The Power Of Mosquitoes, Small Stones & Arrowheads

Nuclear Bombs Or Mosquitoes: Which Is More Deadly?

Reported by New York Times
The Mosquitoes Are Coming For Us

They are our Apex Predator, the deadliest 
hunters of human beings on the planet.

It has been one of the most aggravating sounds on earth for more than 100 million years — the humming buzz of a mosquito.    (Strange how one falsehood can nearly spoil interesting truth. RB) 

She gently lands on your ankle and inserts two serrated mandible cutting blades and saws into your skin, while two other retractors open a passage for the proboscis. With this straw she sucks your blood, while a sixth needle pumps in saliva that contains an anticoagulant that prevents that blood from clotting. This shortens her feeding time, lessening the likelihood that you splat her across your ankle. 

The female mosquito needs your blood to grow her eggs. Please don’t feel singled out. She bites everyone. There is no truth to the myths that mosquitoes prefer women over men or blonds and redheads over those with darker hair. She does, however, play favorites. Type O blood seems to be the vintage of choice. Stinky feet emit a bacterium that woos famished females, as do perfumes. As a parting gift, she leaves behind an itchy bump (an allergic reaction to her saliva) and potentially something far worse: infection with one of several deadly diseases, including malaria, Zika, West Nile, dengue and yellow fever. 

Mosquitoes are our apex predator, the deadliest hunter of human beings on the planet. A swarming army of 100 trillion or more mosquitoes patrol nearly every inch of the globe, killing about 700,000 people annually. Researchers suggest that mosquitoes may have killed nearly half of the 108 billion humans who have ever lived across our .... existence. 

Flying solo, the mosquito does not directly harm anyone. It is the diseases she transmits that cause an endless barrage of death. Yet without her, these pathogens could not be vectored to humans. Without her, human history would be completely unrecognizable. 

The mosquito and her diseases have accompanied traders, travelers, soldiers and settlers (and their captive African slaves) around the world and have been far more lethal than any manufactured weapons or inventions. 

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My Comment:

The above article magnifies, for our viewing, the usually unseen, unimaginable power of the smallest of things when used with timeliness, accuracy, potency and persistence. A single, almost invisible mosquito, can kill several people in its short lifespan. Even a microscopically infinitesimal chigger can make you scratch  fuss, and whine for days. 

Greek mythology alludes to the single, small vulnerable weakness present in the strongest, most fearsome and well armoured champions, such as Achilles, the Roman  Emperor, warrior king. Achilles was killed near the end of the Trojan War by Paris, who shot him in the heel with an arrow. Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except for his unshielded heel. Alluding to this legend, The term "Achilles' heel" has come to mean a point of weakness, especially in someone or something with an otherwise strong constitution. It is a fact that every person, no matter how famous, powerful, beautiful, accomplished, or protected, has a point of susceptibility, an Achilles heel, of some sort, vulnerable to the smallest of weapons such as an arrow head, a tiny bullet or a fact of truth. 

Another example of this ironic fact is the nearly 7 feet tall, Philistine giant, with a spear and huge sword, covered head to toe with armour with a small opening in the helmet for his eyes, and a shield bearer out in front of him. He was confronted by the youngster, David, with a palm sized piece of leather holding a small smooth stone, and with a leather string on each side. The giant cursed David for his puny inadequacies and vowed to feed him to the buzzards. But David, running toward the giant shouted back, "You come to me with a sword, and a spear, and with a shied but I come to you in the name of the Lord". Then David slung his sling-shot and hit the giant in his only vulnerable spot, between his eyes, in his forehead, and he crashed to the ground ... dead ... with a small stone embedded between his eyes. David jumped on top of Goliath's body and chopped off his head with his own sword, and the war was won. The lesson here is be on the Lord's side, the moral side, have faith, practice your own talents, be brave, analyze the enemy's weakness, and attack that weakness.  Even the strongest iron chain has a weakest link. 

God sent a dream to a pagan king for the Prophet Daniel to interpret, which represented a series of then, future earthly  kingdoms (Dan.2:31-35). The king saw a huge, strong, glowing image or statue, with    "a head of fine gold, his chest and arms of silver, his belly and thighs of brass, his legs of iron and his feet part of Iron and part of clay"    who looked impregnable.  But a single stone was cast against the image's feet of clay, the final kingdom, and the feet were crushed and the entire image fell apart ... a heap of ruin. Every human and every power and every political kingdom has feet of clay, which usually become their downfall. 

