Google Seeks A Benefit as Gen Y Goes Cashless

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Here is an unsettling thought  … the Internet age is setting us up for something many folks just don’t think about … yet … but like lemmings running into the sea we are all part of a building momentum. Trouble is, if we mention a biblical theme here, many of you will say “Nonsense!”

Is it? Really? Keep reading … and think about it!

The article we refer to below comes from MarketWatch.com (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/google-wallet-gen-y-credit-card-2013-05-17).

Here is our point. If you are temped to use a handheld device to be cashless as you walk around in your day-to-day routine, we believe that at some point the possible theft of handhelds will make something else more compelling. How about a tattoo with a code? So you swipe your hand across a scanner that can read a colorless tattoo and detect the code to conduct a cashless transaction. Cool? Yeah! But there is a catch.

The Bible refers to a time when no person will be able to buy or sell without the ‘mark of the beast.’ Oh, prophecy stuff you say. Not to worry, couldn’t happen here … right?

——————– Article ——————————–
Google Wallet: Gen Y credit card?
Emailing money may appeal to generation that’s already abandoned cash

By Quentin Fottrell

Facing stiff competition and tepid demand, Google Wallet has not made a big splash in the world of mobile payments. But experts say young Americans may help revive its fortunes.

In an effort to boost the popularity of its mobile payment system, Google this week announced that it
is integrating Google Wallet with Gmail. Customers who’ve linked Google Wallet to their bank account or maintain a balance with Google Wallet can simply click the dollar icon on their Gmail to make a payment. It’s not the first time Google Wallet introduced new features. ….

… there are signs that there is untapped demand for mobile payments. Just one-fifth of young Americans ages 18 to 30 always carry cash, according to a new survey by CouponCodes4U … . Nearly half said cash would not be used in the future. “It’s a generational trend,” … And some 72% of Gmail users are under the age of 34, according to a survey by Hunch.com, …. “The younger generations are adopting this technology in droves.” PayPal and Google Wallet, for example, connect to a bank account or a debit or credit card through a person’s smartphone.

“It’s early days for mobile payments,” says technology analyst Jeff Kagan. “I have children in their early 20s who rarely carry as much as $5 in their wallet.” That’s just enough for tips. “Today, we leave the house with a wallet, car keys and smartphone,” he says. “There will come a time when it will only be our smartphone. … Thousands of merchants are still not set up for mobile payments, making it more difficult for smartphone evangelists to cut up their plastic. What’s more, some consumers are still concerned about security issues of making payments via mobile phone. One U.K. survey found that 44% of people were reluctant to adopt mobile wallets due to fears of phone hacking; only 17% of those surveyed say they would use mobile wallets. (Google did not return requests for comment.)
——————- WindowView Perspective ——————————

We rest our case. It’s a generational thing. In an increasingly material and secular global society, the younger generation will be swept by the momentum the Bible already anticipates. To address the latter security issues … we are waiting for the charismatic leader who seduces the masses to be inscribed with some type of mark. And that will seal together the notion put forth in the article above and in what the Bible declared thousands of years ago.

Far fetched you say?

Have you been looking out your window to see the implications for what is going on out there?

Well, that’s why this window is here!

Our comments here relate to global changes … many of which creep up on us while we are distracted by our day-to-day life. Change is surrounding our lives in many ways … all the more reason now is time to look at the implications.

Director, WindowView.org

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When It Looks Like It’s Getting Better …

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… It isn’t necessarily so! Really good news is bad news. Why?

New energy reserves are coming globally in the form of natural gas in areas formerly considered out of production, oil from fields labeled the same way, oil sands and oil shale in areas previously thought too costly to process. Never mind any questions about renewable energy technology or use of carbon based fuels on climate change … The world has received a carbon-energy injection releasing us of near future energy reserve depletion. Consider the following news clip:
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HEADLINE: U.S. oil boom leaves OPEC sidelined from demand growth – Reuters
Rising U.S. shale oil production will help meet most of the world’s new oil demand in the next five years, even if the global economy picks up steam, leaving little room for OPEC to lift output without risking lower prices, the West’s energy agency said.
———————-
WindowView is a ‘thinking place in cyber space.’ So think about this! The energy supply leaves humanity temporarily euphoric and free of concerns that would restrict material economies … But at the same time the source of relief is the problem. A blind eye will be turned to consequences as long as markets are on the rise or stable. But who has the money to pay for the consequences to come? Cash strapped governments? You?

Consider this: Sea level rise already spurred by climate change will only accelerate as carbon dioxide rises further from carbon fuel use. Sea level rise means coastal flooding, over 800 Million persons globally will need to move, dikes, walls and dams will need to be built. If not that, new homes, new towns, new infrastructure, new expenses to tax humanity for a global result of change. Who cares how it happened! Who will pay? Diseases will rise as invading waters complicate coastal life. Local economies and forms of employment will change … the entire shift will unsettle life on planet earth … human and all other.

The theme of the window is “Science and Scripture in Harmony.” If you look objectively through the window, have some understanding of how our material dilemmas lead to a spiritual side to being, then this theme rings true. We invite you to sit at your window, look, think and know the future is still ahead of all of us.

Director, WindowView.org

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Life’s Data as well as Bible Data is Preserved

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The WindowView theme of “Science and Scripture in Harmony” comes with some key reminders. We keep pointing to information as evidence. What stands over time tends to be data or information that is foundational and truthful. Depending on how you approach information, one might have to consider all is a product of the initial cause for existence. So, if that cause is from God, what of the reliability of longstanding evidence from science and Scripture?

Here is an example. For all the commotion about evolution, with the implication of ongoing macro-evolution over time (change over time), we have examples of stasis (relative unchanging sameness over time). That is, there are species that have existed millions of years without changing over time. The data in this case are the DNA codes within such organisms. The relatively unchanged form, function, and existence tell us evolution is not necessarily a driver for change. Use of the word evolution in this context imparts a process in action at all times—this makes evolution a driving force. Does that exist?. Some suggest that only micro-evolution is adequately demonstrated. Our point here is simple, science information exists to tell us there is a tendency to stay the same without change unless driven to do so. And when there is change … a return back to an original form can and does occur to demonstrate a tendency toward sameness and not branching evermore to something else. This is not to say apparent branching is not apparent, but then the evidence of transitional steps eludes us. Claims of such evidence is often met with complications. To consider the reasons why brings continued debate.

To all the above we think there is a note of key importance. The body of information that supports life is sufficient without change. The assumption of continual change and randomness is an assumption based on short, not long, time frames. The net message is one of a built in stability of lifeforms to bring life forward over time. The evidence is the “living fossils” that have little to no change.

