Watchman Newsletter for November 20, 2007This newsletter is printer-friendly! It will change format automatically when you print it.
Earthquake felt across Israel YNet
News (November 20, 2007) - Two
earthquakes, measuring 3 and 4.2 on the Richter scale, were felt across
Israel on Tuesday morning. The
Geophysical Institute of Israel (GII) reported that the quakes shook the
entire country and originated in the northern Dead Sea. According to the
Magen David Adom rescue services, there were no reports of injuries or
damage. The first quake was felt at around 11:19 am and the second one
at 11:30 am. Ynet received reports from readers in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv,
Haifa and southern Israel, who said that they had felt their houses
shake for several seconds. Rami Hopshteter, manager of the GII,
explained that "this was a moderate earthquake, but was strong enough to
be felt in many areas across the country. We received reports that the
quake was felt in Haifa, Ashkelon, and of course Jerusalem, which is
close to the quake's origin. We are certain that our Jordanian neighbors
also felt it. "The quake is not surprising," he added, "As there is a
lot of activity in the Dead Sea area… However, it is impossible to draw
any clear conclusions about the future. The State of Israel has been
preparing for an earthquake since 1999, but more can be done to improve
out preparedness." Sidra Muoio from Ma'aleh Adumin, near Jerusalem,
reported that the quake "lasted for about 10 seconds and the whole house
shook". Dina Dagan, manager of the Bainkini beach in the northern Dead
Sea, also felt the quake. "It was really scary. Everything started
shaking and I suddenly saw a huge wave ascend from the Dead Sea and it
looked like it was headed toward me. "It only lasted several seconds,
but it was terrifying, like something you see in the movies. I
experienced a few minutes of real anxiety. The quake today was not as
strong as last time, but it was nonetheless scary." "Everyone felt it,
but we remained calm," said Eilon from his workplace in Herzliya. "It
lasted between five to 10 seconds." more...
Deepening China-Iran Ties Weaken Bid to Isolate Iran Washington
Post (November 19, 2007) - The
rapidly growing relationship between
Iran and
China has begun to undermine
international efforts to ensure that Iran cannot convert a peaceful
energy program to develop a nuclear arsenal, U.S. and European officials
say. The Bush administration and its allies said last week that they
plan to seek new
U.N. sanctions against Iran, after the
International Atomic Energy Agency said
Iranian officials had given inadequate answers to questions about the
country's past nuclear activities. But U.S. and European officials now
worry more about a Chinese veto than about opposition from
Russia, which has previously assisted
and defended the Iranian nuclear energy program. U.S. and European
officials charged Friday that
Beijing is deliberately stalling to protect its economic interests.
"China needs to play a more responsible role on Iran, needs to recognize
that China is going to be very dependent in the decades ahead on
Middle East oil, and, therefore, China, for its own development and
its own purposes, is going to need a stable Middle East, and that an
Iran armed with nuclear weapons is not a prescription for stability in
the Middle East," national security adviser
Stephen J. Hadley told reporters Friday. China now gets at least 14
percent of its imported oil from Iran, making it China's largest
supplier and the source of as much as $7 billion worth of oil this year,
according to David Kirsch, a manager at PFC Energy. Tehran in turn gets major arms systems from Beijing, including
ballistic and cruise missiles and technical assistance for Tehran's
indigenous missile program. Dozens of Chinese companies are also engaged
in several other industries. On the eve of Chinese Foreign Minister Yang
Jiechi's visit to Tehran last week for talks with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Beijing suggested that it could reject
U.S.-orchestrated efforts for a new resolution. "We believe that all
parties should show patience and sincerity over this issue, while any
sanctions, particularly unilateral sanctions, will do no good," said
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao. more...
Venezuela's Chavez comes to Tehran to further boost ties with Iran International
Herald Tribune (November 19, 2007) -
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made his
fourth trip to Iran in two years on Monday, state media reported, as the
two countries sought to strengthen ties while their leaders exhort the
international community to resist U.S. policies. Chavez, who
arrived in Tehran from Saudi Arabia where he attended the weekend's OPEC
summit, is expected to discuss various political and economic issues
with his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the official Islamic
Republic News Agency reported. Chavez was accompanied by a string of top
Venezuelan officials for the hours-long visit, including the foreign,
industry, oil and communication ministers, as well as the mayor of
Caracas, the country's capital. Ahmadinejad also attended the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries summit in Riyadh. During
the gathering, the two firebrand leaders echoed one another, blaming
U.S. President George W. Bush's policies for the decline of the dollar
and its negative effect on other countries, and challenging Saudi
Arabia's reluctance to mention weak dollar concerns in the summit's
final declaration. Ahmadinejad claimed OPEC's member countries want to
convert their cash reserves into a currency other than the depreciating
U.S. dollar, which he called a "worthless piece of paper." Chavez said
the dollar was in free-fall and that its "empire" must end, and proposed
trading oil in a basket of currencies excluding the dollar. But the two
were unable to generate support from enough in the 13-member cartel —
many of whom, including Saudi Arabia, are staunch U.S. allies. Tehran is
in a bitter standoff with Washington over its nuclear program, which the
U.S. fears is a cover for a weapons program but which Iran insists is
peaceful. more... This and the story above in connection with how the Bible describes Iran and friends attacking Israel in Ezekiel 38,39 are why I don't think any sanctions on Iran will do anything. I also don't believe they will use nuclear weapons against Israel since the antichrist will cause the abomination of desolation on the Temple Mount in the future. According to prophecy, Iran will attack with Russia and Turkey among others when Israel is dwelling in safety and will be destroyed in the mountains of Israel. This means the attack will be a ground-based attack to occupy land, not a nuclear attack to destroy Jerusalem. Since the same principalities and powers are controlling the Western New World Order and the Eastern terrorists to control the world through fear and bring about global domination by one man, I think what is going on now is a method to clamp down on freedom in the name of peace and safety. Time will tell so keep watching!
