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Body Scanners: Are They Effective?

Airport ‘Nude’ Body Scanners: Are They Effective?

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Airport ‘Nude’ Body Scanners: Are They Effective?

The body scanners rolling out to airports nationwide may violate travelers’ privacy, and they might even cause cancer.

But they prevent terrorists from wreaking havoc. Or do they?

Some research claims the machines — which produce a virtual nude image of the body — might not detect explosives or even guns taped to a person’s body. The U.S. government has reservations about their efficacy, as well. And even proponents of the technology concede the machines are not designed to detect so-called “booty bombs” — explosive devices concealed inside the human body.

“It’s not a possibility of the technology,” said Peter Kant, executive vice president of Los Angeles-based Rapiscan Systems, which has deployed 250 of its backscatter X-ray devices and another 250 are on the way. “None of the body scanners used by TSA are capable of doing that. They’re not designed to do that nor is it a requirement.”

Along with potential health issues, the efficacy of the so-called “advanced imaging technology” scanners will be a key issue Thursday when a high-profile lawsuit filed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center is heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. EPIC is challenging the TSA, which last year began placing about 500 of the $180,000 machines in 78 airports nationwide. Hundreds more machines are to be deployed this year.

EPIC is seeking a court order to halt the use of the scanners, on the grounds that the devices pose a health danger, are ineffective and  breach Americans’ constitutional right of privacy. Because Fourth Amendment questions tend to balance the privacy invasion against the government’s legitimate interest in performing it, the TSA will have to make the case that the scanners — introduced nearly a decade after the Sept. 11 attacks — are an important bulwark against future airline terrorism.

“The ultimate question under the Fourth Amendment is reasonableness,” said Ginger McCall, an EPIC attorney on the case. “If they’re ineffective and put people at a health risk, it’s going to be an unreasonable method.”

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, known as the Underwear Bomber/Wikimedia Commons

According to a heavily redacted TSA procurement directive EPIC obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the TSA required that the devices detect explosives, weapons, liquids and “other anomalies.” (.pdf) Several studies, though, point to limitations in the machines.

The Government Accountability Office — Congress’ investigative arm — concluded in a report last year that AIT scanners might well not have found the explosives concealed in the underwear of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. The Nigerian tried to detonate plastic explosives on a flight to Detroit from Amsterdam on Christmas 2009. (He did not go through a body scanner in Amsterdam.)

“It is unclear whether the AIT or other technologies would have been able to detect the weapon Mr. Abdulmutallab used in his attempted attack,” (.pdf) the GAO wrote.

Kant disputes the GAO report, and says his Rapiscan scanners would have stopped the “Underwear Bomber,” who was ultimately thwarted by poor bomb design and alert passengers. “We feel very confident we would have detected that if he had gone through the system before boarding the plane,” Kant said.

New York-based L-3 Communications, the government’s only other body-scanner contractor, declined to be interviewed.

A study published in the November edition of the Journal of Transportation Security suggested terrorists might fool the Rapiscan machines and others like it employing the X-ray “backscatter” technique. A terrorist, the report found, could tape a thin film of explosives of about 15-20 centimeters in diameter to the stomach and walk through the machine undetected.

The L-3 machines use what is known as “millimeter wave technology” and were not the focus of the study.

The report said an explosive, such as pentaerythritol tetranitrate, “would be invisible to this technology, ironically, because of its large volume, since it is easily confused with normal anatomy.” The report found that “a wire or a box-cutter blade taped to the side of the body, or even a small gun in the same location, will be invisible.”

The TSA, though, says the technology is a significant improvement over metal detectors that failed to stop Abdulmutallab.

“While there is no silver bullet technology, advanced imaging technology is a highly effective security tool which can detect both metallic and nonmetallic threats, including weapons and explosives,” Sarah Horowitz, a TSA spokeswoman, wrote in an e-mail. “Using this critical technology, TSA routinely detects artfully concealed metallic and nonmetallic prohibited items.”

Horowitz added that the machines detected more than “130 prohibited, illegal or dangerous items at checkpoints nationwide since January of last year.”

Oral arguments in the lawsuit are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. EST on Thursday. Threat Level will cover the hearing from the courtroom.

Photo: AP

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Space Shuttle Crossing the Sun

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Photo: Mad Dash to Catch Space Shuttle Crossing the Sun








Intrepid astrophotographer Alan Friedman raced against time to reach exactly the right spot at the right fraction of a second to snap this stunning photo of the International Space Station, with the Space Shuttle Discovery attached, crossing the sun.

