CHRISTIAN NEWS FROM RAY
A free service of Jesus Christ is Lord Ministries
News selected and edited by Ray Mossholder
TOP OF THE MORNING TO YOU – TOP STORIES TO THIS HOUR,
March 13, 2014
DEAD SEA SCROLLS COME TO LIFE AGAIN
The Times of Israel has announced that nine new found penny-sized pieces of parchment belonging to the Dead Sea Scrolls have been discovered. They had laid unopened for nearly 2000 years.
The scrolls went unnoticed by their examiners for years until one scholar realized what they were while searching through the Israel Antiquities Authority’s (IAA) storerooms. “Either they didn’t recognize that these were also scrolls, or they didn’t know how to open them,” the IAA’s head of artifact treatment and conservation Pnina Shor explained.
The tiny scrolls were found inside three phylacteries, small leather boxes with Biblical versus written on them (called tefillin) that are worn by Jews during their morning prayers. Their discoverer, Yonatan Adler, had the boxes scanned by an MRI at a hospital in Israel in hopes there would be parchment inside.
He was right.
Once unopened, the scrolls are expected to shed new light on the religious practices of the Jewish people during the Second Temple Period between the years of 530 BC and 70, an era named for a holy place of worship for the Jewish people that was constructed by the builder of ancient Jerusalem King Herod. The Dome of the Rock stands today where the Second Temple purportedly once stood.
At least two dozen phylactery scrolls were discovered in the 1940s and 50 along with the rest of the Dead Sea Scrolls in a limestone cave in the West Bank’s Qumran in Israel.
The IAA has been tasked with the difficult job of unrolling the scrolls without damaging them.
“We’re going to do it slowly, but we’ll first consult with all of our experts about how to go about this,” said Schor, who would not reveal when the process would start. “We need to do a lot of research before we start doing this.”
Remains of more than 900 religious manuscripts were found in 11 caves near the Dead Sea in the 1940s and 50s in Qumran.
(Editor’s Note: One of my professors At Fuller Theological Seminary was Dr. William Sanford Lasor who wrote a book about the Dead Sea Scrolls. He cautioned us to be extremely careful what news we choose to believe because there are so many humanists who misrepresent the truth of what these valuable scrolls reveal that confirm Old Testament truths.)
FOUR DAYS BEFORE CRIMEAN VOTE
Politicians and diplomats are working overtime ahead of this weekend’s referendum that would see Crimea declare its independence from Ukraine. The vote will take place as Russian forces have secured the region.
Ukraine’s interim Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk will speak before the U.N. Security Council this afternoon. And U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will leave for London this evening to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The meeting is expected to take place tomorrow.
The head of the United Nation’s refugee agency said on Tuesday it must be ready in case Ukraine’s crisis causes refugees to flee Crimea, but his biggest worry is that “a total disaster” could occur if the international community diverts its attention away from Syria’s conflict. Antonio Guterres, the head of the U.N.’s High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), said in an interview that little progress was being made in efforts by the United States and Russia, now at loggerheads over Ukraine, to bring Syria’s warring sides together after the collapse of talks in Geneva last month. I hope that those that have the most important responsibility in world affairs will be able to understand that forgetting Syria will be a total disaster,” he said.
CHINA WAS WRONG ABOUT SPOTTING PLANE’S DEBRIS
No signs of the missing Malaysian jetliner have been found at a location where Chinese satellite images showed what was thought to be plane debris, Malaysia’s civil aviation chief said Thursday. Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said planes searched the location Thursday. “We went there. There is nothing.” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported early this morning that U.S. aviation investigators and national security officials believe the plane flew for about four hours past the time it reached its last confirmed location, according to data automatically downloaded and sent to the ground from the Boeing 777′s engines as part of a routine maintenance and monitoring program. U.S. counter terrorism officials are exploring the possibility that a pilot or someone else on board the plane may have diverted it toward an undisclosed location after turning off the plane’s transponders to avoid radar detection. Authorities have not ruled out any possible cause for the plane’s disappearance, including mechanical failure, pilot error, sabotage or terrorism in the disappearance of the plane.
“PRESIDENT OBAMA PREFERS MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD”
The Obama administration has turned down an urgent appeal from Egypt’s government for the delivery of U.S. Apache attack helicopters needed for counter terrorism operations in the Sinai Peninsula. U.S. officials and a Western diplomat said the 10 AH-64 attack helicopters had been blocked from delivery in October in response to the administration’s opposition to the military ouster of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi last year.
According to U.S. officials, the Egyptians said the attack helicopters were urgently needed for Cairo’s fight in the Sinai against a new Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group called Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, or Ansar Jerusalem.
One official said the embassy cable reported that the Egyptians do not understand why the Obama administration, by blocking delivery of the Apaches, appears to be supporting the ousted Morsi regime.
“U.S. ABANDONMENT OF AFGHANISTAN WILL FULLY EMPOWER aL QAEDA”
The top American commander in Afghanistan warned yesterday that the country would deteriorate quickly if the U.S. withdraws completely by the end of this year.
Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee in a nearly empty hearing room, General Joseph Dunford said the Taliban would view the withdrawal as a victory, Al Qaeda would be inspired to return, women would suffer, and the Afghan security forces would not be able to complete necessary training.
“A withdrawal in my mind means abandoning the people of Afghanistan, abandoning the endeavor that we’ve been on for the last decade, and then providing Al Qaeda the space to begin again to plan and conduct operations against the West,” Dunford said.
The Committee’s chairman, Senator Carl Levin, D-Mich., said he was sorry to see that a Gallup poll showed that for the first time, a plurality of Americans believe going to Afghanistan was a mistake. “I do not share that view,” Levin said in his opening statement. “More importantly, neither do the Afghan people.”
Levin highlighted advancements in security, education, health, and women’s rights. Republicans on the committee praised Levin for outlining successes in Afghanistan, something many of them say President Obama is unwilling to do.
General Dunford said Al Qaeda in Afghanistan is currently “fighting for survival,” but that without continued pressure over the next few years, it would “physically reconstitute” while boosting recruitment, fundraising and morale. He warned Al Qaeda in Afghanistan could once again “establish preeminence in the region and become the vanguard for the Al Qaeda movement.”
44 POLICEMEN MURDERED IN KARACHI SINCE NEW YEAR’S DAY
Another policeman was shot dead today in Karachi, Pakistan. That brings to 44 the number of police officers killed in that city during the first two months of the year. Karachi is Pakistan’s largest city, and this killing today is just a part of a particularly violent start to the year for the police. The force was already reeling from 166 officers killed last year — roughly one every other day and a four-fold increase from just five years earlier. Being a police officer has never been especially easy in this sprawling metropolis on the southern coast, where the population has surged from roughly 10 million in 1998 to some 18 to 21 million today — so much that an exact count has proven elusive to authorities.
But recent figures suggest the profession has become even more perilous — in large part because the Pakistani Taliban and affiliated militant groups have gained a foothold here, police and analysts say. Police Chief Shahid Hayat says they are responsible for roughly 60 percent of the recent police killings.
Much of the focus on militancy in Pakistan since 9/11 terror attacks in the United States has been on the vast northwest tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, where the army is fighting militants. But as fighters increasingly move into settled areas of the country such as Khyber Paktunkhwa province in the north, and Karachi in the south, it has put immense strain on law enforcement agencies that are generally less well-funded and trained than the army. Police have been killed on their way to and from work. “They are targeting police to bring down the morale of the police and to terrorize the police, and therefore they come on motorcycles in Karachi and run away after attacking two or three policemen,” he said.
The police are frank about the challenges they face. Hayat said he has roughly 27,000 police officers and generally about 9,000 are on protection duty for “VIP” individuals, like judges or businessmen or politicians. Some 3,000 to 4,000 officers will be in the field at any given time, yet only 1,500 have bulletproof vests. Station houses are often dilapidated and uninviting to citizens, who often view police with suspicion. Rights groups and analysts say police are sometimes complicit with criminal gangs and sometimes use excessive force.
Associated Press writer Adil Jawad contributed to this report.
100,000 FLEE SUDAN IN THE LAST SIX WEEKS
The United Nations peacekeeping chief says approximately 100,000 people have fled their homes because of an upsurge of violence in Sudan’s Darfur region in the last six weeks. Herve Ladsous said this adds to the nearly 2 million people displaced by the Darfur conflict, including 400,000 last year.
Darfur has been gripped by bloodshed since 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government in Khartoum, accusing it of discrimination and neglect.
NSA MAY BE SPYING ON YOU THROUGH YOUR COMPUTER
This just in from the Edward Snowden vault of government secrets: The National Security Agency is breaking into “potentially millions of computers worldwide” and infecting them with malware “implants” as part of an effort that is increasingly relying on automated systems and not human oversight, according to First Look Mediareport published Wednesday.
“In some cases the NSA has masqueraded as a fake Facebook server, using the social-media site as a launching pad to infect a target’s computer and exfiltrate files from a hard drive.” First Look reported on Glenn Greenwald’s Intercept channel, citing a classified slide presentation from 2009. “In others, it has sent out spam emails laced with the malware, which can be tailored to covertly record audio from a computer’s microphone and take snapshots with its webcam. The hacking systems have also enabled the NSA to launch cyberattacks by corrupting and disrupting file downloads or denying access to websites.”
HOUSE VOTES TO STOP OBAMA
The House has approved a bill that would speed up congressional lawsuits accusing the president of failure to enforce federal laws. The vote was 233-181 largely along party lines. Republicans said the measure was necessary because President Barack Obama has selectively enforced the law.
They singled out the president for multiple changes to his health care law and for exceptions to immigration law. The president carved out an exception to the immigration law in 2012 for young children brought to the country illegally.
Republicans also complained that the administration has not defended the federal law banning gay marriage.
The measure stands no chance in the Democratic-led Senate. The White House has threatened a veto in any event.
JUSTICE KENNEDY REFUSES TO STOP NEW CALIFORNIA GUN LAW
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has denied an emergency request by the National Rifle Association to block enforcement of a California city ordinance that bans gun magazines capable of holding more than 10 bullets. A court spokesman says Kennedy denied the request without comment.
