The LAPD is fighting crime from a high-tech war room that gives it eyes all over the city. The surveillance hub is now a model for police forces around the world and KCAL9 got an exclusive tour inside from Chief Charlie Beck.

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Days of Noah

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
—Matt 24:37

“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great•Strongs 7227: rab, rab; by contracted from 7231; abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality):—(in) abound(-undance, -ant, -antly), captain, elder, enough, exceedingly, full, great(-ly, man, one), increase, long (enough, (time)), (do, have) many(-ifold, things, a time), ((ship-))master, mighty, more, (too, very) much, multiply(-tude), officer, often(-times), plenteous, populous, prince, process (of time), suffice(-lent). in the earth, and that every imagination•Strongs 3336: yetser, yay´-tser; from 3335; a form; figuratively, conception (i.e. purpose):—frame, thing framed, imagination, mind, work. of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
—Genesis 6:5

“We are targets on our own soil,” says Beck. “We have to be ready.”

What began as a grass roots idea following the 9/11 terrorist attacks is now a state-of-the-art real-time analysis critical response center. It’s called RACR, and it’s located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles.

“This is a system that cuts through the red tape, that gets information to the people that need it,” says Chief Beck. He calls it “the brains of the department, twenty-four/seven.”

Police in the activity center monitor live feeds of city and traffic cameras, counter-terrorism information, and real-time crime mapping, with cutting edge software.

“If we didn’t have that we would be operating blind,” says Capt. Sean Malinowski, the Commanding Officer at RACR. “Essentially we’re always activated here.”

RACR is a critical crime-fighting tool at the center of every high profile incident in the City of Los Angeles.

“We have some real-time tools that help us analyze crime as it’s happening,” says Malinowski. “And then we feed that information out to the geographic areas and to patrol divisions.”

RACR is relied upon during events like dignitary visits from the Royals and President Obama, as well as the recent Occupy LA showdown and arrests.

“We had eyes on that, both through video cameras that the city owns, and also through video streams that were provided by the actual Occupy LA protesters,” says Malinowski.

Most recently, RACR was invaluable in putting an end to the Hollywood arsons.

Malinowski says RACR plotted each arson fire incident as it happened, creating a three-square-mile geographic hot spot that resulted in the quick arrest of accused fire starter Harry Burkhart.

“At the time he was taken into custody, this area was flooded with sheriffs and with LAPD officers,” says Malinowski. “Based on the fact that we kind of could see his movements in real time.”

RACR was born in a functioning bomb shelter, four stories below the Los Angeles Civic Center.

LAPD Commander Blake Chow remembers a time when tracking crime at RACR was done by hand. “There was very little technology,” says Chow, and RACR had no budget.

Police operated with dry erase boards, personal computers, and simple monitors.

“When we built RACR, there was no template to look at,” says Chow. “There was no police department we could go look at and ask them, ‘how did you build it?’”

Today LAPD’s RACR is the standard operating model for law enforcement agencies worldwide. It’s used as a guidebook on how to protect communities and fight crime.

Fast running out of money, solar-panel maker Solyndra LLC last summer sold off nearly $60 million worth of inventory for less than $20 million in cash to a newly formed corporate entity closely tied to the company’s biggest investors, records show.

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Days of Noah

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
—Matt 24:37

“These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just•Strongs 6662: tsaddiyq, tsad-deek´; from 6663; just:—just, lawful, righteous (man). man and perfect•Strongs 8549: tamiym, taw-meem´; from 8552; entire (literally, figuratively or morally); also (as noun) integrity, truth:—without blemish, complete, full, perfect, sincerely (-ity), sound, without spot, undefiled, upright(-ly), whole. in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth also was corrupt•Strongs 7843: shachath, shaw-khath´; a primitive root; to decay, i.e. (causatively) ruin (literally or figuratively):—batter, cast off, corrupt(-er, thing), destroy(-er, -uction), lose, mar, perish, spill, spoiler, x utterly, waste(-r). before God, and the earth was filled with violence•Strongs 2555: chamacç, khaw-mawce´; from 2554; violence; by implication, wrong; by meton. unjust gain:—cruel(-ty), damage, false, injustice, x oppressor, unrighteous, violence (against, done), violent (dealing), wrong
•Strongs 2554: chamacç, khaw-mas´; a primitive root; to be violent; by implication, to maltreat:—make bare, shake off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong, imagine wrongfully..”
—Genesis 6:9-11

Editors note about the word perfect• In James 1:27, when the Holy Spirit wrote the Book of James, through, James, the half brother of Jesus, He used the word unspotted.
• In the Strongs this word is defined • Strongs 2554 (aspilos, as´-pee-los; from 1 (as a negative particle) and 4695; unblemished (physically or morally): — without spot, unspotted.).
• Both in Noah’s generation and this, the Spirit of God is calling us to live purely in our walk with Him. In doing so we become the people like Noah.
• Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Let us continue in God’s Grace and live godly in this evil and perverse generation.
• As Noah and as Lot, we will see the deliverance of God.

Backed by $535 million in federal loan guarantees but burning through the little cash it had left, Solyndra made its first sale in late July to a corporate entity that had been formed just a day earlier. Three more transactions followed over the next few weeks with the same buyer, Solyndra Solar II.

By the time the last sale took place on Aug. 29 — two days before the company announced plans to file for bankruptcy — Solyndra had sold off a total of $58.1 million worth of inventory for $17.5 million, according to documents Solyndra attorneys filed last month in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

The sales began at a time when Solyndra officials were trying hard to assure lawmakers and the public of the company’s prospects amid increasing questions about the company’s financial health. Inside the company, the sales transactions show, officials were moving fast to raise cash and buy Solyndra more time.

