Climate change hits Mars

It would seem that maybe "global warming" may not be caused by man, after all. Maybe God has more to do with it?

Climate change hits Mars-News-UK-TimesOnline:
From The Sunday Times
April 29, 2007

Climate change hits Mars

Mars is being hit by rapid climate change and it is happening so fast that the red planet could lose its southern ice cap, writes Jonathan Leake.

Scientists from Nasa say that Mars has warmed by about 0.5C since the 1970s. This is similar to the warming experienced on Earth over approximately the same period.

Since there is no known life on Mars it suggests rapid changes in planetary climates could be natural phenomena.

The mechanism at work on Mars appears, however, to be different from that on Earth. One of the researchers, Lori Fenton, believes variations in radiation and temperature across the surface of the Red Planet are generating strong winds.

In a paper published in the journal Nature, she suggests that such winds can stir up giant dust storms, trapping heat and raising the planet’s temperature.

Fenton’s team unearthed heat maps of the Martian surface from Nasa’s Viking mission in the 1970s and compared them with maps gathered more than two decades later by Mars Global Surveyor. They found there had been widespread changes, with some areas becoming darker.

When a surface darkens it absorbs more heat, eventually radiating that heat back to warm the thin Martian atmosphere: lighter surfaces have the opposite effect.

How Middle Eastern Leftist View the US Left

Follow the link to read the whole story from www.frontpagemag.com. You will be amazed! I know I was!

Betrayed
By Amir Taheri
The New York Post | April 11, 2007

While elements of the Left in the United States and Europe are calling on Western democracies to abandon Afghanistan and Iraq to the Taliban and al Qaeda and surrender to the Khomeinists in Iran, new alliances are emerging against the jihadists in the region.

In much of the Middle East, most notably Afghanistan and Iraq, the Left is part of these new alliances.

* In Iraq, two rival Communist parties, along with Social Democrats and other center-left groups, supported the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and continue to play a significant role in the new pluralist system. They are resolutely opposed to a premature withdrawal of American and allied forces, as demanded by the U.S. Congress.

* In Lebanon, Walid Jumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party is at the heart of the democratic movement to against the Islamic Republic's attempt to dominate the country through its Hezbollah surrogates. The Lebanese democratic movement includes other parties of the Left, notably the Socialist Salvation Movement (Inqadh) and the Movement of the Democratic Left.

* In Iran, virtually the whole of the Left rejects President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's anti-Americanism and calls for normalization of ties with the United States. The recently created independent trade-union movement is emerging as a vocal challenger to Khomeinism.
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Russia: U.S. still preparing cruise missile strike on Iran

Background
As background, read Isaiah 17 and Ezekiel 38-39. These Scriptures speak of the destruction of Damascus, and a major nuclear war involving Russia, Persia (Iran), and most of Islamic North Africa (with the notable exception of Iraq).

Iran and Russia have had a mutual defense treaty for some time. In March of 2006 Syria joined this treaty.

Israel has been surrounded by enemies since it’s beginning. Israel is widely believed to have around 250 nuclear weapons. Part of Israel’s military/political planning is said to be “The Sampson Option.” This doomsday option says that if Israel is about to be over-run and destroyed, or if Israel is attacked with WMD, Israel will respond with a nuclear strike against the capitals of all of it’s enemies.

Current Events
Let’s say that Israel or the US attacks Iran in an attempt to destroy Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Iran could, and probably would, invoke the mutual defense treaty. They might also attempt to respond with missile based weapons of mass destruction, possibly including nuclear weapons acquired on the black market. Russia and Syria could be forced to retaliate, quite possibly drawing in other Muslim states in the area.

This could fulfill Ezekiel 38:4-5, referring to Russia: “And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords. Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet….” The phrase “put hooks into your jaws” specifically means being compelled to do something, possibly against your immediate wishes.

If one of these states causes Israel to invoke the Sampson Option, Israel could nuke Tehran, Damascus, and other capitals. This could fulfill Isaiah 17:1 about Syria: “Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins.”

What brings this to mind now is a story on worldtribune.com:

Russia: U.S. still preparing cruise missile strike on Iran

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Wednesday, April 11, 2007

MOSCOW — The United States is planning to launch a war with Iran with a salvo of cruise missiles against military and other strategic facilities, a Russian official said.

A leading Russian analyst close to the government of President Vladimir Putin said the Bush administration has been preparing a major air strike against Iran. The analyst said the Iranian release of 15 British Marines abducted in early April has hampered but not canceled U.S. attack plans.

"Preparations to strike Iran's strategic facilities continue," Col. Gen. Leonid Ivashov, president of the Academy for Geopolitical Problems, said. "Three major groups of U.S. forces are still in the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. Altogether, they have up to 450 cruise missiles on alert."

[On Tuesday, the London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat daily quoted French military sources that assessed a U.S. strike on Iran in 2007. The sources said Iran could be making a major mistake in underestimating U.S. intentions and capabilities.]

The assessment was the latest by government-financed Russian military analysts that warned of a U.S. war against Iran. Over the last two weeks, some analysts have raised the prospect of a U.S. air strike over the next few weeks.

"Combat nuclear weapons may be used for bombing," Ivashov said. "This will result in radioactive contamination of the Iranian territory, which could possibly spread to neighboring countries."

On April 8, Ivashov, who heads a government think tank, told the Interfax-AVN news agency that the U.S. Navy would be the lead service in the military campaign against Iran. He said the attack would begin with a salvo of advanced cruise missiles.

