Revelation Watch

US Predicts Up to 7 Major Atlantic Hurricanes

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Fri, 28 May 2010 03:27:00 +0000

US govt warns of worst hurricane season since 2005

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Fri, 28 May 2010 00:56:00 +0000

WASHINGTON, May 27 (Reuters) - The Atlantic storm season may
be the most intense since 2005 when Hurricane Katrina killed over
a thousand and disrupted oil production by crashing through Gulf
of Mexico energy facilities, the U.S. government's top weather
agency predicted on Thursday.

In its first forecast for the storm season that begins next
Tuesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
forecast 14 to 23 named storms, with 8 to 14 developing into
hurricanes, nearly matching 2005's record of 15.

Three to seven of those could be major Category 3 or above
hurricanes, with winds of more than 110 miles per hour (177 km per
hour), the agency said, echoing earlier predictions from
meteorologists that a particularly severe season could disrupt
U.S. oil, gas and refinery operations. [ID:nN26214825]

"If this outlook holds true, this season could be one of the
more active on record," said Jane Lubchenco, NOAA's administrator.
"The greater likelihood of storms brings an increased risk of a
landfall." MORE...

Crime Prediction Software Is Here

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 04:31:00 +0000

Two great articles on how much IBM looks out for our "well being", while it looks into a crystal ball...

:P

Hmmm…Software That Predicts If You Will Do Crime & Time

Crime Prediction Software Is Here and It's a Very Bad Idea

IBM clearly wants this to go big. They have spent a whooping $12 billion beefing up its analytics division. Again, here's the full quote from Deepak Advani:

Predictive analytics gives government organizations worldwide a highly-sophisticated and intelligent source to create safer communities by identifying, predicting, responding to and preventing criminal activities. It gives the criminal justice system the ability to draw upon the wealth of data available to detect patterns, make reliable projections and then take the appropriate action in real time to combat crime and protect citizens.

If that sounds scary to you, that's because it is. First it's the convicted-but-potentially-recidivistic criminals. Then it's the potential terrorists. Then it's everyone of us, in a big database, getting flagged because some combination of factors—travel patterns, credit card activity, relationships, messaging, social activity and everything else—indicate that we may be thinking about doing something against the law. Potentially, a crime prediction system can avoid murder, robbery, or a terrorist act.

Crime Prediction 101

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 04:24:00 +0000

Ministry of Justice Chooses IBM SPSS Predictive Analytics to Help Make Streets Safe

Turns to Business Analytics to Analyse 4 Million Prisoner Records to Predict the Likelihood of Prisoners Re-Offending

The UK Ministry of Justice is using predictive analytics technology from SPSS, an IBM Company, to assess the likelihood of prisoners re-offending on their release and to ultimately help improve public safety.

One of the UK’s largest government departments with more than 95,000 employees and a budget of £9.2 billion, the Ministry of Justice is using predictive analytics to assess the data held within its Offender Assessment System (OASys). In addition, the analysis is helping the Ministry of Justice develop treatment targets for prisoners throughout their sentence to reduce the probability they will commit crimes upon their release.

The OASys system is used across approximately 140 prisons and all probation areas in England and Wales, and records information from over 3.4 million prisoner assessments. This includes data on individual offender circumstances such as accommodation, education, relationships, financial management and income, lifestyle and associates, drug and alcohol misuse, emotional well-being, behaviour and attitudes.

These records are being used for quantitative analysis which can identify patterns within the data. The resulting intelligence forms the basis for improved measurements of offender risk and need. Both the OASys Violence Predictor and OASys General Re-offending Predictor have helped to substantially improve predictions about re-offending. In the case of violent crime, the prediction about re-offending has improved from 68 to 74 per cent whilst the prediction about re-offending in terms of general offences improved from 76 to 80 per cent.

With IBM SPSS predictive analytics technology, the Ministry of Justice is analysing hidden trends and patterns within the data. For example, the technology helps identify whether offenders with specific problems such as drug and alcohol misuse are more likely to re-offend than other prisoners.

“With almost 4 million records on file it simply wouldn’t be feasible to trawl through this data manually in an attempt to identify those factors that may mean a prisoner is likely to reoffend,” said a spokesperson from the Ministry of Justice. “SPSS’ technology gives us valuable insight into offender data helping us predict who may re-offend and enabling us to advise on preventative measures, such as appropriate programs addressing offender behaviour before a prisoner’s release date.”

“The way the Ministry of Justice is using our technology showcases the high-level capabilities of our software in providing analytical predictions upon which actions can be taken ,” explained Ian Warner, Public Sector Consultant at SPSS, an IBM Company. “By identifying trends and patterns hidden within the data, SPSS is helping the Ministry of Justice predict re-offending rates and take steps to meet government targets to improve public safety by reducing the danger to the general public and work towards a smarter government.”

“Today's business leaders need to move beyond intuition to insight, from gut feel to facts – as it is now possible to see key patterns in vast amounts of data, to extract critical insights and move to a new level of intelligence,” Warner said. “IBM SPSS predictive analytics is helping government agencies around the world to transform the way they operate by making smarter decisions and improve citizen service.”