Friedman drove 1,800 miles from his home in Buffalo, New York to the annual Winter Star Party in the Florida Keys, “for the steady skies, warm temperatures and the company of good astronomy friends,” he wrote on his website. “But when I heard that the ISS would transit the sun nearby … I had to give it a try.”

The transit would be visible at 2:39 p.m. on March 1 from a location 20 miles to the north of the star-party site. The entire crossing would last just 0.2 seconds. Friedman was scheduled to give a talk about astrophotography from 12:30 to 1:30 pm. As soon as his talk was over, Friedman jumped in the car with fellow astrophotographers Brian Shelton and Mark Beale and raced after the sun.

“We got set up just in time to catch it,” Friedman wrote. “I underestimated the narrowness of this event … another 500 feet and we would have missed it entirely. Lucky day!”

Friedman shoots his startlingly sharp sun photos with a 3.5-inch telescope he calls Little Big Man and a filter that only lets in light emitted by hydrogen. He then inverts the images, making the light spots dark and the dark spots light, which gives the sun a swirling, textured appearance.

Most of the time, Friedman shoots the sun from his backyard. “I think that is a real fascination with my work,” he said in an e-mail to Wired.com. “With all the wonderful satellites and missions out there taking close-up images of our solar system neighbors … it is still possible to do it yourself and even come up with something magical now and again.”

While in Florida, Friedman also caught a puff of plasma detaching from the edge of the sun (below). Although it looks serene, such plasma clouds can weigh tens of billions of tons, and can flood the inner solar system with hot, charged matter if they detach from the sun for good.



Images: Alan Friedman

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Abusive priests live unmonitored

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IMPORTANT: Abusive priests live unmonitored ‘They are a time bomb waiting to go off,’ victims’ lawyer says

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41954425/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

ROB BELL OF SEDONA, AZ, brought this important story to my attention via email.

Thanks, Rob.

Abusive priests live unmonitored

‘They are a time bomb waiting to go off,’ victims’ lawyer says

Gus Ruelas  /  AP

Rowland Heights, Calif., resident Chitira Zuno comments on her neighbor, retired priest Stephen Hernandez, regarding allegations that he sexually abused children, on March 5.

By GILLIAN FLACCUS

updated 3/7/2011 8:03:25 PM ET

VENTURA, Calif. — The charges of child molestation came too long after the abuse to send Carl Sutphin, a Roman Catholic priest, to prison. Now he is spending his days in a doublewide mobile home, a short walk from day care centers and two elementary schools.

“I won’t say I deny it. I do not deny it, no,” Sutphin, 78, said in a frail voice as he leaned on his walker.

There are dozens of accused priests like him, from California to Maryland. To victims’ advocates, that is dangerous.

They say church officials should monitor them in the same way that police track sex offenders and that the church should create special housing to keep predator priests away from children.

“Essentially, you have admitted or credibly accused child molesters walking free among unsuspecting families — and bishops are doing little or nothing,” said David Clohessy, national director for Survivors of those Abused by Priests.

Advocates’ calls raise questions about how far the church can go in monitoring people who have never been convicted, or even charged with a crime.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys in Los Angeles worked with private investigators since October to compile a list of the priests’ addresses, the most comprehensive accounting of the whereabouts of more than 200 clergy accused of abuse in civil lawsuits in that archdiocese.

They hope to use it Thursday to persuade a judge to recommend the release of all church files for every priest or religious brother ever accused of sexual abuse in the sweeping litigation.

Those confidential files are at the center of a heated dispute that has raged between the church and plaintiffs’ lawyers since the nation’s largest archdiocese reached a record-breaking $660 million settlement nearly four years ago.

Plaintiffs want the files — which could include internal correspondence, previous complaints and therapy records — released, saying it’s a matter of public safety. The church is pushing for a more limited release of information.

The list of addresses, obtained by The Associated Press, contains nearly 50 former priests and religious brothers from the LA archdiocese who live and work in 37 towns and cities across California, unsupervised by law enforcement or the church.

Another 15 are scattered in cities and towns from Montana to New York, while 80 more cannot be located despite an exhaustive search by attorneys representing those who have sued them for abuse.

The vast majority of the men have not been convicted — in some cases because the charges came too late — and are therefore not required to register with state sex offender databases.

It’s a situation that has long bothered alleged victims of sex abuse, who have called on the church to do more to monitor former priests even after they have been expelled from ministry or have been laicized.

In Los Angeles, the archdiocese listed 211 names of credibly accused priests — a term the church uses to describe allegations that it believes are likely to be true — or those who had been named in civil lawsuits in a 2004 report to parishioners about clergy abuse.

The list did not include the priests’ past assignments or current whereabouts.

Twenty-three other dioceses nationwide have published similar lists, but don’t list current addresses, Clohessy said.

