"I only know the names of two angels. Hark and Harold."
    Gregory, 5

"Everybody's got it all wrong. Angels don't wear halos anymore. I forget why, but scientists are working on it."
    Olive, 9

"It's not easy to become an angel! First, you die. Then you go to heaven, and then there's still the flight training to go through. And then you got to agree to wear those angel clothes."
    Matthew, 9

"Angels work for God and watch over kids when God has to go do something else."
    Mitchell, 7

"My guardian angel helps me with math, but he's not much good for science."
    Henry, 8

"Angels don't eat, but they drink milk from Holy Cows!!!"
    Jack, 6

"Angels talk all the way while they're flying you up to heaven. The main subject is where you went wrong before you got dead."
    Daniel, 9

"When an angel gets mad, he takes a deep breath and counts to ten. And when he lets out his breath, somewhere there's a tornado."
    Reagan, 10

"Angels have a lot to do and they keep very busy. If you lose a tooth, an angel comes in through your window and leaves money under your pillow. Then when it gets cold, angels go north for the winter."
    Sara, 6

"Angels live in cloud houses made by God and his son, who's a very good carpenter."
    Jared, 8

"All angels are girls because they gotta wear dresses and boys didn't go for it."
    Antonio, 9

"My angel is my grandma who died last year. She got a big head start on helping me while she was still down here on earth."
    Katelynn, 9

"Some of the angels are in charge of helping heal sick animals and pets. And if they don't make the animals get better, they help the child get over it."
    Vicki, 8

"What I don't get about angels is why, when someone is in love, they shoot arrows at them."
    Sarah

Links to interesting places: 1 Corinthians 3:10

• Herb Peters 2005 Watchman Speaks 2: End-time Symposium - This is an online video of Herb's presentation in 2005 of his testimony and his research into the European Union and the rise of the last kingdom and its leader.
• Muhammad: Terrorist or Prophet? - "We apologize to anyone who may be offended by the history of the founder of Islam (Muhammad) below. And we are aware of the sensitivities involved. However, infinitely more damage has been done to Islam's "believers" by Islam's history of withholding the truth about its founder to them -- - and the circumstances surrounding its inception -- than any "damage" this true history below can cause. As you will see below, Muhammad posed as an apostle of God. Yet his life is filled with lustfulness (12 marriages and sex with a child, slaves and concubines), rapes, warfare, conquests, and unmerciful butcheries. The infinitely good, just and all holy God simply cannot tolerate anything in the least unjust or sinful. What Muhammad produced in the Qur'an is simply a book of gibberish consisting of later evil verses abrogating (superseding) earlier peaceful verses. These verses in Arabic poetically "tickle" the ears of Arab listeners. This article is intended to warn Christians who may be "fooled" into Islam, because they did not have all the facts. The immortal souls of billions of individuals are involved here. To good Muslims I say; "I have sympathy with your having to grow up in a closed society -- where not embracing Islam would have gotten you shunned or even killed". According to many interpretations of the Qur'an (aka: Koran), conversion to a faith other than Islam is punishable by death. Jesus never said a true prophet would appear in the last days. Rather, He said false prophets would arise who would deceive, if possible, the very elect."
• Testimony at the U.N. - Human Rights Nightmare: Speech before UN Human Rights Council 4th Session 23 March 2007 Delivered by Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch.