The new predictive analytics system is powered by IBM® SPSS® Statistics software, IBM® SPSS® Modeler data mining workbench and IBM® SPSS® Text Analytics software.

Today's announcements are part of IBM's ongoing focus on helping clients use their information as a strategic asset through Business Analytics and Optimisation. IBM recently created a new Business Analytics & Optimisation services organisation, with 4,000 consultants who can help clients get up and running with deep analytics capabilities, and invested more than $12 billion in organic growth and innovation to further build its analytics portfolio.

About SPSS, an IBM Company (http://www.spss.com )
SPSS, an IBM Company, is a leading global provider of predictive analytics software and solutions. The Company’s complete portfolio of products – data collection, statistics, modeling and deployment – captures people’s attitudes and opinions, predicts outcomes of future customer interactions, and then acts on these insights by embedding analytics into business processes. SPSS Solutions address interconnected business objectives across an entire organisation by focusing on the convergence of analytics, IT architecture and business process. Commercial, government and academic customers worldwide rely on SPSS technology as a competitive advantage in attracting, retaining and growing customers, while reducing fraud and mitigating risk. SPSS was acquired by IBM in October 2009. For more information, please visit www.spss.com

One Mainframe To Rule Them All

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 04:35:00 +0000

[3 of 5] IBM, Verichip & The Human Microchipping Agenda

Chip Implanter PositiveID Aims to Clean Up a PR Mess -- One of Its Own Making

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 03:58:00 +0000

The pressure has finally taken its toll: PositiveID (PSID), the microchip implant company formerly known as VeriChip, has hired a PR firm to clear up inaccuracies in the media about its products — many of which originate from PositiveID’s own Web sites and its annual report.

There’s a lesson for managers here: hiding in a bunker and hoping that bad press about your business will go away on its own is a rotten strategy. Only by being upfront, transparent and above all quick in your response to negative coverage can you nip PR challenges in the bud.

PositiveID has suffered for months from dismal headlines about its experiments on elderly Floridians with Alzheimer’s and its plans to inject as many people as possible with RFID-enabled microchips that grant doctors access to their online medical records.

Until now, PositiveID had rarely responded to the press, and even turned down a request by BNET for a Q&A with CEO Scott Silverman to rebut allegations about the company. (The offer still stands.)
When BNET noted recently that PositiveID wanted to expand its Health Link medical record system to sailors and seafarers, a representative from Gibraltar Associates, a Washington, D.C.-based PR firm, wrote to demand a correction:

Health Link is a software-based product, and has nothing to do with the FDA-approved RFID microchip products under development at PositiveID

The reason Health Link and the microchip are confused is because of PositiveID’s own web site, which once had a page that said:

Health Link is the connection between you and your personal health record. Health Link utilizes a tiny, passive microchip (the nation’s first and only microchip cleared for patient identification by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration) and a secure, private online database that links you to your personal health record.
… About the size of a grain of rice, the microchip is inserted just under the skin and contains only a unique, 16-digit identifier. … unlike conventional forms of identification, the Health Link cannot be lost, stolen, misplaced, or counterfeited. It is safe, secure, reversible, and always with you.

That sounds a lot like a microchip to me, especially as the page was dominated by a photo of a microchip (pictured above), and a headline that said, “The Health Link Microchip,” which you can see in this copy of the original page. When I pointed this out to Gibraltar, the page disappeared. The rep said in an email:

The old VeriChip Web site you link to and quote is no longer active -– the company, now known as PositiveID, has a new Web site here: www.positiveidcorp.com

I understand the confusion that could result from reading the old site, so let me clarify this again for you -– Health Link is a software-based PRH product. It is in no way affiliated with the FDA-approved RFID VeriChip or any other injectable products PositiveID currently has under development.

For good measure, the rep added later:

I understand that the presence of the old site may have created some confusion. It has been taken down.

So far, so good.

Unless you’re an investor reading PostiveID’s annual report, as filed with the SEC. It describes Health Link as an FDA-approved microchip system on pages 6 and 26:

Our HealthID segment also includes the VeriMed system, which uses an implantable passive RFID microchip (the “VeriChip”) that is used in patient identification applications. Each implantable microchip contains a unique verification number that is read when it is scanned by our scanner. In October 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, cleared our VeriMed Health Link system for use in medical applications in the United States.

When I asked PositiveID to clear up the various brand names — VeriMed, VeriChip, Health Link – used to describe this suite of products, the Gibraltar rep replied:

VeriChip Corporation previously marketed a product by the name of Health Link that included both an RFID microchip and a PHR [personal health record], but the pairing is not being offered at this time.

So there you have it: The chip and the medical record system used to be the same thing but now they’re separate. And while the company is offering its Health Link medical records system to various customers, that offer does not come with chips. (Of course, it’s still not clear why you’d want to get a VeriChip implant if it’s not linked to the Health Link system.)

All clear?

Addendum: PositiveID even made a TV commercial in which its microchip was described as “Health Link.” Watch it here before it mysteriously disappears.