Todd Zywicki, bankruptcy professor at the George Mason University School of Law, said it’s not unusual for troubled companies to sell off assets to improve liquidity. But he said the inventory sales figure cited by Solyndra — $58.1 million in inventory for $17.5 million in cash — seems unusual.

“The test under the bankruptcy code is whether the sale was for reasonably equivalent value and selling inventory at such a huge discount raises real concerns,” he said. “If Solyndra Solar II is owned or controlled by any insiders or anything like that, then it becomes even more suspicious.”

Solyndra Solar II was formed in Delaware by affiliates of Solyndra’s debtor in possession lender — investors Argonaut Private Equity and Madrone Capital Partners — as well as other debt holders, bankruptcy and government records show. Another special-purpose entity, Solyndra Solar LLC, was formed to purchase the company’s accounts receivable.

Argonaut is the investment arm of a foundation headed by billionaire Oklahoma businessman George Kaiser. Madrone Partners has ties to Wal-Mart’s Walton family.

Steve Mitchell, an Argonaut executive who served on Solyndra’s board, said in a telephone interview Tuesday that investors did not profit from overall sales of the accounts receivable and inventory. The plan was to give the company more time to turn around, he said.

“The inventory was purchased to give the company more time to turn the corner as Solyndra’s revenues were ramping and its costs were coming down, unfortunately the macro solar and economic environment at the time proved too difficult,” Mr. Mitchell said.

“The $58.12 million reported by Solyndra in its bankruptcy filing is the cost to produce the inventory purchased, with the DOE’s consent, by Solyndra Solar II,” he said, referring to the Energy Department, which awarded Solyndra’s loan guarantees in 2009.

“Solyndra’s expected sales proceeds for this inventory was $35 million,” he said. “In the event Solyndra sold these solar panels at the expected price, Solyndra would recover 91 percent of the total sales proceeds.”

To sell the inventory, Solyndra formed its own special entity called Solyndra Financing LLC, which, in addition to inventory, also sold off tens of millions of dollars in the company’s accounts receivable to a separate entity called Solyndra Solar LLC.

Both Solyndra Solar and Solyndra Solar II were created to “raise additional capital and improve debtor’s liquidity position” in the months before the company went bankrupt, attorneys said in filings.

‘Certain inventories’

The formation of Solyndra Solar LLC and Solyndra Solar II LLC was first disclosed in bankruptcy filings last year, but records at the time did not reveal just how much inventory and accounts were being sold off.

In addition to the $58.1 million in inventory sold off to Solyndra Solar II for $17.5 million, the company also sold $59.1 million in accounts receivable to Solyndra Solar LLC for $46.4 million in cash, according to bankruptcy filings.

The bankruptcy filings don’t say how bankruptcy attorneys arrived at the $58.1 million figure for the inventory. A bankruptcy attorney for Solyndra did not respond to email questions Tuesday.

“Certain inventories were sold to Solyndra Solar II on the dates listed for …aggregate cash proceeds of approximately $17.5 million,” the bankruptcy filing states, noting four sales transactions ranging from $5.8 million to $26.5 million for a total of $58.1 million.

The first accounts receivable sale took place on June 3 for $25.7 million. Five other sales followed until the last one for $722,220, which took place on Aug. 4.

Searching for cash

The inventory sale was reported because bankruptcy law mandates disclosure of property “transferred outside the ordinary course of business” going back two years before the date of the bankruptcy filing. The inventory and accounts receivable transactions were the only such sales reported by Solyndra.

Under the inventory deal, Solyndra Solar II would buy Solyndra’s inventory and the solar company, in turn, agreed to market, sell and ship the inventory on behalf of Solyndra Solar LLC, bankruptcy records filed last year show.

“What this appears to be is an effort to bring cash into Solyndra on the eve of bankruptcy by converting accounts and inventory to cash,” said Mr. Zywicki, who reviewed the bankruptcy filing on Tuesday at the request of The Washington Times.

“There’s nothing inherently problematic about that as it is common to want to stockpile cash on the eve of a bankruptcy in order to have a sort of war chest going into the case,” he said.

“It could be a problem, however, if there were particular creditors who were benefited by converting the accounts/inventory to cash for some reason or if those assets were converted to cash for less than reasonably equivalent value.”

Comparison with private sector likely to heat up debate over ending freeze.
Buoyed by generous benefit packages, federal workers earn significantly better compensation than similarly educated workers in the private sector, according to a report released Monday from Congress‘ chief scorekeeper that threatens to reignite at the national level last year’s state battles over public-employee rights.

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Days of Noah

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
—Matthew 24:37

Corruption

”The earth also was corrupt•Strongs 2040: haracç, haw-ras´; a primitive root; to pull down or in pieces, break, &ä destroy:—beat down, break (down, through), destroy, overthrow, pluck down, pull down, ruin, throw down, x utterly. before God,and the earth was filled with violence”.
—Gen 6:11

Overall, federal workers earn 16 percent more in total compensation — including wages and benefits — than comparable private-sector employees, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Only private-sector workers with the highest levels of education, such as doctors and lawyers, earn more than their public counterparts.

The finding is incendiary at a time when Republicans in Congress are fighting for a freeze on federal worker salaries and the Obama administration is balking, arguing that after two years of freezes, it’s time to ramp up pay.

The CBO said federal workers do better in wages at the low education end, are about equal in the middle, and fall behind the private sector at the top end.

But the key difference is in benefits, where federal workers average more than $20 per hour in compensation — 48 percent higher than the $13.60 in prorated hourly benefits in the private sector. Added together, CBO said, that means significantly higher pay for government employees.

