Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev charged with using ‘weapon of mass destruction’


Mon Apr 22 2013
Former C.I.A. Director R. James Woolsey says political correctness is getting in the way of properly addressing and preventing terrorism, particularly in light of the Boston Marathon bombings.
The Fold/ The Washington Post
By Jerry Markon, Sari Horwitz and Jenna Johnson, Published: April 22


Federal prosecutors announced terrorism charges against the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing on Monday, outlining a chilling plot in which the man and his brother allegedly used low-grade but deadly explosives timed to detonate a block apart.

As he lay seriously injured in a Boston area hospital, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was charged with using a weapon of mass destruction and malicious destruction of property, counts that could bring him the death penalty. He made his first court appearance in an unusual, non-public proceeding in which a federal judge and several lawyers went to his hospital bed.



Gallery


Boston Marathon bombing suspects: Information is slowly emerging on the two brothers, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, suspected in the Boston Marathon bombings.

The toll from the two blasts, according to court documents and interviews on Monday, could have been far higher. Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, 26, who was killed Friday after a firefight with police, had a homemade arsenal of explosives. Some law enforcement officials said they think the brothers were planning more attacks.

The pair also apparently had no escape plan. The FBI found in Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s college dorm room what appeared to be the same black jacket and white hat he wore on the day of the attack, court documents said.

As the legal machinery began moving, the rituals of recovery continued in Boston. Near the marathon finish line, where three people were killed and more than 200 injured, residents and office workers poured out of buildings on Monday for a moment of silence at the same time the blasts occurred one week ago.

When the clock reached 2:50 p.m., hundreds of people — standing on sidewalks, street corners and building steps — froze in place. Even some cars stopped moving, ignoring green lights until cabs honked for them to move. Some people wiped away tears; others hugged.

Within five minutes, the buzz of life again hit the streets. Yet earlier in the day, the atmosphere was equally solemn in a quiet Boston suburb as people came together to mourn Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant manager, in the first funeral for a victim of the attack. Firefighters, members of the Guardian Angels and motorcyclists joined Campbell’s high school classmates and others, the mourners dressed mostly in black and standing quietly in a cold wind.

The criminal complaint against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, filed in U.S. District Court in Boston, ended a debate over how one of the first successful terrorist attacks on the U.S. homeland since Sept. 11, 2001, should be handled. Some congressional Republicans had insisted that Tsarnaev be designated an “enemy combatant,’’ which would enable the government to charge him under the laws of war in a military commission or to hold him indefinitely.

White House press secretary Jay Carney rejected that approach on Monday, saying that the suspect cannot be tried in a military commission under federal law because he is a U.S. citizen. “We will prosecute this terrorist through our civilian system of justice,’’ Carney said at a White House news briefing.

Massachusetts public defenders Miriam Conrad, William Fick and Timothy Watkins, who have been appointed to represent Tsarnaev, did not reply to requests for comment Monday.


Read more

P.S.

On another note:

Remember the Weapons of Mass Destruction that Iraq 'supposedly'  had?
How these findings were utterly ridiculed?





)---(

Now they are charging the suspect of the Boston Marathon Bombing with using Weapons of Mass Destruction? And, to further perplex the matter and defy conventional wisdom, they will try this case as a criminal matter in a civil court.
The right left paradigm is in full effect here.
Now, the administration's opposing party can start the fireworks. Here comes more Hegelian Dialectics, folks!  Stay tuned...

Arsenio

 .

Everlasting Life

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
John 3:36 


.
.

Protests Against Same-Sex Marriage Bill Intensify in France



Kenzo Tribouillard/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Riot police officers stood by on Sunday at the end of a demonstration in Paris where tens of thousands of opponents of a same-sex marriage bill had gathered.


By STEVEN ERLANGER and SCOTT SAYARE
Published: April 22, 2013


PARIS — On Tuesday afternoon, France is expected to become the 14th country to legalize marriage for all couples, regardless of gender or sexual orientation..



Remy De La Mauviniere/Associated Press

Wilfred de Bruijn, a Dutch citizen, this month. He was beaten up while walking with his partner in Paris two weeks ago. He posted a photograph of his bloodied face on Facebook, calling it “the face of Homophobia.” It has been shared thousands of times.


The final vote in the legislature is expected to be quick, since the Socialist government of PresidentFrançois Hollande has a safe voting majority. But there has been an intensification of opposition to the billin the past few weeks, as Mr. Hollande’s critics have used demonstrations against it as a way of attacking the president himself.

Though hesitant at first, since polls show a majority of the French favor equal rights for same-sex couples, the center-right Union for a Popular Movement has embraced the demonstrations opposing the bill. The unity around the issue has helped paper over the sharp divisions and rivalries in the party, which is largely rudderless as its leader, former President Nicolas Sarkozy, weighs returning to active politics.

At the margins, the demonstrations have also become more violent and homophobic, with a series of nightly demonstrations last week around Parliament that resulted in clashes with riot police officers and a number of arrests. Even opposition leaders have bemoaned the way harder-right groups have infiltrated the demonstrations, and there has been a small surge in violence against gay men and lesbians, with some beatings and angry, offensive words on social media.

Two weeks ago, a Dutch-born man walking with his partner in Paris was beaten up. The man, Wilfred de Bruijn, posted a photograph of his bloodied face on his Facebook page, calling it “the face of Homophobia.” It has been shared thousands of times. Last week, two gay bars, in Bordeaux and Lille, were attacked, and a same-sex couple was attacked Saturday in Nice outside a gay nightclub.

Some protesters against gay marriage have started calling their movement “the French spring,” and many demonstrators are tying their actions to a generalized anger at Mr. Hollande, whose ratings in the polls continue to fall below previous record lows in a period of economic stagnation and growing unemployment. And there were mild scuffles last week in the National Assembly as an ill-tempered debate on the second reading of the bill finally concluded.

Mr. Hollande and his government have pressed ahead with the bill and condemned homophobia and violence, but the sometimes ugly tone of the protests has prompted the government to accelerate the vote to Tuesday, to get the bill passed and out of the way. Presidential aides say they want the matter finished before another large demonstration planned for this month, though opponents say they will continue to protest in May.

The vote is expected to be rapidly followed by a standard review of the legislation to ensure its accordance with the Constitution and then its signing into law by Mr. Hollande.

On Sunday, demonstrations in Paris passed peacefully, with about 45,000 protesters marching against the bill, according to police figures, and about 3,500 supporters of the legislation conducting their own rally, in part to protest homophobia. “Those who are for more equality must also make themselves heard,” said the Paris mayor, Bertrand Delanoë, who is gay.

