Signs in the sun
Killer heat waves on the increase
2/8/06 Heat waves across Europe and America last month resulted in record breaking temperatures and hundreds of deaths. A persistent high pressure system over America prevented the jetstream, a 200mph wind that encircles the earth, from bringing cooler air southward. That extra heat caused blackouts in the US as people turned to their fans and air-conditioning for relief. Where I am, the temperature reached 30 degrees, and in London a record breaking 36 degrees Centigrade. Some places in America hit triple figures, 126 degrees Fahrenheit (52 Centigrade). Some meteorologists are expecting August to be warmer than July, and according to the scientists, we had better get used to it, for these killer heat waves are on the increase.
Quote: ""These [heat] events always occur. What global warming does is push it up another notch," Trenberth said. And the computer models show that soon, we'll get many more — and hotter — heat waves that will leave the old Dust Bowl records of the 1930s in the dust, said Ken Kunkel, director of the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the Illinois State Water Survey. The way to really judge will be when scientists look back a decade from now, not at a single heat wave, but at the frequency and extremes of all of them, said Mike Wallace, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. That's when scientists will likely see a statistically significant increase in heat waves and their severity, he said. In fact, he said, that can be seen a bit now.

As the saying goes, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the planet. But for those who don't trust Christ for salvation and are left here to face the tribulation period and all its horrors, as the scientists confirm, expect more of the same. The following verses have confused many people for a long time, including myself. How can men be scorched with great heat from the sun and experience terrible darkness, apparently all at the same time? Perhaps what we witnessed in New York last month, with record temperatures and major power blackouts, may hold the answers.

Quote: "Con Edison has estimated that as many as 100,000 people have been without electricity. It was unclear exactly how many were still out yesterday, since a customer could be a single person, or a big apartment building. The utility has not been able to explain why the power distribution system began failing in the area at the height of a heat wave. It also has appeared confused, at times, over how many people are still in the dark. A round of severe thunderstorms on Friday hindered efforts to repair a series of unexplained electrical failures in the borough and Con Edison crews have been finding more and more damage as they inspect underground cables, the mayor said.

Revelation 16:8-11
And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

Source Fox News, Gulf News
 
Lies and rumours of lies
News media goes on defensive over Qana
2/8/06  The controversy surrounding the media coverage of the Qana incident, initially reported by bloggers in the UK and US, is continuing to grow. Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse went on the defensive yesterday, over claims that rescue workers "posed" for photographers with the bodies of young children pulled from the rubble. In a response to the allegations, the three news agencies state that the time stamps on the photographs do not necessarily indicate when they were taken, but could indicate the time of day they were wired to head office. US talk show host, Rush Limbaugh, apparently agreed with the bloggers that these news agencies were "willing to participate in propaganda", and directed his viewers to visit the EU Referendum site. I personally doubt that photographers knew whether the events they were photographing were staged or not, but as has already been reported by CNN journalists working in Lebanon, Hizbullah controls what the press can and cannot report, and reporters could have easily been reporting an incident that was "choreographed" by the terrorist organization.
Quote: "The site suggests these events were staged for effect, a criticism echoed by talk show host Rush Limbaugh when he directed listeners to the blog on Monday. "These photographers are obviously willing to participate in propaganda," Limbaugh said. "They know exactly what's being done, all these photos, bringing the bodies out of the rubble, posing them for the cameras, it's all staged. Every bit of it is staged and the still photographers know it." advertising The AP said information from its photo editors showed the events were not staged, and that the time stamps could be misleading for several reasons, including that web sites can use such stamps to show when pictures are posted, not taken. An AFP executive said he was stunned to be questioned about it. Reuters, in a statement, said it categorically rejects any such suggestion.

Meanwhile, an email sent to the Associated Press staff congratulating them in their efforts on covering events at Qana has been "leaked". While journalists do play an important role in reporting the news, and they have a job to do like everyone else, this email shows us just how much pressure they are under to get the most dramatic images. With Hizbullah wanting to maximize the impact of the Israeli "massacre" for propaganda purposes, and the news media competing for the most dramatic pictures, the truth has become a casualty in this war of opinions.

