End Times Bible Prophecy

Samstwitch

Senior Member
Messages
5,111
as I am setting here in my warm house with plenty of food and water, no one coming in every 2 hour's to beat the hell out of me for 10-15 minutes while telling me it will all stop if I just take the mark.

yeh I say never, and like to think I could hold out for the 10 days..

however after talking to guy's who came home from the prisoner of war camps in viet-nam, and how they could break the will of even the strongest men. how after a week of no food, and only a cup of water evry other day, and then the beatings, they, you, me, anyone would say/do anything to make it stop...

I would take the option of running to hide... counting on the promise of protection and provision in the place our LORD has told us HE would make for those who flee to the mountians/wilderness....


In the Scriptures, God says that He will never give us more than we can handle. I believe that. When tragic or dangerous things happened during my lifetime, God was always there for me. He has performed many miracles for me and my loved ones.

In my years of research, I've read stories and heard testimonies about believers of Christ who were shot at close-range (with guns) and not touched by bullets, who were beat and not injured, who were starving and food appeared or came from strangers, and many other miracles. Jesus said He will always be with us. He will never leave us or forsake us. I believe Him as He never lies. The same miracles that happened when Jesus walked the earth still happen today in many parts of the world.

I pray daily and experience many miracles myself, so I know this is true.

When the Mark of the Beast comes, if I am put to the test, I will look to the Lord and pray for strength. He will sustain me.
 

BlastTyrant

Senior Member
Messages
2,585
of late I have found myself pondering the future with a dreaded series of thoughts seeming to return with the daily news of, wars and rumors of wars, famine's, outbreaks of new disease's, earthquake's, the growing number of threats from near miss comets, asteroids, solar flares,, a growing total disregaurd of GOD and HIS law or a great falling away..... sssooooooo


in view of the recent events and the direction of laws being passed every day. I believe we are fast aproaching the day when you will be put in a life and death choice spoken of in BIBLE prophecy. the choice of weather to take the mark of the beast or be tortured and killed for refusing it.. the only other option is to flee from society's comforts and services to live in the wilderness of the country... it will be fairly easy to determine if it is indeed the mark of the beast by one simple test........... if you can not buy, or sell, or work, with out it .......... presto-changeoh- rangeoh-rue.... thats it....
so now to my question????

would you go along to get along, take the right to work mark, hoping the BIBLE is wrong, and just a book of bedtime stories told to children to lull them to sleep..

would you rather flee to the wilderness and be there to possably help the others who have fled from the dark force's, maybe witness to and help them find the LORD...

would you chose to be a martyr, by standing firm in refusing it to the death , and earn a martyr's crown and white robe in heaven???

oh yeh, one more thing the chosen methode of execution is beheading......( note ) there have been rumores of mass qantitys of guillotines being produced and bought by governments around the world, but as yet I have not been able to confirm that as fact..
however that would be a most horrific thing to be forced to watch as you waited in the line for your last chance to accept/refuse the mark..

I would love to list more options but there are no other choice's but there are none,,,,, also by no means is any answer given here a factor or proof as to just what anyone will do if put to the test.. upto and untill you are standing in the line of death it's impossable to know for sure...
I won't wait for a God who let's his children suffer and Die as Hell becomes Earth, I will take my own Destiny in my own hands and go on and save those along with my family, those who are clearly abandonded by the one we are taught to trust and believe in. I have Cabins and Woods in which i can survive with my family, but i refuse to wait and pray and hope one day maybe Jesus will come back and redeem our souls. And if Push comes to shove i will Fight for my beliefe and for my Loved ones, i will gladly become a Martyr for those i love. But i will not wait around for Maybe Possibly Jesus to come and save us.

