Osama Pin Headen And Other Stuff
by Shannon Michele Johnston
September was an historical month in American society, as we all know, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were the targets of foreign terrorism, an unconfirmed 6700 people died and, it was the first time the Continental United States has ever been successfully attacked.
The morning of September 11, I woke, showered and dressed, everything I usually do to get ready for school, completely unaware that catastrophe had struck 5,000 miles away. The only thing different was the ringing of my phone just as I was about to walk out the door. It was my mother, “God honey, an airplane with passengers just crashed into the World Trade Center.” I glanced up at the clock I was five minutes late, a critical five-minute window to either keep me ahead of the heavy traffic flow or trap me in the middle of it.
“Gosh mom, I feel so badly for the people on that flight, but if I don’t get out now I will be stuck in traffic and I can’t be late.” In retrospect, I think how selfish of me, my mother was obviously shaken, having trouble at that point making sense of the accident and must have been turning to me for some guidance and moral support. Seeking my answer to the problem and perhaps a reasonable explanation that would comfort and soothe her. She apologized and hung up.
As I started my car the radio kicked on and instead of the normal morning talk program, they were obviously in a frenzied state of hysteria. “A second plane has just crashed into tower number two of the World Trade Center.” What the hell is going on? Now THAT was no accident. As I drove I heard about tower number two crumbling to the ground, children from a nearby school running down the street. My God, what is this? What is happening? “We are being attacked” came the confirmation over the radio.
By the time I had run out of rural country road and reached the urban traffic, it was notably thicker. More cars than usual, I could only sit and listen to the radio, trying to make sense of what was going on.
The airports were shut down, a security measure. There were an unconfirmed number of airplanes still in the air being used for missile projections to attack the United States. One was flying in the direction of Pennsylvania another in the direction of California. Interstate 5 between Interstate 80 and the International Airport had been closed. Traffic was grid locked, people trying to get out to the airport to pick up the passengers of cancelled flights. The hosts of my favorite morning talk show were eking out information as efficiently as they could. I was stuck on the overpass just as a guest was beginning to speak. An international agent retired from the CIA.
Wow! This is serious! Terrorism, Afghanistan, Bin Laden, key words that made my skin literally crawl with dread. A sick feeling balled up in my gut. I started shaking, imagining the over-passes being blown out, the Capitol being attacked (again). I could see people running through the streets in panic trying to escape some fresh explosion, and then other fresh explosions going off in one place after the other. I could sense the next attacks being on hospitals, universities, major dam structures until I realized that our own airplanes were used as weapons against us, because an armed military attack against the U.S. was impossible, all other flights were aborted, and the ones that were still in the air would be shot down.
The retired CIA agent went on to explain the significance of Jihad or Holy War against the United States. That the leader of these attacks was resourcefully funded, the terrorist cells acted on behalf of God, or Allah. They believed that dying in the event of his defense would secure them a heavenly position, their families being rewarded richly by the government, plus they were exalted socially because a family member died for Jihad, a proud and glorious event. “And the Palestinians are dancing in the street, I can guarantee you.” Those words angered me. My initial reaction was ‘we should level all of those countries just to be safe.’
I have been haunted by this information ever since. There is nothing, NOTHING more dangerous than an individual or a group of individuals ready to die for their heartfelt beliefs. Ready to kill to preserve the sanctity of those beliefs, not caring who they kill or how many. Middle Eastern terrorists top that description, epitomizing that particular element of danger.
Knowing how hated our government is by these other cultures, I knew it wasn’t going to be good. Knowing how deep a hatred lives in the heart of these cultures who believe they have been wronged in the past by missile and land attacks, believing that the United States is a corrupt and evil beast, in need of slaying to rid the world of it’s filth. A knowledge that makes me feel unsafe and unprotected, while others put way too much faith in the ability of our government to protect us.
I arrived at school an hour late, people were still standing outside of the classroom, the room unopened, the campus somewhat deserted. People had either not shown up, or had already left. I was going to be one of them. I felt a need to be home with my children. I knew if something happened I would not be able to get to them, I would be cut off if the overpasses were destroyed. I was feeling paranoid, I knew, I was also compelled to be safe and not sorry.
