Nostradamus: Century X, Quatrain 72
First published: VizReport, November 2005
Tag Archives: WAR
G.W.Bush: Great King of Terror
Where Two Rivers Water
In view of the Pope’s upcoming trip to Israel (May 11-15) and Ariel Sharon continuing to teeter at the brink of death, it seemed apropos to “resurrect” this montage of Biblical, Christian, Quranic, political and Nostradamian notions.
When this piece was first published, in November 2005, Ariel Sharon was Israel’s Prime Minister. In January 2006, Sharon suffered a massive stroke and slipped into a deep coma. His fate looked grimly sealed. The plausibility and certitude of the vision behind the art began to erode rapidly.
Yet, here we are, more than three years later: Sharon remains in a persistent vegetative state and Pope Benedict XVI is coming for a visit.
The interpretation embedded in this strange work differs from virtually all other commentators on the quatrains of Nostradamus; it identifies the city of “two rivers” as Jerusalem, despite the fact that it’s located in near-desert conditions. It defines the children of Abraham (Ishmael and Isaac, plus their respective descendants), as the two rivers of Abraham’s blood.
The sanguinary parallels continue: This is also the place where ritual human sacrifice was emphatically repudiated by G-d through angelic intervention; and the location at which Abraham circumcised himself, his two sons and all the men of his house. And since those days (more than 3,700 years ago), how much blood has watered this most sacred ground?
Reproduced courtesy of VizReport
Reinventing The Canadian Automobile
Reprinted from a December 16, 2008, letter to the Canadian (federal) and Ontario (provincial) governments.
Dear Ministers:
I believe that we should spend as much as is necessary to save the Canadian automotive industry.
But not a penny more.
Any restructuring package obviously needs to make financial sense, but in the end, this isn’t just about money.
- It’s about self-sufficiency and self-reliance.
- It’s about our ability to service the changing needs of our various domestic markets through public and private industry.
- It’s about the viability of our economy during challenging economic times and its sustainability over the long term.
- It’s about being able to move people and things reliably and efficiently from Point A to Point B.
In a country as large and wintry as Canada, the argument for having an automobile is profound ~ sometimes, if only because they have built-in heaters.
If Only We Had Seen This Coming
Imagine if, being able to see this far ahead five years ago, we had instituted a Canadian Automobile Reinvention Initiative in this country. Had this initiative targeted an average 10% fuel efficiency improvement within five years, taxpayers (individuals and corporations) would have been able to retain approximately $4 billion in obviated expenses over the past twelve months. And they would save at least that much in every subsequent year – if not more, due to both incremental and revolutionary advances in technology over time. But let’s return to the present: How do you expect things will look five years from now?
Technological Opportunities
We probably can’t spend our way out of the current economic crisis, but we just might be able to invent a way out of it.
Canada has long been an exporter of ingenious technologies in fields ranging from aerospace, communications and nuclear science …to zippers, insulin and foghorns. Innovation has often been a hallmark of Canadian endeavour – and I don’t see any reason why that shouldn’t apply especially well in this case.
The next significant stage in the development of hybrid [gas:electric] vehicles will be “serial hybrid” technology. (Please have your techies fill you in on this.) The gains in efficiency we witnessed with the introduction of our current crop of hybrid vehicles will be viewed as small in comparison to the next generation of these automobiles. Efficiency gains of at least 30% within 10 years have been widely (and very conservatively) projected. More confident forecasts anticipate fuel economy in the range of 200-500 miles per gallon (at least for small passenger cars) within twenty years!
One of the problems with implementing serial hybrid technology (requiring the electric motor to be the sole engine engaged to the drivetrain) has been the relative absence of high-efficiency variable torque electric motors, but this is now about to change. There have been a number of patents filed over the past few years for devices that will deliver appropriate torque and rotor speeds under the full range of typical motor vehicle operating conditions. Prototypes and production models of some engines are already available. Some of these designs will not only reduce vehicle weight but also the number of parts required to construct the drivetrain. Brake wear will also be reduced in most instances, only adding to the long list of potential benefits.
Recouping the Costs of a “Bailout”
If we’re looking for ways to ensure that we’re paid back for our assistance to the automotive industry, then we must consider increased fuel efficiency to be one of the most effective (though least visible means) of achieving that goal.
Of course, any government financing extended to Canada’s ‘Big Three’ would also require a proper repayment schedule and a reasonable interest premium.
