Pacific Theater: Communist China is completing infrastructure in the South China Sea with which it can project military aggression. The Obama U.S. power vacuum brings “change” to yet another region of the globe.

You’ve got to wonder if President Obama’s own national security personnel are crying out for help for America.

His Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, in a Feb. 23 letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., made public last week, said, “Based on the extent of land reclamation and construction activity” in the Spratly Islands, “we assess that China has established the necessary infrastructure to project military capabilities in the South China Sea beyond that which is required for point defense of its outposts. These capabilities could include the deployment of modern fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and coastal defense cruise missiles, as well as increased presence of People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) surface combatants and China Coast Guard (CCG) large patrol ships.”

This extensive military expansion is being made possible by China’s recent construction of more than a half-dozen artificial islands in the area: thousands of acres of new land for military activity. Beijing deployed various military vessels at its island outposts and “has installed military radars, most likely air-surveillance/early warning radars.”

China also “has constructed facilities to support the deployment of high-end military capabilities, including modern fighter aircraft” on the islands. Clapper believes “China will continue to pursue construction and infrastructure development at its expanded outposts in the South China Sea,” which will allow it to “be able to deploy a range of offensive and defensive military capabilities” so that “by the end of 2016 or early 2017, China will have significant capacity to quickly project substantial offensive military power to the region.”

As the New York Times reported last week, “American officials are increasingly worried that the buildup, if unchecked, will give China de facto control of an expanse of sea the size of Mexico and military superiority over neighbors with competing claims to the waters.”

Meanwhile, “analysts say the buildup will make it more difficult for the United States Navy to quickly defend allies with weaker militaries, like the Philippines,” said the Times. “The deployment of fighter jets, antiship missiles and more powerful radar in particular could embolden the Chinese Navy while giving American commanders pause, they said.”

U.S. Pacific Command chief Adm. Harry Harris last month told McCain’s panel that China was “changing the operational landscape in the South China Sea.”

We don’t have to guess at the intentions of the country that for more than four decades has boasted the world’s largest armed forces. A Beijing white paper on the purpose of China’s long-term military strategy last May said, “Building a strong national defense and powerful armed forces is a strategic task of China’s modernization drive and a security guarantee for China’s peaceful development. Subordinate to and serving the national strategic goal, China’s military strategy is an overarching guidance for blueprinting and directing the building and employment of the country’s armed forces.”

The ultimate aim: “Realizing the Chinese dream of achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

What does “the Chinese dream” mean for the nationalist Chinese in Taiwan, which enjoys Western-style free representative government and economic freedom? The Beijing document says, “reunification is an inevitable trend in the course of national rejuvenation.” “Reunification” most certainly does not refer to Beijing ditching its authoritarian model for Taiwan’s system, which gives power to the people.

China is taking avail of an opportunity: the flabbiness of the world’s lone superpower under Obama. It can see that if we can’t finish wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we certainly aren’t going to do much against aggression from Asia’s nuclear-armed giant.

By Dr Joseph Mercola

Guest Writer for Wake Up World

If the biotech industry has its way, 184 million acres of native forests around the world will be bulldozed down and replaced with plantations of genetically engineered (GE) trees.

On these proposed GE tree plantations, there are essentially no other plants, insects, birds, or wildlife — just rows upon rows of cloned Frankentrees growing at accelerated rates on a crust of dead, lifeless soil above dwindling groundwater reserves.

Moreover, GE trees are being genetically engineered with unnatural characteristics, such as the ability to kill insects, tolerate colder temperatures, resist toxic chemicals, and grow faster — but these “advantages” come at an unacceptable price.

Why Genetically Engineer Trees?

Industry wants to market designer trees with a variety of traits that will increase their income-generating capacity — at least over the short-term. Trees have varying degrees of commercial value, depending on their characteristics, as well as how quickly they can be harvested.

For example, some trees like the fast-growing Eucalyptus are being engineered to grow even faster.

In collusion with the paper industry, trees are being engineered to have lower lignin, as this natural polymer must be removed from wood pulp before the pulp can be made into paper, which is an expensive part of the process.

