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This page is to track news related to America. I have begun to use a different site to share the Watchman Newsletter from December 2008 and on. Some stories will be archived there, but for the most part anything from November 2008 and before will remain here.

While Bible prophecy doesn't clearly speak of America, the fact that the entire world will be under the ruler-ship of the antichrist tells us that either America will no longer be a superpower or she will merge with the rest of the world and join with the beast. Either way, our lifestyles might change dramatically soon. Learn more information about America's relation to Bible prophecy here.

See also: related audio clips

This page may take some time to load. For size reasons I have archived topics by year: |2007|2008|

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Worker dies at Long Island Wal-Mart after being trampled in Black Friday stampede New York Daily News (November 28, 2008) - A Wal-Mart worker died early Friday after an "out-of-control" mob of frenzied shoppers smashed through the Long Island store's front doors and trampled him, police said. The Black Friday stampede plunged the Valley Stream outlet into chaos, knocking several employees to the ground and sending others scurrying atop vending machines to avoid the horde. When the madness ended, 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour was dead and four shoppers, including a woman eight months pregnant, were injured.

"He was bum-rushed by 200 people," said Wal-Mart worker Jimmy Overby, 43. "They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. "They took me down, too ... I didn't know if I was going to live through it. I literally had to fight people off my back," Overby said.

Damour, a temporary maintenance worker from Jamaica, Queens, was gasping for air as shoppers continued to surge into the store after its 5 a.m. opening, witnesses said. Even officers who arrived to perform CPR on the trampled worker were stepped on by wild-eyed shoppers streaming inside, a cop at the scene said. "They pushed him down and walked all over him," Damour's sobbing sister, Danielle, 41, said. "How could these people do that? "He was such a young man with a good heart, full of life. He didn't deserve that."

Damour's sister said doctors told the family he died of a heart attack. His cousin, Ernst Damour, called the circumstances "completely unacceptable." "His body was a stepping bag with so much disregard for human life," Ernst Damour, 37, said. "There has to be some accountability."

Roughly 2,000 people gathered outside the Wal-Mart's doors in the predawn darkness. Chanting "push the doors in," the crowd pressed against the glass as the clock ticked down to the 5 a.m. opening. Sensing catastrophe, nervous employees formed a human chain inside the entrance to slow down the mass of shoppers. It didn't work. The mob barreled in and overwhelmed workers.

"They were jumping over the barricades and breaking down the door," said Pat Alexander, 53, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. "Everyone was screaming. You just had to keep walking on your toes to keep from falling over." After the throng toppled Damour, his fellow employees had to fight through the crowd to help him, police said.

Witness Kimberly Cribbs said shoppers acted like "savages." "When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling, 'I've been on line since Friday morning!'" Cribbs said. "They kept shopping."

When paramedics arrived, Damour's condition was grave. "They were pumping his chest, trying to bring him back, and there was nothing," said Dennis Smokes, 36, a Wal-Mart worker. Damour was taken to Franklin Hospital and pronounced dead at 6:03 a.m.

Hank Mullany, president of Wal-Mart's northeast division, said the company took extraordinary safety precautions. "We expected a large crowd this morning and added additional internal security, additional third-party security, additional store associates and we worked closely with the Nassau County police," he said in a statement. "We also erected barricades. Despite all of our precautions, this unfortunate event occurred." The 28-year-old pregnant woman and three other shoppers were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries, police said.

In a news conference after the incident, Nassau County police spokesman Lt. Michael Fleming described the crowd as "out of control" and the scene as "utter chaos." He said Wal-Mart did not have enough security onhand. Fleming said criminal charges were possible but that it would be difficult to identify individual shoppers in surveillance videos. Items on sale at the Wal-Mart store included a $798 Samsung 50-inch Plasma HDTV, a Bissel Compact Upright Vacuum for $28 and Men's Wrangler Tough Jeans for $8.

The Long Island store reopened at 1 p.m. and was packed within minutes. "I look at these people's faces and I keep thinking one of them could have stepped on him," said one employee. "How could you take a man's life to save $20 on a TV?"
| Signs of the Times | America | Economic Crisis |

The Bible said in the end times the love of many would grow cold and this along with other stories are prime examples of this. Now imagine if the financial situation gets worse and it isn't just good deals for Christmas, but survival with food and water? What about the mark of the beast? How many will gladly accept the new system if not doing so means not being able to buy or sell? True this is only one place and time, but there are much harder times coming according to scripture and the attitudes expressed above are even more frightening in these conditions. With a "look out for number one culture," how quickly will many turn? The attitude behind this and other less deadly stampedes is, "I want to get that great deal before it's taken by everyone else." At what cost?

Many care more about themselves than others. In contrast, Yeshua came to give His life for the whole world, John 15:9-21, and this self-centeredness shows a spirit of antichrist - or opposition to the spirit of Christ. We all battle against our human nature, let us continue to look more at the life of Christ and model ourselves after His example of selfless love for others. This is part of our testimony in a selfish world. It is how we are a light in a dark world and how we are set apart from the surroundings because much of the world is not about acting selflessly for others. Let us be a reflection of God's love for His glory.


Hurricane Season Blows Away Records Associated Press (November 27, 2008) - The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, which ends Sunday, seemed to strike the United States and Cuba as if on redial, setting at least five weather records for persistence and repeatedly striking the same areas. "It was pretty relentless in a large number of big strikes," said Georgia Tech atmospheric sciences professor Judith Curry. "We just didn't have the huge monster where a lot of people lost their lives, but we had a lot of damage, a lot of damage."

Data on death and damage are still being calculated, but the insurance industry recorded at least $10.6 billion in losses this hurricane season. That includes $8.1 billion in insured damage from Hurricane Ike, which ranked as the seventh most expensive catastrophe in the United States history, according to Mike Barry of the Insurance Information Institute in New York.

Three records showed the hurricane season's relentlessness. Six consecutive named storms — Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike — struck the U.S. mainland, something that had not been seen in recorded history. It's also the first time a major hurricane, those with winds of at least 111 mph, formed in five consecutive months, July through November. And Bertha spun about for 17 days, making it the longest lived storm in July.

Two records involve storms hitting the same places repeatedly. Rain-heavy Fay was the only storm to hit the same state — Florida — four times, leaving heavy flood damage in its wake. A record three major hurricanes smacked Cuba: Gustav, Ike and Paloma.

Upper air currents helped storms get bigger and focused them into a few places — Cuba and the U.S. Gulf Coast — said Gerry Bell, the top hurricane forecaster at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center. Five of the six storms that hit the United States this season struck the Gulf Coast. And that repeat-tracking of storms to the same place — and with it increased likelihood of landfall — is typical of years when the hurricane season is on overdrive, like this year, Bell said.

This year wasn't the busiest ever. It merely tied for the fourth most named storms in history with 16. The 2005 season shattered all records with 28 tropical storms and hurricanes. The 2008 season was busy largely because of the natural cycles of high and low storm activity that last anywhere from 25 to 40 years. "This one started in 1995. Based on the historical record, we're right in the middle of an active era," Bell said. An average season has 11 named storms, six of which become hurricanes. This year there were eight hurricanes, of which five - Bertha, Gustav, Ike, Omar and Paloma — became major hurricanes. Three of those — Gustav, Ike and Paloma — made "extreme" Category 4, where winds have to be at least 131 mph. "That's a lot," Bell said. "But it's typical of a very active season such as what we saw."

Curry said this year's large number of Category 4 storms indicates a "signal" of global warming. But Bell said the science is not quite clear on that. At the National Hurricane Center one thing is clear. Meteorologist and spokesman Dennis Feltgen said: "We're glad it's over."
| America | Earth Changes |


The Famine of 2009 Daily Kos (November 27, 2008) - Last week I received a very concerned call from South Dakota farmer and agronomist Bryan Lutter. "Neal, we're out of propane!" I figured this was personal distress – he and his family farm over three square miles of land and I know this has been a tough year for many people. He promptly corrected my misconception when I tried to console him. "No, everybody is out, all three grain elevators, we can't get fuel for the bins, and we're coming in real wet this year."

There are equally dramatic issues due to the bankruptcy of Verasun and the apparent insolvency of the nation's largest private crop insurance program. Payments that would have come in June or July of a normal year are still not dispersed at the end of November and this has grim implications for next year's crop.

I started digging into the details and unless I'm badly mistaken people are going to be starving in 2009 over causes and conditions being set down right now. It's a complex, interlocking issue, and I hope I've done a good job explaining it below the fold ...

(I just submitted my personal story and a vision for the nation at change.gov - I sure hope someone is listening over there.)

The Dakotas have faced fuel restrictions for at least the last two years. They're at the far end of the pipeline network and after complete outages in 2007 everyone orders their diesel well in advance. Vehicle tanks are kept fuller and the on farm tanks are not allowed to run low. Gasoline supply dynamics have changed as well; British Petroleum shuttered three hundred stations in the area, citing the high cost of trucking fuel to the locations from the pipeline terminals.

This year propane is in short supply. Rural homes in that part of the world are heated with propane and the grain elevator and on farm drying require it to bring corn moisture down for storage. There is no sense that homes will go cold this year, at least not due to supply issues; the grain drying season is a short period of intense usage that will draw to an end within the next week. Pray to whatever higher power you recognize that the unheard of figure of 18% of the crop still in the field is brought in before the snow flies.

The Dakotas were very wet this year and the corn is coming in at 22% moisture. A more usual number would be 18% and for long term storage it must be dried to 14% to avoid spoilage. That doubling in the moisture reduction needed, an 8% drop instead of 4%, pretty much doubles the amount of propane used. Right now the harvest is at a dead stop. What can be dried has been and what is left can't even be combined without the fuel to make it ready for storage; it would all just spoil in the bin if put up wet.

I wondered if this was a spot problem in that particular part of South Dakota, but Bryan said it was widespread – he'd talked to farmers as far away as St. Louis and they were reporting similar issues.I made a few calls to try to figure out how broad the problem was. I ended up talking to Rollin Tiefenthaler at fuel dealer Al's Corner in Carroll, Iowa about the issue.

The Iowa crop comes matures earlier and is brought in earlier, so that is done, but he confirms that propane is being trucked long distances because local terminals have outages. They did have one farmer's cooperative run out of propane and they scrambled to get them enough, but in general it wasn't a problem. These are plains cooperatives, operations with thirty employees, dozens of vehicles, and tens of millions of dollars in inventory and commodities under management, so one running out of fuel is a problem that would affect a whole county.

Diesel has been a bigger concern for them – instead of the thirty mile drive to the Magellan pipeline terminal in Milford they're running as far as Des Moines or Omaha, each about two hours away, and the added time and cost for running more trucks is eating them alive.

The die has already been cast in the Dakotas, they'll either get the crop in or they won't. If they don't and it winters in the field they not only lose 40% of the yield on that ground they lose 20% of next year's yield in soy beans. The corn makes an excellent snow fence, trapping drifts six feet high, and they're slow to clear in the spring. The farmers have to wait until it's dry enough to plant before they can finish bringing in the corn crop, then they plant their soy, and that delay cuts into the growing degree days available for the soy beans and thusly we see the yield drop.

A few of you might not be from farm state and thusly won't know the normal work flow. The corn crop is still partially in the field, but the soy beans are already done. Soy matures and dries earlier, so it gets tended first. There would never been an instance of soy being left to overwinter just based on crop timing and I don't think the small, thin stocks with relatively fragile pods would prove to be terribly durable under snow banks.

I wrote earlier about the famine potential we face due to the underfertilization of the wheat crop. Wheat that gets enough ammonia is 14% protein, if it is unfertilized closer to 8%, and that 43% reduction in total plant protein is going to cause unimaginable suffering in places like Egypt, where half of the population gets subsidized bread. Global end of season per capita wheat stocks have been about seventy pounds my entire life, except the last three years where they've dropped to only forty pounds. One mistake in this area and one of the four horsemen gets loose, certainly dragging his brothers along behind. That mistake may already have been made in the lack of wheat fertilization this fall.

The fall nitrogen fertilizer application has been 10% of the norm. A typical year would see 50% put on in the fall and 50% in the spring. During fertilizer application season the 3,100 mile national ammonia pipeline network runs flat out and the far points on the network experience low flow both fall and spring. If they try to jam 90% of the fertilization into a period of time when the system can only flow a little more than half of the need much of our cropland will go without in the spring of 2009.

Finances as much as weather are the issue with regards to fertilization this fall. Crop prices have fallen to half of what they were, ammonia prices have dropped but ammonia suppliers here, receiving 75% of their supply from overseas, still have product in their storage tanks purchase at the historical highs last spring and summer.

When farmers plant they record the acreage and they purchase crop insurance - $20 to $40 an acre depending on the crop. If they have a failure they file a claim, an adjustor contacts them, and they get a check to cover the deficit. Some of this runs through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and some of it is through private insurers.

My conversations with farmers earlier this week lead me to believe that the largest private insurer, Des Moines Iowa's Rain and Hail Agricultural Insurance may be insolvent. Flooding claims from this spring were filed and payments would have typically been received by the end of June or beginning of July. It's now the end of November and payments are not being dispersed. Individual farmers are told there was something wrong with their paperwork, but this is nonsense – some of these guys have been farming thirty years and they all didn't forget how to fill out a simple form all at the same time. Iowa did have its second five hundred year flood in a decade and a half this spring which certainly has something to do with the situation, but I suspect Wall Street's sticky fingers got hold of Rain & Hail's assets, just as they've done to every pension fund and state run municipal investment pool.

So, we're already facing what Bryan Lutter calls "the mother of all fertilizer shortages" next spring and on top of that local banks won't lend to farmers.

The local bank was quite willing to lend to a farmer on a crop despite the weather related risks just like they'd lend on a car despite the driving risks. So long as the asset was insured the risk was deemed manageable. There were sure to be losses here and there, but they'd be administrative hassles associated with well known risks. If the auto insurance companies were viewed as untrustworthy no one would be getting a car without 100% down at the dealership and the same rule is now in effect for farmers.

Farmers without financing can't afford nitrogen fertilizer at $1,000 a ton, which translates to $100 an acre at current application rates. They won't be paying $300 for a bag of 80,000 hybrid corn kernels, again a $100 per acre expense. The average farm size in Iowa is four hundred acres and planting to harvesting would run about $120,000.

This looks incredibly bad. Bryan and I are both puzzled as to why the mainstream media isn't covering this. Perhaps the need to sell Christmas season advertising trumps the need for the public to know about the troubles that are brewing.

This is already 1,600 words and I haven't even touched Verasun. Executive summary? The nation's second largest ethanol maker took corn from farmers, went bankrupt without paying many of them, and a whole lot of family farms are going to be foreclosed upon in short order if something isn't done.
| America | Earth Changes | 3rd Seal |

HOLLY NOTE: Weather, as we have warned for the past year has taken a terrible toll on crops. Floods, hail and tornadoes hammered America's breadbasket. Drought is killing California's huge agriculture belt and hitting crops in the Southeast this year. Decimated bee populations added to crop decline. Grain reserves are non-existent. Compounding matters, fuel, seed and equipment have all risen sharply in recent years.

Daily news address rampant concerns over rice, wheat, corn and soybean shortages. And now food rationing and hoarding is creeping into reality... Riots and food protests have already hit many nations: South Africa, Pakistan, Lebanon, Gaza, Kenya, Nicaragua, Mexico, Bahrain, the Emirates, Italy, Russia, Indonesia, Egypt in addition to Haiti, Cameroon, Senegal, the Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Bolivia, Peru, Thailand, Somali, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Uzbekistan, Yemen, India, and the Philippines. After the Mexican tortillas riots last year, corn tortillas prices rose another 18%. Despite lower fuel prices at the pump, food prices are expected to rise in 2009.

With food shortages threatening to become the biggest crisis of the 21st century, you can bet food riots are coming to America. In fact, top trend forecaster, Gerald Celente, warns on coming US food riots.

Stock up now - buy in bulk - and pack for long-term storage grain products, flour, rice, beans, powdered milk and any other foods you regularly consume. The longer you delay, prices are only going to escalate, your options will dwindle, along with selection. Please do this before your options close. When reading news articles, it is our hope you'll read beyond the headlines and hear the unspoken message - a quiet urging to prepare.


The Truth behind the Citigroup Bank "Nationalization" 321 Gold (November 26, 2008) - On Friday November 21, the world came within a hair's breadth of the most colossal financial collapse in history according to bankers on the inside of events with whom we have contact. The trigger was the bank which only two years ago was America's largest, Citigroup. The size of the US Government de facto nationalization of the $2 trillion banking institution is an indication of shocks yet to come in other major US and perhaps European banks thought to be 'too big to fail.'

The clumsy way in which US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson - himself not a banker but a Wall Street 'investment banker', whose experience has been in the quite different world of buying and selling stocks or bonds or underwriting and selling same - has handled the unfolding crisis has been worse than incompetent. It has made a grave situation into a globally alarming one.

'Spitting into the wind'

A case in point is the secretive manner in which Paulson has used the $700 billion in taxpayer funds voted him by a labile Congress in September. Early on, Paulson put $125 billion in the nine largest banks, including $10 billion for his old firm, Goldman Sachs. However, if we compare the value of the equity share that $125 billion bought with the market price of those banks' stock, US taxpayers have paid $125 billion for bank stock that a private investor could have bought for $62.5 billion, according to a detailed analysis from Ron W. Bloom, economist with the US United Steelworkers union, whose members as well as pension fund face devastating losses were GM to fail.

That means half of the public's money was a gift to Paulson's Wall Street cronies. Now, only weeks later, the Treasury is forced to intervene to de facto nationalize Citigroup. It won't be the last.

Paulson demanded, and got from a labile US Congress, Democrat as well as Republican, sole discretion over how and where he can invest the $700 billion, to date with no effective oversight. It amounts to the Treasury Secretary in effect 'spitting into the wind' in terms of resolving the fundamental crisis.

It should be clear to any serious analyst by now that the September decision by Paulson to defer to rigid financial ideology and let the fourth largest US investment bank, Lehman Brothers fail, was the proximate trigger for the present global crisis. Lehman Bros.' surprise collapse triggered the current global crisis of confidence. It was simply not clear to the rest of the banking world which US financial institution bank might be saved and which not, after the Government had earlier saved the far smaller Bear Stearns, while letting the larger, far more strategic Lehman Bros. fail.

Some Citigroup details

The most alarming aspect of the crisis is the fact that we are in an inter-regnum period when the next President has been elected but cannot act on the situation until after January 20, 2009 when he is sworn in.

Consider the details of the latest Citigroup government de facto nationalization (for ideological reasons Paulson and the Bush Administration hysterically avoid admitting they are in the process of nationalizing key banks). Citigroup has more than $2 trillion of assets, dwarfing companies such as American International Group Inc. that got some $150 billion in US taxpayer funds in the past two months. Ironically, only eight weeks before, the Government had designated Citigroup to take over the failing Wachovia Bank. Normally authorities have an ailing bank absorbed by a stronger one. In this instance the opposite seems to have been the case. Now it is clear that the Citigroup was in deeper trouble than Wachovia. In a matter of hours in the week before the US Government nationalization was announced, the stock value of Citibank plunged to $3.77 in New York, giving the company a market value of about $21 billion. The market value of Citigroup stock in December 2006 had been $247 billion. Two days before the bank nationalization the CEO, Vikram Pandit had announced a huge 52,000 job slashing plan. It did nothing to stop the slide.

The scale of the hidden losses of perhaps the twenty largest US banks is so enormous that if not before, the first Presidential decree of President Barack Obama will likely have to be declaration of a US 'Bank Holiday' and the full nationalization of the major banks, taking on the toxic assets and losses until the economy can again function with credit flowing to industry once more.

Citigroup and the government have identified a pool of about $306 billion in troubled assets. Citigroup will absorb the first $29 billion in losses. After that, remaining losses will be split between Citigroup and the government, with the bank absorbing 10% and the government absorbing 90%. The US Treasury Department will use its $700 billion TARP or Troubled Asset Recovery Program bailout fund, to assume up to $5 billion of losses. If necessary, the Government's Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) will bear the next $10 billion of losses. Beyond that, the Federal Reserve will guarantee any additional losses. The measures are without precedent in US financial history. It's by no means certain they will salvage the dollar system.

The situation is so intertwined, with six US major banks holding the vast bulk of worldwide financial derivatives exposure, that the failure of a single major US financial institution could result in losses to the OTC derivatives market of $300-$400 billion, a new IMF working paper finds. What's more, since such a failure would likely cause cascading failures of other institutions. Total global financial system losses could exceed another $1,500 billion according to an IMF study by Singh and Segoviano. Read full story...

| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


PM: Peace deal with Palestinians soon The Jerusalem Post (November 26, 2008) - It will soon be possible to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday, the morning after a farewell visit with US President George W. Bush and other administration officials who conceded a deal was not likely to materialize in the short term. "In principle there is nothing to prevent us from reaching an agreement on the core issues in the near future," Olmert said during a briefing with Israeli reporters. "I believe it is possible. I believe it is timely. A declaration is needed. I am ready to make it. I hope the other side is."

He also stressed the US had not tied Israel's hands when it came to military operations in the waning days of the Bush administration, despite media reports to the contrary. "I don't remember that anyone in the administration, including the last couple of days, advised me or any of my official representatives not to take any action which we will deem necessary for the fundamental security of Israel, and that includes Iran," he said, in response to a question from The Jerusalem Post. He pointed to conversations with Bush and his deputies who are "so open, so candid, so personal, that they can say to me anything they feel, and they do... This was not one of the things they said."

Speaking generally about his meetings with Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and others, Olmert also said, "There is a deep, basic understanding between us about the Iranian threat and the need to act in order to remove that threat." There has been speculation that if Israel were going to attack Iran's nuclear sites it would do so before President-elect Barack Obama takes office on January 20. Time magazine also reported that the US had told Israel to refrain from a major invasion of Gaza, despite renewed rocket fire from the Strip, so as not to disrupt peace talks.

But when it came to the Palestinians, during the briefing and in remarks before his meeting with Bush, Olmert focused on the possibility of reaching an agreement rather than on the renewed violence. The prime minister said there wouldn't be any written declaration of principles or other document spelling out the intermediate steps taken and agreements reached to date to prepare for a new American administration, because he was looking for a comprehensive peace deal. "You don't need months to make a decision," he said, noting the two years of intensive meetings with the Palestinians that he's overseen. Read full story...

| Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land | America |


U.S. Pledges Top $7.7 Trillion to Ease Frozen Credit Bloomberg (November 24, 2008) - The U.S. government is prepared to provide more than $7.76 trillion on behalf of American taxpayers after guaranteeing $306 billion of Citigroup Inc. debt yesterday. The pledges, amounting to half the value of everything produced in the nation last year, are intended to rescue the financial system after the credit markets seized up 15 months ago.

The unprecedented pledge of funds includes $3.18 trillion already tapped by financial institutions in the biggest response to an economic emergency since the New Deal of the 1930s, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The commitment dwarfs the plan approved by lawmakers, the Treasury Department’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. Federal Reserve lending last week was 1,900 times the weekly average for the three years before the crisis.

When Congress approved the TARP on Oct. 3, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson acknowledged the need for transparency and oversight. Now, as regulators commit far more money while refusing to disclose loan recipients or reveal the collateral they are taking in return, some Congress members are calling for the Fed to be reined in.

“Whether it’s lending or spending, it’s tax dollars that are going out the window and we end up holding collateral we don’t know anything about,” said Congressman Scott Garrett, a New Jersey Republican who serves on the House Financial Services Committee. “The time has come that we consider what sort of limitations we should be placing on the Fed so that authority returns to elected officials as opposed to appointed ones.”

Too Big to Fail

Bloomberg News tabulated data from the Fed, Treasury and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and interviewed regulatory officials, economists and academic researchers to gauge the full extent of the government’s rescue effort.

The bailout includes a Fed program to buy as much as $2.4 trillion in short-term notes, called commercial paper, that companies use to pay bills, begun Oct. 27, and $1.4 trillion from the FDIC to guarantee bank-to-bank loans, started Oct. 14.

William Poole, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said the two programs are unlikely to lose money. The bigger risk comes from rescuing companies perceived as “too big to fail,” he said.

‘Credit Risk’

The government committed $29 billion to help engineer the takeover in March of Bear Stearns Cos. by New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. and $122.8 billion in addition to TARP allocations to bail out New York-based American International Group Inc., once the world’s largest insurer.

Citigroup received $306 billion of government guarantees for troubled mortgages and toxic assets. The Treasury Department also will inject $20 billion into the bank after its stock fell 60 percent last week.

“No question there is some credit risk there,” Poole said.

Congressman Darrell Issa, a California Republican on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said risk is lurking in the programs that Poole thinks are safe.

“The thing that people don’t understand is it’s not how likely that the exposure becomes a reality, but what if it does?” Issa said. “There’s no transparency to it so who’s to say they’re right?”

The worst financial crisis in two generations has erased $23 trillion, or 38 percent, of the value of the world’s companies and brought down three of the biggest Wall Street firms. Read full story...

| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Martin Hennecke - US May Lose Its 'AAA' Rating CNBC (November 10, 2008)

| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

A quick question... If the Dollar were to become obsolete and indeed currency collapsed all over the world and a new economic system were developed to eliminate the fraud, waste and abuse while ensuring security and a smooth transition from individual currencies, would you sign on? What if doing so required a "pledge of allegiance" of sorts to participate?

Revelation 13:11-18
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
[Revelation 17] And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

What if signs and wonders were added to the mix and a world desperate for the spirituality drained from them through "modern science" calling into question God's Word, the mystery of iniquity, they came to worship another "savior" in a more physical and temporal sense that tickled their ears with self-satisfying words?

What if global economic collapse were to be a catalyst for a further globalization and acceptance of it, in addition to other catalysts, bringing the world further under the control of the man of sin?

What if I'm just crazy? What if I'm not. See if the world clamors for more government control while power consolidation continues... Watch!


Facts About Tax: Socialism, Christianity, and Taxation By Steven F. Hotze, M.D. www.AmericanVision.org Zola Levitt Newsletter (December 2008) - There are two competing worldviews in the United States: socialism and Christianity.

Socialism is a system where the State controls capital and production, plans the economy and redistributes wealth from producers to non-producers. It breeds a welfare environment where citizens become dependent upon the State for their daily bread. Individual liberties are replaced with the “common good,” decided by bureaucrats. In socialism, the State claims to be the sovereign authority, demanding people’s homage. Socialistic States are secular and have great disdain for Christianity which rejects this philosophy. Socialism is a de facto secular religious system which elevates the State to the position of God. Remember, the Romans proclaimed, “Vox populi, Vox Dei,” meaning “The voice of the people is the voice of God.”

Christianity acknowledges the sovereignty of God revealed in the Bible and through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christianity proclaims liberty under law. It encourages personal responsibility and initiative. Proverbs instructs that, “The hand of the diligent shall prosper.” The concept of private property is firmly established by the 8th Commandment, “Thou Shalt Not Steal.” Christianity teaches that all government authority is established by God and that civil rulers must govern according to a higher law. This was the perspective of our founding fathers. George Washington wrote, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” Yet politicians increasingly choose socialism over our Christian heritage. Nowhere is this more evident than in taxation. The Bible teaches tithing ten percent of your income to the Church and Christian ministries as acknowledgment that all that we have comes from God’s providential hand.

The socialist State claims ownership over citizens and their possessions by taxing their income and property. Even after you have paid off your mortgage, if you stop paying property taxes, you will find out who really owns your home. The United States has adopted a socalled “progressive” income tax policy. As income increases, the percentage of income subject to taxes rises. Those who earn the most pay the highest percentage of their income in taxes. According to the Congressional Budget Office the top 1% of income earners pays nearly 40% of the total income taxes collected by the federal government. The top 10% of income earners pay nearly 70% of the total income taxes collected. The top 40% of income earners pay 99% of all income taxes.

This means 60% of the people pay no income tax. Yet the socialists reward them with government programs. What is progressive about a system which penalizes individuals who strive to be successful? If you tax productivity, you get less of it. If you subsidize laziness, you get more of it. The socialists promote organized theft of the producers—under the guise of good government—and redistribute their money to buy the votes of the nonproductive, disincentivizing both groups.

We have a critical choice to make: Follow socialism and lose our liberty and property, or return to our nation’s Christian heritage.
| America |

See also: Socialism, Capitalism and Christianity


Clinton would be well seen abroad as US top diplomat: Solana EU Business (November 22, 2008) - If US president-elect Barack Obama names Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state, it will be "very well taken" in Europe, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Friday. "It would be very well taken, if it were the case," Solana told reporters during a visit to Washington where he met with Obama representative Madeleine Albright. "She is a strong personality. She is an appropriate person, capable, with experience, well known. I think it would be very well taken by the majority of people," Solana said.

An aide to Obama said the president-elect is "on track" to nominate his former bitter foe to the prize post of secretary of state after next week's Thanksgiving holiday. The nomination, the subject of intense speculation since Clinton flew to Chicago to meet Obama last week, moved forward after financial disclosure issues were worked out with her husband, former president Bill Clinton. There will be no formal announcement before the holiday break which starts on Thursday November 27, the Obama aide said on condition of anonymity, adding the president-elect was still firming up his national security line-up.

New York Senator Clinton and Obama, who slugged it out during an acrimonious six-month Democratic primary campaign, were having substantive discussions about her future role, the aide said.

Signs the Clinton nomination could be firming up followed conflicting reports, some suggesting the Obama team was frustrated with the Clinton camp, others saying Clinton was agonizing over whether to give up her Senate seat. But details of the nominating process have been tightly held by both sides and it was unclear if any or all of the unnamed sources were speaking with authority for the two protagonists.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana | NewWorldOrder | America |


Hillary Clinton accepts post as Secretary of State Telegraph UK (November 22, 2008) - Senator Hillary Clinton has accepted Barack Obama's offer to become US Secretary of State, as the president-elect moved at rapid speed to assemble an all-star cabinet amid steep challenges at home and overseas.

Friends of the former First Lady told American news organisations that she had firmly decided to give up her seat as a senator for New York and become the international face of the man who thwarted her presidential ambitions in a long and sometimes bitter battle for the Democratic Party's nomination.

Other reports said Mr Obama will nominate Timothy Geithner, 47, as his Treasury Secretary. As head of the New York federal reserve bank he has been involved with the $700 billion bail-out of Wall Street, which he will take charge of if confirmed. As a former treasury official, Mr Geithner has invaluable Washington experience and will be considered a wise choice. Stocks soared as news of his appointment reached Wall Street. He will probably be joined around the cabinet table by Bill Richardson, the New Mexico governor, who has been reportedly selected as commerce secretary after losing out to Mrs Clinton as secretary of state, the most prestigious job beneath the presidency.

With Mr Obama likely to name his economic team in full within a few days, and Mrs Clinton's decision clearing the way for other foreign policy posts to be filled, he is set to complete many of the most important slots in his administration at uncommonly early stage. His choices for the positions of health secretary, attorney general and homeland security are Tom Daschle, Eric Holder, and Janet Napolitano, respectively, though they remain subject to approval by his vetting team.

Though news about some appointments has leaked out, to the frustration of the Obama camp, his transition from winning candidate to president is proceeding at a pace and with a smoothness that has impressed political observers. Mr Obama and his aides have understood that with the financial markets very jittery and economic confidence subsiding a calm and orderly changeover was paramount.

His administration will feature veterans of the Bill Clinton administration and politicians rewarded for their early support of during the primaries, such as Mr Richardson, Janet Napolitano, the Arizona governor tipped to become head the Homeland Security Department and Tom Daschle, who will run health.

His recruitment of Mrs Clinton in particular honours Mr Obama's pledge to appoint an all-star cabinet, or a "team of rivals", of strong personalities who will speak their minds and provide contrasting views. But some have criticised her management skills – her new department has 19,000 employees – and questioned her foreign policy experience at a time when the country is conducting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and facing growing pressure from Russia, Iran and China.

Obama supporters have also raised concerns that a politician with such a large power base would happily follow anyone else's orders. Some have been unable to forgive Mrs Clinton for her strong criticism of Mr Obama during the primaries, when she launched an advertisement questioning whether the nation would want such an inexperienced politician answering the White House hotline at 3am. Mrs Clinton, 61, evidently had her own doubts, and was uncertain if she should give up her Senate seat from heavily Democratic New York, which she could most likely have occupied for the rest of her career.

The only hesitation about her within the Obama camp was removed after Mr Clinton co-operated fully with the vetting team's investigation of his network of overseas donors to his global charity. The former president is understood to have promised not to conduct speaking engagements or seek funds from sources that might present a conflict of interest with the foreign policy his wife would be pursuing.

Obama’s team: Confirmed White House positions

  • Chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel
  • Counsel Greg Craig
  • Senior adviser David Axelrod
  • Senior adviser Valerie Jarrett
  • White House press secretary Robert Gibbs
  • Vice-President’s chief of staff Ron Klain All positions
  • Confirmed pending vetting
  • Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
  • Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner
  • Secretary of health Tom Daschle
  • Attorney-general Eric Holder
  • Secretary of homeland security Janet Napolitano

| America |


A Plan for Action: Managing Global Insecurity 42-page pdf at Brookings.edu (November 21, 2008) - The Managing Global Insecurity (MGI) Project seeks to build international support for global institutions and partnerships that can foster international peace and security—and the prosperity they enable—for the next 50 years. MGI is a joint initiative among the Brookings Institution, the Center on International Cooperation at New York University, and the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University.

Since its launch in the spring of 2007, MGI has sought to develop its recommendations and conduct its work in a manner best suited to address today’s most urgent global challenges—namely, by fostering a global dialogue. In a world where 21st century transnational threats—from climate change to nuclear proliferation and terrorism—require joint solutions, discussions on these solutions must take place both inside and outside American borders. As MGI launched this ambitious but urgent agenda, the Project convened two advisory groups—one American and bipartisan, and one international. MGI’s advisors are experienced leaders with diverse visions for how the international security system must be transformed. They are also skilled politicians who understand the political momentum that must power substantive recommendations.

MGI brought these groups together for meetings in Washington D.C., New York, Ditchley Park (UK), Singapore, and Berlin. With their assistance, MGI also conducted consultations with government officials, policymakers and non-governmental organizations across Europe and in Delhi, Beijing, Tokyo, Doha, and Mexico City. MGI held meetings at the United Nations, and with African and Latin American officials in Washington D.C. and New York. On the domestic front, MGI met with Congressional and Administration officials as well as foreign policy advisors to the U.S. Presidential campaigns. Ideas generated in international consultations were tested on U.S. constituencies; ideas generated among U.S. policymakers were sounded out for their resonance internationally. American and international leaders were brought together to consider draft proposals. Through this global dialogue, the Project sought a shared path forward.

MGI’s findings also derive from extensive research and analysis of current global security threats and the performance of international institutions. MGI solicited case studies from leading regional and subject experts that evaluated the successes and failures of international responses to the “hard cases”—from the North Korean nuclear threat to instability in Pakistan and state collapse in Iraq. Both in the United States and internationally, MGI convened experts to review the Project’s threat-specific analyses and proposals.

Financial support for the MGI project has also been robustly international. In addition to the Bertelsmann Stiftung, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Ditchley Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and UN Foundation, MGI has received funding and in-kind support from the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. A number of think tanks and other institutions in Japan, China and India hosted workshops to debate the Project’s findings. MGI is indebted to its diverse supporters.

MGI’s research and consultations provide the foundation for the following Plan for Action, a series of policy briefs, and MGI’s book, Power and Responsibility: International Order in an Era of Transnational Threats (forthcoming, Brookings Press 2009). The authors are solely responsible for the following analysis and recommendations. Based on MGI’s consultations, however, they are confident this is a historic opportunity for the United States to forge new partnerships to tackle the most pressing problems of this century. more detail at the link...
| EU/UN
/ 4th Kingdom | Solana | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

The aim of the MGI [Managing Global Insecurity] project is ambitious and urgent: to launch a new reform effort for the global security system in 2009 … for the global system is in serious trouble. It is simply not capable of solving the challenges of today. You all know the list: terrorism, nuclear proliferation, climate change, pandemics, failing states … None can be solved by a single government alone. | Javier Solana, High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, European Union; MGI Advisory Group Member

I think it is worthwhile to note that the snowball is already rolling down the hill and there are many things that can happen to advance or delay plans in the global arena. If there were a threat large enough to further the cause of the globalists, then much like the ready-fire-fire-fire-aim approach to the global financial crisis, fear could be used to get people to take immediate action not yet fully defined in the timelines already determined. Of course I believe there are some using the fear with a definite plan of action for a common goal whether they realize what they are doing or not. I believe the mystery of iniquity is well at work in the world today.

I'm brought back to the Lisbon Treaty, the new European Constitution, and the powers that will be given to the foreign minister even before it is enacted. And now polling is showing that Ireland, who previously rejected the Lisbon Treaty in their referendum, is now having second thoughts on the matter. Could these often discussed "global tests" of leadership help the birth pangs to the new global order along? Keep watching!


A Plan For Action: Renewed American Leadership And International Cooperation for the 21st Century Brookings Institute (November 20, 2008) - MR. PASCUAL: -- in his personal capacity has given us tremendous support, along with the support of the U.N. Foundation, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Finland and Norway, who have been great supporters throughout, the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and in kind support that we’ve been able to get from the Bertelsmann and Ditchley Foundations, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and think tanks and partners in the United States and around the world.

A big thanks to so many members of the diplomatic community who are here today and participating in this session and have provided constant feedback and advice on some of this work.

I need to give great thanks to both the domestic and international advisory group that we have had as part of this project. And you’ll see them on the left hand side of the column, as well as on the Action Plan, on the inside cover that you have of the Action Plan, a tremendously distinguished group of individuals who are some of the best practitioners in the world on foreign policy, international security policy, and global governance, and we are quite honored that they are willing to give their time to advise us on this project. And among those members of the advisory group are the panelists that we have today. And it’s a pleasure to be able to introduce them in the order that they’re going to speak today.

First is Former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, someone who has given tremendous advice directly herself in a book called The Memo to the President, How We Can Restore America’s Reputation and Leadership.

And then Javier Solana, the European Union’s High Representative for Common, Foreign, and Security Policy. Javier is I think a personal incarnation of the world’s most effective institution of global governance, namely himself.

And then Kemal Dervis, who is the Administrator of the U.N. Development Program. Many of you also know him from his role as Minister of Economy and Treasury in Turkey and his long career at the
World Bank. And Kemal is also an author of a tremendous book called Better Globalization, Legitimacy, Governance and Reform. I should say he had the wisdom of having that published by the Brookings Institution Press, as well.

And then Tom Pickering, Former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs. And Tom really is sort of the icon of the American Foreign Service, having been an Ambassador in more places than anyone can imagine and carrying that knowledge around with him on a constant basis.

And finally Strobe Talbott, the President of the Brookings Institution, my boss, former Deputy Secretary of State, and author of another tremendous book called The Great Experiment, the Story of Ancient Empire, Modern States, and the Quest for a Global Nation. And he also happens to be my friend and has given us tremendous advice throughout this process, and all of them have just been amazing colleagues.

We are going to have a short presentation of some of the key themes in the Action Plan to create that as a foundation for the discussion. We’ll then have the part that you really want, which is a discussion with our panelists, and have a session to interact among themselves, and then a Q and A session for the audience. It’ll be I think a fairly full two hour program, but one that will be I think extremely interesting for everybody.

This project was a joint venture among Stanford and Brookings and NYU, in part because of its complexity and the nature of the goal that we set. We begin by looking at what kinds of recommendations are necessary to create and international order in the institutions that are going to bring about prosperity and security for the world over the next 50 years...

...MS. ALBRIGHT: I’d kind of like to step back a little bit, because in listening, and also in some of my meetings over the weekend, it is clear to me that venue shopping is one of the problems here. And the question is, which of these various organizations really are the right ones?

And some of you know this, but I’ll repeat it; when I first became Secretary, I kept looking for various European Ministers and they were always in some meeting with some kind of alphabet that I didn’t know. So I asked the Intelligence and Research part of the State Department to create a chart for me of the European Organizations, and it looked like some kind of astrological or astronomical chart, and everything was on top of everything else, and I nicknamed it the Euro Mess.

The bottom line is that we can’t keep creating organizations on top of others in terms of who does what with whom. And I think this is the real challenge in terms of which of the ones that really will work, and where do you have the right players, and not so much, if I may be so bold as to say, I like this organization because I dominate it, and I don’t want to be in that one because there are too many people in it, and I do think that that is one of the challenges that we have.

The other part goes back to something, Carlos, that you were talking about. As a professor I say this, the fight between sovereignty and international action is not dead, and when you say responsible sovereignty, different people – countries will take it a different way.

I think that President Bashir thinks he’s practicing responsible sovereignty. And so the question is, how these two concepts deal with what are very real crises that are out there. So venue shopping and the struggle between sovereignty and international multi-lateral action, I think no matter how great the good will is towards President Obama, and it’s stunning, I think it’s going to continue to be an issue of how we prioritize and deal with it...

...[Regarding global governance]
MR. SOLANA: I think we have discussed one of the most fascinating topics of the times. I think the European Union has something to say about this, because a group of countries that have already, in a voluntary manner, chose to live together and to share sovereignty. It’s probably the only example and going as far as taking to the connectivity – currency, which is a very, very fundamental decision.

But I think we cannot understand that without talking at the same time about legitimacy. Legitimacy is absolutely fundamental, you want to govern a complicated structure, and that remains, the legitimacy remains at the level where proximity – exist. I don’t want to enter more into that – but it’s very, very crucial, it comes from legitimacy. Now, we may agree on many, many things even within the European Union that have to do, but you may sometimes need the legitimacy – very clear, the national – to do it. And that is a reality will be very difficult to overcome.

Now, you can put into the global – into federal entity as much things as you want to transfer from the – will be always – to run into legitimacy, it will be very difficult. The problems are global, the solutions are global, the resources and the legitimacy still is global... Read Q&A excerpt...

| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

There are many people who hold that the center of power for the kingdom of the man of sin as prophesied in scripture will various entities other than Europe. I believe Solana's statement above highlights one of the reasons I believe Europe is the revived Roman Empire and the fourth kingdom prophesied by Daniel and John. In a world that is going global, Europe is the example of how to cede sovereignty to a unified body, including the consolidation of currency into one.


Secret 'peace talks' exposed WorldNet Daily (November 20, 2008) - Despite media reports painting a dismal picture of negotiation prospects, Israel and the Palestinian Authority are still quietly working to conclude a major agreement before President Bush leaves office in January, informed Israeli and Palestinian sources told WND. The sources, including a senior Palestinian negotiator, said the aim is to reach a series of understandings to be guaranteed by the U.S. that would result in an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the vast majority of the West Bank. The understandings would also grant the PA permission to open official institutions in Jerusalem but would postpone talks on the future status of the capital city until new Israeli and U.S. governments are installed next year.

The original plan, initiated at last November's U.S.-sponsored Annapolis summit, was to create a Palestinian state, at least on paper, by January. The summit launched talks aimed at concluding a final status agreement on all core issues – borders, the status of Jerusalem and the future of so-called Palestinian refugees.

But a final agreement has been hampered by several recent events here, most notably Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's decision to resign amid corruption charges, leading to general elections scheduled for February that will see a new prime minister elected. The candidate for office from Olmert's Kadima party, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, is said to oppose reaching a deal on Jerusalem or refugees ahead of elections, fearing it will harm her prospects among center-right voters. Livni is Olmert's chief negotiator with the Palestinians.

In spite of the upcoming elections and the Israeli government's subsequent political instability, teams of Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have been quietly meeting regularly the past few weeks in hope of concluding a series of understandings on key issues. Informed sources said any understandings reached will be backed up by Bush in an official letter. It is unclear how much weight such a letter will carry under a new U.S. administration.

According to the sources, neither side expects to conclude any deal on the status of Jerusalem or Palestinian "refugees" before January, putting aside those issues for future talks. Instead, negotiations are focused on reaching an agreement emphasizing borders, particularly a pledged Israeli evacuation of the vast majority of the strategic West Bank, which borders central Israeli population centers. Read full story...

| Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land | America |


Anarchy Has Come News With Views (November 20, 2008) - President Bush reportedly said that the Constitution was “just a G—D—n piece of paper.” It is hard to believe that the report is true, but you would have to admit that recent happenings in this once-great Constitutional Republic reflect the opinions of many in power in the nation’s capital.

Despite what you might hear on the news, or out of the mouth of our elected officials, America is not a Democracy. In fact, according to our Founders, a democracy was the worst form of all governments. Listen to what some wise men have said.

Ben Franklin said “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.

The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” Winston Churchill

Democracy is the road to socialism.” Karl Marx

According to Webster’s unabridged Dictionary, a republic is “A form of government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law." I don’t have the time or the space to go over it for you. Please just read this commentary that I wrote two-years ago if you need it explained further.

Socialism is coming at us faster than a locomotive and we can’t even hear the train whistle. If we don’t rise up soon and DEMAND that government stay within the restrictions that the Founders put in place we will never pass to the next generation the “blessings of liberty” that our fathers passed to us.

The Constitution is the supreme law of the land. Without it, America is a lawless nation and those in power are the boldest criminals. Please remember this; we have no Constitutional Rights, we have God-granted rights. The purpose of the Constitution was to restrain government. The Bill of Rights should actually be called the Bill of Government Limitations. Individual citizens cannot violate the Constitution. Only governments can. I am doing my best to write this commentary without my usual hyperbole. As Joe Friday would say, “Just the facts.”

Our ‘elected officials” swear an oath to uphold the Constitution. None of them do and we let them get away with it. The Courts are the worst. The “domestic enemies” use the courts to subvert this nation and hardly a peep is heard as judges arbitrarily rewrite the Constitution. Marbury v Madison was the source of the decree that “All laws which are repugnant to the Constitution are null and void.” Marbury vs. Madison 5 US (2 Cranch) 137, 174, 176, (1803). We must reclaim the Constitution if the Republic is to be saved. Look at how far we have fallen.

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Most of these freedoms are under assault as courts determine when and where they can be exercised. The fairness doctrine, public prayer, freedom of assembly, and hate speech legislation are all eviscerating the restraints on government.

Amendment II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

The new administration promises “change”. Those who are awake know that one of those changes will be government restriction on the God-given right to own guns. That’s why gun sales are through the roof with the election of Obama.

Amendment III
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

American soldiers are never to be used against the citizenry. It is call Posse Comitatus which has been suspended by “Executive Order.” The 3rd Infantry is now active on American soil. Of course, they are here to help in “emergencies.”

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Can you say unwarranted wiretaps in the name of security, thanks to the Patriot Act? Under this “un-Constitutional law” a person can now be detained without cause. Habeaus Corpus is gone.

Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Ditto. See Patriot Act above

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

See Habeas corpus above.

Need I go on? So the voters in California determined that marriage shall remain a union between a man and a woman and the anarchists hit the streets. They invade churches, and appeal to the courts to overturn the will of the people.

Anarchy is defined as a state of lawlessness or political disorder due to the absence of governmental authority. Lawless is abounding in America. Bankers openly steal from the people, government hands out money in violation of their oath, voter fraud runs rampant, and our new president may not even be eligible for the office.

America’s Constitution is a “living breathing document” because God’s Word is no longer the rock upon which all law stands. Remove God and you remove His laws. Remove His laws and you remove the pillars. The non-constitutional separation between the church and the state has removed the foundation of all moral law.

If God is gone, then government is god. “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams.

"We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We’ve staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity…to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God." [1778 to the General Assembly of the State of Virginia] James Madison.

Anarchy has come to America.
| America |


Recession fears hit stock markets BBC News (November 20, 2008) - Wall Street shares have fallen steeply for the second day in a row, amid investors' growing fears of a protracted economic downturn. The Dow Jones average tumbled 5.5% after politicians said they could not agree on an immediate $25bn bail-out for the troubled US carmakers. Concerns over a sharp slowdown in US factory activity also added to worries about the strength of the economy. Earlier, European markets all closed sharply lower on recession worries.

US carmakers Ford, General Motors and Chrysler have now been told to come up with their own viable recovery plan by 2 December if they want a $25bn (£17bn) government rescue. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that without such a plan there would be no bail-out. She said there was currently no plan in circulation that could pass both Houses of Congress and win President George W Bush's approval.

Unemployment claims

At the close the Dow was down 449.99 at 7,552.29. The Nasdaq was down 5%, or 70 points, at 1,316.12. Adding to the gloom, a business survey from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve showed that factory activity covering the key areas of eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware fell by more than forecast in November. The index, which is seen as a key gauge of the future state of US manufacturing, slipped to minus 39.3 from minus 37.5 in October.

And new claims for unemployment benefits leapt last week to their highest in 16 years, according to the US labour department. "The unemployment data was yet another ugly data point in a seemingly never-ending stream of poor economic numbers," said Michael Wittner, global head of oil research at Societe Generale.

The White House indicated on Thursday that Mr Bush would approve legislation to increase unemployment benefits.

Meanwhile, shares in Citigroup tumbled to their lowest level in more than 15 years, despite news that Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a long-time investor in the bank, was increasing his stake from less than 4% to 5%.

Mounting problems

The deepening global recession is being felt in a number of ways:

  • Mining shares have been hit hard on fears that demand for steel and other raw materials will drop as the economy slows. Steel giant Arcelor-Mittal lost 8% and Vedanta Resources lost 8.5%
  • Oil shares were among the main fallers with BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total all at least 5% lower as sweet crude oil fell below $50 a barrel
  • Japan's exports to Asia dropped in October for the first time in six years
  • Job losses are mounting worldwide, with aerospace firm Rolls Royce, pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and French carmaker Peugeot Citroen announcing a total of 6,100 cuts
  • China has warned its employment outlook is "grim", amid worries that economic problems could lead to social unrest
  • Switzerland has cut its key interest rate to 1% in a surprise move
  • The IMF has approved a $2.1bn (£1.4bn) loan for Iceland. Turkey is set to agree to a precautionary stand-by deal with the IMF soon
  • Retail sales fell and public sector borrowing rose in the UK.

In Europe, the London, Paris and Frankfurt markets were all down by more than 3%. In Asia on Thursday, Japan's Nikkei index ended 6.8% lower and Hong Kong's main index fell more than 4%.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Bush Hands Over Reins of U.S. Economy to EU Newsmax (November 19, 2008) - The results of the G-20 economic summit amount to nothing less than the seamless integration of the United States into the European economy. In one month of legislation and one diplomatic meeting, the United States has unilaterally abdicated all the gains for the concept of free markets won by the Reagan administration and surrendered, in total, to the Western European model of socialism, stagnation, and excessive government regulation. Sovereignty is out the window. Without a vote, we are suddenly members of the European Union. Given the dismal record of those nations at creating jobs and sustaining growth, merging with the Europeans is like a partnership with death.

At the G-20 meeting, Bush agreed to subject the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and our other regulatory agencies to the supervision of a global entity that would critique its regulatory standards and demand changes if it felt they were necessary. Bush agreed to create a College of Supervisors. According to The Washington Post, it would "examine the books of major financial institutions that operate across national borders so regulators could begin to have a more complete picture of banks' operations." Their scrutiny would extend to hedge funds and to various "exotic" financial instruments. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), a European-dominated operation, would conduct "regular vigorous reviews" of American financial institutions and practices. The European-dominated College of Supervisors would also weigh in on issues like executive compensation and investment practices.

There is nothing wrong with the substance of this regulation. Experience is showing it is needed. But it is very wrong to delegate these powers to unelected, international institutions with no political accountability. We have a Securities and Exchange Commission appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, both of whom are elected by the American people. It is with the SEC, the Treasury, and the Federal Reserve that financial accountability must take place.

The European Union achieved this massive subrogation of American sovereignty the way it usually does, by negotiation, gradual bureaucratic encroachment, and without asking the voters if they approve. What's more, Bush appears to have gone down without a fight, saving his debating time for arguing against the protectionism that France's Nicolas Sarkozy was pushing. By giving Bush a seeming victory on a moratorium against protectionism for one year, Sarkozy was able to slip over his massive scheme for taking over the supervision of the U.S. economy.

All kinds of political agendas are advancing under the cover of responding to the global financial crisis. Where Franklin Roosevelt saved capitalism by regulating it, Bush, to say nothing of Obama, has given the government control over our major financial and insurance institutions. And it isn't even our government! The power has now been transferred to the international community, led by the socialists in the European Union.

Will Obama govern from the left? He doesn't have to. George W. Bush has done all the heavy lifting for him. It was under Bush that the government basically took over as the chief stockholder of our financial institutions and under Bush that we ceded our financial controls to the European Union. In doing so, he has done nothing to preserve what differentiates the vibrant American economy from those dying economies in Europe.

Why have 80 percent of the jobs that have been created since 1980 in the industrialized world been created in the United States? How has America managed to retain its leading 24 percent share of global manufacturing even in the face of the Chinese surge? How has the U.S. GDP risen so high that it essentially equals that of the European Union, whose population is 50 percent greater? It has done so by an absence of stifling regulation, a liberation of capital to flow to innovative businesses, low taxes, and by a low level of unionization that has given business the flexibility to grow and prosper.

Europe, stagnated by taxation and regulation, has grown by a pittance while we have roared ahead. But now Bush — not Obama — Bush has given that all up and caved in to European socialists. The Bush legacy? European socialism. Who needs enemies with friends like Bush?
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Obama to fund forced abortions Spero News (November 15, 2008) -

0:01:51

Supporters of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) are confident that President-elect Barack Obama will reverse the Bush administration’s 2002 decision to stop the $40 million it received in U.S. funding. The policy was instated because of UNFPA’s support for China’s one-child policy, which includes coercive abortion practices.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D – N.Y.) said the funding will be approved by the Democratic majority Congress. Her comments came while speaking Wednesday at a press conference at the National Press Club where the 2008 U.N. report on world population was released. “You know the president will have to do nothing,” said Maloney. “He will just have to let the will of Congress go through. One of the changes is that UNFPA will be funded,” CNSNews.com reports.

The Bush administration in 2002 had stopped funding the organization, citing the Kemp-Kasten Amendment which prohibits funds from being available to organizations or programs determined to be supporting or participating in coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization programs. In July of 2008, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte announced that for the sixth year in a row, the government had determined that “UNFPA provides support for and participates in the management of the Chinese government’s program of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization.”

Rep. Maloney reported that she discusses UNFPA funding controversies in her book “Rumors of Our Progress are Greatly Exaggerated.” She said the UNFPA was founded “with American leadership” and “was supported strongly by George Bush’s father.”

The new UN report, “Reaching Common Ground: Culture, Gender and Human Rights,” calls for “cultural sensitivity” to “mitigate and overcome cultural resistance to couples and individuals using modern contraception.” It claims to prepare for the empowerment of women with control over their fertility. Nevertheless, Rep. Maloney claimed the U.S. will no longer “impose our own ideology” under the UNFPA funding changes. She said Obama “has already said his administration will change the way we do business in Washington and that improving the role of women around the world is going to be one of his prominent priorities. “I am thrilled with this report, and I am really thrilled at the new direction of our government,” Maloney said, according to CNSNews.com.
| America |

A little history on Planned Parenthood and Margaret Sanger quotes.


Obama transition tangled in ties to lobbying New York Times (November 14, 2008) - President-elect Barack Obama has imposed stricter conflict-of-interest restrictions on his White House transition team than any president before him. But a list of transition team members that his office made public on Friday includes a complicated tangle of ties to private influence-seekers.

Among the full roster of about 150 staff members being assigned to government agencies between now and Inauguration Day are dozens of former lobbyists and some who were registered as recently as this year. Many more are executives and partners at firms that pay lobbyists, and former government officials who work as consultants or advisers to those seeking influence.

After campaigning on promises to end the influence of lobbyists in the White House, Mr. Obama has imposed rules that bar officials on his transition team from handling any issues in areas of policy where they have lobbied over the last 12 months or from seeking to influence the same agencies for the next 12 months. The rules also bar officials from working on matters where family members or recent business associates may have a direct conflict of interest. In cases where there is even an “appearance of conflict,” officials must seek a waiver from the transition’s executive director, an Obama Senate aide and law school classmate, Christopher Lu.

At least one official initially involved in the transition appears to have been reassigned because of concern about his lobbying or legal work. Henry Rivera, a former Democratic commissioner on the Federal Communication Commission who was involved in planning for the agency’s transition, has dropped out of that role because he had represented clients on communications policy in the last year, the newsletter Communications Daily reported Friday. Instead, on the list that was made public on Friday, Mr. Rivera was listed on the team handling science, technology, space and the arts. The rules permit people who have lobbied in one area to join an Obama transition team in another. (With Mr. Rivera is Jim Kohlenberger, executive director of an advocacy group for Internet companies.) Representatives of the transition team declined to comment on the assignment, and Mr. Rivera did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Transition officials said that their policy went further than any previous White House to avoid self-dealing or influence-trading in the formation of the new administration, and that in the modern Washington it would be foolish to try to eliminate anyone who had worked in public policy for a private interest — or who had a family member in that business — from contributing to the transition. Stephanie Cutter, a transition spokeswoman, said in a written statement that the transition team reflected what she called Mr. Obama’s “commitment to change the way Washington does business and curb the influence of lobbyists on our government.” “While these rules disqualify many well-qualified professionals from participating in the transition as a result, they also put in place the right safeguards to prevent any potential conflicts of interest,” Ms. Cutter said.

Some appear to skirt the edges of the ban on working in areas of the transition where they have recently lobbied. Handling some Interior Department issues is Keith Harper, who lobbied earlier this year for Native American tribes. Overseeing the Consumer Products Safety Commission is Pamela Gilbert, a former executive director of the agency who as recently as two years ago lobbied for a consumer advocacy group. Within the last year she has lobbied for the company Barr Laboratories, for an investor group, and for an antitrust enforcement group.

Among the group handling the Justice Department and civil rights areas of the transition is Theodore Shaw, a litigator for an arm of the N.A.A.C.P. He has registered as a lobbyist for the group in the past, but N.A.A.C.P. officials say he has not lobbied in the past 12 months.

David J. Hayes, part of the 12-member group overseeing the transition and co-head of the team handling the areas of energy and natural resources, is the chairman of the environmental practice at the law and lobbying firm Latham & Watkins. He was personally registered as a lobbyist as recently as 2006, for clients including San Diego Gas and Electric.

Sally Katzen, another member of the supervisory group who is also on teams for the office of the president and government operations, was registered last year to lobby for the pharmaceutical company Amgen on Medicare reimbursements. Louisa Terrell, another member of the top working group, is on leave from the public policy office of the Internet company Yahoo! Tom Wheeler, another of the 12, is on leave from a firm that invests in technology companies and before 2004 lobbied for the cable television and wireless industries.

John L. White, a former Clinton official charged with overseeing the new Defense Department, is a partner in a firm that invests in defense contractors. Michael Warren, charged with overseeing Treasury, is chief operating officer of a firm that lobbies for clients including the U.S.-India Business Council.

Several of the officials have ties to the Fannie Mae, the government-backed mortgage firm whose implosion this fall contributed to the financial meltdown. Thomas Donilon, overseeing the State Department, is a partner in the law and lobbying firm O’Melveny and Myers who until three years ago lobbied for Fannie Mae. Wendy R. Sherman, the other official charged with reviewing the State Department, once headed Fannie Mae’s charitable foundation. And James Johnson, a former top officer of Fannie Mae, is on the economics and international trade team, charged with reviewing the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. Read full story...

| America |


German economy falls into recession Associated Press (November 13, 2008) - The German economy, Europe's biggest, tipped into recession in the third quarter as weakening exports fueled a bigger-than-expected fall in national output, government figures showed Thursday. Gross domestic product contracted by 0.5 percent in the July-September period compared with the previous quarter, the Federal Statistical Office said — a much sharper fall than the roughly 0.2 percent decline economists had expected. That followed a 0.4 percent fall in GDP in the second quarter, which was the first decline since late 2004, and a 1.4 percent growth rate in the first quarter.

A technical recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. The statistical office said a slight increase in consumer and government spending in the third quarter, during which the global financial crisis gathered pace, was offset by falling exports and a large increase in imports. Exports are a mainstay of the German economy and largely powered its stronger performance over recent years.

Holger Schmieding, chief European economist at Bank of America, said the third-quarter economic decline may be "just the beginning." "Late 2008 and early 2009 could well be worse," he said. "Germany — and the euro zone — have to get ready for a serious recession."

Economists said the bigger-than-expected fall was partly explained by upward revisions to the first- and second-quarter figures — previously reported as a 1.3 percent rise and 0.5 percent decline. In addition, the euro reached record levels against the U.S. dollar during the quarter and oil prices hit all-time highs. Both have since retreated. Still, Thursday's figures pointed to more trouble ahead. Schmieding forecast that the German economy would shrink by 0.6 percent in both the current quarter and next year's first quarter.

Timo Klein, an economist at IHS Global Insight in Frankfurt, said that "net exports will stay on a weakening trend for most of 2009, due to faltering euro zone and indeed global demand." The euro's decline against the dollar "will offset this only partially, as the pace of growth in foreign countries is a much more important variable for German exports than the exchange rate," he added.

Klein said declining oil prices and inflation could support private consumption, but fears over jobs could hold back consumer spending. The government is predicting growth of 1.7 percent for the whole of 2008, but forecasts the economy will slow to 0.2 percent next year. On Wednesday, its independent panel of economic advisers offered a gloomier outlook, forecasting zero growth in 2009.

In an effort to reduce the impact of the economic crisis, the government is pushing through a stimulus package ranging from tax breaks on new cars to credit assistance for companies. It is aimed at triggering investments of up to 50 billion euros ($63 billion).
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America | Economic Crisis |


Ex-Hitler youth's warning to America WorldNet Daily (November 13, 2008) - Because it has abandoned moral absolutes and its historic Christian faith, the U.S. is moving closer to a Nazi-style totalitarianism, warns a former German member of the Hitler Youth in a new book. "Every day brings this nation closer to a Nazi-style totalitarian abyss," writes Hilmar von Campe, now a U.S. citizen, and author of "Defeating the Totalitarian Lie: A Former Hitler Youth Warns America."

Von Campe has founded the national Institute for Truth and Freedom to fight for a return to constitutional government in the U.S. – a key, he believes, to keeping America free. "I lived the Nazi nightmare, and, as the old saying goes, 'A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument,'" writes von Campe. "Everything I write is based on my personal experience in Nazi Germany. There is nothing theoretical about my description of what happens when a nation throws God out of government and society, and Christians become religious bystanders. I don't want to see a repetition. The role of God in human society is the decisive issue for this generation. My writing is part of my life of restitution for the crimes of a godless government, of the evil of which I was a part."

Von Campe grew up under the Nazis, served in the Hitler Youth and fought against the Red Army in the Yugoslavian theater as a tank gunner in the German army. He was captured at the end of the war and escaped five months later from a prisoner of war camp in Communist Yugoslavia. "It took me a long time to understand and define the nature of National Socialism," says von Campe. "And, unfortunately, their philosophy continues to flourish under different labels remaining a menace to America and free human society."

He writes: "The most painful part of defining National Socialism was to recognize my own moral responsibility for the Nazi disaster and their crimes against humanity. It boiled down to accepting the truth that 'as I am, so is my nation,' and realizing that if every German was like me, it was no wonder that the nation became a cesspool of gangsters. This realization is as valid today for any person in any nation as it was then, and it is true for America and every American now."

Von Campe's message is that political freedom and democratic rules alone are not sufficient to govern humanity justly. "Democratic procedures can be subverted and dishonest politicians are like sand in the gearbox, abundant, everywhere and destructive," he writes. "What I see in America today is people painting their cabins while the ship goes down. Today in America we are witnessing a repeat performance of the tragedy of 1933 when an entire nation let itself be led like a lamb to the Socialist slaughterhouse. This time, the end of freedom is inevitable unless America rises to her mission and destiny."

Von Campe says he sees spiritual parallels among Americans and his childhood Germany. "The silence from our pulpits regarding the moral collapse of American society from within is not very different from the silence that echoed from the pulpits in Germany toward Nazi policies," he explains. "Our family lived through the Nazi years in Germany, an experience typical of millions of Europeans regardless of what side they were on. We paid a high price for the moral perversions of a German government, which excluded God and His Commandments from their policies. America must not continue following the same path to destruction, but instead heed the lessons of history and the warning I am giving."

Specifically, von Campe warns Americans their political leaders are on the wrong footing, "denying our cultural and traditional roots based on our unique Constitution and Christian orientation as a nation. Christians don't understand their mission."
| NewWorldOrder | America |


'Gay fascists' storm church, attack members One News Now (November 13, 2008) - Homosexual activists recently attacked a Michigan church during its worship service. The attack occurred at Mount Hope Church in Lansing, Michigan, by a group of self-described homosexual anarchists called "Bash Back!" Susan Fani of the Catholic League describes what happened.

"Outside they were chanting 'Jesus was a homo' on a megaphone. They were beating on buckets, presumably to drown out what the pastor was saying inside the church, and carrying an upside-down pink cross," she explains. "They set off the fire alarm. They unfurled this big banner because they apparently were hiding in an unused part of the church, like the balcony area." A Catholic League article also notes the "gay fascists" stormed the pulpit and shouted obscenities at church members. The protesters carried a banner that read, "It's okay to be gay! Bash Back!"

Fani contends the group's activities were illegal. "The police did show up and, as far as we can tell, no one was arrested, which we also don't understand because apparently most of the 30 or so people in this group fled before the police got there, but some were still there," she adds.

President of the Catholic League Bill Donahue laments the refusal of the biased, mainstream media to report on what he calls one of the most disturbing events this year. "If an organized group of gay bashers stormed a gay church, there is not a single sentient person in the United States who wouldn't know about it." The league is contacting Mike Cox, Michigan's attorney general, for an investigation.
| America |


Liberals clinically mad, concludes top psychiatrist WorldNet Daily (November 12, 2008) - Just when liberals thought it was safe to start identifying themselves as such, an acclaimed, veteran psychiatrist is making the case that the ideology motivating them is actually a mental disorder. "Based on strikingly irrational beliefs and emotions, modern liberals relentlessly undermine the most important principles on which our freedoms were founded," says Dr. Lyle Rossiter, author of the new book, "The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness." "Like spoiled, angry children, they rebel against the normal responsibilities of adulthood and demand that a parental government meet their needs from cradle to grave."

While political activists on the other side of the spectrum have made similar observations, Rossiter boasts professional credentials and a life virtually free of activism and links to "the vast right-wing conspiracy." For more than 35 years he has diagnosed and treated more than 1,500 patients as a board-certified clinical psychiatrist and examined more than 2,700 civil and criminal cases as a board-certified forensic psychiatrist. He received his medical and psychiatric training at the University of Chicago.

Rossiter says the kind of liberalism being displayed by both Barack Obama and his Democratic primary opponent Hillary Clinton can only be understood as a psychological disorder. "A social scientist who understands human nature will not dismiss the vital roles of free choice, voluntary cooperation and moral integrity – as liberals do," he says. "A political leader who understands human nature will not ignore individual differences in talent, drive, personal appeal and work ethic, and then try to impose economic and social equality on the population – as liberals do. And a legislator who understands human nature will not create an environment of rules which over-regulates and over-taxes the nation's citizens, corrupts their character and reduces them to wards of the state – as liberals do."

Dr. Rossiter says the liberal agenda preys on weakness and feelings of inferiority in the population by:

  • creating and reinforcing perceptions of victimization;
  • satisfying infantile claims to entitlement, indulgence and compensation;
  • augmenting primitive feelings of envy;
  • rejecting the sovereignty of the individual, subordinating him to the will of the government.

"The roots of liberalism – and its associated madness – can be clearly identified by understanding how children develop from infancy to adulthood and how distorted development produces the irrational beliefs of the liberal mind," he says. "When the modern liberal mind whines about imaginary victims, rages against imaginary villains and seeks above all else to run the lives of persons competent to run their own lives, the neurosis of the liberal mind becomes painfully obvious."
| America |


An Interview With Dr. Ron Paul McAlvany Weekly Commentary (November 12, 2008) - Congressman Ron Paul of Texas enjoys a national reputation as the premier advocate for liberty in politics today. Dr. Paul is the leading spokesman in Washington for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies based on commodity-backed currency. He is known among both his colleagues in Congress and his constituents for his consistent voting record in the House of Representatives: Dr. Paul never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution. In the words of former Treasury Secretary William Simon, Dr. Paul is the “one exception to the Gang of 535″ on Capitol Hill.
| America | Economic Crisis |


Council on Foreign Relations president predicts coups, genocide and terrorism to test Obama Current (November 9, 2008) - Echoing Vice President-Elect Joe Biden's promise of a generated crisis and Colin Powell's revelation of a crisis that will happen on January 21 or 22, we now have the president of the Council on Foreign Relations and Biderberger Richard Haas' similar predictions of doom and gloom scheduled for President-Elect Obama.

"While foreign leaders may or may not choose to test Obama, "the one thing I'm sure of is, events will test him," Council on Foreign Relations president Richard Haass said. "There will be coups. ... There will be genocide. ... There will be terrorism."

In 74 days, President-elect Barack Obama will assume responsibility for guiding the nation out of two wars and through a daunting array of real and potential global crises. Obama is likely to benefit from initial goodwill across much of the planet, where there's profound relief that the Bush years are ending. Still, the new president — untested in foreign affairs — faces what may be the most unsettled global scene since the 1930s and '40s."
| America |


Obama's Council on Foreign Relations Crew Global Research (November 9, 2008) - Meet some of president elect Obama’s leading foreign and domestic policy advisors and likely administration members, every one of them a prominent member of the Council On Foreign Relations. Will these people bring about "change" or will they continue to hold up the same entrenched system forged by the corporate elite for decades?

Susan E. Rice - Council on Foreign Relations, The Brookings Institution - Served as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs under Clinton from 1997 to 2001. Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright is a longtime mentor and family friend to Rice. Critics charge that she is is ill disposed towards Europe, has little understanding of the Middle East and would essentially follow the same policies of Condoleeza Rice if appointed the next Secretary of State or the National Security Adviser.

Anthony Lake - CFR, PNAC - Bill Clinton’s first national security adviser, who was criticized for the administration’s failure to confront the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 and now acknowledges the inaction as a major mistake.

Zbigniew Brzezinski - CFR, Trilateral Commission - Brzezinski is widely seen as the man who created Al Qaeda, and was involved in the Carter Administration plan to give arms, funding and training to the mujahideen in Afghanistan.

Richard Clarke - CFR - Former chief counter-terrorism adviser on the U.S. National Security Council under Bush. Notoriously turned against the Bush administration after 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq. Also advised Madeleine Albright during the Genocide in Rwanda.

Ivo Daalder - CFR, Brookings, PNAC - Co-authored a Washington Post op-ed with neocon Robert Kagan arguing that interventionism is a bipartisan affair that should be undertaken with the approval of our democratic allies.

Dennis Ross - CFR, Trilateral Commission, PNAC - Served as the director for policy planning in the State Department under President George H. W. Bush and special Middle East coordinator under President Bill Clinton. A noted supporter of the Iraq war, Ross is also a Foreign Affairs Analyst for the Fox News Channel.

Lawrence Korb - CFR, Brookings - Director of National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Has criticized manor of the invasion of Iraq but has detailed plans to increase the manpower of the United States Army to fight the war on terror and to "spread liberal democratic values throughout the Middle East".

Bruce Reidel - CFR, Brookings - Former CIA analyst who wishes to expand the war on terror to fight Al Qaeda across the globe. Considered to be the reason behind Barack Obama’s Hawkish views on Pakistan and his Pro India leanings on Kashmir.

Stephen Flynn - CFR - Has been attributed with the idea for Obama’s much vaunted "Civilian Security Force". Flynn has written: "The United States should roughly replicate the Federal Reserve model by creating a Federal Security Reserve System (FSRS) with a national board of governors, 10 regional Homeland Security Districts, and 92 local branches called Metropolitan Anti-Terrorism Committees. The objective of this system would be to develop self-funding mechanisms to more fully engage a broad cross-section of American society to protect the country’s critical foundations from the widespread disruption that would arise from a terrorist attack."

Madeline Albright - CFR, Brookings - Currently serves on the Council on Foreign Relations Board of directors. Secretary of State and US Ambassador to the United Nations under Clinton. Did not take action against the genocide in Rwanda. Defended the sanctions against Iraq under Saddam Hussein. When asked by CBS’s 60 Minutes about the effects of sanctions: "We have heard that half a million children have died. I mean, that’s more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?" Albright replied: "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price — we think the price is worth it."

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Of course, had John McCain become president, being a member of the CFR himself, his administration would have been replete with CFR representatives also. Max Boot, Lawrence Eagleburger and Henry Kissinger, to name but a few, are all CFR members and were all advisors to the McCain campaign.

Please do your own research and add more names in the comments section of this report. It is important to document how these people are a part of the engine of global elitism and do not represent change. Only with this understanding will others wake up to the false left-right paradigm and be able to create the environment for real political change.
| NewWorldOrder | America |


Mexico deadlier than Iraq WorldNet Daily (November 11, 2008) - Drug-related bloodshed has killed more than 4,400 people across Mexico this year – a body count that has already exceeded the U.S. military death toll of 4,192 in the Iraq war since March 20, 2003. Violence involving soldiers, police and gangs has resulted in murders of 387 people in the first two weeks of October alone, and 58 killings were reported on Nov. 3, the day drug hitmen ambushed and killed two police officers with grenades and guns. The violence is not letting up in Mexico, where brutal murders are reported daily. This month is no exception.

On Election Day, a jet carrying Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mouriño, the second highest official of the Mexican government, crashed in Mexico City. Fourteen people, including Mouriño, were killed, and 40 were injured. Many people believe the plane was a cartel target because top crime-fighting officials were aboard, including former Assistant Attorney-General José Luis Santiago Vasconcelos – an official whose name was found on a hit list. Mexican authorities claim there is no evidence that the plane was targeted. But according to a survey published by the Milenio newspaper, 56 percent of Mexicans are refusing to believe the plane crash was an accident, even if police determine so.

This week, two disabled police officers were shot to death in Juarez, across the border from El paso, Texas. They were part of a special unit to help disabled people, the Associated Press reported. One officer was nearly blind while the other was wheelchair-bound.

Twelve police officers were murdered in the first week of November. Mexican gunmen armed with automatic rifles and grenades also riddled police chief Juan Manuel Pavon Felix and three other men with bullets in Nogales just last week, while another police chief, Alejandro Parada, was shot to death Friday.

Another man was handcuffed, decapitated and put into a plastic bag hanging from a Juarez bridge. His head was found in another bag in a nearby plaza. Kidnappers also murdered a 5-year-old boy in Mexico City by injecting his heart with acid.

Gunfire erupted Friday after Mexican drug gangs clashed inside a Mazatlan prison, killing five people. According to a Reuters report, guns and drugs are common in most Mexican prisons filled with drug and organized-crime convicts. This weekend also marked bloody deaths of 10 people – including policemen – in Tijuana. Drug hitmen killed three of the men in drive-by shootings, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Meanwhile, Mexican police captured the country's most feared death squad boss, Jaime "The Hummer" Gonzales this week, along with the largest arms collection in Mexico history – 540 rifles, 165 grenades, 500,000 rounds of ammunition and 14 sticks of TNT – all near the U.S. border. The FBI said Gonzales is suspected of ordering dozens of hitmen to Reynosa for a confrontation with U.S. police, London's Telegraph reported.

Security analyst Fred Burton at the Austin, Texas-based Stratfor firm, a private intelligence and analysis company, told Voice of America he is concerned that the violence is spilling into the U.S. "If you talk to the border sheriffs, which I do – if you talk to the police departments along the border, they will tell you they have a significant problem with cross-border abductions, murders, the homicide rate, and it impacts on us all in the United States," Burton said. Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada told Green Valley News, "When they go after cops, this is scary. It's the work of brazen, seemingly fearless executioners." He said the violence can easily spill over into the U.S.: "The border is an invisible line."

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory in October for Americans who visit Mexico. Public shootouts, muggings, murders and bank robberies are rampant – even in broad daylight – and Mexican criminals harass U.S. travelers along border regions. "Some recent Mexican army and police confrontations with drug cartels have taken on the characteristics of small-unit combat, with cartels employing automatic weapons and, on occasion, grenades," the State Department warned.

Meanwhile, Mexican officials have launched a desperate campaign to draw American tourists back into Juarez after many decided to stay away from the region, the Associated Press reports. Billboards tout the city as the "land of encounters."
| Signs of the Times | America |


Interview: Single EU defence 'not for all' Euractiv (November 11, 2008) - It is impossible to conceive 'Defence Europe' as a project for all 27 member states because they do not all share "similar ambitions", French Defence Minister Hervé Morin told EurActiv France in an exclusive interview.

Nevertheless, there are grounds for increased cooperation between particular member states. "Our idea is to put a number of proposals on the table, in the knowledge that some will be well-received by a limited number of countries rather than all 26," noted Morin, underlining that this was how Europe was built in many other policy areas.

Morin is confident, nonetheless, that agreement can be reached among the 27 to raise military and public awareness of the need for a European defence capacity or "military Erasmus". The project is expected to focus on military training, fostering exchange between young European officers on coordinating evacuations of European nationals and on surveillance of European maritime areas. "We are confident that the proposals tabled will be adopted," said Morin, explaining that the French EU Presidency had received positive feedback regarding the planned measures.

Morin was also upbeat about information received from the Bush administration, which he said had changed its stance on European defence. Quoting Robert Gates, his US counterpart, the French minister noted that "there is no longer any American hostility to the creation of 'Defence Europe'. They have understood that it is a means of improving global military capabilities".

The defence minister explained that in designing a "system that nobody could block," the French Presidency had ensured that every member state could "decide upon its own participation". For example, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria will not participate in the multinational airlift fleet based on the A400M, Morin explained, but they will benefit in terms of balancing their transportation deficiencies.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |


Gordon Brown calls for new world order to beat recession Telegraph UK (November 10, 2008) - Mr Brown will call on fellow world leaders to use the current worldwide economic downturn as an opportunity to thoroughly reform international financial institutions and create a new "truly global society" with Britain, the US and Europe providing leadership. His call comes ahead of an emergency summit of world leaders and finance ministers from 20 major countries, the G20, in Washington next weekend. Mr Brown will say that the Washington meeting must establish a consensus on a new Bretton Woods-style framework for the international financial system, featuring a reformed International Monetary Fund which will act as a global early-warning system for financial problems.

The original Bretton Woods agreements, signed in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire in 1944, established post-war international monetary protocols governing trade, banking and other financial relations among nations, including fixed exchange rates and the IMF.

Mr Brown's plan for strengthening the global economy 60 years later involves recapitalisation of banks to permit the resumption of normal lending to households and businesses, better international co-ordination of fiscal and monetary policy and a new IMF fund to help struggling economies and stop financial problems spreading between nations. He also wants agreement on a world trade deal and reform of the international financial system based on principles of "transparency, integrity, responsibility, sound banking practice and global governance with co-ordination across borders".

As Britain moves into a painful recession Mr Brown has staked his own leadership on helping to find a way out of the global crisis. In a speech to City financiers at the annual Lord Mayor's banquet in London he will say: "The British Government will begin to begin a new Bretton Woods with a new IMF that offers, by its surveillance of every economy, an early warning system and a crisis prevention mechanism for the whole world. "The alliance between Britain and the US, and more broadly between Europe and the US, can and must provide leadership, not in order to make the rules ourselves, but to lead the global effort to build a stronger and more just international order. "My message is that we must be internationalist not protectionist, interventionist not neutral, progressive not reactive and forward-looking not frozen by events. We can seize the moment and in doing so build a truly global society."

Mr Brown has already discussed IMF reforms with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel and has called on countries including China and the oil-rich Gulf states to fund the bulk of an increase in the IMF's bailout pot. The Prime Minister wants the markets to be subjected to morality and ordinary people's interests are put first. He believes that in electing Barack Obama, US voters have showed their belief in a "progressive" agenda of government intervention to help families and businesses through the current crisis. He will say: "Uniquely in this global age, it is now in our power to come together so that 2008 is remembered not just for the failure of a financial crash that engulfed the world but for the resilience and optimism with which we faced the storm, endured it and prevailed."

However, the head of the IMF played down expectations of a new Bretton Woods system ahead of the G20 summit. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the IMF's managing director, said: "Expectations should not be oversold. Things are not going to change overnight. Bretton Woods took two years to prepare. A lot of people are talking about Bretton Woods II. The words sound nice but we are not going to create a new international treaty."

The European Union has called for an overhaul of the IMF with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, saying: "We want to change the rules of the game". The US, however, has been more lukewarm on the possibility of radical change.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Who are the Architects of Economic Collapse? Will an Obama Administration Reverse the Tide? Global Research (November 9, 2008) - Most Serious Economic Crisis in Modern History

The October 2008 financial meltdown is not the result of a cyclical economic phenomenon. It is the deliberate result of US government policy instrumented through the Treasury and the US Federal Reserve Board. This is the most serious economic crisis in World history. 

The "bailout" proposed by the US Treasury does not constitute a "solution" to the crisis. In fact quite the opposite: it is the cause of further collapse. It triggers an unprecedented concentration of wealth, which in turn contributes to widening economic and social inequalities both within and between nations. 

The levels of indebtedness have skyrocketed. Industrial corporations are driven into bankruptcy, taken over by the global financial institutions. Credit, namely the supply of loanable funds, which constitutes the lifeline of production and investment, is controlled by a handful of financial conglomerates. 

With the "bailout", the public debt has spiraled. America is the most indebted country on earth. Prior to the "bailout", the US public debt was of the order of 10 trillion dollars. This US dollar denominated debt is composed of outstanding treasury bills and government bonds held by individuals, foreign governments, corporations and financial institutions. 

"The Bailout": The US Administration is Financing its Own Indebtedness


Ironically, the Wall Street banks --which are the recipients of the bailout money-- are also the brokers and underwriters of the US public debt. Although the banks hold only a portion of the public debt, they transact and trade in US dollar denominated public debt instruments Worldwide. 

In a bitter twist, the banks are the recipients of  a 700+ billion dollar handout and at the same time they act as creditors of the US government. We are dealing with an absurd circular relationship: To finance the bailout, Washington must borrow from the banks, which are the recipients of the bailout.

The US administration is financing its own indebtedness. Federal, State and municipal governments are increasingly in a straightjacket, under the tight control of the global financial conglomerates. Increasingly, the creditors call the shots on government reform. The bailout is conducive to the consolidation and centralization of banking power, which in turn backlashes on real economic activity, leading to a string of bankruptcies and mass unemployment.

Will an Obama Administration Reverse the Tide?

The financial crisis is the outcome of a deregulated financial architecture. Obama has stated unequivocally his resolve to address the policy failures of the Bush administration and "democratize" the US financial system. President-Elect Barack Obama says that he is committed to reversing the tide: 

"Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers. In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people." (President-elect Barack Obama, November 4, 2008, emphasis added)

The Democrats casually blame the Bush administration for the October financial meltdown. Obama says that he will be introducing an entirely different policy agenda which responds to the interests of Main Street:

"Tomorrow, you can turn the page on policies that put the greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street before the hard work and sacrifice of men and women all across Main Street. Tomorrow you can choose policies that invest in our middle class and create new jobs and grow this economy so that everybody has a chance to succeed, from the CEO to the secretary and the janitor, from the factory owner to the men and women who work on the factory floor.( Barack Obama, election campaign, November 3, 2008, emphasis added)

Is Obama committed to "taming Wall Street" and "disarming financial markets"? Ironically, it was under the Clinton administration that these policies of "greed and irresponsibility" were adopted.

The 1999 Financial Services Modernization Act (FSMA) was conducive to the the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. A pillar of President Roosevelt’s "New Deal", the Glass-Steagall Act was put in place in response to the climate of corruption, financial manipulation and "insider trading" which resulted in more than 5,000 bank failures in the years following the 1929 Wall Street crash.

Bill Clinton signs into law the  Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act, November 12, 1999. Under the 1999 Financial Services Modernization Act, effective control over the entire US financial services industry (including insurance companies, pension funds, securities companies, etc.) had been transferred to a handful of financial conglomerates and their associated hedge funds. Read full story...

| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Obama could reverse Bush orders on drilling, stem cells Breitbart (November 9, 2008) - Barack Obama is looking to reverse executive orders on oil drilling and stem cell research implemented by President George W. Bush, the president-elect's transition team said Sunday.
The move could signal a swift change of course after eight years under the Bush administration, even as top aides stressed Obama's bipartisan aims and predicted the new cabinet could contain familiar faces, particularly at the Pentagon.

Both the incoming Democrats and outgoing Republicans have largely struck a tone of civility, with economic woes and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan high on the list of priorities ahead of Obama's inauguration on January 20. But as Obama prepared for handover talks at the White House Monday, his transition chief John Podesta signaled that Obama could wipe away some hallmarks of the Bush years, including a ban on embyronic stem cell research and moves to open new lands to oil drilling. "I think across the board, on stem cell research, on a number of areas, you see the Bush administration, even today, moving aggressively to do things that I think are probably not in the interest of the country," Podesta told Fox. "We're looking at -- again, in virtually every agency to see where we can move forward, whether that's on energy transformation, on improving health care, on stem cell research," he said.

Podesta, who also served as White House chief of staff under president Bill Clinton, said he would not "preview decisions that he (Obama) has yet to make." However he pointed out that "as a candidate, Senator Obama said that he wanted all the Bush executive orders reviewed, and decide which ones should be kept, and which ones should be repealed, and which ones should be amended." Among the measures that Podesta raised were the Bush administration's move to authorize oil and gas drilling in the western state of Utah, and embryonic stem cell research which Bush has limited because he views it as destruction of human life. Obama is "a transformational figure, and I think he's going to transform the way government acts as we move forward," Podesta said.

