Watchman Newsletter for October 31, 2007This newsletter is printer-friendly! It will change format automatically when you print it.
FYI: RECOGNIZING A STROKE excerpt: Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions. Remember the first three letters of the word 'STRoke':
NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke. If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 911 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
How television controls and programs minds
L. Wolfe (September
10, 2007) - Read this powerful
indictment of uncontrolled TV viewing written in the early 1990s and
then take stock of how much the Boob Tube is on in your own home.
Its message is even more important today with TVs blaring in
airports, bars, even offices. It is time to try Mr. Wolfe's therapy:
"Do you want to stay stupid and let your country go to hell in a
basket? Why don't you just walk over to the set and turn it off.
That's right, completely off. Go on, you can do it. Now isn't that
better? Don't you feel a little better already? You've just taken
the first step in deprogramming yourself. It wasn't that hard, was
it? Until we speak again, try to keep it off. Now that will be a bit
harder." -Jim MarrsTurn Off Your
Television: The subconscious is powerful. It is aware of every
particle and detail around you. But it doesn't know the difference
between fact or fiction and acts on all information passing through
the conscious mind as fact, and responds to it. So what do you think
happens when you watch silly, moron, goofy commercials and
television programs? They are training your thought processes. -Hey
buddy, I'm talking to you. Yes, you, the guy sitting in front of the
television. Turn down the sound a bit, so that you can hear what I
am saying. Now, try to concentrate on what I am going to say. I want
to talk to you about your favorite pastime. No, it's not baseball or
football, although it does have something to do with your interest
in spectator sports. I'm talking about what you were just doing:
watching television. Do you have any idea about how much time you
spend in front of the television set? According to the latest
studies, the average American now spends between five and six hours
a day watching television. Let's put that in perspective: that is
more time than you spend doing anything else but sleeping or
working, if you are lucky enough to still have a job. That's more
time than you spend eating, more time than you spend with your wife
alone, more time than with the kids. It's even worse with your
children. According to these same studies, young children below
school age watch more than eight hours each day. School age children
watch a little under eight hours a day. In 1980, the average
20-year-old had watched the equivalent of 14 months of television in
his or her brief lifetime. That's 14 months, 24 hours a day. More
recent figures show that the numbers have climbed: the 20-year-old
has spent closer to two full years of his or her life in front of
the television set. At the same time, the researchers have noted a
disturbing phenomena. It seems that we Americans are getting
progressively more stupid. They note a decline in reading and
comprehension levels in all age groups tested. Americans read less
and understand what they read less than they did 10 years ago, less
than they have at any time since research began to study such
things. As for writing skills, Americans are, in general, unable to
write more than a few simple sentences. We are among the least
literate people on this planet, and we're getting worse. It's the
change--the constant trendline downward--that interests these
researchers. More than one study has correlated this increasing
stupidity of our population to the amount of television they watch.
Interestingly, the studies found that it doesn't matter what people
watch, whether it's ``The Simpsons'' or ``McNeil/Lehrer,'' or
``Murphy Brown'' or ``Nightline':' the more television you watch,
the less literate, the more stupid you are. The growth in television
watching had surprised some of the researchers. Back a decade ago,
they were predicting that television watching would level off and
might actually decline. It had reached an absolute saturation point.
They were right for so-called network television; figures show a
steady dropoff of viewership. But that drop is more than made up for
by the growth of cable television, with its smorgasbord of channels,
one for almost every perversion. Especially in urban and suburban
areas, Americans are hard-wired to more than 100 different channels
that provide them with all news, like CNN, all movies, all comedy,
all sports, all weather, all financial news and a liberal dose of
straight pornography. The researchers had also failed to predict the
market penetration of first beta and then VHS video recorders; they
made it possible to watch one thing and record another for later
viewing. They also offered access to movies not available on
networks or even cable channels as well as home videos, recorded on
your own little camcorder. The proliferation of home video equipment
has involved families in video-related activities which are not even
considered in the cumulative totals for time Americans spend
watching television. You might not actually realize how much you are
watching television. But think for a moment. When you come home, you
turn the television on, if it isn't on already. You read the paper
with it on, half glancing at what is on the screen, catching a bit
of the news, or the plot of a show. You eat with it on, maybe in the
background, listening for a score or something that happens to a
character in a show you follow. When something you are interested
in, a show or basketball game, is on, the set becomes the center of
attention. So your attention to what is on may vary in intensity,
but there is almost no point when you are home, and inside, and have
the set completely off. Isn't that right? The studies did not break
down the periods of time people watched television, according to the
intensity of their viewing. But the point is still made: you
compulsively turn the television on and spend a good portion of your
waking hours glued to the tube. And the studies also showed that
many people can't sleep without the television turned on!
Brainwashing Now, I'm sure you have heard that watching too much
television is bad for your health. They put stories like that on the
evening news. Bad for your eyes to stare at the screen, they say.
Especially bad if you sit too close. Well, I want to make another
point. We've already shown that you are addicted to the tube,
watching it between six and eight hour a day. But it is an addiction
that brainwashes you. There are two kinds of brainwashing. The one
that's called "hard" brainwashing is the type you're most familiar
with. You've got a pretty good image of it from some of those old
Korean war movies. They take some guy, an American patriot, drag him
into a room, torture him, pump him full of drugs, and after a
struggle, get him to renounce his country and his beliefs. He
usually undergoes a personality change, signified by an ever-present
smile and blank stare. This brainwashing is called hard because its
methods are overt. The controlled environment is obvious to the
victim; so is the terror. The victim is overwhelmed by a seemingly
omnipotent external force, and a feeling of intense isolation is
induced. The victim's moral strength is sapped, and slowly he
embraces his torturers. It is man's moral strength that informs and
orders his power of reason; without it, the mind becomes little more
than a recording machine waiting for imprints. No one is saying that
you have been a victim of hard brainwashing. But you have been
brainwashed, just as effectively as those people in the movies. The
blank stare? Did you ever look at what you look like while watching
television? If the angle is right, you might catch your own
reflection in the screen. Jaw slightly open, lips relaxed into a
smile. The blank stare of a television zombie. This is "soft"
brainwashing, even more effective because its victims go about their
lives unaware of what is being done to them. Television, with its
reach into nearly every American home, creates the basis for the
mass brainwashing of citizens, like you. Who's Doing It? read
more... While I can't verify some of the specific historic claims made, this is something that we as Christians should be aware of and guarding our minds against. The mind is very easily influenced, especially when dealing with spiritual wickedness in high places. If thought is the voice of the spirit realm, then the spirit realm can affect us through thoughts and words. I know I've "zoned out" on TV many-a-time. Knowing this tool is there, how much will the subtle serpent take advantage of it and try to control it? Watch how rock n' roll has been and is being used today. They Sold Their Souls For Rock N' Roll
New California law labeled anti-family, 'insidious' OneNews
Now (October 24, 2007) -
An official with the World Congress
of Families says it was a surprise when California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger signed a measure into law that many believe is a
blatant attack on the natural family. SB 777 prohibits any
instruction or school-sponsored activity that would promote
discrimination against gender. That means terms like "mom and dad"
and "husband and wife" cannot be used in California textbooks
because they suggest that heterosexuality is the norm. And under the
new law, teachers and students who oppose same-sex "marriage" or who
express disapproval of cross-dressing or sex-change operations could
face disciplinary measures. Dr. Alan Carlson says the measure --
which he describes as "very insidious" -- is absurd. "This is a huge
step in an anti-family direction," he asserts. "This basically turns
the public schools of California, in effect ... into indoctrination
centers for alternative household arrangements, alternative sexual
arrangements." According to the global coordinator for the
World Congress of Families,
the measure is proof that the homosexual lobby is not interested in
non-discrimination, but in forcing its views on an unwilling public.
