Could lead codices prove ‘the major discovery of Christian history?

British archaeologists are seeking to authenticate what could be a landmark discovery in the documentation of early Christianity: a trove of 70 lead codices that appear to date from the 1st century CE, which may include key clues to the last days of Jesus' life. As UK Daily Mail reporter Fiona Macrae writes, some researchers are suggesting this could be the most significant find in Christian archeology since the Dead Sea scrolls in 1947.

The codices turned up five years ago in a remote cave in eastern Jordan—a region where early Christian believers may have fled after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. The codices are made up of wirebound individual pages, each roughly the size of a credit card. They contain a number of images and textual allusions to the Messiah, as well as some possible references to the crucifixion and resurrection. Some of the codices were sealed, prompting yet more breathless speculation that they could include the sealed book, shown only to the Messiah, mentioned in the Book of Revelation. One of the few sentences translated thus far from the texts, according to the BBC, reads, "I shall walk uprightly"--a phrase that also appears in Revelation. "While it could be simply a sentiment common in Judaism," BBC writer Robert Pigott notes, "it could here be designed to refer to the resurrection."

But the field of biblical archaeology is also prey to plenty of hoaxes and enterprising fraudsters, so investigators are proceeding with due empirical caution. Initial metallurgical research indicates that the codices are about 2,000 years old--based on the manner of corrosion they have undergone, which, as Macrae writes, "experts believe would be impossible to achieve artificially."

Beyond the initial dating tests, however, little is confirmed about the codices or what they contain. And the saga of their discovery has already touched off a battle over ownership rights between Israel and Jordan. As the BBC's Pigott recounts, the cache surfaced when a Jordanian Bedouin saw a menorah—the Jewish religious candleabra—exposed in the wake of a flash flood. But the codices somehow passed into the ownership of an Israeli Bedouin named Hassam Saeda, who claims that they have been in his family's possession for the past 100 years. The Jordanian government has pledged to "exert all efforts at every level" to get the potentially priceless relics returned, Pigott reports.

Meanwhile, biblical scholars who have examined the codices point to significant textual evidence suggesting their early Christian origin. Philip Davies, emeritus professor of Old Testament Studies at Sheffield University, told Pigott he was "dumbstruck" at the sight of plates representing a picture map of ancient Jerusalem. "There is a cross in the foreground, and behind it is what has to be the tomb [of Jesus], a small building with an opening, and behind that the walls of the city," Davies explained. "There are walls depicted on other pages of these books, too, and they almost certainly refer to Jerusalem."

David Elkington, an ancient religion scholar who heads the British research team investigating the find, has likewise pronounced this nothing less than "the major discovery of Christian history." Elkington told the Daily Mail that "it is a breathtaking thought that we have held these objects that might have been held by the early saints of the Church."

Still, other students of early Christian history are urging caution, citing precedents such as the debunked discovery of an ossuary said to contain Jesus' bones. New Testament scholar Larry Hurtado observes that since these codices are miniature, they were likely intended for private, rather than liturgical, use. This would likely place their date of origin closer to the 3rd century CE. But only further research and full translation of the codices can fully confirm the nature of the find. The larger lesson here is likely that of Eccliastes 3:1—be patient, since "to everything there is a season."

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"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."
Romans 1:20

Featured Scripture of the week: Psalm 46

Psalm 46
King James Version

1-God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2-Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

3-Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

4-There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

5-God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

6-The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

7-The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

8-Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.

9-He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.

10-Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

11-The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Persecution of Christians....

Pakistani officials announced a national three-day mourning period for slain Minorities Minister Shabaz Bhatti, who was shot dead in his car on Monday morning as he traveled near the Islamabad market.

Mr. Bhatti was the only Christian minority cabinet official and was killed by Muslim extremists because he spoke out against muslim sharia and blasphemy laws.








Muslim Brotherhood, Like Egypt's Future, Remains Murky
By Eric Young|Christian Post Reporter

With the Muslim Brotherhood poised to play a growing role in Egypt’s government following the resignation of the country’s long-time president, many observers have been looking into the long-banned group for clues to what lies ahead for Egypt.