Meanwhile the Democrat, who has already appointed a chief of staff and is mulling options for key posts in treasury and defense, is busily crafting a diverse cabinet, his transition team co-chair Valerie Jarrett said. "Throughout the campaign, president-elect Obama has talked about the importance of bipartisanship," she told NBC. "I'm confident his administration will include people from all perspectives," said Jarrett, a close aide to Obama who served as his Senate campaign finance director in 2004.

With the US military engaged on two fronts in Iraq and Afghanistan, a key question has been whether Obama would keep on Defense Secretary Robert Gates. "I think everything is a possibility right now," Jarrett said when asked if the new administration would consider keeping Gates in his post.

Jarrett also defended Obama's pick of tough-talking Congressman Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff, saying he brought political savvy to the incoming administration. "No one can hit the ground running faster than Rahm Emanuel. He embraces president-elect Obama's philosophy. He's going to do an outstanding job," she said. House minority leader John Boehner has assailed Emanuel as an "ironic choice for a president-elect who has promised to change Washington, make politics more civil, and govern from the center."

Bush's chief of staff Josh Bolten said the White House was also working hard to ensure a seamless transition. "Because if a crisis hits on January 21, they're the ones who are going to have to deal with it. We need to make sure that they're as well prepared as possible," Bolten said on C-Span.

On Saturday, Bush applauded Obama's election victory as a "triumph" and said "he can count on my complete cooperation as he makes his transition to the White House." But while the president and president-elect have taken the high road, partisanship has not entirely disappeared among lawmakers, as Democrats revel in the seats they snatched from Republicans in the House of Representatives and Senate in last week's election. Asked whether he agreed with the notion of keeping Gates as defense secretary, Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said on CNN: "Sure. I think we need a good transition there." "Why wouldn't we want to keep him? He's never been a registered Republican," he added.
| America |


Iran Challenges Obama by Hiking Tensions on Israel’s Borders DEBKAfile (November 8, 2008) - The strategy the Islamic regime has charted for the new US president hinges on fanning tensions on Israel’s northern and southern borders while putting a damper on the various Middle East peace initiatives. Syria was therefore discouraged from returning to its indirect peace track with Israel and Hamas ordered to boycott Egypt’s bid to patch up the quarrel between the Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah.

Tehran’s object is to show Barack Obama who holds the whip hand in the Middle East and force him to seek urgent talks to defuse rising tensions.

At his first news conference as president elect, Obama said Friday, Nov. 7, that Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons was “unacceptable” and its support for terrorist organizations “must cease.” He ducked a reporter’s question about whether he had read the letter of congratulation sent him by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and when he would answer. But Iran had already laid out its strategy for the incoming president, jumping in the day before the US presidential election.

Foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki arrived in Damascus on Nov. 3 with a briefing for Syrian president Bashar Assad. According to our Middle East sources, Mottaki said Tehran would enter into dialogue with the new US president only from a position of political and military strength and did not propose to await Obama’s convenience until he took office in the White House on Jan. 20.

Iran’s rulers want to force the new US president to seek them out for a back-door channel of communications, in the same way as Ronald Reagan did while Jimmy Carter was still president to solve the 1980 hostage crisis in Tehran. They plan to make him come to them by raising tensions to crisis level.

While avoiding an explicit order to halt the Syrian-Israel talks, Mottaki gave Assad to understand that he must keep Tehran in the picture on their progress and goals. Better they should lead nowhere. This would fit in with Iran’s intention of putting on the table an impressive crisis package including Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians and so force the new US administration to accept the Islamic republic as the prime power in the region.

To drive this home, they are stirring the pot wherever they can.

DEBKAfile’s Exclusive military sources disclose that Iranian agents, aided by Hizballah, are enlisting Palestinian militias in the big Lebanese Ain Hilwa refugee camp near Sidon and other camps for terrorist missions on Israel’s northern border.

The Israeli government has watched what was going on but done nothing. But US military and intelligence were concerned enough to warn Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that he had better act fast before his Fatah faction lost Ain Hilwa. This happened shortly before US Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice departed for the Middle East Quartet’s Sharm el-Sheikh meeting Sunday, Nov. 9.

Abbas reacted by sacking Sultan Abu Al Aynayn, the veteran Fatah chief for all the refugee camps in Lebanon, and appointing the Palestinian general Kemal Midhath in his stead. But our counter-terror sources strongly doubt that the new man can stem the defections of Palestinian militias from Fatah and halt Iran’s and Hizballah’s takeover of the Ain Hilwa camp – especially since, according to the latest US intelligence information, Col. Al Aynayn had already been bought.

In Gaza, Israeli forces last week pre-empted in the nick of time a Hamas cross-border kidnap operation by means of a tunnel leading under the border fence. Hizballah’s abduction of two Israeli soldiers, the late Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in July 2006 triggered a full-scale war with Israel. The tunnel was destroyed but Hamas and Jihad Islami have maintained a four-day missile barrage against Israel.

In the diplomatic arena, Saturday, Nov. 8, Hamas suddenly announced a boycott of the oft-postponed Egyptian bid. It had been finally scheduled to take place in Cairo Monday, Nov. 9, to bring Hamas and Fatah together in Cairo for a power-sharing deal to bury the hatchet after three years.

This event was also intended to demonstrate to the Middle East Quartet that Egypt was back at center stage in the Middle East and had succeeded in drawing Hamas out of the radical Iranian orbit to embrace Palestinian unity and give the Quartet’s peace effort a major boost.

But Tehran was ahead of Cairo. Last Tuesday, Hamas leaders, including Khaled Meshaal, were given their orders from the Iranian foreign minister to boycott the Cairo talks. Following his script, a smiling Meshaal told a Sky interviewer: “If the new US president wants a role in the Middle East, he has no choice but to talk to us because we are the real force on the ground.”

By Saturday, Nov. 8, therefore, with missiles already flying from Gaza, Tehran had managed to spoil the last Middle East journey to be undertaken by Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state, and tip over Egypt’s Palestinian mediation bid and the prospects of Syrian-Israel talks. Still to come is a Lebanese-Israeli border flare-up - for which Tehran has already enlisted Hizballah and Lebanese Palestinian militias.
| Iran | Israel | Islam | America |


World has 100 days to fix crisis: EU leaders Economic Times (November 8, 2008) - European Union leaders backed a 100-day deadline by which the world's leading economies should decide urgent global finance reforms, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Friday. Sarkozy, who chaired a special meeting of EU nations, said the financial crisis and economic downturn required a quick deal on an overhaul at a Nov 15 summit in Washington bringing together leaders of the world's 20 largest industrialized nations and emerging economies. "We are in an economic crisis. We have to take this into account," Sarkozy said. "We have to react and we have no time to lose." "I'm not going to take part in a summit where there is just talk for talk's sake," Sarkozy told reporters after talks between the heads of the EU's 27 nations.

The EU is calling for a second global summit next spring to flesh out changes to the way the world economy is governed. They want to see far more supervision of big financial companies and are urging governments to jointly monitor them. They want to prevent a repeat of the Wall Street excesses that caused havoc in markets worldwide, and are bringing emerging economies China, India and Brazil on board for talks on shaping a new world economic order.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the Washington talks should be a "decisive moment for the world economy." A text agreed by EU leaders says they want an early warning system that would watch for financial bubbles and prevent "world imbalances'', such as the swelling US trade deficit. They also suggest making the International Monetary Fund the world's financial watchdog, suggesting it be given more power to curb financial crises and give more money to aid countries in trouble.

The Europeans also want to close loopholes that allow some financial institutions to evade regulation, and ensure supervision for all major financial players, including ratings agencies or funds carrying high amounts of debt. The leaders in a declaration called for greater transparency in markets that would no longer omit "vast swathes of financial activity from auditable, certifiable accounts." It also said "excessive risk-taking must be overhauled," a reference to the sale of high-risk debt securities and executive pay that may reward risk-taking.

EU leaders will call on the Nov 15 summit to agree immediately on five principles: submit ratings agencies to more surveillance; align accounting standards; close loopholes; set banking codes of conduct to reduce excessive risk-taking; and ask the International Monetary Fund to suggest ways of calming the turmoil. To date, European governments alone have committed some 2 trillion euros ($2.6 trillion) in cash injections, bank deposit guarantees, interbank loan coverage and partial or full nationalization to prop up consumer and business confidence.

The damage done worldwide is fueling a search for a "new Bretton Woods", a reference to the post-World War II conference that shaped the international financial system. In Washington, there is little desire in the waning days of the Bush administration for a major overhaul of financial regulations. But the United States and European nations are no longer the only players. China and Brazil and India are jumping at the chance to join a major international effort.

G-20 finance officials nations will meet this weekend in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to prepare next week's summit. This may pave the way for emerging economies to play a larger role in global finance talks. France is suggesting bring them on board as members of the exclusive world club of G-8 industrialized nations which regularly meets to discuss the global economy.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Europe unveils its vision for global financial reform EU Observer (November 7, 2008) - EU leaders have agreed on a set of principles that should guide future talks on the reform of the global financial architecture, urging for more regulation and transparency in the sector that has delivered the world's biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. "No financial institution, no market segmentation and no jurisdiction must escape proportionate and adequate regulation or at least oversight," states the document adopted at an extraordinary summit on Friday (7 November).

The list of desired measures will be presented at the G20 summit of industrialised and emerging economies on 15 November in Washington. The measures includes a call for transparency of financial transactions through revised accounting standards, an early warning system to tackle risks and a central role for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) "in a more efficient financial architecture."

"We don't want to move from the total lack of regulation to too much regulation," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy whose country currently holds the six-month presidency of the 27-strong Union.

He admitted that the three-hour debate with his EU counterparts was "pretty intense" but it did amount to a "united message" that they will send to other world powers next week.

"We will be defending a common position, a vision for restructuring our financial system," said the French leader.

Both Sweden and Britain reportedly expressed some unease about too much pro-regulation activism on France's part. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the EU agreed there would be no place for protectionism in the global talks next week.

The EU's scenario also included a chapter about the need to overhaul pay policy for company executives. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that the issue of executive remuneration is "important and should be linked to long-term performance," although he did not endorse Belgian plans to limit executive pay-outs to a maximum of 12 months' salary.

"We are not for interventionism, we are for a good performance of the markets, we are for a social economy of the markets," commented European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Great expectations

Mr Sarkozy said that he had spoken to both outgoing US President George W Bush and his successor, Barack Obama, about next week's meeting in Washington. The document endorsed by all EU leaders states that within 100 days of the top-level global talks, measures to implement the principles desired by Europe should be drawn up. "It has to be a real historic meeting," said Mr Barroso.

The French leader argued that additional countries, such as Spain and the Netherlands, should be invited to the G20 meeting, adding that Paris, which as both a G7 member and current chair of the six-month rotating EU presidency temporarily has two seats at such meetings, will offer one of its two places to Madrid.

Meanwhile, Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg's premier and finance minister as well as president of the Eurogroup, said he requested on Friday a single seat for the eurozone countries within the international financial institutions, with non-euro countries represented separately.

But he admitted that his idea was "too difficult for prime ministers to cope with", yet maintained confidence that this would happen eventually, as most of the EU countries, including the UK, will be part of the eurozone in 10 years.

He said he was "not offended" for not having been invited to the G20 meeting on 15 November - a day he would instead spend "between his bedsheets." Still, he criticised the fact that the EU has the tendency to be "over-represented" in the financial institutions, noting that the European Commission was not a G20 member, but will still take part in the global talks.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Dollars lining up for 'civilian national security force'? WorldNet Daily (November 6, 2008) - President-elect Barack Obama raised questions during an election campaign stop in Colorado Springs when he asserted the U.S. needs a "civilian national security force" that would be as powerful, strong and well-funded as the Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force, but few of those questions have been answered.

But now one report is proposing a possible solution for part of the equation: From where would the money for such an organization come? Democrats in Congress now are floating the idea of cutting U.S. military spending by 25 percent, or $150 billion a year, and according to a report from blogger Jay Tea, that could be used for the new "security force." The idea to cut the military, proposed by Rep. Barney Frank, already is being opposed by Republicans.

Frank, D-Mass., recently told a newspaper the Pentagon will have to start choosing the cuts from its weapons programs because he wants to slash more than $150 billion from the estimated $607 billion in defense spending already approved for fiscal year 2008. U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., argued America now is fighting terror worldwide, including active wars in Afghanistan and Iran, and that has stretched the capabilities of the military already. He warned cutting funding in such a drastic way would be irresponsible. "You know if we don't make the right decisions about the military nothing else will matter will it? Because if we don't have a free country then you know what do these other programs matter at all? That's the number one responsibility," he said.

The blogger, however, saw the plan linked this way: "Representative Barney Frank, apparently not content with his role in wreaking havoc on the nation's financial system, has announced that he will push for a 25 percent cut in defense spending. This could actually work hand-in-hand with one of Obama's proposals for a 'civilian National Security Force,' which he said would be as well-funded as the military. If the defense budget is slashed, then it makes it easier to fund a new organization at the same level."

On the FamilySecurityMatters.org website, blogger Peter Gadiel lamented the lack of information about Obama's plan and its accompanying implied threat. "Such an outfit would be worse than useless in any foreign action. Its only possible use could be for domestic purposes. Since we already have police forces, and the National Guard what could a 'Domestic National Security Force' possibly be used for? Suppressing dissent? We simply do not know," he wrote. It was in a July speech in Colorado Springs that Obama insisted the U.S. "cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set." A video of his comments is here:

 

Obama spokesmen have declined to return WND calls requesting an explanation. Joseph Farah, founder and editor of WND, used his daily column first to raise the issue and then to elevate it with a call to all reporters to start asking questions about it. "If we're going to create some kind of national police force as big, powerful and well-funded as our combined U.S. military forces, isn't this rather a big deal?" Farah wrote. "I thought Democrats generally believed the U.S. spent too much on the military. How is it possible their candidate is seeking to create some kind of massive but secret national police force that will be even bigger than the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force put together? "Is Obama serious about creating some kind of domestic security force bigger and more expensive than that? If not, why did he say it? What did he mean?" Farah wrote.

His call generated intense Internet discussions.
The Blue Collar Muse blog commented, "In 2007, the U.S. Defense budget was $439 billion. Is Obama serious about creating some kind of domestic security force bigger and more expensive than that? The questions are legion and the implications of such an organization are staggering! What would it do? According to the title, it's a civilian force so how would it go about discharging 'national security' issues? What are the Constitutional implications for such a group? How is this to be paid. … The statement was made in the context of youth service. Is this an organization for just the youth or are adults going to participate? How does one get away from the specter of other such 'youth' organizations from Nazi Germany and the former Soviet Union when talking about it?"

Obama's Colorado Springs speech was about a "call to service." WND also reported Obama's "Universal Voluntary Public Service" program promoted on his campaign website.
According to an editorial in Investor's Business Daily, Obama plans to use an existing group called Public Allies as a model for his national effort. "Big Brother had nothing on the Obamas," said IBD. "They plan to herd American youth into government-funded re-education camps where they'll be brainwashed into thinking America is a racist, oppressive place in need of 'social change.'"
| NewWorldOrder | America |


3 'Superbanks' Now Dominate Industry MSNBC (November 6, 2008) - The financial crisis that has been sweeping the globe has reshaped nearly every corner of the economy, but no industry has been altered more radically than banking. Several of the nation's biggest banks have failed or been absorbed by healthier institutions, leaving three giant "superbanks" with an unprecedented concentration of market power: Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. While that may be good news for emerging giants and the failing companies they helped rescue, the new oligopoly raises troubling questions about regulation and competition, analysts and consumer advocates say.

"Bank fees are going up, up, up, and that’s the danger to consumers as more of these banks consolidate,” says Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumer League. “It’s difficult for the average person to get a bank account that doesn’t involve fees, and if you get into financial distress you’re cooked, and you’ll be ‘fee-ed’ to death.” According to a recently released banking fee study from Bankrate.com, ATM surcharges rose 11 percent this year to an average of $1.97, and the fee for a bounced checks rose 2.5 percent to an average $28.95. "Consumers are going to be victims of higher and more punitive fees,” Greenberg predicts.

Moreover, many analysts worry about how federal and state authorities, who were unable to prevent the current financial industry meltdown, will be able to monitor the new giant banks that combine a wide range of operations from investment banking to consumer lending. “Large institutions are impossible to manage prudently, let alone regulate,” says Amar Bhide, a professor at the Columbia Business School. In fact, existing federal banking laws say that no bank can have more than 10 percent of the domestic deposit market — a threshold recently surpassed by all three superbanks.

When asked whether the government would take any action, a Justice Department official was noncommittal. “It’s always something we’ve looked at and will continue to look at," said spokeswoman Gina Talamona. "It’s something we’ve looked at as part of our general antitrust review.”

The reason limits on market share were put in place were so banks didn’t get so big they’d become monopolies that could risk the whole economy, explains Atul Gupta, finance department chair for Bentley University in Boston. But now the government appears to be pushing banks in the direction of more consolidation. The Treasury is pouring some $250 billion of taxpayer money into healthy financial institutions, and some of that is being used by stronger banks to snap up weaker rivals. “The government is convinced that allowing any of these firms to fail would have catastrophic implications,” says Gupta. “So the government is saying, ‘This bank is in trouble, so I want this bank to buy that one.’ And everyone holds their noses and hopes things work out.”

In the current environment, such rapid consolidation is a “no brainer," says Gregory F. Udell, Chase Chair of Banking and Finance at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. The risk of creating monopolies, he says, “is a lot less than the risk of having a lot of zombie institutions out there.” He also points out that consolidation in the banking sector, though recently at a fever pitch, is nothing new. Indeed, the number of commercial banks and savings & loans in the United States has fallen in the past 20 years to 8,451 as of June, compared to 16,574 in 1988, according to FDIC data.

Espen Eckbo, finance professor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, believes economies of scale will only help the troubled financial sector. He maintains the banking sector got into trouble because of out-of-control risk taking — not because banks got too big. His answer: “We need to educate the boards of these banks that ultimately are supposed to be a stopgap for these things. They need to have a bird’s-eye view of the organization and understand if the left arm is taking on debt while the right arm is taking on debt. They have to oversee that.” But some analysts are arguing that the current wave of consolidation could be followed by a move to break up the biggest banks. Read full story...

| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Obama and EU to reinvent global politics, pundit says EU Observer (November 6, 2008) - The Obama administration will play a big role in "reinventing" the international system, especially on the financial side, in strong partnership with the EU, US foreign policy expert David J. Rothkopf said on Wednesday.

A former trade offical in the Clinton administration and a consultant on foreign affairs and emerging markets, Mr Rothkopf was talking from Washington during a video-conference organized by the Brussels branch of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, an international think-tank associated with the US State Department. "President Obama will play a bigger role in re-inventing the international system than any other president before in past decades," Mr Rothkopf argued, with a number of organisations and treaties badly needing an "update" or to be replaced altogether – ranging from the stalled Doha round of trade talks known to the non-proliferation treaty, as well as outdated bodies such as the G7 or the International Monetary Fund that don't include the emerging economies such as China.

US-EU relations will "clearly" improve, with a second trip to Europe probably taking place in the first months of his mandate, Mr Rothkopf said. The tendency of the Democratic Party to be "more comfortable" with multi-lateralism and listening to its European partners will also contribute to improving relations, he said. But there was also a "necessity" for this partnership to improve, Mr Rothkopf argued. "We can't do things alone, we need partnerships and burden sharing. I would expect a debate within NATO about a broader role and sense of burden sharing," he said, mentioning Afghanistan as an example where European help is needed. "Problems within Europe are going to have an impact on this as much as US obligations are, to the extent that the EU is divided on some of the big issues of the time and on the nature of the common foreign policy and common defence policy," Mr Rothkopf added.

New global financial regulator and IMF reform

Mr Rothkopf emphasised the need for a global financial regulator – something the G20 meeting in Washington on 15 November is still unlikely to agree upon, with the outgoing Bush administration opposing this idea and the Obama team yet not in charge. But G20 leaders would probably agree to meet again in the first months of 2009, when both the creation of such a body, as well as the reform of the IMF could take a more concrete shape.

He spoke of a "regulatory renaissance" and of of "fusion capitalism", by which he means seeing European and Asian visions of capitalism and how markets are to be regulated take greater prominance on the international stage, and not just the so-called Washington Consensus. Yet on the down side, Mr Rothkopf warned against "blazing new trails on protectionism" that would isolate economies and only aggravate problems.

In terms of what a global financial regulator would look like, Mr Rothkopf mentioned the EU as an example of "creating super-national structures," while also noting the problem of enforcement. "Getting everybody in a room and agreeing on principles is easy – this is what we are probably going to get on 15 November – but next year we'll see whether we'll get institutions that have the ability to enforce new global standards on the international financial markets. That's going to be the challenge," he said.

Any financial agreement would also foresee a leadership role for the US, in coalition with the EU and other countries, Mr Rothkopf projected.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

I'm brought back to what Glenn Beck spoke of regarding Biden's comments on a coming test by the world and global financial decisions that Obama would need their support on (October 20, 2008), even though it may seem like the wrong decision at the time. Be careful what you ask for America... you'll get it. Further global cooperation in these matters means America will essentially be under the same thumb as the rest of the world financially and part of building and implementing that system.


Javier SOLANA, EU High Representative for the CFSP, congratulates Barack Obama on his election as President of the United States of America Council of the European Union (November 5, 2008) - Javier SOLA9A, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), made the following statement today following the Presidential elections in the United States of America :

"I want to congratulate Barack Obama on his impressive election victory. Elections are about political renewal. The campaign has been exciting and uplifting and the turnout impressive. The sense of renewal also applies to the transatlantic relations. Europeans and Americans are keen to open a new chapter in their relations.

President-elect Obama ran on a ticket of change. This is most welcome since many things in the world today need changing. Let us do that together.

Europe is willing and able to help. There is a high number of very complex global problems: from the Middle-East to Iran and Afghanistan and Pakistan, from climate change to nonproliferation. We need to address those problems together with determination and creativity.

President-elect Obama personifies what is good and impressive about America. He also personifies today's complex and globalized world where change is a constant. As we grapple with these problems, it is good to have someone who put change, empathy and good judgement at the heart of his campaign.

I am looking forward to working with President Obama and his administration."
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana | America |


Ron Paul Warns Of Great Shift Toward Global Government Under Obama Infowars (November 5, 2008) - Texas Congressman and 2008 presidential candidate Ron Paul has warned that the euphoria surrounding the election of Barack Obama combined with the overwhelming fear of major international crises could facilitate a cataclysmic shift toward a new world order.

Appearing live on the Alex Jones show earlier today, the Congressman spoke of a feeling of dread surrounding the change of guard both in the White House and on Capitol Hill: "I do feel it but I don't think it's brand new, I didn't wake up with it, I've had it for a while, I don't think the election was a surprise, but the rhetoric is getting pretty strong and they are getting very bold." he commented.

Speaking on the stage management of the election, and calling it a "huge distraction" from real issues, the Congressman outlined how both candidates were pre-positioned by the elite interests with the knowledge that either would satisfactorily serve their agenda: "I think McCain was obviously a back up candidate in case something happened where Obama didn't win, they'd have been satisfied with McCain, but they have been positioning Obama for a long long time." "This started even before he announced he was running. Anybody who would have gotten that much favorable coverage for so long, you know that the plans are laid for him to be the individual that's going to be taking care of the corporate elite." the Congressman continued.

Paul also warned that Democrats gains within the House and the Senate make for a particularly worrying situation of absolute power, similar to that held by the Republican party eight years ago. "Just as a Republican Congress wouldn't say boo to a Republican Congress, you know that the Democratic Congress is NEVER going to stand up." "I think it is very dangerous and the first year is going to be the most dangerous year." Paul stated. "Just think of Bush's first year, he also had the 9/11 thing that he could use to scare everybody to death. And Obama will use the financial crisis, which will get worse, and there will be more military skirmishes around the world." Paul asserted. The Congressman also warned that many Republican representatives may go along with Obama just to win favor with the electorate and be seen to follow popular opinion.

Commenting on the much touted "International crisis" that luminaries such as Colin Powell, Joe Biden and Zbigniew Brzezinski have all guaranteed will occur within weeks of Obama entering the White House, the Congressman stated that he believes it may be a catalyst for a shift toward world government: "I think it's going to be an announcement of a new monetary order, and they'll probably make it sound very limited, they're not going to say this is world government, even though it is if you control the world's money and you control the military, which they do indirectly." "A world central bank, worldwide regulation and world control of the whole system, of all the commodities and all the natural resources, what else can you call it other than world government?"

"Obama wouldn't be there if he didn't toe the line, and when the meeting starts on November 15th for the new monetary system, this could be the beginning of the end of what's left of our national sovereignty." Paul said, also warning that the global media are already hailing Obama as the world's leader.

With Obama having previously announced that he will shift military attention to Pakistan, the Congressman also warned that the president elect will, thanks to the previous administration, have the necessary precedent to escalate the war on terror: "It's the philosophy of the Bush doctrine, which was that we have the right to preemptively strike anybody and then he even expanded that recently by saying we don't have to invade and conquer, but we have the right to go in and bomb anybody without their permission, and that's why we go into Pakistan and Syria, which are acts of war. So they have the tools to do it and the sentiment and most Americans are oblivious to what is happening."

Paul also suggested that any escalation could be facilitated by false flag events such as Gulf of Tonkin style incidents. Urging listeners not to lose faith in the campaign for liberty and the quest to restore and the Republic, Ron Paul spoke of reason to look ahead: "We have to look for sources of optimism... ultimately though all that happens to us is a result of philosophy and beliefs and convictions and that is where I think we have made some inroads. We have drawn attention to the importance of monetary policy, the importance of the central bank, the importance of how government causes so much problems, it's just that we're in the minority." Paul said.

"We have to continue to do what we are doing, you are in the business of passing on and spreading information, that, to me, is most crucial, getting more people engaged, more people understanding what the issues are, nothing else is more important than that. Then when you see an opportunity we have to turn this into political action." the Congressman concluded.
| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


U.S. Treasury teaches 'Islamic Finance 101' WorldNet Daily (November 5, 2008) - The Treasury Department has announced it will teach "Islamic finance" to U.S. banking regulatory agencies, Congress and other parts of the executive branch today in Washington, D.C. – but critics say it is opening a door to American funding of Islamic extremism.

'Islamic Finance 101'

According to its announcement, the "Islamic Finance 101" forum is "designed to help inform the policy community about Islamic financial services, which are an increasingly important part of the global financial industry." The Treasury Department has collaborated with Harvard University's Islamic Finance Project to coordinate the event. The department says it expects about 100 people will attend the seminar. Some speakers include Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Neel Kashkari, senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Jr.; Harvard Business School professor Samuel Hayes; Mahmoud El-Gamal, chair of Islamic economics, finance and management at Rice University and Islamic finance adviser to the Treasury Department; Sarah Bell of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo, Shariah adviser and Islamic scholar; Michael McMillan, chair of the Islamic Legal Forum at the American Bar Association and professor of Islamic finance; and Rushdi Siddiqui, global director for the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes and vigorous advocate for Islamic finance.

Islamic finance is a system of banking consistent with the principles of Shariah, or Islamic law. It is becoming increasingly popular, having reached $800 billion by mid-2007 and growing at more than 15 percent each year. Wall Street now features an Islamic mutual fund and an Islamic index. However, critics claim anti-American terrorists are often financially supported through U.S. investments – creating a system by which the nation funds its own enemy.

Aiding the enemy

In his essay, "Financial Jihad: What Americans Need to Know," Vice President Christopher Holton of the Center for Security Policy writes, "America is losing the financial war on terror because Wall Street is embracing a subversive enemy ideology on one hand and providing corporate life support to state sponsors of terrorism on the other hand."

Holton refers to Islamic finance, or "Shariah-Compliant Finance" as a "modern-day Trojan horse" infiltrating the U.S. He said it poses a threat to the U.S. because it seeks to legitimize Shariah – a man-made medieval doctrine that regulates every aspect of life for Muslims – and could ultimately change American life and laws.

Shariah-compliant finance is becoming a major movement, because American banks and investors are seeking wealth from oil profits in the Middle East. Some advocates claim Islamic finance is socially responsible because it bans investors from funding companies that sell or promote products such as alcohol, tobacco, pornography, gambling and even pork.

However, Islamic financial institutions also require all industry participants to adhere to tenets of Shariah law. According to Nasser Suleiman's "Corporate Governance in Islamic Banking, "First and foremost, an Islamic organization must serve God. It must develop a distinctive corporate culture, the main purpose of which is to create a collective morality and spirituality which, when combined with the production of goods and services, sustains growth and the advancement of the Islamic way of life." Three nations that rule 100 percent by Shariah law – Iran, Saudi Arabia and Sudan – hold some of the most horrific human rights records in the world, Holton said. "This strongly suggests that Americans should strenuously resist anything associated with Shariah."

Tenets of Shariah

In his essay, "Islamic Finance or Financing Islamism," Alex Alexiev outlined the following tenets of Shariah taken from "The Reliance of the Traveler: The Classic Manual of Sacred Law":

  • A woman is eligible for only half of the inheritance of a man
  • A virgin may be married against her will by her father or grandfather
  • A woman may not leave the house without her husband's permission
  • A Muslim man may marry four women, including Christians and Jews; a Muslim woman can only marry a Muslim
  • Beating an insubordinate wife is permissible
  • Female sexual mutilation is obligatory
  • Adultery [or the perception of adultery] is punished by death by stoning
  • Offensive, military jihad against non-Muslims is a religious obligation
  • Apostasy from Islam is punishable by death without trial
  • Lying to infidels in time of jihad is permissible

'Useful idiots'

Alexiev writes that many Islamic financial institutions claim Shariah-Compliant Finance "derives its Islamic character from the strict observance of the ostensible Quranic prohibition of lending at interest, the imperative of almsgiving (zakat), avoidance of excessive uncertainty (gharar) and certain practices and products considered unlawful (haram) to Muslims …" However, he said, "[E]ven a casual examination of the reality of Islamic finance today reveals it to be a bogus concept practiced by deceptive ploys and disingenuous means by practitioners that are or should be aware of that, but remain predictably silent."

Shariah finance institutions that have funded militant Islamism for more than 30 years. Alexiev cites Islamic Development Bank's hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions to Hamas in support of suicide bombing. Bank Al-Taqwa and other banks and charities run by Saudi billionaires have funded al-Qaida activities.

Additionally, Shariah law mandates that Muslims donate 2.5 percent of their annual incomes to charities – including jihadists. When 400 banks regularly contribute to such charities, potential financial sums can be virtually limitless.

If Western banks endorse Shariah, they will "end up becoming what Lenin called useful idiots or worse to the Islamists," Alexiev writes. "And it is a very thin line between that and outright complicity in the Islamist agenda."
| Islam | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Dems Target Private Retirement Accounts Carolina Journal Online (November 4, 2008) - Democrats in the U.S. House have been conducting hearings on proposals to confiscate workers’ personal retirement accounts — including 401(k)s and IRAs — and convert them to accounts managed by the Social Security Administration. Triggered by the financial crisis the past two months, the hearings reportedly were meant to stem losses incurred by many workers and retirees whose 401(k) and IRA balances have been shrinking rapidly.

The testimony of Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economic policy analysis at the New School for Social Research in New York, in hearings Oct. 7 drew the most attention and criticism. Testifying for the House Committee on Education and Labor, Ghilarducci proposed that the government eliminate tax breaks for 401(k) and similar retirement accounts, such as IRAs, and confiscate workers’ retirement plan accounts and convert them to universal Guaranteed Retirement Accounts (GRAs) managed by the Social Security Administration.

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, in prepared remarks for the hearing on “The Impact of the Financial Crisis on Workers’ Retirement Security,” blamed Wall Street for the financial crisis and said his committee will “strengthen and protect Americans’ 401(k)s, pensions, and other retirement plans” and the “Democratic Congress will continue to conduct this much-needed oversight on behalf of the American people.”

Currently, 401(k) plans allow Americans to invest pretax money and their employers match up to a defined percentage, which not only increases workers’ retirement savings but also reduces their annual income tax. The balances are fully inheritable, subject to income tax, meaning workers pass on their wealth to their heirs, unlike Social Security. Even when they leave an employer and go to one that doesn’t offer a 401(k) or pension, workers can transfer their balances to a qualified IRA.

Mandating Equality

Ghilarducci’s plan first appeared in a paper for the Economic Policy Institute: Agenda for Shared Prosperity on Nov. 20, 2007, in which she said GRAs will rescue the flawed American retirement income system (www.sharedprosperity.org/bp204/bp204.pdf).

The current retirement system, Ghilarducci said, “exacerbates income and wealth inequalities” because tax breaks for voluntary retirement accounts are “skewed to the wealthy because it is easier for them to save, and because they receive bigger tax breaks when they do.”

Lauding GRAs as a way to effectively increase retirement savings, Ghilarducci wrote that savings incentives are unequal for rich and poor families because tax deferrals “provide a much larger ‘carrot’ to wealthy families than to middle-class families — and none whatsoever for families too poor to owe taxes.”

GRAs would guarantee a fixed 3 percent annual rate of return, although later in her article Ghilarducci explained that participants would not “earn a 3% real return in perpetuity.” In place of tax breaks workers now receive for contributions and thus a lower tax rate, workers would receive $600 annually from the government, inflation-adjusted. For low-income workers whose annual contributions are less than $600, the government would deposit whatever amount it would take to equal the minimum $600 for all participants.

In a radio interview with Kirby Wilbur in Seattle on Oct. 27, 2008, Ghilarducci explained that her proposal doesn’t eliminate the tax breaks, rather, “I’m just rearranging the tax breaks that are available now for 401(k)s and spreading — spreading the wealth.”

All workers would have 5 percent of their annual pay deducted from their paychecks and deposited to the GRA. They would still be paying Social Security and Medicare taxes, as would the employers. The GRA contribution would be shared equally by the worker and the employee. Employers no longer would be able to write off their contributions. Any capital gains would be taxable year-on-year.

Analysts point to another disturbing part of the plan. With a GRA, workers could bequeath only half of their account balances to their heirs, unlike full balances from existing 401(k) and IRA accounts. For workers who die after retiring, they could bequeath just their own contributions plus the interest but minus any benefits received and minus the employer contributions.

Another justification for Ghilarducci’s plan is to eliminate investment risk. In her testimony, Ghilarducci said, “humans often lack the foresight, discipline, and investing skills required to sustain a savings plan.” She cited the 2004 HSBC global survey on the Future of Retirement, in which she claimed that “a third of Americans wanted the government to force them to save more for retirement.”

What the survey actually reported was that 33 percent of Americans wanted the government to “enforce additional private savings,” a vastly different meaning than mandatory government-run savings. Of the four potential sources of retirement support, which were government, employer, family, and self, the majority of Americans said “self” was the most important contributor, followed by “government.” When broken out by family income, low-income U.S. households said the “government” was the most important retirement support, whereas high-income families ranked “government” last and “self” first (www.hsbc.com/retirement).

On Oct. 22, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Argentinean government had seized all private pension and retirement accounts to fund government programs and to address a ballooning deficit. Fearing an economic collapse, foreign investors quickly pulled out, forcing the Argentinean stock market to shut down several times. More than 10 years ago, nationalization of private savings sent Argentina’s economy into a long-term downward spiral.

Income and Wealth Redistribution

The majority of witness testimony during recent hearings before the House Committee on Education and Labor showed that congressional Democrats intend to address income and wealth inequality through redistribution.

On July 31, 2008, Robert Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, testified before the subcommittee on workforce protections that “from the standpoint of equal treatment of people with different incomes, there is a fundamental flaw” in tax code incentives because they are “provided in the form of deductions, exemptions, and exclusions rather than in the form of refundable tax credits.”

Even people who don’t pay taxes should get money from the government, paid for by higher-income Americans, he said. “There is no obvious reason why lower-income taxpayers or people who do not file income taxes should get smaller incentives (or no tax incentives at all),” Greenstein said.

“Moving to refundable tax credits for promoting socially worthwhile activities would be an important step toward enhancing progressivity in the tax code in a way that would improve economic efficiency and performance at the same time,” Greenstein said, and “reducing barriers to labor organizing, preserving the real value of the minimum wage, and the other workforce security concerns . . . would contribute to an economy with less glaring and sharply widening inequality.”

When asked whether committee members seriously were considering Ghilarducci’s proposal for GSAs, Aaron Albright, press secretary for the Committee on Education and Labor, said Miller and other members were listening to all ideas.

Miller’s biggest priority has been on legislation aimed at greater transparency in 401(k)s and other retirement plan administration, specifically regarding fees, Albright said, and he sent a link to a Fox News interview of Miller on Oct. 24, 2008, to show that the congressman had not made a decision.

After repeated questions asked by Neil Cavuto of Fox News, Miller said he would not be in favor of “killing the 401(k)” or of “killing the tax advantages for 401(k)s.”

Arguing against liberal prescriptions, William Beach, director of the Center for Data Analysis at the Heritage Foundation, testified on Oct. 24 that the “roots of the current crisis are firmly planted in public policy mistakes” by the Federal Reserve and Congress. He cautioned Congress against raising taxes, increasing burdensome regulations, or withdrawing from international product or capital markets. “Congress can ill afford to repeat the awesome errors of its predecessor in the early days of the Great Depression,” Beach said.

Instead, Beach said, Congress could best address the financial crisis by making the tax reductions of 2001 and 2003 permanent, stopping dependence on demand-side stimulus, lowering the corporate profits tax, and reducing or eliminating taxes on capital gains and dividends.

Testifying before the same committee in early October, Jerry Bramlett, president and CEO of BenefitStreet, Inc., an independent 401(k) plan administrator, said one of the best ways to ensure retirement security would be to have the U.S. Department of Labor develop educational materials for workers so they could make better investment decisions, not exchange equity investments in retirement accounts for Treasury bills, as proposed in the GSAs.

Should Sen. Barack Obama win the presidency, congressional Democrats might have stronger support for their “spreading the wealth” agenda. On Oct. 27, the American Thinker posted a video of an interview with Obama on public radio station WBEZ-FM from 2001.

In the interview, Obama said, “The Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society.” The Constitution says only what “the states can’t do to you. Says what the Federal government can’t do to you,” and Obama added that the Warren Court wasn’t that radical.

Although in 2001 Obama said he was not “optimistic about bringing major redistributive change through the courts,” as president, he would likely have the opportunity to appoint one or more Supreme Court justices.

“The real tragedy of the civil rights movement was, um, because the civil rights movement became so court focused that I think there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalition of powers through which you bring about redistributive change,” Obama said.
| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


French EU defence plan is not anti-NATO, minister says EU Observer (November 4, 2008) - The US is still critical of the EU's common security and defence policy, a pet project of the bloc's French presidency, but French interior minister Michelle Alliot-Marie defended the initiative on Monday as not being aimed against NATO.

Challenged by the deputy chairman of the NATO military committee, Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberrry to explain France's view on the transatlantic link in the enhanced EU security and defence policy, Ms Alliot-Marie said "there are countries who don't have confidence in this [transatlantic] dialogue and believe a strong European security and defence policy is aimed at minimizing NATO, but I believe the opposite." She stressed that the EU is better adapted to deal with certain conflicts, while in others "NATO power" is needed. Both were addressing a 100-odd audience at the "Security and Defence Days" conference in Brussels on Monday evening.

Mr Eikenberry made acidic remarks about the EU's ability to plan, deploy and conduct successful missions, stressing that out of the bloc's 20 missions so far, five were short-term operations in Congo. "I'm not questioning the value of those missions, they were successful in the relief of pressing humanitarian problems, but what is the overarching strategic thinking in the EU with regard to the Congo?"

He also criticized the EU's "overwhelming preference for soft power" and lack of deployable troops despite massive spending on defence. "European security in this century depends on peace and stability abroad. This is a paradigm shift often stated but still not evident in terms of policies and strategic choices. The current European strategy does not articulate clear regional priorities or comprehensive integrated responses to trans-national threats," he said.

The NATO deputy chairman nevertheless underlined that in the US there is openness towards a closer cooperation between his organisation and the European Union. "President's Sarkozy's notion of bringing more Europe into NATO is pushing against a door that is already wide open," he argued.

French defence minister Herve Morin told the Financial Times on Monday that the mood in Washington had changed, after president Sarkozy announced that France would become a full member of NATO. "It took hours of conversation for the Americans to realise that France wasn't trying to set up a rival operation and that European defence could actually bolster the capabilities of the transatlantic alliance as a whole," Mr Morin had told FT.

Mr Morin also criticised British opposition to establishing a headquarters in Brussels for the EU's common security and defence policy (ESDP). "I appreciate British pragmatism but we have a situation where we have numerous headquarters - in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and now even Greece - and that costs us money," he said.

More ESDP even without Lisbon Treaty

Meanwhile, German conservative MEP Karl von Wogau, the chairman of the European Parliament's sub-committee on security and defence argued at a parliament hearing on Monday, that the failure of the Lisbon treaty, rejected in the Irish referendum, is no impediment for building up the ESDP. The treaty would have allowed more EU power in the field of security and defense, which still remains a core competence of national governments, the MEP said. But he referred to the creation in 2004 of the European Defence Agency (EDA), an EU body aimed at helping the bloc's governments to co-ordinate and prioritise defence spending, as an example of how the ESDP can proceed without Lisbon.

Nick Witney, former EDA chief, argued the same line, while praising France's efforts to re-energize the ESDP. He also stressed the need for a common headquarters in Brussels, capable of strategic planning for the EU's different missions.

UK opposes Brussels headquarters

France's push for a common headquarter is being challenged by the UK argument that the EU can draw on NATO's planning capabilities and its 17,000-strong European headquarter in Mons, some 70 km south of Brussels.

This is enshrined in the current EU treaty of Nice, which says that "when a given crisis gives rise to an EU-led operation making use of NATO assets and capabilities, the EU and NATO will draw on the so-called "Berlin Plus arrangements." "These arrangements cover three main elements that are directly connected to operations and which can be combined: EU access to NATO planning, NATO European command options and use of NATO assets and capabilities."
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |


Obama Tells Abbas: I Support Dividing Jerusalem Israel National News (November 4, 2008) - Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama privately expressed his support for a new Arab state within Israel's current borders, including eastern Jerusalem, during his meeting with Palestinian Authority Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah this summer.

According to a report published Tuesday in the Lebanese newspaper al-Ahbar, Obama told Abbas that he supports a PA state, and Arab "rights to east Jerusalem" as well. The sources said Abbas and PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad "heard the best things they ever heard from an American president" during the meeting. However, said sources quoted in the report, the candidate asked them to keep his declaration a secret.

PA spokesman Nimar Hamad said he had no comment on the remarks, other than to describe the briefing Abbas and Fayyad had given to the presidential hopeful. Later official PA reaction to the report categorically denied that Obama had made the statements attributed to him.

"The Palestinian Authority views the American elections as an internal matter and does not favor one person over another," he said in an official statement. "The PA hopes that the next American president will fulfill his commitment towards the Palestinians and pressure Israel."

Abbas, Fayyad and the rest of the Arab world are clearly hoping for an Obama victory, however. Hamas sources quoted in the article said that Arabs fear new wars would break out in the Middle East if Republican candidate Senator John McCain wins, but they believe there will be an official peace agreement with an Obama White House.

Mixed Messages in Gaza

PA Arabs who live in Gaza were reportedly celebrating in the streets with impromptu demonstrations, waving Hamas flags in anticipation of an Obama win, according to Voice of Israel government radio. But officials for the terrorist group that controls the region were skeptical that a change in the White House would lead to a change in facts on the ground. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum was quoted by Voice of Israel as saying that voters who would have to choose between Obama and McCain were being presented with two "awful" options.

The group's Damascus-based political bureau chief, Khaled Mashaal, softened the statement by saying the group is prepared to work with any U.S. president and would welcome any change in American policy, especially if it corrected what he referred to as a "bias" toward the Jewish State.
| Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land | America |


Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis: Prepare for the Coming of Messiah Israel National News (October 27, 2008) - Internationally renowned Jewish inspirational speaker Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis warns that we are feeling the "birth pangs of the Mashiach," with limited time to save ourselves from dark prophecies surrounding his arrival.

In an exclusive interview on Israel National Radio's popular new show Mah Nishma with host Gavriel Sanders, Rebbetzin Jungreis, who is the founder of the successful 'Hineni' Jewish outreach organization and author of many books including the recently published 'Life is a Test: How to Handle Life's Challenges Successfully', addressed the fear that people feel as turbulent global events begin to make their mark on Jews and their allies around the world.


The birthpangs of the Messiah


"Anyone who has been just looking around and has his or her eyes open must be frightened. Things are happening that just don't make sense. Overnight, our cherished institutions, our icons, have collapsed. We don't understand it. People blame this one and that one. It's not just in the United States, it's all over the world, and we have so many natural disasters, and so much illness. What is happening?"

Rebbetzin Jungreis says G-d is bringing the world closer to redemption in a process called "chevlei Mashiach" – the labor pains of the arrival of the Messiah. "Now labor pains, you know, could be very, very painful…as the birth becomes more imminent, the pain becomes more intense, to the point where the mother can not bear it anymore, and just when she thinks she can not bear it, it's 'Mazal Tov!', and the baby is born."

'The generation of the dog'

Based on the writings of ancient Jewish sages, Jungreis concludes that this generation is replete with the signs that are prophesied to hail the coming of the Messiah, including endemic impudence, followership, idol worship, disasters, and war. "All our [sages] agree…they do not want to be present for the chevlei Mashiach, the birth pangs, because the birth pangs are going to be very painful… It's going to be a generation that will abound in chutzpah [audacity]. Chutzpah will be colossal. Families will be fragmented. Children will turn against parents, parents against children. The elderly will not be respected. Youth will be worshipped.

"… The generation will be like the generation of the dog.  What does that mean? The dog runs ahead but always looks back to see if the master is behind him. Similarly, people don't have their own opinions today. What is the media saying? The media is controlling the world…"

According to Rebbetzin Jungreis, the greatest idol worship of this generation is money, an obsession which causes the Western world to ignore the lurking danger posed by Islamist terror against Israel and the United States. "We have been very blessed, perhaps there was never in history such a wealthy Jewish generation as ours was. But there was no Hakaras HaTov, no credit to Hashem. "My strength did all this". We became arrogant, we became chutzpahdik, we forgot Hashem… Imach shemam [their names be obliterated], the sons of Ishmael, every minute it's "Allah". The sons of Esav, "the Lord," every minute. Their leadership is always speaking the name of G-d. Am Yisrael … they heard the word of Hashem panim el panim, face to face - has forgotten its G-d."

The propensity of the world to worship money is so great, says Rebbetzin Jungreis, that the murder of six million Jews during the Holocaust, Iran's effort to attain a nuclear weapon, and the rise of fascist and anti-Western powers can be attributed to it. "[Following the US stock market crash in 1929] America was so absorbed, Hitler had the playground of the world at his disposal, and no one stopped him," she says. "Too late did America and the world wake up. Early thirties – no one intervened with Hitler. They were all absorbed in a financial crisis.

"Fast forward. We have a financial crisis now. Ahmadinejad has the entire world at his disposal, came to New York, made the most toxic, poisonous accusations… if you had made those accusations against Muslims they would have burned down New York City, everyone would have been apologizing. Jews? No problem. He says it, and nobody even looks up, no one looks up. And in addition to him, all the rogue nations, all the demagogues, all the new Hitlers got into the act. Russia woke up again, back to its old tricks, making treaties with Chavez of Venezuela, right here in our own hemisphere. And of course, there is always North Korea. And America is worried about the stock market."

Ahmadinejad, Islamist terror - all part of prophecy

Islamist terror, says Rebbetzin Jungreis, is also predicted in the 9th century (Gregorian calendar) Jewish work, ' Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer,' which prophesied that before the coming of Messiah in the end of days, Ishmael – who is described as a brutal, wild man – will rule the world. Rebbetzin Jungreis attributes Arab terror in Israel, the Islamization of Europe, and the welcoming of Iranian President and vocal anti-Zionist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York to the ancient prophetic writing.

"Ahmadinejad comes to New York, and he has the audacity, the chutzpah to proclaim … in public, at the UN, that it's Zionist Jews who are responsible for the financial crisis in the world, that they are manipulating the world, they're controlling the world… And guess what: The entire world is silent, no outcry, no outrage, no one says anything, and he – just for good measure – he adds that Israel is this cesspool that has to be destroyed, annihilated. No outcry, not a word."

Ahmadinejad himself has a role in the unfolding arrival of the Messiah, says Jungreis, and was also predicted to wield lethal power during the end of days. "You know it says in Yalkut Shimoni that right before Mashiach will come, during Chevlei Mashiach, the king of Persia, now what is Persia? Persia is today's Iran. The king of Persia is going to have a weapon that is going to terrorize the entire world."


'Hashem is hiding'

The current low spiritual state of the Jewish People has caused G-d to hide His face from them, says Rebbetzin Jungreis, who says this concealment is meant to provoke the Jewish People to search for Him.

"In parshas Vayelech… Hashem tells Moshe Rabbeinu that in the future, there will come a generation who will forget Hashem, and terrible sufferings will come upon them. And finally they will say 'you know why this is happening? Ein Eloka, G-d is not with us. G-d is not in our midst.' And then it says … " I will continue to hide My face." Dichotomous. If we admit that G-d is not with us, then why is G-d hiding? … That puts the onus of responsibility upon G-d – it's Your fault. You are not with us. We have to say 'We are not with Hashem! We are not with our Torah! We are not with our Mitzvot! We are responsible."'

Rebbetzin Jungreis says G-d's concealment is a crucial element in developing the proper relationship with Him, with the key to understanding it being found in the biblical story of Adam and Chava [Eve].

"What was the first sin of Adam and Chava?. We say that we ate from a fruit that was forbidden? No! Hashem was ready to negotiate that. The first sin was scapegoating!. 'The woman who You gave to be with me, it's her fault, she made me do it.' Not only was Adam scapegoating, he was an ingrate. And Chava, what did she say? 'It was the serpent.' And that's when Hashem said 'That's it. That's it. Out! Gan Eden is over.' And that is what we are doing. But listen to the chesed [kindness] Hashem said. 'I will hide My face.'

"When a mother goes with her toddler to the supermarket, let's say, and the toddler has a temper tantrum, and he doesn't want to go out unless he gets candy, what does the mother do? She says 'Okay, I'm leaving, you will have to stay here by yourself," and she goes away. Is she really going away? Of course not. She is keeping an eye on her baby, but she pretends to go away so the child should seek her out and run after her. So Hashem says 'I'm hiding' but if you're hiding, you want somebody to find you. There's a beautiful mashal [parable] from a Rebbe who was walking on the street and he sees a little boy crying, and he says 'why are you crying my little child?' 'I'm crying because I'm playing hide-and-seek and nobody's looking for me.'… Hashem is hiding, but He wants us to find Him. And we are not looking for Him, so what are we doing? Whose fault was it?" For part two of the article, click here.
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Iran | Israel | Islam | Gog/Magog | America | Economic Crisis |


Romans Chapter 13 Chuck Baldwin (August 10, 2008) - It seems that every time someone such as myself attempts to encourage our Christian brothers and sisters to resist an unconstitutional or otherwise reprehensible government policy, we hear the retort, "What about Romans Chapter 13? We Christians must submit to government. Any government. Read your Bible, and leave me alone." Or words to that effect.

No doubt, some who use this argument are sincere. They are only repeating what they have heard their pastor and other religious leaders say. On the other hand, let's be honest enough to admit that some who use this argument are just plain lazy, apathetic, and indifferent. And Romans 13 is their escape from responsibility. I suspect this is the much larger group, by the way.

Nevertheless, for the benefit of those who are sincere (but obviously misinformed), let's briefly examine Romans Chapter 13. I quote Romans Chapter 13, verses 1 through 7, from the Authorized King James text:

"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor."

Do our Christian friends who use these verses to teach that we should not oppose President Bush or any other political leader really believe that civil magistrates have unlimited authority to do anything they want without opposition? I doubt whether they truly believe that.

For example, what if our President decided to resurrect the old monarchal custom of Jus Primae Noctis (Law of First Night)? That was the old medieval custom when the king claimed the right to sleep with a subject's bride on the first night of their marriage. Would our sincere Christian brethren sheepishly say, "Romans Chapter 13 says we must submit to the government"? I think not. And would any of us respect any man who would submit to such a law?

So, there are limits to authority. A father has authority in his home, but does this give him power to abuse his wife and children? Of course not. An employer has authority on the job, but does this give him power to control the private lives of his employees? No. A pastor has overseer authority in the church, but does this give him power to tell employers in his church how to run their businesses? Of course not. All human authority is limited in nature. No man has unlimited authority over the lives of other men. (Lordship and Sovereignty is the exclusive domain of Jesus Christ.)

By the same token, a civil magistrate has authority in civil matters, but his authority is limited and defined. Observe that Romans Chapter 13 clearly limits the authority of civil government by strictly defining its purpose: "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil . . . For he is the minister of God to thee for good . . . for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil."

Notice that civil government must not be a "terror to good works." It has no power or authority to terrorize good works or good people. God never gave it that authority. And any government that oversteps that divine boundary has no divine authority or protection.

Civil government is a "minister of God to thee for good." It is a not a minister of God for evil. Civil magistrates have a divine duty to "execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." They have no authority to execute wrath upon him that doeth good. None. Zilch. Zero. And anyone who says they do is lying. So, even in the midst of telling Christians to submit to civil authority, Romans Chapter 13 limits the power and reach of civil authority.

Did Moses violate God's principle of submission to authority when he killed the Egyptian taskmaster in defense of his fellow Hebrew? Did Elijah violate God's principle of submission to authority when he openly challenged Ahab and Jezebel? Did David violate God's principle of submission to authority when he refused to surrender to Saul's troops? Did Daniel violate God's principle of submission to authority when he disobeyed the king's law to not pray audibly to God? Did the three Hebrew children violate God's principle of submission to authority when they refused to bow to the image of the state? Did John the Baptist violate God's principle of submission to authority when he publicly scolded King Herod for his infidelity? Did Simon Peter and the other Apostles violate God's principle of submission to authority when they refused to stop preaching on the streets of Jerusalem? Did Paul violate God's principle of submission to authority when he refused to obey those authorities who demanded that he abandon his missionary work? In fact, Paul spent almost as much time in jail as he did out of jail.

Remember that every apostle of Christ (except John) was killed by hostile civil authorities opposed to their endeavors. Christians throughout church history were imprisoned, tortured, or killed by civil authorities of all stripes for refusing to submit to their various laws and prohibitions. Did all of these Christian martyrs violate God's principle of submission to authority?

So, even the great prophets, apostles, and writers of the Bible (including the writer of Romans Chapter 13) understood that human authority--even civil authority--is limited.

Plus, Paul makes it clear that our submission to civil authority must be predicated on more than fear of governmental retaliation. Notice, he said, "Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake." Meaning, our obedience to civil authority is more than just "because they said so." It is also a matter of conscience. This means we must think and reason for ourselves regarding the justness and rightness of our government's laws. Obedience is not automatic or robotic. It is a result of both rational deliberation and moral approbation.

Therefore, there are times when civil authority may need to be resisted. Either governmental abuse of power or the violation of conscience (or both) could precipitate civil disobedience. Of course, how and when we decide to resist civil authority is an entirely separate issue. And I will reserve that discussion for another time.

Beyond that, we in the United States of America do not live under a monarchy. We have no king. There is no single governing official in this country. America's "supreme Law" does not rest with any man or any group of men. America's "supreme Law" does not rest with the President, the Congress, or even the Supreme Court. In America, the U.S. Constitution is the "supreme Law of the Land." Under our laws, every governing official publicly promises to submit to the Constitution of the United States. Do readers understand the significance of this distinction? I hope so.

This means that in America the "higher powers" are not the men who occupy elected office, they are the tenets and principles set forth in the U.S. Constitution. Under our laws and form of government, it is the duty of every citizen, including our elected officials, to obey the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, this is how Romans Chapter 13 reads to Americans:

"Let every soul be subject unto the [U.S. Constitution.] For there is no [Constitution] but of God: the [Constitution] that be [is] ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the [Constitution], resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For [the Constitution is] not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the [Constitution]? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For [the Constitution] is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for [the Constitution] beareth not the sword in vain: for [the Constitution] is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For this cause pay ye tribute also: for [the Constitution is] God's minister, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor."

Dear Christian friend, the above is exactly the proper understanding of our responsibility to civil authority in these United States, as per the teaching of Romans Chapter 13.

Furthermore, Christians, above all people, should desire that their elected representatives submit to the Constitution, because it is constitutional government that has done more to protect Christian liberty than any governing document ever devised by man. As I have noted before in this column (See: http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2005/cbarchive_20050630.html ), Biblical principles form the foundation of all three of America's founding documents: The Declaration of Independence, The U.S. Constitution, and The Bill of Rights. As a result, Christians in America (for the most part) have not had to face the painful decision to "obey God rather than men" and defy their civil authorities.

The problem in America today is that we have allowed our political leaders to violate their oaths of office and to ignore, and blatantly disobey, the "supreme Law of the Land," the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, if we truly believe Romans Chapter 13, we will insist and demand that our civil magistrates submit to the U.S. Constitution. Now, how many of us Christians are going to truly obey Romans Chapter 13?
| America |


Solana’s speech to Institute for Security Studies Consilium Europa (October 30, 2008) - Dear friends, Let me start our "tour d'horizon" with the financial crisis. It has been the emblematic event of 2008, putting all else into the background. It is worth analysing, especially for its consequences for foreign policy. Allow me to make some observations:

First, the diagnosis. This crisis has confirmed that globalisation remains the dominant force shaping our world. This really is a global crisis. It has spread at incredible speed. Functionally, from sub-prime mortgages to credit markets to the real economy. And geographically from the US to Europe to emerging markets. Not everyone is affected equally; but no one is immune.

In its wake, the balance between markets, states and individuals will have to be adjusted. But globalisation itself - that is the global spread of goods, people, ideas and technology - will not stop. The crisis has highlighted globalisation's central dilemma. Today's big problems are global in nature. But the main resources and legitimacy are located at the national level. In a way, European integration is an attempt to resolve this core dilemma.

Regarding, the policy response, the crisis has demonstrated - once more - the need for stronger global institutions. With goodwill and creativity a lot can and has been achieved. Through ad-hoc crisis management among political leaders, central bankers and others. But if we are honest we must admit that the existing architecture is not up to the task - neither in Europe, nor globally.

I have been convinced, for some time, and I have underlined that in different fora, that the current international system is inadequate. Now the case for deep reform has become overwhelming. This must start with the international financial institutions. But we need to go further.

From the UN and the G8 to the regimes and institutions dealing with the big issues of our time: nonproliferation, energy and climate change, migration. Hopefully, the obvious need to deepen cooperation in the area of finance will act as a catalyst for these necessary wider reforms.

In any case, this effort cannot be handed by the US plus Europe alone. Even the talk of us "leading" is misleading. Apart from changing formats, the mindset needs changing too. We better not see this as the Western powers inviting the others for coffee after our discussions. We need all relevant players "present at the creation" of the new system, to use Acheson's famous phrase. And we need to be ready to engage them seriously. Read the full story...

| Iran | Israel | Islam | Gog/Magog | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana | 1st Seal | America | Economic Crisis |


A Real Election Choice On The United Nations Forbes (October 30, 2008) - When Barack Obama said he'd like to "spread the wealth around," he was widely understood to be talking about redistributing income within the U.S. But there's another arena in which Obama fans are waiting impatiently for the promised wealth-spreading--the United Nations.

Officially, under its 1945 charter, the U.N. is a neutral body that takes no sides in U.S. politics. But a recent story in the Washington Post, headlined "At the U.N., Many Hope for an Obama Win," reports the same drumbeat I've been hearing from the U.N.'s New York headquarters. There's little love lost there for John McCain, who replies to the U.N.'s chronic scandals and tyrant-friendly tilt by proposing some competition, via a League of Democracies.

Obama, by contrast, promises to give the U.N. a bigger role in U.S. foreign policy and many more American tax dollars than the $5 billion or more per year that currently accounts for roughly one-quarter of the total U.N. budget--already the biggest share by far among the U.N.'s 192 member states.

A disturbing caveat here is that the total annual U.N. budget is something of a mystery even to the U.N., which produced an estimate two years ago of $20 billion. That has since grown, but the U.N. either won't or can't say by how much.

Cocooned in diplomatic immunities, and spent across borders, the U.N. budget is multilayered, secretively administered, erratically audited and often filtered through multiple U.N. agencies that charge fees to each other. These days, in the name of "public-private partnerships," it is also opaquely intertwined with assorted private foundations and corporations worldwide.

The danger here is not only graft and waste but the ease with which the U.N. collective, with its majority of nonfree member states, lends itself to support for dictatorships, money laundering and questionable transfers of technology and goods to rogue regimes (all of which emerged in investigations into both the U.N.'s 1996-2003 Oil-for-Food program in Iraq, and its more recent Cash-for-Kim scandal in North Korea).

Obama has yet to put forward a viable plan for holding the U.N. accountable. But he's already promising to embrace a massive U.N. program called the Millennium Development Goals, saying "When I'm president, they will be America's goals." This U.N. program in effect sets U.N.-approved central planning targets for poor countries and urges developed countries to pay for it by handing over 0.7% of gross national product--in effect, a direct tax levied by the U.N.

Obama is promising upfront that by 2012 he'd be tossing at least $50 billion a year into this pit. If, as president, he signs onto the full U.N. program, the tab for American taxpayers over the next four years could total well over $300 billion.

With the pale exception of Japan (the number two financial donor after the U.S.), America has been the only U.N. member state to even try to impose serious oversight on the U.N. Almost the entire U.S. effort came from a now-departed team brought to the U.S. mission in 2005 by former Ambassador John Bolton, and a few Republican members of Congress, chiefly Sen. Norm Coleman and the late Rep. Henry Hyde. Coleman, a former prosecutor who put himself on the line to uncover U.N.-related nests of money laundering, graft and abuse, is now running for re-election in Minnesota--where he might lose his seat to comedian Al Franken.

U.N. reforms proclaimed with fanfare in recent years have fizzled. A policy of financial disclosure by top U.N. officials, promised by Kofi Annan, has turned out to require no public disclosure whatsoever. A system-wide audit promised by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in early 2007 was scaled back within the week to a tardy and off-site audit of a portion of the U.N.'s operations in North Korea.

A special task force set up almost three years ago to investigate U.N. procurement activities has identified at least 20 major cases of fraud, kickbacks and malfeasance tainting a total of more than $630 million worth of contracts. But this probe is due to be shut down by the end of this year, leaving behind at least 150 unfinished investigations.

Given the current U.N. scene, it's not just Joe the Plumber who comes to mind. American taxpayers might want to recall the fate of Boxer the horse, in George Orwell's Animal Farm, whose mantra as he slaved in the name of the collective good was "I must work harder"--right up until he was carted away to the glue factory.
| EU/UN
/ 4th Kingdom | America |


Egyptian War Games Cause For Concern in Israel, Lawmaker Says CNS News (October 29, 2008) - Israel is upset over Egyptian military exercises in which the simulated “enemy” is Israel, and some are calling on the U.S. to reconsider its aid to Egypt because of it. Israel and Egypt – two U.S. regional allies – signed a U.S.-sponsored peace treaty in 1979 – Israel’s first with an Arab nation.

The Egyptian navy reportedly carried out the largest exercise in its history last week. Dubbed Victory 41, the military maneuvers marked the Egyptian sinking of the Israeli Naval vessel Eilat 41 years ago, in which 47 Israeli sailors were killed and 91 wounded. According to the daily Ha’aretz, Oct. 20 was set aside as a holiday marking the sinking of the Israeli vessel for the Egyptian naval forces. The paper also quoted the Egyptian Navy commander in chief Vice Admiral Mohad Mamish in an interview with the Arabic newspaper Al Ahram, saying that the Egyptian Naval vessels were outfitted with advanced missiles and the Navy had supply contracts with Germany, Russia and the U.S.

“Unfortunately now for more than 10 years most of the big [Egyptian] exercises are simulating war against Israel,” said Dr. Yuval Steinitz, member of the Israeli Knesset’s influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. The first time was in 1996 when they imitated a war against “a little country that is bordering Egypt on the northeast,” Steinitz told CNSNews.com on Wednesday. Looking on the map, it’s clear who they were simulating the war against, he said. The only new thing this time is that it has been leaked to the press, said Steinitz.

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert telephoned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to apologize for comments made by a right-wing Knesset member, who noted that Mubarak has never come on a state visit to Israel. Olmert told Mubarak that Israel considered him to be “a strategic partner and a close friend.”

But there are signs of other strains in relations. The Hebrew daily Maariv reported on Tuesday that on a recent trip to Egypt, the director of the military/political and policy bureau of Israel’s Ministry of Defense, told Egyptian Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi that Israel was concerned about Egypt carrying out of Egyptian army exercises "that are directed against an Israeli threat and that relate to it [Israel] as an enemy.” (A translation was provided by the Independent Media Review and Analysis.)

Israel also is concerned that it has become the central focus for Egyptian officers in building their forces and by the lack of “any relations of any kind” between the Israeli and Egyptian armies, Gilad was quoted as saying. According to the paper, Tantawi said relations between the armies could improve in the future in tandem with progress in regional peace. He also said that security challenges obligate Egypt to build an effective deterrent force.

Steinitz said the military exercises, combined with massive Egyptian force building plus indoctrination of the military against Israel, was “something to be concerned about.” He also said that despite the peace agreement between the two countries, Egypt is anti-Israel in most international bodies and is also educating the public “for hatred and not for peace.”

Earlier this year, the Anti-Defamation League told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that its analysts had found the Egyptian press to be “a leading propagator of anti-Semitic images” for many years and that that trend was now spreading to other newspapers in the region.

Egypt is considered one of America’s allies in the region and has been a mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. It is currently mediating reconciliation talks between the military Hamas group and the Fatah faction of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Read full story...

| Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 | Gog/Magog | NewWorldOrder | America |

It seems to me that America has her hands pretty deep into the Middle East mess and that we've easily given away our money for peace. But I think we are just being taken for our money, and now that this is diminishing in global influence, someone has to step in. Actually Europe has been stepping into that role and indeed Javier Solana was one of the authors of the roadmap to peace according to him. But then money is being given from Europe as well in the name of peace and security while it seems that the "chaos" from which peace is supposed to arrive could be just around the corner.

According to Bible prophecy, Islam will be coming against Israel time and again in these end times and a certain alliance of them will gather their forces and attack Israel from the North at which time God will destroy those invaders in the mountains of Israel and protect His people for His namesake. Israel has a role in the end times as made clear in the study of Bible prophecy. Ultimately this is what the HIStory, Our Future Bible studies lay out, Israel's central place in the completion of God's plans to bring a remnant of His people Israel through the fire to accept Yeshua as the Messiah prompting His return in glory.

One of these foreshadows is the rebuilding of the temple, a feat that seems impossible now. I posit that God's intervention in such a manner on Israel's behalf would not only silence the radical Islamic nations for a time, but I think it would also embolden the nation of Israel and cause a fundamental spiritual shift that would not only bring many more Jews to the Holy Land, but also bring the nation together and united under the authority of scripture, which to them includes the rebuilding of the temple and the resumption of the daily sacrifice while excluding the first coming of the Messiah. They will therefore very much desire to have the temple and according to scripture, they rebuild it.

I believe this action would also bring Israel's enemies from all around the world to be more focused on her and united together, giving the appearance of global unity - but under whom?

As we see this and other collusions such as Syria-Russia and the Russian navy enlarging Syrian ports for her ships. (Syrian ports lie to the North of Israel) Or large Russian war games and Hezbollah takeovers of Lebanon, (see also) also just to the North of Israel. Could all these activities of military forces as described in Ezekiel 38,39 be buildup to a planned attack in the future that God will stop?

As US forces make an attack inside Syria while our economy is weakened and we are increasingly viewed as the "big Satan" and Israel the "little Satan," a view of weakness in Israel's primary "friend" and something to spark the tensions, like say a possible Iranian underground nuclear test, could all be leading to the fulfillment of Isaiah 17 in a preemptive strike on Damascus. This could be the straw that brings the currently forming allies to utilize their prepared military forces in a sudden attack on Israel justified to the world in Israel's actions on Damascus. Would Turkey turn on Israel if the peace they were dealing with between Israel and Syria were seen as thrown away by an aggressive nation?

Perhaps I'm just imagining things. If not, time is short.


Uses for $700B Bailout Money Keep Changing Fox News (October 26, 2008) - First, the $700 billion rescue for the economy was about buying devalued mortgage-backed securities from tottering banks to unclog frozen credit markets. Then it was about using $250 billion of it to buy stakes in banks. The idea was that banks would use the money to start making loans again.

But reports surfaced that bankers might instead use the money to buy other banks, pay dividends, give employees a raise and executives a bonus, or just sit on it. Insurance companies now want a piece; maybe automakers, too, even though Congress has approved $25 billion in low-interest loans for them. Three weeks after becoming law, and with the first dollar of the $700 billion yet to go out, officials are just beginning to talk about helping a few strapped homeowners keep the foreclosure wolf from the door.

As the crisis worsens, the government's reaction keeps changing. Lawmakers in both parties are starting to gripe that the bailout is turning out to be far different from what the Bush administration sold to Congress. In buying equity stakes in banks, the Treasury has "deviated significantly from its original course," says Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. "We need to examine closely the reason for this change," said Shelby, who opposed the bailout.

The centerpiece of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act is the "troubled asset relief program," or TARP for short. Critics note that tarps are used to cover things up. The money was to be devoted to buying "toxic" mortgage-backed securities whose value has fallen in lockstep with home prices. But once European governments said they were going into the banking business, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson followed suit and diverted $250 billion to buy stock in healthy banks to spur lending. Bank executives hinted they might instead use it for acquisitions. Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate banking committee, said this development was "beyond troubling."

Sure enough, a day after Dodd, D-Conn., made the comment, the government confirmed that PNC Financial Services Group Inc. was approved to receive $7.7 billion in return for company stock. At the same time, PNC said it was acquiring National City Corp. for $5.58 billion. "Although there will be some consolidation, that's not the driver behind this program," Paulson recently told PBS talk show host Charlie Rose. "The driver is to have our healthy banks be well-capitalized so that they can play the role they need to play for our country right now."

Other planned uses of the bailout money have lawmakers protesting, although it is only fair to note there is nothing in the law that they just wrote to prevent those uses. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. questioned allowing banks that accept bailout bucks to continue paying dividends on their common stock. "There are far better uses of taxpayer dollars than continuing dividend payments to shareholders," he said. Schumer, whose constituents include Wall Street bankers, said he also fears that they might stuff the money "under the proverbial mattress" rather than make loans.

Neel Kashkari, head of the Treasury's financial stability program, told Dodd's committee this past week that there are few strings attached to the capital-infusion program because too many rules would discourage financial institutions from participating.

As the bank plan has become a priority, the effort to buy troubled assets has receded from the headlines. Potential conflicts of interest pose all kinds of problems in finding qualified companies to manage that program. "Firms with the relevant financial expertise may also hold assets that become eligible for sale into the TARP or represent clients who hold troubled assets," Kashkari said.

The challenge was made plain when the Treasury hired the Bank of New York Mellon Corp. as "custodian" of the troubled assets purchase program. The bank will conduct "reverse auctions" to buy the toxic securities on behalf of the Treasury. The lower the price they set, the better chance sellers have of getting rid of the devalued securities.

On the same day it hired Mellon, the Treasury also picked the company to receive a $3 billion investment as part of the capital-infusion program. The same bank hired to help manage part of the economic rescue plan became a beneficiary of it.

With the Nov. 4 election nearing, lawmakers decided it was important to remind the government officials running the bailout program about parts of the law aimed at helping distressed homeowners by offering federal guarantees to mortgages renegotiated down to lower monthly payments. "The key to our nation's economic recovery is the recovery of the housing market," Dodd said. "And the key to recovery of the housing market is reducing foreclosures." Sheila Bair, who heads the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., responded that her agency is working "closely and creatively" with Treasury officials to "realize the potential benefits of this authority."
| America | Economic Crisis |


U.S. attacks inside Syria WorldNet Daily (October 26, 2008) - The U.S. Army today confirmed it carried out a raid inside a Syrian village near the Iraqi border, killing at least eight. Today's operation is the first in which American forces so openly attacked militants on Syrian soil, clearly broadening the scope of the U.S. military campaign in Iraq.

The U.S. has long accused Damascus of failing to stop insurgents from crossing from Syria into Iraq, where they purportedly attack coalition troops and return to safety zones inside Syria. An official Syrian spokesman confirmed earlier reports by the country's SANA state-run television, which reported U.S. helicopters were involved in an attack in Al-Sukkariya, some five miles from the Iraqi border.

Eyewitnesses told reporters they saw four helicopters hover overhead and then at least eight soldiers disembark, where they engaged a number of men at a civilian construction site. SANA reported: "Four American helicopters violated Syrian airspace around 16:45 local time (13:45 GMT) on Sunday." It claimed "American soldiers" who had emerged from helicopters "attacked a civilian building under construction and fired at workmen inside, causing eight deaths." "The helicopters then left Syrian territory towards Iraqi territory," reported SANA.

The reported incident took place near the Iraqi border city of Qaim, which the U.S. has labeled as a major crossing point for insurgents, weapons and money. A U.S. official confirmed the attack targeted what he said were elements of arobust foreign fighter logistics network operating in Syria and that due to Syrian inaction the U.S. was now "taking matters into our own hands."

There have been unconfirmed reports in the past of U.S. forces operating along the Syrian-Iraqi boarder and even entering hundreds of feet into Syria in pursuit of insurgents, but today's reported operation would be the largest yet.

Israeli security officials said the Jewish state was not involved in the operation. They said it was likely the U.S. attacked insurgent or al-Qaida elements that ran inside Syria. They said the operation, if confirmed, likely was to send a signal to Damascus that it is not immune from retaliation if it continues to allow insurgents to utilize the country.

Already Syria has summoned the U.S. and Iraqi envoys to Damascus to protest against what it called a U.S. military attack on its soil. According to Syrian sources speaking to WND, Syria conveyed a message to the U.S. claiming Syria does not support the insurgency and opposes any insurgent or al-Qaida elements operating on Syrian soil. Syria told the U.S. they were not upset America had attacked insurgents or al-Qaida elements, if indeed that was the target, but that their protest was against the U.S. operating on Syrian soil without prior permission.
| Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 | Gog/Magog | America |


Russia blasts off back to the future Scotland on Sunday (October 26, 2008) - As they tracked Russian military maneuvers last week, the US government's Kremlin-watchers might have been forgiven for wondering if they were seeing recycled newsreels. A huge exercise, Stability 2008, spread tens of thousands of troops, thousands of vehicles and scores of combat aircraft across nearly all 11 time zones of Russian territory in the largest war game since the collapse of the Soviet Union. There was no specified enemy, but the Russian forces appeared to be enacting a nationwide effort to quell unrest along Russia's southern border – and to repulse a US-led attack by Nato forces, according to experts in Moscow and Washington.

In a grim finale, commanders launched three intercontinental ballistic missiles, the type that can carry multiple nuclear warheads. It was a clear signal of the drastic endgame the Kremlin might consider should its conventional forces not hold. One of the missiles flew more than 7,100 miles, allowing Russian officials to claim they had set a distance record.

If these images of Russian power projection appeared drawn from the dark decades of Dr Strangelove, the response from Washington was anything but. Defence secretary Robert Gates and admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, provided the same sanguine reply, echoed down through the ranks of government analysts who have spent years reading Russian military journals and scrutinising classified satellite photographs.

The Russian military fell to Third World standards from neglect and budget cuts in the turbulent years when Boris Yeltsin was president, they say. The new Kremlin leadership is working to create a force that can actually defend the nation's interests.

The military has embarked upon a programme to buy modern weapons, improve training and healthcare for troops, trim a bloated officer corps and create the first professional class of sergeant-level, small-unit leaders since the Second World War.

That is not to say that the US will stop judging Russian behaviour in light of what it considers a clumsy, ill-advised invasion of the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Yet policymakers also say the Kremlin's efforts at military modernisation should not prevent co-operation on mutual concerns, including countering terrorism and halting nuclear proliferation.

Even a high-profile speech last month by President Dmitry Medvedev, ordering a military modernisation programme and the largest increases in defence spending since the death of the old USSR, was viewed in Washington as short on substance and designed more for a domestic political agenda. Medvedev declared that, by 2020, Russia would construct new types of warships and an unspecified air and space defence system. Military spending, he said, will leap 26% next year, bringing it to 1.3 trillion rubles (about £30bn), its highest level since the collapse of the Soviet Union – but still a fraction of US military spending.

American experts were unimpressed. "Russia is prone to make fairly grandiose announcements about its military," said a defence department official. "These programmes have long been in the works. They are not new plans."

Even so, analysts of Russian military affairs acknowledge that a military renaissance would allow the Moscow leadership to increase political pressure on former Soviet republics, as well as former Warsaw Pact allies that embraced Nato after the collapse of communism. "What the Russian leadership has discovered is proof of an old maxim: that a foreign policy without a credible military is no foreign policy," said Dale Herspring, a scholar on Russian military affairs at Kansas State University. Read full story...

| Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 | Gog/Magog | America |


At the U.N., Many Hope for an Obama Win The Washington Post (October 26, 2008) - There are no "Obama 2008" buttons, banners or T-shirts visible here at U.N. headquarters, but it might be difficult to find a sliver of territory in the United States more enthusiastic over the prospect of the Illinois senator winning the White House. An informal survey of more than two dozen U.N. staff members and foreign delegates showed that the overwhelming majority would prefer that Sen. Barack Obama win the presidency, saying they think that the Democrat would usher in a new agenda of multilateralism after an era marked by Republican disdain for the world body.

Obama supporters hail from Russia, Canada, France, Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Indonesia and elsewhere. One American employee here seemed puzzled that he was being asked whether Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was even a consideration. "Obama was and is unstoppable," the official said. "Please, God, let him win," he added.

"It would be hard to find anybody, I think, at the U.N. who would not believe that Obama would be a considerable improvement over any other alternative," said William H. Luers, executive director of the United Nations Association. "It's been a bad eight years, and there is a lot of bad feeling over it."

Conservatives who are skeptical of the United Nations said they are not surprised by the political tilt. "The fact is that most conservatives, most Republicans don't worship at the altar in New York, and I think that aggravates them more than anything else," said John R. Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. "What they want is the bending of the knee, and they'll get it from an Obama administration."

The candidates have said little about their plans for the United Nations, but Obama has highlighted his desire to pursue diplomacy more assertively than the Bush administration, whereas McCain has called for the establishment of a league of democracies, which many here fear is code for sidelining the United Nations.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has avoided showing a public preference about the presidential campaign -- although he has hinted at a soft spot for Obama in private gatherings, according to U.N. officials. His top advisers say they think McCain and Obama would support many of Ban's priorities, including restraints on production of greenhouse gases that fuel climate change. "The secretary general and the Secretariat of the United Nations take no position on the U.S. election," said Ban's chief spokeswoman, Michele Montas. "The secretary general deeply respects the democratic process, and he looks forward to working with whomever the American people choose."

Many U.N. rank and file are less circumspect, saying they see in Obama's multicultural background -- a Kenyan father, an Indonesian stepfather and a mother and grandparents from Kansas -- a reflection of themselves. "We do not consider him an African American," said Congo's U.N. ambassador, Atoki Ileka. "We consider him an African." Read full story...

| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America |


Political alarms ring as panicked markets dive Reuters (October 25, 2008) - Asian and European leaders closed ranks on Saturday to try to bolster confidence among investors who fear that a global credit crunch has ushered in a deep and damaging world recession. The worst financial crisis in 80 years has forced countries to work together to find ways to help shore up a financial system crippled by banks fearful of lending to each other.

But with evidence mounting that Europe is already in recession, analysts fear that cooperation in shoring up banking systems could be threatened as governments begin to turn their attention to reviving domestic demand. "We must use every means to prevent the financial crisis impacting growth of the real economy," Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said at the end of a two-day summit of 43 Asian and European leaders in Beijing.

Governments have pledged around $4 trillion to support banks and restart money markets to try to stem the crisis and are considering tougher financial rules to guard against any repeat. Wen said countries needed to strike a balance between innovation and regulation and between savings and consumption. "We need financial innovation, but we need financial oversight even more," he said, adding that China's priority was to spur domestic demand to ensure the country maintained fairly fast, steady growth.

U.S. President George W. Bush, who will host a global summit on the financial crisis next month, said in a radio address on Saturday: "While the specific solutions pursued by every country may not be the same, agreeing on a common set of principles will be an essential step toward preventing similar crises in the future."

In the Gulf, finance ministers and central bank governors said at a meeting on coordinating policy that they would look at directing more government funds into banks and regional stock markets, Al-Arabiya television reported. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and four other Gulf states have so far adopted separate responses to ease the pressures of the liquidity crunch on their banking sectors. Qatar's finance minister, Youssef Kamal, said the crisis would give impetus to create regional monetary union and he was sure the measures taken to protect the economies were sufficient.

Any significant redirection of Gulf investment to domestic markets could be a concern for banks and other firms in the West which have eyed the huge sums in the region's state-run sovereign wealth funds as a potential source of capital while European and U.S. credit and share markets are seized up. But the scarcity of private sector capital is being felt in the Gulf. Officials were set to discuss the risk of investments from countries hit by the crisis being "liquidated." Saudi Arabian stocks plummeted 8.7 percent on fears of an oil price fall and recession. more...
| Islam | EU/UN
/ 4th Kingdom | America | Economic Crisis |


Newspaper shows Obama belonged to socialist party WorldNet Daily (October 24, 2008) - Evidence has emerged that Sen. Barack Obama belonged to a socialist political party that sought to elect members to public office with the aim of moving the Democratic Party far leftward to ultimately form a new political party with a socialist agenda. Several blogs, including Powerline, previously documented that while running for the Illinois state Senate in 1996 as a Democrat, Obama actively sought and received the endorsement of the socialist-oriented New Party, with some blogs claiming Obama was a member of the controversial party.

The New Party, formed by members of the Democratic Socialists for America and leaders of an offshoot of the Community Party USA, was an electoral alliance that worked alongside the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN. The New Party's aim was to help elect politicians to office who espouse its policies. Among New Party members was linguist and radical activist Noam Chomsky.

Obama's campaign has responded to the allegations, denying the presidential candidate was ever a member of the New Party. But the New Zeal blog dug up print copies of the New Party News, the party's official newspaper, which show Obama posing with New Party leaders, list him as a New Party member and include quotes from him. The party's Spring 1996 newspaper boasted: "New Party members won three other primaries this Spring in Chicago: Barack Obama (State Senate), Michael Chandler (Democratic Party Committee) and Patricia Martin (Cook County Judiciary). The paper quoted Obama saying "these victories prove that small 'd' democracy can work." The newspaper lists other politicians it endorsed who were not members but specifies Obama as a New Party member.

New Ground, the newsletter of Chicago's Democratic Socialists for America, reported in its July/August 1996 edition that Obama attended a New Party membership meeting April 11, 1996, in which he expressed his gratitude for the group's support and "encouraged NPers (New Party members) to join in his task forces on Voter Education and Voter Registration."

Becoming a New Party member requires some effort on behalf of the politician. Candidates must be approved by the party's political committee and, once approved, must sign a contract mandating they will have a "visible and active relationship" with the party.

The New Party, established in 1992, took advantage of what was known as electoral "fusion," which enabled candidates to run on two tickets simultaneously, attracting voters from both parties. But the New Party went defunct in 1998, one year after fusion was halted by the Supreme Court.

Following the initial reports of Obama's purported membership in the New Party, Obama associate and former Chicago New Party activist Carl Davidson posted a statement on several blogs claiming his former party was not socialist, but he admitted it worked with ACORN. "[The New Party] was a pragmatic party of 'small d democracy' mainly promoting economic reforms like the living wage and testing the fusion tactic, common in many countries but only operational in New York in the U.S. The main trend within it was ACORN, an Alinskyist outfit, which is hardly Marxist," wrote Davidson.

But the socialist goals of the New Party were enumerated on its old website. Among the New Party's stated objectives were "full employment, a shorter work week, and a guaranteed minimum income for all adults; a universal 'social wage' to include such basic benefits as health care, child care, vacation time, and lifelong access to education and training; a systematic phase-in of comparable worth and like programs to ensure gender equity." The New Party stated it also sought "the democratization of our banking and financial system – including popular election of those charged with public stewardship of our banking system, worker-owner control over their pension assets, community-controlled alternative financial institutions."

Many of the New Party's founding members were Democratic Socialists for America leaders and members of Committees of Correspondence, a breakaway of the Communist Party USA. Obama attended several DSA events and meetings, including a DSA-sponsored town hall meeting Feb. 25, 1996, entitled "Employment and Survival in Urban America." He sought and received an endorsement from the DSA. According to DSA documents, the New Party worked with ACORN to promote its candidates. ACORN, convicted in massive, nationwide voter fraud cases, has been a point of controversy for Obama over the presidential candidate's ties to the group.