"It's clearly designed to make defenders and advocates of the
natural family ... something like thought criminals, essentially,"
Carlson says. The World Congress of Families says although some may
find it unbelievable, the new law even allows students who identify
with the opposite gender the freedom to use restrooms and locker
rooms of the opposite sex. Carlson says parents who do not want
their children to be subjected to "gender indoctrination" now have
no alternative but to withdraw their children from California's
public school system -- a system he points out parents will still be
required to fund through their taxes. SB 777 is currently scheduled
to go into effect January 1, 2008. A coalition of conservative and
pro-family groups,
SaveOurKids.net, has begun
the process of collecting the signatures needed to turn the
referendum into a valid ballot measure for the state's voters to
consider. (See
related story) China song-writers decry "unhealthy" pop tunes Reuters (October 24, 2007) - A group of conservative Chinese songwriters has denounced the emergence of "vulgar" pop music on the Internet which they say is poisoning youth with weird lyrics and lustful themes. The 40 composers, some of who have written songs for Peng Liyuan, a famous singer married to Shanghai Communist Party boss Xi Jinping, signed a petition calling for a boycott of unhealthy online music and vowed to improve young people's music appreciation through their own "outstanding" output. "Music workers should firmly observe the socialist honors and disgraces," a transcript of the petition carried by the official People's Daily Web site (www.people.com.cn) said, referring to a 2006 campaign launched by Communist Party chief Hu Jintao to instill moral values in society. "(They should) resist the incursion of unseemly content, abandon vulgarity ... and work hard to compose outstanding online works that the people, and especially the broader youth, love to hear." With state television and radio broadcasts limited to bombastic patriotic blasts from the past and benign pop, the popularity of online music has exploded in China. China's censors have so far failed to control the Internet, despite a massive surveillance machine and government campaigns to stamp out "unhealthy content." The petition was signed at a seminar held by the official Chinese Music Association last Friday during the recently concluded Communist Party Congress, the newspaper said. Delegates singled out online hits, including "Na Yi Ye" -- "That One Night" -- by Xie Jun, a song about a couple who get drunk and spend the night together. "That one night you didn't refuse me!/That one night I hurt you/That one night you were all tears," are the raciest lyrics. The attack on vulgar online music follows campaigns against online pornography and bans on crass reality TV shows and "sexual sounds" on the country's air-waves. If you haven't seen They Sold Their Souls For Rock N' Roll, you can watch it now free online. It seems that these conservative Chinese recognize what the conservative Americans spoke out against in the 60's. Only now the music industry is far more blatant in their destruction of family and morals in the world.
'We must be ready to preempt threats' The
Jerusalem Post (October 23, 2007)
- Israeli Ambassador to the US Sallai Meridor declared Monday
that Israel should always
be prepared "to preempt, to deter and to defeat if we can" when
speaking about the threats facing the country. Chief among those
threats was Iran, said Meridor, who called for a unified
international as well as domestic American front to counter the
Islamic Republic's nuclear ambitions. "This will take a united
United States on this matter, that they would not have the
illusion today that come January '09, they [Teheran] have it
their own way," he said, referring to the inauguration of
President George W. Bush's successor, who could potentially
change US policy on Iran. Meridor said "very little time"
remained to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to
avoid the worst-case scenarios, outlined by French President
Nicolas Sarkozy, of an Iranian bomb or a war with
Iran. "There may be a
third way still, but only if the diplomatic and economic steps
could be dramatically - not incrementally - intensified," he
said, adding that 33 percent of Iran's trade is with Europe.
Meridor's comments appeared to put Israel at odds with America's
approach to UN Security Council sanctions, in which the US is
pushing for a gradual increase of pressure on Iran through a
series of sanctions resolutions so long as Teheran refuses to
halt uranium enrichment. A third such resolution is currently
being considered. Israeli sources said that to their knowledge
the administration is also calling for tougher sanctions. The
ambassador said Iran
would only stop its quest for nuclear capabilities when "the
cost [is at] a level that in their minds will put at risk the
accomplishments of the [1979 Islamic] revolution." Meridor began
his remarks at an American Jewish Committee luncheon by saying,
"As strong as we are, we should always be prepared to preempt,
to deter, to defeat if we can, to protect, and not assume that
threats have evaporated. They have not." more...
EU Vows To
Shape Globalisation EU
Observer (October 22, 2007)
- Having finally put six
years of institutional wrangling behind it with last week's
agreement on a new treaty, the 27-nation EU says it is now
confident to face outside challenges. In December, EU leaders
are expected to adopt a declaration, which should underline the
bloc's change of priorities – moving from institutional matters
towards issues such as globalisation and climate change. "We
have agreed that we should rule out further institutional change
for years ahead", UK prime minister Gordon Brown said on Friday
(19 October) – something he said he personally hoped would be
the case for at least a decade. The union now has less than two
months to agree a list of new priorities linked to globalisation
and subsequently move on to agreeing the best political recipe
for how to deal with the phenomenon. According to the
European Commission, the EU should avoid being a passive
spectator, but rather "shape" globalisation. In
practice, it is promoting the so-called principle of reciprocity
- meaning trading partners should open their markets as
much as the EU does. "We should be open, but not naive.
We should not close our doors, rather we should encourage others
to open theirs", commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said,
suggesting that openness is a two-way street and that third
countries should offer comparable levels of openness to EU
exporters and investors. In addition, foreign companies
wishing to do business in EU territory should not be allowed to
by-pass the rules applied in the union's internal market. Speaking
at the EU summit Friday (19 October), French president Nicolas
Sarkozy proved to be the strongest advocate of such a principle.
