ImaginativePRO Blog

GOOGLE Q2 2013 REVS AND EARNINGS FALL SHORT, MOBILE AD REVENUES THE CULPRIT, SHARE PRICES FALL NEARLY 5%

Click Image To Enlarge 

On July 18, 2013, Google surprised investors with second-quarter results that fell short of expectations thanks partly to a continued drop in ad prices, pushing its shares down 5% in after-hours trading.

Revenues and Earnings Fail To Meet Wall Street Expectations

The search giant reported a profit of $9.56 a share before stock compensation and Motorola restructuring charges, considerably below analysts’ estimates of $10.78 a share. Revenues rose 19%, to $14.1 billion–just a little under estimates of $14.4 billion, but apparently enough, along with the profit shortfall, to raise concerns among investors. Second-quarter earnings last year were $10.12 a share on $9.61 billion in gross revenues.

Share Prices Take A Hit

Google’s shares had fallen nearly 1% to $910.79 in trading on July 18 before the earnings announcement.  Shares hit a record-high $924.69 Monday, up from a recent low of $766 in mid-April. Some analysts already had raised their price targets to $1,000 or more.

Google Inc (NASDAQ.GOOG) shares slid nearly 5% in after hours trading on July 19 after the search giant reported lower than expected earnings and revs for Q2 2013 (Click Image To Enlarge)

The main culprit is dropping mobile search ad prices, which already are at least 40% lower than prices for ads served to desktop computers. Ad prices overall in the quarter fell 6%, more than the 3% analysts expected and the 4% drop in the first quarter. One factor may be that Google is opening up much more mobile ad inventory, which could serve to reduce prices until more advertisers move to reach people while they’re on smartphones and tablets, according to Larry Kim, founder and chief technology officer for search marketing firm Wordstream.

AdWords Ad Serving System Revamped

A big revamp recently of Google’s core AdWords ad serving system, called Enhanced Campaigns, was supposed to help remedy that situation. But its full impact clearly has not yet hit. The change, which officially kicks in July 22 but is already underway at most of Google’s millions of advertisers, is intended to spur more mobile ads and thus more competition in Google’s auction-based ad system, ultimately raising ad prices.

Jared Belsky, executive vice president at digital ad agency 360i, said in an interview that he expects that to happen, but it will take some time for advertisers to tweak their campaigns in the new system. He says about inevitably raising prices.  

“There will be more demand for mobile ads.”

Indeed, Adobe’s advertising business recently reported that it was seeing higher Google ad prices as a result, though Google itself poured cold water on the report.

The overriding question is when that trend will kick in broadly, and by how much mobile ad prices will rise. “We see a more challenging growth outlook,” Scott Kessler, equity analyst with S&P Capital IQ, said in an interview.

Hightlights Of The Q2 2013 Earnings Call Report

A few other details from the quarterly report:

• Paid clicks rose 23% from a year ago, and 4% from the first quarter.
• Non-ad revenues such as Google Apps contracts with businesses, schools, and governments, as well as app sales, shot up 138%, to comprise 8% of Google’s revenues.
• Revenue growth would have been 22% if not for foreign currency rate changes.
• Google expects to continue to make “significant capital expenditures.”
• Headcount totaled 44,777 people–40,178 at Google and 4,599 at Motorola. That’s down from 53,891 in March, when there were 38,739 at Google and 5,170 at Motorola.

 You can listen to a pre-recorded audio of the earnings conference call webcast by clicking the link to Google’s YouTube investor relations site.  For more detail, take a gander at the earnings slides.

Larry Page, Google CEO and co-founder started off Google' Q2 2013 earnings call conference call with analysts (Click Image To Enlarge)

Google CEO Larry Page Talks Up Mobile, Android and Chrome and Adwards Enhanced Campaigns

In a statement, Google CEO Larry Page preferred, as he has for a long time, to cast the mobile issue as a future opportunity more than a current problem. 

He said.  

“Google had a great quarter with over $14 billion in revenue – up 19% year-on-year,  The shift from one screen to multiple screens and mobility creates tremendous opportunity for Google. With more devices, more information, and more activity online than ever, the potential to improve people’s lives even more is immense.”

Page said Google had a “great” quarter, surely a bit of hyperbole given the disappointing numbers and the investor reaction. He immediately talked about the huge shift to mobile devices that he referenced in his statement.

First, he talked about platforms–Android and Chrome.

• 900 million+ Android devices have been activated worldwide. 
• 1.5 million Android devices actived each day. 
• 15 billion+ apps have been downloaded from the Play Store. 
• Chrome, just four years old, has 750 million users worldwide.

Page then turned to apps–a revamped Maps user interface and navigation feature, for instance. Same with Google+, a complete redesign to use the entire screen, which looks the same on all screens and platforms. He also touts the video chat service Hangouts. Knowledge Graph, a catalog of info, keeps growing too. Google Now, the next-gen search service, also launched on Apple’s iOS.

OK, what about that Moto X? “I’m really excited” about what Motorola will launch, he says without mentioning the name of the soon-to-launch signature smartphone.

Then Page went on to the visionary stuff, such as Project Loon to provide global WiFi via balloons.

Google CFO Patrick Pichette (Click Image To Enlarge)

With that short, mostly news-free intro, he turned the call over the Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette to go over the numbers. You’ve already seen those, so I’ll spare you a rerun. Pichette did say that revenues would have been up 22% if not for currency fluctuations.

Nikesh Arora, Google Chief BUsiness Officer (Click Image To Enlarge)

Chief Business Officer Nikesh Arora says business was especially strong in automotive and in Brazil, to name two divergent sectors. The U.K. was weak, though.

One thing he focuses on is the opportunity to work with brands to advertise more online, the explicit message being: You can do better by shifting TV ad dollars over to online.

He also says the non-ad business is growing rapidly, though he emphasizes the number of devices and apps more than the revenues, which are still fairly insignificant compared with the core business.

The enterprise business, that is sales to businesses of Google Apps software and services, also is growing quickly, he says.

Now on the main event, the Q&A portion:

Q: How is the transition to Enhanced Campaigns going–is ROI going up for customers? And are you providing conversion (sales) tracking across devices?

Arora: Six million campaigns have had to be migrated to the new system, he says. The ROI should continue to improve, he adds.

Q: Are there other hardware categories beyond smartphones and tablets that Google could do?

Page: We’ve been an early innovator in smartphones. Certainly over the long term, we’re going to have new kinds of devices. We’re obviously excited about Google Glass and interacting with new types of hardware. (No news on a smart watch, though, let alone a brain implant.)

Q: More color on expenses given the rise from Q1?

Pichette: Our expenses in Q2 were completely in line with expectations. Sometimes they come in a bit over and sometimes a bit under. That’s the issue between Q1 and Q2.

Q: Is mobile the main factor in ad price declines?

Pichette: It’s just one of the factors. It’s always just to look at CPCs (cost per click, or prices) or just at paid clicks. They can go all over quarter to quarter.

Q: How have hiring opportunities changed in the past year or two?

Page: I don’t think we’ve seen a significant change in hiring in the short term. Retention for the company has been great. We’re able to hire some of the best people in the world. It’s pretty stable.

Q: Why isn’t the R&D budget higher if there are so many opportunities?

Page: It’s our job to figure out how to invest more. It’s pretty easy to come up with ideas. It’s pretty hard to make them real for millions of people. I wish we could just snap our fingers and accomplish this. It’s hard work to scale and that’s what we do.

Q: What specific financial metrics do you use to evaluate Google Fiber as a business?

Pichette: We already had profitability as one of the key criteria for this business. There’s no real rocket science in the finances of it. It’s the technological infrastructure to make it 100 times faster.

Q: Why the networks revenue growth decline to 7% growth this quarter vs. 12% in Q1?

Pichette talks about DLA policies, an acronym whose meaning escapes me for the moment. Update: Actually, I think he was talking about Product Listing Ads.

Q: What gets mobile ad conversion up in the next few quarters?

Arora: We have to understand the cross-device behavior and conversion better. We need to understand the context of the user a lot better.

Q: What’s the timeline for Gmail app updates and impact on this as marketing distribution channel?

Page says he actually doesn’t know the details of the rollout. But Google is trying to improve the commercial offers in email, and trying to make sure people don’t feel spammed.

Q: Update on automated cars and commercialization?

Page: It’s really early on. No real updates, especially on commercialization.

Q: Data centers and other infrastructure is lumpy, you said, but is amortization part of what’s causing the rise in operating expenses?

Pichette: We don’t give the details. But data centers have a long lifetime, but the computers themselves have a much shorter lifetime. But nothing unexpected.

Q: How do you ensure that people at Google keep small entrepreneurial culture Google had in early days?

Page: I’m very excited to see things like Project Loon and automated cars. I want to make sure people at Google have permission to do these things. That’s the only way we end up with things like Android and Chrome. I look at it like a portfolio.

Q: We expected to see some impact of Enhanced Campaigns, like higher prices. Why didn’t that happen?

Page: We’re still in very, very early stages. Biggest change ever in AdWords. It’s been pretty smooth. We’re very pleased with how it’s going. (Which didn’t actually answer the question.)

Q: What’s the impact on network revenues growth of quality improvements?

Pichette: Updated from transcript: Basically it was indeed the quality improvements–cleaning up site, which are part of Google’s network of outside websites where it runs ads, that don’t add much valuable content besides the ads–that were responsible for the decline in growth from 12% in Q1 to 7% in Q2.

Q: Was there any impact from Enhanced Campaigns on paid clicks and CPC? If not, how long will it take? (Good for Goldman Sachs analyst Heather Bellini for repeating the unanswered question. It is clearly the main concern of analysts here, since Enhanced Campaigns was supposed to reverse the downward price trend.)

Arora: We’re still looking at the full impact. Longer-term, we should be able to provide simpler, better, faster ads. Over the long term, it should have a positive impact on conversions.

Q: How did foreign exchange affect ad prices?

Pichette: Marginally.

Q: Gross profit has been trailing revenue growth for three quarters. What drove the step down in Q3 of last year?