In 1995, the DSA's New Ground newsletter stated, "In Chicago, the New Party's biggest asset and biggest liability is ACORN. "Like most organizations, ACORN is a mixed bag. On one hand, in Chicago, ACORN is a group that attempts to organize some of the most depressed communities in the city. Chicago organizers for ACORN and organizers for SEIU Local 880 have been given modest monthly recruitment quotas for new New Party members. On the other hand, like most groups that depend on canvassing for fundraising, it's easy enough to find burned out and disgruntled former employees. And ACORN has not had the reputation for being interested in coalition politics – until recently and, happily, not just within the New Party."
| America |


Closer global integration needed: Blair Canada.com (October 22, 2008) - Any impulse to retreat from a globalized economic system would be exactly the wrong response to the current worldwide financial crisis, warns former U.K. prime minister Tony Blair. Blair - whose successor, Gordon Brown, is being hailed as the architect of a financial rescue plan largely copied in the U.S. and other industrial nations - told the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal that the crisis demonstrates the need for closer global integration, not less.

Those who would pull back from global trade and financial flows are taking the wrong lesson from the banking and credit tumult, Blair said, because globalization is "a fact, not driven by governments, but by people." The challenge facing governments is to make it work better, he said. Blair asked a rhetorical question: "Why is it that irresponsible lending in one area suddenly produces a convulsion in the world economy?" Because, he answered, all countries are now so closely linked that it isn't realistic to imagine withdrawing from the risks and benefits of globalization.

However, unlike some commentators who focus on the need for internationally co-ordinated regulatory constraints on business, Blair also pointed to the dangers of too much regulation. There must clearly be globally synchronized financial regulation "where there is systemic risk," Blair said, referring to the kinds of risks that can go beyond one bank or institution to endanger the whole financial system. A recent example was the collapse of Lehman Bros., a leading U.S. investment bank, which triggered a collapse in confidence that bank obligations would be honoured and greatly worsened stresses on financial institutions. However, Blair insisted that such new regulation must not be so heavy-handed that it stifles the entrepreneurship that he described as the heart of any successful economy.

Blair's comments about the financial crisis were part of a broader perspective on a more closely knit world in which, he warned, no serious challenge, from climate change to terrorism, can be dealt with successfully without close international co-operation. Partnered with the theme of global interdependence was one of power shifting inevitably toward Asia, leaving the big Western powers with a limited window of opportunity to help define the nature of a new world order. "Power is shifting East, and shifting East fast," Blair said.

He noted that in meetings with Chinese leaders during this summer's Olympic Games, he learned that China is now building more power stations than have been created in Europe since the Second World War and planning to open no fewer than 70 new international airports. India will soon be in a position to achieve similar spectacular growth, he said. The lesson of this gigantic power shift, Blair said, is that the West can no longer dominate the world through sheer economic and military strength. Instead of dictating, it must seek to persuade through the power of universal values: freedom, democracy and justice. And to be persuasive in enshrining such values in global institutions, it must be true to them - working harder, for instance, to solve the problems of disease, hunger and poverty in the poorest nations.

Brown, who is now the official envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East, a group including the United Nations, the U.S, the U.K. and Russia, offered another example from his current work. If there were to be a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said, this would be the most powerful influence imaginable in creating healthier relations between the West and the Islamic world. Brown was speaking at Montreal's Palais des congres, at an event sponsored by the TD Bank Financial Group.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Top Iran officials recommend preemptive strike against Israel Haaretz (October 22, 2008) - Senior Tehran officials are recommending a preemptive strike against Israel to prevent an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear reactors, a senior Islamic Republic official told foreign diplomats two weeks ago in London. The official, Dr. Seyed G. Safavi, said recent threats by Israeli authorities strengthened this position, but that as of yet, a preemptive strike has not been integrated into Iranian policy.

Safavi is head of the Research Institute of Strategic Studies in Tehran, and an adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The institute is directly affiliated with Khamenei's office and with the Revolutionary Guards, and advises both on foreign policy issues. Safavi is also the brother of Yahya Rahim Safavi, who was the head of the Revolutionary Guards until a year ago and now is an adviser to Khamenei, and holds significant influence on security matters in the Iranian government.

An Israeli political official said senior Jerusalem officials were shown Safavi's remarks, which are considered highly sensitive. The source said the briefing in London dealt with a number of issues, primarily a potential Israeli attack on an Iranian reactor.

Safavi said a small, experienced group of officials is lobbying for a preemptive strike against Israel. "The recent Israeli declarations and harsh rhetoric on a strike against Iran put ammunition in these individuals' hands," he said. Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz said in June that Israel would be forced to strike the Iranian nuclear reactor if Tehran continues to pursue its uranium enrichment program.

Safavi said Tehran recently drafted a new policy for responding to an Israeli or American attack on its nuclear facilities. While the previous policy called for attacks against Israel and American interests in the Middle East and beyond, the new policy is to target Israel alone. He added that many Revolutionary Guard leaders want to respond to a U.S. attack on Iranian soil by striking Israel, as they believe Israel would be partner to any U.S. action.

Safavi said that Iran's nuclear program is intended for peaceful purposes only, and that Khamenei recently released a fatwa against the use of weapons of mass destruction, though the contents of that religious ruling have not yet been publicized. Regarding dialogue with the United States and the West, Safavi said Iran's decision would be influenced by the results of the U.S. presidential elections next month, as well as by the Iranian presidential elections in June and the economic situation in the Islamic Republic.

Safavi also said that a victory by U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would pave the way for dialogue with Washington, while a John McCain presidency would bolster Iran's extreme right, which opposes dialogue. If conditions are favorable following the U.S. election, he said, Iran could draw back from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's declaration that "the nuclear case is closed," and put it back on the agenda.

Safavi said he believed that U.S. sanctions on Iran have run their course, and that there would be no point in strengthening them. Tehran would therefore demand "firm and significant" U.S. measures in return for stopping uranium enrichment. He also said Ahmadinejad is not guaranteed victory in the June 2009 elections, particularly given the dire economic situation in Iran. Still, Iranian experts believe his only real competition is former president Mohammad Khatami, who has not yet joined the race.

Safavi said the inflation rate in Iran is similar to that before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but that unrest among civilians today is not as strong. This is because the current government uses oil revenues to help the poor, he said.
| Iran | Israel | Islam | Gog/Magog | America |


Obama's expected victory in US election could signal bad times for Israel YNet News (October 22, 2008) - Unless we see a dramatic and unexpected development, in about two weeks we shall have a new president in the United States: Barak Obama. Did I say “we”? Yes, we. The identity of the man who will be entering the White House and staying there in the coming years is more important for us and for our lives here than one could imagine. Seven million Israeli citizens go about their daily lives while having no clue as to how much their lives and wellbeing depend on the US, and first and foremost on the person who sits in the Oval Office.

As not to argue with the faithful amongst us, certainly not right after Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, we shall only say that some of the prayers we recently uttered would do well to make it to Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington. Our life hinges on the desire, or heaven forbid lack of desire, declarations, and deeds of the president – and apparently it will be Barack Obama.

To be honest, Obama doesn’t make us sleep well at night. We are about to see a president who has nothing to do with Judaism, Jews, and the State of Israel. He doesn’t know Malcolm Hoenlein (executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents), he is not scared of Abe Foxman (head of the Anti-Defamation League,) he has not delivered speeches on behalf of the Israel Bonds, and he has not traveled as the guest of the Jewish National Fund. His familiarity with the Middle East is minimal, and on top of that, right now he has a global economic crisis to resolve before he can drink tea with Tzipi Livni and coffee with Mahmoud Abbas.

The way things look now, with an emphasis on “for the time being,” the State of Israel won’t be overjoyed as a result of this development. Obama is not Bush Sr. (who was so-so in his attitude to Israel,) he is not Bill Clinton (who was like a member of the Jewish Federation,) and he is not Bush Jr. (who was like a former fighter in Ariel Sharon’s unit.) Meanwhile, we have several minor problems that require a solution, such as the Iranian nuke threat, Islamic terrorism, Hamas, Syria, and the economy.

For generations, we heard legends around here about the power of the Jewish “lobby” in Washington: AIPAC – now, its members are facing a test. However, here too we have a problem: American Jewry is not what it used to be when it comes to its attachment to Israel, and the generation of the children and grandchildren no longer blindly follows Israel’s leadership, its speeches and demands. Therefore, prepare for the arrival of the Obama. Apparently, although let’s hope this won’t happen, soon we shall go back to the biblical verse we love so much: “A people dwelling alone."
| Israel | America |


MEPs debate EU response to world crises with French president Sarkozy European Parliament (October 21, 2008) - At a debate with MEPs on the EU summit of 15-16 October, EU President-in-Office Sarkozy said the Russo-Georgian war and the financial crisis had strengthened the case for a united European response to major world problems. He rejected any idea that the EU should backtrack on its climate change commitments because of the crisis. While the main EP political groups broadly supported him, some felt the roots of the financial crisis went back a long way and queried the role of unbridled free markets.

Introducing the debate, the President of Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, said that in the recent crises, Europe under the leadership of President Sarkozy had shown its ability to take coordinated, collective action. Without such action - and without the existence of the euro - "we would have been in a disastrous situation".

Georgia

The first subject considered by President Sarkozy, speaking on behalf of the European Council, was the Russo-Georgian war. While regarding the Russian reaction as "disproportionate", he also stressed it was a "reaction" to a previous "inappropriate" action. He then described the peace-making efforts carried out by himself on behalf of the EU. The Americans had thought "dialogue with the Russians is pointless" but in his view this was folly, since "Europe does not want another Cold War". He emphasised "it is Europe that has brought about peace", adding "it is a long time since Europe has played this sort of role in this kind of conflict".

World financial crisis: how to prevent a recurrence

Turning next to the world financial situation, Mr Sarkozy said "what was a serious crisis became a systemic crisis" with the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Moreover, the solutions now being found - in which Europe had taken the lead - simply amounted to "crisis management".

A key point was "how can we prevent a recurrence?". He had proposed to the UN General Assembly the creation of a "new global financial system" or "new Bretton Woods". The aim must be to "overhaul capitalism", not "by questioning the idea of a market economy" but observing certain principles: no bank working with state money must work with tax havens, all financial institutions must be subject to financial regulation, traders' bonus structures must not push them to take undue risks and the monetary system must be rethought. The USA and the EU had proposed a series of "summits on global governance", starting in November, involving first the G8 and then adding the G5, at which, he stressed, "Europe must speak with one voice".

Elsewhere in his speech, Mr Sarkozy returned to the financial crisis, saying it was undoubtedly now leading to an economic crisis and this too would require a "united European response". Among ideas he floated were measures to ensure that "European companies are not bought up by non-European capital while their stock exchange values are low" and the creation of sovereign wealth funds by each EU country. At a later point in the debate he pointed the finger at hedge funds and questioned the competence and independence of ratings agencies, pointing out that the latter were mainly US-based and perhaps Europe needed its own ratings agencies.

He also believed that "the eurozone cannot continue without clear economic governance". The European Central Bank must be independent but must be able to hold discussions with "an economic government" at head of state/government level.

No backsliding on energy/climate change

Mr Sarkozy's next topic was the future of the EU's energy and climate package. He rejected any idea "that the world should do less to combat climate change because of the financial crisis", saying "Europe must set an example" to the world. He recognised the difficulty some European countries were facing, especially those that are 95% dependent on coal, but some flexible solution must be found. Referring to the 20/20/20 targets, he described "respect for the climate change objectives" and "respect for the timetable" as essential.

Turning to the EU Immigration Pact, the French president said this was "a great example of European democracy" as, despite initial differences, the EU had agreed on a joint policy.

Lisbon Treaty

Lastly, the president argued that the recent crises with Georgia and the financial markets showed that "it would be a major mistake not to proceed with institutional reform" since Europe often needs "a powerful, rapid and united response", something which was difficult, for example, with the EU's six-month rotating presidency. The French presidency was thus looking to a roadmap to find a solution by December to the question of Irish ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. Concluding, he said "the world needs a Europe that speaks with a strong voice" and expressed appreciation to the EP for its "solidarity" in helping to create this sense of unity.

Commission President Barroso

President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso said Mr Sarkozy's handling of the crisis had shown him as "dynamic as only he can be" and welcomed the fact that Europe was now working hand in hand with the US. He said "the EU should mould a global response with it values and interests".

He outlined a number of practical steps. He said the Commission would be looking at executive pay and derivatives. The feasibility of pan-Europe financial regulation would also be under review. He also signalled his forthcoming visit to China for talks saying: "The goal should be to devise a system of global financial governance adapted to the challenges of the 21st century – in terms of efficiency, transparency and representation."

Turning to the so called "real economy" he said that Europe faced a "serious economic slowdown" with jobs, incomes and order books affected. He went on to say: "There is no national road out of this crisis...we will swim or sink together. We must not give in to siren calls for protection. We must not turn our backs on globalisation or put our single market at risk."

He said that "European citizens need support - especially the vulnerable". To deal with the slowdown he called for "smart support" that would hit two targets at once. For example: "Helping the construction industry...but doing this by promoting an energy-efficient housing stock....Helping key industries like cars...but preparing them for tomorrow's markets of clean cars."

He told MEPs that there is "no national route out of this crisis" and that in Europe "we swim or sink together". He said that: "Europe shows its true colours in a crisis - in Georgia we stopped a war whilst with the financial crisis we are dealing with it."

He went on to say that: "There is no magic bullet to turn around the EU economy. What we have to do is take every option, explore every potential way in which EU policy can help Member States to seize every opportunity to put Europe on the road to growth. That is our task in the coming weeks. And it is a task I want to tackle together with the European Parliament." He finished by saying that it was: "The kind of occasion where the crisis calls into question old certainties and minds are more open to change."

Later, speaking after the main group speakers Mr Barroso said that analysis compiled by the Commission showed the crisis was triggered "by sectors that were not regulated in US". On climate change he said that with the financial crisis it would be "dramatically bad" if the EU backtracked on the 20/20/20 emission formula agreed last. He said that "the world - not just Europeans, are looking to us". Read full story...

| Gog/Magog | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana | NewWorldOrder | 1st Seal | America | Economic Crisis |


Training A Socialist Army of World Servers Part II News With Views (October 21, 2008) - Click here for part 1

Mind Change and Collective Service

"Obama.... plans to double the Peace Corps' budget by 2011 and expand AmeriCorps, USA Freedom Corps, VISTA, YouthBuild Program, and the Senior Corps. ...he proposes to form a Classroom Corps, Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, Veterans Corps, Homeland Security Corps, Global Energy Corps, and a Green Jobs Corps."[1] Obama's Civilian National Security Force

"Jesus was a community organizer." (A visitor's response to "Training a Socialist Army of World Servers")

"[A community] organizer... does not have a fixed truth -- truth to him is relative and changing. ... To the extent that he is free from the shackles of dogma, he can respond to the realities of the widely different situations...."[2] Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky, the Marxist "organizer" whose disciples mentored Obama

“Jesus said... 'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.'” John 8:31-32

"I was shocked," wrote one of our visitors, "when I read your first article on Obama's service programs. "Why is this getting a free ride in the press?" The simple answer is that Obama's revolutionary values match those of the mainstream media and the power brokers behind it. [3] Contrary voices are ignored or ridiculed. Perceptions are swayed by suggestions and exciting images, while facts become increasingly irrelevant. And as discernment drowns in this postmodern muddle, illusion reigns -- and few even care!

Without facts we'll lose our freedom! A sobering 1970 prediction by Professor Raymond Houghton, a spokesman for "progressive education," may soon be reality:

"...absolute behavior control is imminent.... The critical point of behavior control, in effect, is sneaking up on mankind without his self-conscious realization that a crisis is at hand. Man will... never self-consciously know that it has happened."[4]

STEPPING STONES TO RADICAL CHANGE

At the dawn of Stalin's deadly reign in the 1930s -- when Communist leader Antonio Gramsci was writing his cunning formula for transforming the West[5] -- numerous European Marxist were searching for effective strategies for mass control. As Hitler rose to power, some fled to America where they fine-tuned their tactics at "progressive" institutions like Columbia University. Welcomed by "progressive" educators, they found plenty of opportunity to test and teach their theories. Others merely exported their research to fellow revolutionaries in America. Their names -- Adorno, Marcuse, Lukács and Lewin -- don't ring many bells today, but no one can escape their impact on our nation.[6]

Their radical schemes fit right into the dialectic process. Like Saul Alinsky, their followers would "unfreeze" minds from uncompromising Truth, fill them with a passion for collectivism, "and refreeze" them with the new ideology. Before long, the mind-changing tactics that transformed the Soviet masses became the centerpiece of "service learning" in American schools and communities.

Remember, the primary goal behind such group service is "service learning," NOT compassion for the poor. The latter is mainly a feel-good incentive for group participation in a communal purpose, vision, activity and transformation.

This scheme matches the old Nazi model. Young Germans from age 10 to 19 had to serve in the Hitler Youth program. And, as Hitler affirmed back in 1933, 'the whole of National Socialism [Nazism] is based on Marxism."[7] His brainwashed servants, who became anything but compassionate, just copied the Communist strategies:

"The purpose of labor service was partly practical -- to... provide a source of cheap labor -- but mainly ideological. It was part of the cult of community current in the youth movement now manipulated by the Nazis for their own end."[8]

But shouldn't we gladly and willingly serve the needy and each other? Yes, of course! But not in ways that prompt us to twist, compromise or hide His Word under the banner of unity or charity.

LOVING THEIR SERVITUDE

"Belongingness" is the "ultimate need of the individual," wrote William Whyte, co-author of The Organization Man. His benchmark book -- a bestseller back in the sixties -- describes group thinkers who would gladly trade their home-taught convictions for the warm fuzzies of "belongingess."

According to Whyte, "man exists as a unit of society," and "only as he collaborates with others does he become worth while."[9] That sad assumption provided a useful "crisis" that spurred vast numbers of transformational "leadership training" conferences everywhere. As Whyte said,

"What is needed is an administrative elite, people trained to recognize that what man really wants most is group solidarity even if he does not realize it himself. ... They won't push him around; they won't even argue with him... They will adjust him. Through the scientific application of human relations, these... technicians will guide him into satisfying solidarity with the group so skillfully and unobtrusively that he will scarcely realize how the benefaction has been accomplished."[9]

Two decades earlier, Aldous Huxley had shared his concern about such "belongingness." Knowing the manipulative tactics behind collectivism, he wrote in Brave New World,

"The most important Manhattan Projects of the future will be vast government-sponsored enquiries into what the politicians and the participating scientists will call 'the problem of happiness' — in other words, the problem of making people love their servitude....

"The love of servitude cannot be established except as the result of a deep, personal revolution in human minds and bodies. To bring about that revolution we require... First, a greatly improved technique of suggestion.... Second, a fully developed science of human differences.... (Round pegs in square holes tend to have dangerous thoughts about the social system and to infect others with their discontents.)"[10]

Today's leadership training and continual assessments help our managers assess and track "human resources" everywhere -- even in churches. Those assessments of "human differences" help facilitators create the conflicts and stir tension needed for change. As Saul Alinsky wrote,

"...the organizer is constantly creating new out of the old. He knows that all new ideas arise from conflict [tension]; that every time man has had a new idea it has been a challenge to the sacred ideas of the past and the present and inevitably a conflict has raged."[11]

Alinsky taught his "organizers" (or facilitators) to lead "with a free and open mind void of certainty, hating dogma."[11] Do those words sound familiar? They would if you've read our excerpts from UNESCO: Its purpose and Its Philosophy by Julian Huxley (Aldous' brother). As head of this powerful UN agency, he wrote,

"The task before UNESCO... is to help the emergence of a single world culture.... [At] the moment, two opposing philosophies of life confront each other.... individualism versus collectivism... capitalism versus communism... Christianity versus Marxism. Can these opposites be reconciled, this antithesis be resolved in a higher synthesis? ... If we are to achieve progress, we must learn to uncrystallize our dogmas."[12]

That's the aim of the dialectic process: to "uncrystalize our dogmas." Its success is evident in today's post-modern generation that rejects the very notion of truth and certainty. Though he claims to be Christian, Obama fits this picture. During a 2004 interview with Chicago Sun-Times religion editor Cathleen Falsani for her book, The God Factor, Obama said,

"I’m rooted in the Christian tradition. I believe there are many paths to the same place, [emphasis mine see ] and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people.'"[13]

This is the new pluralism! Unity over Truth! Any path is okay -- unless it clashes with the ground rules for the dialectic process -- the foundation for Obama's expansive service plan. His website gives us a glimpse of that plan:

Obama will expand AmeriCorps from 75,000 slots today to 250,000.... He will establish a Classroom Corps to help teachers and students.... and a Homeland Security Corps to help communities plan, prepare for and respond to emergencies. ...

Obama will double the Peace Corps to 16,000 by 2011. He will work with the leaders of other countries to build an international network of overseas volunteers so that Americans work side-by-side with volunteers from other countries. ...

Obama will set a goal that all middle and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year. He will develop national guidelines for service- learning and will give schools better tools both to develop programs and to document student experience."[14] Read full story...

| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |

Thanks for the story JB, and he brings to light the connection of Obama with the Alliance of Civilizations. To find out some more on the AoC, please check out Richard Peterson's blog. To read the story from Obama's website in context to what the AoC stands for, read:

An Alliance of Civilizations Could Make Friends for Obama's America Official Obama Website (February 1, 2008) - "As an American residing in Spain, the Alliance of Civilizations (AoC), a United Nations initiative underway since 2004, sounds as tailor-made for Barack Obama as those trendy gray suits he wears. US participation in the Alliance or in some other similar peace initiative, led by an Obama Administration, could result in peace and understanding winning out over war and extremism."

Keep in mind that "extremism" to the AoC is defined as claiming sole ownership to the Truth, something the Bible does, and so anyone who associates themselves to absolutely becomes an "extremist."

John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Revelation 13:1-9
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear.

For more on the beast from the sea with the seven heads and 10 horns, examine this chart and read about Daniel's prophesied fourth kingdom. Rome has been reborn as prophesied and now is coming to power as described with a seven-year confirmed covenant with many, including Israel, and is led by one man who has been given the power to speak for Europe with one voice. And Obama is very aligned with the policies coming from Europe. Is McCain any better? While not as vocal, he is a member of the CFR and also has globalist leanings. So from where I stand today it appears that either way the globalists will get what they want, but it also appears that Obama has captured the minds of much of the nation and the globalists and the rest of the world couldn't be happier. I'm glad my hope is not in this world or I might fall apart with it, where is yours? Are you watching?


Biden to Supporters: "Gird Your Loins", For the Next President "It's Like Cleaning Augean Stables" ABC News Political Radar Blog (October 20, 2008) - ABC News' Matthew Jaffe Reports: Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., on Sunday guaranteed that if elected, Sen. Barack Obama., D-Ill., will be tested by an international crisis within his first six months in power and he will need supporters to stand by him as he makes tough, and possibly unpopular, decisions. "Mark my words," the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

"I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate," Biden said to Emerald City supporters, mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities. "And he's gonna need help. And the kind of help he's gonna need is, he's gonna need you - not financially to help him - we're gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it's not gonna be apparent initially, it's not gonna be apparent that we're right."

Not only will the next administration have to deal with foreign affairs issues, Biden warned, but also with the current economic crisis. "Gird your loins," Biden told the crowd. "We're gonna win with your help, God willing, we're gonna win, but this is not gonna be an easy ride. This president, the next president, is gonna be left with the most significant task. It's like cleaning the Augean stables, man. This is more than just, this is more than – think about it, literally, think about it – this is more than just a capital crisis, this is more than just markets. This is a systemic problem we have with this economy."

The Delaware lawmaker managed to rake in an estimated $1 million total from his two money hauls at the downtown Sheraton, the same hotel where four years ago Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., clinched the Democratic nomination. Despite warning about the difficulties the next administration will face, Biden said the Democratic ticket is equipped to meet the challenges head on. "I've forgotten more about foreign policy than most of my colleagues know, so I'm not being falsely humble with you. I think I can be value added, but this guy has it," the Senate Foreign Relations chairman said of Obama. "This guy has it. But he's gonna need your help. Because I promise you, you all are gonna be sitting here a year from now going, 'Oh my God, why are they there in the polls? Why is the polling so down? Why is this thing so tough?' We're gonna have to make some incredibly tough decisions in the first two years. So I'm asking you now, I'm asking you now, be prepared to stick with us. Remember the faith you had at this point because you're going to have to reinforce us."

"There are gonna be a lot of you who want to go, 'Whoa, wait a minute, yo, whoa, whoa, I don't know about that decision'," Biden continued. "Because if you think the decision is sound when they're made, which I believe you will when they're made, they're not likely to be as popular as they are sound. Because if they're popular, they're probably not sound."

Biden emphasized that the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border is of particular concern, with Osama bin Laden "alive and well" and Pakistan "bristling with nuclear weapons." "You literally can see what these kids are up against, our kids in that region," Biden said in recalling when his helicopter was forced down due to a snowstorm there. "The place is crawling with al Qaeda. And it's real." "We do not have the military capacity, nor have we ever, quite frankly, in the last 20 years, to dictate outcomes," he cautioned. "It's so much more important than that. It's so much more complicated than that. And Barack gets it."

After speaking for just over a quarter of an hour, Biden noticed the media presence in the back of the small ballroom. "I probably shouldn't have said all this because it dawned on me that the press is here," he joked. "All kidding aside, these guys have left us in a God-awful place," he then said of the Bush regime, promptly wrapping up his remarks. "We have the ability to straighten it out. It's gonna take a little bit of time, so I ask you to stay with us. Stay with us."
| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

Please listen to Glenn Beck's commentary on this story and the possible implications in the audio files here. I think this could be what Glenn pondered on his show and possibly related to Middle East tensions that I think may be starting in the near future. Glenn touches on some other significant topics as well in the audio clip such as the October money printing spree.


'Smears' About Obama Largely True Newsmax (October 20, 2008) - The Obama campaign says its candidate is a victim of “smears” — and has even created a Web site to fight such attacks. But a Newsmax investigation finds many of the so-called smears are largely based in truth — and the Obama campaign uses half-truths, clever language, and ad hominem attacks to spin the facts.

Obama’s www.FightTheSmears.com focuses mainly on anti-Obama messages being repeated on the Internet and talk radio, the only media where Obama's ideological allies are not dominant. These "smears" and the Obama rebuttals are often framed in lawyerly language that leaves much wiggle room in the candidate’s answers. FightTheSmears.com also makes no attempt at objectivity, describing Obama’s critics as “pushing misleading research and distorted claims” because they are “ideologues” busy “spreading a ‘pack of lies’ about Barack.”

In a section of the site titled, “Who’s Behind the Smears?” visitors can see a chart naming seven groups and six individuals with lines that suggest multiple, sinister connections between them. The people and groups named are real and are members of Washington’s small but conservative sphere of power and influence. The Obama conspiracy chart links all of these conservative individuals and groups back to the critics who dogged the “Clinton 1992 Campaign.” This may come as something as a surprise to Hillary Clinton, as many of the “smears” against Obama first surfaced during her heated primary contest with him.

Newsmax reviewed 10 random claims and related rebuttals posted on Obama’s ever-changing FightTheSmears.com to gauge their veracity. Here’s what we found:

Claim No. 1: Obama's campaign is funded by the rich, big corporations and foreigners.

“Barack Obama was the only major presidential candidate this year to completely reject contributions from The Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs that have dominated our politics for years,” the Obama site says of the persistent online criticisms of its fundraising. “Instead, this campaign has been owned by the more than 3.1 million everyday Americans who have donated in small amounts.”

Not so, according to campaign finance records. Nearly half of the $600 million raised by Obama to date has come from wealthy donors and special interests. Obama's allies months ago dropped their ad linking Republican rival “Exxon John” McCain to Big Oil after it came to light that Obama had taken far more money from Exxon-Mobil than McCain.

“The Obama campaign has complied fully with federal election law,” claims the Obama site, “including donor eligibility and contribution disclosure requirements.” However, one giant loophole the politicians wrote into the law allows contributions in amounts of $200 or less with no donor identification. Obama claims that $300 million in campaign funds was given by these small donors, and he won’t release their names and addresses. McCain has released his whole donor database, including those who have contributed less than $200.

Critics argue that the other half of Obama’s campaign haul — the part not raised from big corporate donors and special interests — came in a small flood of anonymous donations that might be foreign or corrupt, or both.

Claim No. 2: Obama has had a close, ongoing relationship with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers.

The Obama site acknowledges that its candidate and Ayers ”served on the board of an education-reform organization in the mid-1990s,” but maintains most stories about the links between Obama and Ayers are phony or exaggerated. It does not mention that Obama and Ayers worked together on the board distributing millions of dollars with the aim of radicalizing Chicago schoolchildren.

Nor does the site acknowledge that Obama kicked off his first political campaign in the living room of Ayers, the former Weather Underground leader. (Obama is currently saying it was not the first event. There is no dispute that one of Obama’s first political events in his first run for public office was held in Ayers’ home.)

There is also no dispute the Weather Underground bombed the Pentagon the Capitol, the home of a New York Supreme Court justice, and a police station, among other targets. FBI agent Larry Grathwohl, who infiltrated the group, has recounted Ayers teaching him how to make bombs and saying, “In the revolution, some innocent people need to die.”

“Smear groups and now a desperate McCain campaign are trying to connect Barack to William Ayers using age-old guilt by association techniques . . .” says the Obama Web site. Actually, McCain and Obama critics are questioning why Obama would continue to associate with a man who, as recently as 2001, said he did not do enough and wished he had bombed more.

Conservatives also note that if Ayers had bombed abortion clinics, the liberal media would brand him a pariah forever. What does it tell us about the liberal media’s and Obama’s judgment and values that they see nothing wrong with embracing unrepentant terrorist Ayers today?

Claim No. 3: Obama takes advice from executives of troubled mortgage backer Fannie Mae.

“John McCain started smearing Obama about non-existent ties to Fannie Mae in some of his deceptive attack ads,” says FightTheSmears.com. The site downplays connections between Obama and two former heads of the giant mortgage-backing institution — James A. Johnson and Franklin D. Raines — whose corruption played a key role in the current financial crisis. But an editorial in the Aug. 27, 2008, Washington Post described Johnson and Raines, as “members of Mr. Obama’s political circle.”

Raines advised the Obama campaign on housing matters. Obama chose Johnson to select his vice presidential running mate. But because neither are advising Obama today, this Web site’s present-tense claim that he “doesn’t [not didn’t] take advice from Fannie Mae execs” is technically, if deceptively, true. Johnson also reportedly helped raise as much as $500,000 for Obama’s campaign.

And despite Obama’s lack of seniority in the U.S. Senate, he pocketed more than $105,000 in political contributions, the third-highest amount given to any lawmaker, directly from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Obama’s Web site leaves all this unmentioned.

Claim No. 4: Obama has close ties with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a group suspected of massive voter registration fraud.

Obama’s site says the candidate was never an ACORN employee and that ACORN “was not part of Project Vote, the successful voter registration drive [Obama] ran in 1992.” In defending Obama, the site resorts to smearing former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell — calling him a “discredited Republican voter-suppression guru” — for daring to fight the vote fraud so often associated with operatives of ACORN, among the largest radical groups in the United States.

As Newsmax has documented in ["Clever Obama Tries To Bury ACORN Past,"] Obama’s Web site is attempting to deceive when it says Obama was never “hired” to work as a trainer for ACORN’s leaders. In fact, he did the work for free from at least 1993 until 2003. ACORN spokesman Lewis Goldberg acknowledges in the Oct. 11, 2008, New York Times that Obama trained ACORN leaders. And Obama worked as a lawyer for ACORN.

As to heading up Project Vote in Illinois, Obama said during a speech to ACORN leaders last November, "[When] I ran the Project Vote voter registration drive in Illinois, ACORN was smack-dab in the middle of it.” Veteran journalist Karen Tumulty described Project Vote in the Oct. 18, 2004, issue of Time magazine as “a nonpartisan arm of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now” after interviewing its national director.

The co-founder of ACORN, former Students for a Democratic Society official Wade Rathke, described Project Vote as one of ACORN’s “family of organizations.” Over the years, ACORN and its front groups, like the one Obama ran in Illinois, have registered more than 4 million voters. When authorities in Virginia checked ACORN registrations, it found that 83 percent were fraudulent or had problems. This, in theory, could mean ACORN may have created the opportunity for stealing more than 3.3 million votes in this November’s election, a margin far wider than that by which Obama is likely to win. more...
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America |


Bush backs EU plan on global financial reform EU Observer (October 20, 2008) - US President George W. Bush has backed the European idea of a series of global talks on reform of the world's financial system, with the first summit set to be held shortly after the US presidential elections in November.

The outgoing American leader agreed there needs to be further co-ordinated effort to tackle the "challenges facing the global economy" after a three-hour meeting at Camp David on Saturday (18 October) with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country currently chairs the 27-strong EU, and with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. The three politicians said they would approach other world powers - both from the richest nations and the newly emerging economies such as China and India - and try to reach "agreement on principles of reform needed to avoid a repetition and assure global prosperity in the future."

Later summits will be "designed to implement agreement on specific steps to be taken to meet those principles," the trio said in a joint statement. The top-level talks are due to tackle controversial elements of the current financial order which are seen by some as having contributed or failed to prevent the credit crunch, which originated in the US and spread across the globe.

At the EU level, several such issues have been highlighted as the possible targets of stricter regulation - rating agencies, tax havens, hedge funds, executive pay but also the very role of key global institutions, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. "We believe in the capacity and the ability of the American people to come up with the answers the world is waiting for, is expecting. Because this sort of capitalism is a betrayal of the capitalism we believe in," Mr Sarkozy said, newswires report.

"The meeting should be held rapidly, perhaps before the end of November. Since the crisis started in New York, maybe we can find the solution in New York," he added. However, US president Bush stressed that "as we make the regulatory and institutional changes necessary to avoid a repeat of this crisis, it is essential that we preserve the foundations of democratic capitalism - the commitment to free markets, free enterprise and free trade." "We must resist the dangerous temptation of economic isolationism and continue the policies of open markets that have lifted standards of living and held millions of people escape poverty around the world." Read full story...

| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Europeans signal clash with US over global capitalism Telegraph UK (October 19, 2008) - World leaders will meet in the United Sates next month to find a fix for the international financial crisis after President George W. Bush bowed to European calls for a global economic summit. Mr Bush bowed to demands from French President Nicolas Sarkozy, current holder of the EU's rotating presidency and José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, at his Camp David presidential retreat.

The emboldened Europeans signalled that the bloc was ready to ambush Mr Bush and his successor, who is expected to attend the meeting, to impose a European vision for new financial market regulation. "The EU must take over the leadership of change because that is what it has long been calling for while the US was not favourable," said José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the Spanish Prime Minister. "There has to be regulation and limits to everything to do with incentives and rewards."

The French leader reiterated his attacks on the American-led sytem of capitalism. "We cannot continue along the same lines because the same problems will trigger the same disasters," said Mr Sarkozy. "This is no longer acceptable. This is no longer possible. This sort of capitalism is a betrayal of the sort of capitalism we believe in."

The summit, expected to take place just days or weeks after US presidential elections in November, will start a political tussle over The US President has backed the steps European nations have taken in recent weeks to stabilise financial markets but has signalled American uneasiness with some EU calls for a root and branch overhaul of capitalism.

But remarks after the Camp David meeting has already exposed deep trans-Atlanic differences. "We will work to strengthen and modernise our nations' financial systems so we can help ensure that this crisis doesn't happen again," said Mr Bush. "As we make the regulatory and institutional changes necessary to avoid a repeat of this crisis, it is essential that we preserve the foundations of democratic capitalism a commitment to free markets, free enterprise, and free trade," he said. "We must resist the dangerous temptation of economic isolationism and continue the policies of open markets that have lifted standards of living and helped millions of people escape poverty around the world."

In contrast, President Sarkozy and other EU leaders have floated radical ideas of reforming rating agencies, the creation of new international financial supervisors and tough regulation of hedge funds and tax havens. Even the venue of the global economic conference could be a source of discord after President Sarkozy called for it to be held under the auspices of the United Nations in New York, near America's Wall Street financial district, the source, the EU claims, of the present economic crisis. "Insofar as the crisis began in New York, then the global solution must be found to this crisis in New York," Mr Sarkozy said.

A weakened President Bush, who will be seeing out his last months in office after US presidential elections on Nov 4. The US leader is expected to try and wrest back control by holding the summit in Washington. European diplomats are hoping that a new US President-elect might be more receptive to European style "social market" reforms, especially if the elections sweep Democrat candidate Barack Obama into power. As Mr Bush nears the end of his second term and prepares to hand over the White House in January next year, any future American financial reforms will fall to his successor.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

In light of the Glenn Beck show regarding Biden's comments, what I've been feeling about an Obama win would fit quite well into the further integration of America into the global economy as a step to a new global financial system not run on paper currency, but electronically tracked data based on a unique ID system to label individuals in a global database. Crazy? You bet, and every day it seems a step closer in this climate of fear and uncertainty. My guess is that much of the world will accept this solution as an only way out. Time will tell - keep watching.


Obama raises stunning $150 million in September Associated Press (October 19, 2008) - Barack Obama raised more than $150 million in September, a stunning and unprecedented eruption of political giving that has given him a wide spending advantage over rival John McCain. The Democrat's campaign released the figure Sunday, one day before it must file a detailed report of its monthly finances with the Federal Election Commission.

Obama's money is fueling a vast campaign operation in an expanding field of competitive states. It also has underwritten a wave of both national and targeted video advertising unseen before in a presidential contest. Campaign manager David Plouffe, in an e-mail to supporters Sunday morning, said the campaign had added 632,000 new donors in September, for a total of 3.1 million contributors to the campaign. He said the average donation was $86.

The Democratic National Committee, moments later, announced that it raised $49.9 million and had $27.5 million in the bank at the start of October. The party has been raising money through joint fundraising events with Obama and can use the money to assist his candidacy.

Obama's numbers are possible because he opted out of the public financing system for the fall campaign. McCain, the Republican nominee, chose to participate in the system, which limits him to $84 million for the September-October stretch before the election. Obama initially had promised to accept public financing if McCain did, but changed his mind after setting primary fundraising records. His extraordinary fundraising is bound to set a new standard in politics that could doom the taxpayer-paid system. Many Republicans have begun to second-guess McCain's decision to participate in the program.

McCain, reacting to Obama's announcement, raised the potential for fundraising abuses. He said Obama is "completely breaking whatever idea we had after Watergate to keep the costs and spending on campaigns under control. ... That has unleashed now in presidential campaigns a new flood of spending that will then cause a scandal, and then we will fix it again" While McCain said he was not suggesting the Obama campaign had done anything illegal or improper, he said "history shows us where unlimited amounts of money are in political campaigns, it leads to scandal."

Obama's monthly figure pushed his total fundraising to $605 million. No presidential candidate has ever run such an expensive campaign. His campaign raised $65 million in August, his previous best. "The overall numbers obviously are impressive," Plouffe said in a campaign video. "But it's what's beneath the numbers in terms of average Americans who have had enough, who want a change and who are really fueling this campaign." With his money, and a favorable political wind at his back, Obama has secured his foothold in states that have voted for Democratic presidential candidates in the past. But he has also been able to expand the contest to reliably Republican states, forcing McCain and the Republican Party to spend their money defensively.

Plouffe pointed out that the campaign is now spending resources in West Virginia. Obama running mate Joe Biden was scheduled to campaign in Charleston, W.Va., on Friday and the campaign has secured television advertising in the state for the next two weeks, according to ad data obtained by The Associated Press. Plouffe hinted at further expansion, noting that public opinion polls show the race tightening in Georgia and North Dakota.

As much as Obama raised, he needed a big fundraising month to justify his decision to bypass the public finance system. Financially, he has been competing not only against McCain, but against the GOP, which raised $66 million in September. The combined Obama and DNC totals for September now give the Democrats a distinct financial advantage going into Election Day, just 16 days away. McCain spoke on "Fox News Sunday."
| America |


New Home Construction at Lowest Level Since World War II Fox News (October 18, 2008) - The nation is on track to build fewer homes this year than at any time since the end of World War II, adding to the woes of an economy that analysts said Friday has almost certainly entered a recession.

While the economic outlook darkened even further with bad reports on layoffs and consumer confidence, it was one of the quietest days since the financial meltdown began a month ago. Wall Street's tumultuous week turned out to be its best in five years. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 127 points Friday but turned in the strong week because of two huge days of gains — a record 936-point jump on Monday and an increase of 401 points Thursday.

Friday was still marked by the huge swings that have become typical lately. At various points the Dow was up nearly 300 points and down nearly 250, and it finished with a triple-digit move for the 22nd time in 25 trading sessions.

A monthly survey by the National Association of Home Builders showed sentiment among home builders hit a record low in early October. David Seiders, chief economist for the group, said builders are being hit by a double whammy from the financial turmoil: It's harder for them to get loans to pursue new houses, and more difficult to sell those they do build. He forecast that builders will keep slashing production in coming months, with construction starts for new homes and apartments totaling just 936,000 this year, the lowest level since 1945. "The builders are telling us that the financial crisis is really hurting because people justifiably have no idea where things are going," Seiders said.

Before the markets opened, President Bush went to the headquarters of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to say that the $700 billion financial rescue package was "big enough and bold enough to work." But he cautioned that it would take time to unlock credit markets.

Adam Levitin, an associate professor at Georgetown University Law School, said that even with the government's injection of billions into the banks, the high debt loads carried by consumers and shortage of creditworthy borrowers could continue to chill lending. "Who's going to lend to GM right now?" Levitin said at a conference organized by the American Bar Association. He also asked what banks would lend money to homeowners with troubled mortgages.

Analysts said new data released Friday showed it's probably too late for the economy to avoid a recession. Many of them said they now had recessions in their forecasts, believing that the overall economy, as measured by total domestic production, probably shrank in the July-to-September quarter, dragged lower in part by the continued plunge in housing. "I don't think there is any ambiguity with respect to whether we are in a recession," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "I think it actually started at the end of last year, and because of the financial panic we are going through now, it is likely to last another year."

Other economists said they were looking for at least three consecutive quarters of contraction, reflecting in part the fact that consumers, who account for two-thirds of total economic activity, are showing the strains of the biggest upheaval in the financial sector in 70 years.

A new University of Michigan/Reuters survey showed consumer confidence plunged in early October to its second-lowest level in the past 28 years. "Concerns about falling employment, incomes and wealth have overshadowed relief from lower energy prices," said Sara Johnson, an economist at Global Insight, a Lexington, Mass., forecasting firm.

The Commerce Department said Friday that construction of new homes and apartments dropped by a bigger-than-expected 6.3 percent in September to an annual rate of 817,000 units, the second weakest performance in government statistics dating back to 1959. The only weaker monthly showing occurred in January 1991, when the U.S. was in a recession and going through a similar painful housing correction.

In a bleak sign of future construction, applications for new building permits fell a sharp 8.2 percent to an annual rate of 786,000 units, the weakest level in more than 25 years. The government also sharply revised lower its construction data for July and August. That was after dismal news earlier this week that retail sales fell by 1.2 percent in September.

Influential billionaire investor Warren Buffett said in opinion piece in The New York Times that he sees opportunity in the Wall Street chaos. He's been moving his personal investments from safe Treasuries into U.S. stocks. "To be sure, investors are right to be wary of highly leveraged entities or businesses in weak competitive positions," Buffett wrote. "But fears regarding the long-term prosperity of the nation's many sound companies make no sense." The market eventually will turn around. "So if you wait for the robins, spring will be over," he said.

On the housing front, while the sharp cutbacks in production will help reduce huge inventories of unsold homes, the problem is that rising levels of foreclosures are dumping more homes on the already glutted market. Zandi said he believed that home prices, which have already fallen by 20 percent, will fall by another 10 percent and will not stabilize until the middle of next year.

Kim Shelpman, the chief executive of Holiday Builders, which operates in Texas, Florida, Alabama and South Carolina, said that her company was competing against a rising tide of foreclosures, but that she believed the excess inventory of homes was being "eaten up at a much quicker pace."

Jesse Barrington, a sale consultant with Sotherby Homes, said the sales slowdown nationwide had been less pronounced in the upscale suburbs of north of Dallas where about 20 homes in a new subdivision had recently sold. "In a normal economy, this is a good year. In this economy, it's phenomenal," he said. In the South, sales managed a small 0.5 percent gain in September. They rose by 5.6 percent in the Midwest, where a boost in apartment building offset a slide in single-family homes to a record low.

The weakness last month was led by a 21 percent drop in the Northeast, where construction of single-family units fell to the lowest level on record, and the West, where building slipped by almost 17 percent with single-family construction also hitting a record-low in that region.

On Tuesday, the Treasury Department announced it would inject up to $250 billion in U.S. banks in return for partial ownership stakes, in a program similar to one launched in 1932 by President Herbert Hoover. The government hopes banks will use the capital infusions to rebuild their reserves and bolster lending to customers.
| America | Economic Crisis |


Corsi releases statement blocked by Kenya WorldNet Daily (October 17, 2008) - For the past week, I have been in Nairobi, Kenya, investigating the ties between Sen. Barack Obama and Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, as first presented in my New York Times No. 1 best-selling book, "The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality." Chapter 4 of my book was devoted to Kenya. As a result of the investigative journalism I have done in Kenya this past week, I can now verify the following:

  • Senator Barack Obama and Prime Minister Raila Odinga have been in direct contact since Senator Obama's visit to Kenya in 2006.
  • Senator Obama has advised Raila Odinga on campaign strategy and helped Raila Odinga raise money in the United States for Raila Odinga's presidential campaign in Kenya.
  • The memorandum of understanding Raila Odinga, representing the Orange Democratic Movement, or ODM, and Sheikh Abdullahi Abdi, the chairman of the National Muslim Leaders Forum, or NAMLEF, signed on Aug. 27, 2007, is now verified as a genuine document in the original long form Abdi produced for Kenyan television.
  • An eight-page document drafted for Raila Odinga as an executive summary of his campaign strategy, entitled "Positioning and Marketing of the Orange Democratic Movement and the People's President – Hon. Raila A. Odinga," that was allegedly prepared by the party's core strategy team has also been verified as a valid document.
  • Odinga's 2007 presidential campaign strategy called for exploiting anti-Kikuyu sentiments, claiming victory and charging voter fraud even if the campaign knew the election had been legitimately lost and being willing to fan the flames of ethnic tribal tensions and use violence as a last resort by calling for mass action which led to the destruction of properties, injuries, loss of life and the displacement of over 500,000 Kenyans. This was to create a situation forcing the Electoral Commission of Kenya to declare Odinga the winner or having him declare himself, by force, "The People's President" at a rally in Uhuru Park.
  • Even though Odinga has not fulfilled his promises to the Muslims who voted for him, he continues to cause concern among Kenyan Christians, because he has not declared his position on Shariah law and the Kadhi's Court in Kenya.
  • Sen. Obama remained in active phone contact with Odinga, through the New Hampshire Democratic Party primary in January, continuing to support Odinga, turning a blind eye to the memorandum of understanding signed with Muslims and the post-election violence instigated as part of the ODM campaign strategy.

Until the U.S. presidential election in November, I will be substantiating these charges on WorldNetDaily, where I am a senior staff investigative reporter. I also plan to be actively on radio and television in the United States to explain the results of my research in Kenya and the articles I plan to write on WorldNetDaily. Read full story...

--End--

***************

Fifteen minutes before the press conference was to begin, Corsi was confronted by approximately 30 Kenyan immigration officers and uniformed military armed with automatic rifles, demanding to see his passport.

Corsi was taken by the immigration authorities and detained at Nyayo House, the provincial government headquarters in Nairobi, beginning what turned into 13-hours of detention, during which Kenyan immigration officials conducted an official investigation into his immigration status.

The 10 a.m. press conference at the Grand Regency Hotel in downtown Nairobi was never held because of Corsi's detention, which, throughout, was enforced by armed Kenyan military.

Immigration officials detaining Corsi assured him he was not under arrest and that he was not being charged with any crimes, even though they insisted he accompany them to the main Nairobi immigration building on the ninth floor of the nearby downtown Kenyan government office.

In Kenya for a week, Corsi had scheduled the Oct. 7 press conference on the morning of the day he was scheduled to take an 11:45 p.m. British Airways flight from Nairobi to London.

"I feared my life would be in danger once I revealed the information and documents I had uncovered in Kenya," Corsi said, "so I scheduled to leave that evening, once I had completed the press conference and had some time to do follow-up one-on-one interviews with interested reporters."

In the week he was in Kenya, Corsi held extensive private meetings with numerous highly positioned government officials, former leaders of Raila Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement party, influential Christian missionaries, African Christian pastors and various long-time experts in Kenyan politics.

Most of Corsi's interviews were conducted under the condition that he keep his sources anonymous, largely because those meeting with him feared reprisals and possibly even threats to their lives for sharing information for publication with WorldNetDaily.

Corsi said that Kenyan immigration authorities assured him throughout the course of his 13-hour detention that he was never under arrest and that he was not being deported.

"Immigration officials told us late in the day last Tuesday that the press conference had been cancelled when Odinga phoned immigration officials and demanded I be arrested," Corsi said. "The president and vice president's office knew we were giving the press conference and had no objections."

Corsi told WND that late in the morning, while he was still in detention at the downtown Nairobi immigration headquarters, two individuals in suits and ties arrived and announced they were lawyers hired to represent him.

"I never hired any lawyers," Corsi told WND. "The lawyers made a point of telling the immigration authorities in our presence that they had been retained by Kenyan Vice President Kolonzo's office to represent us."

Corsi was later told the lawyers had paid bribes to immigration authorities to get him released.

"I disapprove of paying bribes and would never have authorized their payment," Corsi said.

Corsi said he has refused to acknowledge e-mails received from Kenya since his release demanding he compensate the people who allegedly put up the money to pay the bribes.

Throughout the day, Kenyan immigration authorities held Corsi's passport, his driver's license and his cell phone. He was never free to leave immigration custody or even move about the airport freely, without being accompanied by armed guard.

Kenyan authorities also detained Corsi's publicist Tim Bueler, who had accompanied him to Kenya.

Both were denied the opportunity to eat until late in the day when Corsi insisted Bueler was beginning to suffer blood sugar problems from lack of food.

Despite reports from Kenyan newspapers that Corsi was in Kenya to promote his book, he denies the charges.

"My book 'The Obama Nation' was a No. 1 New York Times best-seller for a month after it was published on August 1," Corsi said. "The U.S. is the largest book market in the world. The idea that I was going to Nairobi to open a Kenyan market to sell the book was ridiculous. The book was written for a U.S. audience, not a Kenyan audience."

Still, immigration officials who detained Corsi at the Regency Hotel prior to the press conference demanded to see the inventory of books they believed Corsi had brought and were surprised to learn he had with him only one copy of the book, which he had planned to show to the press when delivering his prepared remarks at the press conference.

After writing "The Obama Nation," Corsi had been invited to Kenya by former ODM officials who had become disillusioned with Odinga after Odinga's agreement with the Muslim leader Abdi became public knowledge. Odinga then prompted a wave of tribal violence, claiming voter fraud, as a last ditch effort to gain power after losing to President Kibaki by nearly a quarter million votes.

"The ex-ODM officials inviting me to Kenya offered to share with me internal ODM documents and e-mails which would support the claims I made in Chapter 4 of 'The Obama Nation,' Corsi said. "I went to Kenya to do additional research, not to sell books, and I declared that purpose on the immigration entry card when I arrived in Kenya."

Kenyan officials have claimed that Corsi violated the terms of a tourist visa when he entered the country supposedly "to go on safari," while his real intent was to engage in the commercial activity of book-selling.

"The immigration officials said they lost our entry cards," Corsi said. "But the truth is the government knew we told the truth when we entered Kenya, and immigration officials did not want to have to show to the public that we entered Kenya as journalists, not tourists."

To date, the Kenyan government has failed to charge Corsi with any violation of immigration laws or to produce evidence that he entered the country under false pretenses.

Kenyan immigration and airport security officials kept Corsi under armed guard until they were placed aboard their originally scheduled flight departing that evening.

Upon handing Corsi's and Bueler's passports to British Airways flight attendants when the airplane's door was being closed for takeoff, an unnamed Kenyan official rudely told Corsi, "Never come back to Kenya" and "See you in hell."

On Monday, Dec. 31, 2007, after he lost the popular vote for president in Kenya and President Kibaki had been sworn in for a second term, Odinga called a ceremony in Nairobi's Uhuru Park to proclaim himself the "People's President," ignoring a police ban to hold the event and disregarding the hundreds of riot officers the government deployed around the park during the event, according to a BBC report.

At this point, post-election tribal violence in which Odinga's machete-wielding Luo tribe supporters attacked President Kibaki's majority Kikuyu tribe members had already broken out across Kenya.

Muslim groups continue to push the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission to expand the Islamic Kadhi Court jurisdiction to civil and commercial disputes, a move implicit in the agreement Odinga signed with Abdi and his Muslim group, NAMLEF.

Kadhi Courts typically settle marriage and inheritance disputes between Muslims in Kenya and have been recognized at the district level since Kenyan independence in 1963.

| Islam | America |


Gordon Brown expects news on global regulation plans in the 'next few days' Citywire (October 15, 2008) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he expects progress towards a cocoordinated approach to cross order regulation of the financial markets in 'the next few days.' Taking time out from his meeting with EU leaders in Brussels, he told journalists that leaders needed to work together to create a new ‘financial vision’ to ensure that the current crisis in financial markets does is not repeated.

He said it was time to move to stage two of the recovery process and establish appropriate regulation and an early warning process to ‘root out irresponsibilities and excesses’. ‘We need supervision and regulation where it has been lacking and where it is necessary, and international co-operation. We need an early warning system and proper co-ordination,’ he said.

José Manuel Barroso paid tribute to Brown’s role in driving forward the EU response to the financial crisis and said he agreed it was time to take action ‘to the next level’. The two leaders will attend the EU Council in Brussels over the next two days. Gordon Brown said that US president George Bush shared his sense of urgency. He said that although the new US president elected at the end of November will have to sign up to any eventual plan, he said there is no need to wait.

On Monday, Gordon Brown said the world needs an effective global early warning system to alert people across continents to economic and financial risks. He also called for globally accepted standards of supervision that apply equally in all countries, stronger arrangements for cross-border supervision of global firms, and much stronger institutions for co-operation and concerted action in a crisis. Brown is understood to have recommended the creation of a series of colleges of supervisors to oversee cross-border financial institutions.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


The O Jesse Knows New York Post (October 14, 2008) - PREPARE for a new America: That's the message that the Rev. Jesse Jackson conveyed to participants in the first World Policy Forum, held at this French lakeside resort last week. He promised "fundamental changes" in US foreign policy - saying America must "heal wounds" it has caused to other nations, revive its alliances and apologize for the "arrogance of the Bush administration."

The most important change would occur in the Middle East, where "decades of putting Israel's interests first" would end. Jackson believes that, although "Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades" remain strong, they'll lose a great deal of their clout when Barack Obama enters the White House.

"Obama is about change," Jackson told me in a wide-ranging conversation. "And the change that Obama promises is not limited to what we do in America itself. It is a change of the way America looks at the world and its place in it." Jackson warns that he isn't an Obama confidant or adviser, "just a supporter." But he adds that Obama has been "a neighbor or, better still, a member of the family." Jackson's son has been a close friend of Obama for years, and Jackson's daughter went to school with Obama's wife Michelle.

"We helped him start his career," says Jackson. "And then we were always there to help him move ahead. He is the continuation of our struggle for justice not only for the black people but also for all those who have been wronged." Read full story...

| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Obama's Abortion Extremism The Witherspoon Institute (October 14, 2008) - Sen. Barack Obama's views on life issues ranging from abortion to embryonic stem cell research mark him as not merely a pro-choice politician, but rather as the most extreme pro-abortion candidate to have ever run on a major party ticket.

Barack Obama is the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever to seek the office of President of the United States. He is the most extreme pro-abortion member of the United States Senate. Indeed, he is the most extreme pro-abortion legislator ever to serve in either house of the United States Congress.

Yet there are Catholics and Evangelicals-even self-identified pro-life Catholics and Evangelicals - who aggressively promote Obama's candidacy and even declare him the preferred candidate from the pro-life point of view. What is going on here?

I have examined the arguments advanced by Obama's self-identified pro-life supporters, and they are spectacularly weak. It is nearly unfathomable to me that those advancing them can honestly believe what they are saying. But before proving my claims about Obama's abortion extremism, let me explain why I have described Obama as "pro-abortion" rather than "pro-choice."

According to the standard argument for the distinction between these labels, nobody is pro-abortion. Everybody would prefer a world without abortions. After all, what woman would deliberately get pregnant just to have an abortion? But given the world as it is, sometimes women find themselves with unplanned pregnancies at times in their lives when having a baby would present significant problems for them. So even if abortion is not medically required, it should be permitted, made as widely available as possible and, when necessary, paid for with taxpayers' money.

The defect in this argument can easily be brought into focus if we shift to the moral question that vexed an earlier generation of Americans: slavery. Many people at the time of the American founding would have preferred a world without slavery but nonetheless opposed abolition. Such people - Thomas Jefferson was one - reasoned that, given the world as it was, with slavery woven into the fabric of society just as it had often been throughout history, the economic consequences of abolition for society as a whole and for owners of plantations and other businesses that relied on slave labor would be dire. Many people who argued in this way were not monsters but honest and sincere, albeit profoundly mistaken. Some (though not Jefferson) showed their personal opposition to slavery by declining to own slaves themselves or freeing slaves whom they had purchased or inherited. They certainly didn't think anyone should be forced to own slaves. Still, they maintained that slavery should remain a legally permitted option and be given constitutional protection.

Would we describe such people, not as pro-slavery, but as "pro-choice"? Of course we would not. It wouldn't matter to us that they were "personally opposed" to slavery, or that they wished that slavery were "unnecessary," or that they wouldn't dream of forcing anyone to own slaves. We would hoot at the faux sophistication of a placard that said "Against slavery? Don't own one." We would observe that the fundamental divide is between people who believe that law and public power should permit slavery, and those who think that owning slaves is an unjust choice that should be prohibited. Read full story...

| NewWorldOrder | America |


Statistical dead heat Boston Herald (October 14, 2008) - Zogby International called the presidential race a “statistical dead heat,” yesterday citing a slip in the polls by Democrat Barack Obama, though major polls continued to show more significant leads over Republican John McCain. Zogby recorded 47.9 percent support for Obama among likely voters, and 43.6 percent for McCain, a 4.3-point spread.

“In this latest report, McCain gained eight-tenths of a point, while Obama lost one full point,” Zogby reported. “While the worldwide economic system underwent dramatic turmoil last week, the poll shows the presidential race remarkably unchanged overall at the end of the first full week of daily tracking. Through the week, Obama has always held a small lead, as large as 6.1 points (on Saturday) and as little as 1.9 points (last Wednesday).”

Meanwhile, Gallup polling, which has given double-digit leads among all registered voters for the past week, tightened into single digits over the weekend. Sunday, for the first time in a week, Gallup recorded a 7-point lead, with 50 percent of registered voters preferring Obama to 43 percent for McCain. Polling of likely voters has been even tighter, with Obama’s lead shrinking to 4 points. Obama’s lead in the latest Gallup three-day average among registered voters remained in double digits at 10 points, while his lead among likely voters was 7 points.
| America |


Glenn Beck: What happened? Glenn Beck (October 7, 2008) - Yes, another email letter from your crazy brother. You raised a lot of questions in your last email and I am going to try to answer all of them. I think all of your questions fall into three areas: (1) how did we get here; (2) what's coming; and (3) what can I do to prepare myself and my family.

Consider this email as my answer to your first question, "how did we get here?". I'll be sending you 2 more emails answering your other two questions. Since there's a lot of misinformation out there I will document each of the facts in my emails so you know where I pulled the information from and where you can go to read and learn more.

What you shouldn't do is panic. We'll get through this--don't pull all of your money out of the bank but have enough cash on-hand to meet any possible emergencies.

First, you've got to get the stock market's ups-and-downs out of your mind. The recent drops and upticks are short-term. Our economic problems are much bigger and deeper. Too many people believe that if the stock market goes up our problems are behind us and that's simply not true.

Last week the market had big drops and big upswings. In the end, the market ended down more than 800 points and lots of 'experts' were shouting it was a time to buy. I don't see it that way.

Did you know that just two days after the stock market crashed in October 1929 the market actually gained ground the next two days? The New York Times reported that "the market quickly regained its poise and stability...." Today, Wall Street 'pros' are telling us it's a good time to invest because Warren Buffet is investing. A lot of people were probably using the same argument when the Rockefeller family was buying stocks right after the 1929 crash, what they didn't know was that it would take Wall Street ten more years to see those prices again.

Our current economic crisis was caused by politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, who perverted the American Dream by treating home ownership as an undeniable right rather than what it really is, a privilege. President Bush aggressively promoted the benefits of home ownership through various policy positions, including a reckless zero down-payment initiative for some homebuyers and praised Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac even after concerns about their accounting standards began to surface. Read full letter...

| Islam | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

You can also listen to the October 8 show.


U.S. confirms bank buy-ins Chicago Tribune (October 11, 2008) - The government will buy an ownership stake in a broad array of American banks for the first time since the Great Depression, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said late Friday. "This is a period like none of us has ever seen before," Paulson declared. He said the government program to purchase stock in private U.S. financial firms will be open to a broad array of institutions, including banks, in an effort to help them raise desperately needed money.

The administration received the authority to take such direct action in the $700 billion economic rescue bill that Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed last week. Paulson announced the administration's new effort to prop up banks at the conclusion of discussions among finance officials of the Group of Seven major industrialized countries. That group endorsed the outlines of a sweeping program to combat the worst global credit crisis in decades.

Paulson said the U.S. program would be designed to complement banks' own efforts to raise fresh capital from private sources. The government's stock purchases will be of non-voting shares so it will not have power to run the companies. Few details of the plan were available.

The purchase of stakes in companies would be in addition to the main thrust of the $700 billion rescue effort, which is to purchase distressed assets from financial institutions as a way of unthawing frozen credit, getting banks to resume normal lending operations and staving off severe problems for businesses and everyday Americans alike. It would mark the first time the government has taken equity ownership in banks in this manner since a similar program was employed during the Depression.

The Treasury, under the equity purchase program, would not be involved in bank management, Paulson said. "Such a program would be designed to encourage the raising of new private capital to complement public capital," he said.
| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


China stiffing America for $100 billion in debt WorldNet Daily (October 11, 2008) - While Chinese companies are in line to benefit directly from U.S. taxpayers' $700 billion-plus bailout of Wall Street, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other financial institutions, Beijing is stiffing the U.S. for $100 billion or more in unpaid debt.

The status of the Chinese economy, including its repudiated debt, has prompted one analyst to warn of an "ominous threat" involving China's finances and suggest the possibility of "a dramatic reversal" for the "so-called Chinese Miracle." "One of the greatest problems facing China is the government's failure to acknowledge and effectively address the true extent of state institutions' bad debt," Kevin O'Brien writes in an article titled, "Reassessing China's Sovereign Risk: Emerging Global and Domestic Trends Threaten the 'Chinese Miracle."

O'Brien's report was published at a website for the Global Association of Risk Professionals, a not-for-profit independent trade association of risk management practitioners around the world. It has 77,000 members from fields such as banking, investment management and academics. One problem that should be addressed, he writes, is the $260 billion in sovereign debt owed U.S. and other investors which China has said it simply won't repay. "The repayment obligation was inherited by the People's Republic of China, when the communists took control in 1949. The successor government doctrine of settled international law affirms continuity of obligations among international recognized successive governments," O'Brien said.

"The PRC is the internationally recognized successor government … which contracted the credit sovereign debt … and which had a loan agreement that states that such debt is intended to be 'a binding engagement upon the Republic of China and its successors.'" The bonds, however, were excluded from a 1979 settlement of Chinese debts and in 1987, China even "concluded a discriminatory settlement accord with bondholders in Great Britain – an agreement that excluded from settlement any bonds held by non-UK citizens."

Then in 2006, the Chinese Ministry of Finance issued an official communiqué addressed to "the Embassy of the United States of America in China," in which the Chinese government formally repudiated China's defaulted full faith and credit sovereign debt and announced that it would not repay any debt held by American citizens, O'Brien said. The repudiation still stands, even though the China Economic Review confirmed that major Chinese banks own $8 billion in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securities that are the targets of bailout provisions.

"Bank of China said last month it owned $7.5 billion in Fannie and Freddie bonds," the report continued. "The bank also held $5.2 billion in mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by the two agencies."
Those owners will be among the beneficiaries of the overall bailout plan assembled by the government and funded by taxpayers to "rescue" bad debt created by an agenda of loaning money to "subprime" recipients who may not have had the wherewithal to repay the loans. Recipients of the U.S. taxpayers' generosity also may include various private Chinese interests with investments in American real estate and mortgage. Read full story...

As recently as three weeks ago, China Investment Corp. was in active discussions to buy into U.S. financial institutions, including Morgan Stanley. All the while Congress has been aware of the Chinese default but unwilling to mandate action. Elton Gallegly, a California Republican in Congress, called it the "China debt syndrome." "After Saddam Hussein's government was replaced in Iraq, China demanded that the new government pay off the debt Saddam's regime ran up against China. China prevailed and is getting 100 percent of the more than $10 billion Iraq owes it," he said in a recent commentary. "China, however, refuses to recognize the debt its current government inherited when the communists took control in 1949. That debt includes about $260 billion on bonds issued by the former Republic of China. Of that, more than 300 American citizens are owed nearly $100 billion from bonds on which the People's Republic of China has defaulted," the congressman wrote.

"It's time China owned up to its international obligations. Pressure is the only thing China understands. And pressure works. Americans weren't the only ones owed billions when the communists seized control. British citizens were among the bondholders communist China had been ignoring. That lasted until 1987, when Great Britain enacted a law denying Chinese access to British capital markets and China responded by negotiating a settlement to pay off the bonds," he wrote.

Now, he said, China is in negotiations with France on defaulted bonds but "continues to ignore the United States." He said worse than the actual monetary loss is the message that suggests China "does not have to play by the rules when it competes in the global economy. This helps explain Beijing's refusal to abide by trade agreements, the manipulation of its currency, its underwriting of the genocidal regime in Sudan and its financial relationship with the terrorist-sponsoring government in Iran." "To that list we can add China’s refusal to crack down on the widespread theft of intellectual property. The piracy of U.S. movies, books, music and other products is costing Americans billions of dollars each year," he said.

China, meanwhile, is boasting of its economy growth and influence. On a Chinese-promoted website today the headlines bragged: "China ranks among the world’s top 30 economies," "China Investment Corp to start investing in Japan stocks" and "China's ship industry strives for No. 1 spot."

A resolution similar to Gallegly's also has been introduced in the Senate. The plan by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., targets China's attempt "to conceal its defaulted government debt from investors." "The Senate measure labels China's present 'investment-grade' credit rating as artificial and in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox acknowledged that wrongful actions by a credit rating agency may subject the agency to revocation of its SEC registration," an announcement said.

At Washington Watch, the criticism focused on the U.S. credit rating agencies that have allowed the situation to remain under the radar. "In China's instance, the three largest rating agencies (Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch) are accused of intentionally violating their published criteria and metrics," said the report. "Sovereign Advisers, a risk metrics firm assisting the defaulted creditors of the Chinese government, has performed comprehensive research on this matter and has provided the U.S. Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission with evidence suggesting that the actions of Standard & Poor's and Moody's were intentionally designed to conceal the Chinese government's debt repudiation and establish an artificial sovereign benchmark in order to increase ratings revenue from expanded securities issuance by Chinese corporations."

On the Washington Watch website, several participants in an online discussion expressed concern over the situation. "It is about time the PRC was made to pay for their financial indiscretions from the past," said one. "The situation is crystal clear," said another. "China has an obligation and if it wishes to operate globally it must meet this and any other obligations." "If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck. China's credibility should be disclosed so investors are aware of the risk. China needs to pay its debts," added another.

Gallegly's effort also was to encourage that knowledge among investors. "This action will put all investors on notice that China has refused to honor its obligations in contravention of international law," he wrote. "It will also encourage China to negotiate in good faith with American bondholders to settle their claims on defaulted bonds." O'Brien called China's actions "selective default." He said that's "a practice whereby a government selectively defaults on one specific class of full faith and credit soverereign obligations … yet honors repayment to selected creditors of a separate class.."

"China's refusal to honor repayment of its full faith and credit sovereign debt to American bondholders is best characterized by a statement that appeared in a recent news article: 'When it comes to territory, China claims Tibet and Taiwan based on historical claims predating the current communist government assuming power, but when it comes to debts owed to American citizens, it's a different story," he wrote.

WND reported in 2007 about the influence China wielded over the American dollar because of its investments in financial instruments. WND also has reported extensively on a long list of defective and even dangerous products that have been exported from China to the U.S.

| America | Economic Crisis |


Iceland turns to Russia for bailout RIA Novosti (October 10, 2008) - Russia has agreed to bail out Iceland by granting this small island state a huge stabilization loan at an unbelievably low interest rate. Is it an act of wanton generosity, or a far-sighted geopolitical step? And in general, four billion euros, is it a lot or a little? The fate of Iceland has until recently not concerned Russia one bit. Now only a lazy person is not discussing the incredible sum the "island of stability" is going to inject into the economy of a sinking island of geysers.

Europe has meanwhile been discussing Iceland for a long time. Hedge-fund country, an example of liberal economic regulation and a model of a rapidly developing economy, Iceland was the first in the world to feel the impact of a full-bodied economic crisis. This happened at the end of 2007. Since this year began, Iceland's currency - the krona - has lost one-third of its value against the euro. Iceland's leading banks - Kaupthing, Glitnir and Landsbanki - have been marauded by international financial sharks. At the end of September, the country's authorities bought out (read, nationalized) Glitnir bank, and on October 7 Landsbanki, while on the same day Kaupthing bank received a 500 million euro loan from Iceland's National Bank. By the autumn of 2008 it had become clear Iceland might become the world's first country to suffer a default.

Why is the bubble of Iceland's economy bursting so loudly? It ballooned too rapidly, the IMF believes. In 2003-2007, the country's GDP had risen by 25%, with this robust growth fed mainly by outside borrowing. To attract foreign investments, the authorities strengthened the currency and ratcheted up interest rates (by the beginning of 2008, they were the highest in Europe - 15.5% per annum). The result was a monstrous misbalance: a modest GDP, on the one hand, and immense financial assets and tremendous liabilities, on the other. According to 2007 figures, Iceland's GDP was $16 billion, while its financial assets stood at 1,000% of GDP and an external debt of 550% of GDP.

With Iceland teetering on the brink of default, Russia's stabilization loan of four billion euros is a lifebelt, and a very sizeable one (on the evening of October 7, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin acknowledged Russia's readiness to pay, although previously he had denied such claims by Iceland's National Bank). Judge for yourself: when, in May 2008, Iceland was drowning, the central banks of three Scandinavian countries - Sweden, Denmark and Norway - set up a special $2.3 billion rescue fund for Iceland. Now Russia alone is ready to fork over two and a half times as much for the same purpose. In other words, four billion euros by Iceland's standards is substantial.

In Russian eyes, it is a vast sum, too. And one pledged at a very fair rate. To judge from a release issued by Iceland's National Bank, Russia promised it at LIBOR+(0.3-0.5)%. This compares with LIBOR+1% at which the Russian Central Bank wants to offer loans to Russia's Vnesheconombank. At a time when Russian authorities hold crisis emergency meetings almost daily, this looks strange, to say the least. The man in the street would say this is no time for liberal loans when one's own existence is at stake. This man's response would not be quite right, in my opinion. Read full story...

There are several reasons why Russia should agree to issue the loan to Iceland. The first and overwhelming one is geo-economic.  Leaders in many countries are gradually beginning to understand that a world caught in the maelstrom of a financial crisis could be saved only by cooperative efforts. This was a theme running through a three-day world policy conference in Evian; it will certainly be taken up at an annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

WB chief Robert Zoellick only recently proposed that the G8 also include BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), Mexico, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. World leaders more and more often speak of the need to shelve personal ambitions, put away political squabbles and do something.

To come to the aid of Iceland at such a time has been for Russia a decision prompted by stark necessity. Russia has a rich war chest of windfall oil money. By the end of September, its Central Bank had $566 billion in international reserves, and $32-plus billion in the National Welfare Fund and the Reserve Fund. Of course, Russia could sit it out on its "island of stability" and fight the crisis within its four walls. But in this case Russia risks suddenly discovering that the global financial storm whipped up even further by Iceland's hurricane has wiped out all its stockpiled reserves.

Most of Iceland's lenders are European banks. Should Iceland declare a default, the whole of Europe would go into a spin, and would drag Russia after it, which now has a chance to scrape its way out of the crisis the cheap way. It emerges that by saving Iceland, Russia is saving itself first.

Other considerations are less global and more pragmatic. Crises come and go, but allies (sometimes) remain. Iceland, a rapidly developing economy and a happy hunting ground for businessmen from many European countries, is certain to remember this gesture and take more kindly to Russian investments in the future. So far, Russia-Iceland trade has been $100 million per year. And it was only shortly before the crisis that Russian business (represented by Roman Abramovich and Oleg Deripaska) began exploring the country's investment possibilities. Now the price for entering Iceland's economy could prove very low. Besides, it makes a good staging post for flights to Latin America.

| Iran | Gog/Magog | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America | Economic Crisis |

Proverbs 22:7
The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

This principle is how I believe the world will be forced into a global fix for the economic failures by those who are the lenders. Perhaps the servants will be offered a clean slate in exchange for participation in the new system. I wouldn't be surprised because ultimately the spirit behind this is not worried about making money, but pulling souls away from their Creator and according to scripture, those who accept the terms of the new cashless system that relies on a mark make not only an immediate decision, but one that affects their eternity.

Revelation 14:9-11
And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

It seems to me the house of cards is falling and everything that they try to do in order to prop it back up fails to do anything to stop it. How close are we to being indentured servants as a nation who will be offered a new financial system as a way out? I don't know for sure, but there are already globalization talks going on for the financial system: Foreign economists urge 'global plan'


Proof Obama backed ruthless, foreign thug WorldNet Daily (October 10, 2008) - Sen. Barack Obama designated a personal aide as his direct contact for the 2007 Kenyan presidential campaign of Raila Odinga, who later was appointed prime minister after his election loss was followed by widespread, deadly violence that destroyed or damaged 800 Christian churches, according to e-mails obtained by WND senior staff writer Jerry Corsi during a trip to Kenya.

Corsi attempted to release this and other information at a Tuesday press conference in Nairobi. The WND reporter and No. 1 New York Times bestselling author was detained by Kenya security officers as soon as he entered the hotel to make his presentation. He was held incommunicado and without food for the entire day before being permitted to board his regularly scheduled flight out of the country to London, where he is currently recuperating from the ordeal.

As WND has reported, Obama openly campaigned for Odinga during the Illinois Democrat's 2006 Senate "fact-finding visit" to Kenya. Odinga called for protests over alleged voter fraud after losing the December 2007 general election. The resulting protest violence left an estimated 1,000 members of the dominant Kikuyu tribe in Kenya dead and an estimated 500,000 displaced from their homes. Read full story...

The links between Obama and Odinga were documented by copies of two e-mails obtained by Corsi during his meetings in Kenya with various government officials and others. The e-mails, apparently sent by Obama himself, referenced the senator's aide, Mark Lippert. The e-mails were provided to WND by an insider in Kenya who fled Odinga's Orange Democratic political party and requested anonymity because of the danger of retaliation.

The e-mails, identified as coming from Obama's Senate office, are addressed to "railaaodinga" at a yahoo.com address. A WND e-mail to the same Obama address generated an automated response and a list of contacts for Obama's offices. A WND e-mail sent to the Odinga e-mail address didn't generate a response.

One e-mail purportedly from Obama, dated Dec. 22, 2006, read, "I will kindly wish that all our correspondence [be] handled by Mr Mark Lippert. I have already instructed him. This will be for my own security both for now and in future." It is reproduced here with the e-mail address of the person who forwarded it to WND redacted:

Lippert is a long-term Obama Senate staff member identified by the Chicago Sun-Times as a member of Obama's "inner circle of foreign policy experts." The Sun-Times has said if Obama is elected president, his secretary of state and national security advisers are expected to come from this inner circle.

In December 2006 Odinga was in the early stages of planning to run as the Orange Democratic candidate against President Mwai Kibaki. The e-mails from Obama's office to Odinga's presidential campaign seem to show Obama and Odinga, who once told the BBC he is Obama's cousin, had discussions about Odinga's 2007 campaign.

WND was unable to reach the Obama campaign for a comment, as the campaign telephone system disconnected a WND call three times in a row without any provision to leave a message.

The former Orange Democratic official who provided the e-mails to WND asked for anonymity because of concerns the disclosure of his identity could endanger his life in a volatile political atmosphere in Kenya where Odinga's fellow Luo tribal members staged sometimes violent protests against Kibaki's supporters, who primarily are Kikuyu. Sen. Obama's relatives in Kenya are Luo. The former Orange Democratic official reported abandoning the party and opposing Odinga because of concerns Odinga had manipulated tribal violence in Kenya to gain political power.

During Corsi's trip to Kenya, WND also confirmed the role of the anonymous party source in implementing an Odinga campaign strategy which the source claimed was shared with Obama's Senate office. The strategy is described in a document titled "Executive Brief on the Positioning and Marketing of the Orange Democratic Movement & 'The People's President.'"

The document at one point suggests: "It is possible to trigger a class war by painting the Kibaki Government as an insensitive, uncaring group of Muthaiga Golf clubbers. Available research also suggests that this strategy could also resonate with poor kikuyu youth who feel economically marginalized by their own government. As part of this strategy the party should seek to elevate the emotions within all youth constituents who may it successful, be willing to vote for us in the protest. Visible signs of class disparity will provide important fodder for this theme."

WND previously reported Obama was in telephone communications with Odinga on nearly a daily basis during the Democratic primary in New Hampshire in January.

The second e-mail, again from Obama's Senate address to Odinga's e-mail, stated, "Thanks for contacting me about Mr Lippert through email. Contact him through mark_lippert.obama.senate.gov."

Chapter 4 of Corsi's "The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality," titled "Kenya, Odinga, Communism and Islam," refers to the strategy document, but its authenticity was confirmed by the former Oorange Democratic official during interviews with Corsi in Kenya over the last week. The document describes an Odinga strategy of exploiting "anti-Kikuyu sentiments," a clearly racial strategy aimed at inflaming long-standing tribal animosity to gain electoral advantage for Odinga. The last point of the campaign document describes what happened when Odinga lost the December 2007 election: "Ethnic Tensions/Violence as a Last Resort."

Obama continued to support Odinga's effort to share Kenya's head-of-state with President Kibiki even after the wave of Odinga-prompted violence that followed his defeat.

Some pundits in the U.S. already are suggesting that if Obama is not elected, there could be violence. On CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" show, James Carville said, "But you stop and contemplate this country if Obama goes in and he has a consistent five point lead and loses the election, it would be very, very, very dramatic out there."

According to a Wall Street Journal article posted on the Obama campaign website, Lippert is doing double duty: in civilian life as Obama's chief foreign-policy adviser and in the military as a Lieutenant JG who is planning to serve as an intelligence officer for the Navy SEALS.

The site gives Lippert, 34, credit for helping "hone" Obama's anti-war views. The website report states: "Over the past two years, Sen. Obama and Lt. Lippert have traveled around the globe together, played one-on-one basketball and shared each other's shoes. Lt. Lippert has continuing email exchanges with the senator's half sister in Africa. Sen. Obama encouraged Lt. Lippert to get engaged. Sen. Obama calls Lt. Lippert, 'one of my favorite people in the world.'" Lippert previously worked at the State Department and at the Office of Naval Intelligence in Suitland, Md. The report says Lippert accompanied Obama as an adviser to Russia and then to Kenya.

| America |

To be clear, I don't have much hope in the other option on the table as both are following suit toward global government.


Berlusconi says leaders may close world’s markets Bloomberg (October 10, 2008) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said political leaders are discussing the idea of closing the world's financial markets while they "rewrite the rules of international finance." "The idea of suspending the markets for the time it takes to rewrite the rules is being discussed," Berlusconi said today after a Cabinet meeting in Naples, Italy. A solution to the financial crisis "can't just be for one country, or even just for Europe, but global." The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell as much 8.1 percent in early trading and pared most of those losses after Berlusconi's remarks. The Dow was down 0.5 percent to 8540.52 at 10:10 in New York.

Group of Seven finance ministers and central bankers are meeting in Washington today, and will stay in town for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings this weekend. European Union leaders may gather in Paris on Oct. 12, three days before a scheduled summit in Brussels, Berlusconi said today, while Group of Eight leaders may hold a meeting on the crisis "in coming days," he said.

Berlusconi didn't give any details about what kind of rules leaders were looking to change, except to say that leaders are "talking about a new Bretton Woods." The Bretton Woods Agreements were adopted to rebuild the international economic system after World War II in a hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. The aim of the agreements was to establish a monetary management system, initially by pegging currencies to gold. The IMF was set up later to help manage the international financial system.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Potential Economic Seizure Dead Ahead The Market Ticker (October 9, 2008) - Ok folks, this is serious stuff.

This is now a national emergency. Seven trillion dollars of wealth has been vaporized in US Stocks in the last seven days alone, with five of it since the passage of that ill-designed and foolhardy "bailout" bill. The selloff this afternoon is the "real deal."  It was not caused by the stock market getting "mad", it was caused by the short-term credit market along with the Treasury market suddenly dislocating at a few minutes before the bond pit closed at 2:00 PM.

Worse is also the fact that institutional lending has essentially disappeared - both between banks
and now it is choking off commercial short-term credit across the board. It doesn't get any more serious than this.  To repeat: short-term commercial credit is threatening to completely disappear from the American scene. Every action our government has taken thus far, including repealing mark-to-market requirements have made the situation worse by further destroying confidence.

In the overnight market the futures are imploding once again;
the Osaka exchange was closed in Japan after hitting its "lock limit" within minutes prior to the Nikkei opening; the Nikkei is now down ANOTHER 10%, for a total loss of nearly 20% in just two days, with Japanese banks trading "offer only" - that is, NO BID.  There are rumors of government bond market fails in parts of Europe, and Iceland has essentially been cut off from the rest of the world Interbank marketplace. 

Japanese banks are now firewalling themselves from European and US claims; the interbank market is about to explode.  Iceland has effectively defaulted on sovereign debt and today there was a rumor that Hungary had a failed bond auction, effectively defaulting as well. 

Key: Sovereign debt (that is, Treasuries from various nations) has become infected with trash - unfortunately including ours now that Fannie and Freddie were nationalized and TARP has been passed - and may fail in a cascade-style fashion across the world.  If this occurs our ability to fund our government will be cut off as well, leading to a need to reduce government spending by $800 billion a year immediately.  This means huge and immediate cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Military budgets - by as much as half.

Over a year ago I warned in my writings that this could happen if we did not take action.  If we did not force accountability through Congress and onto our financial system.  If we did not force the thieves, liars and thugs on Wall Street to take their medicine. Instead of taking action we have sat on our collective asses and allowed Congress to pass bailout after bailout - now our stock market is down close to 40% from the top with 20% of that loss coming in just over one week! We are facing a global DEPRESSION and the cut-off of essential goods and services in this nation if we do not stop this lunacy immediately.

Please understand - the TRUCKER who has a  full load of food headed for your grocer REQUIRES commercial credit in order to fill his truck with diesel. The local GAS STATION owner REQUIRES commercial credit to fill his underground storage tank. The local CAR DEALER REQUIRES commercial credit to have cars - and parts - in his dealership.  No credit, no car - and no car repairs
. The manufacturer over in China REQUIRES commercial credit (letters of credit from the buyer's bank) to be able to ship those goods to America, where you can buy them.  If the bank over there won't take the LOC from the bank over here, suddenly you have no tires, DVDs and other similar products to buy.

IF THESE MARKETS DO NOT IMMEDIATELY UNFREEZE THE CONSEQUENCE WILL BE THAT FOOD AND FUEL, ALONG WITH ALL OTHER MANNER OF CONSUMER PRODUCTS, MAY NOT FLOW TO YOUR GROCERY STORE AND GAS STATION. Read full story...

Think about that very carefully and then consider whether YOU can afford to sit on your ass for one more second, or whether you have an absolute NEED to get on the phone, fax, and whatever else RIGHT NOW to your elected and appointed representatives and, if you do not get in response that they will IMMEDIATELY resolve this matter whether you will vow to band together with every one of your associates and friends, form a group consisting of everyone in your local city or town, and call a GENERAL STRIKE, refusing to both work and permit commerce to be conducted UNTIL THE LIARS ARE FORCED INTO THE OPEN, DEALT WITH, AND THE SYSTEM IS ABLE TO CLEAR.

We are quite literally out of time.  This freeze in the markets WILL continue around the globe unless something is done NOW.  Every "intervention" and "promise" made by our government thus far - all of them - have been LIES.  Our government has done NOTHING to alleviate the problem and in fact every one of their "solutions" have made the situation worse - going back for more than a year. We have "pumped liquidity" and even bailed out firms with taxpayer money, and yet the markets have not unfrozen

They remain frozen because the root cause of the problem is that banks and other financial firms have been lying for more than a year, each quarter claiming to have "kitchen sinked" their losses only to report more the next quarter, and in some cases have gone on national TV to proclaim they're "well-capitalized" only days or weeks before they collapse!

The first question anyone asks when someone wishes to borrow money is whether or not they will get paid back
If the lender does not believe they will be able to be paid back then that loan will not be made, no matter how much money someone has available to them. It really is that simple folks and yet this fundamental principle has been willfully and intentionally ignored for more than a year.