Off Topic your post Made me think of this Music Video
 

kcwildman

Beastmaster
Messages
3,042
yes it is written that HE will never leave us nor forsake us, and even give us strength in times of weakness... we are also told not to worry what we will answer in the time of trial, that HE will give us a voice that they can not overcome... yet it is also written that there is a multitude of the saints that stand befor the throne crying for vengence aginst those who killed them and they are given white robes and told to wait yet a little longer untill there fellow believers are killed as they were that it sould be fulfilled...

there will be many believers who are marched to there death for the belief they hold dear..
just as they were when the romans threw them to the lions..
just as they were when nero sewed them into sacks and dipped them in oil to used them for torch's to light up his gardens...

we have no way to know what fate awaits us in the future, we are each of us chosen to play our part in the events to fulfill HIS word and give glory to HIS name... all we can hope for, is when our time is up that we go quick and painlessly
 

Samstwitch

Senior Member
Messages
5,111
I won't wait for a God who let's his children suffer and Die as Hell becomes Earth, I will take my own Destiny in my own hands and go on and save those along with my family, those who are clearly abandonded by the one we are taught to trust and believe in. I have Cabins and Woods in which i can survive with my family, but i refuse to wait and pray and hope one day maybe Jesus will come back and redeem our souls. And if Push comes to shove i will Fight for my beliefe and for my Loved ones, i will gladly become a Martyr for those i love. But i will not wait around for Maybe Possibly Jesus to come and save us.


Blast Tyrant, It is not God who causes suffering. It is mankind. God's only Son was horribly tortured and murdered in the worse way by mankind...and knowing that would happen, God still sent Jesus to earth to redeem us from our sins. (Jesus's own cousin, John the Baptist, was also beheaded for preaching.)

There is no reason for anyone to wait for Jesus to redeem their soul. He has already done that on the Cross.

I'm not sitting around waiting for Jesus to return. His return might not be for quite some time yet.

I'm preparing for what will eventually come just in case I'm here when it happens, just as Noah and his family prepared for the flood. If I'm still on this earth when hard times arrive, I will be doing what is necessary to survive...but I will also be praying.

And if I'm ever imprisoned for refusing to take the Mark of the Beast, I will not deny Jesus as my Lord, even if I am put to death for it.

As far as what you will do...God gave us free will. Whatever you do is your choice.
 

HDRKID

Senior Member
Messages
2,582
Friends, our world will not end this year. However, I do expect in this decade for many major events to soon occur. Most should not come as a surprise. Trouble in the middle east is only the beginning of woe. Oh hey, don't take any wooden nickels or trillion dollar coins. :)
 

Eddy_P

Junior Member
Messages
100
I've been interested in Bible Prophecy for some time and like to compare it to the local news media reports. Please post your comments on what has been fullfilled and what hasn't.
(Extract from website used with permission: ‘findings #5’ page)​
Matrix 1 Preview sometimes and generally known as The 7 Signs of Jesus

Christian List of Signs from the Books of Daniel and Revelation​
  1. One dominant European country​
  2. The rise of a world Religion (being the 'Fourth Beast' religious kingdom)​
  3. The coming of the false prophet & world Religious Leader​
  4. Israel is to be restored​
  5. The LAMB being seen in the clouds​
  6. The invasion "from the north" War​
  7. Armageddon - and the Four Horsemen​
{Australian researcher} Ronald Pegg found one of the main reasons why the modern history 'foretold' in the Bible has not been recognized by Bible scholars. He realized that Christians have failed to take into account, that the first four 'events' are from a monotheistic Hebrew GOD perspective of circa 600 BCE - and NOT from a modern (nor 1st-4th century) Christian perspective.​

Therefore from Daniel's perspective of his Time Period, his God, and his Beliefs.....​
  1. One dominant European country = the Roman Empire 753 BCE to 476 CE​
  2. The rise of a new world Religion = Roman Catholic Holy Church - with its LAMB as one of its religious icons.​
  3. The coming of the false prophet & Religious Leader* = the words of Jesus/Paul/Peter & the office of Pope.​
  4. Israel is to be restored = the modern Sate of Israel on 15 May 1948.​
  5. The LAMB being seen in the clouds = the LAMB picture from the Ancients cd-rom.​
  6. The invasion 'from the north' War = the 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq.​
  7. Armageddon - and the Four Horsemen = an event in Israel in 1996 - and pictures from the Ancients cd-rom.​

* This is from Daniel's Hebrew GOD perspective of circa 600 BCE. A new future religion and its leader who supported a 'Son of God' plus a 'Mother of God' and had the 'LAMB of God' as its sacred animal symbol would have been an abomination to his monotheistic beliefs.