Pichette: We care about both revenue growth and profitability. We really look at every incremental profit dollar rather than the percentage margins. We’ll have different margins in our core business, but they offer great, huge revenue pools in actual dollars. And there can be synergistic value between products. That’s the mindset that we apply. We remain focused on our core business. The core is the core is the core. (Pichette goes zen on us.)

Q: Product Listing Ads impact?

Pichette: People want an answer more than 10 blue links. We are signing up tens of thousands of merchants.

Q: Will users be able to purchase items without ever leaving the search results pages at some point? (Very interesting question, given the rising possibility that mobile apps from Amazon, Yelp, and many others could usurp traditional search.)

Page: We’re doing a trial in the Bay Area in same-day delivery. (He doesn’t answer the question, though.)

Q: What about Moto X? Will you be aggressively marketing it? How will you avoid impacting your Android partners?

Page: Nothing about what we’ve said has changed. They’re working hard on making great products. You’ll get to try it out pretty soon.

Q: Will the marketing investment be $500 million as reported?

Page: They’re operating Motorola independently. But I think too much has been made over these things. (Whatever that means.)

Q: How widely do you see Google expanding into subscription businesses–big in three to five years?

Page: I’m sure over time we’ll have products in those areas, but no specific plans to talk about.

Q: Motorola has lost a billion dollars in the last three quarters, so what’s the ultimate aim for Motorola to c0ntribute to Google’s profit base or even spread Google’s services?

Pichette: We divested the home (settop) business for a lot of cash. It’s now lean and mean under Dennis (Woodside, the Google exec now running Motorola).

And that’s a wrap.

Google’s shares are now down a little over 4%, indicating a slight lessening of investor concern. Still, so much for those $1,000 price targets.

COMMENTARY:    Google's disappointing mobile revenue numbers clearly demonstrates the challenges digital advertising platforms face in monetizing mobile.   Facebook is facing the same challenge when it comes to mobile advertising.  Investors wait for Facebook's earnings conference call later today at 5:00 p.m. EST.  

The "Mobile Lifestyle," a term coined by the late Steve Jobs of Apple, has driven more users to use mobile devices like smartphones and tablets to access the Net, read their email, view video and digital images, and log into their favorite social networks,   The rapid movement to mobile devies is not going to change in the foreseeable future.  What will probably change is the number of smartphones and tablets as adoption becomes saturated.

The biggest challenges for digital media platforms like Google, and Facebook for that matter, will be to find new ways to motivate users to use their mobile devices longer and designing compelling ads that are effective in reaching consumers while overcoming the limitations and disadvantages of the smaller display real estate on mobile devices.  

Earlier this year, Facebook launched Facebook Home a mobile app that locked up a smartphone users startup display to show their Facebook newsfeed and what their friends were doing online.  This experiment failed miserably because it was too intrusive and ruined the users overall mobile phone experience.   Google has to be careful that they don't repeat that mistake.

So far I like what Google management said about Enhanced Campaigns during their Q2 2013 earnings conference call, and I tend to agree that it will take a bit while longer to see the benefits of the new AdWords enhancements to multiple platforms.

The new Enhanced Campaigns, which change how ads are run on desktop and mobile devices, have come to 75% of advertisers, a week before it becomes mandatory.

What are Enhanced Campaigns?

What Google says:

According to the official Google adWords Blog Enhanced Campaigns will give marketers the ability to bid on multiple devices more easily by allowing for segmented bidding from within a single campaign. According to the Goog, users are utilizing multiple touch points when making purchasing decisions and are moving seamlessly between devices. They even offered a snazzy slideshow and infographic to show how this is happening:

Click Image To Enlarge

Key features

Here’s an overview of some key features.

1. Powerful marketing tools for the multi-device world - People want search results that are relevant for the context they are in — their device, location and the time of day. Enhanced campaigns help you better manage your campaigns and budgets for this multi-device world. With bid adjustments, you can manage bids for your ads across devices, locations, time of day and more — all from a single campaign.   Example: A breakfast cafe wants to reach people nearby searching for "coffee" or "breakfast" on a smartphone. Using bid adjustments, with three simple entries, they can bid 25% higher for people searching a half-mile away, 20% lower for searches after 11am, and 50% higher for searches on smartphones. These bid adjustments can apply to all ads and all keywords in one single campaign.
2. Smarter ads optimized for varying user contexts - People on the go or near your store may be looking for different things than someone sitting at their desk. With enhanced campaigns, you’ll show ads across devices with the right ad text, sitelink, app or extension, without having to edit each campaign for every possible combination of devices, location and time of day.  Example: A national retailer with both physical locations and a website can show ads with click-to-call and location extensions for people searching on their smartphones, while showing an ad for their e-commerce website to people searching on a PC — all within a single campaign.
3. Advanced reports to measure new conversion types - Technology is enabling people to take action on your ads in new ways. Potential customers may see your ad and download your app, or they may call you. It’s been hard for marketers to easily measure and compare these interactions. To help you measure the full value of your campaigns, enhanced campaigns enables you to easily count calls and app downloads as conversions in your AdWords reports. Example: You can count phone calls of 60 seconds or longer that result from a click-to-call ad as a conversion in your AdWords reports, and compare them to other conversions like leads, sales and downloads. 

Upgrading to enhanced campaigns

Enhanced campaigns will roll out to advertisers as an option over the next few weeks, and we plan to upgrade all campaigns in mid-2013. 

Enhanced campaigns are designed to help you succeed in a multi-screen world, but we know that transitioning may involve some initial changes. Here are some resources to help you:

Courtesy of an article dated July 18, 2013 appearing in Forbes and an article dated February 7, 2013 appearing in Zen Search Marketing and an article dated February 6, 2013 appearing Google Inside AdWords 

UFOLOGIST JAIME MAUSSAN CALLS THE 'JERUSALEM UFO' THAT APPEARED OVER THE DOME OF THE ROCK "100% REAL!!"

 

Jaime Maussan, a well known ufologist, investigative journalist and Mexican television personality, who resides in Mexico and attends the International UFO conferences investigated, analyzed the three previous videos of the UFO (Jerusalem UFO) that appeared over the Dome of The Rock in Jerusalem on the night of January 28, 2011,  and the images taken from a security camera that takes pictures every ten minutes.   Mr. Maussan interviewed the three individuals who took the original three Jerusalem UFO videos.

 

Mr. Maussan also recorded a video of Eligael Gedalyovich, who took the original video of the Jerusalem UFO.   Eligael was accompanied by a friend who took the second video of the Jerusalem UFO using a smartphone camera.   

The third Jerusalem UFO video (the one at the very top) was captured by Michael Cohen who was going out with friends on that historic night. You can also find the complete YouTube video of their outting here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D-_gWaxhlY.

There had also been many reports on news, and many testimonies from eyewitnesses, including from an Israeli policeman. Also note that the two groups of people have nothing to do with each other (according to J. Maussan investigations) and no link with any acting school.

Mr. Maussan calls the Jerusalem UFO authetic and historic because it occurred over the Dome of The Rock in Jerusalem, one of the holiest places for Jews, Christians and Moslems.  

Here's a video of Jaime Maussan's appearance at the X-Conference 2007:

 

NOTE:  The X-Conference 2007 was recorded in 12 parts if you would like to see the entire series you will find them all on YouTube.   The videos include numerous UFO sightings recorded in Mexico, Chile, Japan and other countries.  They are incredible videos.

If you were a witness to the Jerusalem UFO, or know someone who was, please have them post a comment.

Courtesy of Jaime Haussan from Disclosure3

AN UNABASHED LOOK INSIDE THE ILLUMINATI: HISTORY, HEIRARCHY, SECRET SOCIETIES, NAMES AND "THE GREYS" ET'S PLAY A PART TOO

The New World Order, Ruling Class or Illuminati, as it is commonly referred IS real.  They go back to the Middle Ages.  They have been associated with the occult even belief in Lucifer or The Devil. They are at the top of the food chain and control EVERYTHING.   Everybody thinks that the Big Corporations, Politicians and Military Industrial Complex are the rulers, but they are just merely the tools to concentrate power at the top.  

 

The Politicians are controlled by the Illuminati through their financial support, favors and even bribery.   Washington lobby groups dominate Washington, D.C.  The Big Corporations, through their global business activities provide the capital to acquire and control the vast majority of global worth.  The Top 137 corporations control 40% of the world's wealth.  

 

The Politicians and The Big Corporations both report to the Military Industrial Complex which is where the "muscle" of the Illuminati resides.  The Illuminati are the equivalent of the Boss of Bosses or top Don of a Sicilian family.  The Military Industrial Complex are equivalent to the Bosses of La Familia or Mafia.  The various branches of the military are the Under Bosses, and then there are the soldiers. 

The Military Industrial Complex consists of the U.S. military and heads of the CIA, NSA and FBI and "The Greys."  YES, extra-terrestrials are involved indirectly, and they take great pleasure in watching over everything.  They are the ultimate beneficiaries.  They have unlimited power, and their technology is millions of years ahead of us, and they could destroy the Earth if they wanted, but they need us, so they don't care if there is a power struggle for supremacy among us humans.   

Image of a Grey Alien, circa 1955

The Greys are a dying species of extra-terrestrials who travelled to Earth and colonized it thousands of years ago, and through genetic experimentations of human DNA developed Modern Man.  Trust me, it was not Divine intervention like it says in the Holy Bible.  

In the 1950's, The Greys entered into a secret pact with the Eisenhower administration.  According to that Pact, the U.S. government would provide The Greys with access to a certain number of humans so they could conduct DNA experiments to replicate their species by combining both Grey and Human DNA.  In exchange, The Greys were to provide us with certain advanced technologies. 

A few unscrupulous Illuminati individuals within the U.S. government saw an opportunity to exploit the alien technology to consolidate power, wealth and control over the masses on Earth. The Greys really don't care.   We are their form of entertainment.  In fact, they love harvesting our souls.  They get off in capturing the soul as it leaves the human body upon death, and use it like an aphrodisiac.  In effect, they get off on US. 