The Atheist's feet of clay is doubt. Attack the doubt with truth. 

Many a politician, or otherwise powerful person, has been permanently neutralized by a single unpleasant fact his opposition knew about him/her. A certain, recently, hamstrung Attorney General, silenced by the opposition and finally ousted by the President comes to mind.

If I Were A Dem In A Crowded Theater Watching "Firebug

Collusion And Obstruction", fell asleep, and woke up 

to a house afire on the big screen, and I was screaming "FIRE, FIRE, Collusion and Obstruction" … and the entire crowd jumped to their feet looking for flames or smoke, and saw none, how embarrassed would I be? I would quietly slip through the nearest exit and hope no one recognized me as I ran through back alleys home, leave the lights off, lock the doors,  pull the covers over my head and tell myself how stupid I am. I would confess my evil Party Affiliation to God and promise Him I would never again be led astray by lying, greedy, confiscating Socialists, abortionists and false accusers. That is how repentant I would be …. RB

"Familiarity Breedeth Contempt"

A much quoted verse needs a little adjustment...

We are all familiar with the verse which warns us against becoming too friendly with others. Theologians, Bible teachers, and Christian laymen have quoted it as a vital lesson on relationships.... It is, "Familiarity Breedeth Contempt". The application of this verse means, do not become too close to or allow anyone else to become too close to you. There is just one thing wrong with embracing that verse as a divine caution. It is not in the Bible. H. Rider Haggard said it and Mark Twain Quoted it, but God did not. The nearest thing to it is the statement, of Jesus, to his hometown detractors, 
    "And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house." Matt.13:57.     This is an absolute fact. Haggard put it this way in The People Of The Mist,  "If no man is a hero to his valet de chamber, much less can he remain a god for long in the eyes of a curious woman. Here, as in other matters, familiarity breeds contempt."

Jesus, Himself, experienced this, not unusual, human response to the commonality factor of the familiar. Most of those who had known Jesus as he grew up in Nazareth couldn't seem to transcend his visible humanity and see beyond His flesh to what He really was ... their sinlessly perfect Messiah, Savior.      
"And he went out from thence, and came into his own country.... And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. " Mark 6:1-4.

It is a strange phenomenon that preachers, politicians, actors, athletes and famous people, in general, are usually held in the highest regard by those who know them the least. Their family and close friends may love them more, but see them more accurately, as a person .... imperfect with faults and weaknesses. Seldom does anyone worship anyone they know well. The fact is, we are all equally human with varying degrees of imperfection ... but all imperfect ... except Jesus.    "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Heb.4:15.

So, the Apostle Paul plainly declares that God is true, but every man is, to some degree, large or small, a liar. Rom.3:4.     ".... Let God be true, but every man a liar...."  "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Rom.3:23. RB

Bank Of America Blames Trump For Lack Of Employees

But doesn't give him credit for rapid, new growth...

Bank of America has decided not to do business with civilian businesses who operate migrant detention centers and private prisons. Why? Because some of their BOA "teammates" are Left wing democrats and want to "make a statement". As one of their Credit Card holders, my "statement" to BOA's unwise, leftest, "statement" is at the bottom of the following FOX News article. RB

Bank of America cuts ties with businesses operating migrant detention centers, private prisons.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan says America needs to get immigration 'right.' 

After cutting ties with companies that operate detention centers and private prisons, Brian Moynihan Opens a New Window. Bank of America's Opens a New Window.  CEO, spoke exclusively to Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" about the company's decision. 

Bank of America made the decision last month after a public outcry over the conditions of several border facilities. Moynihan said difficult decisions like these are made "reluctantly" by a group of senior business people and teammates. 

"We had teammates, because of their backgrounds and their thoughts, who were very upset about the broader issues of prison reform and sentencing reform," he said. "They basically said we should make a statement here." 

Moynihan said the company's decision was made in hopes of making a statement about the broader systematic issues regarding immigration.  

Please wait "We need to get immigration right. We need people in this country. We're not creating people fast enough. The population is growing half the rate it was before the financial crisis. We'll grow faster if we have more people." 

He added that the country's immigration reform needs to be well-organized, efficient and well-documented. 

"That's the crisis we're facing. Just when we need more people, we're in a crisis of trying to figure out how to do it."