But the group, as many are coming to find, may very well be as murky as the North African country's future.

"It's never entirely clear with the Brothers," Dr. Josh Stacher of Kent State University told the Wall Street Journal in a report Tuesday.
"It's a big group, with lots of different points of view,” added the political science professor, who spent years in Egypt studying the organization. “You can find the guy always screaming about Israel and then you got the other guys who don't care about Israel because they're too busy worrying about raising literacy rates."
Known also as al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin, the Muslim Brotherhood is one of the oldest and most influential Islamic movements in the world. The movement’s stated goal is to instill the Qur'an and Sunnah as the "sole reference point for ... ordering the life of the Muslim family, individual, community ... and state."
“The Brotherhood are, if anything, dedicated pragmatists,” remarked D.C.-based consultant Bob Kubinec in a guest opinion column for Christianity Today.

would continue the status quo,” he added after noting the widespread social discrimination against Christians in Egypt.
Since its foundation in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood has combined religion, political activism, and social welfare in its work. The Islamic revivalist movement adopted slogans such as “Islam is the solution” and has sought the establishment of an Islamic state. But sympathizers claim the basic desire of the Brotherhood is to be able to practice Islam as they want to without interference from the state.
“Although it may appear at first counter-intuitive, Egypt's Christians could well be safer if the Muslim Brotherhood were a part of the ruling government,” wrote Kubinec.
Critics, however, disagree.
While members of the Brotherhood include young moderates whose political views on issues such as women's rights and religious freedom mesh with Western values, the movement also includes older conservatives who rail against American imperialism and call for the establishment of an Islamic state.
And notably, the latter outnumbers the former, especially in the leadership, where reportedly no one is under 50.
“Islam is neither philosophically nor theologically compatible with other religions or with democracy. Therefore, it is difficult to take seriously the Muslim Brotherhood’s claims that it wants nothing more than a democratic government,” remarked Dave James, co-founder of the Alliance for Biblical Integrity, in a response to Kubinec’s article.
So while pro-democracy protesters in Egypt celebrate the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak following 18 days of protests, it remains unclear how Friday's change will affect the country – particularly the 10-million-large Christian minority in Egypt.
“The people are afraid for the future, since this is an extremely critical time,” remarked one church pastor who partners with Open Doors in Egypt. “But we trust in God, and we hope and pray for a new Egypt with democracy and freedom for Christians.”
Accordingly, persecution watchdog groups such as Open Doors have issued prayer requests for Egypt, which was ranked No. 19 on the Open Doors 2011 World Watch List of the 50 worst persecutors of Christians.
“We need to remember the church. We need to remember that the Christians in Egypt face the ‘frying pan and the fire,'” commented Dr. Carl Moeller, President/CEO of Open Doors USA. “Their hope is in Jesus Christ and in His sovereignty, but the reality for our brothers and sisters in Egypt is that they face an increasingly uncertain future."
According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Study, 84 percent of Egyptian citizens say they would favor public execution of those who leave Islam for another religion and seventy-six percent of Egyptians favor stoning for those caught in adultery.
Such punishments would be carried out under sharia or Islamic law, which Muslim Brotherhood has sought to have implemented in the country.
On Tuesday, the Muslim Brotherhood announced its intention to form a political party once democracy is established in Egypt. The country's new military rulers, meanwhile, launched a panel of experts to amend the country's constitution enough to allow democratic elections later this year.
Generals from the Armed Forces Supreme Council, which now rules Egypt, said Tuesday the military wants to hand power to a government and elected president within six months. The new constitutional panel is mandated to draw up amendments within ten days to be put to a referendum, paving the way for elections.