“For workers at all education levels, the cost of total compensation averaged about $52 per hour worked for federal employees, compared with about $45 per hour worked for employees in the private sector with certain similar observable characteristics,” CBO analysts said in their report.

Unions that represent federal workers said the CBO’s comparison was pointless.

The CBO looked at workers with equivalent education levels, but John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said the better approach is to compare specific jobs. On that measure, Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show that federal employees make less than those working equivalent jobs in the private sector.

“Salaries and wages should be a function of the job, not the job-holder — and that’s the case in the federal government,” Mr. Gage said.

He also said the federal government doesn’t consider race, age or sex in employment, and questioned whether discrimination may play a role in holding down pay for some in the private sector.

“The logical implications of a study such as CBO’s can border on the absurd. Assessing the cost of hiring certain numbers of whites and racial minorities, young and old, women and men might lead to the ridiculous notion that since the private sector pays, on average, lower wages to women and racial minorities, then to cut costs, the government should hire more people with those demographic characteristics, rather than hire according to skill,” he said.

Emboldened by the 2010 elections, new Republican governors and legislative majorities in some states last year battled public workers in attempts to curtail benefits and in some cases strip collective bargaining rights.

The fight was most pointed in Wisconsin, where Gov. Scott Walker is likely to face a recall vote this year over his push, and in Ohio, where Gov. John Kasich’s effort to curtail public employee unions’ bargaining power was overturned by a referendum in November.

In Washington, the battle has been less heated — in part because Republicans haven’t gone as far as their state counterparts, and in part because the GOP and Democrats agreed on halting cost-of-living increases for federal civilian workers in 2011 and 2012. That did not rule out pay increases for merit or promotions, but both sides said it amounts to a freeze.

The House has a vote slated for this week to continue that freeze through the end of 2013 for federal workers, members of Congress and their staff.

“While private-sector workers face the squeeze and millions of families continue searching for work, the idea of asking that their hard-earned tax dollars go to fund a pay raise for government employees is just not right,” said Rep. Sean P. Duffy, the Wisconsin Republican who is sponsoring the freeze bill.

But Democrats are balking this time.

After supporting the pay freeze for the past two years, the White House objected in December when Republicans proposed continuing the freeze and using the savings to cover some of the costs of extending the payroll-tax cut into 2012.

Administration officials first said they planned to use the money elsewhere, and then planned to allow a half-percent pay increase for federal workers.

The White House did not respond to a request seeking comment on the CBO report.

The government spent about $200 billion on salaries in 2011, with $80 billion going to pay for the military and $120 billion covering civilian employees governmentwide.

The federal government employs about 2.3 million civilian workers, which is about 1.7 percent of the total U.S. workforce. Another 2.3 million uniformed personnel are employed, including 1 million reservists, and 800,00 people work for government enterprises such as the Postal Service.

Warren Buffett, whom President Obama likes to cite as a fair-minded billionaire while arguing for higher taxes on the wealthy, stands to benefit from the president’s decision to reject the Keystone XL oil pipeline permit.

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Days of Noah

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
—Matthew 24:37

Corruption

”The earth also was corrupt•Strongs 2040: haracç, haw-ras´; a primitive root; to pull down or in pieces, break, &ä destroy:—beat down, break (down, through), destroy, overthrow, pluck down, pull down, ruin, throw down, x utterly. before God,and the earth was filled with violence”.
—Gen 6:11

“The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth•Strongs 7843: shachath, shaw-khath´; a primitive root; to decay, i.e. (causatively) ruin (literally or figuratively):—batter, cast off, corrupt(-er, thing), destroy(-er, -uction), lose, mar, perish, spill, spoiler, x utterly, waste(-r). it.”
—Proverbs 29:4

Mr. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. owns Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC, which is among the railroads that would transport oil produced in western Canada if the pipeline isn’t built.

“Whatever people bring to us, we’re ready to haul,” Krista York-Wooley, a spokeswoman for Burlington Northern, a unit of Buffett’s Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., told Bloomberg News. If Keystone XL “doesn’t happen, we’re here to haul,” she said.

The Obama administration rejected TransCanada’s request for a permit on Jan. 18, saying there was not enough time to review the proposal by Feb. 21, the deadline imposed by congressional Republicans eager to see the pipeline built. The decision came from the State Department, although Mr. Obama said he agreed with it.

TransCanada said it plans to submit another proposal that would avoid an environmentally sensitive route through Nebraska. The State Department had been reviewing the pipeline project tor three years when it rejected the permit.

If completed, the $7 billion Keystone XL would deliver 700,000 barrels a day of crude from oil sands in Canada to Texas refineries on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. It would traverse about 1,600 miles.

The State Department’s review of the project said shipping oil via rail is more costly than delivering it to refineries by pipeline.

Mr. Obama often cites Mr. Buffett as an example of a civic-minded billionaire because the entrepreneur has said he should pay a higher tax rate than his secretary. Mr. Buffett and the president like to tell the story of how Mr. Buffett pays a 15 percent effective tax rate, while his secretary pays a higher rate even though she earns only a fraction of what he does.

The president has called his push for higher taxes on the wealthy the “Buffett rule.”

The secretary, Debbie Bosanek, will sit with first lady Michelle Obama in her box in the House gallery at Tuesday night’s State of the Union speech.

Republicans, labor unions and even some Democrats have criticized the administration’s rejection of the pipeline permit, saying it would create up to 20,000 jobs. Critics accuse the president of buckling to pressure from environmentalists who oppose the project and are important to Mr. Obama’s re-election effort.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez lavished each other with praise on Monday, mocked U.S. disapproval and joked about having an atomic bomb at their disposal.

