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Global Focus on the Middle East

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From Watch.org (April 17)

  • As talks intensify, Netanyahu mulls narrow coalition

    Likud sources: Initial coalition could include Likud, Kulanu, Habayit Hayehudi and ultra-Orthodox parties, after which Netanyahu would invite Labor to join • PM hopes to seal deal with Kulanu party by Tuesday before final two-weeks of talks commence.
    Coalition talks shifted to high gear on Wednesday when Likud and Kulanu negotiators met to finalize the terms of their emerging coalition deal. Both sides appear poised to sign the deal as early as next week. 
    Netanyahu, who is about to exhaust the 28 days he had been allotted by the president for the coalition talks, is expected to arrive at the President’s Residence on Tuesday to ask for more time. (Under the law, he may get another 14 days, at the president’s discretion.) Netanyahu hopes to have at least one official coalition partner when he makes that request, and has indicated that if he fails to seal the deal with Kahlon, he could turn to the ultra-Orthodox parties — Shas and United Torah Judaism.

  • Hamas calls to abduct Israelis for future swaps

    A senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip called on Thursday for the abduction of Israelis, who would be swapped for Palestinians held by the Jewish State. 
    “We tell the Zionist enemy: you are all a target for us and the resistance, we will fight you until we finally get rid of you and take as many captives as possible to free our heroes,” said Khalil al-Haya, whose Islamist movement de facto rules the Palestinian enclave.
    “Our men, our women, our children all envision kidnapping your soldiers and settlers, wherever they are,” he said on the eve of Prisoners Day which Palestinians mark April 17. 

  • Lapid to Mogherini: EU foreign ministers are calling for a de-facto boycott of Israel

    A call by 16 European Union foreign ministers to label West Bank settlement products is irresponsible, Yesh Atid party head Yair Lapid said Thursday night as he spoke by telephone with the EU’s foreign policy chief Frederica Mogherini.
    “This is a de-facto call to boycott Israel,” he said. “There is no difference between products which are produced over the Green Line and those that are produced within the Green Line.
    “This is an irresponsible call that could create wreak havoc on the Israeli economy. This kind of call is a stain on the EU, and the state of Israel has to fight to prevent this kind of initiative,” he said.
  • Arab world: Egypt’s dangerous stalemate

    Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is fighting for his country’s survival – and his own.
    Islamic terrorism is not abating, hampering vital efforts to bring a better life to the people through a revitalized economy and political stability. Sisi knows he has to show results soon to prevent Egypt from slipping back into anarchy and chaos.
    Despite the army’s all-out effort to defeat Islamist insurgency in Sinai, there is no end in sight. F-16 fighter planes and Apache helicopters have joined the campaign, security forces have killed or wounded hundreds of terrorists, destroying their haunts and their training groups – but more keep coming.

  • On the heels of a bad Iran deal: Obama Says ‘Never forget. Never again,’ in Remembrance Day Message

    US President Barack Obama called for a forceful stand against anti-Semitism in a message marking Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day.
    “It is incumbent upon us to make real those timeless words, ‘Never forget. Never again.’ Yet, even as we recognize that mankind is capable of unspeakable acts of evil, we also draw strength from the survivors, the liberators, and the righteous among nations who represented humanity at its best,” Obama said.
    “With their example to guide us, together we must firmly and forcefully condemn the anti-Semitism that is still far too common today. Together we must stand against bigotry and hatred in all their forms. And together, we can leave our children a world that is more just, more free, and more secure for all humankind.”

  • North Korea Transfers Missile Goods to Iran During Nuclear Talks: Intelligence suppressed by Obama administration

    North Korea supplied several shipments of missile components to Iran during recent nuclear talks and the transfers appear to violate United Nations sanctions on both countries, according to U.S. intelligence officials.
    Since September more than two shipments of missile parts have been monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies as they transited from North Korea to Iran, said officials familiar with intelligence reports who spoke on condition of anonymity.
    Details of the arms shipments were included in President Obama’s daily intelligence briefings and officials suggested information about the transfers was kept secret from the United Nations, which is in charge of monitoring sanctions violations.