The Big Corporations controls the Corporate Media and Global Banking.  It is the job of the Corporate Media to spread disinformation and propaganda that has divided the masses.  I am sure that you will agree that this has worked perfectly.  

Global Banking provides the financial resources so that the Big Corporations can successfully carry out their evil commercial activities throughout the world and create more wealth for the Illuminati. 

The Politicans control the Government and Courts.  The Government creates the laws and regulations to control the masses.  The Courts are the enforcers for the politicians.  They punish the masses if they don't stay in line.    

Below is a simplified organizational chart showing the Ruling Class or Illuminati at the top with the other organizations and entities just described below them:

The Illuminati has the following pecking order or power rank which is illustrated in the graphic below:

• British Monarchy a.k.a." The Royals" which is headed by Her Highness Queen Elizabeth II.
• Israel who control most of the banking industry and Wall Street. 
• Welf Relations. 
• The Freemasonry a.k.a. The Masons.   
• Catholic Church.

The Illuminati or Ruling Class

I know some "British Subjects" are going to scream blasphemy for mentioning Queen Elizabeth at the head of the Illuminati, but the decision was an obvious one.  The Illuminati needed natural succession at the top, and The Royals fit that description perfectly.  They are of royal blood, respected worldwide and there is logical order of succession.  Next in line in order of succession is Prince Charles.  Even President Barack Obama and the First Lady bow to Queen Elizabeth.  

Israel is next in line in the Illuminati pecking order.  They are the business leaders, power brokers and bankers of the world. They also control the media (from newspapers to the Internet). Facebook is a front for the CIA, FBI and NSA.  I warned you about this in a previous blog post.  Do you notice that every American presidential candidate goes before the prominent Jewish Organizations like the National Jewish Democratic Council to make sure the next president will support Israel? That's not a coincidence.

Next is the Welf Relations which stems from the House of Welf.  The House of Welf (historically rendered in English, Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century.  The original House of Welf Family Tree is below:

In its modern context, Welf Relations now includes the hundreds of descendants of the House of Welf who live today.  They consider their membership in the Illuminati a blood right. 

The Freemasonry are next in the pecking order.  Freemasonry is a fraternal organization that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century.   You can recognize a Freemason by the symbol of a square and compass and letter "G" in the middle.   Some say the "G" stands for God or Guild.  Some say its the symbol for the human penis.

Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million.  Very few Freemasons are in the Illuminati, but the top guys probably are.  The fraternity is administratively organized into independent Grand Lodges, each of which governs its own jurisdiction.  There are over a quarter of a million under the jurisdiction of the United Grand Lodge of England and just under two million in the United States.

The heads of the Roman Catholic Church is the last in the pecking order of the Illuminati.  This includes Pope Benedict XVI and the College of Cardinals.  The Cardinals are princes of the Church appointed by the Pope, who are ordained senior bishops. As a whole, the College of Cardinals advises the Pope, and those cardinals under the age of 80 at the death of a Pope elect his successor.   There are now a total of 193 Cardinals, of whom 112 are aged under 80. Of the voting-age cardinals, 64 were appointed by Pope John Paul II, and 28 by Pope Benedict XVI.

BTW, the Roman Catholic Church, was duped by The Greys.  Jesus was never born of a Virgin Mary and he never rose from the dead.  He was "invented" by those evil Greys, and the rest is history.  The Roman Catholic Church provides the people something the Illuminati cannot or won't:  HOPE.   It's perfect, the Greys get a great kick out of it.  But, the Church is now worried that they maybe exposed and be out of the religion business.  I mentioned this to you in a previous blog post when The scientists from Vatican met with the scientists from NASA and 20 or so top-level scientists because they want to know if ET is for real.  Ha, ha, ha.  I got a kick out of that one. Naturally, they've been given assurances that ET does not exist.     

The Royals and The Committee of 300 make the important decisions for the Illuminati.  They represent the wealthiest, most powerful and influential individuals in the World, not necessarily the most well known or even wealthy.  None of them would ever admit they are a member of The Committee of 300 or Illuminati.  The Committe of 300 include a Who's Who of Americans, British and Europeans. Famous Americans who are members of The Comittee of 300 include Senator John Kerry, Senator Joe Lieberman, former Senator and Democratic Presidential Candidate Al Gore (consolation prize for losing the Presidency to that idiot son George W Bush), investor Warren Buffet, former President Bill Clinton, Former President George H.W. Bush, Microsoft executives Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, The Rockefeller's, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner and others.  Political affiliations do not matter within the Illuminati.  Everybody is pals, some of them even swop their wives to seal a deal, then they laugh and do high-fives afterwards.      

The ultimate goal of the Illuminati is to own everything, and judging from the concentration of wealth among developed nations throughout the world, it's working.  Eventually they will have total control of the working class.  Their ultimate plan is to keep the poor as poor as possible, eliminate the middle class, and increase their numbers at the top so they own quite literally everything.  

I know what you are thinking:  The Illuminati does not exist and this is all bullshit.  Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.  I may even be a member of the Illuminati, and you would never know it, because I would never admit it.    

Courtesy of @turk5555

THE BODY OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES, ST. BERNADETTE SOUBIROUS, LOOKS AS BEAUTIFUL TODAY AS SHE DID 122 YEARS AGO

The body of St Bernadette Soubirous is displayed in a glass coffin at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, Lourdes, France,. one of the major Catholic pilgrimage sites in the world.

This is amazing! The thing to remember is that the poor sisters of those days were buried in a pine box and in no way embalmed like today.

St. Bernadette’s Body after 122 years is one of the 200+ miracle facts of incorruptible bodies that can only be traced to most of the declared saints of the Roman Catholic Church.

The body of St Bernadette Soubirous appears without a trace of decomposition even after 122 years

These are the pictures of St. Bernadette who died 122 years ago in Lourdes, France and was buried; her body was only discovered 30 years ago. After church officials decided to examine it they discovered her body is still fresh until today and if you ever go to Lourdes, France you can see her in the church in Lourdes.

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Her body isn’t decomposing because during her lifetime, the Mother of Jesus would always appear to her and give messages and advice to all mankind on the right way to live on this earth. Many miracles have taken place in this place of Lourdes and still do until today. These pictures show her body after 122 years.

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The beautiful face of St Bernadette Soubirous as it appears 122 years

Below is a picture of Bernadette Soubivous after her death and before she was buried.  

Click Image To Enlarge

St. Bernadette Soubirous

Bernadette Soubirous is the saint of Lourdes, France. Visionary and messenger of the Immaculate Conception, she told us the very words of the Virgin Mary, spoken in the native Basque tongue of Southern France and Northern Spain. She spoke words teaching of the merits of prayer, penance, poverty and church. In the first and most widely recognized Marian apparition of modern times, a personal message was delivered also to Bernadette—She would not find happiness in this world, but only in the next.

She was to die twenty–one years later in 1879 after a prolonged and painful illness. She remained hidden in a convent about 300 miles from home, a refuge from the interrogations and the pilgrims that never ceased seeking her. At thirty–five, her strong–willed manner gave way to her frail body, and she finally entered into her eternal happiness.

While she took with her the knowledge of certain secrets the Virgin gave her, one secret remained hidden in our presence. The most spectacular of all the incorruptibles, Bernadette’s miraculously preserved body remained buried in a damp grave for thirty years until the cause for beatification was taken up. To this day, the body of Bernadette is a profound source of inspiration and of mystery surrounding the ways of the Lord. The face of Bernadette is one of surreal beauty, and will remain for us always the face that gazed into the eyes of the Mother of God.

Scientists have wondered about this because it defies the laws of nature and instead of expecting a foul smell of a dead body, a fragrance of flowers can be experienced when the glass of coffin is opened. Some say they experience the fragrance by just going near the coffin. You can visit the Church of Lourdes , France to verify yourself the authenticity of this truly wonderfu experience and see for yourself a living miracle of our times.www.turnbacktogod.com.

 The Incorrupt Body of St. Bernadette Soubirous

The following YouTube video was uploaded by Benjamin Teixeira on May 13, 2011.  It includes pictures of the grounds of Sancuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in Lourdes, France and the video of the Incorrupt Body of St. Bernadette Soubirous as it appears to this day.  

 

The following YouTube video was uploaded by Wayney Peyney on March 15, 2010.  It includes all the pictures ever taken of St. Bernadette Soubirous. At the very end are pictures of St. Bernadette Soubirous as she laid in rest after her death.  It's a miracle, but she has been so well preserved that her face has not changed in 122 years. 

   

COMMENTARY:  When I saw the body and face of St. Bernadette Soubirous, I thought that it was nothing less than a divine miracle that even the best embalming methods would not prevent some weathering or decomposition.of a body that is 122 years old.  

As it turns out, As part of the canonization process, her body was exhumed three separate times, in 1909, 1919, and finally in 1925, when she was moved to the crystal casket. Her body was pronounced by the church as officially "incorrupt," but it seems the qualifications for that term may have been somewhat lax. In the words of the attending doctor in 1919:

"The body is practically mummified, covered with patches of mildew and quite a notable layer of salts, which appear to be calcium salts... The skin has disappeared in some places, but it is still present on most parts of the body."

After a few ribs were removed to be sent to Rome as relics, it was decided that the "blackish color" of her face might be off-putting to pilgrims, and so a "light wax mask" was in order. Her new face and hands were designed by Pierre Imans, a designer of fashion mannequins in Paris.

Today,the body of St. Bernadette Soubirous lies in that glass enclosed coffin as if Bernadette were just asleep thanks to the splendid work of Monsieur Imans. Her new wax face make her skin look smooth as silk, almost life-like, with not a single wrinkle or spotting. 

Below are actual pictures of Bernadette Soubirous as a French peasant girl and as a nun at the Sisters of Notre Dame convent in Nevers, France in 1866.

Bernadette Soubirous as a young peasant girl

 
Bernadette Soubirous as a young nun at the Sisters of Notre Dame convent in Nevers in 1866

 

Saint Marie-Bernarde Soubirous (7 January 1844 – 16 April 1879) was a miller's daughter born in Lourdes. From 11 February to 16 July 1858, she reported 18 apparitions of "a small young lady" who asked for a chapel to be built at that site at Lourdes.