Like Los Angeles, victim advocates in Boston have also complained that the archdiocese there has not done enough to inform the public about priests who were accused of abuse but never charged criminally.

In January, Mitchell Garabedian, a lawyer for Boston-area clergy sex abuse victims, released a new list of accused abusers, including previously undisclosed names of 19 Catholic priests, brothers and one deacon. They were among those accused in hundreds of cases his law firm settled with the church over the last 15 years, Garabedian said.

At the time, the archdiocese was working to disclose more information, but was concerned about giving priests whose guilt had not been established their due process, said Kelly Lynch, a spokeswoman for the Boston archdiocese.

Alleged victims, including those in Clohessy’s organization, have nevertheless pressed the church to create special, church-controlled housing for credibly accused priests so they can be monitored — even without convictions.

“Bishops want to do the absolute bare minimum with predator priests, so they suspend them on the advice of defense lawyers and insurance companies and that’s it, the priests are free to live and sometimes work and sometimes volunteer wherever they want,” Clohessy said.

Church officials say it’s not fair to expect them to monitor the priests, especially those who are no longer in active ministry.

The archdiocese policy has been to remove any credibly accused priest, said Michael Hennigan, archdiocese attorney. Most of those men have been laicized, are in the process of being laicized or have been removed from public ministry, he said.

Laicization is the Vatican process for ousting a man from the priesthood. Local bishops can also bar an abusive cleric from public ministry, which means the clergyman technically remains a priest but cannot participate in any public church work, such as celebrating Mass in public.

The archdiocese has no more responsibility for a laicized priest than a local school district would have for tracking a teacher who was fired with cause, Hennigan said.

He dismissed the idea of church-run housing for accused priests and religious brothers as impractical and unenforceable.

“We obviously don’t have a police force and our mission has been to cleanse the priesthood, and we think we’ve done that effectively and well,” he said Monday. “You think we should have a police force or a prison system?

“Once they’re out, it’s up to civil authorities to deal with them on behalf of society. It’s really too much to ask the church to institute a prison system and no one could be forced to comply with it except voluntarily.”

Attorneys representing individual accused priests in California point out that most of their clients have not been charged or convicted.

“What about those who’ve only been accused?” said Donald Steier, who is representing about 30 individual Los Angeles priests. “Should those guys … be treated more harshly than anyone else simply because they wore a collar?”

The idea of a church-controlled environment for problem priests not new.

In the early 1960s, the head of a Roman Catholic order that specialized in treating molester priests wanted to buy an island to segregate them. He even made a $5,000 down payment on a Caribbean island for that purpose, the AP has previously reported.

“It is for this class of rattlesnake I have always wished an island retreat, but even an island is too good for these vipers,” Rev. Gerald M.C. Fitzgerald wrote to an acquaintance in 1957, according to the correspondence.

In 1960, Fitzgerald sent two priests from the New Mexico-based Servants of the Holy Paraclete to the island of Tortola to investigate the location — but his dream of an island monastery dedicated to trouble priests ended.

The new archbishop of Santa Fe overruled him, according to an affidavit by his successor, the Rev. Joseph McNamara.

Sutphin is one former priest whose presence in society continues to haunt his many alleged victims.

He was accused of abuse by 18 people and was charged with 14 counts of molestation in 2003 for sexually abusing six boys. The charges were dismissed, however, because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that set limits on the passage of time for prosecuting certain types of sex crimes.

One of the priest’s alleged victims said he and his brother were abused by Sutphin the night before a fishing trip when they were in middle school. The brothers have never fully discussed the abuse and didn’t tell their parents for years.

“My mom wrote a letter to the Catholic Church,” said the man, who was granted anonymity because the AP does not typically name people who claim to be victims of sexual abuse. “They said they had addressed the issue and he would no longer come around.”

The man, now 44, learned of Sutphin’s address from the AP. He lives three miles away.

Associated Press Writer Denise Lavoie in Boston contributed to this report.

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Lack of oxygen kill fish

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Lack of oxygen likely fish kill cause

REDONDO BEACH, Calif., March 8 (UPI) -- Nature, not environmental foul play, likely was responsible for a fish kill of more than a million sardines in southern California, officials said Tuesday.

Redondo Beach Police Sgt. Phil Keenan said authorities were confident about test results indicating oxygen deprivation caused the fish kill because another part of the same sardine school was doing well at the mouth of King Harbor, CNN reported.

"All evidence points to oxygen deprivation as cause of death," California Department of Fish and Game spokesman Andrew Hughan said. "There is no oil sheen, nor is there a chemical sheen."