Police
with Dogs: Vaccinating Kids in Maryland
Vaccine Awakening
(October 19, 2007) -
"In Germany, they came first for the
Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then
they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I
wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't
speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that
time no one was left to speak up." - Martin Niemueller
Message from John L. Petersen on the Coming Crash Steve Quayle (October 19, 2007) - It appears that the world in general and the United States in particular are on the edge of a major disruption in the global financial system. Here’s the summary as we see it. At a recent Board meeting of The Arlington Institute, Dr. David Martin, CEO of M*CAM and one of the members of the Board was asked for his assessment of the global financial situation in the coming months. Here are my notes from his response: The next shoe to fall is consumer credit Currently as reports came in on the 3rd quarter,
foreclosures were up 470% this quarter alone. They will be up over 500%
this coming quarter (4th). A foreclosure in our terms is when the bank
has officially declared an account insolvent and tries to regain the
asset (if it exists). The person who is foreclosed upon can no longer
secure any traditional consumer credit. This in turn goes straight to
the banks as no one will be able to get the store issued charge cards. A
minority of people pay off their consumer debt every month. When one
considers the combination of consumer credit card debt and the
compounded debt of “home equity” financing, we estimate that less than
20% of people actually carry no consumer credit from one month to the
next. Many of the ones who don’t pay off their carried consumer debt
have at least one credit card at its limit and therefore lack credit
capacity. Most have their paycheck directly covering bills and servicing
the minimum balance due. Therefore people who are foreclosed upon will
not be able to obtain credit and since their paychecks will be maxed
out, there will not be extra cash left over from the paycheck to service
a new debt. Next, everybody buys things at Christmas. As much as 40% of
retail sales are done in the 4th quarter of the year – i.e. the retail
miracle. The purchase decline in retail goods this fourth quarter will
occur because many credit-only consumers will lack the credit capacity
mentioned above. Frequently, people overcharge their limit and the banks
(albeit a profit center for subprime credit users) levy a penalty by
increasing interest rates and charging additional fees. In the 4th
quarter of 2007, the amount of people overcharging their limits will be
too many for the banks to handle. We do not have a system in place to
deal with overcharge on that scale. A substantial number of this
December’s purchases will go into an overdraft on credit limits.
All of these grades are priced on historical default
rates. The credit insurance companies (AIG, MBIA, Ambac, Financial
Security Assurance, Channel Re, XL, Zurich Re and other reinsurers)
have, from time to time, issued credit guarantees to the securities.
Banks sell debt in the form of a Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO).
Minor shifts in default actuarial activity (+/- 25 basis points) from
normative behavior is absorbed within pricing of these financial
guaranty contracts. However fundamental shifts (hundreds or thousands of
basis points in one quarter) are not built into the model and result in
credit enhancement insolvency on a major scale. When the insurer cannot
pay based on its own liquidity impairment, the bank is left with
catastrophic (an insurance term for excessive loss outside of expected)
exposure. If in a single quarter we have an increased foreclosure rate
of 400% (or 4000 basis points) the insurance contracts simply cannot
handle that kind of drastic shift as evidenced by the write offs in the
third quarter. When we will follow the drastic third quarter with a loss
of 500% in the fourth quarter, the trajectory becomes clear. Neither the
banking nor the insurance industry has a historical experience in
dealing with this type of challenge and neither has the liquidity linked
to these contracts to support system wide collapse. Where was the
announcement of this? There was no announcement.
More quakes rock northern Chile Breitbart.com (November
18, 2007) - More heavy aftershocks
shook northern Chile Sunday following last week's deadly 7.7-magnitude
earthquake, as the government said it was working to restore water
supplies and to prevent disease outbreaks. Two moderate shocks
registering 5.5-5.6 on the moment magnitude scale hit early Sunday, one
east of Arica close to the border of
Peru, and a second offshore 60
kilometers (40 miles) north-northwest of the coastal city of
Antofagasta, the US Geological Survey, which monitors events worldwide,
reported. To the north in Peru, a temblor hit the southern province of
Pisco, near Ica, which was already hard hit by an August 15 quake, the
Geophysical Institute of Peru said. The temblor in Peru hit at 1234 GMT
and there were no immediate reports of injuries. The city of Tacna near
the Chilean border meanwhile was rocked by a 5.4 quake on the Richter
scale. Saturday, eight quakes were registered between 4.6 and 6.0
magnitude in the Antofagasta area, according to the USGS. Two people
were killed and some 15,000 injured and 4,000 structures damaged in
Wednesday's major quake. On Sunday Chile's National Emergencies Office
said it was restoring water services in the affected region, but that
supplies would be rationed to prevent heavily damaged pipes from
collapsing, especially in Tocopilla, a port town of 24,000 inhabitants,
one of the worst hit by the quake. Water was being trucked in and health
officials were arranging vaccinations for Hepatitis A for children in
the area. Meanwhile, up the Pacific coast in Ecuador, just the rumor
that an earthquake had hit there Sunday prompted locals in the town of
Esmeraldas to panic, many of them taking to the streets. Local media
reported that one person died of a heart attack there after someone
drove by on a motorbike inaccurately warning townspeople a tsunami was
coming. more...
This passage is referring to a time yet future when God's wrath begins just after the sixth seal. However, fear of death and the worry and stress of its imminence can cause death itself. When one has no understanding of the afterlife and the eternal place of their souls, whether they believe in that or not, there is fear. The Bible is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. When it shines the light in the darkness concerning our salvation in Christ, there is no longer a fear of death because mortal death is just a transition. The sting of death is gone. When my time comes, I'm sure my heart will be beating faster than normal until it stops, but I believe God's Word and my place in Christ is secure. I desire that peace that passes all understanding for all who would hear of it. The world is perplexed right now because they don't know even a portion of the Truth. Things are not as they seem and the next years are going to see a dramatic shift that will shake the foundations that people have built their lives upon. I pray you choose the rock upon which to build your foundation of understanding reality from the Word of God and belief in Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah. To better understand how our spiritual condition affects our bodily health, please read the book Deadly Emotions: Understanding the Mind-Body-Spirit Connection That Can Heal Or Destroy You by Don Colbert M.D.
