'700 Club': '9/11 Was Foretold In The Bible, Dreamed Of By Hitler'

Rabbi Daniel Lapin was on yesterday's '700 Club' with host, Pat Robertson.  They were discussing the events of September 11, 2001.  Rabbi Lapin had an interesting take on what happened that day.  He claims that the Bible prophesied about 9/11 in the book of Zachariah.  He went on to say that the attacks were "based on a dream Adolf Hitler had in 1943".

And Robertson falls for it, hook, line and sinker:



Of course, Pat Robertson is the individual that blamed the Washington D.C. earthquake on gay marriage in New York. (I'm still trying to figure that one out.)  He also blamed the earthquake in Haiti last January on a literal "pact with the Devil" the Haitian people made over a hundred years ago.  So, it's no stretch of the imagination that he would believe that a terrorist attack was 70 years in the making.

So, Al Qaeda in a round about way, collaborated with the Nazis?  Right...

Video: New Yorkers Knew Of Earthquake Via Twitter Before Ground Shook

For a seismic wave to travel the 230 miles from Washington D.C. to New York City, it takes approximately 30 seconds.  That's roughly 27,600 miles per hour.

It only takes 25 seconds for someone to feel the ground shake, and post a tweet that says "I think we just had an earthquake", that can be read by someone in New York.

That is exactly what happened last Tuesday when a 5.9 earthquake struck near Richmond, Virginia.  When buildings shook near Washington Tuesday afternoon, the internet exploded, primarily on Twitter and Facebook. Twitter claims that readers in other areas were aware of the coming quake via their site before local seismographs registered any readings.  They're so proud of it, in fact, check out their new promotional video:



Twitter announced Wednesday that the D.C. earthquake created more site traffic for them than the death of Osama Bin Laden, and tied the level of traffic that they saw at the time of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March.  This tells me one of two things.  Either Twitter has quickly gained a large number of users, or Americans seriously have their priorities fucked up.

As an interesting side note, Eric Fischer created an animated map of the earthquake related tweets that afternoon.  The green dots represent earthquake related tweets.  Gray dots are tweets about other topics.  During the 28 second piece, each frame is one second.  The entire piece represents 12 minutes of elapsed time.

Photos: Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

The MLK memorial in Washington D.C., was scheduled to be dedicated yesterday, on the 48th anniversary of King's "I Have a Dream" speech.  With landfall of Hurricane Irene this previous weekend on the East coast, the dedication has been rescheduled to a date "yet to be determined in September or October".  In the meantime, take a look a number of photos of this awe inspiring memorial.

At 29 feet tall, the Stone of Hope is the centerpiece of the memorial.

The Stone of Hope is made to appear as if it is coming out of the Mountain of Despair.

The entire memorial complex sits on four acres.  It is surrounded by numerous paths, lined by cherry trees.

The walls lining the paths are inscribed with quotes from King's life.  They are illuminated at night.

The memorial had a "soft opening" on Thursday of last week, meaning it was open to became open to the public.  The dedication is just a formality, in which the President, civil rights leaders and dignitaries make speeches and pose for the cameras.  It is quite a memorial.  Makes a beautiful addition to Washington D.C.

Photo: We Will Never Forget

Earthquake Tilts Washington Monument?

At 1:51PM, 45 minutes after the 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit the Eastern seaboard, Fox News reported:

"Megyn Kelly just shared word that a D.C. police officer told a Fox News producer that there is concern that the Washington Monument may be tilting following a 5.9 magnitude earthquake."  

You know, Fox News:  The bastion of misinformation.  Well, despite the source, the news went viral.  Twitter was aflutter with the news that Washington had inherited it's very own Leaning Tower of Pisa.  According to USA Today, however, this is a picture of the Washington Monument, moments after the quake hit:

Um....not leaning.  Still phallic.  Still perfectly erect.  Quoting Park Service spokesman Jeffrey Olson, there was "absolutely no damage" to the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial or other memorials along the National Mall.

Fox News has yet to recant or remove their story from their website.  In fact, it's still highlighted as one of the stories in their "Fox News Spotlight".

Now that's journalism.

UPDATE:  NBC Washington is reporting that upon a secondary inspection, cracks have been discovered in the stones at the top of the Washington Monument.

"The NPS said it is evaluating the structures to ensure that they are structurally sound and safe for all visitors. Agency spokesman Jeffrey Olson had told the AP that there was "absolutely no damage" to the Washington Monument, contrary to media reports elsewhere that it was leaning.

"Absolutely incorrect," U.S. Park Police Sgt. David Schlosser said of media reports that the Washington Monument was leaning.  "It stands tall and proud."

The NPS said said a preliminary inspection of the Washington Monument and found it to be structurally sound. The NPS will continue to inspect the interior of the Monument before any decisions are made about reopening it to the public."

Photo: Shocking Photo Of D.C. Earthquake Devestation

I smell a celebrity telethon in the works.