The problem is, lignin is what gives trees their structural integrity — it’s what allows trees to stand strong in wind and other harsh weather conditions, and to withstand diseases and damage from insect and animal browsing.

Low-lignin trees are weaker and less able to withstand these environmental stresses and do not optimally nourish important fungi once they are put back into the soil. Dead low-lignin trees also decompose faster, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere more quickly, which contributes to climate change.

The best thing for trees is to stop using them for paper. Paper doesn’t need to be made from wood pulp, because far more Earth-friendly materials exist, such as agricultural wastes, recycled material, hemp, tobacco, and even banana leaves.

Fruit trees are also being genetically altered so they can be marketed as “disease resistant.”

However, despite these marketing claims, many GE trees and other plants are actually weaker and more susceptible to disease than their natural counterparts and end up needing massive amounts of chemicals to remain viable, usually in the form of herbicides and pesticides.

Not only that, contamination of wild and organic fruit trees by GE genes has been devastating to nearby wild groves. For example, cross-contamination by GE papaya plantations has crushed Hawaii’s wild, organic papaya industry.1

Expert Says Genetic Engineering Is Based on ‘Lousy Science’

The problem with genetic engineering has to do with the fact that GE plants and animals are created using horizontal gene transfer (also called horizontal inheritance), as contrasted with natural reproduction, which involves vertical gene transfer.

Vertical gene transfer, or vertical inheritance, is the transmission of genes from the parent generation to offspring via sexual or asexual reproduction, i.e., breeding a male and female from one species.

By contrast, horizontal gene transfer involves injecting a gene from one species into a completely different species, which yields unexpected and often unpredictable results due to the wake of mutations it generates.

Proponents of genetic engineering assume they can apply the principles of vertical inheritance to horizontal inheritance. But according to award-winning scientist and geneticist David Suzuki, Ph.D. this assumption is flawed in just about every possible way and is “just lousy science.”

Genes don’t function in a vacuum — they act in the context of the entire genome. Whole sets of genes are turned on and off in order to arrive at a particular organism, and the entire orchestration is an activated genome.

When you change a genome, nature can respond in unpredictable ways. It’s a dangerous mistake to assume a gene’s traits are expressed properly, regardless of where they’re inserted. The safety of genetic engineering is only a hypothesis, and in science, hypotheses often end up being wrong.

The Spread of Seed and Pollen Is Uncontrollable

Genetically engineered trees are vastly different from other annual GE crops like corn and soybeans because trees can live for decades and even centuries in the wild. Once GE trees escape the confines of their plantation, they are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to eradicate.

Many tree species, such as pines and poplars, can spread their pollen and seeds over great distances. Pollen can blow hundreds or even thousands of miles, dusting native trees with GE pollen.

Consequently, the risks, regulation, and assessment needs of GE trees may be even greater than those of more seasonal crops like GE corn and soy. Disrupting forest ecosystems endangers the health of the entire planet.

Native forests have been called the “lungs of the Earth,” supporting food and wildlife habitats everywhere. Forests absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, filter water and release it back into the atmosphere, as well as building the soil.

With GE trees, contamination of native forests is both inevitable and irreversible. Many tree species regularly interbreed with similar species, and some are highly invasive, including Eucalyptus — a “bully” that’s spread out of control across California.

Once wild tree species are contaminated, GE trees could take over vast geographical areas, and there’s no do-over — you can recall a dangerous drug, but you can’t recall a dangerous tree until it is too late.

GE Trees May Be the ‘Greatest Threat to Forests Since the Chain Saw’

Genetically engineered trees threaten native forests, which are already endangered by mining, agriculture, pollution and other factors. When you lose a forest, you don’t just lose trees — you destroy an entire web of life.

Critical biodiversity is lost.

We don’t even know the extent of what we’re losing, as many species of plants, animals and insects have yet to be studied. This biodiversity may hold undiscovered cures for cancer and other diseases. Loss of native forests also has negative effects on indigenous communities and world climate.