Health Link / Verichip/ PositiveID Ad

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 03:55:00 +0000

Massive Fireball Lights Up Wisconsin Sky

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 03:42:00 +0000

A dazzling flash of light fills the sky over southwestern Wisconsin when what is believed to be a meteorite burst around 10:07 p.m. on April 14, 2010, illuminating clouds and contrails from airplanes. Full Story. Credit: University of Wisconsin-Madison

'Nightmarish face' seen from above

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 03:37:00 +0000

A radar image of the volcanic crater appears to show a nightmarish face, which is reminscent of Edvard Munch's painting 'The Scream.' Coincidentally, it is thought that the masterpiece was inspired by the blood red skies caused by the powerful volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in 1883.

In his diary Mr Munch wrote: 'I was walking along a path with two friends - the sun was setting - suddenly the sky turned blood red - I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence - there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city - my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety - and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.'

The picture was taken by the ELTA radar from an Icelandic Coast Guard airplane.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1266403/Iceland-volcano-space-The-dramatic-ash-plume-engulfing-Britain-seen-above.html#ixzz0lQ3tC9M7

Doctors reject Rudd plan

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 05:16:00 +0000

JULIA MEDEW

VICTORIAN doctors have thrown their weight behind Premier John Brumby, backing his decision not to sign up to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's health reforms less than two weeks from the crucial Council of Australian Governments meeting.

In a frank letter to Mr Brumby yesterday, the Australian Medical Association's Victorian branch president, Harry Hemley, said Mr Rudd's plan to assume more control of hospital funding by clawing back 30 per cent of GST revenue from the states would leave Victoria's health system and its taxpayers worse off.

He said AMA Victoria could not recommend agreeing to the plan as it stood because there was no new money to pay for urgently required services for at least the next four years.

''We have significant capacity problems in Victorian hospitals. We are short on qualified staff, and morale is low in many areas. We have a strained hospital system that is operating under significant pressure,'' he said. ''We need extra services now.''

Dr Hemley said the AMA was concerned that Victoria would receive $1.5 billion less than New South Wales over the next two years under the transitional arrangements detailed by the federal government.

He said the AMA also needed more details on the federal government's plans for aged care, Koori health, primary care, eHealth, chronic disease management and preventive healthcare before it could recommend agreement to the proposals.

''Victorians should not sign up to health reform blind. We need to know how different parts of the system will work together. Health reform must go beyond administrative and governance arrangements and incorporate patient care improvements,'' he said.

The letter came as Mr Brumby and Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett yesterday remained opposed to Mr Rudd's plan for the Commonwealth to take 60 per cent control of hospital funding.

Last week, Mr Brumby said he and Mr Rudd remained in ''fundamental disagreement'' despite two days of talks. The Rudd government continued to discuss the proposals with Mr Barnett yesterday.

A spokesman for Treasurer Wayne Swan said: ''The Prime Minister, Treasurer and Health Minister are all working very hard with their state counterparts to agree on the biggest reforms to the health and hospitals system since the introduction of Medicare.

''The Treasurer has had multiple conversations with the states, including today with Premier Barnett, and this will no doubt continue right up until the COAG meeting.''

WA and Victoria seem to be largely in agreement with the federal government on the health initiatives, including the creation of local hospital networks and a shift to activity-based funding. But where the money comes from remains a sticking point.

Mr Barnett told ABC radio yesterday there was still no agreement on funding.

''I think what you'll see at the COAG meeting in a couple of weeks' time [April 19] is probably agreement over the health package [but], at the moment, unless something changes, there isn't agreement on how it will be funded,'' he said.

A spokeswoman for federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon last night denied that Victoria would be worse off.

''Victoria will without question be better off under these reforms, to the tune of $3.8 billion,'' she said. ''That's not to mention the additional investments the Rudd government has already announced, such as $632 million to train record numbers of doctors, $432 million to dramatically improve healthcare for diabetics and the $76.5 million we announced yesterday to improve cancer services in Victoria.''

Christian militia men among nine arrested by FBI

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:06:00 +0000

From their website:

We believe that one day, as prophecy says, there will be an Anti-Christ. All Christians must know this and prepare, just as Christ commanded. Luke 22:35-37, And He said to them, “When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?” So they said, “Nothing.” 36, Then he said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. 37, “For I say to you that this which is written must be accomplished in me: ‘And He was numbered with transgressors,’ For the things concerning Me have an end.” This clearly states the reason for the training and preparation of the Hutaree.

Egged removes 3rd Temple poster

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 17:26:00 +0000

Picture of Temple Mt. with Al-Aksa Mosque omitted removed for fear of vandalism.

A Pessah advertising campaign calling for the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem has been removed from Egged buses in the capital following complaints and threats of vandalism. More...

Another Judgement Day Guesstimation:MAY 21, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 14:49:00 +0000

A new Judgment day date is being spread via fliers, and family radio. The date is based on the usual protestant combination of misinterpreting the scripture and dabbling in the use of numerology.