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So Bank of America says their coercive, exclusionary, new policy of dumping legitimate business customers, is two fold. First they say that their bank has been growing so rapidly (Due no doubt to Trump's energizing policies and cutting red tape) that they can't find enough employees to keep up with their new growth. Their conclusion, therefore, is that the Trump Administration is hindering their bank's growth, which is growing so fast, because of Trump's new policies of canceling bad rules and red tape ... which Obama introduced and caused growth to decline precipitously in the first place. So Trump's policies, which caused BOA's new spurt of growth, and is hindering their more rapid growth by detaining, for a short time, thousands of illegal aliens at the border until we can separate the criminals, terrorists, MS13 killers, drug runners and human traffickers from the honest, job hunting refugees.  That is the "statement" they are making regardless of what they hope we will think. 

Secondly, if they really want to make a clear, logical, Common Sense statement, they should open their eyes and see the real reason they can't find enough American employees to fill all those new jobs Trump has created.  That real reason is that the U.S. has aborted (murdered) 61,461,683 babies since 1973, Roe Vs Wade, and is still doing so at 25,000 each year. If the first of those 61 million babies had not been killed, they would be 46 years old now and at the peak of their performance on American jobs. If there had been no Roe Vs Wade, we would have all the workers, of every type, needed to keep America growing. They would also be paying billions in taxes ... which most of these illegal aliens do not do, but instead are soaking up $billions of tax dollars themselves.

Mrs Blair and I have had Bank of America credit cards for many years, but when they take such repulsive, unconstitutional actions on the side of all these so called Progressive Socialists, Anti-Semites, Anti-Americans, and Anti just about everything we believe in, Bettie and I will dump our little BOA credit cards and do our business with a more reasonable, business friendly, credit card company. Good Bye BOA and hello USAA. RB

Democrats..."The Thing You Feared Is Come Upon You

Job declared it, "The thing I greatly feared is come upon me."        

Applied to the Democrats, today's House hearings, with their hero, 

Robert Mueller on the hot seat, revealed nothing but a weak echo of their snipe hunt.  Mueller's 30 month investigation by 20 Trump hating Democrat lawyers left the gallows rope's noose around their collective necks in a monumental twist of fate. A power higher than their own ... TRUTH  from above, left them all standing on the trap door, noose around their own necks and with  Attorney General Barr's hand on the drop lever. This shotgun backfire reminds me of another villain, Haman, who hated the Jews and had great authority to accuse them falsely and build a high gallows on which to hang their leader, Mordecai.  When the King heard the truth he pointed at Haman and ordered, "Hang him there on". You must read this amazing story in Esther chapter 3 through 7 to see that pattern playing out in Washington today. 

Lest you Democrats, in your mental and moral blindness, miss the fact you have shot yourselves in both feet, but continue to blame your vile imaginations, and all the evils in the world on President Trump, Attorney General Barr, and even your own Investigator, Mueller .... Consider the truth of your dilemma ... "lost in the D.C. swamp of gators, leaches and cottonmouths". As some of your politicians have said, "It is your worst nightmare". But this thing you feared most was not created by those you so hate ... but by yourselves. It was your national disloyalty, dishonesty and greed that turned our beautiful land into a dank and dismal swamp and inspired the uprising of Hilary's "Basket of deplorables" ... It turned out to be a "basket" half the size of our nation and her "deplorables" jumped out of the basket and defeated her.  And now you and your "basket woman" have awakened our sleeping nation to your nefarious and treasonous actions.

Now your self inflicted quandary, has stuck you between distasteful reality and your indigestible hate obsession. You are up to your ears in the slime and quicksand of your own inexcusable actions.  You have spent all your strength, time and influence, for thirty + months, crawling through your own muck on the devil's errand. And now you must face the consequences of your trap setting and scaffold building from our nation's expert swamp drainers.  Most of you fell right in line with the snake eggs ruse of your stodgy leaders, and now you must eat what hatches.  You went too far in your leaky, rotting boat of lies and lusting for the President's, and our, blood, because he promised to "drain your Left -Wing, D.C. fuming swamp", which you considered your birth-right and natural home. You dug up too many cemeteries looking for dirt on the President.... but unexpectedly found only those dead bodies put there by the Clintons, Obama, your News Media and other others of your fellow Democrats.

Now you have seriously wounded your own selves and are dog-paddling in the slime ... desperately looking for rescue from your guilt or gullibility ... But alas, the new sheriff's tracking hounds and a thousand deputies are coming for your corrupt heros, with exposure warrants for their arrests. My advice is that you stop kicking and screaming all your tired claims of "racism", false accusations and a thousand lies, which only suck you deeper into the quagmire. You Dem politicians may lose everything, but you still have your Miranda rights which warn you to shut up, and hope that Attorney General Barr and U.S. Attorney/Prosecutor Durham find you before the resident alligators do.

