Scientists have discovered a low-cost way to create 3D images that can "see" frequencies beyond visible light

Scientists in Glasgow have discovered a low-cost way to create 3D images.

Their system uses detectors which have a single pixel to sense light instead of the millions of pixels used in the imaging sensors of digital cameras.

The detectors can "see" frequencies beyond visible light, which researchers say could open up new uses for 3D imaging in medicine and geography.

They said the single-pixel detectors cost "a few pounds" compared to current systems, which cost "thousands".

It is hoped that the system's ability to senses wavelengths far beyond the capability of digital cameras and its low cost, could make it a valuable tool for a wide range of industries.

Researchers said possible uses could range from locating oil to helping doctors find tumours.
BBC

Only Hope is Take Out The Snake

The Pentecost Prophecy By Gary Stearman

By Gary Stearman on April 30, 2013



Every year about this time, I reconsider studies done in the past, never forgetting the first time I realized the significance of the Jewish festivals. We do not formally observe them as do the Jews, but we certainly note their annual passing, as a parade of God’s master plan for the ages.

This issue of our magazine is entirely devoted to studying the powerful imagery implicit in the biblical festival of Pentecost. This article is one of three studies, each linking Pentecost with the prophetic destiny of the church. Anyone with a basic knowledge of the Bible knows that the church was born on Pentecost. It lies at the center of Israel’s seven feasts, at the pinnacle of the festival cycle. Biblically, culturally and historically, the symbolic power of Pentecost is unrivalled. It is laden with deep meaning and brimming with narratives that speak of God’s love, and His prophetic promises. We believe that there is a natural connection between Pentecost and the rapture of the church.

If you keep up with current news in the world of Christian prophecy studies, you’ve likely heard that the rapture could happen this month … on Pentecost. This year, since its observance happens to arrive on the date of Israel’s 65th birthday, speculation is more fervent than usual. Some have proclaimed that the long-awaited rapture could come during the period that begins on Tuesday evening, May 14th. At that time, they say, the church will be caught up, destabilizing global politics and leading to the tumult of a war in the Middle East. That war, or perhaps the first of a series of battles in that war, will destroy the power of the United States. Or, so goes the theory.

We have long advocated the view that Pentecost is a type of the rapture, not that the rapture must come exactly on any given Pentecost, though this timing is possible, perhaps even likely. We believe that it is of prime importance that we are actively anticipating Christ’s imminent return on any day. In Paul’s epistle to Titus, this position is clearly advocated:

“13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:13,14).

This year, the Jewish festival called Shavuot [Weeks] or Pentecost, falls on Wednesday and Thursday, the 6th and 7th of Sivan, corresponding to the 15th and 16th of May. But since the biblical description of this festival always places it on a Sunday, some would say that the nearest likely date would fall on either the preceding or following Sunday: either May 12th or May 19th. Actually, this uncertainty is quite appropriate, given the fact that Pentecost is called “the festival without a date.” In reality, its appearance, as originally calculated by the new moon, the Passover and a seven-week countdown, is quite flexible.

Pentecost, the harvest festival, falls in the middle of the seven major feasts of the Jewish calendar. They are Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Pentecost, Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur and Tabernacles.

The first three come in the spring of the year; the last three arrive in the fall. The opening three festivals are expressions of Christ’s first coming. Passover and Unleavened Bread depict His death and burial. On Firstfruits, He was resurrected from the dead.

The final three festivals foreshadow His Second Coming. Rosh HaShanah illustrates the judgments of the Day of the Lord. Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement foreshadows Christ’s appearance at the end of the Tribulation. Tabernacles depicts the establishment of His Kingdom reign.

Taken together, the festivals form a kind of timeline, beginning with Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection in the spring festivals and ending as delineated in the fall feasts, with His return in judgment and the establishment of Israel in the Kingdom era. At the midpoint of all these activities, Pentecost stands as a beacon, marking the coming of God’s Holy Spirit, and the establishment of the body of Christ, the church. Furthermore, it denotes the great harvest at the end of the age.
Jesus and the Harvest

In Matthew 13:39, Jesus said, “The harvest is the end of the world.” By this, He meant that the events of the end times would culminate in a great harvest of souls.

In keeping with the harvest theme, the Jews honor Pentecost as the day reserved in heaven for the judgment of the fruit of trees. We are reminded of Christ’s own words: Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matt. 7:20).