"Let's not be naive, we must demand a reciprocity",
he said, complaining about the severe environmental and social
requirements placed upon EU businesses, but not followed by
their non-European competitors. "We have to remind others there
are rights as well as obligations", Mr Sarkozy added, singling
out Russia and China. According to scripture, Daniel 9:26,27, the antichrist is the future prince of those who destroyed Jerusalem in 70AD, the Romans. We now have a reviving of the Roman Empire as described in the symbology of Bible prophecy. To learn more about this, click here. Europe is going to be the center of the global government that the antichrist will control. That structure is currently in existence and is working to control the world. Already the US is beginning to give over sovereignty by the rule of law and placing our nation under the dictates of outside governments. This will continue more and more until America becomes part of this global governance. Don't think that's possible? Many things will change very quickly and the world will not remain the way it is today. Already the control by finances is well under way and indeed our "Federal Reserve" is actually owned by private bankers, many from outside the US. For more on this, click here to see some videos on this topic.
World Religious Leaders Meet For Peace Summit News.com.au (October
22, 2007) - Leaders of the world's main religions kicked
off an annual interfaith peace summit in Naples today with calls
for a global organisation uniting their faiths. Orthodox
Patriarch Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan
Williams, Israel's chief rabbi Yona Metzger and the imam of the
United Arab Emirates, Ibrahim Ezzeddin, were among those
attending the gathering. "Civilisations don't dialogue directly,
but through those who carry their traditions and cultural
values. So we should not speak of a dialogue of civilisations,
but a culture of dialogue," Bartholomew told the opening. In a
similar vein, Rabbi Metzger proposed a "United Nations of
Religions" that would "embrace the heads of religious
communities that have a profound influence on their
congregations". "If we sit down together around one table ...
surely we could arrive at effective solutions," he said. Ibrahim
Ezzedin, too, advocated a formal structure linking world
religions, saying: "This important grouping of God-fearing
people cannot and should not limit itself to processions,
conferences and seminars." "We need to form a permanent and
authorised executive machinery for ... executing any decisions
we may make," he added. The Muslim leader however spoke harshly
of "unjustified provocations in places such as Iraq and
Afghanistan and ... unfair dealings in Palestine" that have
prompted "some Muslim individuals and groups (to go) astray and
wrong themselves by violent actions". He added: "We are dismayed
by the behaviour of some great powers who continue to act
aggressively against other countries, by means of military
occupation under fabricated pretexts ... forced regime changes
and blunt interference in other countries' affairs." The
Sant'Egidio summits are meant to carry on the "spirit of Assisi"
and were launched 21 years ago by John Paul II in the birthplace
of Saint Francis. The first summit, dubbed a World Day of Prayer
for Peace, was attended by the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa and
other religious leaders. The Pope, then Cardinal Joseph
Ratzinger, stayed away, reportedly out of concern that it put
all religions on an equal footing. Thus the timing of his
pastoral visit to Naples has been billed as a "happy
coincidence" by Sant'Egidio, a lay Catholic organisation that
has mediated in several world conflicts. The theme of this
year's peace summit is "A World Without Violence: Faiths and
Cultures in Dialogue", with topics to include AIDS, immigration,
the plight of Africa and the quest for peace in the Middle East.
more... In the name of peace and security, some people are willing to drop their religious beliefs. Christians in particular will always be removed from these groups because Yeshua said that He is the only way to the Father. This is one reason we will be hated in the coming years and the Alliance of Civilizations being developed currently works against those who claim sole ownership to the Truth. Christ defined us as Christians in that way because we profess what He stated, that He is the only way to heaven. How many Christians would stick to that in the face of death? Would you?
Rabbis recite priestly blessing atop Temple Mount Israel
Today (October 22, 2007) - A
group of Israelis rabbis visiting Jerusalem's Temple Mount last
week publicly recited the Priestly Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26),
an act that under normal circumstances would results in
detention by the police. The group, which was organized by the
Temple Institute, was visiting the Temple Mount to commemorate
the 1165 visit to Judaism's holiest site by Maimonides, also
known as the Rambam, one of history's greatest Jewish
philosophers. At one point, a rabbi spontaneously began reciting
the biblical blessing, eliciting the expected cries of outrage
from nearby Muslim officials who noticed the Jews were daring to
pray at the site Islam today claims as its third holiest. To the
surprise of the rabbis, Israeli police stationed at the Temple
Mount took their side and ordered the Muslims to stop harassing
them. In the past, Christians and Jews who were suspected of
even praying quietly to themselves were forcibly removed from
the Temple Mount and detained for questioning. Israel's official
policy is to bow to the Muslims' insistence that none but the
followers of Allah may pray atop the Temple Mount. Temple
Institute director Rabbi Haim Richman told Israel National News
that last week's visit marked probably the first time since the
Roman destruction of the Second Temple that descendants of
Israel's priestly caste had recited the Priestly Blessing on the
holy hill.
Teacher sex abuse scars family, town Associated
Press (October 22, 2007) -
They've learned to watch their older daughter for any sign that
something's wrong. She cuts her long, blond hair and dyes it jet
black. And they worry. Her father picks up a book she's been
reading, "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, and skims it for clues. He
notices a highlighted passage: "You forget some things, don't you,"
it reads. "Yes. You forget what you want to remember and you
remember what you want to forget." Her parents can relate. There's a
lot they'd like to forget, too — especially since the day nearly
three years ago when their then 15-year-old daughter told them her
elementary school band teacher had molested her and other girls.
The teacher, Robert Sperlik
Jr., pleaded guilty last year to sexual abuse and kidnapping of more
than 20 girls, some as young as 9. Among other things, he told
prosecutors that he put rags in the girls' mouths, taped them shut
and also bound their hands and feet with duct tape and rope for his
own sexual stimulation. According to court documents, he rubbed
their inner thighs and shoulders and forced them to sit, while
bound, in closets and school storage rooms. He pretended it was a
game, gave the girls candy and told them not to tell. And for a long
time, none of them did. A seven-month Associated Press investigation
found stories like these are all too common. AP reporters in every
state and the District of Columbia identified 2,570 teachers who
were punished for sexual misconduct from 2001 to 2005 alone, for
actions that ranged from fondling to viewing child pornography to
rape. Though experts who deal with sexual abuse say victims tell the
truth more often than not, the ordeal is often worsened when the
community around them is drawn in, and people take sides. Often,
victims and their families face uncooperative administrators,
disbelieving neighbors and an agonizing legal journey. This family
in Berwyn, a suburb west of Chicago, understands the emotional toll.
"It's a silent epidemic is what it is," the girl's father says.
"People are protecting people who aren't worth protecting. I hope
our daughters will have that instilled in them, too — that you
report what you know." The couple, a telecommunications technician
and a stay-at-home mom, spoke on the condition that they and their
daughter not be identified, so she can try to move on from the
nightmare that began in the late 1990s. They want to share their
story to encourage anyone being abused by an educator to come
forward. They also hope school officials will do more to get abusive
teachers out of classrooms. "I thought my children were safest in
school," the girl's mother says. She shakes her head. As a child,
she went to Pershing Elementary, the same school her two daughters
attended and one of several in Berwyn, where Sperlik taught band for
18 years. "I don't trust anybody now." Her daughter was a
fourth-grader when Sperlik began teaching her how to play the
clarinet. She liked him. He said nice things about her and played
funny games during class, including letting them draw lips on duct
tape and put it on their mouths. Eventually, though, she and two of
her friends started to feel uncomfortable with what they described
as increasingly creepy behavior. more...