So, when Trump is re-elected,  with both houses of Congress in tow, it will be because you were all so hateful and viciously lying against the truth ... And now, its too late for you, and Trump's supporters won't abandon him no matter what ill advised things he may say or do .... as long as he continues to drain your vast, putrid, cesspool and restores our nation to greatness. In 2016, he may not have been a likely candidate, because he has never been a politician, but he has proven to be a tough street fighter on the side of the law and lovers of America.

So stop whining ....You did it to yourselves. Your lying leaders are going under, but at least you Dem voters can still restore your reputation and escape the Party of infanticidal abortion, homosexual marriage, legalizing illegal narcotics, Socialism, open borders, and free everything for drug addicts, prostitutes, illegal aliens, and loafers who refuse to work. If you are opposed to those things, abandon that rotting Party and climb aboard the boat with Old Glory flying in the bow, and patriots at the oars. The few wise among you will be "welcome aboard". RB

Crystal Cathedral Becomes $132 Million Catholic Church

Robert Schuller's legacy... but he didn't realize he was building a Catholic Shrine.

The Crystal Cathedral, where else but in California, was sold, after his death, to the Roman Catholics for $60,000,000 and then renovated by its new owners for another opulently, lavish $72,300,000  for a total of $132,000,000. I have to wonder what the Pope, who has criticized Trump and America for not taking better care of all those homeless people in L.A. and San Francisco, was thinking. Even his Rome home has increasing numbers of homeless people living amidst the roaches, rats, and trash heaps in her streets. So where is his holiness sitting upon his throne? Vatican City is In the heart of Rome.

https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/homeless-in-rome

So the pseudo, Eternal City, though nowhere near Eternal, can still pay $132 Million for a showy glass house of worship??
https://www.thedailybeast.com/rome-tourist-heaven-is-awash-in-bird-poop-and-garbage

Her certain judgment is scheduled:
"For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And (they) cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!" Rom. 18:17-18.

CALIFORNIA MEGA CHURCH CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL GETS NEW NAME AS IT CHANGES TO A CATHOLIC CHURCH

After a two-year, $72.3 million renovation, the famous Crystal Cathedral in Southern California reopened its doors Wednesday as a Roman Catholic church -- now called Christ Cathedral.

For years the ornate glass church in Garden Grove, south of Los Angeles, was the setting for the late Rev. Robert H. Schuller’s weekly "Hour of Power" televised sermons.

But after Schuller retired, his Crystal Cathedral ministry suffered financial problems and was forced to sell the iconic structure, which was completed in 1981. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange eventually purchased the church for $60 million in 2011, four years before Schuller died at age 88, KABC-TV of Los Angeles reported.

Now with the renovation complete, the Diocese hopes to make the cathedral a focal point for its spiritual mission.

“The cathedral stands as a physical sign of unity of the 62 parishes in the Diocese of Orange,” the Rev. Christopher Smith, rector and episcopal vicar of the church, told the Los Angeles Times.

The renovations incorporate important Catholic iconography, including a 1,000-pound crucifix and a cross-shaped baptismal pool. Relics from several Catholic martyrs and Pope John Paul II are also encased in the altar, according to the Times. (Reported by FOX News)

All things are fuel for the final earthly fire, except the eternal souls of people ... which exist forever ... somewhere.  Those souls are our mission.

"Jesus, who rode into Jerusalem, not on a horse, camel or Cadillac, but on a donkey,  said,    "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?" John 3:12.

Planned Abortion, Not Parenthood, Is Their Business.

Worldwide, since 1980, there have been 1,541,802,281 abortions. 

See "Abortion Clock" at <  www.numberofabortions.com/  >.

That is about one fifth of the world's present population. It's the greatest genocidal holocaust of all time, surpassing all wars and murders in history. Abortion is Satan's continuing war against God's command to the human race in Gen.1:28.    "God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth."    

Of the 61.5 Million abortions in the U.S. since Roe V Wade, in 1973, 8.5 million of them have been done by Planned Parenthood. They have done nearly 200,000 just since January of this year. Over the 46 years since abortion became legal, our Government has given approximately $230,000,000 of our tax dollars to them. And we, like lambs amidst the wolves have hardly noticed the carnage. Is it any wonder the world, and America, is in such chaotic tumult? 