On Pentecost, He sent His Holy Spirit, creating the body of Christ – the church – as we know it today. Since that time, its goal has been to witness for Him, “to the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Christ likened evangelism to the planting of seed, which matures until the time of the harvest. His return for His people would be the next event in the Christian prophetic calendar. Significantly, after Firstfruits, the next important date on the festival calendar is Pentecost.

In the era of the Temple, Jews dramatically celebrated the feast of Firstfruits (Hebrew: Omer). On the Sunday following Passover, the high priest stood to offer the Omer, or first gathering of the grain harvest. In Leviticus 23:11, it is called, “the sheaf.” This offering was counted as day one. “Counting the Omer” then continued for fifty days, until Pentecost:

“15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: 16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. 17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD” (Lev. 23:15-17).

The above-mentioned “fifty days” typify redemption. For Jewish scholars, this period represents the maturing of the relationship between God and Israel. For Christians, it adds the feature of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Christ rose from the dead on Firstfruits (the Omer), and angels promised His return “in like manner.”

As Paul later put it, describing resurrection, “But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (1Cor. 15:23).

But there are hazards in farming to produce a harvest. Jesus often spoke of this fact:

“37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Matt. 13:37-43).

Counting each day from the public exhibit of the Omer is the equivalent of watching crops grow. Anyone who has observed farmers in action knows that their routine is fraught with unpredictability that involves much anxious watching. In addition to tares and weeds there are pests, drought, disease and bad weather, all of which will threaten the final outcome of his crop.

The harvest will be accompanied by the equivalent of threshing. The good grain must ultimately be winnowed and finally ground into fine flour, worthy of baking.

The Wicked World

As given above in Leviticus, the fifty-day count begins with the first sheaf and ends with two loaves, each baked with leavening.

At Pentecost, the harvest of souls in the church age is complete. The two baked loaves held aloft by the priest are bodies representing the redeemed. They are lifted above the earth, suggesting an ascent to heaven. And they are baked with leavening.

But why would they be leavened loaves? We know that throughout Scripture, leavening is a type of evil, wickedness and depravity. At Passover, only unleavened bread was eaten. Jesus also warned his followers: “6 Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matt. 16:6).

Furthermore, He once told His disciples: “33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened” (Matt. 13:33).

Many have commented on His statement, saying that the three measures of meal represent the three groups of people spoken of in Scripture: Jews, Gentiles and the church. All have been tainted by the evil that requires redemption. The woman? She is none other than the figure of Mystery Babylon.

Dispensational Importance of Pentecost

Dispensationally speaking, Pentecost is of great importance. Beginning with Noah and the Flood, it has marked the moment when one dispensation changes to another.

“14 And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried. 15 And God spake unto Noah, saying, 16 Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee. 17 Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth” (Gen. 8:14-17).

The date given above is the 27th of Iyar, about a week before the 6th of Sivan, the day that in a later era, would be designated as Shavuot (Pentecost). Noah, his family and the animals disembarked, then Noah built an altar and worshiped the Lord.

A short time passed. We would suggest about a week. Then the next recorded event in Noah’s life is seen in Genesis, Chapter 9, where the Lord makes His covenant with Noah. This was done at the beginning of the third month, Sivan, on the very date that later became Pentecost. The Noahic Covenant marked the change from the dispensation of Conscience to Human Government.

We find the same time marker at the initiation of the dispensation of Law. Moses brought Israel to Midian:

“19 In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai” (Ex. 19:1).

Arriving at the mountain where he would receive the commandments of the Law from the Lord, Moses spoke:

“15 And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives. 16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled” (Ex. 19:15,16).

This signal event came about on the 3rd of Sivan, and the days immediately following. Thus, the dispensation of Law began on Shavuot … Pentecost.

Of course, the next change of dispensation came when Law was replaced by the age of Grace, on that most famous Pentecost for Christians:

“1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4).

Christ’s disciples had stayed up all night, as demanded by Jewish tradition. The day was “fully come” on the next morning at sunrise.

It is our contention that Pentecost, the day of dispensational change, should be carefully noted by believers, although Christians have no need to perform tradition rituals of the Law. Past events suggest future trends, as we await another change of dispensation beginning with the rapture and the Day of the Lord.

