Tuesday, May 21, 2013
N.Korea 'Has 200 Mobile Missile Launchers'
North Korea has up to 200 mobile missile launchers, twice as many as experts here had estimated, a Pentagon report claims.
According to a U.S. Defense Department status report to the Senate on May 2, the North has up to 100 mobile launchers that can fire KN-02 and Scud missiles with ranges between 120 and 500 km.
The report claims the North has another 100 mobile launchers that can fire medium-range missiles with a reach between 1,300 and 4,000 km.
South Korea estimated in its 2012 Defense White Paper that North Korea has only around 100 mobile missile launchers.
A government official here explained the discrepancy between the two estimates by saying mobile missile launchers "are frequently on the move," which makes it difficult to determine the exact numbers.
"We do not have any information suggesting a surge in the number of North Korea's mobile missile launchers," he added.
But if the numbers are as high as the U.S. report claims, a pre-emptive strike on all of the North's missiles through the so-called kill chain -- the process of detecting, identifying and intercepting missiles -- would seem impossible.
Only seven North Korean mobile missile launchers were spotted moving recently, but South Korean and U.S. intelligence officials often lost track of them because it is impossible to watch them around the clock as satellites circle the earth.
South Korea and the U.S. hope to establish a 30-minute kill chain by 2015, but the numbers cast serious doubts on that objective.
The Chosun Ilbo
Parables in the News
Joseph Herrin (05-17-2013)
Although I have not concluded the current series on Expatriates, I am taking time out to catch up on some of the items in the news. Numerous readers have contacted me to make sure I have not missed various events. I appreciate the efforts of those who desire to keep me informed as I am often made aware of noteworthy issues through the communications I receive from my brothers and sisters in Christ.
The Eagle Has (Crash) Landed
GrindTV reported that two bald eagles were observed to have engaged in an aerial battle over Duluth International Airport in Minnesota. The two bald eagles, symbols of the American nation, locked talons and plummeted to the ground. Both survived, however their talons remained locked together. It was reported that the birds had such a grasp on one another that neither one was able to let go. Even after they fell to the earth their talons remained intertwined, preventing either bird from rising into the air again. A man was able to come along, lift up both birds and place them in the back of his pick-up truck to take them to a veterinary for treatment.
Interlocked Talons
[Source: http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/nature/post/two-bald-eagles-in-air-battle-crash-land-at-airport/]
Numerous readers of this blog recognized that a parable of America was contained in this event as about 7 or 8 individuals sent me the link to this story. The parable is evident. America is dividing into factions. On the one side are the New World Order forces in control of the nation’s government. They are seeking to remove all Constitutional protections and freedoms from the people. On the other side are the patriots of the nation who are becoming increasingly alarmed as they see a government/corporate oligarchy wresting control of all facets of American life.
The image of two eagles engaged in an aerial battle, both plunging to the ground, is an apt symbol of what is happening, and will occur, in the nation. American society is heading toward a time of civil war. The coming clash will result in the fall of both sides. America as a Constitutional Republic will come to an end and the patriots of the nation will lose their freedoms.
There have been a number of other attesting signs that reveal where America is as a nation, and what is soon to come. Recently I reported on the symbolism of the bombings in Boston. I noted that when a person searches Google Earth for the address 666 Boylston Street in Boston, Massachusetts, they are shown the location of the Finish Line for the Boston Marathon.
666 Boylston Street, Boston, MA
The American Revolution began in Boston. Symbolically, America has run a long race that began in this city. America has the oldest continuous democratic government of any nation on the earth. Yet, even as the marker for this address is only inches from the Finish Line, so too is America near the end of her long run with her present form of government. We saw recently that soon after the runners had begun crossing the finish line, and while many more were still pushing on toward the goal, explosions rang out and brought the race to a sudden and calamitous end.
In the immediate aftermath we saw martial law implemented in this historic American metropolis. People were forbidden to travel. All forms of transportation in the city were shut down. Thousands of heavily militarized police forces were brought in, and the citizens of this once free city were subjected to warrantless searches of their homes. They were ordered about as enemies of the state.
Paradoxically, one of the original complaints of America’s founding fathers was that the King of England was oppressing the American colonists by indiscriminately, and without warrant, searching their homes and seizing their property. The founding fathers included in the Bill of Rights language that guaranteed the sanctity of a man’s home and property. It placed limits upon the government’s authority to intrude. The Fourth Amendment states:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Nevertheless, without any judicial warrant, with no probable cause, citizens of the once free nation of America were subjected to martial law. They were ordered out of their homes at gunpoint with hands raised above their heads. They were herded like cattle down the streets as armed police forces invaded their homes.