Despite initial scepticism from the Catholic Church, these claims were eventually declared to be worthy of belief after a canonical investigation, and the apparition is known as Our Lady of Lourdes. Since her death, Bernadette's body has apparently remained internally incorrupt, but her body is not without blemish; during her third exhumation in 1925, the firm of Pierre Imans made light wax coverings for her face and her hands due to the discoloration that her skin has undergone. These masks were placed on her face and hands before she was moved to her crystal reliquary in June of 1925.

The shrine at Lourdes went on to become a major site for pilgrimage, attracting over five million Christian pilgrims of all denominations each year.

On 8 December 1933, she was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church; her Feast Day is celebrated on 16 April. She is considered a Christian mystic.

The Visions

On 11 February 1858, Bernadette, then aged 14, was out gathering firewood and bones with her sister Marie and a friend at the grotto of Massabielle outside Lourdes, and had her first vision. As she recounted later, while the other girls crossed the little stream in front of the grotto and walked on, Bernadette stayed behind, looking for a place to cross where she wouldn't get her stockings wet. She finally sat down in the grotto to take her shoes off in order to cross the water, and was lowering her first stocking when she heard the sound of rushing wind, but nothing moved. A wild rose in a natural niche in the grotto, however, did move; from the niche, or rather the dark alcove behind it, "came a dazzling light, and a white figure." This was the first of 18 visions of what she referred to as aquero, Gascon Occitan for "that". In later testimony, she called it "a small young lady" (uo petito damizelo). Her sister and her friend stated that they had seen nothing.

Below are pictures of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes and the Grotto where St. Bernadette Soubivous saw the vision of the Immaculate Conception.

Click Image To Enlarge

Click Image To Enlarge

In the touching 20th Century Fox film, "The Song of Bernadette" (1943), Jennifer Jones starred as Bernadette Soubirous, an adolescent peasant girl, who has a vision of "a beautiful lady" in the city dump.  She never claims it to be anything other than this, but the townspeople all assume it to be the virgin Mary. The film (see below video clip) is a very accurate depiction from the historical point of view of the first apparition of February 18, 1858.  The film received 12 Academy Award nominations, winning Oscars for Jennifer Jones (Best Actress), Arthur Miller (Best Cinematography), Alfred Newman (Best Musical Score) and James Basevi, William S. Darling and Thomas Little (Best Art Direction).

 

The film, "The Song of Bernadette" has been uploaded on YouTube in 16 parts.  Below is part 1. 

 

Below is the final part (Part 16) and I must confess that it is a tear jerker.  They just don't make pictures with this quality of acting anymore.

 

 

On 14 February, after Sunday mass, Bernadette, with her sister Marie and some other girls, returned to the grotto. Bernadette knelt down immediately, saying she saw aquero again and falling into a trance. When one of the girls threw holy water at the niche, and another threw a rock from above that shattered on the ground, the apparition disappeared. Bernadette fell into a state of shock, and the girl who had thrown the rock actually thought she had killed her.  On her next visit, 18 February, she said that "the vision" asked her to return to the grotto every day for a fortnight.

This period of almost daily visions came to be known as la Quinzaine sacrée, "holy fortnight." Initially, her parents, and especially her mother, were embarrassed and tried to forbid her to go; the local police commissioner called her into his office and threatened to arrest her, as did the district attorney, but since there was no evidence of fraud there was little they could do.  The girl herself remained stubbornly calm and consistent during her interrogations, never changing her story or her attitude, and never claiming knowledge beyond what she said the vision told her.  The supposed apparition did not identify herself until the seventeenth vision, although the townspeople who believed she was telling the truth assumed she saw the Virgin Mary. Bernadette never claimed it to be Mary, consistently using the word aquero. She described the lady as wearing a white veil, a blue girdle, and with a yellow rose on each foot — compatible with "a description of any statue of the Virgin in a village church".

Bernadette's story caused a sensation with the townspeople, who were divided in their opinions on whether or not Bernadette was telling the truth. Some believed her to have a mental illness, and demanded she be put in an asylum. She soon had a large number of people following her on her daily journey, some out of curiosity and others who firmly believed that they were witnessing a miracle.

The other contents of Bernadette's reported visions were simple, and focused on the need for prayer and penance — on 24 February, she reported that aquero had said Penitenço ... Penitenço ... Penitenço ("penance"). That day, Bernadette kissed the muddy ground of the grotto; the next day, she went further, and during her trance chewed and ate grass she plucked from the ground, rubbed mud over her face, and actually swallowed some mud, to the disgust of the many onlookers and the embarrassment of those who believed in her visions. She explained that the vision had told her "to drink of the water of the spring, to wash in it and to eat the herb that grew there," as an act of penance. To everyone's surprise, the next day the grotto was no longer muddy but clear water flowed. 

At the thirteenth of the alleged apparitions, on 2 March, Bernadette told her family that the lady had said "Please go to the priests and tell them that a chapel is to be built here. Let processions come hither." Accompanied by two of her aunts, Bernadette duly went to parish priest Father Dominique Peyramale with the request. A brilliant but often roughspoken man with little belief in claims of visions and miracles, Peyramale told Bernadette that the lady must identify herself. Bernadette said that on her next visitation she repeated the priest's words to the lady, but that the lady bowed a little, smiled, and said nothing. Then Father Peyramale told Bernadette to prove that the lady was real (that is, objectively) by asking her to perform a miracle. He requested that she make the rose bush beneath the niche where she appeared to Bernadette bud and flower on the last week of February.

As Bernadette later reported to her family and to church and civil investigators, at the ninth visitation the lady told Bernadette to drink from the spring that flowed under the rock, and eat the plants that grew freely there. Although there was no known spring, and the ground was muddy, Bernadette saw the lady pointing with her finger to the spot, and said later she assumed the lady meant that the spring was underground. She did as she was told by first digging a muddy patch with her bare hands and then attempting to drink the brackish drops.^[16] She tried three times, failing each time. On the fourth try, the droplets were clearer and she drank them. She then ate some of the plants. When finally she turned to the crowd, her face was smeared with mud and no spring had been revealed. Understandably, this caused much skepticism among onlookers who shouted, "She's a fraud!" or "She's insane!" while embarrassed relatives wiped the adolescent's face clean with a handkerchief. In the next few days, however, a spring apparently began to flow from the muddy patch first dug by Bernadette. There is also a suggestion that the spring had been there previously. ^[17] Some devout people followed her example by drinking and washing in the water, which was soon reported to have healing properties.

 

In the 150 years since Bernadette dug up the spring, 67 cures have been verified by the Lourdes Medical Bureau as "inexplicable", but only after what the Church claims are "extremely rigorous scientific and medical examinations" that failed to find any other explanation. The Lourdes Commission that examined Bernadette after the visions also ran an intensive analysis on the water and found that, while it had a high mineral content, it contained nothing out of the ordinary that would account for the cures attributed to it. Bernadette herself said that it was faith and prayer that cured the sick.

Her 16th claimed vision, which she stated went on for over an hour, was on 25 March. During this vision, the second of two "miracles of the candle" is reported to have occurred. Bernadette was holding a lighted candle; during the vision it burned down, and the flame was said to be in direct contact with her skin for over fifteen minutes, but she apparently showed no sign of experiencing any pain or injury. This was said to be witnessed by many people present, including the town physician, Dr. Pierre Romaine Dozous, who timed and later documented it. According to his report, there was no sign that her skin was in any way affected, so he monitored Bernadette closely but did not intervene. After her "vision" ended, the doctor said that he examined her hand but found no evidence of any burning, and that she was completely unaware of what had been happening. The doctor then said that he briefly applied a lighted candle to her hand, and she reacted immediately. It is unclear if observers other than Dozous were sufficiently close to witness if the candle was continuously in contact with Bernadette’s skin.

 

According to Bernadette's account, during that same visitation that she claimed, she again asked the woman her name but the lady just smiled back. She repeated the question three more times and finally heard the lady say, in Gascon Occitan,

"I am the Immaculate Conception"

(Qué soï era immaculado councepcioũ, a phonetic transcription of Que soi era immaculada concepcion). 

 Four years earlier, Pope Pius IX had defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception; that, alone of all human beings who have ever lived (save for Jesus, Adam, and Eve), the Virgin Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin. Her parents, teachers, and priests all later testified that she had never previously heard the expression 'immaculate conception' from them.

Bernadette was a sickly child; she had cholera in infancy and suffered most of her life from asthma, and some of the people who interviewed her following her revelation of the visions thought her simple-minded. However, despite being rigorously interviewed by officials of both the Catholic Church and the French government, she stuck consistently to her story. Her behavior during this period is said to set the example by which all who have claimed visions and mystical experiences are now judged by Church authorities.

 

 

Courtesy of an article dated November 28, 2011 appearing in Before It's News and an article appearing in Catholic Online and an article appearing in Atlas Obscura

 

 

   

 

 

 

FACEBOOK DEACTIVATES SALMAN RUSHDIE'S PROFILE, MAKES HIM USE REAL FIRST NAME 'AHMED', SO HE MOVES TO TWITTER

After Salman Rushdie’s profile was mistakenly deactivated, he called Facebook a ‘bunch of morons.’ Then the author threatened a Twitter defection after being forced to go by ‘Ahmed.’ Brian Ries on who won out.

For a few hours on Monday morning, Salman Rushdie had just about had it with Facebook.

The social media site had detected a profile over the weekend—his Facebook profile—that it had mistakenly determined was fraudulent. So, without warning, Facebook flipped its switch, digitally executing Rushdie’s profile and removing it from the site. To get it reactivated, he was told, he would have to send a photograph of his passport, thereby proving his identity as the real Salman Rushdie, the Indian-British author of Midnight’s Children and The Satanic Verses, and not a fraud. But when he did as instructed, his profile emerged from its Facebook purgatory with a problem.

Click Image To View Salman "Ahmed" Rushdie's Facebook Profile

He explained on the site. 

“Facebook deactivated my account because they thought I wasn’t me.  Now they insist I call myself by the first name I have never used. What a bunch of morons.”