  • Putin tells Netanyahu S-300 missiles not a threat to Israel

    After Russia okayed sale of advanced missile defense system to Iran, Netanyahu calls Putin to express concern that sale would bolster Iran’s regional terror activities.
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Russia’s president to convey his displeasure over Russia’s decision to sell advanced anti-aircraft missiles to Iran. Putin for his part told Netanyahu that the missiles had only defensive capabilities and “pose no threat” to Israel. 
     Netanyahu’s office said he spoke with Vladimir Putin Tuesday to protest Russia’s planned delivery of advanced S-300 air defense missile systems to the Islamic Republic. The Kremlin confirmed the call in a statement on Tuesday.
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War Machines and Future Holocaust … The Inevitable? Yeah!

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EXCEPTS from watch.org gleaned from the web and relayed here come to you with our notion that war machines are gearing up.  These are either movements of force or actual machines at the ready.  And in the midst of the reporting we have Israelis saying another Holocaust may yet come. Technology will kill, but people and their bias and hatred do the killing. How does the Bible link all this together.  First, prophecy has Gentiles at each others’ throats … deposing and waring with each other.  Further still nations hell bent on destroying Israel is simply of biblical proportion!  YOU have to be BLIND not to see what is shaping up in the Middle East … and yet Scripture said so long ago!

One third dies under Hitler, two thirds are in jeopardy today.  In the end of days, at the later part of this era, one third of all Jewish people will constitute the ‘Remnant of Israel.” The other two thirds are perhaps subject to persecution and worse. Unthinkable that any world of civilized peoples would persecute and kill … but have you been watching how extremism is growing like cancer?

Take a minute to explore today’s headlines!

APRIL 14, 2015  Ya’alon: Russia’s S-300 deal with Iran is ‘direct result of Lausanne agreement’

Russia’s decision to lift a ban on the sale of the advanced S-300 air defense system to Iran is a “direct result of the framework agreement reached in Lausanne,” Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Tuesday, referring to the recent nuclear agreement between the P5+1 and Tehran. …

APRIL 14, 2015  Israel: Iran steps up arms shipments to Hezbollah, Hamas

Israeli officials revealed Monday that the Islamic Republic had stepped up its support for Lebanese Shiite terror group Hezbollah over the past few weeks

According to a Channel 2 report Monday, Israel has observed an increase in Iran weapons shipments to Hezbollah members — in Lebanon and on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. …

APRIL 13, 2015  Saudi Arabia, Turkey Discussing Unlikely Alliance To Oust Syria’s Assad

Turkey and Saudi Arabia, two nations with a long history of rivalry, are in high-level talks with the goal of forming a military alliance to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad, according to sources familiar with the discussions. …

APRIL 13, 2015  Military strike against Iran with minimal fallout for Israel possible, US senator says

The Republican US senator behind a letter to the Iranian leadership warning that future presidents may not honor any deal that President Barack Obama signs with Tehran said Monday that he believes pinpoint strikes against Iran could be carried out without leading to a long war for the US or regional fallout against Israel. …

He referenced previous statements made by former prime minister Ehud Barak, that “it would just take one night” to launch an effective strike to set back Iran’s nuclear program.

APRIL 13, 2015 Almost half of Israelis say another Holocaust is possible

Nearly half of Israelis believe another Holocaust is possible, according to a report released Monday by the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel

The annual study, released ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on the evening of April 15 this year, found that 46 percent of Israelis believe a second Holocaust can happen, five percentage points higher than last year. And a similar number of Israel’s 189,000 Holocaust survivors, or 47%, agree.

Some 46% of survivors also say that future generations will not remember the Holocaust after they are gone, a spike of nine percentage points from last year’s study. A lower 31% of the general public has the same worry, while half of Israelis under 30, the study found, never knowingly met a Holocaust survivor.

APRIL 11, 2015 Military sites not open for inspection under nuclear deal, senior Iranian army official says

Iran’s military sites will never be open for inspection under a comprehensive nuclear deal with world powers, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported a senior Iranian commander as saying.

Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri said on Friday that Iranian officials have already announced “clearly and explicitly” their opposition to the inspection of the country’s military and defense facilities, Tasnim reported. …

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All of the above is sobering and headed in dangerous directions.

God bless you!