Streets of Boston
Boston Martial Law
Boston Martial Law 2
The events in Boston are a prophetic foreshadowing of that experience soon to come to America as a nation. America’s marathon, her long run of freedom, is nearly over. A nation that has used its liberty to slaughter tens of millions of its children, to promote a homosexual lifestyle, to fill her towns and cities with violence, sexual deviance, and every form of wickedness, must reap the consequences of her actions. Yahweh has given the nation over into the hands of evil men skilled in destruction. With violence the nation will be overthrown. A bloody civil war will mark the end.
The future of America was similarly given prophetic utterance in the recent Super Bowl match-up between two brothers who were head coaches of their opposing teams. See the following articles for more information.
http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/brother-against-brother.html
http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/heavenly-harbinger.html
http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/super-bowl-xlvii-dark-night-of-fire.html
America’s Government Under Siege
This leads me to the second item I would report on. I had noticed some weeks ago that a movie titled Olympus Has Fallen was released on March 22nd. The date itself was significant, as 3-22 is a number of importance to the Illuminati and groups associated with it. The secret society known as Skull and Bones that meets on the campus of Yale University, of which both Presidents Bush and present Secretary of State John Kerry are members, employs the number 322 in its logo.
The Georgia Guidestones include a marker that notes that they were dedicated on March 22nd. Obamacare was approved by vote of Congress on March 22nd (Greenwich Mean Time, London being the center of the Illuminati’s world influence). The disciples of Lucifer often use this number and date to mark some dark work. It is therefore significant that the movie Olympus Has Fallen opened on March 22nd and its central theme is an attack on the White House and the President.
Olympus Has Fallen Movie Trailer
http://youtu.be/vwx1f0kyNwI
Still Shot From Movie Trailer - Simulated Newscast
It is enlightening to scrutinize the subtle double meanings found in the advertisements of the Illuminati controlled media. I reported a few months back on the double entendre contained in the Mercedes Benz Super Bowl advertisement that appeared in ESPN Magazine.
http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/fourth-quarter-2013.html
There is the same type of subtlety to be found in the official poster for this movie.
Like the two eagles mentioned previously, we observe the flag, another symbol of America, falling to the ground. The words at the top of the poster read :
WHEN OUR FLAG FALLS
OUR NATION WILL RISE
It is critical to understand the identity of those referred to by the word “OUR.” The non-initiates who are unaware of the deceit of Satan will naturally assume that the word “OUR” is a reference to the citizens of America. In fact, it is a reference to the proponents of the New World Order. They are declaring that when America falls as a nation, THEIR government will rise. That the movie was released on March 22nd adds credence to the claim that this is an Illuminati message as surely as the Georgia Guidestones are the same.
(If you are unfamiliar with the Georgia Guidestones, see the following post:
http://parablesblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/deep-things-of-satan.html)
Just a day or two ago, I was alerted to a second witness to this message. Scheduled for release on June 28th is a movie that has a very similar theme to that of Olympus Has Fallen. It is titled White House Down.
White House Down Movie Trailer
http://youtu.be/4AXbiCdmXgw
Within a span of a few months, we have two movies whose themes revolve around an attack on the White House. Both movies depict the White House suffering destruction. Below is the official movie poster.
Those who are regular readers of this blog will perhaps be reminded of the writing titled Thirteen that I posted in November of 2012. That blog post made mention of the Biblical significance of the number thirteen, and noted what occurred in America during the tenure of the 13th Congress. Following is an excerpt.
---
Looking back over the course of U.S. history I found a foreboding sign of that which is to come. In March of the year 1813 the 13th Congress was seated and continued until March 1815. This is the only other time that America has had a Congress marked by the number 13. That it coincided with a year that ends in the number 13 is equally significant.
What occurred in Washington, D.C. during the time of the 13th Congress foreshadows that which will occur under the rule of the 113th Congress. It was during the 13th Congress, in August 1814, that Washington, D.C. was razed by the British. Both the White House and the Capitol Building were set aflame in an act of wanton destruction.
White House After it was Burned
U.S. Capitol Building After it was Burned
(Click on any image to view larger)
...