YOU MUST CHOOSE RIGHT NOW, TONIGHT, AS AN AMERICAN WHETHER YOU ARE GOING TO GO TO WORK TOMORROW AND PRETEND THAT NOTHING IS WRONG, OR WHETHER YOU ARE GOING TO ENGAGE IN PEACEFUL BUT FORCEFUL PROTEST IN DEMANDING THAT THIS CRISIS BE ADDRESSED NOT WITH "MORE OF THE SAME" BUT BY ARRESTING EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THE CROOKS, BY FORCING BALANCE SHEET TRANSPARENCY FOR EACH AND EVERY FIRM IN THE UNITED STATES, AND BY THEN FORCIBLY RECAPITALIZING VIA DEBT-TO-EQUITY "CRAMDOWNS" EACH AND EVERY INSOLVENT BANK AND OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTION, WITH TREASURY STEPPING IN WITH TAXPAYER MONEY ONLY AFTER THE TRUTH (OR FALSEHOOD) OF SOLVENCY IS ESTABLISHED IN PUBLIC WHERE WE CAN ALL SEE IT.

THIS IS NO LONGER JUST ABOUT YOUR RETIREMENT SAVINGS AND HOUSE (although that's important) IT NOW IS, QUITE LITERALLY, ABOUT THE ABILITY OF ORDINARY COMMERCE TO CONTINUE AND ESSENTIAL GOODS AND SERVICES - FOOD AND FUEL AMONG THEM - TO REACH OUR MARKETS. YOU LITERALLY MUST CHOOSE NOW, AS THE TIME TO DAWDLE AND THINK ABOUT IT HAS EXPIRED.

Update 7:30 AM CT 10/10 - Overnight LIBOR has come in dramatically, but 3 month dollar LIBOR has not - in fact, it went higher.  This tells you that while people do not believe the market is due to implode tomorrow - an improvement over yesterday - they also don't believe that anything will be fixed in the next few months.  Thus, as of this time, the nightmare scenario remains on the table.

8:00 AM - Trading desks (from the forum and a quick check) are reporting agencies being dumped by Chinese holders.  Don't be too quick to call this "screw those evil Americans" - this smells like have to sell as opposed to want to sell.  LOC seizures mean goods aren't moving which means you have to sell what you can, irrespective of price.  Ditto for the price dislocation in the Treasury market.  Say goodnight to what's left of the housing market - as I expected would happen - its done.

9:53 - Again, for the second day, no OMO (Open Market Operations) at The Fed. Read this report carefully.  Note that there are no Agencies and no Treasuries left on The Fed's balance sheet.  All gone.  All that is left is $80 billion of crappy MBS.  Bluntly, without printing raw money, The Fed is out of Treasuries with which to lend into the market, and thus cannot perform OMO any more; they must do "other things" (like print money.)  We are now officially into the twilight zone and Fed Solvency is an issue on the table.  President Bush spoke again but none one word about forcing transparency among financial institutions. 
Raise cash now and be prepared for potential essential good and service disruptions as the supply pipelines could begin to go dry on these as soon as early next week.

| America | Economic Crisis |


New World Order: Global co-operation, nationalisation and state intervention - all in one day The Scotsman (October 9, 2008) - IT WAS a day of desperate global action, unprecedented in both scale and cost, intended to stymie the international devastation being wrought by the financial crisis. As the London stock market steeled itself to open again following days of vicious battering, Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, rose to stake the future of the country and the Cabinet on an audacious £500 billion banking bail-out.

And barely had the City begun to digest the hugely complex and unorthodox scheme when it was sent reeling again by an unscheduled interest rate cut – mirrored across the world – by the Monetary Policy Committee. It was the first such co-ordinated approach since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 – yet another indicator, had one been needed, of the gravity of the situation. The half percentage point drop was immediately passed on to millions of borrowers, with leading high-street banks cutting their mortgages.

The government's scheme, a three-part plan which takes in short, medium and long-term measures, was welcomed by business leaders and analysts. David Kern, adviser to the British Chamber of Commerce, said: "The government has taken a radical step, but it is one we welcome."

But there was concern a phenomenal amount of taxpayers' cash was being staked on a last-ditch measure that could fail. The Taxpayers' Alliance accused ministers of failing to address other options first. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a fresh warning that Britain was on the brink of recession. In its latest World Economic Outlook, it predicted the UK economy would contract by 0.1 per cent next year as growth across the developed countries slowed to almost zero.

The downturn will mean lost jobs, with unemployment forecast to rise from 5.4 per cent to 6 per cent, while public finances were said to be "considerably weaker" than in previous slowdowns. However, the IMF said it was expecting Britain to bounce back strongly in 2010.

The £500 billion plan includes the government taking shares of up to £50 billion in leading banks, increasing funds available to banks to £200 billion, and guaranteeing their debts when they lend to one another. The guarantees are likely to cost up to £250 billion. The Prime Minister called the plans "bold and far-reaching", but admitted they would offer no quick fix. Read full story...

Eight UK banks and building societies – including Royal Bank of Scotland, Halifax Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Lloyds TSB and Nationwide – have pledged to increase their capital by £25 billion but the government will pump in the funds if called upon. The Treasury also stands ready to make at least another £25 billion available, if necessary. The Bank of England – alongside its interest rate cut – is taking emergency action to help ensure banks have enough cash to run their day-to-day activities. It has increased to £200 billion the size of its special liquidity scheme that lets banks swap risky assets for Treasury bonds.

The government is also making the further £250 billion available for banks to guarantee debt, but a fee will be charged. Mr Brown moved to reassure taxpayers they would have the potential to "earn a proper return" from their investment. There would be "strings attached and conditions to be met" to protect taxpayer interests.

One key concern is whether there will be controls over the bonuses of the "fat cat" bank bosses. Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, said such issues would be dealt with case by case. Remuneration should be "based on responsibility, hard work, effort and enterprise", he said. It had been claimed that RBS bosses, chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin and chairman Sir Tom McKillop, had offered to leave under a boardroom clear-out agreed with the government, but this was denied by the bank.

The announcement provided an initial boost to the FTSE 100 index of leading shares, and in particular to banking stocks, but this fell away later in the day. The FTSE closed at a loss of 5 per cent – its lowest close since 2004 – while banks failed to hold on to the huge gains of up to 60 per cent made earlier in the day.

When Mr Brown stood to address the House of Commons on the package, which could well determine how his premiership is judged, he was able to announce the interest rate cut. Central banks across Europe, the US, Canada and China also reduced interest rates in an emergency move. The banks hope to encourage nervous consumers and businesses to spend more freely again after widespread housing, credit and financial problems. The cut – which was immediately passed on to more than five million homeowners – was cautiously welcomed by analysts and business leaders.

Miles Templeman, director-general of the Institute of Directors, said: "Before today's announcement, the financial system was in the deep freeze. After today, it might be in the fridge, but there is no guarantee. Nobody should be under any illusion that the financial system is now fixed. Our concern now is for the real economy and how much it will slow. "There remains a real risk that the economic downturn under way will further undermine bank capital due to rising repossessions and bad debt."

Howard Archer, an economist, of Global Insight, said: "It's not the magic pill. We have a lot of difficult times ahead. But the first stage is stopping things getting worse, and the hope is this will help to stabilise the economy." Martin Weale, director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, said that, for the UK, it was important that the move came alongside the £500 billion package. He said: "The international banks concluded there is a major international banking crisis. Banks were collapsing in Europe, as well as the United States. I think they rather optimistically concluded a rate cut of this type can restore confidence." Rate cuts were "a valuable piece on the side", but he added: "The key issue is for affected countries to do what Britain has done and show governments are prepared to inject equity capital into banks that look as though they need it. "We will only be confident the worst is over when the US adopts a scheme like Britain."

And Louise Cuming, the head of mortgages at moneysupermarket.com, warned: "This is not a magic cure-all, and we won't see either the mortgage or the housing market bouncing back to where it was 18 months ago." Following the announcements, Mr Brown spoke by phone to the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, as well as the EC president, José Manuel Barroso. The government is expected to hold up its plan as a potential model for the rest of Europe. The EU – which is concerned about competition implications of a scheme by Ireland to safeguard its deposits – later said it saw no problem with Britain's move.

| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Is the Federal Reserve Engaged in Acts of Economic Warfare Against America? Natural News (October 8, 2008) - In 1942, German intelligence officers rounded up skilled Jewish prisoners and launched Operation Bernhardt, a clever scheme designed to counterfeit hundreds of millions of dollars worth of British Pounds and destroy the British economy by flooding it with counterfeit money. Located in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, Operation Bernhardt was, even by modern standards, a runaway success that resulted in the creation of forged bank notes worth 132 million British Pounds. This "economic warfare" operation resulted in a devastating economic effect on the British economy. You can read the true history of this operation here.

It is important to note that Operation Bernhardt was an act of war, specifically pursued for the purpose of destroying Britain's economy by creating so much new money that the value of the money already in circulation would plummet. This was considered a strategic attack, just as effective as carpet-bombing tank factories or mowing down soldiers on the field with German-made MG42 machine guns.

What does all this have to do with the Federal Reserve?

Today, the Federal Reserve is engaged in an eerily similar operation, counterfeiting trillions of dollars in U.S. bank notes and flooding the U.S. money supply with money created from nothing. The result, of course, is the same as was intended by Operation Bernhardt in 1942: The economic destruction of the target nation. Only this time, the target is the United States of America.

Hilariously, the Fed claims it's doing this to save the economy. Yet the laws of economics tell us that flooding the money supply with trillions of dollars in new money actually harms the economy. And the Fed has been hard at work causing this harm: $250+ billion two weeks ago, $600+ billion last week and $900 billion earlier this week! It's beginning to crank up the printing presses to the tune of a trillion dollars a week, and by doing so, it's contributing to the destruction of the U.S. economy at a pace the Third Reich could have barely imagined. Read full story...

Has the Fed declared war on the working class?

If the actions pursued by the Federal Reserve were being masterminded by Al-Qaeda, they would be denounced as acts of war. In World War II, such actions were deliberate acts of war. Targeting the economy for destruction by flooding the money supply with counterfeit currency is, by any measure, a threat to any nation.

So why is the Federal Reserve engaged in actions that, if committed by other nations, would warrant a military response? This is not an idle question. I'm not asking this in a satirical way. I'm quite serious about this: Why is the Fed committing acts of economic warfare against the United States of America? (The Fed, by the way, is a private company. It is not, as you've been led to believe, part of the U.S. government.) [Some videos presenting the facts on that here, here, here and here]

The answer is obvious. You've probably already figured it out: The Federal Reserve is at war with America. It's an economic war, of course, not a bombs-and-bullets war. The casualties, though, are just as real: Savings accounts, retirement funds, bank accounts, jobs, businesses, pensions and much more.

By counterfeiting trillions of dollars like a Sachsenhausen operation on steroids, the Fed is carpet-bombing the U.S. economy with an unprecedented flood of fiat currency, causing the exact same economic destruction intended by the Nazis in World War II (but on a much more devastating scale). And it's doing this as part of a new economic war.

Class warfare has begun

What war? The war between the wealthy elite and the working class. The Fed is working hard, of course, to protect the wealthy elite. Over a trillion dollars of taxpayer money has already been earmarked to bail out the rich, elite bankers who lost other people's money in a series of idiotic bets on fictitious financial instruments.

And what are these bankers doing with this taxpayer money? According to an Associated Press report published yesterday, executives of the failed insurance company AIG were sent on a $440,000 retreat "to a posh California resort" less than one week after the U.S. government bailed them out. At the spa, AIG executives enjoyed spa treatments, massages, organic food buffets and bodywork therapy, all while the American taxpayers footing the bill were slaving away in real jobs, doing real work. Want to see the invoice for yourself? View it here.

That's how this new class warfare is taking shape: YOU (the working class) get all the debt, all the losses, and all the financial burden. THEY (the wealthy elite) get all the profits, all the luxury spa treatments, all the tax breaks and billions of dollars in free money from the Federal Reserve.

In the 1942 Operation Bernhardt, the Germans literally planned to load hundreds of millions of dollars in British Pound bank notes and air-drop them over London. The resulting chaos, it was believed, would shut down the British economy, halting the flow of money needed by Britain to fund its war effort. In the United States today, the Fed is taking a different approach: Air-dropping trillions of dollars into the laps and bank accounts of wealthy bankers and financial institution CEOs, concentrating the massive creation of fiat currency into the hands of less than 1% of the population.

And just to make sure the economic carpet-bombing is a complete success, the Federal Reserve and U.S. government are conspiring to create more than a trillion dollars in new money each week, then flood those funds into banks, businesses and insurance companies. This will, of course, devastate the value of the dollars being saved, held or earned by the wage slaves who labor their lives away under this economic regime. (That would be you and me.)

It's a brilliant plan... if you're interested in destroying a nation. This kind of attack would bring almost any nation to its knees. It's an act of war that requires no violence, no bombs and no destruction of real infrastructure. And yet it achieves what every war in history has ever sought to achieve: The transfer of power from the hands of the many to the hands of the few. The Federal Reserve, in effect, has become a modern-day economic Third Reich, and it has set its sights on the U.S. economy.

Acts of economic terrorism?

The Federal Reserve is now doing to the U.S. what the terrorists could never have accomplished: The destruction of a large portion of its economy, its currency and the savings of its people. The economic losses of 9/11 pale in comparison to the financial destruction that has been unleashed onto America by the Federal Reserve.

Yet, amazingly, it wasn't "terrorists" who put this plan into place. Who was it, exactly? Your Congressional representatives played an important role in allowing this to happen. In a grand, historical betrayal of the American people, members of your own U.S. House of Representatives and Senate voted to initiate a massive economic coup in America, violating the wishes of 99% of the American people (who are aligned against bailing out the rich on the backs of the poor).

Of course, to hear them explain it, their actions are meant to save the taxpayers. Yep, that's their plan: To save YOU, the taxpayer, by confiscating your money and handing it over to the wealthy elite. And whatever money can't be stolen from the taxpayers will be counterfeited by the Fed's money-creation machine.

The Real Agenda: A Massive Transfer of Wealth

We are not watching an economic rescue, friends. We are watching an economic coup. Creating and dumping trillions of dollars into the money supply is an act of war. But it's a war with a specific purpose.

What's happening right now is that the United States is being taken over by King Henry and his accomplices. More than fifty percent of the housing and nearly twenty percent of the entire U.S. economy is now controlled by one person -- Henry Paulson -- and that person answers to no one. He isn't elected, he can't be removed from office, and he's subject to no law.

King Henry controls unlimited funds. He can print any amount of money, or confiscate any amount from the taxpayers (by spending taxpayer dollars to bail out his rich friends). If the Federal Reserve is the new Third Reich, King Henry is its Hitler.

The economic war has already been lost by the People. It was lost on September 30, 2008, when Congress surrendered the U.S. economy to King Henry. The People now own nothing but paper money and ephemeral digital account numbers, all of which could be turned into worthless digits overnight by a single decision from King Henry.

In this economic bailout and the Fed's unlimited creation of new money, America has suffered the greatest act of economic warfare in our nation's history. Note carefully that it wasn't conducted by the Nazis, Saddam Hussein or Al Qaeda. It was, in fact, put into place by 172 Democrats and 91 Republicans in the House, and a similar majority in the U.S. Senate. (See the complete list at the original article source linked above.) more...

| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


AIG Hits Up Fed for More Money CNN Money (October 8, 2008) - The New York Federal Reserve is lending up to $37.8 billion to American International Group to give the troubled insurer access to much-needed cash. In exchange, AIG is giving the New York Fed investment-grade, fixed-income securities that it had previously lent out to other institutions for a fee. Those institutions are now returning these securities and want their money back.

The new program, announced Wednesday, is on top of the $85 billion the federal government agreed to lend to AIG last month to prevent the global company from collapsing. AIG said last Friday it had drawn down $61 billion. The lending program is a way for AIG to get funding for its businesses, said a New York Fed spokesman. The system is similar to lending facilities the Fed provides to banks, which can also exchange collateral for cash.

The latest announcement does not jeopardize the government's ability to recoup its loan to AIG, experts said. "AIG will repay the loan," said Stewart Johnson, portfolio manager at Philo Smith, an investment bank specializing in insurance. "It's just a matter of how much of themselves they will have to sell."

Paying back a big debt

On Sept. 16, the Federal Reserve Board agreed to lend AIG $85 billion, using the company's assets as collateral. The loan is expected to be repaid from the proceeds of the asset sales. Interest on the line of credit is steep, and the government took a 79.9% stake in the company. Last week, AIG said it planned to hold onto its property-and-casualty insurance businesses, while selling off the rest of the company to pay the massive debt. Those other business lines include its aircraft leasing unit; asset-management division; retirement services; and U.S. life insurance operations.

AIG chief executive Edward Liddy, who was installed by the Federal Reserve last month after the bailout, on a conference call last Friday was optimistic about the potential for the asset sales. "We fully expect to emerge from this with a capital structure that's fit to fight," he said. "Our insurance businesses...are strong and well-capitalized." But some analysts are more skeptical. "The current disruption in the credit markets could make it difficult to sell businesses at attractive valuations," ratings agency Standard and Poor's said.

CreditSights valued the units AIG planned to sell at $32.9 billion and the divisions it will keep at $86 billion. These figures do not include the sale of a minority stake in its foreign life insurance operations, valued at $133.1 billion. First to hit the market will likely be units tied to airline leasing and consumer lending, both of which require funding from the debt markets, which is hard to come by these days. International Lease Finance Corp. could command more than $7 billion and American General Finance Corp. will likely bring in about $2 billion, according to CreditSights. Once AIG sells its assets, it faces many hurdles in stabilizing its property and casualty insurance divisions, experts said.
| America | Economic Crisis |


Federal Reserve, ECB and Bank of England make emergency interest rate cuts Telegraph UK (October 8, 2008) - The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England have all cut interest rates in an emergency move to restore confidence in the global financial system. The Fed cut its benchmark rate by a half point to 1.5 pc, the central bank said in a statement. The ECB and central banks of the U.K., Canada, Sweden and Switzerland are also reducing rates, the Fed added. "The recent intensification of the financial crisis has augmented the downside risks to growth and thus has diminished further the upside risks to price stability," according to a joint statement by the central banks. "Some easing of global monetary conditions is therefore warranted." The move comes as the turmoil in financial markets deepens and the UK today unveiled a £500bn rescue package for the country's banking sector.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


George Bush to summon leaders to emergency finance summit Telegraph UK (October 7, 2008) - The prospect of a high-level global meeting came as the US central bank launched a new bid to unfreeze credit markets by effectively lending billions of dollars to US companies. The Federal Reserve moved after lending in the commercial paper market - where companies raise money from the open money markets - all but ceased, raising a serious threat to many American businesses' operations. "This facility should encourage investors to once again engage in term lending in the commercial paper market," the Fed said.

The Fed's move -- which puts billions of dollars of US taxpayers' money at risk -- was the latest sign of how desperate American leaders are to unblock the global financial system and avert a severe recession. Mr Bush underlined that message personally on Tuesday in conversations with other world leaders. The Prime Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President and Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, spoke with the United States President by telephone. Mr Bush urged his European counterparts to coordinate efforts to solve financial crisis spreading around the globe. All are expected to agree to attend a meeting if the details can be thrashed out.

Downing Street said it was "a good idea" and welcomed the President's close attention to events in Europe. The idea was floated by Mr Sarkozy, who holds the presidency of the European Union. Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, said: "The president obviously talked to President Sarkozy about his idea to have a meeting. The president's open to that." The venue for the meeting would still have to be decided, although Washington is the likely destination.

Mr Brown squeezed in a last-minute meeting with Mr Bush when he was in America two weeks ago, prior to Congress agreeing the £700 billion rescue plan that had been proposed by Hank Paulsen, the United States Treasury Secretary. At that stage the problems of Europe seemed to relatively minor compared to the crisis unfolding on Wall Street, but events in Europe and elsewhere in the last week have highlighted the need for concerted and co-ordinated action.

In Luxembourg EU finance ministers on Tuesday said that they will talk daily in future and "ensure a comprehensive and coordinated response to the current situation." They agreed to guarantee private savings of up to Euro 50,000 (£38,900) for one year after failing to agree on a higher limit of Euro 100,000 (£77,800). The new limit is below the protection already offered by many EU countries, including the UK.

EU governments have been trying to restore confidence after a series of bank bailouts last week and a "beggar-my-neighbour" scramble by individual countries to increase deposit guarantees, started by Ireland's promise to underwrite 100 percent of deposits. Disparities in EU states' treatment of banks is unnerving investors and prompting savers to shift billions across borders.

In another unilateral European move, Spain on Tuesday announced it was setting up a £30 billion fund to help the financial sector. Taro Aso, the Japanese Prime Minister, said he was concerned that the EU leaders' failure to agree a seamless response to the banking crisis will cause continued turmoil in world markets. Mr Aso said: "European leaders have met, but it didn't go well, and European financial markets have fluctuated rapidly and substantially, so I'm worried about the impact on Japan."
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


European Crisis Deepens; Officials Vow to Save Banks Bloomberg (October 6, 2008) - The credit crunch deepened in Europe as government leaders pledged to bail out troubled banks and protect depositors. BNP Paribas SA will take control of Fortis's units in Belgium and Luxembourg after government efforts to ensure the company's stability failed, while Germany's government and financial institutions agreed on a 50 billion euro ($68 billion) rescue package for Hypo Real Estate Holding AG. U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said Britain is "ready to do whatever it takes" to help its banks.

The developments yesterday came a day after a summit in Paris where leaders of Europe's four biggest economies stopped short of a plan mirroring the $700 billion rescue in the U.S. to counter the worst financial crisis since World War II. Instead, they agreed to work together to limit the economic fallout, ease accounting rules, and seek tougher financial regulations. "Until now the solutions have appeared to be uncoordinated, so perhaps it's time for a more coordinated approach globally," said Torsten Slok, an economist at Deutsche Bank AG in New York. "It's not just the U.S. and Europe, it's banks in every part of the world."

The euro slid to a 13-month low against the dollar and Treasuries rose as the credit crisis spread outside the U.S., prompting investors to opt for less risky investments. Asian stocks fell for a third day, led by financial companies.

`New World'

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who convened the Oct. 4 meeting, called for a global summit "as soon as possible" to implement "a real and complete reform of the international financial system." He said "all actors" must be supervised, including credit-rating firms and hedge funds. Executive-pay systems must also be reviewed, he said. "We want a new world to come out of this," Sarkozy said. "We want to set up the basis for a capitalism of entrepreneurs, not speculators." Finance ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations meet in Washington later this week.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's opposition to collective action underscored the hurdles to a European front. "Each country must take its responsibilities at a national level," she told a joint press conference after the summit. Germany will guarantee the savings of private account holders, Merkel said, in a bid by Europe's biggest economy to prevent a rush of withdrawals. Denmark said today commercial lenders will provide as much as 35 billion kroner ($6.4 billion) over the next two years to a fund to insure depositors against losses. Read full story...

Deposit Guarantees

Until now, German savings accounts, including those of small, privately held companies, have been guaranteed by 180 banks in Germany, the BDB private banks group said on Oct. 2. The guarantees of the banks covered 90 percent of an account's balance to a maximum of 20,000 euros, the group said. The German and Danish governments' commitments follow similar verbal pledges by Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, both of whom have promised to prevent losses for depositors in their countries. Ireland is guaranteeing banks' deposits and debts for two years, to restore confidence in the country's financial industry. Amid the race to shore up Europe's faltering financial institutions, BNP Paribas, France's biggest lender, agreed to pay 14.5 billion euros for control of Fortis's units in Belgium and Luxembourg.

BNP Paribas

The sale comes after a Sept. 28 bailout failed to stabilize what was Belgium's biggest financial-services provider, as clients withdrew money and the company had trouble obtaining loans. Fortis received an 11.2 billion euro capital injection from Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The Belgian government will have an 11.6 percent stake in BNP Paribas, and Luxembourg a 1.1 percent holding, after the purchases are completed, BNP Paribas said in a statement today.

On Oct. 3, the Dutch government took control of Fortis's units in the Netherlands for 16.8 billion euros after deciding the initial rescue didn't go far enough. Meanwhile, Hypo Real Estate won a reprieve after Germany's finance ministry said the country's banks and insurers agreed to double a credit line for the company to 30 billion euros. The federal government's guarantee for the credit line remains unchanged, Torsten Albig, a spokesman for Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck, said late yesterday in an e-mailed statement.

Too Big to Fail

Munich-based Hypo Real Estate had earlier announced that a government-backed 35 billion-euro bailout plan collapsed after commercial banks withdrew their support. The government and the Bundesbank have said that the nation's second-biggest property lender is too big to fail. The Hypo reprieve comes after Dexia SA, the world's biggest lender to local governments, got a 6.4 billion euro state-backed rescue on Sept. 30. Belgium's federal and regional governments, France and the company's largest shareholders will supply the funds for Brussels- and Paris-based Dexia.

Meanwhile, UniCredit SpA, Italy's biggest bank by assets, said it planned to boost capital by as much as 6.6 billion euros in an effort to calm investors' concerns about the strength of the lender's finances. The capital-raising project approved late yesterday by the bank's directors includes replacing the lender's cash dividend for 2008 earnings with 3.6 billion euros of new shares, and selling 3 billion euros of convertible securities.

Helping Banks

In the U.K., Darling said the government, which took over Bradford & Bingley Plc last week, is ready to offer further support to banks that may get into financial difficulty. He did not rule out a further injection of capital for failing institutions. "We are ready to do whatever it takes, and that is, we've put money in to help banks generally," Darling told the British Broadcasting Corp.'s Sunday AM program. "There are other measures we will be taking too, and I will announce them when we are ready to do that."

Darling's boss, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, was among the leaders gathered in Paris, along with Berlusconi, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Central Bank President Jean- Claude Trichet.

Severe Crisis

"The good news out of the Paris meeting is that the European heads of state now recognize the severity of this crisis," Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economists Natacha Valla and Erik Nielsen said in a note to investors. "A pan-European approach would be much preferred, but given the urgency and complexities of organizing such measures between different fiscal regimes, national measures -- coordinated to the extent possible -- might still be good enough."

The leaders agreed on policy recommendations touching on regulation and accounting and said they'd press for looser enforcement of budget and competition rules at the EU level. They said they would seek to harmonize guarantees of deposit levels. The U.K. bank regulator increased its insurance ceiling to 50,000 pounds ($88,300) per account from 35,000 pounds to stem a flow of funds to Ireland after officials in Dublin guaranteed all debts and deposits of its banks.

Policy Recommendations

Anticipating increased spending, declining tax revenue, and government bank takeovers, European leaders called for "greater flexibility" in the application of the EU budget ceiling. European finance ministers last month pledged to keep their budget deficits below 3 percent of gross domestic product even as the economic slowdown dents tax receipts and boosts welfare payments. The leaders said they want to allow banks to keep some assets valued as if they'd be held until maturity, instead of having to review their value each quarter.

They also said they want to change accounting rules that require banks to review their holdings each quarter and report losses when the values decline, the so-called mark-to-market standard. Banks worldwide have written down more than $580 billion since last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Panic engulfs global stock markets AFP (October 6, 2008) - World markets suffered massive losses Monday, striking four-year lows, as panic-stricken investors doubted whether a Wall Street bailout package would stem the global financial crisis. London, Frankfurt and Paris all tumbled more than six percent approaching the half-way mark while a 15-percent dive in Moscow forced a halt to Russian trading. "We have a seriously weak and fear driven market at our hands," said Tom Hougaard, chief market strategist at City Index. "It is anyone's guess where we will end the day."

Investors dumped shares after US stock markets had fallen sharply on Friday, despite US congressional approval of a 700-billion-dollar bank bailout. On Monday, Tokyo ended down 4.25 percent as Hong Kong's stock market shed 5.0 percent, Seoul tumbled 4.3 percent and Sydney lost 3.3 percent. Shanghai dived 5.23 percent and Mumbai was down 5.58 percent in late afternoon trade. European stocks plummeted after Germany's fourth biggest bank had to be rescued over the weekend -- news that pushed the euro to a 13-month low against the dollar on Monday.

Crude oil futures tumbled to eight-month lows below 90 dollars a barrel in London and New York as worsening financial turmoil triggered fears about slowing demand for energy. "The market is not convinced that the US bailout package can protect the economy from the financial crisis," said Toyo Securities strategist Ryuta Otsuka. The Saudi stock market, the largest in the Arab world, shed 9.6 percent at the opening on Monday after a week-long holiday, and shares in other energy-rich Gulf states also slumped. "The Fed's bailout plan may have been passed on Friday but so far there's been no real reaction in credit markets and because of this the natural assumption is going to be that the measures won't work, even if such a call is rather premature," CMC Markets dealer Matt Buckland added.

Underscoring the worsening conditions in the United States, the world's largest economy, 159,000 US jobs were lost in September, according to government figures published Friday. "The approval of the financial rescue plan failed to bolster market confidence. Pessimism towards the global economy is running deeper," said Young Wang, an analyst at Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting in Taipei, where stocks ended down 4.1 percent, also at a four-year low.

As the US-born financial crisis takes a stronger grip in Europe, the German government agreed an emergency rescue package of 50 billion euros, or 68 billion dollars, for Hypo Real Estate, late Sunday before markets opened in Asia. It also announced an unlimited guarantee for personal savings deposits. France's BNP Paribas meanwhile announced Sunday that it was taking control of the operations of ailing financial group Fortis in Belgium and Luxembourg. The leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Britain vowed over the weekend to protect fragile banks but did not discuss a European financial rescue package. "Financial stocks are certainly going to be under pressure again with German mortgage lender Hypo Real Estate being the latest to receive state aid but the overall impact is going to cross all sectors with the prospect of slowing demand weighing on all the (company) heavyweights," added Buckland.

In an effort to keep credit flowing, global central banks pumped billions of extra dollars into short-term lending markets in what has become a daily effort to keep cash moving in a critical network. Markets were looking ahead to a meeting Friday of finance chiefs from the Group of Seven rich nations, waiting for any announcements on coordinated action such as liquidity injections or interest rate cuts, dealers said. A speech Tuesday by US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would also be closely watched for any clues on the possibility of a US interest rate cut. The Bank of England was expected to cut British borrowing costs by at least a quarter of a percentage point when it meets on Thursday.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America | Economic Crisis |


Four European nations call for new EU body to supervise banks Breitbart.com (October 4, 2008) - Four major European nations agreed Saturday to set up within the European Union a body to supervise banks as part of their efforts to stem the spread of the financial turmoil, triggered by the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis, in Europe. In a statement released after an emergency summit in Paris to deal with the financial crisis, leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Italy said mechanisms should be established within the European Union to oversee cross-border European financial institutions and enhance international cooperation.

The four nations also agreed that should public support be necessary for ailing financial institutions, it should take place in "a framework which recognizes adequate protection of taxpayers' money, the responsibility of managers, and shareholders to bear their share of the burden." They welcome the decision of the European Investment Bank to mobilize 30 billion euros of support for small and medium size European enterprises and urge the bank to frontload this effort, the statement said.

The four European Group of Eight member nations also agreed that the application of the Stability and Growth Pact, which governs fiscal policies of EU member states, should "reflect the current exceptional circumstances." The pact requires EU member states to limit the size of their budget deficit to less than 3 percent of gross domestic product. But the agreement by Britain, France, Germany and Italy suggests they will tolerate the deficit of an EU member state breaching the 3 percent of GDP threshold if it occurs as a result of the nationalization of failed financial institutions.

The four nations also expressed strong support for the recent actions taken by the European Central Bank and other European central banks to respond to the financial crisis and pledged to "take all the necessary measures" to ensure the soundness and stability of the European banking and financial system. French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a press conference after the summit that an emergency G-8 summit should be convened to discuss and come up with global countermeasures for the crisis. In addition to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, other European leaders, including ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet attended the summit.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Syria rebuffs nuclear inspectors BBC News (October 3, 2008) - The head of Syria's nuclear programme has said that the country's military sites will remain off-limits to international nuclear inspectors. Damascus said it would co-operate with an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inquiry only if it did not threaten its national security. The watchdog is investigating claims of a secret Syrian nuclear programme. Syria's announcement comes after it dropped a bid to win a place on the board of the IAEA.

The IAEA investigation follows US allegations that Damascus was close to completing a nuclear reactor at a secret location, which was bombed by Israel last year. Syria has denied the allegations as "ridiculous". Ibrahim Othman told the IAEA that his government was "co-operating with the agency in full transparency". "However, this co-operation will not be in any way at the expense of disclosing our military sites or causing a threat to our national security," he added.

'Good co-operation'

Damascus allowed IAEA inspectors to visit the site at al-Kibar in June but has refused any follow-up trips. On Friday, Syria dropped its bid for a place on the IAEA board, leaving the post open to Western-backed Afghanistan. Both had been vying for the same seat on the board, representing the Middle East and South Asia (Mesa) group.

The body had been facing a divisive and unprecedented vote on the issue. IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei said Syria's co-operation had been "good", but it needed to show "maximum co-operation" for the agency to draw any conclusions.

A Syrian officer reported to have been in charge of facilitating the IAEA probe was killed in unexplained circumstances last summer, further delaying the proceedings. On Wednesday Iran, also accused by some countries of clandestine nuclear activity, dropped its bid for a seat on the IAEA board, saying it wanted to make way for regional ally Syria to join instead.
| Iran | Islam | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America |


Rebuilding EU-US relations Euractiv (October 3, 2008) - "There is a new window of opportunity to rebuild relations between the US and the EU as the Bush era draws to a close," according to Ronald D. Asmus, executive director of the Brussels-based Transatlantic Centre, a think tank. To do this, the United States and Europe need to define a common strategic agenda, argues Asmus's November paper. Deepening their economic integration ranks highly among the issues on which they must cooperate more, believes Asmus.

Rather than lowering tariffs or trade barriers, the aim here should be to create more common regulatory frameworks that eliminate barriers to trade and investment altogether, the author argues. Not only would leadership on this issue boost the GDP of both countries, it would also "assure the stability and openness of the global economy in this new era," he argues.

Asmus also calls on the "United States and Europe to define cooperation in homeland security to defend their societies and borders against the risk of terrorist and bio-weapon attacks". Furthermore, the two continents should aim to create fully liberalised visa regimes and travel between the United States and Europe because "such openness has tremendous potential to touch the lives of average citizens and bring both sides of the Atlantic back together". In Asmus's view, the transatlantic alliance should also promote democracy and freedom beyond its own borders and embrace those who seek to join the democratic community. Indeed, he states: "Keeping our doors open and anchoring young democracies while confronting a more nationalistic and assertive Russia is again at the top of the transatlantic agenda." Nevertheless, he says that the United States and Europe are not yet able to pursue a new and broader transatlantic agenda. He believes "we need to get the plumbing – the day-to-day processes of working together – of a new transatlantic relationship right" first.

In today's world, the US does not only need to cooperate with Europe on military and defence issues, but other policy domains such as energy, health and the environment, Asmus argues, all of which are within the competence of the EU. Thus, the United States cannot afford to have strong relations with NATO alone. "It needs strategic engagement with both organisations," he claims. To ensure that the transatlantic alliance works in practice, Asmus suggests that pragmatism should be the guiding principle, stating: "Washington and Brussels should embrace the well-known lesson of past transatlantic disputes: first work it out in practice; then rewrite the theory." To conclude, Asmus hopes that the next US president will have "the vision and the will to make the right kind of difference".
 | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |


NATO and EU to pool helicopters and air carriers EU Observer (October 2, 2008) - Both the EU and NATO seek to pool their defence capabilities drawn from the same European countries, after having experienced similar shortfalls in helicopters and air carriers in their missions in Chad and Afghanistan. The idea has been championed by the French EU presidency, which hopes to see several concrete initiatives adopted in November by EU defence ministers.

At an informal EU defence minister meeting in Deauville on Wednesday (1 October), France obtained the backing of several member states for initiatives such as setting up a trust fund to upgrade Europe's helicopter fleet to make up for shortfalls in helicopters and transport aircraft needed for quick and effective EU deployments abroad. The final decision will be taken at a formal defence ministers' summit in Brussels on 10 November.

The shortfall in helicopters was already highlighted on Monday, when General Patrick Nash, the operational commander of the EU mission in Chad told a press conference in Brussels that four helicopters might be soon borrowed from Russia, with talks being at "a very advanced stage." Yet the problem is not unique to the EU mission, as NATO and the United Nations experience similar challenges.

General James Mattis, in charge of NATO's capability development and transformation, recently met his EU counterpart, the chief executive of the European Defence Agency, Alexander Weis, in order to find "areas of common interest", such as helicopter and airlift capabilities. "In regards to airlift, helicopters, medical transports – whether it is an EU mission to Darfur or a NATO mission somewhere else, we just need those capabilities," General Mattis told journalists at a briefing on Wednesday during NATO Industry Day, which took place in Brussels.

He also stressed that when the EU and NATO draw on troops, they do it "from the same population of forces", which means that the two entities need to look for solutions that "resonate with each other, not contradict each other." "We're not a the point right now where the EU and NATO are working that closely, although they're starting," General Mattis said. Read full story...

The French connection

Yet France might play a pivotal role in this regard, with President Nicolas Sarkozy setting the improvement of EU defence capabilities as a precondition for his country to rejoin NATO's military structure, which is expected to take place at NATO's 60th anniversary summit in April next year.

French defence minister Herve Morin proved his commitment to pool EU military capabilities even when asked if the current global financial crisis will have an impact on the member states in terms of defence spending. "There are two ways you can face an economic crisis, when you have reduction in state revenue," Mr Morin said on Wednesday after the ministers meeting in Deauville.

"One is to say, let's forget everything and say there is nothing we can do in the future. The other reaction is to say, we may have less available, so let's pool our resources. That's a more intelligent response, surely. Let's share we've got, if we are going to have less," he urged.

Boeing for NATO, Airbus for EU

While the French defence minister was unveiling in Dauville a plan to lend Airbus A400M transport planes between EU countries or to create a multinational fleet at their disposal, in Brussels 10 NATO countries plus Sweden and Finland signed a deal to jointly buy and operate three Boeing C-17 carriers.

This NATO initiative, called Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) "will support operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere, as well as other national missions, including EU and UN missions", Peter Flory, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defense Investment said in a press release.

The 10 NATO members involved in SAC are Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and the United States, while the planes are to be placed at the Hungarian air base Papa early next year.

| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |


Evangelicals see moral decline in Wall St. woes Reuters (October 1, 2008) - Conservative U.S. Christians say the culture has gone to hell and it has taken the economy and Wall Street down with it. It is a view which outsiders may find puzzling but has wide resonance in the U.S. heartland: the notion that moral decay and a lost sense of responsibility has brought on the worst banking and credit crisis since the Great Depression. Such a view helps explain the unpopularity in conservative Christian circles -- which have a big influence on the Republican Party -- of a $700 billion bailout plan which the U.S. House of Representatives rejected on Monday, rocking financial markets. Mounting consumer and household debt as housing prices fall is one of the main reasons behind the current crisis -- a crisis that religious conservatives say has moral roots.

The narrative goes roughly like this: the "collapse" of the traditional family, widespread divorce and a "permissive" culture have led to a disregard for personal responsibility. A culture focused on instant gratification -- through the overuse of credit cards to buy consumer goods, for example -- has also lost other "traditional values" such as thrift and hard work. "You can't have a strong, vibrant society when you don't have strong, vibrant families. It's a crisis of commitment, it's a crisis of responsibility," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a conservative lobby group with strong evangelical ties. "If you don't live up to your responsibility you are going to see that in the broader culture. You see this on Wall Street," he told Reuters.

It is a view that has been echoed by other conservative commentators, on Christian radio stations and on popular "Talk Radio" programs. "To spend more than you've got is not the way we brought up our kids ... You have a whole credit industry that grew up around people wanting what their parents had without working 20 years to get it," said Gary Ledbetter, spokesman for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

Conservative Christians and evangelical Protestants in particular are a key base of support for the Republican Party which has rallied to John McCain's White House bid since he picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. Tying "values" to economic problems is one way that religious conservatives can keep some focus on the "culture" issues they have long fought over as public attention is riveted on Wall Street, job security and house prices. Upholding "traditional" values which they say have been under assault since the 1960s informs much of their outlook, ranging from their opposition to abortion and gay rights to a professed aversion to heavy debt loads.

"Although debt is not a sin, it also is not a normal way of life, according to Scripture ... debt is a dangerous tool that must be used, if at all, with extreme caution and much prayer," says the conservative evangelical advocacy group "Focus on the Family" on its web site. But some commentators have noted that the "Religious Right" has long been among the staunchest supporters of the free-market ideology and the deregulation of financial markets preached by the Republican Party. "Essentially the Christian Right did not do serious biblical reflection on economics, it just borrowed its model from the Republicans," said David Gushee, a professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University in Atlanta. "Conservative Christians who accepted the unregulated free market ethos must bear some of the responsibility for its consequences," said Gushee.
| America | Economic Crisis |


Foreign economists urge 'global plan' The Washington Times (October 1, 2008) - Leaders and economists from Western Europe to East Asia Tuesday urged the United States to go beyond reviving a failed domestic bailout and start working on a new global financial system.  Associated Press Traders at MICEX, the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange, watch and wait during a tense session in Moscow on Tuesday when stock indexes sank despite a two-hour trading halt. "The Americans don't have a choice — they must absolutely have a global plan," Christian Noyer, head of the French central bank, said in Paris.

David Smick, a global strategist and author of "The World Is Curved: Hidden Dangers of the Global Economy," said the next U.S. president should immediately call for a second "Bretton Woods" conference to devise a new doctrine of international finance. The tiny New Hampshire town hosted a conference shortly after World War II that established rules for economic interchange among the world's industrial powers and created the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. "I am convinced that the sickness runs deep and that we need to rethink the entire financial and monetary system, as we did in Bretton Woods ... to create the tools for worldwide regulation made necessary by the globalization of trade," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in the French city of Toulon on Monday.

He said that officials from France, Britain, Germany and Italy will meet next week in Paris with the Continent's top financial officials to prepare for a proposed global summit on the economic crisis. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet will participate. The 27-nation European Union said Tuesday that the crisis "has become a global problem" and Washington has a "special responsibility" to resolve it. German Chancellor Angela Merkel took aim at the House failure to pass the Bush administration's $700 billion bailout proposal, which sparked a global stock market plunge. She called the package a "precondition for creating new confidence in the markets." Kaoru Yosano, the Japanese minister of economic and fiscal policy, agreed. "The outcome has caused a major impact on not only the U.S. economy but also the world economy," he said.

Until a few weeks ago, foreign governments were blase and even gloated about U.S. financial woes, Mr. Smick said. "The decoupled theory has taken a crash landing," demand is plummeting worldwide and foreign financial institutions have been forced to come to terms with their own "toxic waste," he said.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Americans Clueless About Plans to Create New Life Forms Live Science (September 30, 2008) - If you've never heard of the exciting field of synthetic biology, you're not alone, but you might want to get wise to the field's controversial promise to create life from scratch. About two-thirds of U.S. residents are clueless as well, having never heard of the synthetic biology. Only 2 percent in a new telephone survey of 1,003 adults said they have heard a lot about the work, which crosses biology with technology and promises to create forms of life that Nature never thought of.

Synthetic biologists engineer and build or redesign living organisms, such as bacteria, to carry out specific functions. The field is a scientific playground for the genetic code, where previously nonexistent DNA is formulated in test tubes. By taking genetic engineering to the extreme, synthetic biologists aim to make life in the lab.

The promise is that the novel organisms will fight disease, create alternative fuels or build living computers. Already, researchers have transplanted genetic material from one microbe species into the cellular body of another, described last year as the living "equivalent to converting a Macintosh computer to a PC by inserting a new piece of software."

"We face daunting problems of climate change, energy, health, and water resources," a group of 17 leading scientists in the field stated last year. "Synthetic biology offers solutions to these issues: microorganisms that convert plant matter to fuels or that synthesize new drugs or target and destroy rogue cells in the body."

Now you know. But why should you care? For one, the field "is potentially controversial because it raises issues of ownership, misuse, unintended consequences and accidental release," according to a report earlier this year commissioned by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council in England. In a nutshell, some fear microscopic lab freaks might escape and wreak havoc.

That in mind, scientists are concerned that the United States is falling behind other countries in many areas of science and technology and that the current administration has been downright hostile toward some fields of science. Obtaining federal funding for cutting-edge research can be challenging when the public doesn't even know what the research is about or what its benefits might be.

And as the new poll showed, we tend to fear what we don't know. Respondents were asked how they viewed the potential risks and rewards of the new technology. "Those more familiar with synthetic biology are more inclined to have a positive assessment of the tradeoff," the pollsters found.

"Early in the administration of the next president, scientists are expected to take the next major step toward the creation of synthetic forms of life," said David Rejeski, director of the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. "Yet the results from the first U.S. telephone poll about synthetic biology show that most adults have heard just a little or nothing at all about it." The poll was conducted in August by Peter D. Hart Research Associates. The results were announced today.

Nearly half of the poll respondents said they have heard nothing at all about the broader field of nanotechnology. Again, "there is a positive association between awareness of nanotechnology and the belief that the benefits of nanotechnology will outweigh the risks," the analysts found.
| Technology | America |


France's Sarkozy battles fallout from financial crisis AFP (September 29, 2008) - President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday battled to contain fallout from the global financial crisis, moving ahead with plans for a world summit and calling a meeting of French banking and insurance chiefs. France will host a meeting of European officials to prepare a summit "in the coming weeks to establish the basis of a new international financial system," said Sarkozy, whose country holds the presidency of the European Union. Officials from Britain, France, Germany and Italy -- the EU members of the G8 -- will meet in Paris in the coming days to lay the groundwork, he said on the sidelines of an EU-India summit in the southern city of Marseille.

On Tuesday, the president is to meet at the Elysee presidential palace with banking and insurance company chiefs to take a close look at the health of French banks and review the credit level of French households and businesses. The announcements came as the Franco-Belgian bank Dexia announced an emergency board meeting after liquidity concerns sent its shares into freefall. Dexia's shares closed Monday down 30 percent on the Paris exchange, at seven euros worth less than a third of their value this time last year.

Belgium's federal government announced late Monday that it had tentatively agreed, along with its three main regions and shareholders, to help prop up the embattled bank -- less than 24 hours after stepping in to rescue Belgian-Netherlands banking and insurance giant Fortis. "During consultations between the federal government and the three regional governments (Wallonia, Flanders and Brussels) this afternoon, they confirmed their in-principle agreement to take part in a joint effort to boost Dexia group's funds," a statement said. The statement, distributed by the office of Prime Minister Yves Leterme, made no mention of financial details but Belgian media said the support could amount to seven billion euros (10 billion dollars). Read full story...

| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

They're working to "establish the basis of a new international financial system" huh? Where is this leading do you think? What is the cheapest way to implement a new international financial system in a short period of time? Technology... and the technology is here now.


Dow drops 777 after house rejects bailout bill East Bay Business Times (September 29, 2008) - The Dow Jones Industrial average dropped a record 777 points Monday after the House of Representatives rejected a proposed $700 billion rescue plan for the nation’s struggling financial firms. The Dow closed the day at 10,365.45 as the S& P 500 plunged 106.85 to 106.42 and the Nasdaq dropped 199.61 to 1,983.73.

The House vote, 205 in favor and 228 against, came as a surprise, despite being an unpopular proposal among many American voters. The loss is seen as a blow to leaders of both parties who couldn't keep enough of their members in line to pass the measure. Two-thirds of Republicans voted against it, as well as 95 Democrats. The bill had been modified to satisfy its Congressional opponents, and included language that curbed executive pay and would have created an oversight committee to review the Treasury Department’s actions. With no other alternative plan immediately in the works, the rejection triggered a slide in financial stocks.

The House rejection comes on a day full of signs the financial crisis is accelerating. European regulators moved to bail out four major banks. Citigroup agreed to acquire Wachovia’s banking operations in a stock deal valuing Wachovia at about $1 per share, 90 percent less than its market capitalization Friday. Mitsubishi UFJ said it would take a 21 percent stake in Morgan Stanley for $9 billion. Lehman Brothers agreed to sell its Neuberger Berman mutual fund operations to Bain Capital LLC and Hellman & Friedman LLC for $2.15 billion, part of Lehman’s bankruptcy liquidation. Citigroup (NYSE:C) closed the day at $17.75, down 12 percent. Wachovia (NYSE:WB) closed the day at $1.84, down 82 percent. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) closed the day at $30.25, down 18 percent. Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) closed the day at $33.25, down 11 percent.
| America | Economic Crisis |

Geno, one of the readers, shared this and some other stories with me referencing a passage in scripture I think is appropriate considering where this could very well be headed and where our hearts should be in the midst of it all.

Proverbs 22:1-7
A GOOD name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold
. The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all. A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life. Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them. Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.


Training A Socialist Army of World Servers News With Views (September 28, 2008)

Obama: “I will ask for your service and your active citizenship when I am president of the United States ... this will be a central cause of my presidency."[1]

Obama: "People of all ages, stations, and skills will be asked to serve.... I will set a goal for all American middle and high school students to perform 50 hours of service a year, and for all college students to perform 100 hours of service a year...."[2]

Saul Alinsky (Obama's Marxist mentor): "The disruption of the present organization is the first step toward community organization.... All change means disorganization of the old and organization of the new."[3] Rules for Radicals (excerpts here)

Brave New World: "A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive of political bosses and their army of managers control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced because they love their servitude. To make them love it is the task assigned... to ministries of propaganda, newspaper editors and schoolteachers."[4] Aldous Huxley

“These are serious times," said Barack Obama recently. "And they call for a serious debate about where we need to take the nation.”[5] That's true! So where does he want "to take our nation?" How does his version of "service" fit his vision of CHANGE? And what will it cost in terms of freedom, privacy, taxes, and government control?

There's nothing wrong with the old voluntary, personal service to the poor and needy. For centuries, Christian missionaries have given their lives and comforts to serve God among the sick, hungry and dying people in distant parts of the world. Others have shown the same God-given compassion in their own community. They've demonstrated His love, shared His Truths, and brought hope as well as help to the needy.

Obama's plan is radically different. Aimed at socialist change, it would raise "religious" boundaries, limit free speech, and ban divisive truths. It must be tolerant of today's amoral values and militantly intolerant toward traditional values. And -- like the tactics outlined in Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" -- it would use deception and "agitation" to create conflict, and the Hegelian/Marxist dialectic process to manipulate minds and establish the planned solidarity.[6] Obama learned all about it during his years as "Community Organizer" in Chicago. Read full story...

THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF "SERVICE LEARNING"

"Service learning" isn't a new phenomenon. It has been well tested by U.S. educators for more than a decade. What's new is the scale of Obama's plan. His massive system would press students and citizens of all ages in a revolutionary government-led program to change the way we think and relate to each other. A more descriptive term would be mass brainwashing! He outlines it on his official website:

"Expand Service-Learning in Our Nation's Schools: Obama will set a goal that all middle and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year. He will develop national guidelines for service-learning and will give schools better tools both to develop programs and to document student experience."[7]

National guidelines? Documenting each server? Such traditional words now carry new meanings [8] and requirements unknown to the public. Service learning implies socialist indoctrination through facilitated group dialogue designed to break down barriers, manipulate minds, and build unity in diversity. All members will be monitored and tracked by massive computer networks. And all the personal attitudes, beliefs, values, adaptability, and especially resistance to the planned change -- i.e. all the countless factors that now define a person's "mental health"[9] -- will be recorded within these systems. Does that remind you of China's dang'an -- the growing personal data file that follows each Chinese citizen through life?

It should, because America is following the well-tested footprints of Communist dictators in both China and Russia. As I pointed out in my last article on the Olympics, China is using (and testing) sophisticated American technology to advance its universal and transformational surveillance system. This fact sheds some sobering light on Obama's promise that,

"...we'll use technology to connect people to service.... You'll be able to search by category, time commitment, and skill sets; you'll be able to rate service opportunities, build service networks, and create your own service pages to track your hours and activities. This will empower more Americans to craft their own service agenda, and make their own change from the bottom up."[10]

"Make their own change?" That may sound good, but there would be no freedom to deviate from the new evolving guidelines. Besides, all this personal information would be available to government leaders and facilitators.

Look at other facets of Obama's plan. Each would involve group training in the dialectical thinking. An article titled "A New Era of Service" quotes Obama:

"I will call on a new generation of Americans to join our military.... I will expand AmeriCorps to 250,000 slots, and make that increased service a vehicle to meet national goals like providing health care and education, saving our planet and restoring our standing in the world, so that citizens see their efforts connected to a common purpose...."[2]

Meanwhile, each crisis -- real or contrived -- will be used by today's "change agents" to raise the dissatisfaction, passion and justification needed to speed the planned change.[11] "We are on the verge of a global transformation," said David Rockefeller. "All we need is the right major crisis..."[12]

OBAMA'S TRAINING IN REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE

Thomas Sowell understands this transformation well. "As a young political leftist, I saw the left as the voice of the common man. Nothing could be further from the truth," he wrote in his book aptly titled "Is Reality Optional?" He continued, "Running left-wing movements has always been the prerogative of spoiled rich kids. This pattern goes all the way back to the days when an over-indulged and affluent young man named Karl Marx combined with another over-indulged youth from a wealthy family named Friedrich Engels to create the Communist ideology.

"The phoniness of the claim to be a movement of the working class was blatant from the beginning. When Engels was elected as a delegate to the Communist League in 1847, in his own words, 'a working man was proposed for appearances sake, but those who proposed him voted for me.' It may have been the first rigged 'election' of the Communist movement but it was certainly not the last."[13]

Obama attended the elite Punahou School in Hawaii. He studied at prestigious universities such as Columbia and Harvard. His rise to power was funded by rich, liberal men and foundations. They sought his talents and used his rage to facilitate change.

As a "community organizer," Obama was supported by The Woods Fund, a wealthy left-wing foundation. So were Bill Ayers -- the former leader of the terrorist, Communist-driven Weatherman organization -- and two revolutionary training organizations founded by Alinsky's disciples: "The Center for Community Change" and "The Midwest Academy."[14] According to David Freddoso, author of "The Case Against Barack Obama," Obama and Ayers served together as board members of The Woods Fund from 1999 to 2002.[14]

The Woods Fund also supports the radical activities of ACORN -- the "Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now." So do our taxes! The following quote from "Obama’s Secret Strategy," shows how left-wing groups use tax-payers' money:

"I have heard stories about massive voter registration drives and preparations to get out the vote with the help of unions, teachers, and other Obama fans. Chief among these groups is ACORN, or Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, a radical group that has been caught engaging in voter fraud. Not surprisingly, Obama has close ties to the group since his days as a 'community organizer' in Chicago.

"...Obama had been a key ally of ACORN. His influence at charitable foundations 'allowed him to help direct tens of millions of dollars in grants.' The [New York Times] also noted the key role ACORN played in helping him win his first state Senate race in Illinois. ACORN’s Web site... says it has already signed up more than a million new voters for the upcoming elections."[15]

ACORN's strategies are based on Alinsky's revolutionary tactics. Since socialists are not accountable to traditional ethics, ACORN's dishonest dealings -- exposed by Michelle Malkin's article titled "$800,000 campaign secret payment to ACORN" -- shouldn't surprise us:

"There’s much more to the story of Obama’s amended campaign finance reports than what Obama and the Obamedia will tell you.... What we have here, essentially, is Obama using a non-profit group called Citizens Services Inc. as a front to funnel payments to ACORN for campaign advance work. Obama officials say it’s no big deal."[16]

In 1992 Obama helped start another revolutionary organization, Public Allies. He resigned the next year, before Michelle Obama became the executive director of its Chicago chapter. Apparently, Obama plans to use it as the model for a national service corps -- a "Universal Voluntary Public Service."[17] As Investor's Business Daily explains,

"The pitch Public Allies makes on its Web site doesn't seem all that radical. It promises to place young adults (18-30) in paid one-year 'community leadership' positions with nonprofit or government agencies. They'll also be required to attend weekly training workshops.... But its real mission is to radicalize American youth and use them to bring about 'social change' through threats, pressure, tension and confrontation — the tactics used by the father of community organizing, Saul 'The Red' Alinsky....

"When they're not protesting, they're staffing AIDS clinics, handing out condoms, bailing criminals out of jail.... It's training the 'next generation of nonprofit leaders' — future 'social entrepreneurs.'...

"The government now funds about half of Public Allies' expenses.... Obama wants to fully fund it and expand it into a national program that some see costing $500 billion."[17]

A NATIONAL MILITIA

"We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set," said Obama on July 2. "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."[18]

What did he mean? We find some clues in the article, "Community Oriented Policing," by Phillip Worts, a detective with the San Diego Police Department. Ponder these excerpts:

"Social chaos is the GOAL for the transformational Marxist. The crisis of crime and disorder is the door for the ... facilitator/change agent to enter the community and to initiate the paradigm shift! Even though these social architects plainly admit what is most vital in making for a crime free community, they have absolutely no intention of restoring 'individual conscience' or going back to repairing the traditional family. On the contrary, for the past sixty years these socio-psychologists have been introducing these very dialectic concepts into our school system with the intent of demolishing personal conscience....":

"Just in case you doubt the Marxist nature of their concepts of community transformation, Trojanowicz quotes Saul Alinsky, the extreme Marxist change agent of the 60’s who authored Rules for Radicals. Alinsky proposed 'we begin viewing community through the prism of issues (Issues= problems= crisis= conflict)....

"Formerly, the police administrators were accountable to the elected officials who were accountable to the voters (representative democracy). This new paradigm... is exactly what Marxist George Lukacs termed 'participatory democracy' and is nothing more than the Soviet style council. ... Allow me to repeat Lukacs: 'The institutions in socialist society which act as the facilitators between the public and private realms are the Soviets.'"[19]

REALITY VERSUS DELUSION

You've seen that the socialist power structure thrives on conflict, compromise, manipulation and deceit. It spreads its illusions by hiding its totalitarian aims under the noble banner of community service.

God's ways are totally opposite, and no one has demonstrated the true role of a servant more perfectly than did Jesus Christ Himself. Yet, He was hated for His unwillingness to compromise truth for the sake of unity. "If they persecuted Me they will persecute you," He warned us, "for they do not know the One who sent Me." (John 15:20-21)

His standard, echoed by one of His disciples, fits our times: "We must obey God rather than man!" (Acts 5:29) We may face some harsh consequences for choosing to trust and follow Him, but fellowship with Him is well worth it! And He will surely enable us to bring His love, hope, strength, peace to those in need.

Endnotes:

1, "Obama issues new call for national service," 7-208
2, "A New Era of Service," 7-2-08
3, Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals ( Vintage Books, 1971); p. 116. See excerpts from this book
4, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World (New York: HarperCollins, 1932), xvii.
5, "Spare Me the Phony Outrage"
6, See "Deceived by the Dialectic Process"
7, Barak Obama and Joe Biden Plan
8, "Three Sets of Meanings of Educational Buzzwords
9, "The UN Plan for Your Mental Health"
10, Obama Issues Call to Serve, Vows to Make National Service Important Cause of His Presidency
11, "Kurt Lewin, “Group Decision and Social Change"
12, David Rockefeller speaking at the UN, Sept. 14, 1994. 109.
13, Thomas Sowell, Is Reality Optional (Hoover Institution Press, 1993), p. 81.
14, David Freddoso, The Case against Barack Obama (Regnery Publishing, 2008); p. 148.
15, "Obama’s Secret Strategy"
16, "$800,000 campaign secret payment to ACORN"
17, Michelle's Boot Camps For Radicals, 9-4-08
18, Obama's Civilian National Security Force ("Senator Obama was nearly 17 minutes into his July 2 speech... in Colorado Springs, Colorado when he deviated from his pre-released script" and made this statement without the teleprompter.")
19, Phillip Worts, "Community Oriented Policing,"

| NewWorldOrder | America |


Senate Sends $634 Billion Spending Bill to Bush Fox News (September 27, 2008) - Automakers gained $25 billion in taxpayer-subsidized loans and oil companies won elimination of a long-standing ban on drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts as the Senate passed a sprawling spending bill Saturday. The 78-12 vote sent the $634 billion measure to President Bush, who was expected to sign it even though it spends more money and contains more pet projects than he would have liked.

The measure is needed to keep the government operating beyond the current budget year, which ends Tuesday. As a result, the legislation is one of the few bills this election year that simply must pass. Bush's signature would mean Congress could avoid a lame-duck session after the Nov. 4 election.

The Pentagon is in line for a record budget. In addition to $70 billion approved this summer for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Defense Department would receive $488 billion, a 6 percent increase. The spending bill also offers aid to victims of flooding in the Midwest and recent hurricanes across the Gulf Coast. Such a huge bill usually would dominate the end-of-session agenda on Capitol Hill. But it went below the radar screen because attention focused on the congressional bailout of Wall Street.

The measure settles dozens of battles that have brewed for months between the Democrats who run Congress and the White House and its GOP allies. The administration won approval of the defense budget. Democrats wrested concessions from the White House on $23 billion for disaster-ravaged states, a doubling of low-income heating subsidies, and smaller spending items such as $24 million more for food shipments to the elderly.

The loan package for automakers would reward them with $25 billion in below-market loans, costing taxpayers $7.5 billion to subsidize the retooling of plants and development of technologies to help U.S. carmakers to build cleaner, more fuel efficient cars. Companies would not have to begin repaying the loans for five years, drawing objections from Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., who predicted they would return for more help when the money is due.

Republicans made ending the coastal drilling ban a central campaign issue this summer as $4-plus per gallon gasoline stoked voter anger and turned public opinion in favor of more exploration. The action does not mean drilling is imminent and still leaves the oil-rich eastern Gulf of Mexico off limits. But it could set the stage for the government to offer leases in some Atlantic federal waters as early as 2011.

Also in the bill is money to avert a shortfall in Pell college aid grants and solve problems in the Women, Infants and Children program delivering healthy foods to the poor. In addition to the Pentagon's budget, there is $40 billion for the Homeland Security Department and $73 billion for veterans' programs and military base construction projects. Combined with the Defense Department's spending, that amounts to about 60 percent of the budget work Congress must pass each year.

Democrats came under criticism from the GOP for short-circuiting the normal process for a spending bill after it became clear that Republicans would force difficult votes on the drilling ban. Democrats also wanted to avoid an election-year clash with Bush that would have played in his favor. They are willing to take their chances that Democrat Barack Obama will be elected president in November and permit increases for scores of programs squeezed by Bush each year. Bush had threatened to veto bills that did not cut the number and cost of pet projects in half or cause agency operating budgets to exceed his request. Democrats ignored the edict as they drafted the plan and the White House has apparently backed down.

Taxpayers for Common Sense, a watchdog group, discovered 2,322 pet projects totaling $6.6 billion. That included 2,025 in the defense portion alone that cost a total of $4.9 billion. Critics of such "earmarks" promise to scrutinize them in coming weeks and months for links to lobbyists and campaign contributions.
| America
| Economic Crisis |

Isn't it great to have such money to throw around at a time like this?!


MEPs to ask US Congress about funding for Irish No vote EU Observer (September 26, 2008) - The European Parliament's delegation to the US will on its next trans-Atlantic visit ask Congress about allegations that the Irish anti-Lisbon Treaty campaign was funded out of America. The parliament's political group leaders - the "conference of presidents" - made the decision on Thursday (25 September) following calls for transparency by the Irish and French governments and the European Commission.

The move also comes after Declan Ganley - an Irish businessman with US interests who ran the prominent No-vote lobby, the Libertas group - admitted loaning it €200,000 of his own money. Under Irish rules, donations must be capped at €6,348. The conference of presidents decided not to set up its own commission of enquiry, leaving any investigation to Ireland's Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO). But the parliament's administration will "regularly and closely monitor the situation."

Using language that puts Mr Ganley in an unsavoury light, the parliament statement noted that SIPO "enjoyed real investigative powers and that any proven misuse of funds ... could lead to sanctions, including of a criminal nature." The leader of the Liberal group, Graham Watson, said he supported contacting the US Congress because Irish-American groups had funded the Irish terrorist group, the IRA, in the past.

The idea that Mr Ganley fronted a US plot to kill the Lisbon Treaty emerged when Irish media reported that his US firm, Rivada Networks, had a €200 million communications equipment contact with the Pentagon. The French leader of the Green group in the European Parliament, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, popularised the theory at the opening meeting of this week's plenary session in Brussels.

"The Irish press revealed that there possibly exists a link between the financers of the No campaign in Ireland and the Pentagon as well as the CIA ... If proved true, this would clearly show that there are forces in the US willing to pay people to destabilise a strong and autonomous Europe," he said. "We stand on the side of those who strive for absolute transparency in all of these questions in order to keep Europe from suffering harm," parliament president Hans-Gert Poettering added.

No means no?

Ireland rejected the Lisbon Treaty in a referendum in June, with most No voters saying they lacked information on the treaty contents. Those who voted No were also concerned about threats to Irish neutrality, Europe's 'democratic deficit' and a weakening of Ireland's position in the European Union.

The main thrust of the treaty was to tidy up EU institutions after the 2004 round of enlargement and help create a robust EU foreign policy, its supporters say. Mr Ganley is now campaigning around Europe to launch an anti-Lisbon political group in time for European Parliament elections in 2009. A second Irish referendum on Lisbon is not expected before late 2009. "Libertas is obliged to communicate the details of its funding to the Irish authorities in 2009. Libertas will comply with this obligation," Mr Ganley said in response to what he called the parliament's "baseless allegations." "This statement gives us grave concern for the state of democracy in Europe," he added. "Neither Libertas nor I have done anything illegal or wrong - this is interference in the electoral process in Ireland."
| EU/UN
/ 4th Kingdom | America |


U.S. losing financial superpower status: Steinbrueck Market Watch (September 25, 2008) - Germany's finance minister on Thursday laid the blame for the global banking crisis on the Anglo-American free-market model's quest for ever-higher near-term profits, predicting the United States would soon lose its role as the world's dominant financial power.

"The U.S. will lose its status as the superpower of the global financial system, not abruptly but it will erode," Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck told the lower house of Germany's parliament in Berlin, according to published reports. "The global financial system will become more multi-polar."

Steinbrueck criticized the United States for failing to adequately regulate investment banks and said free-market policies embraced by the United States and Great Britain that emphasized a short-term "insane drive for higher and higher profits" were partly to blame for the crisis. "Wall Street will never be what it was," he said.
 
The finance minister said he would push for a global ban on speculative short selling and would use next month's meeting of the Group of Seven finance ministers and central bankers in Washington to press for new rules that would prevent banks from fully securitizing loans and selling them to third parties.

Steinbrueck said U.S. authorities were late in undertaking rescue efforts, but said he welcomed the decision to attempt to bail out only organizations whose collapse would threaten the world financial system.

He repeated that he felt there was no need for Germany or Europe to echo the U.S. Treasury's proposal to spend around $700 billion to buy up toxic assets from distressed banks' balance sheets, saying the financial crisis is largely an "American problem." The minister warned, however, that the fallout from the crisis would make for lower growth in the near future and eventually impact the labor market.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America | Economic Crisis |

Something to consider regarding the "multi-polar" global financial system, it is still all run by central banks with the power to create currency, or perhaps do away with currency as we know it all-together in favor of a replacement system with global control. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. There is a conspiracy in the works by the mystery of iniquity, 2 Thessalonians 2, to bring about consolidation of power to hand to the man of sin according to scripture.


Wall Street rescue deal blocked BBC (September 26, 2008) - Talks to agree a huge $700bn (£380bn) bail-out of the US financial industry have ended in a "shouting match". After several hours of discussions with President George W Bush, a group of Republican members of Congress blocked the government plan. The proposal would have seen the government buy bad debts from US banks to prevent more of them collapsing. President Bush is due to make a statement about the negotiations at 0935 in Washington (1435 BST).

Both sides have agreed to resume talks later on Friday. The leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, told ABC News that she "hoped" a bailout plan could be agreed within 24 hours, because "it has to happen". Financial markets are gummed up because banks do not know exactly how much bad debt they hold and are therefore reluctant to lend to businesses, consumers and each other. The fall-out of this credit crunch continues to make a huge impact: The United States suffered its largest bank failure yet, when regulators moved in to close down Washington Mutual and then sold it to US rival JP Morgan Chase for $1.9bn

In a co-ordinated move the European Central Bank, the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank announced new short-term loans to the banking sector worth tens of billions of dollars. Banks continued to cut costs, with UK banking giant HSBC saying it would axe 1,100 jobs Shares in UK bank Bradford & Bingley fell another 20% to 17 pence before recovering slightly. Read full story...

| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

We're seeing further consolidation of financial power while the government is taking greater control and the Federal Reserve (neither federal nor reserve), along with global central banks, are pumping money into the system and devaluing currency. I believe we may be seeing the destruction of global economies to make way for a consolidation of power and control leading to the eventual fulfillment of the mark of the beast, the implementation of a global cashless monetary system enabled by technology.


WaMu is largest U.S. bank failure Reuters (September 25, 2008) - Washington Mutual Inc was closed by the U.S. government in by far the largest failure of a U.S. bank, and its banking assets were sold to JPMorgan Chase & Co for $1.9 billion. Thursday's seizure and sale is the latest historic step in U.S. government attempts to clean up a banking industry littered with toxic mortgage debt. Negotiations over a $700 billion bailout of the entire financial system stalled in Washington on Thursday.

Washington Mutual, the largest U.S. savings and loan, has been one of the lenders hardest hit by the nation's housing bust and credit crisis, and had already suffered from soaring mortgage losses. Washington Mutual was shut by the federal Office of Thrift Supervision, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp was named receiver. This followed $16.7 billion of deposit outflows at the Seattle-based thrift since Sept 15, the OTS said. "With insufficient liquidity to meet its obligations, WaMu was in an unsafe and unsound condition to transact business," the OTS said. Customers should expect business as usual on Friday, and all depositors are fully protected, the FDIC said.

FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said the bailout happened on Thursday night because of media leaks, and to calm customers. Usually, the FDIC takes control of failed institutions on Friday nights, giving it the weekend to go through the books and enable them to reopen smoothly the following Monday. Washington Mutual has about $307 billion of assets and $188 billion of deposits, regulators said. The largest previous U.S. banking failure was Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust, which had $40 billion of assets when it collapsed in 1984.

JPMorgan said the transaction means it will now have 5,410 branches in 23 U.S. states from coast to coast, as well as the largest U.S. credit card business. It vaults JPMorgan past Bank of America Corp to become the nation's second-largest bank, with $2.04 trillion of assets, just behind Citigroup Inc. Bank of America will go to No. 1 once it completes its planned purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co. The bailout also fulfills JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon's long-held goal of becoming a retail bank force in the western United States. It comes four months after JPMorgan acquired the failing investment bank Bear Stearns Cos at a fire-sale price through a government-financed transaction. On a conference call, Dimon said the "risk here obviously is the asset values." He added: "That's what created this opportunity." Read full story...

| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


UN chief calls for 'global leadership' Breitbart.com (September 23, 2008) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday stressed the need for "global leadership" as he pressed world leaders not to pursue narrow national interests in the face of hard economic times. "I see a danger of nations looking more inward, rather than toward a shared future," he said at the opening of the UN General Assembly's annual debate. He spoke of a "challenge of global leadership" to tackle the world's worsening financial, energy and food crises.

"We see new centers of power and leadership -- in Asia, Latin America and across the newly developed world," Ban told more than 120 heads of state or government, including Presidents George W. Bush of the United States and Nicolas Sarkozy of France. "In this new world, our challenges are increasingly those of collaboration rather than confrontation," he added. "Nations can no longer protect their interests, or advance the well-being of their people, without the partnership of the rest."

On the world's current financial crisis, the UN secretary general stressed the need to "restore order to the international financial markets". "We need a new understanding on business ethics and governance, with more compassion and less uncritical faith in the 'magic' of markets," the UN boss said.

Ban, who has chosen implementation of key poverty reduction goals as a major theme of this year's debate, said he saw "a danger of retreating from the progress we have made, particularly in the realm of development and more equitably sharing the fruits of global growth." "Global growth has raised billions of people out of poverty. However, if you are among the world's poor, you have never felt poverty so sharply."

On Thursday, he will host a summit meeting on implementation of the poverty reduction Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on the margins of the General Assembly session. Ban said he would use Thursday's summit to press world leaders, the private sector, foundations, and civil society to make "ambitious and concrete" proposals to ensure that these goals are implemented by a 2015 deadline.

Monday, a summit meeting on Africa's development needs adopted a political declaration urging rich countries to honor their pledge to double their annual aid to the continent, which is struggling to meet the MDGs. And returning to the theme of global leadership, Ban told the assembly: "It takes leadership to honor our pledges and our promises in the face of fiscal constraints and political opposition. "It takes leadership to commit our soldiers to a cause of peace in faraway places. It takes leadership to speak out for justice. To act on climate change despite wonderful voices against you."
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Russia sends warships on military exercise in America's 'backyard' as the new Cold War intensifies Daily Mail UK (September 23, 2008) - Russian warships set off for the Caribbean yesterday for their first naval exercises on the U.S.'s doorstep since the Cold War. The vessels from the Northern Fleet, including nuclear missile cruiser the Peter the Great, left their base in Severomorsk to hold joint manoeuvres with Venezuela.

The exercises are seen as retaliation to U.S. plans to install a strategic missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. It is also thought to be a response to Western support for Georgia, which was invaded by Moscow last month. Last week, in a show of strength that echoed the Cold War, two Russian Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers flew over the Caribbean into Venezuela - a close ally of Russia. The Bush administration has accused the Kremlin of playing a 'dangerous game' by carrying out flights with strategic bombers near U.S. borders.

Igor Dygalo, an aide to the chief naval commander, said last night: 'A flotilla of Russia's Northern Fleet ships, including its flagship, the nuclear missile cruiser Peter the Great, destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and escorting ships have left Severomorsk, the Northern Fleet's base. 'As a part of this trip, Russian warships will take part in joint exercises with the Venezuelan navy.' The Admiral Chabanenko, a Russian anti-submarine destroyer, Udaloy II class, has also set sail for Latin America

Deputy Navy Commander Vice-Admiral Nikolai Karachun added: 'The ships are loaded with both training and live rounds, all is in good order and checked, the ships are technically sound, all crews are fully prepared, and spare parts are on board the warships and their escorts.'

Russia resumed strategic bomber patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans last August, following an order signed by then-President Vladimir Putin. Russian bombers have since carried out more than 90 strategic patrol flights and have often been escorted by Nato planes, including RAF interceptors. The flights were designed to show the once-feared Russian Military had regained its confidence and aggression since decaying in the post-Soviet era.

Military leaders in the country have also threatened to base bombers in Cuba, deliberately evoking comparisons with the 1962 Cuba missile crisis in which the USA and the Soviet Union came close to all-out war after the Red Army shipped missiles to the Caribbean island. President Hugo Chavez has embarked on a five-nation foreign tour which includes a red carpet visit to Moscow where he will be lauded for standing up the United States.

Kremlin prime minister Vladimir Putin's push to the Caribbean will act as a warning to the next U.S. president, to be elected in November, that despite the world current financial turbulence, Moscow is again a force to be reckoned with following a massive oil-fuelled economic recovery since the fall of the USSR. Military analyst Alexander Golts said: 'It's a show of the Kremlin irritation about the U.S. deployment to Georgia. It's a signal to the United States: you have broken into our zone of influence, and we will show you that we can enter yours.' He added that the small Russian squadron could not pose any threat to the United States. 'Without protection from the air, it makes a sitting duck,' he said. 'It's ridiculous to even talk about the Russian ships providing a counterweight to the U.S. Navy.' The Peter the Great is armed with SS-N-19 Shipwreck long-range anti-ship missiles. The warship will sail in an area where nine of every 14 barrels of imported oil to the US must transit.

| Gog/Magog | America |


Islam, Secularism and the Gospel The Christian Post (September 23, 2008) - While Britons may think of America as its juvenile and impetuous offspring, Great Britain has surely become our senile grandmother. Through repeated acts of self-condemnation and political correctness, the British are systematically capitulating to all things Islamic. In essence, our British forbearers are committing cultural suicide. In what may appear to be deferential considerations to their growing Muslim population, British authorities are slowly conforming to the demands of an increasingly outspoken and violent minority. Already in Britain, Muslim men with multiple wives have been given the go-ahead to claim extra welfare benefits following a year-long government review. Even though bigamy is a crime in Britain, the decision by British authorities means that polygamous marriages can now be recognized formally (not to mentioned subsidized) by the state, so long as the weddings took place in countries where the arrangement is legal. And yes, polygamy remains a norm in the Muslim world.

In another act of mindless irony, the Research, Information and Communication Unit, a division of the British Home Office, established for the purpose of countering al-Qaeda’s influence in the UK, is actually instructing civil servants not to use terms such as “Islamist extremism” or “jihadi fundamentalist.” Instead, they are to use phrases such as “violent extremism” or “criminal murderers” or “thugs” to avoid any implication that there is connection between Islam and terrorism.

Closer to home, the US government also issued guidelines earlier this year for the Department of Homeland Security suggesting such terms as “jihad” and “Islamic terrorism” not be used. (Where is the Ronald Reagan of our generation who is willing to call evil evil?)

So ridiculous have British concessions to Muslim demands become that Fortis Bank “stopped giving piggy banks to children for fear of offending Muslims,” according to The Times of London. (Pigs are an offensive, unclean animal to Muslims.) There are also accounts of Muslim nurses refusing to comply with hygiene procedures on the grounds that scrubbing requires them to bare their arms.

And this past week, Fox News reported that “Islamic law has been officially adopted in Britain, with sharia courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases.” According to news reports, “The government has quietly sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence.” Adding that “rulings issued by a network of five sharia courts are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system…” In an astonishing statement, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, said there was no reason why sharia law, derived from several sources including the Qur´an, could not be used for contractual agreements and marital disputes. The first question that comes to mind: How does British society plan to mitigate between the Western and Muslim views relative to the rights of women? Read full story...

| Islam | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America |

One of the reasons I believe there may be a connection with the false prophet of Bible prophecy and the 12th Mahdi, is the coincidence of beheading prevalent in both prophecy of the time of great tribulation and Islam. I don't believe the Islam under the man of sin will be quite what it is today, but I also believe that a man from the earth (or a well) to whom Islam looks up to as a prophet could be very influential when calling fire from heaven and such to lead Islam to the "right path" and direct them to worship this man of sin. Also keep in mind that it is possible that all this will happen after the Ezekiel 38,39 prophecies are fulfilled, which would also help temporarily quiet Islam in preparation for the appearance of the 12th Mahdi. In this way, Islam would be moved under the authority of the man of sin and utilized with its global nature and similar hatred of Israel and Christians. Also remember that Islam plans to take over the world for Allah, what if they are led and convinced to accept that the antichrist's rule is that fulfillment? Am I right? I don't know, it's just the conclusions I've come to from my personal studies and watching things unfold. At any rate, keep watching.


US banks make shock status switch BBC News (September 22, 2008) - The last two major investment banks in the US have changed their status to become bank holding companies, allowing them to take deposits from investors. The changes should enable Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to raise more funds by opening commercial banks. The move - part of a huge restructuring effort on Wall Street - will also give them access to Federal Reserve support.

The US government has announced a $700bn (£382bn) package to tackle the worst financial crisis for decades. Congress is considering the plan, drawn up by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, which would set up a fund to buy up much of the bad debt held by financial institutions, which had triggered the credit crisis.

The BBC's business editor Robert Peston said transforming these investment giants into licensed, deposit-taking banks marked the end of an era for Wall Street. "Now that the US taxpayer is in a formal sense underwriting Goldman and Morgan Stanley, their days of buckling the swash on the worldwide high seas of finance are over, possibly for good."

'Greater safety'

There had been fears, given the recent turbulence in the financial markets, that Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs would not be able to survive as independent players, and both their share prices have come under pressure. Both banks had filed requests with the Federal Reserve to change their status, and late on Sunday, the Fed announced it had granted the requests.

The last few weeks have seen dramatic and unexpected changes among banks, with Merrill Lynch being bought by Bank of America and Lehman Brothers filing for bankruptcy protection. Earlier this year, Bear Stearns was acquired by JP Morgan Chase. Read full story...

| America | Economic Crisis |


The coming 1-world currency WorldNet Daily (September 21, 2008) - On Wednesday, finance chiefs of five of the six-member, oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council approved a proposal to create a monetary union as a move toward adopting a single currency, according to the AFP. The six Islamic states constituting the Gulf Cooperation Council are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Oman pulled out of the agreement last year. Five states in the compact have agreed to set 2010 as the target date for the creation of a monetary union and the adoption of common currency.

The emergence of an Islamic single currency among these oil-rich Middle Eastern countries marks a significant step in the emerging worldwide movement to abandon national currencies in favor of regional currencies, along the model where the EU states have abandoned their national currencies in favor of the European Central Bank and the euro.

In 2002, the finance ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council states sought out the assistance of the European Central Bank, as the model for their single currency, according to BBC reports. The council was created in 1981 to promote the development of the member countries. The monetary union will entail the creation of a central bank to issue the single currency.

At the Wednesday meeting in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, the finance and economy ministers reviewed the European Union's response to the council's view on eliminating obstacles that have blocked a long-stalled free trade agreement with the EU. Progress was also made on key convergence factors required to underpin the common currency, including setting the ratio of budget deficit and public debt to the gross domestic product, target interest rates and reserve requirements. Progress yet remains in reaching a consensus on inflation, the last remaining stumbling block to creating the common currency.

International Monetary Fund Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who met with the Gulf Cooperation Council finance ministers in Jeddah, hailed the move by the Gulf states toward economic integration, though he continued to express doubts the single currency would be adopted within two years.

"Achieving monetary union by 2010 will be a major challenge, as much remains to be done to enable the creation of a single currency within two years," Straus-Kahn. "Overcoming the current inflationary pressures, developing a clear vision of the powers of the future common central bank, choosing an exchange regime of the common currency, and harmonizing financial regulations and structures will be critical in this process." One factor easing the transition toward a single currency is that the six Gulf Cooperation Council member states all currently peg their currencies to the U.S. dollar.

For more on how globalists are pushing regional currencies toward a one-world currency, read Jerome Corsi's Red Alert, the premium, online intelligence news source by  the WND staff writer, columnist and author of the New York Times No. 1 best-seller, "The Obama Nation."
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Government rushing to finish huge financial rescue plan Associated Press (September 19, 2008) - The Bush administration sketched out a multi-faceted effort on Friday to confront the worst U.S. financial crisis in decades, outlining a program that could cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars to buy up bad mortgages and other toxic debt. Relief washed over Wall Street with a surge of buying.

President Bush, flanked by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, acknowledged that the program will put a "significant amount of taxpayers' money on the line."

Markets unhinged by anxiety in recent months greeted the plan enthusiastically. The Dow Jones industrials shot up over 400 points and stayed in that territory into the afternoon. Global stock markets soared, too.

The administration is asking Congress to give it sweeping new powers to execute the plan. Paulson said it "needs to be big enough to make a real difference and get to the heart of the problem."

Paulson gave few details but said he would work through the weekend with leaders of Congress from both parties to flesh out the program, the biggest proposed government intervention in financial markets since the Great Depression. Members of the Senate Banking Committee said they had yet to receive details of the proposal, but were ready to move quickly when they do. Read full story...

| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

The words "government," "rush," "financial" and "sweeping new powers" are not key words I want to hear, but from the response in the stock market and from several commentators I've heard, its the "best thing" for right now. In other words the alternative is worse, so we're ok with the lesser of two evils. And where are we getting all this money as we are so deep in debt? Get some more historical background on our current financial system here, here, here and here. I have a feeling that these increase governmental controls and "sweeping new powers" are going to lead to the end scripture speaks of such that we will be beholden to the government who in turn will be beholden to the financial rescue of the central banks who ultimately are working to bring about the New World Order and hand over their power to the man of sin. One thing to remember, you can't serve God and mammon (money) and in the end, those who rely on the temporal escape by man's government via the mark of the beast will lose eternal life in God's presence. Revelation 14:9-12 Perhaps you don't think this will happen in your lifetime... perhaps you're right, maybe you're wrong. Either way, keep watching!


China Paper Urges New Currency Order After "Financial Tsunami" Reuters (September 17, 2008) - Threatened by a "financial tsunami," the world must consider building a financial order no longer dependent on the United States, a leading Chinese state newspaper said on Wednesday. The commentary in the overseas edition of the People's Daily said the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc "may augur an even larger impending global 'financial tsunami'."

The People's Daily is the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party, and the overseas edition is a smaller circulation offshoot of the main paper. Its pronouncements do not necessarily directly reflect leadership views, but this commentary by a professor at Shanghai's Tongji University suggested considerable official alarm at the strains buckling world financial markets.

China's central bank earlier this week cut its lending rate for the first time in six years, a move analysts said was aimed at bolstering the economy and the battered stock market. "The eruption of the U.S. sub-prime crisis has exposed massive loopholes in the United States' financial oversight and supervision," writes the commentator, Shi Jianxun. "The world urgently needs to create a diversified currency and financial system and fair and just financial order that is not dependent on the United States."

But Vice Premier Wang Qishan, on a visit to the United States, told U.S. trade officials in a meeting on Tuesday that China and the United States needed to maintain close economic ties with global markets going through such turbulence. "The Chinese government is well aware of the fact that the United States, which is the world's largest developed country, and China, which is the world's largest developing country, should have constructive and cooperative economic and trade relations," he said.

