MEMRI: Saudi Columnist: "We Have Bred Monsters ... We Are the Problem and Not America"
So says Muhammad Talal al-Rasheed, in protest against the assassination of Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al-Rasheed by Islamic fundamentalists in Algeria. The "monsters" of which Dr. Talal speaks are, of course, the very terrorists to whom the Saudi royal family has been paying remittances for all these many years.::Submitted for your war [Matthew 24:6] files.

Unofficial Mideast Accord Gains Momentum
AP reports, "An unofficial Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative to be signed the first of next month in Geneva is gaining momentum, with the likelihood that negotiators will take it to Washington, organizers said Wednesday...The Swiss-sponsored accord contains many of the same basic elements making up the U.S.-backed ``road map'' peace plan - including a Palestinian state and the removal of most Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories. The accord would give the Palestinians a state in 98 percent of the West Bank, all of the Gaza Strip and the Arab-populated areas of Jerusalem, as well as control over the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third-holiest site [aka The Temple Mount, Judaism's most holiest site, Ed.]." :: Submitted for your Covenant With Many (Daniel 9:27) files on the search for Mideast peace.

MEMRI: President Bush's Appointee to Commission on International Religious Freedom, Prof. Khaled Abou Al-Fadl, Warns Against Reelecting Bush
The professor is an Egyptian immigrant to the USA. His specific objection is very interesting:

Question: What is the truth about the connection between the Islamic organizations in America and the American government, today and in the recent past?
Prof. Abou Al-Fadl: Unfortunately, because of shortsightedness and ignorance, the Islamic organizations helped Bush reach the White House. I met with many leaders of these organizations and I told them that I have known Bush well since he was governor of Texas, where I live, and I am familiar with his bad policy, which does not bode well.
During the election campaign, Bush gave the Islamic leaders a certain status… They lost their equilibrium. They did not listen – not only to me, but also to someone like Ralph Nader, who was a presidential candidate of Arab origin. He met with them and all but pleaded with them not to vote for Bush. He all but kissed their hands so they wouldn't. We told them that he [Bush] is a Christian religious fundamentalist and that the group around him, of the likes of Paul Wolfowitz and others, hold the same beliefs that accompanied colonialism's entrance to the Muslim countries in the 19th century.

He continues to complain that "Bush makes continued American aid in the world contingent upon permitting missionary activity." Zounds! Spreading the Gospel of Christ? Horrors!::Submitted for your false teachers [Jude] and open door that no man can shut [Revelation 3:7] files.

MEMRI: The ‘Islamic Affairs Department’ of the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Americans wanting to learn about Islam from the country that includes Mecca and Medina really get an eyeful. In their own words they declare their hostility and intolerance towards all non-Muslims, in complete contradiction of every pronouncement they have ever made that Islam is a religion of peace or that Saudi Arabia wants peace.::Submitted for your war [Matthew 24:6] files.

Report: Asian AIDS Epidemic Is Worsening
AP reports, "HIV is spreading faster in Asia than in Africa, and the Asian AIDS epidemic is worsening because of complacent governments, inadequate health care and widespread prejudice, a new report has warned." :: Submitted for your Pestilence (Luke 21:11) files on the AIDS pandemic.

Israel, Palestinian Summit Is in Doubt
AP reports, "Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Monday he would not accept preconditions for a summit, and the dispute threatened hopes for a decisive effort to end three years of violence and jump-start stalled peace talks. Momentum had seemed to be building toward a renewal of talks on implementing the U.S.-backed 'road map' peace plan." :: Submitted for your Covenant With Many (Daniel 9:27) files on the search for Mideast peace.

The Golden Report - A sad State of affairs.
The article includes a picture of a new toy being stocked for Eid al-Fitr, or the end of Ramadan. It is a play-set that includes a bearded and turbaned doll holding a model of the Pentagon in his hand. Standing next to him is a model of the Twin Towers, with gouts of flame marking where the two planes hit each one.

In the same article, Golden sharply rounds on President George W. Bush for saying that Muslims and Christians worship the same God. For the benefit of any seekers reading this, that is utterly and categorically false. I submit this for your heterogospel that is not an allogospel [Galatians 1:6-7] files. The King James Version reads "another gospel, which is not another." The Greek for that transliterates as heteros...ouk allos. In ancient Greek, heteros means "radically different" while allos means "another of the same or similar kind". Paul was telling the Galatians that they were going so far off-track that they were no longer on the same road. Sadly, President Bush has done the same thing, although he probably doesn't have a clue.

Golden also points out that the anti-Semitism that boiled over so violently in Europe during WWII is getting hotter all over again. He cites Zechariah 14:2 and multiple verses from Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel to show that this, too, is prophesied: namely that God will regather His chosen ones to their Promised Land and that the nations of the world will do battle over Jerusalem.

MEMRI: Reactions in the Arab Press to President Bush's Address on Democracy in the Middle East
The reaction, unfortunately, is largely negative. Still, most of the criticisms are frankly silly. It would appear that they are all interested only in war [Matthew 24:6] with anyone and anything non-Arab.

