1. Where is the United States in
Prophecy?
China's weapons exceed
self-defence needs: US military
The United States said Monday it was "troubling" that China's weapons systems capability exceeded the level Beijing defined as necessary for self-defence. The head of the US armed forces in the Asia-Pacific, Admiral Timothy Keating, said he was told by Chinese leaders during a visit to Beijing that its so-called "area denial weapons" were "to protect those things that are ours". But he said, "we find it troubling that the capabilities of some of these weapons systems would tend to exceed our own expectations for protecting those things that are 'ours'"....
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U.S. birth rates rise, media finds negative story
Birth rates are up in the United States, and most are saying that's a good thing. But Associated Press began its reporting of the highest U.S. birth rate in 45 years with a negative spin -- describing Americans as "bucking the trend in many other wealthy industrialized nations." However, Carrie Gordon Earll of Focus on the Family has a different take."....
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The New Era: Who shall Rise and who Shall Fall?
In the 1990's the Soviet Union collapsed after a failed invasion of Afghanistan, uncontestable competition from the economies of the United States, Germany and Japan and controversial political reforms at home. Except for a few surviving dictatorships Bolshevikism is dead. The fall of such an oppressive economic system has opened up huge new market potentials, stimulating the rise of new economies. With the surplus Soviet weaponry that fed the ranks of non-western militaries becoming obsolete, nations emerging from the settling dust of the Cold War are now developing weapons technology of their own. Meanwhile American politicians, admirals and generals who dreamed of the fall of the great Soviet enemy are cringing at the unexpected results: India and China profiting from uncontrollable growth, a competitive Europe recovering some of their old dominance after the World Wars, a Russia clinging to and expanding the power of their former empire, religious fanatics turning against the Americans that helped fuel their independence. Its turning into a mess where the number of superpowers coexisting hasn't been seen since 1914, but who will prevail. ....
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US military may not be ready for attack
The U.S. military isn't ready for a catastrophic attack on the country, and National Guard forces don't have the equipment or training they need for the job, according to a report. Even fewer Army National Guard units are combat-ready today than were nearly a year ago when the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves determined that 88 percent of the units were not prepared for the fight, the panel says in a new report released Thursday. The commission's 400-page report concludes that the nation "does not have sufficient trained, ready forces available" to respond to a chemical, biological or nuclear weapons incident, "an appalling gap that places the nation and its citizens at greater risk.".....
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2. Israel - God's Timepiece
'Palestinian state temporary ruse to destroy Israel'
The Palestinian goal of a Palestinian state is just a temporary ruse until "all of Palestine" can be "liberated," declared a leader speaking yesterday on the official television network of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization. Saleh Raafat, a member of the executive committee of Abbas' Palestine Liberation Organization said the Palestinians would accept "22 percent of Palestine" as a "temporary and not permanent" state until "all of Palestine" can be liberated. Arafat numerous times said peace accords signed by Israel were part of a "phased plan" for the ultimate destruction of the Jewish state....
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Mounting Jihad in the Sinai
For the Mubarak regime the sudden, uncontrolled surge of Gazans into northern Sinai was disconcerting. Sinai has already suffered several terror attacks in recent years as part of the ongoing attempt to turn it into a jihadist stronghold. Mubarak has been playing a double game of helping direct the jihad eastward toward Israel—by allowing massive weapons smuggling into Gaza—while trying to contain the jihad’s westward momentum toward Cairo. The Mohammadi-Gheit meeting this week suggests Mubarak may be anxious to join what he can no longer beat......
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3.
A Revived Roman Empire?
Turkey warns against EU 'club of Christians'
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan warned the European Union against becoming a "club of Christians" as he pushed Saturday for Ankara's membership in the bloc. "If the EU finds itself as a club of Christians.... it is against the very soul of the EU," Babacan told reporters. EU heavyweights France and Germany are both opposed to full Turkish membership, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been particularly vocal on the issue, arguing that the mainly Muslim country does not belong in Europe.....
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4.
The Gog/Magog War
Ahmadinejad: Iran is approaching nuclear 'peak', Israel's days are numbered
Iran is approaching the "peak" in its nuclear program and will not yield to Western pressure to halt its activities, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday. Ahmadinejad was speaking in the southwestern town of Bushehr near the site of Iran's planned first nuclear power plant, being built with Russian help, and predicted the country would have nuclear electricity by this time next year. "On the nuclear path we are moving towards the peak," he said without elaborating. Turning his attention to Israel, Ahmadinejad said, "The religious Palestinian people will bring down the last screen with its powerful hand on the Zionists' puppet theater. It's time to end the puppet theater of this fake regime." The Iranian president noted that Israel's days were numbered and that it has reached its end.....
