Point of no return

Tags

bomb, drought, earthquakes, famine, fires, floods, global events, Iran, Israel, Middle East, nuclear weapons, Point of no return, Tapister

The Atlantic magazine online has an article by Jeffrey Goldberg with this title. (See http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/09/the-point-of-no-return/8186/.) It’s about when or if Israel will bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities; well worth reading.

Even before I found that essay, I was thinking about the title… in a considerably more grim scenario.

What is the point of no return for human life to survive on earth? What are the parameters for human life to exist on this planet, in the first place?

So much of this element, so much of that… this range of temperatures, this percentage of drinking water, this percentage of food. How much is too much fire? Smoke? Water? How little is too little food? How hot is too hot? How cold is too cold? How much rain is enough, how much sunlight?

How much order is enough, so panic-stricken, starving populations don’t kill each other? Who provides it?

Who stops the earthquakes? The volcanoes? The rains? The heat waves? The droughts and famines? Who dries the floods? Politicians can’t. Scientists can’t. Philosophers can’t.

If you can’t agree on what’s happening, you sure can’t agree on what to do about it.

The parameters for existence and for survival are very narrow. They are certainly known in the scientific community, but not publicized widely. Too boring? Too frightening?

Reasons to Believe is a good website with tons of scientific data on this and other topics, presented by authorities who are both scientists and Christians: http://www.reasons.org/.

The fact is, there is no other habitable planet to escape to, even if there was some way to do it. No space-going ark, no time to build one.

Human beings have squandered the only planet in this galaxy fit for human life, and laughed at those of us who believe the Bible. We have been instructed, and warned, and given many chances to get things right here, then told plainly what will happen if we don’t.

And we haven’t gotten it right. Fires, floods, droughts, famine, starvation, warfare, strange signs in the sky are happening everywhere, and we have nowhere to go to start over. It’s long past time to pray.

If you’d like to follow along as I observe global events, read the news articles and links on my Tapister blog: www.tapister.wordpress.com.

What I’m reading

Tags

Iran, Israel, ocean floor collapse, Oil spill

Iran on war alert over “US and Israeli concentrations” in Azerbaijan
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 23, 2010, 1:23 PM (GMT+02:00)

In a rare move, Iran has declared a state of war on its northwestern border, Debkafile’s military and Iranian sources report. Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps men and equipment units are being massed in the Caspian Sea region against what Tehran claims are US and Israeli forces concentrated on army and air bases in Azerbaijan ready to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities. The announcement came on Tuesday, June 22 from Brig.-Gen Mehdi Moini of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), commander of the forces tasked with “repelling” this American-Israeli offensive.

Complete story – www.tapister.wordpress.com
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Ocean floor collapse in Gulf of Mexico; nuclear option to seal it

The BP oil spill is about to take a turn for the worse. The ocean floor on top of the Deepwater Horizon well may be on the verge of collapsing completely, increasing the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico exponentially.

Several geologists and drilling engineers have concluded with certainty that there are several cracks visible already that may further impact the entire integrity of the ocean floor. If the floor were to lose its integrity and collapse, then 150,000 barrels of crude will find its way to the surface of the Gulf of Mexico on a daily basis.

The cracks or collapse of the floor cannot be contained nor remedied with any available technical equipment and may affect other nearby wells that still operate in the vicinity.

Complete story: http://www.huliq.com/9990/ocean-floor-gulf-mexico-verge-collapsing

If ocean floor collapses and subsequent tsunami happens: Widespread destruction of US coasts, cities.

http://www.wirtschaftsfacts.de/?p=6171

The Nuclear Option may be considered. But using a nuclear bomb to seal the oil leak should NOT be an option. Here’s why.

http://www.viewzone2.com/oilnuke.html

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Here’s another blog that I write:
http://speakingofheaven.wordpress.com/2010/06/24/new-york-new-jersey-new-earth/

World should prepare for Israeli military attack on Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities

Tags

Iran, Israel, Middle East, Natanz, nuclear weapons

Two articles about Iran’s Natanz facility caught my eye today:

(1) Day of reckoning for Iran: The decision-point on the nuclear weapons program is upon us

By Micah Zenko
NY Daily News 25 Nov 2009

… No, Iran has not yet produced the 35 pounds of highly enriched uranium required to fuel a bomb at its well-known, well-inspected facility in Natanz. But there are probably additional hidden facilities like the one near Qom. As a U.S. senior intelligence official told Sanger years before that facility came to light: “None of us believe they will create weapons-grade fuel at Natanz. What they are producing at Natanz is a body of knowledge there that they can transfer elsewhere.” It turns out this was correct.