China is a major buyer of U.S. Treasury bonds, and through its sovereign wealth fund it has taken stakes in two large U.S. financial institutions. In July 2005, China revalued the yuan and freed it from a dollar peg to float within managed bands. But the yuan and China's trade remains tightly linked to the fortunes of the dollar.

The commentary suggested China must brace for grave economic fallout and look to alternatives, saying the crisis brings to mind the Great Depression of the 1930s. "Lehman Brothers announced bankruptcy will not only have a domino effect on the global financial world, it will bring a shock to the world economy," the front-page comment stated.
| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


US government rescues insurer AIG BBC (September 17, 2008) - The US Federal Reserve has announced an $85bn (£48bn) rescue package for AIG, the country's biggest insurance company, to save it from bankruptcy. AIG will get an $85bn loan, in return for an 80% public stake in the firm. The rescue follows the collapse of US investment giant Lehman Brothers, which caused share prices to plummet across the world's financial markets. Authorities are hoping the bail-out will avert the threat of a global financial meltdown. The Fed's move is viewed by some as the most radical intervention in private business in its history and has helped fuel a tentative rally on global stock markets. The past few days have seen dramatic events unfold in the financial world:

  • The UK's top mortgage lender HBOS is in merger talks with Lloyds TSB after a steep fall in HBOS shares
  • The Fed and the US Treasury say AIG's bailout will protect the interests of US taxpayers
  • US interest rates have been kept on hold despite widespread calls for a cut
  • Barclays says it is buying some of the core assets of US investment bank Lehman Brothers for $1.75bn (£1bn)

'Challenging times'

The Federal Reserve made its decision about AIG "with the full support of the Treasury Department", it said in a statement, adding that the secured loan included conditions designed to protect "the interests of the US government and taxpayers". The US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson refused to bail out America's fourth-largest investment bank Lehman Brothers after it filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday. But he supported the rescue of AIG and said the move would protect taxpayers. "These are challenging times for our financial markets," he said.

The rescue of AIG - which has a trillion dollars in assets and insures bank loans around the world - helped world stock markets rally. Wednesday trading saw gains in Tokyo, Taiwan, Singapore and Seoul, though prices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Australia fell. European markets were higher, but trading was volatile. The dollar also rose against major currencies. Read full story

| America | Economic Crisis |

More... AIG bailed out, more havoc likely, experts say Newsday (September 17, 2008)

Glenn Beck: Congrats! Glenn Beck (September 17, 2008)


New Wall Street crisis will create a new financial world order, says RCM CIO City Wire UK (September 16, 2008) - As the sell-off in global markets continues, RCM's CIO for Europe Neil Dwane believes the aftermath of Monday's events will lead to the formation of a 'new world order', in which the remaining financial giants will flourish.

'Merrills rushed into the arms of Bank of America (BoA) who last night shut down its investment banking operations admitting failure. Surely BoA will not indulge Merrills' investment banking operations anywhere near to the extent that the old Merrills' management had done?' Dwane asks. Dwane believes the key implication of the Fed's decision not to facilitate the sale of Lehmans Brothers is that it shows that capacity is being removed from the markets, alongside the clear message that 'policy will not bail out all investors and losers'.

'Moral hazard is back and negligent Boards will find there to be no willing supplier of capital except on very onerous terms. The key messages of this weekend remain that capital remains scarce, leverage and accounting for the leveraged assets remains incomplete and inconsistent and a New World order is being born where financial behemoths are best placed,' he says.

One of the key features of this 'New World order' will be increased regulation, transparency and risk control, according to Dwane. However, the CIO of the equity specialist of Allianz Global Investors is anxious that 'investors remain complacent over the changes to come and the lower returns and earnings power of the sector in the future'.
| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Draghi: Deeper Crisis Would Call for Global Solution Doug McIntosh (September 16, 2008) - National solutions have been enough to stem the financial-sector crisis so far, ECB Governing Council member Mario Draghi said in a Berlin speech Thursday, but they may not be enough if things get worse. “Policies are taking a variety of shapes that can be grouped within two broad categories: emergency and structural responses,” said Mr. Draghi, who also heads Italy’s central bank. “Until now, the first remained typically national since each crisis was unique to the financial structure of the country and so were the remedies. However, if the crisis were to become systemic - and the past weekend has shown just how sudden and dramatic the turn of events can be — I believe that an internationally coordinated effort will be necessary.”

Mr. Draghi’s words have international heft, since he chairs the Financial Stability Forum — a group of global regulators and central bankers working on solutions for preventing the next blowup. He indicated the framework of the global financial system is undergoing a gut check: “A resilient infrastructure is one that is capable of withstanding the effects of the failure of a large financial institution. As we speak, this objective is being tested by reality.”

Overall, he said, the global banking system has enough capital to meet its needs “under reasonable scenarios.” He offered no prediction about whether market conditions would continue to be “reasonable” but did say banks will need to raise “at least once again the amount of capital raised since the crisis began.” Mr. Draghi’s estimate of that amount, according to a person familiar with the matter, is $350 billion. Some banks will have an easier time of it than others - namely those “that ran the debt-financed, highly leveraged and maturity mismatched business model that provided steady fee income over the last several years.” –Joellen Perry
| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


A Trillion Here; A Trillion There Doug McIntosh (September 16, 2008) - It was Everett Dirksen, a politician from Illinois a few decades back who once said of government spending, " A billion here and a billion there, pretty soon you are really talking some money." This was in the 1970's, when a billion still meant something. It was in 1969 I think when the entire US government spending was $100 billion dollars and we were howling about an inflation rate of 3%. The good ole days to be sure.

Now we are dealing with nothing less than systemic collapse. I have been watching the news media coverage of the "situation on Wall Street." We do not have a situation here: we have the phased collapse of the American economy. When you find out Jeb Bush is a "consultant" for Lehman Brothers; when you hear McCain call for a "9-11 type commission to investigate Wall Street" you know the fix is in. It was the Bushes who destroyed the Savings and Loan industry, along with the Democrat St. Germaine, who raised the insurance coverage to $100,000. For me, there is a very clear trail of cookie crumbs in this so called "crisis." It is a planned crisis.

While watching PBS and its "Nightly Business Report" last night I was struck by how clueless these people really are. They simply don't have the capacity to understand what is going on. It is like my old 386 computer with its 4 Megabytes of RAM trying to run too many software programs at the same time: overload city. The mainstream simply doesn't have the mental ability to deal with what is happening right now in the economic sphere. The reason for that is simple: it isn't in their script. Of course, for someone of my impeccable doom and gloom credentials, I am not in the least surprised, amazed, or even stressed. After writing for over a decade on the open corruption of the "system", I may be many things, angry and appalled for instance, but not surprised or stunned. The New World Order is nothing if not consistent.

The reason for the current stock market meltdowns, the meltdowns being global and plural, is simple: the system is corrupt. It is pathetic to watch McCain call for investigations, or others for new regulations. One of the major reasons for this is because Congress repealed the Glass/Seagall? act from the Great Depression a few years back. There are specific actions taken, laws repealed for instance, that have directly resulted in the current "crisis." Specific people, regulators, politicians, economic experts and media whores have taken specific actions, and not taken specific actions, which have led to the current situation. I don't see any indication of any Congressperson or Senate person being indicted for Treason and tried for their vote repealing Glass/Seagall for instance. Nor will there ever be. This is also the way the NWO works. No accountability at all. Never has been and never will be. The insolence of the elite is well justified.

The headlines are screaming the ratings agencies just downgraded AIG, the insurance blob. I am so glad the ratings agencies decided to do their jobs. It is upon the politicians, the media, the ratings agencies the fake appraisals, the liar loans and all the other root causes of the current crisis may be laid. We do not need new government regulations; what we need is a system where corruption is punished and not rewarded. What we need is consequences and not bailouts. What we need is truth and not lies. But, it doesn't matter now. The fix is in. Read full story...

| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

I differ slightly from Doug's perspective in that I believe the mystery of iniquity at work today is indeed pushing the New World Order agenda, but to the end that a whole new global cashless system will have to be implemented and will be done centered in Europe. According to Bible prophecy, this will be the center of the New World Order and in order to participate in this new economic system that will bail out the current failing one, each person must pledge allegiance to the man of sin and receive his mark on the forehead or hand. (More on the mark of the beast and the current technology that could bring it here.) I believe everything is in place to support this system within a short period of time if not completely now thanks to the credit card companies and RFID tattoo ink. Who exactly is behind what is happening isn't what's most important, rather getting in right relationship with the only One who can save us from what is coming and bring us into eternal relationship with Him. Yeshua will judge what is happening now and knows exactly who it is. While we may watch and see, I prefer to leave the judging to Him and keep watching His Word come to pass.


Financial Crisis in America Threatens Israel's Stability Israel National News (September 15, 2008) - The venerated securities firm of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. announced early Monday morning on its website it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, stunning Wall Street and rattling financial markets around the world. Not least among them was the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, which opened with sharp losses as it echoed the news.

Lehman was one of the first international investment banks to open its doors in the State of Israel, and businesses across the country are going to be affected by what is taking place on Wall Street. Lehman has invested in numerous institutions in Israel, among them Bank Leumi, Psagot, the Clal group, Menorah and Harel Financial Services. All told, Lehman Brothers Inc. has invested more than NIS 850 million in Israeli institutions.

The company’s stock, which provides investment banking services to corporations, institutions, high-net worth individuals, municipalities and governments around the world, dropped by 93.88 percent since the beginning of this year, trading at $3.65 per share at the end of the day on Friday. Although one of the smallest of Wall Street’s major players, with only 25,000 employees, Lehman Brothers has been a heavy hitter in the mortgage market. The renowned investment bank began its most recent descent in the morass of the mortgage market crisis in the summer of 2007. Lehman Brothers reported in June a second-quarter loss of $2.8 billion, far greater than had been expected by analysts and the harbinger of a general malaise in the market.

In September, the US government announced its takeover of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage finance companies, and two days later, Lehman Brothers announced its next expected loss of $3.9 billion. It said it spinning off its commercial real estate holdings into a new public company.

Not far behind Monday’s morning’s blues was the gloom predicted by financial experts who eyed the next possible crash, that of major US insurance company, American International Group A.I.G. The New York Times reported Monday that the insurance giant has asked for a $40 billion loan from the Federal Reserve to pull it through the current crisis; without that crucial support, the newspaper reports, the company might not survive. A.I.G. provides insurance products – including general and life insurance as well as retirement services, financial services and asset management to individuals and businesses throughout the United States and abroad. Read full story...

| Israel | America | Economic Crisis |

See also: How the Masters of the Universe ran amok and cost us the earth The Scotsman (September 16, 2008)


US faces the F-16s it supplied Pakistan The Times of India (September 14, 2008) - The United States is suddenly faced with the uncomfortable scenario of confronting the very same weapons and military hardware, including F-16 fighter jets, it has armed Pakistan with for decades. The unsavoury prospect of having to take a crack at the its one-time ally has surfaced most starkly in the skies over the Afghan-Pakistan border this weekend after the Pakistan Air Force deployed its US-supplied F-16s to challenge the violation of its airspace by US drones, and in one case, an airborne assault that landed US Navy Seals inside Pakistani territory.

The turnaround of Pakistan from an ally to a potential enemy has alarmed lawmakers, some of whom are now questioning the continued supply of arms to Islamabad. On Tuesday, a Democrat-controlled House Foreign Relations panel has scheduled a hearing whose snarky title -- ''Defeating al-Qaida's Air Force: Pakistan's F-16 Program in the Fight Against Terrorism'' == betrays the unease over the Bush Administration’s relentless arming of Pakistan. Al-Qaida has no known air force.

Some lawmakers and analysts have long questioned the need for Washington to arm Pakistan with sophisticated fighter jets to counter Al-Qaida’s and Taliban’s diffused militants, many of whom are in Pakistan’s towns and cities and are patronised by Islamabad’s intelligence agencies. ''The panel will look at how the F-16 program fits into the broader US strategy in the fight against terrorism as well as into the overall US relationship with Pakistan,'' a notification from the sub-committee read.

The House sub-committee is lead by Gary Ackerman, a known critic of the administration’s relentless pandering of Pakistan with military supplies. He and other lawmakers have questioned the administration’s recent decisions to provide funding for mid-life upgrades to F-16s, especially after government audits said Pakistan has been using US military aid to bulk up its forces against India rather than use it for counterterrorism.

In July, the Bush administration sought to shift $226.5 million in US counterterrorism aid for the F-16 upgrades. Ackerman said the subcommittee will seek witness testimony about the ''complete scope of the F-16 program with Pakistan including the number of planes, updates made to existing planes, proposed armaments, schedule of delivery and source of payment.''

In addition, because Congress has previously provided Pakistan with significant amounts of Foreign Military Financing (FMF) for counterterrorism and law enforcement activities against al-Qaida and the Taliban, the subcommittee will seek testimony on how these planes contribute to Pakistan’s efforts in the fight against terrorism and extremism, and how the use of additional FMF to pay for mid-life updates to Pakistan’s existing F-16 fleet enhances those efforts. The subcommittee is also expected to examine what counterterrorism equipment or programs were foregone as a result of the July 16, 2008, reprogramming request.

Fearful of a Congressional squeeze on further F-16 supplies and upgrades, an unnamed senior Pakistani official in Washington briefed US and Pakistani journalists on Friday on the central role the jets were playing in the war on terror. Pakistan, he said, has flown nearly 100 missions during three weeks in August that produced some 500-550 Taliban casualties. But the PAF needed night-flying capability because the militants were regrouping in the night.

There is a great deal of skepticism about Pakistan using F-16s against militants, and the body count it keeps producing. Several accounts from the region describe friendly, fraternal ties between the Pakistani military and Taliban fighters.

On Sunday, the Pakistani media reported tribal sources as saying a PAF jets were seen patrolling the skies on the country’s western borders with Afghanistan in the afternoon, soon after a US predator was seen flying in the area. ''Neither the CIA-operated Predator nor the Pakistani jet fighter took any offensive action as the two planes didn’t encounter each other,'' a report in the Pakistani newspaper The News, said. Pakistan’s army chief Pervez Kiyani has vowed to defend the country against US incursions ''at all costs.''

| America |


Drugs Affect More Drinking Water Associated Press (September 12, 2008) - Testing prompted by an Associated Press story that revealed trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in drinking water supplies has shown that more Americans are affected by the problem than previously thought — at least 46 million. That's up from 41 million people reported by the AP in March as part of an investigation into the presence of pharmaceuticals in the nation's waterways. The AP stories prompted federal and local legislative hearings, brought about calls for mandatory testing and disclosure, and led officials in at least 27 additional metropolitan areas to analyze their drinking water. Positive tests were reported in 17 cases, including Reno, Nev., Savannah, Ga., Colorado Springs, Colo., and Huntsville, Ala. Results are pending in three others. The test results, added to data from communities and water utilities that bowed to pressure to disclose earlier test results, produce the new total of Americans known to be exposed to drug-contaminated drinking water supplies. The overwhelming majority of U.S. cities have not tested drinking water while eight cities — including Boston, Phoenix and Seattle — were relieved that tests showed no detections. "We didn't think we'd find anything because our water comes from a pristine source, but after the AP stories we wanted to make sure and reassure our customers," said Andy Ryan, spokesman for Seattle Public Utilities. The substances detected in the latest tests mirrored those cited in the earlier AP report. Chicago, for example, found a cholesterol medication and a nicotine derivative. Many cities found the anti-convulsant carbamazepine. Officials in one of those communities, Colorado Springs, say they detected five pharmaceuticals in all, including a tranquilizer and a hormone. "This is obviously an emerging issue and after the AP stories came out we felt it was the responsible thing for us to do, as a utility, to find out where we stand. We believe that at these levels, based on current science, that the water is completely safe for our customers," said Colorado Springs spokesman Steve Berry. "We don't want to create unnecessary alarm, but at the same time we have a responsibility as a municipal utility to communicate with our customers and let them know." more...
| America |


Venezuela joins Bolivia and expels U.S. ambassador CBC News (September 11, 2008) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has announced that the U.S. ambassador has 72 hours to leave Venezuela and he's recalling his ambassador from Washington. Chavez said he's asking U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy to leave as a means of showing solidarity with Bolivian President Evo Morales, who recently announced that he was expelling Washington's envoy to his country. Chavez announced the decision during a televised speech, hours after saying his government had detained a group of alleged conspirators in a plot to overthrow him. Chavez accused the group of current and former military officers of trying to assassinate him and topple the government with support from the United States. He didn't offer evidence. U.S. officials have repeatedly denied Chavez's accusations that Washington has backed plots against him. Bolivia's ambassador to the United States, Gustavo Guzman, was called to the U.S. State Department earlier Thursday and ordered to leave the country to reciprocate for Bolivia expelling the U.S. ambassador, said a department official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The move came after Morales said Wednesday that U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg is persona non grata in Bolivia, and asked his foreign minister to send a note to the American legate asking that he leave the country. Goldberg was accused of inciting anti-government protesters, although Morales offered no specific evidence. Morales' plans to overhaul the constitution and redirect gas revenues have incited two weeks of protests, which recently turned violent as demonstrators in the country's energy-rich eastern provinces stormed public offices, blocked roads and seized gas fields. At least eight people were killed and 20 injured Thursday, according to authorities, as anti-government protesters fought Morales's backers in eastern Bolivia and seized more natural gas fields. Morales is an indigenous Bolivian whose rise to power in 2005 was heralded as a watershed moment for the country's majority aboriginal population. He has used his first presidential term to effectively nationalize much of the nation's petroleum and mineral wealth — often to the detriment of foreign corporations and Bolivia's old-guard, wealthy elites. His economic policies have kindled an autonomy movement and touched off demonstrations in the resource-rich lowland regions of eastern Bolivia, where residents aren't keen to see royalties redistributed more widely among the populace.
| America |


The Feds are Running Scared The Daily Reckoning (September 11, 2008) - The fog of war – that is, in the “war” between inflation and deflation – is lifting. We’re beginning to see more clearly which way the battle is going. “America’s giant mortgage companies nationalized,” is how Le Monde treated Monday’s big story. “The biggest bailout in history...” it went on. But what does it mean when the world’s most free-market government nationalizes its largest finance industry? It means a couple things: First, that the days of “laissez-faire”, even ersatz laissez-faire, are over. No more deregulation. No more tax cuts. No more free trade agreements. Second, that the feds are running scared. They are in retreat. The battle between a natural market correction...and an unnatural, inflationary boom...is going against them. We were right all along – or almost right; when the dot.com bubble burst it marked the beginning of the end – the end of the bull market on Wall Street...the end of the credit expansion that began in ’82...and the peak of American power and influence in the world. The decline since then has been delayed and disguised – by a flood of new liquidity from the feds. But now, there’s no stopping it. And it’s much worse than it would have been 8 years ago. Because Americans became more and more used to spending money they didn’t have; now they have more debt than ever. And because the Chinese and other foreigners became more and more used to selling things to people who couldn’t pay for them; now their new apartment buildings are empty and their new factories are quiet. And now, the downturn is global...and it will be longer, and harder, than practically anyone imagines. This just in: “Top China developer’s sales fall sharply.” Maybe it was the distraction of the Olympics, but China’s biggest listed property developer, Vanke, said sales fell 35% last month. And this too: Yesterday, gold fell more than $30 – to $757. The euro rose to $1.40. Oil is rising this morning, on fears of Hurricane Ike, but it closed yesterday at $102. Our guess is that it will sink to the $70 range. And here’s Le Monde again: “Good news, finally...almost everywhere, inflation remains under control and in retreat.” Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Inflation may be in retreat. But it’s not good news. It means the whole world is sinking into a slump – not just the US and Britain. And that’s what the feds are afraid of. Sec. Paulson justified the takeover of Mac and Mae on the grounds that the markets and the taxpayers needed “protection from a systemic risk.” What was the risk? That both Freddie and Fannie would go broke, that houses would fall to what they were really worth, and that – when the federally-chartered agencies stopped paying their debt to foreign lenders – the whole world financial system would melt down. Driven by fear...Paulson took the bold action... more...
| EU/UN
/ 4th Kingdom | America | Economic Crisis |


U.S. to guarantee Palestinian state WorldNet Daily (September 11, 2008) - The U.S. is planning to issue a letter guaranteeing the country will back agreements reached during current Israeli-Palestinian negotiations aimed at creating a Palestinian state before President Bush leaves office in January, WND has learned. The move is intended to ensure any agreements reached by the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority, and spelled out in a joint document, will be recognized by the next U.S. administration and binding for Israel and the PA. The information comes as Jacob Walles, the U.S. consul-general, stated in an interview with a major Palestinian newspaper yesterday that Israel and the PA agreed to negotiate Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley area leading to the Dead Sea. In response to the report, the State Department issued a statement claiming the U.S. government has not taken a position on the borders of a future Palestinian state and denying Jerusalem is being discussed. But Israeli and Palestinian sources intimately familiar with the current talks tell WND Jerusalem is being negotiated, with Palestinian officials claiming the talks are in advance stages. The sources also said the U.S. recently floated a plan to divide Jerusalem. According to informed Israeli and Palestinian sources, officials from the State Department this year presented both negotiating sides with several proposals for consideration regarding the future status of Jerusalem. It was unclear whether the U.S. proposals were accepted. One U.S. plan for Jerusalem obtained by WND was divided into timed phases and, among other things, called for Israel eventually to consider forfeiting parts of the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site. According to the first stage of the U.S. proposal, Israel initially would give the PA some municipal and security sovereignty over key Arab neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem. The PA would be allowed to open some official institutions in Jerusalem, could elect a mayor for the Palestinian side of the city and would deploy some kind of so-called basic security force to maintain law and order. The specifics of the force were not detailed in the plan. The initial stage also calls for the PA to operate Jerusalem municipal institutions, such as offices to oversee trash collection and maintenance of roads. After five years, if both sides keep specific commitments called for in a larger principal agreement, according to the U.S. plan, the PA would be given full sovereignty over agreed-upon eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods and discussions would be held regarding an arrangement for the Temple Mount. The plan doesn't specify which parts of the Temple Mount could be forfeited to the Palestinians or whether an international force may be involved. The PA also could deploy official security forces in Jerusalem separate from a non-defined basic force after the five-year period and also could open major governmental institutions, such as a president's office, and offices for the finance and foreign ministries. The U.S. plan leaves Israel and the PA to negotiate which Jerusalem neighborhoods would become Palestinian. According to top diplomatic sources, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who visited the region last month, pressed Israel to sign a document by the end of the year that would include Jerusalem by offering the Palestinians a state in Israel's capital city as well as in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Israeli team rather would conclude an agreement on paper by the end of the year that would give the Palestinians a state in the West Bank, Gaza and some Israeli territory, leaving conclusions on Jerusalem for a later date, the informed diplomatic sources told WND. The sources said the Palestinian team has been pushing to conclude a deal by January on all core issues, including Jerusalem, and has been petitioning the U.S. to pressure Israel into signing an agreement on paper that offers the Palestinians eastern Jerusalem. Rice, the sources said, has asked Israeli leaders to bend to what the U.S. refers to as a "compromise position," concluding an Israeli-Palestinian agreement by the end of the year that guarantees sections of Jerusalem to the Palestinians. But Israel would not be required to withdraw from Jerusalem for a period of one to five years.
| Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land | America |


Taxation Nation: Now You Own Fannie and Freddie McAlvany Weekly Commentary (September 10, 2008) - "It seems to me in one sentence, two things. We're right in the midst of the greatest financial crisis in the history of our country - number one - and number two; we're probably already over the line to becoming socialistic state, the USSA, the United Socialist States of America." - Jim Deeds
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

After listening to this, you probably already know where I think we're headed - a global cashless society where perceived wealth and prosperity are provided by the globalist government, the New World Order. This ½ hour show goes into the socialist steps that will bring us there and how the financial instability we are currently experiencing will lead us there.


Swastika Epidemic in the United States Israel National News (September 10, 2008) - An epidemic of swastikas has spread in the United States in recent days. Police are scrambling to find suspects as Nazi symbols and other anti-Semitic graffiti have appeared on storefronts, synagogues and other locations in dozens of locations across the country. Many incidents occurred over the Labor Day holiday. Rewards have been offered for the finding of the culprits. In Arizona, graffiti “artists” spray-painted swastikas on several buildings, including a Family Dollar store. Some of the swastikas were accompanied by a painted circle with an “x” running through it and the words “Say No” appearing in the middle. Police are looking for the culprits of these attacks and others in the area, including the painting of swastikas and other anti-Semitic messages on a traffic sign, a garage door and several mailboxes. On Sunday, near Boston, Massachusetts, a swastika was found scratched into the door of a Reform temple. Suspects have yet to be found after Rabbi Benjamin Lefkowitz found the Nazi symbol on the door of Temple Beth Sholom in the town of Hull, according to the local newspaper The Patriot Ledger. Jewish institutions in Georgia and California also became the repeated targets of swastika tagging over the weekend. The same Sunday of the Hull, Mass. attack, the Atlanta Jounal-Constitution reported that in the Atlanta, Georgia suburb of Sandy Springs, a swastika was found painted on a stop sign near a Jewish day school. It was the second time in a month that the area near the Epstein School has been targeted with swastikas. Sandy Springs police announced Tuesday that they were doubling the reward offered for information leading to the capture and conviction of the perpetrators, from $2,500 to $5,000. Over the weekend, vandals painted a swastika on a Conservative synagogue northeast of San Diego, California. The San Diego Sheriff’s Department reported that it was the third time since April that Temple Ner Tamid in Poway was targeted with anti-Semitic graffiti. Local authorities reported that the synagogue, serving some 120 families, was targeted in May with “white-supremacist letters, numbers and signs”, including symbols that apparently meant “Heil Hitler.” more...
| Israel | America |


Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Return to U.S. Fox News (September 10, 2008) - A U.N. spokesman has confirmed to FOX News that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will return to the U.S. to address the U.N.'s assembly on Sept. 23. Jewish groups plan to hold a large protest rally under the slogan "Stop Iran Now!" during Ahmadinejad's visit, Israel National News reported. The rally will take place in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, next to the U.N. building in which Ahmadinejad is scheduled to address the General Assembly. The visit comes a year after Ahmadinejad addressed students and faculty at Columbia University last fall. During his last visit, Ahmadinejad ignited a media firestorm with controversial comments in which he refuted the claim that Iran discriminates against women, and was derided loudly by the audience when he said there are no homosexuals in his country. Several people contested Ahmadinejad's invitation from Columbia and criticized the university for extending one. While Columbia President Lee Bolligner offered a scathing introduction to Ahmadinejad's address, it offered little comfort for those opposed to the event.
| Iran | America |


Fannie and Freddie Glenn Beck (September 8, 2008) - Now, I've been doing some I've been doing homework on Freddie and Fannie for I don't know how long and I've been waiting for this day because I knew that if I presented this three, four months ago, nobody would really pay attention to it because everyone was denying that Freddie and Fannie were going to fall apart. Still everybody is in somewhat denial, everybody is saying, oh, this is only going to cost the American taxpayers you $200 billion. That is a lie. It's going to cost you a whole lot more than that. Some say up to $1.6 trillion. To give you some idea of how much money that is, the original remember, "Oh, my gosh, all of a sudden we are having problems with our financial sector." The original panic was that the banks might have to write down as much as $200 billion. That's what we're writing a check for today for Freddie and Fannie, out of your pocket. I told you at the time when everyone said, oh, it's going to be $200 billion. No, it's not. It's going to be in the trillions, it will at least start with $1 trillion. Now we are approaching a trillion dollars in the regular financial markets and this is going to cost you a trillion dollars. This one is costing you. Now, I want to know where is the outrage. I want to know where is the outrage from the press. Where is the outrage from congress. I'm going to ask three questions and then I'm going to give you the answers, and I ask you just to pay attention here for just a second because when you know the real story behind Freddie and Fannie, blood is going to shoot out of your eyes. Here are the questions. Question one: Why aren't the CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac going to jail? Do you remember the name Ken Lay? Why aren't the CEOs and corporate executives required to give back, at the very minimum, give back the millions of dollars they put into their pockets while they inflated the results to meet their bonus triggers? I want to explain something here. What they did, what Freddie and Fannie did is they have these CEOs that said, oh, we're going to meet our budget. And if they met their budget, they get these big bonuses. Well, they would say that they met their budget and then they would get the bonuses but then they wouldn't meet their budget and they would come back later and say, oh, we had to readjust. No one, no one questioned them. I'm sorry. Members of the press like the Wall Street Journal questioned them. We had questioned them. But nobody else had questioned them. The question I have now is, why. Why. I'll explain in a second when I introduce you to the players. I won't even have to explain. You are going to say, oh, my gosh, you're kidding me. Question number two: Why aren't the shareholders wiped out? Why is the federal government protecting the shareholders of Fannie and Freddie today? This isn't capitalism. Question number three: Where's the end game? You know everybody always says in congress, especially the Democrats, "We want an end game. How come, you know, if you're going to go in for a war, you've got to know how to get out. Where's the strategy here? Where's the end game? What does victory look like?" I can tell you what victory looks like but nobody else is going to tell you this. They will all deny it, but it is not a coincidence today that they put a 15 month, pretty much just a 15 month Band Aid on this. What they've done is save these problems for the next congress and the next President. Why? I'll explain hopefully later on here. We'll get into a chance to do that but I'll explain in great detail on tomorrow's program and show you what congress is actually doing right now. They are setting us up right now. more...
| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

So if the government bails out Fannie and Freddie, does that mean the Government now owns the loans on the land here in the US?


America's demonization next step in New World Order? Old-Thinker News (August 27, 2008) - Georgia is the graveyard of America's unipolar world

"Why that should be so isn't hard to understand. It's not only that the US and its camp followers have trampled on international law and the UN to bring death and destruction to the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan... For the rest of us, a new assertiveness by Russia and other rising powers doesn't just offer some restraint on the unbridled exercise of global imperial power, it should also increase the pressure for a revival of a rules-based system of international relations."

Related: Australian paper proclaims: A New World Order as U.S. prosperity falls

After the recent Georgian incursion into South Ossetia, discussion has been rampant regarding America's influence and dominance on the world scene. Some are proclaiming that Russia has laid to rest aspirations for a so called New World Order. From one angle this may appear to be the case, but there is a bigger picture needs to be examined. The United States is going to - and to a degree already is - be held up as an example of why "global mechanisms" and a "world structure" need to be in place to prevent such actions as the invasion of Iraq and U.S. support of Georgian forces in the invasion of South Ossetia. We've been presented with a problem, now globalist think tanks and organizations like the Council on Foreign Relations will provide us with a solution. National sovereignty has no place in this era, so we're told. We must "share power". Former President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, has stated that he sees the U.S. led Iraq war as an example of the need for a "new world order" to manage the globe.

"Look at the US in Iraq, everybody was opposed, even their allies, but they did not listen and what happened? They do not know how to get out of it now. Now we understand that... we are all linked to the US and if it falls apart it would be a real collapse. We have to help them to get out of there. That means that cooperation is needed, a new world order is necessary and global mechanisms to manage it."

Turkish President Abdullah Gul has made similar statements recently in response to the Georgia-Russia conflict. As the AFP reports,

"Turkish President Abdullah Gul predicted "a new world order" of joint international action, in an interview published in the U.K. on Saturday... He added that the conflict in Georgia shows the U.S. can no longer shape global politics on its own, and that it should start sharing power with other nations."

The 2008 election gives us an idea of the current trends underway and provides a window into the establishment's long term game-plan. Both Barack Obama and John McCain have openly indicated that globalist policy will be pursued if either of them are elected president. John McCain discussed his proposed "League of Democracies" at the Hoover institution in May of 2007. McCain stated in part,

"This League of Democracies would not supplant the United Nations or other international organizations. It would complement them. But it would be the one organization where the world's democracies could come together to discuss problems and solutions on the basis of shared principles and a common vision of the future. If I am elected president, I will call a summit of the world's democracies in my first year to seek the views of my democratic counterparts and begin exploring the practical steps necessary to realize this vision."

Barack Obama made his globalist stance known during his highly publicized speech in Berlin on July 24th. He said,

"Yes, there have been differences between America and Europe. No doubt, there will be differences in the future. But the burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together. A change of leadership in Washington will not lift this burden. In this new century, Americans and Europeans alike will be required to do more -- not less. Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity... In this new world, such dangerous currents have swept along faster than our efforts to contain them. That is why we cannot afford to be divided. No one nation, no matter how large or powerful, can defeat such challenges alone."

The more sophisticated branch of globalist elites who see the route to power through slower, deliberate and incremental steps are now making their move. The aggressive Neocons have served their purpose and are making the establishment nervous with further provocative actions. The corruption and wars that have tarnished the American people's name will now be used to further the aims of the global elite. America's demonization, and in turn its use as an example of the necessity of global governance, may very well be the next stage of the establishment's plan for world government.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |

It is increasingly becoming the status quo that a globalized world is the only way. Both presidential candidates hold this view and according to the Bible, it is the inevitable end. However the Biblical version is not as pretty as the globalists try to paint it today. How will we get from their vision to Biblical reality? I believe fear and the desire for peace and safety will be used to direct the world toward the ultimate end according to scripture. The New Age Movement has a goal of bringing all belief to an ecumenical position that excludes what are termed exclusionary and fundamentalist. Already there is the Alliance of Civilizations working with religions around the world from apostate Christianity to Buddhist and everything in between to essentially remove the fundamentalist aspects from all belief systems and label those who refuse as incompatible with the new age of peace they are trying to build on earth. Those who remain true to God's Word, which says that Yeshua is the only way to salvation will become more and more shunned and those who agree in rejecting the Truth will band together against those who refuse to conform. Perhaps you think I go a little too far, but remember that according to the Bible the ultimate end of a global government is centered around worship of a New Age Christ, a false Messiah who the world will adore while rejecting the God of Love because they had no love for the Truth.

John 14:23-29
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.

John 15:12-22
This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.


Palin electrifies conservative base Politico (August 31, 2008) - The selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate has electrified conservative activists, providing a boost of energy to the GOP nominee-in-waiting from a key constituency that previously had been lukewarm — at best — about him. By tapping the anti-abortion and pro-gun Alaska governor just ahead of his convention, which is set to start here Monday, McCain hasn’t just won approval from a skeptical Republican base — he’s ignited a wave of elation and emotion that has led some grass-roots activists to weep with joy. Serious questions remain about McCain’s pick — exactly how much he knows about her and her positions, past and present, on key issues. But for the worker bee core of the party that is essential to any Republican victory, there are no doubts. “I woke up and my e-mail was just going crazy,” said Charmaine Yoest, head of the legislative arm of Americans United for Life and a former top official in Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign. “And then when it was announced — it was like you couldn’t breathe.” The media elite — as well as elite members of the GOP consulting community — have all but mocked Palin as a former small-town mayor with zero Washington experience. But that view of her totally misses the cultural resonance she carries to crucial Republican power centers and could not be more at odds with the jubilation felt among true believers that one of their own is on the ticket. Palin, say conservative activists, has instantly changed how they feel about McCain’s campaign and spurred them to go to work for the Republican ticket. First, though, they’re expressing their newfound fondness for McCain with their checkbooks. Since tapping Palin, the campaign has raised nearly $7 million online, according to McCain aides. Most importantly for McCain, the two constituencies who are most energized by Palin just happen to be the twin grassroots pillars of the GOP: anti-abortion activists and pro-Second Amendment enthusiasts and sportsmen. Without these two camps making phone calls, stuffing envelopes and knocking on doors, Republican presidential candidates would severely lack for volunteers. They are critical to the health of the conservative coalition that has dominated Republican politics for a generation. Republicans say the primary source for the passion can be found in Palin’s example and authenticity. Not only is the 44-year-old governor opposed to abortion rights — but she carried and gave birth to a child with Down syndrome earlier this year, a profound and powerful motivating force to both opponents of abortion rights and the parents and relatives of special needs children. And not only is she a supporter of the right to bear arms — but she’s a lifetime member of the NRA and an avid hunter and fisherman whose gubernatorial office couch is adorned with a massive grizzly bear pelt. “She’s lived it!” exulted Yoest. “It’s so satisfying as a conservative woman. When she walked out on that stage there was just this moment. It was really emotional for a lot of us.”
| America |


Officials prepare for Gustav, Hanna The Washington Times (August 29, 2008) - Bush administration officials, sensitive to Friday's anniversary of Hurricane Katrina falling just days before the Republican National Convention, said Thursday that they will be far better prepared than they were three years ago if a pair of tropical storms turn into the Gulf of Mexico this weekend. "We feel we are more ready this year than we have ever been before," said Rear Adm. Brian Salerno, Coast Guard assistant commandant for marine safety, security and stewardship. The National Hurricane Center is predicting that Tropical Storm Gustav will become a major hurricane after it enters the warm waters of the Gulf. Tropical Storm Hanna formed behind Gustav Thursday morning. Gustav is expected to reach landfall at 8 a.m. Tuesday, the second day of the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, and will serve as a reminder that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 killed more than 1,000 people in New Orleans and across the Gulf Coast and that the Bush administration's response was widely criticized as inadequate and too slow.
| America | Earth Changes |


Condi pulls a Solomon: Split Jerusalem in 2 WorldNet Daily (August 28, 2008) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, completing a visit to the region today, has been pressing Israel to sign a document by the end of the year that would divide Jerusalem by offering the Palestinians a state in Israel's capital city as well as in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to top diplomatic sources involved in the talks. The Israeli team, led by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, has been negotiating the division of Jerusalem – despite claims to the contrary – but would rather conclude an agreement on paper by the end of the year that would give the Palestinians a state in the West Bank, Gaza and some Israeli territory, leaving conclusions on Jerusalem for a later date, the informed diplomatic sources told WND. The sources said the Palestinian team has been pushing to conclude a deal by January on all core issues, including Jerusalem, and has been petitioning the U.S. to pressure Israel into signing an agreement on paper that offers the Palestinians eastern Jerusalem. Rice, the sources said, has asked Israeli leaders to bend to what the U.S. refers to as a "compromise position," concluding an Israeli-Palestinian agreement by the end of the year that guarantees sections of Jerusalem to the Palestinians. But Israel would not be required to withdraw from Jerusalem for a period of one to five years. The diplomatic sources said the plan is that once an Israeli-Palestinian deal is reached on paper by January, Bush would issue an official letter guaranteeing that the U.S. supports the conclusions of the document. Any Israeli-Palestinian paper agreement is to finalize a process that began at last November's U.S. backed Annapolis conference, which seeks to create a Palestinian state, at least on paper, before Bush leaves office. One Palestinian negotiator speaking to WND described as "crazy" the intensity and frequency of Israeli-Palestinian talks in recent weeks, saying both sides have been meeting on a daily basis, usually at the highest levels. The negotiator said Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Chief Palestinian Negotiator Ahmed Queri have been leading the talks. The negotiator said Jerusalem is being discussed by both sides and that the two teams are "closer than ever" on coming to an agreement on the status of the city. This claim was verified to WND by other diplomatic sources involved in the negotiations. The Palestinian negotiator said Jerusalem would be divided along the framework of the 2000 U.S.-brokered Camp David accords. He said the general philosophy for dividing Jerusalem would be "Arab for Arab and Jew for Jew," meaning that most Arab-majority eastern sections of Jerusalem would be granted to the Palestinian Authority while Israel would retain Western, Jewish-majority sections. Israel recaptured eastern Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount – Judaism's holiest site – during the 1967 Six Day War. The Palestinians have claimed eastern Jerusalem as a future capital. About 244,000 Arabs live in Jerusalem, mostly in eastern neighborhoods. Jerusalem has an estimated total population of 724,000, the majority Jewish. A number of Arab-majority eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods widely regarded as slated for a Palestinian state include large numbers of Arabs who live on Jewish-owned land illegally. The Jewish National Fund, a U.S.-based nonprofit, owns hundred of acres of eastern Jerusalem land in which tens of thousands of Arabs illegally constructed homes the past few decades. Arabs are now the majority on the Jewish-owned land in question. Asked by WND whether Jerusalem is currently being negotiated, Mark Regev, Olmert's spokesman, simply stated, "No." Olmert has several times denied Jerusalem is being negotiated. Members of his government coalition have promised to bolt his government and precipitate new elections if Jerusalem is discussed in talks. Olmert, facing several criminal investigations described as "serious," recently announced he will resign after his Kadima party holds primaries next month to chose a new leader. That leader is widely expected to continue Israeli-Palestinian talks, especially if frontrunner Livni takes Olmert's place. The diplomatic situation in Israel is such that many commentators believe Olmert has an interest in concluding some sort of agreement quickly. Many believe he would like his input in an Israeli-Palestinian agreement to be among his final "achievements." WND first exclusively reported Aug. 1 that Olmert told the PA he intends to accelerate negotiations to reach some understanding on paper as soon as September. Over the weekend, the Israeli media quoted officials close to Olmert stating the prime minister is working for an interim document as soon as next month to be presented to the United Nations. The document likely will not be the conclusion of negotiations but an outline of some of the breakthroughs regarding the West Bank and Gaza. One PA negotiator told WND of the planned paper: "Papers are very important. It puts limits on the new prime minister. For example, the weak point of Israeli-Syrian negotiations are papers signed by former prime ministers that now must be abided during current negotiations." Regarding the division of Jerusalem, top diplomatic sources said both sides are close to agreements on specific issues. One PA negotiator claimed the U.S. has guaranteed the Palestinians that sensitive areas in eastern Jerusalem in which what he termed "extremist Jews" are purchasing real estate would be handed to the Palestinians. "The Israelis had no problem with this," the PA negotiator claimed. "We were also told not to worry too much about scattered Jewish properties in Arab neighborhoods, or yeshivas (Jewish seminaries) in the Old City." The PA negotiator's claim could not be verified by sources in Jerusalem. The initial stage also calls for the PA to operate Jerusalem municipal institutions, such as offices to oversee trash collection and maintenance of roads. After five years, if both sides keep specific commitments called for in a larger principal agreement, according to the U.S. plan the PA would be given full sovereignty over agreed upon eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods and discussions would be held regarding an arrangement for the Temple Mount. The plan doesn't specify which parts of the Temple Mount could be forfeited to the Palestinians or whether an international force may be involved. The PA also could deploy official security forces in Jerusalem separate from a non-defined basic force after the five year period and could also open major governmental institutions, such as a president's office, and offices for the finance and foreign ministries. The U.S. plan leaves Israel and the PA to negotiate which Jerusalem neighborhoods would become Palestinian. According to diplomatic sources familiar with the plan, while specific neighborhoods were not officially listed, American officials recommended sections of Jerusalem's Old City as well as certain largely Arab Jerusalem neighborhoods such as Jabal mukabar, Beit Hanina, Abu Dis, and Abu Tur become part of the Palestinian side. Also recommended were the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Shoafat, Kfar Akev and Qalandiya. more...
| Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land | Temple Mount | America |

Remember the evacuation of Gaza in 2005, just over three years ago on the 9th of Av? This similar potential situation brings this to mind...

Zechariah 14:1,2
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

Will we see civil unrest when Jews are once again wrested from their homes to be given to the PA? It looks like the division of Israel is into two pieces, meaning two parties and perhaps Jews will only be moved from half of the city.


Europe into the breach International Herald Tribune (August 26, 2008) - Some diplomatic movement has returned to the Middle East. Under American supervision, Israelis and Palestinians have been negotiating again since the end of 2007. Syria and Israel have begun an indirect negotiation process with Turkey as a mediator. In Lebanon, a new government including all relevant political factions has finally been formed. This would not have been possible without a green light from Syria. And this green light would not have come had Damascus not been convinced that its own negotiations with Israel could, in the medium term at least, lead to a bilateral agreement and also bring about an improvement of Syrian-American relations. Individual European Union states have already honored this constructive about-turn of Syrian policies. For all those engaged in Middle East diplomacy - this goes for the Arab-Israeli fold as well as for the Iranian nuclear file - the U.S. political calendar is always present: No one expects the current U.S. administration to settle any of the conflicts in the region or to bring any of the ongoing diplomatic processes there to a conclusion during the rest of its term. This is explicitly so for the Syrian-Israeli negotiations: Syria has already declared that it would not move from indirect to direct talks before the inauguration of a new American administration ready to actively engage with such a process. Implicitly, however, the same applies to the Annapolis process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. President Bush has repeatedly said that he wants the two sides to reach an agreement while he is still in office. Israel's outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, who lead the talks, are both aware of the contours of a possible, mutually acceptable agreement, and they seem to have come closer with regard to some of the particularly difficult so-called final-status issues. Nonetheless, even under the most positive scenario, the best one could expect is a further narrowing of the gaps. A comprehensive agreement that would sort out such complex issues as the future of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, future borders between Israel and Palestine, or infrastructural links between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, will not be reached within only a couple of months. And neither Israel's prime minister nor the Palestinian president would today have the authority and the necessary majorities to ratify, let alone to implement a peace agreement. All this does not speak against the process, only against exaggerated expectations. The process is extremely fragile, and it could easily break down - particularly in the absence of sustained external "care," of guidance and support from a third party both able and prepared to drive the process forward and encourage the negotiating parties to continue their efforts even in the face of domestic opposition. The current U.S. administration will cease to play its role after the November elections; many of its representatives will by then be looking for new jobs. The new U.S. president will first have to get his senior officials confirmed by Congress, and a foreign policy review, before he begins any major policy initiative. As a result, we should expect a time-out for any active American involvement in the Middle East peace process between the end of this year and at least March or April 2009. Herein lays Europe's challenge. As an active partner in the so-called Middle East Quartet with the United States, Russia and the United Nations, the EU has helped to bring about the current talks between Israelis and Palestinians. The EU and several of its member states are contributing to the process through the support of state- and institution-building in the Palestinian territories, particularly in the security and justice sectors. But beyond that, the EU must now prepare itself to keep the process alive from the end of this year through to next spring. Considering such a task we also have to be aware of the particular structures of the Union. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, has already announced a more active support for the Middle East peace process. But the French presidency ends in December 2008, and the Czech government, which takes over in January 2009, is unlikely to summon the same energy and resources for the Middle East. The EU's special representative for the Middle East, the Belgian diplomat Marc Otte, does not have enough political weight to assume a role that so far has been played by the U.S. secretary of state. Individual EU states like France, Germany or Spain would have the resources and diplomatic skills and could even be interested in temporarily guiding the process until a new American administration resumes this function. In practice, however, jealousy among EU states would make it impossible for any one of them to act for Europe in this or any other important foreign-policy field, unless this country happens to hold the EU presidency. EU states that want to promote a consensual and common European approach would therefore not even try to assume this role; others that might want to take it on would not be able to fill it. This does not make the EU incapable of acting. [Who ya gonna call?] The Union, through its Council of Foreign Ministers, should as soon as possible give a mandate to Javier Solana, the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU, to make himself available, with the approval of Israel, the Palestinians, and the current U.S. administration, as a temporary mediator for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations from the end of the year. Solana would not take such an initiative on his own, but he can do so with a mandate from the Council. His staff is familiar with the subject matter and his diplomatic skills are beyond doubt. Any coalition of willing EU states could support him by delegating some of their own experienced diplomats to his office for the task. Solana and the EU would not be expected to make peace or to bring the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations to a conclusion and to dispel any opposition to an agreement. This cannot be done by the EU, simply because, compared to the United States, it has less influence over Israel and cannot give security guarantees to either Israel or the Palestinians. The EU, however, can act as a temporary trustee for the process, thereby preventing it from breaking down and, given its knowledge of the regional situation, help the parties to find practical solutions for some of the most complicated final-status questions - for example, the political division of Jerusalem as the future capital of two states - only to hand back the process and the role of external guidance to Washington once the new administration there is ready for it. As an active trustee in this sense, the EU could not only show that it lives up to its own claim of contributing to crisis management through preventive diplomacy, it would also demonstrate to the new U.S. administration how high a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ranges on the European list of priorities, and how useful it can be for the United States to cooperate on this with its trans-Atlantic partners.
| Signs of the Times | Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana | NewWorldOrder | 1st Seal | America |

I agree with Fulfilled Prophecy regarding the must-read nature of this story and thank them for their watching of the many things I would miss were it not for their diligence. I wonder what would happen if some kind of Middle East war were to break out and through it all, a particular person who helped author part of the roadmap were to actually bring the peace agreement to fruition and divide Israel? I believe he could be seen as an incredibly good diplomat and give further credibility to give him more power to bring peace in the world. Keep watching...


Explosion severs Azerbaijan-Georgia-Europe fuel railway link DEBKAfile (August 24, 2008) - The train hit a mine Sunday, Aug. 24 at the village of Skra, 5 km west of Gori, on the main track of the railway line linking Eastern and Western Georgia – a vital trade route for oil exports from Azerbaijan to European markets. Responsibility for the sabotage has not been determined. The blast deals a serious blow to Georgia’s efforts to recover from its ten-day war over South Ossetia in the face of the continuing Russian military presence. Georgian officials suggested Russian forces which pulled out of the area two days ago left a road mine on the railroad. Azerbaijan restored its oil consignments via Georgia only two days ago; their interruption during the fighting robbed the Saakasvhili government of valuable revenue, which the attack has suspended again. In another development Sunday, the guided missile destroyer USS McFaul docked at the Georgian port of Batumi carrying supplies such as blankets, hygiene kits and baby food. Two more US ships are due to dock later this week. The American vessels were supposed originally to put in at the Black Sea port of Poti, 80 km to the north, but changed direction to avoid meeting Russian troops who are fortifying their positions at Poti further up the coast. Russia says it entitled to keep its forces in a buffer zone around the breakaway territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, citing the truce and other international agreements as covering unspecified “additional security measures,” over and above their pre-conflict positions. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Moscow claims, approved the buffer zones which they organized before the ceasefire was signed (as revealed by DEBKAfile on Aug. 17) Russia acknowledges that Poti is outside the ceasefire’s terms and its peacekeeping mandate. Saturday, the Russian missile cruiser Moskva returned to its base in Ukraine. DEBKAfile reported on Aug. 20 from official Russian sources that the warship was part of a large flotilla heading for the Mediterranean port of Tartus in Syria. The defense ministry in Moscow later detached the Moskva from the contingent and sent it back to the Black Sea.
| Gog/Magog | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America |


Tornado touches down south of Denver KRDO (August 24, 2008) - At least four tornadoes touched down southeast of Denver today, the eve of the Democratic National Convention. The twisters caused no substantial damage. Authorities say one twister touched down about 20 miles southeast of downtown Denver, between Castle Rock and Parker. Television footage showed a dusty twister spinning through relatively open country, with scattered houses nearby. Three more twisters touched down in the area, but the exact location of thoses weren't immediately known. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for Jefferson County after the twisters. There was no immediate word of flooding damage. The storm also brought more than an inch of pea-sized hail.
| America | Earth Changes |

From a United Press International story: "I've never seen anything like it," Park County Coroner Sharon Morris told the newspaper. "And I've been here 25 years."


New Orleans Repeating Deadly Levee Mistakes Newsmax (August 23, 2008) - Signs are emerging that history is repeating itself in the Big Easy, still healing from Katrina: People have forgotten a lesson from four decades ago and believe once again that the federal government is constructing a levee system they can prosper behind. In a yearlong review of levee work here, The Associated Press has tracked a pattern of public misperception, political jockeying and legal fighting, along with economic and engineering miscalculations since Katrina, that threaten to make New Orleans the scene of another devastating flood. Dozens of interviews with engineers, historians, policymakers and flood zone residents confirmed many have not learned from public policy mistakes made after Hurricane Betsy in 1965, which set the stage for Katrina; many mistakes are being repeated. "People forget, but they cannot afford to forget," said Windell Curole, a Louisiana hurricane and levee expert. "If you believe you can't flood, that's when you increase the risk of flooding. In New Orleans, I don't think they talk about the risk." Tyrone Marshall, a 48-year-old bread vendor, is one person who doesn't believe he's going to flood again. "They've heightened the levees. They're raised up. It makes me feel safe," he said as he toiled outside his home in hard-hit Gentilly, a formerly flooded property refashioned into a California-style bungalow. Geneva Stanford, a 76-year-old health care worker, is a believer, too. She lives in a trim and tidy prefabricated house in the Lower 9th Ward, 200 feet from a rebuilt floodwall that Katrina broke. "This wall here wasn't there when we had the flood," Stanford said, radiant in a bright kanga-style dress. "When I look at it now, I say maybe if we had had it up it there then, maybe we wouldn't have flooded." They're not alone. A recent University of New Orleans survey of residents found concern about levee safety was dropping off the list of top worries, replaced by crime, incompetent leadership and corruption. This sense of security, though, may be dangerously naive. For the foreseeable future, New Orleans will be protected by levees unable to protect against another storm like Katrina. When and if the Army Corps of Engineers finishes $14.8 billion in post-Katrina work, the city will have limited protection _ what are defined as 100-year levees. more...
| America |


Obama chooses Sen. Joe Biden to be running mate CNN (August 23, 2008) - Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama introduced Sen. Joe Biden to the nation as his running mate Saturday, telling supporters that he is "a leader who is ready to step in and be president." "For months, I've searched for a leader to finish this journey alongside me and join me in making Washington work for the American people. I searched for a leader who understood the rising costs confronting working people and will always put their dreams first," Obama said. "Today, I've come back to Springfield to tell you I've found that leader," he said. The rally is the pair's first joint appearance since Obama announced that Biden, the senior U.S. senator from Delaware, would be his running mate on his Web site and in a text message to supporters early Saturday morning. Democrats hope that Biden's working-class roots and foreign policy experience will help Obama, who informed Biden of his decision Thursday. Thousands of cheering supporters gathered Saturday for the rally in Springfield, Illinois, where Obama announced his candidacy last year. It will be their only public appearance together before next week's Democratic convention in Denver. As he took to the podium at Saturday's rally, Biden invoked the 16th U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln, who was from Illinois. "President Lincoln once instructed us to be sure to put your feet in the right place and then stand firm," said Biden, a native of Scranton, Pennsylvania. "Today in Springfield, I know my feet are in the right place, and I'm proud to stand firm with the next president of the United States of America, Barack Obama." Obama stressed those roots, introducing 65-year-old Biden as "still that scrappy kid from Scranton who beat the odds." He noted hardships in Biden's life, including the deaths of Biden's first wife and infant daughter in a 1972 car wreck and his struggle to overcome a brain aneurysm in 1988. more...
| America |


US concedes Kremlin’s first military response in Georgia was “legitimate” DEBKAfile (August 22, 2008) - The US ambassador to Moscow, endorsing Russia's initial moves in Georgia, described the Kremlin's first military response as legitimate after Russian troops came under attack. This was the first positive statement by an American official about Moscow’s first response to the Georgian invasion of South Ossetia, after a string of condemnations from the heads of the Bush administration. It came from US ambassador John Beyrle, who arrived in Moscow last month, in an interview published by the Russian daily Kommersant Friday, Aug. 22. DEBKA-Net-Weekly disclosed Friday in its lead article that Washington and Moscow are working quietly and intensively to set up a summit between President George W. Bush and Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin to bring crisis-ridden US-Russian relations back on an even keel. (Both Powers Push for a Bush-Putin Summit.) Ambassador Beyrle’s words were the first public departure by a US official from the critical remarks of Moscow’s conduct heard uniformly from Bush, Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates. The ambassador said Washington had not sanctioned Georgia’s initial actions when on Aug. 8, after a succession of tense skirmishes, Georgian forces attacked South Ossetia, triggering a massive Russian reaction when its peacekeepers came under fire. “We did not want to see a recourse to violence and force and we made that very, very clear,” said Beyrle. “The fact that we were trying to convince the Georgian side not to take this step is clear evidence that we did not want all this to happen,” he said. DEBKAfile: This was the first US admission that Georgia was the aggressor in South Ossetia and showed cracks in their hitherto solid support for president Mikhail Saakashvili. Beyrle said Washington still supports Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization – an official departure from implied American threats to punish Moscow by international isolation. The US ambassador’s interview was run in the same Russian paper which quoted Syrian president Bashar Assad on Wednesday, as announcing he was willing to accept Russian missile bases in his country. Beyrle’s words look like a bid to halt the deterioration in Russo-American relations before they veer out of control in a second global arena. In another telling remark, the US ambassador said: “We have seen the destruction of civilian infrastructure, as well as calls by some Russian politicians to change the democratically-elected government of Georgia. That is why we believe that Russia has gone too far.” The subtext here, say DEBKAfile’s sources, is that if Moscow continues to pull troops out of Georgia and does not threaten the country’s integrity and regime, Russian and US leaders can do business.
| Gog/Magog | America |


U.S. government: We know parenting better than you WorldNet Daily (July 28, 2008) - The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to debate two bills that could give the federal government unprecedented control over the way parents raise their children – even providing funds for state workers to come into homes and screen babies for emotional and developmental problems. The Pre-K Act (HR 3289) and the Education Begins at Home Act (HR 2343) are two bills geared toward military and families who fall below state poverty lines. The measures are said to be a way to prevent child abuse, close the achievement gap in education between poor and minority infants versus middle-class children and evaluate babies younger than 5 for medical conditions.

'Education Begins at Home Act' – HR 2343

HR 2343 is sponsored by Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., and cosponsored by 55 Democrats and 11 Republicans. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that implementing the Education Begins at Home Act would cost taxpayers $190 million for state home visiting plus "such sums as may be necessary" for in-hospital parent education. While the bill may appear to be well-intentioned, Pediatrician Karen Effrem told WND government provisions in HR 2343 to evaluate children for developmental problems go too far. "The federal definition of developmental screening for special education also includes what they call socioemotional screening, which is mental health screening," Effrem said. "Mental health screening is very subjective no matter what age you do it. Obviously it is incredibly subjective when we are talking about very young children." While the program may not be mandatory for low-income and military families, there is no wording in the Education Begins at Home Act requiring parental permission for treatment or ongoing care once the family is enrolled – a point that leads some to ask where parental rights end and the government takes over. Also, critics ask how agents of the government plan to acquire private medical and financial records to offer the home visiting program. "There's no consent mentioned in the bill for any kind of screening – medical, health or developmental," Effrem said. "There are privacy concerns because when home visitors come into the home they assess everything about the family: Their financial situation, social situation, parenting practices, everything. All of that is put into a database." Effrem said it does not specify whether parents are allowed to decline evaluations, drugs or treatment for their children once they are diagnosed with developmental or medical conditions. "How free is someone who has been tagged as needing this program in the case of home visiting – like a military family or a poor family?" she asked. "How free are they to refuse? Even their refusal will be documented somewhere. There are plenty of instances where families have felt they can't refuse because they would lose benefits, be accused of not being good parents or potentially have their children taken away." When WND asked Effrem how long state-diagnosed conditions would remain in a child's permanent medical history, she responded: "Forever. As far as I know, there isn't any statute of limitations. The child's record follows them through school and potentially college, employment and military service." Effrem said conflicts could also arise when parents do not agree with parenting standards of government home visitors. "Who decides how cultural tolerance is going to be manifested?" she asked. "There's some blather in the language of the bill about having cultural awareness of the differences in parenting practices, but it seems like that never applies to Christian parents."

'Providing Resources Early for Kids'

The Pre-K Act, or HR 3289, is sponsored by Rep. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and cosponsored by 116 Democrats and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla. Estimated to cost $500 million for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2013, the bill provides funds for state-approved education. Government workers would reach mothers and fathers in the hospital after a baby has been delivered to promote Pre-K programs. "They give them information about child care Resource and Referral Network so they can get the child into a preschool or daycare that follows the state standards and get the mom working as quickly as possible," she said. "It's always that sort of thing: It's a list of resources, it's intruding on parental autonomy and authority and it's not necessarily accurate or welcome information." While parents may choose to be involved in preschool programs, Effrem said the Pre-K Act poses similar concerns about government trumping parents' rights. "Once they are involved, they don't have any say over curriculum," she said. "There's plenty of evidence of preschool curriculum that deals with issues that have nothing to do with a child's academic development – like gender, gender identity, careers, environmentalism, multiculturalism, feminism and all of that – things that don't amount to a hill of beans as far as a child learning how to read." Effrem said the Pre-K Act extends a "really messed-up K-12 system" to include even younger, more vulnerable children. "This is an expansion of the federal government into education when there really is no constitutional provision for it to do so."
| America |


NATO Says Russia Has Cut All Military Ties With Western Alliance Fox News (August 21, 2008) - Russia has halted all military cooperation with NATO, the Western alliance said Thursday, in the latest sign of East-West tension over the invasion of Georgia. NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero said the alliance had received notification through military channels that Russia's Defense Ministry had taken a decision "to halt international military cooperation events between Russia and NATO countries until further instructions." She said NATO "takes note" of the decision, but had no further reaction. On Tuesday, NATO foreign ministers said they would make further ties with Russia dependent on Moscow making good on a pledge to pull its troops back to pre-conflict positions in Georgia. However, they stopped short of calling an immediate halt to all cooperation. Under a 2002 agreement that set up the NATO-Russia Council, the former Cold War foes began several cooperation projects. They include sharing expertise to combat heroin trafficking out of Afghanistan, developing battlefield anti-missile technology, joint exercises and help with rescue at sea. Romero said she was unaware of any specific events under the cooperation agreement scheduled before early September. NATO itself decided last week to suspend plans for a Russian warship to join NATO counterterrorism patrols in the Mediterranean Sea, deciding it was inappropriate in the wake of the eruption of fighting in Georgia.
| Gog/Magog | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America |


Norway: Russia to cut all military ties with NATO Associated Press (August 20, 2008) - Russia has informed Norway that it plans to suspend all military ties with NATO, Norway's Defense Ministry said Wednesday, a day after the military alliance urged Moscow to withdraw its forces from Georgia. NATO foreign ministers said Tuesday they would make further ties with Russia dependent on Moscow making good on a pledge to pull its troops back to pre-conflict positions in Georgia. However, they stopped short of calling an immediate halt to all cooperation. The Nordic country's embassy in Moscow received a telephone call from "a well-placed official in the Russian Ministry of Defense," who said Moscow plans "to freeze all military cooperation with NATO and allied countries," Espen Barth Eide, state secretary with the Norwegian ministry said. Eide told The Associated Press that the Russian official notified Norway it will receive a written note about this soon. He said Norwegian diplomats in Moscow would meet Russian officials on Thursday morning to clarify the implications of the freeze. "It is our understanding that other NATO countries will receive similar notes," Eide said. The ministry said the Russian official is known to the embassy, but Norway declined to provide a name or any further identifying information. A Kremlin official declined to comment on the report, and the Russian ambassador to NATO did not reply to messages left on his cell phone. But the Interfax news agency, citing what it called a military-diplomatic source in Moscow whom it did not identify, reported that Russia is reviewing its 2008 military cooperation plans with NATO. Officials at NATO headquarters in Brussels said Moscow had not informed the alliance it was taking such a step. Washington described the reported move as unfortunate. more...
| Gog/Magog | EU/UN
/ 4th Kingdom | America |


As US Looks to Improve Ties, Libya Positions Itself in Russia’s Corner CNS News (August 19, 2008) - At a time when the U.S. is moving towards full normalization of relations with Libya, Muammar Gaddafi’s son has made it clear that the North African nation is looking to Russia as its strategic partner. In a little-noticed interview with Russia’s Kommersant business daily, Seif al-Islam Gaddafi said Moscow’s resurgence, demonstrated by this month’s military incursion into Georgia, was a positive development for the Arab world. “What happened in Georgia is a good sign, which means America is no longer the sole world power setting the rules of the game,” Gaddafi said. “Now there is balance in the world. Russia is being reborn, and we value that. It is very good for us, for all of the Middle East,” he said. Gaddafi, who runs a charity called the Gaddafi Foundation, has frequently undertaken diplomatic missions on behalf of his father. The second oldest of seven sons, the 35-year-old is sometimes named as a possible successor to the unpredictable Libyan leader but has denied ambitions to rule the north African country – a position he reiterated in the Kommersant interview. The published interview appeared on the same day that the U.S. government announced a breakthrough agreement with Libya on compensation for terror victims, paving the way for the full normalization of bilateral ties. Asked whether his strong statements were not risking Libya’s newly-improved ties with the U.S., Gaddafi told the Russian paper that although his country has good relations with both the West and Russia, “Libya chose Russia as its strategic partner.” “Of course, Russia is our strategic partner, and we cannot compare it with any other country for closeness. That’s obvious.” Gaddafi said Libya backed Moscow’s position that Georgia had initiated the recent conflict – by mounting an offensive against separatists in a Russian-backed breakaway province – and forced a Russian military response. Libya would back Russia in the U.N. Security Council, he said. Libya, which has been improving relations with the West since pledging to stop supporting terrorism and shutting down its non-conventional weapons programs, in January began a two-year stint on the council. Its conduct there has at times drawn strong criticism. more...
| Gog/Magog |
America |


Russia: Poland risks attack due to U.S. missiles MSNBC (August 15, 2008) - A top Russian general said Friday that Poland's agreement to accept a U.S. missile interceptor base exposed the ex-communist nation to attack, possibly by nuclear weapons, the Interfax news agency reported. The statement by Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn was the strongest threat that Russia issued against the plans to put missile defense elements in former Soviet satellite nations. Poland and the United States on Thursday signed a deal for Poland to accept a missile interceptor base as part of a system the United States said was aimed at blocking attacks by rogue nations. Moscow, however, felt it was aimed at Russia's missile force. "Poland, by deploying (the system) is exposing itself to a strike — 100 percent," Nogovitsyn, the deputy chief of staff, was quoted as saying. He added, in clear reference to the agreement, that Russia's military doctrine sanctions the use of nuclear weapons "against the allies of countries having nuclear weapons if they in some way help them." Nogovitsyn that would include elements of strategic deterrence systems, he said, according to Interfax. At a news conference earlier Friday, Nogovitsyn had reiterated Russia's frequently stated warning that placing missile-defense elements in Poland and the Czech Republic would bring an unspecified military response. But his subsequent reported statement substantially stepped up a war of words. more...
| Gog/Magog |
America |


Europe's major economies contract BBC News (August 14, 2008) - The 15 economies of the eurozone contracted by 0.2% between April and June, heightening fears that the euro area is sliding towards recession. The eurozone's first decline since it was created in 1999 was driven by a slowdown in exports and consumer spending. The German economy, Europe's largest, shrank by 0.5% in the second quarter compared with the previous quarter. And in both France and Italy GDP shrank by 0.3% in the second quarter. The slowdown was less pronounced in the wider European community of 27 nations including the UK, which contracted by 0.1%. However Estonia, where the economy contracted for the second consecutive quarter, is now considered to be in recession. Ireland, whose economy contracted in the first quarter of the year, has not yet released its second quarter growth figures. Compared to the second quarter of 2007, the eurozone economies grew by 1.5% and the 27 European Union countries grew by 1.7%. The news weakened the euro, which was already well down from its recent highs against the dollar. But high eurozone inflation, which was unchanged on the month, made it unlikely that the European Central Bank, which raised interest rates last month, will reverse its stance. Spain was the only one of the major eurozone economies to see its economy expand between April and June. It grew by 0.1% compared with the previous quarter. Figures also released on Thursday showed that prices across the euro area rose by 4% in July compared to a year earlier. The European Central Bank increased interest rates in July by 025% to 4.25% in a bid to combat rising prices. The July figure is the same as June's inflation rate, but although the rate of increase is not quickening, economists said rising prices were still a concern. "Although inflation has been stable at 4.0 % in July, it is still way above target," said Jörg Radeke from the Centre for Economics and Business Research. "Hence, the possibility that the European Central Bank is cutting interest rates in 2008 to support the sickening economy is remote." more...
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America | Economic Crisis |

America isn't the only economy that will be need to be replaced by a global cashless economy if it is truly global. The question is if this is the time of collapse just before the introduction. I don't know, but I'm still watching.


Report: Judge Says University Can Deny Course Credit to Christian Graduates Taught With Creationism Texts Fox News (August 13, 2008) - A federal judge has ruled the University of California can deny course credit to Christian high school graduates who have been taught with textbooks that reject evolution and declare the Bible infallible, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. U.S. District Judge James Otero of Los Angeles ruled Friday that the school's review committees did not discriminate against Christians because of religious viewpoints when it denied credit to those taught with certain religious textbooks, but instead made a legitimate claim that the texts failed to teach critical thinking and omitted important science and history topics. Charles Robinson, the university's vice president for legal affairs, told the Chronicle that the ruling "confirms that UC may apply the same admissions standards to all students and to all high schools without regard to their religious affiliations." But a lawyer for the Association of Christian Schools International, two Southern California high schools and several students who brought about the initial lawsuit in 2005 told the Chronicle that the ruling would be appealed in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. "It appears the UC is attempting to secularize private religious schools," attorney Jennifer Monk told the Chronicle. The paper said rejected texts include a book for the course Christianity's Influence on America, published by Bob Jones University, which "instructs the Bible is the unerring source for analysis of historical events" and "Biology for Christian Schools," whose first page says "if [scientific] conclusions contradict the Word of God, the conclusions are wrong," Otero wrote in his ruling.
| Signs of the Times | America |

Won't these people who deny the Bible feel and be seen as fools when the Truth is made evident to all. In reality, the Truth is clearly seen by what is made, yet there are still those who prefer to deny the Truth and consider themselves to be wise, becoming fools. The things of God are considered foolishness by the world, but for all eternity the Truth will remain as God declared it in His Word and those who reject it will be rejected by their own choice. More on Creation vs. Evolution

Romans 1:20-25
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

2 Peter 3:3-9
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.


U.S. green lights anything into oil WorldNet Daily (August 13, 2008) - A Georgia company looking to solve America's energy problem has finally teamed up with the federal government, hoping to make millions of barrels of oil every day from virtually anything that grows out of the Earth. Bell Bio-Energy, Inc. says it has reached an agreement with the U.S. Defense Department to build seven test production plants, mostly on military bases, to quickly turn naturally grown material into fuel. "What this means is that with the seven pilot plants – the military likes to refer to them as demonstrations – with those being built … it gives us the real-time engineering data that we need to finish the designs for a full-scale production facility," J.C. Bell, the man behind the project, told WND today. "In 18 months or so, we will start manufacturing oil directly from waste and we will build up to about 500,000 barrels a day within two years. In another six months, we'll reach a million barrels a day." As the United States now imports about 13 million barrels of oil a day, the only obstacle then to total energy independence from foreign sources will be the money needed to develop the processing plants, he said. "Working with the USDA we've identified enough waste material around the country, we truly believe we can make the United States totally energy independent of foreign countries in about five years," he said. WND originally reported on the project in March as Bell, an agricultural researcher, confirmed he'd isolated and modified specific bacteria that will, on a very large scale, naturally and rapidly convert plant material – including the leftovers from food – into hydrocarbons to fuel cars and trucks. That means trash like corn stalks and corn cobs – even the grass clippings from suburban lawns – can be turned into oil and gasoline to run trucks, buses and cars. He said he made the discovery standing downwind from his cows at his food-production company, Bell Plantation, in Tifton, Ga. "Cows are like people that eat lots of beans. They're really, really good at making natural gas," he said. "It dawned on me that that natural gas was methane." WND also reported how the national news media more or less ignored his announcement of a potential solution to America's dependence on Middle East nations for its oil. But the U.S. military was listening. And Bell now confirms his agreement with the Department of Defense, the Defense Energy Support Center and the Army will have seven demonstration facilities built at Fort Benning and Fort Stewart in Georgia, Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort AP Hill in Virginia, Fort Drum in New York and Fort Lewis in Washington, as well as one more installation in San Pedro, Calif. "We should have all of the plants running within 60 days," he said. "This is a big step in our growth, from the engineering that we develop with these plants, we will be able to build our full-scale production facilities and be in full production in the next 12 to 18 months. "Everyone now accepts the fact that we can make oil through bacterial action and now it is just a matter of time and money until we are turning out one million to two million barrels per day," he said. more...
| Technology | America |


Fed holds first auction for 84-day loans Yahoo Finance News (August 12, 2008) - The Federal Reserve has auctioned another $25 billion in loans to the nation's banks and given them more time to pay the money back in an effort to combat a serious credit squeeze. The Fed announced Tuesday that the money would be loaned at a rate of 2.754 percent. In the latest auction, the Fed offered the loans for an extended period of 84 days, rather than the 28-day period for the previous loans. It marked the Fed's latest attempt to be innovative in providing the nation's banking system with the cash it needs to combat a serious credit crisis stemming from mounting mortgage loan losses. The credit squeeze hit with force a year ago and the central bank has shoveled out billions of dollars in loans. From September through April it also was aggressively cutting interest rates to keep the financial turmoil from pushing the country into a deep recession. The Fed's interest-rate setting panel met again last week and for the second meeting held interest rates unchanged amid concerns that lowering rates further could stoke inflation pressures. Fed policymakers instead indicated that they are likely to hold rates steady for an extended period. That signal bolstered financial markets that had been worried higher inflation pressures might prompt the Fed to start raising rates even though the economy remains weak. The latest Fed auction was held on Monday with the results announced Tuesday. It saw 64 bidders seeking a total of $54.8 billion in funds. The Fed had announced that it would auction off $25 billion for 84 days. In two weeks the Fed will auction $75 billion in loans for 28 days. The Fed began the auction process last December in an effort to increase use of its discount window borrowing facility, believing that the auctions would help remove the stigma that banks feared was attached to their petitioning for direct loans from the Fed's discount window.
| America | Economic Crisis |

You can learn some more about the Fed's history and the magic that is our financial system here, here, here and here.


Russia Deploys Ships, Expands Georgia Bombing Blitz Fox News (August 10, 2008) - Russia battled Georgian forces on land and sea, reports said late Sunday, despite a Georgian cease-fire offer and its claim to be withdrawing from South Ossetia, the separatist Georgian province battered by days of intense fighting. Russia claimed to have sunk a Georgian boat that was trying to attack Russian vessels in the Black Sea, and Georgian officials said Russia sent tanks from South Ossetia into Georgia proper, heading toward a strategic city before being turned back. Russian planes on Sunday twice bombed an area near the Georgian capital's airport, officials said. The violence appeared to show gargantuan Russia's determination to subdue diminutive, U.S.-backed Georgia, even at the risk of international reproach. Russia fended off a wave of international calls to observe Georgia's cease-fire, saying it must first be assured that Georgian troops have indeed pulled back from South Ossetia. International envoys were heading in to try to end the conflict before it spreads throughout the Caucasus, a region plagued by ethnic tensions. But it was unclear what inducements or pressure the envoys could bring to bear, or to what extent either side was truly sensitive to world opinion. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said one of the Russian raids on the airport area came a half hour before the arrival of the foreign ministers of France and Finland — in the country to try to mediate. Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Temur Yakobashvili said Russian tanks tried to cross from South Ossetia into the territory of Georgia proper, but were turned back by Georgian forces. He said the tanks apparently were trying to approach Gori, but did not fire on the city of about 50,000 that sits on Georgia's only significant east-west highway. Russia also sent naval vessels to patrol off Georgia's Black Sea coast, but denied Sunday that the move was aimed at establishing a blockade. The ITAR-Tass news agency quoted a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman as saying that Georgian missile boats twice tried to attack Russian ships, which fired back and sank one of the Georgian vessels. South Ossetia broke away from Georgian control in 1992. Russia granted passports to most of its residents and the region's separatist leaders sought to absorb the region into Russia. Georgia, whose troops have been trained by American soldiers, began an offensive to regain control over South Ossetia overnight Friday, launching heavy rocket and artillery fire and air strikes that pounded the regional capital Tskhinvali. Georgia says it was responding to attacks by separatists. In response, Russia launched massive artillery shelling and air attacks on Georgian troops. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said more than 2,000 people had been killed in South Ossetia since Friday, most of them Ossetians with Russian passports. The figures could not be independently confirmed. The scope of Russia's military response has the Bush administration deeply worried. "We have made it clear to the Russians that if the disproportionate and dangerous escalation on the Russian side continues, that this will have a significant long-term impact on U.S.-Russian relations," U.S. deputy national security adviser Jim Jeffrey told reporters. The U.S. military began flying 2,000 Georgian troops home from Iraq after Georgia recalled them, even while calling for a truce. "Georgia expresses its readiness to immediately start negotiations with the Russian Federation on a cease-fire and termination of hostilities," the Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that it had notified Russia's envoy to Tbilisi. But Russia insisted Georgian troops were continuing their attacks. Alexander Darchiev, Russia's charge d'affairs in Washington, said Georgian soldiers were "not withdrawing but regrouping, including heavy armor and increased attacks on Tskhinvali." "Mass mobilization is still under way," he told CNN's "Late Edition." President Bush sought to contain the conflict in Georgia on Sunday as the White House warned that "Russian aggression must not go unanswered." Bush, in Beijing for the Olympics, has pressed for international mediation and reached out Sunday to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who heads the European Union. The two agreed on the need for a cease-fire and a respect for Georgia's integrity, a White House spokesman said. more...
| Gog/Magog | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America |


Michael Savage vows to take Islam fight to Supreme Court WorldNet Daily (August 10, 2008) - Talk-radio host Michael Savage has announced he will bring his recently dismissed copyright infringement lawsuit against the Council on American-Islamic Relations to the U.S. Supreme Court in hopes of making public the Islamic group's sources of funding. Savage's suit – originally filed in San Francisco district court – alleged CAIR illegally published singled-out quotes and audio excerpts from his show regarding Islam, misappropriated his words and used the clips for its own fundraising purposes, damaging the value of his copyrighted material. CAIR last year waged a public campaign using excerpted Savage remarks to urge advertisers to boycott his top-rated program. CAIR stated its campaign successfully resulted in Savage losing $1 million in advertising. Part of Savage's lawsuit alleged CAIR received millions in foreign funding and that it may have been wrongfully acting as a lobbyist or agent for a foreign government, violating the Islamic group's nonprofit status. Savage also alleged CAIR was engaged in racketeering, describing the group as a "mouthpiece of international terror" that helped fund the 9/11 attacks, a contention strongly denied by CAIR. But his lawsuit was tossed last month by San Francisco District U.S. Judge Susan Illston, who argued it is legal to use excerpts of a public broadcast for purposes of comment and criticism. Illston, nominated to her position by President Bill Clinton, wrote in her ruling that Savage could try to rewrite the racketeering portion of his suit to better fit the specifics of his case. Savage's attorney Daniel Horowitz told WND he is reworking the suit to directly address Illston's "respectful" ruling. He said the new suit includes over 200 pages of supporting documents, including 200 pages of transcripts of the meeting in which CAIR was founded. In May 2007, CAIR was identified by the government as an unindicted co-conspirator in a case involving the Holy Land Foundation, a charity allegedly affiliated with Hamas. Federal prosecutors in the case listed CAIR under the category: “Individuals/entities who are and/or were members of the US Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee and/or its organizations.” The government also listed Omar Ahmad, CAIR's founder and chairman emeritus, under the same category. CAIR is registered as a nonprofit organization recognized as tax-exempt under IRS codes, which restrict "lobbying on behalf of a foreign government." CAIR's website claims it receives no foreign government support. But CAIR's headquarters near the U.S. Capitol until recently was owned by the ruler of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and the ruler's foundation has pledged $50 million to capitalize a long-term CAIR public-relations campaign. The UAE formally recognized the Taliban, and Dubai reportedly acted as the transit point for cash for the 9/11 hijackers. Two of the hijackers were from the Emirates, and one served in the UAE military. Until 2005, the Al Maktoum Foundation run by Dubai's ruler Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid held the deed to CAIR's headquarters just three blocks from the Capitol. The same foundation reportedly has held telethons to raise money for families of Palestinian "martyrs" during the intifada – or terrorist war – started in September 2000 against Israel. It recently pledged a $50 million endowment for CAIR. CAIR argues that any assertions it receives money from foreign governments is "disinformation." "This is yet another attempt to invent a controversy," the group said. "CAIR's operational budget is funded by donations from American Muslims." CAIR, however, has never publicly acknowledged $1 million controlling interest that the ruler of Dubai's foundation took in its national headquarters just one year after 9/11. The group also received $500,000 from Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, the sheik whose $10 million relief check after 9/11 was rejected by then-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani after he blamed U.S. policy toward Israel for the attacks. "There is nothing criminal or immoral about accepting donations from foreign nationals," CAIR asserted. "The U.S. government, corporations and non-profit organizations routinely receive money from foreign nationals." "Bin Talal is not a member of the Saudi Arabian government," the group added in a statement. "He is a private entrepreneur and international investor." This may be a distinction without a difference, Savage's lawyers argue, since bin Talal is a member of the Saudi ruling family. "CAIR is proud to receive support of every individual," CAIR argued, "as long as they are not an official of any foreign government and there are no strings attached to the bequest." The UAE endowment to CAIR was specifically earmarked for public relations efforts to repair the image of Arabs and Muslims in America after public outrage doomed a Dubai bid to run U.S. ports. Lawyers for Savage argue that CAIR may have used UAE funds and other foreign support to attack the radio host. more...
| Islam | America |


Credit crisis triggers unprecedented response The Washington Post (August 8, 2008) - Since the credit crisis erupted a year ago, the Bush administration has presided over one of the broadest expansions of the government into private lending in U.S. history, risking public money to prop up financial firms both large and small. The administration has transformed federal agencies into dominant players in such diverse realms as student lending and mortgage finance while exposing itself to trillions of dollars in loans. The scope of these commitments demonstrates the unprecedented nature of the challenge facing the nation. Not since the Great Depression have so many debt markets been in turmoil at the same time, financial historians say. During the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s, for example, the financial upheaval was largely contained to banks and thrifts, though the real estate market also felt the impact. Now, the contagion has rapidly spread from mortgages to bonds and exotic securities, student and corporate lending, credit cards and home equity loans, and residential and commercial real estate. The disruption has buffeted investment and commercial banks, mortgage finance agencies, and insurance firms of different stripes. "We have a banking crisis and an agency crisis and a mortgage crisis and a coming credit card crisis. We've never seen anything like that before. And it all seems to be coming home to roost at the same time. That's never happened either," said Charles Geisst, professor of finance at Manhattan College. He said the Great Depression was the last time financial markets were hammered by such a variety of factors. "But we did not even have credit cards in the 1930s; there were no such thing as student loans," he added. The breadth and speed of events have sent federal officials scrambling to plug leaks in the financial system. In the process, the government has bound taxpayers to the fate of a wide variety of banks and borrowers and could ultimately be responsible for losses in the tens of billions of dollars or more, according to estimates by congressional reports and interviews with regulators. But the government may also end up paying nothing at all, largely because it received collateral in return for backing much of these debts and could recoup some money if borrowers stop making their interest payments. No one knows for sure because much of the government's response involved novel programs designed to contain an unpredictable crisis. As the credit crisis worsened, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., a strong proponent of free markets and the architect of much of the administration's response, began to push initiatives that enlarged the government's involvement on Wall Street and in the housing industry. "What I've said is that I'm playing the hand that was dealt and that my responsibility is to protect the U.S. economy and the American people," Paulson said in an interview. The pace of these interventions accelerated as the credit crisis spread across the capital markets. At first, the administration avoided programs that exposed taxpayers to potentially large losses. The Federal Housing Administration, for instance, offered struggling mortgage holders a chance to refinance into low-cost loans backed by the government with any losses borne by the agency's insurance fund. Last summer, Paulson also pressed private mortgage lenders to form an alliance called Hope Now to rework mortgages. The initiative did not require public funds, except to set up a hotline, and it may have prevented lawmakers at that time from pursuing more expensive initiatives, he said. Within months, however, Paulson was directing more significant intrusions into the markets. In March, he strongly endorsed the Fed leaders' decision to put $29 billion in public money on the line to facilitate the takeover of the crippled investment firm Bear Stearns by Wall Street bank J.P. Morgan Chase. In April, Paulson helped the Department of Education set up emergency programs to ensure students could get loans as private lenders fled the business because of trouble in the credit markets. Education officials ramped up their direct lending, which some analysts say could reach $75 billion, and got new authority from Congress to buy loans outright from lenders. Then, last month, Paulson pushed for new authority to lend or invest in mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which the Congressional Budget Office said could impose a wide range of costs to taxpayers, from nothing to more than $100 billion. Along the way, the Fed was injecting money into the banking system, including through several new, unusual programs. In negotiations over the Bear Stearns rescue, the Fed agreed to back $30 billion worth of risky mortgage assets but persuaded J.P. Morgan to absorb the first $1 billion of any losses. At the end of July, the portfolio was worth $29.1 billion, according to the central bank. Because the Fed can be patient and sell the assets gradually over time, officials believe taxpayers are highly unlikely to lose more than a couple billion dollars and the central bank may ultimately make some money. more...
| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

This all seems to be leading to a point where our current financial system could be most easily replaced by a global cashless system and the nations indebted to those with wealth and power would have no alternatives but to join the global banking system that offers stability and security, forgiving debts in exchange for allegiance. I don't think this will be fully implemented until after the abomination of desolation, but I also believe that we're building up to that point now. Keep watching!