Wiki entry on numerology:

"In 325 A.D., following the First Council of Nicaea, departures from the beliefs of the state Church were classified as civil violations within the Roman Empire. Numerology had not found favor with the Christian authority of the day and was assigned to the field of unapproved beliefs along with astrology and other forms of divination and "magic".Despite this religious purging, the spiritual significance assigned to the heretofore "sacred" numbers had not disappeared; several numbers, such as the "Jesus number" have been commented and analyzed by Dorotheus of Gaza and numerology still is used at least in conservative Greek Orthodox circlesas well as other."

Needless to say the head of this group Herald Camping, has foretold the end of the world before. On Sept. 6, 1994, Camping’s believers awaited the return of Christ, but as is "the end" with such predictions, the world did not come to an end on that day.

"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets," even so, this is an old sin, one that has contaminated the heart of man since the days of old. The Prophet Jeremiah wrote, "Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart."

Ezekiel has also warned us of the sin of false prophecy, " And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD. They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken? Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD. And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD."

Nevertheless, we still find both false prophets and false proclamations:

THE END OF THE WORLD IS ALMOST HERE!

HOLY GOD WILL BRING JUDGMENT DAY ON

MAY 21, 2011

Access to Temple Mount restricted

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 05:26:00 +0000

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israeli police have restricted Muslim access to the Temple Mount over fears of more violence.

On Monday, police allowed only Muslim men above the age of 50 and all women access to the Temple Mount. No other visitors are being permitted, according to reports. It is not known when the restriction will be lifted.

An extra large police force is patrolling Jerusalem, especially the area around the Temple Mount. Police fear new violence will break out by both Arab and Jewish extremists as Passover begins, according to reports.

Violence broke out earlier this month at the Temple Mount and throughout the Old City of Jerusalem over the reopening of a synagogue in the Jewish Quarter.

The army also imposed a closure on the West Bank until the end of the holiday.

Palm Sunday protest in Bethlehem 28.03.2010

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 16:51:00 +0000

J’lem posters call for 3rd Temple

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 16:48:00 +0000

While tensions continue to simmer around the Temple Mount after riots in and around the capital’s Old City earlier this month, a new campaign calling for the construction of the Third Temple atop the holy site has made its way to the sides of 200 Egged buses in the city, which now sport posters featuring a picture of a rebuilt temple on the Mount, and nothing else.

The posters, which contain the phrase, “May the Bais Hamikdosh be rebuilt speedily and within our days,” were sponsored by the Our Land of Israel group, which is led by Rabbi Shalom Dov Volpo and activist Baruch Marzel, leave out the site’s current structures – namely the the Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

The campaign’s organizers chose to plaster the posters on buses whose routes take them through predominately Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem.

With regards to the campaign, Volpo said Israel is waiting breathlessly for the coming of the messiah and the rebuilding of the temple.

“The Arabs and President Obama know that the Temple will be built on the Temple Mount,” he said. “Instead of the temporary buildings that are there today.”

Speaking to The Jerusalem Post on Sunday, Marzel said it was no mistake that the Islamic shrines were left out of the picture.

“We’re representing the truth, in front of everyone, and saying out loud what every Jew believes,” Marzel said. “That the Third Temple needs to be built immediately on the Temple Mount and that the mosque should not be there.”

“When we reach the end of the Pessah Seder tomorrow night, he continued, “we’ll say, ‘Next year in a rebuilt Jerusalem.’ What does ‘rebuilt’ mean? It means with the Third temple intact.”

Marzel brushed off the furor the ads might elicit from the capital’s Muslims, saying, “It upsets them that we’re alive, and that we’re living here.

“If such a basic point is going to piss them off, then we mine as well say what we truly believe and what we pray for three times a day. That is to rebuild the holy temple on top of the Temple Mount, and tomorrow – not to wait any longer.”

Al-Aqsa omitted from Pesach Haggadah cover

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:16:00 +0000

Model of 'third temple' superimposed on Jewish books distributed in Jaffa kindergarten. Local Arab leader: Settlers trying to provoke us

Eli Senyor
Published: 03.19.10, 11:56 / Israel News

Haggadot for Pesach distributed Thursday in kindergartens throughout religiously mixed Jaffa bore a photo of the Temple Mount on the cover, but the al-Aqsa Mosque, which is also located in the east Jerusalem compound, was conspicuously omitted.

An image of a model of the "third temple" was superimposed on the photo in place of the mosque, which is one of Islam's holiest sites.

It is unclear who distributed the haggadot.

'Provocation by settlers.' Haggadah distributed in Jaffa

"We've seen red lines being crossed in the past, but this is a crossing of all boundaries," said Kamel Agbaria, chairman of the Ajami neighborhood council.

"People must understand that they live in a mixed city and therefore must be sensitive to the population's feelings. This Haggadah is a sheer provocation by settlers who came to live in Jaffa. They are looking to provoke the Arab public so that it will respond with rage. I hope someone will stop those who are inciting in time, so that the already tense situation won’t boil over," he said.

The Tel Aviv Municipality responded by saying that the haggadot were distributed without its knowledge.

Earlier this week buses travelling through Jaffa were stoned in what was an apparent act of solidarity with east Jerusalem's Arabs, who rioted over Israel's decision to include two Jewish shrines in the West Bank in a national plan to rehabilitate some 150 Jewish and Zionist heritage sites, as well as over the announcement of a plan to build 1,600 additional apartments in east Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo neighborhood.

