The Rapture - Help for Those Who Are Left Behind

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Global News and Editorials

News highlights relevant to Bible prophecy and Christ's Return

GOODBYE UPC CODES

CNN.com reports, "Razor blades and medicines packaged with pinpoint-sized computer chips and tiny antennae to send retailers and manufacturers a wealth of information about the products - and those who buy them - will start appearing in grocery stores and pharmacies this year. Within two decades, the minuscule transmitters are expected to replace the familiar product bar codes, and retailers are already envisioning the conveniences the new technology, called "radio frequency identification," will bring - even as others are raising privacy concerns. A grocery store clerk will know immediately when the milk on the shelf has expired, for example, and replace it before a customer can choose it. Stores could quickly pull from the shelves tainted and damaged products that are recalled or have expired, especially important in health care items. The technology's potential for sending retailers and others information about consumers is already raising privacy concerns, however. Potential for spying Marc Rotenberg, executive director of a watchdog organization, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said retailers should be required to disable the tags before a consumer leaves a store. "Simply stated, I don't think most people want their clothes spying on them," Rotenberg said. Sanjay Sarma, the lead researcher at the Auto-ID Center in Massachusetts, says that by adding more functions to the chip, installing a battery and attaching a longer antenna, a receiver far away could read all the information on a chip, including its exact location. Homes equipped with receiver-readers could alert consumers when they are running low on orange juice or their prescription for heart medicine is about to expire. Hooked up to a national network like the Internet, the at-home devices could also provide details to marketers about a family's eating and hygienic habits. "You do give up a bit of privacy but the benefit could be that you live," said Margulis."

ISRAEL APPROVES "ROAD MAP" FOR PEACE

CNN.com reports, "The Israeli Cabinet voted Sunday to accept the U.S.-supported road map to peace that would lead to a Palestinian state within three years. The 12-7 vote, with four abstentions, marked the first time an Israeli government has accepted formally the principle of a Palestinian state. A senior Bush administration official called the vote "an important step forward." "We look forward to working with all parties in the region to realize the vision of peace laid out by President Bush in his June 24 speech," the official said. The Palestinian Authority accepted the plan last month after it was drafted by the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, the so-called Mideast Quartet. Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Sha'ath told CNN that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas would meet Monday to discuss the road map's implementation.

"Tomorrow's meeting between the prime minister of Palestine and the prime minister of Israel will really show whether the two parties are committed, and if they are, they should put a schedule for a start of that immediate cease-fire," Sha'ath said. But Daniel Ayalon, Israel's ambassador to the United States, said Israel now wants to see a "complete dismantling of the infrastructure of terror" by Abbas' government. "We cannot have negotiation by day and killing us at night," Ayalon told ABC's "This Week." The first of the road map's three phases would involve the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian zones reoccupied during the current intifada and a freeze on settlement activity in the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinian officials would be required to crack down on militant groups that have carried out attacks against Israelis. Sharon initially was reluctant to endorse the plan, but did so Friday after Washington promised to address Israeli concerns, particularly the Palestinian demand that refugees have the "right of return" to Israel. He was quoted Sunday by the daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth as saying it was time to reach a deal with the Palestinians. "The time has come to say yes to the Americans, the time has come to divide this land between us and the Palestinians," the paper quoted Sharon as saying. "No one is going to teach me about the strips of land that we will be asked to leave. I am no less connected to them from those who are speaking from up high." A three-way summit meeting involving Sharon, Abbas and Bush could be called within 10 days. But a senior Bush administration official told CNN the White House would not agree to a summit until it sees initial steps taken by both sides -- a Palestinian crackdown on militants and the lifting of Israeli economic restrictions."

EURO-ARMY ON ITS FIRST MISSION

The London Telegraph reports, "The fledgling Euro-army launched its first military operation yesterday, picking the Balkan state of Macedonia as a trial run for future missions in Bosnia, Africa and the Caucasus. A force of 320 soldiers wearing "Eufor" badges with the European Union's blue and gold stars on their right shoulders took over peacekeeping duties at a ceremony in Skopje, replacing Nato troops who have already done the hard work of pacifying Macedonia over the past two years. Lord Robertson Lord Robertson, Nato's secretary-general, said the EU's ambitious defence project had at last come of age. The low-key mission, Operation Concordia, is a gentle start for the rapid reaction force, which is designed to draw on up to 60,000 men, 100 warships and 400 aircraft for worldwide operations lasting up to a year, including heavy duty "peacemaking". Half the troops are French. The rest are from 27 EU member states, EU applicants and Nato allies, including Turkey and Norway."