Bangladeshi cyclone kills at least 1,723 Associated
Press (November 18, 2007) - The
death toll from Bangladesh's most devastating storm in a decade climbed
to at least 2,300 on Sunday and relief officials warned the figure could
jump sharply as rescuers reach more isolated areas. Teams from
international aid organizations worked with army troops in a massive
rescue effort that drew help from around the world. Rescue workers
cleared roads of fallen trees and twisted roofs to reach remote
villages, but tents, rice, water and other relief items were slow to
arrive. Hungry survivors, thousands of whom were left homeless,
scrambled for food. The death toll rose as officials made contact with
coastal regions cut off by the storm, said Selina Shahid of the Ministry
of Food and Disaster Management. District officials compile the figures,
which are far from precise, based on reports from police, public
hospitals, military officials, relief workers and aid agencies, said
Mohammad Golam Mostafa of the Disaster Management Ministry. The
Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, the Islamic equivalent of the Red
Cross, said that it believed the toll could hit 10,000 once rescuers
reach islands off the coast of the low-lying river delta nation.
Mohammad Abdur Rob, chairman of the society, said the estimate came from
the assessments of thousands of volunteers taking part in the rescue
operations across the battered region. "We have seen more bodies
floating in the sea," Zakir Hossain, a fisherman from the country's
southwest said, after reaching shore with two decomposing bodies he and
other fishermen had found. Squatting in a muddy field with his wife,
45-year-old farmer Asad Ali said their their 5-year-old daughter, the
couple's only child, had been fatally crushed beneath their toppled
thatched hut in Barguna, one of the hardest-hit districts. He said a
helicopter had dropped packages of food but he had received little
assistance. Mobs swarm below the helicopters every time one is spotted.
"I've been here waiting for hours for something to eat," he said. "What
I've got so far are a few cookies. Not enough." Government officials
defended the relief efforts and expressed confidence that authorities
are up to the task. "We have enough food and water," said Shahidul
Islam, the top official in Bagerhat, a battered district close to
Barguna. "We are going to overcome the problem." more...
Saudi minister warns of dollar collapse The
Business (November 17, 2007) - The
dollar could collapse if Opec officially admits considering changing the
pricing of oil into alternative currencies such as the euro, the Saudi
Arabian foreign minister has warned. Prince Saud Al-Faisal was overheard
ruling out a proposal from Iran and Venezuela to discuss pricing crude
in a private meeting at the oil cartel's conference. In an embarrassing
blunder at the meeting in Riyadh, ministers' microphones were not cut
off during a key closed meeting, and Prince Al-Faisal was heard saying:
"My feeling is that the mere mention that the Opec countries are
studying the issue of the dollar is itself going to have an impact that
endangers the interests of the countries. "There will be journalists who
will seize on this point and we don't want the dollar to collapse
instead of doing something good for Opec." After around 40 minutes press
officials cut off the feed, which had been accidentally broadcast to the
press room. Prince Al-Faisal added: "This is not new. We have done this
in the past: decide to study something without putting down on paper
that we are going to study it so that we avoid any implication that will
bring adverse effects on our countries' finances." Iran and Venezuela
have argued that the meeting's final communique should voice concern
about the level of the dollar, which has recently fallen to new record
lows against the euro. They are pushing for oil to be denominated
against a basket of currencies. more...
World on the verge of climate catastrophe: UN chief The Times
of India (November 17, 2007) - UN
Chief Ban Ki-moon called on Saturday for urgent action on global
warming, warning the world is on the verge of a catastrophe, as top
scientists were due to issue a new report on climate change for
policymakers. "We all agree. Climate change is real, and we humans are
its chief cause. Yet even now, few people fully understand the gravity
of the threat, or its immediacy," the UN chief wrote in a commentary in
the International Herald Tribune. "I have always considered global
warming to be a matter of utmost urgency. Now I believe we are on the
verge of a catastrophe if we do not act." Ban noted recent acceleration
in the melting of glaciers and polar ice, and pointed out that the
collapse of an at-risk Antarctic ice shelf could raise sea levels by up
to six metres (18 feet), inundating costal cities New York, Mumbai and
Shanghai. "I am not scare-mongering. But I believe we are nearing a
tipping point," wrote the UN chief. Ban will preside over the
presentation Saturday in Valencia, Spain of the UN Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) landmark report intended to help
policymakers facing tough decisions on cutting pollution from fossil
fuels, shifting to cleaner energy and bolstering defences against
drought, flood, storms and other problems set to intensify through
climate change. He characterised the report's conclusions as
"encouraging." "The over-arching message: we can beat this. There are
real and affordable ways to deal with climate change," wrote Ban.
'Vatican-Israeli ties worsening' The Jerusalem Post (November 17, 2007) - A senior Vatican diplomat who served as papal envoy to Israel has described Vatican-Israeli relations as worsening, blaming Israel for failing to keep promises related to church land, taxes and travel restrictions on Arab clergy. Archbishop Pietro Sambi lashed out at Israel in an interview posted Friday on Terrasanta.net, an online publication about the Holy Land. "If I must be frank, the relations between the Catholic Church and the state of Israel were better when there were no diplomatic ties," said Sambi, interviewed earlier in the week in Washington, where he now serves as Pope Benedict XVI's envoy to the United States. "The Holy See decided to establish diplomatic relations (in 1993) with Israel as an act of faith, leaving to latter the serious promises to regulate concrete aspects of the life of the Catholic community and the Church" in Israel, Sambi said. Among the issues hanging are the status of expropriated church property, services that Catholic groups perform for Israel's Jewish and Arab population, and tax exemptions for the Church. The Vatican diplomat also cited a current sore point - the granting of permits for Arab Christian clergy traveling to and around the West Bank. Israel has rescinded some travel privileges for those clergy because of security concerns. Israel and the Palestinian territories are home to a small Christian minority. Sambi complained that the Knesset has failed to give necessary approval to various accords that had been signed by both sides, and noted that an impasse over taxes has been discussed on and off for nearly 10 years without resolution. He blamed the situation on Israel's "absence of political will." "Everyone can see what kind of trust you can give to Israel's promises," Sambi said. Asked about Sambi's criticisms, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said: "Israel is interested in good relations with the Vatican and Israeli and Vatican officials are working to overcome gaps that exist." Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the interview with Sambi "reflects his thinking and his personal experience" during the diplomat's former posting in Israel. Lombardi said the Holy See reiterated the hope, expressed in September when Benedict met with Israeli President Shimon Peres, for a "rapid conclusion of the important negotiations" and a common solution to "existing problems." Earlier this year, tensions developed between the Vatican and Israel when the Holy See's ambassador to Israel initially decided to boycott a Holocaust memorial service because of allegations that during World War II Pope Pius XII was silent about the mass killings of Jews. Please learn a little of the history of the Vatican and their connection to and control of the plans for global governance through history. Much of my life I had a tendency to just accept without research and I'm discovering that things are not at all what they are made to appear to be. Keep watching.
