Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Monster Quakes Set Off Global Tremors

May 26, 2008

Massive earthquakes—such as the magnitude 9 quake that sparked the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004—can set off smaller tremors around the globe, a new study shows.

Traditional aftershocks occur close to the time of the original earthquake—often within days or a few weeks—as the earth adjusts to changes caused by the slippage along the original fault.

But smaller, more distant earthquakes can be triggered as low-frequency vibrations—somewhat like ocean swells—pass over faults. Such waves can't be felt by people standing on the ground.

It's too early to know if the recent deadly earthquake in China also triggered its own swarm of distant tremors, but "it wouldn't surprise me in the least," said study lead author Tom Parsons of the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California.

Fault Stress

Vibrations from a big quake momentarily reduce the locking pressures on faults, allowing them to slip, Parsons said.

"That puts a temporary stress on a fault," Parsons added. "That's small, but [sometimes] appears to be enough to trigger an earthquake."

(Set off your own earthquake in an interactive simulation.)

To figure out how often this happens, Parsons and colleagues examined records of 15 major earthquakes with magnitudes of 7 or greater.

The scientists were able to correlate distant vibrations passing through various parts of the globe with the occurrence times of smaller, local earthquakes in 12 of the 15 events studied.

Flood Threat Prompts Evacuations in Quake-Hit China

Audra Ang in Mianyang, China
Associated Press
May 27, 2008

Potentially catastrophic flooding prompted emergency evacuations in China's Sichuan Province on Tuesday, even as aftershocks continued to batter the region and the threat of disease loomed for millions of refugees.

About 80,000 people were evacuated downstream of Tangjiashan, an unstable earthquake-created dam that is threatening to collapse.

The lake, near the town of Beichuan, is the largest of some 35 new bodies of water created by river-blocking rubble after a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck Sichuan May 12.

Some rising floodwaters have already swallowed villages, though only Tangjiashan posed a risk of another big catastrophe.

Hundreds of troops were working around the clock to dig a channel that would divert the rising waters before they breach the top of the rubble wall.

Officials fear the loose soil and debris wall could crumble easily if the water starts cascading over the top, sending a torrent flooding down into the valley below.

Tangjiashan now holds 34 billion gallons (130 billion liters) of water and was rising by more than three feet (a meter) every 24 hours, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

The 7th Fire Prophecy

In the Seventh Fire prophecy of the Anishnabek, each of the seven fires represent an era in human history. We are now in the time of the Seventh Fire. The task of the people of this age, including the Anishnabek and other red people, the yellow people, the black and the white, is to come together through choosing the road of cooperation. Without this, there will be no Eighth Fire, or future for Natives and others.

One person who talks about the Seventh Fire is Grandfather William Commanda of Maniwaki. An Algonquin elder, he holds three wampum belts, one of which is the Seventh Fire Prophecy belt which was made in the 1400s. His understanding of the prophecy was received from Ojibwe people in Minnesota, Michigan and northern Ontario, and through his own family, which has held the belts for over 100 years.

He speaks of the fact that the white race was welcomed by the Anishnabek, and it was hoped in the time of the Fourth Fire that the white race would come wearing a face of brotherhood, and that the Anishnabek and whites together would form one mighty nation. This did not happen and the white race chose the course of destruction and death.Today, in the age of the Seventh Fire, the races are again faced with a choice. The two roads are the black road of technology and overdevelopment leading to environmental catastrophe, the other is the red road of spirituality and respect for the earth. Together, people of the world have to choose the right road, be of one mind, or the earth cannot survive. Their prophecies are in line with those of the Seventh Fire: "Mankind must return to Peaceful ways, and halt the destruction of Mother Earth, or we are going to destroy ourselves. All the stages of Hopi prophecy have come to pass, except for the last, the purification. The intensity of the purification will depend on how humanity collaborates with Creation." William teaches that now is the time for Native people to forgive colonizers for their ignorant and destructive actions. The Seventh Fire is not just a time of reclaiming spiritual teachings; it is the time to use those teachings to help correct the imbalance felt in the circle that is the world. It is more than a revitalization movement, it is more like an arrival. Many Natives today are listening to teachings like the Seventh Fire prophecy, the Seven Generations teachings of the Iroquois and the prophecies of nations like the Hopi.

Chaitén: news from SERNAGEOMIN, 22 May 2008

SERNAGEOMIN have issued a new bulletin today about the situation at Chaitén. The key point is that Chaitén volcano is now busy building a lava dome: ‘The eruptive activity is continuing and has begun a phase of dome construction (the slow accumulation of viscose lava around an eruptive centre) inside the active crater, on the north flank of the old dome’. From its northern flank the new dome is active with ’sporadic explosions’ and the generation of ’profuse pyroclastic flows’, while from its western side ‘a white eruption column of steam’ is being produced. To the south of the new dome is the vent from which the main eruptive activity of the last few weeks has emerged; there ’the main eruption column remains vigorous but low, pushed to the south-east by the prevailing winds. In general the column has maintained an oscillatory form, with occasional explosions lifting it above the volcanic edifice’.

The SERNAGEOMIN report includes this photograph, which is a view within Chaitén crater, looking southwards:

view of the new lava dome. SERNAGEOMIN image.

The new dome (’Domo nuevo’) is in the foreground, with its slopes of debris and reddish eruption plume. it rises from the northern flank of the old dome (’Domo antiguo’). Behind the new dome is a white steam plume (’Columna principal’) erupting from the active vent on the southern side of the old dome. A larger version of this image, without the captions, can be found here.

The bulletin reports that the new seismic networks installed by SERNAGEOMIN and the USGS are being activitated today. The new network will be invaluable in assessing the processes now under way at the volcano and clarifying potential SERNAGEOMIN is maintaining volcanic red alert and continues to be concerned about possible major explosions producing the destruction of the old dome and the generation of pyroclastic flows. Nor can the occurrence of lateral explosions be disregarded. The eruptive dynamic now includes the evolution of the new dome, the growth and collapse of which can, in turn, generate pyrocastic flows on its flanks.