Keenan said clean-up boats would spend the next few days removing the dead fish by net.

"Part of the sardine school is out in the channel of the harbor and they're doing fine," Keenan told CNN. "For some reason, this large school of sardines got chased into the harbor -- and they died off."

While the large number of dead fish is unusual, it isn't unprecedented, Hughan said.

Redondo Beach City Manager Bill Workman said there were no visible signs of toxins that could have caused the fish kill, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"This is similar to what we experienced five years ago but that was distinctly a red tide event but there's no discoloration of the water, no associated foaming in the waves," Workman said.

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Jesus Did Not Expose Judas

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Jesus Did Not Expose Judas

by Sabbath Sermons
By John Thiel

Satan, A Relationship Wrecker

From seraph to man God created them to be temples for him. The Godhead sought our companionship. We were created, all the intelligent entities were created to have such relationship. The wrecker of relationships was Satan. We will examine his methods so we recognise them when they come to us.


What Lucifer Did In the Harmony of Heaven


Imagine the beautiful harmony that existed there.


So long as all created beings acknowledged the allegiance of love, there was perfect harmony throughout the universe of God. {PP 35.1}


While they acknowledged the allegiance of love, when that was acknowledged and pursued there was harmony.


It was the joy of the heavenly host to fulfill the purpose of their Creator. They delighted in reflecting His glory and showing forth His praise. And while love to God was supreme, love for one another was confiding and unselfish. There was no note of discord to mar the celestial harmonies. But a change came over this happy state. There was one who perverted the freedom that God had granted to His creatures. {PP 35.1}


Little by little Lucifer came to indulge the desire for self-exaltation.. Though all his glory was from God, this mighty angel came to regard it as pertaining to himself. Not content with his position, though honored above the heavenly host, he ventured to covet homage due alone to the Creator. Instead of seeking to make God supreme in the affections and allegiance of all created beings, it was his endeavor to secure their service and loyalty to himself. And coveting the glory with which the infinite Father had invested His Son, this prince of angels aspired to power that was the prerogative of Christ alone. {PP 35.2}


Now the perfect harmony of heaven was broken. Lucifer’s disposition to serve himself instead of his Creator aroused a feeling of apprehension when observed by those who considered that the glory of God should be supreme. {PP 35.3}


There was a feeling of disquietude. There was something wrong. Do you ever come into an atmosphere of such a thing? It’s because Lucifer was there.


In heavenly council the angels pleaded with Lucifer. The Son of God presented before him the greatness, the goodness, and the justice of the Creator, and the sacred, unchanging nature of His law. God Himself had established the order of heaven; and in departing from it, Lucifer would dishonor his Maker and bring ruin upon himself. But the warning, given in infinite love and mercy, only aroused a spirit of resistance. Lucifer allowed his jealousy of Christ to prevail, and became the more determined. {PP 35.3}


He went to the angels and insinuated in their minds things which were an expression of discontent of God. Lucifer was smartly undermining the harmony. It didn’t look as if he was thinking of himself, he thought something better could have been brought in. as we see him undermining and getting a third of the angels on his side, how did God handle it?


The King of the universe summoned the heavenly hosts before Him, that in their presence He might set forth the true position of His Son and show the relation He sustained to all created beings. {PP 36.2}


He called his Son and displayed to the angels the glory of Jesus being one with the Father. The angels probably hadn’t heard that before and they fell down and worshiped.


The angels joyfully acknowledged the supremacy of Christ, and prostrating themselves before Him, poured out their love and adoration. Lucifer bowed with them, but in his heart there was a strange, fierce conflict. Truth, justice, and loyalty were struggling against envy and jealousy. The influence of the holy angels seemed for a time to carry him with them. {PP 36.3}


Love swelled in his heart. That is how God handled it. When there is an insurrection or rebellion as we know, we think we have to handle it and correct these people. But did God do that? All he did was to alleviate the misunderstanding in the mind of this angel by showing the reality but not in a way to reproach Lucifer. He was already hardening himself so God worked to soften his heart and love was aroused in his heart. Here is this object lesson of dealing with wreckers of relationships. There was another example that was among the disciples, the church.


The Disciples And Judas


Among the chosen disciples of Christ there was a representative of Satan. At heart Judas was not a disciple. Often he led the other disciples to form opinions contrary to the teachings of the Master. He criticised Christ’s words, and asked questions that led the minds of the disciples away from the subjects that the Saviour brought before them. {RH, May 12, 1903 par. 12}


What was he doing? Affecting the mind of the others. What should we be doing? We should be thinking of the beautiful things Jesus taught and what does this man do? He asks questions. That is what Sr White calls adroit quizzing. He turned the mind away from that which Jesus wanted them to absorb.


