John and Doves,

First of all be assured of our prayers for all those who send in prayer requests. We keep an on-going list of those needs and pray daily over them.

Bob Anderson, we found your article on Geology to be very enlightening, as are all the articles on the Doves.
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/may2005/boba523.htm
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The following article is a good summary of all the changes taking place in front of us
"with eyes wide open".

May we pray that the technology involved in all of this will fail and be brought to nought.
"to bring to nought things that are" -- 1 Corinthians 1:28

Jim Goodrick

Wake Up America

" Frequent or preferred shopper cards have, of course, been around for a few years. In exchange for some dubious savings, the cards (among other things) track your purchases so that stores can send you advertisements and coupons tailored to your previously indicated interests and needs. But now some grocery chains actually allow you to pay for those recorded purchases via a fingerprint, a technology that's rapidly expanding and touted as being "convenient" and "secure." An ongoing test project in a European supermarket chain employs RFID chips and a shopping cart fitted with electronics that will say hello to you, recall what you bought last time you were in the store, and offer to direct you to various goods on this shopping trip. And just this month, the Orlando, Florida airport announced it would be using iris scans to monitor employees and others on the premises. All of these systems, of course, must capture data in order to work. And once the data is captured, who can say how it will eventually be used? And even if the data is used legitimately, is convenience worth the corresponding lack of privacy? ..........

And how could we possibly neglect to mention the already-FDA-approved implantable RFID chip?
These chips, which are accepted by some as a good way to carry important medical records with us everywhere we go, will certainly not stop with medical records! In fact, they've already gone beyond that with GPS-enabled versions having been implanted in some South American and Mexican individuals who believe they might be at risk for kidnappings. There's no stretch involved whatsoever to believe that the next big push will likely be for us to implant our children "just in case" they're either lost or kidnapped themselves. And, of course, the fact that the government will be able to monitor their whereabouts even when they're not lost or kidnapped is purely incidental...

 In general, the people aren't out of control; the government is out of control in its constant efforts to be in control.

This isn't a movie, though the script sometimes reads like one, even up to and including the surprise plot twists.
Unfortunately, the real surprise so far has been the rapidity with which freedom is being dissipated or discarded.
At this late date, the biggest surprise of all would be if we could somehow restore our freedom.
And this isn't a nightmare. Every horrifying thing you've read here is true, very real, and here today. And yet many Americans remain peacefully and all too passively asleep. .....

We've seen a few false dawns, and heard a few birds begin to sing an early warning. But the passage of the REAL ID Act is a loud and clanging alarm. The morning of the last days of freedom in America is here. We must wake up and see the reality of what's happening to us and our precious liberties. If we fail to do so, the nightmare will become the permanent reality for us all, and liberty the long lost dream.

http://www.opinioneditorials.com/guestcontributors/lliberty_20050525.html