Wednesday, May 23, 2007

TERRORISM FEARS EXPLOITED


US government fans homeland terrorism fear


Washington consensus plans for martial law, nuclear terror holocaust, behind closed doors








Global Research, May 15, 2007







The US government and Washington elites are aggressively ramping up their "war on terrorism" rhetoric and propaganda, stoking fear and paranoia in order to bolster their war agenda, and reinvigorate the mass public perception of new and growing "homegrown terrorism" threats to the US homeland.


The next phase of America’s war abroad (under the management of a post-Bush neocon/neoliberal consensus), and the deepening militarization of the US homeland towards a full police state, are well underway.



Who or what was behind the Fort Dix Six?



On May 8, 2007, six foreign-born Muslims were arrested during an attempt to purchase assault weapons, and accused of plotting a terror attack on Fort Dix (New Jersey), as well as an assault on a Pennsylvania Navy installation.





While evidence regarding this case continues to unfold, what is clear is that the FBI and US intelligence had been infiltrated and monitored over an extensive period, as early as January 2006. An unnamed "shadowy informer", likely an intelligence asset, is the key figure behind this operation and the arrest.



An objective analysis of the Fort Dix incident leads to questions about US military-intelligence involvement, and the use of the incident as a pretext:

"There is no doubt that the actions of the US military around the world are provoking a level of disgust and anger that could well produce misguided terrorist attacks within the US itself. Nonetheless, the various terrorist ‘plots’ exposed by the Bush administration have virtually without exception been characterized by a similar lack of any real preparation for violence combined with the central role of a covert informant/agent provocateur.
"

In each of these cases, the supposed conspiracy has been heavily publicized in a transparent bid to justify the ongoing military occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and to create a climate of fear in order to suppress democratic rights in the US itself.





"The exposure of the latest alleged plot has coincided with an unprecedented political crisis for the administration. With the president’s standing in the polls falling to record lows and US military casualties in Iraq increasing as the quagmire in the occupied country deepens, the political motive for unveiling another supposed terrorist threat from within is abundantly clear."



The Fort Dix suspects allegedly came to the attention of authorities after one of them was fingered by a Circuit City store manager while requesting to dub a terrorism training videotape from VHS to DVD. This bungling is reminiscent of the actions of the so-called 9/11 hijackers (all of them guided US intelligence assets), and suggests low-level and amateurish "patsies", guided and set up by larger forces.



This foiled "spectacular" terror plot comes shortly after the bizarre Virginia Tech massacre (which, perhaps coincidentally, bears striking similarities to other "manchurian candidate" incidents such as the Robert F. Kennedy assassination and the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley) successfully sparked fear across the country, and ignited new calls from citizens to "make our children safe".



The clear political beneficiary of both the Fort Dix and V Tech episodes are the same: Homeland Security.



The emerging "homegrown" threat



When asked if the Fort Dix arrests had any connection to Al-Qaeda, the Bush administration immediately stated that there is "no direct evidence of a foreign terrorist tie".



This telling break, from the administration’s known pattern (seizing every opportunity to attribute violence to "Al-Qaeda", "Islamo-fascists", etc.) suggests that the new and overriding "war on terrorism" imperative favored by the Washington neocon-neoliberal consensus involves the threat of "homegrown" terrorism.



According to FBI agent J.P. Weis, who announced the arrest of the Fort Dix suspects, "these homegrown terrorists can prove to be as dangerous as any known group, if not more so. They operate under the radar."



This rhetoric coincides with a larger effort on the part of elite policy shapers to manufacture, and sell, a nightmare scenario to an American public that is beginning to distrust its government, at the very moment that the real possibility of a resource-depleted post-Peak Oil American dystopia, the decline of the American empire, is beginning to hit home in earnest.



The "Preventive Defense Project": martial law and nuclear holocaust in the United States



In a series of closed-door sessions in Washington, a panel of high level government and military officials, security "experts" are constructing a homeland security plan that would include martial law and the suspension of civil liberties.



See:



Contigencies for nuclear terrorist attack: government working up plan to prevent chaos in wake of bombing of major city:



Financed and organized by a joint Stanford-Harvard program known as the "Preventative Defense Project", and led by the hawkish former Clinton administration defense secretary William Perry, and Harvard’s Ashton Carter (another Clinton defense department official), this panel of 41 "security experts", directors of US nuclear weapons labs, and Homeland Security officials operatives are constructing a "blueprint" for the scenario that "Al-Qaeda" or another terrorist group with nuclear weapons will strike the United States.



The panel has concluded that such a terror strike would cause catastrophic destruction and death, "cause a possible disintegration of government order", halt economic activity and unravel social order itself. The overriding objective of this panel, therefore, revolves around ways to maintain "order" and control the civilian populace.



In a workshop called "The Day After", panel declared that preventing such a terror strike (similar in size to a Hiroshima-style detonation) was no longer enough, and that the "collapse of government order was so great, that a contingency plan is needed.



In an example of breathless and hawkish speculation, Carter declared: "We have had glimpses of something like this with Hiroshima, and glimpses with 9/11 and Katrina. But those are only glimpses. If one bomb goes off, there are likely to be more to follow. This fact, that nuclear terrorism will appear as a syndrome rather than as a single episode, has major consequences".



(The chaos of all three historical incidents cited by Carter were the result of government-orchestrated criminal aggression, two of them mass murders of the domestic US population. Carter, of course, did not acknowledge this.)



Another panelist was Fred Ikle, former defense department official during the Reagan-Bush Iran/Contra era, and author of a 2006 book, "Annihilation from Within". Ikle’s book, and his work on the panel, aggressively promotes the suspension of civil liberties and the imposition of martial law.



Steven Fetter, dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, and one of the panelists, believes that "cities would empty and people would completely lose confidence in the ability of the government to protect them. You’d have nothing that resembles our current social order. I’m not sure any preparation can be sufficient to deal with that."