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• The Pervasive Internet Patrick Cox, Zola Levitt Newsletter (July 2007) - Obviously, there is a delay between an essay’s creation and when you read it, especially if you read it on paper—as opposed to, say, in an email. The words have to be edited, approved, graphically formatted, printed, addressed, transported to a post office, and eventually delivered to you. By the time you read this essay, its news won’t be new. I say this to point out that the world has been mightily changed by the Internet. Yet, I think that a lot of people don’t really understand how changed it is. Two recent events help demonstrate the scope of the Internet’s influence. One of them is the widely circulated video of a Palestinian kiddy show featuring “Mickey Mouse” preaching Islamic supremacism and urging children to martyrdom as a means to destroy the nation of Israel and eventually rule the world. Similar videos have circulated before, including one that I’ve written about here: 12-yearold Mohammed al Dura beckoning from paradise and encouraging other Palestinian children to join him by dying in jihad. Al Dura’s death was blamed on Israeli soldiers, a fabrication by Palestinian propagandists spread by French television and the Internet. The Internet’s surge since al Dura is huge. Millions of people have watched aghast as the imitation Disney character urges murder and genocide. I doubt the Hamas government expected anyone to tape and subtitle snippets of the kiddy show and release it to the Internet or that it would have such an impact in the West. They still think in terms of the old media days when they could pull off propaganda like the al Dura fraud. In that, they are not alone. Still, several aspects about the hail of criticism the show provoked are worth noting. One is the relative impotence of Disney’s lawyers, renowned for their zeal and effectiveness in preventing copyright infringements. In the world that respects the rule of law, nothing like the mouse video could take place. Proving that the Palestinian Authority is not part of that world, a Hamas spokesman claimed that suggestions the show be removed from the air constituted a “criticism of Islam.” I invite you to ponder the depths of that sophistry for a moment. The other event regards the six New Jersey Muslims who were arrested before they could carry out their planned murders of Fort Dix soldiers. Somehow, these men of mostly Albanian descent became convinced that Fort Dix was attacking Islam. In reality, the base played an instrumental role in the destruction of the Christian Serb government, thereby protecting Albanian Muslims during the Clinton years. How did the arrested men get it so wrong? News reports say that they were saturated in Islamist Internet propaganda. The same loathsome death cult that corrupted an American cartoon icon among Palestinians managed to turn men with every advantage against the country that cradled and tolerated them. You may have heard this from others by now; still, I ask you to consider how much more effective this immersive cultural darkness must be when children literally grow up in it. In Islamist-influenced countries around the world, hundreds of millions of people believe that they can enter paradise by dying in the effort to kill or conquer anyone who disagrees with their religious and political philosophy. Their numbers increase daily. The fact that American troops risked—and gave— their lives in order to protect the religious rights of ethnic Albanian and other Muslims during the conflict in Yugoslavia, yet these would-be terrorists still view American soldiers as their enemies, indicates to me that there is no change we can make, short of converting to Islam, that will lessen their hatred of us. | Islam |
• Target Iran - Countdown Timeline Globalsecurity.org (June 2007) - The Bush Administration has almost certainly not approved the timing of military operations against Iran, and consequently any projection of the probable timing of such operations is neccessarily speculative. The election of Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad as Iran's new president would appear to preclude a negotiated resolution of Iran's nuclear program. The success of strikes against Iran's WMD facilities requires both tactical and strategic surprise, so there will not be the sort of public rhetorical buildup in the weeks preceeding hostilities, of the sort that preceeded the invasion of Iraq. To the contrary, the Bush Administration will do everything within its power to deceive Iran's leaders into believing that military action is not imminent. The Coalition for Democracy in Iran was formed in 2001 to mobilize the efforts of a variety of groups and individuals across the United States supporting the aspirations of the Iranian people for freedom, democracy and respect for human rights in Iran. The CDI strongly supports President Bush's designation of Iran as part of the deadly "axis of evil." Michael Ledeen [of the American Enterprise Institute], Morris Amitay [a former director of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC], and James Woolsley [former CIA director] formed the Coalition for Democracy in Iran, which has strong ties to the exiled Reza Pahlavi, the deceased shah's son. more... | Iran | America |
• Iranian leaders defend fuel rationing Associated Press (June 30, 2007) - Iran's top leaders defended a new fuel rationing plan Saturday that sparked violence earlier this week, saying it will free up funding for development projects and make the country "invincible," state-run television reported. The government began fuel rationing Wednesday, driving angry Iranians to smash shop windows and set fire to more than a dozen gas stations in the capital Tehran and several other cities. With armed guards protecting gas stations, the country calmed down the next day, but Iranians have continued to criticize the new measure, prompting Saturday's defense. "Gasoline (rationing) is among issues that the government decided and implemented bravely," Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted as saying Saturday by state-run television. Iran is one of the world's biggest oil producers, but it doesn't have enough refineries, so it must import more than 50 percent of the gasoline its people use. The rationing is part of a government attempt to reduce the billions of dollars it spends each year to import fuel that is then sold to Iranian drivers at far less than cost, to keep prices low. "If this huge amount (spent on imported gasoline) is gradually reduced, definitely it will be spent on people's lives, employment, investment, construction of schools and roads," said Khamenei. Hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that reduced reliance on imported gasoline would make the country less vulnerable to international pressure, at a time when Iran is at odds with the West over its nuclear program. more... | Iran |