Further, the vital point to a look at how the DNA codes have supported existence to all life is itself a bit of evidence for the complexity and awesome nature to there being an existence … at all! The testimony from life to those of us alive today is that life is rather incredible and perhaps a key testimony to why we exist … at all! Stasis, over time, provides an opportunity for multiple generations to come to the same testimony before moving on.

So let us consider another form of information and relative stasis over time. Consider a validation of another key source of data and the testimony that evidence provides … us all! From a monthly electronic letter I have lifted a few words … these are written by someone whose profession involves translation of ancient manuscripts:

“As we sometimes do, we talked about the Dead Sea Scrolls, commenting on how these ancient manuscripts have helped our understanding of the Bible. For one thing, the scrolls confirm the antiquity and authenticity of the traditional Hebrew text upon which we base translations; for another, the scrolls help us to determine the best text to follow in places where other important biblical manuscripts differ slightly from each other. In short, the scrolls help us keep translations accurate.”

“The bigger story is that throughout all generations, the Lord has preserved his word. He continues to do so today, even as the Bible is being translated into more languages than ever before.”

Life has sustained DNA translations to provide a basis for our lives to be a witness to the awesome nature of our existence. And as the Bible reminds us, there will be a fullness in time where everyone alive will have the opportunity to see the Bible’s testimony delivered, in respective language, to us all. When that state of fullness is reached, we come to a cosmic turning point with no return to earlier time. At that point some move into a continual relationship with the author of life and others do not … this is the final portal from here to the eternal. Which way will you be going?

Director, WindowView.org

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Warming Rates Significant Since First Earth Day

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In an article on warming rates in the US it becomes clear that there is CLIMATE change and all that is a micro-picture to what is happening on a GLOBAL scale.

WindowView Press is really geared to the data and evidence that describe change and how that plays into a “Science and Scripture in Harmony.”  As unlikely as that harmony may be at first look … the material world is experiencing change that is forcing us to take a spiritual look at who we are … how we treat one another … and the chance or purpose to being alive.  We think the window begs us to examine purpose … and if so … then to look at how we live life.  In so doing, we might think of stewardship and environment … and as such we see climate change as a product of how we live on our planet.

From the article cited above …

“In commemoration of Earth Day, 2013, Climate Central has created an interactive graphic that shows a state-by-state analysis of temperature trends since the first Earth Day took place in 1970. That occasion marked a significant change in America’s environmental consciousness, and led to the creation of, among other things, the Environmental Protection Agency and passage of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.”

Take a look at the graphic and if you click on a state … you’ll see evidence for temperature rise in many highly populated areas of the US.

Again, the evidence is telling us something … and if the material world is changing all around us … might this say something about humanity’s future.  And remember, temperature is only a single change in a HUGE matrix of changes across the globe … which is something we address in the Change Area at WindowView.

Director, WindowView.org

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WAR? A Report From Jerusalem

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This rather lengthy blog post contains two entries from David Dolan.
Info about Mr. dolan appears at the end of this post.

Typically we post on science topics here and other topics on the Harmony blog … but this time due to the potential global influence, this post transcends boundaries and we offer it here.
—————————————–
Shalom again from Jerusalem.

I just received this disturbing report from one of my email news updates,
sent from a web site monitoring current events around the world. I thought
it was important enough to pass along at this time.

“North Korea has moved two more short-range missile launchers to its east
coast launching pads, according to a South Korean news agency. An
unidentified military source said it indicates the possibility that
Pyongyang is planning an imminent missile launch. Satellite imagery
suggests the mobile missile launchers are designed to carry warheads on
short-range Scud missiles. South Korea and its allies have been expecting
a possible provocative act from Pyongyang after weeks of threats from the
North Korean regime to launch a nuclear attack upon South Korea and its
American and regional allies. Some analysts suggest the North Korean
Communist regime may choose April 25 for a show of defiance to coincide
with the 55-year anniversary of the formation of its national army in April
1948.”

Keep watching and praying.

————————————
April 22, 2013

Shalom to all,

It has been another month of dramatic news here in Israel and in the region. My latest news summary focuses on growing violence in the Palestinian territories and a series of rocket attacks aimed at Israeli civilian communities. I also take a look at the latest dramatic developments related to Israel that have been taking place during the month in Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Turkey and Iran. With all the bad news in the region and the world, at least I can report that the Promised Land has had the wettest April in many years. Israel usually does not get much, if any, precipitation from around mid-April until sometime around the Jewish New Year in the autumn, so the strong “latter rains” which are just coming to an end today are indeed very welcome, even if we had to don our winter coats for awhile after several weeks of unusual heat and dust storms.

On a more personal note connected to my mailings concerning North Korea and America, I did not share something important at the time of my first posting on Friday, April 12. I had a strong sense in my prayer time concerning the North Korean nuclear threat that some sort of terrorist backpack bombs would be detonated around the middle of the month in the United States. I felt I heard in my morning time of prayer that such an attack would lead to American casualties inside of the country. That was why I sent out my warning. However I did not sense that the attack would necessarily be connected to North Korea or include the small nuclear bombs that I wrote about. Those conjectures were connected to my concerns (which I still have) that North Korea might attempt to carry out its threatened nuclear attack upon several American cities via such backpack bombs. I am of course greatly relieved that the actual backpack bombs mid month were not nuclear, as the people of Boston, all of America and the foreign marathon guests certainly are as well! Still, many people obviously had their lives permanently and horribly altered in the conventional attack that did take place at the hands of the two young Muslim brothers from Chechnya.

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TROUBLE GROWS AT HOME AND ABROAD

By David Dolan

It is rare for Israeli media reports to focus for many days on events happening outside of the country. However that was the case from the middle of April when the Boston Islamic terror attack took place, closely followed by the deadly chemical disaster in Texas. Both stories deeply resonated with the Israeli public, which has obviously been the target of many Muslim terrorist assaults and powerful blasts in the past. The fact that these horrific things were taking place inside the borders of Israel’s closest ally, the United States, only added to Israeli interest and concern.

The escalating violence in the Palestinian territories during the month was another major focus of media attention. Fears that a new Palestinian uprising might be brewing grew as clashes took place in many locations, including parts of Jerusalem. Israeli forces arrested a number of Hamas terrorist suspects in the area during the month.