Director, WindowView.org

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The LIBRARY of LIFE and EvoDevo: The New Option for Science Research

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EvoDevo is Essentially Dead in its Tracks for Now

What is EvoDevo and what is missing in this area of scientific research?  Here is an Internet definition of EvoDevo:

  1. Evolutionary developmental biology (evolution of development or informally, evo-devo) is a field of biology that compares the developmental processes of different organisms to determine the ancestral relationship between them, and to discover how developmental processes evolved.

EvoDevo is Dead?

What puts EvoDevo into a tailspin is some of the facts that have caused real consternation in biology and evolution.  Here are just a few of the problems:

  • Embryos of animals do not exhibit a pattern across taxonomic groups that would reveal an evolutionary pathway up the developmental hierarchy posited to be the evolutionary history of life.  That is embryos of a antecedent species are not always similar to the next level of the taxonomic scale … the planes of division and pattern of development are like “apples and oranges” in their similarity.
  • The embryos drawn by Haeckel are now clearly recognized as a contrived illustration to confirm a notion and not fact
  • At the Cambrian,life appeared suddenly in a narrow, albeit several million year, time horizon.  The stratigraphy do show evidence that fossils would have been captured before the sudden appearance (as documented recently in fossil sponges found embryonic form of 8 cells or more)
  • Fossil evidence captured at the Cambrian represent unique types that serve as starting points for taxonomic groups. They start together, not one from the other.
  • The complexity of the features of each distinct group would traditionally, by conventional evolution theory require much more time than allowed by the observed data and fossil record
  • The complexity in cell types, taxonomic characteristics, and vastly different forms all point to something evolutionists gloss over … very different, specific, and complex information is required to distinguish these Cambrian life forms

In the Face of Show Stoppers

The real point here is: “Why doesn’t the current group of scientific minds accept what the raw data from fossils tell us?” Answers: Dogma? Traditional teaching? Or discomfort that evolution theory fails!

We were taught in school that science is a field that gathers data and objectively looks at that evidence to develop plausible explanations for the natural world and for life on this planet.

EvoDevo in the conceived, older, notion is’ dead (in its traditional thinking). Evolutionary biologists are coming to a point of acknowledging that natural selection working on chance (mutations) is not explanatory … evolution doesn’t work the way textbooks have reported for decades.

Look in the Library!

What EvoDevo needs to do more of is think of the Cambrian animals as distinct starting LIBRARIES of complex and specific information.  That is what initiates the complex molecules that make up biochemical pathways, structures, and all support all the inherited functions from one generation to the next. The real question is: “How complex and how deep is the library of information for each type at the Cambrian?”

If life forms appear suddenly in the history of the earth, then what information where they endowed with and how might that starting point lead to the species that appear over time?

This is the real question EvoDevo needs to address.  We need to start with the appearance of information and then see where that leads … let the evidence, not bias, lead us forward!

Director, WindowView.org

 

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Antartica: Western Ice First – Now in the East A Threat of Massive Sea Level Rise

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THE HEADLINE:  “An Antarctic deja vu”

The free paper at the Metro station on March 17 reveals the natural world is MELTING in the background.  You don’t see it, but it’s happening. Something a bit off kilter? The world coming to an end of its present self? A concern?

The Bible says it will be wars and rumors of wars that are the big clue to the end of days … but our environs are changing and threaten to sneak up on us with still other dramatic surprises.  Normal days will end and abnormal days will be upon us as sea levels alter the map over the entire face of the globe. We see it coming, eyes wide open, but stare at the blinding light of global change like deer paralyzed by headlights of on coming car … WHACK!  Then it hits us … but in this case coastal cities in the modern world will be the new watery Venice and Venice will be inundated and condemned by submergence.

The article gives us reason for calm by saying we won’t see the ‘WHACK’ in our lifetime. The process of sea level rise may take some time.  So lets go burn more fossil fuels and make some more heat! Yet our world won’t be the same for our kids, because sea level rise seems certain and from global human activity we “…have irreversibly destabilized the great ice sheet of West Antarctica and thus set in motion more than 10 feet of sea level rise.”

Read on … because the free paper’s article leaves out something provocative and alarming …

The Sub Header: “Ice in west may cause a massive sea level rise. Now the east threatens, too”

When ice at the South Pole melts, this is what to expect: “Meanwhile, 2015 could be the year of the double whammy – when we learned the same about one gigantic glacier of East Antarctica, which could set in motion roughly the same amount all over again. Northern Hemisphere residents and Americans in particular should take note: When the bottom of the world loses vast amounts of ice, those of us living closer to its top get more sea level rise than the rest of the planet, thanks to the law of gravity.”