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Ishmael•FYI: Ishmael is the son of Abraham through Hagar, the maid of Abraham’s wife, Sarah. Abraham descended from the line of Noah’s son Shem.
•As a result, Ishmael became the Biblical father of the Arab nations.
•Therefore, the true Arabs are descendants of Shem through Abraham.
•From Ismael came Mohammad who, in approximately 632 a.d, founded the Religion of Islam.
•The majority of the middle east descended from Ham and adopted the religion of Mohammad a Ishmaelite.
•Another son of Noah was Japheth.
•Japheth settled in the area of present day Iran and is not a Arab by descent but a gentile that has adopted the religion of Islam.
•The Religion is divided into two main groups, The Sunni’s (Arab) and The Shiite’s (Iran).
•Since the death of Mohammad, these two groups have been engaged in a battle to gain control of the religion.
•The Shiite branch (Iran) claims its right to control because Ali, its founder, was the nephew of Mohammad.
•While the Sunni branch (Arab) claims its right to control because its founders were the Generals in-charge when Mohammad died.
•It is reported that the Muslim Brotherhood is a Sunni based organization.
•The battle continues to this very day.
•The verse below is speaking directly of Ishmael and of the nations that would come from this direct descendent of Abraham.

“And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”
—Genesis 16:12

Perplexity

“…upon the earth distress•Strongs 4928: sunoche, soon-okh-ay´; from 4912; restraint, i.e. (figuratively) anxiety: — anguish, distress. of nations, with perplexity•Strongs 640: aporia, ap-or-ee´-a; from the same as 639; a (state of) quandary:—perplexity.
•Strongs 639: aporeo, ap-or-eh´-o; from a compound of 1 (as a negative particle) and the base of 4198; to have no way out, i.e. be at a loss (mentally):— (stand in) doubt, be perplexed.….”
—Luke 21:25

“Despite those arrogant people who do not wish us to be together, we will unite forever,” the Iranian president told Venezuela’s socialist leader Chavez at the start of a visit to four left-leaning Latin American nations.

Despite their geographical distance, the fiery anti-U.S. ideologues have forged increasingly close ties between their fellow OPEC nations in recent years, although concrete projects have often lagged behind the rhetoric.

Ahmadinejad was in Venezuela at the start of a tour intended to shore up support as expanded Western economic sanctions kick in over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

“The imperialist madness has been unleashed in a way that has not been seen for a long time,” Chavez said in a ceremony to welcome Ahmadinejad at his presidential palace in Caracas.

Both men hugged, beamed, held hands and showered each other with praise.

As he often does, the theatrical and provocative Chavez stuck his finger right into the global political sore spot, joking that a bomb was ready under a grassy knoll in front of his Miraflores palace steps.

“That hill will open up and a big atomic bomb will come out,” he said, the two men laughing together.

“The imperialist spokesmen say … Ahmadinejad and I are going into the Miraflores basement now to set our sights on Washington and launch cannons and missiles. … It’s laughable.”

U.S. officials from President Barack Obama down have expressed disquiet over Venezuela’s close ties with Iran. They fear Chavez will weaken the international diplomatic front against Iran and could give Tehran an economic lifeline.

The United States and its allies accuse Iran of aiming to produce a nuclear weapon. Iran says its nuclear program is only for peaceful power generation.

As well as Venezuela, Ahmadinejad plans to visit Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador – a visit that Washington has said shows its “desperation” for friends.

ALLIES

Those nations’ governments share Chavez’s broad global views, but do not have Venezuela’s economic clout and are unable to offer Iran any significant assistance.

Regional economic powerhouse Brazil, which gave the Iranian leader a warm welcome when he visited during the previous government of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was notably absent from his agenda this time.

Analysts are watching closely to see if Chavez will back Iran’s threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil shipping lane, or how much he could undermine the sanctions by providing fuel or cash to Tehran.

Ahmadinejad, who is subordinate to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on foreign policy and other matters, has said little about the rising tensions with the West, including the sentencing to death of an Iranian-American man for spying for the CIA. The United States denies that the man is a spy.

The Venezuelan and Iranian leaders mostly limited their comments on Monday to mutual adulation and anti-U.S. snipes.

“President Chavez is the champion in the war on imperialism,” Ahmadinejad said.

“The only bombs we’re preparing are bombs against poverty, hunger and misery,” added Chavez, saying 14,000 new homes had been built recently in Venezuela by Iranian constructors.

Ahead of hosting Ahmadinejad, Ecuador’s government also offered moral support, pledging to ignore Western sanctions.

“We say with clarity that we do not accept those sanctions,” Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino told reporters.

“We are a sovereign nation, we don’t have dads punishing us and putting us in the corner for behaving badly. They (the U.S.) should instead be sanctioning the U.S. companies doing massive business in Tehran like Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola.”

(Additional reporting by Enrique Andres Pretel in Quito, Editing by Will Dunham)

Roving security teams increasingly visit train stations, subways and other mass transit sites to deter terrorism. Critics say it’s largely political theater.

New World Order

“And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.”
—Daniel 8:25

Reporting from Charlotte, N.C.— Rick Vetter was rushing to board the Amtrak train in Charlotte, N.C., on a recent Sunday afternoon when a canine officer suddenly blocked the way.

Three federal air marshals in bulletproof vests and two officers trained to spot suspicious behavior watched closely as Seiko, a German shepherd, nosed Vetter’s trousers for chemical traces of a bomb. Radiation detectors carried by the marshals scanned the 57-year-old lawyer for concealed nuclear materials.