Details pp 133-148, Chapter 11, 'End Time Prophecies Unvieled', World Breaking Discoveries - A New Era Begins
. . .​
. . .​
Matrix 2 Preview People who find codes in the Bible​
Signs from the Books of Daniel, Joel and Revelation

End Time War (Daniel and Revelations)
Comet, and Sun turning into Darkness (Joel)
'Michael' and the 49 years from Israel restored (Daniel)

Summary and Associations

The 1991 Persian Gulf War fought in Iraq and the associated oil fires turning the Sun into Darkness were the historical SIGNs of Michael Drosnin starting his June 1992 research concerning a code in the Book of Genesis, while the July 1992 comet Shoemaker-Levy9 breaking apart was the astronomical SIGN.

The May 1948 date of the declaration of the state of Israel was the Start Point (SIGN) for the recorded events in Daniel 9:25a being 49 years prior to the events recorded in Daniel 10:21 and Jude 1:9 pertaining to Michael Drosnin publishing his Bible Code book in May 1997. (May 1948 + 49 years = May 1997)

The July 1994 comet Shoemaker-Levy9 impact with Jupiter (seen on the third cd-rom) was the SIGN of the scientific paper by Dr Rips being tabled in August 1994 regarding the E.L.S. Bible Code mathematics.

The April 1997 comet Hale-Bopp was the astronomical SIGN pertaining to Michael Drosnin publishing his Bible Code book in May 1997 and starting the 'war of words' over the Internet.

The astronomical SIGNS regarding the two comets are one month from the associated Bible Code person/event.

pp 69-74, Chapter 5, 'Biblical Signs', World Breaking Discoveries - A New Era Begins
In Chart format
Following charts extracted from World Breaking Discoveries - A New Era Begins, Adelaide, South Australia, 2007. pp73 & 147 used with permission)​
Biblical ref. Date Event / Person / (S)IGN​
Numbers 34:3-12 . . May 1948 . . State of Israel​
Malachi 4:5 . . 1980 Eliyahu Rips . . (S) Elijah . (before War & Michael)​
Daniel 11:40-45 . . Aug 2 1990 to April 3 1991 . . Persian Gulf War​
Joel 2:31 . . 1991 oil fires in Kuwait . (S) Sun into darkness​
Daniel 12:1 . . 28 June 1992 . . Michael Drosnin stands ups​
Revelations 12:1 . . July 1992 . . (S) Comet SML-9​
Revelations 12:3-4 . . July 1994 . . (S) Comet SML-9​
. . . . Aug 1994 . . Dr Eliyahu Rips et al published E.L.S. Code scientific paper​
Joel 2:30 . . April 1997 . . (S) Comet Hale-Bopp​
. . . . 2 May 1997* . . Michael Drosnin​
Daniel 9:25 . . 49 years after Jerusalem . . Messiah, the Prince​
(Daniel 12:1) . . Michael will find things “written in the book”​
Revelations 11:3 . . First Witness​
Daniel 10:21 . . Michael reveals what is in the ‘scripture of truth’​
Jude 1:9 . . Michael “disputed the body of Moses” (Genesis)​
Revelations 12:7 . . Michael's “war in heaven” (ie. over the Internet)​
Dan 12:7, Rev 11:3 . . 1,260 days later​
. . . . Oct 12 2000 Ronald Pegg​
Revelations 11:3 . . Second Witness (Un-named)​
Revelations 11:7 . . Public Testimony (Judgement) dispatched​
 