Israeli TV Stations Showing 'Gog and Magog' Charts
Israel National News
(October 17, 2007) - Israeli evening newscasts prominently
featured George W. Bush's comments regarding a possible breakout of
World War Three Wednesday evening. Both Channel 2 and Channel 10 showed
the world map and sketched the basic alignment of the two opposing axes
in the possible world war, in a way that is bound to evoke associations
of the Gog and Magog prophecy for many viewers. On one side were Israel,
the United States, Britain, France and Germany. On the other were Iran,
Russia, China, Syria and North Korea. The prophecy of Gog and Magog
refers to a great world war centered on the Holy Land and Jerusalem and
first appears in the book of Yechezkel (Ezekiel).
Laid-Back Surfer Dude May Be Next Einstein
Fox News (November 16, 2007)
- A. Garrett Lisi, a physicist who divides his time between surfing in
Maui and teaching snowboarding in Lake Tahoe, has come up with what may
be the Grand Unified Theory. That's the "holy grail" of physics that
scientists have been searching for ever since Albert Einstein presented
his General Theory of Relativity nearly 100 years ago. Even more
remarkable is that Lisi, who has a Ph.D. but no permanent university
affiliation, solves the problem without resorting to exotic dimensions,
string theory or exceptionally complex mathematics. A successful Grand
Unified Theory would use a series of equations to show how the four
fundamental forces of nature — gravity, electromagnetism and the strong
and weak nuclear forces — relate to each other. Electromagnetism and the
weak nuclear force, which controls radioactivity, were linked more than
30 years ago, and some progress has been made with linking them to the
strong nuclear force, which binds protons together in the atomic
nucleus. But gravity has always been an outlier. Not only have all
attempts to link gravity to the other three forces failed, but
physicists still can't agree on what gravity actually is or how it
works. Lisi solves this by using the E8 lattice, an eight-dimensional
structure visualized earlier this year in a widely circulated paper. He
noticed that several of the equations used to describe the lattice
matched those he'd come up with trying to resolve the four fundamental
forces. "The moment this happened my brain exploded with the
implications and the beauty of the thing," Lisi tells New Scientist
magazine. "I thought: 'Holy crap, that's it!'" By mapping known
subatomic particles, plus 20 imaginary ones, onto the 248 points of the
E8 lattice, and then rotating the lattice in a computer model, Lisi
shows how the particles elegantly combine to form three of the four
forces. The imaginary ones combine to form gravity, for which subatomic
particles have only been theorized. "Some incredibly beautiful stuff
falls out of Lisi's theory," David Ritz Finkelstein of Georgia Tech
tells New Scientist. "I think that this must be more than coincidence
and he really is touching on something profound." But Professor Marcus
du Sautoy of Oxford tells Britain's Daily Telegraph that "there seem to
be a lot of things still to fill in." For his part, Lisi self-mockingly
calls his finding "An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything," and
downplays the suggestion that it may be the Grand Unified Theory. "The
theory is very young, and still in development," he tells the Daily
Telegraph. "Right now, I'd assign a low (but not tiny) likelihood to
this prediction." He hopes the Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, currently
being built on the Swiss-French border will find some of his 20
imaginary gravity-related particles. "This is an all-or-nothing kind of
theory — it's either going to be exactly right, or spectacularly wrong,"
Lisi tells New Scientist. "I'm the first to admit this is a long shot.
But it ain't over till the LHC sings." more... See video
here.
In event of emergency ... call out the military? WorldNet
Daily (November 16, 2007)
- New federal legislation shows the Bush administration has begun
systematically putting in place authorization for the president to
federalize the National Guard and use the U.S. military in domestic
emergency situations. A provision in the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (H.R. 1585)
requires the secretary of defense to prepare and submit to Congress by
March 1, 2008, and each subsequent March 1 a plan to coordinate the use
of the National Guard and members of the Armed Forces on active duty
when responding to natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other
man-made disasters. Section 1806 of H.R. 1585 requires the secretary of
defense to prepare two versions of the plan, one using only members of
the National Guard, and one using both members of the National Guard and
members of the regular components of the armed services. The section
also requires the secretary of defense's plan to specify "Protocols for
the Department of Defense, the National Guard Bureau, and the governors
of the several states to carry out operations in coordination with each
other and to ensure that governors and local communities are properly
informed and remain in control in their respective states and
communities." Critics are concerned that when legal infrastructure for
the president to involve the military in a domestic emergency situation,
or to federalize the National Guard, is in place, a president intent on
a power grab could declare a national emergency under NSPD-51 or
HSPD-20, and impose federal martial law, by-passing civilian control. In
an exclusive interview with NORAD-USNORTHCOM commander, Gen. Gene
Renuart, separately published in WND today, WND posed these questions.
Renuart responded by emphasizing the importance of respecting the U.S.