Early Mars Had Floods, Yellowstone-Like Hot Springs

May 22, 2008

The formation of an Idaho canyon thousands of years ago has given scientists a clearer picture of how water sculpted the surface of Mars.

The chasm in the western United States has a shape once thought to be characteristic of slower, sustained groundwater flows, but new research suggests that was carved by ancient torrential floods.

Comparable canyons on Mars may share a similarly violent history, scientists at the University of California at Berkeley say.

A plentitude of Martian canyons—once thought to be evidence of gradual erosion—supported the theory that rain never fell on the red planet, said lead author Michael Lamb.

"That's probably not true," he said. "You need a lot of water to carve these canyons."

A separate study analyzed silica deposits recently dug up by NASA's Spirit rover. The deposits suggest Yellowstone-like hot springs have operated on Mars's surface, scientists note.

Both new studies—appearing in this week's journal Science—suggest Mars was wetter than previously believed, with water falling from above and shooting out of the ground as geysers, hot springs, and thermal vents.

Such active sites may be ideal for finding signs of past life, experts say. (See full coverage of the search for life on Mars.)

Did Comets Cause Ancient American Extinctions?

Anne Casselman
for National Geographic News
May 6, 2008

Debate has heated up over a controversial theory that suggests huge comet impacts wiped out North America's large mammals nearly 13,000 years ago.

The hypothesis, first presented in May 2007, proposes that an onslaught of extraterrestrial bodies caused the mass extinction known as the Younger Dryas event and triggered a period of climatic cooling.

The theory has been debated widely since it was introduced, but it drew new scrutiny in March at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada.

Stuart Fiedel from the Louis Berger Group, a private archaeological firm in Richmond, Virginia, argued that the theory fails to address some major questions—like how comet blasts could have wiped out woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats in North America Also around this time, large mammals including mammoths, mastodons, horses, camels, and saber-toothed cats went extinct in North America. Previous hypotheses have suggested that early humans wiped out the large animals in a prolonged act of slaughter referred to by scientists as overkill.

Growing Ocean Acidity May Erode Coastal Ecosystems

May 22, 2008

Ocean waters along North America's west coast are becoming more acidic than expected in response to atmospheric carbon emissions, which will likely cause significant changes to economically vital marine ecosystems, a new study says.

At one spot in northern California, waters acidic enough to corrode seashells now rake the shore, researchers point out.

"The models suggested they wouldn't be corrosive at the surface until sometime during the second half of this century," Richard Feely, a chemical oceanographer with the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, Washington, said via email.

Scientists have long known that the oceans serve as a giant carbon sink, moderating the effects of global warming by absorbing about a third to a half of human-caused carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

But the added carbon dioxide is lowering the oceans' pH, changing their chemistry and biology, explained Feely, whose lab is run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Acidic waters inhibit marine organisms from producing the calcium carbonate that makes up their exoskeletons and shells.

"Scientists have also seen a reduced ability of marine algae and free-floating plants and animals to produce protective carbonate shells," Feely said.

For example researchers have seen a decline in swimming mollusks called pteropods that are eaten by creatures ranging from shrimplike krill to whales. The mollusks are particularly vital to juvenile salmon and other commercial fish.

"The impact of ocean acidification on fisheries and coral reef ecosystems could reverberate through the U.S. and global economy," Feely said.

Mars Lander Headed for "7 Minutes of Terror" Sunday

Victoria Jaggard
National Geographic News
Updated May 23, 2008

After years of planning followed by a ten-month journey, the Mars Phoenix Lander is slated to touch down Sunday near the red planet's north pole.

If successful, the probe will be the first lander to reach a Martian pole and the first to actually touch the planet's water ice. (Related gallery: "Phoenix Lander's Search for Mars Water" [August 3, 2007].)

What's more, it could settle the debate over whether Mars was once suitable for life.

As Phoenix closed in on the last miles of its journey, NASA scientists were gearing up for the "seven minutes of terror" that could make or break the U.S. $420-million mission. (Video: animation of the lander's expected turbulent touchdown.)

"Approximately 14 minutes before touchdown, the vehicle separates from its cruise stage," Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said at a recent press conference.

"At this point we lose communication from the vehicle."

Once the craft reaches Mars's atmosphere, the next critical seven minutes make up what's known as the Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) phase.

Screaming down at about 12,600 miles (20,270 kilometers) an hour, the craft must open a parachute to slow itself for a three-minute glide to the surface about 70 miles (113 kilometers) below.

The craft's landing sequence then includes steps such as jettisoning its heat shield, extending its legs, and firing its landing thrusters.

2008 Hurricane Season Will Be "Well Above Average"

April 9, 2008

Four major hurricanes, including one with a good chance of hitting the United States, will form in the Atlantic Ocean during the upcoming hurricane season, experts said today.

Hurricane forecasters at Colorado State University (CSU) predict a "well above average" 2008 hurricane season, with 15 named tropical storms gathering between June 1 and November 30.

Long-term yearly averages are nine or ten named storms, six hurricanes, and two intense hurricanes per year.

Eight of the 2008 storms are expected to intensify into hurricanes, which are defined as having winds of at least 74 miles (119 kilometers) an hour.

East Coast Landfall

There is a 70 percent likelihood that a major hurricane will make landfall somewhere on the U.S. East Coast during the coming season, CSU forecasters William Gray and Phil Klotzbach said.

The forecasters did not speculate about where the hurricane is likely to come ashore.

Over the past hundred years, the likelihood of the East Coast being hit by a major hurricane has been about 50 percent.

Gray, who has been issuing long-range hurricane forecasts for decades, told National Geographic News that the summer of 2008 will continue a trend of above-average hurricane seasons that started in 1995.

U.S. 2008 Tornado Death Toll 58% Above Average


Buzz up!

Tornadoes killed at least 22, and flattened parts of in Missouri, Oklahoma and Georgia over the weekend. Towns like Kite, Ga., and Picher, Okla., were all but wiped off the map.

The tornadoes came just three days after tornadoes left one dead in North Carolina and flattened a mall in Mississippi.