The health effects of GE seeds and pollen introduce additional concerns. Birds eat the seeds, and we have no idea how they’ll be affected. People inhale the pollen — how will our immune systems react? No one knows because it hasn’t been studied. Entire Filipino villages have been stricken with a mysterious illness thought related to Bt-corn pollen, but an official investigation was never done.2

In addition to that, as noted in the film at the bottom of this article, only about 1 percent of sprayed herbicides andpesticides hit their target — the rest ends up in our food and water. Like GE food crops, GE trees are heavily reliant upon these chemicals. One half million pounds of toxic chemicals already rain down on the U.S. each year in rainwater — much of which is atrazine. Arial spraying of atrazine is used almost exclusively in forestry.

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) advises physicians to warn patients about the potential health dangers of eating GMO food, including infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, faulty insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system.

GE trees can only add to these risks. A list of the dangers of GE trees is summarized below, which is by no means comprehensive, but it will at least give you a feel for the seriousness of this issue.

• Loss of native forest ecosystems, loss of diversity
• Ground water contamination
• Increased fire danger (high oil Eucalyptus trees are like torches for wildfire)
• Increased herbicide and pesticide use
• Excessive water use (GE Eucalyptus plantations have massive water requirements)
• Deforestation (monoculture plantations are NOT forests)
• Damaged soils and decreased carbon sequestration
• Air pollution from burning wood pellets; burning wood produces super fine particulates that can bypass your body’s defenses
• Negative effects on indigenous people
• Unknown health effects from inhaled GMO pollen
• Adverse health effects from aerial application of toxic chemicals
• Contamination of native gene pool
• Loss of land, livelihood and export markets
• Thousands of mutations are typically created
• Bad science with unpredictable consequences

Is ArborGen the Next Monsanto?

The majority of research and development on GE trees has come from a company called ArborGen, the industrial “love child” from a tryst between Monsanto, International Paper, Westvaco, and Fletcher Forests.3 ArborGen is the largest US corporate proponent for GE trees and is hoping to follow Monsanto’s blueprint for commercializing GE crops. If GE trees are approved by the USDA, ArborGen is projected to grow 2,000 percent by 2017.4

A scientist from the Center for Food Safety recently exposed a secret letter from the USDA to ArborGen, dated August 2014. In it, the USDA made the unprecedented decision to allow ArborGen to pursue unregulated commercial cultivation of a loblolly pine genetically engineered for altered wood composition. The trees could be planted anywhere in the U.S. without public knowledge or access to information about them.

Loblolly pines are native across 14 states throughout the southeastern US and are grown in plantations around the world. Their pollen is known to travel for hundreds of miles. Groups from around the world are rising in protest, as this is the first GE tree to be legalized without any government or public oversight or risk assessment.

According to ecologist/biologist Rachel Smolker, Ph.D., of Biofuelwatch:5

“If these GE loblolly pines are released on a large scale in the U.S., there will be no way to stop them from cross contaminating native loblolly pines. This is deliberate, irreversible and completely irresponsible contamination of the environment with unknown and possibly devastating consequences.

Forest ecosystems are barely understood, and the introduction of trees with genes for modified wood characteristics could have all manner of negative impacts on soils, fungi, insects, wildlife, songbirds, and public health. And all this for short term commercial profit.”

In addition to loblolly pines, ArborGen is also seeking USDA approval for Eucalyptus trees engineered for cold tolerance. If granted, ArborGen plans to sell hundreds of millions of seedlings to be planted every year across the southeastern US, from Texas to South Carolina. They are also promoting development of a GE American Chestnut tree that’s resistant to blight, as well as many others.

The Global Campaign to Stop GE Trees

Genetically engineered tree plantations threaten to spoil native forests, displace local farmers and destroy sustainable economies. Pollen and seeds from GE trees are impossible to control, with potentially grim ecological consequences.

Self-sufficient communities will be forced to leave their land, adding to the growth of city slums.

Despite knowledge of these probable outcomes, the biotech industry, with the full backing of the U.S. government, is pushing GE trees forward with ever-increasing zeal.