I was ready to pack up and head for uncharted territory, to go dwell in the woods with my family, to escape the peril of congested areas, the evil of these people and their intentions. To bear arms. To protect my children no matter what!
The next couple of days were saturated with media events, during one of which, a quatrain by Nostradamus was shared. It read:
“On the 11 day of the 9 month two metal birds will fly
Into the two tall statues of the new city.”
This will be the beginning of a holy war
And this war will last 27 years.”
Hmm, that sounded kind of scary. I decided I would pick up a book from the bookstore about Nostradamus. We know that Nostradamus is not a divinely inspired prophet, if so he would be in the Bible. But I thought some of the things written by him were interesting and worth sharing here.
I thought this to be very interesting:
“At forty-five degrees the sky will burn,
Fire to approach the great new city:
In an instant a great, scattered flame will leap up,
When one will want to demand proof of the Normans.”
What could this mean? The author of the book, Saint Germaine’s Prophecy For The New Millenium, Elizabeth Claire Prophet, tries to reason this quatrain out. She goes on to say, ‘What is the identity of the great new city? Commentators have made several proposals, including Geneva, New York, Villeneuve-sur-Lot in France and even the Vatican.
Erika Cheetham believes, “the advent of The Third World War, according to Nostradamus, will be heralded by an attack upon New York City…”’
Pretty interesting eh? Well listen to this…’Persuaded, as other commentators are, that the events described in the quatrain take place along the 45th parallel, she says, “The state of New York lies between the 40th and 45th parallel in the U.S.A.
What of proof of the Normans? Normans literally means “men of the north.”’ That would be us.
Another Nostradamitic vision says this:
“The year 1999, seven month,
From the sky will come a great King of Terror:
To bring back to life the great King of Angolmois,
Before and after Mars to reign by good luck.”
The year is a little off, but listen to the revel of how the month might possibly work out according to the author. ‘Nostradamus may have been using the Julian calendar, which is thirteen days earlier than the Gregorian calendar currently in use. If that is the case, Nostradamus’ vision of “July” could be anywhere from July 14 through August 13 in our current reckoning of time. Some interpreters even postulate that the seventh month refers to September, which in Latin literally means “seventh month.”’
In French Angolmois, is a nonsensical word, tons of speculation about its meaning has been announced in many different books. I thought the most interesting was one that points out that Angolmois could be an anagram for Mongoulois, Mongoloid. However, as this author points out that ‘there is no a in mongoulois, which is needed to create Mongolois from Angolmois.’ And is interpreted by many to mean “King of the Mongols.” Considering that Nostradamus made many errors in the spelling of individuals, he was fundamentally correct in his portents, so I am willing to buy this one.
‘Mars in the last line of the quatrain is typically associated with anger, war or violence.’ Let’s take a look at what the year 1999 could mean rather than interpreting it in its literal sense, 1999 was the last year of the old century, it could mean that he was pointing to a time near 1999. It could also mean that 1999 was a pivotal year in politics that could have propelled the events that he foretold in this quatrain.
We can couple this with the information in the Bible about the beginning of The Great Tribulation, which has met with frequent speculation that it would be triggered by the onset of the Third World War, or maybe the onset of The Great Tribulation triggers the onset of the Third World War. However, it is going to be and there is nothing we can do about it.
I went to the Army surplus store the other day, they were out of gas masks, the only kind that work are the Isreali ones, with which one must have a suit. Skin is a porous organ and any chemical can penetrate it, which actually renders the idea of a gas mask useless without the body covering. I am not sure how we would look running around in suits all day. But then, that is how we were portrayed twenty years ago on Star Trek, and after all, this is the 21st century.
I want my suit to be designed by Bin Laden, and of course, it needs to be fashionable and attractive. I want my gas mask to reflect my taste and I want to be able to sip wine through it. In the meantime, I will do what everyone else is doing, I will pray for us.