Third Aleutian Volcano Erupts Explosively USGS (August 8, 2008) - Kasatochi Volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Islands erupted explosively Aug. 7, sending an ash plume more than 35,000 feet into the air and forcing two biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to evacuate the island. "Kasatochi went from a quiet volcano to an explosive eruption within 24 hours and with very little warning," said USGS volcano scientist Marianne Guffanti. "We are thankful our colleagues were able to get out before the eruption began. They were rescued just in time by a local fishing boat." Kasatochi is the third volcano to erupt in the Aleutian Islands in three weeks. Okmok Volcano erupted unexpectedly and explosively on July 12, followed by Cleveland Volcano, 100 miles away, on July 21. Both volcanoes sent ash plumes skyrocketing and caused commercial airline flights to be diverted or cancelled. Scientists relied on seismic instruments on other volcano networks in the area to detect activity at Kasatochi volcano. "Fortunately, the existing seismic networks on nearby volcanoes picked up the activity at Kasatochi volcano," said Tom Murray, scientist-in-charge of the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO). "They were installed with funding from the Federal Aviation Administration to reduce the hazard to aviation from volcanic ash. These networks were crucial in recognizing that this volcano had entered the first stage of a major eruption." "Our hope is to have monitoring equipment on all volcanoes that pose the greatest threats to public safety," said Guffanti. "Satellite imagery is useful to see the big picture of what is happening and what is going into the atmosphere. But direct instrumentation, such as placing seismic monitors around a volcano, will help give an early warning and give people more time to plan for hazardous events." Scientists are working around the clock to monitor the volcanoes and keep the public and emergency responders informed.
| America | Earth Changes |


'2 US aircraft carriers headed for Gulf' The Jerusalem Post (August 7, 2008) - Two additional United States naval aircraft carriers are heading to the Gulf and the Red Sea, according to the Kuwaiti newspaper Kuwait Times. Kuwait began finalizing its "emergency war plan" on being told the vessels were bound for the region. The US Navy would neither confirm nor deny that carriers were en route. US Fifth Fleet Combined Maritime Command located in Bahrain said it could not comment due to what a spokesman termed "force-protection policy." While the Kuwaiti daily did not name the ships it believed were heading for the Middle East, The Media Line's defense analyst said they could be the USS Theodore Roosevelt and the USS Ronald Reagan. Within the last month, the Roosevelt completed an exercise along the US east coast focusing on communication among navies of different countries. It has since been declared ready for operational duties. The Reagan, currently with the Seventh Fleet, had just set sail from Japan. The Seventh Fleet area of operation stretches from the East Coast of Africa to the International Date Line. Meanwhile, the Arabic news agency Moheet reported at the end of July that an unnamed American destroyer, accompanied by two Israeli naval vessels traveled through the Suez Canal from the Mediterranean. A week earlier, a US nuclear submarine accompanied by a destroyer and a supply ship moved into the Mediterranean, according to Moheet. Currently there are two US naval battle groups operating in the Gulf: one is an aircraft carrier group, led by the USS Abraham Lincoln, which carries some 65 fighter aircraft. The other group is headed by the USS Peleliu which maintains a variety of planes and strike helicopters. The ship movements coincide with the latest downturn in relations between Washington and Teheran. The US and Iran are at odds over Iran's nuclear program, which the Bush administration claims is aimed at producing material for nuclear weapons; however, Teheran argues it is only for power generation. Kuwait, like other Arab countries in the Gulf, fears it will be caught in the middle should the US decide to launch an air strike against Iran if negotiations fail. The Kuwaitis are finalizing details of their security, humanitarian and vital services, the newspaper reported. The six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Oman - lie just across the Gulf from Iran. Generals in the Iranian military have repeatedly warned that American interests in the region would be targeted if Iran is subjected to any military strike by the US or its Western allies. Bahrain hosts the US Fifth Fleet, while there is a sizeable American base in Qatar. It is assumed the US also has military personnel in the other Gulf states, The Media Line's defense analyst said. Iran is thought to have intelligence operatives working in the GCC states, according to Dubai-based military analysts. The standoff between the US and Iran has left the Arab nations' political leaders in something of a bind, as they were being used as pawns by Washington and Teheran, according to The Media Line analyst. Iran has offered them economic and industrial sweeteners, while the US is boosting their defense capabilities. US President George W. Bush and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have paid visits to the GCC states in a bid to win their support.
| Iran | Islam | America |


Are feds stockpiling survival food? WorldNet Daily (July 25, 2008) - A Wall Street Journal columnist has advised people to "start stockpiling food" and an ABC News Report says "there are worrying signs appearing in the United States where some … locals are beginning to hoard supplies." Now there's concern that the U.S. government may be competing with consumers for stocks of storable food. "We're told that the feds bought the entire container of canned butter when it hit the California docks. (Something's up!)," said officials at Best Prices Storable Foods in an advisory to customers. Spokesman Bruce Hopkins told WND he also has had trouble obtaining No. 10 cans of various products from one of the world's larger suppliers of food stores, Oregon Freeze Dry. He said a company official told him on the telephone when he discussed the status of his order that it was because the government had purchased massive quantities of products, leaving none for other customers. That, however, was denied by Oregon Freeze Dry. In a website statement, the company confirmed it cannot assure supplying some items to customers. "We regret to inform you Oregon Freeze Dry cannot satisfy all Mountain House #10 can orders and we have removed #10 cans from our website temporarily," the company tells frustrated customers. "The reason for this is sales of #10 cans have continued to increase. OFD is allocating as much production capacity as possible to this market segment, but we must maintain capacity for our other market segments as well." The company statement continues, "We want to clarify inaccurate information we’ve seen on the Internet. This situation is not due to sales to the government domestically or in Iraq. We do sell products to this market, but we also sell other market segments … The reason for this decision is solely due to an unprecedented sales spike in #10 cans sales. "We expect this situation to be necessary for several months although this isn’t a guarantee. We will update this information as soon as we know more. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your patience. We sincerely hope you will continue to be Mountain House customers in the future," the company statement said. But Hopkins wasn't backing away from his concerns. "The government just came in and said they're buying it. They did pay for it," he told WND about the summertime shipment of long-term storage butter. "They took it and no one else could have it. "We don't know why. The feds then went to freeze dried companies, and bought most of their canned stock," he said. more...
| America |


IMF Contemplates System Failure. Could it be the 1.2 Quadrillion in Derivatives? McAlvany Weekly Commentary (July 30, 2008)
| America | Economic Crisis |


U.S. companies vulnerable to foreign buyers Reuters (July 29, 2008) - With a record volume of international takeovers of U.S. companies, it almost appears America itself is up for sale. The weak dollar and slumping stock prices of U.S. companies has created a window of opportunity for international buyers to snatch up American icons such as beer brewer Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc and the landmark Chrysler Building in New York. "The dollar has depreciated so much that America is on the sale rack," said Sung Won Sohn, a professor of economics at California State University. "America has such an appetite for foreign goods -- Chinese imports and oil -- that U.S. dollars have gone overseas. Now, many Americans aren't happy that foreign companies are buying pieces of America with the money we gave them in the first place," Sohn said. In the second quarter, acquisitions of U.S. companies by international buyers totaled $124.3 billion, marking the highest total for any second quarter on record and jumping 23 percent over the year-earlier quarter, according to research firm Dealogic. International takeovers represented 22 percent of all U.S. merger activity in the first half of the year, up from 17 percent in the first half of 2007, according to research firm Dealogic. InBev NV's deal to acquire Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion gave Belgium the distinction of being the most active foreign buyer of U.S. assets in the first half of this year, followed by Spain and Canada, Dealogic said. The Anheuser-Busch deal ranked as the second-biggest cross-border acquisition of a U.S. company in history, following Vodafone Group Plc's  $60.3 billion acquisition of AirTouch Communications in 1999, according to Thomson Reuters. Other U.S. assets recently falling into international hands include Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc, which agreed to be acquired by Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, the world's largest generic drug company, for $7.46 billion; and eye care company Alcon Inc which is being bought by Switzerland's Novartis AG for about $27.7 billion. Earlier this month, Swiss drugmaker Roche AG made a bid to acquire the shares of its U.S. partner Genentech Inc it does not already own for $43.7 billion. Even the Pennsylvania Turnpike awarded long-term leasing rights to a Spanish-led investor group for $12.8 billion. Although some investment bankers and analyst pin the spike in cross-border activity to the weak dollar, others contend that strategy and the desire to expand globally were the motivators behind many of these recent corporate deals. "Strategic buyers don't wake up in the morning and say: 'This currency is cheap. I'm going to go do a deal.' They do a deal because it's strategic and makes sense," said Herald Ritch, president and co-chief executive officer of investment bank Sagent Advisers. "There's no question that, on the margin, currency levels tend to influence decisions, but strategic deals get done because they fit a company's strategy," Ritch said. European companies have been the most active buyers of U.S. assets, with 314 deals so far this year, compared with 117 deals by Asian acquirers, and 33 by African and Middle Eastern buyers, according to Thomson Reuters. "Europe and the U.S. dominate deal activity globally, so it makes sense that deals between those areas would predominate," Ritch said. Although some investment bankers view the second quarter's record pace of U.S. takeovers as an anomaly, Sohn said the 13-percent depreciation of the dollar against major currencies over the past 18 months should fuel more acquisitions. "There are trillions of dollars overseas that have to be put to work. This is just the tip of the iceberg," Sohn said.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

How does Europe become the international power and authority Bible prophecy says it will be? Slowly and surely, bit by bit. Sung Won Sohn makes the statement that "America has such an appetite for foreign goods -- Chinese imports and oil -- that U.S. dollars have gone overseas." Have you noticed that you can't buy anything that isn't made in China today? I certainly haven't had any great desire to see manufacturing go overseas as it has, but policy has pushed it there because it's cheaper and this world, especially the business world, runs on money. America doesn't have many options when it comes to its desire for Chinese imports because business and government have created it this way. Is there an over-arching plan behind it? Given what Bible prophecy says and where we're headed, it's hard for me to deny the dots are connected. There's so much more out there relegated to "conspiracy theory" as well which all points toward the same conclusions. America is being sold out and this will help prop Europe up as the center it is prophesied to be. America is ceding power to Europe and being drained of its manufacturing ability and strength. Business and law are moving internationally, globally and what is a possible end to this? A nation in debt who will be forgiven that debt along with the rest of the world if they just take a mark and worship the man of sin who claims to be God. The technology and methodology is already present and easily implementable while the conditions that would call for its implementation are fast approaching in line with other signs of the times. Bible prophecy isn't fairy tales, it's foreknowledge dictated by God for the benefit of those who trust God's Word and to make us aware and awake as the time draws near. Keep watching!


California 'dodges bullet' as 5.4 earthquake rocks region Breitbart.com (July 29, 2008) - A 5.4 magnitude earthquake shook Southern California on Tuesday, spooking millions from Los Angeles to San Diego in a juddering reminder of the region's vulnerability to seismic shocks. No major injuries or damage were reported following the quake, which struck at 11:42 am (1842 GMT) near the town of Chino Hills, 33 miles (50 kilometers) east of Los Angeles at a depth of 7.6 miles (12 kilometers), the US Geological Survey said. The tremor was felt across Los Angeles, with the office block housing AFP's bureau on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood swaying and shuddering after the quake. Offices and restaurants could be seen evacuating workers and customers. The quake, which was followed by 27 minor aftershocks, rippled across California and Nevada, rattling city officials in San Diego, tourists in Disneyland and residents as far east as Las Vegas, officials said. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said the region had been lucky to avoid a major disaster.
"Thank God that there have not been any reports of serious injuries or damage to properties," Schwarzenegger said. "This reminds us once again that in California we have to be prepared for anything and everything." Henry Renteria, the director of California's Office of Emergency Services, said he expected to receive reports of minor damage as the day progressed. "But luckily, I think we dodged a bullet here, and have not seen any major issues with this event," Renteria told reporters. USGS official Kate Hutton said the earthquake was unlikely to have caused major damage to buildings. "Things will have fallen off shelves, but I'd be surprised to see some structural damage," Hutton told reporters. Hutton said the chance of the quake being a foreshock to a bigger temblor were five percent. "Most of that risk is in the first day," she said. "Actually, most of the risk is in the first two hours, but by the time you get 24 hours after the earthquake it's down to about one percent." Los Angeles' acting mayor Wendy Greuel said five people suffered minor injuries, including two people who were trampled as they evacuated a building. more...
| America | Earth Changes |


U.S. Intel: Iran Plans Nuclear Strike on U.S. Newsmax (July 29, 2008) - Iran has carried out missile tests for what could be a plan for a nuclear strike on the United States, the head of a national security panel has warned. In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee and in remarks to a private conference on missile defense over the weekend hosted by the Claremont Institute, Dr. William Graham warned that the U.S. intelligence community “doesn’t have a story” to explain the recent Iranian tests. One group of tests that troubled Graham, the former White House science adviser under President Ronald Reagan, were successful efforts to launch a Scud missile from a platform in the Caspian Sea. “They’ve got [test] ranges in Iran which are more than long enough to handle Scud launches and even Shahab-3 launches,” Dr. Graham said. “Why would they be launching from the surface of the Caspian Sea? They obviously have not explained that to us.” Another troubling group of tests involved Shahab-3 launches where the Iranians "detonated the warhead near apogee, not over the target area where the thing would eventually land, but at altitude,” Graham said. “Why would they do that?” Graham chairs the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, a blue-ribbon panel established by Congress in 2001. The commission examined the Iranian tests “and without too much effort connected the dots,” even though the U.S. intelligence community previously had failed to do so, Graham said. “The only plausible explanation we can find is that the Iranians are figuring out how to launch a missile from a ship and get it up to altitude and then detonate it,” he said. “And that’s exactly what you would do if you had a nuclear weapon on a Scud or a Shahab-3 or other missile, and you wanted to explode it over the United States.” The commission warned in a report issued in April that the United States was at risk of a sneak nuclear attack by a rogue nation or a terrorist group designed to take out our nation’s critical infrastructure. "If even a crude nuclear weapon were detonated anywhere between 40 kilometers to 400 kilometers above the earth, in a split-second it would generate an electro-magnetic pulse [EMP] that would cripple military and civilian communications, power, transportation, water, food, and other infrastructure," the report warned. While not causing immediate civilian casualties, the near-term impact on U.S. society would dwarf the damage of a direct nuclear strike on a U.S. city. “The first indication [of such an attack] would be that the power would go out, and some, but not all, the telecommunications would go out. We would not physically feel anything in our bodies,” Graham said. As electric power, water and gas delivery systems failed, there would be “truly massive traffic jams,” Graham added, since modern automobiles and signaling systems all depend on sophisticated electronics that would be disabled by the EMP wave. “So you would be walking. You wouldn’t be driving at that point,” Graham said. “And it wouldn’t do any good to call the maintenance or repair people because they wouldn’t be able to get there, even if you could get through to them.” The food distribution system also would grind to a halt as cold-storage warehouses stockpiling perishables went offline. Even warehouses equipped with backup diesel generators would fail, because “we wouldn’t be able to pump the fuel into the trucks and get the trucks to the warehouses,” Graham said. The United States “would quickly revert to an early 19th century type of country.” except that we would have 10 times as many people with ten times fewer resources, he said. more...
| Iran | America |

While there's nothing Biblically that I'm aware of regarding this kind of scenario, I also can't find concrete evidence of America either. Is this kind of thing possible? Yes. Will it happen? I don't know, but it wouldn't hurt for this scenario or others to prepare a little while we can.


Home prices drop by record 15.8 pct. in May Associated Press (July 29, 2008) - Home prices tumbled by the steepest rate ever in May, according to a closely watched housing index released Tuesday, as the housing slump deepened nationwide. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city index dropped by 15.8 percent in May compared with a year ago, a record decline since its inception in 2000. The 10-city index plunged 16.9 percent, its biggest decline in its 21-year history. No city in the Case-Shiller 20-city index saw price gains in May, the second straight month that's happened. The monthly indices have not recorded an overall home price increase in any month since August 2006. Home values have fallen 18.4 percent since the 20-city index's peak in July 2006. Nine metropolitan cities — Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Wash., Portland, Ore., and Washington, D.C. — posted record declines in May. And the value of housing in Detroit is now lower than it was in 2000. But a possible bright spot in an otherwise dismal report, seven metros — Tampa, Fla., Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York, Dallas and Atlanta — showed smaller annual declines. Las Vegas recorded the worst drop, with prices plunging 28.4 percent in the month. Miami came in a close second, with prices down 28.3 percent. Charlotte, N.C., posted the smallest drop at 0.2 percent. Until April, the North Carolina city had been the last metro still showing price gains.
| America | Economic Crisis |


Israel to build new settlement in West Bank Associated Press (July 24, 2008) - A key committee has approved construction of the first new Jewish settlement in the West Bank in a decade, an Israeli official said Thursday. The news infuriated Palestinians, who said the decision could cripple peace efforts. The only hurdle that remains is Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who plans to approve the Maskiot settlement within weeks, the official said. Barak had signaled to the national planning committee that it should authorize the plan, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the Defense Ministry did not officially announce the settlement would be built in the Jordan Valley Rift, an arid north-south strip that forms Israel's eastern flank with Jordan. Asked why Israel was moving ahead with the politically charged plan, the official said that it has been in the pipeline for years. Israel originally announced in 2006 that it would build Maskiot, then froze the plan after international outcry. But earlier this year, nine Israeli families settled in mobile homes at the site, which Palestinians claim as part of a future state. A number of Israeli politicians however, have said Israel needs to retain control of the Jordan Valley as a buffer between a future Palestinian state and Jordan. The issue remains to be resolved in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Settlers say around two dozen more families are waiting to join them. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused Israel of undermining U.S.-backed peace talks. "This is destroying the process of a two-state solution," Erekat said. "I hope the Americans will make the Israelis revoke the decision. I think they can make the Israelis do this." The U.S. Embassy had no comment. But on her last visit to the region in June, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said settlement building "has the potential to harm the negotiations."
| Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land | America |


Jim Deeds: End of the World? No, Not Really. Just Time to Adjust Your Thinking McAlvany Weekly Commentary (July 23, 2008)
| America | Economic Crisis |


Barack Obama and the UN’s Drive for Global Governance Christian Worldview Network (July 18, 2008) - Senator Barack Obama has introduced a dangerous bill and it’s on the fast track to Senate passage, probably because of his high profile position as the expected Democrat presidential nominee. Obama hasn’t done much legislatively in his freshman Senate term, but this one is very telling about what we can expect from a President Obama. The bill is the “Global Poverty Act” (S.2433) and is not just a compassionate bit of fluff that Obama dreamed up to help the poor of the world. This bill is directly tied to the United Nations and serves as little more than a shakedown of American taxpayers in a massive wealth redistribution scheme. In fact, if passed, The Global Poverty Act will provide the United Nations with 0.7% of the United States gross national product. Estimates are that it will add up to at least $845 billion of taxpayer money for welfare to third world countries, in addition to the $300 billion Americans spent for the same thing in 2006. The situation is urgent because the Global Poverty Act has already passed the House of Representatives by a unanimous voice vote on September 25, 2007. The senate version has been passed out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by unanimous consent and ready for a full Senate vote. Of course the United States has had an ongoing program of supplying foreign aid and assistance to the poor for decades. And the U.S. pays most of the bills at the UN for its herd of programs. So what’s new about Obama’s bill, and why is it dangerous? Some history that led up to the Global Poverty Act. In 1999 and 2000 non-governmental organizations, NGOs held numerous meetings around the world to write what became known as the Charter for Global Democracy. The document was prepared to be a blueprint for achieving global governance. In reality it was a charter for the abolition of individual freedom, national sovereignty and limited government. The Charter for Global Democracy outlined its goals in 12 detailed “principles:”

  • Principle One called for the consolidation of all international agencies under the direct authority of the UN.
  • Principle Two called for UN regulation of all transnational corporations and financial institutions, requiring an “international code of conduct” concerning the environment and labor standards.
  • Principle Three explored various schemes to create independent revenue sources for the UN – meaning UN taxes including fees on all international monetary transactions, taxes on aircraft flights in the skies, and on shipping fuels, and licensing of what the UN called the “global commons,” meaning use of air, water and natural resources. The Law of the Sea Treaty fits this category.
  • Principle Four would restructure the UN by eliminating the veto power and permanent member status on the Security Council. Such a move would almost completely eliminate U.S. influence and power in the world body. In turn Principle Four called for the creation of an “Assembly of the People” which would be populated by hand-picked non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which are nothing more than political groups with their own agendas (the UN calls NGOs “civil society”). Now, the UN says these NGO’s will be the representatives of the “people” and the Assembly of the People will become the new power of the UN.
  • Principle Five would authorize a standing UN army.
  • Principle six would require UN registration of all arms and the reduction of all national armies “as part of a multinational global security system” under the authority of the UN.
  • Principle Seven would require individual and national compliance with all UN “Human rights” treaties and declarations.
  • Principle Eight would activate the UN Criminal Court and make it compulsory for all nations -- now achieved.
  • Principle Nine called for a new institution to establish economic and environmental security by ensuring “Sustainable Development.”
  • Principle Ten would establish an International Environmental Cort
  • Principle Eleven demanded an international declaration stating that climate change is an essential global security interest that requires the creation of a “high level action team” to allocate carbon emissions based on equal per-capita rights -- The Kyoto Global Warming Treaty in action.
  • Principle Twelve demanded the cancellation of all debt owed by the poorest nations, global poverty reductions and for the “equitable sharing” of global resources, as allocated by the UN -- here is where Obama’s Global Poverty Act comes in.

Specifically, the Charter for Global Democracy was intended to give the UN domain over all of the earth’s land, air and seas. In addition it would give the UN the power to control all natural resources, wild life, and energy sources, even radio waves. Such control would allow the UN to place taxes on everything from development; to fishing; to air travel; to shipping. Anything that could be defined as using the earth’s resources would be subject to UN use-taxes. Coincidentally, all twelve principles came directly from the UN’s Commission on Global Governance. more...
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom |  America | NewWorldOrder |


Dinars for Dollars: Arabs Buying Out Collapsing Western Banks Israel National News (July 16, 2008) - First it was Citibank. Now it's Barclay's and New York City's Chrysler Building skyscraper. Muslim Arabs are buying out collapsing Western banks and businesses and gaining growing international power, but some Arab investors are worried their investments may go down the drain with the American economy. The current financial crisis in the United States has spread to other countries because of a massive debt that was not backed by enough real and liquid collateral. Banks and businesses gasping for financial breath are up for sale at basement prices, but no one is certain if the basement is the bottom. "The possibility remains that more Arab white knights will be sought to rescue ailing financial institutions," wrote Dr. Mohammed Ramady, a former banker and Visiting Associate Professor at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in the Financial Adviser magazine. He said he fears that Arab investors will end up chasing their investments with more money to keep them from going under. The Abu Dhabi Investment Council of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates kingdom of Abu Dhabi last November announced it was bailing out the mammoth Citibank financial institution, formerly headed by Bank of Israel Governor Prof. Stanley Fischer, with $7.5 billion. Next in line was Britain's Barclay's Bank, which raised $9 billion from investors in the oil-rich kingdom of Qatar and in Asian countries. The Abu Dhabi Investment Council last month forked out approximately $800 million for a 75 percent stake in New York City's 1,046-foot-tall Chrysler Building, which was the world's tallest building for a year until the Empire State Building surpassed it in the 1930's. The purchase of American banks by foreigners has been blocked in the past by security and political considerations, but the barriers have come down, wrote Dr. Ramady. "How long this lasts is only a matter of guesswork, as once again, the specter of foreign takeovers of 'national' symbols will be hard to accept," he added. In a more serious vein, The Australian editor-at-large Paul Kelly wrote earlier this month that the foreign investments, headed by Arabs, signal a major change in international power. "The energy, financial and political woes that grip the U.S. signal a decisive shift in world power, mocking the liberal delusion that Barack Obama or John McCain can return American prestige and power to its pre-Bush year 2000 nirvana," he wrote. "There is no such nirvana. There is instead a new reality: the greatest transfer of income in human history [and] the rise of a new breed of wealthy autocracies that cripple U.S. hopes of dominating the global system and demands on the U.S. to make fresh compromises in a world where power is rapidly being diversified." more...
| Islam | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America | Economic Crisis |


Americans may be losing faith in free markets Los Angeles Times (July 16, 2008) - For a generation, most people accepted the idea that the core of what makes America tick was an economy governed by free markets. And whatever combination of goods, services and jobs the market cooked up was presumed to be fine for the nation and for its citizens -- certainly better than government meddling. No longer. Spurred by the continued housing crisis, turmoil in financial markets, spiking oil prices, disappearing jobs and shrinking retirement savings, the nation and its political leaders have begun to sour on the notion that the current market system is the key to a fair, stable and efficient society. "We're at a hinge point," said William A. Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington who helped craft President Clinton's market-friendly agenda during the 1990s. "The strong presumption in favor of markets, which has dominated public policy since the late 1970s, has been thrown very much into question." Now, to a degree not seen in years, politicians and outside experts are looking with favor at more, not less, government involvement in the economy. Of course, Americans always grouse during troubled times. And as market advocates are quick to point out, the current run of bad economic breaks has yet to result in the throwing over of free-market principles in favor of some drastically different approach -- such as a government-directed economy. "There may be a backlash against markets at the moment," acknowledged Kevin A. Hassett, economic studies director at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington and an advisor to presumed Republican presidential nominee John McCain. "But the backlash doesn't seem to be informed by any alternative view of how the world works." more...
| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Euro soars to $1.60 against U.S. dollar, a new record high Associated Press (July 15, 2008) - The European single currency leapt to a record high above 1.60 dollars here on Tuesday as investor fears grew over the state of the US economy and its financial services sector, dealers said. In late morning London deals, the euro jumped to 1.6038 dollars, which beat the previous all-time peak of 1.6019 that was set on April 22.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America | Economic Crisis |


Fannie Mae, Freddie Rescue a 'Disaster,' Rogers Says Bloomberg (July 14, 2008) - The U.S. Treasury Department's plan to shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is an "unmitigated disaster" and the largest U.S. mortgage lenders are "basically insolvent," according to investor Jim Rogers. Taxpayers will be saddled with debt if Congress approves U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's request for the authority to buy unlimited stakes in and lend to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Rogers said in a Bloomberg Television interview. Rogers is betting that Fannie Mae shares will keep tumbling. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analyst Daniel Zimmerman said the mortgage finance companies' shares may fall another 35 percent and lowered his share-price estimate for Fannie Mae to $7 from $18 and for Freddie Mac to $5 from $17. Freddie Mac fell 64 cents, or 8.3 percent, to $7.11 in New York Stock Exchange trading, while Fannie Mae fell 52 cents, or 5.1 percent, to $9.73. "I don't know where these guys get the audacity to take our money, taxpayer money, and buy stock in Fannie Mae," Rogers, 65, said in an interview from Singapore. "So we're going to bail out everybody else in the world. And it ruins the Federal Reserve's balance sheet and it makes the dollar more vulnerable and it increases inflation." The chairman of Rogers Holdings, who in April 2006 correctly predicted oil would reach $100 a barrel and gold $1,000 an ounce, also said the commodities bull market has a "long way to go" and advised buying agricultural commodities. Rogers, a former partner of hedge fund manager George Soros, predicted the start of the commodities rally in 1999 and started buying Chinese stocks in the same year. He traveled the world by motorcycle and car in the 1990s researching investment ideas for his books, which include "Adventure Capitalist" and "Hot Commodities." Billionaire investor Soros said today that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac face a "solvency crisis," not a liquidity one, and that their troubles won't be the last financial disruption, Reuters reported. "This is a very serious financial crisis and it is the most serious financial crisis of our lifetime," Soros told Reuters in a telephone interview. "It is an idle dream to think that you could have this kind of crisis without the real economy being affected." "These companies were going to go bankrupt if they hadn't stepped in to do something, and they should've gone bankrupt with all of the mistakes they've made," Rogers said. "What's going to happen when you Band-Aid and put some Band-Aids on it for another year or two or three? What's going to happen three years from now when the situation's much, much, much worse?" Paulson's proposal, which the Treasury anticipates will be incorporated into an existing congressional bill and approved this week, signals a shift toward an explicit guarantee of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt. The Federal Reserve separately authorized the firms to borrow directly from the central bank. more...
| America | Economic Crisis |

Fannie and Freddie Rescued? The “Con” fidence Game Continues McAlvany Report


Analysts say more U.S. banks will fail International Herald Tribune (July 14, 2008) - As home prices continue to decline and loan defaults mount, U.S. regulators are bracing for dozens of American banks to fail over the next year. But after a large mortgage lender in California collapsed late Friday, Wall Street analysts began posing two crucial questions: Just how many banks might falter? And, more urgently, which one could be next? The nation's banks are in far less danger than they were in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when more than 1,000 federally insured institutions went under during the savings-and-loan crisis. The debacle, the greatest collapse of American financial institutions since the Depression, prompted a government bailout that cost taxpayers about $125 billion. But the troubles are growing so rapidly at some small and midsize banks that as many as 150 out of the 7,500 banks nationwide could fail over the next 12 to 18 months, analysts say. Other lenders are likely to shut branches or seek mergers. "Everybody is drawing up lists, trying to figure out who the next bank is, No. 1, and No. 2, how many of them are there," said Richard Bove, the banking analyst with Ladenburg Thalmann, who released a list of troubled banks over the weekend. "And No. 3, from the standpoint of Washington, how badly is it going to affect the economy?" Many investors are on edge after federal regulators seized the California lender, IndyMac Bank, one of the nation's largest savings and loans, last week. With $32 billion in assets, IndyMac, a spinoff of the Countrywide Financial Corporation, was the biggest American lender to fail in more than two decades. Now, as the Bush administration grapples with the crisis at the nation's two largest mortgage finance companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a rush of earnings reports in the coming days and weeks from some of the nation's largest financial companies are likely to provide more gloomy reminders about the sorry state of the industry. more...
| America | Economic Crisis |

In 2004 that the Bush administration was pushing the zero down-payment initiative. here and here Of course back when this was being pushed there were those making it known it would increase defaults. In hindsight, this push to get people into homes that couldn't really afford it along with adjustable rate mortgages that shift as they have, probably wasn't really a good idea. The push for everyone to get a house and the multitude of offers for low interest rate adjustable mortgages to those inexperienced home-buyers is a potent mix. Here's what a poster (Craig) said regarding where the majority of problems have come from:

"The ruling by HUD only affected a small portion of the homebuying public, those getting FHA-secured homes for first-time home buyers. A zero-down-payment loan for someone with good credit and proper loan documentation probably isn't defaulting that frequently. FHA loans require income verification. All FHA loans that I know of are 30-year fixed loans. These are not the loans creating the problems. ARMs with low teaser rates, Alt-A, no-doc, negative amortization, pay option, etc. loans are the problem loans now, and I seriously doubt that any of them would have qualified for FHA insurance. Also, if the problem loans were FHA insured, then Wall Street and the banks wouldn't be in the mess that they are in, as the federal government would be on the hook to pay off the loans. The problem loans are not FHA secured, therefore the initiative mentioned is not applicable in this case.

Our current fiscal problems are due to loose money from the Fed, collusion/fraud by and between Wall Street and the ratings agencies, and greed/lack of ownership by the banks, as well as lack of oversite by the Fed, Congress and the Executive Branch. Bush has very little responsibility for any of the problems. Wall Street, the ratings agencies and the banks are to blame. The Fed shares a lot of the blame because they have oversite on the banks, (and all the CDO crap was blessed by Greenspan as a great financial innovation). Congress and the Executive Branch, (of which Bush is the head), also share some blame because they have oversite into the actions of the Fed and thus the banks. Bush is at the very end of a long line of people/institutions that are to blame.
"

I'm not going to try and place blame, but in the scheme of transitioning to a new global financial system via a bail-out this could really help out. Revelation 13:16-18 It seems to me that in a world run by money, being in debt is a good way to transition people to a New World Order - most maybe even unknowingly at first. Now we have the government bailing out these banks while at the same time working to harmonize international law and trade. I'm sure over the thousands of years the mystery of iniquity has been working to globalize control of the world that some well thought-out plans have been developed. Are we seeing them unfold now? It also strikes me that many don't seem to notice or want to notice. Perhaps I'm just seeing things or maybe I'm just seeing things, that's up to you to decide for yourself after researching these things. If I'm wrong, let me know! Just remember that in order to give the kingdoms to the man of sin, they must belong to the dragon. Keep watching!


Ahmadinejad: We'll sever enemies' hands The Jerusalem Post (July 13, 2008) - Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatened on Sunday to "cut off the hands" of any would-be attackers of the Islamic Republic. "Before the enemies touch the trigger, the armed forces will cut off their hands," the state-run IRNA news agency quoted the leader as saying. Ahmadinejad said that missile tests conducted last week exhibited "only a small part" of Iran's defense capabilities, and that, if necessary, further capabilities would be revealed. Ahmadinejad's statement comes amid a report that US President George W. Bush has given Israel the "amber light" to carry out an attack on Iran if diplomatic efforts are unsuccessful in causing the Islamic Republic to back down and relinquish its nuclear program. According to a senior Pentagon official quoted by the British Sunday Times on Sunday morning, Bush has given Israel free rein to attack Iran's nuclear sites if sanctions fail in spite of opposition from US generals and regardless of the possible economic and political repercussions of such a strike. "Amber means get on with your preparations, stand by for immediate attack and tell us when you're ready," the official said, adding however, that Israel had been told that it could not count on the US to lend it military support. Contradicting recent reports to the contrary, he also said that the IAF would not be permitted to take off from American military bases in Iraq. The Jerusalem Post could not confirm the report. Ahmadinejad's aggressive statements contrasted strikingly with a report on Iranian state TV Sunday, which quoted him as saying that Iran would welcome the idea of setting up a US diplomatic office in Teheran. The report quoted the firebrand Iranian leader as saying he would consider an American request to set up an interests section in Iran. He said he "welcomes any move to expand ties." But Ahmadinejad said his government hasn't received any official request for such an office. Last month, US officials floated the idea but no formal requests were made. more...
| Iran | Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 | Gog/Magog | America |


Feds take over mortgage lender IndyMac. May become most expensive bank collapse ever CNN Money (July 12, 2008) - In what could turn out to be the most expensive bank failure ever, troubled mortgage lender IndyMac Bank was taken over by federal regulators on Friday. The operations of the Pasadena, Calif.-based bank - once one of the nation's largest home lenders - were shut down at 3 p.m. by the Office of Thrift Supervision and transferred to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. According to the FDIC, 10,000 IndyMac customers could lose as much as $500 million in uninsured deposits. The agency says the failure will cost the Deposit Insurance Fund between $4 billion and $8 billion, based on preliminary estimates. "It's possible this will be the most costly bank failure in history, but it's too soon to say," FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said in a conference call late Friday night. The failure could also affect premiums paid by all banks for deposit insurance, she added. IndyMac, with assets of $32.01 billion and deposits of $19.06 billion, is the fifth bank to fail this year. Between 2005 and 2007, only three banks failed. And in the past 15 years, the FDIC has taken over 127 banks with combined assets of $22 billion, according to FDIC records. "There will be increased failures, but it will be within range of what we can handle," Bair said. "People should not worry." IndyMac marks the largest bank collapse since 1984, when Continental Illinois, which had $40 billion in assets, failed, according to FDIC records. The two most expensive failures were in 1988: American Savings and Loan Association in California ($5.4 billion) and involved First Republic Bank in Texas ($4 billion). more...
| America | Economic Crisis |


Congress' approval plunges to 9 percent WorldNet Daily (July 8, 2008) - A major tracking poll for the first time shows Americans' approval of Congress has dipped below 10 percent. The most recent Rasmussen Reports survey calculates a mere 9 percent say Congress is doing a good or excellent job, while a majority of Americans, 52 percent, believe it is doing a poor job, which also ties a record high. Against President Bush's much-publicized poor approval ratings, today's poll shows Congress' numbers have plunged to less than a third of the president's. The Democrat-controlled Congress enjoys its highest rating among Democrat respondents, 13 percent of whom rated the Congress favorably. Only 8 percent of Republicans were willing to say Congress is doing a good job, while an almost non-existent 3 percent of unaffiliated voters gave Congress a positive rating. The polling company also asked respondents if they thought Congress has passed any legislation in the last six months to improve life in the U.S.. Just 12 percent said yes, while 62 percent said Congress has done nothing to improve life in America. A further 55 percent said it was unlikely that Congress would do anything in the near future to address important problems facing the nation. Despite dismal ratings for the Democratic Congress, another Rasmussen Report released today shows Americans are unwilling to vote the majority party out of office. When given the choice, 47 percent of voters said they would vote for their district's Democratic candidate, while 34 percent said they would vote Republican. In a related Rasmussen Reports survey, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama holds a 6 percent lead over rival John McCain (46 percent to 40 percent) in a poll released today, and President Bush scored a 32 percent approval rating in a poll released last week.
| America |


Report: Emirates calls on GCC countries to depeg currencies from US dollar The Jerusalem Post (July 6, 2008) - A newspaper in the United Arab Emirates says the tiny Gulf state's government is lobbying neighboring countries to depeg their currencies from the US dollar to curb inflation. The National, which is owned by the Abu Dhabi ruling family, reported Sunday that the UAE is calling on all six Gulf Cooperation Council member states to "rethink" their monetary policy amid soaring inflation in the oil-rich region. It cited an internal report by Abu Dhabi's Department of Planning and Economy. The GCC members are Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman. All of their currencies are pegged to the dollar except Kuwait, which depegged its currency, the dinar, from the dollar in May 2007 in favor of a basket of currencies.
| Islam | America | Economic Crisis |


Satan Now Appearing Naked In Human History? Constance Cumbey (July 3, 2008) - From time to time I have seriously recommended Fr. Seraphim Rose's excellent book. It is published by the St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood. It is entitled Orthodoxy And The Religion of the Future. He wrote the book from a Russian Orthodox perspective, but with a directness and a clarity that will benefit all seeking the truth. I wish I could have discussed the book with its author, but he died of pneumonia in a San Francisco hospital in 1982, the year my own work went national. A friend of mine, Marie Fisher, who then lived in Seattle checked the group out for me on a trip she made in the late 1980s to northern California. The difficult primitive living conditions of the author's monastic order no doubt made him more susceptible to the pneumonia that claimed him. He undoubtedly saw the same trends I viewed then with alarm -- the alarm that caused me to write The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow. He wrote that the years ahead promised to be more terrible than anyone could comprehend -- "it would appear that Satan is now entering naked into human history."

Today, ABC news reported a startling story. (WorldNet Daily story here) I don't know how much notice it obtained -- I had no opportunity to watch the news apart from just grasping what I could on the internet before retiring for the night (ok, the rest of the early morning at least -- it is now nearly 1 a.m.!). A former local Democratic party leader for Durham, North Carolina was arrested along with her husband. She was reportedly a former Vice-Chairman. Both were accused of torture and sex crimes through their Order of the Golden Dawn type Satanic cult, Order of the Morning Star. Pictures shown on the TV clip further indicated a link to something calling itself "Indigo Dawn." Here is a link to its site. You may view it for yourself by going to ABC News and viewing "world news" videos. It was further alleged that the couple trapped, chained and starved their victims first. This local Democratic party leader was an activist in the New Age Movement. She headed the local UN association. She wrote articles claiming that she had been told by her spirit guides that her role was to help usher in the New Age. Her articles detailing that may be read by clicking here. Here is a particularly interesting excerpt:

"Another trigger for the New Age will be peace in the Middle East . . . Do not underestimate what humanity can achieve. Keep in mind that civilization started in the Middle East, so peace there is imperative to peace worldwide . . . I invite all of you to look at the Temple Mount and tell me if you can see enough space in between the two mosques to add another place of worship. Imagine the Temple of Solomon sitting in between the five mosques, and you will have perfect harmony on the Temple Mount . . . "

I wonder what Fr. Seraphim Rose would have said about that? I suspect he would not be surprised. I also suspect he would tell us we should face these times with prayerful sobriety. I further wonder how his religious order is faring in the Northern California fires? Perilous times are clearly here. Stay tuned!
| Signs of the Times | America |


U.S. and EU near deal on sharing data International Herald Tribune (June 28, 2008) - The United States and the European Union are nearing completion of an agreement that would allow law enforcement and security agencies to obtain private information - including credit card transactions, travel histories and Internet browsing habits - about people on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Seeking to improve information-sharing to fight crime and terrorism, government officials have been meeting since February 2007 to reach a pact. Europe generally has more-stringent laws restricting how governments and businesses can collect and transfer personal data, which have led to high-profile disputes over American demands for such information. Negotiators have largely agreed on draft language for 12 major issues that are central to a "binding international agreement" making clear that it is lawful for European governments and companies to transfer personal information to the United States, and vice-versa, according to an internal report obtained by The New York Times. American and European Union officials are trying to head off future confrontations "by finding common ground on privacy and by agreeing not to impose conflicting obligations on private companies," said Stewart Baker, the assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security, who is involved in the talks. "Globalization means that more and more companies are going to get caught between U.S. and European law." Paul Schwartz, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said such a blanket agreement could transform international privacy law by eliminating a problem that has led to negotiations of "staggering" complexity between Europe and the United States. "The reason it's a big deal is that it is going to lower the whole transaction cost for the U.S. government to get information from Europe," Schwartz said. "Most of the negotiations will already be completed. They will just be able to say, 'Look, we provide adequate protection, so you're required to turn it over."' But the prospect that the agreement might lower barriers to sending personal information to the U.S. government has alarmed privacy-rights advocates in Europe. The Bush administration and the European Commission, the EU's executive body, have not publicized the talks. But in a little-noticed paragraph deep in a joint statement following a summit meeting between President George W. Bush and European leaders in Slovenia this month, the leaders hailed their progress. Issued June 10, the statement declared that "the fight against transnational crime and terrorism requires the ability to share personal data for law enforcement," and it called for the creation of a "binding international agreement" to facilitate such transfers while also ensuring that citizens' privacy is "fully" protected. In addition, businesses that operate on both sides of the Atlantic are pushing to eliminate the prospect of getting caught between conflicting legal obligations. "This will require compromise," said Peter Fleischer, the global privacy counsel for Google. "It will require people to agree on a framework that balances two conflicting issues - privacy and security. "But the need to develop that kind of framework is becoming more important as more data moves onto the Internet and circles across the global architecture." more...
| EU/UN
/ 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |


Muslim Terrorists May Be Trying To Sink the Dollar Israel National News (June 27, 2008) - Mujahideen Muslim terrorists may be behind the sinking American dollar as part of a campaign to cripple the American economy, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported. The media watch group, which specializes in tracking Arabic language websites, said that postings on websites the past two years reflect a move toward waging an economic war against the United States. Mujahideen terrorist groups that operate in Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries "have come to the conclusion that it is financial, rather than military, losses that will prompt the U.S. to change its policies in the Middle East and elsewhere," according to MEMRI. An article recently posted in Sada Al-Jihad (Echo of Jihad) magazine and posted on several Muslim websites, discusses the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. as having influenced the decline in the dollar. It also cited the cost of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan as draining the American economy. Another recent posting stated, "The dollar can expect two additional blows that will break its back... [namely] the announcement of the return of the [religious rule of the] Caliphate..." and the reinstatement of the gold standard in international monetary trade. It urged Mujahideen "to get rid of American dollars" before an "imminent" terrorist attack that "will put an end to the so-called United States of America and destroy its economy completely." MEMRI concluded, "Given that it is highly atypical for Al-Qaeda to give prior warning of its attacks, the message is probably an attempt to pressure Muslims to sell dollars, in order to generate pessimism in the dollar market and thus accelerate the drop in its value."
| Islam | America | Economic Crisis |


PLO Sees Bush's Exit as Chance for EU To Take Over One News Now (June 24, 2008) - Hind Khoury, French ambassador of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said Monday that next year's exit of American President George W. Bush from office will allow France and the rest of the European Union (EU) to exercise a more powerful role in the Middle East. Khoury noted that French diplomats have expressed they are prepared to "shake hands with Hizbullah." French President Nicolas Sarkozy met on Monday with Palestinian Authority (PA) leaders, including Khoury, at the French consulate in Jerusalem.
| Islam | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |


Chinese renew interest in U.S. property Reuters (June 23, 2008) - Chinese interest in U.S. commercial property is back, and this time Chinese investors may become significant players as the nation devises a vehicle to divert large amounts of funds for foreign investment, a Cushman & Wakefield executive said on Monday. Flush with dollars from a huge trade imbalance, Chinese sovereign wealth funds are beginning to test the waters in New York real estate, said Scott Latham, executive vice president, Capital Markets group for real estate services company Cushman & Wakefield. "They are coming. We've seen them in the bidding process over the past four months on a number of assets we've handled," Latham said at the Reuters Global Real Estate Summit in New York. They were recently among the throng of bidders for three of seven former Equity Office properties marketed after Harry Macklowe defaulted on loans he used to buy them last year, he said. Latham is one of the most powerful commercial real estate brokers in Manhattan, the largest U.S. commercial real estate market. He has shepherded deals such as the $1.72 billon sale of the MetLife Building, the $1.8 billion sale of 666 Fifth Avenue and the $675 million sale of The Plaza Hotel. "I think that unlike the Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, they have not yet figured out an efficient way to get the money out of their country," he said. Back in the depths of the real estate depression in the early 1990s, private individuals from Hong Kong were big players in New York real estate. A group headed by Henry Cheng, for example, was able to buy a distressed loan and control of the property from Donald Trump for less than $100 million along the West Side and make a killing when they recently sold it for $1.8 billion. "Almost every one of those investments was an absolute home run," Latham said. more...
| America | Economic Crisis |


Religious Americans: My faith isn't the only way One News Now (June 23, 2008) - America remains a deeply religious nation, but a new survey finds most Americans don't believe their tradition is the only way to eternal life -- even if the denomination's teachings say otherwise. The findings, revealed Monday in a survey of 35,000 adults, can either be taken as a positive sign of growing religious tolerance, or disturbing evidence that Americans dismiss or don't know fundamental teachings of their own faiths. Among the more startling numbers in the survey, conducted last year by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: 57 percent of evangelical church attenders said they believe many religions can lead to eternal life, in conflict with traditional evangelical teaching. In all, 70 percent of Americans with a religious affiliation shared that view, and 68 percent said there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their own religion. "The survey shows religion in America is, indeed, 3,000 miles wide and only three inches deep," said D. Michael Lindsay, a Rice University sociologist of religion. "There's a growing pluralistic impulse toward tolerance and that is having theological consequences," he said. Earlier data from the Pew Forum's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, released in February, highlighted how often Americans switch religious affiliation. The newly released material looks at religious belief and practice as well as the impact of religion on society, including how faith shapes political views. The report argues that while relatively few people -- 14 percent -- cite religious beliefs as the main influence on their political thinking, religion still plays a powerful indirect role. The study confirmed some well-known political dynamics, including stark divisions over abortion and same-sex "marriage," with the more religiously committed taking conservative views on the issues. But it also showed support across religious lines for greater governmental aid for the poor, even if it means more debt and stricter environmental laws and regulations. more...
| America | Apostasy |


RBS issues global stock and credit crash alert Telegraph UK (June 19, 2008) - The Royal Bank of Scotland has advised clients to brace for a full-fledged crash in global stock and credit markets over the next three months as inflation paralyses the major central banks. "A very nasty period is soon to be upon us - be prepared," said Bob Janjuah, the bank's credit strategist. A report by the bank's research team warns that the S&P 500 index of Wall Street equities is likely to fall by more than 300 points to around 1050 by September as "all the chickens come home to roost" from the excesses of the global boom, with contagion spreading across Europe and emerging markets. Such a slide on world bourses would amount to one of the worst bear markets over the last century. RBS said the iTraxx index of high-grade corporate bonds could soar to 130/150 while the "Crossover" index of lower grade corporate bonds could reach 650/700 in a renewed bout of panic on the debt markets. "I do not think I can be much blunter. If you have to be in credit, focus on quality, short durations, non-cyclical defensive names. "Cash is the key safe haven. This is about not losing your money, and not losing your job," said Mr Janjuah, who became a City star after his grim warnings last year about the credit crisis proved all too accurate. RBS expects Wall Street to rally a little further into early July before short-lived momentum from America's fiscal boost begins to fizzle out, and the delayed effects of the oil spike inflict their damage. "Globalisation was always going to risk putting G7 bankers into a dangerous corner at some point. We have got to that point," he said. US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank both face a Hobson's choice as workers start to lose their jobs in earnest and lenders cut off credit. The authorities cannot respond with easy money because oil and food costs continue to push headline inflation to levels that are unsettling the markets. "The ugly spoiler is that we may need to see much lower global growth in order to get lower inflation," he said. more...
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Mississippi levee buckles under rising waters Breitbart (June 17, 2008) - Rising waters burst through an overtaxed levee on the Mississippi River Tuesday, sending gushing torrents into an Illinois town as the sodden US midwest reels from days of epic flooding. The levee break left Highway 34 at Gulfport, on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, under water prompting officials to close a bridge to the neighboring town of Burlington and creating havoc for commuters. News reports said a flash flood warning was in effect Tuesday in Henderson County, Illinois as a result of surging waters from the levee break. More than 1,000 Illinois National Guard troops were working alongside hundreds of inmates from the state's prisons to shore up levees throughout the state, a spokeswoman with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency told CNN. "We were very, very disappointed that this levee broke today," said emergency official Patti Thompson, adding the imposing Mississippi, "is a very powerful river and it can be hard to harness" even in drier times, let alone during record flooding. Officials had anticipated that the levees could be a weak point and had sought to shore them up with sand bags, she said, adding: "We have been focusing quite a bit on all of these levees." President George W. Bush vowed Tuesday to help flood-ravaged states get back on their feet, and was due to tour neighboring devastated Iowa on Thursday. "I fully understand people are upset when they lose their home. A person's home is their most valued possession," Bush said, adding he had been briefed by administration officials on the disaster. "We want to work with state and local folks to have a clear strategy to help people find -- get back into a place that -- where they can live," the president said, adding that housing and fresh water were the top priorities. Bush, who was sharply criticized for the administration's slow response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005, is to visit Iowa with a federal disaster response team. "I'm going to take our team down to meet with the folks in Iowa," he said, adding, "unfortunately I've been to too many disasters as president." more...
| America | Earth Changes |

Midwest flooding spurs record corn prices


Oklahoma to feds: Don't tread on me WorldNet Daily (June 16, 2008) - Steamed over a perceived increase in federal usurping of states' rights, Oklahoma's House of Representatives told Washington, D.C., to back off. Joint House Resolution 1089, passed by an overwhelming 92-3 margin, reasserts Oklahoma's sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and, according to the resolution's own language, is "serving notice to the federal government to cease and desist certain mandates." The Tenth Amendment states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." Traditionally, this language has meant that the federal government is limited in its scope and cannot usurp the sovereign powers of states. In recent decades, however, as the size and reach of the federal government has expanded, many have come to question whether Washington has stepped on states' rights and gotten too big for its breeches. Charles Key, the Republican state representative who authored the resolution, told WND that he introduced it because he believes the federal government's overstepping of its bounds has put our constitutional form of government in danger. "The more we stand by and watch the federal government get involved in areas where it has no legal authority, we kill the Constitution a little at a time," he said. "The last few decades, the Constitution has been hanging by a thread." Specifically, Resolution 1089 says the following:

"The State of Oklahoma hereby claims sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States."

The resolution resolves that Oklahoma will "serve as notice and demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers." It also instructs that "a copy of this resolution be distributed to the president of the United States, the president of the United States Senate, the speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the speaker of the House and the president of the Senate of each state's legislature of the United States of America, and each member of the Oklahoma congressional delegation." The resolution does not, as some have speculated, amount to secession, but it does send a warning signal to Washington: Oklahoma does not intend to be bullied by big brother government. more...
| America |


Flooding Hits Historic 500-Year Levels in Iowa Fox News (June 12, 2008) - The National Weather Service called flooding in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a "historic hydrologic event" Thursday as the swollen river poured over its banks at 500-year flood levels, forcing the evacuation of nearly 4,000 homes. The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the Cedar River in east central Iowa Thursday, saying residents should expect "unprecedented river crests" and calling the situation serious. One of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, levees already has broken. "The rest of the levees in the city have not broken down but what the problem is is the water went way up over the top — well over a foot over the top of the levees," Dave Koch, the city's public information officer, told FOX News, adding "it's a 500-year flood and it just overwhelmed us." The Midwest has been inundated with floods in recent days, with a man dying Thursday in Albert Lea, Minn., after his vehicle fell into a flooded stream. Two others were rescued. Officials estimated that 100 blocks in Cedar Rapids were under water. "We're just kind of at God's mercy right now, so hopefully people that never prayed before this, it might be a good time to start," Linn County Sheriff Don Zeller said. "We're going to need a lot of prayers and people are going to need a lot of patience and understanding." The problems in Cedar Rapids came a day after frantic sandbagging enabled the upstream cities of Cedar Falls and Waterloo to narrowly avoid widespread flooding. Despite several days spent preparing for the approaching high water, Cedar Rapids couldn't avoid being hit hard. Rescuers had to use boats to reach many of the residents stranded in 3,900 homes. "There are homes, there are businesses, police department, fire department — we're all under water," Koch said. more...
| America | Earth Changes |


Worries Mount as Farmers Push for Big Harvest NY Times (June 10, 2008) - In a year when global harvests need to be excellent to ease the threat of pervasive food shortages, evidence is mounting that they will be average at best. Some farmers are starting to fear disaster. American corn and soybean farmers are suffering from too much rain, while Australian wheat farmers have been plagued by drought. “The planting has gotten off to a poor start,” said Bill Nelson, a Wachovia grains analyst. “The anxiety level is increasing.” Randy Kron, whose family has been farming in the southwestern corner of Indiana for 135 years, should have corn more than a foot tall by now. But all spring it has seemed as if there were a faucet in the sky. The rain is regular, remorseless. Some of Mr. Kron’s fields are too soggy to plant. Some of the corn he managed to get in has drowned, forcing him to replant. The seeds that survived are barely two inches high. At a moment when the country’s corn should be flourishing, one plant in 10 has not even emerged from the ground, the Agriculture Department said Monday. Because corn planted late is more sensitive to heat damage in high summer, every day’s delay practically guarantees a lower yield at harvest. “This is pushing my nerves to the limit,” Mr. Kron said one recent morning, the sky as dark as the unplanted earth. Last winter, as the full scope of the global food crisis became clear, commodity prices doubled or tripled, provoking grumbling in America, riots in two dozen countries and the specter of greatly increased malnutrition. As the world clamors for more corn, wheat, soybeans and rice, farmers are trying to meet the challenge. Millions of acres are coming back into production in Europe. In Asia, planting two or three crops in a single year is becoming more common. American farmers are planting 324 million acres this year, up 4 million acres from 2007. Too much of the best land is waterlogged, however. Indiana and Illinois have been the worst hit, although Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota were inundated last weekend. Bob Biehl, whose farm is near St. Louis, has managed to plant only 140 of the 650 acres he wanted to devote to corn. Some farmers in his area “haven’t even been able to take the tractor out of the shed,” he said. United States soybean plantings are running 16 percent behind last year. Rice is tardy in Arkansas, which produces nearly half the country’s crop. “We’re certainly not going to have as good a crop as we had hoped,” said Harvey Howington of the Arkansas Rice Growers Association. “I don’t think this is good news for anybody.” Harvests ebb and flow, of course. But with supplies of most of the key commodities at their lowest levels in decades, there is little room for error this year. American farmers are among the world’s top producers, supplying 60 percent of the corn that moves across international borders in a typical year, as well as a third of the soybeans, a quarter of the wheat and a tenth of the rice. “If we have bad crops, it’s going to be a wild ride,” said the Agriculture Department’s chief economist, Joseph Glauber. “There’s just no cushion.” As every farmer knows, trouble can come at any point before the harvest is complete. Danny and Karen Smith get up in the middle of the night at their wheat farm in Milton, Kan., whenever they hear thunder. In a few weeks, the wheat they planted last fall will be ripe. A bad storm or, worse, a tornado could destroy it. Last year, the Smiths lost nearly all their wheat to a late freeze compounded by too much rain. more...
| America |


U.S. stops following foreign money trail WorldNet Daily (June 9, 2008) - Foreign investment in the United States is on the rise and key U.S. businesses and infrastructures such as roads and airports are being sold to foreign investors. Now comes word from the U.S. Department of Commerce the Bureau of Economic Affairs will stop publishing a key report tracking those foreign dollars. WND reported earlier on a decision by the Federal Reserve to quit publishing M3 data, a money-supply measure watched closely by economists. Last month, econometrician John Williams reported on his subscription website, "Shadow Government Statistics," that the M3 statistic he compiles from available government data shows the growth of M3 at historically high rates last seen in June 1971, two months before President Nixon closed the gold window and instituted wage and price controls. Charles McMillion, president and chief economist at MBG Information Services in Washington, D.C., also has expressed concern over the recent decision by the Department of Commerce to discontinue publishing foreign investment data and warned that may forecast an unprecedented surge in foreign investment anticipated by the Bush administration. In the announcement, BEA claimed funding limitations necessitated halting future reports. The most recent report, released Wednesday, showed direct foreign investment in U.S. businesses reached $276.8 billion in 2007, the second largest amount recorded and the highest since 2000, when new foreign investment outlays peaked at $335.6 billion. Of the direct foreign investments in the U.S. in 2007, only about 10 percent, approximately $21.9 billion, established new U.S. businesses, while foreign investments to acquire existing U.S. businesses totaled $255.0 billion. Nearly 37 percent of the foreign investments in 2007 involved European investors, although the BEA noted investments from Asia and the Middle East rose substantially. McMillion noted in an e-mail that the BEA decision to discontinue publishing foreign investment data comes at a time when public and congressional concerns have increased over the acquisition of U.S. assets by foreign investors McMillian referenced the recent attempt by "China's mysterious but closely state-aligned Huawei" to acquire 3Com, a key supplier of Internet security technologies to the U.S. Department of State, in conjunction with Boston-based Bain Capital, a private equity firm founded by Republican 2008 presidential candidate Mitt Romney. In March, Bain pulled out of the deal after learning that the secretive Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, organized in the U.S. Treasury Department, planned to block the deal. In May, during a four-day trip to the Middle East that included Saudi Arabia and Dubai, U.S. Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson encouraged foreign investment in the United States, arguing the controversy over Dubai Ports in 2006 did not reflect an adverse U.S. attitude toward foreign investment. "I have met with many leaders from the Middle East who ask if the United States really continues to welcome investment," Paulson said in a speech to the U.S.-United Arab Emirates Business Council, according to Bloomberg.com. "As we seek to open new markets abroad, America will keep our markets open at home to investment from private firms and from sovereign wealth funds." WND previously reported that since the beginning of the year, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, two of the largest United Arab Emirate states, have been in discussions with the U.S. Treasury, offering reassurances that their investments in U.S. banks and security firms would not impose restrictions usually dictated by Islamic law, commonly known as sharia. WND also has reported sovereign wealth funds in six Persian Gulf countries, including Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, have now amassed $1.7 trillion, positioning them for attempts to control major banks and securities firms in the United States. In September 2007, Dubai acquired 19.9 percent of Nasdaq, the second largest stock exchange in the United States. WND also reported last month the top bid to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike on a long-term public-private-partnership, or PPP lease, for a bid of $12.8 billion was submitted by Spanish infrastructure management company Abertis Infraestructuras of Barcelona.
| Islam | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Hillary Waits for Obama to Stumble NewsMax (June 9, 2008) - Hillary’s suspension of her campaign, and her omission of any release of her delegates, makes her a factor for Obama to consider for the next three months until the Democratic nomination is officially and finally his. Absent an actual statement to her delegates urging them to vote for Obama on the first ballot, Hillary’s candidacy cannot be said to have ended. Rather, the former first lady will be slowly circling overhead during June, July, and August waiting for Obama to make a mistake or stumble. Throughout the next three months, there will always be the possibility that he errs so badly that Hillary gets back into the race. Should another pastor rear his head or if one of the mythical tapes that are said to be about to emerge does, in fact, exist, Obama cannot rest secure in the nomination as long as Hillary is overhead, waiting. Even if all of the superdelegates desert Hillary, as most will now do, she still has 1,639.5 pledged or elected delegates to call her own. While these men and women can legally vote for either candidate, regardless of the slate on which they were elected, one must assume that they are true Hillary believers, who would not have been put on her slate to begin with. These pledged delegates mean that she is always just a step or two away from the nomination, should Obama commit a faux pas. And there will be many opportunities for Obama to err over the next three months. With John McCain keeping up the pressure by suggesting 10 town meetings between now and the conventions, at which the two putative candidates appear side by side, a weak debate performance or a decisive McCain win in any one of them could trigger a crisis for Obama, which Hillary could move to exploit. General election candidates usually try to move to the center after they have won their party nominations, but Obama may find his maneuvering room cut by Hillary’s hovering overhead. Any move to suggest that he might re-engage in Iraq should things fall apart or that he may not raise taxes for ambitious healthcare plans during a recession — any departure from Democratic Party orthodoxy — could lead to grumbling by Hillary supporters and crimp Obama’s flexibility. Oddly, McCain finds himself in a parallel predicament. Republican leaders are worried that he is not a true Republican and concerned about his liberal positions on issues like climate change, alternative energy sources, torture of terror suspects, and corporate governance reform. His ability, too, to move to the center is handicapped while he awaits his coronation in Minneapolis-St. Paul. But Obama’s is the deeper predicament since, unlike McCain, he does not have a rival whose vote share begins to equal his at his party convention. Is Hillary deliberately creating such an insecure position for Obama? more...
| America |


We can reduce risk in the financial system Financial Times (June 8, 2008) - Since last summer, we have lived through a severe and complex financial crisis. Why was the financial system so fragile? What can be done to make the system more resilient in the future? The world experienced a financial boom. The boom fed demand for risk. Products were created to meet that demand, including risky, complicated mortgages. Many assets were financed with significant leverage and liquidity risk and many of the world’s largest financial institutions got themselves too exposed to the risk of a global downturn. The amount of long-term illiquid assets financed with short-term liabilities made the system vulnerable to a classic type of run. As concern about risk increased, investors pulled back, triggering a self-reinforcing cycle of forced liquidation of assets, higher margin requirements, increased volatility. What should be done to strengthen the system in the future? First, when we get through this crisis we have to increase the shock absorbers held in normal times against bad macroeconomic and financial outcomes. This will require more exacting expectations on capital, liquidity and risk management for the largest institutions that play a central role in intermediation and market functioning. They should be set high enough to offset the benefits that come from access to central bank liquidity, but not so high that they succeed only in pushing more capital to the unregulated part of the financial system. Second, we have to improve the capacity of the financial infrastructure to withstand default by a big institution. This will require taking some of the risk out of secured funding markets, increasing resources held against default in the centralised clearing house, and encouraging more standardisation, automation and central clearing in the derivatives markets. Third, the regulatory framework cannot be indifferent to the scale of leverage and risk outside the supervised institutions. I do not believe it would be desirable or feasible to extend capital requirements to leveraged institutiions such as hedge funds. But supervision has to ensure that counterparty credit risk management in the supervised institutions limits the risk of a rise in overall leverage outside the regulated institutions that could threaten the stability of the financial system. And regulatory policy has to induce higher levels of margin and collateral in normal times against derivatives and secured borrowing to cover better the risk of market illiquidity. Fourth, we need to streamline and simplify the US regulatory framework. Our system has evolved into a confusing mix of diffused accountability, regulatory competition and a complex web of rules that create perverse incentives and leave huge opportunities for arbitrage and evasion. The blueprint by Hank Paulson, Treasury secretary, outlines a sweeping consolidation and realignment of responsibilities. The institutions that play a central role in money and funding markets – including the main globally active banks and investment banks – need to operate under a unified framework that provides a stronger form of consolidated supervision, with appropriate requirements for capital and liquidity. To complement this, we need to put in place a stronger framework of oversight authority over the critical parts of the payments system – not just the established payments, clearing and settlements systems, but the infrastructure that underpins the decentralised over-the-counter markets. Because of its primary responsibility for the stability of the overall financial system, the Federal Reserve should play a central role in such a framework, working closely with supervisors in the US and in other countries. At present the Fed has broad responsibility for financial stability not matched by direct authority and the consequences of the actions we have taken in this crisis make it more important that we close that gap. The big central banks should put in place a standing network of currency swaps, collateral policies and account arrangements that would make it easier to mobilise liquidity across borders quickly in a crisis. As we reshape the incentives and constraints for risk-taking in the financial system, we have to recognise that regulation has the potential to make things worse. Regulation can distort incentives in ways that may make the system less safe. One of the strengths of our system is the speed with which we adapt to challenge. It is important that we move quickly to adapt the regulatory system to address the vulnerabilities exposed by this financial crisis. We are beginning the process of building the necessary consensus here and with the other main financial centres. more...
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

This was authored by New York Federal Reserve president Timothy Geithner. It seems to me that international cooperation in business and finance is just another step toward a global economy with a centralized power structure like that which will be necessary to fulfill Bible prophecy such that nobody will be able to buy or sell without participation in this system. Ultimately this will involve the "security" provided through technology so that transactions can be cashless and locked to the individual. The perfect technology for this is Somark's RFID tattoo ink.

"Jim Tucker from the American Free Press speaking on the Alex Jones show today stated that one of his Bilderberg sources revealed to him that the global elite are planning to push forward their cashless society grid agenda with the use of implantable microchips. The implantable microchips would be sold as a way for people to easily move through the militarized control grid that they’ve setup via the bogus terror war. Tucker also mentioned that we would see the media hyping the phony terror war and specifically the phony “white Al-Qaeda terror threat” as a way for them to continue the justification of the enslavement grid. Assuming Tucker’s Bilderberg source is providing accurate information, this agenda that Geithner is pushing in his Financial Times article is right in line with their well documented plans to get rid of cash. The central bankers would need a global regulatory framework for the banking system so they can move closer to a global currency operating in a cashless society." Link


Earthquake swarm picks up again in northern Nevada Breitbart.com (June 8, 2008) - A months-long swarm of earthquakes picked up again Sunday as a string of minor temblors rattled Reno, causing downtown high-rises to sway and knocking items off walls and shelves. There were no immediate reports of injuries or major property damage after about 20 minor quakes reported on the western edge of Reno over 12 hours ending about noon. Magnitude-3.9 and 3.6 quakes struck within a couple minutes of each other shortly before 11 a.m. and were preceded by 3.2 and 3.0 quakes early Sunday, said researchers at the seismological laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno. "I was thinking, 'Here we go with the big one,'" said Daryl DiBitonto, a Reno resident who felt the quake at home. "Late in the morning, I thought the whole house was going to come down. Every time I feel a 3, I think it's going to be the big one. Totally, everyone is on edge again." Diane dePolo, a lab seismologist, said it was the strongest sequence of quakes in the past month and signaled a pickup in activity after a recent lull. "We had a little pickup in activity on Tuesday and nothing significant until today," dePolo said. "We are monitoring them, but we can't say if it'll get better or worse. There is no way to predict earthquakes." Seismologists had urged residents of northern Nevada's largest city to prepare for a bigger event after a 4.7 quake on April 25, the strongest in a swarm that began Feb. 28. That quake swept store shelves clean, cracked walls in homes and dislodged rocks on hillsides, but there were no reports of injuries or widespread, major damage. The swarm, which has produced thousands of mostly minor quakes, had prompted some residents in the densely populated quake zone to spend nights outside in campers and trucks. "We live in earthquake country, and the threat is never over," dePolo said. "We encourage people to be prepared." Nevada is the third most seismically active state in the U.S. behind California and Alaska. Reno's last major quake measured 6.1 on April 24, 1914.
| America | Earth Changes |


Earthquake swarm picks up again in northern Nevada Associated Press (June 8, 2008) - A months-long swarm of earthquakes picked up again Sunday as a string of minor temblors rattled Reno, causing downtown high-rises to sway and knocking items off walls and shelves. There were no immediate reports of injuries or major property damage after about 20 minor quakes reported on the western edge of Reno over 12 hours ending about noon. Magnitude-3.9 and 3.6 quakes struck within a couple minutes of each other shortly before 11 a.m. and were preceded by 3.2 and 3.0 quakes early Sunday, said researchers at the seismological laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno. "I was thinking, 'Here we go with the big one,'" said Daryl DiBitonto, a Reno resident who felt the quake at home. "Late in the morning, I thought the whole house was going to come down. Every time I feel a 3, I think it's going to be the big one. Totally, everyone is on edge again." Diane dePolo, a lab seismologist, said it was the strongest sequence of quakes in the past month and signaled a pickup in activity after a recent lull. "We had a little pickup in activity on Tuesday and nothing significant until today," dePolo said. "We are monitoring them, but we can't say if it'll get better or worse. There is no way to predict earthquakes." more...
| America | Earth Changes |


Gas hits national average of $4 for first time Associated Press (June 8, 2008) - The average price of regular gas crept up to $4 a gallon for the first time over the weekend, passing the once-unthinkable milestone just in time for the peak summer travel season. Prices at the pump are expected to keep climbing, especially after last week's furious surge in oil prices, which neared $140 a barrel in a record-shattering rally Friday. While Americans who have to drive will feel the biggest squeeze, the increased prices also translate into higher costs for consumers and businesses, who will be forced to shoulder increased costs for food and anything else that needs to be transported. "I don't think we've felt quite the full impact of $138 or $139 a barrel oil," said Jason Toews, co-founder of fuel price research site GasBuddy.com. Gas prices rolled past their latest threshold Sunday, increasing to $4.005 a gallon overnight from $3.988 the day before, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Of course, drivers in many parts of the country have already been paying well above that price for some time. California has seen some of the highest prices; a gallon there now averages $4.436 a gallon, the most in the country. Missourians are paying the least at the pump, with a gallon in the Show-Me State selling for a relatively cheap $3.802 a gallon. Prices have risen by about 20 cents in the past three weeks, according to a report by the Lundberg Survey released Sunday. Truckers and others with diesel engines under the hood have it even worse off. A gallon of diesel now sells for $4.762, up nearly a penny overnight, according to AAA and OPIS. Prices hit a record atop $4.79 at the end of May. Skyrocketing oil prices, which are trading at more than double their level last year, are largely to blame for the surge. Crude prices shot up more than 13 percent late last week in their biggest two-day price gain in history. Benchmark light, sweet crude for July delivery officially finished the week at $138.54 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, but at one point jumped as high as $139.12. "This could be a real weight on the economy," James Cordier, president of Tampa, Fla.-based trading firm Liberty Trading Group, said of oil's jump Friday. "With every nickel that gas goes up, people are driving less and less." Oil's latest surge caught some longtime petroleum industry veterans off-guard, and left analysts wondering if it represented a one-time spike or the beginning of a new wave of advances. more...
| America | Economic Crisis |


Powerful storms swamp U.S. Midwest, spawn tornadoes Reuters (June 7, 2008) - Heavy rains caused flooding that forced hundreds of evacuations in Indiana, and a tornado raked Chicago's suburbs on Saturday as violent thunderstorms pummeled the already soggy U.S. heartland, authorities said. The U.S. Coast Guard was called out to help rescue stranded homeowners and motorists, and near-record flooding was forecast for rivers and creeks in western and central Indiana. "We are getting a lot of rain and water. There are a lot of roads that are impassable. We are urging people to sit tight and stay off the roads," said John Erickson of Indiana's Department of Homeland Security. Some roads and highways were inundated and part of Interstate 70 had washed away, Indiana authorities said. No one had been seriously injured in the flooding but Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels declared an emergency in 10 more counties, added to the 41 counties declared earlier. Some dams were in jeopardy, according to local media reports, following the latest round of heavy spring storms that have delayed farmers' planting schedules in several U.S. heartland states. In Illinois, Saturday's storms were accompanied by at least one tornado that skipped across suburbs and farm fields South of Chicago. The twister ripped roofs off several homes and apartment buildings, toppled semi-trailer trucks and tore down power lines, authorities said. At least one person was injured and some 29,000 households were without power. Tornadoes also struck in Iowa and Wisconsin, capping a season that has seen a parade of storms spawning tornadoes, hail and destructive winds. According to the weather service, 112 people have died in tornadoes since the beginning of the year, the most in the United States in a decade. more...
| America | Earth Changes |


Investors Flee Stocks As Oil Surges Close to $140 Washington Post (June 6, 2008) - Stocks plunged Friday, with the Dow Jones industrials having their worst day in more than a year, after oil prices shot up by more than $11 a barrel and neared $140, wiping out investors' recent optimism about the economy in the process. The prospect of higher energy prices that could hobble consumers and worsen a slowing economy had investors frenetically pulling money out of stocks. The bad news about rising energy prices compounded investors' anxiety over a worrisome reading on unemployment, which for May showed its biggest monthly rise since 1986. According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 394.64, or 3.13 percent, to 12,209.81. It was the worst percentage and point drop since Feb. 27, 2007. Standard & Poor's 500-stock index lost 43.37, or 3.09 percent, to 1,360.68, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 75.38, or 2.96 percent, to 2,474.56. Crude oil has had a huge price rebound this week after falling amid a drop in demand for gasoline. The jump continued Friday; light, sweet crude passed $139 before settling at $138.54, a gain of $10.75 in the regular session. The surge followed a Morgan Stanley analyst's prediction that crude would reach $150 a barrel by July 4; a decline in the dollar and fresh tensions in the Middle East added to crude's advance. On Wall Street, crude's soaring price intensified worries that ever-more-expensive fuel will lead consumers to curtail their spending on nonessential items. Average gasoline prices are close to $4 a gallon nationwide, and crude's surge is expected to propel prices even higher -- and make Americans more reluctant to spend. Moreover, the spike in energy prices came as the Labor Department said the nation's unemployment rate jumped to 5.5 percent in May from 5 percent in April. more...
| America | Economic Crisis |


'Unavoidable' attack on Iran looms, says Israeli minister Guardian UK (June 6, 2008) - An Israeli minister has said an attack on Iran's nuclear sites will be "unavoidable" if Tehran refuses to halt its alleged weapons programme. In the most explicit threat yet by a member of Ehud Olmert's government, Shaul Mofaz, a deputy prime minister, said the hardline Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, "would disappear before Israel does". "If Iran continues with its programme for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it. The sanctions are ineffective," Mofaz, who is also Israel's transport minister, said in comments published today by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper. "Attacking Iran in order to stop its nuclear plans will be unavoidable." Iranian-born Mofaz is a former army chief and defence minister. He is a member of Olmert's security cabinet and leads regular strategic coordination talks with the US state department. Iran denies trying to build nuclear weapons and has defied western pressure to abandon uranium enrichment. The leadership in Tehran has threatened that if attacked the country will retaliate against Israel - believed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal - and American targets in the region. Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for Israel to be wiped off the map since becoming president. On Monday, he said Israel was "about to die and will soon be erased from the geographical scene". Olmert met the US president, George Bush, on Wednesday to discuss concerns over Iran. The Israeli prime minister, who is being pressured to resign over a corruption scandal, has said that Iran's nuclear threat "must be stopped by all possible means". Israeli planes bombed Syria in September, destroying what the US administration said was a partly built nuclear reactor using North Korean help. Syria denied having any such facility. UN inspectors announced this week that they would be visiting Syria to investigate the American claim.
| Iran | Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 | Gog/Magog | America |

Interesting having just watched I Will Turn Thee Back: Turkey At A Crossroads by Avi Lipkin...


Planned Parenthood's Obscene Profits GOP USA (June 4, 2008) - GOP presidential candidate John McCain sounded more like a Democratic presidential candidate (a recurring trend) when he joined the Left's oil industry bashers a few weeks ago. Asked by a North Carolina voter whether he supported a Jimmy Carter-era windfall profits tax, McCain responded: "Um, I don't like obscene profits being made anywhere -- and I'd be glad to look not just at the windfall profits tax -- that's not what bothers me -- but we should look at any incentives that we are giving to people or industries or corporations that are distorting the market." Here's an idea for all the hand-wringing GOP strategists in Washington wondering what it will take to win back disgusted economic and social conservatives: How about a Republican presidential candidate who will talk about the tax-subsidized abortion industry the way McCain talks about the oil industry? In April, the annual report for Planned Parenthood Federation of America revealed that the abortion giant had a total income of $1.02 billion -- with reported profits of nearly $115 million. Taxpayers kick in more than $336 million worth of government grants and contracts at both the state and federal levels. That's a third of Planned Parenthood's budget. And what market-distorting results do we get for those government incentives? In 2006 alone: 289,750 abortions. Oil execs, tobacco execs, banking execs, pharmaceutical company execs and baseball players have all been hauled up before Congress for highly publicized whippings by crusading lawmakers. But the executives of Planned Parenthood have escaped government scrutiny and public accountability for their predatory behavior, dangerous medical practices, deception and deadly windfall. In Washington, D.C., the family of 13-year-old Shantese Butler filed a $50 million suit against Planned Parenthood after a botched abortion left the girl permanently injured and infertile. Students for Life of America reports that Shantese was left with "severe abdominal bleeding, severe vaginal injury, severe injury to the cervix, significant uterine perforation and a small bowel tear." In addition, parts of the unborn child were found inside Shantese's abdomen. In Nebraska, Planned Parenthood refused to disclose the terms of a settlement with another victim whose botched abortion resulted in a perforated uterus, massive blood loss, an emergency hysterectomy, permanent infertility, seizures, and lifelong pain and suffering. According to the suit obtained by Life News, the woman instructed the abortionist and his assistants to stop, but was told: "We can't stop." The Planned Parenthood employees held her down to complete the procedure. Where's the subpoena-wielding Henry Waxman? Can Arlen Specter spare a moment from investigating the New England Patriots to probe Planned Parenthood's efforts to advise underage teens on how to circumvent parental notification laws to secretly obtain RU-486, the abortion drug cocktail? Where is the concern for the women and children who were mistreated by Planned Parenthood clinics in Kansas, where Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline has filed a 107-count criminal complaint against the abortion racket, with charges ranging from falsifying documents to performing illegal late-term abortions? And where are Nancy Pelosi and the For The Children brigade to investigate the shocking evidence of Planned Parenthood's nefariousness exposed by undercover student journalist Lila Rose? Last year, Rose caught a Planned Parenthood official encouraging a female minor to evade statutory rape laws in order to obtain an abortion in California. In February, Rose released undercover tapes of her discussion with an Idaho Planned Parenthood official eager to accept money from a racist donor who wanted his funds earmarked for aborting black babies. In April, she released video of clinic officials in New Mexico and Oklahoma willing to take money from a blatantly racist donor. One Planned Parenthood staffer admits that "for whatever reason, we'll accept the money." For whatever reason, Washington has turned a blind bipartisan eye to this bloody, government-funded business -- and pro-life, limited-government conservatives in the Beltway have gone along with subsidizing it. "Obscene profits," indeed.
| Signs of the Times | America |

Some info on the origins and heart of Planned Parenthood: "Margaret Higgins Sanger was an American birth control activist, an advocate of negative eugenics, and the founder of the American Birth Control League (which eventually became Planned Parenthood). Initially met with fierce opposition to her ideas, Sanger gradually won some support, both in the public as well as the courts, for a woman's choice to decide how and when, if ever, she will bear children." Wikipedia "Negative eugenics is aimed at lowering fertility among the genetically disadvantaged. This includes abortions, sterilization, and other methods of family planning. Both positive and negative eugenics can be coercive. Abortion by "fit" women was illegal in Nazi Germany and in the Soviet Union during Stalin's reign." Wikipedia ...More historical links


Obamamania in Damascus City Journal (June 3, 2008) - There are no campaign rallies or bumper stickers for him in Syria, no “Yes We Can” T-shirts on sale, but Obamamania has definitely infected the “beating heart of Arab nationalism,” as it once called itself. During my recent visit to Damascus, Syrian officials and the political elite seemed captivated by Barack Obama, well before it was clear that the Democrats’ charismatic young superstar would be the party’s presidential nominee. Partly, it’s Obama’s youth that makes him attractive to Syrians, roughly half of whom are under 18 and whose own president, Bashar Assad, is four years younger than Obama. “But it’s not just Obama’s age that we like,” says Obaida Hamad, a 32-year-old reporter for Syria Today, the country’s only independent, English-language magazine. “Syrians think that as a man of color, Obama may understand the Muslim and Arab worlds better than Hillary Clinton or John McCain,” he says. “And we are fed up with over a decade of American leadership in the hands of two families—Clinton and Bush. For us,” he says—diplomatically omitting the fact that President Assad, who has now ruled for eight years, succeeded his father, Hafez el-Assad, who ruled Syria with an iron fist for three decades—“Obama represents new blood.” “America desperately needs a logo change,” agrees Bouthaina Shaaban, Syria’s Minister of Expatriates and President Assad’s confidante. An Obama Administration, she says, would change both the content and tone of American foreign policy. “The United States should not continue trying to impose its opinions on the world,” she says. “Nor should you be so self-congratulatory.” Syria’s enthusiasm for Obama, so widely shared among Muslim Arabs, is not surprising, given his endorsement of directly engaging states like Syria through creative diplomacy. Obama has repeatedly said that the United States should not speak only to its friends, but also to its enemies—in most cases, without the onerous “preconditions” that the Bush administration has laid down and that Syrian officials reject as tantamount to preemptive surrender. This prescription is most welcome in Syria, which despite its oil is a relatively poor nation of some 19 million people, squeezed by American-led economic sanctions and hemmed in politically between more powerful states. Above all, Syria yearns to be taken seriously, or as Tony Badran, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a critic of the country’s leadership, puts it, a state that “seeks to project regional influence well above its weight by appearing to keep all options open to balance contradictory policies, like allying itself with Iran and hosting terrorist groups while offering peace talks with its enemies.” more…
| Islam | America |


Exclusive: Limited US attack on Iranian Revolutionary Guards bases in sight DEBKAfile (June 2, 2008) - Our Washington sources report that president George W. Bush is closer than ever before to ordering a limited missile-air bombardment of the IRGC-al Qods Brigade’s installations in Iran. It is planned to target training camps and the munitions factories pumping fighters, missiles and roadside bombs to the Iraqi insurgency, Lebanese Hizballah and Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza. Iran is geared up for counteraction. US intelligence estimates that Tehran’s counteraction will likewise be on a limited scale and therefore any US-Iranian military encounter will not be allowed to explode into a major confrontation. Because this US assault is not planned to extend to Iran’s nuclear installations, Tehran is not expected to hit back at distant American targets in the Persian Gulf or at Israel. DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources report, however, that Iran’s military preparations for countering an American attack are far broader than envisaged in Washington. Tehran would view a US attack on the IRGC bases as a casus belli and might react in ways and on a scale unanticipated in Washington. Two days ago, Iran’s defense minister Gen. Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar warned: “Iran’s Armed Forces are fully prepared to counter any military attack with any intensity and to make the enemy regret initiating any such incursions.” According to DEBKAfile’s Iranian and military sources, the IRGC had by mid-May completed their preparations for a US missile, air or commando assault on their command centers and bases in reprisal for Iranian intervention in Iraq. These preparations encompass al Qods’ arms, most of them undercover, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Sudan. At home, the Revolutionary Guards have evacuated their key bases together with manpower and equipment to regular army sites or temporary quarters in villages located in remote corners of eastern and northern Iran. Their main headquarters and central training center at the Imam Ali University in northern Tehran are deserted except for sentries on the gates. Indoctrination seminaries and dormitories hosting fighting strength in the holy town of Qom are empty, as is the Manzariyah training center east of the capital. Deserted too is the main training camp near Isfahan for insurgents and terrorists from Iraq, Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. It is here that they take courses from friendly al Qods training staff on how to sabotage strategic targets such as routes, bridges and military installations, and the activation of the extra-powerful roadside bombs (EFPs) which have had such a deadly effect on American troops in Iraq.
| Iran | Israel | America |

If we are indeed facing the soon fulfillment of Ezekiel 38 & 39, it is more likely that Israel would be the aggressor as it seems that all the Russian, Turkish and Iranian forces are focused on Israel. Of course there could be other areas not covered in prophecy as well that could include the reason why America isn't a clear part of prophecy as well. Time will tell and I'm still watching...