IRAQ TO BECOME AN ECONOMIC GIANT?

The Gulf-News Daily reports: "While Arab stocks rally on the war and local firms bag lucrative contracts, some Gulf analysts fear a rebuilt Iraq will be a powerhouse that could squeeze the region's other economies over the long term. It may be too early to talk about the dawn of the Iraq Decade but all the pieces will eventually be in place for the sleeping giant of Baghdad to become a dominant economic force in the Middle East in the future. In addition to the world's second-largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia, Iraq boasts a highly educated workforce and a relatively high percentage of farmable land, providing a solid base for its agriculture sector. "For the long term it will be a negative for the other nations in the Gulf," says Ali Al-Nimesh, an economist in Kuwait. "The main thing is the oil price. Once Iraq is fully producing and exporting, prices will go down. Income from the oil sector could be reduced by 20 to 25 per cent in the other Gulf nations' budgets." So far, the war that brought about the fall of Saddam Hussein has been a boon for the region's pocketbooks."

EUROPEAN UNION TAKES IN 10 NEW MEMBERS

UPI reports: "In the birthplace of democracy, Europe was reborn Wednesday as 10 mostly former communist states signed up to join the 15-member bloc at a ceremony in Athens. Meeting in the shadow of the Acropolis, EU leaders welcomed Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Malta, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia into the Brussels-based club. Barring a last-minute rejection by voters, the new members are set to join the EU in May next year, creating the world's most powerful economic power and extending the EU to the borders of Belarus and Ukraine. Attempting to draw a line under recent divisions in Europe over Iraq, French President Jacques Chirac said: '450 million people are going to be brought together in the biggest integration project ever undertaken in the world by peaceful means.'"

EUROPEAN LEADERS LINING UP TO MEET ABBAS

Herb Keinon with the Jersualem Post reports, "European leaders are "lining up" to come to Israel, stake a claim in the Middle East peace process, and be among the first to meet Palestinian Authority prime minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas, a senior diplomatic official said Tuesday. The official said the visit of German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who met President Moshe Katsav on Tuesday and is scheduled to meet Abbas as well as Yasser Arafat Wednesday, has ruffled some feathers in Europe among diplomats who wanted to be the first to visit.

"The official said some top level government officials believe the Europeans should wait before paying visits on Abbas, and give him time to prove that he has the ability to deliver the goods. "Some feel that it is premature to start pumping him with European support, and viewing him as some kind of messiah that will solve all the problems. First let him prove himself." Fischer is slated to meet with Arafat Wednesday, a move that Israeli officials have made clear they are opposed to. Fischer, who during his first two days here has met with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Foreign Minster Silvan Shalom, President Moshe Katsav, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and opposition leader Amram Mitzna, explained that he will press on Arafat not to try to trip up Abbas. Along with the US, Fischer, according to Israeli officials, was instrumental in getting Arafat to agree to appoint a prime minister. Fischer is also slated to meet today in Ramallah with PA Finance Minister Salam Fayad. He is slated to leave the region this evening. "Fischer comes here as a friend, and someone we trust more than any of his European colleagues," one senior official said. "Notice that when he declared he is coming, he said he was coming not to revitalize the peace process, but coming as a friend and as a sign of solidarity."

RUSSIAN WANTS U.N. TO HAVE CENTRAL ROLE IN IRAQ

Reuters reports: "Russia said on Friday the United Nations should have a central role in post-war Iraq, echoing similar calls from France and Germany. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, on a visit to Tajikistan, told reporters 'nobody was calling into question the role of the United Nations as a central and universal organization safeguarding international peace and security.'