People of God, I do not know precisely what the upcoming days will bring. I am not prophesying that Washington, D.C. will be burned with literal fire. It is possible that she will, but it is also possible that the destruction of the White House and Capitol during the 13th Congress foreshadows the destruction of the institutions that meet in those buildings. The American system of Republican democracy is ending. The separation of powers instilled in the Constitution by America’s founders have been breached. The walls have come down. The government has run amok. America’s government has fallen into the control of foreigners who seek their own welfare and care not for the citizens of the nation. The people of America have brought this judgment upon themselves. America’s fall and ruin is certain.
[End Excerpt]
If you are not aware, the present Congress is the 113th. Its term began on January 3rd of 2013 and runs for two years. Will we see a repeat of the destruction of America’s capital city on the bicentennial of the British burning this same city? Considering that the One World Trade Center building is a symbol of Satan’s One World Government, and it is slated to be completed and opened for occupancy in 2014, the 200th anniversary of the burning of Washington, D.C., it seems plausible that we will see America’s present form of government suffer destruction that the New World Order might rise out of the ashes of destruction like the proverbial phoenix.
We won’t have to wait long to find out. Whenever calamity strikes, it will likely come as suddenly and unexpectedly as the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on 9-11-2001. September 11th was a pleasant, sunny day. People were outside, strolling around, enjoying the sights and sounds of the city when calamity struck.
The powers that be have chosen a marketing campaign for the movie White House Down that emphasizes the unexpectedness of that which will occur. They have been releasing a set of teaser images in the run-up to the movie’s release.
It will start like any other day...
It will start like any other day...
It will start like any other day...
I had hoped to touch on some additional news stories in this post. However, with all the images, it is getting rather large. Those who receive the blog by e-mail may find that it takes too long to load if I put much more, so I will address other news items in a later blog post.
We live in an hour when we need to be alert and sober. Dark days are near at hand. There is one last movie poster, this one with today’s date on it, that I will share to close this post. The movie’s title declares where the world is heading.
Joseph Herrin
Although I have not concluded the current series on Expatriates, I am taking time out to catch up on some of the items in the news. Numerous readers have contacted me to make sure I have not missed various events. I appreciate the efforts of those who desire to keep me informed as I am often made aware of noteworthy issues through the communications I receive from my brothers and sisters in Christ.
The Eagle Has (Crash) Landed
GrindTV reported that two bald eagles were observed to have engaged in an aerial battle over Duluth International Airport in Minnesota. The two bald eagles, symbols of the American nation, locked talons and plummeted to the ground. Both survived, however their talons remained locked together. It was reported that the birds had such a grasp on one another that neither one was able to let go. Even after they fell to the earth their talons remained intertwined, preventing either bird from rising into the air again. A man was able to come along, lift up both birds and place them in the back of his pick-up truck to take them to a veterinary for treatment.
Interlocked Talons
[Source: http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/nature/post/two-bald-eagles-in-air-battle-crash-land-at-airport/]
Numerous readers of this blog recognized that a parable of America was contained in this event as about 7 or 8 individuals sent me the link to this story. The parable is evident. America is dividing into factions. On the one side are the New World Order forces in control of the nation’s government. They are seeking to remove all Constitutional protections and freedoms from the people. On the other side are the patriots of the nation who are becoming increasingly alarmed as they see a government/corporate oligarchy wresting control of all facets of American life.
The image of two eagles engaged in an aerial battle, both plunging to the ground, is an apt symbol of what is happening, and will occur, in the nation. American society is heading toward a time of civil war. The coming clash will result in the fall of both sides. America as a Constitutional Republic will come to an end and the patriots of the nation will lose their freedoms.
There have been a number of other attesting signs that reveal where America is as a nation, and what is soon to come. Recently I reported on the symbolism of the bombings in Boston. I noted that when a person searches Google Earth for the address 666 Boylston Street in Boston, Massachusetts, they are shown the location of the Finish Line for the Boston Marathon.
666 Boylston Street, Boston, MA
The American Revolution began in Boston. Symbolically, America has run a long race that began in this city. America has the oldest continuous democratic government of any nation on the earth. Yet, even as the marker for this address is only inches from the Finish Line, so too is America near the end of her long run with her present form of government. We saw recently that soon after the runners had begun crossing the finish line, and while many more were still pushing on toward the goal, explosions rang out and brought the race to a sudden and calamitous end.
