Up on AP Breaking News,  [ For Educational Purposes Only ]

http://www.tampabayonline.net/news/news1028.htm  (only good for a few hours)

5/11/99 -- 1:50 AM

As new millennium approaches, Nostradamus fever grips Japan

TOKYO (AP) - Every week, millions of Japanese TV viewers tune in to watch a couple of men building a bunker for the end of the world. It's a race against time. They have to finish before July.

As the end of the century nears, Japan has come under an odd spell - the apocalyptic preachings of the 16th century soothsayer Nostradamus. Bookshelves are lined with Nostradamus spinoffs. Celebrities comment earnestly on his predictions. The Internet is awash with thousands of Japanese Web sites devoted to the French prophet of doom.

``Will mankind be extinguished in 1999?'' one typical Web site says. ``This is not an issue to be taken lightly.''

Nostradamus, whose prophecies made him so famous in his lifetime that he came under the patronage of Catherine de Medicis, has been a household name in Japan for over two decades.

And he's always been big during times of crisis.

During the oil shock of the 1970s, a Japanese author penned the best-selling book that first introduced Nostradamus' prophecies to a mass audience in Japan. It sold more than 2 million copies.

Another wave of interest in Nostradamus broke out during the 1990 Persian Gulf War, which spawned a cottage industry in World War III predictions.

But the current gloom of Japan's recession and jitters about the international situation - from the war in Kosovo to missile tests by North Korea - have created the most virulent Nostradamus boom yet, experts say.

``It's excessive,'' said Teigo Yoshida, a professor of cultural anthropology at Japan's prestigious Tokyo University. ``In times of social uncertainty, these theories gain popularity.''

As evidence of Nostradamus' popularity, two dozen books on him or his predictions were published in Japan last year. Eleven more have been released so far this year.

Timing, of course, has given Nostradamus a strong boost.

``There has been a big surge in the popularity of Nostradamus with the last year of the millennium,'' said Fumiko Takahashi, a spokeswoman for the Japan's Publishers Association.

Nostradamus predicted millennium doom, writing that ``the great king of terror will fall from the sky in the seventh month of the year 1999.''

Nostradamus' prophecies, which were written in verse and collected in a book called ``Centuries,'' are extremely cryptic and open to a wide range of interpretations.

But that hasn't prevented Nostradamus buffs from making some very precise inferences.

In a book published in February, author Akio Cho even purports to have discovered ``through scientific research'' the precise hour and date of the great cataclysm: 5 p.m., July 24, 1999.

Few people are seriously preparing for the end - to most Japanese, the boom is more an entertaining distraction than anything else.

But a recent poll conducted by Japan's Kokugakuin University found 20 percent of the people responding give some credence to the Nostradamus prophecies.

And the trend does have its hardcore believers, and a darker side.

Many of the beliefs espoused by Japan's Aum Shinri Kyo ``Supreme Truth'' cult - which killed 13 people in a 1995 subway gas attack - appear to have been inspired by Nostradamus' writings.

The cult, which has been increasing in popularity lately even though most of its leaders have been arrested, is preparing for an Armageddon that it claims will come in early September.

Other religious cults in Japan have borrowed ideas from the Nostradamus prophecies to attract followers.

Yoshida, the anthropologist, said Japan is fertile ground for Nostradamus because the occult has a powerful hold on many aspects of everyday Japanese life.

Fortune teller stands line the streets in busy shopping districts, and the Chinese zodiac is used to set the dates for everything from weddings to elections.

``More and more Japanese are turning to superstition,'' he said.

``People's anxieties are pushing them to search for answers in the supernatural.''
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Surprised there haven't been more articles detailing the emergence of general dread, wondering, and superstition associated with the Big Turn.

Have always felt that Y2K was not taken seriously because ppl thought it was part of the 'silly whacko millennial fever syndrome.' Few have researched or realized it is a real, scientifically verifiable tangible problem. The media does NOT help when they say it is "fixed" or "it is not a technical problem."