Georgia’s Governor Declares Drought Emergency MSNBC
(October 20, 2007) - With water
supplies rapidly shrinking during a drought of historic proportions,
Gov. Sonny Perdue declared a state of emergency Saturday for the
northern third of the state of Georgia and asked President Bush to
declare it a major disaster area. Georgia officials warn that Lake
Lanier, a 38,000-acre reservoir that supplies more than 3 million
residents with water, is less than three months from depletion.
Smaller reservoirs are dropping even lower. Perdue asked the
president to exempt Georgia from complying with federal regulations
that dictate the amount of water released from Georgia's reservoirs
to protect federally protected mussel species downstream. "We need
to cut through the tangle of unnecessary bureaucracy to manage our
resources prudently — so that in the long term, all species may have
access to life-sustaining water," he said. On Friday, Perdue's
office asked a federal judge to force the Army Corps of Engineers
to curb the amount of water it
drains from Georgia reservoirs into streams in Alabama and Florida.
Georgia's environmental protection director is drafting proposals
for more water restrictions. More than a billion gallons of water is
released from Lanier every day. The Corps of Engineers bases its
water releases on two requirements: The minimum flow needed for a
coal-fired power plant in Florida and mandates to protect two mussel
species in a Florida river. White House press secretary
Dana Perino said Perdue's request
will be reviewed. "In the meantime, we have already begun drafting
interim rules to use procedures and flexibility to address the
endangered species requirements and the Army Corps has started the
process of revising the operations manual for the river basin,"
Perino said. Georgia lawmakers say neighboring states also are
exploiting the law as a tool to draw more water from Georgia's
lakes. "We've learned from this what a blunt weapon the Endangered
Species Act has become," said state Rep. John Linder. "We need to
understand this lake was created not for mussels but for people."
more... If we're really as close to the end as the evidence would seem to suggest, could this help contribute to the famine of the third seal? Let's take into account several other stories that affect this I shared earlier. One is the bee problem where with less pollination comes less crops. We also have the stories of a smaller wheat crop. When taking this into account with the other story in this issue regarding the supply chain and how 2% of Americans produce food for all of America, where does that leave the rest of the country in a national crisis? What if terrorism is included in the mix? There are many factors, all of which could very quickly plunge America into great depression, not the least of which is current volatility in the financial markets as well as the declining Dollar against the Euro. In other words, you may want to start thinking about stocking up on bottled water and non-perishable foods because with the instability mixed with people who want our destruction, we may find that we can't rely on the government to take care of us as well as they did with Katrina and the like. I think churches should start to utilize some of their storage for this purpose as well. As the body of Christ we stand much stronger together than alone and in the coming times of increased persecution and uncertainty we need to build each other up in the Word and be a support for those who have no solid foundation in Christ as we do. Our churches should be centers of selfless love where our awareness spells preparedness to help others both materially and spiritually. US Food Supplies Ice Age Now (October 19, 2007) - Last week on the George Noory show I said that "we’ll be fighting in the streets for food long before we’re buried in ice." (I say the same thing in Not by Fire but by Ice.) I just received an email from a reader that sums it up better than I did. "I spent about thirty years working in commercial agribusiness. My main job was to purchase ingredients, mainly grain, for flour mills and animal feed mills. As a part of my job I was forced to understand the US food supply system, its strengths and weaknesses. Over the years I became aware of some things that nearly all Americans are completely unaware of. I am going to make a list of statements and then you will see where I'm going.
| America |
EU Strikes Deal on Treaty, Ending Political Stalemate Bloomberg
(October 19, 2007) - European Union leaders
struck a deal on a new governing treaty, ending two years of
soul-searching over how to equip the bloc to tackle 21st-century
scourges such as climate change and terrorism. The new treaty,
if ratified by 2009, would create the post
of full-time president, strengthen the EU's crime-fighting powers,
enhance the role of the democratically elected European Parliament and
streamline a clunky decision-making system. ``We're coming out
of this summit stronger, so we can take on world challenges,''
Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said in Lisbon early today after
late-night concessions to Poland and Italy sewed up the agreement. The
next step is ratification by all EU governments, a hurdle that has
doomed EU treaties in the past. Ireland, which voted down the EU's
current treaty in 2001 only to back it a year later, will hold a
referendum and pressure is mounting on U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown
to call a popular vote that polls show he is certain to lose. ``We hope
we vote `yes' but we'll wait and see what the outcome is,'' Irish
Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern said on BBC Radio 4 today. Failed
referendums in France and the Netherlands killed off a planned EU
constitution in 2005, stirring concerns that the bloc was out of touch
with its citizens. The new treaty, dubbed the Reform Treaty, will be
signed Dec. 13 in Lisbon.
Zechariah's warning to Bush and Condi WorldNet
Daily (October 18, 2007) - The
Palestinians and Israelis are scheduled to meet at the Naval Academy in
Annapolis, Md., this November. This major "peace summit" is the
brainchild of the Bush administration and is under the supervision of
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Though most of the world –
especially the Arab world – seems dubious about the summit's prospects
for success, the United States appears bent on forcing some sort of
"peace" upon that troubled region. To do so, Secretary Rice is
pressuring Israel to drop all of its redline demands. Redlines are the
points that cannot be conceded. Both sides have redlines. Both sides
have points they will not give up, boundaries they will not cross. But
the State Department is pressuring Israel to drop all of its redline
conditions. For the first time, the division of Jerusalem is on the
table. Since 1967, Israel had steadfastly claimed a united Jerusalem as
"its eternal capital, never to be divided again." I will never
forget when Gen. Moshe Dayan first stood before the Western Wall after
the amazing six-day victory in June of 1967. He dramatically declared,
"We have returned to all that is holy in our land. We have returned
never to be parted from it again." Evidently, to Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert, "eternal" and "never" means about 40 years. According to the
Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Palestinians are pressuring Secretary
Rice to guarantee that Israel will relinquish sovereignty over the
Temple Mount. What's more, they're making this guarantee a pre-condition
before they'll even show up at the conference! According to a senior
Palestinian official quoted by Haaretz, "No Arab country would agree for
a final-status arrangement in which the Temple Mount was not in Muslim
hands, particularly not Saudi Arabia." So, while Israel is not permitted
any redline issues, the Palestinian redlines are not only permitted, but
Secretary Rice is seeking guarantees of Israeli acceptance of them. And
their No. 1 redline demand is that Israel must surrender the very heart
and soul of Judaism as the price of admission to even start discussing
peace. Just suppose for a moment that Israel and the Muslims were in
reverse circumstances. Can you imagine the reaction to Israel demanding
that the Muslims guarantee the surrender of Mecca as a precondition to
"discussing" peace? The world would consider such a demand unthinkable.