"Military operations against Teheran will begin with the launch of at least two unexpected strikes using Tomahawk cruise missiles and air power in order to disable Iran's air defense capabilities," Ivashov said.

The general said the U.S. military plans to employ up to 150 fighter-jets in the two air strikes on Iran. In the first stage, he said, the United States would destroy Iran's air defense umbrella, including the new Russian-origin TOR-M1 mobile surface-to-air missile systems.

Ivashov said the U.S. campaign would target command centers, air defense batteries, naval vessels and air bases. In the second stage, the general said, the U.S. military would target Iran's nuclear facilities.

"Nuclear facilities may be secondary targets," Ivashov said. "According to expert assessments, at least 20 such facilities need to be destroyed in order to stop Iran's nuclear program."

Ivashov said Iran could respond by firing the Shihab-3E intermediate-range missile toward Israel. He said this could result in Israeli nuclear retaliation.

"If Iran strikes back at Israel with missiles, Tel Aviv is likely to use nuclear weapons on Iran," Ivashov said. "Development of the situation would undermine stability not only in the Middle East, but also in the entire world."

This is not the first report I have read coming out of Russia about the US preparing for a strike against Iran. While one must always wonder why Putin would allow such a story to be printed, nevertheless it sounds plausible. I have also recently read that a third nuclear aircraft carrier battle group has sailed for the Persian Gulf area. Three carrier battle groups is an awesome military force.

I should point out that I thought a similar scenario might play out last summer, during the Israel/Hezbollah war. It didn't. I was wrong then, I could also be wrong now. Only God knows when Ezekiel's war will happen.

However, the timing may be right this summer. The third carrier battle group will be in position. President Bush believes that the Iranian nuclear program is a clear and present danger to the US. Allowing Iran to become a nuclear power would be catastrophic for the US and Western civilization. Mr. Bush probably also believes that none of the Democratic presidential candidates would be up to the challenge, if elected (I agree). Next year is a presidential election year, and as early as the campaign has gotten into gear this time it would be very hard to launch such an attach any later than early fall.

My guess is that this attack on Iran's nuclear facilities and military will probably happen this summer.

The Single Most Critical Event of the 20th Century

Do you know what the single most critical event of the 20th Century was? Writing on The Omega Letter, Jack Kinsella makes a strong case that the assassination of Franz and Sophie Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip, which precipitated World War I, was that event. This assassination triggered a sequence of events that has set the stage for the return of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and unlocked the Books of Revelation and Daniel. Read it, you will be fascinated!

Lessons From History
In Defense of the Faith
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Jack Kinsella - Omega Letter Editor

I've always been a keen student of history, as far back as I can remember. Even before I understood the logic of the question, "how can you know where you are going if you don't know where you have been?", the history of man has fascinated me.

I would learn some new historical fact that would explain the reason for some contemporary situation and, bingo! The lights would come on and it would all make sense.

I was always fascinated with the way all the tiny details had to fit together exactly, and what a difference a single change could make to the Big Picture as it exists today.

What if Gavrilo Princip had not shot Franz and Sophie Ferdinand to death on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo?

(Who? I'm glad you asked.)

Gavrilo Princip was a member of a Serbian nationalist terrorist squad. Franz Ferdinand was the Archduke of Austria, Prince Imperial of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia and heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne.

His assassination precipitated the Austria declaration of war that triggered the First World War.

What if Princip was captured or killed before he could do the deed that ultimately killed more than thirty-eight million people? That single event forever changed the course of history, brought down empires, and freed the Holy Land from centuries of Islamic rule.

So, what if Gavrilo Princip missed? What if his weapon misfired? Jerusalem would have remained a minor city in minor province of the Islamic Ottoman Empire. The modern map of the Middle East would not exist. Germany would have no need of a Jew-hating rabble rouser demanding vengeance for its defeat in a war that didn't take place.

A single act by a single person on a single day that essentially created modern history. Who could have predicted such a thing? Yet had this one thing not happened, the world as we know it would not exist.
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Read the rest here.

British team grows human heart valve from stem cells

And these are adult stem cells!

British team grows human heart valve from stem cells

Tissue for transplants could be available within three years if trials are successful

Alok Jha, science correspondent
Monday April 2, 2007
The Guardian

A British research team led by the world's leading heart surgeon has grown part of a human heart from stem cells for the first time. If animal trials scheduled for later this year prove successful, replacement tissue could be used in transplants for the hundreds of thousands of people suffering from heart disease within three years.

Sir Magdi Yacoub, a professor of cardiac surgery at Imperial College London, has worked on ways to tackle the shortage of donated hearts for transplant for more than a decade. His team at the heart science centre at Harefield hospital have grown tissue that works in the same way as the valves in human hearts, a significant step towards the goal of growing whole replacement hearts from stem cells.
...
By using chemical and physical nudges, the scientists first coaxed stem cells extracted from bone marrow to grow into heart valve cells. By placing these cells into scaffolds made of collagen, Dr Chester and his colleague Patricia Taylor then grew small 3cm-wide discs of heart valve tissue. Later this year, that tissue will be implanted into animals - probably sheep or pigs - and monitored to see how well it works as part of a circulatory system.

If that trial works well, Prof Yacoub is optimistic that the replacement heart tissue, which can be grown into the shape of a human heart valve using specially-designed collagen scaffolds, could be used in patients within three to five years.

How does this relate to the End Times? Daniel 12:4: “But thou, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”

This work is definitely increasing knowledge. See, not all prophesy fulfillment related to the End Times is terrible to contemplate!