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 Martyrdom muted: World shrugs as Christians persecuted:   By Clifford D. May, Boston Herald.com
Saturday, January 15, 2011

Imagine if Muslims in Europe were being arrested for nothing more than peacefully practicing their religion. Imagine if Muslims in South America were being sentenced to death for “insulting” Jesus. Imagine if mosques were being bombed and burned by terrorists in a growing list of Christian-majority countries.
Now here’s what you don’t need to imagine because it is all too real: In recent days, Christian churches have been bombed in Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria and the Philippines. In Indonesia a mob of 1,000 Muslims burned down two Christian churches. In Iran, scores of Christians have been arrested. In Pakistan, a Christian woman received the death penalty for the “crime” of insulting Islam; the governor of Punjab promised to pardon her - and was then assassinated for the “crime” of blasphemy.
cw-2I could provide dozens of additional examples of the persecution and, in many cases, “cleansing” of Christians in what we have come to call the Muslim world. If the situation were reversed, if such a war were being waged against Muslims, it would be the top story in every newspaper, the most urgent item at the United Nations, the highest priority of all the big-league human rights groups  What we have instead is denial.

Professor Janice Stein of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto insists there could be no connection among these dots. The assassination of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, she said, should be viewed

as the consequence of class conflict, not religious extremism.
The assailant who gunned down Taseer - Mumtaz Qadri, one of his own bodyguards - exalted afterward: “I have killed a blasphemer!” He did not say: “I have killed a member of the bourgeoisie!”
Stein also spoke of the “conflict” between Muslims and Christians in Egypt as though both were equally to blame when, in fact, it is clearly Egypt’s ancient but diminishing Coptic community that is under siege with little means to defend itself, much less to wage a campaign of reciprocal oppression.
I remain convinced that most Muslims do not want to be at war with the West - with Christians, Jews, Hindus and others.
That leads to this question: How do moderate and tolerant Muslims fight the tyrants within their community? How do they avoid being killed if they dare speak up in defense of their own freedom and rights - much less in defense of religious minorities, ethnic minorities and women?
We cannot possibly come up with an adequate answer so long as we refuse to look reality in the eye. And the reality is this: Within the Muslim world today are regimes, movements and individuals convinced that their religion justifies - and benefits from - the most heinous atrocities. They are determined, ruthless and lethal - as Christians and other minorities across a broad swath of the world have been finding out.
If we in the West fail even to speak up for them, can we really expect moderate Muslims to do more?

Clifford D. May is president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on terrorism

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UN alarmed by mass graves in Ivory Coast:

Jan 13, 2011 11:16 PM | By Reuters

A third mass grave has been reported in Ivory Coast, the most senior UN human rights official said, denouncing the killing of civilians and an ambush on peacekeepers.

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Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said UN officials had been denied access to the three sites, including a mass grave found earlier, which allegedly contained 80 bodies.
More than 200 people have died in violence since the November 28 presidential election. Fear of more conflict has prompted more than 25000 people to flee into neighbouring Liberia, according to UN officials.
Pillay denounced an ambush in which three UN peacekeepers were injured, allegedly by forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, in Abidjan on Tuesday night.

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4 American hostages killed by pirates ...

By JASON STRAZIUSO and MALKHADIR M. MUHUMED, Associated Press Jason Straziuso And Malkhadir M. Muhumed, Associated Press –

 

NAIROBI, Kenya – Four Americans taken hostage by Somali pirates off East Africa were shot and killed by their captors Tuesday, the U.S. military said, marking the first time U.S. citizens have been killed in a wave of pirate attacks plaguing the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean for years.

U.S. naval forces who were trailing the Americans' captured yacht with four warships quickly boarded the vessel after hearing the gunfire. They tried to provide lifesaving care to the Americans, but they died of their wounds, U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida said in a statement.
A member of a U.S. special operations force killed one of the pirates with a knife as he went inside of the yacht, said Vice Adm. Mark Fox, commander of U.S. naval forces for the Central Command.
Fox said in a televised briefing that the violence on Tuesday started when a rocket-propelled grenade was fired from the yacht at the USS Sterett, a guided-missile destroyer which was 600 yards away. The RPG missed and almost immediately afterward small arms fire was heard coming from the yacht, Fox said.
President Barack Obama, who was notified about the deaths at 4:42 a.m. Washington time, had authorized the military on Saturday to use force in case of an imminent threat to the hostages, said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
A total of two pirates, including the one who was knifed, died during the ensuing confrontation — which happened around 9 a.m. East Africa time — and 13 were captured and detained, the Central Command said. The remains of two other pirates who were already dead for some time were also found. The U.S. military didn't state how those two died. It was unclear if the pirates had fought among themselves.
Negotiations had been under way to try to win the release of the two couples on the pirated vessel Quest when the gunfire was heard, the U.S. military said. Fox, asked by reporters about the nature of the negotiations, said he had no details.