Meanwhile Palestinian rockets were once again fired from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Several Iranian-built Grad rockets later struck the southern Israeli resort city of Eilat. Others reportedly landed in nearby Aqaba Jordan. Israeli officials said the rockets were fired from the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, which has become a haven for terrorist groups ever since Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power over two years ago. This came as unrest spread in the Arab world’s largest country, with thousands of anti-government demonstrators calling for current President Muhammad Morsi to resign. Scores of Egyptian Coptic Christians clashed with Muslims who attacked the Coptic cathedral in the Egyptian capital city.

The chances that Hamas will reconcile with the Palestinian Authority seemed to increase after PA Prime Minister Salam Fayad resigned mid month. Strongly backed by the United States and other western powers, Fayad was known to be engaged in an increasingly bitter dispute with PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Analysts said the departure of the relatively moderate politician would seriously harm American government efforts to re-start peace talks between Israel and the PA.

Diplomatic relations between Israel and its former ally Turkey remained strained during April despite the Israeli government’s official apology last month to Ankara over the deaths of nine Turkish Muslim militants aboard the Mavi Marmara ship. The ship was part of an international flotilla that attempted to break through the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip in May 2010. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan displayed his continuing contempt for the Jewish State by announcing he would visit the Hamas-ruled coastal zone in late May to mark the third anniversary of the incident.

The Palestinian Authority expressed opposition to the pending visit, saying it would “deepen divisions” between itself and the rival Hamas movement. An official statement went on to note that “The Gaza Strip is not an independent Palestinian state and Hamas is not the legitimate representative of the Palestinians.” Meanwhile an accord was signed between the Palestinian Authority and Jordan that supposedly gives the Jordanian government “responsibility and control” over all Moslem and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.

In the north, Israeli military forces came under renewed fire from across the Golan Heights border with war-torn Syria. IDF forces returned the fire. This came soon after an Islamic rebel militia force fighting with others to topple the Syrian Assad regime announced its allegiance to the Al Qaida terrorist group. The radical Muslim group is known to be operating in territory near the Israeli border. UN peacekeeping forces that had been patrolling there for many years were ordered to stay indoors all month after rebel forces kidnapped a group of UN soldiers from the Philippines in March. Israeli officials once again warned they would not permit the massive Syrian chemical weapons arsenal to fall into rebel hands or to be transferred to Shiite Hizbullah militia forces in neighboring Lebanon. A French newspaper said armed Israeli drones have been flying nightly over Syrian skies, monitoring the situation on the ground in the blood-soaked Arab country. The report said the pilot-less surveillance aircraft enter Syrian airspace via a corridor opened over Jordan.

Fears of a possible rocket and missile attack from the Iranian-backed Hizbullah militia increased in Israel after Iran’s longtime ally, North Korea, declared it was preparing to launch an imminent nuclear war against the United States and its East Asian allies. A former Israeli military officer warned at an annual security conference in Herzliya last month that if conflict broke out on the divided Korean Peninsula, it could quickly be followed by another round of attacks from Hizbullah. Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders are known to be operating alongside the Lebanese Shiite militia force.

On a far more positive note, natural gas from the huge Tamar field located under the Mediterranean Sea west of Haifa began to arrive at a terminal in the Israeli port city of Ashdod the last day of March. The gas is projected to meet Israel’s domestic needs for at least the next three decades. Soon after the gas began flowing via an underwater pipeline, the Water and Energy Ministry issued a statement saying the high cost of electricity in Israel would soon decline due to the natural gas flow. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the flow, saying it will “enhance Israel’s economy and benefit all it’s citizens.” However security experts warn that the large petroleum platform located above the gas flow pipeline outlet will be a major target for Israel’s enemies. Although Israeli naval vessels have been permanently stationed near the platform, they add that Hizbullah rockets could easily be directed at it.

PALESTINIANS FIRE MORE ROCKETS AT ISRAEL

The month of April began with more Palestinian rocket attacks aimed at Israeli civilian communities near the Gaza Strip. One day after the weeklong Passover celebration ended on April 1, Palestinians fired two short-range mortar shells at Israeli targets. However both shells landed just inside the Gaza Strip border fence. A third shell later struck Israeli territory in the Eshkol region. No injuries or damage was reported in the attacks. Despite this, the Israeli Air Force was sent into action over the Gaza Strip for the first time since last November’s “Pillar of Defense” operation ended. Despite evidence that the rockets were fired by Muslims who are not members of the large Hamas militia, several Hamas targets were bombed, but no casualties were reported. The IAF action came soon after new Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon told reporters that the government “sees Hamas as being responsible for everything that is fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel. We won’t allow any routine involving a drizzle of rockets at our civilians and military forces.”

The following morning, two rockets landed in the frequently struck Israeli town of S’derot. The rockets landed as local parents were dropping off their children at several area schools. Although again no damage or injuries were reported, PM Netanyahu reacted by warning Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip that, “If the quiet is violated, we will respond strongly.” After calling upon Israel to “act with restraint,” United Nations Middle East envoy Robert Serry denounced the Palestinian “indiscriminate firing of rockets into civilian areas.” The US, Britain and France also spoke out against the rocket attacks, with the French government saying it “harshly condemns the rocket fire on the civilian population in south Israel.”

The Palestinian Mujahedeen Shura Council claimed responsibility for the rocket firings. Soon afterwards, the radical Sunni Muslim group said the Hamas regime ruling the Gaza Strip had arrested two of its members charged with carrying out the attacks. However Hamas denied it had apprehended the two men, saying “Our security apparatus is part of the resistance and does not arrest anyone who resists the occupation. On the contrary, we encourage resistance.”

Strongly linked to Al Qaida, The Mujahedeen Council carried out a border attack last June launched from the Sinai Peninsula upon Israeli workers constructing a new border fence in the area. The attackers detonated an improvised explosive device and also opened fire on Israeli vehicles carrying some of the workers to their jobs. A 35-year-old Arab-Israeli father of two from Haifa was killed, as were at least two of the attacking terrorists.

One week after the early April rocket and mortar attacks, Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired three more rockets at Israel. This attack came on Israel’s annual Holocaust Remembrance Day as American Secretary of State John Kerry was visiting the country. One rocket exploded in the Sha’ar Ha Negav region west of Beersheva while the other two landed inside the Gaza Strip. Despite the fact that no injuries were reported from the unprovoked assault, the chief American diplomat denounced it, as did Israeli leaders. Defense Minister Ya’alon ordered the closure of several Israeli border crossing checkpoints, while allowing the civilian Erez checkpoint to remain open for Palestinians needing urgent medical care in Israeli hospitals. All of the crossings were reopened five days later. On the evening of April 18, two mortar shells were fired from the Gaza Strip into the western Negev Desert area, again thankfully causing no casualties or damage. Another Kassam rocket landed in Israel on April 20.