When Seiko indicated a scent, his handler, Julian Swaringen, asked Vetter whether he had pets at home in Garner, N.C. Two mutts, Vetter replied. “You can go ahead,” Swaringen said.

The Transportation Security Administration isn’t just in airports anymore. TSA teams are increasingly conducting searches and screenings at train stations, subways, ferry terminals and other mass transit locations around the country.

“We are not the Airport Security Administration,” said Ray Dineen, the air marshal in charge of the TSA office in Charlotte. “We take that transportation part seriously.”

The TSA’s 25 “viper” teams — for Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response — have run more than 9,300 unannounced checkpoints and other search operations in the last year. Department of Homeland Security officials have asked Congress for funding to add 12 more teams next year.

According to budget documents, the department spent $110 million in fiscal 2011 for “surface transportation security,” including the TSA’s viper program, and is asking for an additional $24 million next year. That compares with more than $5 billion for aviation security.

TSA officials say they have no proof that the roving viper teams have foiled any terrorist plots or thwarted any major threat to public safety. But they argue that the random nature of the searches and the presence of armed officers serve as a deterrent and bolster public confidence.

“We have to keep them [terrorists] on edge,” said Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University in Washington. “We’re not going to have a permanent presence everywhere.”

U.S. officials note that digital files recovered from Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan after he was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs in May included evidence that the Al Qaeda leader had considered an attack on U.S. railways in February 2010. Over the last decade, deadly bombings have hit subways or trains in Moscow; Mumbai, India; Madrid; and London.

But critics say that without a clear threat, the TSA checkpoints are merely political theater. Privacy advocates worry that the agency is stretching legal limits on the government’s right to search U.S. citizens without probable cause — and with no proof that the scattershot checkpoints help prevent attacks.

“It’s a great way to make the public think you are doing something,” said Fred H. Cate, a professor at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, who writes on privacy and security. “It’s a little like saying, ‘If we start throwing things up in the air, will they hit terrorists?’ ”

Such criticism is nothing new to the TSA.

The agency came under fresh fire this month when three elderly women with medical devices complained that TSA agents had strip-searched them in separate incidents at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Lenore Zimmerman, 84, said she was ordered to pull down her pants after she refused to pass through a full body scanner because she was afraid the machine would interfere with her heart defibrillator.

TSA officials denied the women were strip-searched, but they announced plans to create a toll-free telephone number for passengers with medical conditions who require assistance in airport screening lines. TSA officials said they also are considering a proposal by Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) to designate a passengers advocate at every airport.

The TSA’s viper program hasn’t drawn that kind of attention, although it is increasingly active.

In Tennessee in October, a viper team used radiation monitors and explosive-trace detectors to help state police inspect trucks at highway weigh stations throughout the state. Last month in Orlando, Fla., a team set up metal detectors at a Greyhound bus station and tested passengers’ bags for explosive residue.

In the Carolinas this year, TSA teams have checked people at the gangplanks of cruise ships, the entrance to NASCAR races, and at ferry terminals taking tourists to the Outer Banks.

At the Charlotte train station on Dec. 11, Seiko, the bomb-sniffing dog, snuffled down a line of about 100 passengers waiting to board an eastbound train. Many were heading home after watching the Charlotte Panthers NFL team lose to the Atlanta Falcons after holding a 16-point lead.

No one seemed especially perturbed by the TSA team.

“It’s probably overkill,” said Karen Stone, 26, after a behavior-detection officer asked her about the Panthers game and her trip home to Raleigh.

“It’s cool,” said Marcus Baldwin, 21, who was heading home to Mebane, near Burlington, where he waits tables to help pay for computer technology classes. “They’re doing what our tax money is paying them to do.”

“I’m mostly curious,” said Barbara Spencer, 75, who was heading home to Chapel Hill after watching her grandson perform in a Christmas play. She asked the officers whether a terrorist threat had required the extra security. No, they replied.

Vetter, the lawyer, had attended the game with his son, Noah. They jogged for the train after Seiko had finished his sniff, but Vetter had bigger worries on his mind. “The Panthers blew it,” he said.

Jos, Nigeria (CNN) — A string of bombs struck churches in five Nigerian cities Sunday, leaving dozens dead and wounded on the holiday, authorities and witnesses said.

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Ishmael•FYI: Ishmael is the son of Abraham through Hagar, the maid of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
Ishmael is the Biblical father of the Arab nations.
•From these nations came Mohammad, who in approximately 632 a.d founded the Religion of Islam.
•The Religion is divided into two main groups, The Sunni’s and The Shiite’s. These two are engaged in a battle to gain control of the religion.
•The Shiite branch claims its right to control because Ali, its founder, was the nephew of Mohammad.
•While the Sunni branch claims its right to control because its founders were the generals in-charge when Mohammad died.
•It is reported that the Muslim Brotherhood is a Sunni based organization.
•The battle continues to this very day.
•The verse below is speaking directly concerning Ishmael and the nations that would come from this direct descendent of Abraham.

“And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”
—Genesis 16:12

Perilous Times

“This know also, that in the last days perilous•Strongs 5467: chalepos, khal-ep-os´; perhaps from 5465 through the idea of reducing the strength; difficult, i.e. dangerous, or (by implication) furious:—fierce, perilous. times shall come.”
—2 Timothy 3:1-2a

”But evil•Strongs 4190: poneros, pon-ay-ros´; from a derivative of 4192; hurtful, i.e. evil (properly, in effect or influence, and thus differing from 2556, which refers rather to essential character, as well as from 4550, which indicates degeneracy from original virtue); figuratively, calamitous; also (passively) ill, i.e. diseased; but especially (morally) culpable, i.e. derelict, vicious, facinorous; neuter (singular) mischief, malice, or (plural) guilt; masculine (singular) the devil, or (plural) sinners:—bad, evil, grievous, harm, lewd, malicious, wicked(-ness). See also 4191.
•Strongs 4192: ponos, pon´-os; from the base of 3993; toil, i.e. (by implication) anguish:—pain. men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
—2 Timothy 3:13

Editors note about the word perilous•FYI: The Greek word (chalepos) (perilous) is only used one other time in the New Testament, Matthew 8:28. There it is translated as (fierce) when describing the nature of the devils that possess Legion and his cohort.