Tensions in Jaffa have grown in recent months in light of plans to build a closed apartment complex for national-religious Jews only. The plan, which was authorized by a court, enraged the local Arab community.

Poor confused Zionists Christians

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:25:00 +0000

I can't help but wonder about articles like this:

Question: Who said the following: ''Israel has no better friends in the world than Christian Zionists. This is a friendship of the heart, a friendship of common roots, and a friendship of common civilisation.''

Israel has friends in Christian places

The obvious problem is that these so called Christians have a complete lack of understanding. Unwittingly in their eschatology they teach heresy. Thus, being unaware of the obvious, that is, that they teach heresy, they have no real clue of what side they are actually on. Subsequently, they choose teaming up on the side that is trying to establish the Third Temple, completely oblivious to the fact that during the days that the Temple is established, the era of Antichrist will also begin.

He thinks he's the Antichrist?

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:01:00 +0000

Self-professed serial killer John Hughes considers his thoughts those "of a supreme being." Hughes made the declaration last night in an exclusive interview with KMBC Channel 9.

Maybe he is operating on a plane we're not advanced enough to understand. We always thought a supreme being could figure out a way to live the sweet life in a tropical paradise as opposed to, say, spending the rest of his days chained to a concrete floor covered in urine. John Hughes, you truly have risen above us.

Hughes is serving a life sentence for an August 2008 murder and robbery in Ohio. He was transferred to Platte County, where he's charged with first-degree murder for shooting and killing Valentin G. Kirilchuk, a 39-year-old trucker from Springfield, after Hughes' girlfriend lured Kirilchuk to a rest stop in September 2008.

During the interview, Hughes claimed to have killed 15 to 20 people. He also showed off a lion tattoo (because he sees himself as a lion among men) and a tattoo of a biblical quote about the Antichrist (because he thinks he's the Antichrist). Yep. An all-powerful devil lion who needs his girlfriend to lure men to rest stops for him to slay. That fits.

Conspiracy Theorists Pretty Sure Delray Beach Firm Is Developing Anti-Christ

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:30:00 +0000

By Thomas Francis

Nice try, VeriChip, but your plot to implant mankind with the "mark of the beast" was foiled by Mark Cole, Virginia delegate. VeriChip, a Delray Beach company that was purchased earlier this month by IBM, makes an FDA-approved microchip that contains a person's medical information so that it can be accessed in a medical emergency.

Which sounds pretty harmless -- to heathens. But if you've read the Good Book lately, you'd realize this invention means the apocalypse is nigh.

"My understanding -- I'm not a theologian -- but there's a prophecy in the Bible that says you'll have to receive a mark, or you can neither buy nor sell things in end times," Cole said. "Some people think these computer chips might be that mark."

Sound delusional? Well, just in case it's not, Cole's fellow members of the House of Delegates passed a bill yesterday forbidding employers to implant employees with microchips.

A problem, though, gentleman: How do we know that you Virginia delegates don't already have chip implants? To put it another way, how can we be sure that you are plotting against, not with, the anti-Christ?

But don't take my word for it. You'll find a far more authoritative account of VeriChip's evils in this article.

Want evidence of VeriChip's plot for enslaving Christians and destroying the world?

Since VeriChip was purchased by IBM it's now known as PositiveID. (A name change to throw its critics off the scent, mm?)
The company also has a new media relations firm based in Washington, D.C. (This proves VeriChip is in cahoots with the federal government's anti-Christ operatives, maybe?)
VeriChip's buyer, IBM, used to make punch cards for Nazi Germany. (Oh, you thought Hitler was really dead?)
People at concentration camps were gassed with Zyklon B, which was patented by a company that once did business with Standard Oil, which existed during Hitler's time. (No clue what Standard Oil has to do with VeriChip, but let's just give our conspiracy theorist the benefit of the doubt on this one.)

The CEO of VeriChip / PositiveID, Scott Silverman, said that the company never, ever planned to implant people with the chip unwillingly. But our doomsday prophet was not fooled.

Greg Nikolettos, founder of We The People Will Not Be Chipped Movement, responded critically. "Enough of the lies, Scott. We have reached breaking point with how your company conducts itself in the market. As people worldwide unite and spend more time researching Verichip and the human microchipping agenda, the more it becomes evident you are a shoe-in for lying-CEO-of-the-year and for the Verichip to be awarded the Lemon-of-the-Decade product award. Nothing has changed with your market tactics since we released the short film "Operation Lie and Deceive - Verichip Style' 6 exposing the companies unethical practises... although we do concede that something has changed: the length of your nose'.

I left a message with VeriChip/Positive ID but haven't heard back. Here's the video from We the People Will Not Be Chipped: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKHtyuzuKUA

Tamimi: Israel working to build Third Temple

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:20:00 +0000

Jerusalem – Ma'an – Supreme Judge Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi said Monday that Israeli institutions, settler groups and the government are working to fulfill 18th century Rabbi Vilna Goan's prophecy declaring that the Third Temple would be re-built by 16 March 2010.