It was because of the influence that Judas exerted to deceive the disciples that Christ had to repeat so many of his lessons. Judas did not come out boldly in opposition to Christ; and therefore he was the better able to deceive the eleven. {RH, May 12, 1903 par. 12}


Among the chosen disciples of Christ there was a representative of Satan. At heart Judas was not a disciple. Often he led the other disciples to form opinions contrary to the teachings of the Master. He criticised Christ’s words, and asked questions that led the minds of the disciples away from the subjects that the Saviour brought before them. It was because of the influence that Judas exerted to deceive the disciples that Christ had to repeat so many of his lessons. {RH, May 12, 1903 par. 12}


We hear wonderful lessons and we enjoy them and then we are distracted by someone turning the mind away from what we are supposed to be looking at. That is what the wrecker of relationships does.


Judas did not come out boldly in opposition to Christ; and therefore he was the better able to deceive the eleven. {RH, May 12, 1903 par. 12}


A Relationship Joy


Jesus was stirring this in the mind of the disciples and it was stirred by this representative of Satan.


From that time he expressed doubts that confused the disciples. He introduced controversies and misleading sentiments, repeating the arguments urged by the scribes and Pharisees against the claims of Christ. All the little and large troubles and crosses, the difficulties and the apparent hindrances to the advancement of the gospel, Judas interpreted as evidences against its truthfulness. {DA 719.2}


These little difficulties that arise here and there, Satan through Judas used to make it look as though we have real trouble here.


He would introduce texts of Scripture that had no connection with the truths Christ was presenting. These texts, separated from their connection, perplexed the disciples, and increased the discouragement that was constantly pressing upon them.. {DA 719.2}


Jesus was right in their midst and this was going on. Undermining negativities, suggestions that turned the mind away from the beauty of the relationship with Jesus.


And while the disciples were searching for evidence to confirm the words of the Great Teacher, Judas would lead them almost imperceptibly on another track. Thus in a very religious, and apparently wise, way he was presenting matters in a different light from that in which Jesus had given them, and attaching to His words a meaning that He had not conveyed. His suggestions were constantly exciting an ambitious desire for temporal preferment, and thus turning the disciples from the important things they should have considered. The dissension as to which of them should be greatest was generally excited by Judas. {DA 719.2}


All the struggles and difficulties the disciples had of what Jesus was teaching them actually came through Judas. As we walk along together in seeking to deal with those inroads that we know we are struggling against, we want to look at how Jesus handled it. Remember how God handled it? Now Jesus comes and shows us. Did Jesus interfere with Judas? No. He permitted him to continue just like the Father in heaven permitted Lucifer to do his work. God was so gracious with Lucifer and look how gracious Jesus was with another relationship wrecker.


Jesus Did Not Expose Judas


Jesus alone could read his secret. Yet He did not expose him. Jesus hungered for his soul. {DA 645.1}


Wouldn’t it have been wise for Jesus to expose him?


He felt for him such a burden as for Jerusalem when He wept over the doomed city. His heart was crying, How can I give thee up? The constraining power of that love was felt by Judas. When the Saviour’s hands were bathing those soiled feet, and wiping them with the towel, the heart of Judas thrilled through and through with the impulse then and there to confess his sin. {DA 645.1}


Judas felt the love just like Lucifer felt God’s love. What did Jesus do? He touched him with a loving touch. He cared for his soul. He didn’t reproach him, he just kept on trying to win him. That is all he could do and of course Judas hardened.


“I have sinned,” again cried Judas, “in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.”. {DA 722.1}


Judas now cast himself at the feet of Jesus, acknowledging Him to be the Son of God, and entreating Him to deliver Himself. The Saviour did not reproach His betrayer.. {DA 722.2}


What? Judas had done the deed and Jesus was suffering under his deception and Judas pleads with him, save yourself from these people and Jesus didn’t reproach him.


He knew that Judas did not repent; his confession was forced from his guilty soul by an awful sense of condemnation and a looking for of judgment, but he felt no deep, heartbreaking grief that he had betrayed the spotless Son of God, and denied the Holy One of Israel. Yet Jesus spoke no word of condemnation. . {DA 722.2}


Usually when you have someone in a corner you think you want to let them have it don’t you. Didn’t you see what you were doing? Jesus did none of that. We are looking at God and his wonderful grace to ever sinner, to those who wreck relationships.


Yet Jesus spoke no word of condemnation. He looked pityingly upon Judas, and said, For this hour came I into the world. {DA 722.2}


All he told him was for this hour I came into the world. He didn’t go into any other expression to Judas.