Days of Noah

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
—Matthew 24:37

“And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence•Strongs 2555: chamacç, khaw-mawce´; from 2554; violence; by implication, wrong; by meton. unjust gain:—cruel(-ty), damage, false, injustice, x oppressor, unrighteous, violence (against, done), violent (dealing), wrong
•Strongs 2554: chamacç, khaw-mas´; a primitive root; to be violent; by implication, to maltreat:—make bare, shake off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong, imagine wrongfully. through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”
— Genesis 6:13

The blasts mark the second holiday season that bombs have hit Christian houses of worship in the west African nation. In a statement issued late Sunday, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan called the bombings “a dastardly act that must attract the rebuke of all peace-loving Nigerians.”
“These acts of violence against innocent citizens are an unwarranted affront on our collective safety and freedom,” Jonathan said. “Nigerians must stand as one to condemn them.”
Bombs targeted churches across the country, hitting the cities of Madalla, Jos, Kano, and Damaturu and Gadaka, said journalist Hassan John, who witnessed the carnage in Jos. The death toll in Madalla alone was 18, including two people reported dead overnight at a nearby hospital, Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency spokesman Yushau Shuaib told CNN.
John said witnesses in Madalla reported a higher death toll, with more than 30 killed. Some victims died after being taken to a hospital, he said.
In Damaturu, a northern town in Yobe state, a police station and a state security building were also bombed, an aid worker said. The worker asked not to be named for security reasons.

Nwakpa Okorie, a spokesman for the Nigerian Red Cross, said the some of the wounded were taken to the capital Abuja for treatment.
“The situation is under control now. The security agents have secured the streets close to the bombed areas … in Madalla, Jos and Dematuru,” he said.
Jonathan said his government “will not relent in its determination to bring to justice all the perpetrators of today’s acts of violence and all others before now.” And in Washington, the White House said U.S. officials would help Nigeria pursue those behind “what initially appear to be terrorist acts.”
“We condemn this senseless violence and tragic loss of life on Christmas Day,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a written statement. “We offer our sincere condolences to the Nigerian people and especially those who lost family and loved ones.”
The first explosion Sunday struck near a Roman Catholic church in Madalla, west of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, the National Emergency Management Agency said. Church officials were trying to get a picture of what happened in the city.
“Lives have been lost but we do not have the details,” said the Rev. Michael Ekpenyong. “The area has been cordoned off. I tried to call the priest, but I couldn’t get through.”
Ekpenyong, the secretary general of the country’s Catholic Secretariat, said the church that was bombed was “not a big church, but lots of people attend.” Photos from the scene showed burned-out cars and at least three bodies on the ground, one covered with a blanket, at the rural church.
Usman Abdallah Baba, who witnessed the bombing, said there were at least 15 or 16 casualties and that authorities were still counting the toll.
Baba said local people were already blaming the violent extremist Muslim Boko Haram sect, which has targeted Christians as well as Muslims its members consider insufficiently Islamic.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the acts “in the strongest terms,” his office said in a statement Sunday.
He expressed his condolences to the Nigerian people and reiterated a call “for an end to all acts of sectarian violence in the country.”
In 2010, five churches in Jos were attacked while residents were celebrating Christmas Eve. The blasts killed dozens in Jos, which lies on a faith-based fault line between the Muslim-dominated north and the mainly Christian south.
On Sunday, two blasts targeted the Mountain of Fire Ministries church in Jos, northeast of the capital, said John. No one was killed in that bombing, which John called a “miracle” — but a police officer who got into a gun battle with the attackers died of his wounds later, John said, citing officials.
The second church, in Jos, was hit by two explosions when young men threw bombs, John said. Police responded quickly and exchanged gunfire with the attackers, who wounded at least one of the police officers, he said.
The injured officer was rushed to the Jos University teaching hospital for medical attention, but died of his wounds, John said. The attackers fled into the crowd and disappeared after the attack, John said.
Police arrested four people and recovered four unexploded devices, Nigerian state television reported.
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and has the world’s sixth-largest Christian population — about 80.5 million people as of 2010, according to a report published this month by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in Washington. That makes the country just over 50% Christian, according to the Pew figures.
Dozens killed in fighting in Nigeria
The latest attacks follow two days of clashes between militants and security forces in northern Nigeria. Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, the Nigerian army chief of staff, said the clashes left three soldiers dead and several more wounded.
The fighting began Thursday between Boko Haram militants and the military in the Yobe state town of Damaturu, Ihejirika said.
“There was a major encounter with the Boko Haram in Damaturu,” Ihejirika said Friday. “We lost three of our soldiers, seven were wounded. But we killed over 50 of their members.”
Boko Haram translates from the local Hausa as “Western education is outlawed.” The group has morphed into an insurgency responsible for dozens of attacks in Nigeria in the last two years.
Boko Haram’s targets include police outposts and churches as well as places associated with “Western influence.”

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
—Isa 7:14

As the people of that time were given signs of His birth and first coming, the people of this time have been given signs of His second coming.