Constitution, including civilian control of the military. He expressed
caution that the military and USNORTHCOM in particular should be careful
not to engage in legal or political questions involving presidential
directives such as NSPD-51 and HSPD-20. Renuart was also clear to affirm
that, "Our involvement at USNORTHCOM would be at the specific direction
of the secretary of defense, on orders from the president." The answer
implied that USNORTHCOM would respond to a direct order from the
secretary of defense, on orders from the president, to become involved
in a domestic emergency situation, without attempting to resolve thorny
questions of civilian control that a president in a power grab might
attempt to obviate. WND observed nothing in the operation of
NORAD-USNORTHCOM in Vigilant Shield 08 which would substantiate a charge
that the Bush administration is preparing to utilize the military in
domestic situations to supersede civilian control in a domestic
emergency. more... My concern is for the future. Understanding Bible prophecy points to a war on those with faith in Christ and the desire of the New World Order to use fear to remove freedoms, who will be in the position of leadership when that time comes around? Or who will that power be ceded to? Time will tell.
Moscow Comes between Israel and Syria Kommersant (November
16, 2007)
- Russian Deputy Foreign Minister
Alexander Saltanov and special representative of the foreign minister
for the Middle East Sergey Yakovlev arrived in Israel yesterday. The
main topic of their talks there will be a Syrian-Israeli settlement.
Russia hopes that its influence on Syria will permit it to overtake the
United States as peacemaker in the Middle East. The Russians' visit is
being given low-key treatment. They met with Israeli Foreign Minister
Tzipi Livni yesterday. The Israeli Foreign Ministry declined to comment
on their talks. The Russians also met with head of the Israeli National
Security Council Ilan Mizrahi. Officially, the topic of their talks was
the upcoming Israeli-Palestinian meetings in Annapolis, Maryland. Other
sources say they talked about a conference in Moscow, which the
Kremlin has been hoping for
since 2005. Since Israel prefers to deal with the Palestinians directly
and recognizes only the U.S. as an intermediary, Moscow has revamped its
proposal as a conference on Israeli-Syrian settlement. The possibility
of returning the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in 1967, in return
for a peace settlement, is more and more frequently mentioned in Israel
now. The U.S., although jealous of its role as peacemaker in the Middle
East, has indicated that it would agree to such a conference in Moscow.
Damascus had made it know that, during the summit in Annapolis, it would
host a summit of anti-Israeli forces. Former Russian prime minister and
head of the Russian
Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Evgeny Primakov was able to dissuade Syria from that plan during a visit
there at the beginning of the month. Instead, Syrian President Bashar
Asad will send his own envoy to Annapolis. In return, Syria is demanding
that the conference in Moscow take place, as the first step in its
recovery of the Golan Heights. Any apparent desire of Russia to bring peace to the Middle East is overshadowed by what the Bible says about those allied with Iran currently and a future attack on Israel. In this light, it is clear that Russia is on the side of Iran who has stated in no uncertain terms that the current administration desires the State of Israel to cease to exist. The m/o of the enemy is to come in with flattery and deceive, pretending to work for a common goal in order to get close enough to their enemy to undermine them and have an advantage. Russia's government has made itself an ally with all those who vehemently oppose Israel and given the Bible's description of what is to come, peace is not their ultimate goal. Hillary Clinton to Attend Saddleback Church AIDS Event Lighthouse Trails (November 15, 2007) - According to a CBS report Hillary Clinton will be attending the Global Summit on AIDS and the Church, to be held at Saddleback Church in California from November 28th to December 1st. The CBS news story states: "Presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., will attend a meeting on AIDS at the Saddleback Church hosted by pastor and "The Purpose Driven Life" author Rick Warren and his wife Kay, church officials announced Thursday." The article quotes Clinton as saying: "I commend Rick and Kay Warren for their work to fight HIV/AIDS ... Our churches have a powerful role to play in raising the consciousness of the nation and the world to this pandemic and urge compassion for the sick and the suffering." A PR News Wire press release issued on 11/15 from the Global Summit on AIDS and the Church office in Lake Forest, California states: The Warrens have extended invitations to leading presidential candidates. Five invitees, including former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, have expressed a desire to participate and are currently working on scheduling issues.... Who's the man of peace in any village - or it might be a woman of peace - who has the most respect, they're open and they're influential? They don't have to be a Christian. In fact, they could be a Muslim, but they're open and they're influential and you work with them to attack the five giants [of the P.E.A.C.E. Plan] And that's going to bring the second Reformation."-Rick Warren, May 2005,Pew Forum on Religion Under the recommended reading list for Saddleback's HIVAIDS Community are two books by mystic Henri Nouwen. 1 One of the books, In the Name of Jesus, is also recommended by Kay Warren on www.pastors.com. This is the book where Nouwen says Christian leaders must move from the moral to the mystical: Through the discipline of contemplative prayer, Christian leaders have to learn to listen to the voice of love ... For Christian leadership to be truly fruitful in the future, a movement from the moral to the mystical is required" (pp. 6, 31,32).After years of following the mystical way, this same Henri Nouwen, near the end of his life, stated: Today I personally believe that while Jesus came to open the door to God's house, all human beings can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not. Today I see it as my call to help every person claim his or her own way to God.-From Sabbatical Journey, Henri Nouwen's last book, page 51, 1998 Hardcover Edition
For more information on Warren's global peace plan and other related
topics, see
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com.
Speakers at this year's AIDS event at Saddleback.
Also related: A New Vision for God's Kingdom on Earth | America | Apostasy |
Saudi gang-rape victim is jailed BBC
(November 15, 2007)
- An appeal court in Saudi Arabia has doubled the number of lashes and
added a jail sentence as punishment for a woman who was gang-raped. The
victim was initially punished for violating laws on segregation of the
sexes - she was in an unrelated man's car at the time of the attack.