Opponents shouted slogans against Mr. Hollande and wrapped themselves in the red, white and blue of the French flag. Some carried children or pushed baby carriages under a slogan that read, “All born of a mom and dad.” Opposition leaders condemned any targeting of homosexuals. The numbers on Sunday were down considerably from the 300,000 who marched last month.

But on Monday, Manuel Valls, the interior minister, accused protesters and political opponents on the right of “unleashing homophobic speech.” Speaking to Europe 1 radio, Mr. Valls conceded that opponents of the bill were “numerous,” but said they represented “a minority compared to the millions” who voted for Mr. Hollande as president a year ago, when he promised to pass a same-sex marriage bill in his first year in office.

Also on Monday, the president of the National Assembly received a letter threatening “war” and attacks on Socialist lawmakers if the lower house approved the legislation, the French news media reported. The letter was said to have contained gunpowder.

In general, politics has come to overshadow the moral and religious questions around the bill, which Roman Catholic, Muslim and Jewish leaders oppose. The bill promises “marriage for all” and more contentiously, polls show, would legalize adoption by same-sex couples. The bill does not mandate state aid for artificial insemination or other assistance in procreation for same-sex married couples, however, which many French oppose. Such a bill may be proposed separately.

Pierre Bréchon, a political scientist at Sciences Po, Grenoble, also known as the Grenoble Institute of Political Studies, sees a gradual change in French attitudes toward personal and sexual rights and freedoms, with the values of the fiercely secular republic arguing for equal rights for all individuals and open to “new forms of family life.”

Young people in France, as in the United States, he said, see marriage as “a fundamental right” for same-sex couples as well as straight ones, while older people are “more marked by Catholicism and remain more traditional” in their views of marriage as an ancient institution that binds men and women and protects children.

While the churches were important at the start of these demonstrations late last year, and religious leaders remain active, now “politicians and political networks are more at the front line,” Mr. Bréchon said. “Their main objective is to support protest against the politics of François Hollande,” tying the marriage issue to the country’s economic difficulties.

France is a conservative, largely Roman Catholic country where few go to church as well as liberal in regard to the rights of the individual, including sexual rights. Mr. Bréchon argued that France had moved further in the last 30 years than other European countries to recognize the rights of gay men and lesbians, and that opinion polls showed the society had moved faster than politicians or the law.

Since 1999, France has had a form of civil union, a civil solidarity pact, which gives couples some rights and protections, but falls short of marriage. While designed for same-sex couples, the pact is overwhelmingly used by heterosexuals who see the union as a kind of “marriage light” that can be dissolved far more easily than marriage.

Like Mr. Valls, Mr. Bréchon said that he believed that once the bill passed, most of the furor would die away, and that even Mr. Sarkozy’s party, should it return to power, would not try to overturn the law.

More than half of the countries in the European Union have some sort of civil union, if not marriage, open to same-sex couples, Mr. Bréchon said. “The movement is clear. It is gradual, but it is clear.”



A version of this article appeared in print on April 23, 2013, on page A8 of the New York edition with the headline: Protests Against Same-Sex Marriage Bill Intensify in France.


Source
.

Something's Rotten in Boston


Who's investigating the FBI investigators?:

Mon, 04/22/2013 - 12:18
by: Dave Lindorff



I’m not a conspiracy-minded person, but something definitely stinks about this whole Boston Marathon bombing story.

From what we’re reading about the case, the FBI had for at least two and possibly as many as five years been investigating Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the 26-year-old older brother killed during a shootout between police and the two brothers, Tamerlan and 19-year-old Dzhokhar. They had interviewed Tamerlan in his home, warned him they were watching what he ate, what he looked at on his computer, etc. They knew he had gone to Russia, Dagestan and Chechnya.

Then there’s the money thing. We’re told that Tamerlan had dropped out of community college because of money problems, right? Community college? That costs almost nothing to attend. That’s the whole point of community colleges: everyone can afford them. And he was reportedly only going part-time! But then, the two brothers are driving around in a Mercedes and wearing fancy clothes?

We’re talking about two brothers, both in school, with a father who was ill and living in Dagestan, who had worked as a curbside mechanic while in the US, and a mother who had a home beauty salon business, and these lads somehow were stylish dressers and drove around in an expensive car -- expensive to buy even used, and terribly expensive to maintain, too.

Where did all that money come from? We don’t know. Tamerlan was reportedly working at things like delivering pizza during that period This while living with his wife and caring at home for their young daughter, now three. Tamerlan’s wife was said to be supporting the struggling family by working “60-80 hours a week” as a home health care aide, one of the lowest-paying jobs you can find, often paying less than minimum wage.

Why is all this troubling? Because time and time again, when purported terrorist plots are “disrupted” and alleged terrorists are arrested, it turns out they are inept dupes who have been led into their “plots” by FBI provocateurs.

A stylishly dressed Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his Mercedes-Benz: hard-luck guy or someone with a government sugardaddy?


So was this horrific Boston Marathon bombing yet another in this long string of FBI sting operations that perhaps went wrong? Or worse, was this, as both the Tsarnaev parents, now divorced and living separately in Dagestan, are suggesting, actually a “false flag” set-up by US intelligence agencies?

There are other curiosities about this whole affair. It has been widely reported, even in the mainstream local media (at least early on), that there was an unusual amount of police presence at both the start and finish of the marathon this year -- activity that included police drug-sniffing dogs and also -- get this! -- private security personnel, reportedly from Craft International, wearing the same kind of black clothing and black backpacks as were seen being worn by the Tsarnaev brothers! What’s that about?

Craft International’s website describes the company as providing "the best security, defense and combat weapons training in the world to military, police, corporate and civilian clients."

Images of suspected Craft International security personnel before (l) and after (r) explosions at the marathon. Note similar attire between the clothes and backpacks of the Craft undercover security guys and what the two bombing suspects were wearing. (Ironically, the dark-complexioned guy second from the left in the "before" picture was early on wrongly singled out in news photos as a suspect!)


Surely, if the sniffer dogs were doing their job and weren’t all stuffed up in their sinuses, they would have detected two amateurs who had allegedly just packed two large kitchen pressure cookers with black powder and nails, and then placed them into backpacks, and who were walking around in the crowd at the finish line. Black powder has a strong recognizable odor, and would be very hard to work with in any kind of clean manner -- sort of like working with talcum powder and trying to keep it from getting all over the place (try it sometime).

For those who are dubious about the claim that Craft mercenaries were on the scene, check out this site, and the following photo image of the company's logo on the caps.