As that generation failed to take heed to the prophets, the angles, the shepherds and the wise men of the east, so this generation is doing the same.

Jesus told us that the generation that sees His second coming will be like it was In The Days of Noah and Lot. Both of these times closed their ears and eyes to the preaching and warnings of the believers of their day and age.

We In The Days of this last generation, have more knowledge of Him and His plan than any other. We have His Word in every language, we have the world wide media and the world wide web! And yet, the eyes are closed, the ears and refuse to listen to His Holy Spirit’s call to salvation and deliverance from the judgement to come.

“And the times of this ignorance God winked at•Strongs 5237: hupereido, hoop-er-i´-do; from 5228 and 1492; to overlook, i.e. not punish: — wink at.; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed•Strongs 2476: histemi, his´-tay-mee; a prolonged form of a primary sta¿w stao (of the same meaning, and used for it in certain tenses); to stand (transitively or intransitively), used in various applications (literally or figuratively): — abide, appoint, bring, continue, covenant, establish, hold up, lay, present, set (up), stanch, stand (by, forth, still, up). Compare 5087 a day, in the which he will judge•Strongs 2919: krino, kree´-no; properly, to distinguish, i.e. decide (mentally or judicially); by implication, to try, condemn, punish: — avenge, conclude, condemn, damn, decree, determine, esteem, judge, go to (sue at the) law, ordain, call in question, sentence to, think. the world•Strongs 3625: oikoumene, oy-kou-men´-ay; feminine participle present passive of 3611 (as noun, by implication, of 1093); land, i.e. the (terrene part of the) globe; specially, the Roman empire: — earth, world. in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained•Strongs 3724: horizo, hor-id´-zo; from 3725; to mark out or bound (“horizon”), i.e. (figuratively) to appoint, decree, specify: — declare, determine, limit, ordain.; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.”
—Acts 17:30-31

“And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”
1Thessalonians 1:10

Let us of faith, keep the faith. Let’s look up for the completion of our ransom is coming. Our redemption draws neigh.

Again, we wish you a very Happy Jesus’ Birthday.

Egyptian police and soldiers fired guns and teargas to try to clear protesters from Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Tuesday, the fifth day of clashes that have killed 13 people and drawn a stinging rebuke from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

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Days of Noah

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
—Matthew 24:37

Violence

“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence•Strongs 2555: chamacç, khaw-mawce´; from 2554; violence; by implication, wrong; by meton. unjust gain:—cruel(-ty), damage, false, injustice, x oppressor, unrighteous, violence (against, done), violent (dealing), wrong
•Strongs 2554: chamacç, khaw-mas´; a primitive root; to be violent; by implication, to maltreat:—make bare, shake off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong, imagine wrongfully.
—Genesis 6:11

Ishmael•FYI: Ishmael is the son of Abraham through Hagar, the maid of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
Ishmael is the Biblical father of the Arab nations.
•From these nations came Mohammad, who in approximately 632 a.d founded the Religion of Islam.
•The Religion is divided into two main groups, The Sunni’s and The Shiite’s. These two are engaged in a battle to gain control of the religion.
•The Shiite branch claims its right to control because Ali, its founder, was the nephew of Mohammad.
•While the Sunni branch claims its right to control because its founders were the generals in-charge when Mohammad died.
•It is reported that the Muslim Brotherhood is a Sunni based organization.
•The battle continues to this very day.
•The verse below is speaking directly concerning Ishmael and the nations that would come from this direct descendent of Abraham.

“And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”
—Genesis 16:12

Perilous Times

“This know also, that in the last days perilous•Strongs 5467: chalepos, khal-ep-os´; perhaps from 5465 through the idea of reducing the strength; difficult, i.e. dangerous, or (by implication) furious:—fierce, perilous. times shall come.”
—2 Timothy 3:1-2a

”But evil•Strongs 4190: poneros, pon-ay-ros´; from a derivative of 4192; hurtful, i.e. evil (properly, in effect or influence, and thus differing from 2556, which refers rather to essential character, as well as from 4550, which indicates degeneracy from original virtue); figuratively, calamitous; also (passively) ill, i.e. diseased; but especially (morally) culpable, i.e. derelict, vicious, facinorous; neuter (singular) mischief, malice, or (plural) guilt; masculine (singular) the devil, or (plural) sinners:—bad, evil, grievous, harm, lewd, malicious, wicked(-ness). See also 4191.
•Strongs 4192: ponos, pon´-os; from the base of 3993; toil, i.e. (by implication) anguish:—pain. men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
—2 Timothy 3:13

Editors note about the word perilous•FYI: The Greek word (chalepos) (perilous) is only used one other time in the New Testament, Matthew 8:28. There it is translated as (fierce) when describing the nature of the devils that possess Legion and his cohort.

Clinton condemned as “particularly shocking” incidents such as one in which two Egyptian soldiers were filmed dragging a woman protester on the ground by her black full-body veil, exposing her bra, then clubbing and kicking her.

“Women protesters have been rounded up and subjected to horrific abuse. Journalists have been sexually assaulted. And now women are being attacked, stripped and beaten in the streets,” Clinton said in a speech at Washington’s Georgetown University on Monday.

“This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform and is not worthy of a great people …

“Women are being beaten and humiliated in the same streets where they risked their lives for the revolution only a few short months ago.”

Medical sources say 13 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the violence that began on Friday in Tahrir and nearby streets leading to parliament and the cabinet office.

After a night of clashes, gunfire rang out across the square at dawn as security forces charged hundreds of protesters demanding an immediate end to army rule.

Later thousands of women marched on the square to condemning attacks on female protesters. But by nightfall the square was calm again.