'We hope the United Nations will perform this central role, in particular, in the settlement of Iraq's post-war situation,' he said, adding the United Nations had special authority. 'This authority must be used to achieve a political settlement in Iraq within the shortest time possible. This is in the interests of the Iraqi people. This is in the interests of the whole region.' The leaders of Russia, France and Germany are due to begin talks in Russia's second city of St. Petersburg on Friday on how to rebuild Iraq, maintain a role for the United Nations and mend ties with the United States. In the months preceding the conflict, the three countries took a joint stand against using force against Iraq. They refused to back any U.N. Security Council resolution endorsing military intervention to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction the United States and Britain accused it of having. They are now seeking assurances from Washington and London that the United Nations will play a major role in Iraq after the war."

MANY IRAQIS BELIEVE U.S. WANTS TO HALT RESURRECTION OF THE CITY OF BABYLON

The San Francisco Chronicle reports, "If many Western antiwar protesters believe America's real motive for invading Iraq is its oil, many Iraqis point to another treasure they are convinced lies behind U.S. war aims: Babylon. This ancient city was the cradle of world civilization thousands of years ago and hit its golden era during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II in the sixth century B.C. Now, it is a repository of the Iraqi regime's ambition and fears. Many Iraqis, from high officialdom down to average folk, seem obsessed with the idea that the Americans want to invade Iraq to stop the rise of Babylon as an Islamic counterpart to Jewish Jerusalem. And archaeologists, from Baghdad to the United States, are worried that a U.S. invasion could put many of Iraq's ancient treasures at risk.

"In his speeches, President Saddam Hussein constantly refers to Iraq's ancient glory, as if to drum into average citizens the fact that their country deserves an exalted spot on the world stage, and he has long envisioned a grand reconstruction of the ancient city of Babylon. By the 1970s, little remained of the storied site. Centuries of sand and wind had eroded the walls and buildings of mud brick. No trace remains of the Hanging Gardens - one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World - nor of the Tower of Babel. Saddam has rebuilt large sections of the ruins, leaving his fingerprints everywhere. Every rebuilt wall in the central temple has a brick at the center with a message stating, "This was built by Saddam Hussein, son of Nebuchadnezzar, to glorify Iraq." Reconstruction work was halted due to lack of funds after the Gulf War, but hovering over the Babylon site is a monstrous presidential palace, built on a man-made 100-foot-high hill during the past decade, as if to show who is the new emperor."

BERLUSCONI WANTS RUSSIA AND ISRAEL IN THE EU

The EU Observer reports: "The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who takes over the EU helm from July, said the EU should enlarge to encompass even Russia and Israel so as to counterbalance the power currently enjoyed solely by the US. Speaking to the journalists after the end of the EU summit in Brussels on Friday, Mr. Berlusconi said that at the moment there is only one superpower - the US - which decided to take action against Iraq. Facing an EU split over the Iraq issue, and the UN losing its credibility, Mr. Berlusconi, said that the way forward would be for the EU to enlarge and strengthen itself. 'We either have a super power with military capabilities far greater than the EU, or else the US can have another partner - the EU - which must eliminate its divisions and enlarge to countries like Russia, with its military capabilities, Ukraine, Moldova, Turkey and even Israel,' he said..."

ID CARDS COULD BE INTRUSIVE

The London Daily Telegraph reports: "David Blunkett's plans for a national identity card could lead to state intrusion into people's privacy and confidential information being disclosed unnecessarily, the Government's information watchdog warned yesterday. Richard Thomas said the 'entitlement cards' proposed by the Home Secretary could be expanded to include sensitive information such as a person's race or religion if strict safeguards were not put in place. The Government wants the cards to be issued so that they can be used to access public services. But Mr. Thomas said: 'I have concerns that this may extend into what I call function creep, where they would be demanded in situations where they were not really needed.' He told the BBC's Today program: 'I do have anxieties about a monolithic state system having so much information on every single citizen in this country.'"

EXPANSION AND UNIFICATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

The Rapture Ready website reports, "As 2002 A.D. comes to a close, this years most important prophetic development would have to be European integration. In the past 12 months, there has been a continuous flood of treaties and agreements that will all lead to a more unified Europe. The Bible predicts that one of the leading signs of the end times will be the rebuilding of the Roman Empire. The Antichrist, who everyone seems to has some level of familiarity with, will someday head this organization. After examining several end time components, Ive concluded that the revival of the Roman Empire is one of the best indicators of the rapture's nearness. Because the Antichrist will be one of the leaders of the EU at the start of the tribulation, the church needs to be removed ahead of the point where he confirms the peace covenant with Israel.