The accompanying articles in this issue will detail many other aspects of Pentecost, including the story of Ruth, the Gentile woman who was chosen by the wealthy landowner Boaz on the night of Pentecost. Later, they were united in marriage and she bore him a son, Obed, who was the grandfather of King David.

Also, we’ll spend time on the Pentecost tradition called “decorating the bride.” Jews stay up all night studying Scripture in the hope that they will receive a special blessing. They believe that the heavens will open briefly to the serious supplicant, and that God will favorably answer prayer as His Holy Spirit bursts forth.

The Temple Menorah

As with virtually every other aspect of Pentecost, we see here, a perfect picture of the rapture, when the skies will literally open up for a moment described by Paul in the following way:

“51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51,52).



This is the “brief instant,” which the Jews seek so diligently. The first trumpet, the voice of the Lord, was sounded over Mount Sinai all those years ago. The last trumpet, also the sound of the Lord’s voice, will soon sound again. Logic says that it, too, could come on Pentecost:

“16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Th. 4;16,17).

This trumpet is neither a ram’s horn, nor a metallic instrument; it is the Lord’s own voice, calling us into the atmospheric heavens, from whence we shall rise to heaven and glory.

A final thought: Of the seven feasts of Israel, Pentecost stands in the middle. It reminds us of that great spiritual symbol of the Temple, the Menorah, which had seven lamps. Three lamps stood on each side of the central Servant Lamp, which typified Jesus. It was elevated above the others, and was used to light the other lamps. Like Pentecost, itself, it brings spiritual illumination to all seven feasts. In a way, it symbolizes the connection between heaven and earth.

Pentecost – what a perfect time for the Lord to take us home, if not this year, then soon!

Prophecy in the news

EU goes down the tube as politicians spend cash they don't have

The Slow, Agonizing Death Of The American Worker

The middle class American worker is in danger of becoming an endangered species.  The politicians are not telling you the truth, and the mainstream media is certainly not telling you the truth, but the reality is that there is nothing but bad news on the horizon for workers in the United States.  In the old days, when the big corporations that dominate our society did well, that also meant good things for American workers since those corporations would need more of us to work for them.  

But in the emerging one world economic system that our economy is being merged into, those corporations have other choices now.  For instance, the big corporations can now choose to limit the number of "expensive" American workers that they employ by shipping millions of jobs to the other side of the world.  And from their perspective, it makes perfect sense.  They can make much bigger profits by hiring people on the other side of the planet to work for them for less than a dollar an hour.  

If they can get good production out of those people, then why should they hire Americans for ten to twenty times as much, plus have to give those Americans health insurance and other benefits?  Another major factor in the slow, agonizing death of the American worker is technology.  We live during a period when technology is advancing at a pace that is almost unimaginable at the same time that it is steadily becoming cheaper and cheaper.  That means that it is going to become easier and easier for companies to replace workers with robots and computers.  

As I have written about previously, it is being projected that our economy will lose millions of jobs to technology in the coming years.  Yes, some of us will still be needed to help build the robots and the computers, but not all of us will.  And of course the overall general weakness of the economy is not helping matters either.  The American people inherited the greatest economic machine in the history of the world, and we have wrecked it.  Decades of very foolish decisions have resulted in the period of steady economic decline that we are experiencing now.

America is simply not the economic powerhouse that it once was.  Back in 2001, the U.S. economy accounted for 31.8 percent of global GDP.  By 2011, the U.S. economy only accounted for 21.6 percent of global GDP.  That is a collapse any way that you want to look at it.

Today, American workers are living in an economy that is rapidly declining, and their jobs are steadily being stolen by robots, computers and foreign workers that live in countries where it is legal to pay slave labor wages.  Politicians from both political parties refuse to do anything to stop the bleeding because they think that the status quo is working just great.

So don't expect things to get better any time soon.

The following are 10 amazing charts that demonstrate the slow, agonizing death of the American worker...

#1 Wages And Salaries As A Percentage Of GDP

As you can see, wages as a percentage of GDP are hovering near an all-time record low.  That means that American workers are bringing home a smaller share of the economic pie than ever before.

#2 Average Annual Hours Worked Per Employed Person In The United States

We are an economy that is rapidly trading good paying full-time jobs for low paying part-time jobs.  The decline in average annual hours worked that we have witnessed represents the equivalent of losing millions of jobs.  There has been an explosion of "the working poor" in the United States, and this trend is probably only going to accelerate in the years to come.