Like many others, Fetter pushes the unfounded assumption that the US government protects its citizens, ignoring the fact (exemplified by 9/11 and the "war on terrorism") that the civilian populace is under ongoing attack from the government itself.



It is no surprise that these policies are being hatched behind closed doors, by elites, and military-intelligence operatives and other "architects of reality", with no involvement from the citizenry. It is, however, yet another ominous sign of things to come.



Nothing has been done to undo the Patriot Act, or end such things as illegal domestic spying and surveillance of American citizens. Nothing will be.



The world’s elites, from the "Preventive Defense Project" to the Council on Foreign Relations and other intelligence "think tanks", are actively engineering future policies for a nightmare scenario (both the orchestration of scenario itself, as with 9/11, as well as in response to "disorder" and civilian unrest.



Real and fake terrorism: products of Washington



It is a fact that "Islamic terrorism" has always been a "homegrown" product.



"Al Qaeda" and "Militant Islam" are creations of, and guided assets still working at the behest of, Anglo-American intelligence (the CIA, Pakistan’s ISI, etc.). Anglo-American involvement behind "terrorism", and the manufacture of the "war on terrorism", exhaustively documented in Michel Chossudovsky’s America's "War on Terrorism" , Michael C. Ruppert’s Crossing the Rubicon:The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil , and other investigations, continue to be the focus of ongoing official cover-up. (See: Who is Osama bin Laden?, Al-Qaeda:the database)



As Michel Chossudovsky points out in "The Anglo-American War of Terror: An Overview":





"One of the main objectives of war propaganda is to ‘fabricate an enemy’. As anti-war sentiment grows and the political legitimacy the Bush Administration falters, doubts regarding the existence of this illusive ‘outside enemy’ must be dispelled.



"Propaganda purports not only to drown the truth but also to ‘kill the evidence’ on how this ‘outside enemy’, namely Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda was fabricated and transformed into ‘Enemy Number One’. The entire National Security doctrine centers on the existence of an ‘outside enemy’ which is threatening the Homeland."





It has been clear for months that the scandal-ridden Bush administration, collapsing under the weight of its own criminality, and plummeting public confidence and political support, is desperate to manufacture the appearance of progress, even triumph, in its waning months. In order to portray themselves as the Homeland’s premier "anti-terrorist" saviors, Bush and his functionaries must now attempt to sell their ability to solve to bogus problem with "terror" arrests and foiled plots, which have recently included the capture and execution of certain key Al-Qaeda" figures.



The official "Al-Qaeda" narrative itself is being given a makeover. "Al-Qaeda", "on the move", is being implanted into the Anglo-American empire’s new hot spots, the new targets of Western military-intelligence intervention, such as Iraq, Irbil (near Iran), Somalia and even Gaza.



In addition, with America’s Middle East war agenda derailing under Bush-Cheney management, new bipartisan political desperation to "restore order", shared by neocons and neoliberals alike, is resulting in a push towards a new and even more dangerous phase of the "war on terrorism", and an increased potential for new manufactured crises and "new 9/11s".



It is no surprise that most if not all of the so-called Democratic congressional opposition to the Bush administration uniformly embraces the "war on terrorism". In fact, evidenced by recent debates between Democratic presidential candidates (Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Barack Obama, etc.), the Democrats advocate aggressive Homeland Security and renewed ("even better") "security" policies and improved ways to "kill terrorists", expand Bush’s world war, and militarily intervene in new areas of "national security" interest. Far from being genuine opponents of the Bush-Cheney agenda, the Democrats are fully complicit.



Gullible, paranoid and violent US citizenry



Lurid news coverage of the Fort Dix plot, the Virginia Tech massacre, and "war on terrorism" and a steady diet of "anti-terror" entertainment such as the television series 24, continue to spark panic and constant fear of "terrorism threats" among US citizens.



Reaction to the Fort Dix incident among the acquiescent and complacent populace has been uniformly paranoid, marked by saber-rattling and war-mongering. Some portions of the United States have been reverted quickly to the immediate post-9/11 mindset. A fear-struck populace is easily led.



The real threat remains the same



What the world must continue to take seriously is not a threatened strike by "terrorists", but the violent desperation of a stumbling New World Order that 1) compounds its criminal despair by continuing to commit terrorism and "run" terror groups to achieve its political purposes (the foremost being energy and resource conquest), 2) engage in terroristic provocations (foment backlash, or "blowback"), 3) wittingly and unwittingly creates new insurgencies and opposition from victimized populaces and occupied nations.



As it was on the morning of 9/11, all eyes must remain locked on the guilty parties in Washington---the political criminals who are "above the law", armed with the power to manipulate, control and exterminate broad sections of humanity, within the US homeland and abroad.




Larry Chin is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Larry Chin
© Copyright Larry Chin, Global Research, 2007


Source: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHI20070515&articleId=5649

WAR ON TERROR DIVIDING WORLD

'War on terror' dividing world, warns Amnesty

05-23-2007, 11h16
LONDON (AFP)

photo
Irene Khan, Amnesty Internatonal's Secretary General, holds a press conference in central London. Fears stoked by the post-9/11 "war on terror" are increasingly dividing the world, Amnesty International said Wednesday, while rapping rights abuses from China to Darfur and Russia to the Middle East.
(AFP)

Fears stoked by the post-9/11 "war on terror" are increasingly dividing the world, Amnesty International said Wednesday, while rapping rights abuses from China to Darfur and Russia to the Middle East.

The gap between Muslims and non-Muslims notably deepened, fuelled by discriminatory counter-terrorism strategies in Western countries, warned the international human rights group in its annual report.

Human rights are also routinely flouted in Iraq and Afghanistan, the front line of the US-led crackdown on extremism since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, which triggered a profound geopolitical shift.