High fuel prices are a drag on the global economy and constitute an insidious form of pseudo-taxation for individuals and corporations alike. Less fuel used, means more money available for personal discretionary spending and more capital for industrial restructuring.
It can easily be argued that the cost of doing nothing is potentially far greater than the cost of a reasonable auto industry reinvestment plan. The broader automotive sector (parts manufacturing, etc.) is particularly sensitive to effects cascading from production slowdowns or stoppages by the ‘Big Three’ – not to mention the deficit in which such companies would immediately find themselves in the case of one or more bankruptcies among the major automakers.
Last time I checked, a penny saved was still a penny earned. By that standard, we stand to make a pretty penny by increasing vehicle fuel efficiency and improving market stability and confidence. And then there’s the matter of making our automobiles more competitive in the world market (and, accordingly, more competitive against foreign products in our own market) by reducing the cost of vehicle production and lowering basic vehicle operating costs while increasing reliability through improved drivetrain simplicity.
Energy Efficiency as a Matter of National Security
The current global economic malaise is much bigger than our experience of it in Canada ~ heck, it’s big enough to subdue that vast, economic giant to our south. Its effects stretch completely around the world, leaving few–if any–places untouched. As we have witnessed in both economic and military terms in recent years, insecurity anywhere affects security everywhere. Hence, a global problem is also a Canadian problem.
When a government, like the one in Tehran, can provoke a worldwide petroleum price spike by simply threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, we are left with few options to directly combat such a ‘security tax’. But increased fuel efficiency acts as a direct hedge against this form of economic ‘attack’. Canada may be energy self-sufficient, but many of our best friends and trading partners are not. And they will become increasingly dependent upon us (and our resources) as time rolls on.
Many electric motors manufactured today use Rare Earth Elements (such as neodymium) in their Permanent Magnet motor assemblies. This constitutes an additional risk since more than 90% of worldwide REE production comes from China whose production is expected to crest in just a few years’ time — just as their own industrial consumption begins to outstrip their ability to mine more of these critical elements. There are several variable torque electric motor designs which do not use REEs and would therefore not be sensitive to shortfalls in availability, or even possible embargoes.
Perhaps it’s time for a ‘Made in Canada’ solution
If we were to make available $1 billion dollars for each of our three main domestic automakers in the form of government-guaranteed lines of credit, this would allow each of the manufacturers to continue operations while only drawing on funds as they need them.
We could also offer a grant to each company of another $1 billion if they would participate in a joint effort to improve the efficiency of Canadian automobiles through the development of a uniquely Canadian, next-generation, serial hybrid vehicle architecture.
A development corporation (funded to the tune of $1 billion ~ making our running total $7 billion) could be formed to retain any unique intellectual property generated by this co-development work, in which all participating companies would share. Stakeholders would include the ‘Big Three’ and the Government of Canada, but direct positions would also be open to qualified regional and national manufacturers, as well as to key international technology contributors. Eventual revenues from the licensing of these technologies to the world market would enrich each of the participants in direct proportion to their technical contributions to the project.
I haven’t mentioned the environment as an excellent reason for limiting our release of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, but the link is obvious. The trick is to do it without damaging our economy in the process. Or better still, to do it while improving the state of our economy. If asked, most Canadians would probably say that they consider themselves to be environmentalists or conservationists to some degree. That’s great, but it’s very difficult for me to imagine how we can be responsible stewards of G-d’s good earth unless–and until–we become proper managers of our technology and more mindful of its impact on the greater whole.
The regrettable oversight committed by our automakers, in construing a demand for vehicles that consumers would ultimately prove unwilling to buy, serves to demonstrate the high cost associated with making mistakes in today’s turbulent markets.
As I see it, our best choice now is to stabilise the Canadian auto sector through wise reinvestment that focuses on innovation and efficiency; supports Canadian autoworkers and their families; better positions all our energy- and transportation-dependent industries for the future; and puts Canada back on the technological leader board.
The auto industry clearly needs a “Manhattan Project” (or maybe a Peterborough Project) to quickly develop the sorts of cars that Canadians truly want to buy; the sorts of cars that will save them money at the pumps and offer power and performance comparable to—or exceeding—their expectations of purely gas-powered vehicles.
Build a better car and Canadians will warm up to it quickly ~ especially in winter.