• 'Dhimmification' on the march The Washington Times (June 29, 2007) - If anyone wants to know why Muslims the world over tell pollsters the United States is at war with Islam, just read President Bush's speech at the Islamic Center of Washington, especially the part about American-style religious freedom — in the president's words, "what we wish for the world." He began this way: "For those who seek a true understanding of our country, they need look no farther than here." No, not the mosque itself, but down the street it occupies. "This Muslim center sits quietly down the road from a synagogue, a Lutheran Church, a Catholic parish, a Greek Orthodox chapel, a Buddhist temple — each with faithful followers who practice their deeply held beliefs and live side by side in peace," the president explained, standing in his Islamically observant stocking feet before a cool Muslim audience. "This is what freedom offers: societies where people can live and worship as they choose without intimidation, without suspicion, without a knock on the door from the secret police." As one who has attended a Bar Mitzvah at that synagogue down the road, I have news for the president: Freedom, American-style, has changed. To enter, I passed an armed guard holding an automatic weapon manning the door. Armed guards like him man many such doors in many such cities. In fact, so common is it for religious worship (mainly, but not exclusively, Jewish worship) to require armed protection today that we miss the implications: the degree to which freedom to worship without fear in America has been curtailed by the open-ended threat of Buddhist violence. Whoops, sorry. I mean, curtailed by the open-ended threat of Greek Orthodox violence. Or was that Catholic Lutheran violence? No, the peril to the synagogue was, and remains, Islamic violence. The resulting diminution of freedom is a symptom of advancing dhimmitude — the diminished cultural condition of non-Muslims living in relation to Islam. So, freedom of worship ain't what it used to be. But even in its terror-constrained state, the spread of American religious freedom actually threatens religiously unfree Islamic cultures, which, for example, consider "apostasy" — deciding not to be Muslim — a capital crime. But that threat is only on paper. Where Americans actually become involved in the Islamic world, Shariah (Islamic law) is protected, enshrined even, as shockingly attested by Shariah's primacy in the American-fostered constitutions of Iraq, Afghanistan and the Palestinian Authority. The president doesn't seem to understand that. I don't think he even understands Shariah, under which the primacy of Islam is absolute, and other religions are "tolerated," at best, at the high cost of dhimmitude. Nearly six years after September 11 — nearly six years after first visiting the Islamic Center and proclaiming "Islam is peace" — Mr. Bush has learned nothing. | Islam | America | See MappingSharia.us - The Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE) announced today the launch of the Mapping Shari’a in America Project, the world’s first effort to systematically evaluate the threat that a nation faces from efforts to impose Shari’a within its borders. The project will collect information about America’s 2,300-plus mosques and associated day schools, provide information to both law enforcement officials and the public, and test the proposition that Shari’a amounts to a criminal conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government.
• Religious Training of Your Children is Child Abuse Prophecy In The News (June 29, 2007) - This link from my friend Akhtar. A secular humanist organization, which has been granted special status with the United Nations, is considering a proposal which may criminalize the religious upbringing of children by their parents. The Centre for Inquiry, which has been granted a consultative status as a Non-Governmental Organization, has proposed the UN debate the pros and cons of the religious education of children by their parents. Innaiah Narisetti, the chairman for the organization's India Chapter, believes that this religious instruction at an early age is tantamount to child abuse, and that the United Nations should take a firm stand on the issue. Narisetti is seeking for the rights of parents to provide religious instruction to their children to be annulled, and for state governments to take responsibility for educating children in religious instruction. Quote: ""The time has come to debate the participation of children in religious institutions," continues Narisetti. "While some might see it as a matter better left to parents, the negative influence of religion and its subsequent contribution to child abuse from religious beliefs and practices requires us to ask whether organized religion is an institution that needs limits set on how early it should have access to children." In Germany there have been a few cases where Christian home-schoolers were forcibly separated from their parents, because they chose to educate their children at home rather than attending the state school. In order to stop what the state believed was child abuse, in my mind they committed the worst child abuse act possible, separating a child from its own family. In the United Kingdom it is legal to educate children at home, largely because as far as I remember, our Queen was home-schooled. But as was stated in the last article on the EU superstate, more and more, state governments are seeking to take control of what ideologies are taught to our youth. Quote: "American homeschoolers need to be worried, according to a WND report, because the ease with which similar restrictions on free choice could be imposed in the United States. A Democrat Senate and a Democrat president could ratify U.N. treaties such as the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, or the European Convention on Human Rights, which is an offshoot of the U.S. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That is the foundation being cited by the German government to ban homeschooling entirely, and to indoctrinate public and private school students into a sexualized, socialist society. The wisest man that ever lived said, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it", Proverbs 22:6. As Christians we recognize that, and state governments also recognize it. That is why this UN organization is seeking to remove the rights of parents to teach their children. I was saved at the age of four years old, and am glad that my parents chose to teach me in the way I should go. For not to do so, would have been child abuse. | Signs of the Times |
• Blair not to mediate in Middle East, Solana says M&C News (June 29, 2007) - Middle East quartet envoy Tony Blair will not be charged with mediating in the Middle East conflict, but with channelling aid towards the construction of a Palestinian state, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana was Friday quoted as saying. Former British Premier Blair, whose appointment has been met with skepticism in parts of the region, will not conduct a peace process, the Spanish daily El Pais quoted Solana as saying in Lisbon. Blair's task will be to mobilize political and economic aid, 'will and solidarity' to create a government structure for a Palestinian state, Solana explained. The current situation in the Palestinian territories, with the confrontation between Fatah and Hamas, did not make Blair's task easy, Solana added. | Israel | Islam | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana | 1st Seal |
• Worldwide flooding Google News Search (June 29, 2007) - This is actually a bunch of stories found by typing "floods" into Google news. This highlights just how much flooding is going on around the world. Pakistan, Australia, Brittain, Victoria, and Texas are all dealing with flooding issues currently. | Earth Changes |