Those erroneous statements just feed Y2K into the nebulous doomy haze surrounding the 2000 watermark, to which most people believe they are too sophisticated and modern to give a passing thought.

If it is true that 1999 is the *only* specific year that Nostradamus detailed, then the mention merits a calm, curious watchfulness, if only for the sake of living through a time period that many have pondered.

If only millions of people would pay as much attention to the practical need to remediate their computers and prepare sensibly and intelligently for disasters! Japan is ripe for large earthquakes, and Kobe demonstrated that they are not well-prepared.

Those who sluff off "superstition" by stating they are too modern and educated and sophisticated to bother with the outmoded drivel, and who also discount Y2K possibilities with ridicule, have put themselves in a peculiar position, smugly blind and refusing to acknowledge any possibilities other than their current hypnotized anesthetized narrow environs.

Circumstances have been known to abruptly change in a flash, and also to erode over agonizing time. Beware smugness!

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-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), May 11, 1999

Answers

And what would a comet striking the earth and the Year 2000 rollover of computers have to do with one another? What facts are there that state the two are related?

-- Pat (BAMECW@aol.com), May 11, 1999.

Leska, thanks. I've always made this a factor in my personal y2k overall picture along with an increase in lone crazed gunmen, acts of terrorism to bring about a certain prediction or religious event, domestic terrorism, foreign terrorism, terrorism, terrorism and terrorism.

Pat, I think that is the connection. "Millennial madness" happened at the last roll over and it is happening again. It's only going to get worse the closer we get to the change and the opportunities to create terror will only become bigger and more public especially at New Years Eve itself.

Mike ============================================================

-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), May 11, 1999.

The snicker factor has become an illogical dogma in itself. People refuse to credit computer problems with the ability to seriously impact their lives. Many still relegate computers to "toys."

mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmm

-- Ashton (allaha@earthlink.net), May 11, 1999.

Michael T, once again you are exactly right! And even the FBI & FEMA & DOD are willing to see the connection and substitute "terrorism" as the Y2K gatekeeper catchword.

An irony being that ridicule will not phase ticking code.

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-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), May 11, 1999.

I don't see any reference at all to an asteroid in this prophecy.

The year 1999 seventh month, From the sky will come a great King of terror: To bring back to life the great King of the Mongols, Before and after War is to reign by good luck.

I do see a reference to something terrifying coming from the sky, Widespread war before during and after, And a resurgence of power and unity in the Mongol regions. Do you know where the Mongol regions are? Hint; The Chinese built a wall to keep them out, They overran Yugoslavia in days of old, along with most of east Asia and Europe. And there is more than one terror which can come from the sky. Which one of those terrors are most people concerned about? That would be the KING of terror.

-- Nikoli Krushev (doomsday@y2000.com), May 11, 1999.

Part of THE many planet-wide TRUTHs are ... we continue to live in an changing world ... minute-by-minute.

Best to be ready to shift on a dime, and embrace flexibility. And to dance lightly upon shifting sands ... of time.

Diane

BTW, my prefered Nostradamus reading (quite a "different" take on Nostradamus, based on past lives research) is Dolores Cannons three volume set ...

Conversations With Nostradamus : Volume One - His Prophecies Explained : (Revised With Addendum : 1996) Vol 1

http://www.amazon.com/exec/ obidos/ASIN/1886940002/qid=926441732/sr=1-3/002-7477841-8836466

Conversations With Nostradamus : His Prophecies Explained Vol 2

http://www.amazon.com/exec/ obidos/ASIN/0922356025/qid=926441732/sr=1-2/002-7477841-8836466

Conversations With Nostradamus : Volume Three - His Prophecies Explained Vol 3

http://www.amazon.com/exec/ obidos/ASIN/0963277634/qid=926441732/sr=1-4/002-7477841-8836466

And ... just to be completely controversial ... try reading her excellent ...

Jesus and the Essenes : Fresh Insights into Christ's Ministry and the Dead Sea Scrolls

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ 0946551928/ref=sim_books/002-7477841-8836466

Quite interesting.

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), May 11, 1999.