The report showed the "terrible price that ordinary people are paying for the failure of their leaders to uphold human rights," said Amnesty chief Irene Khan.

"The politics of fear is fuelling a downward spiral of human rights abuse in which no right is sacrosanct and no person safe," she said.

"The 'war on terror' and the war in Iraq, with their catalogue of human rights abuses, have created deep divisions that cast a shadow on international relations."

The 320-page report, covering rights abuses worldwide in 2006, focused particular attention on violence against women, as well as torture, terror and the death penalty, which Amnesty fiercely opposes.

The US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay came in for particular criticism -- Amnesty said 400 detainees from more than 30 countries are still held in what it called "the public symbol of the injustices in the 'war on terror'."

On violence against women, it said one in three is beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused by a partner during their lifetime, while 70 percent of casualties in recent conflicts are civilians -- mostly women and children.

Regional conflicts around the globe provide the context for much of the abuse documented in the report.

"Darfur is a bleeding wound on world conscience," said its authors on the troubled Sudanese region, adding that the UN Security Council "is hampered by distrust and double-dealing of its most powerful members," with Russia and China fingered.

Last year's war between Israel and Hezbollah brought shame on the international community, it said, with the UN taking "weeks...to muster the will to call for a ceasefire" in a conflict which saw 1,200 civilians killed.

"A human rights nightmare is unfolding under our very eyes while the international community remains complacent," Khan added on the plight of the Palestinians.

In Iraq "the worst practices of Saddam (Hussein)'s regime -- torture, unfair trials, capital punishment and rape with impunity -- remained very much alive" last year, Amnesty said.

The report condemned clampdowns on human rights defenders in China, Zimbabwe and Iran and "repression" in Egypt.

It identified "an arc of instability" extending from the borders of Pakistan to the Horn of Africa, where armed groups were flexing their muscles.

"Unless governments address the grievances on which these groups feed... the prognosis for human rights is dire," said Khan.

But the "war on terror" provided an over-arching theme of the report's criticism, with Khan saying the United States was treating the world as "one giant battlefield".

Overall, "short-sighted, fear-mongering policy undermined the rule of law and human rights, fed racism and xenophobia, fuelled discrimination, suppressed dissent, intensified conflict and sowed the seeds of more violence," she said.

"Fear, distrust and division run so deep in the international community that it was virtually disfunctional in the face of human rights violations."

Public pressure is the most effective way to force governments to tackle human rights abuses, Khan told AFP.

"Hope comes to human rights through the work of ordinary people," she said.

"When we look back at where progress has come, we see it coming as a result of pressure brought about by civil society."


AFP

Source: http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=177644

Monday, May 21, 2007

DECEPTIVE INFLUENCES




How to Be Preserved From Deceptive Influences




[APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS,


CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, NO. 5.]





Satan often finds a powerful agency for evil in the power which one human mind is capable of exerting on another human mind. This influence is so seductive that the person who is being molded by it is often unconscious of its power. God has bidden me speak warning against this evil, that His servants may not come under the deceptive power of Satan. The enemy is a master worker, and if God's people are not constantly led by the Spirit of God, they will be snared and taken. {2SM 352.2}




For thousands of years Satan has been experimenting upon the properties of the human mind, and he has learned to know it well. By his subtle workings in these last days, he is linking the human mind with his own, imbuing it
353
with his thoughts; and he is doing this work in so deceptive a manner that those who accept his guidance know not that they are being led by him at his will. The great deceiver hopes so to confuse the minds of men and women, that none but his voice will be heard.
{2SM 352.3}





When Christ revealed to Peter the time of trial and suffering that was just before Him, and Peter replied, "Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee" (Matt. 16:22), the Saviour commanded, "Get thee behind me, Satan" (Matt. 16:23). Satan was speaking through Peter, making him act the part of the tempter. Satan's presence was unsuspected by Peter, but Christ could detect the presence of the deceiver, and in His rebuke to Peter He addressed the real foe. {2SM 353.1}





On one occasion, speaking to the twelve, and referring to Judas, Christ declared, "One of you is a devil" (John 6: 70). Often in the days of His earthly ministry the Saviour met His adversary in human form, when Satan as an unclean spirit took possession of men. Satan takes possession of the minds of men today. In my labors in the cause of God, I have again and again met those who have been thus possessed, and in the name of the Lord I have rebuked the evil spirit. {2SM 353.2}





It is not by force that Satan takes possession of the human mind. While men sleep, the enemy sows tares in the church. While men are spiritually sleeping, the enemy accomplishes his work of iniquity. It is when his subject "understandeth it not" (Matt. 13:19) that he catcheth away the good seed sown in the heart. When men and women are in this condition, when their spiritual life is not being constantly fed by the Spirit of God, Satan can imbue them with his spirit, and lead them to work his works.... {2SM 353.3}





I entreat that there may be a putting away from the life every action which does not bear the approval of God. We are drawing near to the close of earth's history; the battle is growing daily more fierce.--Letter 244, 1907. {2SM 353.4}


(Selected Messages, Book Two, Ellen G. White. Page 252-253.)

BUSH: "THE WORST IN HISTORY", J. CARTER


Carter Criticizes Bush and Blair on War in Iraq






Published: May 20, 2007


WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters) — Former President Jimmy Carter criticized George W. Bush’s presidency in interviews released Saturday as “the worst in history” in international relations and faulted Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain for his loyal relationship with Mr. Bush.


“I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history,” Mr. Carter, 82, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, said in a telephone interview with The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette from the Carter Center in Atlanta.


“The overt reversal of America’s basic values as expressed by previous administrations, including those of George H. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and others, has been the most disturbing to me,” Mr. Carter told the newspaper.


In an interview on BBC radio, he criticized Mr. Blair for his close relations with the president, particularly concerning the Iraq war.