• The "Cashless" Implant Society Draws Closer NewsWithViews (June 27, 2007) - There are days reading the news that I have to pinch myself. Surely this is some type of a bad dream from which I shall soon awake. Unfortunately, the painful realization is that I am awake and this Orwellian nightmare is really happening. This time, it's trying to get under our skin -- literally. I first viewed this startling development in a June 25th article appearing in YAHOO! NEWS CANADA, the American Medical Association has adopted a statement that such devices could be medically beneficial. Charitably, for those of us with "paranoid phobias" have to make "informed consent." I then undertook a successful internet search to find the actual report myself. That American Medical Association Ethics Commission Report, "Radio Frequency ID Devices in Humans," is available for download online. Despite serious health concerns, which even the AMA acknowledges, they push for the implants anyway. Looking behind the action, I find power, money, and an old player in the form of "Verichip," variously known at different times as "Digital Angel," and "Applied Digital Solutions." Given the acknowledged risks, it is astounding that the American Medical Association would even consider the process. Perhaps they were influenced by those of their number who have succumbed to temptations and even financial inducements put forth by their manufacturers. Since a small child, I received warnings at my parents' and grandparents' feet that such a system would one day come. I was also taught that it was one I must resist. I was more than shocked in the year 2002 when the Jacobs family of Florida announced it wanted to be the first family in America to "be chipped." They received their implants sequentially on national morning TV programs, including the Today Show (the one I personally videotaped), Good Morning America, and CNN programming. Even before that program, they had received a theological endorsement of this procedure from none other than Pat Robertson. He featured both the Jacobs family and a Dr. Joseph Kickasola, a theologian from his Regent University. They solemnly informed Christians that there were no theological risks to taking this body implant as "they were taking it voluntarily." Only if it was compulsory would the Biblical injunction against it kick in," opined Robertson employee Kickasola. Well, traditionally, hasn't it always been the case that before one starts drafting, they always take volunteers? Taking the prophesied mark was a sure ticket to guaranteed hellfire. Review Revelation chapters 13 and 14 for those clear warnings. Further, there is strictly no advantage either in the here or the hereafter for crossing that "digital divide." The same book containing the warnings against the mark warns that those who took the mark broke out in horrible sores all over their body. They longed for death but death would not come. Hardly a pretty picture! My position on this? Not my dog, not my cat, not my children nor my grandchildren, and definitely not me. It is amazing to me that Christians are undergoing marginalization on this at the same time as full implementation is in place. I had an amazing WRIF radio debate with Benjamin Crème in May, 1982. As I was against his new "Maitreya the Christ," "Betraya the Christ" or whatever his name is supposed to be, Crème labeled me "a fundamentalist." I said, "Mr. Crème, I can understand your aversion to fundamentalism and the Bible as the written word of God. After all, if I were on the FBI's 10 most wanted list, I wouldn't want my friends dropping by the post office. If they did come to the post office and they did read those posters on the wall, I certainly wouldn't want them to take it literally. Everything the Bible warned against, you have proclaimed tonight on this very show 'we are going to do.' I started enumerating. Crème was howling for mercy. Reviewing the materials I have collected over the past 26 years on this topic, many of which are now archived with the University of Michigan's Bentley Historical Library, it is clear that those who I was monitoring had BIG PLANS they hoped to achieve before the end of the century, as many as possible in the 1980's. It is further clear that they are now once again on the militant march. more... | NewWorldOrder | I don't believe these chips will be the final "mark of the beast" because of a recent story I read about RFID ink. Also here. This ink can be injected like a tattoo under the skin. This eliminates the concern of people being able to steal the device from under ones skin. This would also allow a visible tattoo to accompany the invisible electronic signature used to access medical records, bank account information, etc. The Bible says that without the mark one will not be able to buy or sell. If we moved completely away from a cash-based system to an electronic one, not only would this benefit the international bankers, but the RFID ink would be the most secure and logical choice. The question is, what will the visible tattoo say?
• Bringing the Heart of God to the Heart of Europe—a Gathering of Worship and Prayer for Revival, to Begin July 7th Austrian Mission (June 27, 2007) - Beginning on the 7th of July, 2007, Believers in Austria and from all over Europe are invited to join together for a week of "Repentance, Equipping & Evangelism" during the Heart of God Festival held from the 7th through the 13th. The event will take place in Oberschützen (an hour south of Vienna), and will kick off with a March for Jesus at 12 noon. According to information on the Heart of God for Europe website, there will be plenty of worship, and "artists of all genres (singers, musicians and dramatic artists) are welcome to glorify the Lord with their gifting and talents." Some of the speakers at the festival include, David and Kathie Walters, Arne Kopfermann, Karen Johnson, Chris Mercer, Pastor Jon Palmer, and Peter and Caroline Anderson among others. In a message on the website, the festival sponsors—Yehoshua & Nina Ben-Yehoshafat—explain the purpose behind the event.... We want the "March for Jesus" and "Heart of God Festival" to serve as the "Summer of God" experience for Austria; that is, for the people to "taste and see that the Lord is good." For the unsaved people to become Father's Children; that is, for the people to accept Jesus as their personal Messiah, and to go back to their communities with a pro-Active and pro-God message in the power of the Holy Spirit. May this "Summer of God" show forth the "Heart of God" through Godly music and art, because we want to shift our culture from Spiritual Slumber to Spiritual Awakening in Jesus Christ. We invite those who can pray and fast (for one day or more) for this desired Move of God in Austria, to please do so. Please pray that the Lord will pour out His Spirit of Repentance and Revival over Austria. For more information and to register for the Heart of God for Europe Festival, follow the link below. We should all pray along with them and do likewise.
• US Doctors Okays Policy Promoting RFID Chipped "Mark of the Beast" Technology jreynolds.itn@comcast.net (June 26, 2007) - The American Medical Association has just adopted a new policy that approves the concept of RFID computer chip implant technology. The new technology is different than the "Angel Chip" implant technology that is now in its infancy phase. "Angel Chip" technology is a passive system that does not give out a radio signal. The new RFID chip technology uses a microscopic radio transmitter and transmits a radio signal much like a radio station only on a smaller scale. The new RFID technology will enable anyone with an implant to be trackable by the government. The new RFID technology is being hailed as a wonderful breakthrough for medical information purposes as well as general identification and protection from kidnappings or the individual becoming lost. The new technology will also be adaptable for an electronic monetary system that would eliminate paper and coined money. In effect, the RFID technology is in reality capable of matching the Biblical prophecies found in Revelation 13 which refers to the "mark of the beast" in which it is stated that no one will be able to buy or sell without this "mark." The Greek term for "mark" can be translated as an "etching" which is the precise word that describes the microscopic circuitry on a computer chip - because it is "etched" onto the chip. RFID technology is already now in use for tagging consumer and industrial products. Wal-Mart and other companies have adopted RFID chip technology to speed up their shipping systems and better track its inventories and just-in-time ordering systems to minimize the chances of running out of stock and or being overstocked. The AMA policy adoption is the first hurdle for the RFID technology. It will have to approved in the USA by the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) but with AMA approval, the FDA will most likely be a rubber-stamp for the technology much like with the "Angel Chip" technology of just two years ago. It would appear now that the only thing holding up implementation of the 6-6-6 implantation policies of humans is:
  