And though spring is typically only the start of tornado season, this is just the latest spate of killer tornadoes in the United States this year. Already, the death toll from tornadoes is 98 people, nearly 60% above the average over the past three years. It's the deadliest on record since 1998, according to USA Today and it's on pace to be the deadliest ever recorded. (ABC News put the death toll to date at 97 people.)

The 905 reported tornadoes through May 11 is far ahead of the total typically seen by this time of year. It's been late July or even early August by the time this many tornadoes have typically been recorded, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

The U.S. has already been hit by 71% of the tornadoes expected in an typical year, when compared to the 10-year average. The year is only about 34% through, and we've only just entered the typical tornado season. 2008 has been unusual because the winter produced so many damaging storms.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

The War in Iraq and The Earth Chronicles

“War has come to the cradle of civilization, “ current headlines have been announcing; and both fans and interviewers have asked me what is my “take” on these events. “How strange that 6000 years of human history keep leading us to devastation in this ancient place; I wonder if you have any thoughts on this issue,” asked a fan from England. “Is this the fulfillment of biblical prophecies?” asked an interviewer.

Indeed, today’s Iraq encompasses ancient Mesopotamia, the Land Between the Rivers where Assyria and Babylon and long before them Sumer had flourished. It is there, geographically, where the first known civilization had blossomed out, giving Mankind the firsts in writing and literature, the wheel and the kiln, art and music, mathematics and astronomy, kingship and laws, temples and religion, and the first Cities of Man, among them the famed Ur whence Abraham had come.

Preserving The Legacy

The issue of preserving and respecting that ancient legacy is perhaps best illustrated by Ur’s mighty ziggurat (step pyramid) whose ruins still dominate the landscape. In the first Gulf War, the Iraqis placed their aircraft next to the ziggurat, expecting (correctly!) that the Americans would not risk bombing the planes for fear of damaging the ziggurat; the Iraqis did it again this time – but this time (according to unconfirmed reports) the airfield was captured by Special Forces without a bomb dropped.

While the Iraqis converted a symbol of Sumer’s legacy into a military target, it is known that in Washington panels of archeologists and other scholars have been advising the campaign planners on the location and importance of ancient sites. It has been pointed out, however, that various dam and irrigation projects have obliterated potential archeological sites; and although in the first Gulf War war-damage was minimal, post-war looting of sites and museums was rampant

The Wars of Men

War – any war – entails carnage and destruction, and a time of No More Wars was deemed already in biblical times as the idyllic time when swords shall be made into ploughshares. Yet wars accompanied Mankind from the earliest times, and the Lands of the Bible, encompassing today’s Iraq, have known war after war after war.

Today’s Iraq was artificially put together by the victorious Allies after World War I, in the 1920’s. Today’s capital, Baghdad (which is not ancient Babylon) was established by invading Arabs in AD 750 and was overrun by Mongol hordes in AD 1469. Greeks (under Alexander the Great), Persians, Medians, Sassanians, Parthians warred there. And the great international war recorded in the Bible, of the Kings of the East against the Kings of the West, took place in the time of Abraham.

The kingdoms that followed Sumer, Babylonia and Assyria, turned war into a permanent state policy; their kings boasted in their annals of one campaign after another. Killings, annihilations, destruction, pillaging, subjugation fill the records.

In Who’s Footsteps?

While ancient Sumer knew wars (its monuments indeed depict soldiers and war chariots), its kings boasted of assuring peace, and the highest epithet for a ruler was to be called a Righteous Shepherd. The present ruthless ruler of Iraq chose as his model, however, not a Sumerian king but the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar, the one who captured Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple that Solomon built for Yahweh.

Saddam Hussein rebuilt (on a reduced scale) Babylon, not Ur or Nippur; and like the olden kings had each brick stamped with an honorific inscription – paying homage to “Saddam Hussein, protector of civilization, who rebuilt the palace which belonged to Nebuchadnezzar.”

Like that Babylonian king, Saddam Hussein spoke of Iraqi domination from the Persian Gulf (the ancient “Lower Sea”) to the Mediterranean (the “Upper Sea”), of capturing Jerusalem, of destroying the “Zionist State” (alias ancient Zion).

Biblical Prophecies

By comparing Iraq to ancient Babylon and himself to Nebuchadnezzar, Saddam Hussein inescapably brings to mind the biblical prophecies concerning the kingdom that turned greatness to evil and the king whose rule brought slaughter and destruction.

The prophet Isaiah foretold the demise and destruction of Babylon by armies from a distant land, even from the skies (!) (Chapter 13) and prophesied the fate of Babylon’s king and his sons (!) (Chapter 14). The prophet Jeremiah, recording the evils of Babylon and its rulers, foretold the coming punishment: “A sound of battle is in the land and a great destruction… A sword is upon the Chaldeans and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, upon her princes and upon her counselors; a sword is upon her liars… a sword is upon her mighty men.”

As much as the biblical prophets were for Peace, they deemed war in punishment of evil as justified.

Of First Things and Last Things

Do biblical prophecies hold true just for the time they were uttered, or are they of eternal validity, holding true for posterity whenever the circumstances are the same? Was evil punishable only then, not now? Were messianic expectations valid only B.C. and not AD? The question has filled volumes; I tend to agree with those who view biblical prophecies as eternally valid.

The New Testament’s Book of Revelation’s assertion “I am Alpha and I am Omega,” I am the First and I am the Last, re-expressed the more encompassing Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible) credo of all the prophets that The First Things Shall Be The Last Things. Indeed, it was the knowledge of what had been that was the basis for foretelling what will be; or, as I put it in my lectures, the Past is the Future.

That history will repeat itself, there should be no doubt. What remains a mystery is what chapter of history will be repeated when – are we still in the middle of the what I named The Earth Chronicles, or is the grand cycle nearing completion and the very First Things shall fulfill the prophecies of The Return? In this regard it behooves us to recall that before the Cities of Man there had been cities of the gods and before the wars of men there were the wars of the gods – including the one in 2024 B.C., when the use of nuclear weapons caused the demise of the Sumerian civilization.