Habitat for Humanity partners with Planned Parenthood WorldNet Daily (May 28, 2008) - Zoning ordinances prevented Planned Parenthood from opening an abortion clinic in the Rosemary district of Sarasota, Fla. They did, that is, until Habitat for Humanity's Sarasota affiliate stepped in to help out. By agreeing to purchase Planned Parenthood's land for $10 and build housing on a portion of it, Habitat for Humanity enabled Planned Parenthood to bypass a city requirement that had been preventing the organization from obtaining an occupancy permit. Planned Parenthood's dilemma stemmed from city ordinances that required a multifamily "liner" building be constructed at the back of the property before Planned Parenthood could open a clinic at the front. The organization had been unable to secure a builder to meet the requirement…until they found Habitat for Humanity. Representatives of both Planned Parenthood and Habitat for Humanity Sarasota attended the May 5th Sarasota City Commission meeting to present their plan for appeasing the zoning laws: Habitat would receive the property at almost no cost; the city would get its multifamily liner building; and Planned Parenthood would be allowed to open its facility. The Commission approved the plan by a vote of 3-2. Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry founded in 1976, has built and rehabilitated more than 250,000 houses around the world for families in need. Planned Parenthood is the nation's largest abortion provider. To some, they would seem odd partners. Jim Sedlak, vice-president of the American Life League, criticized the partnership in a news release, quoting Habitat for Humanity's goals of providing a “simple, decent, affordable place to live in dignity and safety” for everyone. “I don’t see how building a residence next to an organization that kills babies, pushes pornography and covers up for rapists gives a family dignity or safety," he said. A representative of Habitat for Humanity responded in an email to one detractor that "while this donation of land from Planned Parenthood is unusual, it is common for Habitat affiliates to receive donations of land and materials from local community businesses, organizations and governments." The representative further stated that the partnership in Sarasota was undertaken by the local affiliate and not by the organization as a whole. "Habitat for Humanity International was recently alerted to this particular donation of land and is in touch with Habitat for Humanity of Sarasota over your concerns," he wrote.
| America |


US nears record tornado year; meteorologists don't know why International Herald Tribune (May 27, 2008) - Another week, another rumbling train of tornadoes that obliterates entire city blocks, smashing homes to their foundations and killing people even as they cower in their basements. With the year not even half done, 2008 is already the deadliest tornado year in the United States since 1998 and seems on track to break the U.S. record for the number of twisters in a year, according to the National Weather Service. Also, this year's storms seem to be unusually powerful. But like someone who has lost all his worldly possessions to a whirlwind, meteorologists cannot explain exactly why this is happening. "There are active years and we don't particularly understand why," said research meteorologist Harold Brooks at the National Severe Storms Lab in Norman, Okla. Over the weekend, an extraordinarily powerful twister ripped apart Parkersburg, Iowa, destroying 288 homes in the town of about 1,000 residents, said Gov. Chet Culver. At least four people were killed there. Among the buildings destroyed were City Hall, the high school, and the lone grocery store and gas station. Some of those killed were in basements. The brutal numbers for the U.S. so far this year: at least 110 dead, 30 killer tornadoes and a preliminary count of 1,191 twisters (which, after duplicate sightings are removed, is likely to go down to around 800). The record for the most tornadoes in a year is 1,817 in 2004. In the past 10 years, the average number of tornadoes has been 1,254. "Right now we're on track to break all previous counts through the end of the year," said warning meteorologist Greg Carbin at the Storm Prediction Center, also in Norman. And it's not just more storms. The strongest of those storms — those in the 136-to-200 mph range — have been more prevalent than normal, and lately they seem to be hitting populated areas more, he said. At least 22 tornadoes this year have been in the top part of the new Enhanced Fujita scale, rating a 3 (for "severe") or a 4 ("devastating") on the 1-to-5 scale. The twister that devastated Parkersburg was a 5 — the first in the U.S. since a tornado nearly obliterated Greensburg, Kan., just over a year ago. The Parkersburg tornado was the strongest to hit Iowa in 32 years. more...
| America | Earth Changes |


Energy fears looming, new survivalists prepare Associated Press (May 24, 2008) - A few years ago, Kathleen Breault was just another suburban grandma, driving countless hours every week, stopping for lunch at McDonald's, buying clothes at the mall, watching TV in the evenings. That was before Breault heard an author talk about the bleak future of the world's oil supply. Now, she's preparing for the world as we know it to disappear. Breault cut her driving time in half. She switched to a diet of locally grown foods near her upstate New York home and lost 70 pounds. She sliced up her credit cards, banished her television and swore off plane travel. She began relying on a wood-burning stove. "I was panic-stricken," the 50-year-old recalled, her voice shaking. "Devastated. Depressed. Afraid. Vulnerable. Weak. Alone. Just terrible." Convinced the planet's oil supply is dwindling and the world's economies are heading for a crash, some people around the country are moving onto homesteads, learning to live off their land, conserving fuel and, in some cases, stocking up on guns they expect to use to defend themselves and their supplies from desperate crowds of people who didn't prepare. The exact number of people taking such steps is impossible to determine, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the movement has been gaining momentum in the last few years. These energy survivalists are not leading some sort of green revolution meant to save the planet. Many of them believe it is too late for that, seeing signs in soaring fuel and food prices and a faltering U.S. economy, and are largely focused on saving themselves. Some are doing it quietly, giving few details of their preparations - afraid that revealing such information as the location of their supplies will endanger themselves and their loved ones. They envision a future in which the nation's cities will be filled with hungry, desperate refugees forced to go looking for food, shelter and water. "There's going to be things that happen when people can't get things that they need for themselves and their families," said Lynn-Marie, who believes cities could see a rise in violence as early as 2012. more...
| America | Economic Crisis |


Surging inflation will stoke riots and conflict between nations, says report Guardian UK (May 23, 2008) - Riots, protests and political unrest could multiply in the developing world as soaring inflation widens the gap between the "haves" and the "have nots", an investment bank predicted yesterday. Economists at Merrill Lynch view inflation as an "accident waiting to happen". As prices for food and commodities surge, the bank expects global inflation to rise from 3.5% to 4.9% this year. In emerging markets, the average rate is to be 7.3%. The cost of food and fuel has already been cited as a factor leading to violence in Haiti, protests by Argentinian farmers and riots in sub-Saharan Africa, including attacks on immigrants in South African townships. Merrill's chief international economist, Alex Patelis, said this could be the tip of the iceberg, warning of more trouble "between nations and within nations" as people struggle to pay for everyday goods. "Inflation has distributional effects. If everyone's income moved by the same rate, you wouldn't care - but it doesn't," said Patelis. "You have pensioners on fixed pensions. Some people produce rice that triples in price, while others consume it." A report by Merrill urges governments to crack down on inflation, describing the phenomenon as the primary driver of macroeconomic trends. The problem has emerged from poor food harvests, sluggish supplies of energy and soaring demand in rapidly industrialising countries such as China, where wage inflation has reached 18%. Unless policymakers take action to dampen prices and wages, Merrill says sudden shortages could become more frequent. The bank cited power cuts in South Africa and a run on rice in Californian supermarkets as recent examples. "You're going to see tension between nations and within nations," said Patelis. The UN recently set up a taskforce to examine food shortages and price rises. It has expressed alarm that its world food programme is struggling to pay for food for those most at need. Last month, the World Bank's president, Robert Zoellick, suggested that 33 countries could erupt in social unrest following a rise of as much as 80% in food prices over three years. Merrill's report said the credit crunch has contributed to a global re-balancing, drawing to a close an era in which American consumers have been the primary drivers of the world's economy. In a gloomy set of forecasts, Merrill said it believes the US is in a recession - and that American house prices, which are among the root causes of the downturn, could fall by 15% over the next 18 months. more...
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America | Economic Crisis | 2nd Seal |


Lethal storms kill 8 in Iowa and Minnesota Associated Press (May 26, 2008) - Half of this small town lay in ruins or heavily damaged Monday following a deadly tornado that ripped apart a stretch of northern Iowa. The Sunday afternoon twister killed six people in Iowa, four of them in Parkersburg and two others in nearby New Hartford. In neighboring Minnesota, a child was killed by violent weather in a suburb of St. Paul. "You really are overwhelmed when you see it," Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said at a news conference Monday after touring the Parkersburg area. "You can't imagine this kind of devastation, homes completely gone. And to see people trying to sort through their belongings is very difficult." Rescuers continued picking through the wreckage in search of possible victims but officials said they were hopeful that no one else remained to be found. In addition to those killed, about 70 people were injured, two of them in critical condition. Officials counted 222 homes destroyed, 21 businesses destroyed and more than 400 homes damaged. Among the buildings destroyed were city hall, the high school and the town's sole grocery store and gas station. That's about half of the homes in Parkersburg destroyed or severely damaged, said Butler County Sheriff Jason Johnson. "There's so much hurt here, I don't know where to start," said U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who owns a farm near New Hartford. more...
| America | Earth Changes |


Tornadoes tear up Colorado The Washington Times (May 23, 2008) - Tornadoes touched down in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming yesterday, damaging buildings, flipping vehicles and killing at least one person. The National Weather Service said a large tornado touched down just after noon near Platteville, Colo. about 50 miles north of Denver. It then moved north through or near several towns, tearing the roofs off buildings, downing power lines and crumpling farm equipment. A second tornado touched down later in near Johnstown, Colo. about 10 miles northwest of Platteville, the weather service reported. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Windsor, Colo., a farm town of about 16,000, appeared the hardest hit. Video footage showed a dark gray funnel perhaps a quarter-mile wide near the town with heavy hail and rain. At least one residential neighborhood in Windsor appeared to have suffered heavy damage. Television footage showed several rail tanker cars on their sides in downtown Windsor. more...
| America | Earth Changes |


Rare Tornado Strikes Southern California Fox News (May 22, 2008) - The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for parts of Southern California as the region is being pounded by wild weather including torrential downpours. The weather service said at 4:38 p.m. Thursday that Doppler radar was tracking a tornado moving south near Moreno Valley in Riverside County. A KABC-TV helicopter in the area has shown an overturned big rig blocking a highway and a half-dozen freight cars toppled over on nearby railroad tracks.
| America
| Earth Changes |


Congress vs. OPEC: Flexible-fuel cars One News Now (May 22, 2008) - An engineer and energy authority says the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) led by Saudi Arabia wants to drive the world into an economic depression with the eventual goal of establishing a worldwide Islamic caliphate. Dr. Robert Zubrin has a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering and is president of Pioneer Astronautics, an aerospace engineering firm. He recently published Energy Victory: Win the War on Terror by Breaking Free of Oil. He believes the OPEC cartel has consciously decided to restrict the production of oil in the face of growing world demand, and that this year the U.S. is going to spend $1 trillion on oil, most of which is going into the pockets of the cartel. "They'll use part of it to fund terrorism internationally," he says, "and they're putting the rest into a giant takeover fund called sovereign wealth funds, which they will use to take over the companies that they wreck as they push us into recession. They'll take over these companies at a fraction of their value; 10 cents on the dollar," Zubrin contends. The author argues that the power of the OPEC cartel must be destroyed internationally -- and that the U.S. Congress can help. He urges Congress to make "flex-fuel" the international standard and force gasoline to compete at the pumps. "The United States Congress can effectively destroy OPEC with the stroke of a pen, simply by passing a law requiring that every new car sold in the United States gives the consumer fuel choice. That is, [to] be a fully flex-fueled car able to run not just on gasoline but on methanol and ethanol," Zubrin explains. According to Zubrin, a Senate bill cosponsored by Senators Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) and Kansas Republican Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) would do just that and crash the price of oil to $50 a barrel. Flexible-fuel vehicles, or FFVs, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, are designed to run on gasoline or a blend of up to 85% ethanol (E85), and have been produced since the 1980s. The DOE says while FFVs experience no loss in performance when operating on E85, they typically get fewer miles per gallon because an equal amount of gasoline contains more energy.
| Islam | America | Economic Crisis |


Spain to run America's 1st superhighway? WorldNet Daily (May 19, 2008) - Stretching through the rural countryside with limited access and no speed limit in 1940, the Pennsylvania Turnpike was built to resemble Germany's autobahn. Now thanks to a $12.8 billion dollar offer, it may soon become Spain's. According to a report in the Philadelphia Daily News, Gov. Ed Rendell has announced that Abertis Infraestructuras of Barcelona has offered the top dollar bid to the state of Pennsylvania for the rights to manage the toll road under a 75-year lease. The highway could become just the latest in a string of U.S. infrastructure landmarks to be operated by foreign companies. In 2004, management of the Chicago Skyway, a stretch of elevated road connecting I-90 and I-94, was granted to Cintra, another Spanish operation that outbid Abertis at $1.83 billion. Abertis lost out to Cintra again when the Indiana Toll Road was taken over in 2006 for $3.8 billion. This time, Abertis beat out Cintra and other firms, hoping to add the Pennsylvania Turnpike to its list of operations including toll roads in Spain, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Chile, Colombia and Argentina. Abertis also operates airports, including the airports in Orlando, Fla.; Burbank, Calif.; and one concourse of the Atlanta airport. Even though the controversial Dubai ports deal was squashed by public outcry in 2006, foreign firms have nonetheless purchased long-term leases on other American transportation networks. The Chicago Skyway is tied up for 99 years. The Indiana Toll Road is leased for 75. As WND reported earlier this year, Chicago is seeking a more than 50-year lease on Midway Airport. Among the potential suitors for Midway are 6 international firms, including Abertis. The leases are being made possible through an increasingly common practice of establishing "public-private partnerships" (PPP's), contracts between public agencies and private entities that enable private sector participation in public transportation. Many of the PPP's implemented in the U.S. bring large up-front cash infusions. In both the proposed Midway and Pennsylvania Turnpike offers, the billions in cash are touted as a quick solution to shoring up under-funded government employee pension funds. Many, however, see an imminent threat in turning over U.S. infrastructure to foreign companies. "The USA is up for sale," an attendee of a conference in Colorado to discuss PPPs told WND. "Whatever the public now owns – roads, ports, waste management water systems, rail lines, public parking facilities, airports, even lotteries and sports stadiums – are up for grabs and the only requirement is that the foreigners have the cash." Even William Capone, the director of communications for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, told WND in a telephone interview earlier this year, "We don't favor turning the Pennsylvania Turnpike into a private entity through a PPP lease. If we keep the Pennsylvania Turnpike in the hands of a public entity, we believe we can actually invest more dollars into roads than a private corporation could do." The proposal still has to go through the Pennsylvania legislature, a decision that is likely to be hotly contested. Many in the capital are hoping Act 44, a law passed by the state legislature in 2007 to make I-80 a toll road as well, will stem the financial crisis and deflate the impetus for accepting the Turnpike proposal. According to the newspaper report, the toll road plan with Abertis allows the newcomer to raise tolls 25 percent year and 2.5 percent or the rate of inflation every year after that. more...
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |


Opponents to Fight Gay Marriage Ruling AOL News (May 16, 2008) - Even as same-sex couples across California begin making plans to tie the knot, opponents are redoubling their efforts to make sure wedding bells never ring for gay couples in the nation's most populous state. A conservative group said it would ask California's Supreme Court to postpone putting its decision legalizing gay marriage into effect until after the fall election. That's when voters will likely have a chance to weigh in on a proposed amendment to California's constitution that would bar same-sex couples from getting married. If the court does not grant the request, gay marriages could begin in California in as little as 30 days, the time it typically takes for the justices' opinions to become final. "We're obviously very disappointed in the decision," said Glen Lavy, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which is pushing for the stay. "The remedy is a constitutional amendment." With a stroke of a pen Thursday, the Republican-dominated court swept away decades of tradition and said there was no legally justifiable reason why the state should withhold the institution of marriage because of a couple's sexual orientation. The 4-3 opinion written by Chief Justice Ronald George said domestic partnerships that provide many of the rights and benefits of matrimony are not enough. "In contrast to earlier times, our state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation," George wrote for the majority in ringing language that delighted gay rights activists. Gay marriage opponents, meanwhile, derided the ruling as an example of judicial overreaching in which the opinions of a few justices trumped the will of Californians. "It's about human dignity. It's about human rights. It's about time in California," San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom told a roaring crowd at City Hall after the ruling was issued. "As California goes, so goes the rest of the nation. It's inevitable. This door's wide open now. It's going to happen, whether you like it or not." California's secretary of state is expected to rule by the end of June whether the sponsors of the anti-gay marriage ballot measure gathered enough signatures to put the amendment on the ballot. Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has twice vetoed legislation that would have granted marriage to same-sex couples, said in a statement he respected the court's decision and "will not support an amendment to the constitution that would overturn this state Supreme Court ruling." more...
| Signs of the Times | America |

The California Supreme Court Rewrites the Definition of Marriage - California voters may have the last word Liberty Counsel (May 15, 2008) - Today, the California Supreme Court abandoned the rule of law and common sense when it handed down a 4-3 decision that rewrote the definition of marriage, allowing "marriages" between same-sex couples. This ruling will unite the people of California and will propel their efforts to amend the state constitution. In the meantime, we will ask the Court to issue a stay on its decision until November when the voters have a right to decide the fate of marriage. California residents have submitted petitions to place a state constitutional marriage amendment on the November ballot. If the requisite number is certified in the next few weeks, California voters will have the opportunity to amend their state constitution so that it expressly defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Such an amendment is necessary to protect marriage from being undermined by a mere majority of four justices of the California Supreme Court. On March 4, 2008, Mathew D. Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, presented oral argument at the California Supreme Court in defense of the marriage laws. Liberty Counsel has been involved in the case from the beginning, in February 2004. Read the Court's opinion: PDF or MSWord. We have been working diligently to defend marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Those working on the opposite side to radically change the definition of marriage include the City and County of San Francisco, the ACLU, pro-homosexual activist groups, and several same-sex couples.

A Brief History of Marriage - "Like most other social institutions, marriage as we know it today has evolved over the centuries. As the joining of man and woman, it has increased in complexity as societies have become more sophisticated and civilized. Heavily steeped in both custom and tradition, religion and civil law, many practices have died away as new ones replaced them. Marriage has Judeo/Christian biblical roots and was instituted by God when he declared, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." (Genesis 2:18) So God fashioned woman and brought her to man. On seeing the woman, Adam exclaimed, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." (Genesis 2:23) God’s ideal is for man to be the husband of one wife and that marriage is to be permanent. "A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." (Genesis 2:24)"

Leviticus 18:22
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

Leviticus 20:13
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Romans 1:20-27
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.

So if marriage originated in the Bible, and the Bible clearly condemns homosexuality, why then would homosexual couples wish to engage in a tradition based on the Word of God, which also condemns their relationship in the first place? Why follow a tradition set up by a God they don't follow? God gave everyone free-will, but let's not forget that there are always consequences for actions as well. It's not a popular warning to give, but if it is the truth then it is out of love I warn about it. Judgment is not mine to give, but God will judge just as He will forgive the repentant, the choice is always ours to make - it's not like we haven't been warned.


World economy on thin ice - U.N. CNN Money (May 16, 2008) - The world economy is "teetering on the brink" of a severe downturn and is expected to grow only 1.8% in 2008, the United Nations said in its mid-year economic projections Thursday. That's down from a global growth rate of 3.8% in 2007, and the downturn is expected to continue with only a slightly higher growth of 2.1% in 2009, the U.N. report said. The mid-year update of the U.N. World Economic Situation and Prospects 2008 blamed the downturn on further deterioration in the U.S. housing and financial sectors in the first quarter, which is expected to "continue to be a major drag for the world economy extending into 2009." But the U.N. said developing countries will suffer as badly: They should grow by 5% this year and 4.8% next year, compared to a robust 7.3% in 2007, the report said. The U.N. economists said the deepening credit crisis in major market economies triggered by the U.S.-led slump in housing prices, the declining value of the U.S. dollar, persistent global imbalances and soaring oil and commodity prices pose considerable risks to economic growth in both developed and developing countries. "The baseline forecast projects a pace for world economic growth of 1.8% in 2008," the U.N. report said. However, it said the final figure will largely depend on developments in the United States. Global growth this year could fall to 0.8% if the U.S. subprime mortgage market turmoil has a more serious impact on developing countries and countries in transition, the U.N. report said. But if the monetary and fiscal measures the U.S. government has taken to stimulate the economy - including tax refunds and lower interest rates - boost consumer spending and restore confidence in the business and banking sector, the world economy could only slow to 2.8% growth this year and 2.9% in 2009, it said. The report, prepared by the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, forecast that U.S. economic growth will decline from 2.2% in 2007 to -0.2% this year, with only slight recovery in 2009 to 0.2% growth. "At issue is how deep and long this contraction will be," the report said. "As the housing slump continues and the credit crisis deepens, a broad array of ... indicators are already hinting at a recession." more...
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America | Economic Crisis |


Israel firm on refugees after Bush dismays Arabs Reuters UK (May 16, 2008) - Israel ruled out all debate on letting Palestinian refugees return in any peace deal, as U.S. President George W. Bush ended a visit on Friday that left Arabs dismayed by his outspoken support for Israel's "chosen people". As Bush flew out after three days of celebrations of Israel's 60th anniversary, an Israeli government spokesman said Palestinian insistence on the right of return for 4.5 million refugees and their descendants was "the ultimate deal breaker". Six months into negotiations sponsored by Bush in the hope of a deal before he leaves the White House, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokesman used some of the toughest Israeli language yet to insist that President Mahmoud Abbas abandon 60-year-old refugee claims if he wants to establish a Palestinian state. "This demand, which does not exist under international law, for right of return, is the ultimate deal breaker. You cannot have peace and this demand at the same time," Mark Regev said. Some 700,000 people, half the Arab population of Palestine in May 1948, fled or were driven from their homes when Israel was created. Letting them and their families live in Israel now would undermine its nature as a Jewish state, Israel argues. It also disputes the legal basis of the right of the return first set out in a United Nations resolution of December 1948. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters: "He should have told the Israelis that, 1 mile from where he was speaking, there is a nation that has lived in disaster for 60 years. He should have told the Israelis no one can be free at the expense of others. He missed this opportunity and we are disappointed." Bush called Israel a homeland for God's "chosen people" and pledged Washington would remain its "best friend in the world". As Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip and in camps abroad held protests on the 60th anniversary of their exile from cities and farmlands that are now in Israel, Bush spoke of European Jews in 1948 "arriving here in the desert". In the Palestinian newspaper al-Ayyam, columnist Samih Shabib wrote: "Bush is blind to the right of return. "The U.S. administration's attitude towards Israel inherently promotes hostility and deepens hatred towards the United States and its policy. Is this hostility, and its consequences, in America's interest? I don't think so." Olmert's spokesman Regev acknowledged the suffering of Palestinian refugees but insisted Abbas must abandon their claims if he wanted a Palestinian state, 60 years after Arabs rejected a U.N. plan to partition Palestine into two states. "We are not insensitive to suffering that the Palestinians or the Arabs have gone through," he told reporters. But he added: "The so-called right of return is antithetical to a two-state solution ... I would question someone's commitment to peace and reconciliation if they believe that the so-called right of return must be implemented." more...
| Israel | Islam | America |

Some thoughts upon reading this article. The Palestinians are further disenchanted with the prospect of peace as Israel denies the right of return. With further conflict possibilities coming from Syria and Iran through Hezbollah and continued rocket attacks, a pre-emptive attack on Damascus could trigger the spite building and bring Russia, Turkey, Iran and Libya against Israel through Lebanon. Considering this Report: Israel threatened to target Syria if Hezbollah attacks, could we be heading to a retaliation on Syria for the continued aggression from Hezbollah and Hamas? The question is also if the strong stance being taken now against any peace with the right of return as a part of it, which won’t help the peace process, is meant to provoke a reaction. Iran’s president Ahmadinejad has made statements that Israel’s time is coming to an end and the perception is that Israel is weakened currently. Could this contribute to an attack being planned for this summer? And would Israel’s catching wind of this plan trigger their attack on Damascus? I believe this would then trigger the response foretold in Ezekiel 38,39.

If that is the case, then following the destruction of those attackers with fire and brimstone from heaven in the mountains of Israel, the more radical elements will be temporarily quieted and Israel’s morale and confidence will go through the roof as they turn to the ways of their fathers.

The more subdued part of Islam that does not participate in the attack will still have the destruction of Israel in mind, but will also be working for integration into the West too. In the end, Islam must participate with the final kingdom just like everyone else and I believe the false prophet may be the key. I would expect the 12th Mahdi to surface sometime soon after this failed attack to unite Sunni and Shia Islam.


The gathering storm, and beyond The Jerusalem Post (May 15, 2008) - The incendiary hate language emanating from Ahmadinejad's Iran - in which Israel is referred to as "filthy bacteria" and a "cancerous tumor" and Jews are characterized as "a bunch of bloodthirsty barbarians" - is only the head wind of the gathering storm confronting Israel on its 60th anniversary. Indeed, we are witnessing, and have been for some time, a series of mega-events, political earthquakes that have been impacting not only upon Israel and world Jewry but upon the human condition as a whole. These include:

  • state-sanctioned incitement to genocide in Ahmadinejad's Iran (and I use that term to distinguish it from the many publics and peoples in Iran who are themselves the object of massive state repression) dramatized by the parading of a Shihab-3 missile in the streets of Teheran draped with the emblem "Wipe Israel off the map";
  • symmetrical terrorist militias confronting Israel, in particular Hamas in the south and Hizbullah in the north. These are not simply - though that would be threatening enough - terrorist in their instrumentality, but genocidal in their purpose as they openly and avowedly seek the destruction of Israel and anti-Jewish in their ideology. Both, by their own acknowledgement, demonize Judaism and Jews, not just Israel and the Israeli, as "the sons of monkeys and pigs" and "defilers of Islam";
  • the globalization of a totalitarian, radical Islam that threatens not only Jews and Israel but international peace and security, while warning Muslims who seek peace with Israel that they will "burn in the Umma of Islam";
  • the fragility, even erosion, of the Lebanon-Hizbullah divides, aided and abetted by the Iranian-Syrian pincer movements and further exacerbated in the present Lebanese-Hizbullah warfare;
  • the phenomenon of radicalized home-grown extremism, fuelled by Internet incitement, threatening the security of Jewish communities in the Diaspora;
  • exploding energy prices, with oil at $120 a barrel - six times what it was just six years ago - with the windfall billions of petrodollars encouraging and financing rogue states like Iran. Every $1 increase in the price of a barrel of oil represents millions more in the coffers of Iran;
  • the ugly canard of double loyalty, where the Jewish and Israeli lobbies are accused of acting in a matter inimical to the American and European national interest, as if it is somehow "un-American" or "un-European" to petition government for redress of grievances, an Orwellian politics of intimidation that chills free speech and public advocacy;
  • the trahison des clercs - betrayal of the elites - of which the UK is a case study, exemplified in the calls for academic, trade union, journalist, medical and intellectual boycotts of Israeli and Jewish nationals;
  • the singling out of Israel for differential and discriminatory treatment in the international arena, as when the UN Human Rights Council,, the repository for human rights standards-setting, adopted 10 resolutions of condemnation against one member state of the international community, Israel, in its first year of operation alone; while the major human rights violators - Iran, Sudan, China - enjoyed exculpatory immunity; and
  • the emergence of a new, escalating, global, virulent and even lethal anti-Semitism.

WITH ISRAEL'S 60th anniversary, these mega-events have not only intensified but congealed into what might be called a "gathering storm," finding expression in the two theses that underpin this article. First, that this gathering storm appears to be without parallel or precedent since 1938, suggesting thereby that 2008 is reflective and reminiscent of 1938. The second thesis, which reflects my own position and is not inconsistent with the previous notion, is that whatever 2008 may be, it is not 1938. Simply put, there is a Jewish state today that is an antidote to the vulnerabilities of 1938. There is a Jewish people with untold moral, intellectual, economic and political resources. There are non-Jews prepared to join the Jewish people in common cause, seeing the cause of Israel not simply as a Jewish cause, but - with all its imperfections - as a just cause. Nor is Israel is isolated or alone. It has important friends and allies: for example, the United States, Canada, Germany and France, to name a few; and it has diplomatic relations with the two emerging superpowers, China and India. There are peace treaties, however imperfect, with Egypt and Jordan. In a word, if one looks at Israel at 60 in this global configuration, 2008 is, even with an admittedly gathering storm not unlike 1938, nonetheless very different from the Thirties. more...
| Israel | Islam | EU/UN
/ 4th Kingdom | America |


Commentary: Tax-free hypocrisy from higher education CNN: Glenn Beck (May 15, 2008) - There is an industry in this country that is making billions in profit while average Americans are struggling to fill up their gas tanks. It's an industry that made an average profit of nearly 17 percent in 2007 while most Americans could barely keep up with inflation. It's an industry whose members paid a grand total of zero dollars in tax on their endowments last year. Are you outraged? Are you ready to call on Congress to investigate or demand that a "windfall" tax be placed on these egregious profits? Well put down the phone because the industry I'm talking about is Higher Education. And make no mistake, it is an industry. The top five college and university endowments reported a combined value of over $100 billion at the end of 2007. That's five funds, a hundred billion in cash. Not a nickel in tax. Not an ounce of outrage. Harvard University, which has the largest endowment in the country, has a total of $34.6 billion. To put into perspective just how much money that is, consider that the largest charitable foundation in the world, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has a total endowment of $37.3 billion. But while their financial statements may look similar, their missions aren't. The Gates Foundation is working to cure malaria, develop new tuberculosis vaccines, and stop the spread of AIDS. Most of our colleges and universities are only working to spread the radical political views of some of their professors. Let me be clear: I have absolutely no problem with Harvard or any other school having billions in cash. In fact, good for them! I have no problem with Harvard posting an unbelievable 23 percent rate of return on their money last year. The truth is, I'm jealous of it. I have no problem with the fact that if you project Harvard's endowment out using their historical rate of return they would have over half a TRILLION dollars in 20 years. I don't even have a problem with Harvard not paying one dime of tax on any of that money. What I do have a problem with -- and it's a big one -- is how Harvard spends that money. Or, maybe it would be more accurate to say how Harvard, doesn't spend that money. Schools with large endowments (at least $500 million) reported spending an average of 4.4 percent of their stockpiles in 2007. Meanwhile, those same schools made an average of over 19 percent on their money. But I also have another problem, and that is how these sanctimonious institutions who are so good at complaining about the injustices of our government are nothing but really highly educated hypocrites. For what's been estimated to be about $300 million a year (less than 1 percent of their endowment's value) Harvard could completely waive tuition, room and board for every single one of their students. Instead, they announced an increase in those fees of about 3.5 percent for next year. Being a student at Harvard will now cost a staggering $47,215 a year. Doesn't Harvard know how many millions of Americans are struggling to afford college? Don't they want to pay their fair share and help those who are less fortunate? more...
| America |

What isn't addressed in this article that was on the TV show that directed me to this article was the government subsidies on top of these great profits.


PMW: Hatred of US a Pillar of PA Ideology Israel National News (May 14, 2008) - The Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) watchdog group has released a report warning that hatred of the United States is a pillar of the Palestinian Authority’s ideology. As US President George W. Bush lavished praise this week on Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, the latter broadcast on the TV station which he controls a stinging message: the US is “the greatest Satan in the world.” --Palestinian Legislative Council Member Najat Abu-Bakr (Fatah), PA TV, March 3, 2008. The full 30-page PMW report examines statements made in the PA media over the past several years regarding the PA’s affinity for countries such as North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela, which are all openly anti-American. “Significantly,” the report warns, “the affinity that is felt for such geographically distant non-Muslim countries... is precisely because these states publicly challenge and express loathing for the US.” The report also examined statements showing PA officials’ loathing for the United States, such as a Fatah legislator’s recent claim that the US is “the greatest Satan in the world.” PMW staff found that the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001 was a frequent theme of anti-American cartoons in PA newspapers. Each year, the papers print cartoons, often on or shortly before September 11, depicting the Muslim world, particularly Iraq and “Palestine,” as the true victims of the attacks. America is depicted as the aggressor. One frequent subject of praise in the Fatah-controlled media was former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Following Hussein’s execution PA papers referred to him as “the general Shahid [Martyr] leader, Saddam Hussein,” and the Fatah group that currently rules the PA dedicated a terrorist cell to his memory. Schools, streets, and sporting events were named after him, including the main road in the village of Yaabid, which was paid for by USAID. PA papers and television reports praise terrorist groups fighting the US in Iraq and Hizbullah arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh, who until his death was wanted by the United States for the murder of hundreds of US citizens. Researchers found frequent praise for Syria and Iran as well. Among the statements quoted in the report:

“Allah, take hold of the Americans and their allies… Allah, count them and kill them to the last one and don’t leave even one.” --Ahmed Bahar, speaker of the PA legislative council, on PA TV in April 2007.

“The U.S. and Britain [forces]… stormed Iraqi cities with the participation of military forces from different countries and Baghdad fell. The Iraqis did not surrender to this occupation but succeeded in organizing themselves and a brave resistance to liberate Iraq began.” --Grade 12 textbook used in PA schools.

“To Bush, the Pharaoh, the despot, the terrorist of this period... [we say] that victory is for Islam.” ---Announcer on PA TV, June 2006.

“No Arab land is safe from the grand American conspiracy, and there is no Arab nation that is not threatened either internally or externally with slaughter…” --Al-Hayyat al-Jedidah, November, 2006.

The report also found much hatred of US President George Bush, who was referred to in PA media outlets as “racist,” “terrorist,” “devil from Hell,” and “worse than the German Fuhrer.” “In the past,” the report warns, “US support has not been able to prompt changes in deeply-ingrained hate ideology.” In Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, providing support for groups resisting the ruling power did not win their loyalty to the US, researchers said. “In the case of Abbas's Palestinian Authority, this is even more striking. Palestinian alliances with these states, and enmity of the US, are deep, explicit and declared throughout the PA’s Arabic discourse... Judging by the tone and scope of the Palestinian Authority’s anti-American hate promotion documented in the report, this hatred by Palestinian Fatah and its closeness to these enemies of the US are not a result of any specific US policy, but are reflective of a deep and sincere ideological affinity to those enemies of the US,” the report concludes. more...
| Israel | Islam | America |


Bush urged to address Muslim 'hate' in books WorldNet Daily (May 14, 2008) - A Republican leader of Congress has urged President Bush to press the Saudi government to reform its textbooks during his visit tomorrow with Saudi King Abdullah. In a letter to Bush, Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., founder of the Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus, warned that the kingdom is still "spreading a dangerous ideology that attacked us on 9/11 and continues to threaten the United States and its allies around the world." "I strongly urge you to raise my concerns regarding the use of textbooks that are sanctioned by the Saudi government for use within the country and around the world that preach hatred and violence toward non-Muslims and Western ideals of liberty," she said in the May 5 missive. Despite Abdullah's post-9/11 promises of reforms, Saudi school texts used for Islamic studies still encourage violence and hatred toward "infidels," according to a recent comprehensive review by the Freedom House. The nonprofit group says indoctrination begins as early as first grade and expands each year, culminating in a 12th-grade text teaching teens that their religious duty includes waging "jihad" against the infidel to "spread the faith." Here are relevant passages from the Saudi textbooks, by grade level:

  • First Grade: "Every religion other than Islam is false."
  • Fourth Grade: "True belief means ... that you hate the polytheists and infidels but do not treat them unjustly."
  • Fifth Grade: "It is forbidden for a Muslim to be a loyal friend to someone who does not believe in Allah and His Prophet."
  • Sixth Grade: "Just as Muslims were successful in the past when they came together in a sincere endeavor to evict the Christian crusaders from Palestine, so will the Arabs and Muslims emerge victorious, Allah willing, against the Jews and their allies if they stand together and fight a true jihad for Allah, for this is within Allah's power."
  • Eighth Grade: "The apes are the Jews, the people of the Sabbath; while the swine are the Christians, the infidels of the communion of Jesus."
  • Ninth Grade: "The clash between this (Muslim) community and the Jews and Christians has endured, and it will continue as long as Allah wills."

Myrick worries the hateful religious indoctrination could translate into violence against the West. Of immediate concern, she notes, are the thousands of young Saudi men scheduled to immigrate to the U.S. on student visas. The State Department plans to double the number of student visas issued to young Saudi men from 15,000 to 30,000 – despite the fact that nearly all of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi nationals who immigrated to the U.S. on visas. "We aim to increase their numbers to 30,000 over the next five years," U.S. Ambassador Ford Fraker last month told Saudi officials at the Al-Jouf Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In the past, a large number of Saudi students have failed to show up for classes, coast to coast, and have overstayed their visas. Many of them have been caught up in terrorism investigations. "As more young Saudi citizens take part in the scholarship student visa program, we must be sure that we are not permitting Saudi citizens into our country who seek to do us harm, as we saw with the 15 hijackers from Saudi Arabia who attacked us on 9/11," Myrick said. more...
| Islam | America |


Jim Deeds. Hyperinflation: Are We There Yet? McAlvany Weekly Commentary (May 14, 2008) - 65% of American Dollars are circulating outside of the United States. At the moment they trust the American Dollar. 85% of the debt in the last five years has been sold to foreigners like the Russians and the Chinese.
| America | Economic Crisis |

Global hyperinflation just around the corner? How would this affect peace in the earth? What about combined with increased food problems?


Violence in Mexico Spills Across US Border Associated Press (May 14, 2008) - Three Mexican police chiefs have requested political asylum in the U.S. as violence escalates in the Mexican drug wars and spills across the U.S. border, a top Homeland Security official told The Associated Press. In the past few months, the police officials have shown up at the U.S. border, fearing for their lives, according to Jayson Ahern, the deputy commissioner of Customs and Border Protection. "They're basically abandoned by their police officers or police departments in many cases," Ahern told AP. Ahern said the Mexican officials -- whom he didn't name -- are being interviewed and their cases are under review for possible asylum. In the most recent high-level assassination, a top-ranking official on a local Mexican police force was shot more than 50 times and killed. Drug-related violence killed more than 2,500 people last year alone in Mexico. "It's almost like a military fight," Ahern said Tuesday. "I don't think that generally the American public has any sense of the level of violence that occurs on the border." As the cartels fight for territory, this carnage spills over to the U.S., Ahern said -- from bullet-ridden people stumbling into U.S. territory, to rounds of ammunition coming across U.S. entry ports. U.S. humvees retrofitted with steel mesh over the glass windows patrol parts of the border to protect agents against guns shots and large rocks regularly thrown at them. At times agents are pinned down by sniper fire as people try to illegally cross into the U.S. Mexico's drug cartels have long divided the border, with each controlling key cities. But over the past decade Mexico has arrested or killed many of the gangs' top leaders, creating a power vacuum and throwing lucrative drug routes up for the taking. President Felipe Calderon, who took office in December 2006, responded by deploying more than 24,000 soldiers and federal police to areas where the government had lost control. Cartels have reacted with unprecedented violence, beheading police and killing soldiers. In general, violence along the U.S. border has gone up over the years. Seven frontline border agents were killed in 2007, and two so far in 2008. Assaults against officers have also shot up from 335 in fiscal 2001 to 987 in fiscal 2007. There have been 362 assaults against officers during the first four months of 2008, according to Border Patrol statistics. The pattern has been that when more security resources are deployed along the U.S. border, violence against officers spike in response. Most assaults are along the San Diego and Calexico, Calif., border, as well as the Arizona border near Yuma and south of Tucson. Now, about 14,000 U.S. border agents work on the southern border, up from more than 9,000 in 2001. The Bush administration has requested $500 million to fight drug crime in Mexico. Congress is currently considering the proposal.
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Signs of the Times | America |

Mexican homicides jump 47 pct.; 1,378 die in '08 Associated Press (May 23, 2008) - Homicides related to organized crime jumped 47 percent in 2008, Mexico's attorney general said Friday in a rare confirmation of how bad violence has become. Police later made two gruesome discoveries in northern Mexico. Five bodies — two of them decapitated — were found wrapped in blankets in a city on the border with Texas, along with two heads in sacks. In another state, police found four severed heads in ice chests along a highway. Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora told Radio Formula that 1,378 people have been killed so far this year, compared with 940 in the same period last year. The statistic reflected what many in Mexico already knew: Drug-related killings have soared in recent months. But the details were the first official snapshot on the rise in killings. The Mexican government has been reluctant to release homicide statistics, leaving the public to rely on informal tallies by the news media. Medina Mora broke that silence, saying 4,152 people have been killed since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006 and declared war on drug cartels that controlled entire regions of Mexico. About 450 of those were police, soldiers, prosecutors or investigators. Medina Mora said many of the recent killings have been concentrated along the U.S. border, while homicides in the central part of the nation have subsided. The government says the violence reflects drug gangs' desperation amid the nationwide crackdown, carried out by more than 20,000 soldiers and federal police. "Evidently when they are cornered and weakened, they have to respond with violence," Medina Mora said. Analysts say recent arrests have created a power vacuum and gangs are battling for valuable drug routes and territory. more...


Hezbollah 'redrawing' Mideast map Washington Times (May 12, 2008) - Hezbollah's dramatic gains in Lebanon last week are just part of a regional process that began last year in the Gaza Strip and will continue in Jordan and Egypt, a Hamas official in the West Bank told The Washington Times. Sheik Yazeeb Khader, a Ramallah-based Hamas political activist and editor, said militant groups across the Middle East are gaining power at the expense of U.S.-backed regimes, just as Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. "What happened in Gaza in 2007 is an achievement; now it is happening in 2008 in Lebanon. It's going to happen in 2009 in Jordan and it's going to happen in 2010 in Egypt," Sheik Khader said in an interview. "We are seeing a redrawing of the map of the Middle East where the forces of resistance and steadfastness are the ones moving the things on the ground." His remarks highlight how a growing alliance linking Hamas, Iran and Hezbollah straddles the Shi'ite-Sunni rift. The notion of new countries falling under Islamist influence reflects a goal of Hamas' parent group, the Muslim Brotherhood, of replacing secular Arab regimes with Islamist governments. In the same way that Hamas' victory over the Palestinian Authority security forces in Gaza fighting last June profoundly disturbed neighboring Arab states, fighting in Lebanon yesterday and last week has sent shock waves throughout the Middle East and spurred an emergency meeting of the Arab League. The Arab League is sending Secretary-General Amr Moussa to mediate among the Lebanese government, Hezbollah and Sunni supporters of the government. Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for the Hamas government in Gaza, took a different approach to the standoff in Lebanon by saying that the fighting primarily served Israel. Mr. Abu Zuhri called on each side to engage in dialogue instead of fighting. But several supporters of Hamas in Gaza were comparing Hezbollah's advances into Sunni neighborhoods of Beirut to Hamas' overrunning of security forces loyal to Mr. Abbas. more...
| Iran | Israel | Islam | America |


Experts: Twisters Getting Larger, Deadlier ABC News (May 12, 2008) - As communities rebuild after deadly tornadoes bulldozed their way from Oklahoma to Georgia and North Carolina over the weekend, experts say that this tornado season is bigger and deadlier than last year's, with little relief in sight. Seventy-seven tornadoes tore through the country the past few days, according to preliminary reports at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Storm Prediction Center. In Georgia, more than 180,000 people were left without power, while 15 fatalities were reported in Missouri. This year's count is already twice the number of tornadoes logged during last year's U.S. tornado season, which generally runs from mid-spring to early summer. "So far, in terms of the number of tornadoes, this is one of the most active years to date," said Harold Bloom, a meteorologist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla. Tornadoes develop from large, powerful thunderstorms known as super cell thunderstorms. "One super cell thunderstorm can move many miles and can produce several tornadoes, a family of tornadoes," said Henry Margusity, a meteorologist at Accuweather. "These thunderstorms will produce one tornado. It will develop, mature and dissipate and another will fall right behind it. & You're getting a lot of these very large thunderstorms developing." The larger thunderstorms are producing more families of tornadoes earlier than before and the tornadoes themselves are staying on the ground longer than ever before in regions outside of "tornado alley," Margusity said. Kansas, Oklahoma and parts of Texas officially make up this area, although the southeastern United States experiences its fair share of tornadoes during the season. With more tornadoes have come more deaths. So far, 96 people have died this year. Last year, the entire tornado season end with 81 fatalities. "This year everything's been shifted to the east, & which is why we've seen a higher death toll," he said. "They're happening in very highly populated areas of our country." "The damage that you see is just incredible," he added. more...
| Earth Changes | America |


Tornado season deadliest in a decade USA Today (May 13, 2008) - The USA has been ravaged through mid-May by a near-record number of tornadoes that has pushed the death toll — including 47 killer twisters over the weekend — to a 10-year high. The deaths of 98 people attributed to tornadoes this year has made 2008 the deadliest year thus far for tornadoes since 1998 and the seventh deadliest since modern recordkeeping began in 1950, The Weather Channel said. Such a rate could make 2008 the year with the most tornadoes since 1950. "We are on a pace that continues a record number" of twisters, said Greg Forbes, severe weather expert at The Weather Channel. Violent storms over the weekend that spawned tornadoes left at least 22 people dead from the southern Plains states eastward to Georgia, including seven deaths in the tiny town of Picher, Okla., and 10 deaths in Seneca, Mo. Storms remained active Sunday night as they swept eastward. The National Weather Service said tornado watches were in effect for southern Georgia into northern Florida, as well as south central Virginia, much of North Carolina and northern South Carolina. The National Weather Service takes weeks to confirm actual numbers of tornadoes but The Weather Channel said it believes there were 47 separate twisters as of May 11 putting the count for the year at 636. That is second only to the No. 1 year of 1999, when 669 tornadoes hit through the same date, Forbes said. As for deaths by tornado, this year has seen the most through May 11 since 115 were killed by tornado in 1998, Forbes said. That year ended with 130 total deaths because of tornadoes. Meteorologists say wind conditions and weather patterns have been ideal for creating twisters this year. The jet stream, a shifting river of air at high altitudes, has been moving from the southwestern USA toward the Great Lakes and pulling moist air from the Gulf of Mexico. The contrast between the warm southern air and cold air aloft creates winds that can spin turn into twisters. more...
| Earth Changes | America |


Severe storms cause damage in 4 Southern states Associated Press (May 9, 2008) - Amber Parker watched on television as the storm near her home grew into a tornado threat. Then, when the roaring wind outside suddenly fell silent, she grabbed her two toddlers and rushed to get under the stairwell. "We just got inside the door frame when I was pushed inside ... then everything went," said Parker, tears welling in her eyes as she described the chaotic scene during a brief discussion with reporters near her demolished home in central North Carolina. Neighbors helped the 36-year-old Parker and her two children — a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old — out of the ruins that used to be their home, and the three survived with barely a scratch. "We're blessed," she said. The powerful storm system that swept through the Southeast and the mid-Atlantic states late Thursday and into early Friday produced two tornados. In North Carolina, the storm left one person dead, several injured and scores of homes and businesses damaged. Donald Ray Needham, 51, of Jackson Springs, died when his truck overturned in a parking lot just west of Greensboro, authorities said. They said three others were injured, one when the storm knocked down a wall at a distributing business, and two others when their vehicles flipped off the road. In Greensboro, some homes and businesses on the outskirts of town were damaged, and two FedEx airplanes were pitched off the tarmac and into an airport construction site. No one was injured at the airport. And while officials scoured through wreckage when daylight arrived Friday, they found no new injuries or fatalities. "I thought we were going to come back to something a lot worse than what we have out there," said David Douglas, assistant chief for the Greensboro Fire Department. "It could have been much worse than it was." The National Weather Service reported preliminary indications that the Greensboro tornado clocked in as a category EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, meaning the funnel was packing winds between 111 and 135 mph. Earlier Thursday, an apparent tornado wrecked a shopping area in Mississippi and strong winds flipped a mobile home in Alabama. In south-central Tennessee, at least four homes and a few barns were reported damaged. The storm made its way to Virginia and Maryland late Thursday and early Friday, leaving between 75 and 100 homes in northeastern Virginia damaged — about 30 of them severely, said Stafford County spokeswoman Cathy Riddle. She said two people were injured; one of them was taken to a hospital and later released. Dozens of residents were taken to a temporary shelter at a middle school. Weather service officials confirmed Friday that a tornado also touched down Thursday night in Franklin and Henry counties in western Virginia. The EF1 twister, with winds of 86 to 95 mph, downed trees and damaged homes in a mile-long path, officials said. Portions of northern and central Virginia and southern Maryland remained under a flood warning Friday morning. more...
| America | Earth Changes |


'Day of Silence' walkout a success OneNewsNow (May 7, 2008) - The recent "Day of Silence" event promoting homosexuality was a bust at one Washington State high school thanks to the efforts of pro-family students, parents, and community leaders. The Day of Silence is promoted by the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) as an event to draw attention to alleged persecution suffered by students who claim to be homosexual or confused about their gender. But Pastor Ken Hutcherson of Antioch Bible Church in Redmond, Washington, claims the event was actually designed by homosexual activists to promote their lifestyle to students. So Hutcherson worked with other parents in the area of his daughter's Mount Si High School to protest the event. Hutcherson and his wife purchased a half-page ad in the local newspaper urging concerned parents and Christians to join them in protest of the event. "Then the word went out," he explains. "It went out to my prayer warriors. And they prayed about it ... and last Friday [April 25], we had probably about 250 to 300 parents there," he contends. But parents were not the only ones opposed to an entire school day being used to promote a lifestyle the Bible declares to be immoral, says Hutcherson. "There were 638 kids out of 1,410 kids that didn't come to school that day," he remarks. In addition to 45 percent of the student body staying home on the Day of Silence, Hutcherson and other parents convinced the school board to give waivers to student athletes who did not want to be present during the pro-homosexual event. Those waivers allowed the athletes to skip school but still participate in sporting events held that school day. Eighty-five of the school's athletes took advantage of the waiver, and less than 200 of the school's 1,400 students actively participated in the Day of Silence activities. Hutcherson considers his protest of the homosexual event a "very big success."
| America |


Secret documents detail post-WWII debacle OneNewsNow (May 7, 2008) - A messianic Jewish ministry leader says recent documents released by the British government have confirmed a long-held belief. Jan Markell has long believed that God judged Britain for its treatment of the Jews. She notes that 400 pages of formerly secret documents -- recently made public by the British National Archives -- reveal how the British government tried to send thousands of Holy Land-bound Jewish Holocaust survivors back to post-war Germany without inflaming world opinion. But despite the best efforts of early spin-doctors to portray the move in a most sympathetic light, the decision to turn away more than 4,500 Jewish refugees on board the Exodus refugee ship turned into a humanitarian and public relations debacle for Great Britain. Markell, founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries, believes Britain has paid a steep price for betraying the Jews in 1947. "At one time [Britain] had so many nations and colonies that the sun never set on [the British Empire]," she recalls. "Today [Britain] is a broken and fractured empire, and I believe it is partly because of the way that she dealt with the Jews ... during the Holocaust and post-Holocaust," says Markell. And the pro-Israel advocate warns this story ought to serve as reminder to supporters of Israel today. "It should remind us that the world to this day continues to hate the Jewish people," she continues, "because they still are God's chosen people no matter what the Muslim world wants to do to annihilate them. [The Jews] will not go away." Markell argues the United States should take special heed to this story, considering its continual efforts to force the Jewish people to turn over their covenant land in order to create a Palestinian "state."
| Israel | Dividing the Land | America |


Population Control and a World Food Authority Reshaping the International Order Part 5 Knowledge Driven Revolution (May 5, 2008) -

"... it is of utmost importance that an equilibrium be established between the world's total population and the capacity of 'spaceship earth'..." - RIO: Reshaping the International Order, 1976 (p124)

The establishment of a World Food Authority to control the food supply of the world is a major goal of The Club of Rome's RIO report. This issue is intertwined with exaggerated fears of environmental collapse and the elite's obsession with population control.

The Environmental Scare From RIO: Reshaping the International Order: [Italicised text is original emphasis and bolded text is added by author.]

"History has frequently shown that people, in times of crisis and once convinced of the necessity for change, are prepared to accept policies which demand changes in their behaviour so as to help secure better lives for themselves and their children." - 110

The threat of environmental catastrophe to further the population control agenda is nothing new and continues to this day with the manmade global warming scare. Back in the 1970's the Club of Rome was not shy at using the environmental catastrophe card to push for population control. Below are some examples from RIO: Reshaping the International Order:

"Moreover, it has been estimated that by 1985 all land surfaces, except those so cold or at such high altitudes as to be incompatible with human habitation or exploration, will have been occupied and utilized by man." - 89

"Although not yet proven, climatologists are being forced to conclude that our planet has in recent times passed through a period which may well have been optimal as far as food production is concerned. They believe that future decades may well be characterized by extremes - hot and cold, wet and dry - without necessarily a change in average temperature. (4)" - 90

The endnote used to back up this claim is given below:

"(4) There is certainly sufficient evidence for this concern: the Asian monsoons were unsatisfactory for three successive years between 1972-1974; severe droughts in the Sahel and other parts of Africa and the Great Plains area of the United States and Canada in 1974; an unexpected late frost in Brazil in 1975 which may have destroyed as much as 60 per cent of its 1976 coffee crop. The growing season of the best grain producing areas in the Soviet Union is now believed to [be] about a week shorter than it was in the 1950's; an even more pronounced shift appears to have taken place in the United Kingdom." - 97

Do these types of arguments sound familiar?

"Much effort has been made in the past ten years, in some industrialized countries, to bring the disadvantage facing many Third World countries to the attention of large numbers of people. If it has met with only limited success, it is probably because it has failed to bring out the concept of interdependence of countries and issues. More attention must in future be focused on information and education on how our planet functions and on the 'survival fact' that the claim of the whole is wider and deeper than the claim of any of its parts. There is also a fundamental need to develop a broadly educated political class which is capable of understanding science and the broad implications, possibilities and dangers of technological advance, and which can harness technological advance for constructive social purposes." - 111

Population Control and The World Food Authority

"... these threats [of food shortage] might well be exacerbated by increasing population pressures and deteriorating climatological conditions." - 135

"Population control policies carry the important indirect consequence of restricting the supply of unskilled labour, thereby raising its price." - 73

"If the world is to be liberated from the continual nightmares of hunger and malnutrition, these and the various measures proposed by the FAO [Food and Agricultural Organization] Worlds Food Conference should be implemented to the full and call for the creation of the World Food Authority, with extensive and real powers; or, as a second best, the World Food Council proposed by the World Food Conference." - 138

"internationally owned and internationally managed [food] buffer stocks..." - 226

"the question of introducing meat rationing should be seriously considered [for developed countries]." - 227

Food as a Weapon

The incredible power that would be accomplished from a massive concentration of food stocks under the control of a single agency did not escape the authors of this report to the Club of Rome. The reigning food situation in the world was dominated by the great dependence of many countries on the North American breadbasket. This gave the Americans a considerable amount of power over their dependent countries.

"the American Secretary for Agriculture who has observed: "Food is a weapon. It is one of the principal tools in our negotiating kit" " - 29

The further centralization of food stocks under a single international power would only increase the abuse of food supplies not decrease it. This, quite naturally, is the point. The result of this control is well described by Bertrand Russell (who strongly supported this idea) in his 1952 book The Impact of Science of Society [2]:

"To deal with this problem [increasing population and decreasing food supplies] it will be necessary to find ways of preventing an increase in world population. If this is to be done otherwise than by wars, pestilence, and famines, it will demand a powerful international authority. This authority should deal out the world's food to the various nations in proportion to their population at the time of the establishment of the authority. If any nation subsequently increased its population it should not on that account receive any more food. The motive for not increasing population would therefore be very compelling. What method of preventing an increase might be preferred should be left to each state to decide." - 124

Conclusion

The final article in this series deals with a variety of issues including global solidarity, regional unions, legal changes and a standing United Nations Peace Force.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |


UN-American WorldNet Daily (May 5, 2008) - On the last day of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, as Benjamin Franklin was leaving Independence Hall, a lady asked him, "Well, doctor, what have we got?" Franklin pointedly responded, "A republic, if you can keep it." James Madison, chief architect of the Constitution, defined a "republic" to be "a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people, and is administered by persons holding their offices ... for a limited period, or during good behavior." In other words, in our constitutional republic, the people possess the power to govern themselves by laws they enact through elected representatives. Today, the most serious threat to our nation's sovereignty and the republican form of government we cherish is the United Nations and other international organizations that work through ill-advised treaties and irresponsible bureaucrats to usurp the power of the American people to govern themselves. Unfortunately, more than a few politicians in our country are willing to cede power to foreign control. One of those powers is the right to control the oceans and seas. The president's proposed budget for 2009 includes a request for nearly $5 million to support the International Seabed Authority, an international tribunal established by the Law of the Sea Treaty. For years this treaty has been rejected by the U.S. Senate because it would take power away from the U.S. government and give an unfair advantage to countries like China, which uses the treaty's vague language to make claims about the waterways it controls far beyond its proper jurisdiction. This treaty would also impose a global tax on U.S. companies if ratified by the Senate. The presumptive Republican nominee for president, Sen. John McCain, wrote a letter in 1998 to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in favor of the Law of the Sea Treaty. As late as 2003, McCain submitted written testimony to the committee in favor of the treaty. But since seeking the Republican presidential nomination, McCain has been telling conservatives that he will "probably" vote against the treaty because its terms negatively affect U.S. sovereignty. Other politicians want the U.S. to fund welfare programs for the rest of the world. The leading Democratic candidate for president, Sen. Barack Obama, is presently sponsoring S.B. 2433: the Global Poverty Act of 2007. This bill would sanction spending as much as $845 billion in taxpayer money to reduce global poverty to meet the "U.N. Millennium Summit Goals." In addition to calling for a reduction in global poverty through unconstitutional foreign aid, the Millennium Summit Goals urge nations to sign many other dangerous treaties like the Kyoto Protocol and the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child – both of which the Senate has rejected for many years. The Kyoto Protocol sets limits on the amount of "greenhouse gases" that nations can emit while specifically excluding countries like China that it categorizes as "developing nations." It also subjects participating nations to penalties for exceeding those limits. Japan, Italy and Spain face penalties totaling over $33 billion for failing to meet their obligations under Kyoto. Each of those countries admits that the cost will be covered by taxpayers and businesses. Thus, joining Kyoto would subject the American people and U.S. businesses to a global tax. As for Obama's rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton, her husband formally signed the Kyoto Protocol on Nov. 12, 1998, at a global conference in Buenos Aires. In February 2005, Sen. Clinton gave a speech on the "Future Role of the United Nations" in which she openly supported then-Secretary General Kofi Annan and the U.N.'s Millennium Summit Goals. Clinton has also long supported the adoption of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child even though the treaty would wreak havoc on parental rights. One thing all the leading presidential candidates for both major parties support is continued financial aid to the U.N. despite its dismal record of fraud and mismanagement. An audit last month discovered that the U.N. has wasted tens of millions of dollars in its "peacekeeping operations" in Sudan. Last year, a task force uncovered "multiple instances of fraud, corruption, waste and mismanagement at U.N. headquarters and peacekeeping missions ... with an aggregate value in excess of $610 million." A series of audits from 1996 to 2003 revealed "gross mismanagement" in the U.N.'s $100 billion oil-for-food program in Iraq. Yet, Clinton in her speech about the future role of the U.N. stated that she "deplored" Americans "who have sought to weaken, undermine and underfund the U.N." Actually, given the corruption and mismanagement of the U.N., monetary support for the U.N. is un-American. The obstinate support of the U.N. and continual reliance on treaties with foreign powers to solve our problems is reminiscent of the time when ancient Israel depended upon Egypt instead of the Lord for its protection. Isaiah prophesied:

Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord! ... Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen [helped] shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.

The leading presidential candidates have repeated Israel's mistake: They are looking to other nations for guidance and have failed to seek guidance from God – the one upon Whom our nation was founded and our ultimate security depends. In the process, "We the People" are losing our right to self-determination and representative government through the encroaching influence of the international community. George Washington declared in his First Inaugural Address that "the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, and finally staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." If the American experiment fails, republican government falls with it. We must call on our leaders to fight for America and to rely upon God.
| EU/UN
/ 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |

UNfortunately for us, the political leadership believes that uniting the world together is the best thing we can do. And indeed it sounds good on the surface. However we must also remember that there is a war in heaven about to be waged and what is set up here on earth will be taken over by those that fell from heaven and used to control the earth as prophesied. Of course to those who don't believe and rather trust only in man's works look to this as foolishness, but time will prove the Bible's foretelling of the end. Can we affect change in the course that is set? I don't think so, the more I learn the further along I see we are than I previously believed.

Getting people to open their eyes seems to be the hardest thing, I don't necessarily want to believe all this either, but I'm also not going to stick my head in the sand. I think we should focus on reaching the individuals around us with the Truth of the Gospel when we can. Learning what I have, I have too much faith in God's Word coming to pass to think we can change what is set for the appointed times. Let us rather be aware and speak the Truth in love.  For those in Christ, our kingdom is not of this world.

John 18:35-37
Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

The Bible foretells of Christ's kingdom that will come after a time of great tribulation when the man of sin is given power by Lucifer to come against those who hold the testimony of Christ. It is after this time that He will return to set up His eternal kingdom. From now until the time of great tribulation begins...

Matthew 24:10-21
And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.


Unnatural Grid Appears in Nevada Earthquakes Stan Deyo (May 2, 2008) - When we first posted an image last Saturday showing numerous earthquakes hitting Reno's Crystal Peak golf course, it was interesting. However, it was nothing compared to the very distinctive earthquake grid that's formed in Nevada. This simply can't be a natural event. There are many – literally hundreds – of earthquakes on this main image, but you can't truly appreciate the number until you look at the individual maps. To do so, click any of the circles on the map below and you'll see many earthquakes hidden in this onslaught. The unmistakable grid pattern looks as though the quakes were deliberately targeted. Check this high altitude view of the Reno earthquake "explosions". Red arrows indicate areas of highest earthquake density on the grid. One would have to ask, why would Crystal Peak Golf course be targeted?
| America | Earth Changes |

You really have to go to the link and check out the grid of earthquakes. It certainly is bizarre. What does it mean? Beats me, but the existence of a pattern certainly catches the attention.


Illegal Aliens Demand 'Rights' and 'Reforms' The Loft (May 2, 2008) - I was planning to take the day off today and start my weekend a little bit early. However, I had the misfortune of reading the AP story on the May Day marches by thousands of illegal aliens who are demanding their "rights." Not only is the notion of lawbreakers taking to the streets to demand legal benefits completely outrageous, but the way the "news" story is worded is insane. When people break the law, there should be consequences. We should not close down streets in order for them to "show unity." What is going on here?!?! If you go by the AP's story, it's like there is no such thing as an "illegal" alien. For your humor and amusement, the AP story titled "Thousands rally in May Day effort for immigration reform" is filled with plenty of quotes that show the bias and the slant that the liberal media outlets take on this issue. In the second paragraph, the story talks about marchers across the country who "demanded citizenship opportunities for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. and an end to raids and deportations." Did I read that correctly? People come into this country illegally, and then "demand" citizenship and an end to enforcing the laws that are on the books to stop illegal activity? Here's one quote to start things off:

''We come here to fight for legalization. We're people. We have rights,'' said Eric Molina, an undocumented factory worker who immigrated to Zion, Ill., from Mexico.

Of course, the AP refers to this person as an "undocumented factory worker." Give me a break! Undocumented? You mean the employer was having a bad day and lost Mr. Molina's paperwork? The person is an ILLEGAL ALIEN, and is not only being allowed to stay in the country, but is being interviewed about it. In addition, the whole use of the phrase "immigrated to" has been completely twisted by the liberal press. Immigrants are people who come to this country legally and work to become part of the American fabric. They are not people who sneak across the border, use fake Social Security cards, and wave signs of their home countries during marches. Here's another quote:

''People have been stopped and deported in the last week. This is a community living in fear,'' said Veranes, a researcher for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades. ''You never know when you're going to be stopped by Border Patrol and now the police.''

Isn't it the job of the Border Patrol and the police to enforce our laws and protect our borders? Why are people surprised when a person who comes to this country illegally is deported? The outrage! I'm sure jewelry thieves don't take to the streets and start demanding their rights. How dare the authorities take those diamond rings from them? In addition, the AP uses more of their misleading language to account for the smaller number of protesters from the previous year. The writer states, "Some said participation likely was lower because many immigrants increasingly fear deportation." Wrong! I guarantee there is no immigrant in the United States of America who fears deportation. There may be some illegal aliens who fear deportation, but that is not the same thing, and the Associated Press should make that clear. Illegal immigration hurts America. It is a national security concern that must be addressed from top to bottom. The borders must be protected. Immigration laws must be enforced. America welcomes more legal immigrants than any other country in the entire world. We need to continue to do it the right way!
| America |


Gulf States May End Dollar Pegs, Kuwait Minister Says (Update4) Bloomberg (May 1, 2008) - Gulf states are considering dropping their pegs to the dollar after the U.S. currency's decline stoked inflation across the region, Kuwaiti Finance Minister Mustafa al- Shimali said. "Yes, there are some'' Gulf Cooperation Council states considering dropping their pegs to the dollar, which has fallen 13 percent against the euro in the last 12 months, al-Shimali said in an interview in Kuwait late yesterday without naming the countries. ``Some countries will do what we are doing.'' Al-Shimali's comments may restoke speculation of a change in Middle East currency systems that eased after the United Arab Emirates and Qatar last month ruled out any revaluation or dropping the dollar peg in the short term. The issue will remain a key issue as long as inflation remains high. "Inflation is rising in the Gulf to a great extent because of loose monetary policy,'' said Marios Maratheftis, head of research for Standard Chartered Plc in the Middle East in a telephone interview from Dubai. "Tightening monetary policy can only happen if they drop their currency pegs or strengthen the currency, preferably both.'' The U.A.E., Bahrain and Qatar lowered their benchmark interest rates today by a quarter point, matching a cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve a day earlier. The move is needed to maintain the dollar pegs. Saudi Arabia is on its weekend while Oman moves its interest rates in line with the London Inter Bank Offered Rate. Inflation is running close to 10 percent in Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E., while Qatar's consumer prices rose 14 percent in the fourth quarter. The Kuwaiti dinar has appreciated 7.9 percent against the dollar since the nation in May became the only Gulf Arab state to drop its peg to the U.S. currency. Contracts to buy U.A.E. dirhams in 12 months time are trading at a 2 percent premium and Saudi riyal forwards are trading at a 1.3 percent premium to the spot price, suggesting that some traders are betting that those countries will follow Kuwait in revaluing. The link to the dollar meant that imports in euros and other currencies that have strengthened against the dollar became more expensive. The idea of dropping the peg "has been started by other Gulf countries and they are partially going this way because the dollar has been going down for some time,'' al-Shimali said yesterday. more...
| America | Economic Crisis |


Reshaping Public Opinion and the White Coated Propagandists Reshaping the International Order Part 4 Knowledge Driven Revolution (April 28, 2008) -

"Atomic and political scientists from Harvard University and MIT meeting in November 1975 concluded that an atomic war will certainly occur before the year 2000. This, they believed, could only be prevented by the decision of all nation-states to surrender their sovereignty to an authoritarian world government, a possibility they viewed as unlikely." - RIO: Reshaping the International Order, 1976 (p46)

Public opinion is not generated by the public it is driven into them by marketing and propaganda. One of the main aspects of generating public opinion is the use of experts or specialists to tell the public what to think and give them a false sense of security derived from the belief that there are armies of experts making all of the difficult decisions for them. What if the legions of experts are just white coated propagandists?

Importance of Public Opinion

Any attempt at creating a new international order requires the reshaping of public opinion from their current modes of thought into newer more appropriate forms. This important detail was not overlooked by The Club of Rome. From RIO: Reshaping the International Order: [Italicised text is original emphasis and bolded text is added by author.]

"The possibility of implementing ideas of a new power structure would, in democratic societies, necessitate the acceptance of such ideas by wide sections of public opinion. It is of paramount importance, therefore, that new ways and means be found to establish, within industrialized countries, contacts between formal and informal groups of concerned citizens, scientists and politicians..." - 109

"Political feasibility. Crucially important especially during the early phases of the transformation of the existing order..." - 101

"Development implies a constant destruction of sociological and psychological structures. The real problem of development is cleverly to balance positive and real improvements with severe destructions... It is the responsibility of every nation to make its own choice between economic progress and socio-psych structure destructions, and to define its own fundamental objectives for real development, which is the development of man as a totality and of the totality of men." - (Part of RIO member Maurice Guernier's position statement) - 321

"The satisfaction of needs implies that each person available for and willing to work should have an adequately remunerated job... Education is the most important non-material component for fulfilling individual ambitions... At a higher level, education not only contributes directly to individual satisfaction by developing that individual's spiritual endowment, but also indirectly by preparing the individual, mentally as well as morally, for a future role in a changing world..." - 64

Reshaping Public Opinion

Public opinion is not generated from the public, but rather given to them from politicians, experts, fiction, news media, etc.

"Public opinion is no phenomenon sui generic. It is in part the result of government policies and by definition politicians cannot hide behind their own creation. If some sectors of public opinion in the industrialized countries are immersed in the rhetoric and slogans associated with misunderstanding, then much of this may be inherited from their political leaders. And if these leaders are in part responsible for a situation which impedes acceptance of the need for change, then they themselves must be held responsible for changing this situation." - 110

No Technocracy, Just White Coated Propagandists

"One of our main weapons in this search is the vast arsenal of scientists we are potentially able to deploy. To fully utilize this resource, we must deliberately choose to focus investigation in directions we believe to be really relevant." - 107

"In political process too, the search for 'new combinations' can be expected to produce valuable results. Such a search is likely to demonstrate the responsibilities which scientists and other specialists have, not only to their nations, but also to the constituency of mankind. In the past, specialists have often been reluctant to engage in political debate or to share their knowledge and fears with the general public. Given social dilemmas, they have often preferred to adopt neutral rather than value positions, to tacitly advise rather than openly advocate. This generalization no longer holds true. In many branches of science there are radical movements. Increasingly, both in the rich and poor worlds, scientists are involved in active advocacy which they see as an intellectual and ethical duty.

These observations suggest that specialists be provided with greater opportunities to participate in the making of decisions in areas of vital importance to the future of mankind This is not to suggest the creation of a technocracy nor that political will can ever be substituted by scientific expertise... Specialists must serve as 'advocates of the unborn' and the expansion of their role can be viewed as an example of functional representation in international decision-making.

Not only must specialists advocate courses of action in international fora, they must also more fully commit themselves to development efforts at the local level. Their commitment must be total, their allegiance to a problem or community unstinting. Experts operating through bilateral and multilateral channels have not always meet these requirements. The 'new expert', in actively promoting local self-reliant development, may need to subordinate his own values even his knowledge, to those of the community he is attempting to serve. We have seen the rise of 'barefoot doctors'; we must encourage the rise of 'barefoot experts'." - 108

The above quote clearly states that the "new experts" should form a league of white coated propagandists willing to subordinate their knowledge (the only thing they have to offer) to a desired political agenda. It should also be noted the use of the term "functional representation". This is significant because the Club of Rome redefines sovereignty from what they call "territorial sovereignty" to "functional sovereignty" completely changing the meaning of sovereignty. More on the redefinition of sovereignty here.

Using Other Groups

"The most important options for organizing institutions lie in three main areas. The first relates to the way in which the means of operating society are grouped into bunches which can appropriately be handled by one institution. From the viewpoint of efficiency, the most suitable approach would be to group together those means requiring similar techniques of control. The second option concerns the various levels of decision-making and the hierarchy corresponding to it. This important structural consideration applies to single institutions as well as to the relationship between persons and between institutions. ... Third... Membership should not be limited to national governments; it should also embrace non-governmental organizations of many kinds operating at different levels." - 101

"Whereas national public opinion may exist in the singular, internationally it exists in the plural... Groups of many different kinds, both in and outside the production process - students, trade unions, scientists - from both the Third World and the industrialized countries should join forces in their attempts to shape public and political opinion. The aim here must be the internationalization of attempts at 'conscience-raising'. There would appear to be tremendous scope for a range of non-governmental organizations in this field and for cooperation among them." - 111

"... a conscious attempt must be made to organize intellectual and political lobbies to re-educate international public and political opinion." - 177

"Convincing Public and Political Opinion: Coordinated and intensified effort should be made, particularly in industrialized countries, to publicize the need to create an international social and economic order which is perceived as more equitable by all peoples. ... The primary task of many non-governmental organizations must be to undertake the effort suggested." - 122

The Ministry of Third World Truth

The Club of Rome proposes the creation of a Ministry of Third World Truth to help shape international public opinion.

"Such reform [of news media] should include the creation of a Third World information centre to specifically serve Third World needs and to facilitate the dissemination of information on the Third World, both in industrialized and Third World countries." - 111

Conclusion

The creation of a World Food Authority and its use for population control is examined in part 5. The final article in this series deals with a variety of issues including global solidarity, regional unions, legal changes and a standing United Nations Peace Force.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |


The Separation of Church and State Wall Builders

I just came across this article and wanted to share it with you all in light of many attacks on Christianity in education and elsewhere. Check out Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed and some current legal cases resulting from the creation/evolution debate often evoking the supposed "separation of church and state" issue to eliminate religious discussion in education and even in public.

| America |


Mapping Sharia in America Project - David Yerushalmi explains Mapping Shari'a to Michael Savage Intelligence sources, both public (i.e., “open”) sources and clandestine ones, inform us that al Qaeda and many related, affiliated or kindred Muslim terrorist organizations and operational cells are located in the United States. Some are actively planning and preparing for the next major wave of terrorism on our Homeland. Others are “sleeper” cells, biding time and waiting for the right opportunity and command instructions from overseas. What we also know from our intelligence sources, and again much of this is public information, is that the ideological infrastructure is already in place for the Islamic assault on American from within America. This includes Islamic mosques, day schools, and social clubs and other organizations openly teaching historical, traditional and authoritative Islamic law or Shari’a. Islamic law is the source of the command for faithful Muslims to war against the infidel. Sometimes this “Jihad” is taught as a personal introspective battle against the Muslim’s own demons, but just as often this Jihad is taught as a war against non-Muslims and Muslims who have gone astray. Jihad, or Islamic holy war, can be waged peacefully through persuasion and even democratically (i.e., lobbying for electoral results), through coercion and threats, and of course through death and destruction. Many Islamic organizations in America appear to adhere to a peaceful Jihad. Some in fact do adhere to legal and non-violent Jihad to persuade Americans to embrace Islam as a religion and even as a political ideology. Many Islamic groups operate “underground” and explicitly advocate violence and Islamic holy war against America as the Great Satan.

Study: 3 in 4 U.S. mosques preach anti-West extremism World Net Daily (February 23, 2008)
| Islam | America |


Iran completely stops conducting oil transactions in US dollars USA Today (April 30, 2008) - A top Oil Ministry official says Iran, OPEC's second-largest producer, has completely stopped conducting all its oil transactions in U.S. dollars. Iran has dramatically reduced dependence on the dollar over the past year in the face of increasing U.S. pressure on its financial system and the fall in the value of the American currency. Oil is priced in U.S. dollars on the world market and the currency's depreciation has concerned producers because it has contributed to rising crude prices and eroded the value of their dollar reserves. Iran has already said it was shifting its oil sales out of the dollar into other currencies. Oil Ministry official Hojjatollah Ghanimifard said Wednesday all oil transactions are now being carried out in euros and yen.
| Iran | America | Economic Crisis |


Quake series stresses Reno-area residents USA Today (April 30, 2008) - Residents here are being shaken, literally, by an ongoing series of earthquakes, which experts warn could be a precursor to a major seismic event. Since late February, hundreds of earthquakes have rattled parts of west Reno. The strongest quake — with a magnitude of 4.7 — hit shortly before midnight last Friday, cracking walls and breaking windows, according to the Nevada Seismological Laboratory. More than 200 additional small quakes have followed, the lab reported, including two Monday evening and some small earthquakes Tuesday. "My nerves are shot. I can't do it anymore," said Cindy Thomas of Mogul, a community west of Reno. She and husband Larry moved to a relative's house in the southern part of Reno, away from where the quakes have clustered. She plans to stay away "as long as it takes." Scientists at the seismological laboratory — who met with Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons on Tuesday — say the Reno earthquake swarm is unusual. That's because a primary earthquake usually is followed by aftershocks diminishing in strength. These quakes started out small and the general trend shows them building in strength. A magnitude-6 quake hitting Reno "wouldn't be a scientific surprise," said John Anderson, the lab's director. Any earthquake measuring above a magnitude of 6 is considered a strong earthquake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Reno-area police and fire agencies have plans in place to respond to a major earthquake, and the state is ready to jump to the aid of Washoe County should one occur, said Gary Derks, operations officer for the Nevada Division of Emergency Management. Aaron Kenneston, emergency manager for Washoe County, is encouraging residents to prepare for a serious quake by stocking up on food, batteries, flashlights, first-aid supplies and at least 1 gallon of water per family member. Joe Bernardo spent last Friday night sweeping up broken glass inside his home, only to be jolted awake by another quake about 4:30 a.m. Monday. "Sleep-deprived? Yeah, you could say that," said Bernardo, 63. Sandy Jung and her husband are sleeping in a motor home for safety. Previously a California resident, Jung said she's accustomed to earthquakes, and has experienced bigger ones than are occurring in Reno. "But not swarms of them. Not day after day after day," Jung said. "It's getting very tiresome."
| America | Earth Changes |


Virginia residents inspect twister damage Associated Press (April 29, 2008) - Weary residents and business owners, some awakening in emergency shelters, braced themselves to see what was left of their homes and livelihoods Tuesday after three tornadoes smashed houses, piled cars on each other and injured more than 200 people. One twister in this city outside Norfolk cut a zigzagging path 25 miles long through residential areas, obliterating some homes in sprays of splintered lumber while leaving others just a few feet away untouched. Search teams with dogs found no sign of deaths or any additional injured victims, Suffolk City Fire Chief Mark Outlaw said. Several roads were closed Tuesday morning, and traffic was backed up leading into downtown Suffolk, a city of approximately 80,000 outside Norfolk. Of the 200 injured, only six were listed in critical condition and six were listed as serious. Officials listed 125 Suffolk homes and 15 buildings as uninhabitable. The National Weather Service confirmed that tornadoes struck Suffolk, Brunswick County, about 60 miles west, and Colonial Heights, about 60 miles northwest. Meteorologist Bryan Jackson described Suffolk’s as a “major tornado.” The Brunswick County tornado was estimated at 86 mph to 110 mph, and cut a 300-yard path, Jackson said. It struck first, at about 1 p.m., said Mike Rusnak, a weather service meteorologist in Wakefield. The second struck Colonial Heights around 3:40 p.m., he said. The tornado believed to have caused damage over a 25-mile path from Suffolk to Norfolk touched down repeatedly between 4:30 and 5 p.m., Rusnak said. more...
| America | Earth Changes |


Mississippi River Flooding Dooms Farmers Associated Press (April 28, 2008) - 855,750 acres are under water, the worst since 1973. Farmers here are experiencing water torture as they wait for the flooded Mississippi River to recede and give them a chance to salvage what's left of what might have been the best season in memory. The muddy Mississippi is at levels not seen in more than three decades, putting hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland under water. It's impossible to gauge overall agricultural losses at this point, federal and state officials say, but most agree the cost will be expensive and the damage extensive. At Pig Willie's barbecue joint, a cinderblock and cement floor affair attached to a gas station along Highway 61 as the blacktop begins its long, flat run through the Delta, independent farmers recently gathered for lunch and to share their blues. "Right here in this room it will cost over $1 million," Karsten Simrall said of the difficulties facing farmers. They are wagering potential profits offered by some of the richest soil in the country against the whims of the mercurial Mississippi. "It'll take us five years to get out of this. It's going to put people out of business," Simrall said. "There's no telling what's going to happen." The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says a total of 855,750 acres are under either Mississippi floodwater or backwater from the Yazoo River, which drains much of the board-flat Mississippi Delta into the Mississippi River. About 273,000 of those flooded acres are cleared for wheat, cotton, soybeans, corn and other crops. Simrall recently knocked a hole in a levee his family built more than a century ago to protect their land north of Vicksburg. After failing to keep water out, he feared it will keep in receding floodwaters. The flood hit just as farmers were preparing to harvest wheat and plant corn, soybeans and cotton. Some, like farmer Brad Bradway, were forced to watch as water crept inch by inch over his 110 acres of wheat until his fields sat under 8 feet of water. more...
| America |


Bush backs peace deal as Hamas offers truce Euro News (April 25, 2008) - With the clock ticking down on his administration, President Bush says he remains committed to securing a Middle East peace deal. He's held talks with his Palestinian counterpart in Washington ahead of his trip to the region in mid-May. Negotiations have stalled since Bush pledged to achieve an agreement by the end of this year. Bush said: "I assured [President Abbas] that a Palestinian state's a high priority, for me and my adminsitration, a viable state, a state that doesn't look like Swiss cheese, a state that provides hope." But one of the biggest holes in the plan has been the rise of Abbas's political rivals Hamas, who captured the Gaza strip last June. They too are pushing for peace - at least temporarily. Former foreign minister Mahmoud al-Zahar offered Israel a six-month truce in Gaza with an option to extend it to the West bank. In return they want end to the Israeli blockade of the territory. Israel's UN ambassador dismissed the deal. Menawhile Gaza is at breaking point. The UN has had to suspend its aid operations in the Strip after an emergency fuel shipment was blocked by petrol-hungry farmers. Israel says it has cut shipments of fuel and other supplies in response to cross border rocket attacks by Hamas militants. The EU sent a shipment of diesel to Gaza's only power station after engineers warned it was about to shut down. They say the generators will grind to a halt on Sunday if no more fuel is allowed through.
| Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land | America |


Concerns mount ahead of US briefing on IAF strike in Syria The Jerusalem Post (April 23, 2008) - US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Wednesday that the American public would "soon" learn the details of North Korea's nuclear involvement with Syria, despite fears in Jerusalem that such revelations could push Syria to attack Israel. Israel has registered its opposition to releasing details connected to the IAF's September 6 strike on what foreign media reports have said was likely a nuclear reactor being built in northeastern Syria with the help of North Korea. But members of Congress have been clamoring for briefings on what the administration knows about the incident and what it means for North Korean nuclear proliferation amid concerns over US concessions to the East Asian country in exchange for ending its nuclear program. Select congressional panels, including the Senate and House intelligence committees, are set to receive closed briefings Thursday on what the administration knows about North Korean-Syrian nuclear ties. Top defense officials expressed concern Wednesday that the details revealed in the congressional hearing would "embarrass" Syrian President Bashar Assad - who has refused to confirm reports on the nature of the site - and might create pressure from within his regime to respond militarily against Israel. "Syria thinks it owes us for what happened in September," a senior Israeli defense official said, adding that the congressional hearing could also force Assad to reject peace talks with Israel to show leadership in the face of growing internal criticism. Since the air strike, Israel has refused to publicly reveal details on the site, and the military censor has imposed tight restrictions on what details the Israeli press is allowed to publish. The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that US intelligence officials would tell the US legislators that North Korea was helping Syria to build a plutonium-fueled reactor. Following the September 6 air strike, the Syrians razed the site. At a press briefing on Wednesday morning, Gates would not elaborate on the nature or timing of the revelations to be made public, beyond his statement that they would come "soon," and neither would spokesmen from the State Department and White House when asked later in the day about his comments. There has been speculation, however, that members of the media will be given information following the closed congressional briefings. The United States recently has stepped back from its push for a detailed declaration addressing the North's alleged secret uranium enrichment program and nuclear cooperation with Syria. Now, the United States says it wants the North to simply acknowledge the American concerns and then set up a system to verify that the country does not continue such activity. more...
| Islam | Isaiah 17
| America |


California foreclosure "surge": Up 327% from '07 levels Los Angeles Times (April 22, 2008) - The number of California homes lost to foreclosure in the first quarter surged 327% from year-ago levels -- reaching an average of more than 500 foreclosures per day -- DataQuick said in a report, warning that the widening foreclosure problem could "spread beyond the current categories of dicey mortgages, and into mainstream home loans." From DataQuick's report on California foreclosures in the first three months of 2008: "Trustees Deeds recorded, or the actual loss of a home to foreclosure, totaled 47,171 during the first quarter. ...  Last quarter's total rose 48.9 percent from 31,676 in the previous quarter, and jumped 327.6 percent from 11,032 in first quarter 2007."  That translates into 517 foreclosures every day in the first quarter of 2008. DataQuick president Marshall Prentice: "The main factor behind this foreclosure surge remains the decline in home values. Additionally, a lot of the 'loans-gone-wild' activity happened in late 2005 and 2006 and that's working its way through the system. The big 'if' right now is whether or not the economy is in recession. If it is, the foreclosure problem could spread beyond the current categories of dicey mortgages, and into mainstream home loans." From The L.A. Times' Peter Hong: "Sinking home values and the collapse of flimsy mortgages sent a record number of California homes into the foreclosure process in the first three months of this year, a real estate information service reported today." Default notices -- which mark the beginning of the foreclosure process -- increased sharply, but not as rapidly as outright foreclosures. From Bloomberg News: "California mortgage defaults more than doubled in the first quarter to the highest in 15 years as a drop in sales and prices prevented some homeowners from selling their properties to pay debt, DataQuick Information Systems said. More: "Homeowners received 113,676 default notices in the first quarter, up 143 percent from a year ago, La Jolla, California- based DataQuick said today in a statement. The level was the highest since at least 1992, when DataQuick's statistics begin." Despite well publicized federal efforts to reach out to homeowners in default, the odds that they will ultimately lose their homes appear to be increasing. DataQuick reports that, of the homeowners in default, "an estimated 32 percent emerge from the foreclosure process by bringing their payments current, refinancing, or selling the home and paying off what they owe. A year ago it was about 52 percent.
| America | Economic Crisis |


Al Qaeda No. 2: Attacks on Western nations in works CNN (April 22, 2008) - Al Qaeda still has plans to target Western countries involved in the Iraq war, Osama bin Laden's chief deputy warns in an audiotape released Tuesday to answer questions posed by followers. The voice in the lengthy file posted on an Islamic Web site could not be immediately confirmed as al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri's. But it sounded like past audiotapes from the terror leader, and the posting bore the logo of As-Sahab, al Qaeda's official media arm. The two-hour message is billed as the second installment of al-Zawahiri's answers to more than 900 questions submitted on extremist Internet sites by al Qaeda supporters, critics and journalists in December. Responding to a question of whether the terror group had plans to attack Western countries that participated in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and subsequent war, al-Zawahiri said, "My answer is, yes. We think that any country that joined aggression on Muslims must be deterred." Al-Zawahiri also denied a conspiracy theory that Israel carried out the September 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S., and he blamed Iran and Shiite Hezbollah for spreading the idea to discredit the Sunni al Qaeda's achievement. Al-Zawahiri accused Hezbollah's al-Manar television of starting the rumor. "The purpose of this lie is clear -- (to suggest) that there are no heroes among the Sunnis who can hurt America as no else did in history. Iranian media snapped up this lie and repeated it," he said. "Iran's aim here is also clear -- to cover up its involvement with America in invading the homes of Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq," he added. "Iran's aim here is also clear -- to cover up its involvement with America in invading the homes of Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq," he added. Iran cooperated with the United States in the 2001 U.S. assault on Afghanistan that toppled the Taliban, an al Qaeda ally. The comments reflected al-Zawahiri's increasing criticism of Iran, which al-Zawahiri has accused in recent messages of seeking to extend its power in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and through its Hezbollah allies in Lebanon. Until recent months, he had not often mentioned the Islamic republic. Al Qaeda has previously claimed responsibility for the 9/11 attacks. The anti-Iranian rhetoric could reflect an attempt to exploit majority Sunnis' fears of Shiite Iran's influence in the region and depict al Qaeda as the main force opposing it. more...
| Iran | Israel | Islam | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America |

I would like to add regarding September 11, 2001 that I have some valid suspicions that more than Al Qaeda was involved and the question arises from what we all saw that day. Thousands of man-hours go into preparing buildings to be brought straight down within their own footprint, with precisely placed and timed charges in strategic areas so that the buildings don't topple into their surrounding neighbors. How is it that three buildings in the course of one day all fell with that same precision without all the man-hours necessary to bring other buildings down with that kind of precision?