“Abominable,” he said when asked how he would characterize Mr. Blair’s relationship with Mr. Bush. “Loyal, blind, apparently subservient.”


Mr. Carter, who was president from 1977 to 1981 and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his charitable work, was an outspoken opponent of the invasion of Iraq before it was begun in 2003.


“I think that the almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy for the world,” he said.


In the newspaper interview, Mr. Carter said Mr. Bush has taken a “radical departure from all previous administration policies” with the Iraq war.


“We now have endorsed the concept of pre-emptive war where we go to war with another nation militarily, even though our own security is not directly threatened, if we want to change the regime there or if we fear that some time in the future our security might be endangered,” he said.


The White House declined to comment on his statements.


Mr. Carter told the BBC that if Mr. Blair had opposed the invasion he could have reduced the ensuing harm by making it tougher for Washington to shrug off critics, even if the British prime minister had not been able to stop the war. “It would certainly have assuaged the problems” that have arisen, he said.


He characterized one of the defenses of the Bush administration in America and worldwide as “O.K., we must be more correct in our actions than the world thinks because Great Britain is backing us.”


Mr. Carter also told the BBC that the combined support of Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair for the war “has prolonged the war and increased the tragedy that has resulted.”


In the newspaper interview, Mr. Carter, who brokered the Camp David accords between Egypt and Israel, also criticized Mr. Bush’s Middle East policies. “For the first time since Israel was founded, we’ve had zero peace talks to try to bring a resolution of differences in the Middle East,” he said. “That’s a radical departure from the past.”


Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/washington/20carter.html?ex=1337313600&en=1c2033ae5669f8c8&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

PREPARING FOR THE WORST






Preparing for the Worst

To be Prepared is Half the Victory



The question I am most often asked is "If what you're saying is true, it's obvious that I need to do something to protect myself and my family, but I don't know where to start. Can you help?"



Sadly most people are woefully unprepared for the inevitable terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and other disruptions that are planned for our daily lives. Our government tells us VIRTUALLY NOTHING about what we can do to protect ourselves. And make no mistake about it, there's plenty we can do -- We don't have to be sitting ducks!



As JFK once said, "The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining." So, as the storm clouds start brewing all around us, let's make sure the roof is in order, before it's too late.

Your number one resource when the planned cataclysmic events start taking place is your knowledge - and that's knowledge gained over months or years of learning to think how to live primarily independent of the system. Whatever you do, don't rely on your government to save you. At the bottom of this page there's a graphic reminder of who's responsible for this mess in the first place!

So What Is A Rational Individual To Do?





What to do About Things Right Now



Here's a superb article which may provide pointers on what you should be doing to prepare.



The following copyrighted material is excerpted from Chapter 15, "Treading Water" of the book "In Defense of Racism," (also at http://www.conspiracypenpal.com/), is included by permission of the author, Edgar J. Steele, and may not be further reproduced without his permission.





Well, there are a number of things you can do right now to ensure that you personally prepare for the coming hard times. Some will think you nuts. But, there are things you can do quietly and covertly, even in that context.



Most importantly, you must plan now and be ready to implement that plan the moment the wheels come off.



If you live in a city, you need to plan how to get out in the event of a catastrophe. Immediately. Not the next day. Not that night. Immediately. Remember what South Central LA looked like just hours after the Rodney King verdict was handed down? That’s how quickly it will degenerate.



No freeways. They will be death traps. You need an escape route that takes you through neighborhoods you know will be safe for a time. Being among the first to leave will help to ensure that roads are not blocked.



You must have a plan in place for assembling your family for the trip, regardless of the time of day that it becomes necessary.



Assemble a "bug-out" kit and keep it in your trunk.



Store enough gasoline in cans in your garage to get you to wherever you already have planned will be your retreat. Recycle the contents every six months, because gasoline degenerates fairly rapidly. Keep your escape vehicle gassed up and well-serviced at all times.



Make a list of the things you can grab while the family is being assembled. Keep the list in the bug-out kit. Make a copy and keep it in your sock drawer, in case the car is busy picking up kids. Think apocalyptically today.



You won't be capable of rational thought when the need arises, but you will be able to follow your list. Include any gold and silver you might be keeping stashed away (if you don't have any, then shame on you). Include weapons – you will need them, rest assured.



Get permission in advance, even if you treat it as a big joke, to arrive on the doorstep of friends or family in the country, if that is what you must do. Otherwise, they will not be happy to see you. Arrive with enough of something or other that makes you a valuable and welcome addition to their enclave. Food. Gasoline. Bullets. Gold. That sort of thing.



If nothing ever happens, which I consider exceedingly unlikely (that is, it is inevitable, in my humble opinion), then you will have wasted nearly nothing. In fact, you will make money on the appreciation in gold and silver that has been going on and will continue for several years. If something happens, a few hours' preparation today may spell the difference between life and death. Yours. And your family's.



If you've a mind to, now would be an excellent time to move your family to an area likely to be among the safer in the country, regardless of what may happen. That will not include any city of any serious size. Nor should it include areas within 100 miles of any coast (can you say, "nuke-induced Tsunami?"). The more paranoid will want to stay at least 400 miles away from Yellowstone Park.



In short, start developing a mindset of independent living and survival, details of which can be found in our Survival section.



A Selection of Recommended Products



Here are products that I have personally used and reviewed and can highly recommend. They're not always the cheapest - my approach is to always go for the best solution, irrespective of cost.

Product Categories:

Online Privacy

Survival Guides

Alternative Currencies

Online Monitoring

Wealth Creation

Just for Fun

Relationships

Bookstore

Source: http://www.threeworldwars.com/prepare/

Sunday, May 20, 2007

2 DEAD IN IDAHO CHURCH

Idaho police find 2 bodies in church standoff

Suspect in shootings that injured 2 officers, 1 civilian believed among dead

Image: Idaho police
Police cars from the regional SWAT team are parked on Main Street in Moscow, Idaho, about a block from the town's police station on Sunday.
Geoff Crimmins / AP



Updated: 51 minutes ago
MOSCOW, Idaho - Police stormed an Idaho church where a shooter hid after wounding three in a courthouse ambush, finding the body of the likely gunman and another man Sunday.