#3 Manufacturing Employment

As you can see, there are less Americans working in manufacturing today than there was in 1950 even though the population of the country has more than doubled since then.  The United States has lost more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities since 2001, and yet our politicians stand around and do nothing about it.

#4 Employment-Population Ratio

This is one of my favorite charts.  It shows that there has been absolutely no employment recovery at all since the end of the last recession.  The percentage of working age Americans that have a job has stayed under 59 percent for 44 months in a row.  How much worse will things get when the next major economic downturn strikes?

#5 Labor Force Participation Rate

This is how the Obama administration is getting the "unemployment rate" to magically go down.  They are pretending that millions upon millions of Americans simply do not want to work anymore.  As you will notice, the decline of the labor force participation rate has accelerated greatly since Barack Obama entered the White House.

#6 Duration Of Unemployment

The average amount of time that it takes an unemployed worker to find a new job has declined slightly, but it is still far above normal historical levels.  It is a crying shame that it takes the average unemployed worker two-thirds of a year to find a new job, but this is the new economic reality that we are all living in.

#7 Delinquency Rate On Residential Mortgages

Since there are not enough jobs for all of us, and since our wages are not rising as rapidly as the cost of living is, a whole bunch of us are falling behind on our mortgages.  As you can see, the mortgage delinquency rate has only dropped slightly and is still way, way above typical levels.

#8 New Homes Sold

American workers also don't have enough money to go out and buy new homes either.  Yes, new home sales have rebounded slightly this year, but we are nowhere near where we used to be.

#9 Consumer Credit

Millions of American families continue to resort to going into debt in a desperate attempt to make ends meet.  After a slight interruption during the last recession, consumer credit once again is growing at a frightening pace.

#10 Self-Employment At A Record Low

Since there aren't enough jobs for everyone, why aren't more Americans trying to start their own businesses?  Well, the reality of the matter is that the government has made it exceedingly difficult to start your own business today.  Taxes, rules, regulations and red tape are choking the life out of millions of small businesses in the United States.  As a result, the percentage of self-employed Americans is at a record low.

As all of these long-term trends continue, the middle class will continue to shrink, poverty in America will continue to explode and government dependence will continue to rise.

The numbers don't lie.  Today, the number of Americans on Social Security Disability now exceeds the entire population of Greece, and the number of Americans on food stamps now exceeds the entire population of Spain.

We are in the midst of a horrifying economic collapse, and the next major wave of that collapse is rapidly approaching.

Are you ready?

Economic collapse

Russia says CIA spy agency ‘crossed red line’

The spokesman for Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Nikolai Zakharov, said Thursday that in October 2011 the FSB officially warned the CIA station chief in the country that “if provocative recruitment efforts aimed at Russian security service employees continued, the FSB would take ‘mirror’ measures.”

“The CIA crossed a red line and we were forced to react,” Zakharov stated.

On May 14, Russian authorities detained a US diplomat, identified as Ryan Fogle, on allegations of attempting to recruit a Russian national to spy for the CIA. Fogle was ordered to leave Russia.

The FSB said that at the time of capture Fogle had been carrying “special technical equipment and written instructions for recruiting a Russian citizen.”

Zakharov also stated that in 2011, the FSB had named Russian officers who had been approached by the US spy agency, and the CIA operatives who had targeted them, adding that the US director of national intelligence, James Clapper, had been “made aware of this issue.”

“The CIA did not take our concern over the situation into account” and went on with its efforts to recruit Russians, the FSB spokesman said.

Zakharov said in December 2012 another US diplomat, who was a third secretary at the US embassy in Moscow, had been caught red-handed when he was trying to recruit a Russian agent.

The diplomat, identified as Benjamin Dillon, left Russia on January 15 after being declared persona non grata.

However, the US embassy did not comment on whether an employee was expelled in January.

The Russian Federal Security Service said it knew Fogle worked for the CIA when he entered Russia in April 2011.

“In the hope that the CIA leadership would draw the necessary conclusions, we did not make this case public. But apparently the adherence by the FSB to the principles of professional ethics was not properly appreciated,” Zakharov said.
The issue of Fogle came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin and US Secretary of State John Kerry said in Moscow that the relationship between Moscow and Washington was improving.