When she appealed, the judges said she had been attempting to use the
media to influence them. The attackers' sentences - originally of up to
five years - were doubled. According to the Arab News newspaper, the
19-year-old woman, who is from Saudi Arabia's Shia minority, was
gang-raped 14 times in an attack in the eastern province a
year-and-a-half ago. Seven men from the majority Sunni community were
found guilty of the rape and sentenced to prison terms ranging from just
under a year to five years. But the victim was also punished for
violating Saudi Arabia's laws on segregation that forbid unrelated men
and women from associating with each other. She was initially sentenced
to 90 lashes for being in the car of a strange man. On appeal, the Arab
News reported that the punishment was not reduced but increased to 200
lashes and a six-month prison sentence. The rapists also had their
prison terms doubled. But the sentences are still low considering they
could have faced the death penalty. The Arab News quoted an official as
saying the judges had decided to punish the girl for trying to aggravate
and influence the judiciary through the media. The victim's lawyer was
suspended from the case, has had his licence to work confiscated, and
faces a disciplinary session.
Don't answer Census, don't face going to jail WorldNet Daily (November 14, 2007) - Another month is coming, and another 250,000 forms are being mailed out in the U.S. Census Bureau's perpetual American Community Survey, which demands responses to personal questions about a family's lifestyle, housing accommodations, work schedules, physical and mental disabilities, income and the like. That means roughly 250,000 times recipients will see the warning that participation is required by law, and there are penalties including fines for not answering each question. But, in fact, U.S. Census Bureau officials say they've never had anyone prosecuted for refusing to provide those intimate details to the government. "The Census Bureau has never prosecuted anybody," spokesman Clyve Richmond told WND. "We try to work with people and explain how useful the information is." As WND has reported, the U.S. Census Bureau switched from the surveys once every 10 years, called for in the U.S. Constitution, to annual surveys sent to three million households, to keep the government's data more up-to-date. The issue arises periodically about the invasion into a family's privacy by the questions, including:
There are several Internet blogs where consumers sound off, including
Survivalerts, where "Mark" submitted a copy of a letter to his state
senator asking if he supported the survey, and "under what authority I
am being required – under the penalty of fines – to give up my privacy
under the Bill of Rights and be forced to give the Census Bureau
information on my private life." more...
American Gangster's Wad of Euros Signals U.S. Decline Bloomberg
(November 14, 2007)
- "It may be our currency, but it's your problem'' was Treasury
Secretary John Connally's taunt when the U.S. unhooked the dollar from
the gold standard in 1971, unilaterally rewriting the rules of world
business in America's favor. Now the world is taunting back. Almost four
decades after the U.S. tore up the monetary arrangements that governed
the post-World War II international economy, the dollar's fall from
grace amounts to a tectonic shift in the global hierarchy. This time,
the U.S. currency is on the losing side. After declining in five of the
last six years, the weakest dollar in the era of floating currencies
reflects a period of diminished U.S. political and economic hegemony.
Whoever wins the White House next year will confront two unpopular
choices: Accept the fall in U.S. clout and the rise of new rivals, or
rein in record public and consumer debt that the rest of the world no
longer wants to bankroll. "What we're seeing is a very broad rebalancing
of economic and political power in the world,'' says Jeffrey Garten, a
Yale School of Business professor who was the Commerce Department's
undersecretary for international trade in the Clinton administration.
``The scales are moving, and they're moving quite fast.'' The dollar
blues have migrated from the halls of central banks to images of rap
musicians. In a video for the movie "American Gangster,'' hip-hop
maestro Jay-Z thumbs through a wad of 500-euro notes on a night of
cruising through the concrete canyons of New York, a city where the euro
isn't legal tender. The euro gained against the dollar today as European
economic growth in the third quarter accelerated more than forecast.
more...
Israeli relations with the European Union to be enhanced Reuters
(November 14, 2007)
- Israel and the European Union have established a "reflection group" to
find ways to enhance Israeli relations with the EU beyond the existing
and developed relations, with the purpose of expanding pre-existing
Israeli cooperation in European programs. In March 2007, the
Israel-European Union Association Council, headed by Vice Prime Minister
and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni and her German counterpart,
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, established a "reflection
group" to find ways to enhance Israeli relations with the EU beyond the
existing and developed relations within the framework of the Israel-EU
Association Agreement and within the framework of the European
Neighborhood Policy. A key part of the enhancement is based on Israel's
incorporation in European agencies and programs in matters of mutual
interest, including: financial issues, research and development, trade,
energy, environmental protection, culture, the media, youth issues, etc.
The purpose is to expand the already existing cooperation in European
programs such as the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for
Research and Development, the framework of the GALILEO European
Satellite Navigation System project and the framework of the
Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP), which Israel
recently joined. To promote Israel's incorporation into European
agencies and programs, the MFA held an interministerial meeting on
Tuesday 13 November with Dr. Andreas Herdina, head of the Sector
Coordination Unit for European Neighbourhood Policy in the European
Commission in Brussels and representatives of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and
Labor, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Environmental
Protection, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Tourism and also the
Bank of Israel, the Council for Higher Education, the Central Bureau of
Statistics, the Manufacturer's Association of Israel, the Standards
Institution of Israel, and the Economic-Social Council. In his opening
remarks, MFA Deputy Director General Rafael Barak emphasized that Israel
has significantly advanced it relations with the European Union within
the framework of the European Neighborhood Policy, and stressed Israel's
ambition to further enhance the relationship. Dr. Herdina stated that
the EU is willing to open additional agencies and programs to Israeli
participation and described the practical means to do so. The EU has
budgeted Euro 8 million to support the operative program with Israeli
ministries for the period 2007-2010. Magnitude 7.7 quake hits northern Chile Reuters (November 14, 2007) - A powerful magnitude 7.7 quake hit mineral-rich northern Chile on Wednesday, injuring at least 20 people, damaging buildings and halting operations at some of the world's biggest copper mines. Copper prices jumped by as much as 6.29 percent to $3.3040 a pound on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division as huge copper mines reported they were without power. The quake made buildings sway hundreds of miles away in neighboring countries and the Chilean capital Santiago. Officials said there were no reports of deaths, but at least 20 people were injured when roofs caved in and balconies crumbled on weaker, older buildings, mostly in Tocopilla, 75 miles north of coastal mining city Antofagasta. "One of the most affected zones could be Tocopilla where some houses in the western part of town, which are made of lighter materials, have been affected and we have some injured people," Deputy Interior Minister Felipe Harboe said on television. Television images showed cars crushed under the concrete awning of a hotel in Antofagasta, where power and phone services were knocked out by the quake. Frightened residents stood in the streets. "People ran out into the streets because of how prolonged the quake was. There was a lot of alarm but no material or human damage," said Police Chief Hernan Tamayo in Arequipa, a town farther north near the Peruvian border. The United States Geological Service, or USGS, said the quake, 36.7 miles deep, was centered 66 miles west of the town of Calama and struck at 12:40 p.m. local time. The quake was initially reported at 7.8 magnitude by the U.S. agency and later verified at 7.7. Just two hours later, a second quake of 5.7 magnitude struck. The USGS said this quake, 25.5 miles deep, was centered 36 miles northwest of Antofagasta and struck at 1744 GMT. The second quake was initially reported at 6.0 magnitude by the agency and later verified at 5.7. more...| Earth Changes |
Say Goodbye To Privacy
Haaretz
(November 13, 2007) - Privacy doesn't mean
anonymity. Think about that for a bit - and get used to it. Or if you
don't like it, get a plan. But it had better be a good one. On Oct. 23,
Donald Kerr, deputy director of the Office of National Intelligence,
outlined the new order of things: "Too often, privacy has been equated
with anonymity; and it's an idea that is deeply rooted in American
culture." Well, yes, the Bill of Rights, for instance, includes
protections against "search," as well as "seizure." But that was then.