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From 2013 to 2015, Planned Parenthood spent a total of $1.5 billion in federal program funds, including combined federal and state funds under federal programs. Of this total, Planned Parenthood received $1.2 billion in reimbursements from Medicaid, and the remaining $289 million came from various programs under the Department of Health and Human Services as well as the departments of Agriculture, Education, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, and Justice.[3] (Lozier Institute)

Planned Parenthood CEO Ousted 
Because Group Is 'Driven By Abortion'

Planned Parenthood CEO Dr. Leana Wen said she was fired after a "secret meeting" citing "philosophical differences" with a board that wants to "double down on abortion." But one pro-life leader, whose mission is to end abortion and help workers leave the industry, told Fox News the abortion provider wasn't a good fit for a doctor in the first place.

"It's no surprise...This is the worst job in America. They do over 330,000 abortions a year," Shawn Carney, president and CEO of 40 Days for Life, told "Fox & Friends" Wednesday morning.

He said Wen was hired because she was a doctor. "She came in trying to legitimize Planned Parenthood as a health care provider, but they are, as she found out, driven by abortion," Carney said. "You will not see a doctor at Planned Parenthood unless you're having an abortion, and so she was wanting to talk more about health care but this is a terrible time for Planned Parenthood. They've closed many of their locations. They poured $30 million trying to get Hillary Clinton elected and now they are the advocates for late-term abortion and infanticide that we're seeing spread across the country.

 His organization, based out of Houston, Texas, has saved over 16,000 babies from being aborted and has helped 200 abortion workers leave the industry, most notably, former Planned Parenthood clinic worker, Abby Johnson, who was the abortion giant's employee of the year in 2008. Carney is depicted in the faith-based film, "Unplanned," which follows Johnston's story from clinic worker to pro-life advocate.

Wen's exit comes at a time when President Trump's administration is set to pull millions in federal funding from Planned Parenthood after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Health and Human Services (HHS) can divert Title X family planning funds from going to abortions. Wen has called it a "devastating blow" to the organization.

Carney, who started the peaceful prayer movement to end abortion across from the Planned Parenthood where Johnson once worked, said a growing number of people have been leaving the abortion industry in disgust.

"The abortion industry has lost people in droves, not [workers] who are just mad and want another job, but actually had a change of heart, and the most powerful voices in the pro-life movement are those women who themselves have had an abortion," he said. "Those are the women that lead the March for Life in Washington, D.C., so I think it's awesome to see the pro-life movement, not only get larger, but it gets younger every single year."

Carney's group, 40 Days for Life, is planning its largest peaceful anti-abortion prayer campaign from September 25 to November 3. (From FOX News). ___________________________

Don't miss this Excellent Prager University Video On "Planned Parenthood" https://www.prageru.com/videos/what-you-need-know-about-planned-parenthood

Mark Of The Beast In Hand Of Unbelievers Draws Near

The Technology Is Here And In Use

As Globalists Create World Confusion And Chaos With Purpose

The prophetic sign of tiny, micro-chip technology in the forehead or hand, of every human being, required to pay for or sell anything to or from anyone, without use of cash or credit card, is now available. This technology will no doubt continue to be perfected and reduced from the size of a grain of rice to an even smaller and more powerful, injectable device. It can already identify a person and carry medical and other information about them.

This prophecy has been preached for many years. I first heard it when I was a young man long before the technology was known or even thought possible. 

"And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." Rev. 13:15-17.

"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." Rev. 20:4.

Possible "forehead" ID: Elon Musk, the futurist billionaire behind SpaceX and Tesla, outlined his plans to connect humans' brains directly to computers ..., describing a campaign to create "symbiosis with artificial intelligence." He said the first prototype could be implanted in a person by the end of next year. Arriving at that goal "will take a long time," Musk said in a presentation at the California Academy  of Sciences in San Francisco, noting that securing federal approval for implanted neural devices is difficult. But testing on animals is already underway, and "a monkey has been able to control the computer with his brain," he said.    https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/tech/elon-musk-wants-hook-your-brain-directly-computers-starting-next-ncna1030631

For people to agree to such markings and the iron fisted rule of Antichrist, they will be softened up by world confusion and chaos.

Diabolical Road To World Order Forked From Force To Global Confusion In 1974
Globalists Created Third Stressful World Confusion With Purpose.
They said it with their own words, in green, below...

Patrick Wood, of Citizens For Free Speech, reminds us that ... 