The shooting began late Saturday and wounded two officers and a civilian, said David Duke, Moscow’s assistant police chief. Duke said the shooter fired into the Latah County Courthouse to lure people into the line of fire. A total of 75 shots were fired, he said.

Three elite police teams entered the First Presbyterian Church early Sunday and found the two bodies in separate rooms on the main floor, Duke said. A semiautomatic rifle, ammunition and spent shells were found with one of the men.

"We believe one of those is our shooter,” Duke said. Authorities did not know their identities.

Police did not know the shooter’s motive and did not believe he had a specific target in mind, Duke said.

More than 30 bullets struck the courthouse shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday, ripping through the dispatch center, Duke said. No one was injured, and officers rushed outside.

“Whoever the shooter is wanted to draw people to the courthouse,” Duke said. “When officers responded, he did open fire on them.”

A Moscow police officer was shot first, followed by a Latah County sheriff’s deputy who came to his aid. The civilian was struck after that, Duke said. Their conditions were not revealed.

“He was just shooting at anybody he could,” Duke said. “We believe the shots were from a high area, based on where the victims were shot.”

Officers surrounded the church, which is across the street from the courthouse. A final shot was heard from inside the church about 1 a.m. Sunday, Duke said.

Duke would not say if the shooter committed suicide.

Streets in the area had been barricaded, and residents had been told to stay inside their homes.

Moscow, a community of about 20,000 people that is home to the University of Idaho, is located 80 miles south of Spokane, Wash.

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

$4 PER GALLON BY MEMORIAL DAY

May 15, 2007 6:37 am US/Eastern

Gas Could Reach $4 In Tri-State By Memorial Day


President Bush Announces New Alternative Fuel Plan


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Image

Brendan Keefe
Reporting



(CBS) NEW YORK Just in time for the summer, gas prices have hit an all-time high. Now, President Bush has announced an aggressive new approach to cut gasoline consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

So what does that mean for the big getaway season?

The average price of a gallon of gas in the tri-state area is $3.22, almost the same as it was one year ago. However, prices have gone up a quarter in the last month with really no explanation.

Here we go again.

The gasoline-fueled roller coaster is on its way up again. Prices are already creeping toward $4 a gallon in California and could approach the four-buck mark here in the tri-state by Memorial Day.

"When you couple low inventories with high demand and refineries not able to keep up with demand, you see a scarcity in a commodity and higher prices," said Robert Sinclair of the AAA.

Some of it is seasonal. More drivers hit the roads for summer vacations -- and fears of another rough hurricane season have cranked up the pressure on an already-volatile oil market.

Gas prices were on the decline much of the last year, but then came the hostage crisis in Iran, concerns over Iraq's oil production, and instability in virtually every foreign oil-producing nation.

All of this has the president who once owned an oil company talking about alternative fuels and conservation.

"Today I'm directing the EPA and the Department of Transportation, Energy and Agriculture to take the first steps toward regulation that would cut gas consumption and greenhouse gas emissions for motor vehicles," President Bush said.

This is exactly the scenario some environmentalists have been forecasting for decades -- the price of gas reaches a magic number that makes alternative fuels and more efficient vehicles more attractive.

"I think it's ridiculous that we have to pay these prices," said motorist Cynthia Lightburn. "Every time you turn around it's going up and up, and I don't think that's right."

The president really didn't have a choice in making his Rose Garden speech on Monday. That's because the Supreme Court actually ruled that the EPA had failed to regulation those greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Now there seems to be not only an economic shift, but also a political one.

You can be sure this going to be a big issue heading into the 2008 presidential race.


Source: http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_134172504.html

Saturday, May 19, 2007

NO MORE NEUTRALITY


NO MORE NEUTRALITY


CHAPTER 20



CHOOSE YE THIS DAY




The "25 men" of the SDA church have already turned their backs on the Lord, His Sabbath, and have planted the abomination of desolation in the midst of the church as God has prophesied in Ezekiel 8:16. Corporate probation for the SDA church is now closed, and the sealing of individuals in Ezekiel 9 is already beginning.

As this is true, where are those who will sigh and cry for all the abominations? Where are those who will be obedient to the Lord and separate from the abominable SDA church, and will not stubbornly follow this false church and its religious system posing as the true church? Who is going to leave this synagogue of Satan, that is compromising God's holy Sabbath in order to exalt Sunday, and which is now openly leading our people to worship on Sunday? Our people are being led to the slaughter and who will warn them by word and example?

It is time to stand up and be counted for God. It is not time to remain connected with the corrupt SDA church and become "partakers of her sins." We must come completely out and be separate and stand for our God, warning our brothers and sisters to do the same thing.



We can not remain in the corrupt and apostate SDA church waiting for them to kick us out--thinking that we are obeying Christ by doing so. There is not one "Thus saith the Lord" or "It is written" telling God's people to stay in the midst of an apostate church. Babylon has no right to tell us when to leave! If we follow this foolish line of human reasoning, then we are not under the yoke of Christ but are under the yoke of man! We are waiting for man to tell us that it is now O.K. to obey Christ's command to separate. But God does not accept forced obedience to His commands; He will only accept our willing obedience.

Neither should we follow the example of that man of Jerusalem, who, despite seeing the abomination of desolation planted in the church, would not obey his Lord and refused to flee Jerusalem.(562) He reasoned that he would stay and try to warn more people of what was going on. So he remained in the church and continued to warn the people about the abominations and the woes to come. It is very interesting that the historian, Josephus, reveals that this man's name was Jesus.(563)

But all the church members had a choice of following either the example and command of the real Jesus Christ--by willingly separating themselves from their apostate church, or by choosing to follow the example of this false Jesus by remaining in the church to warn about all the abominations going on within it.