Quote: "Dear Staffers: Last Sunday proved to be one of the most dramatic days in the war between Israel and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon. AP’s extensive photo team produced a stunning series of images that day that beat the competition and scored huge play worldwide.
Rumours surfaced early Sunday morning that an Israeli airstrike had flattened a house in the southern Lebanese village of Qana. The number of deaths wasn’t immediately known, but the seriousness of the incident was clear. Beirut-based photographer Hussein Malla immediately called AP photographers Nasser Nasser, Lefteris Pitarakis and stringer Mohammed Zaatari and advised them to rush to the scene. Nasser arrived as the bodies of many civilians — including numerous children — were being pulled from the rubble. Lefteris later took over, enabling Nasser to get his pictures swiftly onto the wire. Kevin Frayer was dispatched from Beirut to boost AP’s presence. Throughout the morning, AP’s team filed a steady stream of powerful images. Meanwhile, in Beirut, a small Hezbollah demonstration exploded into violence at word of the Qana attack. Hezbollah supporters stormed the nearby United Nations building, scaling walls and smashing their way past bullet-proof glass barriers to enter the building itself. Photographers Hussein Malla, Kevork Djansezian and Ben Curtis were all there to capture the rioting. Beirut-based photo editor Dalia Khamissy coordinated with photographers in the field and handled a steady stream of stringer photos. All day long, AP photographers relayed what they were seeing to AP reporters for print stories.
Nasser’s most haunting image showed a man emerging from the rubble carrying the lifeless and dust-covered body of a child. Calm, morning light shone down on man and child, highlighting them against an almost monochrome background of pure rubble...
Nasser’s image ran on the front pages of at least 33 newspapers, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the New York Post. It also won a double-page center spread in The Guardian of London. Lefteris’s image of a resident weeping next to a row of bodies made the front of The Washington Post, among many others. Hussein, Kevork and Ben’s images of the storming of the UN building easily beat those of the competition. For a day of outstanding a memorable photos, taken in conditions of substantial danger, the Lebanon photo team of Nasser Nasser, Lefteris Pitarakis, Kevin Frayer, Mohammed Zaatari, Ben Curtis, Hussein Malla, Kevork Djansezian and Dalia Khamissy shares this week’s $500 Beat of the Week award.

Source Seattle PI, LittleGreenFootballs
 
Lies and rumours of lies
Qana deaths exaggerated by media
1/8/06   Several US and UK weblogs, including Little Green Footballs, have been documenting discrepancies in news reports surrounding the "massacre of Qana", and it seems some news organizations are now picking up on this. Last Sunday, a tower block collapsed in "Cana of Galilee", killing dozens of people and prompting immediate worldwide condemnation of Israel. Many adults and children were holed up in the building's basement as Israeli jets were pounding Hizbullah forces operating in the vicinity. The tower block collapsed killing many people as they slept. Israel has halted air strikes for 48 hours until an investigation into what happened could be completed.
But many believe this whole event has been "stage managed" by Hizbullah for the mainstream media. Brigadier General Amir Eshel told journalists in a press briefing that he was mystified as to why the structure collapsed at 8am in the morning, some 8 hours after the Israeli guns fell silent. The only explanation the IDF could come up with for its collapse was that unexploded Hizbullah ordinance, which terrorists had stored in the building several days before, may have caused the blast. The closest Israeli fire came to the building was 460 metres away, documented by the onboard cameras of the IAF aircraft.

Quote: "Viewers can judge for themselves. But the accumulating evidence suggests another explanation for what happened at Kana. The scenario would be a setup in which the time between the initial Israeli bombing near the building and morning reports of its collapse would have been used to "plant" bodies killed in previous fighting -- reports in previous days indicated that nearby Tyre was used as a temporary morgue -- place them in the basement, and then engineer a "controlled demolition" to fake another Israeli attack. The well-documented use by Palestinians of this kind of faked footage -- from the alleged shooting of Mohammed Dura in Gaza, scenes from Jenin of "dead" victims falling off gurneys and then climbing back on -- have merited the creation of a new film genre called "Palliwood."