Yet, according to
a report in WorldNetDaily, Secretary Rice singled out areas of
Jerusalem that will become part of a future Palestinian state. She
reportedly told Palestinian negotiators that she would publicly blame
Israel for the failure of next month's summit if the Jewish state didn't
agree to evacuate east Jerusalem neighborhoods. Rice traveled to the
Middle East this week to help the Israelis and Palestinians formulate a
joint statement ahead of November's conference. The Palestinians want
the statement to outline specifically a Palestinian state including the
Gaza Strip, West Bank and essentially all of east Jerusalem, which
includes not only the Muslim holy places, but those of the Jews and
Christians as well. They are ostensibly to be put under Jordanian
supervision. But I remember what that was like before June 1967. There
were walls and barbed wire separating East Jerusalem from Israel.
Christian pilgrims had to carry their own luggage across an intimidating
no man's land of about 40 meters while unfriendly Jordanian soldiers
looked on. I am stunned the Bush administration is pressuring Israel to
agree to all of the Palestinian demands in advance, with the threat that
they'll be blamed for the summit's failure if they don't. In view of
this, my question is, "What's the point of the conference?" "What's left
to negotiate?" President Bush and Secretary Rice have already done the
Palestinians' negotiating for them. And all of this despite the fact
that the Palestinians have not lived up to one prerequisite condition
outlined in Bush's own "Road Map for Peace." You know, I fear for both
President Bush and Secretary Rice. I also fear for my beloved country.
They must be ignorant of a prophecy God made 2,500 years ago through the
Hebrew prophet Zechariah. It applies to this precise time and situation
in history. God said, "Behold, I will make
Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples. …"
The people surrounding Jerusalem are all the current Muslim nations. As
predicted, they have become intoxicated over possessing Jerusalem. Like
drunken people, their emotions, inflamed with religious zeal, are
causing them to do unwise, reckless and violent things. The truth is
hardly any Muslims traveled to visit Jerusalem before the Jews returned
to it. Now you would think there is no other holy place on earth as
important to them. These are the exact conditions Zechariah predicted
would be part of the last stages of this age. He continues, "And
it shall happen in that day that I WILL make Jerusalem a very heavy
stone for ALL PEOPLES. …" – meaning the entire world. Now here's
the punch line: "ALL who would seek to heave it
away will surely be cut in pieces." The original Hebrew makes the
meaning of this even clearer. It reveals that everyone who tries to
remove the heavy burden of the Jerusalem crisis will be utterly
destroyed for getting involved with it. Isaac and Ishmael's fight over
possession of Jerusalem has drawn the whole world into it – just as the
prophets predicted. It is the culmination of Ishmael's 4,000-year-old
hatred of his half-brother Isaac, the forefather of the Israelites. I
pray that somehow this message will get through to President Bush and
Secretary Rice. This prophecy applies to this very moment in which we
live. And in light of what they are forcing on Israel, it applies to
them personally. While Bush and Rice strive to create legacies for
themselves – just as most presidents have tried to do with the Middle
East conflict for the last 40 years – they not only endanger themselves,
but also endanger this nation with the divine curse promised above. Mr.
President, there is nothing on this earth worth what you are doing. In
the power of God's Spirit, I warn them both, "Stop, before it's too
late!"
Syrian Confirms Israel Destroyed Nuclear Facility
Israel National News
(October 18, 2007) - A Syrian official has
admitted that the
Israeli operation on September 6 destroyed a nuclear facility - but
the admission was followed shortly afterwards by a Syrian government
denial. A Syrian representative said Tuesday at the United Nations that
reports that the target was a nuclear device were accurate. Syrian
officials, including President Bashar Assad had previously claimed that
Israel attacked an abandoned army base or an agricultural facility.
During a meeting of the UN Disarmament Commission, the Syrian
representative acknowledged that the target had been the nuclear
facility. Israeli Foreign Ministry officials were also attending. He
accused Israel of aggression for targeting the facility. In Israel,
details of the strike, beyond the fact that an operation took place on
September 6 in Syria, are still under gag order. Local media continue to
skirt the order by leaking information to foreign papers and then citing
their reports. Some analysts have said the reason for the continued
silence of the Israeli government on the September 6 attack is to avoid
humiliating Assad and leading to a possible military escalation. Dr.
Elon Liel, a former Director General of the Foreign Ministry, has gone
one step further in his hope for a conciliatory approach to Israel’s
northern neighbor, sending a letter to Education Minister Yuli Tamir
asking her to prevent high school students from participating in the “In
the Footsteps of the Warriors” tours in the Golan Heights. Liel said he
feared the tours would strengthen the students’ connection to the Golan.
He called the tours “a provocation,” saying Israel would discourage
Syria from negotiating an Israeli retreat from the Golan.
Brigadier-General Avigdor Kahalani, who participated in the liberation
of the Golan and the creation of the “In the Footsteps of the Warriors”
tours, rejected Liel’s demand as “nothing more than a leftist
initiative.” The tours are important to the students’ morale and
strengthen their sense of identification with IDF soldiers who fought in
previous wars, he said. “A bus full of students is not a provocation.”
more...
Mini-Earthquake Sets Off Predictions of a Larger One
Israel National News
(October 18, 2007) - The Patzael region in
the central Jordan Valley, just 20 kilometers north of Jericho, was
touched by a small earthquake on Saturday night, registering 3.0 on the
Richter scale. A similar quake occurred in the same area two months ago.
On Sunday morning, researchers at Tel Aviv University presented a new
study on the timeline of earthquakes throughout history. No precise
future earthquake dates can be extrapolated from the data, but the
researchers say one is on the way - as no major quake has hit the danger
area between the Dead Sea and the Kinneret in centuries. "It's like the
first winter rain," said Dr. Shmuel Marko, who took part in the study.
"The longer the dry summer lasts, the closer the first rain is. Here, as
well: The quiet is worrisome. The longer we go without a large quake,
the more we can expect one." On the other hand, experts have said that
Israel's earthquakes are in general less frequent than those in other
quake-prone regions such as California, Japan and Turkey. Israel is
located along the Syria-Africa rift, a friction point between two
subterranean plates and is therefore considered earthquake-prone. In
1927, some 250 people were killed in an earthquake that hit Jericho and
central Israel. In November 1995, a 6.2 quake caused injuries to several
people in Eilat. A minor quake, 5.0 on the Richter scale, hit Israel in
February 2004, shaking buildings in many cities and even causing damage
to the Knesset building. No one was reported hurt. The northern city of
Tzfat was hit by two earthquakes in recent centuries, in 1759 and in
1837. The latter one killed at least 2,000 people, when residents were
buried under the ruins of their homes and help did not arrive for days.