That rarely used first name, Ahmed, is what’s printed on his passport. Salman, technically speaking, is his middle name. And a post about “name standards” on Facebook’s Help Center—which the company on Monday acknowledged is a bit dated and then quickly updated after a query by The Daily Beast—suggested that middle names simply aren’t allowed.

It said:  

“Facebook is a community where people use their real identities. We require everyone to provide their real first and last names so you always know who you’re connecting with.” 

 

But what, Rushdie took to Twitter to wonder, if the one you’re connecting with isn’t known by their first name at all?

He tweeted

“Dear #Facebook, forcing me to change my FB name from Salman to Ahmed Rushdie is like forcing J. Edgar to become John Hoover.” 

He went on:

“Or, if F. Scott Fitzgerald was on #Facebook, would they force him to be Francis Fitzgerald? What about F. Murray Abraham?”

Salman Rushdie's Twitter page:

Click Above Image To Visit Salman Rushdie's Twitter Page

Others agreed.  The Atlantic’s Alexis Madrigal wondered. 

“What is the point of forcing Salman Rushdie to go by Ahmed Rushdie? How does this benefit the social web?”

When reached Monday afternoon, a company spokesperson told The Daily Beast it does permit users to identify by their middle and last names. Rushdie’s profile suspension, and resulting name change, was all a mistake.

The spokesperson said in an official announcement. 

“This action was taken in error and Mr. Rushdie’s account has been reactivated with the correct name.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.”

That inconvenience was almost Facebook’s—Rushdie nearly took his presence elsewhere. He wrote in a post earlier in the day, before inviting readers to follow him on Twitter—Facebook’s on-again-off-again competitor. 

“As I don’t and will never recognize myself as ‘Ahmed Rushdie’ I will be reducing FB activities to just about zero and cutting back my list of friends to actual friends or at least acquaintances, just to keep in touch.  I’m done.”

But later Monday, once Facebook had reinstated the profile as “Salman Rushdie,” the author made a triumphant return.  He posted on his profile. 

“Victory!  Goodbye Ahmed, get back into the passport where you belong. Salman returns.”

And with that return, a confirmation: Facebook users, middle names are A-OK in Zuckerville.

COMMENTARY:   It's most unfortunate to see Facebook make an ass of themselves over your name.  Everybody knows who Salman Rushdie is.  Zuck should personally apologize to Salman for treating him with such outrageous disrespect.  A lot of celebrities use different names.  Lady Gaga has a real name.  So by Facebook's rules she should be asked to change her Facebook name to  Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta.

Twenty years ago, novelist Salman Rushdie was a wanted man with a million pound bounty on his head. His novel, The Satanic Verses, had sparked riots across the Muslim world. The ailing religious leader of Iran, the Ayatollah Khomeini, had invoked a little-known religious opinion - a fatwa - and effectively sentenced Rushdie to death. Never before had a novel created an international diplomatic crisis on such a scale, and never before had a foreign Government publicly called for the killing of a private citizen of another country.

The following film documentary looks back on the extraordinary events which followed the publication of the book and the ten year campaign to get the fatwa lifted. Interviews with Rushdie's friends and family and testimony from leaders of Britain's Muslim community and the Government reveal the inside story of the affair. Rushdie himself was forced into hiding for nearly ten years.

 

British columnist Christopher Hitchens discusses Salman Rushdie's 'The Satanic Verses' and the famous fatwa.

 

Here's an interview with Salman Rushdie and his response to the Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa:

Anybody with the balls to imply that the Prophet Mohammed is evil or even Satanic, then have the Ayatollah Khomeini personally call a 'fatwa' for his assassination, can be my Twitter friend anytime.  You should've been knighted by the Queen.  

In conclusion, I would like to say:

Dear Mr. Salmen Rushdie.  

Fuck Facebook.  Welcome to Twitter.  The only true democratic social network.  I hope that we can follow each other.  Here's my Twitter page.  Yours truly,

@turk5555.  

Courtesy of an article dated November 14, 2011 appearing in The Daily Beast 

 

 

AN INFOGRAPHIC THAT SHOWS WHAT ARE THE DARKEST PARTS OF THE BIBLE, AND WHY WE HAVE NOT LIVED UP TO THE BIBLE CODE

Openbible.info charts the Bible according to positive and negative sentiment--with some surprising results.

We generally avoid featuring infographics about literature because they obfuscate the text rather than illuminate it. One exception is the Bible, which is so big and woolly, it occasionally benefits from a text-based visual analysis (or just pisses off a lot of people).

 The latest Bible visualization won’t start an e-Holy War, but it certainly shrinks some complex ideas down to size. Openbible.info used algorithms to label events in the Bible according to positive or negative sentiment (“Think of it as Kurt Vonnegut’s story shapesbacked by quantitative data,” the designer writes), then mapped the narrative peaks and canyons around the wheel you see below. Black is positive, red negative.

Click Image To Enlarge

What you end up with is a snapshot of the relative cheeriness--or gloom--of different sections in the Bible. As the designer tells it:

Things start off well with creation, turn negative with Job and the patriarchs, improve again with Moses, dip with the period of the judges, recover with David, and have a mixed record (especially negative when Samaria is around) during the monarchy. The exilic period isn’t as negative as you might expect, nor the return period as positive. In the New Testament, things start off fine with Jesus, then quickly turn negative as opposition to his message grows. The story of the early church, especially in the epistles, is largely positive.

In short, it gives you a bird’s-eye view of the tone of each book, something that’s easy to miss in a line-by-line reading. You could also use it as a guide of sorts to the darkest, juiciest parts of the Bible.

Click Image To Enlarge

It’s worth noting that at the microscopic level, the analysis doesn’t hold up terribly well. As a commenter on Openbible points out, it mis-characterizes both positive and negative events in the Book of Nahum--and who knows where else. The designer concedes that the calculations here are far from perfect:

“I largely agree that on individual verses, the results are hit-or-miss, and the data are certainly at the mercy of an opaque algorithm. In the aggregate, as you note, the trends largely fit with my basic expectations, so it may be the case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.”

Guess there’s something refreshing in that. I mean, if an algorithm can figure out the Bible, then what the hell have we been fighting over all these years?

COMMENTARY:   If the Holy Bible, The Bible, The Old Testament, The New Testament, King James Bible, The Roman Catholic Bible, The Koran, The Tanakh or just the good ole Good Book, which ever version you chose to use, is so righteous, why do humans continue to screw over each other, lie, cheat, steal, hate, commit adultery, use the Lord's name in vane and even kill each other? The simple answer:  The Bible does not have any real clout.   Even the Roman Catholic church is considered by many to be full of corruption and sin.  The Church of Mormon is prejudice against females.  These  are books that are based solely on one thing:  FEAR.  Fear of the unknown, fear of punishment by some force or power, fear that if you don't follow the rules in the Good Book, you will go to hell for all eternity, which is one fucking long time to burn.  

Personally, I believe that hell is right here on Earth, and human beings above any other life form on this planet, are the only ones that actually set out and plan the murder of each other, commit wars, and drop WMD's on each other.   Even the King of the Jungle, makes peace, and the males find a way to compromise, and split up the females so that everybody gets laid regularly, and their DNA gets passed on.  The animals have found peace amongst themselves, while Man is still screwing around, and not trying very hard, to get along, although it says right there in the Book of Paul:  "Thou shall love thy fellow man as thou lovest thyself."  If we lived by that covenant, that would be the only rule we would ever need.  If we lived by that covenenat: We would have universal healthcare, and employer's would learn to love and respect their workers, and not exploit their labors, export our jobs overseas or take away social security and medicare for people for no good reason other than they old and the weakest.  

It seems that we preach, but we do not follow, and we certainly don't repent over it, and if we do, we do it with two fingers crossed behind our back.  

Courtesy of an article dated October 19, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design

DISCOVERY: 70 LITTLE ANCIENT BOOKS WITH LEAD PAGES BOUND IN WIRE COULD REVEAL THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT CHRISTIANITY

Could the 70 little ancient books with lead pages containing crytic engravings and bound in wire be the biggest find since the Dead Sea Scrolls? 

For scholars of faith and history, it is a treasure trove too precious for price.

This ancient collection of 70 tiny books, their lead pages bound with wire, could unlock some of the secrets of the earliest days of Christianity.

Lines of inquiry: The metal tablets could change our understanding of the Bible. The metal books contain pages with images, symbols and words that appear to refer to the Messiah and, possibly even, to the Crucifixion
 

Academics are divided as to their authenticity but say that if verified, they could prove as pivotal as the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947.

Groundbreaking find: A section of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were unearthed in 1947

On pages not much bigger than a credit card, are images, symbols and words that appear to refer to the Messiah and, possibly even, to the Crucifixion and Resurrection.

Adding to the intrigue, many of the books are sealed, prompting academics to speculate they are actually the lost collection of codices mentioned in the Bible’s Book Of Revelation.

The books were discovered five years ago in a cave in a remote part of Jordan to which Christian refugees are known to have fled after the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD. Important documents from the same period have previously been found there.

Initial metallurgical tests indicate that some of the books could date from the first century AD.

Revelation: Experts speculate that the tablets could be the lost collection of codices referred to in the Bible's Book Of Revelation.

Hidden meaning: Scrolls, tablets and other artifacts, including an incense bowl, were also found at the same site as the tablets.

This estimate is based on the form of corrosion which has taken place, which experts believe would be impossible to achieve artificially.

If the dating is verified, the books would be among the earliest Christian documents, predating the writings of St Paul.

The prospect that they could contain contemporary accounts of the final years of Jesus’s life has excited scholars – although their enthusiasm is tempered by the fact that experts have previously been fooled by sophisticated fakes.

David Elkington, a British scholar of ancient religious history and archeology, and one of the few to have examined the books, says they could be ‘the major discovery of Christian history’.

‘It is a breathtaking thought that we have held these objects that might have been held by the early saints of the Church,’ he said.

But the mysteries between their ancient pages are not the books’ only riddle. Today, their whereabouts are also something of a mystery. After their discovery by a Jordanian Bedouin, the hoard was subsequently acquired by an Israeli Bedouin, who is said to have illegally smuggled them across the border into Israel, where they remain.