DEATH TOLL RISES IN NEW YORK EXPLOSION
One minute, Colin Patterson was watching TV. The next, he saw pianos flying through the air in the shop where he works as an explosion tore through the building. “They flew off the ground,” said the piano technician, who also lives in the building in Manhattan’s East Harlem. He told CNN affiliate WABC that he crawled through the rubble and managed to escape unharmed.
At least six people were killed in the massive explosion and fire Wednesday that leveled Patterson’s building and the one beside it. Nine people remain missing. Firefighters were still frantically picking through rubble of a church and the piano store in search of survivors. More fatalities appeared likely.
A new problem complicated search efforts last night, as a sinkhole in front of the collapsed buildings stopped firefighters from accessing some of the wreckage. “Heavy equipment, required to remove additional debris, cannot be brought to the scene unit the sinkhole is mitigated,” the New York Fire Department said. “That mitigation is in process and will likely take several hours.”
CNN first learned of this story via Twitter.
CNN’s Poppy Harlow, Rose Arce, Eden Pontz, Don Lemon, John Berman, Ashleigh Banfield, Adam Reiss, Stephany Byrne, Haley Draznin, Laura Ly, Shimon Prokupecz, Brian Vitagliano, Julia Lull, Lorenzo Ferrigno, Steve Kastenbaum, Elizabeth Landers, Susan Candiotti, Haimy Assefa, Chris Boyette, Kevin Conlon and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.
TWO OKLAHOMA TEENAGERS FACE POSSIBLE LIFE IN PRISONWHAT
An Oklahoma judge says two teenagers charged with first-degree murder must face a trial in the shooting death of an Australian baseball player. Police and prosecutors say the boys targeted 22-year-old Christopher Lane last August as a way to overcome a boring summer afternoon. Sixteen-year-old Chancey Luna and 18-year-old Michael Dewayne Jones were ordered to stand trial, and prosecutors said 16-year-old James Francis Edwards Jr. will testify against them and be charged with a lesser crime.
Edwards earlier said that Luna fired the fatal shot while Jones drove the three around town. Edwards testified at an earlier hearing that Luna and Jones both said they believed the gun used in the killing held blanks, not a live round.
ARIZONA GOVERNOR BREWER WILL NOT SEEK A THIRD TERM
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer says she won’t seek a third term in office. Brewer ended months of speculation about whether she might challenge a provision of the Arizona Constitution that limits officeholders to two terms in office. Brewer completed the term of former Governor Janet Napolitano when she took a job in the Obama administration in 2009, then won a full term in 2010.
The 69-year-old Brewer made the announcement at a school where she boasted of her accomplishments on issues such as education and the economy.
Legal experts say it would have been a long shot to challenge the constitution and run again.
REBELLIOUS TEENAGER MOVES BACK HOME
Life at the Canning home must be tense. Daughter Rachel moved back in with her parents after taking them to court. She said they forced her out of the house, and so they owe her living expenses. And private school tuition. And college tuition. They said, nope; Rachel ran away, because she didn’t want to mind. But the suit isn’t over yet. It goes back to court in April.
WINNER LOSES
“Jeopardy!” champ Arthur Chu, who won big money while taking heat for his renegade style, has been defeated. Chu finished in third place with zero dollars on Wednesday’s edition of the syndicated quiz show. He had reigned for 12 days. His total winnings were $297,200. “A great run,” summed up host Alex Trebek.
Chu was unseated by Diana Peloquin of Ann Arbor, Michigan, who led for the day with $15,700. Chu had struggled for much of the show when, in Final Jeopardy, he risked, and lost, his entire day’s bankroll — $6,400 — on the question: “He was the last male monarch who had not previously been Prince of Wales.”
Only Peloquin had the correct response: George VI.
The 30-year-old Chu, a resident of Broadview Heights, Ohio, has described himself on Twitter as “mad genius, comedian, actor and freelance voiceover artist.”
He applied a “mad genius” approach to “Jeopardy!” brinkmanship. He ditched the time-honored practice of polishing off each category’s questions one by one. Instead, he took a hopscotch approach to his category choices, which tended to keep his opponents off-kilter. He also concluded that the bottom rows of the game board are most likely to contain the hidden Daily Doubles, and he played accordingly.
Chu’s strategy fueled indignation from “Jeopardy!” traditionalists, who contended that such an aggressive style was somehow unsportsmanlike and exhibited a lack of respect for the game.
Chu “rejected the unwritten rule that the guy or gal with the most facts wins,” said “On the Media” host Brooke Gladstone on an episode of the public radio show last month, “and replaced it with the appalling idea that you can outwit your opponent with the wily application of game theory.”
It was a style much different from that of legendary know-it-all Ken Jennings, who a decade ago set a “Jeopardy!” record with 74 consecutive victories while winning $2.5 million.
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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
An eminent scientist has just said he believes there could be intelligent life on several planets, however he has a growing doubt that there is any on Earth.
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CHRISTIAN NEWS FROM RAY – TOP STORIES OF THE MORNING – March 13, 2014
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