In this weeks e. Skeptic, we present an excerpt from Tim Callahans book Bible Prophecy Failure or Fulfillment The book covers all the major biblical prophecies especially those concerned with the end times and examines the paranoid style of conspiratorial thinking that has lead to a cornucopia of theories about who is really running the world, determining the fate of nations, establishing the power of economies and everything from assassinating world leaders to controlling Snapple. In this excerpt from the final chapter of his book, Callahan links biblical prophecies of the end times the mark of the beast and all that with modern global conspiracy theories that involve black helicopters, Hong Kong Gurkhas, militia, and the so called New World Order which are supposed to signal that the end is nigh. This excerpt can also be found in Skeptic magazine volume 4, number 3 from 1. The End of the World and the New World Order. Black Helicopters, Hong Kong Gurkhas, Global Conspiracies the Mark of the Beastby Tim Callahan. As I write this introduction to the excerpt from my new book on Bible Prophecy Failure or Fulfillment, the movie Independence Day set a new record of 9. The movie opens with a youthful technician in the SETI program headquarters checking the monitors for signs of extra terrestrial intelligence, while his boom box blasts the rock song Its the End of the World. For the erstwhile Earthlings in the movie it almost was the end of the world as the space aliens were not exactly the friendly types depicted in ET, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and other Sci Fi blockbusters. Why are we so fascinated by end of the world stories Sure, Independence Day owes some of its success to a huge marketing campaign that began on Superbowl Sunday seven months before telling viewers this would be their last Super bowl Sunday party and to the spectacular special effects depicting the explosion of the Empire State Building, the White House, and other national monuments. Screen-Shot-2017-07-25-at-15.38.02.png' alt='Order Laura`S Star Movie' title='Order Laura`S Star Movie' />You Are Reading American Gods 15 Biggest Differences Between The Book And TV Show. Enter your email here to receive the CFNMTV newsletter about updates, special offers and exclusive trailers. Nude celebrity MP4 movie clips of Laura Prepon. An adolescent girl and her toddler brother, find a star that has actually fallen to earth, that turns out to be living being. But there is something deeper here, that goes to the heart of our psyche the belief that one way or another we are doomed. Sci Fi authors and film producers are simply capitalizing on a theme that has been with us since biblical times. In Skeptic, Vol. 3, 2, I wrote a review of Hal Lindseys book Planet Earth 2. A. D., in which I showed that as we approach the big millennium date doomsday warnings will proliferate in pop culture. Lindsey like all doomsayers was cautious, however, hedging his prediction with alternatives for 2. In my book I review all the major biblical prophecies, especially those concerned with the end times. Tim Callahan. Modern Technology Other Signs of the End. The Bible, especially the book of Revelation, is filled with allegorical stories and symbolic tales. The problem is in interpretation. Are these stories prophetic warnings for us, or social commentary for the readers of the time of their writingFundamentalists and conspiratorialists try desperately to stretch apocalyptic writings that were about the politics of their time to fit modern times. They also try to fit poetic pictures of destruction into modern technology. The most obvious of these is the idea that fire raining down from heaven means nuclear armed missiles. Another is the idea that the phrase every eye shall see him Rev. Christ being seen worldwide on television. Hal Lindsey has speculated that the demonic locusts, the plague of the fifth trumpet, represent helicopters. Here is the actual description of the locusts from Rev. In appearance the locusts were like horses arrayed for battle on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold their faces were like human faces, their hair like womens hair, and their teeth like lions teeth they had scales like iron breastplates, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots rushing into battle. They have tails like scorpions, and stings, and their power of hurting men for five months lies in their tails. In that their wings make a rushing noise, that helicopters could be said to look as if they have stinger like tails, and that the locusts armor could be said to be a description of the metal skin of helicopters, the locusts could be stretched to fit these modern machines, if one uses a good deal of imagination. Hal Lindsey apparently took the locusts with faces of men as being the crew of the helicopters as seen in the cock pit from without. Just how it is that military helicopters would torture, but not kill, for five months is not explained. Greatest Movie Plot Twists, Spoilers and Surprise Endings Title Screen Film TitleYear and Plot TwistSpoilerSurprise Ending Description. The Last Jedi will see a weakened version of the Resistance thats not only at war with the First Order, but is suffering from internal conflict. Star Wars. To read more on Star Wars The Last