He identified the slain Americans as Jean and Scott Adam, of Marina del Rey near Los Angeles, and Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle, of Seattle, Washington. The Adams ran a Bible ministry and have been distributing Bibles to schools and churches in remote villages in areas including the Fiji Islands, Alaska, New Zealand, Central America and French Polynesia.

The Quest was the home of the Adams who had been sailing around the world since December 2004 with a yacht full of Bibles.
Pirates hijacked the Quest on Friday several hundred miles south of Oman. Fox said mariners are warned about traveling through the area because of the dangers of pirate attacks.
Gen. James N. Mattis, commander of U.S. Central Command, said: "We express our deepest condolences for the innocent lives callously lost aboard the Quest."
In total the U.S. said that 19 pirates were involved in the hijacking of the Quest.
At the Seattle Singles Yacht Club, where Riggle and Macay were well known, Joe Grande said the two were "great sailors, good people. They were doing what they wanted to do, but that's small comfort in the face of this."
Only minutes before the military announced that the four Americans had died, a Somali pirate told The Associated Press by phone that if the yacht were attacked, "the hostages will be the first to go."
"Some pirates have even suggested rigging the yacht with land mines and explosives so as the whole yacht explodes with the first gunshot," said the pirate, who gave his name as Abdullahi Mohamed, who claimed to be a friend of the pirates holding the four Americans.
Graeme Gibbon-Brooks, the head of Dryad Maritime Intelligence, said he was confounded by the turn of events.
"We have heard threats against the lives of Americans before but it strikes me as being very, very unusual why they would kill hostages outright," he said, adding that the pirates must realize that killing Americans would invite a military response.
The military said U.S. forces have been monitoring the Quest for about three days, since shortly after the Friday attack. Four Navy warships were involved, including the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.
Last week a Somali pirate was sentenced to 33 years in prison by a New York court for the 2009 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama, a U.S. cargo vessel. That hijacking ended when Navy sharpshooters killed two pirates holding the ship's captain.
A pirate in Somalia told the AP last week that pirates were more likely to attack Americans because of the verdict.
The killing of the four Americans appears to underscore an increasingly brutal and aggressive shift pirates have been showing toward hostages. The conventional wisdom in the shipping industry had been that Somali pirates are businessmen looking for a ransom payday, not insurgents looking to terrorize people.
Pirates — who currently hold 30 ships and more than 660 hostages — typically win a multimillion ransom for releasing their captives, a huge sum that is shared among investors and pirates. The money is often spent on alcohol, drugs and prostitutes. One ransom paid last year was reported as $9.5 million. Most ransoms are worth several million dollars.
Given that typical financial motivation, Tuesday's killings left several unanswered questions, such as whether the four hostages had tried to take over the yacht from the pirates, or if the American forces spooked the pirates by approaching the yacht.
Pirates have increased attacks off the coast of East Africa in recent years despite an international flotilla of warships dedicated to protecting vessels and stopping the pirate assaults.
Mohamed, the pirate in Somalia, told AP that pirate leaders had been expecting the yacht to make landfall soon.
Five cars full of pirates were headed toward the pirate dens of Eyl and Gara'ad in anticipation of the Quest reaching land Monday, he said. Had the four reached land, they may have faced a long hostage ordeal like the 388 days that the British sailing couple Paul and Rachel Chandler spent in the hands of pirates. The two were released in November.
Omar Jamal, first secretary at Somalia's mission at the U.N., sent his condolences to the families of the four Americans and called the deaths a tragic loss of life. Jamal said there is an urgent need to address the piracy problem.

