.
Yet another reason for the extended record-high average warmth is the jet stream's path, he said.
This upper-atmosphere pattern typically moves from west to east in a zigzag pattern that carries cool air down from the north to the continental United States. This year, the jet stream looks like a nearly straight line hovering somewhere north of the Canadian border.
"In January, we did not have intrusions of arctic air to the extent that we usually get. ... The very cold air was shut off and we had temperatures that were two degrees above normal," Lawrimore said. "And that goes for the other months as well."
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2006-07-19T211510Z_01_N19260736_RTRUKOC_0_US-WEATHER-HEAT.xml&src=rss&rpc=22

Thousands Without Power in NYC for 5th Day
ASSOCIATED PRESS - By VERENA DOBNIK - July 21, 2006 - A mysterious blackout during the hottest week of the year left tens of thousands of New Yorkers without power for a fifth day Friday as residents sweltered, businesses idled and city officials seethed.

"It's a total catastrophe. We've been throwing things out for four days," restaurant owner Louis Panazakos lamented as workers threw out garbage bags full of fresh pasta and sauces.

Power company Con Edison initially said fewer than 2,500 customers were affected, but it increased that number tenfold Friday morning to 25,000 customers.

The new estimate stunned Mayor Michael Bloomberg who said "we might have thrown more resources into the area" had he known so many people were affected.

Bloomberg estimated that would translate to about 100,000 people considering that each "customer" could be more than one household in an area where homes are often sectioned into multiple units, and could even be an entire apartment building.

"The sad thing is, this shouldn't have happened," Bloomberg said. "We don't know why, but the most important thing _ make sure nobody dies or gets hurt and then help Con Ed to get it back up."

The blackouts started Monday in a handful of neighborhoods in Queens. Two LaGuardia Airport terminals lost power Monday night and again on Tuesday.

Since then, hundreds of businesses have been idle, and the city's jail complex on Rikers Island has had to operate on backup generators. Some building's elevators were not running, and traffic lights at some intersections were not working....

Bloomberg demanded that the utility investigate and deliver a report on the cause of the outages in Queens within two weeks.

A series of heavy-duty circuits that supply the area began to fail Monday evening, just hours after the sweltering state set a record for electricity use. More circuits failed Tuesday and more again Wednesday, even after the city's heat wave ended and demand for power plummeted.

The blackouts were at their worst on Wednesday, when 10 of the 22 feeder cables that supply the area with power were down simultaneously. The temperature had hit 100 degrees in the neighborhood the day before.

Just why heat would have triggered a problem in Queens, but not elsewhere, was unclear.

"We're trying to get them up as quickly as possible. We're working 24/7, and we're hoping that the bulk of the customers that are out will be back on Sunday," said Alfonso Quiroz, a spokesman for Con Edison.

Con Edison trucks lined a street in Queens while workers were busy digging to fix power lines. Most of the street's shops were shuttered, but the owner of VIP men's clothing store, Bobby Collazo, was attending to a customer in the dark. He said he had lost more than $1,000 because of the outages, nearly a third of his monthly gross income.

"In 2003 it took a day and a half to turn on all of the lights in New York City and now this little store here has been closed for three days _ with the big Con Ed power station a few blocks away," he said, referring to the massive blackout of three years ago that darkened much of the Northeast.

Con Edison is the subsidiary of Consolidated Edison Inc., one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy companies. It has approximately $12 billion in annual revenues and $25 billion in assets.

Associated Press writers David B. Caruso and Sara Kugler contributed to this report .

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/07/21/D8J0M98O0.html

Ecuador volcano sparks evacuation
BBC NEWS  - July 17, 2006 - Several thousand people have been evacuated from their homes in Ecuador by continuing volcanic eruptions.

Tungurahua has been spitting out ash and lava for three days, and emitting loud explosions. It returned to life in 1999, after a century of inactivity.

So far there have been no injuries, but some villagers are reluctant to leave their homes and livestock.

President Alfredo Palacio has announced $4.9m in aid, after touring the affected area at the weekend.

Nearby towns have been covered in volcanic ash, as the wind carried the dust up to 120km (75 miles) from Tungurahua.

There have been 24 explosive cycles since Saturday, according to an official at the country's Geophysical Institute.

Some locals have refused to move away from the area.