However, the Jordanian Government is now working at the highest levels to repatriate and safeguard the collection. Philip Davies, emeritus professor of biblical studies at Sheffield University, said there was powerful evidence that the books have a Christian origin in plates cast into a picture map of the holy city of Jerusalem.

‘As soon as I saw that, I was dumbstruck,’ he said. ‘That struck me as so obviously a Christian image. 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. 

‘There are walls depicted on other pages of these books too and they almost certainly refer to Jerusalem. It is a Christian crucifixion taking place outside the city walls.’

The British team leading the work on the discovery fears that the present Israeli ‘keeper’ may be looking to sell some of the books on to the black market, or worse – destroy them.

But the man who holds the books denies the charge and claims they have been in his family for 100 years.

Dr Margaret Barker, a former president of the Society for Old Testament Study, said: ‘The Book of Revelation tells of a sealed book that was opened only by the Messiah.

‘Other texts from the period tell of sealed books of wisdom and of a secret tradition passed on by Jesus to his closest disciples. That is the context for this discovery.’

Professor Davies said: ‘The possibility of a Hebrew-Christian origin is certainly suggested by the imagery and, if so, these codices are likely to bring dramatic new light to our understanding of a very significant but so far little understood period of history.’

Mr Elkington, who is leading British efforts to have the books returned to Jordan, said: ‘It is vital that the collection can be recovered intact and secured in the best possible circumstances, both for the benefit of its owners and for a potentially fascinated international audience.’

*British scientists have uncovered up to eight million mummified dogs, thought to have been sacrificed to Anubis, the god of the dead, 2500 years ago after excavating tunnels in the ancient Eygptian city of Saqqara.

COMMENTARY:    I just hope these 70 lead books, like so many ancient painting's and clay vase's discovered in modern times, that were later carbon tested and analyized, are not frauds.  An ill conceived practical joke inflicted on historians by a prankster. 

I can just see the mass panic and traumatic shock experienced by Christians around the world should these little lead books reveal the real truth about Jesus and Christianity.  Maybe Jesus was hung, and not cruxified. Maybe he was just buried, but there was no resurrection.  Maybe he was married and had children.  Maybe he was just plain crazy.  Maybe these 70 little lead books turn out to be Hebrew COOK BOOKS!!   Kosher cooking is healthy eating.

You don't suppose that Christian religions around the world would try suppress these shocking truths would you?  You bet they would.  If something else other than what we now accept as gospel were revealed in these little lead books, all Christianity would be out-of-business literally over night. The Roman Catholic Church would be the laughing stock of Islam.  The Pope would be evicted from The Vatican; cardinals, bishops and priests would be ridiculed and disrobed and thrown into the street; all the buildings, rectories, churches, including the Sisteen Chapel would be plundered and razed to the ground, and the property turned into luxury condo's.

Oh my God, what have I said.  Lord, please forgive me.  (Gulp)  

Courtesy of an article dated March 30, 2011 appearing in The Daily Mail Online 

By TwitterButtons.com  

 

 

DOES THE RECENT CONFERENCE BETWEEN THE VATICAN, NASA AND 30 SCIENTISTS BE A SIGNAL THAT MAN IS NOT ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE?

This month a conference was held with over thirty top astrophysicists, astronomers, scientists, NASA officials, and  the Vatican  to discuss the implications of finding Alien life on other planets and  the ramifications of that discovery to world religions. During last year's conference, the Vatican chief astronomer pointed out that Saint Francis considered the idea that Earth's animals were man's brothers. Why wouldn't alien life or aliens be considered our brother also in the main idea of God's creation of the Universe.

 

Could the meeting between Vatican officials and astronomers, NASA officials and top scientists signal a prelude to a disclosure or shocking news announcement soon to be released little by little, that we are not alone in the Universe?  This thought is no longer as far-fetched as it once was.

It seems that in light of things like this, especially the recent media coverage claiming that we'll be invaded and killed by aliens because of global warming, that we have a problem. Werner Von Braun said before he died that first it would be rogue nations that would threaten the world after the Cold War, then it would be Terrorism, and then an extra terrestrial threat, mainly so that they can weaponize space. Scary thought I know.

The major discovery of water on the moon and the possibility it exists on other planets was announced last year. Water is a major component for life. The discovery this year of thousands of exoplanets like Earth brought the news of more possibilities of life in the universe. Earth is not unique in fact far from it. It seems that NASA and the Vatican are working on the best plan on telling the people of the Earth that finding Alien life is coming soon possibly. The news that Titan has some indications that alien life may exist came out this year also. It seems the agenda of slowly giving pieces of information to the public continues. The concern is the ramifications to human race which has a spiritual history and what  the affects of a reality of alien life existence.

Elijah and Ezekiel had encounters with heaven and the creatures from heaven. Ezekiel was taken to heaven in a fiery chariot. Religious art over the centuries have portrayed these encounters. The Catholic church has placed the imagery and art in their churches.

The Vatican discussed the issue and debated with the scientists of NASA on the issues down the road. Vatican and Science have had a great war in the past. Galileo is a prime example where he wasarrested and tried for his scientific announcement that the Earth rotated around the Sun. The Church's doctrine of suppression has changed to now taking the initiative of working with science hand in hand.

There is a theory going around that the Vatican and NASA are preparing a strategy on how to deal and prepare mankind's spirituality with the fact of alien extraterrestrials.  If you discover alien life on a planet then it won't be too long before intelligent alien life becomes the next conclusion. How does God play into these discoveries. Genesis may have to be reviewed and the idea of original sin evaluated was a conclusion brought up by the Vatican.  Adam and Eve eating the Apple from the Tree of Knowledge which created original sin and the Great Fall of mankind would seem possibly strange if discoveries of intelligent life on other planets are announced.

Can mankind handle the news that we are not alone? How is the news going to be handled and so religious leaders have been brought in for the discussion. The Vatican may have had information centuries ago that this day may come.  In cathedrals with their dome structures the congregation often looks up to a ceiling of stars, saucer like pictures, and angels. Angels were from heaven and the fiery chariot with its wheel takes Ezekiel to the heavens.

Moses encounter with the angels and heaven. Many artwork show Moses with rays coming from his head which depict his radiant face and his ability to speak to God.

The Ark of the Covenant created by Moses was a powerful object which contained the stones given Moses from heaven. On this Ark of the Covenant is the symbol of the eye of RA on the Ark under the lamb . The Egyptian technology far advanced could have connections to the powerful deadly device of the Ark. One wonders for centuries the artists and churches have been giving us subliminal hints at what the future had in store for us. We need to prepare ourselves of the possibility that we are not alone in this universe. Religions play a intricate part in the dynamics of many human beings. Original sin plays a large part in the teachings of many churches and the story of Genesis. How will the news affect us and the change of consciousness of mankind.  What do you think?

COMMENTARY:   In November 2009, Father Gabriel Funes, Chief Vatican Astronomer put the Vatican squarely on the spot with controversial comments that raised the possibility of alien life besides Man.  Father Funes said.   

"The universe is so big, huge. And say the one where we live with a hundred billion galaxies. Each galaxy with a hundred billion stars. Probably with many of these stars having planets. It could be possible that life could evolve as the way we know on Earth."  

Here's the video of the actual interview with Father Funes.

 

As it turns out, Father Funes comments were not that controversial to the Vatican, because the Church is very interested in the possibility of extraterrestrial life, wants to prepare itself for that eventuality, and the profound implications that the discovery of intelligent extraterrestrial life could have on the Catholic Church, its billion followers and religious teachings.   

In mid-November 2009, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences held its first ever conference on astrobiology, the study of life beyond Earth, with scientists and religious leaders gathering in Rome.

  

During the Inquisition of 1600, Giordano Bruno, an Italian monk, was put to death by the Catholic Church for claiming that other worlds exist.

Slowly the Church has adapted to scientific discoveries, accepting the discovery by Copernicus and Galileo that the Earth was not the center of the universe, and most recently belatedly accepted Darwin's Theory of Evolution. 

For centuries, theologians have argued over what the existence of life elsewhere in the universe would mean for the Church: 

• Alien extraterrestrial lifeforms would be hard to fit with the idea that God “made man in his own image”.
• Jesus Christ’s role as saviour of mankind would be confused.
• Would other worlds have their own religious figures, or would Earth’s Christ be universal?

Father Jose Funes, a Jesuit astronomer at the Vatican Observatory and one of the organisers of the conference, said:  

"As a multiplicity of creatures exists on Earth, so there could be other beings, also intelligent, created by God.  This does not conflict with our faith, because we cannot put limits on the creative freedom of God."

Not everyone agrees.  Paul Davies, a theoretical physicist and author of The Goldilocks Enigma, told The Washington Post that the threat to Christianity is "being downplayed" by Church leaders. He said:

"I think the discovery of a second genesis would be of enormous spiritual significance. The real threat would come from the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence, because if there are beings elsewhere in the universe, then Christians, they're in this horrible bind.  They believe that God became incarnate in the form of Jesus Christ in order to save humankind, not dolphins or chimpanzees or little green men on other planets."

In a blog post dated August 13, 2011, I wrote about NASA's Kepler Mission, a space telescope observatory that was launched into space on March 6, 2009.  Kepler has one singular mission: to scan the interplanetary skies for habitable earth-sized planets that could support life. Since Kepler was launched, the Kepler's observatory telescope has already identified 1,235 candidate star systems, and this infographic shows all of them to scale with our own pale blue dot.

[Click Image To Enlarge]   

The single star that is all by itself in the top right corner is our Sun.  That little black dot represents the planet Junpiter.  Earth is too small, but it appears as a very faint little dot in the following blowup of our Sun.

In a blog post dated October 23, 2010, I reported on the discovery of frozen water inside a       10-kilometer crater on the surface of the Moon by NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS).

The discovery of ancient Martian "canals" on the surface of Mars by early astronomers gave rise to the theory that Mars once had rivers of water.   On August 5, 2011, NASA announced that for the first time they had discovered some traces which could lead to proving the existence of water in liquid state on Mars, a breakthrough which offers new views on exploring the Red Planet by organizing human-crew expeditions. 