He said archeological excavations have caused structural damage to the Al-Marwani Mosque, under the Al-Aqsa Mosque's northern walls, and to Palestinian homes in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The sheikh further alleged that a plan had been implemented in 1993 to intensify efforts to "Judaize" Jerusalem by establishing two major settlements around the city and a military brigade dedicated to closing off the city and separating it from its surrounding neighborhoods.

Tamimi said the plan included the shutting down of Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem, the expulsion of dignitaries and the revoking of Israeli ID cards of Jerusalem residents in Beit Hanina, Shu'fat, El-Essawiya, At-Tour and Silwan.

Additionally, a network of tunnels would be constructed to connect settlers to the Old City, he claimed.

By the end of this process, some 36,000 Palestinians living in the Old City will be displaced, Tamimi said, calling on conveners of the Arab League Summit in Libya next month to create a plan to "save Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque."

Unisys Awarded Contract to Provide Advanced Biometric Citizen Identification Solution to Government of Mexico -- BLUE BELL, Pa., Feb. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:07:00 +0000

Unisys Awarded Contract to Provide Advanced Biometric Citizen Identification Solution to Government of Mexico -- BLUE BELL, Pa., Feb. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --

VeriChip’s Merger With Credit Monitoring Firm Worries Privacy Activists

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:09:00 +0000

http://www.wired.com

Remember VeriChip, the Florida company that once dreamed of injecting its human-implantable RFID microchips in everyone from immigrant guest workers to prison inmates?

We haven’t heard much from the company since a dipping stock price nearly got it delisted from the NASDAQ in March. But it’s still alive, and in November it pulled off a seemingly incongruous acquisition. Now called PositiveID, the new company is a merger between VeriChip and Steel Vault, the people behind NationalCreditReport.com.

With a human-implantable microchip maker now running a credit-scoring and identity-theft-protection website, privacy activists are worried again. “The attraction to investors is the potential for synergies,” says Mark Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington. “You have to anticipate over time there will be an attempt to integrate the services.”
“Sci-fi wise, you could have a chip read by a scanner that determines your credit-worthiness,” says Evan Hendricks, editor of Privacy Times. “Or you could have a credit card implant.”

VeriChip and its former owner Applied Digital have been drawing fire since 2004, when the FDA approved the rice-sized injectable RFID for human use. While the company primarily pushed the chip as part of a system to index medical records — a kind of subcutaneous MedAlert bracelet — Richard Sullivan, then-CEO of Applied Digital, had a penchant for wantonly confirming every nightmare of cybernetic social control.

After 9/11, it was Sullivan who announced the VeriChip would be perfect as a universal ID to distinguish safe people from the dangerous ones. He dreamed of GPS-equipped chips being injected into foreigners entering the United States, prisoners, children, the elderly. He thought the VeriChip would be used as a built-in credit or ATM card.

Indeed, in 2004, one of VeriChip’s earliest deployments was at a Barcelona nightclub, where VIP patrons could pay 125 euro to get the chip installed in their arms as a debit card for drinks.

But today, Sullivan’s replacement says the company has no plans to market the VeriChip as a path to instant credit, despite the recent acquisition.

With his white-buttondown shirt open at the chest, PositiveID CEO Scott Silverman spoke about the merger in an interview at the company’s office suite in Delray Beach, Florida. “Using the chip to relate to the credit-reporting services of NationalCreditReport.com, or even using it for financial transactions … has not been a part of our business model for five years or more, since Sullivan’s been gone, and is not part of our business model moving forward,” he says.

Silverman also backed away from some of the Orwellian ideas floated by his cyberpunk predecessor. “I can tell you that … putting [the chips] into children and immigrants for identification purposes, or putting them into people, especially unwillingly, for financial transactions, has [not] been and never will be the intent of this company as long I’m the chairman and CEO,” he says.

Yet in 2004, Silverman told the Broward-Palm Beach New Times that the VeriChip could be used as a credit card in coming years. And in 2006, he went on Fox & Friends to promote the chipping of immigrant guest workers to track them and monitor their tax records.

And ahead of the recent merger, VeriChip gave a presentation to investors hinting there would be some cross-pollination between the two sides of the business. It plans to “cross-sell its NationalCreditReport.com customer base” (.pdf) the Health Link service and vice-versa. So, Americans with implanted VeriChips will be encouraged to divulge their finances to PositiveID, while credit-monitoring customers will be marketed the health-record microchip.

Critics of chipping are moved by a variety of concerns, ranging from the pragmatic to the religious — anti-RFID crusader Katherine Albrecht believes the technology is the Mark of the Beast predicted in the Book of Revelation, but also doubts its efficacy as a medical tag: VeriChip’s instruction manual warns that the chip may not function in ambulances and areas where there are MRI and X-ray scanners.

Security is another issue. RFIDs can generally be scanned from distances much greater than the official specs suggest. Nicole Ozer at the ACLU of Northern California notes that after Wired magazine writer Annalee Newitz experimentally cloned her VeriChip in 2006, the company continued calling it secure.

But human chipping has high-profile fans as well, including former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, who left his job as overseer of the FDA in 2005 — a year after VeriChip’s approval — to join the company’s board of directors. Thompson announced he would personally join the 700 to 900 Americans who have the chip installed in their bodies. (He later reportedly reneged.)

