The Science of Speaking in Tongues?

Ok readers, what is your opiniong of this report?

Iran and the Middle East

 I am getting concerned over the recent events dealing with Iran.  I'm sure a lot of this is just coincidence and seeing things that fit the pattern of what I expect, thereby reinforcing that which I already lean towards as being "real."  At the same time quite a few developments have occured recently. 

Iran

Starting with the standoff on the hostage (arrest/detention/insert your word here) situation...

British Sailors

I consider this to be a hostage situation because the sailors and marines are continuing being held until certain demands are met,  such as admitting that they illegally entered Iran.  This situation has exacerbated the already unstable economy.  Furthermore, it is just one more issue that has to be dealt with in the Middle East.

Massing Troops?

According to Russian reports, the US is massing troops on the Iranian border that might be a prelude to attack.

Nuclear Attack?

Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei Threatens to "Strike at Them with All Our Capabilities" If Iran Is Attacked

Middle East

Middle East Peace Agreement

I don't think that Saudi was threatening Israel to accept the peace agreement.  I read it to mean more of acknowledging the situation as it stands.  I don't know where I stand on the "Land for Peace" agreement.  I find the rhetoric of John Hagee, encouraging Israel to not give up any land,  to be more extreme than what I hold.  I see no reason why they can't go back to the pre-1967 boundaries as long as there is security.  However, I don't expect there to be any peace, regardless of who controls what land.

Priory of Scion to Attempt to Control Middle East?

Popularized in Dan Brown's novel, and expounded over 400 pages upon in Holy Blood, Holy Grail, the secret society known as the Prieuré de Sion is rumored to have an interest in controlling Jerusalem again.  If, as the books allege, the Prieuré was behind the Knights Templar and the Crusades, it is comprehensible that they will want to control it again.  I understand that these books are either fiction or unverifiable facts.  The conclusions are based on hypotheses that, while not entirely refutted, cannot be entirely supported either.

That being the case, it is still possible that the one world government (synthesis of Revelation 13) could come from such an organization.

Conclusion

So I might be a little influenced by the books I have been reading lately... but at least no one can say that the middle east is easy to understand or easy to solve its problems.

Apologies

I intended to have a serious posting, but I won't be able to tonight.  So instead I will give you two videos and a link.

Video 1:

Panda Sneeze

Link:

Should you doubt the religious war that is being waged right now, consider the Senior Hamas leaders prediction:Islam will enter every house and will spread over the entire world

Video 2:

A Cool Waste of Diet Coke

I should be able to finish the serious posting soon. It is in regards to the book I just finished, Holy Blood, Holy Grail.

Free, Online MIT Classes

 Nope.  This isn't a joke.  You can watch and see the classes online or you can download the lecture to your hard drive.  It won't give you access to the faculty or give you a degree or certificate, but you can learn a lot.  I'm starting with the physics (of course!) classes.

Link to MIT OpenCourseWare | OCW Home

Britain: Iran holds 15 sailors, marines

This could get very interesting... 

Link to Britain: Iran holds 15 sailors, marines

Pictures

These are starting to become not recent, but I figured I'd add them before they were history.

Update 2: Indonesian Schoolgirl Beheadings

As an update to this post and this post, the men convicted of this crime have now been sentenced. 

Most Incredible Video

This is just incredible.  A mother without arms is able to change her baby's diaper, drive, shop, and do laundry.  No one has an excuse to be lazy anymore!

Incredible - Amazing videos are here

Great News for Missions

 From Philip Jenkins' posting:

Within a few decades, the African continent could be, in numerical terms, the center of world Christianity. Growth in Asia has also been impressive, while enthusiastic new forms of Christianity have blossomed in Latin America. Many denominations are discovering, to their surprise, that large numbers of their adherents, even majorities, no longer live in those areas that could once be claimed to represent the "Christian world."

Pirates III

The trailer is out!

Shrek 3 - Trailer

 

Link to Apple - Trailers - Shrek 3 - Trailer - Large

But will it stop the bite?