DEATH SPARKS OFF PALESTINIAN VIOLENCE

The Mudahedeen Council said its latest assaults were in reaction to the April 2 death of a Palestinian convict who was being treated for throat cancer at Beersheva’s Soroka Medical Center. The man, 64-yar-old Maysara Abuhamdia, had been sentenced to life in prison after he was found guilty of plotting with other Palestinians to blow up a popular cafe in the Jerusalem German Colony neighborhood in 2002. Another restaurant in the area was destroyed by a suicide bomb blast at that time as the second Palestinian uprising reached its peak. A former general in the PA security services, Abuhamdia was a member of the PA-linked Fatah movement before joining the Hamas movement. Both the PA and Hamas accused Israel of deliberately killing him. However an autopsy found he died of natural causes while receiving a chemotherapy treatment at the hospital. Before his death, the convict had accused Israeli prison authorities of medical neglect, claiming he was only being given painkillers to treat his throat cancer. Israeli officials denied the charge.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas quickly poured oil on the news that Abuhamdia had perished. “Today, we were surprised to hear about the martyrdom of prisoner Abu Hamdiyeh,” he said before vowing to “continue our efforts to liberate the homeland and the prisoners.” The comment helped to ignite violent protests in several Israeli prisons and the eastern half of Jerusalem and surrounding Arab communities. Clashes also broke out in Hebron and other cities and towns in the disputed territories under full PA control. Hundreds of Palestinian youths threw stones and firebombs at Israeli soldiers and police forces, who replied with tear gas and rubber bullets.

On April 4, two Palestinian teenagers aged 17 and 18 were killed by IDF gunfire as they were hurling homemade firebombs at soldiers manning an IDF checkpoint near the community of Einav. Another attacker was wounded in the incident, which sparked additional clashes in the tense disputed territories. More clashes occurred as many Palestinians and Israeli Arabs marked “Prisoner Day” on April 18. It was held to express “solidarity” with the approximately 4,800 convicts being held in Israeli prisons, many of them for terrorist related crimes.

One day before, at least two Grad rockets were fired at the southern port city of Eilat from the nearby Sinai Peninsula, with two others landing in nearby Jordan. The Palestinian Mujahedeen Shura Council was thought to have been behind the attack. One rocket landed next to a home in the city. The rocket attack prompted officials to close Eilat’s international airport for a time. Several area residents were treated for shock. An Iron Dome anti-missile battery was moved to the area to protect Eilat from future attacks.

The Jerusalem District Attorney indicted five Arab residents from the eastern half of the city on charges of conspiring to carry out terrorist shooting and kidnapping attacks against Jews near the Temple Mount. According to the April 18 indictment, Nor Hamdan decided in February to plot assaults upon Jewish worshipers near Judaism’s holiest site on earth and against security forces in the area. Hamdan allegedly recruited the other four defendants and formed a terror cell. He then made contact with several Palestinian terror organizations in order to receive training, guidance and weapons from them. The indictment said cell members gathered several times in February and March, intending “to help enemy terror organizations in their war with Israel.” The indictment added the Palestinian cell intended to kidnap an Israeli Jew in order to kill him and steal his weapon for use in future terrorist operations.

KERRY RETURNS BEFORE FAYYAD RESIGNS

Two senior American officials visited Israel during the month: John Kerry, who flew back to the country the first week of April after accompanying President Obama to Israel in March, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who came to discuss new US arms supplies to Israel and the situation in Syria and Iraq. Hagel wrapped up details of a ten billion dollar American sale of V-22 Osprey troop transport aircraft to Israel, along with refueling tankers, advanced radars for IAF fighter jets and anti-aircraft missiles.

The declared intention of Kerry’s stop this time was to put pressure on both Israeli and Palestinian officials to get back to the negotiation table. However the diplomat’s visit appeared doomed to failure even before he arrived when Nimr Hammad, an aid to PA President Abbas, totd a French news agency on April 4 that his boss “wants to know, through a map to be presented by Benjamin Netanyahu to Kerry, what the Prime Minister’s view of a two-state solution would be, especially the borders.”

An unnamed Israeli official in Netanyahu’s office replied that Israel “will agree to put borders on the table when we know what we are getting from the Palestinians,” noting that former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had “presented a generous map, and that led him nowhere.” The official said a final peace accord will have to include a Palestinian pledge to waive the so-called “right of return” to family homes inside of Israel’s current borders. He added it must also include formal PA recognition of Israel as a Jewish State, and acknowledgment that IDF forces will continue to have overall security control in the strategic Jordan Valley near the border with Jordan. Analysts said the latter condition is probably an indirect admission by Israeli leaders that Jordanian King Abdullah may eventually be toppled from his throne by Muslim militants who want to transform the kingdom into an Islamic theocratic state that annuls the country’s current peace treaty with Israel.

Soon after the Secretary of State departed the country, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad resigned from the PA government. The April 13 resignation was quickly accepted by Abbas, who was known to be unhappy that the Western-orientated politician was being treated with more respect by world leaders than he was. Fayyad’s departure was one of the conditions Hamas put forward in reconciliation talks with PA officials. Palestinian media reports said Abbas might hold the PM position for the time being or possibly appoint a technocrat to it. The PA constitution says the PA President has to make his selection within two weeks of any cabinet resignation. However Israeli analysts note that Abbas has ignored many other legalities ever since taking over the PA from Yasser Arafat in 2004.

Salah Bardawil, a senior Hamas official, said Ismail Haniyeh, who acts as Prime Minister of the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip, should replace Fayyad. “Ismail ought to be the legitimate Prime Minister since he was granted the confidence of the Legislative Council,” he said in a newspaper interview. “Fayyad, on the other hand, has been the Prime Minister of an illegitimate government. He has been cooperating with the occupation forces and his name has been associated with General Dayton.” Dayton was the former American military liaison in charge of US-funded training of PA security forces.

Several Israeli analysts pointed out that despite Fayyad’s popularity with American and other Western leaders, he was largely unable to slow the rapid downward spiral of the Palestinian economy, which is heavily reliant on foreign aid. In March, the International Monetary Fund issued a report that said “The Palestinian economy in Gaza and the West Bank is in a far more precarious situation that it was six months ago.” It noted that a quarter of Palestinian workers were unemployed by the end of 2012.