A murmur of surprise ran through the assembly. With amazement they beheld the forbearance of Christ toward His betrayer. {DA 722.3}


You will see in our next study forbearance is instructed to us as Christians. Here we have an example of it in action. We need to think of the action rather than just the word.


Again there swept over them the conviction that this Man was more than mortal. But if He was the Son of God, they questioned, why did He not free Himself from His bonds and triumph over His accusers? {DA 722.3}


Why didn’t he? Because Jesus had to teach us who believe in him how to deal with those who are the representatives of Satan to win them away from his grip as he was trying to do with Judas. Here are these two case histories of what we are called to. The case history shows how God deals with relationship interferences.


Matthew 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:


5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.


5:40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have [thy] cloak also.


5:41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.


5:42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.


5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.


5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;


5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.


5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?


5:47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more [than others]? do not even the publicans so?


5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.


What are we called to be? As we saw in the case histories, like the Father, like the Son. Here is the plain instruction of dealing with human relationships in the church and home. No matter what I think this other person is doing to me, no matter what is obvious it was done to Jesus by Judas and God by Lucifer, we are called to react as Jesus did in every given situation. There is no excuse for anything else.


John 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.


Lucifer received it. Judas received and every human being receives it from God and so as we have received it, what is the call?


We have every encouragement that if we daily surrender our wills to God the promise will be fulfilled, “And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace” (John 1:16). Every revealing of the grace of Christ in our behalf is for us. We are to reveal His grace in our lives, in thought, word, and deed. . . . We are to represent the mercy, the love, and the power of Christ–the power that He has given us. . . . {HP 188.2}


It is a promise if we will give our wills to God on the subject of relationships. That beautiful grace we have just explored in the activities of God and Jesus toward the relationship wreckers, we are called to do the same thing to start with in our thoughts. If you are not doing it in your thoughts, if we are thinking unhappy thoughts about people, you can’t hide it, it will come out as it was with Lucifer. All heaven was disquieted. This is our only purpose, nothing else. When I see problems in the church I have watched long enough what I’m sharing with you of our Lord and the ability and the learning of that to express grace only is what I have laboured to do and I yearn for every one of us to do it. As soon as you see something that puts your nose out of joint, do not think about it. Don’t enlarge it in your thoughts. Then in word what will you do? Is it easy to do it the way God did it? Is it easy? What do you and I need to succeed in doing it?


Were it not for the power received through Christ we would have no strength. But Christ has all power. “Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, . . . and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” {HP 188.3}


We can’t do these wonderful merciful things. How many times have you fallen flat on your face trying to be like that? Many times I’ve tried and I’ve given a sharp statement and expressed that something got under my skin and I looked back to the Lord and recovered myself quickly. This is our only chance of safeguarding the harmony of heaven and not only safeguarding it but promoting it.


Here is our power, our comfort. Of ourselves we have no strength. But He says, “I am with you alway,” helping you to perform your duty, guiding, comforting, sanctifying, and sustaining you, giving you success in speaking words that will draw the attention of others to Christ and awaken in their minds the desire to understand the hope and meaning of the truth, turning them from darkness to light. . . . {HP 188.3}


Have you ever had someone talk to you darkness and as you hear the darkness you need strength to turn the mind of those talking darkness to you to look to the light of Jesus? This is what God the Father did in turning the attention of Lucifer and Judas to the light of heaven. What they do with that is not our business, all we are to do is gather the strength and joy of God in my heart so as soon as there is a relationship snag and debacle, all I do is turn the mind away.


It is a wonderful thought that human beings can speak the word of God, in simple words of comfort and encouragement. {HP 188.4}


That’s how you handle it.


The humblest instruments will be used of God to sow the seeds of truth, which may spring up and bear fruit, because the one in whose heart they were sown needed help–a kind thought, a kind word, made effective by the One who has said, “Lo, I am with you alway.” {HP 188.4}


Didn’t Judas need help? God sewed the seed to bring it into existence. They need it. I want us to think about this and to determine in our communication to explore and express to one another something that will help you as we are to overcome the enemy by the word of our testimony. By testifying we will keep on embedding in our minds the determination to follow this so that the harmony of heaven is what we are preparing for here.


To us also the promise of Christ’s abiding presence is given. The lapse of time has wrought no change in His parting promise. He is with us today as truly as He was with the disciples, and He will be with us “even unto the end.” . . . {HP 188.5}


It was because Jesus persevered that finally the disciples came through successful. Shall we persevere?