School Board Approves Birth Control Prescriptions at Maine Middle School
Fox News
(October 18, 2007) - Pupils at a city
middle school will be able to get birth control pills and patches at
their student health center after the local school board approved the
proposal Wednesday evening. The plan, offered by city health officials,
makes King Middle School the first middle school in Maine to make a full
range of contraception available to students in grades 6 through 8,
according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. There
are no national figures on how many middle schools, where most students
range in age from 11 to 13, provide such services. "It's very rare that
middle schools do this," said Divya Mohan, a spokeswoman for the
National Assembly on School-Based Health Care. The Portland School
Committee voted 5-2 for the measure. Chairman John Coynie voted against
it, saying he felt providing the birth control was a parental
responsibility. The other no vote came from Ben Meiklejohn, who said the
consent form does not clearly define the services being offered.
Opponents cited religious and health objections. Diane Miller, who said
she has worked as a school nurse in another district for eight years,
called the proposal "tragic" and asked "What would God have us do?"
Miller said the plan gives children an adult responsibility they are not
ready for, and puts them at risk from sexually transmitted disease and
emotional problems. "I just don't know how we can even look at this and
consider it," she said. Peter Doyle, a former middle school teacher,
said the proposal violates the rights of parents, potentially ignoring
their special knowledge of their children's health, and puts young girls
at risk of cancer from too early use of hormone-based contraceptives.
"You all are going to be responsible for the devastating effects on
young women when this goes through," he said. Those who favored the plan
said it isn't about encouraging premature sex, but protecting kids who
don't have strong support from their parents. "Unfortunately, not every
child is getting the kind of parental involvement that is going to help
keep them safe," said Richard Verrier. "If my daughter were not able to
talk with me about something, if she couldn't reach me for whatever
reason, to keep her safe and healthy, I would want to make sure she had
access to those resources from trusted adults," Verrier said. Condoms
have been available since 2002 to King students who have parental
permission to be treated at its student health center. more...
Bush warns of World War III if Iran goes nuclear
Breitbart
(October 17, 2007) - US President George W.
Bush said Wednesday that he had warned world leaders they must prevent
Iran from getting nuclear weapons "if you're interested in avoiding
World War III."
Rabbis urge: 'Save Jerusalem!'
WorldNet Daily
(October 16, 2007) - A group of hundreds of prominent Israeli
rabbis yesterday called on Jews worldwide to speak out against what
rabbinic leaders called the "crime of dividing Jerusalem as proposed by
the current Israeli government." The move follows a flurry of media
reports that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is contemplating handing over
sections of Jerusalem to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas'
Fatah organization. Yesterday Olmert hinted he would be willing to
divide Jerusalem, asking during a speech whether it was "really
necessary" to retain certain Arab neighborhoods in Judaism's capital. At
a Tel Aviv press conference yesterday, leaders of the Rabbinical
Congress for Peace, a coalition of more than 350 Israeli rabbinic
leaders and pulpit rabbis, including some of Israel's most prominent
Jewish leaders, urged Jews worldwide to speak out. "We must scream and
protest not only to go through the motions, but maybe our protest will
bring another one in its chain and awaken the public," said RCP leader
Rabbi David Drukman, the rabbinic leader of the Kiryat Motzkin Israeli
community. "It pains us to see that there is no public outcry against
this; everyone is complacent," Drukman said at the press conference.
Rabbi Meir Horowitz, leader of the Hassidic Bostoner community and a
U.S. citizen, addressed U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
directly: "Madam Secretary, we request that you convey to President Bush
and to the leaders of the civilized world that although Jerusalem is
also holy to the three great faiths of the world, for the Jewish people
it is our only holy city; therefore, no one can expect the Jewish people
to forgo the central theme and focus of their religion." Rabbi Avrohom
Yaakov Shreiber, who was the rabbinic leader of Kfar Darom, one of the
largest Gaza Strip Jewish communities evacuated by Israel in 2005,
pointed out that while most Jewish expulsions throughout history were
perpetuated by non-Jews, he was "stunned" the Jewish state would "expel
their brothers from their homes." Meir Porush, a nationalist Knesset
Member, called Jerusalem "the soul of the nation and just like a man
cannot live without a soul, so we cannot live without Jerusalem." Rabbi
Gerlitzky, chairman of the Rabbinical Congress, commented, "It has been
several months now that the government has been discussing dividing
Jerusalem, but it was done quietly behind our back. Now when it came out
in the open, there is no outcry. I feel as though the public has been
sprayed with some kind of sleeping gas." A Rabbinic Congress resolution,
passed at yesterday's meeting, urged the Olmert government to "come back
to your senses." "The Congress calls on the government to abandon the
'land for peace' formula. It never worked in the past, it doesn’t work
now and will never work in the future. This formula is obsolete,
outdated, leads to bloodshed." The rabbis' statements followed a speech
yesterday in which Olmert asked whether it was "really necessary" for
Israel to control Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem. more...
Putin Visits Iran, Sends Warnings to US
Associated Press
(October 16, 2007) - Russian leader
Vladimir Putin met his Iranian counterpart Tuesday and implicitly warned
the U.S. not to use a former Soviet republic to stage an attack on Iran.