Whatever its plans for the future, PositiveID is focused on its original mission for now: implants tied to medical records. On December 1, the new company announced it’s collaborating with Avocare, a Florida health care business, in the hopes of bringing its “health care identification products” to 1 million patients.

AP Photo/Steve Mitchell

DALLAS: Orthodox Bishop Drops Ball in "Debate" with Episcopal Presiding Bishop

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:25:00 +0000

http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=11748
[Katharine Jefferts Schori] Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori tailored her message to a mostly conservative audience in a public "debate" with orthodox Episcopal Bishop William Frey declawing public criticism of her heretical utterances that saw questions restricted to the immediate context. [Bishop William Frey]

Jefferts Schori and William Frey, retired bishop of the Diocese of Colorado who is serving as the interim bishop of the Diocese of Rio Grande, addressed more than 700 people attending a Dec. 12 forum, "Who is Christ?" hosted by St. Michael and All Angels Church in the orthodox diocese of Dallas and its rector, the Rev. Bob Dannals.

Dallas diocesan Bishop James Stanton and Suffragan Bishop Paul Lambert attended the gathering, but did not make a public comment or attend the media briefing after the session ended, according to an ENS report. Jefferts Schori painted a compelling picture of social justice focusing on joy rather than hot button issues, catching her audience unawares. She carefully calibrated her message to a mostly conservative audience and, by all accounts, won the day.

Bishop Frey in his remarks was more anecdotal, focused on personal experience, occasionally touching on social justice and help for the poor and marginalized.

Sam Hodges, reporting for "The Dallas Morning Herald", said there were no fireworks at the Episcopal bishops' debate in North Dallas. In point of fact, there was no debate at all.

One bishop spoke deliberately, professorially, with flashes of droll humor and poetic phrasing. The other told stories from his long ministerial career, rounding them off with insights into Christian faith and practice, wrote Hodges.

What had been billed as a debate between the two yielded much common ground and no outright conflict on the identity and meaning of Jesus.

"I heard a great deal of convergence," Frey said afterward.

What a sad indictment of a golden opportunity to face down a woman who has:

* Refused to say that belief in Jesus is the only way to heaven.
* That personal salvation is a Western heresy.
* That she would never push Christianity on a Muslim because their religion is as good as ours.
* Asked during a question and answer if she believed in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ - "Well, his apostles sure thought so," she said. So she can't, but the apostles can.
* She has deposed more bishops in her still young term of office than have been deposed in all previous years put together.
* She would sooner sell an Episcopal parish to a saloon keeper than allow it to be sold to another Anglican jurisdiction.

Had the Apostle Paul been present, he would have ripped her wide open for the nonsense she is selling around the Anglican Communion. Frey played nice and talked about "convergence". He let her off the hook.

The truth is the "orthodox" have consistently, and to their enormous loss, engaged in politeness rather than risk being seen as intolerant or offensive for the sake of their belief. These were more than adequately captured in the responses of Bishop Frey.

At least one local Episcopal priest got angry enough that he and five colleagues wrote a letter to Bishop James Stanton of the Diocese of Dallas, protesting his decision to allow Jefferts Schori's visit. (Under Episcopal law, a diocesan bishop must give permission for a working visit by another bishop.)

"She hasn't guarded the faith. She has attacked the faith," said the Rev. Canon H.W. Herrmann, rector of the Church of St. David of Wales in Denton.

At times on Saturday, Jefferts Schori sounded like the pitch-perfect voice of orthodoxy, according to Hodges.

"Jesus is the ultimate sacrament of God in human flesh - that's what we're getting at when we say he's the only son of God. He's the unique demonstration of divinity in human flesh," she said.

Other times, Jefferts Schori took risks, including referring to Jesus as the "green savior" who requires that Christians protect the environment as part of God's creation.

She also wasn't afraid to get topical.

"The challenges of our current age include the ancient human desire to find a scapegoat, with the familiar targets in this society right now being Muslims and immigrants and gay people," she said. "Jesus' own witness is to continually reject that kind of response, for it always ends in violence and diminution of life."

Frey, much more anecdotal, also noted the requirements of Christians to work for justice and help the poor and marginalized.

He also stressed fidelity to the Bible, the personal transformation offered by faith in Christ and the importance of sharing the gospel.

"The church that doesn't evangelize will be evangelized by the culture in which it finds itself," he said.

During questions and answers, the bishops took on abortion, the role of faith in healing and whether non-Christians can get to heaven.

"It's not up to us to say this person's out" of heaven, Jefferts Schori said. "It's up to God."

At the event's conclusion, the bishops embraced and drew a standing ovation. Among those who were pleased was Stanton - the Dallas bishop and a well-known conservative who has differed with Jefferts Schori on church issues, said an observer.

So the question that must be asked is why did he embrace a heretic? Why didn't he challenge Jefferts Schori on her public statements that deny "the faith once delivered for all to the saints"? How could he look a fellow orthodox bishop in the eye like Bishop Robert Duncan and say, "Hey, Bob, we are all on the same side."