In the immediate aftermath we saw martial law implemented in this historic American metropolis. People were forbidden to travel. All forms of transportation in the city were shut down. Thousands of heavily militarized police forces were brought in, and the citizens of this once free city were subjected to warrantless searches of their homes. They were ordered about as enemies of the state.
Paradoxically, one of the original complaints of America’s founding fathers was that the King of England was oppressing the American colonists by indiscriminately, and without warrant, searching their homes and seizing their property. The founding fathers included in the Bill of Rights language that guaranteed the sanctity of a man’s home and property. It placed limits upon the government’s authority to intrude. The Fourth Amendment states:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Nevertheless, without any judicial warrant, with no probable cause, citizens of the once free nation of America were subjected to martial law. They were ordered out of their homes at gunpoint with hands raised above their heads. They were herded like cattle down the streets as armed police forces invaded their homes.
Streets of Boston
Boston Martial Law
Boston Martial Law 2
The events in Boston are a prophetic foreshadowing of that experience soon to come to America as a nation. America’s marathon, her long run of freedom, is nearly over. A nation that has used its liberty to slaughter tens of millions of its children, to promote a homosexual lifestyle, to fill her towns and cities with violence, sexual deviance, and every form of wickedness, must reap the consequences of her actions. Yahweh has given the nation over into the hands of evil men skilled in destruction. With violence the nation will be overthrown. A bloody civil war will mark the end.
The future of America was similarly given prophetic utterance in the recent Super Bowl match-up between two brothers who were head coaches of their opposing teams. See the following articles for more information.
http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/brother-against-brother.html
http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/heavenly-harbinger.html
http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/super-bowl-xlvii-dark-night-of-fire.html
America’s Government Under Siege
This leads me to the second item I would report on. I had noticed some weeks ago that a movie titled Olympus Has Fallen was released on March 22nd. The date itself was significant, as 3-22 is a number of importance to the Illuminati and groups associated with it. The secret society known as Skull and Bones that meets on the campus of Yale University, of which both Presidents Bush and present Secretary of State John Kerry are members, employs the number 322 in its logo.
The Georgia Guidestones include a marker that notes that they were dedicated on March 22nd. Obamacare was approved by vote of Congress on March 22nd (Greenwich Mean Time, London being the center of the Illuminati’s world influence). The disciples of Lucifer often use this number and date to mark some dark work. It is therefore significant that the movie Olympus Has Fallen opened on March 22nd and its central theme is an attack on the White House and the President.
Olympus Has Fallen Movie Trailer
http://youtu.be/vwx1f0kyNwI
Still Shot From Movie Trailer - Simulated Newscast
It is enlightening to scrutinize the subtle double meanings found in the advertisements of the Illuminati controlled media. I reported a few months back on the double entendre contained in the Mercedes Benz Super Bowl advertisement that appeared in ESPN Magazine.
http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/fourth-quarter-2013.html
There is the same type of subtlety to be found in the official poster for this movie.
Like the two eagles mentioned previously, we observe the flag, another symbol of America, falling to the ground. The words at the top of the poster read :
WHEN OUR FLAG FALLS
OUR NATION WILL RISE
It is critical to understand the identity of those referred to by the word “OUR.” The non-initiates who are unaware of the deceit of Satan will naturally assume that the word “OUR” is a reference to the citizens of America. In fact, it is a reference to the proponents of the New World Order. They are declaring that when America falls as a nation, THEIR government will rise. That the movie was released on March 22nd adds credence to the claim that this is an Illuminati message as surely as the Georgia Guidestones are the same.
(If you are unfamiliar with the Georgia Guidestones, see the following post:
http://parablesblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/deep-things-of-satan.html)
Just a day or two ago, I was alerted to a second witness to this message. Scheduled for release on June 28th is a movie that has a very similar theme to that of Olympus Has Fallen. It is titled White House Down.
White House Down Movie Trailer
http://youtu.be/4AXbiCdmXgw
Within a span of a few months, we have two movies whose themes revolve around an attack on the White House. Both movies depict the White House suffering destruction. Below is the official movie poster.
Those who are regular readers of this blog will perhaps be reminded of the writing titled Thirteen that I posted in November of 2012. That blog post made mention of the Biblical significance of the number thirteen, and noted what occurred in America during the tenure of the 13th Congress. Following is an excerpt.