Craft mercenaries on the scene at the Boston Marathon, their hats bearing the company's logo (magnified here)


And then there’s a jarring interview on WEEI, a Boston-area radio call-in program called the Dennis & Callahan Morning Show, from a woman named “Linda,”who claims she witnessed the shootout between the two brothers and police in which Tamerlan was killed. The woman, who says she was staying over at her boyfriend’s house on Watertown’s Dexter Street, claims they “rushed to the front” of the house when they heard the sound of shooting and explosions and “saw the suspect get hit by a Police SUV, and then after he was hit, get shot multiple times.”

Clarifying, under questioning from the radio host, she says he was hit first by the police, and then adds, “from what we saw early this morning I’d be hard pressed to think he was actually pronounced dead at the hospital, I mean from the injuries that he incurred in the street I would say he was probably dead when he was put in the ambulance.” She goes on to suggest that Tamerlan may have been executed by police: “I just remember him get shot multiple times.” Of course, “Linda” and her story could be a complete fake, but her account, completely at odds with the official one that has a ruthless and uncaring Dzhokhar running over his own brother in the firefight, dragging him 30 feet down the road before miraculously escaping himself from a police cordon on foot (somehow the tracking dogs couldn't follow his bloody trail).

Dzhokhar himself, currently being held under tight security in Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital where he is in serious condition with two bullet wounds and is being reportedly questioned by the FBI, is lucky to be alive at all. When he was discovered, weakened from blood loss, hiding inside a trailer-mounted pleasure boat in a retired New England Telephone employee’s driveway, police called to the scene by the owner, David Henneberry, initially pumped bullets into the boat trying to kill him, until they were ordered to stop firing by a supervisor. It is not known whether the bullet that hit Dzhokhar’s neck, producing a wound which now reportedly prevents him from talking, was one of those fired by police at that time (police are claiming it was "probably" self-inflicted).

I don’t know what to make of all these oddities, but I know one thing for sure. Given the FBI’s long and nefarious record of orchestrating and financing terror plots since September 11, 2001, so that they can then bust them, the last organization that should be in charge of questioning Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the hospital, and of investigating the whole bombing, is the FBI. The agency has far too much explaining to do itself in this bizarre case.

Before the country marches further down the road towards becoming a police state, with martial law takeovers of cities becoming the new normal, we need to find out what the FBI -- and Craft International -- were up to in Boston, and where the Tsarnaev brothers were getting their money, their ideas and their supplies from. (And by the way, if you thought that Boston's city-wide "shelter in place" order was a voluntary protect-the-public thing, and not an example of martial law in action, watch this video of how it was actually being handled on the ground, with citizens being ordered out of their homes at gunpoint, and police yelling orders at frightened residents like stormtroopers.)


.

My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work



1When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,

2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)

3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.

4 And he must needs go through Samaria.

5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:

18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?

28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,

29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.

31 In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.

32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.

33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat?

34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.

38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.

39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.

41 And many more believed because of his own word;

42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

43 Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee.

44 For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.

45 Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast.

46 So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.

47 When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.

48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.

49 The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.

50 Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.

51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.

52 Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.

53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.

54 This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee.

John 4
King James Version (KJV)
.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Who was Tamerlane?



Tamerlane Facts

Listen


Tamerlane (1336-1405) was a celebrated Turko-Mongol conqueror whose victories, characterized by acts of inhuman cruelty, made him the master of the greater part of western Asia. His vast empire disintegrated at his death.

Tamerlane or Timur (Tamerlane is a corruption of the Persian Timur-i Lang, "Timur the Lame"), belonged to the Turkized Mongol clan of the Barlas, which had accompanied the Mongol armies westward and had settled in the Kashka Valley to the south of Samarkand, between Shakhrisyabz and Karshi. He was born near Shakhrisyabz on April 9, 1336. This whole region, the present-day Soviet Socialist Republic of Uzbekistan, was then part of the Chaghatai khanate, which received its name from its founder, the second son of Genghis Khan, and which included, besides Transoxiana—the countries between the Amu Darya (Oxus) and the Syr Darya—the whole area to the east of the Syr Darya up to the western borders of Mongolia.

In 1346/1347 the Chaghatai khan, Kazan, who had his residence at Karshi, was defeated and killed by a tribal leader called Kazaghan, and Transoxiana ceased to be part of the khanate. Kazaghan's death (1358) was followed by a period of anarchy, and Tughluk-Temür, the ruler of the territories beyond the Syr Darya (now known as Moghulistan, "land of the Moguls, or Mongols"), invaded Transoxiana in 1360 and again in 1361 in an attempt to reestablish Chaghatai rule.

Tamerlane declared himself Tughluk-Temür's vassal and was made ruler of the Shakhrisyabz-Karshi region. He soon, however, rebelled against the Moguls and formed an alliance with Husain, the grandson of Kazaghan. Together in 1363 they drove Ilyas Khoja, Tughluk-Temür's son, out of Transoxiana; he returned in the following year, having succeeded his father as khan, and inflicted a defeat upon Tamerlane and Husain, but they were able, after his withdrawal, to consolidate their power as joint rulers of the country. They were often on bad terms but with some interruptions maintained an uneasy partnership until 1370, when open war erupted. Besieged at Balkh, Husain was captured and executed, and Tamerlane, now the undisputed master of Transoxiana, took up residence at Samarkand, henceforward his capital city and the base of his operations against eastern and western Asia.


Expansion of Power

Tamerlane's first campaigns were directed against Khiva and his old enemies, the Moguls; it was not until 1381 that he turned his attention westward, leading an expedition into eastern Iran; further expeditions in subsequent years extended gradually into Iraq, Asia Minor, and Syria. The atrocities committed in the course of these campaigns are recorded even by his own court historian. At Sabzawar, in what is now Afghanistan, Tamerlane directed a tower to be constructed out of live men heaped on top of one another and cemented together with bricks and mortar. To punish a revolt in Isfahan, he ordered a general massacre of the population, and the heads of 70, 000 people were built up into minarets.

In 1387 an invasion of Transoxiana by Toktamish, the ruler of the Golden Horde, obliged Tamerlane to interrupt his operations in western Asia, and the repulsion of the invader, followed by expeditions into Moghulistan, was to keep him occupied for the next 4 years. It was not until 1392 that he resumed the conquest of western Asia in what is known as the Five Years' Campaign. After suppressing the Muzaffarid dynasty in Fars (spring 1393), Tamerlane entered present-day Iraq, received the submission of Baghdad, whose Jalayirid ruler, Sultan Ahmad, had fled at his approach, continued northward into eastern Turkey and the Caucasus area, defeated Toktamish in a battle on the Terek (April 1395), and advanced up the Don to capture the Russian town of Yelets, on the border between the Russian principalities and the territory of the Golden Horde. The campaign ended, in the winter of 1395-1396, with the destruction of the two main centers of the Horde at Astrakhan and New Saray, and Tamerlane returned to Samarkand to prepare for his invasion of India.