What's more, there seem to be discrepancies in the photos taken of the dead by the news media, with claims that "rescue workers" posed (WARNING: Link contains disturbing images) with the bodies of the same young children for several hours, while the bodies of adults - which were supposedly members of Hizbullah, were conveniently covered up. The bodies of the dead that were displayed for the benefit of the liberal media also showed signs of significant rigour mortis (WARNING: Link contains disturbing images), supposedly only one hour after their deaths. Maximum rigour mortis sets in from 12-24 hours after death. It also seems the reports in the mainstream media, claiming around 60 deaths - including many women and children, has also been exaggerated by Hizbullah for the benefit of their "propaganda war".

Quote: "The Red Cross published that 28 corpses were evacuated from Qana, 19 of which were children. The report clashes with the Lebanese report that 57 people were killed.

It seems Hizbullah may be losing the war, but has certainly scored a point against Israel when it comes to propaganda. I don't normally like to tear apart the news in such a manner when the subject matter is about people who have genuinely suffered, but these people are suffering because of Hizbullah and unfortunately the news media have become part and parcel of this war on Israel. The Bible tells us that during the tribulation period, the armies of the world will unite against Israel to destroy the nation once and for all. And looking at today's news, it's easy to see how this could be achieved.

Zechariah 12:3
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.

Source YNet News, Israeli Insider, EU Referendum, YNet News
 
Revived Roman Empire
Commentary: EU must act in Lebanon
1/8/06  This link from my friend David...
Javier Solana, the High Representative for the European Common, Foreign and Security Policy, will meet European ministers today to discuss European plans for a possible peacekeeping force to be deployed in Lebanon. Last week in Rome, talks aimed at bringing an end to the conflict failed to reach any agreement. NATO involvement in the conflict has been ruled out completely, as NATO, according to Jacque Chirac, is perceived as the "military wing" of the Crusaders and Zionists. President Bush has also stated he will not send US troops to Lebanon. President Hosni Mubarak has refused to come to Lebanon's defence, stating the army's role is solely the defence of Egypt. Other nations have pledged to support an international peacekeeping force in the region, including Russia and several Islamic states. But it's increasingly looking like the European Union is the only regional power that is capable of brokering an agreement, has the resolve and means to commit troops on the ground and the financial clout to ensure all sides abide by any agreement reached. The conflict in Lebanon is the perfect testing ground for Javier Solana's crisis-management mechanisms and "2010 Headline Goal", as documented in Recommendation 666. And deployment of the European Rapid Reaction Force into Lebanon, is what some analysts are now calling for.

Quote: "Unlike the US, whose inaction in the face of the widening catastrophe has squandered its bona fides as a negotiator for peace, the EU is still a credible broker in the region; Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority are members of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) - their relationship yields more than $45 billion in trade annually. The EU also has normalized diplomatic and trade relations with Iran, the implicit puppet-master of this proxy war. The European Union should consider the immediate dispatch of its EU Rapid Reaction Force (RRF) - invoking the EU Rapid Reaction Mechanism (RRM) - to southern Lebanon. The RRF is a European military force that can be "triggered in situations of crisis and armed conflict," and falls under the auspices of the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy.

Friends, this is exactly the situation we've been predicting for months now, that the European Union would send "peacekeeping" forces into the Middle East in response to a crisis there. And what we are seeing now could well be the beginning of that crisis. According to Scripture things will eventually get worse, and the Antichrist's forces will be deployed in most of the Middle East (except Jordan). As the Bible predicted, an armed force will soon stand in the Middle East on behalf of one man.

Daniel 11:31
And arms shall stand on his part (Antichrist's behalf), and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength (Temple), and shall take away the daily [sacrifice], and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.

Source YNet News, EU Observer