Frey lost it. He practiced the time-honored shibboleth of Episcopal niceness. He lost an apologetics moment to call Mrs. Jefferts Schori on her heresies and face her down publicly before 700 nice Episcopalians with the truth that the Presiding Bishop is an apostate, a woman who is not even a Christian by the simplest of biblical standards.

Even Stanton praised her saying, "I thought it was a very constructive dialogue. It was nourishing to everyone, I think."

She tailored her remarks to her audience and didn't once utter any of the revisionist clap-trap so reminiscent at GC2009, said an observer. She won the day. The orthodox just got blind-sided one more time. Dwindling orthodox Episcopalians deserve to lose the church. No guts no glory.

The Rev. Bob Dannals, the rector, who put on this dog and pony show got himself into hot water before Jefferts Schori showed up. He invited the Presiding Bishop some seven months earlier to celebrate without informing Bishop Stanton. The Dallas bishop did not know about this until recently and had a tough decision to make. Stanton is on record as saying she would never be allowed to celebrate in his diocese. Dannals publicized that she would celebrate on Sunday, without again informing the bishop prior to the event. According to a source, he was fuming earlier in the week and also on Saturday.

An orthodox rector who was present told VOL, "The sad thing is that I think she won converts in this diocese. Those who have been unsure about her or suspicious of her leadership are in her camp now. That won't help us in maintaining orthodoxy."

END

Activists planning Temple Mount ascent

noreply@blogger.com (Xenia Suaiden) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:03:00 +0000

A group of activists dedicated to bringing Jews to the Temple Mount told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that they were hoping to see hundreds of participants take part in a planned "mass pilgrimage" to the mount scheduled for Thursday morning in honor of Hanukka, which celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple after it was recovered from Hellenist Greeks more than 2,000 years ago.
An aerial view of Jerusalem's...

The pilgrimage, which will include guided tours of the area throughout the morning, will also be a litmus test for the shaky calm that has prevailed in Jerusalem's Old City since October, when rumors of a "Jewish takeover" of the mount sparked fierce clashes between Arab rioters and security forces in and around the sensitive holy site and in various neighborhoods of east Jerusalem.

The rumors were fueled in part by calls at the time, from a number of Knesset members and prominent national-religious rabbis, that Jews ascend to the Temple Mount with increased vigor. Those calls were portrayed, in turn, by Palestinian clerics as nefarious plans to invade the site or build a synagogue there.

The mount, which was the location of both the First and Second Jewish Temples from 960 BCE until 70 AD, is also home to the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aksa Mosque, which is considered the third-holiest shrine in Islam.

Nonetheless, a representative of the Organization for the Renewal of the Temple (ORT) - which is organizing Thursday's event - told the Post on Tuesday there had been no indication the planned pilgrimage would cause renewed disturbances, even though tensions around the site are always high, and Tuesday was no exception.

Members of the group who had gone up to the mount on Tuesday were reportedly accosted by a group of Arabs as they exited the site and headed into the Old City's Muslim Quarter.

Yosef Rabin, an ORT member, told the Post that the scuffle broke out after a number of Arabs standing nearby became enraged when his colleagues started to sing Hanukka songs and dance as they departed.

"And that was completely legal," Rabin said. "We were no longer on the mount itself, and the police officers who were with us said it was okay to begin singing."

Police were quick to break up the fighting, Rabin added, but detained two of the group's members. A police spokesman contacted on Tuesday evening was unable to immediately verify Rabin's account.

Nevertheless, Rabin said, the trip had been calm and quiet up until the fighting broke out, and he added that his group was pursuing its goal of promoting awareness of the mount "through legal means only."

"We do everything legally and in conjunction with the police," Rabin said. "And as long as we do, there shouldn't be any problem."

Rabin also said that the violence seen in October had been mostly instigated by the leader of the Islamic Movement's northern branch, Sheikh Raed Salah, who has been markedly less vocal since the riots and his subsequent arrest and temporary banishment from the Old City.

"Even the Wakf (the Islamic authority that holds custodianship over the mount) was against Salah's provocations," Rabin said. "They didn't say it out loud, but it was reported that the Wakf was privately pleased with his arrest. They don't want problems like that, but there are instigators from other parts of the country who do."

Still, Rabin said he had personally spoken with police about Thursday's pilgrimage and that they had told him there was no reason to believe problems would occur.

"Our focus is on bringing people to the Temple Mount, nothing else," Rabin said. "And we've been making hundreds of phone calls, using lists we have, and sending out e-mails and Facebook messages to try and get as many people as possible to come."

"Little by little, we're going to take back the mount," he continued. "And it will be done without violence or force."

In a related development, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Monday issued a restraining order against Hatem Abdel Kader, a senior Fatah official and advisor to PA president Mahmoud Abbas for Jerusalem affairs, which prohibits him from entering the Temple Mount for six months.

Kader was released on bail after being arrested
over the weekend for violating a previous restraining order, when he entered the Temple Mount to attend prayers there.

The senior Fatah official was banned from the mount for three weeks in October, after being arrested on suspicion of incitement during the riots that were taking place at the time.