"They said to evacuate but we're not going to leave because we're not going to throw away the animals, the houses," said Manuel Rosero, wearing a handkerchief over his face against the ash in the air.

Tungurahua is 5,029 metres (16,500ft) high, and is located 135km (85 miles) south of the capital, Quito

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5186180.stm

Tut's gem hints at space impact
BBC NEWS July 19, 2006 - In 1996 in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Italian mineralogist Vincenzo de Michele spotted an unusual yellow-green gem in the middle of one of Tutankhamun's necklaces.
The jewel was tested and found to be glass, but intriguingly it is older than the earliest Egyptian civilisation.
Working with Egyptian geologist Aly Barakat, they traced its origins to unexplained chunks of glass found scattered in the sand in a remote region of the Sahara Desert.
But the glass is itself a scientific enigma. How did it get to be there and who or what made it?
Thursday's BBC Horizon programme reports an extraordinary new theory linking Tutankhamun's gem with a meteor.
Sky of fire
An Austrian astrochemist Christian Koeberl had established that the glass had been formed at a temperature so hot that there could be only one known cause: a meteorite impacting with Earth. And yet there were no signs of an impact crater, even in satellite images.
American geophysicist John Wasson is another scientist interested in the origins of the glass. He suggested a solution that came directly from the forests of Siberia.
"When the thought came to me that it required a hot sky, I thought immediately of the Tunguska event," he tells Horizon.
In 1908, a massive explosion flattened 80 million trees in Tunguska, Siberia.
Although there was no sign of a meteorite impact, scientists now think an extraterrestrial object of some kind must have exploded above Tunguska. Wasson wondered if a similar aerial burst could have produced enough heat to turn the ground to glass in the Egyptian desert.
Jupiter clue
The first atomic bomb detonation, at the Trinity site in New Mexico in 1945, created a thin layer of glass on the sand. But the area of glass in the Egyptian desert is vastly bigger.
Whatever happened in Egypt must have been much more powerful than an atomic bomb.
A natural airburst of that magnitude was unheard of until, in 1994, scientists watched as comet Shoemaker-Levy collided with Jupiter. It exploded in the Jovian atmosphere, and the Hubble telescope recorded the largest incandescent fireball ever witnessed rising over Jupiter's horizon.
Mark Boslough, who specialises in modelling large impacts on supercomputers, created a simulation of a similar impact on Earth.
The simulation revealed that an impactor could indeed generate a blistering atmospheric fireball, creating surface temperatures of 1,800C, and leaving behind a field of glass.
"What I want to emphasise is that it is hugely bigger in energy than the atomic tests," says Boslough. "Ten thousand times more powerful."
Defence lessons
The more fragile the incoming object, the more likely these airborne explosions are to happen.
In Southeast Asia, John Wasson has unearthed the remains of an event 800,000 years ago that was even more powerful and damaging than the one in the Egyptian desert; one which produced multiple fireballs and left glass over three hundred thousand square miles, with no sign of a crater.
"Within this region, certainly all of the humans would have been killed. There would be no hope for anything to survive," he says.
According to Boslough and Wasson, events similar to Tunguska could happen as frequently as every 100 years, and the effect of even a small airburst would be comparable to many Hiroshima bombs.
Attempting to blow up an incoming asteroid, Hollywood style, could well make things worse by increasing the number of devastating airbursts.
"There are hundreds of times more of these smaller asteroids than there are the big ones the astronomers track," says Mark Boslough. "There will be another impact on the earth. It's just a matter of when."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5196362.stm

2 Timothy 3:1

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

POLL-Sudan is world's most dangerous place for children
REUTERS - By Megan Rowling - July 16, 2006 - LONDON:

Sudan, Uganda and Congo are the world's three most dangerous places for children due to wars that have brought death, disease and displacement to millions, a Reuters AlertNet poll showed on Tuesday.

Around half of respondents picked Sudan as one of their three choices, with many singling out the troubled western region of Darfur. Some 1.8 million children have been affected by a three-year conflict in Darfur, according to the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), where they risk being recruited to fight and are especially vulnerable to disease and malnutrition.

"It is a traumatised population and you can see it in the children's faces," said Hollywood actress and UNICEF goodwill ambassador Mia Farrow, who last month visited camps for some of the 2.5 million displaced by Darfur's war.