What happened to this false christ and those who chose to follow his example by disobeying the real Christ and remaining in the doomed apostate church? They were destroyed right along with the apostate church. And not one Christian perished in this destruction, because these had already obeyed the real Christ and separated from the doomed church to a place of safety outside Jerusalem.(564)

Did this false-christ ever realize that because he chose to disobey God and refused to separate himself from the church, that he was lost along with all the rest of those who followed His example? This false christ blindly continued to proclaim the abominations and woes of the church, until the very end when he did finally wake up to the fact that he was going to lose his eternal life in its destruction!

Josephus records his last words:

"...for seven years and five months he continued his wail, his voice did not weaken, nor did he grow weary until, during the siege, when he beheld his prophecies come true, his voice was stopped. For then, as he was making his rounds on the wall, crying in a piercing voice, `Woe, woe once more, to the city, to the people, and to the Temple,' and this time adding, `Woe, woe to myself also,' he was struck by a stone shot from the ballista and killed on the spot, his dying lips still uttering the same portentous words." Jerusalem and Rome: The Writings of Josephus, p 162 (War VI, 5:3).



This man lost both his temporal and eternal life because he disobeyed Christ's command and refused to separate from the apostate church, and not one single soul was reported to have been saved by his choice to remain inside the church and warn the people from within! So by his refusal to separate from the church and by his example of disobedience (even though he continued to cry about all the abominations) he showed that he was a false christ. Thus he died in vain along with all who refused to leave the church in order to be with Christ and His true followers on the outside.

He should have obeyed the Lord and separated from the doomed church, showing by his example of obedience the way of life. Thus others might have taken notice of his example, and saved their own lives. Nevertheless, all were given ample opportunity to escape, and all made their decisions to leave or stay. And those who lost their lives for eternity can only blame it upon their own choice to disobey Christ's command to separate!



This same exact scenario is being repeated today! There is no way that the SDA church can corporately escape the doom awaiting her--probation for the church has closed. And there will be no way that any individual will escape destruction should they choose to remain connected with and a part of the church. The only way to escape God's judgments on the church is to completely separate yourself (including your membership) from the entire SDA corporate church.



There will not be one SDA who knows the truth and who will be sealed with the seal of God IF THEY REMAIN CONNECTED WITH THE APOSTATE SDA CHURCH!



"The angel is to place a mark upon the forehead of all who are separated from sin and sinners, and the destroying angel will follow, to slay utterly both old and young." Testimonies, vol 5, p 505.



For those who have chosen to no longer remain neutral, but to follow the will of God and separate themselves completely from the SDA church, what more must they do to receive the seal of God?

"Many will not receive the seal of God because they do not keep His commandments or bear the fruits of righteousness." SDA Bible Commentary, vol 7, p 970.



"Those who would have the seal of God in their foreheads must keep the Sabbath of the Lord."(565) SDA Bible Commentary, vol 7, p 970.



"The seal of the living God will be placed upon those only who bear a likeness to Christ in character." SDA Bible Commentary, vol 7, p 970.



"Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them.(566) It is left with us to remedy the defects in our characters, to cleanse the soul temple of every defilement."(567) Testimonies, vol 5, p 214.



"Only those who receive the seal of the living God will have the passport through the gates of the Holy City."(568) SDA Bible Commentary, vol 7, p 970.



"The seal of God will be placed upon the foreheads of those only who sigh and cry for all the abominations done in the land." Testimonies, vol 5, p 212.



"Mark this point with care: Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen, are those `that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done' in the church." [Ezekiel 9:4] Testimonies, vol 3, p 267.



Those only who keep all of God's commandments--especially the Sabbath, who bear the fruits of righteousness, who have Christ's perfect character in themselves without spot or wrinkle, who sigh and cry for all the wickedness and abominations done in the church or land, and who are completely separate from sin and sinners, will receive the seal of God, and possibly become a part of the 144,000. But those who refuse to separate themselves from the SDA church will not even have a chance to be a part of the 144,000--even if they had overcome all personal sin!

God clearly states:

"These [144,000] are they which were not defiled with women [churches]; for they are virgins....And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault..." Revelation 14:4-5.



It is not just being free from all personal sin, but also being free from all corporate sin, that qualifies us for the seal of God and a possible a place among the 144,000! But if we refuse to separate from the SDA church to be with Christ, or neglect to remove our membership from the church books, then we will have no chance at all for either the seal of God or a place among the 144,000. Hence we are lost. Then:

"Let us strive with all the power that God has given us to be among the hundred and forty-four thousand." Review and Herald, vol 5, p 120.



This loving and merciful message of complete separation is going not just to the SDA church, but to all the churches. "All nations [denominations or churches(569)] have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her [Babylon's] fornication" (Revelation 18:3). They all, including the SDA church, have fallen!

Christ does not want His people--whom He has graven upon the palms of His hands--to be destroyed along with their apostate churches. So He is calling all to come out and completely away from their Babylonian churches, and to join Him and His true people outside of all the churches before the plagues fall.

This separation struggle is not easy, but it is absolutely necessary for salvation and the saving of our souls!

"Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance...My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord." Jeremiah 51:6, 45.



We cannot hold on to a corrupt church with one hand, and to Jesus with the other! It is either the corrupt, apostate, harlot church, or the pure, spotless and loving Saviour Jesus Christ. No matter how hard this struggle is, no matter how many friends we lose, or how many sneers or how much verbal abuse we have to endure, is not Jesus worth it? Any hardship that we encounter, or the loss of anything or everything we hold dear, is nothing if we may be held in the strong and loving arms of our Saviour!

