Lee...

 >LL>Seems like global warming is getting the best of your system. :)

  Only when the air conditioning is not working in the apartment. 

 >LL>Would you rather have tornadoes?

  Compared to earthquakes, I would...although we've had both in Arkansas.

  The quakes have been relatively minor by comparison, but we've had several
significant tornadoes over the years. The reason I pick tornadoes is that
you have to have a severe thunderstorm FIRST...you can NOT have a tornado
out of a clear blue sky...unless you're talking about their "dust devil
cousins". With an earthquake, your only warning is when the ground starts
shaking.

 LL{at}> You do realize what causes tornadoes.  Driving on the right side
 LL{at}> of the road.  When two cars pass each other, one from the north,
 LL{at}> the other from the south, each driver driving on their right side,
 LL{at}> a mini-tornado is formed.  The mini-tornado then strengthens and
 LL{at}> becomes a big tornado.  And then the massive destruction begins.

  Not bad sarcasm, but the truth is that tornadoes are caused by wind
shear...winds entering the thunderstorm coming from different directions
at different heights. The perfect example is southeast winds at the
surface, southwest winds at 5000 feet, and west winds at 10000 feet.

  When one of these "rolling tubes of air", created by the shear meets
an updraft, the updraft becomes stretched and tilted. Then, like a
spinning ice skater pulling in their arms, the rotation grows tighter
and faster. The tornado is most likely to form at the southwest
quadrant of the thunderstorm from a low hanging, rain free cloud base,
called the "wall cloud". Very large hail will usually fall nearby, and
the wall cloud may begin to rotate...violently at times. Shortly 
thereafter, the tornadic funnel descends, and then the damage begins. 

  If the shear is significant enough, and conditions are right, the 
tornado can grow to over a mile wide, and be on the ground for several 
hours. The May 3, 1999 tornado that hit the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
area...which was a 5 on the tornado scale...was such an example. The 
Feb. 5, 2008 tornado from Atkins to Mountain Home, Arkansas, which was
a 4 on the tornado scale, was on the ground for 125 miles...a record
for Arkansas. A church in Atkins, just north of Interstate 40 (the same
place that makes the pickles) was heavily damaged by the storm...and
you could see the damage from I-40.

  I personally have been under two funnel clouds, and within a mile of 
another one...and don't really care to experience this again. I can't
even watch severe weather videos anymore, due to having nightmares.

  And, that's our Meterology 101 weather lecture for today. 

 LL{at}> Being from Louisiana, I am more concerned about hurricanes rather
 LL{at}> than tornadoes.  Especially since 2005, when we were hit by three
 LL{at}> hurricanes - Hurricane Cindy, Hurricane Katrina, and Hurricane Rita.
 LL{at}> This year the same conditions as in 2005 are present.  And I just
 LL{at}> can't wait for the next Big One to come this way...

  Hurricanes DO spawn tornadoes, although they are typically "weaker" than
the ones you see in "Tornado Alley". The counterclockwise circulation of
the "eye" of the storm interacting with the land masses, cause the
thunderstorms in the eye wall surrounding the center of the hurricane to
rotate faster than usual, and tornadoes are the result. I discovered that
in a term paper I did in college almost 30 years ago. That one, and a paper
I did on acronymns were the ONLY two research projects that I enjoyed doing.
With everything else, I took the view of the little boy who said "Why should
I study about the American Revolution? I know who won". 

 >LL>The Accidental View - events happen by accident rather than by
 >LL>design. The Conspiratorial View - events happen by design, or
 >LL>unknown reasons.

  As the old song "Turn, Turn, Turn" says..."there is a time
for everything
under Heaven"..taken directly from the Biblical book of Ecclesiates. I
believe that everything happens by the direct or permissive Will of
Almighty God...no matter if it's weather related, who is in power of a
country, or other circumstance. In the end, God's Will is going to be
done...and that includes the yet unfulfilled Bible Prophecy events, such
as the Rapture of The Church, The Great Tribulation, and The Second Coming
Of Jesus Christ to Earth, among other things.

 >LL>The Roman government "washed its hands" after finding Jesus
 >LL>innocent of all charges.  Pilate then turned Jesus over to an angry
 >LL>mob, which executed Him.

  Eighteen Jewish laws were broken to railroad Jesus to His Death...even
though it was also part of God's Divine Plan to redeem mankind. A book
entitled "The Illegal Trial Of Jesus", details this...go to the Chick
Tracts website at www.chick.com for information.

 >LL>If the Roman government represents a republic, and the angry mob
 >LL>represents democracy, then how would a modern world react to the
 >LL>second coming of what appears to be the Christ?

  According to Revelation 19, at The Second Coming, "every eye will see
Him (Jesus), and all the tribes of the Earth will mourn". Before that
occurs, many will come in Christ's Name, saying that they are Him, and
deceive many people. The AntiChrist, the most evil man that the world
will have ever known, will move to crush any and all opposition...and
he will have millions who come to Christ arrested, tortured, and killed;
most likely by the guillotine. 

  The way I interpret it, the armies of the world in the Valley of 
Armageddon will literally turn to attack Jesus Christ and the armies of 
Heaven...but the battle will be a futile, suicidal attempt to resist God.
The armies of the world are by NO MEANS EQUIPPED to fight the armies of 
Heaven. With just a Word, Jesus Christ will cut them to shreds, and the 
blood will run for 200 miles, up to the bridles of horses.

 >LL>Maybe we will find out soon.  In 2012.  The Coming of Nibiru.

  According to the Mayans, that may be true...but once the "prophetic
domino" of the Rapture falls, it'll be like an avalance coming down
a mountain...the world will be powerless to stop the 21 judgments that
God's Wrath will pour down on Earth. No wonder Jesus said that it'll 
be "a time of Great Tribulation...never seen before on the Earth, or
will ever be again". The "believing remnant" of those who, since the
day of Pentecost, have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour,
will have been raptured into Heaven "in the twinkling of an eye" before
any of this tragedy comes to pass. The Church is "conspicuious by its
abscence" in Revelation 4 through the first part of Revelation 19...
and Jesus said "Because you have kept the word of my patience, I will
keep you from the hour of tribulation that is to come upon the world
to try all flesh".

 LL{at}> The Bush administration seems to have been trying to set itself
 LL{at}> up for a self-fulfilling prophecy - the second coming of Christ.

  As was prophesied, one day, Israel will stand alone. With Iran rattling
its sabre, threatening violent recourse if Israel attacks...I believe
that one day, according to Ezekiel 39, the Russians, the Muslims, and
perhaps others, will send a huge army "like a storm" to wipe Israel off
of the face of the Earth. God will supernaturally intervene, and 83% of
the forces will die on the mountains of Israel...and I believe that the
other 17% will be so wounded, that they'll be dead by the time Christ
does return to Earth. They'll feel that "Allah has betrayed them", but
in reality...Allah is a Satanic Counterfeit. More information on this
is available at www.chick.com -- look for the tracts "Allah Had No Son",
and "Squatters".

Daryl

... History repeats itself because nobody listens.
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