News for April 19, 2005

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Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger Chosen as New Pope amid White Smoke and Ringing Bells Aimee Herd (Apr 19, 2005) - Onlookers by the thousands in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, Rome began to cheer this evening as they saw white smoke rising from the Sistine Chapel, followed by bells ringing signaling the new pope had been chosen. Moments later, Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estivez stood at the balcony overlooking the crowd and announced the new pope as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger from Germany, who will be known as “Benedict the 16th,” (benedict means “blessed one.”) It was the end of the second day of voting by the cardinals in the secret conclave. Earlier in the day, Ratzinger delivered a hard-hitting sermon during Mass. “An adult faith does not follow the waves of fashion and the latest novelty,” he said. more...

An interesting door may open to fulfill prophecy when a German Pope who was inducted into Hitler's Nazi Youth program at the age of 14 in 1941 against his will now stretch forward a hand to the Jewish people his homeland decimated in a show of goodwill. I also have to wonder how a young impressionable boy made it through that mess of Nazi propaganda they fed their children. I certainly hope I'm wrong in my questioning.

American mosque’s duplicity exposed - An Arabic-speaking intelligence analyst who visited an American mosque exposed the duplicity of Muslim leaders who advocate violent jihad against “infidels” while speaking their native tongue, but preach compassion and tolerance, in English, to a Western audience.

As a related story, please listen to Walid Shoebat, an ex-terrorist Muslim talk about how he believes Muslims are taking over the world like they always have, speaking of peace in lies while secretly planning the violent takeover. Zola Levitt Interviews (in 2nd half of shows): “Mark of the Beast” and “Rewriting History”

Minuteman Project expands to 4 states - The Minuteman Project in Arizona announced yesterday it will expand its operations, putting pressure on employers of illegals and setting up civilian border watches in four states.

Only one more Pope? - According to a prophecy made in the 12th century, there would be only 112 popes left. Whoever is elected Pope in the next few days will be the 111th.

Jews anxiously await new pope - Upon the announcement of the next pope, will Jews say “amen” or “oy vey”? When the election process of the papal conclave gets under way on Monday, 115 cardinals will have to choose from among their ranks one of several leading figures – men of divergent views, some who would appear likely to follow the course of John Paul II’s special relationship with the Jewish people, and some who could threaten that relationship. German-born Joseph Ratzinger, perhaps the closest cardinal to John Paul II, was also the pope’s doctrinal vanguard and partner in the positions that changed Vatican-Jewish relations.

US Queries Israel Settlement Plan - Israel said on Monday that it expects work to begin soon on 50 new homes in the northern West Bank town of Elkana. The proposal comes days after President Bush warned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to halt any such building. Mr Sharon has also said he favours delaying until mid-August Israel’s planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. He wants to avoid the move overlapping with a Jewish mourning period marking the destruction of the biblical temples. The pullout of all 8,000 Israeli settlers had been due to start on 20 July, but now Mr Sharon wants to delay it by three weeks until 16 August. The international community considers all settlements in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as illegal under international law. Israel disagrees. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the US “will be seeking clarification from the government of Israel” over the plan for new homes in Elkana. “Israel should not be expanding settlements,” he said. The Israeli authorities invited companies to bid for the contract to build the new houses. An official said construction of the homes could start in eight to 12 weeks. At a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last week, President Bush said the expansion of West Bank settlements - particularly in East Jerusalem - violated the “roadmap” peace plan. “I told the prime minister of my concern that Israel not undertake any activity that contravenes roadmap obligations or prejudices final status negotiations,” he said.

I can't get over how ridiculous it is that the world is actually forcing Israel to get smaller while Jews from around the world keep moving there because it's the only place they feel safe from anti-Semitism. I understand that there are places they can live and not deal with it, but they are becoming few and far between now-a-days.

Cardinal Who Warned of ‘Antichrist’ Rises in Betting Odds - In recent years Biffi stirred controversy by saying Italy should “protect its national identity” and stop the avalanche of Muslim immigrants. In 2000, Biffi predicted that “Europe will either become Christian again or it will become Muslim.” He added ominously, “The vast majority of Muslims are coming here determined to remain outside our humanity.” That same year Biffi also said that he believed the Antichrist was alive and would soon rise to prominence. Biffi told a conference meeting in Bologna that the Antichrist was a prominent philanthropist who advocated causes like human rights, the environment and ecumenicism. Biffi said that this man – who he never identified – had a “fascinating personality” and espoused causes like vegetarianism, pacifism, environmentalism and animal rights. Biffi added that this Antichrist would be a Bible expert who would discard its truths to proselytize for “vague and fashionable spiritual values.”

Temple Mount leaders vow Jewish sovereignty - A group that led a Jewish protest at the Temple Mount last weekend in hopes of reclaiming the site from its Islamic custodians told WorldNetDaily this morning it will hold monthly protests “until Jewish sovereignty is restored,” while more than 100,000 Indonesian Muslims rallied yesterday for continued Islamic dominance over the Mount.

“The police blocked most of the people we tried to bring to the Temple Mount last week, so we will continue every month until Jews have a right to pray again at our holiest site,” said David Ha’ivri, director of Revava, a group with the stated mission of “restoring self-esteem to the state of Israel by restoring national pride and values.”

Revava had announced plans to bring 10,000 Jews to the Mount April 10, prompting Palestinian groups, including Hamas and the Islamic Movement, to threaten violence if a large group of Jews ascended the holy site.

And there are people in this world who still go: “Oh those poor Muslims!” Why in a world of “tolerance” they are truly so intolerant?

Tomorrow’s Net speeds could be up to 1,600% faster - If you think that today’s high-speed Internet connections are fast, wait till you see what cable operators plan. The industry’s standard-settings unit, CableLabs, plans to endorse this month technology that will let operators boost speeds 400% to 1,600%, over their existing lines. Motorola and Cisco are among the companies offering alternative methods to increase broadband speeds by linking together the bandwidth used for four or more conventional TV channels. 

What would the faster speed bring? “The sky’s the limit,” says CableLabs CEO Dick Green. “There are a lot of high-data-rate services lurking out there — including a lot that we haven’t even thought of.”