An accord was signed during April between the PA and Jordan, supposedly granting the Jordanian government “responsibility and control over all the Moslem and Christian holy sites” in Jerusalem. It states that Jordanian King Abdullah enjoys the “full right to exert all legal efforts to safeguard and preserve Al Quds (Jerusalem) holy sites.” In a joint statement issued by both the PA and Jordan, the accord was said to be designed to “thwart Zionist attempts to Judaize Al Quds and its holy sites.” Israeli government officials made no public comments on the accord, although analysts said they definitely prefer to have Jordan declared the responsible party over the holy sites rather than the PA, even though neither Arab government has any actual control on the ground in Jerusalem.

NETANYAHU WARNS IRAN AGAIN OF POSSIBLE ATTACK

After attending the funeral of the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on May 18, Benjamin Netanyahu told the BBC that Israel does not need anyone’s approval to exercise its right to self defense. He added the United States and other countries concur that Israel has the right under international law to defend itself as its leaders see fit. The PM said “Israel’s right to defend its existence is not subject to a traffic light. We don’t need anyone to give us the right to prevent a new Holocaust.” Netanyahu added he is certain that Iran’s Shiite Muslim leaders are determined to construct nuclear weapons and are only buying themselves more time to enrich uranium by engaging in talks with world leaders about their nuclear program. The Premier added that Israeli intelligence officials believe Iran needs to produce just 80 more kilograms of highly enriched uranium in order to construct a bomb, having already produced 170 kilograms. He said the vow that Iran’s ally North Korea has made to launch a nuclear strike upon US forces and allies in East Asia should serve to underscore the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran.

On the same day Netanyahu was interviewed, senior diplomats stationed in Vienna told reporters the Iranian regime is increasing the number of advanced centrifuges that are rapidly enriching uranium at its Natanz underground plant. “It is clear Iran can build nuclear bombs. The question is how many and how good they are,” one unidentified Western envoy was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile Iran’s armed forces chief, Major General Ataollah Salehi, told an Iranian TV network that Israel is not capable of launching a military strike against Iran. He claimed “the Zionist regime is too weak to challenge Iran militarily. The Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran will give a swift and crushing response to any aggression by enemies against our country with full preparedness.”

Salehi’s bombastic remarks came soon after both Israeli Defense Minister Ya’alon and IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said that Israel is preparing for the possibility of a unilateral military strike upon Iran’s nuclear program. Gantz added that, “The IDF has the ability to attack the Iranian nuclear sites without help from other nations,” adding that top Israeli military and political leaders are “holding ongoing discussions” about the critical issue. In response, Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi dismissed the comments as “worthless threats” since “the Zionist regime is not so unwise as to commit suicide.” He boasted that his military forces are “prepared for a rapid reaction to any adventure by the Zionist regime.”

Last month, supreme Iranian leader Ayatollah Khamenei vowed that both Tel Aviv and Haifa would be obliterated if Israeli leaders “make the slightest mistake” against the Islamic Republic. Some Israeli analysts warn that Iran may have already moved short-range field nuclear weapons into Lebanon, controlled by Iranian Revolutionary Guards stationed with Hizbullah militia forces in the country. They say such weapons, which were positioned on both side of divided Germany during the Cold War, could have been constructed by either North Korea or Pakistan, both declared nuclear powers with ties to Iran.

Concerning the warfare in neighboring Syria, Gantz said the IDF is preparing for a possible military confrontation with both Syria and Lebanon. “We are ready, at any given time, and in an immediate manner, for a war with Syria, both on the defense and on the offense. I don’t see it happening tomorrow morning, but despite that we are ready.” In his BBC interview, PM Netanyahu also spoke of the fighting in Syria, repeating earlier statements that Israel will not allow the regime’s large chemical weapons stockpile to fall into either the hands of Syrian rebel forces or Hizbullah. As for the question of whether or not Western nations should help arm the rebel forces, the Premier noted that “terrorist groups such as Al Qaida, Hizbullah and Islamic Jihad” are all operating inside Syria alongside local fighters. He warned that if any of these groups gain control over the regime’s chemical weapons, it could “present a terrorist threat on a worldwide scale.”

In these days of increasing terror attacks, wars and rumors of wars, it is a blessing to recall the many prophecies of ultimate shalom that have come from the Father of Lights. Among them is this one found in Isaiah 62:11: “Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the ends of the earth; say to the daughter of Zion, ‘behold your salvation comes. And His reward is with Him and His recompense before Him.’”

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DAVID DOLAN s a Jerusalem-based author and journalist who has lived and worked in Israel since 1980. That is the bulk of his life. HOLY WAR FOR THE PROMISED LAND (Broadman & Holman) is an overview of the history of the Israel and of the bitter Arab-Israeli conflict that rages there, plus some autobiographical details about the author’s experiences living in the land since 1980. It especially examines the important role that militant Islam plays in the conflict.

ISRAEL IN CRISIS: WHAT LIES AHEAD? (Baker/Revell), which examines the political and biblical prospects for a regional attack upon Israel, settlement in the disputed territories, and related topics, is also available for purchase, along with an updated edition of his popular end-time novel, THE END OF DAYS (21st Century Press).
For information about his two novels, THE END OF DAYS and MILLENNIUM: THE LORD REIGNS, go to www.ddolan.com Yochannan my be coming soon.

TO RECEIVE THESE FREE ISRAEL UPDATES DIRECTLY, FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS BELOW. YOU WILL ONLY RECEIVE DAVID DOLAN’S UPDATE AND ANALYSIS INFORMATION FROM THIS ADDRESS. THE LIST WILL NOT BE TRADED OR SOLD.

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The NEW FOOD World … Changes in the Background

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At WindowView we are not stating opposition when we relay information such as appears below. Fact is, biotech crops are on the rise.  Simple point, but food for thought … and we are here to provoke a look.  So, no one here is going to say biotech is bad … although we know there are individuals and groups who are desperately fearful of what Genetically Modified crops may bring to the future of our planet. We respect the cautionary note provided by those who have a focus with diverse perspectives. They too are looking and thinking.

All the above said, what we want you to recognize is that agriculture and food production is in fact experiencing change … on a massive scale. The world you live in is filled with driving forces we turn a blind eye to each day. Do you really want to fill each day with fears over global economic turmoil that threatens the world … even if there may be a global collapse in monetary markets. Ask folks in Cyprus about their bank accounts! Or do you really embrace the true magnitude of the number of abortions that occur each day, each year, or each decade? Probably not, unless you watch a bunch of these first hand, but a shift in how food is supplied to the entire world is no less significant … what will you put on the dinner table tonight … and how this poses a challenge to human life should farmers and biotech firms  totally recharacterize food production … with as yet unrealized benefits or consequences … frankly, it’s uncharted territory.