Fortunately, there is some good news on the horizon. Organizations from all over the world, and all angles of interest, have banded together to form a global network opposing GE trees. The Campaign to STOP GE Trees includes more than 200 organizations in 49 countries. If you care about this issue, please visit their website and sign their petition to the USDA. But don’t stop there! Following are several more things you can do to help preserve our native forests:

• Refrain from buying paper products made from trees/wood pulp; instead, buy recycled paper (toilet paper, tissue paper, writing paper, computer paper); Greenpeace and NRDC have handy downloadable guides for buying recycled, Earth-friendly paper products
• Reuse and recycle the paper products you do use
• Eliminate your need for toilet paper altogether by installing in a bidet
• Say no to napkins, especially when you’re handed a stack of them; use cleaning cloths instead of paper towels
• Cut back on printing; ask yourself if you really need to print a document; use both sides of a paper before tossing it; use old receipts for notes; reuse wrapping paper, or make your own from newsprint or magazines
• Opt out of the yellow pages
• Boycott the new GE apples (“Arctic apples”) and GE potatoes, which just passed FDA inspection.6 For more information on GE apples, read “Genetically Engineered Apples: Any Way You Slice It, a Rotten Idea.”7 Choose only produce that you know is organic, preferably grown near you. The Center for Food Safety has a free Shopping Guide to Avoiding GE Foods.

For further information, please visit:

• Center for Food Safety
• Institute for Responsible Technology
• World Rainforest Movement
• Indigenous Environmental Network
• Synthetic Forests

“Synthetic Forests” is a documentary exposing the truth about GE trees. In this short but hard-hitting film, leading scientists discuss the devastating and irreversible impacts of allowing GE trees into our global ecosystem.

Article sources:

• 1 NWRAGE
• 2 IRT June 2007
• 3 CBS News February 2, 2010
• 4 StopGETrees.org
• 5 IC Magazine Press Release February 5, 2015
• 6 Modern Farmer March 25, 2015
• 7 Friends of the Earth Fact Sheet
  
  

Many herald the days we live in as the end of time, especially as believers interpret prophecies given by everyone from John to Jesus.

But are we missing something?

Yes, says prophetic voice Rick Joyner, who re-evaluates the end times in his new book.

"I really didn't do the math. I got a lot of it from the church fathers and all," Joyner tells Jim Bakker. "But I, you know, it's clear in some of their writings, the early church fathers were the direct disciples of the first disciples of Jesus."

Specifically, Joyner's referring to Polycarp and Ireneas, disciples of John, who Joyner says knew the interpretation of John's Revelation.

Watch the video to see more.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Hundreds of police officers, Secret Service agents and private security guards in cars, on foot and on horseback blanketed the area around Donald Trump's campaign rally Saturday afternoon. Dozens of protesters would soon be ejected from the event.

And that was the calmest rally in the past several days thrown by the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination.

Welcome to Trump's new normal.

After months spent goading protesters and appearing to encourage violence, Trump has seen his raucous rallies devolve over the past two weeks into events at which chaos is expected. The real estate mogul is routinely unable to deliver a speech without interruption, and a heavy security presence is commonplace amid increasingly violent clashes between protesters and supporters.

On Friday, groupings of well-organized students succeeded in keeping Trump from even taking the stage at a rally in Chicago. The next morning, a protester rushed the stage at a Trump rally outside of Dayton, forcing Secret Service agents to leap on stage and form a protective circle around him.

"Frankly, I'm a little shocked that we got to this point, I'm shocked at it," said Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who is vying with Trump to win his home state's winner-take-all primary on Tuesday.

Trump hits Kasich Ahead of Ohio PrimaryPlay video

"We cannot create in this country a toxic environment where images of people slugging it out at a campaign rally, think about it, are transmitted all over the globe," he said.

Trump's events have always been intense. For months, he incorporated interruptions by protesters into his speeches, growling "Get 'em out!" — sparking explosive cheers from the audiences as he did so.

While Trump sometimes appears angered by the disruptions, he has also embraced them, using the interruptions as opportunities to lead his supporters in chants of "USA, USA." He's also joked about how the protesters force TV cameras to pan out over the crowd and show how large they are.