He also said nations shouldn't pursue oil pipeline projects in the area
if they weren't backed by regional powers. At a summit of the five
nations that border the inland Caspian Sea, Putin said none of the
nations' territory should be used by any outside countries for use of
military force against any nation in the region. It was a clear
reference to long-standing rumors that the U.S. was planning to use
Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic, as a staging ground for any
possible military action against Iran. "We are saying that no Caspian
nation should offer its territory to third powers for use of force or
military aggression against any Caspian state," Putin said. Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also underlined the need to keep outsiders
away from the Caspian. "All Caspian nations agree on the main issue -
that all aspects related to this sea must be settled exclusively by
littoral nations," he said. "The Caspian Sea is an inland sea and it
only belongs to the Caspian states, therefore only they are entitled to
have their ships and military forces here." Putin, whose trip to Tehran
is the first by a Kremlin leader since World War II, warned that energy
pipeline projects crossing the Caspian could only be implemented if all
five nations that border the Caspian support them. Putin did not name
any specific country, but his statement underlined Moscow's strong
opposition to U.S.-backed efforts to build pipelines to deliver
hydrocarbons to the West bypassing Russia. "Projects that may inflict
serious environmental damage to the region cannot be implemented without
prior discussion by all five Caspian nations," he said. Other nations
bordering the Caspian Sea and in attendance at the summit are:
Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. The legal status of the Caspian
- believed to contain the world's third-largest energy reserves - has
been in limbo since the 1991 Soviet collapse, leading to tension and
conflicting claims to seabed oil deposits. Iran, which shared the
Caspian's resources equally with the Soviet Union, insists that each
coastal nation receive an equal portion of the seabed. Russia,
Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan want the division based on the length of each
nation's shoreline, which would give Iran a smaller share. Putin's visit
took place despite warnings of a possible assassination plot and amid
hopes that a round of personal diplomacy could help offer a solution to
an international standoff on Iran's nuclear program. Putin's trip was
thrown into doubt when the Kremlin said Sunday that he had been informed
by Russian intelligence services that suicide attackers might try to
kill him in Tehran, but he shrugged off the warning. Iranian Foreign
Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini dismissed reports about the
purported assassination plot as disinformation spread by adversaries
hoping to spoil good relations between Russia and Iran. Putin has warned
the U.S. and other nations against trying to coerce Iran into reining in
its nuclear program and insists peaceful dialogue is the only way to
deal with Tehran's defiance of a U.N. Security Council demand that it
suspend uranium enrichment. "Threatening someone, in this case the
Iranian leadership and Iranian people, will lead nowhere," Putin said
Monday during his trip to Germany. "They are not afraid, believe
me." more... Weak Dollar Allows Foreigners to Snap Up U.S. Firms News Max (October 16, 2007) - Bargain-hunting foreigners are snapping up U.S. companies at a record pace as the weak dollar, a growing trade imbalance and spiking oil prices spark a raid on America’s corporate assets. Through September, foreign firms have spent $276 billion to acquire U.S. businesses, according to Thomson Financial. At that rate, the 2007 total will easily surpass 2000’s record of $325 billion in foreign buy-outs. With the dollar at a record low against most major foreign currencies, and with a robust economy abroad, “It’s a fire sale for companies in Europe, Canada, Australia and some emerging markets that want to buy in the U.S.,” says David Gilmore, a partner at consulting firm Foreign Exchange Analytics in Essex, Conn. The biggest deals over the past two years include:
Earlier this month, Canada’s Toronto-Dominion Bank
announced an $8.5 billion deal to acquire Commerce Bank of Cherry Hill,
N.J. The trend not only raises national security red flags but has also
sparked concerns that U.S. assets--and associated investment
returns--are increasingly falling into foreign hands, experts say. “If
they’re productive investments, foreigners will receive the dividends
rather than Americans, but that’s the consequence of living beyond your
means,” says Michael Klein, professor of economics at Tufts University.
more...
Turkey Forms Alliance With Iran Against Kurds
News Max
(October 15, 2007) - U.S. ally Turkey and
U.S. arch-enemy Iran have formed a military alliance to drive opposition
Kurds from bases in northern Iraq they have used since 2004 to launch
guerrilla operations inside Iran, rebel leaders told Newsmax at a secret
base in the Qandil mountains. Both Iran and Turkey have vowed to send
troops into northern Iraq, but until now evidence of active military
cooperation between them has remained a closely-held secret. Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stepped up political and
diplomatic threats in recent days, telling the United States he would
cut off U.S. access to the strategic Incirlik airbase in eastern Turkey
if the U.S. tried to prevent Turkey from sending troops against the
Kurdish bases in northern Iraq. Leaders of the Party of Free Life of
Iranian Kurdistan, known as PJAK, provided Newsmax with extensive
evidence of the Iran-Turkey alliance in two days of exclusive interviews
at a secret guerilla base deep in the Qandil mountains. An Iranian
Revolutionary Guards outpost was visible on a nearby mountain peak.
“Iran and Turkey attacked jointly on August 16 against our forces inside
Iran and against Turkish self-defense forces in northern Iraq,” a PJAK
commander using the nom de guerre Xerat told Newsmax at the Iranian
rebel base. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards “attacked us across a broad
front in the areas of Sardasht, Piranshahr, Shaho, Urmieh, and along the
border line,” Xerat said, citing the names of major cities in Iranian
Kurdistan where PJAK rebels have been operating. While those ground
operations were underway, Iranian and Turkish artillery simultaneously
began shelling civilian villages inside Iraqi Kurdistan from Metina,
Zaab, Haftani, and Hakurke in the north, to Haji Oumran, Qalatdizza, Zeh,
Marado, and Xinera in the south, he added. Turkish artillery hit the
northern villages, while Iranian gunners hit the southern ones. Iranian
troops attempted to cross into Iraq through the mountain passes, but
PJAK fighters held the line. “The goal of the Iranians is to drive us
from the border area,” rebel leader Biryar Gabar told Newsmax. “They
want to turn this area into a no-man’s land, so they can use it to
smuggle weapons and Islamist guerillas into Iraq to fight the
Americans.” He called the Iran-Turkey entente “an anti-American
alliance,” not just an anti-Kurdish agreement, and said that it resulted
from deliberate decisions from the ruling Islamist AKP party of Prime
Minister Erdogan to transform Turkey into an increasingly Islamist
state. A senior European official, who was involved in talks to bring
Turkey into the European Union, told Newsmax recently he had been
“stunned” by the hard-line toward the Kurds taken by AKP party leader
Abdullah Gul, now Turkey’s president. “He was totally uncompromising,”
the official said. “He took a harder line than the Turkish military.”
Iran has been offering Turkey an economic agreement with Iran in July to
build a strategic pipeline that will bring Iranian natural gas to
Europe, in defiance of a U.S. led effort to increase the economic
squeeze on Iran. During a press conference in August while he was still
foreign minister, Gul defended Turkey and Iran’s joint action against
Kurdish guerillas in Iraq. “They pose a threat to Turkey as well as to
other neighbors. Therefore, every country has the right to defend its
borders and take legitimate measures for its own security,” Gül said.
more...
Possibility of volcanic activity near Quesnel excites scientists
Vancouver Sun
(October 15, 2007) - Scientists are headed
tomorrow to an area 75 kilometres west of Quesnel to install
seismological equipment aimed at determining whether a "swarm" of small
earthquakes are evidence of a forthcoming burst of molten lava --
potentially the first volcanic activity in the province in two
centuries. "It's pretty exciting to see this," John Cassidy, earthquake
seismologist with Natural Resources Canada, confirmed in an interview.
"The earthquakes are continuing, even today. We should have some answers
soon." The story began last Wednesday when existing seismological
equipment located, appropriately enough, at Thunder Mountain began
recording earthquake activity. Since then, there have been more than 100
small earthquakes -- most of them magnitude 1.0 or less on the Richter
scale, but as big as 3.1 -- including an average of one per hour over
the past 24 hours. The activity is located 20 kilometers west of Nazko
Cone, which last erupted 7,200 years ago and is currently being mined
for scoria, used for light-weight aggregate, landscaping and ground
cover, and in agricultural and horticultural applications as a soil
additive. The new seismic equipment is expected to be installed as early
as Tuesday right on top of the earthquake activity, allowing scientists
to better determine the depth and direction of the activity. Upward
movement could be evidence the lava is working its way to the surface,
causing small earthquakes as it muscles its way through the earth's
rocks. "That's one option," Cassidy said. "We don't know if it's caused
by magma at depth or if it's tectonic -- just an earthquake in an
unusual area, because we haven't seen earthquakes here before. "It may
turn out to be a little swarm of earthquakes in an unusual spot, but it
may turn out to the be reawakening of a volcano, which is really
exciting." Even if lava is on its way, it could be take weeks or months
to reach the surface, Cassidy said, noting it took Mount St. Helens in
Washington about two months to finally blow its top in 1980.
