Wednesday, 04 January 2012 01:46 Written by Jim Denison

December 21, 2012, will mark "the ending of time as we know it." That's according to Jose Arguelles, whose 1987 The Mayan Factor sparked a frenzy that will only escalate this year. On that date, the Mayan calendar completes a 5,126-year cycle. What happens then?

Some warn that Planet X, or Nibiru, will collide with us or otherwise wreak havoc. Astronomers disagree: such a close object, if it existed, would already be visible in the night sky.

Others predict that a geomagnetic reversal will transpose the north and south poles, with cataclysmic results. However, such reversals take as much as 7,000 years to complete and do not start at any particular moment.

Thursday, 17 November 2011 12:50 Written by Jim Denison

Is war in the Middle East imminent?

The International Atomic Energy Agency recently reported that the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon have the capacity to build nuclear warheads. Iran may already possess enough nuclear material for four bombs. It has also conducted computer modeling of nuclear explosions and developed triggering devices. It possesses missiles that can reach Israel and U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf. In a matter of months it could arm those missiles with nuclear warheads.

What if sanctions don't stop Iran's nuclear development program? A nuclear arms race in the Middle East would likely result, as Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia seek their own weapons. A nuclear Iran would shift the balance of power in the Muslim world, perhaps leading to a Soviet Union-like confederation of satellites under the Iranian umbrella. And Iran could launch a conventional war against Israel, confident that their nuclear weapons would deter the Jewish state from using their nuclear stockpile in defense.

Friday, 23 September 2011 18:12 Written by Jim Denison

Imagine this scenario: in the 28 states that voted for Barack Obama in 2008, he is their president.  In the 22 states that voted for John McCain, he is their president.  Now try to negotiate a trade agreement with China.  Who speaks for whom?

This is precisely Israel's dilemma.  Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas submitted a formal application today for the United Nations to grant the Palestinians status as an observer state.  But Abbas speaks only for Fatah, the political party governing the West Bank.  This is an area slightly smaller than the state of Delaware, located on the west bank of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, with a population of 2.5 million.

Hamas is the political party governing the Gaza Strip, the other area of Palestinian occupation.  This is an area along the Mediterranean coast 25 miles long and 4 to 7.5 miles wide, with a population of 1.6 million people.  Their prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, opposes Abbas' actions and the peace process.  Their charter calls for the destruction of Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian state from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River.