… In the real world, it is unlikely that Israel will wait months and months for this latest initiative to succeed, or more likely fail. Therefore, the world should prepare for a high-risk Israeli military attack on Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons facilities, catalyzing a wave of further instability in an already volatile region.(emphasis added)

http://bit.ly/5fdy1s

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(2) Official: Iran to Upgrade Centrifuges in Natanz
Fars News 2 December 2009

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran is due to boost the quality of centrifuge machines at its first enrichment facility in the central city of Natanz…

Iran has so far installed 7,000 centrifuges at its uranium enrichment site in Natanz and 25,000 centrifuges are in the preliminary phases of installation. Planning has also been done for the production of more than 52,000 centrifuges and these centrifuges are now under production inside the country.

“We are seeking to promote the quality of centrifuges as the type of these centrifuges is more important than their number,” Baqeri said. (Iranian Undersecretary for Foreign Policy Affairs Ali Baqeri.)

http://bit.ly/58aRIg

Iran on dual nuclear bomb track: uranium and plutonium

Tags

China, Iran, Israel, Middle East, nuclear weapons

Three international news reports caught my eye today (19 Nov 2009):

(1) DEBKA: China told President Obama “No” on sanctions to Iran to halt or slow down Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
http://bit.ly/4CdOF9

(2) FARS: Iran and China are determined to strengthen ties between them in every possible way.
http://bit.ly/k8Mg6

(3) Most interesting – DEBKA: UN inspectors’ October visit to Iran turned up dual-track progress in support of its nuclear weapons program.

Feverish activity was registered in the production of plutonium at Isfahan as an alternative to the Fordo enriched uranium plant near Qom which starts up in 2011.

The IAEA experts discovered 30 metric tons-IS of heavy water hidden in 600 tanks… Metric tons-IS measure the amount of energy a given quantity can release… the amount of heavy water discovered at Isfahan would be enough to make at least one plutonium bomb when the plutonium reactor under construction near the Arak heavy water facility is finished. Other than civilian uses, heavy water may be used to produce tritium, which intensifies the explosive force of nuclear warheads.
http://bit.ly/20JPly

Who do you read?

Tags

Afghanistan, Aljazeera, current events, Israel, Jerusalem Post, Middle East, news, Politics, Pravda, religion, Russia

I like news. Real news, not what passes for news on most TV networks nowadays. Although I still read several print newspapers daily, I also read a great deal of internet news from around the world. (See a list below.)

Of course, you always read the news through a personal filter, no matter who you are and who you read. And you need to add a filter of suspicion, considering possible agendas of the news media and their sources as you read.

But there is so much going on that will affect the United States and especially will affect Christians, it pays to stay informed. Billy Graham said that Christians should “pray with the Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other…” I agree.

On September 10 I tuned into the live “Inside the Revolution” webcast (see www.insidetherevolution.org for information) and took notes during the discussions between Joel Rosenberg and several others, particularly Lt. General (ret.) Jerry Boykin, founding member of the Delta Force and former Dep. Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence at the Pentagon; Tom Doyle, former pastor, now with E3 Partners and a licensed Middle East tour guide; and Dr. Hormoz Shariot, former Iranian Muslim and now a Christian pastor (known as Iran’s Billy Graham). A taped interview Joel had done with Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, was included in the program. The interview was done before “Bibi” became PM of Israel but was very timely.

The focus of the program was the current political and religious status of Iran. Excerpts shown from a DVD of the same name were eye-opening. The DVD can be ordered online from the website.

I thought I’d share a list of who I’ve been reading online this weekend. Some are websites, some are blogs. Some are newspapers, some are news magazines. The list varies daily and I open links on many sites and read specific articles, so the following won’t be exhaustive, just a current sample…

Washington Post
Council on Foreign Relations
Sky News
Conservative Outpost
Fox Breaking News
CNN Breaking News
Karl Rove
Glenn Beck
Jerusalem Post
Haaretz
Debkafile
Moscow Times
Pravda
Aljazeera

Here’s an article from today’s Aljazeera online news, about the American Tea Party rally in Washington, DC yesterday: Interesting that the Arab world is watching all this, too:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/default.html

Here’s another one, also from Aljazeera, about Vladimir Putin’s possible return to the Presidency of Russia. Are we surprised?
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/09/2009911145354434112.html

Well, I think that’s enough to give you an idea of how I stay informed. There are a few more that I’ve browsed, but I’ll save that list for some other day.