Thanks, Diane, looks like good clicking. Gotta run now to a hospice case we're doing 24/7, Buddhist nun, Lama came yesterday to administer rites, very interesting case. Death approaching on wings of Light and Peace. Catch y'all later.

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), May 11, 1999.

Mary to Father Gobbi (Marian Movement of Priests, 1994) "Before the Jubilee of the year 2000, the triumph of my Immaculate Heart will occur, which will coincide with the return of my son Jesus in glory." Or try the Akita, Japan, prophecies, in 1973, from Mary: "unless mankind repents, fire will fall from the sky, and two/thirds of mankind will be destroyed." The Akita prophecies were approved by the local bishop, a rarity with Marian apparitions. The Pope was asked, in Fulda, Germany, in 1981, about the contents of the 'Third Secret of Fatima.' He responded "if this secret deals with great catastrophe, of oceans overflowing the continents and of millions of men perishing from hour to hour, then there is no need to publicly release it; many would want to know only for purposes of sensationalism, and would not reform their lives in response to its warning." The Pope took a rosary out and said "this, this is the answer." And let's not even mention Chapter 8 of the Book of Revelation. As for Nostra-Damus (Our Lady), I find his quatrains impenetrable. Of course, many find my outpourings impenetrable, so big deal. Obscurity is in the eyes of the beholder.

-- Spidey (in@jam.commie), May 11, 1999.

Or the 'ice of the beerholder.'

-- Spidey (in@jam.commie), May 11, 1999.

"The Pope was asked, in Fulda, Germany, in 1981, about the contents of the 'Third Secret of Fatima.' He responded "if this secret deals with great catastrophe, of oceans overflowing the continents and of millions of men perishing from hour to hour, then there is no need to publicly release it; many would want to know only for purposes of sensationalism, and would not reform their lives in response to its warning." The Pope took a rosary out and said "this, this is the answer."

Where did you you find that? Can you e-mail me privately regarding more?

That is the closest I have seen which can be taken as an answer from a Pope regarding just what The Third Secret is!

Spidey! Thanks!

Mike ===========================================================

-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), May 11, 1999.

Oceans escaping their bounds [paraphrased] sounds like earthquake- precipitated Tsunamis? Not entirely out of the question.

-- ride it (hang@ten.y'all), May 11, 1999.

My "King of Terror" falling from the sky = nuclear bombs.
Mr.K

-- Mr. Kennedy (Mr.K@home.today), May 11, 1999.

1999, seventh month. nostradamus was referring to the total eclipse of the sun coming up on august 11, 1999 which is also part of an astrological grand cross. that's what his sky reference is all about. if you want to know what modern astrologers have to say about this, you can check the monthly issue of dell horoscope magazine which you can find just about anywhere.

-- jocelyne slough (jonslough@tln.net), May 11, 1999.

Japanese Religion

I am not an expert, I'm but a student of comparative religions. As an undergraduate, I studied under some excellent professors, however. Looking at the recent history of the religious landscape of Japan, I'm not surprised by what seems to be a new interest in cults. In fact, it is not a new interest and it seems very much apart of the historical landscape of Japanese religious belief. What is academically called "the new religions" have many of the sociological characteristics of the cults. On the one hand, the Japanese people have always seemed to be open to the sacred whether it is a little stone or something else. On the other hand, modern Japan doesn't seem to be very spiritual in the sense that Westerners experience going to church on Sundays. Out in the rice paddies and outside the city, it might be very different. I've been to Japan and even had an interesting religious experience which included my being invited to observe sacred buddhist rituals that, perhaps, no other westerner has ever seen. It was a temptation to think it was my home coming. But I remain true to Christ. Nudi Nudum Christum Sequi! Anyway, that is another story for another time.