Featured Bible Chapter

John Chapter 17 - (NIV)


1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

The New Cold War -

CHINA:





THE MIDDLE EAST:

"What in the world...."

SIGNS OF THE TIMES:



"Punished with a baby" Mr. President ????






"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be."
Psalm 139: 13-16

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"Before I formed you in the womb,
I knew you.
And before you were born, I consecrated you."

Jeremiah 1:5

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Read Yahoo article: "Shooting suspect's nihilism rose with isolation"  about a athiest young man obsessed with nihilistic belief system shot and killed 6 people, wounded 14 including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110110/ap_on_re_us/us_congresswoman_shot_gunman_16











Also in the news

27 deaths, including 14 decapitated, rock Acapulco

By SERGIO FLORES, Associated Press Sergio Flores, Associated Press – Sun Jan 9, 7:05 am ET

ACAPULCO, Mexico – The image of this beach mecca has taken a new hit from Mexico's drug violence, with 27 people killed in less than a day, including 14 men whose bodies were found with their heads chopped off at a shopping center.
Acapulco has seen fierce turf wars between drug gangs, and the bloodshed is scaring some vacationers away even though little of the violence happens in tourist areas.
The decapitation slayings and most of the other killings that occurred in a stretch of just a few hours from Friday night into Saturday also occurred in non-tourism areas. But two police officers were shot to death on a major bayside avenue in front of visitors and locals.
The 14 headless bodies, and a 15th intact corpse, were found by police on a street outside a shopping center accompanied by written warnings from a drug cartel, authorities said.
Handwritten signs left with the bodies were signed by "El Chapo's People," a reference to the Sinaloa cartel, which is headed by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, said Fernando Monreal Leyva, director of

investigative police for Guerrero state, where Acapulco is located.
The narco-messages indicated the Sinaloa cartel killed the 15 men for trying to intrude on the gang's turf and extort residents.
Mexico's drug cartels have increasingly taken to beheading their victims in a grisly show of force, but Saturday's discovery was the largest single group of decapitation victims found in recent years.
In 2008, a group of 12 decapitated bodies were piled outside the Yucatan state capital of Merida. The same year, nine headless men were discovered in the Guerrero state capital of Chilpancingo.
Also killed Saturday in Acapulco were the two police officers; six people who were shot dead and stuffed in a taxi, their hands and feet bound; and four others elsewhere in the city. Two police officers were wounded when armed men attacked a police post in the city's Emiliano Zapata district.
"We are coordinating with federal forces and local police to reinforce security in Acapulco and investigating to try to establish the motive and perpetrators of these incidents," Monreal said.
The wave of violence in one of Mexico's biggest resorts was condemned by the federal government.
"Reprehensible acts of violence such as these underscore the need to fight with determination against organized crime," a statement from the Interior Ministry said.
At least 30,196 people have died in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against cartels in late 2006.
Also Saturday, authorities said a small-town mayor was found dead in northern Mexico.
Saul Vara Rivera, mayor of the municipality of Zaragoza, was reported missing by family members Wednesday, Coahuila state prosecutors said in a statement. His bullet-ridden body was discovered Friday in neighboring Nuevo Leon state.
There were no immediate arrests.
At least a dozen mayors were killed nationwide last year in acts of intimidation attributed to drug gangs.

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Fish & Bird kills: are we getting answers or being placated?

 By Doug Hagmann  Saturday, January 8, 2011

Readers looking for reassuring evidence that the recent massive die offs of fish and birds will find comfort in knowing that such events are historically not all that uncommon. Weather, pollution, parasites and disease are reported as the major culprits behind such events, even as reported yesterday by Glenn Beck. That appears to be the “safe, middle-of-the-road” explanation. It might even be the correct explanation. But what if it’s not?

Also, why are we treated with absurd explanations by our government when the truth, if it is indeed the truth, would be more convincing?