There is a heaven to win and a hell to shun. And the SDA church is going to hell and not to heaven (see p 59)! God does not want any to be brought down to hell along with the SDA church, but He cannot force us to leave the church. It is a free and willing choice on our part either to leave and join Christ, or to stay in league with the devil and his synagogue. To remain neutral, or to refuse to choose, automatically places us with the devil by default. Either we follow the commandments and sayings of God and gain eternal life, or we follow the commandments and sayings of men and are lost.(570) Either we make God our trust and are blessed,(571) or we make flesh our arm and are cursed.(572) Either we follow God's will in bearing the cross of separation "out of the camp,"(573) or we follow our own will in walking "in the sparks" of our own kindling.(574)

God is calling all of His people out of the SDA church to entrust them with His true gospel of the kingdom of heaven--just like with the disciples of Christ. What a distinct privilege and honor God is willing to give to those who choose to follow Him out of the church!

But what are we supposed to do after we have decided to completely separate from the apostate Babylonian SDA church? What did the followers of Christ do after they decided to completely separate from the apostate Babylonian Jewish church? They started meeting in home churches!

"...greet the church that is in their house." Romans 16:5.



"Salute the brethren...and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house." Colossians 4:15.



"The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house." 1 Corinthians 16:19.



"...Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer...and to the church in thy house..." Philemon 2.



In separating completely from the apostate Jewish church and holding church in their homes, the followers of Christ were allowed the freedom to worship God according to Scripture, and did not worry about being corrupted and misled by attending the Babylonian Jewish church.

"Fearing that the faith of the believers would be endangered by continued association with these opposers of the truth, Paul separated from them and gathered the disciples into a distinct body, continuing his public instructions in the school of Tyrannus..." Acts of the Apostles, p 285 (see Acts 19:9).



Thus all the corporate church members had their choice between two places of worship--either the home churches that were following the true God and His truth, or the Jewish church that was following Satan and rejecting God's truth.

In fact, one such home church was right next door to the Jewish church!

"And he [Paul] departed thence [from the Jewish church], and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue." Acts 18:7.



This is exactly what God is also requiring of His honest and faithful people today! And believe me, there are people who know that the SDA church is apostate, but attend it anyway because they are lonely and in need of fellowship. If they knew of a separated home church that was following God's truth, then they would gladly attend it in an instant.

But these home churches of the early Christian era, which were scattered throughout the different countries, were not just isolated independent atoms from each other. They were connected in a Gospel Order form of simple organization for the purpose of fulfilling Christ's prayer of John 17, and for the furtherance of the gospel of God.

"The proclamation of the gospel was to be world-wide in its extent, and the messengers of the cross could not hope to fulfill their important mission unless they should remain united in the bonds of Christian unity..." Acts of the Apostles, p 90.



"Christ says that unity and Christian fellowship were necessary to the cause of God, therefore He enjoined it upon His disciples. And the history of Christianity from that time until now proves conclusively that in union only is there strength." Testimonies, vol 4, p 19.



This is exactly what God wants His true separated people to do today--unite with Him and with each other and fulfill Christ's prayer of John 17 in a simple Gospel Order form of organization. This organization is not a hierarchy like the churches of Babylon, but Gospel Order under the directions of the Lord.

"The Lord has shown me that gospel order has been too much neglected and feared. That formality should be shunned; but in doing so, order should not be neglected. There is order in heaven. There was order in the church when Christ was upon the earth; and after His departure, order was strictly observed among His apostles. And now in these last days, while God is bringing His children into the unity of faith, there is more real need of order than ever before; for, as God unites His children, Satan and his evil angels are very busy to prevent this unity and to destroy it." Early Writings, p 97.



For further information on Gospel Order, please write to the address given in the front of this book and request our booklet and/or video on this important subject. But if we who have completely separated from all corporate churches and now fellowship in home churches do not unite together in Christ and with each other, in order to finish the work of spreading the gospel, then God will pass us by (just like He has passed by the apostate SDA church and all the rest of the churches of Babylon), and will choose others. May we rise to the occasion and fulfill the work which God is calling us to do so that we do not lose our crowns to others!

For those separated brothers and sisters all over the world who may be meeting alone in their homes for church, please write to the address given in the front of this book, and hopefully we will be able to connect you with other separated brethren in your area.

But not one of us will be able to fulfill the work God is waiting for us to begin, until we study for ourselves and see that the SDA church is indeed Babylon fallen, and then leave it completely. It is far past the time to ride the fence--being half in and half out of the church! It is no longer time to be hypocrites by crying about all the abominations going on, and yet remaining in all these abominations by keeping our membership in the apostate church. It is time to stand up for God, show ourselves men and women in Christ, and "touch not the unclean" church. Then God can receive us, and be a Father to us, and we can be His sons and daughters.(575) But God will not be our Father, and we cannot be His children, until we fulfill the conditions and break all connection with the unclean Babylonian SDA church!



We have clearly seen the evidence that the SDA General Conference leadership have:

Discarded the true principles of our historic SDA faith (see p 133-134).

Changed our SDA religion and accounted as error the fundamental principles of our historical SDA faith by giving up the truths contained in the three angels' messages (see p 135-163).

Re-organized the church into a Catholic hierarchy (see p 165-172).

Wrote books of a new order which repudiated our historic SDA beliefs (see p 173-202).

Introduced a system of intellectual philosophy using hypnotism to keep the people in church or to bring them back to church (see p 203-210).

Brought in spiritualism and doctrines of devils to seduce our people (see p 76, 112, 114, 126, 209-210).

Lowered high standards into the dust in order to gain more half-converted members (see p 202, 211-216).

Persecuted those who tried to stand in the way of this satanic reformation (see p 221- 232).

Removed God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit from the church (see p 40, 65, 99-102, 131).