In the East of Antarctica is … “the Totten Glacier of East Antarctica – the fastest thinning sector of the world’s largest ice sheet – and [scientists] took a variety of measurements to try to figure out the reasons behind its retreat. And the news wasn’t good: It appears that Totten, too, is losing ice because warm ocean water is getting underneath it.”

Added to the Western ice and a potential 10 feet of sea level rise, the Western “… glacier holds back a much more vast catchment of ice that, were its vulnerable parts to flow into the ocean, could produce a sea level rise of more than 11 feet – which is comparable to the impact from a loss of the West Antarctica ice sheet.”

HERE is the Kicker as they say … 

First, what goes on at the southern pole is only part of the story.  Up north, the Greenland ice sheet is also melting, shifting, and adding to sea level rise, now. The article on Antartica suggests some 20 plus feet of sea level rise … add to that what Greenland has to add and the ‘not in our lifetime’ might not hold up if the rate of ice melt increases – globally!

Second, and perhaps more universally than at the South Pole alone, scientist worry about an unstoppable melt … “The problem, then, is that once such a gigantic geophysical process begins, it’s hard to see how it comes to a halt. “With warming oceans, it’s difficult to see how a process that starts now would be reversed, or reversible, in a warming world,” Siegert said.”

CONVERGENCE IS UPON US

The WindowView web pages all hinge on the idea that changes in the globe, evidence from the sciences, and the harmony in Scripture all reveal something certain … foretold, hedging humanity into humility and to the point of bending a knee and acknowledging we were put here not to glorify ourselves, but instead to recognize the One who gave us life in the first place. The Earth cannot bear us any longer. We are wearing out the planet like a coat going thread bare … with no place to escape to, we are destined to face the ultimate truth … and God knows what that is. (no, that is not a pun, it is in fact truth)

Quotations from the March 17, 2015 Express (Washington, DC)

Director, WindowView.org

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Science Area Thesis at WindowView

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Starting Fall 2014, all Window Areas have updated Overview and Thesis pages. For the Science Area the following thesis now appears with a detailed explanation:

Thesis: Looking across all scientific disciplines—including, astronomy, biology, cell biology, chemistry, evolution, genetics, geology, information theory, paleontology, and physics—the scientific evidence provides support for an intelligent coordination of events in nature. This occurs throughout the history of the universe and on earth, making possible the rapid appearance of life forms, a vast diversity and abundance of species, all to prepare the planet for human life. Life is therefore special and not by chance.

Visit the Introduction, Overview, or Thesis page to experience the full WindowView!

Director, WindowView.org

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NO PEACE in MAY …

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The following excerpts from news posted at Watch.org are very telling … with respect that no peace pact will come to Israel in March, or April, or May … and frankly, those who have read the Scriptures know what to look for … we are told there the peace pact will be a seven year covenant in a time when Israel lives without walls … NO PEACE, NO WAY, until then.  Also of interest is Putin’s apparent desire to grater power and with access to strategic territories that will only make it easier to move forces to the south … Gog and Magog … is that it?

Stay tuned, because if you really think about it, humanity is not about living in peace, stewardship, or extending the prospects for life on earth … why?  Because everyone has some sort of material or national agenda … and that is why we say information from both science and scripture have relevance … so visit WindowView for more on that, but for now … WHAT do the following headlines tell you!

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Susan Rice to Netanyahu: Only two-state solution can bring peace with Palestinians

Not reaching a nuclear agreement with Iran is preferable to signing a bad accord, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Wednesday, soon after meeting with visiting US National Security Advisor Susan Rice.  Rice arrived in the country earlier in the day as part of a high-level US delegation. Members of the delegation came to consult with their Israeli counterparts about Iran and other strategic issues prior to another round of talks between the P5+1 and Iran in Vienna next week, and as work went on to formulate a final nuclear deal. Following the Rice meeting – a meeting the Prime Minister’s Office was not willing to discuss – Netanyahu met with a delegation from the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF). The brief statement issued about that meeting made the gist of Netanyahu’s message to Rice clear.