"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate" (Dan 9:27).

"If the speed of European integration remains unchanged, the tribulation hour can not be too far away. In just the past three days, there has been two stunning developments related to Europe. Friday, the EU reached a financial deal with 10 candidate members, paving the way for the largest expansion in its history. The agreement at the summit in Copenhagen was reached after the EU pledged to make 1 billion euros available to Poland - the largest of the candidate countries - almost immediately after it joins. The other nine leading candidates in this first wave of expansion were offered up to 300m euros in extra aid, a deal readily accepted by the majority. The 10 candidates - eight former Communist states from Central and Eastern Europe plus Cyprus and Malta - are now preparing for entry into the bloc in 2004."

"For the first time in history Europe will become one because unification is the free will of its people," said Romano Prodi, the President of the European Commission, the EU's executive arm. "Accession of 10 new member states will bring an end to the divisions in Europe."

"On Sunday, the European Union announced it will for the first time deploy its own soldiers, in the Balkan republic of Macedonia, possibly by February, following a landmark agreement at the weekend between NATO and the EU. Launched in 1999 at the Helsinki summit, ESDP was set up to complement the EU's economic and political powers. It was also a response to the 1999 Kosovo war, which exposed the EU's lack of defense instruments. The military dimension of ESDP was stalled from the beginning because of Turkish and Greek haggling over the terms of Berlin Plus. The EU's first police mission will start on January 1 in Bosnia, when more than 500 officers, wearing their national uniforms but with an EU insignia, will take over the operation today led by the United Nations."

FLORIDA FIRM SEEKS TO MICROCHIP AMERICANS

Laura MacInnis with Reuters reports, "A Washington forum debated on Friday the benefits and hazards posed by a new way of identifying people with a microchip implanted under their skin to replace conventional paper identification. The heated debate at the National Academies, a non-profit think-tank advising the government on matters of technology and science, focused on the threat to individual privacy versus the convenience of switching to a chip. Implanted microchips have long been used in the animal kingdom, to track wildlife and to help pet owners recover their lost animals, but the idea of using them on humans has sparked fierce criticism from scientists and privacy advocates alike. "We have absolutely no data about this particular product and about the implications over the long term if Americans are chipped," Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, said.

"Applied Digital Solutions Inc. ADSX.O says its glass capsule the size of a grain of rice, injected into forearms and other fleshy body parts, could help authorities find missing persons and speed up medical diagnosis treatment. The VeriChip, a scannable device worn under the skin and encrypted with personal information like medical records and emergency contacts, was unveiled last year in Florida. So far about 20 people have been "chipped," including an entire family in Florida. "I can't feel them at all," said Richard Seeling, an Applied Digital executive who has implanted two microchips into his right forearm to test the product. "Most of the time I forget they're there until someone asks about it." Seeling said the chips were both painless and safe but scientists at the National Academies said too little was known about the device and warned it could pose health risks like infections and immunity disorders for bearers.

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled in October it would not regulate the device so long as it was not used for medical purposes such as diagnosis. This left Applied Digital free to market the chip for personal identification and security, for instance locating missing children or identifying car accident victims. "I do think there could be beneficial uses, particularly for Alzheimer's patients, but on a large scale this is essentially a system of control," Rotenberg said. Privacy advocates worry the microchip could spell the end of anonymity in the United States, particularly if authorities began requiring people to wear them to meet conditions of parole, employment or border crossings. Seeling said each chip costs about $200, and that scanner devices needed to read the data would be targeted for sale to police, hospitals, schools and other agencies across the United States."

ARAB STATES PUSH FOR SINGLE CURRENCY

The BBC News reports, "Six Arab Gulf states have turned to the eurozone for advice in how to successfully launch a single currency. At this week's meeting of Gulf central bankers in Riyadh, the six Arab states vowed to press ahead with plans for monetary union and the launch of a single currency. Member states Saudi Arabia Qatar Bahrain Oman Kuwait UAE And they decided to seek the help of the European Central Bank, which rolled-out euro notes and coins at the start of the year with very few glitches. Dr Henry Azzam, chief economist at Jordan Investment Trust Group, said that monetary union should be relatively easy to achieve in the Gulf since all six currencies are already at least partially pegged to the dollar. "It's a political rather than an economic decision," Dr Azzam told BBC News Online. "All it needs is for someone at a very senior level in Saudi Arabia to take the decision to push forward," he said. Vulnerable economies The countries need to create one central bank for the region, decide who has the power to set monetary policy, agree on what to call the new currency and better coordinate fiscal policy, he said."