  #1. government approval of the concept of implantation in humans
  #2. implementation of a new electronic monetary system that eliminates paper/coin money
  #3. mass production of RFID computer chips for human implantation
  #4. The Antichrist himself and his False Prophet to appear and give the mandated order for chip implantation.
  
  The mass production of RFID computer chips for human implantation may take a year or two of mass production to have enough to chip the entire human population around the globe and to get everyone implanted. At the earliest, we could expect this technology to be in place globally with human implantation in as little as two years (2009) but more likely in 2010 to 2012. For more on the American Medical Associations policy adoption of RFID, read the AFP Newswire story here. more...
• Blair prepares to say hasta la vista to No 10 The Herald (June 26, 2007) - Tony Blair will hold his last official foreign talks today plus his final press conference as Prime Minister when he welcomes ex-film star Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, to Downing Street. The breakfast meeting with the "Governator" at No 10, primarily on climate change, is expected to come just hours before Mr Blair's appointment as a special envoy to the Middle East is confirmed by a meeting of representatives from the Quartet - the UN, US, EU and Russia - in Jerusalem. Yesterday, when the Prime Minister's spokesman was asked about Mr Blair's appointment, he refused to deny it, saying only: "Let's not get ahead of ourselves." One source close to the Quartet said: "Blair's appointment has been 150% approved. The Jerusalem meeting is all about arranging the logistics, making final arrangements and getting the announcement out." The prime mover behind the PM's appointment has been American President George W Bush with support from Ehud Olmert, the Israeli premier. Given Mr Blair's central role in the Iraq war, the prospect of his appointment has raised eyebrows in certain quarters, though it is thought Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has decided not to object. Javier Solana, the EU's high representative on foreign affairs, is believed to be unhappy at Mr Blair's appointment because it could distract from his own role in the region. However, diplomats have insisted the PM's new role will focus on Palestine and will not directly involve talks between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government. more... | Israel | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana | 1st Seal |
• No Surprise Fulfilled Prophecy (June 25, 2007) - The news that EU leaders, on Saturday, approved a "Reform Treaty" to replace the failed EU constitution -- and, with it, approved a foreign minister post -- is no surprise to those who've followed FP. Herb's reporting had anticipated these increased EU powers. What also will be no surprise is if the foreign minister post goes to Javier Solana -- making this already powerful leader much more powerful (despite the startling fact that many people in the world still don't know who this man is). Of course, the word "Constitution" has been abandoned for "Reform Treaty" and the foreign minister post will now be called "High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy." But the main points of the constitution -- and the job description for the foreign minister post -- have remained intact. The name changes were made to alleviate fears that a European superstate is on the rise. Yesterday, in the U.K. Telegraph, an alarmed Neil O'Brien (director of the Open Europe think-tank) wrote: "Anyone reading what has been agreed in Brussels this weekend will quickly realise that the 'new' treaty is merely the EU constitution with another name." I encourage you to read O'Brien's article here. The EU's habit of changing words to mask its true actions had often been noted by Herb. Besides calling for the appointment of a foreign policy chief, the Reform Treaty calls for the appointment of a permanent EU Council president (to replace the six-month rotating presidency). The treaty will allow the EU to enter into treaties as if it were a single country. It also gives the European Court of Justice along with Europol (the EU's police force) greater powers over Member States. (Britain has reportedly received exemption from certain aspects of the treaty, including exemption from cooperation in police and criminal matters and from the Charter of Fundamental Rights.) And Member States will have less veto power over EU decisions. The treaty also allows for future amendments, which O'Brien fears will allow the EU to give itself even more powers. But O'Brien and other critics are especially frightened about the creation of the foreign policy post, which will combine Solana's current position as the "High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy" in the Council of the European Union with the vice president of the European Commission -- giving Solana (or whoever fills this post) significantly more powers and control of the EU's external aid budget. This person will represent the EU to the world. The EU heads are hurriedly drafting the text of the Reform Treaty, so they can sign it by December and then put it up for vote to the 27 Member States. Their goal is for it to go into effect in 2009. What does all this mean? It means the European Union is continuing to appear to meet the description of the Revived Roman Empire that the Bible foretold would arise before Christ's return. And, within the European Union, a job description is continuing to be created with the type of powers the prophesied Antichrist will have. | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana | As I've been pointing out, there seems to be much converging on the 2009/2010 timeframe that will shift the governments of the world and the power structure and how the nations relate to each other financially, legally, and technologically. Given the timing of the abomination of desolation in February 2009 according to the HIStory, Our Future Bible studies, the fact that Europe is pushing through these changes to give power to the Foreign Policy Chief to go into effect in 2009 is certainly an interesting coincidence if nothing else. I don't believe in coincidence though, especially given the extreme quantity of "coincidences" I have discovered since studying Bible prophecy.
• Hamas releases audio of captured Israeli Associated Press (June 25, 2007) - Hamas militants posted an audio message on Monday from an Israeli soldier captured a year ago at an army base near the Gaza Strip, the first sign of life from the young serviceman since he was seized. In the message, which came as Israeli and Arab leaders met to bolster moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Cpl. Gilad Shalit sent greetings to his family and said his health was failing. He also expressed disappointment in the "lack of interest" of the Israeli government in his fate. The recording may have been an attempt by Hamas to influence the summit, which was meant to give a push to the peace process and contain Hamas after its victory in Gaza. "I have spent a full year in prison, and my health is still deteriorating, and I need a prolonged hospitalization. I regret the lack of interest on the part of the Israeli government and the Israel Defense Forces in my case and their refusal to meet the demands of the al-Qassam brigades," he said, speaking in Hebrew. Shalit was captured on June 25, 2006, in a cross-border raid by militants from Hamas and two allied groups who tunneled into Israel from the Gaza Strip. Negotiations for his release, mediated by Egypt, have repeatedly broken down and been complicated since Hamas took control of Gaza two weeks ago. In the tape, Shalit called on the Israeli government to meet Palestinian demands for a large-scale prisoner swap. Israeli commentators said Shalit appeared to be reading a text that was written for him, noting the statement was not in typical spoken Hebrew and appeared to be clumsily translated from Arabic. Olmert's spokeswoman, Miri Eisin, called the tape a "cruel gimmick." "How cruel can Hamas be?" she asked. "We will not cooperate with Hamas. We will not compromise with Hamas." Still, Olmert could face growing pressure to talk directly to Hamas, which Israel considers a terrorist group. Cabinet Minister Eli Yishai and called on the government to begin negotiations with Hamas. more... | Israel | Islam |