I do recommend that my fans re-read my books, especially The 12th Planet, The Wars of Gods and Men, and The Lost Book of Enki

War Comes to the "Landing Place"

The name of an ancient site – Ba’albek in Lebanon – has now been mentioned in dispatches by war correspondents covering the latest flareup in the Middle East. Israeli planes have been dropping bombs there on training and supply encampments of Hezbollah terrorists, in a tit-for-tat for the latter’s missile attacks on Israel. Some of the dispatches refer to the town’s “Roman ruins” - remains of temples that Roman emperors erected in honor of Rome’s gods; but little, if any, mention is made of the place’s earlier and much more significant archaeological remains.

The Colossal Stone Blocks

The most important section of that ancient Landing Place was its northwestern corner, where the remains of the Jupiter temple are located. Its ruins stand atop a platform that rose even higher by rows of perfectly shaped stone blocks weighing some 600 tons each. (Fig. 3); this is a weight that no existing modern equipment can lift. (By comparison, the stone blocks of the Great Pyramid in Giza, Egypt, weigh about 25 tons each).

These are far from being the largest stone blocks there. As described in my latest illustrated book The Earth Chronicles Expeditions, the ever-rising layers of these stone blocks form, in the northwestern corner, a funnel-like stone tower. The western wall of that towerlike structure has been reinforced with rows (“courses”) of stone blocks weighing 900 tons each. On top of them, another higher course is made up of three unique stone blocks weighing 1,100 tons each. Known as the Trilithon, these are the largest cut and shaped construction stone blocks in the world!

The Quarry

The enigmas surrounding the site and the colossal stone blocks do not include one puzzle - where were those stone blocks quarried; because at a stone quarry about two miles away from the site, one of those 1,100-ton blocks is still there – its quarrying unfinished.... Z.Sitchin

THE CASE OF THE GENETICALLY MODIFIED PRIMATE

"Ninharsag and her crew are closer to being vindicated as time passes, and soon your theories will no longer be theories!"

So wrote to me a fan (Jack Byrd in Virginia) in a congratulatory letter accompanying a newspaper clipping headlined "Genetically modified primate is world's first." It was the report about the successful birth of ANDi ('inserted DNA' spelled backward), a baby rhesus monkey "created" by a group of researchers at the Oregon Regional Primate Center, whose genetic makeup was modified to include the genes from a jellyfish that make it glow in the dark.

Mice have been previously genetically modified for medical research. But because the rhesus monkey is roughly 95 percent akin to humans genetically, "I think we are at an extraordinary moment in the history of humans, " said the chief researcher Dr. Gerald Schatten.

I was of course pleased to be congratulated. Yet, I wrote back to my fan with thanks coupled with an admonition. "While it is nice to get such reassuring compliments," I wrote to him, "I am trying to get my fans to write about it to others, and first and foremost to the newspapers that carried the reports. In this case, the Associated Press report stresses that it is the world's FIRST genetically modified primate; what a Letter to the Editor should point out is that according to Sumerian texts reported by Zecharia Sitchin in his books The 12th Planet and Genesis Revisited, ADAM was the first genetically modified primate, some 300,000 years ago!"

The news about the genetically modified rhesus monkey was just one item in an avalanche of reports on human genetics, cloning etc. in which the names of Enki and Ninharsag could well replace the names of Dr. Schatten, Dr. Phyllis Leppert (and their other modern colleagues). So please -- TELL IT TO THE NEWSPAPERS!

DO PROPHECIES FORETELL IRAQ’S FUTURE?

The continuing carnage in Iraq is reflected in many readers’ letter to me. The “Land Between the Rivers” is where civilization began, where Abraham began his actual and spiritual journey, where the story of Man and his gods began. The questions I am asked are not only about the antiquities that are destroyed, not only about the past, but also about the future: Is there anything in the biblical prophecies that foretells where it is all leading?

FATE Magazine published a short article of mine on the subject in its October 2005 issue, here are excerpts:

Z.S.

Breaking Apart to Repeat History?

The conflict involves a host of issues – democracy, religious freedom, women’s rights stand out. A core issue that divides the three main religious-political-ethnic groups is the extent of autonomy that each will have – the majority Shiites in the south, the distinct Kurds in the north (both in oil-producing regions) and the minority Sunnis in the central region (which includes Baghdad but no oil). The concern is that the greater the autonomy, the greater the chances that Iraq will break up into three parts and will no longer be one national state.

Whether such an outcome is desirable or need be prevented at all costs can be argued pro and con. The arguments should not ignore the fact that “Iraq” is an artificial entity created after World War I by Britain and France when they divided the remnants of the Ottoman (Turkish) empire. How far in history should one go in untangling the ethnic-religious issues? It is a fact that Saddam Hussein saw himself as a reincarnation of the famed Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar and envisioned Iraq as a great New Babylon; and it is a fact, even if little noticed, that the Shiites of southern Iraq intend to call their autonomous region or independent state Sumer!

The Biblical Prophecies

Old Testament Prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel – predicted both the sacking of Jerusalem and its Temple by Nebuchadnezzar as well as the subsequent downfall and destruction of Babylon; both prophecies came true, in 586 B.C. and 539 B.C.

In the New Testament, Babylon and its fate are the main subject of three chapters in the Book of Revelation (“The Apocalypse of St. john”). Those prophecies of wrath against Babylon have posed a problem for both biblical scholars and theologians, since when the Book of Revelation was written, “Babylon” had already long been forsaken and in ruins for centuries. Most scholars therefore believe that the book was composed after the start of the persecution of Christians in Rome and that “Babylon” was a code word for Rome.

But if one believes that Revelation is indeed a book of prophecies – of events to come – and that it says what it means and means what it says, then “Babylon of the future” is a “code word” for today’s Iraq! And if so, what Revelation prophecied becomes both intriguing and relevant.