Applied Digital Solutions' Announces Secure Solution for Payment & Transactions
Business Wire reports, "Applied Digital Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADSX) an advanced technology development company, announced that the Company's Chief Executive Officer, Scott R. Silverman, in his speech today at the ID World 2003 in Paris, France, revealed the Company's newest subdermal RFID solution called VeriPay(TM). VeriPay is intended to be a secure, subdermal RFID (radio frequency identification) payment technology for cash and credit transactions. About the size of a grain of rice, VeriChip(TM) is the world's first subdermal, radio frequency identification (RFID) microchip that can be used in a variety of security, financial, emergency identification and other applications." :: Submitted for your Mark of the Beast (Rev 13:16-18) files on identification verification technology and mobile commerce technology.

MEMRI: A Debate in the Saudi Press on Dialogue with Saudi Al-Qa'ida Members
That this issue would even be debatable in any body of news organs just goes to show how ambivalent (at best) the Arabs really are. This sort of "debate" could only take place in the context of a religion that explicitly directs its adherents to kill non-adherents. The sadly deluded practitioners of this false religion do not, of course, have any hope of the salvation of their eternal souls. After all, Jesus says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father if not through Me." [John 14:6]

Now as it happens, the three sheikhs who called for this misguided dialogue have come in mostly for criticism in no uncertain terms. But no Christian cleric would ever call for "dialogue" with a group of mass murderers and insurrectionists. St. Paul tells us, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities." [Romans 13:1]::Submitted for your war [Matthew 24:6] files.

125 Christian Meeting Halls in China Shut
AP reports, "Authorities in an east China province have sealed off 125 Christian gathering places since July, cutting off 3,000 believers from their places of worship, a human rights organization said Thursday." :: Submitted for your Persecution (Matthew 24:8) files.

3 Countries ID'd As Iran Atomic Providers - AP
The International Atomic Energy Agency has identified Russia, China and Pakistan as probable suppliers of some of the technology Iran used to enrich uranium in its suspect nuclear programs, diplomats told The Associated Press on Thursday. :: Submitted for your Rumors of War (Matthew 24:6)files.

MEMRI: Saudi Daily Newspaper Mocks President Bush - "May Get Killed for the Heck of It"
Some people have rather twisted senses of humor. This Saudi government man actually goes back to the Boston Tea Party to suggest that Britons still resent us for that. All of which goes to show that the Saudis are not the friends of America that they pretend to be--and that those who sacrifice principle for friendship deserve neither.::Submitted for your war [Matthew 24:6] files.

Security Council Affirms Mideast Road Map
AP reports, "The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday unanimously endorsed the so-called road map to a permanent two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, a move welcomed by the Palestinians but called unnecessary by Israel. The stalled peace plan was drafted by Russia, the United States, the United Nations and the European Union, and aims to end more than three years of Mideast violence and establish a Palestinian state by 2005." :: Submitted for your Covenant With Many (Daniel 9:27) files on the search for Mideast peace.

MEMRI: Al-Hayat Publishes Official Documents from Saddam's Regime On Executions
In a refreshing display of openness, the London Arabic daily Al-Hayat recently published two documents from the old Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq, each dealing with executions.::Submitted for your war [Matthew 24:6] files.

Strong Earthquake in Central Philippines
AP reports, "A strong earthquake jolted the central Philippines early Wednesday, and residents in one town reported several people were hit by falling debris from damaged houses." :: Submitted for your Quake (Matthew 24:7) files.

China Threatens Taiwan Anew With Force
AP reports: Raising the stakes in an already tense situation, China threatened in remarks published Wednesday that "the use of force may become unavoidable" if Taiwan pursues independence — the mainland's strongest statement in years against its archrival. :: Submitted for your Rumor of War (Matthew 24:6) files.

RFID Backers, Privacy Advocates Seek Common Ground
Tech Web reports, "Consumers must be given notice if radio-frequency identification chips are ever used on individual products and packaging, and they need to be better educated about the technology's benefits and potential for misuse. Privacy advocates and RFID backers appeared to agree on at least that much Saturday at a workshop on RFID and privacy involving several hundred representatives of RFID technology producers and users, privacy advocates, academics, and technologists." :: Submitted for your Mark of the Beast (Rev 13:16-18) files on ID technology and RFID chips.

Leonid Meteor Shower Peaks
Space Weather reports, "The 2003 Leonid meteor shower began on Nov. 13th with a mild flurry of meteors over the Pacific Ocean. It continues on Wednesday morning, Nov. 19th, with a much stronger peak over the Americas and western Europe. Sky watchers on the Atlantic side of North America are favored; they could see as many as 80 meteors per hour between 1:30 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. local time. Western Europeans and South Americans ought to have a good view, too, shortly before local sunrise. (All these times refer to Wednesday morning, Nov. 19th.) In western North America and around the Pacific Ocean the display will be weaker, perhaps 20 to 40 meteors per hour, but that's still a nice shower. Favored sites include Alaska and Hawaii before dawn on Nov. 19th and Japan after local midnight on Nov. 20th." :: Submitted for your Signs and Wonders in the Heavens (Luke 21:11) files on celestial events.

More Solar Fireworks Possible Soon
AP reports: The sun is demanding everyone's attention, three weeks into perhaps the most dramatic and unexpected chain of eruptions ever observed venting from its seething, bubbling surface. There have been as many as 11 salvos since Oct. 19. And the fireworks could reach a new crescendo by Thanksgiving, the nation's busiest holiday for air travel, just one of the things that can be disrupted. "There's been nothing quite like this," said Bill Murtagh, a space weather forecaster for the National Oceanic and Space Administration in Boulder, Colo. :: Submitted for your Signs in the Sun (Luke 21:25) files on solar activity.