In June 14, 2011, a University of Colorado at Boulder analysis of the Martian surface concluded that a massive ocean covered as much as a third of the planet around 3.5 billion years ago. The CU study is the first to mash up a huge body of data collected by NASA and ESA missions over the last decade. That data suggests Mars at one point had a hydrological cycle not too different from our own, including cloud formation, groundwater accumulation, and precipitation.

Discovering liquid water on Mars could be a strategical extremely important event in order to understand possible former lifeforms and to prepare future exploring missions on Mars with human crews on board, as water is one of the vital elements for life as we know it. 

These discoveries, including thousands of observances of unidentified flying objects or UFO's in different parts of the world, obviously have caught the attention of the Vatican.  The Church is obviously in "panic mode" and is preparing itself for the inevitable possibility that maybe Man is not unqiue in the Universe, and that Man was not created in the image of God, or even more earth shaking, that intelligent extraterrestrial lifeforms visited Earth in pre-historic times and seeded the Earth with biological lifeforms, or interceeded in some way to advance the evolution of Man from early primates. 

Could you imagine how true believers would take the news that Man is not alone in the universe?  I could make this into a political exercise, and have a lot of fun with it, but I won't.  It's much bigger than that.  This is an opportunity for Man to finally come together as brothers, for religion has done more to separate us than bring us together.  Religion at its worst has created prejudices, triggered wars and killed millions of innocent people over the centuries past.

If The Vatican and our government are meeting for the sole purpose of developing strategies to prepare Mankind for an announce that we have made contact with intelligent extraterrestrial lifeforms, then the news would come as a tremendous shock to true believers.  To non-believers (including yours truly) and the scientific community such an announcement would not be such earth shaking news, but would beg a series of question:  Is contact with intelligent extraterrestrial lifeforms good or bad news?  What are the true intentions of the aliens?  How does this affect religious teachings and beliefs as we know them?  Does this mean the end of Christianity and Judism?  Is this the beginning of the end of Mankind?  What do we do next?    

Courtesy of an article dated August 18, 2011 appearing in Before It's News, an article dated August 24, 2011 appearing in UFO Digest, an article dated August 26, 2011 appearing in UFOEvolution, an article dated November 10, 2009 appearing in The Telegraph, and an article dated August 5, 2011 appearing in NewsMania

PHYSICIST STEPHEN HAWKING TALKS ABOUT THE EXISTENCE OF GOD, THE UNIVERSE, ALIEN LIFEFORMS AND EXPERIENCING ZERO-GRAVITY

A belief that heaven or an afterlife awaits us is a "fairy story" for people afraid of death, Stephen Hawking has said.

In a dismissal that underlines his firm rejection of religious comforts, Britain's most eminent scientist said there was nothing beyond the moment when the brain flickers for the final time.

Hawking, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 21, shares his thoughts on death, human purpose and our chance existence in an exclusive interview with the Guardian today.

The incurable illness was expected to kill Hawking within a few years of its symptoms arising, an outlook that turned the young scientist to Wagner, but ultimately led him to enjoy life more, he has said, despite the cloud hanging over his future.

"I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first," he said.

"I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark," he added.

Hawking's latest comments go beyond those laid out in his 2010 book, The Grand Design, in which he asserted that there is no need for a creator to explain the existence of the universe. The book provoked a backlash from some religious leaders, including the chief rabbi, Lord Sacks, who accused Hawking of committing an "elementary fallacy" of logic.

The 69-year-old physicist fell seriously ill after a lecture tour in the US in 2009 and was taken to Addenbrookes hospital in an episode that sparked grave concerns for his health. He has since returned to his Cambridge department as director of research.

The physicist's remarks draw a stark line between the use of God as a metaphor and the belief in an omniscient creator whose hands guide the workings of the cosmos.

In his bestselling 1988 book, A Brief History of Time, Hawking drew on the device so beloved of Einstein, when he described what it would mean for scientists to develop a "theory of everything" – a set of equations that described every particle and force in the entire universe. "It would be the ultimate triumph of human reason – for then we should know the mind of God," he wrote.

The book sold a reported 9 million copies and propelled the physicist to instant stardom. His fame has led to guest roles in The Simpsons, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Red Dwarf. One of his greatest achievements in physics is a theory that describes how black holes emit radiation.

In the interview, Hawking rejected the notion of life beyond death and emphasised the need to fulfil our potential on Earth by making good use of our lives. In answer to a question on how we should live, he said, simply: "We should seek the greatest value of our action."

In answering another, he wrote of the beauty of science, such as the exquisite double helix of DNA in biology, or the fundamental equations of physics.

Hawking responded to questions posed by the Guardian and a reader in advance of a lecture tomorrow at the Google Zeitgeist meeting in London, in which he will address the question: "Why are we here?"

In the talk, he will argue that tiny quantum fluctuations in the very early universe became the seeds from which galaxies, stars, and ultimately human life emerged. "Science predicts that many different kinds of universe will be spontaneously created out of nothing. It is a matter of chance which we are in," he said.

Hawking suggests that with modern space-based instruments, such as the European Space Agency's Planck mission, it may be possible to spot ancient fingerprints in the light left over from the earliest moments of the universe and work out how our own place in space came to be.

His talk will focus on M-theory, a broad mathematical framework that encompasses string theory, which is regarded by many physicists as the best hope yet of developing a theory of everything.

M-theory demands a universe with 11 dimensions, including a dimension of time and the three familiar spatial dimensions. The rest are curled up too small for us to see.

Evidence in support of M-theory might also come from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at Cern, the European particle physics laboratory near Geneva.

One possibility predicted by M-theory is supersymmetry, an idea that says fundamental particles have heavy – and as yet undiscovered – twins, with curious names such as selectrons and squarks.

Confirmation of supersymmetry would be a shot in the arm for M-theory and help physicists explain how each force at work in the universe arose from one super-force at the dawn of time.

Another potential discovery at the LHC, that of the elusive Higgs boson, which is thought to give mass to elementary particles, might be less welcome to Hawking, who has a long-standing bet that the long-sought entity will never be found at the laboratory.

Hawking will join other speakers at the London event, including the chancellor, George Osborne, and the Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.

COMMENTARY:   I have always wondered whether there was a supreme entity or force, life after death, heaven and hell, demons and angels, and thought about my purpose in life and final destiny.   If Stephen Hawking is right, when we die our remains are left behind, they rot away and eventually turn into dust.  Everything that we were returns back to its basic atomic origin, and the whole cycle begins all over again.  Perhaps my remains will find themselves in a new lifeform, a bug, plant, plankton, reptile or another human being.  For better or for worse, the only thing we really leave behind is the enduring memory that we once existed, let our heirs or the State fight over any property we leave behind.

Stephen Hawking's comment that there is no heaven is certain to provoke reaction from all religious believers and provide agnostics or aetheists with new ammo to support their case that there is no God.

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Stephen Hawking's 1988 book, "A Brief History of Time", in which he attempts to explain a range of subjects in cosmology,  including the Big Bang, black holes and light cones, to the nonspecialist reader.  Its main goal is to give an overview of the subject but, unusual for a popular science book, it also attempts to explain some complex mathematics.  If you aren't interested in reading the book (don't blame you), below is the 10-part video series, beginning with Part 1 of 10.  Click here to view parts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.

 

Stephen Hawking gave a remote televised speech at TED2008, a bi-annual conference that brings together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment and Design.  In keeping with the theme of TED2008, professor Stephen Hawking asks some Big Questions about our universe -- How did the universe begin? How did life begin? Are we alone? -- and discusses how we might go about answering them.

 

Stephen Hawking has warned us against trying to contact alien life forms.  You might get more than you wished for.  The Discovery Channle ran a television series titled "Stephen Hawking's Universe Fear The Aliens".  Part 1 of the five-part video series is below.  Click here to view parts 2, 3, 4, 5

 

In spite of his incredible disability which has taken his voice and ability to move, Stephen Hawking did something few humans ever do, experience zero-g gravity.

 

I find Stephen Hawking an absolutely incredible physicist.  His theories about the origin of the universe, time, worm holes, black holes and now religion certainly stop you and make you think. It's an absolute miracle that he is even alive.  At this rate he could theoretically outlive me. Perhaps he is an Alien himself.

Courtesy of an article dated May 15, 2011 appearing in The Guardian

   

IMAGE OF WHAT APPEARS TO BE JESUS CHRIST APPEARS ON LEAD BOOK COVER, VATICAN REFUTES AUTHENTICITY

The image is eerily familiar: a bearded young man with flowing curly hair. After lying for nearly 2,000 years hidden in a cave in the Holy Land, the fine detail is difficult to determine. But in a certain light it is not difficult to interpret the marks around the figure’s brow as a crown of thorns.

The extraordinary picture of one of the recently discovered hoard of up to 70 lead codices – booklets – found in a cave in the hills overlooking the Sea of Galilee is one reason Bible historians are clamouring to get their hands on the ancient artefacts.

If genuine, this could be the first-ever portrait of Jesus Christ, possibly even created in the lifetime of those who knew him.

The tiny booklet, a little smaller than a modern credit card, is sealed on all sides and has a three-dimensional representation of a human head on both the front and the back. One appears to have a beard and the other is without. Even the maker’s fingerprint can be seen in the lead impression. Beneath both figures is a line of as-yet undeciphered text in an ancient Hebrew script.

Astonishingly, one of the booklets appears to bear the words ‘Saviour of Israel’ – one of the few phrases so far translated.

The owner of the cache is Bedouin trucker Hassan Saida who lives in the Arab village of Umm al-Ghanim, Shibli. He has refused to sell the booklets but two samples were sent to England and Switzerland for testing.

A Mail on Sunday investigation has revealed that the artefacts were originally found in a cave in the village of Saham in Jordan, close to where Israel, Jordan and Syria’s Golan Heights converge – and within three miles of the Israeli spa and hot springs of Hamat Gader, a religious site for thousands of years.