India, Turkey, and Egypt

This, the briefest of his campaigns, lasting less than 6 months, was the occasion of Tamerlane's greatest massacre: the execution in cold blood, before the gates of Delhi, of 100, 000 Hindu prisoners. There followed immediately the so-called Seven Years' Campaign (1399-1403), which brought Tamerlane into conflict with the two most powerful rulers in western Asia, the Ottoman sultan of Turkey and the Mamluk sultan of Egypt.

Syria, then part of Egypt's territory, was invaded in 1400, Aleppo falling in October of that year and Damascus in March 1401. Tamerlane now turned eastward against Baghdad, which had been reoccupied by Sultan Ahmad's forces and offered stubborn resistance to Tamerlane's attack. It was taken in June 1401, and the slaughter which followed was such that the heads of the dead were piled up into 120 towers. Tamerlane passed the winter of 1401/1402 in the eastern Caucasus before moving westward into Anatolia to deal the final blow to Sultan Bayazid (Bajazet), who was defeated and taken prisoner at the Battle of Ankara (July 20, 1402).

The Sultan died while still in captivity, but the story, familiar from Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great, that he was transported in an iron cage like a wild beast, is based on a misunderstanding of a phrase in the record of the historian Arabshah. The last action of the campaign was the storming and sacking of Smyrna, then held by the Knights of St. John, who had recaptured it from the Ottoman Turks a half century before.

Tamerlane returned from the Seven Years' Campaign by slow stages, reaching Samarkand in August 1404. He set off before the end of the year upon a still more grandiose enterprise, the conquest of China, liberated only some 30 years previously form its Mongol masters. He was, however, taken ill at Otrar, on the eastern bank of the Syr Darya, and died on Feb. 18, 1405.


Further Reading on Tamerlane

Hilda Hookham's gracefully written Tamburlaine the Conqueror (1964) is the most detailed and up-to-date work addressed to the general reader. Older works include a 14th-century account in Arabic by Ahmed ibn Arabshah, Tamerlane, translated by J. H. Sanders (1936), and Harold Lamb, Tamerlane, the Earth Shaker (1928). See also the relevant sections in René Grousset, Empire of the Steppes (1939; trans. 1970); Richard N. Frye, Iran (1954); Sir John Glubb, The Lost Centuries (1967), which contains an excellent chapter on Tamerlane; and the Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 6 (1971).


.

Keepers of the Flame



......
Keepers of the Flame examines the great stories of faith and controversy that have led to the emergence of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 2 DVDs contain all 8 episodes.

In a vivid way to learn or teach Adventist Church history, Dr. Allen Lindsay takes you to locations in Europe, North America, and Australia, to retell the great stories of controversy and faith that have led to the emergence of the Seventh-day Adventist church. Through each of the eight episodes, dramatic vignettes capture the greatest moments of Martin Luther, the Waldenses, Calvin, Zwingli, and John Knox. The light of truth has shone through time and is pointing to the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Documentary and drama combine to reveal the early life of Ellen White. What she saw in an 1863 vision gave members of the church a lasting advantage in matters of health and medicine. You see the guiding influence of the prophetic gift in her own actions and in the early history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Dr. Lindsay examines the biblical basis for prophecy and the role of the church as the great controversy moves toward its climax.

Total Running time 315 minutes.

..




.

Challenging Islam





DavidEMould


Published on Mar 23, 2012


Shot from the Mount of Olives, David Mould explains his vision for reaching Islam.

.

Saudi National Questioned in Boston was on Terror Watch List





Apr 22, 2013


By Todd Starnes

The Saudi national who was initially detained and then ruled out as a suspect in the Boston Marathon terrorist attack had been flagged on a terror watch list and was granted a student visa without being properly vetted, sources have told me.


A source close to the investigation revealed that Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi had been deemed inadmissible under the section of the Immigration and Nationality Act which declares ineligible for a visa – any alien who is engaged in or is likely to engage after entry – in terrorist activity.

At least two additional sources have confirmed to me that Ali Alharbi is set to be deported as early as this week, contrary to statements made by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

The House Homeland Security Committee is now requesting a classified briefing with Napolitano to get to the bottom of the issue, according to an exclusive report from The Blaze.

Napolitano denied anyone was being deported in a heated exchange Thursday with Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) during a House hearing.

“I am unaware of anyone who is being deported for national security concerns at all related to Boston,” she said. “I don’t know where that rumor came from.”

The Homeland Security chief said the Saudi national was not “technically a person of interest or a suspect, that was a wash.”

But Duncan questioned the wisdom of deporting someone who was at the scene of a terrorist attack.

“Wouldn’t you agree with me that it is negligent for us, as an American administration, to deport someone who was reportedly at the scene of the bombing, and we are going to deport him, not to be able to question him anymore, is that not negligent,” Duncan asked.

Napolitano refused to answer the question.

“It is so full of misstatements and misapprehensions, that it is just not worthy of any answer,” she replied. “There has been so much reported on this that has been wrong. I can’t even begin to tell you, congressman.”

Last week Steven Emerson, of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, told Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity that Alharbi had been set to be deported “on national security grounds.”

“You don’t arrest their citizens – you deport them,” Emerson said regarding the Saudis.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement official told me that it was a case a “Saudi being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The official, with knowledge of the case, said Alharbi’s status has changed – but as it now stands – he will be sent back home.

“They don’t like the negative press,” the official said of the Saudis. “The guess is he will probably be allowed to leave without a lot of hype in order to avoid political sensitivities with the Saudis.”

ICE sources told The Blaze that a separate Saudi national was in custody — and that individual was in no way affiliated with the Boston attacks.


.

"Use not vain repetitions"



And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Matthew 6:5-8.
.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

GRAHAM: Boston proves "homeland battlefield," Constitution obsolete


Photo: Google Images


Saturday, April 20, 2013 - Citizen Warrior by Tiffany Madison

Tiffany Madison



RELATED COLUMNS
No, Eric Holder, Obama can't murder us with drones
The Smith-Amash amendment and NDAA: A loss and a win for liberty



AUSTIN, April 20, 2013 - The always patriotic U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham says the Boston bombing “is Exhibit A of why the homeland is the battlefield.” In an interview with the Washington Post:

“It’s a battlefield because the terrorists think it is.” Referring to Boston, he observed, “Here is what we’re up against,” and added, “It sure would be nice to have a drone up there [to track the suspect.]” He also slammed the president’s policy of “leading from behind and criminalizing war.”