Meeting Abbas, Rice outlines ‘constructive’ path forward for peace with Israel

Any power-sharing Palestinian government must recognize the state of Israel, renounce violence and adhere to previous agreements, whether it includes Hamas or not, US National Security Advisor Susan Rice told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during their meeting in Ramallah on Thursday.  According to the White House, Rice made “clear… the principles that must guide a Palestinian government in order for it to play a constructive role in achieving peace and building an independent Palestinian state.”

“She reiterated US policy that any Palestinian government must unambiguously and explicitly commit to nonviolence, recognition of the State of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations between the parties,” the White House said in a statement after the meeting.

US envoy Indyk insists peace process not dead

Washington’s top negotiator criticizes both sides for failed talks, saying Netanyahu was ‘flexible’ despite approving settlements.  While delivering scathing condemnations of the behavior of both sides, Washington’s chief negotiator in the recent Israeli-Palestinian talks denied Thursday that the peace process was over.  In his most revealing comments since the breakdown of talks, Ambassador Martin Indyk recounted Thursday evening how, after six months of productive direct negotiations, Palestinian leaders “shut down” and singled out settlement activity as a major – but not the sole – factor.

“We have passed the nine-month marker for these negotiations, and for the time being the talks have been suspended,” Indyk said, addressing the Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Weinberg Founders Conference in Washington DC. “Some have said this process is over. But that is not correct. As my little story testifies. As you all know well— in the Middle East, it’s never over.”

Roads blocked, schools closed as freak rains flood country, flash floods from Eilat to the Dead Sea

Unseasonable storm wreaks havoc in south; flash floods reported from Eilat to Dead Sea.  Schools near the Dead Sea were shut and several roads in the area were blocked by authorities Thursday morning as a rare tropical storm dumped rain across the country causing flash floods and wreaking havoc in the south of the country.  Wednesday night and Thursday morning saw heavy rains and thunderstorms across the country, a rare occurrence so late into the spring. The rain brought dry riverbeds to life, flooding low-lying areas, especially in the Judean Desert and Negev in the south of the country. By Thursday morning the city of Arad reported 44 millimeters of rain had fallen from the storm, 40 times the average for this time of year, according to the Israel Meteorological Service. Jerusalem saw 32 millimeters, Beersheba 24 millimeters and Ra’anana 45 millimeters. Tel Aviv, however, only saw 15 millimeters.

Top Netanyahu aide: Here’s proof Abbas deliberately destroyed peace talks

Analysis: Countering US narrative, some Israeli sources
insist Netanyahu negotiated sincerely

Putin oversees Russian Nuclear forces exercise

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday oversaw a military exercise involving Russia’s nuclear forces amid escalating tensions over Ukraine.  While Putin said the exercise had been planned back in November, it comes as relations between Russia and the West have plunged to their lowest point since the Cold War over Ukraine.  Putin, speaking from the Defense Ministry’s headquarters where he oversaw the exercise along with leaders of several ex-Soviet nations which are members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, said that the maneuvers involved the military across the entire Russian territory, including the nation’s nuclear forces.  Russian news wires said that the exercises simulated dealing a massive retaliatory nuclear strike in response to an enemy attack. The description of the exercise is unusually blunt, reflecting tensions with the West running high over Ukraine.

Putin says Russian troops pull back from Ukraine border

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed Wednesday that his military had pulled back from the Ukrainian border — but a top Pentagon official told Fox News that the U.S. military had not seen any changes in the deployment of Russian forces.  Putin also urged pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine to postpone Sunday’s referendum on secession. Putin said Russian troops had pulled back to training grounds and locations for “regular exercises,” but didn’t specify whether those locations were in areas near Ukraine.

Putin Warns of Growing Militant Nationalism, Nazi Ideology in Europe

NATO’s top military commander in Europe said on Monday he no longer thought regular Russian troops would enter eastern Ukraine, predicting Moscow could achieve its goals through the unconventional forces stirring up trouble there.  U.S. air force Gen. Philip Breedlove said it was a completely false Russian narrative that it was only Ukrainians rebelling in the east of their country, saying it was clear that special forces troops from Russia were operating there as they did in Crimea before its annexation.  “Remember that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin denied their presence and now he has admitted to their presence in Crimea. The same thing will come out of Ukraine as time rolls out,” he told a military and diplomatic audience in Ottawa.