• Israel announces mass prisoner release WorldNetDaily (June 25, 2007) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday he will release 250 Fatah members from Israeli prisons in a goodwill gesture aimed at strengthening Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after Hamas' victory in Gaza. Olmert announced the prisoner release at a summit with Abbas and the leaders of Egypt and Jordan that the Arabs and Palestinians are hoping can push forward the peace process and strengthen Abbas' hand. "As a gesture of good will towards the Palestinians, I will bring before the Israeli Cabinet a proposal to free 250 Fatah prisoners who do not have blood on their hands, after they sign a commitment not to return to violence," Olmert told the gathering. Ahead of the gathering in this Red Sea resort, a series of messages released by militants underlined Gaza's turmoil. Hamas-linked militants holding an Israeli soldier for the past year released an audiotape of him urging Israel to strike a deal for his release. A British journalist kidnapped in Gaza appeared in a video wearing an explosives belt that his captors threatened to detonate if security forces try to free him. And al-Qaida's deputy leader tried to woo Hamas into an alliance and called on Muslims to attack American and Israeli interests in support of the group. In his speech, Olmert also promised to "improve freedom of movement of the Palestinian population in the West Bank substatinally" and reopen trade ties with the territory, saying he wanted to show the Palestinians that "choosing the path of no terror or violence the way of peace and dialogue will bring a better, more comfortable, more peaceful life." more... | Israel | Islam | So much for not dealing with the terrorists.
• Chavez: Prepare for war with U.S. WorldNetDaily (June 25, 2007) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called for his military to prepare for a guerrilla-style war against the U.S., accusing Washington of using psychological and economic means to overturn his government. Clad in military attire, Chavez addressed hundreds of soldiers inside Tiuna Fort, surrounded by tanks and armored vehicles decorated with banners declaring, "Fatherland, Socialism, or Death! We will triumph!" Chavez repeatedly warned of a U.S. invasion and commanded, "We must continue developing the resistance war, that's the anti- imperialist weapon. We must think and prepare for the resistance war everyday." Chavez told soldiers the U.S. would invade to steal control over Venezuela's oil reserves. However, U.S. officials reject Chavez's accusations that the U.S. may be considering a military assault but have expressed concern over the significant arms build-up in Venezuela. "It's not just armed warfare," said Chavez, a close ally of fellow rogue leader Fidel Castro of Cuba. "I'm also referring to psychological warfare, media warfare, political warfare, economic warfare." Chavez, a former military officer, is leading what he refers to as the "Bolivarian Revolution," a socialist movement named after Simon Bolivar, a 19th independence hero. Since Chavez has been in power Venezuela has purchased $3 billion worth of Russian arms, including 53 military helicopters, 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles and 24 SU-30 Sukhoi fighter jets. Chavez also expressed that he wishes to purchase arms, including submarines and a missile-equipped air defense system, as he soon prepares to tour Russia, Belarus and Iran. "We are strengthening Venezuela's military power precisely to avoid imperial aggressions and assure peace, not to attack anybody," said Chavez Sunday. Last September, in an address to the United Nations General Assembly, Chavez referred to President Bush as "the devil," accusing the U.S. of being a hegemonic world power seeking global domination. "The American empire is doing all it can to consolidate its system of domination. And we cannot allow them to do that. We cannot allow world dictatorship to be consolidated," Chavez warned. Air Force Maj. Juan Diaz Castillo, formerly a pilot for the Venezuelan leader, warned U.S. officials of what he calls Chavez's dismissal of the constitution and his ties to terrorism in collaboration with Castro. more... | America |
• Israel braces for July war with up to five enemies World Tribune (June 25, 2007) - Israel is preparing for an imminent war with Iran, Syria and/or their non-state clients. Israeli military intelligence has projected that a major attack could come from any of five adversaries in the Middle East. Officials said such a strike could spark a war as early as July 2007. On Sunday, Israeli military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin told the Cabinet that the Jewish state faces five adversaries in what could result in an imminent confrontation. Yadlin cited Iran, Syria, Hizbullah, Hamas and Al Qaida. "Each of these adversaries is capable of sparking a war in the summer," Yadlin was quoted as saying. [On Monday, Al Qaida's No. 2 Ayman Zawahiri endorsed the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, Middle East Newsline reported. The Al Qaida statement came after Zawahiri repeatedly criticized Hamas for tolerating Palestinian Authority cooperation with the United States.] Yadlin said Hamas could be planning a major attack to divert attention away from efforts by the Palestinian Authority to isolate the Gaza Strip. He said Syria might be promoting such an attack. Officials said Iran has direct influence over Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas. He said Al Qaida has increasingly come under Iranian influence and was being used by Iran and Syria in such countries as Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. Already, military intelligence has assessed that Hamas acquired more than 50 missiles with a range of 22 kilometers. Officials said this would allow Palestinian missile strikes on any part of Ashkelon, the largest city in southeastern Israel and which contains strategic sites. Hamas has also deployed at least 20 SA-7 anti-aircraft systems, officials said. They said the missiles threaten Israeli combat helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft that conduct missions over the Gaza Strip. On Monday, Palestinian gunners continued missile fire into Israel. Hours earlier, the Israel Air Force struck an Islamic Jihad squad said to have been driving toward the northern Gaza Strip to launch missiles toward Israel. One Jihad operative was killed and two others were injured. Israeli military intelligence has assessed that Hamas was being quietly supported by neighboring Egypt. Officials said that despite Egypt's announced ban, Cairo has continued to allow Hamas leaders to enter the Sinai Peninsula from the Gaza Strip. more... | Iran | Gog/Magog | Israel | Islam |