"We have discussed the importance of knowing who and what we are fighting against in order to properly exercise our rights under the First Amendment. In 1974, Trilateral Commission member Richard Gardner wrote an article for Foreign Affairs called The Hard Road to World Order. He concluded, 

"The 'house of world order' will have to be built from the bottom up rather than from the top down. It will look like a great 'booming, buzzing confusion', but an end-run around national sovereignty, eroding it piece by piece, will accomplish much more than the old-fashioned frontal assault."

Does today's America seem like a 'booming, buzzing confusion'? You bet it does, and you know we didn't get here by accident.

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My Comment (RB): The   "House Of World Order"   ("House" is singular. So it is the One World Government, Law, Money, Medical, Educational, International Corporations et al which most of those institutions and global political leaders have been pushing for about 70 years.   "Built from the bottom rather than the top"   expresses their realization, in 1974, that, with all their power, they couldn't force their "New World Order" on those billions of ordinary people on   "the bottom"   to give up their identity, customs and entnicity and accept internationalism in place of nationalism. President Trump was recently rebuked, by these forerunners of the Antichrist's global reign, when he forcefully declared he is a Nationalist not a Globalist.
So, since about 1974, ignorant of the prophesied Anti-Christ, these global power brokers have created that insidious, perverse, global environment, of   "booming, buzzing confusion"   which will motivate the masses, at   "the bottom"   of the global pyramid to readily accept world order. The Trilateral Commission conceived it as their   "end-run around national sovereignty"   which has "eroded nationalism piece by piece".    and is   "accomplishing" their Satanically inspired dream of Global Rule. RB

"And that no man  (world-wide)  might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." Rev.13:17

This from the New York Post

Swedes are getting implants in their hands to replace cash, credit cards

Thousands of people in Sweden are having futuristic microchips implanted into their skin to carry out everyday activities and replace credit cards and cash. 

More than 4,000 people have already had the sci-fi-ish chips, about the size of a grain of rice, inserted into their hands — with the pioneers predicting millions will soon join them as they hope to take it global. 

“It’s very ‘Black Mirror,’” Swedish scientist Ben Libberton told The Post of the similarity to the TV series highlighting futuristic scenarios. 

Like glorified smartwatches, the chips help Swedes monitor their health and even replace keycards to allow them to enter offices and buildings. 

They have particularly caught on, however, by enabling owners to pay in stores with a simple swipe of the hand, a big deal in a forward-looking country that is moving toward eliminating cash. 

The microchips were pioneered by former body piercer Jowan Österlund, who calls the technology a “moonshot” — and who told Fortune magazine that he’s been hit up by hopeful investors “on every continent except Antarctica.” 

“Tech will move into the body,” the Biohax International founder told the mag. “I am sure of that.” 

Österlund insists the technology is safe — but that has not stopped alarm bells from ringing, with some fearing a link to a doubling in cybercrime in the country over the last decade. 

Libberton, a British scientist based in Sweden, praised the “definitely exciting” potential health benefits of accurate health metrics taken from inside the body. 

“Think if the Apple Watch could measure things like blood glucose,” he told The Post. 

But he also fears the mass of highly personalized data and how it could be used. 

“The problem is, who owns this data?” he asked. “Do I get a letter from my insurance company saying premiums are going up before I know I’m ill? If I use the chip to buy lunch, go to the gym and go to work, will someone have all of this info about me? Is this stored and is it safe?” 

Libberton added, “It’s not just about the chip, but integration with other systems and data sharing.” 

And he fears Swedes are not giving enough thought to the potential dangers. 

“People have shown they’re happy to give up privacy for convenience,” he said. “The chip is very convenient, so could we accept our data being shared very widely before we know the risks?” 

The trend coincides with Sweden’s march toward going cashless, with notes and coins making up just 1 percent of Sweden’s economy. At the same time, the country has seen a dramatic decrease in some crimes — with just two bank robberies last year compared to 110 in 2008.

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And this from ARS Technica

A practical guide to microchip implants

An estimated 50 to100,000 folks have implants; how do the benefits compare to the risks?

When Wisconsin-based tech company Three Square Market offered to pay for its employees to be voluntarily microchipped last summer, the Internet was aghast. But just days before the so-called “chip party” at the 3SM company headquarters, people at the DEFCON hacking conference were eagerly lining up and paying to get microchip implants injected into the subdermal fascia between their thumbs and forefingers. 

This juxtaposition begs the question: are these chip implants a step toward an invasive dystopian future where employers track their subjects’ every movement? Or are they simply an easy way to log in to accounts and open doors with the flick of a wrist? With a small but growing number of chipped individuals (between 50,000 and 100,000 according to estimates from biohacking company Dangerous Things) taking the plunge, society may soon find out. 