The Merchants of Evil

The future fall of “Babylon,” according to Revelation, will follow and will be hastened by a period of “harlotry,” during which “merchants of the Earth… have committed fornication with her… and waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies” (chapter 18:2). Applying this to current events, one can easily find here an allusion to Iraq’s main “delicacy” – oil – and the parallel to the “Food for Oil” program of the United Nations through which “merchants of the Earth,” committing ethical and business “adultery,” enriched themselves while providing the Iraqi dictator with funds to stay in power and commit more atrocities.

But when the judgements were pronounced upon Babylon, “the Mother of Harlots” with whom “the kings of the Earth have committed fornication,” those very beneficiaries of the trade abandoned her, stood aside when the destruction began:

The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her,
shall stand far off for fear of her torment,
weeping and wailing, and saying:
Alas, alas that great city that was clothed in fine linen
and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold…
For in one hour so great riches is come to naught;
And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships,
and as many as trade by sea,
stood far off, and cried when they saw the smoke
and her burning, saying:

Alas, alas that great city… for in one hour is she made desdolate.

Revelation 18:15-18

The Breakup Into Three Parts

Once the destruction of “Babylon” was so swiftly carried out, the seventh angel “poured out his vial into the air, and there came a great voice out of the Temple of Heaven, from the throne, saying: IT IS DONE.”

And the great city was divided into three parts…
And great Babylon came in remembrance before God
to give unto her the cup of wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

Revelation 16:17, 19

As events in Iraq unfold, we will see whether they will follow the prophetic script to its cataclysmic conclusion.

© Z. Sitchin, 2005

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

WILL BIBLICAL PROPHECIES BE FULFILLED?

“War has come to the cradle of civilization, “ current headlines have been announcing; and both fans and interviewers have asked me what is my “take” on these events. “How strange that 6000 years of human history keep leading us to devastation in this ancient place; I wonder if you have any thoughts on this issue,” asked a fan from England. “Is this the fulfillment of biblical prophecies?” asked an interviewer.

Indeed, today’s Iraq encompasses ancient Mesopotamia, the Land Between the Rivers where Assyria and Babylon and long before them Sumer had flourished. It is there, geographically, where the first known civilization had blossomed out, giving Mankind the firsts in writing and literature, the wheel and the kiln, art and music, mathematics and astronomy, kingship and laws, temples and religion, and the first Cities of Man, among them the famed Ur whence Abraham had come.

Preserving The Legacy

The issue of preserving and respecting that ancient legacy is perhaps best illustrated by Ur’s mighty ziggurat (step pyramid) whose ruins still dominate the landscape. In the first Gulf War, the Iraqis placed their aircraft next to the ziggurat, expecting (correctly!) that the Americans would not risk bombing the planes for fear of damaging the ziggurat; the Iraqis did it again this time – but this time (according to unconfirmed reports) the airfield was captured by Special Forces without a bomb dropped.

While the Iraqis converted a symbol of Sumer’s legacy into a military target, it is known that in Washington panels of archeologists and other scholars have been advising the campaign planners on the location and importance of ancient sites. It has been pointed out, however, that various dam and irrigation projects have obliterated potential archeological sites; and although in the first Gulf War war-damage was minimal, post-war looting of sites and museums was rampant

The Wars of Men

War – any war – entails carnage and destruction, and a time of No More Wars was deemed already in biblical times as the idyllic time when swords shall be made into ploughshares. Yet wars accompanied Mankind from the earliest times, and the Lands of the Bible, encompassing today’s Iraq, have known war after war after war.

Today’s Iraq was artificially put together by the victorious Allies after World War I, in the 1920’s. Today’s capital, Baghdad (which is not ancient Babylon) was established by invading Arabs in AD 750 and was overrun by Mongol hordes in AD 1469. Greeks (under Alexander the Great), Persians, Medians, Sassanians, Parthians warred there. And the great international war recorded in the Bible, of the Kings of the East against the Kings of the West, took place in the time of Abraham.

The kingdoms that followed Sumer, Babylonia and Assyria, turned war into a permanent state policy; their kings boasted in their annals of one campaign after another. Killings, annihilations, destruction, pillaging, subjugation fill the records.

The Wars of Men

War – any war – entails carnage and destruction, and a time of No More Wars was deemed already in biblical times as the idyllic time when swords shall be made into ploughshares. Yet wars accompanied Mankind from the earliest times, and the Lands of the Bible, encompassing today’s Iraq, have known war after war after war.

Today’s Iraq was artificially put together by the victorious Allies after World War I, in the 1920’s. Today’s capital, Baghdad (which is not ancient Babylon) was established by invading Arabs in AD 750 and was overrun by Mongol hordes in AD 1469. Greeks (under Alexander the Great), Persians, Medians, Sassanians, Parthians warred there. And the great international war recorded in the Bible, of the Kings of the East against the Kings of the West, took place in the time of Abraham.

The kingdoms that followed Sumer, Babylonia and Assyria, turned war into a permanent state policy; their kings boasted in their annals of one campaign after another. Killings, annihilations, destruction, pillaging, subjugation fill the records.

In Who’s Footsteps?

While ancient Sumer knew wars (its monuments indeed depict soldiers and war chariots), its kings boasted of assuring peace, and the highest epithet for a ruler was to be called a Righteous Shepherd. The present ruthless ruler of Iraq chose as his model, however, not a Sumerian king but the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar, the one who captured Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple that Solomon built for Yahweh.

Saddam Hussein rebuilt (on a reduced scale) Babylon, not Ur or Nippur; and like the olden kings had each brick stamped with an honorific inscription – paying homage to “Saddam Hussein, protector of civilization, who rebuilt the palace which belonged to Nebuchadnezzar.”

Like that Babylonian king, Saddam Hussein spoke of Iraqi domination from the Persian Gulf (the ancient “Lower Sea”) to the Mediterranean (the “Upper Sea”), of capturing Jerusalem, of destroying the “Zionist State” (alias ancient Zion).

Biblical Prophecies

By comparing Iraq to ancient Babylon and himself to Nebuchadnezzar, Saddam Hussein inescapably brings to mind the biblical prophecies concerning the kingdom that turned greatness to evil and the king whose rule brought slaughter and destruction.