The Foreboding Nature of Prophecy
This 2006 article mixes politics with prophecy (a volatile combination) and paints a grim picture of one possible future. Whether one believes in prophecy, or not, is almost beside the point; a great many people do. What is to stop anyone with an agenda from using such verses to his own advantage?
Not for the faint of heart.
Notes on John’s Revelation
The Apocalypse of Jesus
February 18, 2006
(VizReport) In analysing these verses, I’ll be using the King James Version (KJV) of the text because it’s generally the most widely known of the translations from the original Koine Greek — the language of the dream transcription penned by John on the island of Patmos. It’s possible that his personal copy was actually written in Aramaic, but no record of that document remains.
‘Koine’ means ‘common’ in Greek. Though ancient Greek literature was usually composed in the more formal Attic Greek form, the prevalence of Koine Greek increased dramatically following the conquests of Alexander with increased exposure to Macedonian (and other more easterly) influences. John was a native speaker of Koine, but it seems that he also read and spoke Aramaic and possibly Hebrew.
- Note: Aramaic itself was a hybrid of Hebrew and Syriac using the Hebrew alphabet and comprised of roughly 80% Syriac word content transliterated into Hebrew letters. The remaining 20% was Hebrew. The same development has occurred many times throughout the history of the Jews, even to the extent that dozens of Spanish dialects, including Catalan, are actually Hebrew hybrids. Yiddish, a Germanic-Hebrew hybrid, is the most familiar example of this linguistic trend.
Revelation 9:1 to 9:11
9:1. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
The star. A star that falls from heaven is often called a “shooting star” or simply, a “falling star”. In the Farsi language of Persia (Iran), this is called a “shihab” or “shahab”. Coincidentally, or not, the government of the Iranian Islamic Republic has adopted this name for their missile program. Their current series of missiles are named Shihab I, Shihab II and Shihab III. The Shihab IV, a longer-range missile capable of reaching much of Europe, is currently under development.
A person from that time (prophet or not) would have very little knowledge of technology; the grist mill was then still considered a very remarkable invention. Missiles, aside from spears, were unknown.
The fifth angel. Angels and stars are used almost interchangeably in the parlance of the Revelation, so it’s possible that the same is true here. Iran is reported to have at least one more significant missile in its arsenal — the air-launched, nuclear-capable, KH-55 cruise missile, which was apparently supplied covertly to Iran by a Ukrainian group. It has a range of more than 1,000 miles and a sophisticated guidance & targeting system. Janes Defence Weekly refers to the Iranian version of the KH-55 as the X-55, but it’s rumoured that some of the country’s Revolutionary Guard commanders refer to it as either the 555 or the Shihab V…the fifth “shooting star” or “angel”.
The key. Just as knowledge can act as a key to unlock a puzzle, technical knowledge can be used as a key to unlock the secrets of the universe. In this case, a highly technological (weapon) design would be a key that opens the door to the bottomless pit of nuclear power. That’s not just a poetic way of describing the dark side of atomic energy, but an apt technical description of the power and geometricity of matter.
The bottomless pit. A hole that’s infinitely large could logically contain an infinite amount of stuff. Theoretically, the smaller the hole, the less stuff it should be able to contain. Now, imagine an impossibly small hole packed with an impossibly huge amount of stuff. Well, there’s nothing impossible–or even improbable–about that…it’s called an atom. It’s not quite “infinite” or “bottomless”, but it’s the closest thing we can find to approximate it.
If you were to dig a hole in any spherical aggregation of matter, whether a ball, a planet, a sun, or an atom…that hole could not be bottomless because it would eventually exit the other side of the object. As a matter of fact, it becomes less and less “bottomless” as you pass the centre-point of the mass. The only way to be “bottomless” is to penetrate deeper and deeper into the “centre” of the object. There is no better description that I can think of for describing the breaching of the boundary that constrains the ultra-intense power of the atom.
9:2. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Needs little explanation.
We’ve all seen movies of the immense, sky-darkening clouds, blinding flash and immense fireball generated by this sort of weaponry.
9:3. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
It makes sense that locusts might flee such an event, if they could, but how would such grasshoppers suddenly become as dangerous as scorpions? In a comic book plot, they would mutate, but in reality they would just die.
I think it’s fairly clear that John’s not talking about ordinary locusts here, but some type of armed machinery that flies low, like a locust horde, but which can sting like a scorpion – or worse.