---
Looking back over the course of U.S. history I found a foreboding sign of that which is to come. In March of the year 1813 the 13th Congress was seated and continued until March 1815. This is the only other time that America has had a Congress marked by the number 13. That it coincided with a year that ends in the number 13 is equally significant.
What occurred in Washington, D.C. during the time of the 13th Congress foreshadows that which will occur under the rule of the 113th Congress. It was during the 13th Congress, in August 1814, that Washington, D.C. was razed by the British. Both the White House and the Capitol Building were set aflame in an act of wanton destruction.
White House After it was Burned
U.S. Capitol Building After it was Burned
(Click on any image to view larger)
...
People of God, I do not know precisely what the upcoming days will bring. I am not prophesying that Washington, D.C. will be burned with literal fire. It is possible that she will, but it is also possible that the destruction of the White House and Capitol during the 13th Congress foreshadows the destruction of the institutions that meet in those buildings. The American system of Republican democracy is ending. The separation of powers instilled in the Constitution by America’s founders have been breached. The walls have come down. The government has run amok. America’s government has fallen into the control of foreigners who seek their own welfare and care not for the citizens of the nation. The people of America have brought this judgment upon themselves. America’s fall and ruin is certain.
[End Excerpt]
If you are not aware, the present Congress is the 113th. Its term began on January 3rd of 2013 and runs for two years. Will we see a repeat of the destruction of America’s capital city on the bicentennial of the British burning this same city? Considering that the One World Trade Center building is a symbol of Satan’s One World Government, and it is slated to be completed and opened for occupancy in 2014, the 200th anniversary of the burning of Washington, D.C., it seems plausible that we will see America’s present form of government suffer destruction that the New World Order might rise out of the ashes of destruction like the proverbial phoenix.
We won’t have to wait long to find out. Whenever calamity strikes, it will likely come as suddenly and unexpectedly as the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on 9-11-2001. September 11th was a pleasant, sunny day. People were outside, strolling around, enjoying the sights and sounds of the city when calamity struck.
The powers that be have chosen a marketing campaign for the movie White House Down that emphasizes the unexpectedness of that which will occur. They have been releasing a set of teaser images in the run-up to the movie’s release.
It will start like any other day...
It will start like any other day...
It will start like any other day...
I had hoped to touch on some additional news stories in this post. However, with all the images, it is getting rather large. Those who receive the blog by e-mail may find that it takes too long to load if I put much more, so I will address other news items in a later blog post.
We live in an hour when we need to be alert and sober. Dark days are near at hand. There is one last movie poster, this one with today’s date on it, that I will share to close this post. The movie’s title declares where the world is heading.
Joseph Herrin
Pope Francis 'performs public exorcism'
Here comes the false miracles......get ready!!!!
According to TV2000, a Catholic television channel, the act was carried out in St Peter's Square after Mass on Sunday.
Smiling broadly, the Pope initially shook the man's hand, but the South American pontiff's expression changed dramatically after a priest from the Legionaries of Christ, a conservative order, leaned in close and spoke a few words to him.
With a more serious expression on his face, Francis placed both hands on the man's head for 15 seconds.
The pilgrim then convulsed briefly and emitted a long sigh. His body went limp and his mouth dropped open.
"Exorcists who have seen the footage have no doubt – this was a prayer for liberation from Evil, an actual exorcism," said TV2000, which is owned by the Italian Bishops Conference.
The station gathered a panel of clergy specialising in exorcisms who scrutinised the footage and concluded that the pope had performed an exorcism.
The Vatican downplayed the incident, although it used ambiguous language that did not deny altogether that Francis had tried to rid the man of evil.
"The Holy Father did not intend to carry out any exorcism," said Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman.
"Instead, as he often does for sick and suffering people, he simply intended to pray for a person who was presented to him." But leading exorcists insisted that the Pope had indeed taken on the forces of evil.
"The Pope is also the Bishop of Rome, and like any bishop he is also an exorcist," Father Gabriele Amorth, the Catholic Church's best known exorcist and the head of the International Association of Exorcists, told La Repubblica newspaper.
There was now, more than ever, a need for exorcists to combat people possessed by "sorcerers" and "Satanists", Father Amorth said.
"We live in an age in which God has been forgotten. And wherever God is not present, the Devil reigns."
He acknowledged that many people, even Catholics, regarded exorcism as mumbo-jumbo but insisted they were mistaken. "Those who don't believe should read the Gospels. Jesus continually performed exorcisms.