The prophet Isaiah foretold the demise and destruction of Babylon by armies from a distant land, even from the skies (!) (Chapter 13) and prophesied the fate of Babylon’s king and his sons (!) (Chapter 14). The prophet Jeremiah, recording the evils of Babylon and its rulers, foretold the coming punishment: “A sound of battle is in the land and a great destruction… A sword is upon the Chaldeans and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, upon her princes and upon her counselors; a sword is upon her liars… a sword is upon her mighty men.”

As much as the biblical prophets were for Peace, they deemed war in punishment of evil as justified.

Of First Things and Last Things

Do biblical prophecies hold true just for the time they were uttered, or are they of eternal validity, holding true for posterity whenever the circumstances are the same? Was evil punishable only then, not now? Were messianic expectations valid only B.C. and not AD? The question has filled volumes; I tend to agree with those who view biblical prophecies as eternally valid.

The New Testament’s Book of Revelation’s assertion “I am Alpha and I am Omega,” I am the First and I am the Last, re-expressed the more encompassing Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible) credo of all the prophets that The First Things Shall Be The Last Things. Indeed, it was the knowledge of what had been that was the basis for foretelling what will be; or, as I put it in my lectures, the Past is the Future.

That history will repeat itself, there should be no doubt. What remains a mystery is what chapter of history will be repeated when – are we still in the middle of the what I named The Earth Chronicles, or is the grand cycle nearing completion and the very First Things shall fulfill the prophecies of The Return? In this regard it behooves us to recall that before the Cities of Man there had been cities of the gods and before the wars of men there were the wars of the gods – including the one in 2024 B.C., when the use of nuclear weapons caused the demise of the Sumerian civilization.

I do recommend that my fans re-read my books, especially The 12th Planet, The Wars of Gods and Men, and The Lost Book of Enki.

April 2003

Is Nibiru Approaching?

Also known as The Twelfth Planet or Planet X, some are warning that this wandering body is quickly nearing the Earth - and could cause global devastation. Should you worry?

In 1976, Zecharia Sitchin stirred up a great deal of controversy with the publication of his book, The Twelfth Planet. In this and subsequent books, Sitchin presented his literal translations of ancient Sumerian texts which told an incredible story about the origins of humankind on planet Earth - a story far different and much more fantastic than what we all learned in school.

The ancient cuneiform texts - some of the earliest known writing, dating back some 6,000 years - told the story of a race of beings called the Anunnaki. The Anunnaki came to Earth from a planet in our solar system called Nibiru, according to the Sumerians via Sitchin. If you've never heard of it, that's because mainstream science does not recognize Nibiru as one of the planets that revolves around our Sun. Yet it is there, claims Sitchin, and its presence holds great importance not only for humankind's past, but our future as well.

Nibiru's orbit around the Sun is highly elliptical, according to Sitchin's books, taking it out beyond the orbit of Pluto at its farthest point and bringing it as close to the Sun as the far side of the asteroid belt (a ring of asteroids that is known to occupy a band of space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter). It takes Nibiru 3,600 years to complete one orbital journey, and it was last in this vicinity around 160 B.C.E. As you can imagine, the gravitational effects of a sizable planet moving close to the inner solar system, as it is claimed for Nibiru, could wreak havoc on the orbits of other planets, disrupt the asteroid belt and spell big trouble for planet Earth.

Well, prepare for yet another possible apocalypse because, they say, Nibiru is once again heading this way - and will be here soon.

A Bit of History

The story of the Anunnaki is told in Sitchin's many books and is digested, augmented and speculated about in dozens of websites. But the tale is essentially this: About 450,000 years ago, Alalu, the deposed ruler of the Anunnaki on Nibiru, escaped the planet on a spaceship and found refuge on Earth. He discovered that Earth had plenty of gold, which Nibiru needed to protect its diminishing atmosphere. They began to mine Earth's gold, and there were a lot of political battles among the Anunnaki for power. Then around 300,000 years or so ago, the Anunnaki decided to create a race of workers by genetically manipulating the primates on the planet. The result was homo sapiens - us. Eventually, rulership of the Earth was handed over to humans and the Anunnaki left, at least for the time being. Sitchin ties all this - and much more - into the stories of the first books of the Bible and the histories of other ancient cultures, especially Egyptian. Where Is Nibiru and When Will It Arrive?

Even mainstream astronomers have long speculated that there may be an unknown planet - a Planet X - somewhere out beyond the orbit of Pluto that would account for the anomalies they were detecting in the orbits of Neptune and Uranus. Some unseen body seems to be tugging at them. The finding was reported in the June 19, 1982 edition of the New York Times:

Something out there beyond the furthest reaches of the known solar system is tugging at Uranus and Neptune. A gravitational force keeps perturbing the two giant planets, causing irregularities in their orbits. The force suggests a presence far away and unseen, a large object, the long-sought Planet X. Astronomers are so certain of this planet's existence that they have already named it "Planet X - the 10th Planet."
The anomalous body was first spotted in 1983 by IRAS (Infrared Astronomical Satellite), according to news stories. The Washington Post reported: "A heavenly body possibly as large as the giant planet Jupiter and possibly so close to Earth that it would be part of this solar system has been found in the direction of the constellation Orion by an orbiting telescope aboard the U.S. infrared astronomical satellite. So mysterious is the object that astronomers do not know if it is a planet, a giant comet, a nearby 'protostar' that never got hot enough to become a star, a distant galaxy so young that it is still in the process of forming its first stars or a galaxy so shrouded in dust that none of the light cast by its stars ever gets through."

Nibiru supporters contend that IRAS has, in fact, spotted the wandering planet.

"A Mystery Revolves Around the Sun," an article posted by MSNBC on October 7, 1999 said: "Two teams of researchers have proposed the existence of an unseen planet or a failed star circling the sun at a distance of more than 2 trillion miles, far beyond the orbits of the nine known planets... Planetary scientist at Britain's Open University, speculates that the object could be a planet larger than Jupiter." And in December, 2000, SpaceDaily reported on "Another Candidate For 'Planet X' Spotted."