 Getting rid of malaria would be great.  Now if they can just get rid of mosquito bites...

Link to GM mosquito bred to destroy malaria-News-UK-Science-TimesOnline

Goalie Scores a Goal!

PAUL ROBINSON GOAL : Spurs v Watford 90 Mtr GOAL

Corrected Reading of Rahmani Ossuary 701

 The Discovery Channel broadcast a documentary showing the alleged tomb of Jesus.  A scholar now says that they are mistaken on one Ossuaries.  The inscription shows the Ossuary to have contained the bones of two women, not Mary Magdalene.  The full publication can be found here.

SUMMARY POINTS OF DISCUSSION:

*The original transcription of the inscription was incorrect.

*The inscription does not read “Mariamene the Master”nor does the name Mariamene or Mariamne appear on the ossuary at all.

*The inscription reflects the writing of two distinct scribes who wrote in different forms of the Greek script.

*The correct reading of the inscription is “Mariame and Mara,” based on parallels from contemporary inscriptions and documents.

*The ossuary thus contained the bones of at least two different women, interred at two separate times, one named Mariame and the other Mara.

*No support exists for ascribing the ossuary to Mary Magdalene.

I watched the documentary and found it to be entertaining.  I am no scholar.  I will have to leave the details to them.  However, I did not find myself convinced that there is, as of the screening, enough evidence to definitively state that the tomb of Jesus was found.

Thanks to Bruce for providing the news report.

What do you do When Someone Dies on a Plane?

 You move the body to first class!  What a surprise to find out that the person you are now sitting next to is dead.  According to the report, 10 people die in flight per year.

ABC News: Airline Moves Dead Body to 1st Class

U.N. Dishonors Women

A new article from Anne Bayefsky on National Review:

Muslim women are in the news everywhere — everywhere, that is, but the United Nations. The U.N.’s lead agency responsible for the promotion and protection of women’s rights the world over, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), ended its 51 session on March 9, 2007, by criticizing only one state — Israel.

The same week the commission focused specifically only on the state of Israel, 33 Muslim women engaging in peaceful protest outside a courthouse in Tehran were abruptly arrested on charges of “endangering national security.” Their goal? To put an end to polygamy and to child-custody laws that strip mothers in Iran of the right to raise and protect their own children.

Iraq and Peace

I can understand that some (and by the reports, lots) of people think that we should be out of Iraq.  I know that the US cannot fix everything.  But some part of me still wants to "do some good."  If it is possible to keep people from being killed by horrible people who will use chemical weapons on a civillian population, I think we should.  I'd like to stop all of the wars, but I know that is just a pipe dream.  Only the Prince of Peace can bring peace.

And He is coming soon.  The body of Christ is even starting to unite to get ready to welcome Him.  It is yet a small step, but the goal of uniting of the RCC and Eastern Orthodox is a small step in the right direction.

One other way to know that the time is still marching forward, the latest report from Project for Excellence in Journalism is showing that we, as a people, prefer to have more filters between us and the news.  We are starting not to seek the truth, but the "strange fiction" that we want to hear.  

Darfur

There is still trouble in Darfur, even if the U.N. won't do anything.  Unfortunately this tragedy in Africa is caught in a geo-political struggle that has nothing to do directly with this part of Sudan.  The trouble is that China wants the oil and so won't participate in the Security Council resolution.  And the "new and improved" but still inept Human Rights Council will not vote against a Muslim nation.

For more of the story, download a FREE NBC News report from iTunes.

Star Trek vs. Star Wars

I like Star Wars and Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is a video that someone spent a long time making so we could watch. Enjoy

Tech Update

Well, just checking in.  I have now entered the most modern of internet ages.  Instead of being fully "wired" I am now fully wireless.  Anywhere I get a cell phone signal, I can connect to the internet.  And if the signal is strong enough, I can watch streaming MLB games.  Where it is weak, I can listen to the games.

That makes it nice for traveling like I do.

More later.