"Today, unfortunately, bishops appoint too few exorcists. We need many more. I hope that Rome will send out directives to bishops around the world calling on them to appoint more exorcists."
He said John Paul II had carried out many exorcisms during his pontificate, but that Benedict XVI had not performed any, instead leaving it to bishops and priests.
"John Paul II fought many times against Satan," Father Amorth said. "Those battles continue, even though he is dead. In fact he is present today in many exorcisms. If you cite his name during an exorcism, the person who is possessed literally froths at the mouth in fury."
Francis has made repeated references to the Devil since he was chosen as Benedict's successor during a secret conclave in March.
At his first Mass, which was held in the Sistine Chapel, where he had been elected by his brother cardinals, he warned: "If we do not confess, if we do not pray to the Lord, we are praying to the Devil. When you do not confess to Jesus Christ, you are confessing to the worldliness of the Devil."
People possessed by evil are said to display certain symptoms, from extraordinary physical strength to speaking "in tongues" and vomiting nails and bits of glass.
Catholic priests who have trained as exorcists have to follow a ritual known as "De exorcismis et supplicationibus quibusdam", or "Of exorcisms and certain supplications", according to guidelines laid down by the Church.
The 84-page document was drawn up in 1998 and is an update on an exorcism rite which was compiled in 1614.
The Telegraph
According to TV2000, a Catholic television channel, the act was carried out in St Peter's Square after Mass on Sunday.
Smiling broadly, the Pope initially shook the man's hand, but the South American pontiff's expression changed dramatically after a priest from the Legionaries of Christ, a conservative order, leaned in close and spoke a few words to him.
With a more serious expression on his face, Francis placed both hands on the man's head for 15 seconds.
The pilgrim then convulsed briefly and emitted a long sigh. His body went limp and his mouth dropped open.
"Exorcists who have seen the footage have no doubt – this was a prayer for liberation from Evil, an actual exorcism," said TV2000, which is owned by the Italian Bishops Conference.
The station gathered a panel of clergy specialising in exorcisms who scrutinised the footage and concluded that the pope had performed an exorcism.
The Vatican downplayed the incident, although it used ambiguous language that did not deny altogether that Francis had tried to rid the man of evil.
"The Holy Father did not intend to carry out any exorcism," said Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman.
"Instead, as he often does for sick and suffering people, he simply intended to pray for a person who was presented to him." But leading exorcists insisted that the Pope had indeed taken on the forces of evil.
"The Pope is also the Bishop of Rome, and like any bishop he is also an exorcist," Father Gabriele Amorth, the Catholic Church's best known exorcist and the head of the International Association of Exorcists, told La Repubblica newspaper.
There was now, more than ever, a need for exorcists to combat people possessed by "sorcerers" and "Satanists", Father Amorth said.
"We live in an age in which God has been forgotten. And wherever God is not present, the Devil reigns."
He acknowledged that many people, even Catholics, regarded exorcism as mumbo-jumbo but insisted they were mistaken. "Those who don't believe should read the Gospels. Jesus continually performed exorcisms.
"Today, unfortunately, bishops appoint too few exorcists. We need many more. I hope that Rome will send out directives to bishops around the world calling on them to appoint more exorcists."
He said John Paul II had carried out many exorcisms during his pontificate, but that Benedict XVI had not performed any, instead leaving it to bishops and priests.
"John Paul II fought many times against Satan," Father Amorth said. "Those battles continue, even though he is dead. In fact he is present today in many exorcisms. If you cite his name during an exorcism, the person who is possessed literally froths at the mouth in fury."
Francis has made repeated references to the Devil since he was chosen as Benedict's successor during a secret conclave in March.
At his first Mass, which was held in the Sistine Chapel, where he had been elected by his brother cardinals, he warned: "If we do not confess, if we do not pray to the Lord, we are praying to the Devil. When you do not confess to Jesus Christ, you are confessing to the worldliness of the Devil."
People possessed by evil are said to display certain symptoms, from extraordinary physical strength to speaking "in tongues" and vomiting nails and bits of glass.
Catholic priests who have trained as exorcists have to follow a ritual known as "De exorcismis et supplicationibus quibusdam", or "Of exorcisms and certain supplications", according to guidelines laid down by the Church.
The 84-page document was drawn up in 1998 and is an update on an exorcism rite which was compiled in 1614.