Google Earth to Showcase Climate Change

Together with Britain’s environment ministry and the country’s Meteorological Office, Google has created a new animated map that layers over its Google Earth program to illustrate the potential impact of global climate change over the next century.

The project, called Climate Change in Our World, allows viewers to run a series of time lapse sequences to watch earth warm under a medium case scenario up to the year 2100.

Another animation, developed in conjunction with the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), shows the retreat of Antarctica’s ice caps since the 1950s, with numerous factoids about climate change science, and its specific impact on the Antarctic.

“Climate change is redrawing the map of the world. Unless we act, its impacts will be felt everywhere, as sea levels rise, crops fail, extreme weather increases and more areas are at risk of drought and flooding,” said British environment secretary Hilary Benn.

“This project shows people the reality of climate change using estimates of both the change in the average temperature where they live, and the impact it will have on people’s lives all over the world, including here in Britain. By helping people to understand what climate change means for them and for the world we can mobilize the commitment we need to avoid the worst effects by taking action now.”

Food Stamp Use Hits Record

The number of Illinois households receiving food stamps has reached a record level, with almost 1.3 million people relying on the program to pay for daily staples such as milk, bread and eggs.

State officials on Thursday said there might be a link between the increase and constantly rising food, gas and energy prices. Aid groups warned there are many more in need.

"Families are running into financial difficulties," said Marielle Sainvilus with the Illinois Department of Human Services, which administers the food stamp program. "We don't have hard-core evidence to say it's directly linked to the economy. But it makes sense because people are paying more for almost everything, but they aren't being paid more."

A total of 592,390 households across Illinois received food stamps in March. That's up from 571,148 during March last year, according to the agency.

And while those receiving food stamps has steadily increased over the last five years, Sainvilus said the department is alarmed by what it considers a dramatic jump in demand in the last few months. Sainvilus couldn't provide a month-by-month breakdown of distribution of food stamps for this year.

Citigroup: Gold Could Double

Profit-taking by investors on a firmer U.S. dollar and a seasonal slowdown in fabrication may be working against gold, but spot prices continue to remain strong near the US$920 per ounce mark. And bullion could climb much higher if things don’t change significantly, according to a new report from Citigroup.

Mining and metals analyst John Hill said the mix of macro and supply/demand factors, along with the same forces that have pushed gold higher for the last five years, give him good reason to remain bullish on gold. He sees prices climbing through 2009 and 2010, but a significant lift may not come until the fall when fabrication constrains supplies.

“Longer term, we would not be surprised to see gold double from current levels as the global policy prescriptions for the credit crunch remain powerfully and uniformly re-flationary,” the analyst told clients.

100 EXPLOSIONS ON THE MOON

May 21, 2008: Not so long ago, anyone claiming to see flashes of light on the Moon would be viewed with deep suspicion by professional astronomers. Such reports were filed under "L" … for lunatic.

Not anymore. Over the past two and a half years, NASA astronomers have observed the Moon flashing at them not just once but one hundred times.

"They're explosions caused by meteoroids hitting the Moon," explains Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). "A typical blast is about as powerful as a few hundred pounds of TNT and can be photographed easily using a backyard telescope."

A common question, says Cooke, is "how can something explode on the Moon? There's no oxygen up there."

These explosions don't require oxygen or combustion. Meteoroids hit the moon with tremendous kinetic energy, traveling 30,000 mph or faster. "At that speed, even a pebble can blast a crater several feet wide. The impact heats up rocks and soil on the lunar surface hot enough to glow like molten lava--hence the flash."

During meteor showers such as the Quadrantids or Perseids, when the Moon passes through dense streams of cometary debris, the rate of lunar flashes can go as high as one per hour. Impacts subside when the Moon exits the stream, but curiously the rate never goes to zero.

Boeing tests airborne laser gun

RIA Novosti
Tuesday, May 20, 2008

The Boeing Company said it has fired a high-energy chemical laser aboard a C-130H aircraft in ground tests for the first time.

The successful ground tests, "a key milestone for the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration program," took place on May 13 at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.

"First firing of the high-energy laser aboard the ATL aircraft shows that the program continues to make good progress toward giving the warfighter an ultra-precision engagement capability that will dramatically reduce collateral damage," said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems.

After conducting a series of additional laser tests on the ground and in the air, the company said the program will "fire the chemical laser in-flight at mission-representative ground targets." The test team will fire the laser through a rotating turret that extends through the aircraft's belly.

Is Chinese Regime Preparing for Nuclear War?

Gordon Thomas
G2 Bulletin
Tuesday, May 20, 2008

LONDON—Defense analysts for the British intelligence service MI6 believe China is preparing for the "eventuality of a nuclear war." The conclusion follows evidence that Beijing has built secretly a major naval base deep inside caverns which even sophisticated satellites cannot penetrate.

In an unusual development, the analysts have provided details to the specialist defense periodical, Jane's Intelligence Review, which published satellite images of the base location which is hidden beneath millions of tons of rock on the South China Sea island of Hainan .

The MI6 analysts have confirmed the submarine base hewn out of the rock will contain up to 20 of the latest C94 Jin-Class submarines, each capable of firing anti-satellite missiles and nuclear tipped rockets.

Shortage fears push oil futures near $140

Carola Hoyos and Javier Blas
Financial Times
Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Fears of a shortage within five years propelled long-term oil futures prices to almost $140 a barrel, further stoking inflationary pressures in the global economy.

The spot price of Nymex West Texas Intermediate hit a record $130.30 a barrel on Wednesday. On Tuesday investors had rushed to buy oil futures contracts as far forward as December 2016, pushing their prices as high as $139.50 a barrel, up more than $9.50 on the day.

Veteran traders said they had never seen such a jump and said investors were increasingly betting that oil production would soon peak because of geopolitical and geological constraints.