TnWatchdog

Senior Member
Messages
7,099
Israel Strikes Syria Military Target

By BEN HUBBARD 01/30/13 08:59 PM ET EST
ap_wire.png


BEIRUT — Israel launched a rare airstrike inside Syria, U.S. officials said Wednesday, targeting a convoy believed to contain anti-aircraft weapons bound for Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. The attack adds a potentially flammable new element to tensions already heightened by Syria's civil war.
It was the latest salvo in Israel's long-running effort to disrupt the Shiite militia's quest to build an arsenal capable of defending against Israel's air force and spreading destruction inside the Jewish state.
Regional security officials said the strike, which occurred overnight Tuesday, targeted a site near the Lebanese border, while a Syrian army statement said it destroyed a military research center northwest of the capital, Damascus. They appeared to be referring to the same incident.
U.S. officials said the target was a truck convoy that Israel believed was carrying sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons bound for Hezbollah in Lebanon. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the operation.
Regional officials said the shipment included sophisticated Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, which if acquired by Hezbollah would be "game-changing," enabling the militants to shoot down Israeli jets, helicopters and surveillance drones. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
In a statement, the Syrian military denied the existence of any such shipment and said a scientific research facility outside Damascus was hit by the Israeli warplanes.
The Israeli military declined to comment. However, many in Israel worry that as Syrian President Bashar Assad loses power, he could strike back by transferring chemical or advanced weapons to Hezbollah, which is neighboring Lebanon's most powerful military force and is committed to Israel's destruction.
The airstrike follows decades of enmity between Israel and allies Syria and Hezbollah, which consider the Jewish state their mortal enemy. The situation has been further complicated by the civil war raging in Syria between the Assad regime and rebel brigades seeking his ouster.
The war has sapped Assad's power and threatens to deprive Hezbollah of a key supporter, in addition to its land corridor to Iran. The two countries provide Hezbollah with the bulk of its funding and arms.

A Syrian military statement read aloud on state TV Wednesday said low-flying Israeli jets crossed into Syria over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and bombed a military research center in the area of Jamraya, northwest of Damascus.
The strike destroyed the center and damaged a nearby building, killing two workers and wounding five others, the statement said.
The military denied the existence of any convoy bound for Lebanon, saying the center was responsible for "raising the level of resistance and self-defense" of Syria's military.
"This proves that Israel is the instigator, beneficiary and sometimes executor of the terrorist acts targeting Syria and its people," the statement said.
Israel and Hezbollah fought an inconclusive 34-day war in 2006 that left 1,200 Lebanese and 160 Israelis dead.
While the border has been largely quiet since, the struggle has taken other forms. Hezbollah has accused Israel of assassinating a top commander, and Israel blamed Hezbollah and Iran for a July 2012 attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria. In October, Hezbollah launched an Iranian-made reconnaissance drone over Israel, using the incident to brag about its expanding capabilities.
Israeli officials believe that Hezbollah's arsenal has markedly improved since 2006, now boasting tens of thousands of rockets and missiles and the ability to strike almost anywhere inside Israel.
Israel suspects that Damascus obtained a battery of SA-17s from Russia after an alleged Israeli airstrike in 2007 that destroyed an unfinished Syrian nuclear reactor.
Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of the dangers of Syria's "deadly weapons," saying the country is "increasingly coming apart."
The same day, Israel moved a battery of its new "Iron Dome" rocket defense system to the northern city of Haifa, which was battered by Hezbollah rocket fire in the 2006 war. The Israeli army called that move "routine."
Syria, however, cast the airstrike in a different light, linked to the country's civil war, which it blames on terrorists carrying out an international conspiracy.
Despite its icy relations with Assad, Israel has remained on the sidelines of efforts to topple him, while keeping up defenses against possible attacks.
Israeli defense officials have carefully monitored Syria's chemical weapons, fearing Assad could deploy them or lose control of them to extremist fighters among the rebels.
President Barack Obama has called the use of chemical weapons a "red line" that if crossed could prompt direct U.S. intervention, though U.S. officials have said Syria's stockpiles still appear to be under government control.
The strike was Israel's first inside Syria since September 2007, when warplanes destroyed a site that the U.N. nuclear watchdog deemed likely to be a nuclear reactor. Syria denied the claim, saying the building was a non-nuclear military site.
Syria allowed international inspectors to visit the bombed site in 2008, but it has refused to allow nuclear inspectors new access. This has heightened suspicions that Syria has something to hide, along with its decision to level the destroyed structure and build on its site.
In 2006, Israeli warplanes flew over Assad's palace in a show of force after Syrian-backed militants captured an Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip.
And in 2003, Israeli warplanes attacked a suspected militant training camp just north of the Syrian capital, in response to an Islamic Jihad suicide bombing in the city of Haifa that killed 21 Israelis.
Syria vowed to retaliate for both attacks but never did.
In Lebanon, which borders both Israel and Syria, the military and the U.N. agency tasked with monitoring the border with Israel said Israeli warplanes have sharply increased their activity in the past week.
Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace are not uncommon, and it was unclear if the recent activity was related to the strike in Syria.
Syria's primary conflict with Israel is over the Golan Heights, which Israeli occupied in the 1967 war. Syria demands the area back as part of any peace deal. Despite the hostility, Syria has kept the border quiet since the 1973 Mideast war and has never retaliated for Israeli attacks.
In May 2011, only two months after the uprising against Assad started, hundreds of Palestinians overran the tightly controlled Syria-Israeli frontier in a move widely thought to have been facilitated by the Assad regime to divert the world's gaze from his growing troubles at home.
___
Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Bradley Klapper in Washington, and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report