Pew Global Survey: Public Backs Putin, Crimea’s Secession, Putin is overwhelmingly popular

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s handling of the crisis in Ukraine has met with considerable opposition in Western nations and much of the international community, as well as in Ukraine itself, but Russians have largely rallied around their leader. Putin is overwhelmingly popular, and Russian national pride appears to be on the rise. In fact, a plurality thinks Putin’s handling of the crisis has improved Russia’s international stature.  A large majority of Russians believe the recent referendum in Crimea was free and fair, and that Kyiv (Kiev) should accept the results and allow Crimea to join Russia. Crimea is only one of Russia’s territorial grievances, and as they have in previous surveys, a majority of Russians say they believe there are parts of neighboring countries that really belong to Russia.  Meanwhile, tensions with the West have led to a dramatic spike in negative views about the U.S. and the European Union. Similarly, both U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are held in low regard.

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Spend some time at your window and think about what is really happening in the world today … it looks like it could get a lot worse before it gets better.

Director, WindowView.org

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Genome as Library, Survival by Chance or Design

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Sitting here for years and looking at how scientists regard evolution in daily terms and how the argument from design reveals organisms hold unique and highly specified information, that in turn drives the existence of complex structure and function, leads to an idea … the genome in organisms is a library. Libraries hold much more information than one reads at any time. Books are checked out for a time and later returned. All the while, the library holds a vast amount of information, even in books hidden or buried in the stacks.

The following news feed from a scientific list serve seems to hint that corals, themselves a complex relationship of organisms, have within themselves the ability to check out and utilize information to survive changes in environment. Recent review of the scientific literature by Meyer indicates the invention of new information, traits, and thus genetic abilities by organisms is not known to the datasets collected by the scientific community. Perhaps as junk DNA becomes even more an understood entity we will see how extant, present information within living types is already present. How that got there in the first place leaves out the standard model and opens science to the new challenge.

When the sea grows warm or acid, it’s not by mutation but by endowment that organisms adjust to change. A well endowed library is the gift of life and that is replete with complex and specified information … that comes with the appearance of life.

From the list serve:

Researchers find coral can change physiology to survive warming seas
When oceans become warmer or acidic, coral reef apparently have the ability to change their physiology to survive, researchers have discovered. Studying coral off Ofu Island in American Samoa, researchers found that the coral can use their genes to turn on heat-resistant proteins. “What we don’t know is what their limits are, and when those limits are going to be reached by future climate change,” said marine biologist Stephen Palumbi of Stanford University. Nature (free content) (4/24)

In recent decades the scientific community was discouraged by the thought corals would die off due to climate change leaving a barren sea across the globe. But if we look for the libraries in life, we might see an entire array of informational gifts within. Some will try to sell it as evolution, but the information is still highly specified and complex without substantial explanation as to the origin. To understand that requires the big picture view here at the window.

Director, WindowView.org

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“Darwin’s Doubt” with Stephen Meyer

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This video presentation has received positive reviews because so much is clearly explained by Dr. Meyer about his book “Darwin’s Doubt.”

“Darwin’s Doubt” with Stephen Meyer from Socrates in the City on Vimeo.

Watch and hear from the author himself.

Director, WindowView.org

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Question: What is the Ultimate Reality

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WindowView is in a sense another way of saying “world view” except that a line of reasoning and an appeal to ‘data’ or information that is before us is indeed part of the real objective to presenting the Window. It’s YOUR window, you look, you see, you assess and in the end only you can conclude what is real.  But lets visit the vital questions in life for a moment.  If Darwin’s theory on evolution is all there is to being, then we are the result of chance and randomness in the universe. But Darwin had his doubts about evolution and the data today support good reason to doubt his theory. So, then, what is reality? What are the consequences to getting the correct data to determine who you are?

Dr. Samples offers the following list of critical factors and questions in his book “World of Difference.”