Placed their dependence upon man and united with the NCC, WCC, the ecumenical movement, and various State Governments around the world (see p 233-243).

Lightly regarded the seventh-day Sabbath (see p 217-220).

And have chosen to give up God's seventh-day Sabbath for sun worship, and are leading our SDA people to do the same (see p 245-256).



Thus the abomination of desolation has been planted within the SDA church, and corporate probation is closed: the SDA church has become Babylon fallen. This shows all who will open their eyes to see, and all who will allow their ears to hear, that the foundation, which the entire worldwide SDA church is established upon, is not built on the Rock--Christ Jesus, or the truth, but on error. Thus this Christ-less, Laodicean, corrupt, apostate, Babylonian, SDA church cannot possibly stand, but it will fall suddenly and be destroyed with a sore destruction!

Is the apostate SDA church more precious to you than Jesus? Is the loss of eternal life along with the corrupt SDA church of more value to you than the prospect of eternal life with God outside of the church? The apostate SDA church is destined for destruction and the seven last plagues (see p 77, 86, 90, 98, 117, 119, 266). Will you be among those who lose eternal life by clinging to a harlot church? Or will you choose to completely separate yourself and come into the waiting arms of Jesus outside of the church, making the line of distinction plain and clear between yourself and sin and sinners?

The choice is now up to you. Will you come out and stand upon the word of God--the firm foundation of truth, or will you stay in the hierarchy and stand upon the commandments and sayings of men--the sandy foundation of error?




This book was written that you might know what God has said, and what the SDA church has done. The decision is yours!

"If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15.



"Here and there an individual member of a family is true to the convictions of his conscience, and is compelled to stand alone in his family or in the church to which he belongs, and is finally compelled, because of the course of those with whom he associates, to separate himself from their companionship. The line of demarkation is made distinct. One stands upon the word of God, the others upon the traditions and sayings of men." Review and Herald, vol 3, p 169.



(Excerpt of book)
THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
AND CHURCH HISTORY

by
robert sessler

DUTY IN THE TIME OF TROUBLE



Duty in View of the Time of Trouble


The Lord has shown me repeatedly that it is contrary to the Bible to make any provision for our temporal wants in the time of trouble. I saw that if the saints had food laid up by them or in the field in the time of trouble, when sword, famine, and pestilence are in the land, it would be taken from them by violent hands and strangers would reap their fields. Then will be the time for us to trust wholly in God, and He will sustain us. I saw that our bread and water will be sure at that time, and that we shall not lack or suffer hunger; for God is able to spread a table for us in the wilderness. If necessary He would send ravens to feed us, as He did to feed Elijah, or rain manna from heaven, as He did for the Israelites. {EW 56.2}

Houses and lands will be of no use to the saints in the time of trouble, for they will then have to flee before infuriated mobs, and at that time their possessions cannot be disposed of to advance the cause of present truth. I was shown that it is the will of God that the saints should cut loose from every encumbrance before
57
the time of trouble comes, and make a covenant with God through sacrifice. If they have their property on the altar and earnestly inquire of God for duty, He will teach them when to dispose of these things. Then they will be free in the time of trouble and have no clogs to weigh them down.
{EW 56.3}



I saw that if any held on to their property and did not inquire of the Lord as to their duty, He would not make duty known, and they would be permitted to keep their property, and in the time of trouble it would come up before them like a mountain to crush them, and they would try to dispose of it, but would not be able. I heard some mourn like this: "The cause was languishing, God's people were starving for the truth, and we made no effort to supply the lack; now our property is useless. Oh, that we had let it go, and laid up treasure in heaven!" I saw that a sacrifice did not increase, but it decreased and was consumed. I also saw that God had not required all of His people to dispose of their property at the same time; but if they desired to be taught, He would teach them, in a time of need, when to sell and how much to sell. Some have been required to dispose of their property in times past to sustain the Advent cause, while others have been permitted to keep theirs until a time of need. Then, as the cause needs it, their duty is to sell. {EW 57.1}



I saw that the message, "Sell that ye have, and give alms," has not been given, by some, in its clear light, and the object of the words of our Saviour has not been clearly presented. The object of selling is not to give to those who are able to labor and support themselves, but to spread the truth. It is a sin to support and indulge in idleness those who are able to labor. Some have been zealous to attend all the meetings, not to glorify God, but for the "loaves and fishes." Such would much better have been at home laboring with
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their hands, "the thing that is good," to supply the wants of their families and to have something to give to sustain the precious cause of present truth. Now is the time to lay up treasure in heaven and to set our hearts in order, ready for the time of trouble. Those only who have clean hands and pure hearts will stand in that trying time. Now is the time for the law of God to be in our minds, foreheads, and written in our hearts.
{EW 57.2}



The Lord has shown me the danger of letting our minds be filled with worldly thoughts and cares. I saw that some minds are led away from present truth and a love of the Holy Bible by reading other exciting books; others are filled with perplexity and care for what they shall eat, drink, and wear. Some are looking too far off for the coming of the Lord. Time has continued a few years longer than they expected; therefore they think it may continue a few years more, and in this way their minds are being led from present truth, out after the world. In these things I saw great danger; for if the mind is filled with other things, present truth is shut out, and there is no place in our foreheads for the seal of the living God. I saw that the time for Jesus to be in the most holy place was nearly finished and that time can last but a very little longer. What leisure time we have should be spent in searching the Bible, which is to judge us in the last day. {EW 58.1}



My dear brethren and sisters, let the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ be in your minds continually and let them crowd out worldly thoughts and cares. When you lie down and when you rise up, let them be your meditation. Live and act wholly in reference to the coming of the Son of man. The sealing time is very short, and will soon be over. Now is the time, while the four angels are holding the four winds, to make our calling and election sure.

Early Writings, Ellen G. White, pages 56-58.