Source and video Israel Launches Rare Strike in Syria
 

TnWatchdog

Senior Member
Messages
7,099
Syria, Iran Threaten Israel With Retaliation For Strike

By BASSEM MROUE 01/31/13 02:07 PM ET EST
ap_wire.png


r-SYRIA-IRAN-THREATEN-ISRAEL-large570.jpg


Syria, Video, Iran Threats Israel, Israel Syria Strike, Iran Syria Israel Strike, Syria Iran, Syria Strike Israel, Syria Threats Iran, World News

BEIRUT — Syria threatened Thursday to retaliate for an Israeli airstrike and its ally Iran said the Jewish state will regret the attack.
Syria sent a letter to the U.N. Secretary-General stressing the country's "right to defend itself, its territory and sovereignty" and holding Israel and its supporters accountable.
"Israel and those who protect it at the Security Council are fully responsible for the repercussions of this aggression," the letter from Syria's Foreign Ministry said.
U.S. officials said Israel launched a rare airstrike inside Syria on Wednesday. The target was a convoy believed to be carrying anti-aircraft weapons bound for Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese militant group allied with Syria and Iran.
In Israel, a lawmaker close to hard-line Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stopped short of confirming involvement in the strike. But he hinted that Israel could carry out similar missions in the future.
The attack has inflamed regional tensions already running high over Syria's 22-month-old civil war.
Israeli leaders in the days leading up to the airstrike had been publicly expressing concern that Syrian President Bashar Assad may be losing his grip on the country and its arsenal of conventional and nonconventional weapons.
Regional security officials said Wednesday that the targeted shipment included sophisticated Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, which if acquired by Hezbollah would enhance its military capabilities by enabling the militants to shoot down Israeli jets, helicopters and surveillance drones.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