He finds His faithful ones, and holds communion with them, encouraging and strengthening them. And angels of God, that excel in strength, are sent forth by God to minister to His human workers who are speaking the truth to those who know it not. {HP 188.6}


We usually read this statement in reference to what we need to do to the people outside but we need to do the same amongst us. We don’t say negative to people doing things wrong. If they are speaking about things that are not a sabbath topic, don’t tell them not to do that. Talk of the joy of the Lord. That is how Lucifer was revealed that he could come back to God by God showing Jesus. These are the answers. We need to practise it if we don’t we fall into the practise of human relationship wrecking.


Amen.

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Relentless Seismic Tremors in Arkansas

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Relentless Seismic Tremors in Arkansas · March 08, 2011

“Things are still shaking in Arkansas. More than 500 measurable earthquakes have been reported in central Arkansas since September 20, ranging in magnitude from a barely noticeable 1.8 to a very noticeable 4.0 (recorded on October 11), according to the U.S. Geological Survey.”

“I think everyone recognizes that there is an increased number of seismic events occurring in and around this area. If you look at the maps, at least circumstantially, there appears to be evidence that they may be related to disposal operations,” said Shane Khoury, deputy director and general counsel for the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission. “But we also know that this is an area that is historically active.”

“Meanwhile, Sam Higdon, the mayor of Guy, [Arkansas] says the quakes’ novelty is worn out.

‘I think everyone just kind of figures maybe it’ll just go away,’ he said. ‘And that’s what we’re all hoping.’”

Arkansas is one of the States in the U.S. that shares what is known as the New Madrid Fault. Other states on the fault line are Missouri, southern Illinois, western Kentucky, and western Tennessee. If all the earthquakes on the New Madrid Fault were in just one state, it would rank number 11 among states with the most seismic activity.

Jesus predicted that at the end of time there would be “earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.” Mark 13:18.

CNN: Arkansas Tremors

USGS U.S. Quake Information

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Millions of dead fish King Harbor

Millions of dead fish blanket Redondo's King Harbor Marina

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Millions of dead fish blanket Redondo's King Harbor Marina

By Larry Altman
Staff Writer
Billions of sardines floated to the surface at Redondo Beach's King Harbor this morning. Early thought is that the large numbers of fish just depleted all the oxygen in the water. (Brad Graverson/Staff Photographer)
Billions of sardines suffocated Tuesday night during windy storm that altered currents trapping them in King Harbor Marina where there was not enough oxygen in the water to sustain them. (Brad Graverson/Staff Photographer)

Millions of sardines created a massive stink and an even bigger cleanup effort in Redondo Beach's King Harbor Marina on Tuesday after they swam inside overnight, became trapped and died.

Twelve to 18 inches of dead sardines blanketed the water's bottom in Basin 1 off Marina Way. Another thick layer of dead fish coated the surface from the breakwall to the inner docks, surrounding boats and walkways.

Authorities with the California Department of Fish and Game, along with other ocean biologists at the scene, declared the mass death a natural event. The fish, they said, sucked every drop of oxygen from

the water and couldn't breathe.
Billions of sardines suffocated Tuesday night during windy storm that altered currents trapping them in King Harbor Marina where there was not enough oxygen in the water to sustain them. Redondo Beach city workers, lifeguards all gathered to scoop up the dead fish. (Brad Graverson/Staff Photographer)

"They are in every slip and every dock," said Fish and Game spokesman Andrew Hughan. "It's a whole lot of fish."

Hughan said authorities believe the huge school of sardines, perhaps blown in by the night's 40-mph winds and crashing waves, swam into King Harbor and became disoriented.

Those who chose other basins were fine, but the schools that headed into Basin 1 "backed themselves into a corner" and were unable to find their way out, he said.

They quickly depleted the oxygen in the water and died.

"If they turned right instead of left, they'd be fine," Hughan said. "It's just bad luck."

Brent Scheiwe, director of the Los Angeles Conservation Corps' SEA Lab
on Harbor Drive, said tests revealed the water contained virtually no oxygen.

"Someone reported it this morning at 7:30. We were astounded when we went down there," he said.

The aquarium received reports that there was a large number of fish in the harbor Monday night, "numbers we had not seen before," Scheiwe said.

He said the spike could have occurred for several reasons - one being rough ocean currents that could have driven the fish to one place.

King Harbor residents said they noticed the increase in fish the night before, swimming among their boats and bouncing off their hulls.

Dayn Schultz, who lives in a houseboat on the marina, said it is typical for fish to spawn in the evening, the action roiling the surface in small patches and giving the water the appearance of boiling.

At about 9:30 Monday night, Schultz jumped on deck after hearing a noisy racket. He discovered the entire marina "boiling" around him.

"It was the most I have ever seen," Schultz said.

When the sun came up, residents found the marina's ocean surface coated with dead fish.