Dead Sea Scrolls and Essenes

As one who has been to Qumran on a wild archaeological expedition and crudely mapped a good 10 miles of that arid landscape... as one who worked briefly with Dead Sea Scroll experts cataloging the manuscript fragments at the Biblical Manuscript Center in Claremont, I don't quite see how Jesus really fits into the documents that were found. There are possibilities that he may be mentioned or even Paul, but not positively mentioned-- if I remember correctly. (smile) So why all the drama about the Dead Sea Scrolls? Well, it has to do with academics, politics, and money. For a period, the academic rights to translate, etc. belonged to a professor or two that didn't want to give up this kind of academic capital. But it was quite a task and so this took a long time to see what they had to say about it all. Then, there were some problems with Israeli Antiquities, but Claremont and some others published and catalogued the fragments and documents. However, the years of silence lead to a lot of interesting speculation about the actual contents. If you're a biblical scholar, it may be interesting.

Sincerely, Stan Faryna

-- Stan Faryna (info@giglobal.com), May 11, 1999.

Stan,

Rather than Claremont, I recall it was the Huntington Library in Pasadena, which finally released the photocopies of the scrolls to the scholarly community, after the fragments were held hostage by the Catholic priests for forty some years.

Before you "cross out" the Essene connection, you might like to read that book and see what clicks, with what you know.

Another interesting read is The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception by authors Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh (Holy Blood, Holy Grail) ...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/ obidos/ASIN/0671797972/qid=926478179/sr=1-1/002-7477841-8836466

Pax.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), May 11, 1999.

Just got home, Ashton & I are sharing/splitting shifts because the place is ttooooo small & crammed with artifacts, etc. Anyway, this up on Breaking News, and these types of articles appearing more & more frequently:

[ For Educational Purposes Only ]

5/11/99 -- 7:08 PM

Report: Terrorist attack possible, doctors need quick response

BALTIMORE (AP) - Doctors need training on the symptoms of anthrax so they don't think an infected person just had a bad flu, according to scientists studying the possibility of a terrorist anthrax attack.

In a report being published in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, the Working Group on Civilian Biodefense says an anthrax attack could happen, and larger amounts of the vaccine need to be at the ready.

Anthrax is colorless, odorless, inexpensive to make and easy to transport.

The group cited a 1993 government report that said it would take only about 20 pounds of anthrax to kill 3 million people, the death toll equal or more than that which could result from a hydrogen bomb.

``The possibility of a terrorist attack using bioweapons would be especially difficult to predict, detect, or prevent, and thus it is among the most feared terrorist scenarios,'' the report says.

In an attack, nearly half of those infected would die within 24 to 48 hours, probably well before doctors knew what was going on, the report says. Because anthrax infections can be controlled with antibiotics if administered very early, doctors and radiologists need to know what to look for, the report says.

Shortness of breath, an early sign of anthrax infection, could be mistaken for pneumonia. Other early symptoms include fever, cough, headache, vomiting, and chills, which could be mistaken for a bad flu.

``The trick here is to identify as quickly as possible and recommend antibiotic treatment of all those who might have been exposed ... and treat them for two months, which is a huge task,'' said Dr. D.A. Henderson, co-author of the report and director of the Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

The doctors found that anthrax remains deadly far longer than previously understood. It was believed that infection would occur within six days of exposure. But the group found the danger period lasts up to 46 days. Therefore, antibiotics need to be administered for two months.

Anthrax causes an infection outside the lungs that shows up on X-rays as a distinctive wide band down the middle of the chest. ``Most radiologists would be unaware of this particular finding,'' Henderson said.

If an anthrax attack happens, doctors should use vaccines in combination with antibiotics, and cremation of bodies should be considered to prevent transmission.

Henderson said the widespread use of the anthrax vaccine as a preventative is not recommended, unless a terrorist problem becomes real. In the meantime, efforts underway to produce large amounts of the vaccine should be stepped up so it will be ready if needed, he said.

Although biological agents have seldom been dispersed in aerosol form, the idea is not farfetched, the report said. It was tried without success in 1995 at a Tokyo subway station when the terrorist group Aum Shinrikyo released anthrax and botulism.

Henderson said there are former Soviet scientists who have the expertise needed by well-funded terrorist groups to implement an attack. They know how to pick a harmful strain and mass produce so it lodges easily in the lungs, he said.