The Syrian military denied there was any weapons convoy and said low-flying Israeli jets had crossed into their country over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to bomb a scientific research center near Damascus.
It said the target was in the area of Jamraya, northwest of Damascus and about 15 kilometers (10 miles) from the Lebanese border.
Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Jassem al-Shallal, who in December became one of the most senior Syrian army officers to defect, told The Associated Press by telephone from Turkey that the site they said was targeted is a "major and well-known" center to develop weapons known as the Scientific Research Center.
Al-Shallal, who until his defection was commander of the military police, said no chemical or nonconventional weapons are at the site. He added that foreign experts, including Russians and Iranians, are usually present at such centers.
Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul-Karim Ali threatened retribution for the Israeli airstrike, saying Damascus "has the option and the capacity to surprise in retaliation."
He told Hezbollah's al-Ahd news website that it was up to the relevant authorities to prepare the retaliation and choose the time and place.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry summoned Major-General Iqbal Singh Singha, the head of mission and force commander for United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on the Golan Heights, to complain about the Israeli violation.
The force was established in 1974 following the disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces in the area and has remained there since to maintain the cease-fire. Israel captured the Golan, a strategic plateau, from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.
At U.N. headquarters in New York, deputy U.N. spokesman Eduardo del Buey said: "UNDOF did not observe any planes flying over the area of separation, and therefore was not able to confirm the incident." UNDOF also reported bad weather conditions, he said.
Hezbollah condemned the attack as "barbaric aggression" and said it "expresses full solidarity with Syria's command, army and people."
The group did not mention any weapons convoy in the statement but said the strike aimed to prevent Arab and Muslim forces from developing their military capabilities.
In Iran, the country's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, said "the Zionist regime will regret its aggression against Syria," Iran state television said.
The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian as saying the raid will have significant implications for Israel.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi condemned the airstrike on state television, calling it a clear violation of Syrian sovereignty. Iran is Syria's strongest ally in the Middle East, and has provided Assad's government with military and political backing for years.
Russia, Syria's most important international ally, said this appeared to be an unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation. Moscow said it was taking urgent measures to clarify the situation in all its details.
"If this information is confirmed, we have a case of unprovoked attacks on targets in the territory of a sovereign state, which grossly violates the U.N. Charter and is unacceptable," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "Whatever the motives, this is not justified."
Incoming Israeli lawmaker Tzachi Hanegbi, who is close to Prime Minister Netanyahu, said pinpoint strikes are not enough to counter the threat of Hezbollah obtaining sophisticated weaponry from Syria.
"Israel's preference would be if a Western entity would control these weapons systems," Hanegbi said. "But because it appears the world is not prepared to do what was done in Libya or other places, then Israel finds itself like it has many times in the past facing a dilemma that only it knows how to respond to," he added.
He was referring to NATO's 2011 military intervention in Libya that helped oust dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
"Even if there are reports about pinpoint operations, these are not significant solutions to the threat itself because we are talking about very substantial capabilities that could reach Hezbollah," he said.
Syria's civil war has sapped Assad's power and threatens to deprive Hezbollah of a key supporter, in addition to its land corridor to Iran. The two countries provide Hezbollah with the bulk of its funding and arms.
Earlier this week, Netanyahu warned of the dangers of Syria's "deadly weapons," saying the country is "increasingly coming apart."
The same day, Israel moved a battery of its new "Iron Dome" rocket defense system to the northern city of Haifa, which was battered by Hezbollah rocket fire in the 2006 war. The Israeli army called that move "routine."
The Israeli army won't say whether Iron Dome was sent north in connection to this operation. It does note that it has deployed the system in the north before.
A U.N. diplomat confirmed that the organization received a letter from the Syrian ambassador but said it did not contain a request for a Security Council meeting.
A U.N. statement said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed grave concern over reports of Israeli airstrikes on Syria but said the U.N. does not have details of the reported incident and cannot independently verify what happened.
"The Secretary-General calls on all concerned to prevent tensions or their escalation in the region, and to strictly abide by international law, in particular in respect of territorial integrity and sovereignty of all countries in the region," the statement said.
____
Associated Press writer Ian Deitch in Jerusalem and Peter James Spielmann at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Source Syria, Iran Threaten Israel With Retaliation
 

TnWatchdog

Senior Member
Messages
7,099
This reminds me of what had happened in the old Bible days...this region has always had locusts but it is interesting non the less.
Locusts Swarm Egypt, Put Israel On High Alert Ahead Of Passover