The Telegraph
Yaalon: We destroyed Syrian Golan position. Damascus: We fired on Israeli patrol
Syria and Israel crossed verbal swords Tuesday, May 21, after an overnight exchange of fire on the Golan.
When the Damascus government claimed responsibility for the gunfire on an Israeli Golan patrol Monday night and threatened to strike back for any Israeli reprisals, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon shot back by saying: “Our policy is clear – we don’t interfere in Syria’s civil war, but neither will we let the fire spill over onto our territory. Last night,” he added, “we destroyed a Syrian army position on the Golan which fired at an IDF patrol.”
He spoke during a tour of naval facilities in Atlit and Haifa.
On a visit to the Golan, IDF chief of staff Lt. Benny Gantz and OC Northern Command Yair Golan ordered Israeli Golan positions to return any fire coming from the Syrian side, a reversal of previous policy.
No one was hurt on the Israeli side. But this time, unlike the two previous incidents, Israeli forces directed a Tamuz rocket at the source of the gunfire and identified a direct hit.
To inflate the episode, the Syrian statement claimed an IDF vehicle damaged in the attack was destroyed.
DEBKAfile’s military sources: Bashar Assad is signaling his readiness for a war on attrition on Israel from the Golan, which our sources predicted was in the works on May 15.
See DEBKAfile Exclusive report of Monday, May 19.
A Syrian-Israeli confrontation loomed closer Tuesday, May 21, with the claim by the Damascus government of responsibility for the gunfire Monday night on an Israeli Golan patrol and threat to strike back at an Israeli target for any Israeli reprisals. No one was hurt on the Israeli side. Earlier, IDF chief of staff Lt. Benny Gantz and OC Northern Command Yair Golan visited Israeli Golan positions with orders to return any fire coming from the Syrian side.
This time, unlike the two previous incidents, Israeli forces directed a Tamuz rocket at the source of the Syrian gunfire and identified a direct hit. To inflate the episode, the Syrian statement claimed an IDF vehicle damaged in the attack was destroyed.
DEBKAfile’s military sources: Bashar Assad is signaling his readiness for a war on attrition on Israel from the Golan, which our sources predicted was in the works on May 16.
Read DEBKAfile Exclusive report of Monday, May 19.
Syria and Hizballah, flushed with the success of breaking the rebel hold on the strategic town of al Qusayr, Sunday, May 19, are making no secret of their plans for the “great confrontation,” i.e. military confrontaiton with Israel after they win the Syrian civil war. Israel’s military leaders are taking with the utmost seriousness the words of Ibrahim al-Amin, editor of the Hizballah organ Al Akhbar, and a close buddy of Syrian president Bashar Assad, who wrote Monday:
“The rope is taut. It is taut to the limit. Anyone at either end [Israel at one end, Syrian and Hizballah, at the other] need only flex a finger and it will break, and the great confrontation will take place. This is neither a threat, nor an exaggeration or interpretation. This is the situation on the enemy’s northern front. Now means today; it means this hour,” al-Amin wrote.
Israeli intelligence experts have no doubt that the writer penned those words at the behest of his master, Hizballah’s Hassan Nasrallah, and Bashar Assad.
Israeli spokesmen and media tried hard Monday to play down the scale of the joint force’s success in capturing al-Qusayr, which sits on Syria’s main road to Lebanon and the Damascus high road to the Mediterranean, by harping on the heavy battle losses sustained by Hizballah – 50 dead and many more gravely injured.
But these losses do not detract from the Iranian Lebanese proxy’s pivotal role in the Syrian rebels’ resounding defeat and the Syrian army’s decisive victory.
It cannot be denied that the fateful setback suffered by the Syrian rebels resulted from their being abandoned to their fate at the most critical moment of their uprising by their backers, the US, Turkey, Jordan and the Arab Gulf emirates.
Syrian and Hizballah forces are getting ready to turn east for their next major offensive, the destruction of rebel strongholds in Homs and its outlying villages. Our military sources report the Syrian army has deployed its 14th Division and an expanded unit of self-propelled artillery for this joint effort. Rebel spokesmen warn that a massacre is in store.
DEBKAfile
Anchorage Sets New Record for Longest Snow Season
232 days - it took over 30 years for Anchorage to set a new record for the longest snow season on record.
The National Weather Service measured 2/10ths of an inch just after 9 p.m. Friday and 1/10th Saturday morning - breaking the old record of 230 days set in 1981-1982.