We recently ran across a report of the recent TOP TEN facts about biotech crops … and we think you might look at the top five and think about the NEW world food supply … You should at least realize that changes ARE happening … in spite of the daily routine you have … this too is the reality of the world you live in!

FACT # 1. 2012 was the 17th year of successful commercialization of biotech crops. Biotech crops were first commercialized in 1996. Hectarage of biotech crops increased every single year between 1996 to 2012 with 12 years of double digit growth rates, reflecting the confidence and trust of millions of risk-averse farmers around the world, in both developing and industrial countries.

FACT # 2. Biotech crop hectares increased by an unprecedented 100–fold from 1.7 million hectares in 1996, to over 170 million hectares in 2012. This makes biotech crops the fastest adopted crop technology in recent times – the reason – they deliver benefits. In 2012, hectarage of biotech crops grew at an annual growth rate of 6%, up 10.3 million from 160 million hectares in 2011. Millions of farmers in ~30 countries worldwide, have made more than 100 million independent decisions to plant an accumulated hectarage of ~1.5 billion hectares, equivalent to 50% more than the total land mass of the US or China; this reflects the fact that biotech crops deliver sustainable and substantial, socioeconomic and environmental benefits.

FACT # 3. For the first time in 2012, developing countries planted more hectares than industrial countries. Notably, developing countries grew more, 52%, of global biotech crops in 2012 than industrial countries at 48%. In 2012, growth rate for biotech crops was at least three times as fast, and five times as large in developing countries, at 11% or 8.7 million hectares, versus 3% or 1.6 million hectares in industrial countries.

FACT # 4. Number of countries growing biotech crops. Of the 28 countries which planted biotech crops in 2012, 20 were developing and 8 were industrial countries; two new countries, Sudan (Bt cotton) and Cuba (Bt maize) planted biotech crops for the first time in 2012. Germany and Sweden
could not plant the biotech potato “Amflora” because it ceased to be marketed. Stacked traits are an important feature – 13 countries planted biotech crops with two or more traits in 2012, and notably, 10 of the 13 were developing countries – 43.7 million hectares, or more than a quarter, of the 170 million hectares were stacked in 2012.

FACT # 5. Number of farmers growing biotech crops. In 2012, a record 17.3 million farmers, up 0.6 million from 2011, grew biotech crops – remarkably over 90%, or over 15 million, were small resource-poor farmers in developing countries. Farmers are the masters of risk-aversion and in 2012, a record 7.2 million small farmers in China and another 7.2 million in India, elected to plant almost 15 million hectares of Bt cotton, because of the significant benefits it offers. In 2012 over one-third of a million small farmers in the Philippines benefited from biotech maize.

There are five more to the top ten … maybe we’ll post those soon. But think about the first five for now.

If life is merely a material experience, then any concerns over food supply are magnified as long as you have material life. If life is material and spiritual, then the biblical dimension comes into play. And the biblical information tells us food at some point comes in very short supply … and maybe to no fault of biotech.

The real question is … with all the change we see in our world … what kind of life is it?

Director, WindowView.org

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A Window Perspective on Species and Asteroids

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One goal we have … as we sit at the window … is to think about concepts that span science and Scripture. To pull together what often appears as two distinctly different spheres of thought may seem abstract at first. Or actually lacking relevance if you don’t feel comfortable with one of the two!

Still, think about the news headlines from science that appear below. The first opens the door to what only Hollywood could have imagined … until now. To bring back lost species also, almost, harkens to stewardship and the biblical mandate to be stewards over all life on the earth. Might the resurrection of past species be biological redemption? Read the news clip and we’ll give this more attention at the end of this blog post.

A second thought comes to mind as the topic of near misses by asteroids comes to our attention. Might our ability to detect these passing asteroids bring to mind something of scriptural importance. This idea is consistent with the notion that all of science information really subtends and dovetails with scriptural information. Why? The answer is simply: All information exists to our attention. If there is a spiritual realm and God, then all the information serves to inform us of what is an ultimately coherent experience … even when at first we don’t see connections. But that is why it’s worth sitting at this window to look, think and understand.

Read the clip on asteroids and we’ll give some added perspective … something with a twist … at the end of this post.

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HEADLINE: Should we restock extinct species?

Researchers are looking at ways to use ancient DNA to resurrect long-extinct species. Species such as the Tasmanian tiger and the passenger pigeon may be good candidates for “de-extinction.” In particular, scientists are exploring three possibilities: cloning, “reverse engineering” using the extinct species’ closest living relative, and “breeding back” using strategic mating to bring back characteristics of the extinct animal. National Geographic News (3/10)

HEADLINE: Round of passing asteroids reminds scientists that we’re not alone

A 460-foot-long asteroid, discovered a week ago, passed the Earth this weekend at a distance of about 600,000 miles, scientists say. Asteroid 2013 ET was about eight times larger than the one that exploded over Russia in February and was among a few space rocks to pass by this weekend. Astronomers warn that many others will likely follow suit. “We’re not sitting here on our pale, blue dot on our own in nice safety. … This should be a wakeup call to governments,” said Paul Cox, a telescope engineer. Reuters (3/9)     
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Instead of stewardship, the first thought might be that resurrected species may only help to prove creation as opposed to (macro-) evolution. Recent discoveries in epigenetics and the role of junk DNA may come to assist our understanding that “switches” (turning genes on and off) outside of structural genes make a species what it is. If ancient DNA fails to bring back the exact species gone extinct, we may learn further that appearance of species is not so mechanical as evolutionary theory often suggests. The way switches are set in motion may pose an extra-material dimension to the otherwise material biological perspective. Even worse, the habitat, the niche or place in the ecosystem that previously allowed an extinct species a place to live is gone … will remind us how much global changes and human impacts have altered the earth for all life—present and past!

Regarding asteroids, those of us who have studied Scripture know of biblical passages that refer to what seem references to material bodies hurled to the surface of the earth. Such events are part of prophecy and a defined sequence of events. While the topic of an asteroid disaster of biblical proportions seems good stuff for a Hollywood script, the window view thought is one of looking to the future. If divine influence directs an asteroid or meteor to strike the earth with impeccable timing … it will be biblical and not just chance timing. The idea of such a strike is simply greater due to recent heightened awareness from the scientific community. Until that biblical timing … so many space rocks have simply missed us!

Might our thoughts at the window help to unify a view that is inclusive of science and Scripture … possibly so. The point of this post however is as simple as saying that there is no need to be sensational … the reality of life just falls within both realms—sufficient to cover a span from science to Scripture. And if you hadn’t pulled ideas and facts together in such a way … the window is a place to think, consider, and even decide what you see has an eternal aspect beyond this material moment.