Israel PM calls for naval blockade of Iran

by Staff Writers
Jerusalem (AFP) May 21, 2008
Israel wants to put more international pressure on Iran over its disputed nuclear programme, suggesting an US-imposed naval blockade and tougher sanctions, local media reported on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert raised the idea of a naval blockade in talks with the Democratic speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, during her visit to Jerusalem, the Haaretz newspaper said.

"The present economic sanctions on Iran have exhausted themselves," Olmert was quoted as saying in the meeting Tuesday. "The international community must impose tougher sanctions against Tehran."

The UN Security Council has imposed three sets of sanctions on Iran aimed at pressuring it to halt uranium enrichment which Israel and many Western powers suspect will be used to develop an atomic bomb -- a charge Tehran denies.

Asked about the blockade report, Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev would say only: "We do not confirm this information."

Olmert also spoke about imposing air travel restrictions which he said would prevent Iranian business people "from landing anywhere in the world which would touch off pressure on the regime," according to Haaretz.

Rafi Eitan, a member of Olmert's security cabinet, told public radio Wednesday that "a blockade of maritime and air routes against Iran is a good possibility."

Israel, which is believed to be only, if undeclared, nuclear armed state in the Middle East, is also pushing for tougher sanctions against Tehran, especially from European countries.

"It is time that the European Union take quicker action and impose much more severe economic sanctions than those adopted by the United Nations," said foreign ministry spokesman Arye Mekel.

Iran, OPEC's second biggest oil exporter, has refused to heed international demands to halt uranium enrichment, insisting it has a right to the process to make nuclear fuel to meet its increasing energy needs.

Highly enriched uranium can also make the fissile core of an atom bomb, but Tehran has vehemently denied it is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has been trying to determine the nature and extent of Iran's nuclear work.

US ethanol policy under siege

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) May 21, 2008
Amid a surge in food prices blamed in part on US expansion of corn-based ethanol production, lawmakers, experts and industry officials are urging the government to rethink a new law mandating alternative fuels.

The United States is the world's top producer of corn-based ethanol, which the administration of President George W. Bush sees as a way of reducing dependence on foreign oil and curb fossil-fuel emissions, the main source of man-made global warming.

Politicians are under mounting pressure to look again at the effects of a landmark energy law enacted in December that raised vehicle fuel-efficiency standards for the first time in three decades and offered broad support for ethanol production.

China scrambles to help homeless

by Staff Writers
Mianzhu, China (AFP) May 21, 2008
China scrambled on Wednesday to provide shelter and prevent disease among five million people made homeless by last week's earthquake, as the number of dead and missing climbed above 74,000.

With hope virtually extinguished of finding more survivors amid the rubble of the devastated towns and villages across mountainous Sichuan province, soldiers and relief workers focused on the desperate plight of those displaced.

Nine days after the 8.0-magnitude quake, the government said the confirmed number of people killed had risen to 41,353. But with another 32,666 confirmed still missing, the death toll is likely to soar.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

UK scientists get green light for half animal, half human embryos...

Source: Times Online
British scientists will be allowed to research devastating diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s using human-animal embryos, after the House of Commons rejected a ban yesterday.

An amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill that would have outlawed the creation of “human admixed embryos” for medical research was defeated in a free vote by a majority of 160, preserving what Gordon Brown regarded as a central element of the legislation.

The Government is braced for defeat today, however, on a separate clause that would scrap the requirement that fertility clinics consider a child’s need for a father before treating patients. MPs will also consider amendments tonight that would cut the legal limit for abortion from 24 weeks to 22 or 20 weeks.

A second amendment, which would have banned the creation of “true hybrids” made by fertilising an animal egg with human sperm, or vice-versa, was also defeated yesterday by a majority of 63. Another free vote last night was expected to approve the use of embryo-screening to create “saviour siblings” suitable to donate umbilical cord blood to sick children.

Edward Leigh, Conservative MP for Gainsborough, moving the amendment to ban all admixed embryos, said that mingling animal and human DNA crossed an “ultimate boundary”. He said that exaggerated claims were giving patients false hope and that the dangers of the research were unknown. “In many ways we are like children playing with landmines without any concept of the dangers of the technology we are handling,” he said.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Fed's Direct Loans to Banks Climb to Record Level

Source: Bloomberg
The Federal Reserve's direct loans of cash to commercial banks climbed to the highest level on record in the past week as money-losing lenders increasingly turn to the central bank for funds.

Funds provided through the so-called discount window for banks rose by $2.8 billion to a daily average of $14.4 billion in the week to May 14, the central bank said today in Washington. Separately, the Fed's loans to Wall Street bond dealers rose by $75 million to $16.6 billion.

Policy makers have increased the attractiveness of direct loans as they seek to alleviate the impact of the credit crunch. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said two days ago that while markets have improved, they remain ``far from normal,'' adding that the central bank is prepared to increase its twice monthly auctions of funds to banks.

``The Fed is providing an extraordinary amount of liquidity through various mechanisms,'' said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital in Greenwich, Connecticut. While ``credit markets are showing signs of improvement'' there is ``a long way to go,'' he said.

Fed officials have reduced the cost of direct loans to a quarter-point above the benchmark overnight lending rate between banks. In March, they extended the term of the loans to commercial banks to 90 days. The discount rate is now 2.25 percent, compared with the three-month London Interbank Offered Rate for the dollar of 2.72 percent.

`Good Sign'

``The fact that banks are willing to take advantage of it may be a good sign for the market,'' said Louis Crandall, chief economist at Wrightson ICAP LLC in Jersey City, New Jersey. ``They're willing to take advantage of cheap money and'' lend it on to customers, he said.

Bernanke today urged banks to raise more capital to help limit damage to the economy. Banks and securities companies have raised about $244 billion of capital since July, after writedowns and credit losses in excess of $333 billion.

Fed policy makers in March created the Primary Dealer Credit Facility to offer direct loans to the 20 brokers that trade Treasury securities directly with the New York Fed. The resource allows Wall Street banks to borrow money at the discount rate overnight.

As of May 14, there was $14.5 billion of loans outstanding in the primary-dealer program, while commercial banks had $13.4 billion of discount-window loans, the Fed reported.