The Panic Window Approaches
Financial Sense University
(October 15, 2007) - Adding to the list of things that can go
wrong from our last discussion, things that could cause a possible
dislocation in the stock market during the possible panic window opening
next month, we have an astute observation by Rick Ackerman. Then you
have Gary North out further discussing Fed antics associated with a
contracting monetary base, which he is suggesting will topple the equity
complex, and possibly the system. Here, you can’t blame the Fed for
instituting such policy. Again, the idea behind constricting growth in
the monetary base is to support the dollar ($) and curb the inflationary
effects of easing rate policy. And while I agree with the conclusions of
both these gentlemen, as stated in our last commentary the timing
associated with when such factors will come home to roost is still very
much up in the air however, not imminent by any means. Enter Goldman
Sachs, where last week they came out saying the worst of the credit
crunch is over, and to bet on a recovery. Obviously this must be the way
they are betting now, betting their expanding balance sheet (buyers of
last resort) on seasonal tendencies and an easy money environment. One
does need wonder just how long this can go on for however if as Rick
Ackerman above points out the consumer is saturated with debt. Try as
they will however, brokers, bankers, and politicos (the ‘authorities’)
are attempting to get the borrowing binge back on track, attempting to
get companies interested in leveraged buyouts again, anything to keep
the credit bubble from collapsing. If you believe the message in a
rising gold price, one must consider the possibility they will be more
successful than is the conventional wisdom at the moment, making short
selling a very dangerous prospect indeed. Outcomes in October will tell
the story in this respect. And then we have the Chinese, whose
‘upper-ups’ are apparently waking up to what Goldman Sachs and the
Rothschild’s have planned for them now. So, it will be interesting to
see just how things develop moving forward. I am looking for profound
change in trade related exchange between China and the West developing
after the Olympics next year to mark acceleration in the demise of the
Western Banking Model known as ‘Globalization’. This is when you can
expect to see the $ come under intense pressure as the Chinese pull
their support, and interest rates rise. (More on this below.) This of
course will make above considerations very important because if the
monetary base is already shaky by then, a genuine system collapse is
possible at the extreme. Continue to buy gold and silver bullion. You
will not regret it in the end. The markets have now completed a close
resemblance of a 1987 signature in the trade as month end approaches.
That being said, based on the strength of the move in stocks into new
all time highs in many cases, this does suggest that despite what
authorities would have you believe, money supply growth rates are
accelerating. In this regard I will refer you to the attached resource
piece pointing out the fact one need be a scientist these days in
grappling with increasingly complex accountings and methodologies
employed by monetary authorities. Of course we have known this for some
time, along with the fact unaccounted for inflation is coming from so
many sources now that it’s not possible to add the total largesse
befalling the larger system today. Here, the only way one can be sure
you are on the right track interpretation wise is to watch prices, with
gold featuring prominently as a leading indicator. This may become more
apparent to Gary North in coming days. more...
Israel Minister: War is Inevitable
News Max (October 15,
2007) - An Israeli mission to destroy the terrorist
infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is inevitable, an Israeli official said
Monday. According to the Jerusalem Post, Strategic Affairs Minister
Avigdor Lieberman told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that Israel
should conduct a mission similar to the country's Operation Defensive
Shield in the West Bank, which occurred in the spring of 2002. Lieberman
also advised Rice not to pressure Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to take
steps that would cause the downfall of the Israeli government. "In the
current political conditions, the government cannot allow itself to make
controversial decisions on sensitive issues," Lieberman told Rice. "The
conference planned for Annapolis is a mistake. It will be just another
conference and just another document. Without a noticeable improvement
in Israeli security or Palestinian economic conditions, the conference
will not be different than any of the unsuccessful conferences of the
past."
More than half of Jews under 35 would not view the destruction of Israel
as a personal tragedy Jewish
World Review (September 12, 2007)
- Sociologists Stephen Cohen and Ari Kelman have now confirmed what
everyone already knew: Young American Jews do not care very much about
Israel. They are not just apathetic about Israel, that indifference is
"giving way to downright alienation," write Cohen and Kelman. More than
half of Jews under 35 said that they would not view the destruction of
Israel as a personal tragedy. The death and expulsion of millions is
something they could live with. By those standards, they probably would
not see the Holocaust as a "personal" tragedy either. "These results are
very upsetting," said Jewish Agency chairman Zev Bielski. He then
proceeded to give an inane explanation for those numbers: the
comfortable life of most American Jews. Cohen and Kelman know better.
And their answer is summed up in the demographic they did not interview
for their study: Orthodox Jews. A survey of young Orthodox Jews would
have yielded a diametrically opposed and highly embarrassing result.
Among younger Jews, those for whom their Judaism is important —
primarily the Orthodox — will remain connected to the fate of their
fellow Jews in Israel. Most Orthodox American youth will study in Israel
after high school, some for many years. And almost all will visit Israel
many times. Eretz Yisrael is not a mere abstraction for them, but the
center of the spiritual life of the Jewish people. Even an anti-Zionist
Satmar chassid living in the secluded village of Monroe will intensify
his prayers when Israel is at war and follow the action closely. Why?
Because for him the name Jew means something. The majority of young
American Jews and the majority of young Israelis share in common a lack
of interest in their Judaism. But that shared negativity provides little
basis for a relationship. Shared gene pools won't do it either — that
smacks of racism. And ethnic identity, it turns out, cannot be passed
down, or survive the breakup of ethnically homogeneous neighborhoods.
What young Jews under 35 feel towards Israel goes beyond apathy to
outright resentment. Israel complicates their social lives and muddies
their political identity. Only 54% profess to be comfortable with the
idea of a Jewish state at all. In Europe and on elite American campuses,
internationalism and a world-without-borders are the rage. The Jews of
Israel, with their stubborn insistence on protecting their nation-state,
are, as always, out-of-sync. more... This would explain why the dividing of Israel may work out at first. It also shows how quickly a generation forgets things like the holocaust and fail to recognize the spiritual hatred for their people as significant. I also think this attitude will change significantly once God destroys the attacking armies of Iran, Russia, Turkey and Libya. This could also represent many of those who could be blinded enough not to run at the abomination of desolation to be killed by the antichrist. Zechariah 13:8,9 e-mail:
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