“An accurate road map supplies valid directions that profoundly guide a person’s life decisions. Therefore, a well-thought-out course, or worldview, needs to answer twelve ultimate concerns that philosophers identify as “the big questions of life”:

1. Ultimate Reality: What kind of God, if any, actually exists?

2. External Reality: Is there anything beyond the cosmos?

3. Knowledge: What can be known and how can anyone know it?

4. Origin: Where did I come from?

5. Identity: Who am I?

6. Location: Where am I?

7. Morals: How should I live?

8. Values: What should I consider of great worth?

9. Predicament: What is humanity’s fundamental problem?

10. Resolution: How can humanity’s problem be solved?

11. Past/Present: What is the meaning and direction of history?

12. Destiny: Will I survive the death of my body and, if so, in what state?

When a worldview elucidates reasonable answers to these ultimate questions, life (and death) issues become much more comprehensible and easier to get through.”

The concept of WindowView hinges on the fact that evidence from science, Scripture, changes around the globe, and a timeline sequences that follows a known chronology going forward, all this presents a convergence of driving forces.  All this provides an affirmative answer to the first questions and all the data from there on becomes easier to see. But what about these ultimate questions.  You have asked them, we all have. But have you taken time to look through the Window?

Director, WindowView.org

 

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Risks for Global Change

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WE ARE ALL AT RISK
A recent MarketWatch article starts this way:

“A poll of participants ahead of this year’s World Economic Forum at Davos found 10 areas of highest risk to the world. Such risks are “defined as an occurrence that causes significant negative impact for several countries and industries over a time frame of up to 10 years,” according to a report issued before the conference slated for this month in Switzerland.

1. Fiscal crises in key economies: The biggest concern, according to the report, remains whether wealthy countries can keep it together. “The report lists fiscal crises as the top risk advanced economies remain in danger of fiscal crises. …

Aside: This article relates how global economic instability could (ironically) stem from (complex political scenarios and ) falling oil prices as described elsewhere.

The MarketWatch article outlines these additional factors for global risks:

2. Structurally high unemployment/underemployment: The flip side of income disparity is the persistent unemployment and underemployment of millions of people.

3. Water crises: Huge population growth is placing big demands on freshwater supplies, notably in China and sub-saharan Africa. …

4. Severe income disparity: With employment in developed countries still suppressed in the wake of the financial crisis, and huge unemployed populations in developing economies, income disparity is a huge issue for Davos participants.

“Income disparity is also among the most worrying of issues. It raises concerns about the Great Recession and the squeezing effect it had on the middle classes in developed economies, while globalization has brought about a polarization of incomes in emerging and developing economies. This is true despite the obvious progress in countries such as Brazil and lower levels of poverty in several developing countries in Asia and Africa.“

5. Failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation: Similar to the fear of global governance failure is the fear that concerns over climate change won’t be addressed. “Climate change, ranked fifth on the list, is the key driver of such uncertain and changing weather patterns, causing an increased frequency of extreme weather events such as floods and droughts,” according to the report.

6. Greater incidence of extreme weather events: … Of note, is the finding that huge populations in coming years will be born in developing countries with potential exposure to hurricanes and typhoons, posing greater risks of damage such as was caused in the Philippines last year by a huge storm.

7. Global governance failure: This one amounts to the fear that … in the end international institutions aren’t actually able to get their act together.

“Given that global risks can be addressed effectively only through international collaboration, it is hardly a surprise that global governance failure is also included in the list as the risk of seventh highest concern,” the report finds.

8. Food crises: Nothing gets people riled up like not being able to eat. …

9. Failure of a major financial mechanism/institution: Perhaps not surprisingly … concern over failures financial institutions remains very high.

“Five years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, with its system-wide impacts, the failure of a major financial mechanism or institution also features among the risks that the respondents are most concerned about, as uncertainty about the quality of many banks’ assets remains.”

10. Profound political and social instability: No. 10 on this year’s list is profound political and social instability potentially caused by military actions or aggressive foreign or trade policies on the part of global or regional powers.

———————– From the Window —————————-

The above ten cited concerns are not necessarily directly linked to biblical themes, but some are. For the serious Bible student, the idea of global governance is something that might link all ten issues. One day, soon, according to the Bible the world will turn to a single over arching global governance … a one world government. While climate change, as a whole, is not described in the Bible, numerous other events and the making of the one world government easily connect to the risks we see today. How will humans in a material context respond to changes in a way that leads to a single governance? We suggest material and spiritual forces bring us to such a point. And to understand that viewpoint takes time looking through the Window!

Director, WindowView.org

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