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Russia prepares doctrine for pre-emptive nuclear strike
Speaking at a meeting of the Academy of Military Sciences on January 19, Gen. Baluyevsky declared that force should be used not only in the course of hostilities, but also to demonstrate the readiness of leaders to uphold their national interests. "We are not going to attack anyone," he reassured his audience, "but we want all our partners to realize that Russia will use armed force to defend its own and its allies' sovereignty and territorial integrity. It may resort to a pre-emptive nuclear strike in cases specified by its doctrine."."....
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5.
Apostate Christianity
United Methodist Church officials urging anti-Israel divestment
Methodist renewal advocate Mark Tooley says United Methodist Church officials are urging church agencies and members to divest their holdings in Caterpillar Incorporated, for doing business with Israel. The United Methodist General Board of Church and Society has unveiled a proposal to divest from Caterpillar ahead of the church's governing General Conference in April. Several United Methodist regional conferences have endorsed anti-Israel divestment, according to Tooley. "It's another example of the anti-Israel bias of the mainline churches," he argues. "They tend to turn a blind eye towards the human rights abuses and support of terrorism of Arab regimes, but yet are very critical of and hostile towards Israel."..
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'Give Us a Shot': N.C. Church Hands Out Shot Glasses at Bars
To get people to attend his new church campus, Robbie McLaughlin is sending his message out to where the people are. Next Friday, staffers from Next Level Church of Matthews will go to bars in the Ballantyne area of Charlotte to hand out shot glasses which ask patrons to "give us a shot" and bear the slogan, "Real church for real
people"... read
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Clergy ‘bless’ New York abortion clinic, calling it “sacred ground”
Religious leaders in favor of abortion gathered on Tuesday to bless an abortion clinic in support of the Roe v. Wade ruling, the Supreme Court decision that mandated legalized abortion nationwide. Rev. Larry Phillips of Schenectady's Emmanuel-Friedens Church declared the ground "sacred and holy ... where women's voices and stories are welcomed, valued and affirmed; sacred ground where women are treated with dignity, supported in their role as moral decision-makers ... sacred ground where the violent voices of hatred and oppression are quelled." Another minister prayed that the clinic be made a place of safety with a sense of sanctuary. A rabbi blew a religious musical instrument called a shofar “as a renewal of commitment” to “reproductive rights.” All participants laid their hands on the building as another minister declared, “This is sacred ground.”...
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6.
The Rise of Islam
Obama wants summit with Muslim countries
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama told a French magazine in an interview that if he wins office, he will hold a summit with Muslim countries to better the United States' image in the world. "Once I'm elected, I want to organize a summit in the Muslim world, with all the heads of state, to have an honest discussion about ways to bridge the gap that grows every day between Muslims and the West," Thursday's edition of Paris Match quoted Obama as saying, "I want to ask them to join our fight against terrorism. We must also listen to their concerns," Obama said in the French-language
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7. Increase in Knowledge/New Technologies
Microchips everywhere: A future vision
Here's a vision of the not-so-distant future: Microchips with antennas will be embedded in virtually everything you buy, wear, drive and read, allowing retailers and law enforcement to track consumer items — and, by extension, consumers — wherever they go, from a distance. A seamless, global network of electronic "sniffers" will scan radio tags in myriad public settings, identifying people and their tastes instantly so that customized ads, "live spam," may be beamed at them. In "Smart Homes," sensors built into walls, floors and appliances will inventory possessions, record eating habits, monitor medicine cabinets — all the while, silently reporting data to marketers eager for a peek into the occupants' private lives. Science fiction? In truth, much of the radio frequency identification technology that enables objects and people to be tagged and tracked wirelessly already exists — and new and potentially intrusive uses of it are being patented, perfected and deployed....
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State spying that would make the Stasi proud
When it was passed into law, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000) sounded a pretty innocuous piece of legislation. But in truth it represented a significant victory for the busybody state over our ancient liberties. Labour claimed it was responding to demands from civil liberties campaigners for more control over state snooping. But it soon became clear that the legislation which Jack Straw, then Home Secretary, was introducing would have the opposite effect, massively expanding the ability of the public sector to pry into our private lives. The Act, which has been quietly amended several times (each time handing more powers to the public sector), now gives an unprecedented range of state agencies the right to listen to our phone conversations, tap our emails and open our post......
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Look ahead 10 years and imagine a whole different world
Let's get this out of the way first -- in the next 10 years, no one will travel to work by jet pack or have robot maids that serve dinner. But technology will continue to transform the rituals of everyday life -- sometimes in startling ways. Imagine televisions that project 3-D images into the middle of the living room, for a theater-in-the-round experience. And while we won't get those robot maids, our appliances might start "talking" to us through email alerts, letting us know when a part is getting worn down and needs to be replaced. Many other changes will be more subtle, as technology finds new ways into our daily routine. Commuters will still carry newspapers to work but will likely download them to a pocket-size computer that can also show TV news broadcasts. Shoppers will still be greeted at Wal-Mart, but a computer may be the one saying hello -- and reminding them of what they bought on their last visit. Friends will still send each other birth and wedding announcements, but the process will be virtually automated, thanks to alerts on social-networking sites...