But who–in their right mind–would fly a helicopter through the fallout of a nuclear blast? They would have to be suicidal.
- “The only tool against the enemy that we have with which we can become victorious are martyrdom-seeking operations and, God willing, our possession of faithful, brave, trained and zealous persons will give us the upper hand in the battlefield.”
- Mohammad-Reza Jaafari, Brigadier-General
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Commander, “Lovers of Martyrdom Garrison”
February 13, 2006
General Jaafari has been bragging that, at last count, he has more than 50,000 suicide operatives ready and willing to gain early entrance to Paradise. This doesn’t include the country’s paramilitary Bassij units whose members are claimed by officials of the regime to be in the millions. Now, some of this can certainly be ascribed to bravado…or machismo…or some other cool sounding word for “talkin’ big”, but this is the same government that has been sponsoring suicide operations in various locales for the past quarter century. When it comes to suicide, these guys have authored the most definitive text on the subject. And they’ve written it in red.
9:4. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
Since John describes these craft variously as locusts or scorpions, he must draw a distinction between the “things” from the vision and the everyday insects with which his average reader would be familiar. He does it by stating that these “creatures” aren’t interested in eating the shrubs and grass of the best pasture land. Some interpreters have taken this verse to mean that the “beasts” will be environmentally conscious, à la… “Ooh, don’t hurt the earth, or anything green.” That’s not it at all.
He means that they are only given one instruction: “Seize the Infidels!”
9:5. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
The flying scorpions attack successfully and then are instructed to painfully torture the captive infidels for five months. I understand that the sting of a scorpion is similar to a highly acute burning sensation.
9:6. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
I don’t think that there’s any sort of “good” torture, but this sounds like the worst kind.
9:7. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
The word “shape” is one translation, but “form” is a better one. Like horses assembled for battle; arrayed as a group, armoured, and representing uniformity of purpose and action. These are not horses, though, but “flying scorpions”. The faces of men will be seen at the front. And above them… an impressive circlet of rotating metal.
9:8. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
Two translation issues here: This should be “manes” not “hair” to be consistent with the descriptive horse/lion theme. And, as in a certain part of Zechariah, where the word “woman” is routinely substituted for “fire” (Hebrew/Aramaic: ishah vs. a’isha or isheh), the same thing seems to be happening here.
These horses will have manes of fire, i.e., they will be military jet helicopters, with fire flowing out behind them.
And, like lions, they will be equipped to do battle.
9:9. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
Once again: armoured. And their blurred, locust-like wings would beat a loud rhythmic sound, like war chariots and their heavy horses charging to battle. (These verses really are beautifully written, but considering the content, it’s a cruel sort of beauty.)
9:10. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
Long tails, like scorpions…or helicopters. And, like the scorpion, possessed of a blade at the tip. Imagine a blade so sharp that it can cut the air. The duration of five months is restated, in association with the word “power”.
9:11. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
The king of all these weapons is the atomic. It is the key to the bottomless pit.
In Hebrew, the word Abaddon means “destruction” or “destroyer”, but events are sometimes named for the place at which they occur, like Hiroshima – a name synonymous with atomic destruction. This could be a double entendre.
***
Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, upon witnessing the first successful atomic explosion, mouthed to himself (somewhat regretfully) this short passage from the Baghavad Gita; “I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.”
Reproduced courtesy of VizReport
Where’s Osama bin Waldo?
Pakistani president Zardari said Tuesday that he believes Osama bin Laden may be dead, but US officials insist that he’s still alive – and, apparently, he’s just as elusive as ever.
Here’s a sensibly irreverent 2006 report on the new millennium’s most famous Waldo. Thanks again to VizReport for opening up its archives. (“BinWaldo” image: About.com – Political Humor)
Echoes of Graceland:
The Bin Laden Sessions
February 20, 2006
(VizReport) Like Elvis fans at the gates of Graceland, so are the media at the portals of Al-Jazeera; hopeful of gaining a glimpse of something strange and elusive. Something almost mythical.
But it’s a circus. It’s not real. Let’s all just admit that Osama bin Laden is dead and forego the introduction of any more audiotapes. The quality is just brutal anyway — and no amount of digital remastering is going to make them sound any better.
Okay, they’re doing a fair job on the marketing end. I’ll grant them that. While Elvis’ career started with tape recordings and proceeded to films, Osama’s people have decided to come at it from the other end. Smart. In today’s MTV universe, any producer worth his pillar of salt knows that you just don’t bring a new talent to the world stage without a video to hype the product.