On Twitter, Graham suggested the Obama administration arbitrarily toss the court system and Constitution for “intelligence gathering purposes.” According to Graham, accused bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, should be held as an enemy combatant. This legal status has been mostly reserved for al Qaeda captured abroad or foreigners, such as those held without charge for the last decade in Guantanamo Bay’s military facility.

Senator Graham is a known proponent of military-style detention for American suspects merely accused of terrorism. During debates regarding indefinite detainment provisions in 2011, which effectively invalidated the Bill of Rights, he notoriously bellowed that Americans accused of a terrorist-related crime should be denied Due Process. “When they say I want a lawyer you say, “Shut up! You don’t get a lawyer”.

He was also a most vocal critic of Senator Rand Paul’s 13-hour filibuster designed to demand answers regarding the Obama administration’s domestic drone program. When the tide of public opinion turned against him, he stopped vocally defending the “homeland battlefield” ideology, but Graham never lets a crisis go to waste.

These statements are a lame attempt to justify the further militarization of the American justice system. While most Americans are content with disregarding this typical chickenhawk rhetoric, this narrative becomes increasingly more dangerous.

All Americans should be wary when congressional leaders like Graham attempt to justify 12th century-style military custody.

As journalist Tom Mullen rightly observed, “The Bill of Rights was already on life support before this tragedy. Before the dust settled after 9/11, the 4th Amendment had been nullified by the Patriot Act. The 5th and 6th Amendments were similarly abolished with the Military Commission Act of 2006 and the 2012 NDAA resolution, which contained a clause allowing the president to arrest and indefinitely detain American citizens on American soil without due process of law.”

How much further can we move to invalidate our entire legal process? If we are at war with radical individuals and America is a battlefield, then why pretend we have laws? Why didn’t we just call in a few Apaches and dispatch the suspects promptly, as we do in war? Why bother with arrest and detainment, evidence or trial?

Because the United States is not at “war” with its own citizens that commit acts of terror for an ideology any more than we were at war with the Columbine shooters and various other domestic terrorists. They should be captured or killed in accordance with law, tried and convicted if guilty. They should be exonerated if they are innocent. That is the American way.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is an American citizen accused of a terrible crime, and current evidence suggest he is likely guilty. While there are legitimate arguments regarding whether he should be Mirandized, he doesn’t lose his right to trial, evidence and appeal because he’s been accused of a crime, no matter how egregious. He should not be treated as an enemy combatant and released to military custody as Graham advocates.

Let’s remember the definition of freedom. Let’s remember that the United States has based its worldwide reputation on protecting freedom, which is rooted in respect for the rule of law. We have taken up the banner of liberty and protected human rights around the world, both by example and with blood.

Did our nation’s warriors sacrifice their lives so that politicians could undermine liberty by declaring the “homeland” a “battlefield”? Can the United States government be at war with its own people? If the “War on Terror” cannot be won without destroying the Constitution, then have we not already lost?

Perhaps Senator Lindsey Graham speaks so loosely of “war” at every turn because he’s never seen “war” from his lush digs in corporate royalty land. Without due process, there is nothing protecting the innocent from mistakes made by bureaucrats. When the law is manipulated for one suspect, it is much easier to bend it for us all. If you disagree with him, perhaps he should hear from you.

Source: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/citizen-warrior/2013/apr/20/boston-graham-says-bombing-proves-homeland-battlef/#ixzz2R86Mfsfw

.

Sunday brings faith and healing in Boston



By David Ariosto and Moni Basu CNN


UPDATED 3:08 PM EDT Apr 21, 2013


BOSTON (CNN) —On this brisk April morning in Boston's South End, worshipers filled New England's largest Roman Catholic church. It was a time to pray -- and reflect on the torrent of violence this city has seen.

Last Sunday, a special blessing was said here for the runners in the Boston Marathon. Now, there were people sitting on the wooden pews who might have witnessed the tragedy. They were all scarred inside.

Almost a week has passed since bombs made from pressure cookers blew up near the finish line of the race. Three people died, and more than 170 were wounded. Many remain in hospitals.

Cardinal Sean O'Malley knew his role was to help heal.

He greeted people ahead of Sunday Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. It was in this sprawling 19th-century stone building that President Barack Obama quoted scripture Thursday to bring comfort and resolve for those still reeling from the Boston Marathon bombings. It was time again to seek solace.

Maria Fernandez attended the service with her friends.

"This is the best place to be right now if you're from here and want to support Boston," she said.

Inside the church, all eyes fell on four large photos of the victims, candles flickering in front of them.

Some prayed. Others whispered.

O'Malley, Boston's archbishop, hoped the service reinforced Boston's communal ties after the tragedy.



Read more:http://www.wptz.com/news/national/Sunday-brings-faith-and-healing-in-Boston/-/8869978/19834996/-/aj71sf/-/index.html#ixzz2R84SQ200

.

FRESHMAN REPS CALL FOR BREAK IN GRIDLOCK


Peters wants to set a tone of progress; Vargas optimistic about passing reform
By Mark Walker 12:01 A.M. APRIL 20, 2013 Updated 9:05 P.M. APRIL 19, 2013


After a little more than 100 days in office, San Diego County’s two new members of Congress said they’re a bit frustrated but committed to breaking Washington’s partisan gridlock.

“We still have some work to do in changing the culture,” Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, said Friday.

Peters said he’s working with more than 80 other freshmen to set a tone of compromise and achieve progress on legislation that benefits the nation.

“San Diego seems much more able to do that than Washington, D.C., and we need that there,” he said.

The county delegation’s other freshman member, Democrat Juan Vargas of San Diego, said he believes there is enough bipartisan agreement on comprehensive immigration reform to get legislation passed this year.

“I hope this becomes a model for other things we have to do. We’ve got to compromise,” he said. “I think the Democrats and Republicans can get together and compromise on most things.”

But Vargas also said he’s been taken aback at the apparent lack of behind-the-scenes bargaining by what he refers to as the “adults in the room.”

“There doesn’t seem to be anyone behind the curtain,” he said. “I haven’t been there long enough to know for certain if there isn’t, but so far I haven’t seen it.”

The lawmakers’ remarks came during the 20th annual congressional luncheon sponsored by the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.