What we’re talking about when we talk about microchips Microchip implants are generally shaped like cylinders. They contain a small microchip, a bio-safe epoxy resin, and a copper antenna wire coil encased in lead-free borosilicate glass or soda-lime Schott 8625 biocompatible glass. Microchips used for both animals and humans are field powered and have no battery or power source. Therefore, they are inert until they come within the field produced by a reader device, which implants communicate with over a magnetic field. 

These implants often fall under the RFID (radio-frequency identification) umbrella, and RFID technology encompasses a very broad spectrum of frequencies, devices, protocols, and interfaces. RFIDs are typically found in three frequency families: low-frequency (125 and 134 kilohertz), high-frequency (13.56 megahertz), and UHF (800-915 megahertz). Chips sold for implants are generally either low or high frequency. RFID chips are identified using radio waves, and near-field communication (NFC) chips are a branch of high-frequency radio waves. 

Biohax, the company that installed chips for the 3SM employees who wanted them, sells near-field communication devices, while other companies like Dangerous Things let users select between RFID and NFC chips, for example. People typically use RFID tech to replace keys and passwords, so they can enter their home, unlock and start their car, or log in to a laptop more conveniently. NFC tags can be used to store vCards or Bitcoin wallet addresses, among other things. In Sweden, Biohax partnered with the railways, and chips can be used as ticket carriers. It’s also possible to program chips as different types of triggers so you can, for example, tap your phone to your chip and contact your spouse. 

FURTHER READING Man has NFC chips injected into his hands to store cold Bitcoin wallet Dangerous Things’ 125 kHz xEM chips emulate common low-frequency EM41xx style chips, have some programmable memory space and basic security features, and allow you to program or clone EM or HID tag IDs, such as ProxMark II card IDs. Their 13.56MHz xNT chips are higher frequency and are based on the NTAG216 chip. They have 888 bytes of user programmable memory and 32-bit password protection security features. They are NFC compliant. The company’s 13.56 MHz xMI microchips have 769 bytes of user programmable memory and support Crypto1 security features, but those are only supported on some NFC devices. The company’s 3.56 MHz xIC devices have 128 bytes of programmable memory but no security features, and these are only supported on some NFC devices. 

Dangerous Things often refers to microchip implants as transponders, a portmanteau for transmitter-responder. But information security researcher Tarah Wheeler, a Principal Security Advisor at Red Queen Technologies and Cybersecurity Fellow at New America, believes the term is inaccurate when used to refer to unpowered magnetic memory such as USB drives or implantable microchips. Again, these chips are unpowered, have teeny tiny antennas, and don’t really transmit anything. “You’re lucky if it’s anything beyond a foot at maximum. In reality, functionally, you must touch it to the device to get a read,” she says. 

Dangerous Things CEO Amal Graafstra installs a microchip at ToorCamp. Enlarge / Dangerous Things CEO Amal Graafstra installs a microchip at ToorCamp. https://dangerousthings.com The health risks These days, microchips are so safe that they’re used by pet owners to tag their own dogs and cats. In fact, the risk to humans from an ear-piercing is greater since chip implants scab over far more quickly—in a matter of hours. Still, Dangerous Things CEO Amal Graafstra warns that if people try to insert the chips themselves and don’t follow aseptic procedure, they may get an infection. And infections can sometimes (rarely) lead to MRSA, a type of staph infection that has become resistant to many antibiotics and can sometimes be deadly. The risk of infection is reduced by working with a professional body piercer skilled with needles and aseptic procedures, which is why Dangerous Things has a network of partners to recommend (including some who can install more involved products). The biohacking supply company’s X-series devices are usually sold pre-loaded inside a sterile injection assembly. 

Upon installation, the tags do cause a moderate amount of swelling for up to around a day and some bruising for a few days. It can take two to four weeks for the tag to get encapsulated with fibrous collagen tissue, and users might have some temporary itching or pinching sensations for up to two years as the body heals around the tag. 

But after a tag has healed, it can’t be felt under the skin, and it usually can’t be seen under most people’s hands unless they’re gripping large objects, according to Dangerous Things. It’s possible for the skin covering the tag to get pinched between the tag and another object, which can be mildly painful, but this can be prevented by not rolling the tag between hard surfaces. 

The most inexpensive microchips sold by Dangerous Things are encapsulated in biosafe glass and are inserted in the skin between the thumb and index finger. Though they are not indestructible, they are far less likely to break when inside the human body. 