Anchorage police responded to 22 crashes, 4 with injuries and 37 vehicles in distress between midnight and noon Saturday. Police say roads were wet and not icy midday and "motorists should use caution if the temperatures drop below freezing.
Other parts of the city had much higher amounts of snow, however official measurements must be consistent and observed at the Sand Lake forecast office. The recent snowfall also broke the daily record for liquid precipitation, lowest maximum temperature for May 17, and a host of other records.
NWS says Saturday evening's forecast calls for "mostly cloudy with isolated snow showers in the evening...then partly cloudy after midnight - lows in the upper teens to mid 20s and north wind to 15 mph."
For Sunday, the forecast will be mostly sunny, highs in the 40s, and light winds, according to NWS.
NBC
All Semi-Automatic Pistols Sold In California to Require “Micro Stamp” Ballistic Identification
In a controversial move that some believe will essentially lead to a de facto ban on semi-automatic handguns, Attorney General Kamala Harris announced that, effective immediately, all new semi-automatic firearms sold in the State of California will require a unique microstamp on every shell ejected when a gun is fired.
Microstamping, or ballistic imprinting, is a technology patented in the 1990′s by engineer and NRA member Todd Lizotte. When a gun is fired, a tiny engraving on the firing pin etches a microscopic identifier onto the cartridge as it is expended by the firearm.
The law, which requires every semi automatic gun sold in the state to imprint the gun’s serial number on the cartridge, was signed into law by former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2007 and was delayed due to patent stipulations in the legislation.
The legislation specified that it would take effect only when the technology was available and all private patents had expired.
But at a Los Angeles news conference Friday, Harris announced that micro-stamping had cleared all technological and patenting hurdles and would be required on newly sold semiautomatics, effective immediately.
“The patents have been cleared, which means that this very important technology will help us as law enforcement in identifying and locating people who have illegally used firearms,” Harris said.
According to proponents of the legislation, ballistic micro-stamping will help law enforcement investigators track down firearms used in the commission of crimes:
Attorney Benjamin Van Houten of San Francisco’s Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence said the announcement should send a message to other states, the Obama administration and the gun industry that “this is the future and it’s really critical to helping law enforcement solve gun crimes.”
Implementation of micro-stamping “moves California to the forefront of the nation in combatting gun crime,” said the law’s author, former Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, who attended the news conference and is running for city attorney.
It’s not clear exactly how a firearm that has been illegally purchased, such as through straw buyers who purchased semi-automatic rifles to Mexican drug cartels from federal agents in Operation Fast and Furious, could help track down criminals using untraceable guns in the commission of a crime.
In addition to being ineffective in tracking gun crimes, NRA attorney C.D. Michel suggests that with firearm sales across the country already puttingoverwhelming demand on gun manufacturers, the new California law could lead to widespread shortages of handguns in the state:
“This is not going to help solve crimes,” he said. “It’s easily defeated, easily wears out and can be used to lead police down false alleys” if the serial numbers are altered.
Worse yet, Michel said, manufacturers will be unwilling to add this expensive feature to guns sold in a single state, and will instead keep manufacturing weapons for the other states, where demand already far exceeds supply.
The effect, he said, would be a ban on new semiautomatic handguns in California, which the NRA will challenge in court.
As has been the case with California’s 1990′s ban on semi-automatic rifles and larger capacity magazines, the microstamping legislation aims to reduce availability of firearms to law abiding citizens. Because the legislation specifically targets semi-automatic handguns, a staple personal self defense firearm, the vast majority of those affected will be people who simply want to own a handgun to protect themselves and their families.
The law will have almost no effect on a criminal’s ability to gain access to firearms through the black market. This has been proven time and again with semi-automatic rifles and shotguns, which are already illegal in California but are regularly used by gangs and criminals.
It will also be the case with new micro-stamped handguns, which just like non-ballistically identified firearms, can be stolen and moved through back channels without restriction. If anything, criminals will prefer stolen micro-stamped guns over others because when police forensic teams show up, their investigations will be diverted to the original owner of the firearm, not to the criminal who stole it or purchased it through underground dealers.
And for those who think this is restricted to the left-coast, similar legislation is under consideration in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maryland, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Likewise, a federal push for micro-stamping was attempted in 2008 by both the House and the Senate in the form of the National Gun Crime Identification Act.
Microstamping is yet another purported “common sense approach” that makes no sense in the real world.
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