Jedi, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands Friday, or buy it here now. Dont forget to subscribe. On the other hand, locusts commonly live for five months, and the prophet Joels locusts were also like horses see Joel 2 49. It is also hard to figure how they could have come out of the smoke from the bottomless pit Rev 9 3 or why their king would be Abaddon, the angel of the bottomless pit Rev. Even if helicopters do not work that well in fulfilling the imagery of Revelation, they do figure in conspiracy theories. Listen to any fundamentalist radio station for a while and you will hear reports of ominous black i. Supposedly they were hovering over the Branch Davidian compound in Waco just before the tanks went in. People have claimed that the helicopters are often filled with men wearing unusual uniforms, hence the speculation that they are carrying foreign troops and that these are trial runs for the U. N. takeover of the U. S., eventually instituting the world government that will be ruled by the Antichrist. Among the people who claim to have been buzzed and harassed by low flying black helicopters are Christians who are home schooling their children to keep them out of the secular school system. Despite the popularity and availability of video cameras and despite reports of repeated harassment, none of these sightings have ever been substantiated. The Mayors City Builder Award is a civic honour created to recognize an individual, group or organization that has, through their outstanding volunteerism or. Moviegoers have been treated some pretty fantastic fight scenes. With many crazy melees to choose from, here are the most epic movie fights of the 21st century. Tharlo is a Tibetan shepherd, used to living with little human contact. Visiting a Tibetan town in Qinghai province to obtain a proper ID card from the local police. This last minor fact has not reduced the fears concerning the infernal machines in the least. If anything, the ability of the black helicopters to avoid detection has added to their satanic mystique. Another report of foreign troops being brought in to take away our rights was the assertion that the federal crime bill of 1. Hong Kong to enforce laws in America. The idea was that, unlike American cops, the foreigners would not have any compunction about firing on a crowd of American citizens. There was even one report that the police being brought over from Hong Kong were Gurkhas, troops with a legendary reputation for savagery. Reality was something else again. While there are about a thousand Gurkhas stationed in Hong Kong, they are used for border patrol only. Members of this elite corps of the British army are not so much noted for savagery, but rather are famous for their honesty, trustworthiness, sense of personal honor, and most of all for their valor. Since 1. 91. 1 Gurkhas have won 1. Victoria Crosses, the British equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor. The likelihood that these elite troops, so fiercely loyal to the Queen, would be loaned out to the U. S. to kill Americans is nil. However, there is just the smallest grain of truth to the rumor that the government was going to bring in Hong Kong police. On page 8. 43 of HR 3. Attorney General, the heads of the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Agency DEA, along with the Commissioners of the Immigration and Naturalization Service INS and the Customs Service to recruit former Royal Hong Kong Police officers into Federal law enforcement positions. The true story is this. Hong Kong is shortly due to revert to the Peoples Republic of China. Thus, the officers of the Royal Police will soon be without either a job or a home. The fact that the INS was involved in the recruitment plan should tell anyone that these officers would be brought in as naturalized citizens. Since Hong Kong is an international port, its police are experienced in coping with black market goods and drug smuggling, hence the participation of the FBI, the DEA, and the Customs Service in the recruitment program. Carrie Fisher renews hope for Leia in final Star Wars film. To read more on Star Wars The Last Jedi, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands Friday, or buy it here now. Dont forget to subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW. Live fearlessly, live boldly, and even after youre gone that strength and inspiration burn on. After Carrie Fishers unexpected death in December, The Last Jedi will mark her final performance as Leia Organa the Star Wars character who went from orphan to princess, to spy, to senator, and finally general of the Resistance. She remains a light that will never go out in the galaxy. Her character to some degree or another has been defined by loss through this whole saga, starting with the loss of her home planet. Shes just taken hit after hit, and shes borne it, and she focuses on moving forward and the task at hand, says writer director Rian Johnson. UNBROKEN, UNBOWEDLucasfilm. No matter what grief or trauma Leia faced, she never wavered in her commitment to fighting for freedom in the galaxy, and her battle continues in The Last Jedi. Leia remains in charge of the scattershot Resistance movement, cut off from the Republic, whose leadership and capitol was annihilated in The Force Awakens. Anyone who expected the