03/04/13 06:13 AM ET EST
ap_wire.png




JERUSALEM — Israel is on a locust alert as swarms of the destructive bugs descend on neighboring Egypt ahead of the Passover holiday.
Israel's Agriculture Ministry set up an emergency hotline Monday and is asking Israelis to be vigilant in reporting locust sightings to prevent an outbreak.
Locusts have a devastating effect on agriculture by quickly stripping crops.
Swarms of locusts have descended on Egypt, raising fears they could spread to Israel.
The locust alert comes ahead of the Passover festival, which recounts the biblical story of the Jewish exodus from Egypt. According to the Bible, a plague of locusts was one of 10 plagues God imposed on Egyptians for enslaving and abusing ancient Hebrews.


Locust Swarm in Egypt Puts Israel on High Alert
 

TnWatchdog

Senior Member
Messages
7,099
Locusts in Egypt now giant mutated rats in Iran...interesting. Diseases like to hitch a ride on rats...watch out for the coming plagues.
Tehran Rats: Iran Reportedly Battles Giant 'Mutant' Rodents With Snipers (PHOTO)

Posted: 03/04/2013 5:47 pm EST | Updated: 03/04/2013 7:03 pm EST



Too bad Iran can't Photoshop its way out of this problem.
Although Tehran has had a decades-long struggle with rats, its rodent problem seems to have grown to epic proportions as of late. Giant rats that have been flushed out of their nests by melting snow are the focus of a renewed extermination effort in the Iranian capital, according to several reports.
Some of the rodents reportedly weigh as much as 11 pounds.
(Story continues below)
o-TEHRAN-RATS-570.jpg

A young volunteer picks up a dead rat from an open drainage channel in Tehran May 20. Tehran has a plague of rats estimated to number up to 25 million after winter snows melted raising the underground water level and flushing the rats from their nests. Municipal authorities have imported approximately 45 tons of rat poison and set up information tents to help deal with the plague. (Reuters)


The International Business Times quoted Tehran city council environment adviser Ismail Kahram, who told Iranian news website Qudsonline.ir that the rats "seem to have had a genetic mutation, probably as a result of radiations and the chemical used on them."
"They are now bigger and look different. These are changes that normally take millions of years of evolution. They have jumped from 60 grams to five kilos, and cats are now smaller than them," Kahram said, according to the outlet.
The Huffington Post reached out to several rat experts to assess the validity of Kahram's claim. Dr. David Baker, laboratory animal veterinarian at LSU, told HuffPost that it's unlikely the rats got super-sized as the result of a mutation.
"Nearly all genetic mutations identified across the field of biology are harmful and confer a disadvantage to the species rather than an advantage. It’s not like in the sci-fi movies," Baker said in an email.
However, he pointed out that there are several species of "giant" rats found around the world that can achieve the sizes described by Kahram. Because their growth plates don't fuse after puberty, Baker explained, even common black rats can get very large.
"During the Middle Ages, black rats in Europe reportedly grew large enough -- and children were small enough -- to carry off babies. Those had to have been some big rats," Baker wrote.
Regardless of size, Tehran is reportedly ramping up its response to the rodents. Apparently a team of army snipers is now hunting the rats by night, using rifles equipped with infrared scopes. IBT reported that 2,205 rats have been killed so far.
It's like a warped bonus round of "Big Buck Hunter," except the only ones scoring points off this emergency are the media. The Times of Israel made a "Princess Bride" reference in its coverage about the rats, whereas the Times of London took aim at Tehran's "experience when it comes to [exterminating]... its political opponents."
Whether Tehran's rats are mutated or not, some scientists have reported that certain rat populations are becoming resistant to poison. In 2012, a researchers in Britain published findings that estimated 75 percent of rats in West England were resistant to rodenticide.
Source Country Battles Giant 'Mutant' Rats
 

Top