Presstv

U.S. Military Grants Itself the Authority to Deploy Troops in American Cities Without Presidential or Local Approval

In a move that makes clear the direction that our country is increasingly heading towards, the Department of Defense has published an update to a US code that outlines military power during civil unrest.

The code, ““Defense Support of Civilian Law Enforcement Agencies,” was slightly altered during a May 13th update which now allows the military to unilaterally declare martial law without presidential approval.

Multiple sections of the code outline plans and policies for a martial law scenario and should be considered a must read for any American worried about their freedoms in what has become a hostile American police state.

The rule seems to actually contradict itself, in one part claiming that the military can only be used during extreme circumstances with Presidential approval and then, in an updated part of the code, declaring that the military can put troops on the streets without approval from the president or local law enforcement.

The primary restriction on DoD participation in civilian law enforcement activities is the Posse Comitatus Act. It provides that whoever willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute U.S. laws, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, shall be fined under title 18, U.S.C., or imprisoned not more than two years, or both. Section 182.6 (a) describes in detail the assistance that the Department of Defense may and may not provide civilian law enforcement agencies.

b. Support During Civil Disturbances
The President is authorized by the Constitution and laws of the United States to employ the Armed Forces of the United States to suppress insurrections, rebellions, and domestic violence under various conditions and circumstances. Planning and preparedness by the Federal Government, including the Department of Defense, for civil disturbances is important due to the potential severity of the consequences of such events for the Nation and the population. The employment of Federal military forces to control civil disturbances shall only occur in a specified civil jurisdiction under specific circumstances as authorized by the President, normally through issuance of an Executive order or other Presidential directive authorizing and directing the Secretary of Defense to provide for the restoration of law and order in a specific State or locality.

A little further down within the code the above text is made completely irrelevant. (emphasis mine)

Domestic emergencies. Emergencies affecting the public welfare and occurring within the 50 states, District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, U.S. possessions and territories, or any political subdivision thereof, as a result of enemy attack, insurrection, civil disturbance, earthquake, fire, flood, or other public disasters or equivalent emergencies that endanger life and property or disrupt the usual process of government. Domestic emergencies include civil defense emergencies, civil disturbances, major disasters, and natural disasters.

[[Page 21829]]

Emergency authority. A Federal military commander’s authority, in extraordinary emergency circumstances where prior authorization by the President is impossible and duly constituted local authorities are unable to control the situation, to engage temporarily in activities that are necessary to quell large-scale, unexpected civil disturbances
because:

(1) Such activities are necessary to prevent significant loss of life or wanton destruction of property and are necessary to restore governmental function and public order; or
(2) Duly constituted Federal, State, or local authorities are unable or decline to provide adequate protection for Federal property or Federal governmental functions.

Most worrying is that the examples given as possible reasons for when the military would need to use their, “emergency authority,” are so broad and open to interpretation that it essentially gives them the power to declare martial law whenever they choose.

A recent piece published by the Long Island Press further expanded on the repercussions of these “subtle” changes to the US code.

The lines blurred even further Monday as a new dynamic was introduced to the militarization of domestic law enforcement.

By making a few subtle changes to a regulation in the U.S. Code titled “Defense Support of Civilian Law Enforcement Agencies” the military has quietly granted itself the ability to police the streets without obtaining prior local or state consent, upending a precedent that has been in place for more than two centuries.

Bruce Afran, a civil liberties attorney and constitutional law professor at Rutgers University, calls the rule, “a wanton power grab by the military,” and says, “It’s quite shocking actually because it violates the long-standing presumption that the military is under civilian control.”

What exactly giving the power of martial law to a military commander actually means was also explained:

One of the more disturbing aspects of the new procedures that govern military command on the ground in the event of a civil disturbance relates to authority. Not only does it fail to define what circumstances would be so severe that the president’s authorization is “impossible,” it grants full presidential authority to “Federal military commanders.”

According to the defense official, a commander is defined as follows: “Somebody who’s in the position of command, has the title commander. And most of the time they are centrally selected by a board, they’ve gone through additional schooling to exercise command authority.”

As it is written, this “commander” has the same power to authorize military force as the president in the event the president is somehow unable to access a telephone. (The rule doesn’t address the statutory chain of authority that already exists in the event a sitting president is unavailable.)