According to sources in Saham, they were discovered five years ago after a flash flood scoured away the dusty mountain soil to reveal what looked like a large capstone. When this was levered aside, a cave was discovered with a large number of small niches set into the walls. Each of these niches contained a booklet. There were also other objects, including some metal plates and rolled lead scrolls.

The area is renowned as an age-old refuge for ancient Jews fleeing the bloody aftermath of a series of revolts against the Roman empire in the First and early Second Century AD.

The cave is less than 100 miles from Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and around 60 miles from Masada, scene of the last stand and mass suicide of an extremist Zealot sect in the face of a Roman Army siege in 72AD – two years after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

It is also close to caves that have been used as sanctuaries by refugees from the Bar Kokhba revolt, the third and final Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire in 132AD.

The era is of critical importance to Biblical scholars because it encompasses the political, social and religious upheavals that led to the split between Judaism and Christianity.

It ended with the triumph of Christianity over its rivals as the dominant new religion first for dissident Jews and then for Gentiles.

In this context, it is important that while the Dead Sea Scrolls are rolled pieces of parchment or papyrus containing the earliest-known versions of books of the Hebrew Bible and other texts – the traditional Jewish format for written work – these lead discoveries are in book, or codex, form which has long been associated with the rise of Christianity.

The codices seen by The Mail on Sunday range in size from smaller than 3in x 2in to around 10in x 8in. They each contain an average of eight or nine pages and appear to be cast, rather than inscribed, with images on both sides and bound with lead-ring bindings. Many of them were severely corroded when they were first discovered, although it has been possible to open them with care.

The codex showing what may be the face of Christ is not thought to have been opened yet. Some codices show signs of having been buried – although this could simply be the detritus resulting from lying in a cave for hundreds of years.

Unlike the Dead Sea Scrolls, the lead codices appear to consist of stylised pictures, rather than text, with a relatively small amount of script that appears to be in a Phoenician language, although the exact dialect is yet to be identified. At the time these codices were created, the Holy Land was populated by different sects, including Essenes, Samaritans, Pharisees, Sadducees, Dositheans and Nazoreans.

There was no common script and considerable intermingling of language and writing systems between groups. Which means it could take years of detailed scholarship to accurately interpret the codices.

Many of the books are sealed on all sides with metal rings, suggesting they were not intended to be opened. This could be because they contained holy words which should never be read. For example, the early Jews fiercely protected the sacred name of God, which was only ever uttered by The High Priest in the Temple in Jerusalem at Yom Kippur.

The original pronunciation has been lost, but has been transcribed into Roman letters as YHWH – known as the Tetragrammaton – and is usually translated either as Yahweh or Jehovah. A sealed book containing sacred information was mentioned in the biblical Book of Revelations.

One plate has been interpreted as a schematic map of Christian Jerusalem showing the Roman crosses outside the city walls. At the top can be seen a ladder-type shape. This is thought to be a balustrade mentioned in a biblical description of the Temple in Jerusalem. Below that are three groups of brickwork, to represent the walls of the city.

A fruiting palm tree suggests the House of David and there are three or four shapes that appear to be horizontal lines intersected by short vertical lines from below. These are the T-shaped crosses believed to have been used in biblical times (the familiar crucifix shape is said to date from the 4th Century). The star shapes in a long line represent the House of Jesse – and then the pattern is repeated.

This interpretation of the books as proto-Christian artefacts is supported by Margaret Barker, former president of the Society for Old Testament Study and one of Britain’s leading experts on early Christianity. The fact that a figure is portrayed would appear to rule out these codices being connected to mainstream Judaism of the time, where portrayal of lifelike figures was strictly forbidden because it was considered idolatry.

If genuine, it seems clear that these books were, in fact, created by an early Messianic Jewish sect, perhaps closely allied to the early Christian church and that these images represent Christ himself. However another theory, put forward by Robert Feather – an authority on The Dead Sea Scrolls and author of The Mystery Of The Copper Scroll Of Qumran – is that these books are connected to the Bar Kokhba Revolt of 132-136AD, the third major rebellion by the Jews of Judea Province and the last of the Jewish-Roman Wars.

The revolt established an independent state of Israel over parts of Judea for two years before the Roman army finally crushed it, with the result that all Jews, including the early Christians, were barred from Jerusalem.

The followers of Simon Bar Kokhba, the commander of the revolt, acclaimed him as a Messiah, a heroic figure who could restore Israel. Although Jewish Christians hailed Jesus as the Messiah and did not support Bar Kokhba, they were barred from Jerusalem along with the rest of the Jews. The war and its aftermath helped differentiate Christianity as a religion distinct from Judaism.

The spiritual leader of the revolt was Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, who laid the foundations for a mystical form of Judaism known today as Kabbalah, which is followed by Madonna, Britney Spears and others. Yochai hid in a cave for 13 years and wrote a secret commentary on the Bible, the Zohar, which evolved into the teaching of Kabbalah. Feather is convinced that some of the text on the codices carry the name of Rabbi Bar Yochai.

Feather says that all known codices prior to around 400AD were made of parchment and that cast lead is unknown. They were clearly designed to exist for ever and never to be opened. The use of metal as a writing material at this time is well documented – however the text was always inscribed, not cast.

The books are currently in the possession of Hassan Saida, in Umm al-Ghanim, Shibli, which is at the foot of Mount Tabor, 18 miles west of the Sea of Galilee.

Saida owns and operates a haulage business consisting of at least nine large flatbed lorries. He is regarded in his village as a wealthy man. His grandfather settled there more than 50 years ago and his mother and four brothers still live there.

Saida, who is in his mid-30s and married with five or six children, claims he inherited the booklets from his grandfather.

However, The Mail on Sunday has learned of claims that they first came to light five years ago when his Bedouin business partner met a villager in Jordan who said he had some ancient artefacts to sell.

The business partner was apparently shown two very small metal books. He brought them back over the border to Israel and Saida became entranced by them, coming to believe they had magical properties and that it was his fate to collect as many as he could.

The arid, mountainous area where they were found is both militarily sensitive and agriculturally poor. The local people have for generations supplemented their income by hoarding and selling archeological artefacts found in caves.

More of the booklets were clandestinely smuggled across the border by drivers working for Saida – the smaller ones were typically worn openly as charms hanging from chains around the drivers’ necks, the larger concealed behind car and lorry dashboards.

In order to finance the purchase of booklets from the Jordanians who had initially discovered them, Saida allegedly went into partnership with a number of other people – including his lawyer from Haifa, Israel.

Saida’s motives are complex. He constantly studies the booklets, but does not take particularly good care of them, opening some and coating them in olive oil in order to ‘preserve’ them.

The artefacts have been seen by multi-millionaire collectors of antiquities in both Israel and Europe – and Saida has been offered tens of millions of pounds for just a few of them, but has declined to sell any.

When he first obtained the booklets, he had no idea what they were or even if they were genuine.

He contacted Sotheby’s in London in 2007 in an attempt to find an expert opinion, but the famous auction house declined to handle them because their provenance was not known.

Soon afterwards, the British author and journalist Nick Fielding was approached by a Palestinian woman who was concerned that the booklets would be sold on the black market. Fielding was asked to approach the British Museum, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and other places.

Fielding travelled to Israel and obtained a letter from the Israeli Antiquities Authority saying it had no objection to their being taken abroad for analysis. It appears the IAA believed the booklets were forgeries on the basis that nothing like them had been discovered before.

None of the museums wanted to get involved, again because of concerns over provenance. Fielding was then asked to approach experts to find out what they were and if they were genuine. David Feather, who is a metallurgist as well as an expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls, recommended submitting the samples for metal analysis at Oxford University.

The work was carried out by Dr Peter Northover, head of the Materials Science-based Archaeology Group and a world expert on the analysis of ancient metal materials.

The samples were then sent to the Swiss National Materials Laboratory at Dubendorf, Switzerland. The results show they were consistent with ancient (Roman) period lead production and that the metal was smelted from ore that originated in the Mediterranean. Dr Northover also said that corrosion on the books was unlikely to be modern.

Meanwhile, the politics surrounding the provenance of the books is intensifying. Most professional scholars are cautious pending further research and point to the ongoing forgery trial in Israel over the ancient limestone ossuary purporting to have housed the bones of James, brother of Jesus.

The Israeli archeological establishment has sought to defuse problems of provenance by casting doubt on the authenticity of the codices, but Jordan says it will ‘exert all efforts at every level’ to get the relics repatriated.

The debate over whether these booklets are genuine and, if so, whether they represent the first known artefacts of the early Christian church or the first stirrings of mystical Kabbalah will undoubtedly rage for years to come.

The director of Jordan’s Department of Antiquities, Ziad al-Saad, has few doubts. He believes they may indeed have been made by followers of Jesus in the few decades immediately following his crucifixion.

‘They will really match, and perhaps be more significant than, the Dead Sea Scrolls,’ he says. ‘The initial information is very encouraging and it seems that we are looking at a very important and significant discovery – maybe the most important discovery in the history of archaeology.’

If he is right, then we really may be gazing at the face of Jesus Christ.

COMMENTARY:  What amazes me is how anybody can claim beyond the shadow of a doubt that the engraving on one of those cute little lead books is the image of Jesus Christ.  Nobody knows what Jesus even looked like.  I pointed this out in a previous blog post dated March 31, 2011 titled, "Discovery: 70 Little Ancient  Books With Lead Pages Bound In Wire Could Reveal The Truth About Christianity."   You would think that archeologists and scholars from the Vatican would be all over Israel clamoring to get their hands on those lead books.  An anonymous source within the Roman Catholic church had this to say: 

"In a nutshell, the problems with this discovery include the facts that (1) we don’t know who owns the artifacts; (2) we don’t know where they were found; (3) the artifacts were not excavated by archaeologists but stolen by thieves; (4) nearly all information about the discovery so far has come from a single source of dubious reliability; (5) claims have been made that this find is more significant than the Dead Sea Scrolls; (6) the source of information appears to be positioning himself for fame and fortune."  

That pretty much sizes it up.   

Courtesy of an article dated April 5, 2011 appearing in Before It's News

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