• Sarkozy Takes Center Stage in Europe New York Times (June 25, 2007) - The new French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has reasserted his country’s traditional role at the diplomatic heart of Europe by emerging as the main force behind a deal that brought the European Union back from the brink of crisis. Mr. Sarkozy proved to be the crucial figure during a fractious meeting, displaying a hyperactive style that helped break down the resistance of Poland’s unyielding leaders. Though scheduled only for Thursday and Friday, the meeting of European leaders ran into Saturday, with agreement clinched around 4:30 a.m. Poland and Britain had demanded significant changes to the treaty aimed at rewriting a European Constitution that was rejected in referendums in France and the Netherlands in 2005. Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain was determined to win concessions he considered vital to convince the British public that the treaty was fundamentally different from the defunct constitution. That would allow him to argue that, unlike the Constitution, it does not require a referendum, which he had promised the voters. But the real obstacles to a deal were Lech Kaczynski, the Polish president, who attended the meeting, and his twin brother, Jaroslaw, the prime minister, who stayed behind in Warsaw. Unlike Mr. Blair, who simply wanted concessions, the Poles challenged a central element of the proposal, its voting system. On Thursday night, Mr. Sarkozy set the scene for a dramatic debut when he addressed the news media. Holding a microphone like a stand-up comic and banning television cameras from the briefing room, his studied informality was a sharp contrast to his sometimes austere predecessor, Jacques Chirac. more... | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | As one of the nations of the 10 voting member-states of the WEU, the new leadership in France is placing the ratification of the European constitution at the top of the agenda. Part of the purpose of this is to bring about further powers for the voice of Europe, Mr. Europe. That position is currently held by Javier Solana. There were three nations that rejected the constitution originally. Now all three are trying to turn their nations' positions around. Keep watching!
• 'How spin muddies EU foreign policy debate BBC News (June 24, 2007) - Any analysis of the effects on EU foreign policy of the proposed new treaty has to pick its way through a morass of spin and exaggeration. The treaty will allow some limited but quite important steps towards the encouragement of joint policies in foreign affairs and certainly towards the clearer presentation of those policies. But the giant leap has not been taken. Foreign policy will still be subject to unanimity in all but a few limited areas. The upgraded "high representative" will have a greater ability to carry out policy, but will not make policy. There is no intention of allowing in foreign affairs what happens, without complaint, in trade policy, where the EU has to act by law as one, decisions are taken by qualified majority vote and considerable freedom is given to the commissioner for trade. So decisions such as the British one to join the invasion of Iraq will still be possible in future. Yet to listen to the British government before the talks was to hear cries of alarm that British independence was threatened and afterwards that such a threat had been triumphantly averted. One wondered why the government had previously agreed to the proposals if they were now seen as such a threat. On the other side, the anti-EU critics were also crying disaster, and in their case the cries are continuing. The most significant change will be to combine the jobs of the existing high representative for foreign and security policy and the external affairs commissioner. This gives the new high representative (the title "foreign minister" was dropped due to British sensitivities) a seat on the European Commission and the foreign aid cash with which to put money where the policy is. The representative will also chair meetings of the foreign ministers and control a potentially powerful new EU diplomatic service. So he or she (it will probably be a he, in that the present representative Javier Solana is likely to get the enhanced job when it is established in 2009) will have a bigger profile internationally. There will also be a permanent President of the European Council, the body made up of heads of state and government. This post will also give the EU a larger presence on the world stage. Do not underestimate the influence of that. more... | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana |
• Global economy faces 'chaos' - World Economic Forum Forbes (June 24, 2007) - The international community faces a real risk of 'economic chaos' arising from major imbalances in the global financial system, the World Economic Forum on East Asia was told Sunday. Complacency has set in after years of uninterrupted global growth and there is no evidence to suggest a self-correcting mechanism is in place to avert a major shock to the global financial system, delegates to the two-day forum were told. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore's Second Minister for Finance, warned the financial contagion will hit when it is least expected and bring about a 'vicious' aftermath. 'You can't predict when it's going to come. You can't predict the scale but there's a feeling that when it comes, it's going to be a pretty large impact and going to be very difficult to manage,' said Shanmugaratnam, 10 years after a financial crisis shook the region's economies. Thailand's Minister of Finance Chalongphob Sussangkarn said that 'unfortunately we cannot see any self-correcting mechanism' when looking at the global economic imbalance. 'So we are moving basically in a situation where there's no real correcting mechanism and hoping that one day the market will perform a correction,' Chalongphob said 'But as we all know it's like when you stretch an elastic band. If you let the market correct the mechanism then eventually it will snap and this will bring about a huge amount of economic chaos in the world.' more... Out of chaos will come a new way to prevent it. I believe that technology will be RFID. There is an RFID ink now, which if injected as a tattoo, would be a way to individually identify those marked in a global wireless Internet system where money would disappear and buying and selling would be dependent on having this form of identification. The technology is here and we're being led down that road now. For the sake of peace and security, I believe we will see this soon.
• A new road map for Europe Herald Tribune (June 24, 2007) - The revamped treaty hammered out by European leaders at a marathon summit meeting here will rescue the bloc from its current existential crisis. But the "United States of Europe" envisioned by the EU's founding fathers is dead and Europe's ability to act as a unified power on the world stage remains in doubt. In the short term, the deal will help bring to an end two years of drift that have plagued the bloc since the French and the Dutch rejected the proposed constitution two years ago. The period has been marked by the reassertion of the nation state, as governments increasingly bypassed Brussels while a discredited union grappled with institutional questions and abandoned its grand projects. With a road map for its future in hand, a newly empowered union should be able to take a larger global leadership role and become a more equal partner with Washington on issues ranging from the Middle East, a newly assertive Russia and energy security. The creation of a more powerful EU foreign policy chief to represent the bloc internationally should also help Europe to better speak with one voice, making it clearer than ever whom Washington needs to call when, as Henry Kissinger once put it, it "wants to speak to Europe." Tony Blair, the departing prime minister of Britain, said the deal gave Europe the chance to put its internal distractions behind it and to grapple with the larger problems of the world. "This deal gives us a chance to move on," he said. "It gives us a chance to concentrate on the issues to do with the economy, organized crime, terrorism, immigration, defense, climate change, the environment, energy - the problems that really concern citizens in Europe." more... | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom |
• Secularist Europe Silences Pro-Lifers and Creationists Brussels Journal (June 23, 2007) - Last week, a German court sentenced a 55-year old Lutheran pastor to one year in jail for “Volksverhetzung” (incitement of the people) because he compared the killing of the unborn in contemporary Germany to the holocaust. Next week, the Council of Europe is going to vote on a resolution imposing Darwinism as Europe’s official ideology. The European governments are asked to fight the expression of creationist opinions, such as young earth and intelligent design theories. According to the Council of Europe these theories are “undemocratic” and “a threat to human rights.” Without legalized abortion the number of German children would increase annually by at least 150,000 – which is the number of legal abortions in birth dearth Germany. Pastor Johannes Lerle compared the killing of the unborn to the killing of the Jews in Auschwitz during the Second World War. On 14 June, a court in Erlangen ruled that, in doing so, the pastor had “incited the people” because his statement was a denial of the holocaust of the Jews in Nazi-Germany. Hence, Herr Lerle was sentenced to one year in jail. Earlier, he had already spent eight months in jail for calling abortionists “professional killers” – an allegation which the court ruled to be slanderous because, according to the court, the unborn are not humans. Other German courts convicted pro-lifers for saying that “in abortion clinics, life unworthy of living is being killed,” because this terminology evoked Hitler’s euthanasia program, which used the same language. In 2005, a German pro-lifer, Günter Annen, was sentenced to 50 days in jail for saying “Stop unjust [rechtswidrige] abortions in [medical] practice,” because, according to the court, the expression “unjust” is understood by laymen as meaning illegal, which abortions are not. Volksverhetzung is a crime which the Nazis often invoked against their enemies and which contemporary Germany also uses to intimidate homeschoolers. Soon, the German authorities will be able to use the same charge against people who question Darwin’s evolution theory. Indeed, next Tuesday, the Council of Europe (CoE), Europe’s main human-rights body, will vote on a proposal which advocates the fight against creationism, “young earth” and “intelligent design” in its 47 member states. more... | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom |
• EU leaders to draft new treaty CNews (June 23, 2007) - European Union leaders agreed early Saturday on a "precise mandate" to draft a streamlined constitution that will guide and govern the expanded EU. All 27 members - including Poland, which had staged fierce opposition to the proposed treaty - agreed after two days of arduous talks on guidelines to drafting a new constitution, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who chaired the marathon talks, said the deal "represents a significant step forward for the European Union." Sarkozy joined Merkel in calling the agreement "very good news for Europe." And Polish President Lech Kaczynski said he, too, was pleased with the outcome. "I am very happy ... we did not have to swallow any bitter pills," he said. "The position of Poland is definitely stronger under this system." Merkel had made it a priority of her country's six-month EU presidency to come up with a viable plan for a treaty to replace the now-defunct EU charter that Dutch and French voters rejected two years ago. She sought to salvage key parts of the stalled constitution necessary to streamline EU decisionmaking, including overhauling the unwieldy EU voting system and giving the EU more power in policing. Merkel said Saturday that she was happy leaders were able to keep key parts of the previous charter alive, despite the often deep and acrimonious divisions between that tested the bloc's unity. "This shows that Europe came together at the end," she said. more... | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom |
• Blair and Pope discuss Iraq Sunday Sun (June 23, 2007) - Tony Blair and the Pope discussed Iraq and global poverty in the final foreign engagement of the Prime Minister's "farewell tour". Mr Blair flew straight from fraught all-night discussions over the new EU treaty in Brussels for an hour-long audience with the Pontiff in Rome. Downing Street said the two men had "positive" talks, and the outgoing Premier presented Benedict XVI with a portrait of 19th century theologian Cardinal Newman. "The discussions focused on the Middle East, international development and interfaith issues," a spokesman said. The spokesman would not comment on whether the Pope had expressed concern about the situation in Iraq - as he did during talks with US President George Bush earlier this month - or if the subject of Mr Blair's widely-predicted conversion to Catholicism had been broached. Meanwhile, the Premier-in-waiting, Gordon Brown, warmly endorsed the idea of Mr Blair acting as a Middle East envoy for the major powers in future. He praised Mr Blair's skills at bringing about "reconciliation", and said he still had a "great contribution to make" on the international stage. The White House has indicated it would support Mr Blair carrying out diplomatic missions in the troubled region for the powerful Quartet of the US, the UN, Russia and Europe. Asked what he thought of the prospect, Mr Brown told BBC1's Politics Show: "Tony Blair has a great knowledge both of reconciliation, and how to make it happen as we found from Northern Ireland, and a great interest in the areas we were just talking about." Sources in the PM's camp indicated that he would be making a major announcement on his post-Downing Street plans when he officially stands down on Wednesday. | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom |
• British Schoolgirl Determined to Protect Religious Right for Herself and Others to Wear Chastity Ring BBC News (June 23, 2007) - A 16-year-old girl has gone to the High Court to accuse her school of discriminating against Christians by banning the wearing of "purity rings". Lydia Playfoot was told by Millais School in Horsham, West Sussex, to remove her ring, which symbolises chastity, or face expulsion. The school denies breaching her human rights, insisting the ring is not an essential part of the Christian faith. On Friday, judgement in the case was reserved to a future date. Miss Playfoot says Sikh and Muslim pupils can wear bangles and headscarves in class. BBC News religious affairs correspondent Robert Piggott said a group of girls at the school were wearing the rings as part of a movement called the "Silver Ring Thing" (SRT). Human rights barrister Paul Diamond told the High Court the school's action was "forbidden" by