Implantable microchips are compatible with MRI machines and are not picked up by metal detectors or airport scanners. And if a person ultimately second-guesses the thing, they’re also not difficult to take out. Animal chips are coated with biobond or parylene, but human chips are not, which makes removal easier. A doctor can put a glove on, make a small incision, and press the chip up from the skin to get it right out. (In 2004, Verichip offered an implantable microchip meant to unlock personal health records. It was injected into the triceps muscle and was coated in bio-bond and was meant to be permanent, so the device could only be removed with much pain and scar tissue. The process has evolved, however, so this doesn’t apply to the implantable chips being used today.) 

One health concern Graafstra sometimes hears comes from people who are convinced that they have had a chip implanted against their will. These individuals say that such a chip is somehow making them hear voices or see flashes of light or experience other phenomena. This fear is sometimes due to undiagnosed mental illness, and sometimes it’s because of scammers that claim to scan people for chips and offer removal services. “If there was a neural interface that was that good, it would be the holy grail of computer/brain interfaces,” Graafstra says. In reality, even the most advanced neural interface implants do little more than talk to a few neurons. The CEO has investigated some of these claims and reported his findings. Now when someone approaches him to ask about chip-inspired voices or visions, he recommends that they see a doctor, preferably one specializing in neurological disorders

Birds Of A Feather Flock Together? Yes But Even

If it quacks, walks and looks like a duck … 
it could still be a hawk or skunk in drag.

This young hawk, in dove drag, was demoted (to the nursery?) by her slightly less Progressive, Liberal, Elder, Democrat Congregation when she tasted some of the flock and had bloody feathers on her beak.

The pretty little thing, in her holy, dove vestments had a sharp, curved beak, claws and was caught eating every one's lunch and tasting some of the doves and lambs. But she claims her very Liberal, Progressive, and Famous, Democrat  Church has violated her Pastoral, and Constitutional Freedom of speech? … religion? … sex ?… judgment? … giving? … loving? … what? … Maybe terminal hypocrisy. She should now run for Congress. In New York she would pass Dem vetting with high marks, get elected and join that "Young Progressive Girls' Hellcat Club" and help them agitate Pelosi, Trump and the Border Patrol. With her 2 left wings, Fake News Media, Hollywood Pretenders, and U.S. Perverts Anonymous help, she may even become our first female President. RB

Caleb Parks Reports from the scene of the grime

A famous liberal Manhattan church has parted ways with its first female senior minister after complaints she took fellow ministers on a sex toy shopping spree and gifted one of them an unwanted vibrator, according to reports.

The Rev. Amy Butler, an anti-Trump rising star at Riverside Church known as "Pastor Amy," had a formal harassment claim filed against her in May in a shocking fall from grace for a congregation known for its inter-denominational liberalism and progressive beliefs on LGBTQ, immigration, and environmental issues, according to the New York Post.

And while the charge against the high-ranking woman of the cloth alleges some raunchy, aggressive behavior, her supporters maintain she was let go because she spoke up against harassment and sexism in the church.

The 49-year-old minister, who was hired in 2014, allegedly led one member of her flock and two fellow preachers into a Minneapolis sex shop called the Smitten Kitten, while they were there for a religious conference. She reportedly quipped "Is this a church business expense?" after pulling out the church credit card, though it is unclear if she used it.

While in the raunchy store, Butler allegedly bought a $200 bunny-shaped blue vibrator for one minister -- a single mom of two celebrating her 40th birthday -- and offered to buy a toy for the second minister -- a gay man in a committed relationship. The man declined and repeatedly told her he felt uncomfortable.

Days later, after harassment claims were filed, the church's lawyer hired a third-party investigator who confirmed the claims, according to report

The sex toy incident was apparently the final straw amid mounting concerns from the Riverside Church Council about Butler's judgment, as she was seeking a $100,000 raise. She has a $250,000 annual salary and $8,000 monthly housing allowance -- on top of other cushy benefits.

Butler’s successor, interim Senior Minister Michael Livingston, broke the news of her departure during his sermon at a Sunday worship service on July 7.

“Rev. Dr. Amy Butler and the Riverside Church Council are announcing that after five years of leadership, Pastor Amy will not be renewing her contract as senior minister,” Marilyn Mitchel, chair of the Church Council, wrote in the announcement posted on Riverside's website. “The Council thanks Pastor Amy for her leadership and asks all congregants to pray for her continued ministry as a leader in the progressive Christian world.”
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Yeah ... right... Good Luck. That's all the good they can hope for. RB