More than 600 people gathered inside a Marriott Marquis ballroom, where they dined on Cobb salad and iced tea and heard from four of the county’s five House members. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, was unable to attend.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, said entitlement reform is his top fiscal priority.

“If we are going to have Social Security and Medicare not dealt with and continue to balloon past their revenue base, then either we are going to tax ourselves out of doing the things that all of my colleagues say are important, or in fact we are going to run out of money,” he said.

Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said budget proposals from the Democratically controlled Senate and President Barack Obama don’t adequately address entitlements.

“It’s the No. 1 priority if we are going to keep from cutting defense or cutting our core priorities,” he said.

Issa also said federal and state regulations are combining to drive businesses out of California.

“This state has told people to leave,” he said, adding that unless onerous regulations and taxes are relaxed, an increasing numbers of large businesses will leave for states such as Texas.

“I predict we will keep small, innovative businesses,” he said. “But when they get to the point of breaking even, they’ll leave.”

San Diego Democrat Susan Davis said she supports Obama’s call for universal preschool access.

She also said she continues to strongly support the Affordable Care Act and encouraged business executives to work with Congress to make its implementation a smooth process.

All the lawmakers spoke in support of $226 million in federal funding to complete an expansion of the San Ysidro Port of Entry. But Issa predicted that it wouldn’t be long after all that work is done that calls for even more inspection lanes will begin.

The luncheon was one of the first appearances by former San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders before a large group since leaving office and becoming the chamber’s new president and chief executive.

He and his successor, Mayor Bob Filner, whom Sanders jokingly referred to as his twin brother, just completed a chamber-sponsored trip to Mexico City together.

“It’s wonderful that we get to work together,” Filner told the crowd during brief remarks that included praise for Sanders’ work in straightening out city finances.


.

Related:


Issa Offers Dems a Trade: Back XL Pipeline to Speed Border Crossings

.


Issa, a North County Republican whose district includes southern Orange County, told 600 members of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce that if Democrats want the border crossing funds, they’ll have to bend on another border issue—the Keystone XL pipeline to the Gulf of Mexico.

“You can’t be territorial on import and export,” Issa told the luncheon at the bayfront Marriott Hotel near the San Diego Convention Center. “If you want to get bipartisan buy-in on these trade issues, you have to take the big picture.”

Calling the XL pipeline “just as important to the national dialog” as San Diego’s border with Mexico, he said: “Right now, we’re telling Canada that we will stop the exports of their oil for no particular reason except that we can.”

But Issa incited bipartisan laughter when he responded to a comment by Vargas that the county’s congressional delegation had three border members—the Democrats who visited the border earlier Friday.

“We have a border crossing in my district,” Issa said. “Come up to San Onofre.”

To which Vargas, the successor to Bob Filner in the 51st District fronting the border, responded: “As a Democrat, there’s that border crossing—between San Diego and Orange County.”



.

Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi, ‘Person Of Interest’ In Boston Bombing, Still Set To Be Deported On Tuesday

Published On: Sat, Apr 20th, 2013

US Headlines | By Brandon Jones



An expert on terrorism says the Saudi national who was the original “person of interest” in connection with Monday’s Boston Marathon bombing is going to be deported from the U.S. on Tuesday.

The foreign student from Revere, Mass., is identified as 20-year-old Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi.

“I just learned from my own sources that he is now going to be deported on national security grounds next Tuesday, which is very unusual,” Steve Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism told Sean Hannity of Fox News Wednesday night.

Emerson echoed more details Friday on The Glenn Beck Radio Show, who says there are many more details to this situation and would be revealed on Monday.

The Reuters news agency reported President Barack Obama met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on Wednesday, noting “the meeting was not on Obama’s public schedule.”

After that meeting was mentioned, Emerson told Hannity, “That’s very interesting because this is the way things are done with Saudi Arabia. You don’t arrest their citizens. You deport them, because they don’t want them to be embarrassed and that’s the way we appease them.”

Tuesday morning, a meeting Secretary of State John Kerry held with the Saudi foreign minister was abruptly closed to press coverage.

“The State Department initially provided no reason for the change, which was announced just 15 minutes before the scheduled 10 a.m. session,” reported Politico.

    

(Actual picture)



Congressman Jeff Duncan asked DHS chief Janet Napolitano about the Saudi linked to the Boston bombings being deported for “national security” reasons.

Napolitano denied any knowledge of the man being deported. (MORE HERE)

Two Saudi nationals were reportedly injured in the bombings in Boston, with one, Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi, initially put under armed guard at a hospital. Alharbi is reportedly studying in the U.S. on a student visa.

A large group of federal and state law enforcement agents reportedly raided Alharbi’s apartment in Revere, Mass.

CNN reported the search took place by consent, according to a federal law-enforcement source, meaning no search warrant was needed

Now the Saudi embassy in Washington has said Alharbi was no longer under detention and is not a suspect in the bomb blasts.

More from The Blaze which is currently the best coverage


.

Related:

Abdul Rahman Ali Al-Harbi, Bombing ‘Person Of Interest’ Has 6 Saudi ‘Terrorists’ In Family,5 More Are In Gitmo



Confirmation that Abdul Rahman Ali Al-Harbi, the Saudi national and initial “person of interest,” is indeed being deported this week now is spreading across the Internet. More details are emerging this weekend as Arabic sources and Saudi papers themselves are confirming “rumors” swirling in the US. (more at bottom)




Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi in the hospital.

Moreover, the Saudi papers are detailing the visit by the Obamas, especially Michelle to the hospital and this man. The “rumors” of the President meeting with Saudi officials in the hospital just prior to his “approved deportation” is abragging right in their press.

More notable is the assertions that Abdul Rahman Ali Al-Harbi is free an clear of terrorist ties, when in fact over 10 names from his clan are already linked to Al-Qaeda.

Many from Al-Harbi’s clan are entrenched in terrorism and are members of Al-Qaeda as identified by the Islamic governements.


.
.
.

America's Historic Moment with Marxist President Barack Obama by Bob Trefz





MrPioneerlight2011


Published on Apr 10, 2013


HOW DOES AMERICA'S "HISTORIC MOMENT"(THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION) FIT INTO THE BROADER PICTURE OF THE THREE ANGEL'S MESSAGES, BIBLE PROPHECY, THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL?

for more Information please see our website:
www.exposingdeceptions.org


HOW DOES AMERICA'S "HISTORIC MOMENT" FIT IN TO THE BROADER PICTURE OF THE THREE ANGEL'S MESSAGES, BIBLE PROPHECY, THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL, AND HISTORY?