But the confrontations began to escalate this month, most notably at a Trump event in New Orleans. A steady stream of demonstrators interrupted Trump's speech, including a huddle of Black Lives Matter activists, who locked arms and challenged security officials to remove them.

There were skirmishes throughout the speech, mostly pushing and shoving, although one man was captured on video biting someone.

Trump hits Kasich Ahead of Ohio PrimaryPlay video

This week, an older white Trump supporter was caught on video punching a younger African-American protester as police led the protester out of a rally in North Carolina. The supporter, later charged with assault, told an interviewer the next time he confronted a protester, "We might have to kill him."

Two days later, police arrested nearly three dozen people at a rally in St. Louis that was interrupted so many times by protesters that Trump joked about how long it was taking him to complete his remarks.

Hours before Trump was scheduled to appear Friday night at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the atmosphere inside a campus arena was crackling as protesters and supporters shouted back and forth, arms raised and yelling in each other's faces.

Some of the protesters, many of whom said they supported Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, said they planned to rush the stage when Trump came out to speak. They didn't get the chance, as Trump called off the rally before even getting to the venue.

"It feels amazing, everybody came together," said Kamran Siddiqui, 20, and a student at the school. "That's what people can do. Now people got to go out and vote because we have the opportunity to stop Trump."

Trump hits Kasich Ahead of Ohio PrimaryPlay video

The next morning, Trump was mid-speech when a man, later identified by authorities as Thomas Dimassimo of Fairborn, Ohio, jumped a barricade and rushed at Trump. He was able to touch the stage before he was tackled by security officials.

Trump initially laughed it off, but later in the day, said Dimassimo had ties to the Islamic State. Experts who watched a video Trump tweeted as evidence called the allegation "utterly farcical."

"Trump's accusations about it being linked to ISIS serve only to underline the totality of his ignorance on this issue," said Charles Lister, a fellow at the Middle East Institute.

At the Cleveland rally, more than a dozen officers on horseback patrolled the outside as police helicopters buzzed overhead. Hundreds of officers massed inside to block some exits and sweep the audience out after the event ended.

More than 50 protesters, including a pair of doctors who removed sweat shirts to reveal white T-shirts printed with "Muslim Doctors Save Lives in Cleveland," were told to leave.

Raw: Man Apprehended After Charging Trump StagePlay video

Things weren't much different at Trump's evening rally in Kansas City, Missouri, where protesters interrupted the candidate throughout his speech. While he asked his supporters not to hurt them, a visibly annoyed Trump also said he was "going to start pressing charges against all these people."

Back in Cleveland, Brandon Krapes said he was punched repeatedly after he held up his sign, which said, "Trump: Making America Racist Again." His 17-year-old son Logan had a freshly bruised cheek from what he said was a punch in the face he received while trying to help his father.

"The sheer amount of hatred in there is so blatant, and Trump does nothing to stop it," said Sean Khurana, a 23-year-old Cuyahoga Community College student, who is Indian-American. He said someone called him "ISIS" as he stood in line. "He provokes it."

Trump, meanwhile, celebrated a successful campaign day on Twitter.

"Just finished my second speech," he wrote. "20K in Dayton & 25K in Cleveland- perfectly behaved crowd. Thanks- I love you, Ohio!"

___

Colvin reported from Chicago.

___

Follow Thomas Beaumont and Jill Colvin on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/TomBeaumont and http://twitter.com/colvinj

BAGHDAD – Iraqi officials say the Islamic State group has launched two chemical attacks, killing a three-year-old girl and wounding some 600 people near the northern city of Kirkuk.

Security and hospital officials say the latest attack took place early Saturday in the small town of Taza, which was struck by a barrage of rockets carrying chemicals three days earlier.

Helmi Hamdi, a nurse at the Taza hospital, says the wounded are suffering from infected burns, suffocation and dehydration. Eight people were transferred to Baghdad for treatment.

The security officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

U.S. and Iraqi officials said U.S. special forces captured the head of the IS unit trying to develop chemical weapons in a raid last month in northern Iraq.