As Kerr put it, "In our interconnected and wireless world, anonymity -
or the appearance of anonymity - is quickly becoming a thing of the
past." Kerr's speech got little notice until The Drudge Report
highlighted an Associated Press write-up. No doubt, of course, the
Office of National Intelligence will soon issue a soothing statement
assuring us that the government indeed respects your privacy and your
anonymity. And we've all heard that line before: "Nothing to see here
folks, just move along." Then Uncle Sam will resume perfecting his
warrantless surveillance. In fact, the old equation - privacy equals
anonymity - is being buzz-sawed six ways. First and most obviously,
terrorism concerns. If you're walking through Times Square carrying a
backpack and acting strangely, inquiring minds will want to know why.
And Godspeed to cops brave enough to tap that shoulder. Second, and
closely related, the proliferation of cameras and Webcams. Nobody likes
to be spied on, but many people - including parents keeping tabs on
baby-sitters - like to spy. In the coming face-off, the spies have it.
Third, health insurance. We have decided, collectively, to be generous
with each other in terms of "human services." But though most Americans
are happy to operate a welfare state for Americans, they draw the line
at subsidizing the world. So as a matter of administrative necessity,
the Nurse State will have to know exactly who you are - and your legal
status. Fourth, the reality that medical treatment now depends on
medical information. If doctors are to help you, they need to know your
medical history - not just blood type and allergies, but everything
about you, including your genetic background. Such monitoring is fraught
with controversy - recent headline in The New York Times: "In DNA Era,
New Worries About Prejudice" - but this is the era of the instant Q-Tip
identity test. more...
Rice:
Israelis are prepared to give up West Bank for peace Haaretz
(November 13, 2007) - U.S. Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday she believes that the majority of
Israelis are prepared to give up the West Bank in exchange for peace.
Rice made the comments at the final panel of the yearly General Assembly
of the United Jewish Communities (GA), in Nashville Tennessee, which
ended Tuesday. Rice added that Israelis must be prepared for difficult
and painful sacrifices to some of their longest-held aspirations during
upcoming talks with Palestinian leaders. Rice did not specify what
sacrifices might be needed but added that the Palestinians must also be
prepared for sacrifices. "The threat from violent extremists means that
failure of the talks is not an option," she said. "What is at stake is
nothing less than the future of the Middle East," she added. Rice
expressed optimism ahead of the upcoming U.S.-hosted Annapolis summit
planned for the end of November, and said that the situation in the past
years had improved greatly. She maintained that Israelis believe today
that the establishment of a Palestinian state could benefit Israel, and
that most Arab states are not questioning whether Israel will exist, but
rather what the conditions for peace are. "In our view, the security of
the democratic Jewish state required the creation of a responsible
Palestinian state," she said. She suggested that the Palestinian state
also could serve as a bulwark against the threat from violent
extremists. She praised President George W. Bush for realizing a
Palestinian democracy was a necessary precondition for meaningful
negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis. "Some think that
this focus on democracy backfired with the election of Hamas," she said.
"I disagree with that conclusion. Hamas always had power. What it never
had was responsibility for power." "Hamas has chosen violence rather
than responsible government," she said, "and for that reason it is
isolated by the international community." Rice said a two-state solution
for the Israelis and Palestinians was more urgent than ever because of
the threat from violent extremists in the Middle East, referring
specifically to Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas and Iran. "Iran is
choosing to destabilize the Middle East, pursue nuclear capabilities and
threaten our allies, especially Israel," she said. She also warned that
the mere thought of a nuclear Iran is unacceptable for the U.S., and
should be unacceptable for the international community as well. She
praised the Iranian people, maintaining that their leadership does not
properly represent them - investing million in financing terror and
developing nuclear weapons while the citizens of Iran are struggling to
find jobs.
Israel determined not to let peace meet fail: Peres AFP
(November 12, 2007) - Israeli President
Shimon Peres pledged Monday that his country would work for a tangible
result at an upcoming US-sponsored Middle East peace conference, saying
that the Jewish state is ready to make peace with the Palestinians.