"Everyone has lost family, seen villages burn, seen relatives raped, been raped."

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres - who selected Congo, Uganda and the Sudan/Chad border, where some 200,000 refugees from Darfur eke out an existence - pointed to the physical and psychological consequences of living in crowded, underfunded camps "which are not conducive for a healthy child development".

In southern Sudan, children also suffer the effects of low-level violence, poverty and a lack of basic services. The region is struggling to recover from a 21-year civil war with the north that killed 2 million people, as 600,000 refugees forced to flee the country trickle home.

AlertNet, a humanitarian news website run by Reuters Foundation, asked 112 aid experts and journalists to highlight the world's most dangerous places for children.

After Sudan, they chose northern Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Somalia, India, the Palestinian territories, Afghanistan, Chechnya and Myanmar - with the top three clearly ahead.

More than 2 million children worldwide have died as a direct result of armed conflict in the past decade, and about 20 million have been forced to flee their homes, according to UNICEF. More than a million have been orphaned or separated from their families. ...

http://www.alertnet.org/thefacts/reliefresources/115254316277.htm

Technological Quagmires and the Road to Artificial Omniscience

Daniel 11:38a  
"But instead he will honor a god of fortresses...

Revelation 13:16-17
And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name...

Insurers to test implantable microchip
ASSOCIATED PRESS - By Theresa Agovino - July 16, 2006 - NEW YORK In a new test program, Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey plans to implant patients suffering from chronic diseases with a microchip that will give emergency room staff access to their medical information and help avoid costly or serious medical errors, the insurer said on Friday.
Horizon plans to announce on Monday that it is teaming up with Hackensack University Medical Center in a pilot program where 280 patients regularly treated at the hospital will be implanted with a chip containing a code. The chip would allow emergency room personnel to retrieve a patient's medical record if the individual can't communicate.
The rice-sized microchip is implanted in a patient's right arm above the elbow and can be detected using equipment at the hospital.
The hope is that the chips will help doctors avoid medical errors like duplicating medical tests, dangerous drug interactions and bad diagnoses.
Within the next 30 days, Horizon will start sending letters to patients with chronic diseases explaining the new program and inviting them to participate. The program is voluntary and won't cost the patient any money to participate.
Patients with chronic conditions are the program's target because they are more likely to have serious medical problems that could leave them unable to communicate when they are at the emergency room, said Dr. Richard Popiel, vice president and chief medical officer at Horizon. For example, diabetics with low blood sugar may become confused or unconscious.
He said Horizon will test the program for two years to see if it warrants expansion.
VeriChip makes the chips and detection equipment. Hackensack already had the equipment because it was part of VeriChip's development program.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2006-07-16-medical-implant_x.htm?POE=TECISVA

Viruses leap to smart radio tags
BBC NEWS - By Mark Ward - Technology Correspondent, BBC News website - March 15, 2006 - Computer viruses could be about to take a giant leap and start spreading via smart barcodes, warn experts.

Security researchers have infected a Radio Frequency ID tag with a computer virus to show how the technology is vulnerable to malicious hackers.

The researchers warn that RFID tags could help mount many different types of attacks on computer systems.

Makers of radio tag systems were urged by the group to introduce safeguards to guard against RFID-borne bugs.

Cat attack

"This is intended as a wake-up call," said Andrew Tanenbaum, one of the researchers in the computer science department at Amsterdam's Free University that did the work revealing the weaknesses on smart tags.

"We ask the RFID industry to design systems that are secure," he said.

RFID tags are essentially smart barcodes that replace the familiar lines with a small amount of computer memory, a tiny processing unit and a radio. Information is downloaded into the tag and read off it via radio.

Many large companies are keen to use the RFID tags because they will help keep track of the goods they are shipping from warehouses out to stores or regional offices. Currently RFID tags are relatively expensive so most are used to log what is in boxes of goods rather than to label individual items.

However, many expect the smart tags to become ubiquitous as the price of making the devices falls.

In their research paper Mr Tanenbaum and his colleagues Melanie Rieback and Bruno Crispo detail how to use RFID tags to spread viruses and subvert corporate databases.