The official government explanation for public consumption, as reported by the corporate media, is that the massive bird kill in Arkansas was the result of loud noises created by New Year’s celebratory fireworks. Spooked and disoriented by the loud noises created by the fireworks, some 5,000 red wing blackbirds were roused from their resting positions and flew into one another and other stationary objects, causing massive blunt force trauma to their internal organs, killing them and causing them to rain from the sky like something out of a Stephen King Novel.
In the event you remain unconvinced, veteran bird curator at the Smithsonian Greg Graves has gone on record, saying that the significance of the event has been exaggerated and the massive “die off is not such a big deal.” Sure enough, as about 163 such events are reported on an annual basis, although most seem to “fly under the radar” due to location and other factors (pun intended).
About the blackbirds, Graves stated that “The blackbirds are considered a nuisance, especially in the south where large winter roosts occur.” In large numbers, they can be noisy, messy and destructive, much like those of us who are in the general “unanointed” population. (Okay, I added that last portion of the sentence for effect).
As to the estimated 100,000 fish found dead within days of the bird deaths just 125 miles away in the Arkansas River, and another 500 blackbirds found dead in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, those incidents could be completely unrelated, noted Mr. Graves. That sentiment was echoed by government officials as well.
Before dismissing the concerns of us regular folks by citing statistics and general causes, however, shouldn’t we be getting answers that are specific to the latest series of incidents? Or at least have someone asking direct and specific questions instead of relying on anecdotal evidence?
After all, we are supposedly at war, and our enemy has made it clear their intent to use biological and chemical weapons. If that is indeed a legitimate threat, doesn’t it make sense to know the truth before shrugging the events off to natural happenstance?

Possible national security implications

After receiving several e-mails about this matter, including one from a soldier with extensive biological and chemical experience currently serving in Iraq, I thought it was time to begin conducting my own investigation. After all, Janet Napolitano is currently busy assisting American troops with reinforcement of the border (between Pakistan and Afghanistan, that is). Perhaps that is the reason that I could find no one in the media posing any direct questions to the Department of Homeland Security about biological or chemical concerns. As I already noted, others are simply relying on anecdotal evidence to support their conclusions that “there is nothing to see here.”
The first thing I learned, which at first blush supports the historical evidence, is that strange animal deaths en masse have been reported over the years for reasons that one would not ordinarily expect. There have been reports of “flying fish” and “raining frogs,” for example, that were legitimately traced to nearby tornado activity. Not everything is a conspiracy. Odd, yes, but neither nefarious nor completely inexplicable.
The second thing I learned is much more disconcerting. Uncomfortable with merely relying on statistics, I thought I would pose specific questions about the recent wildlife deaths to the very agency within our government that was created to protect us from threats within our homeland. What I found was troublesome and makes me believe they are not doing their job, at least not in this instance.
Shortly after 9:00 this morning, I called the Department of Homeland Security office in Washington, and the DHS Threat Fusion Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which covers Arkansas. I introduced myself and my purpose for calling, which was to verify that the Department of Homeland Security has an open investigation into the two incidents involving the bird and fish deaths in Arkansas, given what we know about the current bio-chemical threats to the U.S.
At both locations, I was greeted by pleasant individuals who promptly sent me into telephone transfer hell, and finally to a male DHS agent at the latter location who declined to give his name to “the media.” It was that office and that person I needed to speak with, I was assured by DHS-HQ.
When asked if the Department of Homeland Security is investigating or assisting in the investigation of the two incidents, he stated that the DHS is aware of the incidents but not involved in any capacity. None.
The following is a verbatim transcript of my conversation with the DHS official after being told of the purpose of my contact and providing a proper introduction, and after the official denying any DHS involvement in the matter.

Investigative oversight? I asked. “No,” came the reply.
“Well, isn’t it possible that the deaths could be, however remote, the result of the release of a chemical or biological agent?” I asked.
“It’s highly unlikely, very doubtful,” he replied.
“How do you know? Have you been in contact with anyone engaged in the necropsies of the birds or fish?” I asked.
“Uh, no,” he replied.
“Well. if you’re not involved in the investigation in any capacity, how do you know?” I pressed.
“We would know,” came his reply.
“Okay, my last question, sir. Would you know if the deaths could be from any action of the U.S. military, such as the Dugway sheep incident back in the late ‘60‚Ä≤s? Or would you be informed of-
At that point, he interrupted me, saying: “This has nothing to do with the military and is not a matter under DHS review.”