Resistance to fill that void and maintain order would be mistaken. No, no, no. Not at all, Johnson says. Theyre a small band thats now cut off, on its own, and hunted when the Republic is shattered. When the First Order did that hit, the Resistance is isolated, and theyre very, very vulnerable. Thats where we pick them up. While the galaxy teeters on takeover by the First Order, Leia is also dealing with personal grief, mourning the death of Han Solo murdered at the hands of their son, Adam Drivers Kylo Ren. The young man once known as Ben Solo has now fully fallen to the Dark Side, just as Darth Vader, Leias father, did a generation before. Shes suffered quite a bit, Johnson adds. While I was figuring out what her deal was going to be in this film, its one of the things I talked about with Carrie before I started writing where the character would go. Subscribe to EWs Star Wars newsletter to get the latest news in your inbox. THE CUSTODIAN OF LEIAThats what Fisher often called herself. Shes become me, and Ive become her. Because its been a while, Fisher told EW in 2. The Force Awakens. As she did in her own novels and memoirs, like Postcards from the Edge and Wishful Drinking, Fishers wry and brash performance as Leia allowed the character to face her hardships with a blaster proof sense of humor and whatever the galactic version of chutzpah would be. Although she wont complete the saga Lucasfilm says Episode IX is being rewritten out of respect for her passing, Leias impact will continue to reverberate. Despite the hardship, Leia always finds the hope in any given situation. This time, her story is entwined with Poe Dameron, the hotshot X wing pilot played by Oscar Isaac. Their relationship is not just general and warrior. Theyre family. And in Star Wars, the notion of family goes far beyond blood relations. LucasfilmPoe is in some ways a surrogate son for Leia, Isaac tells EW. But also I think she sees in him the potential for a truly great leader of the Resistance and beyond. In The Last Jedi, a torch is being passed. Its about the peril of meeting your heroes, facing down disappointment, and rising to fight nonetheless. Just as Luke Skywalker reluctantly may be passing on his knowledge of the Force to Rey, Leia is guiding Poe, encouraging him to look beyond the crosshairs in his cockpit. There are other ways to fight, other ways to lead. Poes arc is one of evolving from a heroic soldier to a seasoned leader, to see beyond the single mindedness of winning the battle to the larger picture of the future of the galaxy, Isaac says. I think Leia knows she wont be around forever and she, with tough love, wants to push Poe to be more than the badass pilot, to temper his heroic impulses with wisdom and clarity. CONFLICT WITHINThere are also rivalries and alliances within the movement. Johnson isnt ready to reveal what Laura Derns Vice Admiral Holdos role is in the story, but as a fellow commander in the Resistance she is likely to have a history with Leia Organa. The nature of it will be for the movie to reveal. The secrecy does have a purpose in that part of the fun with Lauras character, with Admiral Holdo, is figuring out what her relationship is to everybody as you go along through the movie, Johnson says. In a behind the scenes video for The Last Jedi, there was at least one shot of the two women facing each other. It doesnt look hostile, but under the right circumstances even friendships can turn dark. LucasfilmI dont want to tip the hat too much, but I will say that the heat is immediately turned up on the Resistance, Johnson says. Everybody is put in a pressure cooker right away, and relationships crack and strain under that pressure. That was really interesting to me, the notion of putting this small army under a lot of external pressure and showing some of the results within the Resistance itself. THE UNWANTED FAREWELLThe storyline wasnt changed after Fishers death, but Johnson says he hopes it will still be satisfying to the legion of Leia fans who see the character as a source of true life inspiration in our world. Theres no way that we couldve known this wouldve been the last Star Wars movie she would be in, so its not like we made the film thinking that we were bringing closure to the character, Johnson says. But watching the film, theres going to be a very emotional reaction to what she does in this movie. While Leias influence as a leader endures within the narrative of the Star Wars saga, Fisher also made a personal impact on the actors who will be carrying the franchise forward without her. Lucasfilm. Everyone who worked on the film has a Carrie story, but the sweetest and most heartbreaking one belongs to Isaac One of my favorite things that would happen from time to time on set would be when Carrie would sing old songs, he says. Whenever that would happen I would offer her my hand and we would waltz around the set on a starship, in a Rebel base, on an alien planet, and she would sing and we would dance. So surreal and beautiful to think about now. For all of her delicious, wicked humor and fiery energy she also had such sweet grace. I miss her dearly. Part 1 Luke and Rey. Part 2 Finn and Rose. Part 3 Porgs and Caretakers. Watch Wreck-It Ralph Movie Stream here. Part 4 Snoke and the Praetorian Guard. Part 5 Leia and Poe. Part 6 Benicio Del Toros DJ.