The United States, which saw deposed leader Hosni Mubarak as a staunch ally, gives Cairo $1.3 billion a year in military aid, a commitment that began after Egypt in 1979 became the first Arab state to make peace with Israel.

PRESSURE ON ARMY

Clinton’s remarks, some of the strongest U.S. criticism of Egypt’s new rulers, ratchet up pressure on the army. But Western diplomats said it was unlikely Washington would use its aid budget as leverage. U.S. officials have so far praised the army for promising to hand power to civilians.

A staggered parliamentary election is under way and the army has pledged to hand power to an elected president by July.

The women marchers were dressed in black and accompanied by male demonstrators who vowed to protect them from harassment.

“The women of Egypt are a red line!” they chanted.

Some looked up at male onlookers on surrounding balconies, chanting: “You who are standing by the window, tomorrow it will be your sisters!”

“This is a continuation of the systematic violence we used to witness (under Mubarak),” said Sarah Rifaat, a 27-year old environmentalist. “They manipulate women, thinking they can break the people and scare them this way.

“What happened to the girl who was stripped and dragged was sheer savagery. We cannot be silent about this. I want someone from the military council to admit responsibility.”

In a statement, the army council that took over after Mubarak was overthrown in February apologized, saying it “respects and appreciates Egyptian women and their right to protest and fully participate in political life.”

“ISOLATED INCIDENT”

General Adel Emara, a member of the army council, said on Monday that the attack on the woman protester was an isolated incident and was under investigation.

But other generals and their advisers have condemned the pro-democracy protesters, sometimes in extraordinary terms.

“What is your feeling when you see Egypt and its history burn in front of you?” retired general Abdel Moneim Kato, an army adviser, told the daily al-Shorouk, referring to a government archive building set alight during clashes. “Yet you worry about a vagrant who should be burnt in Hitler’s incinerators.”

Those comments drew fierce criticism from politicians and rights groups, saying they would stir further violence.

“The least that can be said about such comments is they are irresponsible and he must be punished for them, publicly and transparently,” the Arab Network for Human Rights said, adding that “his Nazi opinions incite hatred and justify violence.”

General Emara said “evil forces” wanted to sow chaos and that soldiers had shown “self-restraint” despite provocation.

“What is happening does not belong with the revolution and its pure youth, who never wanted to bring down this nation,” he said. Despite the actions of the security forces in Tahrir, Emara denied that the army had given orders to clear the square.

Hard-core activists have camped in Tahrir since a protest against army rule on November 18, which was sparked by the army-backed cabinet’s proposals to permanently shield the military from civilian oversight in the new constitution.

A week of mayhem in November killed 42 people.

The flare-up has also marred the parliamentary election, which began on November 28 and ends on January 11.

Results so far suggest the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood and hardline Salafi Islamists will have a majority in the lower house – groups the West once looked to Mubarak to keep in check.

Washington has reached out to Islamists in a shift in approach since the summer. A senior U.S. diplomat met Islamist and other newly elected members of parliament in the northern city of Alexandria, the embassy said on Tuesday.

(Additional reporting by Dina Zayed and Alexander Dziadosz; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

A popular North Carolina college student gunned down three years ago pleaded for her life in the moments before her death and asked her assailants to pray with her, according to testimony at the murder trial.

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Days of Noah

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
—Matthew 24:37

Violence

“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence•Strongs 2555: chamacç, khaw-mawce´; from 2554; violence; by implication, wrong; by meton. unjust gain:—cruel(-ty), damage, false, injustice, x oppressor, unrighteous, violence (against, done), violent (dealing), wrong
•Strongs 2554: chamacç, khaw-mas´; a primitive root; to be violent; by implication, to maltreat:—make bare, shake off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong, imagine wrongfully.
—Genesis 6:11

Eve Carson, student body president at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, died from multiple gunshot wounds on March 5, 2008, after she was allegedly kidnapped and robbed by two men.
Prosecutors say 21-year-old Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr. and 25-year-old Demario James Atwater kidnapped Carson from her home sometime after 3:30 a.m., took her in her SUV to withdraw money from ATMs and then shot her five times, WRAL-TV reported.

Atwater pleaded guilty last year to state and federal charges in the case and is serving two life sentences in federal prison. Lovette, who is now on trial, faces life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
Jayson McNeil, a lifelong friend of Lovette’s, testified Tuesday about a conversation he says he had with Lovette about the crime on March 12, 2008. McNeil said Lovette called him the day a warrant was issued for his arrest.
“Before (Lovette) even shot her, he explained, she was saying, ‘Let’s pray,’” 20-year-old McNeil told the courtroom. “She wanted them to pray together.”
McNeil, whose testimony was part of a plea deal in a federal drug case, said Lovette told him that he and Atwater went to Chapel Hill to rob and that they saw Carson getting into her SUV, according to WRAL.
“They rushed her,” McNeil testified.
Lovette got into the driver’s seat, and Atwater got into the backseat with Carson and held a gun to her head, McNeil told jurors.
“He said the whole time that Eve Carson was in the backseat that she was pleading for her life and explained that they didn’t have to do what they were doing,” McNeil testified. “Demario was feeling her clothes and touching her in certain parts of her body.”
Lovette said they killed her because she had seen their faces.
Carson was shot four times with a .25-caliber to her right cheek, back, right arm and right buttock. She also was shot through her right hand and right temple with a sawed-off shotgun.
The medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Carson testified Tuesday that the young woman could have survived the four handgun wounds with appropriate medical care, according to the station.
“Only one of these wounds was immediately fatal, and that was the shotgun injury to the head,” Dr. Cynthia Gardner reportedly told jurors.