Our conversation concluded at that point. Clearly, he was becoming agitated by my continuing questions. Before hanging up, I again asked him for his name for the purpose of this article, but he declined citing the same reason.

Research of significant incidents

After combing through numerous news articles and contacting several wildlife agencies, I confirmed that over the last few years, there have been several significant incidents involving the strange or large number of deaths of wildlife in the U.S. and elsewhere. Some can be attributed to the “nature” of things. Others, well, perhaps not.
On 26 July 2002, for example, Paul Sperry reported that during the 18 months previous to that article, health officials in Washington, DC found 407 dead birds infected with the West Nile virus, including two that were picked up at the White House. The method of infection of West Nile into the bird population of the U.S., and specifically into the DC birds themselves, has never been satisfactorily explained.
On 21 December 2007, several dozen birds described as “a flock of Purple Martins” fell from the sky over New York City. Many were found scattered across Staten Island, either falling from the sky or landing, then fall over and begin to twitch and flap as they died. This incident is particularly significant by the very graphic nature of actual amateur video taken of one of the birds after it fell to the ground. Aside from the fact that the birds should have been long gone from that area, the video is clearly indicative of something other than anecdotal evidence that nothing is amiss.
I was surprised by the number of recent wildlife deaths and compiled a list of significant incidents at the end of this article. I also found it interesting the similarities between previous unexplained incidents and those being reported now. For example, on 8 January 2007, Esperance, a town near Perth in Western Australia, was declared a natural disaster area after several hundred birds dropped dead out of the sky and onto people’s lawns over a wide area. At about the same time and halfway around the world, the streets in Austin, Texas were closed as officials cleaned up hundreds of dead birds that also inexplicably fell dead from the sky. To date, neither incident has been sufficiently explained. According to the Australian report, some birds were observed convulsing on the ground before they died.
Nothing out of the ordinary? Perhaps another look at the video from Staten Island might be in order.
The reports today appear similar in nature. It’s easy to dismiss the incidents as freaks of nature, or insisting, without evidence, that “there is nothing to see here” as many are.
Although the entirety of “massive kills” listed below could have innocuous explanations, I believe that we deserve to know the truth. We deserve better from our investigative agencies, making sure that they are on top of things, while making sure that they are not merely the domestic authoritative arms for global restructuring.

Based on my research, I doubt that we will be told the whole truth behind each of these deaths, unless, of course, someday, someone, releases a report like the 1994 GAO accounting of the Dugway sheep kill incident. By then, though, will it matter? I sense that if we continue to accept the inane explanations, fail to ask questions, or continue on our path of blissful ignorance, it is us who might become the next statistic.

Listing of significant wildlife deaths:

Date of occurrence: 31 December 2010

Location: Beebe, AR
Type of Animal: Red wing Blackbirds
Numbers: About 5,000 (estimates widely vary)
Official explanation/comments: Fireworks frightened birds, causing disorientation
Link: http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/03/arkansas.falling.birds/index.html?hpt=T2
Notes: Necropsy findings: Necropsies performed Monday on the birds in Arkansas showed the birds “suffered internal injuries that formed blood clots leading to their deaths.”

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Date of occurrence: 29 December 2010

Location: Arkansas River, Ozark Lock & Dam
Type of Animal: Freshwater Drum fish between 6-11 inches long
Numbers: 83,000-100,000
Area: about 20 miles from the Ozark Lock and Dam downstream to River Mile 240, directly south of Hartman, Arkansas
Official explanation/comments: Pending test results
Link: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/01/03/2011-01-03_100000_drum_fish_die_in_arkansas_river_more_than_100_miles_from_site_of_bizarre_.html

: 29 December 2010 – 3 January 2011

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Date of occurrence

Location: Kent Island, MD (Chesapeake Bay)
Type of Animal: Small fish (Menhayden, spots and croakers.)
Numbers: Tens of thousands to 100,000 (wide variation of estimates)
Area: County wide
Official explanation/comments: Stress from cold
Link: http://www.wbaltv.com/r/26357581/detail.html
: 31 December 2010-2 January 2011