"Everyone working on RFID technology has tacitly assumed that the mere act of scanning an RFID tag cannot modify back-end software and certainly not in a malicious way. Unfortunately, they are wrong," wrote the trio in their research paper. ....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4810576.stm

Fingerprint scans - latest weapon in truancy fight
CNET NETWORKS, INC. - By Andy McCue - July 17, 2006 - But students claim it infringes their human rights…
A secondary school in Berkshire is set to trial biometric fingerprint scanning technology to keep track of pupils entering and leaving its premises and cut truancy rates.
Sixth form students at Edgbarrow school in the town of Crowthorne will have their fingerprints digitally scanned and stored in a database in time for the start of the new school year this September.
Students will not be initially forced to take part in the trial, which will last a year, according to a report in The Guardian
The students will have to place their thumb in a fingerprint scanner whenever they enter or leave the school premises.
According to the paper some students are opposed to the plans, claiming that it will infringe their human rights but Edgbarrow headteacher Robert Elsey said the school will be seeking views of parents as well....
A similar trial took place last year at St Andrews College in Dublin with a fingerprint scanning registration system that automatically sent a text message to parents if their child did not turn up at school. Staff could also more easily monitor attendance using a secure website.
Teachers at the school said the system freed up their time to deal with more important issues than taking the register.
http://www.silicon.com/publicsector/0,3800010403,39160382,00.htm

Brainy robots roll toward real world
NEW YORK TIMES - By John Markoff - JULY 18, 2006 - Robot cars drive themselves across the desert, electronic eyes perform lifeguard duty in swimming pools and virtual enemies with humanlike behavior battle video game players.
These are some of the fruits of the research field known as artificial intelligence. A half-century after the term was coined, scientists and engineers say they are making rapid progress in simulating the human brain, and their work is finding its way into a new wave of real-world products.The advances can also be seen in the emergence of projects intended to create more ambitious machines that can improve safety and security, entertain and inform, or just perform everyday tasks. At Stanford University, for instance, computer scientists are developing a robot that can use a hammer and a screwdriver to assemble an Ikea bookshelf (a project beyond the reach of many humans) as well as tidy up after a party, load a dishwasher or take out the trash.
One pioneer in the field is building an electronic butler that could hold a conversation with its master, as HAL did in the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey," or order more pet food.
Though most of the truly futuristic projects are probably years from the commercial market, scientists say that after a lull, artificial intelligence has rapidly grown far more sophisticated. Some scientists are beginning to use the term cognitive computing, to distinguish their research from an earlier generation of artificial intelligence work. What sets the new researchers apart is a wealth of new biological data on how the human brain functions.

"There's definitely been a palpable upswing in methods, competence and boldness," said Eric Horvitz, a Microsoft researcher who is president- elect of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence. "At conferences you are hearing the phrase 'human- level AI,' and people are saying that without blushing."....
"There is a new synthesis of four fields, including mathematics, neuroscience, computer science and psychology," said Dharmendra Modha, an IBM computer scientist. "The implication of this is amazing. What you are seeing is that cognitive computing is at a cusp where it's knocking on the door of potentially mainstream applications."
The advances have spurred rapid innovations in many areas: Robot cars can now drive autonomously for hundreds of miles, voice control systems are standard features in medium-price automobiles, and advanced artificial reasoning techniques are routinely used in inexpensive video games to make the characters' actions more lifelike.
A French company called Poseidon Technologies sells underwater vision systems for swimming pools that function as lifeguard assistants, issuing alerts when people are drowning, and the system has saved lives in Europe.
Last October, a robot car designed by a team of Stanford engineers covered 132 miles, or 210 kilometers, of desert road without human intervention to capture a $2 million prize offered by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is part of the Pentagon. The feat was particularly striking because 18 months earlier, during the first such competition, the best vehicle got no farther than seven miles, getting stuck after driving off a mountain road.
At Microsoft, researchers are working on the idea of "predestination." They envision a software program that guesses where you are traveling based on previous trips, and then offers information that might be useful based on where the software thinks you are going.
Tellme Networks, a company in Mountain View, California, that provides voice recognition services for both customer service and telephone directory applications, is a good indicator of the progress that is being made in relatively constrained situations, like looking up a phone number or transferring a call.
The company supplies the system that automates directory information for toll-free business listings. When the service was introduced in 2001, it could correctly answer fewer than 37 percent of phone calls without a human operator's help. As the system has been refined, the figure has now risen to 74 percent.
At Stanford, meanwhile, researchers are hoping to