Broaden your horizon, throw back the shutters, take in the full view and look to the future … today and over the time horizon ahead.

Director, WindowView.org

“Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.” (Revelation 8:10 NKJV)

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Political Strife – Israel, Egypt, US … and You

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The following headlines and news clips are part of the daily posts at Watch.org. We relay these here at WindoView to make a point concerning the problems humans have on both the political and moral fronts. Who are the righteous ones to lead Israel? The internal struggle in the biblical Land is a focal point. The events around Israel have everything to do with the time line we march along into the future.

Internal discord is not Israel’s alone … As the following headlines reveal. We just don’t get along very well as a species. And further, our judgement concerning what is normal and Godly, is subject to inspection by a comparison to God’s teaching … So often translated ‘ law,’ but then compare the teachings that make up Torah and the Law, and there is a standard to be used. A standard that even the highly regarded elected ones don’t always use.

If we learn anything from the book and the former stories of Israel, it’s this … all goes well when we abide in God’s will, all goes sour and even into bondage and exile when He is ignored.

At the end of this post is an expanded section of Scripture. A portion is quoted in the news post, but we add the full section so you can read the apostle’s complete quotation for greater context.

The real question to each one of us, all around the globe, is where do you stand with respect to entering the kingdom? What moral or political dilemma separates you from the simple truth?

———— Consider These News Headlines ———-

HEADLINE: Peres grants Netanyahu two-week extension to form coalition;
PM says those who ‘ganged up’ on him are reason for his failure

As Lapid-Bennett union remains steadfast, PM says those who ‘ganged up’ on him are reason for his failure, claims ultra-Orthodox are ‘ready to accept’ sharing the national burden.

Having used up the allotted four-week period to form a coalition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turned to President Shimon Peres Saturday evening and requested an extension that could enable him to form a majority government.

Peres granted the prime minister an extra two weeks, allowing him through March 16 to assemble a coalition. No further extension is legally permitted.

“Mr. President, you tasked me with forming a coalition 28 days ago — a broad, governing coalition to address the wide issues facing Israel — the economy, our security, and also our sharing of the national burden. We need a responsible government to face these demands,” Netanayhu said.

HEADLINE: Talks between Likud and Jewish Home break down

Negotiator says Bennett’s national-religious party opposes inclusion of ultra-Orthodox in coalition; Netanyahu now has 15 days to muster a majority

Talks between Likud-Beytenu and the Jewish Home party ended abruptly on Friday, with a top negotiator declaring that Naftali Bennett’s national-religious faction opposed the inclusion of the ultra-Orthodox parties in the next government.

“The Jewish Home party wants Haredim excluded from the next coalition exactly like Yesh Atid wants them excluded,” Likud’s chief negotiator, attorney David Shimron said after the meeting at the Kfar Maccabiah Hotel in Ramat Gan.

HEADLINE: US carrier in front line of Obama’s battle with Congress over $85 billion ‘sequester’ cuts, with more to follow

Docked in its home port in Virginia rather than patrolling the waters of the Persian Gulf, the aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and its 3,360 officers and crew are this weekend on the front line of the latest conflict to embroil America.

The battleground is not military but budgetary, however, as the Truman’s nuclear-powered might is shackled by a rancorous new fight between President Barack Obama and his Republican foes.

The two sides are locked into an apparently endless fiscal confrontation over radically different political and fiscal philosophies on the role of government. The resulting conflict over spending cuts and tax rises seems certain to dominate Mr Obama’s second term in the White House.

HEADLINE: Kerry arrives in Egypt seeking crucial reform

Opposition leaders reject meeting with US secretary of state, who’s called on them to cancel boycott of parliamentary elections

US Secretary of State John Kerry is calling on bickering Egyptian leaders and opposition politicians to forge a political consensus that will allow the country to emerge from economic crisis.

Kerry, on his first overseas trip as a member of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet, was scheduled to meet Saturday with a number of opposition figures along with Egypt’s foreign minister. He will see President Mohammed Morsi on Sunday.

US officials said Kerry was particularly concerned that Egypt takes the reforms necessary to qualify for a $4.8 billion International Monetary Fund loan package.

HEADLINE: The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God – 1 Corinthians 6:9-11:
Obama on Gay Marriage: America’s Gone Through ‘Same Evolution I’ve Gone Through’ –

President Barack Obama said Friday that the country as a whole has gone through the same “evolution” he has in now supporting same-sex marriage. During a press conference Friday, Obama was asked about his Justice Department’s brief in the California voter-approved Proposition 8 case before the Supreme Court that will decide whether the state – and possibly other states – can ban gay marriage.

“As everybody here knows, last year upon a long period of reflection, I concluded that we cannot discriminate against same-sex couples when it comes to marriage, that the basic principle that America is founded on, the idea that we’re all created equal, applies to everybody regardless of sexual orientation, as well as race or gender or religion or ethnicity,” Obama said. “I think that the same evolution that I’ve gone through is an evolution that the country as a whole has gone through, and I think it is a profoundly positive thing.”

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Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers! Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren! Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. (I Corinthians 6:1-11 NKJV)
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Peace,
Director, WindowView.org

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Change From Many Perspectives Closes in on YOU

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In a few months, maybe before, the WindowView.org web pages will be reposted with an entirely new format.  Part of this  will be a newly aligned focus stating the WindowView’s goal or focus is in simplest terms.

In a nutshell, the window is a metaphor for WHAT YOU see out there in the world today.  The view examines two spheres in parallel.  One sphere is science information, or data if you like.  The other sphere uses scriptural data, that is, information contained in the Bible.  The latter makes some people uncomfortable, but the idea is to understand that both sphere of information ARE telling all of us something today. What is key is an informational perspective. For those who turn away, the concept is a total loss. For those WHO LOOK at what information is plainly available to EVERYONE, the view is rather illuminating … down right interesting … and maybe by coincidences or purpose a real EYE OPENER! The WindowView therefore is not my window, or their window, it’s what you see … if you’ll just bother to look.

One problem today is we live in a world of too much information. Yeah … it’s mind numbing at times.  But that’s the point.  Too much and we turn off and just focus on the immediate needs, the paycheck, food, a place to live, and if the really bad news is about someone else, well, great!  We can’t be bothered.  Unless, events strike close to home. Then our perspective gets turned 180 and we are on the alert.  The adrenaline only surges when we face fright … and then flight … but where does one flee too when we’ve been so focused on only the small stuff for too long?