In doing so, this commander must exercise judgment in determining what constitutes, “wanton destruction of property,” “adequate protection for Federal property,” “domestic violence,” or “conspiracy that hinders the execution of State or Federal law,” as these are the circumstances that might be considered an “emergency.”

“These phrases don’t have any legal meaning,” says Afran. “It’s no different than the emergency powers clause in the Weimar constitution [of the German Reich]. It’s a grant of emergency power to the military to rule over parts of the country at their own discretion.

This power grab comes at a time when police forces throughout the country are already becoming increasingly militarized, with the recent police response during the manhunt for one of the Boston Bombings suspects being a prime example.

Rather than a force of peacekeepers, the police looked more like troops on the battlefield, and in many ways they acted like it. This has all been made possible by little reported on Pentagon programs that give military gear to police forces.

The focus on the DoD regulatory change obscures the creeping militarization that has already occurred in police departments across the nation.

Even prior to the NDAA lawsuit, journalist Chris Hedges was critical of domestic law enforcement agencies saying, “The widening use of militarized police units effectively nullifies the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878.”

This de facto nullification isn’t lost on the DoD.

The DoD official even referred to the Boston bombing suspects manhunt saying, “Like most major police departments, if you didn’t know they were a police department you would think they were the military.”

According to this official there has purposely been a “large transfer of technology so that the military doesn’t have to get involved.” Moreover, he says the military has learned from past events, such as the siege at Waco, where ATF officials mishandled military equipment. “We have transferred the technology so we don’t have to loan it,” he states.

This so called large transfer of technology has allowed law enforcement to basically change their entire purpose by implementing gear and weaponry that twenty years ago would never have been considered for use on the American people.

Sadly, America is increasing becoming eerily similar to many different dictatorships throughout history. From unilateral powers to declare martial law, to the ability to indefinitely detain American citizens without charge, the powers that be have truly moved towards an American police state.


Shift Plan

Russia sold advanced Yakhont antiship cruise missiles to Syrian

Russia sold advanced Yakhont antiship cruise missiles to Syrian President Bashar Assad, outfitted with an advanced guidance system that makes them more effective than the older version of the missile Russia sold to Syria, The New York Times cited two American officials as saying on Thursday.

These missiles will allow Syria to thwart any attempt by international forces to reinforce Syrian rebels by imposing a naval embargo or no fly zone, Nick Brown the editor in chief of IHS Jane's International Defense Review told The New York Times.

“It enables the regime to deter foreign forces looking to supply the opposition from the sea, or from undertaking a more active role if a no-fly zone or shipping embargo were to be declared at some point,” Brown said, “It’s a real ship killer,” he added.

According to the Times report, Syria ordered the coastal defense version of the Yakhont system from Russia in 2007 and received the first units in early 2011.

Jeffrey White, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former senior American intelligence official, told the Times that by strengthening Syria's arsenal Russia was signalling its "commitment to the Syrian government."

In a separate report on Thursday, the Wall Street Journalcited US and European officials as saying that Russia sent at least a dozen warships to its Tartus naval base in Syria, in a move partly meant to send a message to Israel and the West not to intervene militarily in the country, .

"It is a show of force. It's muscle flexing," the Journal quoted a senior US defense official as saying. "It is about demonstrating their commitment to their interests."

Facing international criticism for his country's decision to sell the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system to Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday contended that the arms deal would not alter the balance of power in the region.

During a meeting in Sochi, Russia with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Lavrov was quoted by AFP as saying "this does not in any way alter the balance of forces in this region or give any advantage in the fight against the opposition."

Lavrov claimed that Russia's arms deals with Syria do not violate international agreements. "I do not understand why the media is trying to create a sensation out of this," AFP quoted him as saying.

"We have not hidden that we supply weapons to Syria under signed contracts, without violating any international agreements, or our own legislation," he added.

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni on Friday criticized Russia for sending arms to the Syrian regime, stating that "the transfer of arms to Syria is clearly not positive and does not contribute to the stability of the region," according to AFP.

"Israel has the right to defend itself," AFP quoted Livni as saying.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reportedly urged Russian President Vladimir Putin in a summit in Sochi on Tuesday not to sell the state-of-the-art S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Syria.

Israeli officials declined to comment on Lavrov’s latest interview, which appeared to contradict a statement he made last week that Russia would not sell the S-300 advanced air defense system to Syria.

Jerusalem Post