"Israel has decided to make Annapolis a success, to bring an end to the
conflict, to finally make peace between the Palestinians and ourselves,"
Peres told a news conference here after talks with his Turkish
counterpart Abdullah Gul. "It takes time to make peace... but I believe
we can make peace now with the Palestinians," he said. The United States
is expected to host an international conference in Annapolis, Maryland,
later this year aimed at reviving the Middle East peace process that
broke down seven years ago. "All parties concerned are decided... not to
let this chance pass away," Peres said, but warned against expecting a
quick result from the meeting he described as a "station on the road to
peace". Gul said Turkey expects the Annapolis meeting to yield
"concrete" results to pave the way for comprehensive peace talks, but
stressed that all parties to the Middle East conflict, including Syria,
should attend the talks. Peres said those attending the talks should be
"all moderate countries which are for peace." "The more countries
participate, the stronger the voice of peace becomes," he said. No
invitations have yet been issued for the Annapolis conference, but US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday it was likely Syria
would be invited. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said that
Damascus will stay away from Annapolis unless the Israeli-Arab conflict
at large is discussed, including the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Peres said Ankara would participate in the conference and described it
as a move that will bring "spirit, example and contribution to make
peace". Muslim-majority, secular Turkey believes it is in a position to
facilitate peace efforts in the Middle East, counting on its close ties
with Israel and the Palestinians both, as well as a recent rapprochement
with former foe Syria. Gul said Turkey was also ready to launch
negotiations for the release of two Israeli soldiers captured last year
by the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah. Peres is scheduled to meet Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan later
Monday. The highlight of his trip will be on Tuesday when he addresses
the Turkish parliament in Hebrew, becoming the first Israeli head of
state to speak before the legislature of a Muslim-populated country.
more...
Israel on alert for Syria air strike
Times Online
(November 11, 2007) - THE defensive missile
shield around Israel’s Dimona nuclear reactor was placed on red alert 30
times last week amid fears of an air strike by Syria. A battery of
American-made Patriot antiaircraft missiles has been moved to Dimona in
the Negev desert following intelligence that a strike may be launched in
retaliation for Israel’s bombing of a suspected nuclear site in Syria
two months ago. In a highly unusual move, the officers in charge of the
missiles were permitted to talk to Israeli state television about their
preparations. “We’re ready to launch the missiles in seconds, once we’re
on full alert,” said First Lieutenant Adi, a young female officer who is
the deputy commander of the battery. Tension with Damascus has
heightened since September 6 when Israeli fighters destroyed the
suspected nuclear installation in northern Syria. “The fact that the
Syrians didn’t launch an immediate strike against Israel doesn’t mean
that they won’t retaliate in due course,” said an Israeli defense
source. “Dimona is on the top of their list.” Tension is mounting in
Israel. “Every civilian aircraft en route from Cairo to Amman, or from
Jeddah to Cairo and vice versa, which deviates even slightly from its
route, sets off an alarm and risks a missile being fired,” said the
female commander of the Patriot battery. The unit is authorized to shoot
down any aircraft which approaches, civilian or combat. An Israeli
Mirage jet that approached Dimona by mistake was shot down during the
Six-Day War in 1967, while a Libyan Boeing 727 which lost its way in a
storm in 1973 and approached Dimona was also downed. All 113 on board
were killed.
Remnant of Yellowstone volcano rising: study Reuters
(November 9, 2007) - A big blob of molten
rock appears to be pushing up remnants of an ancient volcano in
Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, scientists reported on Friday.
They say no volcanic explosion is imminent -- that already happened
642,000 years ago, creating the volcanic crater known as a caldera where
part of Yellowstone Lake sits. But satellite readings show just how
volcanically active the area remains, the researchers reported in the
journal Science. From the middle of 2004 through 2006, the floor of the
caldera rose 7 inches at a rate of 2.8 inches a year -- the biggest rise
ever measured, they reported. "There is no evidence of an imminent
volcanic eruption or hydrothermal explosion. That's the bottom line,"
University of Utah seismologist Robert Smith said in a statement. "A lot
of calderas worldwide go up and down over decades without erupting."
Yellowstone is North America's largest volcanic field, produced by what
is known as a hotspot, a plume of hot and molten rock squirting up from
400 miles beneath the planet's surface. Monstrous eruptions took place
there starting 2 million years ago but activity bubbles along much more
calmly now -- akin to similar volcanic fields such as the Campi Flegrei
just outside Naples in Italy. Beneath the field lies what is known as a
magma chamber, which is actually similar to a wet sponge in structure.
"Our best evidence is that the crustal magma chamber is filling with
molten rock," Smith said. "But we have no idea how long this process
goes on before there either is an eruption or the inflow of molten rock
stops and the caldera deflates again." Heat from the chamber warms the
park's hundreds of hot springs and geysers, including "Old Faithful,"
perhaps the world's best-known geyser. Established in 1872 as the first
U.S. national park, Yellowstone also stretches to parts of Montana and
Idaho. Pat Robertson Backs Giuliani Breitbart.com (November 7, 2007) - Televangelist Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition, endorsed Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday. "It is my pleasure to announce my support for America's Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, a proven leader who is not afraid of what lies ahead and who will cast a hopeful vision for all Americans," Robertson said during a news conference with Giuliani in Washington. The former New York mayor backs abortion rights and gay rights, positions that put him in conflict with conservative GOP orthodoxy, and has been trying to persuade evangelical conservatives like Robertson to overlook their differences on those issues. Evangelicals have split in their support for the leading Republican candidates. Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, a favorite of Christian conservatives who dropped out of the race last month, endorsed fellow Sen. John McCain of Arizona on Wednesday. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney recently announced that Paul Weyrich and Bob Jones III were on board with his candidacy. Asked about the Robertson endorsement, McCain, at a news conference with Brownback in Dubuque, Iowa, said: "Every once in a while, I'm left speechless. This is one of those times." Giuliani is best known to voters for leading New York in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Shortly after 9/11, Robertson released a statement in which he said the attacks occurred because Americans had insulted God and lost the protection of heaven by allowing abortion and "rampant Internet pornography." Robertson made no mention of his differences with Giuliani on social issues in Wednesday's statement. "Rudy Giuliani took a city that was in decline and considered ungovernable and reduced its violent crime, revitalized its core, dramatically lowered its taxes, cut through a welter of bureaucratic regulations, and did so in the spirit of bipartisanship which is so urgently needed in Washington today," Rob |