"There were millions and millions of them floating everywhere," said Walter Waite, who lives aboard his

Billions of sardines floated to the surface at Redondo Beach's King Harbor this morning. Early thought is that the large numbers of fish just depleted all the oxygen in the water. (Brad Graverson/Staff Photographer)
boat at the harbor.

Waite said he was struck by the fact that birds weren't feeding. Apparently, they had already gorged.

Onlookers were stunned by the spectacle. Hundreds of people arrived to gawk at the scene.

"It's just incredible," said Gene Wilson, who was vacationing in Redondo Beach from Kansas City. "We've never seen anything like this. I don't know how they're going to remove their carcasses."

In addition to testing the water's oxygen level, biologists also checked to make sure no pollutants, oils or other chemicals could have killed the fish. Hughan said the water was clean, but sea gull droppings washed off the breakwall by the strong waves could have contributed to erasing the water's oxygen level.

Fish and Game authorities collected some of the dead fish and packaged them for express delivery to their laboratory in Rancho Cordova. Necropsies will be performed to determine if any other factors beyond the water's oxygen level contributed to their deaths.

David Caron, a professor of biological sciences at USC, has for the past few years monitored sensors that were placed in the harbor waters following a 2005 red tide that killed thousands of fish.

The plankton that caused that phenomenon - Lingulodinium polyedrum - isn't poisonous, but cast a red-brown tinge over the harbor. The fish died when the blanket of algae starved the water of oxygen.

Caron, whose students took water samples Tuesday, said they found "very little in the water in terms of phytoplankton," leaving him, like others, to believe the low levels of dissolved oxygen in the water caused the massive kill. But he said they plan to examine some of the fish to determine whether they had ingested any toxins.

By midmorning, Redondo Beach officials hatched a plan to begin cleaning up the fish. Public works employees and firefighters on docks, and lifeguards and firefighters in boats began skimming the fish into nets and filling buckets and wheelbarrows.

The labor-intensive work was expected to take hours. One public works employee, sweat dripping from his face, stood on the dock taking a swig of water, as he stared at the carpet of fish in front of him.

He nodded when asked if he was tired.

The fish were taken in large trash containers to a landfill that accepts organic material to be used for fertilizer.

Redondo Beach City Manager Bill Workman estimated the cleanup cost at $100,000, which would come from a tidelands fund that pays for waterfront projects and emergencies.

About 50 city employees worked on the cleanup, assisted by about 100 volunteers. They planned to work into the evening, and return today.

Workman and Mayor Mike Gin said the city had prepared for such an event after the 2005 red tide.

Gin said the harbor was cleaned up through a massive effort by volunteers, marina representatives and city staff.

"Through that ... we were able to form a red-tide response task force to handle situations like this one," Gin said.

larry.altman@dailybreeze.com

Staff writers Kristin S. Agostoni, Eric Bradley and Melissa Evans contributed to this article.



How to help

The city of Redondo Beach is looking for volunteers to help clean up the sardines left floating around King Harbor. Anyone interested is asked to check in at 655 N. Harbor Drive, which is a vacant restaurant site (formerly the Red Onion), just north of the Cheesecake Factory.

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Report: Birds Flew into Buildings

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Report Suggests Birds Flew into Buildings · March 07, 2011

Why did 5,000 blackbirds die in Beebe, Arkansas on New Years Eve?

Researchers of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission say it was “blunt force trauma.” Thirteen birds were tested for bacteria, viruses, heavy metals, pesticides and avicides (chemical used to kill birds).

The results showed that there was hemorrhaging “consistent with blunt trauma,” such as when birds fly into trees, houses, windows, etc.

For some reason, researchers have said that these 5,000 birds must have flown into buildings, perhaps because they were scared by fireworks. But no one appears to have confirmed that fireworks were actually being used in the area.

It is understandable if a few birds fly into a building. But for 5,000 birds to fly into buildings all at once just doesn’t make natural sense. Yes, it was dark, but 5,000 birds’ dead; and all over the town? That is a rare and very unusual natural phenomenon. It just doesn’t seem natural.

Some suggested that the birds flew into the ground and died with blunt force trauma. But that doesn’t seem to make sense either. Why would 5,000 birds just drop out of the sky?

It reminds me of the story in the Bible when Jesus healed the two men possessed of devils in the country of the Gergesenes. He dismissed the demons who went into swine and ran them into the sea and they drowned. See Matthew 8:28-34.

Perhaps something supernatural happened to the birds in Beebe, AR. The fact that this is not the only incident of masses of birds dying in recent months makes many people question conclusions based purely on natural causes.

CNN News Article

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