THE ECONOMY IS CRACHING DEEPER AND DEEPER. REVOLUTIONS OFTEN TAKE PLACE IN THE WAKE OF ECONOMIC COLLAPSE.

WHAT IS THE TESTIMONY OF HISTORY?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE A MARXIST REVOLUTIONARY TAKE POWER AT SUCH A MOMENT?

OUR NEW PRESIDENT ELECT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA...

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE A MUSLIM MESSIAH TAKE THE REINS OF GOVERNMENT?

WHAT IS THE PLAN OF STEALTH JIHAD TO TAKE OVER AMERICA, EUROPE AND THE WORLD?

WHAT SAITH THE WORD OF GOD ABOUT ALL THESE DEVELOPEMENTS?

NATIONAL APOSTASY WILL BE FOLLOWED BY NATIONAL RUIN.

HOW CAN WE BE SURE THAT OUR CALLING AND ELECTION IS SURE IN SUCH A TIME? HOW CAN WE DWELL IN THE SECRET OF THE MOST HIGH, UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE MIGHTY, OVERMASTERING ONE?

.

More Than Waco: Chapter 1, The Early Years



More Than Waco: Chapter 1, The Early Years



DavidEMould

Uploaded on Dec 27, 2010


David Mould & Lincoln Steed discuss some of the hot-potato issues surrounding the genesis of The (New, Illustrated) Great Controversy.

.


The Vatican's Role In The New World Order! Bill Hughes





MrPioneerlight2011 


Published on Mar 23, 2013


Pastor and Author of the groundbreaking books "The Secret Terrorists" and "The Enemy Unmasked" pulls the curtain back to expose the real power behind the coming New World Order! Have the Jesuits(The Society of Jesus) been the real Assassins behind the murder of Abraham Lincoln and J.F.K.? Is the Black Pope the REAL power behind the Vatican throne? Please see our website for more Information:
www.Exposingdeceptions.org


.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Strong Quake Jolts China, Killing 156



Gillian Wong Published: Apr 20, 2013, 4:24 PM EDT Associated Press


China Earthquake



ASSOCIATED PRESS
This aerial photo released by China's Xinhua news agency shows destroyed houses after a powerful earthquake hit Taiping town of Lushan County in Ya'an City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Saturday, April 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Liu Yinghua)



YA'AN, China -- Residents huddled outdoors Saturday night in a town near the epicenter of a powerful earthquake that struck the steep hills of China's southwestern Sichuan province, leaving at least 156 people dead and more than 5,500 injured.

Saturday morning's earthquake triggered landslides and disrupted phone and power connections in mountainous Lushan county five years after a devastating quake wreaked widespread damage across the region. The village of Longmen was hit particularly hard, with authorities saying nearly all the buildings there had been destroyed in a frightening minute-long shaking by the quake.

(INTERACTIVE MAP: Earthquake Location)

In nearby Ya'an town, where aftershocks could be felt nearly 20 hours after the quake, residents sat in groups outside convenience stores watching the news on television sets. Fourteen-year-old Wang Xing sat with her family on chairs by the roadside in the cool night air, a large blanket on her lap.

Wang and her relatives said they planned to spend the night in their cars. "We don't feel safe sleeping at home tonight," said Wang, a student. She said the quake left tears on the walls of her family's house. "It was very scary when it happened. I ran out of my bed and out of the house. I didn't even have my shoes on."

Along the main roads leading to the worst-hit county of Lushan, ambulances, fire engines and military trucks piled high with supplies waited in long lines, some turning back to try other routes when roads were impassable.





Rescuers turned the square outside the Lushan County Hospital into a triage center, where medical personnel bandaged bleeding victims, according to footage on China Central Television. Rescuers dynamited boulders that had fallen across roads to reach Longmen and other damaged areas lying farther up the mountain valleys, state media reported.

The China Earthquake Administration said at least 156 people had died, including 96 in Lushan. In the jurisdiction of Ya'an, which administers Lushan, 19 people were reported missing and more than 5,500 people were injured, the administration said.

The quake - measured by the earthquake administration at magnitude-7.0 and by the U.S. Geological Survey at 6.6 - struck the steep hills of Lushan county shortly after 8 a.m., when many people were at home, sleeping or having breakfast. People in their underwear and wrapped in blankets ran into the streets of Ya'an and even the provincial capital of Chengdu, 115 kilometers (70 miles) east of Lushan, according to photos, video and accounts posted online.

The quake's shallow depth, less than 13 kilometers (8 miles), likely magnified the impact.

Chengdu's airport shut down for about an hour before reopening, though many flights were canceled or delayed, and its railway station halted dozens of scheduled trains, state media said.

Lushan reported the most deaths, but there was concern that casualties in neighboring Baoxing county might have been under-reported because of inaccessibility after roads were blocked and power and phone services cut off.

As the region went into the first night after the quake, rain started to fall, slowing rescue work. Forecasts called for more rain in the next several days, and the China Meteorological Administration warned of possible landslides and other geological disasters.

Tens of thousands of people moved into tents or cars, unable to return home or too afraid to go back as aftershocks continued to jolt the region.

Lushan, where the quake struck, lies where the fertile Sichuan plain meets foothills that eventually rise to the Tibetan plateau and sits atop the Longmenshan fault. It was along that fault line that a devastating magnitude-7.9 quake struck on May 12, 2008, leaving more than 90,000 people dead or missing and presumed dead in one of the worst natural disasters to strike China in recent decades.

"It was just like May 12," Liu Xi, a writer in Ya'an city, who was jolted awake by Saturday's quake, said via a private message on his account on Sina Corporation's Twitter-like Weibo service. "All the home decorations fell at once, and the old house cracked."

The official Xinhua News Agency said the well-known Bifengxia panda preserve, which is near Lushan, was not affected by the quake. Dozens of pandas were moved to Bifengxia from another preserve, Wolong, after its habitat was wrecked by the 2008 quake.

As in most natural disasters, the government mobilized thousands of soldiers and others - 7,000 people by Saturday afternoon - sending excavators and other heavy machinery as well as tents, blankets and other emergency supplies. Two soldiers died after the vehicle that they and more than a dozen others were in slipped off the road and rolled down a cliff, state media reported.

Premier Li Keqiang flew to Ya'an to direct rescue efforts, and he and President Xi Jinping ordered officials and rescuers to make saving people the top priority, Xinhua said.

The Chinese Red Cross said it had deployed relief teams with supplies of food, water, medicine and rescue equipment to the disaster areas.