There rare several theme areas in the WindowView, including Science, Change, Harmony, and a Time Line.  The area on Change has not been given the attention it deserves and may be an area we’ll attend to more in the future.  But here too the message is a simple focus on an obvious observation: “If changes are truly global, then the impacts will hit everyone, sooner or later!”  You cannot escape such an observation if true.  That is, unless you can leave the planet for some other remote location.

Here are a few recent HEADLINES of articles that characterize a circle of change that is closing in on humanity …

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China’s sea level continues to rise

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-02/27/content_16259057.htm

“China’s sea level hit a record high in 2012 due to global warming and land subsidence, threatening millions of coastal residents, according to a government report.

The State Oceanic Administration report released on Tuesday said that last year, the sea level rose 122 millimeters more than the average level from 1975 to 1993, about 53 mm higher than 2011.”

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Drought spurs ‘very aggressive’ USDA focus on climate change 

http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/2013/02/26/19

“The Department of Agriculture will focus aggressively on climate change following last year’s crippling U.S. drought.

USDA plans to ramp up weather forecasting and encourage more sustainable farming practices to mitigate climate impacts on farmers and ranchers …”

“The focus on climate change comes after a historic drought last year gripped much of the United States, including the nation’s main corn-producing regions. For five months, more than 60 percent of the country was in moderate to extreme drought conditions, costing the agriculture sector more than $35 billion”

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Climate Change, Migration and Conflict in the Amazon and the Andes

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/02/26/1639911/climate-change-migration-and-conflict-in-the-amazon-and-the-andes/?mobile=nc

Rising Tensions and Policy Options in South America

“This report examines the interactions of climate change, environmental degradation, migration, and conflict in the Amazon; the tropical savannahs of Brazil—the Cerrado—and Bolivia; the Andean highlands of Peru and Bolivia; and the arid coastal plain of Peru. These regions represent the major geographic and climatic regions of the continent, encompass the range of socioeconomic trends reshaping the region, and capture the new heartland of the continent’s illicit economies, including the global cocaine trade.

The natural wealth of the Amazon and the Andes is a crucial strategic resource. The Amazon is central to the regional and global climate and contains priceless biodiversity. The mineral wealth and energy resources of the Amazon and the Andes are also important contributors to the global supply chain and the macroeconomic growth of the region. Further, the Amazon and the Cerrado have adopted a crucial role in regional and global food security. Finally, the rivers and glaciers of the region are fundamental to the energy security, water security, and agricultural health of much of South America. For all these reasons, the areas defined in this report demand attention.”

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Why Innovation Alone Isn’t Enough to Win the Climate Fight

Why Innovation Alone Isn’t Enough to Win the Climate Fight

“Politics can be frustrating. Actually, it’s more like politics ARE frustrating, especially in America and especially in 2013, where a constitutional system designed for maximum gridlock has met intense partisanship fed by the nano-second news cycle of social media. Right now the government of the United States seems wholly incapable of getting out of a self-designed trap to needlessly slash billions of dollars in spending and cut hundreds of thousands of jobs at a moment when the American economy is beginning to pick itself off the floor. …”

“What does this mean for climate policy? Well, if the government can’t get itself together to deal with the much more immediate threats of sequestration, properly responding to a long-term and highly complex challenge like climate change has basically entered the realm fantasy. This is especially true when one of two political parties refuses to acknowledge the problem exists. There was a chance in 2009 and 2010 with comprehensive climate legislation, but that died for countless reasons. And while there are executive actions or EPA regulations that could begin to address carbon emissions, we really need more ambitious legislation. And that simply seems impossible.”

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Sea level rise, alone, eventually will displace nearly 1 billion people from their present homes.  Who will pay?

You really need to read the full article in each case … but our point at WindowView is simple … the change issues are so large and they really impact the entire planet.

The bottom line … governments around the globe do not resolve issues by collaboration.  They do not have the funds to counter the changes that are coming.  Frankly, world governments are environmentally broke … no cash … no all encompassing plans that adequately address the complexity to a matrix of changes that fare hitting on many levels.  And where there are policies and plans … where are the funds to make it work?

All of this is not presented here to be sensational.  What we are saying is LOOK at what the entire WORLD is facing!  And realize that crises to come are of an order of magnitude that requires you to think … think about your life … do that with two spheres of information and decide it life is now only, or if there is more to it!

One of the two spheres we refer to above actually contains information about what to expect and how to respond before the really tough changes come …

Director, WindowView.org

www.windowview.org

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LIFE: More Complexity Keeps Showing Up

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Researchers Hit On New Territory

The following clip comes from a science list serve. The link is likely proprietary, but give it a click if you like. To be fair, the article is about a new area and information about disordered proteins may run into serious dead ends. For example, the lab systems used to study the proteins may be examining artifacts of what the proteins truly look like in living cells.

But the key point that catches our attention is this: Even in the disorder, as perceived, is function. That function, like turning on and off various processes in cell metabolism, have to fit a specific order. Switches randomly turning on and off create only chaos … and thus potential disorder of metabolism itself. And yeah, if we point to design, in the sense of something intelligent, with regard to disordered proteins, someone will say this disproves intelligent design! Really? Think about it!

What appears disordered is yet in the earliest stages of research. And fascinating stuff … like areal biological brain teaser. Yet, the active sites in these new found proteins contribute to an expansion of controls in cells. As the circuits in cells become more complex with switches, pathways, and controls … why then insist such complexity can only come from random evolution?

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Researchers hope to unlock secrets of disordered protein
Scientists are working to understand how disordered proteins interact with other proteins, with the hopes of unlocking mysteries of certain diseases or possible treatments. Flexible strands of protein were long thought to be destroyed proteins until researcher Richard Kriwacki combined them with other proteins to create structure. Now it’s thought that “intrinsically disordered proteins” may play major roles in controlling cellular processes in the body. “Just like in physics, the protein universe seems to have this dark matter we have neglected, which now turns out to be important in cells,” said Peter Tompa, a protein chemist and one of the lead researchers in the project. Science News (1/24))
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We live in a society that is growing more thick skinned to the presence of God … yet real thinkers will dive into the details to consider the full implications. This clip of news says something really perplexing and incredible has shown up in the research. That’s what research should do! Even if the disordered nature turns out to be more ordered inside the living, intact, system … it’s still all about the incredible nature to life … even a springboard to something more than a mere material state of being. The data may not point to an identifiable Intelligent Designer, but we say leave the window of thought open to such a prospect.

Director, WindowView.org

20130131-210417.jpg

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