VATICAN STATES U.N. SHOULD BE "MORAL CENTER"

Zenit.org reports from the World Summit in South Africa, "The United Nations needs to move away from being a cold bureaucracy and become instead a "moral center" where the world's weak are welcomed, says the Vatican. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the head of the Vatican delegation, Archbishop Renato Martino, said: "The United Nations Organization needs to rise more and more above the cold status of an administrative institution and to become a moral center where all the nations of the world feel at home." To attain this objective, it is necessary to develop "a shared awareness of being, as it were, a 'family of nations,'" the papal representative said Monday during his address to the summit. "In an authentic family the strong do not dominate; instead, the weaker members, because of their very weakness, are all the more welcomed and served," the archbishop stressed. "In our interdependent and globalizing world, it is this spirit of 'family' that must be fostered if real progress toward the goals and ideas of sustainable development are to be realized," Archbishop Martino concluded. The Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations based his proposal on John Paul II's 1995 U.N. address in New York."

EUROPEAN UNION POSTER MODELED AFTER FAMOUS TOWER OF BABEL PAINTING

Not only are we awaiting the Third Temple in Jerusalem, but also what apparently amounts to the Second Tower of Babel has been built in Strasbourg, France. Whether literally or figuratively depicting the Tower, there is a message for the world in the Tower's use as a model for the EU, which, according to many prophecy experts, plays a dramatic and key role in the End Times. The symbolism and significance of using the Tower of Babel to advertise the EU is not lost on those familiar with the Tower's Biblical history and the EU's place in End-time prophecy. The use of the Tower of Babel in the poster assumes an excellent understanding of its Biblical import by the poster's authors and promoters. The EU Poster - "Europe: Many Tongues One Voice" - was modeled on Pieter Brueghel's famous 16th century painting "The Tower Of Babel".

Nimrod's ambition in building the Tower of Babel was to establish a world-empire. To accomplish this, two things were necessary. First, a center of unity, a city headquarters; and second, a motive for the encouragement and inspiration of his followers. This latter was supplied in the "let us make us a name." It was an inordinate desire for fame. Nimrod's aim was to keep mankind all together under his own leadership "lest we be scattered." The idea of the "tower" (considered in the light of its setting) seems to be that of strength - a stronghold - rather than eminence.

AFRICA TAKES LESSON FROM EUROPEAN UNION

Nicole Itano of the Christian Science Monitor reports, "More than 50 African heads of state gathered in this coastal city Monday to mark the end of an era and perhaps a new beginning. The 39-year-old Organization for African Unity (OAU) Í formed to support states emerging from colonialism was dissolved. Tuesday, it will be replaced by the African Union (AU), a more powerful organization with a new vision for addressing the problems of this troubled continent. To skeptics, this is institutional name-swapping, a fresh moniker for a weak organization, led by a group of familiar leaders who have frequently failed to stop corruption, feed their people, or practice democracy. To supporters, it's an important self-recognition of what African states need: group accountability, a unified development plan, and the rule of law.

"The AU, loosely modeled after the European Union, will create a pan-African parliament, a central bank, a court of justice, an African peacekeeping force, and eventually, a common currency. The most controversial, and perhaps most critical, element of the new union, say analysts, is its authority to intervene in the affairs of member states. It can step in when a country's constitutional government has been overthrown, and when there is a danger of genocide or gross human rights violations, or when the instability of one state threatens another."

TIME FOR A SINGLE ASIAN CURRENCY?

Jong-Heon Lee of UPI reports, "Alarmed by a rapid surge in the won against the U.S. dollar, South Korean economists are calling on their country to make aggressive efforts to create a common currency in Asia, similar to the euro, to prevent financial turmoil. South Korea has currency swap deals with several Asian neighbors aimed at heading off currency fluctuations, but economists here say these arrangements are not enough. Asian countries remain exposed to the risk of a rapid drop in the dollar, which could jeopardize the region's economic recovery prospects, they say. "A more fundamental measure is needed to avoid the fallout from the U.S. and other overseas markets," said Choi Gong-pil, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Finance. "That is the establishment of an independent regional capital market in Asia and its single currency," he said.