They did everything right at the beginning. Osama was hot. He had a video. He had some solid tracks. All the ingredients were there. But then, as with so many popstar careers today, the focus got soft, the quality started to suffer.
Even if you have a hot commodity, like a ’50s Elvis, or a poetry-spouting millennial Osama, you still have to protect and expand your brand position through the implementation of an effective quality control program. Is there an ISO standard for terrorist operations?
Probably not. (At least, I hope not.)
The quality of the lyrics has gone downhill since late 2001, when Osama met up with Elvis (so to speak) in a Tora Bora mountain cave. There’s a great parable in there somewhere… something about “the mountain coming to Osama”. Well, it’s not like it had to travel very far; it only had to drop a couple of feet.
But this is about more than dreadful lyrics. It’s a matter of “presence”. The new Osama, played by his eldest son, Sa’ad, is living proof that there’s no such thing as a dominant gene for charisma. Can you imagine how happy AQ#2 Ayman Zawahiri was when he discovered that the kid’s voiceprint was similar to his late Dad’s? But then, to his chagrin, he learns that the boy just doesn’t understand the whole “Mahdi” thing. And it’s not like you can just send him off to any old school for lessons. This is esoteric stuff.
“We’ll fix it in post,” Zawahiri is now frequently overheard to say at their recording sessions.
Post-production consists of taking the studio cut, back-masking it with a track of chickens being mechanically deboned, recording it to a cassette, and from there onto an 8-track, stamping the cartridge into the hard, dry ground several times, dubbing it back to a cassette, pulling the tape out by hand onto the dusty floor, before finally rewinding it back onto the spool with a pencil.
At this point, you’d think that the voices of Osama and Sa’ad would be indistinguishable from one another, but they’re not. They might be able to fool a machine because a machine only knows the percentile correlation of digital patterns. It can’t hear the “spirit” of the tape ’cause it’s got no soul.
Elvis had soul. Osama did, too. He didn’t rock out like the King, but he could deliver his lines. He threatened to put the “boogie” back in boogeyman, but he is no more and his body is unrecoverable; a fact that bothers many who are seeking closure, but a source of endless possibilities for both Al-Qaeda and the U.S. administration.
For those conducting the Jihad, they have an untouchable hero. And for those prosecuting the War on Terror, there are endless leads to track down in the field, as well as continued funding from Congress. Osama may be lost, but so many will not let him be forgotten.
They tried a stand-in for Osama in early 2002, but that didn’t work too well. The guy’s nose was too flat, and even when they backed the camera up until he was taking up just 10% of the screen, you could still see that it wasn’t Osama.
My personal opinion is that they should’ve been better prepared. The terror market is a killer. They knew that! It’s got a higher attrition rate than rock stars who are foolishly permitted to drive the tour bus, or worse… fly the plane.
No one seems to accord the general population much credit for common sense. When the average guy can record a decent quality video on his cellphone, why is Al-Qaeda still sending messengers on a hazardous journey across many lands to the peninsula of Qatar where an archaic tape is dropped into a mailbox just across the street from the head offices of Al-Jazeera? The quality would be higher using an internet-compatible cellphone (it couldn’t be any worse) — and it could be e-mailed there in minutes.
The answer is simple and obvious: He’s dead.
But this enduring drama may soon be drawing to a close. In his latest tape, “Osama” says that they’ll never take him alive. A bold-sounding statement, but an excellent bet!
This apparently comes from the same tape as some earlier excerpts that were released by Al-Jazeera on January 19th. Among the highlights in that speech was the usual promise of new attacks against America.
Killing a dead guy is, at the same time, the easiest thing in the world to do, and the most difficult. It bothers me that Osama’s people are saying that he may soon be dead, as that might herald a dangerous shift in strategy.
But maybe he’s not dead after all. I hear that Barry Manilow just released some new material, so I guess anything’s possible.
There won’t be anymore videotapes unless Peter Jackson is hired to direct the next one. It’s tough to sneak things by a sophisticated video-viewing audience. The best rendition of Elvis that I’ve seen in a long time was the performance by Bruce Campbell (of Evil Dead fame) doing a top-notch “Retirement Home Elvis” in the camp horror flick, Bubba Ho-tep.
imahd.ca 