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Talking CCTV cameras fight anti-social behavior
Talking CCTV cameras have been installed at two Norwich parks with the aim of slashing anti-social behaviour. Eight cameras at Waterloo Park and one at Eaton Park have been connected to their own loudspeaker system and, through Norwich City Council's 33-screen, £500,000 CCTV control room, the voice of a camera operator will boom out across each park to tell off those causing a nuisance, committing low level crime and anti-social behaviour. “These will be ways of embarrassing people and reminding them. Someone being told off for dropping litter will respond in a reasonable way, and I believe most people will say sorry and do something about it. There will be some that won't and, if the matter is serious, the police will follow it up.”.....
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8. Christian Worldview/Issues
Christianity and Islam: Two Worldviews and Why They Matter
There are simply no scientific innovations emerging out of the Islamic world: no space program, no hi-tech developments, no medical breakthroughs.. Islam cannot provide an adequate basis for science because Islam does not embrace the notion that the universe runs along fundamental principles or laws laid down at creation. Allah—unlike the God of Scripture who is both personal and rational—is impersonal and his intrusion upon the world is arbitrary. In Christianity, God acts upon nature and the world in ways consistent with His special (Scripture) and natural (creation) revelation. In other words, the God of Scripture is a God of order who created according to laws that are universal and thus men could discern these laws and by theorizing based on these fixed laws, gain a greater understanding of creation. This served as the basis of Western science and its preeminence....
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Next 'American Idol' Could Be Chaste Sex Symbol
When Bruce Dickson shared with the judges on "American Idol" earlier this month that he wanted his first kiss to be on his wedding day, the panel wasn't impressed. It may have been his voice that made Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell, and Paula Abdul send Dickson packing, but when Jackson told him he should "kiss some girls" before he auditions next year the sparks started to fly. Cybercast News Service interviewed Dickson, who explained how he came to make a vow of chastity based on his parents' teachings and his Christian beliefs......
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Piece of Noah's Ark Found? Exploration team presents material evidence from Mt. Ararat
For the first time in the seven decade-long history of the search for the legendary Noah’s Ark, a Turkish-Hong Kong exploration team on Tuesday came out with “material evidence”, to prove that the Ark was nestled on Mount Ararat, Turkey’s highest mountain peak bordering Iran and Armenia. A panel of experts, comprising Turkish authorities, veteran mountaineers, archaeologists, geologists and members of Hong Kong-based Noah’s Ark Ministries International, also displayed an almost one-metre-long peice of petrified wood before the media and specially invited international experts. The experts claimed it to be a part of a long structure they had unearthed during their February-August 2007 exploration. “It is for the first time in the history of the Ark search that an exploration team is getting a material evidence and graphic documentation. This makes it not only a the significant breakthrough in the Ark-search, but one that is supported with the most substantial evidence in recent history,” the panel said.....
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Christian Photographer Hauled before Human Rights Commission for Refusing Same-Sex Job
The case of a Christian photographer who refused to photograph a same-sex "commitment ceremony", was heard before the New Mexico Human Rights Division on Monday. A same-sex couple asked Elaine Huguenin, co-owner with her husband of Elane Photography, to photograph a "commitment ceremony" that the two women wanted to hold. Huguenin declined because her Christian beliefs are in conflict with the message communicated by the ceremony. The same-sex couple filed a complaint with the New Mexico Human Rights Division, which is now trying Elane Photography under state antidiscrimination laws for sexual orientation discrimination.....
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9.
Other Events To Watch
Gaddafi Pushes For United States of Africa
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has threatened to turn his back on Africa if the continent's leaders again reject his proposals for closer unity. He said Libya would instead look towards Europe and the Arab world. The Libyan leader has for a long time advocated the creation of a United States of Africa - with its government including a foreign minister, defence minister and minister of trade.....
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The Asteroid Risk Recalculated
When a large asteroid comes to almost an Earth moon's distance to hitting Earth and another comes within 16,000 miles of smacking into Mars all in the same week—you know asteroids present a real risk. But according to the latest research, we’re still in the early stages of understanding the risks that asteroids poise. The asteroid TU24 was discovered by NASA's Catalina Sky Survey on Oct. 11, 2007, and is only one of an estimated 7,000 near-Earth objects identified to date. However, more than twice as many are estimated to exist, but have simply not yet been discovered......
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