"Establishing a common Asian currency is necessary to regional economic cooperation and financial stability," Ryon Jong-Il said. "The introduction of a common currency basket could be the very first step toward this goal." The calls for a common Asian currency came as South Korea is facing a major challenge to its export-dependent economy."

THE BIBLE AND THE APOCALYPSE

Nancy Gibbs with Time Magazine reports, "The experience of last fall - the terrorist attacks, the anthrax deaths - not only deepened the interest among Christians fluent in the language of Armageddon and Apocalypse. It broadened it as well, to an audience that had never paid much attention to the predictions of the doomsday prophet Nostradamus, or been worried about an epic battle that marks the end of time, or for that matter, read the Book of Revelation. Since Sept. 11, people from cooler corners of Christianity have begun asking questions about what the Bible has to say about how the world ends, and preachers have answered their questions with sermons they could not have imagined giving a year ago. And even among more secular Americans, there were some who were primed to see an omen in the smoke of the flaming towers - though it had more to do with their beach reading than with their Bible studies.

"A TIME/CNN poll finds that more than one-third of Americans say they are paying more attention now to how the news might relate to the end of the world, and have talked about what the Bible has to say on the subject. Fully 59% say they believe the events in Revelation are going to come true, and nearly one-quarter think the Bible predicted the Sept. 11 attack."

ARK CONTAINING EARTH CHARTER GIVEN TO UNITED NATIONS

Eartchcharter.com reports: "This past week (Sept. 24, 2001, volunteers began walking with the Ark of Hope from Vermont to New York City, where it will be given to the United Nations as a prayer for peace. The Ark of Hope is a beautifully crafted chest, designed and painted by Burlington artist Sally Linder, built by Huntington cabinetmaker Kevin Jenness, and lined by Burlington fabric artist Beth Haggart. It contains a copy of the Earth Charter and hundreds of Temenos Books, books created by artists, schoolchildren, and citizens around Vermont, with images and messages for global healing, peace, and gratitude. The Earth Charter is a declaration of fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century. It is the product of a commission with representatives from every corner of the globe, including recognized world leaders such as Mikhail Gorbachev from Russia and Princess Basma Bint Talal from Jordan. Closer to home, Steven C. Rockefeller, professor emeritus of religion at Middlebury College, has chaired the Earth Charter Drafting Committee since 1995 and serves on the Earth Charter Commission. The worldwide campaign for the Earth Charter was launched in Paris in March of 2000 after eight years of grassroots efforts to draft a document that could be embraced by people in cultures around the world. The drafting effort involved more than 100,000 people in 51 countries..."

NEW ID BRACELET AND IMPLANTABLE ID CHIP USES GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS) TO TRACK YOUR LOCATION

Wired.com reports: "Two companies have announced plans to launch personal GPS "location devices" this year, which will act as a kind of LoJack for everyone from meandering children to nervous executives in kidnap-prone countries. One is a bracelet, which parents can lock on their kids' wrists to track their location and movements over the Internet, that is made by Wherify. Another -- and the most sci-fi application by far -- an implantable GPS device that Applied Digital Solutions of Florida plans to develop within the next eight months. ADS, the company that developed the implantable VeriChip ID, would only give scant details about the product. Chief technology officer Keith Bolton said the company was inundated with requests from Latin America and Asia for an application that uses the Global Positioning System to keep tabs on potential kidnapping targets. Between 1992 and 1999, kidnappings for ransom have jumped 70 percent worldwide, according to insurer Hiscox of the U.K., and Latin America accounted for roughly 75 percent of all abductions. 'They've pleaded with us to please make a device like this,' said Bolton, who predicted that the product would become the company's biggest seller. Bolton said the dimensions of the implantable GPS 'personal location device' would be about two inches in diameter and a half-inch thick - smaller than a pacemaker used by heart patients. It would combine both GPS and wireless technologies to pinpoint the exact location of the wearer. Like a pacemaker, the device would be implanted in the upper clavicle area, he said. It would be powered by a lithium ion battery that can be recharged through the skin and use a proprietary antenna capable of transmitting signals through flesh and muscle."