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Date of occurrence

Location: Spring Creek, TN (along Highway 70 north in Lebanon)
Type of Animal: Grackles
Numbers: About 120
Official explanation/comments: None provided
Link: http://www.wsmv.com/news/26379609/detail.html
2 January 2011

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Date of occurrence:

Location: Paranagua, Brazil
Type of animal: Sardines
Numbers: 100 tons
Official explanation:

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Date of occurrence: 1-3 January 2011

Location: Gilbertsville, KY
Type of Animal: Mostly blackbirds
Numbers: Dozens
Area: Small area confined to private property
Link: http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Woman-reports-dozens-of-dead-birds-in-her-yard-112830524.html
: 2-3 January 2011

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Date of occurrence

Location: LA 1, Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana
Type of Animal: Red wing blackbirds and starlings
Area: Approximate quarter-mile stretch; About 50 dead birds were found near a power line 30 or 40 feet  from Louisiana Highway 1. About a quarter-mile  away, a second group of 400 or more stretched from the power line and across the highway,
Numbers: About 500
Note: In 1999, several thousand grackles fell from the sky and staggered about before dying in north Louisiana. It took five months to get the diagnosis: an E. coli infection of the air sacs in their skulls.

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Date of occurrence: 3-4 January 2011

Location: Sarnia, Ontario
Type of Animal: Fish (various)
Area: St. Clair River – north end
Numbers: Hundreds

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Date of occurrence: 5 January 2011

Location: Highway 155, lake O’ the Pines, near Ore City, TX
Type of Animal: Birds; American Coots or mud-hens
Area: Quarter mile
Numbers: About 250-500 (estimates vary)
Official explanation/comments:  Most likely a natural occurrence in the area and not related to the mysterious bird deaths in Arkansas and Louisiana.

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Date of occurrence: 5 January 2011

Location: Faenza, Italy
Type of Animal: Turtle Doves
Numbers: 8 thousand (estimated)
Area: Undetermined
Official explanation/comments: Although testing is incomplete, signs point to hypoxia caused by suffocation. A notable bluish tint is typical of potassium cyanide poisoning.
Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1344913/Animal-death-mystery-Two-MILLION-dead-fish-wash-Maryland-bay.html
: 5 January 2011

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Date of occurrence

Location: Kent, UK
Type of Animal: Crabs
Numbers: 40 thousand (estimated)
Area: two miles of beach
Official explanation/comments:  Hypothermia

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Date of occurrence: 5 January 2011

Location: Fort Pierce to North Hutchinson Island.
Type of Animal: Treasure Coast manatees
Numbers: Several dead (estimated)
Area: just north of the State Road A1A bridge
Official explanation/comments:  Hypothermia/ cold snap
Link: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/fl-treasure-coast-manatees-20110104,0,7714948.story

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Date of occurrence

Location: Esperance, Australia
Type of Animal: Birds (primarily wattle birds, yellow-throated miners, New Holland honeyeaters and singing honeyeaters).
Numbers: 5,000-10,000
Area:  About 10 square miles, including bushland
Official explanation/comments: Undetermined
Link: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/mystery-as-thousands-of-birds-fall-from-sky/story-e6frg6nf-1111112807484

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Date of occurrence

Location: Taizhou, in the eastern coastal province of Jiangsu, China
Type of Animal:  Bramblings (small bird)
Numbers: 10,000
Area:  About 2 square miles
Official explanation/comments:  Intentional poisoning
Link http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200402/28/eng20040228_136064.shtml

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Date of occurrence

Location: New Zeland
Type of Animal: Fish (various) snappers with missing eyes
Area:
Numbers: Hundreds

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Date of occurrence: 3-4 January 2011

Location: Cao Lanh District, Dong Thap
Type of Animal: Fish-Talapia
Area: Can Lo River
Numbers: 150 Tons: 5 January 2011 : 6 February 2004 : 8 January 2007