At least 17 nations are believed to have biological weapons programs, including Iraq and the former Soviet Union, but it is unknown how many are working with anthrax, the report said.
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That addresses many previous Forum threads! Cremate the bodies, should we, in the dead of winter? Got lots of wood, gloves, fuel, transport, pre-vaccinated haulers? Everybody prepared for this?

Lasts up to 46 days? Read somewhere the spores last for years ... hhmmm. Maybe I'm confusing terror microbes? Sounds just hunky-dory. Strikes before ya know what's going on. Die within 24-48 hours, from the very first of which one is rendered immobile. Shortness of breath ain't gonna get us to thar hills.

This make anybody else nervous? Mother Shipton wrote something like this ...

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-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), May 12, 1999.

Mike: there are many references, although the Vatican has never acknowledged officially that JPII made the statement. It was reported first in a German magazine called something like 'Stimmes Es Glauben," which was quoted in Tom Petrisko's book (The Last Call?) and Michael Brown's (Final Hour). Malachi Martin quoted it in "Keys of This Blood," an excellent work on the battle for the globe between Rome, Russia and the West. Martin, who served in the Vatican, hints that JPII is a Pope who is waiting for an event that will "fission human history. On that particular day the sun...will be seen not merely as the central star in our solar system but as the circumambient glory of the Woman of Revelation (ch. 12--spidey)." "On that day the plans of John Paul's opponents (the capitalist West and materialist Marxists--spidey) will be shattered..." Martin relates the coming event with the 'Miracle of the Sun' seen by 70,000 people in Fatima on Oct. 13, 1917, when the sun danced, spun, and appeared to fall from the sky, instantly drying the rain-soaked mud. The solar event was seen for a radius of 12 miles, even by many not present in the Cova da Iria that day. Ratzinger has said that the Third Secret has to do with 'de novissimus,' the End Times, and many have said that the 1917 miracle has eschatological (end of time) implications. "Fire from the sky?" Take a guess--the asteroid of Rev Ch. 8, or unprecedented coronal mass ejections? Or H-bombs. Bad news any which way.

-- Spidey (in@jam.com), May 12, 1999.

Spidey, do any of those books talk about new plagues sweeping mankind?

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), May 12, 1999.

Leska,

``The trick here is to identify as quickly as possible and recommend antibiotic treatment of all those who might have been exposed ... and treat them for two months, which is a huge task,'' ...

No kidding.

Maybe we need to put Old Git on searching for a "natural" anthrax antibiotic to grow in the Y2K gardens.

*Sigh*

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), May 12, 1999.

Stan you had better be ready to share the story of your "interesting religious experience which included my being invited to observe sacred buddhist rituals that, perhaps, no other westerner has ever seen" at one of the Yourdonite gatherings later this month! Please?

-- Bingo1 (howe9@pop.shentel.net), May 12, 1999.

Leska: As you probably know, there are myriad 'prophecies' associated with the Catholic Church and the Blessed Virgin. Petrisko's book (Call of the Ages is the actual title) does catalog a few who talk of plague, but then so did Jesus (Matthew 24:7): "famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places." The credible (at least to me) locutions, particularly those given to Father Stefano Gobbi, indicate that we are in the End Times: not the end of the world, but the end of this epoch. Mostly they talk about conversion of the heart, prayer, and love. About abandoning the human will for that of the Divine. Most of the apocalyptic prophecies seem cosmological in nature. The visionaries in Medjugore say that a series of events will occur that will "break the power of Satan." One is led to wonder...what would break his power in a definitive way? I use to think cutting off electricity would do it (no tv etc) but passions would still reign. It would seem only a world-wide collision with the supernatural could destroy Satan's power, which would destroy man's free will ("alright, gentlemen, time's up--I'm afraid the show's over"). Endlessly fascinating to speculate about. But John Paul II, who is privy to a few things secular and not, always exhorts us to "Be Not Afraid." And...did you see the movie "What Dreams May Come?" All about afterlife, with Robin Williams. Pretty Cool.

-- Spidey (in@jam.commie), May 12, 1999.