With roads blocked for several hours after the quake, the military surveyed the disaster area by air. Aerial photos released by the military and shown on state television showed individual houses in ruins in Lushan and outlying villages flattened into rubble. The roofs of some taller buildings appeared to have slipped off, exposing the floors beneath them.

A person whose posts to the micro-blogging account "Qingyi Riverside" on Weibo carried a locator geotag for Lushan said many buildings collapsed and that people could spot helicopters hovering above.

The earthquake administration said there had been at least 712 aftershocks, including two of magnitude-5.0 or higher.

"It's too dangerous," said a person with the Weibo account Chengduxinglin and with a Lushan geotag. "Even the aftershocks are scary."

While rescuers and state media rushed to the disaster scene, China's active social media users filled the information gap. They posted photos of people fleeing to streets for safety and of buildings flattened by the quake. They shared information on the availability of phone services, apparently through data services.

Associated Press writer Didi Tang contributed to this report from Beijing.


,
.

Babylon is Fallen - Dan Wilson



7401 - Babylon is Fallen / Complete Restoration - Dan Wilson


OfficialADTVChannel


Published on Apr 4, 2013


This introductory message to the series reveals where we stand in earth's history, where we came from, where we are going, and how that impacts how we live our lives today. Drawing on the first three chapters of Daniel, Dan Wilson applies these Old Testament types or prophecies to antitypical events in Revelation, particularly as they pertain to the Three Angels' Messages. Properly understood, the presentation helps us step back from not only our present reality, but also our preconceived ideas of the "truth" in order that we may gain a better view of the "Big Picture."
Watch the complete series:http://amazingdiscoveries.tv/c/167/Co...
http://amazingdiscoveries.tv/media/12...

.

An Urgent Solemn Appeal to Brethren (and Friends).

Previously posted here a few years ago:

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 06, 2007


AN URGENT SOLEMN APPEAL TO BRETHREN (AND FRIENDS).



The Lord has instilled in my heart a fervent desire to warn my brethren of an impeding judgement to come. The Lord has shown me that all are invited to accept His plan of redemption through His Son Jesus Christ; There is no other way to The Father, than through His Son. The Lord is a Holy and jealous God, and will not much longer tolerate the disaffection of His (creation) creatures. He has given us His Holy Scriptures, which attest to His character and long suffering love; Yet, mankind continues to refuse to do His will. He gave Moses the Ten Commandments, His Benchmark; Written with His own hand! But, man resists his Holy precepts, and makes up his own rules to abide by. Can any country or organization exist with out laws? Yet, men believe they can selectively choose which of God's laws they will abide by, and ignore the ones that deprive them of their natural affections. Man has denied the Authority of God by changing His Commandments, and by overlooking the commandments that would restrict his behavior. Here lies the beginning of man's rebellion which started on Earth in Eden, with Eve and Adam, and before that in Heaven with Lucifer.
.
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death....
Proverbs 14:12
.
The winds of war are all around us. The majority of countries around the world are submerged in strife, war, famine, death, and The Lord points His children to read His Holy Scriptures. He directs them to read His New Testament Gospels. In Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, The Lord Jesus predicted the very same "signs" that we see about us. When Jesus departed the Temple and his disciples pointed out the beauty and splendor of "The Temple": He responded: See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. Matthew 24:2. 
Jesus, here attempted to show the Disciples that nothing here on Earth is of greater value (long lasting), than what God has in store for us. Jesus proceeded to prepare them for what was to happen to Jerusalem in 30+ years, and eventually his latter- day followers; for what was to occur in the endtimes. He continued teaching as they headed for the Mount of Olives:
.
3And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. 
Matthew 24: 3-14.
.
My question to you brethren is: With such a definite outcome foretold by The Lord Jesus Christ and His Father Almighty God, can you or I doubt His prophecies? What must I do to be savedBelieve in Jesus Christ, literally being like Him; repenting of our sins, and resisting temptation (He will help you resist), change your fleshly ways, share your hope with others, pray for His triumphant return. We may suffer and struggle in life; But, life is a constant struggle with-out living your lives for Christ. So, why not suffer and struggle doing His will? You know He died on a cross for you and I? He was born in a manger not in a mansion, not with a silver spoon in His mouth. He suffered hunger, humiliation, shame, verbal assaults, and the most horrendous cruelty. Yet, men think themselves above the suffering of Jesus Christ. How ignorant can one be?
.
Jesus is calling sinners to repent and prepare for His return. The signs are all around us. Just listen. Can you hear the winds on strife? Can you hear the screams of desperation? Can you feel the lack of love around you? Can you just sit back and watch your High Definition Flat Screen Monitor while you puff on your Marlboros and drink your Budweiser? While deep within you long for rest and assurance? The world isn't what you want to imagine it is. Jesus is calling! Open your heart and repent. Judgement is just around the bend. Nothing can compare to His love and kindness. We're living proof.. Don't expect to be raptured either. This is an insidious and cunning lie that has been perpetrated to allow you to continue disregarding the warnings. Remember the Ten Virgins? Well, Jesus is coming as a thief in the night for those that are not ready. His loyal faithful children are waiting and watching. Won't you heed today and wash your sins in His blood?
.
15When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
Matthew 24: 15-20.
.
These are solemn warnings to those that have ears to hear, and eyes to see. Are you one of those few? Will you be found worthy? Will I? I pray that you and I can heed The Lord's instructions and accept His redeeming grace, follow His footsteps and await His return confident that He will receive us into his fold.
Note, that the Sabbath is still the Trademark of God. When He created the world he rested and sanctified the Sabbath. How can anyone "get away" with changing it to Friday or Sunday? The Lord is Eternal; He never waivers or wanes.
Finally, I challenge each and every brother, sister, to follow not my advice; But, the calling of Jesus. He is calling sinners to repent. He died for such. He loves them more than His own life. He is the original 'Lamb of God' who was slaughtered for the sins of His people. Jesus is waiting...He is coming...Will you rejoice when he returns?  Or will you curse and wish you had never been born. The day of the Lord is coming.
If you have a Holy Bible read the book of John in the New Testament; Then, read Matthew 24. If you also read Exodus 20 in the Old Testament you will see the context under which the Ten Commandment were given? Lastly, read Revelation 14 (It's not a sealed book), it will awaken you to what lies ahead for the children of God and for the children of The Dragon.
.
15And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Joshua 24:15 (King James Version)
.

**


Prayerfully,
Arsenio,
Maranatha.
.
P.S. IF YOU DON'T HAVE A BIBLE, TO READ ON-LINE GO TO:
.