Keeping in mind that we don't fight against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places, and given the result of the attacks on that day in taking freedoms in the name of peace and security and intensified global harmonization of laws toward that same end, could it be that those pushing for a global control have players on both sides of the field, creating the chaos then providing the answers to that chaos through government? For Al Qaeda, it is in their best interest to claim responsibility and those who had to put the time into the precise bringing down of those three buildings have it in their best interest to let them take responsibility for it. There is some questions I still have as to their connection to the CIA. And the history of the CIA in things like the Iran-Contra affair seems to have been involved in much of the foundation of current conflicts. The Bible says that in the end times there would be a global government headed by the man of sin centered in Europe. We are marching toward that legal control right now through the war on terror and other things such as free-trade through NAFTA and the WTO. America is ceding sovereignty to Europe while Canada and the US have signed an agreement so that in the event of an emergency, Canadian military forces can be deployed in America and visa-versa. Part of the design of the current system is to unite military and civilian authorities in the event of an emergency.

So am I just a kooky conspiracy theorist? Combined with my previous belief in the Bible and what it says about global governance in the end and what I'm seeing in the news as a result of these events and those in Spain and London among others, I would say 33rd degree Mason Albert Pike was either a prophet (I don't think so) or the mystery of iniquity truly is at work to bring about the end that the Bible foretold. Terror works to the end of creating the chaos that the planned New World Order is supposed to rise out of. Whether the enemy of mankind has his marionettes in all societies and in all places of power is for you to decide based on information, I believe he does and that is what the trail has been leading me to see.

I don't like what I'm seeing and while I don't think there is anything we can do, we are told to watch and so as a watchman I share with you what I'm seeing, pretty or not. I have no political agenda as I trust few of them and even then cannot be sure. I try to judge by the fruits of their labors. BTW, I'm not saying our whole government is corrupt, but I am saying that there are elements with great power within government that know the ropes and how to remain hidden in the shadows of government. Government is necessary according to the Bible, but in the end times, that system will be handed to and headed by a dictator who will have the destruction of mankind in mind. These are just more signs leading to the end prophesied, now seen in greater detail as they unfold around us. We're still in the stages that can be dismissed by many, but I believe that will soon change. This Biblical foundation separate from all the conspiracy information, in combination with what is happening today, leads me to speak up about it and encourage you to keep watching! There is hope for them that love God, I encourage you to get to know Him if you don't already! While we watch events unfold, remember that Yeshua is our true focus, the rest are just signs of the times for our awareness.


"Functional" Sovereignty and the Common Heritage of Mankind Reshaping the International Order Part 3 Knowledge Driven Revolution (April 21, 2008) -

"The achievement of this global planning and management system calls for the conscious transfer of power - a gradual transfer to be sure - from the nation State to the world organization. Only when this transfer takes place can the organization become effective and purposeful." - RIO: Reshaping the International Order, 1976 (p185)

This article addresses the redefinition of sovereignty from "territorial sovereignty" to "functional sovereignty" by The Club of Rome. Also discussed is the use of the concept of the "common heritage of mankind" to gain international control of not just the oceans, atmosphere and outer space but also all material and non-material resources. Part 1 of this series gives an overview of the proposed new international order described by the RIO report as "humanistic socialism". This includes: collective neighbourhood armies, a fully planned world economy, global free trade, public international enterprises, proposed changes in consumption patterns among other topics. Changes to the financial system including international taxation and the creation of a World Treasury, World Central Bank and World Currency are examined in part 2.

Territorial Sovereignty versus Functional Sovereignty From RIO: Reshaping the International Order: [Italicised text is original emphasis and bolded text is added by author.]

"Given the growing list of problems confronting mankind, every effort must be made to stimulate processes which point in directions which can be deemed desirable. This would certainly apply, for example, to the tendency towards the increasing centralization of decision-making involving issues beyond national frontiers should be viewed as a logical continuation of the process of change and a precondition for the effective assertion of national sovereignty." - 103

The "increasing centralization of [international] decision-making" being a "precondition for the effective assertion of national sovereignty" may seem contradictory. The reason for this misunderstanding is your definition of sovereignty is based on an apparently outdated "territorial sovereignty" instead of the much more modern and politically correct "functional sovereignty".

"In other words, the traditional concept of territorial sovereignty should be replaced by the concept of functional sovereignty, which distinguishes jurisdiction over specific uses from sovereignty over geographic space. This would permit the interweaving of national jurisdiction and international competences within the same territorial space and open the possibility of applying the concept of the common heritage of mankind both beyond and within the limits of national jurisdiction."- 172

That is right, "sovereignty" no longer involves governmental control within a geographic space, rather it refers to governmental control of specific functions within a geographic space. Which functions would depend on the dictates of a world authority.

"Acceptance of these elements calls for a reinterpretation of the concept of national sovereignty. Participation and social control suggest a functional rather than a territorial interpretation of sovereignty, or jurisdiction over determined uses rather than geographical space. Conceptually, this interpretation will make possible the progressive internationalization and socialization of all world resources - material and non-material - based upon the 'common heritage of mankind' principle. It also permits the secure accommodation of inclusive and exclusive uses of these resources, or, in other words, the interweaving of national and international jurisdiction within the same territorial space... Ultimately, we must air for decentralized sovereignty with the network of strong international institutions which will make it possible." - 82

Common Heritage of Mankind as "Functional Ownership"

"... the new concepts of functional sovereignty and functional ownership (common heritage of mankind)." - 314

"The [Communist Yugoslavian] concept of social ownership and its attributes are clearly applicable to the 'common heritage' concept." - 81

"Effective planning and management calls for the fundamental restructuring of the United Nations so as to give it broad economic powers and a more decisive mandate for international economic decision-making... It is also hoped that major changes in the United Nations structure will be made over the next decade so that it is not only able to play a more forceful role in world political affairs but it is also able to become more of a World Development Authority in managing the socio-economic affairs of the international community. ... The most effective way of articulating the planning and management functions of this organization would be through a functional confederation of international organizations, based upon existing, restructured and, in some instances, new United Nations agencies - to be linked through an integrative machinery. This system and its machinery, if it is really to reflect interdependencies between nations and solidarity between peoples, should ultimately aim at the pooling and sharing of all resources, material and non-material, including means of production, with a view to ensuring effective planning and management of the world economy and of global resource use in a way which would meet the essential objectives of equity and efficiency." - 185

"In the long term, and assuming progress towards the creation of an equitable international economic and social order leading to a pooling of material and non-material resources, mineral resources will need to be viewed as a common heritage of mankind. This concept implies both a real world market for all mineral resources and a system of world taxation to replace national mining taxation. The revenues collected should be redistributed among Third World countries - possibly through such an agency as IDA [International Development Association - World Bank group]...

This tax could, for instance, be introduced as one of a moderate rate and gradually be raised to something in the order of 70 per cent of profits on fossil fuels and 50 per cent of the value of production of ores (including uranium).

Such a tax would, like the present taxes on oil products, in fact be paid by the consumers...

Such a tax, at the rates proposed, would probably induce consumers to restrict their consumption of mineral raw materials..." - 148

This concept includes the manipulation of the Third World "national liberation" movements in the post colonial era. These are only stepping stones toward "functional sovereignty".

"[Third World territorial sovereignty] is a weapon which must be used in the struggle for a new international order." - 247

"After the exercise of national sovereignty by Third World countries over their national resources has helped to establish more equality between mineral producing and consuming countries, a switch to the concept of the 'common heritage of mankind' is recommended and a gradual transformation of the principle of territorial sovereignty into functional sovereignty. This must be viewed as the most desirable approach to the world management of national and other resources, material and non-material." - 150

"Sovereignty and the Common Heritage of Mankind... the first objective to be achieved is the attainment by Third World countries of full sovereignty over their resources in compliance with the UNCERDS [United Nations Charter of the Economic Rights and Duties of States]. Only after this objective has been achieved can the concept of the common heritage of mankind, traditionally limited to resources considered as res nullius such as the oceans and outer space, be expanded to new domains such as mineral resources, science and technology, means of production and other sources of wealth. After the exercise of national sovereignty has contributed toward the creation of a more equitable international order, the aim should be to pool all world resources - material and non-material - with a view to ensuring effective planning and management of the world economy and of global resource use in a way which would meet the dual objectives of equity and efficiency. In this perspective resources would need to be managed on the basis of decentralized planetary sovereignty. Proposals contained in the following chapters for the application of the common heritage concept to particular fields should thus be viewed in this broader context." - 123

Remember when you hear the term "Common Heritage of Mankind" it does not just refer to the oceans, atmosphere and outer space, it refers to all material and non-material resources. Anything that might be considered a source of wealth would be brought under strict international authority. Keep in mind non-material resources includes, among other things, the education of "human resources". more...
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |

Boy this brings to mind the article from the last newsletter: Minerals: Crumbling Bedrock of U.S. Security.


Bloody Weekend: 32 Shot, 2 Stabbed, 6 Dead CBS Chicago (April 20, 2008) - A violent and deadly weekend continues in Chicago. At least 12 people have been shot, two of them killed, since Saturday morning. Two others were stabbed in a home invasion. This comes after at least 20 people were shot, four of them killed, from Friday night through early Saturday. A 28-year-old man was shot and killed at an auto body repair shop on the Southwest Side Saturday morning. Raul Lemus was shot in the stomach at 2520 W. 59th St. at about 11:20 a.m. Lemus, of 4630 S. Talman Av., died several hours later at Stroger Hospital, making him the sixth person killed in Chicago since Friday night. Police said the shooting appeared to be gang related. Also Saturday morning, Michael Giles, 26, was shot and killed inside his home at 336 N. Avers Av. Harrison Area detectives are investigating. In another case, a suspect toting an AK-47 has been charged with murder and three counts of attempted murder after allegedly killing a man and shooting at police. Bennie Teague, 39, was denied bond in the case Sunday afternoon. It's amazing no one was hurt during the shootout between police and Teague, who was firing an assault rifle. Police say the gunman opened fire on them Friday night at 110th and South Union. They tracked him down after he allegedly shot and killed 34-year-old Marcus Hendricks inside a plumbing business a few blocks away. The 34-year-old from Flossmoor died after being shot just blocks from a police-involved shooting on the Far South Side. He died at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn at 8 p.m., a Cook County Medical Examiner's office spokesman said. "All I could say is he's a nice guy," said neighbor Amos Williams. The recent gunfire has rattled nerves throughout the Roseland neighborhood. "It's not that all the area, all the streets are bad," Williams said. "It's that you get bad elements coming through your street." Also, Friday night, two teens were gunned down in front of a church in the 7500 block of South Phillips. Police say gunmen jumped out of a car and opened fire in front of the Free Salvation Methodist Baptist Church. One of the teens suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and back, the other was shot in the neck, police said. Melvin Thomas, of 14922 Washington Ave. in Harvey was pronounced dead at the Stein Institute at 1:20 a.m. Rhonell Savala, of 9750 S. Hoxie Ave. in Chicago, was pronounced dead at 12:50 a.m. Saturday at the Stein Institute. "I was in my house and my friend came and got me and he said two boys was laying outside on the stairs...dead," said neighbor Tamara Roberson. "To put the shooting in perspective, you have to consider this was a 17-hour window," said Chicago Police spokesperson Monique Bond about the number of shootings. Chicago police are now stepping up patrols in areas that they call "hot zones." Police blame the warmer temperatures for the spike in violence. "We know that we're approaching warmer weather, the summer season. We know that this is going to be a very busy season for the Chicago Police Department. There's no doubt about that," Bond said. Chicago Police have also recently started using helicopter patrols to try to curb gang violence. Choppers will be flying over areas prone to gang activity, especially on weekends when more shootings seem to occur. Other shootings included, a 65-year-old man being shot dead outside his home on the Southeast Side during an attempted robbery. more...
| Signs of the Times | America |


North American Union: PR Was Focus of Recent Secret Meeting of the SPP Natural News (April 19, 2008) - An internal memo from Canada's Foreign Affairs and Internal Trade ministry, obtained by World Net News under the Access to Information Act, documents the agenda at the most recent secret summit meeting of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) in Montebello, Quebec, held on August 20-21, 2007. The central activity of the meeting was to figure out a way to get the American people to swallow the idea of the collaboration leading to the North American Union, and to squelch the growing criticism surrounding it. Present at the meeting were U.S. President George Bush, Mexico's President Felipe Calderon, and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The SPP consists of 20 working groups plus the attending cabinet officers from each country and the heads of state. Also present were members of the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC), the only participants invited to meet behind closed doors with the SPP bureaucrats. The NACC is a largely secretive advisory council to the SPP consisting of representatives from 30 North American corporations selected by the Chambers of Commerce in the three nations. The NACC issued no press releases disclosing specific recommendations made to them by the SPP trilateral working groups tasked with "integrating" and "harmonizing" administrative rules and regulations into a unified North American format. However, the memo documents that the NACC was urged to launch a public relations campaign to counter growing criticism of the trilateral cooperative that is seen by many as a major step toward the North American Union, see (http://www.naturalnews.com/022707.html). "Leaders had a successful meeting with the members of the NACC, which had been launched at the leader's meeting in Cancun in March 2006, to counsel governments on how they might enhance North American competitiveness," the memo begins. As discussion continues, the members of the NACC were urged to "assist in confronting and refuting critics of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America". According to paragraph four of the memo, the public relations theme continued during the meeting. "In closing, all leaders expressed a desire for the NACC to play a role in articulating publicly the benefits of greater collaboration in North America." Further on, according to the memo, "Leaders discussed some of the difficulties of the SPP, including the lack of popular support and the failure of the public to understand the competitive challenges confronting North America." The memo continues, "Governments are faced with addressing the rapidly evolving competitive environment without fueling protectionism, when industry sectors face radical transformation." The memo documents a comment by the U.S. President. "In terms of building public support, President Bush suggested engaging the support of those who had benefited from NAFTA and from North American Integration (including small business owners) to tell their stories and humanize the impressive results." Regarding import safety, the document says, "President Bush underlined the importance of tackling the issue more broadly and showing that governments are ahead of this issue in order to prevent a trade protectionist backlash, especially against China." The memo again reinforces the public relations theme, emphasizing, "NACC members should have a role in communicating the merits of North American collaboration, including by engaging their employees and unions." Meanwhile, a policy of secret, closed-door meetings where the press and the public is not invited to participate or observe the process continues to characterize meetings of the SPP and trilateral working groups. A meeting of the SPP that was virtually unreported in the U.S. and Canada on February 27-28, 2008 in Los Cabos, Mexico, was disclosed in the Mexico City newspaper La Jornada. According to the newspaper, the Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez visited Mexico City prior to the Los Cabos meeting "to renegotiate NAFTA" by offering the information to Mexico that undisclosed U.S. corporations and the U.S. government are planning to place as much as $141 billion in new investments in Mexico under the Mexico National Infrastructure Project 2007-2012. In a press release published February 21 on the U.S. Trade and Development Agency website, the agenda for the February 26-28 meeting in Mexico City was presented. At this meeting Secretary Gutierrez planned to announce United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) grants totaling more than $1.7 million made "to promote the development of transportation, energy and environmental projects under Mexico's National Infrastructure Program". Another press release on the USTDA website documents the launching by President Calderon of Mexico's National Infrastructure Program in July, 2008. Its goal is to create $141 billion dollars worth of new infrastructure investment opportunities for U.S. firms by 2012. more...
| NewWorldOrder | America |


British prime minister calls for global 'interdependence' Associated Press (April 18, 2008) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in his first foreign policy address in the United States, called on the U.S. and Europe on Friday to lead a new era of global "interdependence" aimed at solving international problems such as terrorism, poverty and climate change. "We urgently need to step out of the mindset of competing interests and instead find our common interests, and we must summon up the best instincts and efforts of humanity in a cooperative effort to build new international rules and institutions for the new global era," Brown said in a speech to about 350 invited guests at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Brown cited Kennedy's Independence Day speech in 1962, when the president proposed a "new and global declaration of interdependence." Brown said Kennedy's call for public service "still reverberates around the world and always will." Noting Kennedy's creation of the Peace Corps, Brown called for the creation of "a new kind of global peace and reconstruction corps," which he described as an organization of trained civilian experts available any time to rebuild states. Brown also talked about U.S. leadership following World War II, include the Marshall Plan that funneled millions in economic aid and technical assistance to help rebuild Europe. "We must summon inspiration from the vision, humanity and leadership shown by those reformers to guide our actions today," he said. Brown reiterated his call for reform of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and United Nations to give emerging countries such as China, India and Brazil more say in the international institutions. He called on the World Bank to intensify programs to reduce poverty and said the institution should become a bank for both development and the environment by transferring billions in loans and grants to encourage the poorest countries to adopt alternative sources of energy. The British leader, who has set a mandatory target in the U.K. to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent by 2050, insisted that a new global pact on reducing carbon emission must be agreed on by the end of 2009. He said the deal, which would replace the Kyoto Protocol that was rejected by the U.S. and expires in 2012, should be led by the United Nations and needs to set binding targets for all developed countries. Brown, who has overseen some U.K. troop withdrawals in Iraq and sought to soothe public anger in Britain over the unpopular war, did not mention Iraq directly. But he insisted he would support future military action to intervene in failing states. He praised President Bush for leading the world in an attempt to root out terrorism and "our common commitment that there be no safe haven for terrorists." Brown said the United States and Europe should act as "hardheaded internationalists," and use "diplomatic, economic, and yes, when necessary military action -- to prevent crimes against humanity when states can no longer do so."
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |


EU: Europe Needs More Say in World Economy Talks As Strong Euro Gains Ground Associated Press (April 11, 2008) - The European Union's top economy official has said that Europe deserved a greater say in the global economy as the strong euro gains ground as the world's second major currency. EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said Friday that the rest of the world now sees the euro currency zone as "a pole of stability" and the currency had the potential to become even more important. The euro is now second to the weak U.S. dollar as a reserve currency held by foreign investors and has risen sharply against the dollar in recent months, hitting a new all-time high of $1.5912 on Thursday. Almunia said the euro area is now "playing an increasingly important role in supporting the stability of the world economy and the global financial system." "Non-EU countries increasingly perceive the euro area and the EU as a whole as a pole of stability, a source of new capital, and also a source of advice and expertise on regulatory approaches," he said in a speech to the Petersen Institute in Washington D.C. His prepared remarks were distributed ahead of time by his Brussels office. The EU official called for the 15 euro nations to share a single seat when world leaders meet to discuss the economy at the International Monetary Fund or the G-7 group of top seven industrialized nations. In the G-7, this would come at the expense of euro users Germany, France and Italy which now represent themselves at these talks. The euro's greater role carried some risks, he warned, because it increased the region's exposure to shocks from other parts of the world and "disruptive portfolio shifts" between major currencies. "It is precisely such shocks that are likely to occur more frequently in a world characterized by financial and economic globalization," he said. He again signaled worry about the U.S.' huge current account deficit, saying a sudden "unwinding" could hit Europe hard, since its currency is still appreciating against the dollar. The euro now makes up 26 percent of foreign exchange reserves and is the second most actively traded currency after the U.S. dollar on global foreign exchange markets. Euro-dollar trades are the most popular foreign exchange deals, accounting for more than a quarter of global turnover.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Minerals: Crumbling Bedrock of U.S. Security The Trumpet (April 2008) - During the War of Independence, America learned the painful lesson of reliance on foreign nations. The newborn United States had to rely on France and the Netherlands to supply everything from iron and gunpowder to blankets and clothing, and Britain routinely cut America’s supply lines. Seeing this weakness, America’s founders implemented a national strategy promoting industrial and military self-sufficiency in order to establish the nation’s security. It seems America has forgotten that lesson. One specific example is in mineral production. America’s leaders have allowed the nation’s once formidable mining industry to erode. Many minerals—including some that are strategically important for the military—are no longer produced in the United States at all. Due to lack of investment, radical environmental activism, and low-cost foreign competition, many of America’s former mining giants have turned off the drills, closed the refineries and sent the workers home, or have chosen to develop new production outside the U.S. A Warning Unheeded It’s not that America wasn’t warned. Back in 1985, the secretary of the United States Army testified before Congress that America was more than 50 percent dependent on foreign sources for 23 of 40 critical materials essential to U.S. national security. The year before, in a U.S. Marine Corps study, Maj. R.A. Hagerman wrote, “Since World War ii, the United States has become increasingly dependent on foreign sources for almost all non-fuel minerals. … The availability of these minerals have an extremely important impact on American industry and, in turn, on U.S. defense capabilities. Without just a few critical minerals, such as cobalt, manganese, chromium and platinum, it would be virtually impossible to produce many defense products such as jet engines, missile components, electronic components, iron, steel, etc. “This places the U.S. in a vulnerable position with a direct threat to our defense production capability if the supply of strategic minerals is disrupted by foreign powers” (“U.S. Reliance on Africa for Strategic Minerals,” April 6, 1984). A look at America’s mining production since the mid-to-late 1980s is not just shocking, it is chilling. Cobalt, for example, is one of the most critical minerals used in America and is considered a strategic metal by the U.S. government, meaning that its availability during a national emergency would seriously affect the economic, industrial and defensive capability of the country. It has many diverse commercial, industrial and military applications including superalloys (used to make parts for jet aircraft engines), magnets, high-speed steels, catalysts for petroleum and chemical industries as well as for paints, varnishes and inks. Just before America entered World War ii, it made a scramble to begin cobalt mining. Production began in 1940 and continued until 1971, when the mines were closed and cobalt mining ceased to exist in America. The most recent data available from the U.S. Geological Survey (usgs) shows that, as of 2004, the over 8,700 tons the nation consumes is 100 percent imported. Cobalt sells for more than $45,000 a ton. Manganese is another essential mineral America no longer produces. It is essential to iron and steel production by virtue of its sulfur-fixing, deoxidizing and alloying properties. Manganese is also a key component of certain widely used aluminum alloys and of dry cell batteries and plant fertilizers. In 1918 America produced over 400,000 tons of manganese, which was over 44 percent of global production. By the end of World War ii, mining had fallen to only 12 percent of global production, covering just 28 percent of America’s daily needs. Since then, manganese production has steadily eroded; the last domestic ingot of manganese was mined in 1990. Today America imports 100 percent of its manganese consumption. America no longer produces any chromium either, a mineral the usgs calls “one of the nation’s most important strategic and critical materials.” Chromium is used to harden iron, steel and other nonferrous alloys. The list of minerals that America no longer produces is astounding and growing. America no longer produces indium (as of 1970), arsenic (1985), gallium (1987), bauxite or alumina (1989), tin (1990), thorium (1992), mercury (1993), tungsten (1995), fluorspar (1997), nickel (1999), vanadium (2000), antimony (2001) or rare earth minerals (2002), to name a few. Then there is a whole host of other minerals, like iron, zinc and titanium, that America produces at greatly reduced volumes. Allowing such a wide swath of the nation’s mineral production base to dry up and disappear is a critical miscalculation. You can’t just turn mines on and off at the flick of a switch. “The average person doesn’t stop to think that a process of several years is involved from the point of minerals exploration to on-site development to extraction, smelting and manufacture of the primary products,” former American Mining Congress President J. Allen Overton once noted. “Once lost, it will take years—if ever—to recover it.” As America has been divesting itself of mineral-producing capacity, other nations have been quick to embrace it. Unfortunately for the U.S., the ability to control global production of strategic minerals is an incredibly powerful political weapon. China, for example, now completely dominates rare earth minerals—minerals that the U.S. supplied over 20 percent of not long ago. “The whole family of ‘-ums’ like gallium, rhenium, neodymium and indium, is fascinating. And frightening!” reports the Miner Diaries investment bulletin. “They are an essential ingredient in many technology-related sectors and demand is growing at 10-to-15 percent a year. “Yet it is completely dominated by just one country—around 95 percent of supply comes from China” (Jan. 30, 2008). more...
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America |


Forecasters Predict 'Well Above Average' Hurricane Activity for 2008 Season Fox News (April 10, 2008) - Fasten your seatbelts, it's gonna be a bumpy hurricane season. That's the latest word from a team of Colorado State University forecasters, who predict the nation's Atlantic coast will experience a hurricane season "well above average." "Current oceanic and atmospheric trends indicate that we will likely have an active Atlantic basin hurricane season," said William Gray, who heads the university's forecast team. The forecasters predict at least 15 named storms will form in the Atlantic basin between June 1 and Nov. 30. Eight of the storms are predicted to become hurricanes, and of those eight, four are expected to develop into intense or major hurricanes with sustained winds of 111 mph or greater. "Based on our latest forecast, the probability of a major hurricane making landfall along the U.S. coastline is 69 percent compared with the last-century average of 52 percent," said Phil Klotzbach, a member of the forecast team. "We are calling for a very active hurricane season this year, but not as active as the 2004 and 2005 seasons." The 2005 season — the year of Katrina, Rita, Wilma, Dennis and Emily — caused a record $128 billion in damage, with at least 2,280 reported deaths. The 2004 season was one of the deadliest, with at least 3,100 deaths and more than $50 billion in damage. The Colorado State team reported that current conditions in the Atlantic basin are very favorable for an active hurricane season. The current warm sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic are likely to continue in the tropical and North Atlantic during 2008. Additionally, the team expects neutral or weak La Nina conditions in the tropical Pacific, which, combined with a predicted warm north and tropical Atlantic, is a recipe for enhanced Atlantic basin hurricane activity. These factors are similar to conditions that occurred during the 1950, 1989, 1999, and 2000 seasons. The average of these four seasons had well above-average activity, and Klotzbach and Gray predict the 2008 season will have similar activity. more...
| America | Earth Changes |


Sadr to consult top Shiite clerics about possibility of disbanding Mehdi Army The Daily Star (April 8, 2008) - Hard-line Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will dissolve his feared Mehdi Army militia if ordered by top clerics, an aide said on Monday, adding that Sadrists are "open for dialogue" to defuse a stand-off with the government. The offer from the Sadr movement came after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki threatened to ban it from politics if it failed to disband the militia. "The Mehdi Army receives orders from Sadr and from the highest religious clerics whom he consults. If these clerics ask him to disband Jaish al-Mehdi [the Mehdi Army], for sure the order will be obeyed," said Salah al-Obeidi, spokesman for Sadr in the shrine city of Najaf. The Mehdi Army, with an estimated 60,000 fighters, has been engaged in fierce clashes with Iraqi and US forces since Maliki ordered a crackdown on Shiite militiamen in the southern city of Basra on March 25. The prime minister warned in an interview broadcast on Monday that Sadr's movement will be sidelined from politics unless the militia is disbanded. "A decision was taken ... that they no longer have a right to participate in the political process or take part in the upcoming elections unless they end the Mehdi Army," Maliki told the US television network CNN. Obeidi said that Sadr's movement is ready for talks with the government. "Our door was open before the crisis and is still open ... to solve the problems that occurred on the streets by peaceful means and dialogue," he said. The Mehdi Army was formed by Sadr in the aftermath of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime and mounting attacks on Shiites. It is fiercely opposed to the US-led military presence. The loosely organized militia fought two deadly uprisings against US forces in Najaf in 2004 in which hundreds of its fighters were killed. Since 2006 it has also been accused of sectarian attacks against Sunni Arabs and was regarded by the US military as one of the main perpetrators of violence in Iraq before Sadr ordered a freeze on his militia's activities last August. more...
| Islam |
America |


A Mystery in the Middle East Strategic Forecasting, Inc. (April 8, 2008) - The Arab-Israeli region of the Middle East is filled with rumors of war. That is about as unusual as the rising of the sun, so normally it would not be worth mentioning. But like the proverbial broken clock that is right twice a day, such rumors occasionally will be true. In this case, we don’t know that they are true, and certainly it’s not the rumors that are driving us. But other things — minor and readily explicable individually — have drawn our attention to the possibility that something is happening. The first thing that drew our attention was a minor, routine matter. Back in February, the United States started purchasing oil for its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The SPR is a reserve of crude oil stored in underground salt domes. Back in February, it stood at 96.2 percent of capacity, which is pretty full as far as we are concerned. But the U.S. Department of Energy decided to increase its capacity. This move came in spite of record-high oil prices and the fact that the purchase would not help matters. It also came despite potential political fallout, since during times like these there is generally pressure to release reserves. Part of the step could have been the bureaucracy cranking away, and part of it could have been the feeling that the step didn’t make much difference. But part of it could have been based on real fears of a disruption in oil supplies. By itself, the move meant nothing. But it did cause us to become thoughtful. Also in February, someone assassinated Imad Mughniyah, a leader of Hezbollah, in a car bomb explosion in Syria. It was assumed the Israelis had killed him, although there were some suspicions the Syrians might have had him killed for their own arcane reasons. In any case, Hezbollah publicly claimed the Israelis killed Mughniyah, and therefore it was expected the militant Shiite group would take revenge. In the past, Hezbollah responded not by attacking Israel but by attacking Jewish targets elsewhere, as in the Buenos Aires attacks of 1992 and 1994. In March, the United States decided to dispatch the USS Cole, then under Sixth Fleet command, to Lebanese coastal waters. Washington later replaced it with two escorts from the Nassau (LHA-4) Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG), reportedly maintaining a minor naval presence in the area. (Most of the ESG, on a regularly scheduled deployment, is no more than a few days sail from the coast, as it remains in the Mediterranean Sea.) The reason given for the American naval presence was to serve as a warning to the Syrians not to involve themselves in Lebanese affairs. The exact mission of the naval presence off the Levantine coast — and the exact deterrent function it served — was not clear, but there they were. The Sixth Fleet has gone out of its way to park and maintain U.S. warships off the Lebanese coast. Hezbollah leaders being killed by the Israelis and the presence of American ships off the shores of Mediterranean countries are not news in and of themselves. These things happen. The killing of Mughniyah is notable only to point out that as much as Israel might have wanted him dead, the Israelis knew this fight would escalate. But anyone would have known this. So all we know is that whoever killed Mughniyah wanted to trigger a conflict. The U.S. naval presence off the Levantine coast is notable in that Washington, rather busy with matters elsewhere, found the bandwidth to get involved here as well. With the situation becoming tense, the Israelis announced in March that they would carry out an exercise in April called Turning Point 2. Once again, an Israeli military exercise is hardly interesting news. But the Syrians apparently got quite interested. After the announcement, the Syrians deployed three divisions — two armored, one mechanized — to the Lebanese-Syrian border in the Bekaa Valley, the western part of which is Hezbollah’s stronghold. The Syrians didn’t appear to be aggressive. Rather, they deployed these forces in a defensive posture, in a way walling off their part of the valley. The Syrians are well aware that in the event of a conventional war with Israel, they would experience a short but exciting life, as they say. They thus are hardly going to attack Israel. The deployment therefore seemed intended to keep the Israelis on the Lebanese side of the border — on the apparent assumption the Israelis were going into the Bekaa Valley. Despite Israeli and Syrian denials of the Syrian troop buildup along the border, Stratfor sources maintain that the buildup in fact happened. Normally, Israel would be jumping at the chance to trumpet Syrian aggression in response to these troop movements, but, instead, the Israelis downplayed the buildup. When the Israelis kicked off Turning Point 2, which we regard as a pretty interesting name, it turned out to be the largest exercise in Israeli history. It involved the entire country, and was designed to test civil defenses and the ability of the national command authority to continue to function in the event of an attack with unconventional weapons — chemical and nuclear, we would assume. This was a costly exercise. It also involved calling up reserves, some of them for the exercise, and, by some reports, others for deployment to the north against Syria. Israel does not call up reserves casually. Reserve call-ups are expensive and disrupt the civilian economy. These appear small, but in the environment of Turning Point 2, it would not be difficult to mobilize larger forces without being noticed. The Syrians already were deeply concerned by the Israeli exercise. Eventually, the Lebanese government got worried, too, and started to evacuate some civilians from the South. Hezbollah, which still hadn’t retaliated for the Mughniyah assassination, also claimed the Israelis were about to attack it, and reportedly went on alert and mobilized its forces. The Americans, who normally issue warnings and cautions to everyone, said nothing to try to calm the situation. They just sat offshore on their ships. more...
| Iran | Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 | Gog/Magog | America |


Insider leaks plans for Palestinian state WorldNet Daily (April 7, 2008) - U.S.-backed negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians are expected to generate an agreement by the end of the year that would set up a Palestinian state in the West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem, according to a source who has participated in the talks. In one of the first media glimpses into the current negotiations, a source who takes part in the regular meetings outlined for WND the main objectives of the secretive negotiations. Since last November's Israeli-Palestinian Annapolis summit, which set as a goal the creation of a Palestinian state before 2009, negotiating teams including Israeli Foreign Minister Tzippy Livni and chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia have been meeting weekly while Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have been meeting biweekly. Unlike previous Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in which both sides attended with about a dozen advisers each, the teams working with Livni and Qureia are small, usually consisting at most of five people each. Also unlike previous talks, in which the contents of many meetings were leaked quickly to the media, the current negotiations have resulted in few press leaks. According to the source who has been playing a role in the meetings, the two sides are drafting an agreement, to be signed by the end of the year, requiring Israel to evacuate most of the West Bank and certain eastern sections of Jerusalem. The source said Israeli community blocks in the zones of Gush Etzion, Maale Adumin and Ariel would remain Israeli while most of the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem will be slated for a Palestinian state. In contradiction to statements by Olmert, the status of sections of Jerusalem is being negotiated but the specifics of any agreed-upon Israeli withdrawal is as yet unclear, said the source. "It is understood [Jerusalem] Arab neighborhoods would become part of a Palestinian state," the source said. The source told WND both sides agreed Israel would retain Jerusalem's Pisgat Zeev neighborhood, which is located near large Arab communities. Many of those Arab towns were constructed illegally on property owned by the Jewish National Fund, a Jewish nonprofit that purchases property using Jewish donors funds for the stated purpose of Jewish settlement. The source said the U.S. pledged advanced training for thousands of PA security officers who would take over security in the West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem and operate in those territories instead of the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli police. The U.S. previously has trained thousands of Palestinian security officers, including units in which known members of Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist group serve. Scores of those security forces have carried out terrorist attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians, including recent deadly shootings in the West Bank. But the source claimed the planned U.S. training is different: "This training is unlike anything before. The PA, Israel and the U.S. are working very closely to vet the forces. All sides are approving the training candidates. The training is more advanced than ever. It will create a very serious Palestinian army," said the source. The source said as part of the negotiations, Abbas has agreed to hold early PA elections in the West Bank by 2009, including presidential elections that could replace the Palestinian leader... A U.S. security report last month concluded the PA is failing to fight terrorism. The report was compiled by Gen. William Fraser, who was deployed to the region to monitor implementation of agreements pledged by Israel and the PA at Annapolis. Fraser's report slammed the PA for failing to arrest, interrogate and place terrorist suspects on trial. The report said the PA occasionally carries out arrests of suspected terrorists, but usually only following pressure from Israel or the U.S. The arrested terrorists, the report said, are rarely interrogated or tried but instead are briefly detained. more...
| Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land |
America |


Shell chief favours cross-border cooperation over competition to cut CO2 CNN Money (April 7, 2008) - Royal Dutch Shell Plc.'s (NYSE:RDS A) chief executive Jeroen van der Veer said the group favours a scenario to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions which promotes cross-border cooperation rather than countries rushing to secure energy resources for themselves. Speaking at an event here, the chief executive said coalitions should take on the challenges of economic development, energy security and environmental pollution through cross-border cooperation. Under the group's favoured 'Blueprints' scenario, innovation should occur at the local level, as major cities develop links with industry to reduce local emissions, he said. Added to that, national governments should introduce efficiency standards, taxes and other policy instruments to improve the environmental performance of buildings, vehicles and transport fuels. 'The Blueprints scenario will be realised only if policymakers agree on a global approach to emissions trading and actively promote energy efficiency and new technology in four sectors: heat and power generation; industry; transport and buildings,' he said. 'This will require hard work and time is short'. Under the scenario, the group assumes carbon dioxide (CO2) is captured at 90 per cent of all coal and gas fired power plants in developed countries by 2050, plus at least 50 per cent in non-OECD countries. The chief executive said government support is needed for carbon capture and storage (CCS) because the system adds costs and yields no revenues. 'At least, companies should earn carbon credits for the CO2 they capture and store,' he said. In response, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he supports the 'Blueprint' scenario in general terms. He said the scenario is 'dramatic' in that it requires the cooperation of every country in the world. 'The EU needs to act together rapidly in the Blueprint type of model. A single policy is absolutely fundamental,' Solana said. more...
| EU/UN
/ 4th Kingdom | Solana | NewWorldOrder | America |

This story came from Björn (farmer's) blog for April 7.


Schools' new prom fever: Giving condoms to kids WorldNet Daily (April 7, 2008) - A school board in Arizona has decided condoms are among the items that should be given to students attending this year's prom. The school board in the Bisbee District voted 4-1 at a recent meeting to include the condoms in a "prom bag." A spokeswoman in the office of Supt. Paul McDonald confirmed the condoms would be handed out to the event celebrants, along with other items. "The governing board approved [this]," she told WND. "They are to have what they call prom bags, which include picture frames and balloons and candy and other items. They requested from the health department if they could put a condom in the bag also." She said Bisbee High Principal Jim Gordon could provide additional details, but Gordon declined to respond to a message left by WND. WND previously reported a seminar speaker in Boulder, Colo., told high school students to "have sex, do drugs," and the outrage that erupted among parents. WND also has reported a court's conclusion that a law requires children to be taught how to use condoms. But handing out condoms in association with a traditional high school dance still horrified a number of parents and others in the Bisbee area. "All that the policy of handing out condoms for our youth does [is] condone and indirectly approve the short-term immediately satisfaction…," wrote Chuck and Sharon Tuell in a letter to the editor in the local Sierra Vista Herald newspaper. "Your decision is obviously every short-sighted. We are very disappointed." Added Dick and Margaret Hamilton in another letter to the editor: "We were appalled at the information contained in a rather low-key article in the March 25 paper. … The information that was appalling to me, as a parent and a taxpayer, is that condoms will be given to all attendees of the Bisbee High School prom. Even more appalling is the fact that your paper treated this as just an everyday occurrence. "Only [board member] Millicent Kasun voted against the handout. Hooray for her," the couple wrote. "We urge all concerned parents in the Bisbee school district to contact their board members and demand a reversal of the decision and to wrest their parental rights back from the school." The newspaper had reported the vote in a story about a board meeting, at which board members discussed the length of girls' skirts, the school's music honor society and other issues. "Students attending the Bisbee High School Prom will be given gifts bags containing pictures frames, candles, mints and two condoms per bag. The board members voted four to one in favor of allowing the gift bags to be distributed," the newspaper article said. On the newspaper's forum, "Billy Hill," wrote, "This is what happens when you let the government do your thinking for you. Who will be checking to see that they are using them." Just weeks earlier, a Florida school district said it was planning to give its 6th-graders lessons in how to use contraceptives in a promotion by Planned Parenthood. Officials in Palm Beach County have decided to teach their 6th-graders how to use contraceptives such as condoms, because Florida "is the sixth-highest in the nation for pregnant teens, and that tells us we need to get information to our students."
| Signs of the Times | America |

I'd say education is very important, but just what are kids being educated about? What happened to reading, writing and arithmetic being a solid education? Now it seems to be all about indoctrination into destructive ideologies and support of the "do what you want" mentality that is destroying the spirit of this generation. Sure this is only one school and one topic, but how much isn't reported on and is more subtle in its attack on the human spirit? Look at how Evolution is taught as fact and "science" when there is no proof but assumptions of men and deception. It shook my faith once, but then I took God's Word seriously and was educated by science proving creation. Pray for the children!


Brown to host world leaders at 'progressive' summit AFP (April 4, 2008) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to host a summit of some 20 world leaders and key figures to discuss "progressive" governance, after a conference on the issue in London Friday, officials said. South African President Thabo Mbeki, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and former US president Bill Clinton are among participants at the summit of broadly centre-left leaders outside London on Saturday, said Downing Street. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, World Trade Organization chief Pascal Lamy and national leaders from Australia, Chile, Cyprus, Ghana, Italy, Liberia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Norway and Slovakia are also scheduled, according to a participants' list released by Downing Street. In a speech pre-released on video ahead of the conference Friday, and the "progressive governance summit" on Saturday, Brown called for the development of a form of "globalisation that is fair and sustainable for all." The conference brings together some 300 leaders, officials and experts in a location outside London which has so far not been disclosed. When the summit was last held in Britain it was in Bagshot, south of the capital. The conference is organised by the Policy Network, which describes itself as "an international thinktank dedicated to promoting progressive policies and the renewal of social democracy." The idea for the summit was launched by Clinton in 1999, when he was still in office. The first one was held in Berlin in 2000, before Stockholm in 2002, London in 2003, Budapest in 2004 and Johannesburg in 2005. Brown will host it after returning from Bucharest, where he has been attending the NATO summit. The 2008 meeting will focus on globalisation, climate change and poverty. "Achieving an inclusive globalisation, one that can combine economic dynamism with social justice in a sustainable way for all, is the key political challenge facing this generation of leaders and politicians," Brown said in a video posted on the website of the Guardian daily.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana | NewWorldOrder | America |


Lawmakers heavily invested in defense SanLuisObispo.com (April 3, 2008) - Members of Congress have as much as $196 million collectively invested in companies doing business with the Defense Department, earning millions since the onset of the Iraq war, according to a study by a nonpartisan research group. Not all the companies in which lawmakers invested are typical defense contractors. Corporations such as PepsiCo, IBM, Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson have at one point received defense-related contracts, notes the report by the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics. The center's review of lawmakers' 2006 financial disclosure statements suggests that members' holdings could pose a conflict of interest as they decide the fate of Iraq war spending. Several members earning money from these contractors have plum committee or leadership assignments, including Democratic Sen. John Kerry, independent Sen. Joseph Lieberman and House Republican Whip Roy Blunt. The study found that more Republicans than Democrats hold stock in defense companies, but that the Democrats who are invested had significantly more money at stake. In 2006, for example, Democrats held at least $3.7 million in military-related investments, compared to Republican investments of $577,500. Overall, 151 members hold investments worth $78.7 million to $195.5 million in companies that receive defense contracts that are worth at least $5 million. These investments earned them anywhere between $15.8 million and $62 million between 2004 and 2006, the center concludes. It is unclear how many members still hold these investments and exactly how much money has been made. Disclosure reports for 2007 aren't due until this May. Also, members are required to report only a general range of their holdings. According to the report, presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain did not report any defense-related holdings on their filings; Hillary Rodham Clinton did note holdings in such companies as Honeywell, Boeing and Raytheon, but sold the stock in May 2007. All three candidates are members of the Senate. Earning dividends from companies tied to the military "could be problematic" for lawmakers who oversee defense policy and budgeting, noted the center's Lindsay Renick Mayer. Avoiding every company with a military contract, however, would not be easy for an investor. "So common are these companies, both as personal investments and as defense contractors, it would appear difficult to build a diverse blue-chip stock portfolio without at least some of them," Mayer wrote. more...
| America |

Watch Eisenhower's farewell address where he warns of the military industrial complex.


Will Uncle Sam let the dollar collapse? Telegraph.uk (April 1, 2008) - The dollar is taking a pounding. With the US sinking deeper into recession, the greenback recently hit an all-time low against the euro and a 12-year low against the yen. Last week, America's currency fell again - dropping more than 2 per cent in euro terms, to $1.5779. On a trade-weighted basis, the dollar is now south of its late-70s low point and close to its historic nadir of the mid-1990s. The markets sense the US Federal Reserve, having already slashed interest rates by 300 basis points to 2.25 per cent since the credit crunch erupted last summer, will soon cut rates even more. The European Central Bank, in stark contrast, looks determined to keep rates at 4 per cent - where they've been since sub-prime broke. Eurozone inflation, at 3.3 per cent, is still way above target. And with ECB Chairman Jean-Claude Trichet stressing upside price pressures last week, eurozone rate cuts seem unlikely. In other words, the gap between euro and dollar rates looks set to get wider - making the US currency even less attractive. And, last week, just as fresh data showed America's housing and manufacturing sector weakening further, business confidence in Germany - the eurozone's largest economy - jumped up. That suggested an even bigger euro-dollar interest differential, piling still more pressure on the greenback. But a falling dollar is not necessarily bad news for the American economy. The underlying reason for the currency's weakness, beyond the current woes on Wall Street, is that years of over-consumption have resulted in a massive US trade deficit - which, in 2006, reached 6 per cent of GDP. The dollar's decline has lately helped address that - by making US goods more competitive. Over the last two years, American exports have risen 17 per cent in value terms, cutting the trade shortfall to 4.7 per cent of national income. In other words, as has often happened in recent decades, a falling dollar has shoved the burden of America's adjustment onto the rest of the world. And now - as the White House knows well - a further dollar slide will play a large part in rescuing the domestic economy. The US takes a dim view of other countries - such as China - allowing their currencies to remain weak against the dollar. But when it comes to old-fashioned beggar-thy-neighbour exchange rate policy, the Americans are past masters. There are limits to this process. The euro has risen some 17 per cent against the dollar over the last year, with much of that rise happening since January. This makes life tough for the eurozone's exporting economies - which, apart from Germany, are now suffering badly. That's why Trichet now expresses "concern" at the drooping dollar. French president Nicolas Sarkozy has gone further - describing America's ailing currency as "a precursor to economic war". Elsewhere, too, the complaints are getting louder. Japan's Finance Minister, Fukushiro Nukaga, says the dollar's decline is now "excessive". Such statements are preparing the ground for a meeting in two weeks' time - when finance ministers and central bankers from the G7 gather in Washington. The headlines will be about post sub-prime regulation. But the meat of the summit concerns the dollar. The big question is whether to intervene in foreign exchange markets to prop up the currency. When co-ordinated among several large central banks, such initiatives have worked quite well. The 1987 Louvre Accord helped halt a sliding dollar, as did joint intervention by the US and Japan in 1995. But, if the G7's upcoming dollar dialogue is conducted in whispered tones, another much bigger question won't be discussed at all - the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency. The cracks are now starting to show in the dollar's reserve currency status. For the first time, Saudi Arabia now refuses to cut interest rates in line with the Fed - the first step towards a break in the kingdom's dollar peg. If that break happened, it would spark a massive flight of Middle Eastern assets away from the US currency. Chinese exporters are also now shunning the dollar in non-US transactions. Again, that's a worrying sign for the States. With its $1,400bn of reserves, China is the biggest investor in dollar-denominated assets by far. With the Fed expected to cut rates by at least another 25 basis points at its next meeting on April 30, the dollar can only get weaker in the coming month. So the US may be forced into a G7 initiative to strengthen its currency. The trouble is, since the last joint-intervention, the balance of world power has changed. Today, around 75 per cent of the world's foreign exchange reserves are held not by the West, but by the likes of China, Russia and Brazil. So any initiative will have to involve them - even though they're not in the G7. And that will expose the grouping for what it is - an anachronistic hark-back to a world that no longer exists. more...
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

I think the apparent stability in Europe may signal that being the center of a global cashless system in the event of global disaster or other emergencies. According to Bible prophecy, disaster is coming as is the center of power from the revived Roman Empire evidenced in the global governance being developed from there and affecting the Western world. Free trade and fear of terrorism is harmonizing international law and Europe is being viewed more and more as the template for success in that matter given the surface perspective of success since WWII ended. With the North American Union (video), we are seeing the same pattern eating slowly away at our control over our own laws and eventually currency just as with Europe after WWII. You'll never hear them admit it in that light though.


Student Sues Wisconsin School After Getting a Zero for Religious Drawing Fox News (April 1, 2008) - A Tomah High School student has filed a federal lawsuit alleging his art teacher censored his drawing because it featured a cross and a biblical reference. The lawsuit alleges other students were allowed to draw "demonic" images and asks a judge to declare a class policy prohibiting religion in art unconstitutional. "We hear so much today about tolerance," said David Cortman, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal advocacy group representing the student. "But where is the tolerance for religious beliefs? The whole purpose of art is to reflect your own personal experience. To tell a student his religious beliefs can legally be censored sends the wrong message." Tomah School District Business Manager Greg Gaarder said the district hadn't seen the lawsuit and declined to comment. According to the lawsuit, the student's art teacher asked his class in February to draw landscapes. The student, a senior identified in the lawsuit by the initials A.P., added a cross and the words "John 3:16 A sign of love" in his drawing. His teacher, Julie Millin, asked him to remove the reference to the Bible, saying students were making remarks about it. He refused, and she gave him a zero on the project. Millin showed the student a policy for the class that prohibited any violence, blood, sexual connotations or religious beliefs in artwork. The lawsuit claims Millin told the boy he had signed away his constitutional rights when he signed the policy at the beginning of the semester. The boy tore the policy up in front of Millin, who kicked him out of class. Later that day, assistant principal Cale Jackson told the boy his religious expression infringed on other students' rights. Jackson told the boy, his stepfather and his pastor at a meeting a week later that religious expression could be legally censored in class assignments. Millin stated at the meeting the cross in the drawing also infringed on other students' rights. The boy received two detentions for tearing up the policy. Jackson referred questions about the lawsuit to Gaarder. Sometime after that meeting, the boy's metals teacher rejected his idea to build a chain-mail cross, telling him it was religious and could offend someone, the lawsuit claims. The boy decided in March to shelve plans to make a pin with the words "pray" and "praise" on it because he was afraid he'd get a zero for a grade. The lawsuit also alleges school officials allow other religious items and artwork to be displayed on campus. A Buddha and Hindu figurines are on display in a social studies classroom, the lawsuit claims, adding the teacher passionately teaches Hindu principles to students. In addition, a replica of Michaelangelo's "The Creation of Man" is displayed at the school's entrance, a picture of a six-limbed Hindu deity is in the school's hallway and a drawing of a robed sorcerer hangs on a hallway bulletin board. Drawings of Medusa, the Grim Reaper with a scythe and a being with a horned head and protruding tongue hang in the art room and demonic masks are displayed in the metals room, the lawsuit alleges. A.P. suffered unequal treatment because of his religion even though student expression is protected by the First Amendment, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Friday. "Students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate," the lawsuit said. "No compelling state interest exists to justify the censorship of A.P.'s religious expression."
| Signs of the Times | America |


Rice Wins Concessions From Israel, Paving the Way Towards Peace Agreement Fox News (March 30, 2008) - Israel and the Palestinians agreed Sunday to a series of "concrete steps" aimed at paving the way for a final peace agreement later this year, beginning with Israel's pledge to remove some West Bank roadblocks. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, visiting the region for the second time this month in hopes of energize faltering talks, said the moves "constitute a very good start to improving" a Palestinian economy crippled by the Israeli restrictions. Under the plan that Rice announced, Israel will remove about 50 roadblocks, upgrade checkpoints to speed up the movement of Palestinians through the West Bank and give Palestinians more security responsibility in the town of Jenin with an eye toward looking at "other areas in turn." The Israelis also pledged to increase the number of travel and work permits it gives Palestinians and to support economic projects in Palestinian towns. In return, the Palestinians promised to improve policing of Jenin "to provide law and order, and work to prevent terror," according to a State Department statement released shortly before Rice spoke. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad consented to the steps at a joint meeting with Rice earlier Sunday. They agreed to pursue the measures with "special, immediate emphasis and work," the statement said. "We've been told that this is going to start and, hopefully even be completed in a relatively short period of time," Rice told reporters. "I am expecting it to happen very, very soon." "We will be monitoring and verifying," she added. The agreement includes:

  • removing 50 travel barriers in and around Jenin, Tulkarem, Qalqiliya and Ramallah.
  • dismantling of one permanent roadblock.
  • deploying 700 Jordanian-trained Palestinian police in Jenin and allowing them to take delivery of armored vehicles.
  • raising the the number of Palestinian businessmen allowed into Israel to 1,500 from 1,000.
  • increasing the number of work permits for Palestinian laborers by 5,000 from its current number of 18,500.
  • building new housing for Palestinians in 25 villages.
  • connecting Palestinian villages to the Israeli power grid.
  • Israeli support for large-scale economic development programs and encouragement of foreign investment.

Neither Barak nor Fayyad commented on the developments when they appeared at a brief photo opportunity with Rice after their meeting. One Palestinian official said he welcomed any improvement, but that Israel's moves were "too little, too late." "We want Israel to move quickly in removing these obstacles that make no sense and make the lives of the Palestinians difficult," said Samir Abdullah, the Palestinian planning minister. Israel maintains hundreds of checkpoints, roadblocks and other travel restrictions in the West Bank, and says they are needed to stop suicide bombers. The Palestinians say the restrictions are excessive and have stifled their economy. They have made removal of the checkpoints a priority as the two sides, with U.S. backing, try to negotiate a peace agreement by year's end. Rice had said she was looking for "meaningful" steps to put in place the stalled U.S.-supported plan that envisions the creation of an independent Palestinian state through concessions on both sides. "There has not been enough momentum," she said. "This is a start in terms of delivering on some of those obligations."
| Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land | 1st Seal | America |


Bernanke: Federal Reserve caused Great Depression WorldNet Daily (March 19, 2008) - Despite the varied theories espoused by many establishment economists, it was none other than the Federal Reserve that caused the Great Depression and the horrific suffering, deprivation and dislocation America and the world experienced in its wake. At least, that's the clearly stated view of current Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. The worldwide economic downturn called the Great Depression, which persisted from 1929 until about 1939, was the longest and worst depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world. While originating in the U.S., it ended up causing drastic declines in output, severe unemployment, and acute deflation in virtually every country on earth. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "the Great Depression ranks second only to the Civil War as the gravest crisis in American history." What exactly caused this economic tsunami that devastated the U.S. and much of the world? In "A Monetary History of the United States," Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman along with coauthor Anna J. Schwartz lay the mega-catastrophe of the Great Depression squarely at the feet of the Federal Reserve. Here's how Friedman summed up his views on the Fed and the Depression in an Oct. 1, 2000, interview with PBS:

PBS: You've written that what really caused the Depression was mistakes by the government. Looking back now, what in your view was the actual cause?

Friedman: Well, we have to distinguish between the recession of 1929, the early stages, and the conversion of that recession into a major catastrophe. The recession was an ordinary business cycle. We had repeated recessions over hundreds of years, but what converted [this one] into a major depression was bad monetary policy. The Federal Reserve System had been established to prevent what actually happened. It was set up to avoid a situation in which you would have to close down banks, in which you would have a banking crisis. And yet, under the Federal Reserve System, you had the worst banking crisis in the history of the United States. There's no other example I can think of, of a government measure which produced so clearly the opposite of the results that were intended. And what happened is that [the Federal Reserve] followed policies which led to a decline in the quantity of money by a third. For every $100 in paper money, in deposits, in cash, in currency, in existence in 1929, by the time you got to 1933 there was only about $65, $66 left. And that extraordinary collapse in the banking system, with about a third of the banks failing from beginning to end, with millions of people having their savings essentially washed out, that decline was utterly unnecessary. At all times, the Federal Reserve had the power and the knowledge to have stopped that. And there were people at the time who were all the time urging them to do that. So it was, in my opinion, clearly a mistake of policy that led to the Great Depression.

Although economists have pontificated over the decades about this or that cause of the Great Depression, even the current Fed chairman Ben S. Bernanke, agrees with Friedman's assessment that the Fed caused the Great Depression. At a Nov. 8, 2002, conference to honor Friedman's 90th birthday, Bernanke, then a Federal Reserve governor, gave a speech at Friedman's old home base, the University of Chicago. Here's a bit of what Bernanke, the man who now runs the Fed – and thus, one of the most powerful people in the world – had to say that day:

I can think of no greater honor than being invited to speak on the occasion of Milton Friedman's ninetieth birthday. Among economic scholars, Friedman has no peer. … Today I'd like to honor Milton Friedman by talking about one of his greatest contributions to economics, made in close collaboration with his distinguished coauthor, Anna J. Schwartz. This achievement is nothing less than to provide what has become the leading and most persuasive explanation of the worst economic disaster in American history, the onset of the Great Depression – or, as Friedman and Schwartz dubbed it, the Great Contraction of 1929-33. … As everyone here knows, in their "Monetary History" Friedman and Schwartz made the case that the economic collapse of 1929-33 was the product of the nation's monetary mechanism gone wrong. Contradicting the received wisdom at the time that they wrote, which held that money was a passive player in the events of the 1930s, Friedman and Schwartz argued that "the contraction is in fact a tragic testimonial to the importance of monetary forces."

After citing how Friedman and Schwartz documented the Fed's continual contraction of the money supply during the Depression and its aftermath – and the subsequent abandonment of the gold standard by many nations in order to stop the devastating monetary contraction – Bernanke adds:

… Before the creation of the Federal Reserve, Friedman and Schwartz noted, bank panics were typically handled by banks themselves – for example, through urban consortiums of private banks called clearinghouses. If a run on one or more banks in a city began, the clearinghouse might declare a suspension of payments, meaning that, temporarily, deposits would not be convertible into cash. Larger, stronger banks would then take the lead, first, in determining that the banks under attack were in fact fundamentally solvent, and second, in lending cash to those banks that needed to meet withdrawals. Though not an entirely satisfactory solution – the suspension of payments for several weeks was a significant hardship for the public – the system of suspension of payments usually prevented local banking panics from spreading or persisting. Large, solvent banks had an incentive to participate in curing panics because they knew that an unchecked panic might ultimately threaten their own deposits.

It was in large part to improve the management of banking panics that the Federal Reserve was created in 1913. However, as Friedman and Schwartz discuss in some detail, in the early 1930s the Federal Reserve did not serve that function. The problem within the Fed was largely doctrinal: Fed officials appeared to subscribe to Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon's infamous 'liquidationist' thesis, that weeding out "weak" banks was a harsh but necessary prerequisite to the recovery of the banking system. Moreover, most of the failing banks were small banks (as opposed to what we would now call money-center banks) and not members of the Federal Reserve System. Thus the Fed saw no particular need to try to stem the panics. At the same time, the large banks – which would have intervened before the founding of the Fed – felt that protecting their smaller brethren was no longer their responsibility. Indeed, since the large banks felt confident that the Fed would protect them if necessary, the weeding out of small competitors was a positive good, from their point of view.

In short, according to Friedman and Schwartz, because of institutional changes and misguided doctrines, the banking panics of the Great Contraction were much more severe and widespread than would have normally occurred during a downturn. …

Let me end my talk by abusing slightly my status as an official representative of the Federal Reserve. I would like to say to Milton and Anna: Regarding the Great Depression. You're right, we did it. We're very sorry. But thanks to you, we won't do it again. Best wishes for your next ninety years.

Today, the entire Western financial world holds its breath every time the Fed chairman speaks, so influential are the central bank's decisions on markets, interest rates and the economy in general. Yet the Fed, supposedly created to smooth out business cycles and prevent disruptive economic downswings like the Great Depression, has actually done the opposite.
| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

What strikes me about this is that it is admitted that the Federal Reserve caused the Great Depression, and one of the results of the Great Depression was the confiscation of gold by the government in 1933 by Executive order of President Roosevelt.

Executive order: By virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 5(B) of The Act of Oct. 6, 1917, as amended by section 2 of the Act of March 9, 1933, in which Congress declared that a serious emergency exists, I as President, do declare that the national emergency still exists; That the continued private hoarding of gold and silver by subjects of the United States poses a grave threat to the peace, equal justice, and well-being of the United States; and that appropriate measures must be taken immediately to protect the interests of our people.

"Therefore, pursuant to the above authority, I herby proclaim that such gold and silver holdings are prohibited, and that all such coin, bullion or other possessions of gold and silver be tendered within fourteen days to agents of the Government of the United States for compensation at the official price, in the legal tender of the Government. All safe deposit boxes in banks or financial institutions have been sealed, pending action in the due course of the law. All sales or purchases or movements of such gold and silver within the borders of the United States and its territories, and all foreign exchange transactions or movements of such metals across the border are herby prohibited.

"Your possession of these proscribed metals and/or your maintenance of a safe-deposit box to store them is known to the Government from bank and insurance records. Therefore, be advised
that your vault box must remain sealed, and may only be opened in the presence of an agent of The Internal Revenue Service.

"By lawful Order given this day, the President of the United States."

This forced the trade of gold by individuals for paper currency that lost 95% of its value in the following years. Watch America: Freedom to Fascism as well as Monopoly Men, Money As Debt, and Money, Banking & the Federal Reserve for more history on what our Dollar really is and how unstable it is. In a society living on credit made from thin air feeding the international bankers, the system is bound to collapse. Now one could label me a conspiracy theorist, but I don't mind because there are people with a plan that is self-serving and takes advantage of the general population. They are guided by a spirit that God says we are at war with, spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:11,12 This isn't a war of traditional weapons, but of spiritual weapons, the Word of God and the ideas of love expressed in them that we are to live by in imitation of Christ.

Could it be that a small group with a big plan could push through a system intended to milk a nation to feed the bigger plan of a New World Order as foretold in the Bible? Thinking in terms of just men, the thought is pretty crazy. However, we must remember that a spiritual force who has been around from before mankind is working for our destruction and has great influence over an ignorant mankind and he often uses generation after generation of initiates into groups keeping secrets. This is the mystery of iniquity at work today, not always defined by single men yet evident at times in their actions and the fruits of their labors. Is this another case of men being tricked and manipulated for a transfer of wealth and power toward a globalist end? Time will tell, but the more I study and watch, the more likely it seems. The way the Federal Reserve came into existence and what it caused and where we're at now because of it all seems to point in the same direction and believe it or not, there are conspiracies out there. What can be done? Nothing if the Bible is true as it foretells this global control and the man to whom Lucifer will give it. I believe the Bible is the Word of God and will come to pass exactly as foretold. What we should do is build our personal relationship with Yeshua and share the good news of our salvation with those with ears to hear. The end will come in God's timing, let us remain faithful to Him in grace and truth toward others.


Ghost of Nazi Past, Ghost of Nazi Present A Time, Times, and Half A Time (March 16, 2008) - Quite often as I’ve spent time preparing material for this blog space, I’ve thought to myself, “this is a resurgence of Nazism”. I had been raised in a household by a father who purchased every book he could find related to the first and second world wars. I knew that it was important to direct attention to this area and parallel the changes the Nazi’s made to law with those being prepared by the global government. I understood this would be an extremely time consuming task and one which I was not too excited to start. Fortunately for me, around Christmas time, as I passed through the history section in Barnes & Noble, a book title caught my eye. The book The Third Reich In Power by Richard J. Evans had done exactly what I was preparing to do. It seemed as though it was God’s Christmas present to me for which I am thankful. Richard Evans has provided an excellent high level overview of Nazi changes to law and culture—a book which I highly recommend. I will be quoting from Evans’ work extensively in this and the next blog post. The format will be that I present a passage from The Third Reich In Power followed by citations of global governance proposals. I have already dedicated ink to much of the material I’m about to cover, but it is worth re-reading as one considers we have seen this before in various dictatorships, and in particular, the Nazi regime. Throughout my lifetime, I’ve heard people argue that what happened in Nazi Germany could never happen again. My father advised me that when people truly start to believe that, that’s when it will happen. Perhaps Richard Evans best explains this mindset as “the further in time we get from Nazi Germany, the more difficult it becomes for historians living in democratic political systems and in cultures which respect the rights of the individual to make the leap of imagination necessary to understand people’s behaviour in a state such as Nazi Germany, where imprisonment, torture or even death might await anyone who dared to voice the slightest criticism of the regime and its leaders.” Pg 116 Indeed, and today the masses may be prepared to accept the doctrines like those of the Nazis-- the newly-proposed model of Shared Security, a.k.a, “Civilian-Military Cooperation (CIMIC), “Responsibility to Protect”, “Human Security”—because their architects present the doctrines as belonging to the human rights framework. Nonetheless, the definition of human rights has become a slippery slope. For example, any religious or political viewpoint that does not fall within “common shared value” guidelines is considered extremist and said to be a gross violation of another’s human rights. Therein the hostilities begin. Following, I have divided sections into topic. The lead section which is bolded has been quoted from The Third Reich in Power. The italicized sections following it are citations which demonstrate there are calls to implement similar legislation.

Cultural/Social

“…he [Justice Minister Gurtner] quickly appointed a committee to revise the Reich Criminal Code of 1871 in accordance with the new ethos of the Third Reich. As one committee member, the criminologist, Edmund Mezger, put it, the aim was to create a new synthesis of ‘the principle of the individual’s responsibility to his people, and the principle of the racial improvement of the people as a whole.” Pg 72

“Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.” – Article 29, Universal Declaration on Human Rights

“UNESCO promotes respect for all dimensions of cultural diversity since it is the very fabric of humankind and the “common heritage of humanity”, as stipulated in the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity…The Declaration furthermore aims at preserving cultural diversity as a living, and thus renewable treasure that must not be perceived as static but rather as a process guaranteeing the survival of humanity…the Declaration is dedicated to preventing segregation and fundamentalism which, in the name of cultural differences, could sanctify those differences and in doing so, counter the message of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” Rosa Guerreiro  more...
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |


Parents urged to boycott homosexual indoctrination WorldNet Daily (March 8, 2008) - What if homosexual rights advocates staged a huge promotional event and no one came to see it? That's exactly what a coalition of organizations is proposing for April 25, this year's "Day of Silence," which is sponsored in public schools across the nation. "It's outrageous that our neighborhood schools would allow homosexual activism to intrude into the classroom," said Buddy Smith of the American Family Association, one of a long list of organizations asking parents to keep their students home from school on that day. "'Day of Silence' is about coercing students to repudiate traditional morality. It's time for Christian parents to draw the line – if your children will be exposed to this DOS propaganda in their school, then keep them home for the day," he said. The "Day of Silence" promotion is intended, ostensibly, to make students "aware" of the "discrimination" suffered by homosexuals in society, by having students remain silent for the day. Such events typically are organized by a school's "Gay-Straight Alliance" group, but the event has been promoted for its previous 11 years by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, an organization with the agenda of establishing homosexual advocacy organizations such as GSAs in all schools in the nation. The pro-family coalition said the event "is designed to pressure students to regard homosexual, bisexual, and transgender behavior as normal and worthy." It said the teaching environment is disrupted by the event because some students "and even some teachers" remain silent through the school day. Protesters wear T-shirts and hand out 'speaking cards' protesting alleged injustice, harassment, prejudice, and discrimination toward 'LGBT' people and their 'allies,'" the coalition said. Linda Harvey, a spokeswoman for Mission America, told WND, "It's incredibly important that parents be very aware because things are quickly getting to a bizarre level." A parent in Massachusetts was jailed when he objected to his kindergarten son being presented with a public school district book advocating homosexuality, and in California, lawmakers have written a law requiring teachers to present only positive representations of such alternative lifestyle choices. Such events only "honor" such alternative lifestyles, she said. "When a parent finds out about this kind of event, they need to take immediate action, join with other parents. They need to go to the school board. They need to be persistent. They will get a cold shoulder from those who say, 'We've never heard this [concern] before.' Those are standard responses. They need to be persistent, and very, very discerning about what's really going on and who's advocating this," she warned. The harm being done is enormous, she noted. "We need to be very, very concerned about the harm, for our own children and all of these children," she said. "[Under such indoctrination,] we are creating barbarians. Parents want something other than barbarians living down the street. They need to care about their own kids. They need to take this seriously. Your kids are learning to respect this behavior." Besides being morally objectionable, such lifestyles present enormously higher risks for children for HIV and other related health damage, she noted. "[Parents] need to decide this is real, this is extremely damaging. And it's only going to get worse. In the early 1990s there were a handful of homosexual clubs at schools. Now there are about 3,500-4,000 in high schools and they are increasing. The big trend now is in middle schools. GLSEN has made it a goal to have homosexual clubs in every school K-12. They're going to make it if we don't stand up and be counted," she said. Matt Barber, a spokesman for Concerned Women for America, said the day "amounts to educational malpractice." "“Our schools are supposed to be places of learning, not places of political indoctrination. It is the height of impropriety and cynicism for 'gay' activists and school officials to use children as pawns in their attempt to further a highly controversial and polarizing political agenda," he said. "Social activism does not belong in the classroom," added Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth. The coalition is suggesting parents ask their school districts about "Day of Silence" plans, especially the date because some school districts vary. Then, the group said, parents should "inform the school of our intention to keep your children home on that date and explain why." Then parents should talk with their children about the issue and explain homosexual behavior is not an "'innate identity,' it is sinful and unnatural," the coalition suggested. And church and religious leaders should be encouraged to organize opposition to public school promotion of homosexuality. more...
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Signs of the Times | America |


Dobson editing radio show to avoid 'hate crimes' laws WorldNet Daily (March 28, 2008) - "Hate crimes" laws were defeated in Congress just a few months ago. Just a few weeks ago, Frank Wright of the National Religious Broadcasters Association warned, "We must be one in Christ to face the days ahead" because "hate crimes" laws would create untold new liability for Christians. Now a major Christian ministry has confirmed that such "hate crimes" laws already are setting limits on what it can broadcast. The issue is "hate crimes" laws in Canada, and they are affecting U.S. Christian ministries that broadcast into that nation. WND reported just a week ago on a Christian ministry based in Canada that essentially was ordered shut down under that nation's "hate crimes" laws which prevent Christians from expressing Biblical opinions on a wide range of issues. So what used to be called MacGregor Ministries with offerings in how to recognize and eliminate "faulty fads" in Christian churches has been re-created in the United States, and now operates under the name MM Outreach Media Ministries, according to spokeswoman Lorri MacGregor. "Canada has very strong hate laws," she told WND. She said the ministry points out the differences between Christianity and various cult beliefs, but also with respect, and never as a proponent. She said the work always is in response to a question or issue. "When a group such as Jehovah's Witnesses said of our doctrine we're worshipping a freakish three-headed God (the Trinity), we should be able to respond," she said. "We say, 'Here's the doctrine of the Trinity and here is where it is in the Scripture.'" That, however, violates Canada's hate crimes laws, and the ministry was ordered to either make wholesale changes in its presentations, or shut down. "There was nothing we could do that would please them," she said. "They wanted us every time we criticized something to say, 'So Christianity is equal to Buddhism, Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses… Just decide for yourself.'" "We cannot do that," she said of the work she and her husband, Keith, have spent their lives assembling. Now comes confirmation from the Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family, one of the largest Christian publishing and broadcasting organizations in the nation, that it has been reviewing, and if necessary editing, its broadcasts to avoid complications with Canadian "hate crimes" laws. more...
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Signs of the Times | America |


Fed Offers $100 Billion More to Banks News Max (March 28, 2008) - The Federal Reserve announced Friday it will auction another $100 billion in April to cash-strapped banks as it continues to combat the effects of a credit crisis. The central bank said it would make $50 billion available at each of two auctions, on April 7 and April 21. Through the end of March, the Fed has provided $260 billion in short-term loans to commercial banks through the innovative auction process. It also has employed Depression-era provisions to provide money to investment banks. All the moves have been designed to cope with a serious financial crisis that has roiled U.S. and global markets and caused the near-collapse of Bear Stearns Cos., the nation's fifth largest investment bank. The Fed has been holding auctions every two seeks since December to provide short-term loans to commercial banks. It started with auctions of $20 billion, then pushed the level to $30 billion, and in early March raised the auction amount to $50 billion as the credit shortage grew more severe. In announcing the move to $50 billion last month, the Fed said it would continue the auctions for at least the next six months, unless credit conditions show they are no longer needed. The auctions are just one of a series of unorthodox steps the Fed has taken to battle the current crisis. The biggest of those moves was an announcement that it was allowing investment banks to borrow directly from the Fed. Previously, only commercial banks, which face tighter regulations, had that privilege. The Fed also said it would make available $30 billion in financing to support the sale of troubled Bear Stearns to JP Morgan Chase & Co., hoping to prevent a bankruptcy that could have rocked Wall Street. The Fed's auctions have drawn criticism from some that the central bank, and ultimately U.S. taxpayers, could be financing a bailout for big Wall Street firms that had engaged in risky lending practices. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will fact questions about the Fed's recent moves when he testifies on Wednesday before the congressional Joint Economic Committee.
| America | Economic Crisis |


Supplier Under Scrutiny on Arms for Afghans The New York Times (March 27, 2008) - Since 2006, when the insurgency in Afghanistan sharply intensified, the Afghan government has been dependent on American logistics and military support in the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. But to arm the Afghan forces that it hopes will lead this fight, the American military has relied since early last year on a fledgling company led by a 22-year-old man whose vice president was a licensed masseur. With the award last January of a federal contract worth as much as nearly $300 million, the company, AEY Inc., which operates out of an unmarked office in Miami Beach, became the main supplier of munitions to Afghanistan’s army and police forces. Since then, the company has provided ammunition that is more than 40 years old and in decomposing packaging, according to an examination of the munitions by The New York Times and interviews with American and Afghan officials. Much of the ammunition comes from the aging stockpiles of the old Communist bloc, including stockpiles that the State Department and NATO have determined to be unreliable and obsolete, and have spent millions of dollars to have destroyed. In purchasing munitions, the contractor has also worked with middlemen and a shell company on a federal list of entities suspected of illegal arms trafficking. Moreover, tens of millions of the rifle and machine-gun cartridges were manufactured in China, making their procurement a possible violation of American law. The company’s president, Efraim E. Diveroli, was also secretly recorded in a conversation that suggested corruption in his company’s purchase of more than 100 million aging rounds in Albania, according to audio files of the conversation. This week, after repeated inquiries about AEY’s performance by The Times, the Army suspended the company from any future federal contracting, citing shipments of Chinese ammunition and claiming that Mr. Diveroli misled the Army by saying the munitions were Hungarian. Mr. Diveroli, reached by telephone, said he was unaware of the action. The Army planned to notify his company by certified mail on Thursday, according to internal correspondence provided by a military official. But problems with the ammunition were evident last fall in places like Nawa, Afghanistan, an outpost near the Pakistani border, where an Afghan lieutenant colonel surveyed the rifle cartridges on his police station’s dirty floor. Soon after arriving there, the cardboard boxes had split open and their contents spilled out, revealing ammunition manufactured in China in 1966. “This is what they give us for the fighting,” said the colonel, Amanuddin, who like many Afghans has only one name. “It makes us worried, because too much of it is junk.” Ammunition as it ages over decades often becomes less powerful, reliable and accurate. AEY is one of many previously unknown defense companies to have thrived since 2003, when the Pentagon began dispensing billions of dollars to train and equip indigenous forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Its rise from obscurity once seemed to make it a successful example of the Bush administration’s promotion of private contractors as integral elements of war-fighting strategy. But an examination of AEY’s background, through interviews in several countries, reviews of confidential government documents and the examination of some of the ammunition, suggests that Army contracting officials, under pressure to arm Afghan troops, allowed an immature company to enter the murky world of international arms dealing on the Pentagon’s behalf — and did so with minimal vetting and through a vaguely written contract with few restrictions. In addition to this week’s suspension, AEY is under investigation by the Department of Defense’s inspector general and by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, prompted by complaints about the quality and origins of ammunition it provided, and allegations of corruption. more...
| America |


Congress, watchdog probe passport security The Washington Times (March 27, 2008) - Three House leaders and the Government Printing Office's watchdog said yesterday that they are investigating security concerns about the production of electronic passports highlighted during an investigation by The Washington Times. Rep. Bennie Thompson, Mississippi Democrat and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, criticized the GPO for using foreign components in new electronic passports. "It is just plain irresponsible to jeopardize the gold standard in document security by outsourcing production when U.S. companies ought to be able to do the same work here," said Mr. Thompson, who announced that his panel is investigating the outsourcing. Rep. John D. Dingell and Rep. Bart Stupak said they also are investigating the overseas production of electronic passports. The two Michigan Democrats said they are looking into whether profits made by the GPO through selling blank passports to the State Department may have violated the law limiting the GPO's business practices. The Times reported yesterday that the GPO chose two European computer chip makers over U.S. manufacturers to make tens of millions of electronic passports. The passports are being assembled in Thailand by one company that was a victim of Chinese economic espionage. "If true, these allegations raised in today's press reports are extremely serious not only to the integrity of our e-Passport program, but also to our national security," said Mr. Dingell, chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Mr. Stupak, chairman of the subcommittee on oversight and investigations, said, "Given all of the personal information contained in an e-passport, it is essential that the entire production chain be secure and free from potential tampering." Mr. Dingell and Mr. Stupak said in a letter yesterday to GPO Inspector General J. Anthony Ogden and Public Printer Robert Tapella that they are investigating the management, production and distribution of electronic passports. Mr. Thompson, commenting on a report in yesterday's editions of The Washington Times, said in a statement that the credibility of U.S. passports is "of the utmost importance to our homeland security." "Questions alone about the production and chain of custody of blank U.S. passports can send shock waves through our homeland security infrastructure," he said. "The Committee on Homeland Security will use all of the tools available to determine if American technologies are being overlooked and what implications there might be for other border security documents and technologies." Mr. Ogden earlier said his office is conducting an "end-to-end" review of the agency's production of electronic passports and will look into the outsourcing of some passport components, such as computer chips embedded in travel documents. "We do pay close attention to the issue of passport manufacturing. It is a high priority of this office," Mr. Ogden said in an interview. Mr. Ogden said his office's current work plan includes the review "to help improve the process of manufacturing passports. That's no secret." One of the companies involved in passport production in Thailand, Smartrac, charged in a court filing in the Netherlands last year that its technology was stolen by China. The company issued a statement yesterday saying its passport assembly plant was secure, CNN reported. The outsourcing has raised concerns among investigators over the security of passports. GPO and State Department officials have sought to play down security concerns and have said they conduct regular checks of overseas manufacturers. Mr. Ogden said deficiencies in passport manufacturing detailed in an Oct. 12 report cited by the paper were related to older, non-electronic passports. He declined to specify the deficiencies but said the agency has been responsive in addressing many of the problems.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | Technology | America | Economic Crisis |

I suppose I'm not really surprised that European companies using cheaper labor in Thailand would be making our e-passports since in the end the same basic system will probably be used for tracking people through the mark of the beast.


Obama contends belief in Jesus Christ not necessary for salvation The Washington Times (March 27, 2008) - Senator Barack Obama has told an audience that although he believes Christ died for his sins, those who reject that teaching can also be children of God. During a campaign stop yesterday in Greensboro, North Carolina, Senator Obama told the audience that he believes he "can have everlasting life" because Jesus Christ died for his sins. But he then told a questioner that he believes Jews and Muslims who live moral lives are just as much "children of God" as he is. (listen to audio clip) The Illinois Democrat added that his late mother didn't share his faith but was a kind and generous person, so he's "sure she's in heaven." (listen to audio clip) In his life and in his politics, Obama said he asks himself, "How can I apply Jesus's teachings in a very concrete way?" Obama's religious beliefs have been put in the spotlight over recent revelations about his former pastor. Videotapes of some of Pastor Jeremiah Wright's sermons have been described as being racist and anti-America. Yesterday, the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president referred to those sermon remarks as being "stupid," but he continues to reject suggestions that he should have left the church because of that kind of preaching from his pastor.
| America |

John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.


Outsourced passports netting govt. profits, risking national security The Washington Times (March 26, 2008) - The United States has outsourced the manufacturing of its electronic passports to overseas companies — including one in Thailand that was victimized by Chinese espionage — raising concerns that cost savings are being put ahead of national security, an investigation by The Washington Times has found. The Government Printing Office's decision to export the work has proved lucrative, allowing the agency to book more than $100 million in recent profits by charging the State Department more money for blank passports than it actually costs to make them, according to interviews with federal officials and documents obtained by The Times. The profits have raised questions both inside the agency and in Congress because the law that created GPO as the federal government's official printer explicitly requires the agency to break even by charging only enough to recover its costs. Lawmakers said they were alarmed by The Times' findings and plan to investigate why U.S. companies weren't used to produce the state-of-the-art passports, one of the crown jewels of American border security. "I am not only troubled that there may be serious security concerns with the new passport production system, but also that GPO officials may have been profiting from producing them," said Rep. John D. Dingell, the Michigan Democrat who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Officials at GPO, the Homeland Security Department and the State Department played down such concerns, saying they are confident that regular audits and other protections already in place will keep terrorists and foreign spies from stealing or copying the sensitive components to make fake passports. "Aside from the fact that we have fully vetted and qualified vendors, we also note that the materials are moved via a secure transportation means, including armored vehicles," GPO spokesman Gary Somerset said. But GPO Inspector General J. Anthony Ogden, the agency's internal watchdog, doesn't share that confidence. He warned in an internal Oct. 12 report that there are "significant deficiencies with the manufacturing of blank passports, security of components, and the internal controls for the process." more...
| EU/UN
/ 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | Technology | America | Economic Crisis |


If Foreigners Could Vote in '08 The Wall Street Journal (March 26, 2008) - For America's presidential candidates, the global electoral map is looking as divided as the domestic one. When foreigners look at the three contenders, Sen. Barack Obama seems to have the lead among Europeans and Africans. Sen. Hillary Clinton is popular among Mexicans and Chinese. Sen. John McCain just returned from a campaign swing through the Middle East and Europe. U.S. presidential contests often attract interest from foreign countries. The world's sole superpower has such an impact on the globe that, as a Belgian newspaper recently suggested, the rest of the world may feel it should be allowed to vote, too. This time around, all three candidates have made restoring America's stature abroad a key part of their foreign-policy platforms, making overseas opinions of the U.S. of greater interest to American voters. And the fact that Sen. Obama -- a man with African and Muslim roots and an Arabic middle name, Hussein -- could become U.S. president has created buzz around the world. In Germany, the title of a recent book, "Obama: the Black Kennedy," echoes frequent newspaper headlines comparing Sen. Obama with Germany's favorite former U.S. president. In Kenya, the homeland of Sen. Obama's father, people order the local beer, Senator, by asking for an "Obama." As in the U.S., however, some people elsewhere harbor doubts about both Sen. Obama's experience and his policies. In China and Mexico, two countries with economies that rely on exports to the U.S., people fret over the senator's antitrade rhetoric and largely back Sen. Clinton on the assumption she will follow her husband's free-trade agenda. There also are concerns about Sen. Obama's mettle in places like Colombia and Israel, where security concerns trump other issues. In January, the former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Danny Ayalon, wrote an article headlined "Who are you, Barack Obama?" raising concerns about his stand on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Sen. Clinton also gets higher marks outside Europe, especially in Mexico and China, where she benefits from her husband's popular presidency. In Mexico, listeners calling in to one Mexico City radio station picked Sen. Clinton over Sen. Obama, 65%-34%, mostly because of former President Bill Clinton's legacy in signing the North American Free Trade Agreement. Deng Jie, owner of a business in Beijing, said, "I don't know who Obama is. But I think I wish Hillary wins because during the eight years that her husband, Mr. Clinton, was in the position, the U.S. economy went well." more...
| America |

The world is increasingly integrated and accepted as such by more and more of the population. Without the framework of Bible prophecy, which most of the world is ignorant to or doesn't accept, it seems a logical step. But we know the end of it and the free-trade ideas that brought Europe to where it is today heading toward a European Constitution in the Lisbon Treaty, is being repeated in America under the SPP, or North American Union. More below...


Toward A Grand Strategy for an Uncertain World From What Björn Thinks (March 24, 2008) - This is a 152-page document prepared to lay out the case for transatlantic cooperation that I believe is leading to the fulfillment of the declared New World Order and will expand in the coming times to battle religious fundamentalism and act as the foundation and framework for the war on the saints. The linked page has the source document, but primarily picks out certain aspects of the document pointing out the reasons why. Thank you Björn!
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |


Your Tax Dollars at Work in Gaza Jewish World Review (March 24, 2008) - Last week, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that American officials are again pressing Congress to open up the U.S. aid pipeline to the Palestinian Authority. If the plea sounds familiar, it ought to. Since the 1993 Oslo Accords, Americans have been subsidizing the activities of the P.A. to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Today, as in the past, the arguments in favor of this policy are urgent. We are told by both administration officials who are friends of Israel and by some Israelis that unless we help fund the training and the payment of Palestinian security forces, the P.A. will have no way to cope with terrorists who want to sink any chance of a two-state solution which would enable Israel to live side-by-side with a peaceful Palestinian partner. THE ONLY OPTION? With Hamas in control of Gaza, the P.A., under the current leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, is, we are informed, the only address for creating a moderate force that will work for peace. Given the alternative of the Iranian-backed Hamas or the equally unpalatable choices of either Israel reoccupying the territories or an international peacekeeping force doing so, reinforcing the P.A. seems to make sense.  But does it really? Doubts about the wisdom of the policy have led Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-N.Y.) — respectively, the chair and the ranking minority member of the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee — to place a hold on a request of another $150 million in direct assistance to the P.A. Thwarted on that front, the administration now wants the committee to okay an additional $25 million in indirect funding for the military training program. Both Lowey and Ros-Lehtinen rightly worry about the commitment of Abbas and his Fatah Party to peace. They cite recent statements by Abbas in which he would not rule out a return to "armed resistance" against Israel. The support by the P.A. media for attacks against Israelis, such as the slaughter of eight students at a Jerusalem yeshiva this month, as well as the ongoing blitz of southern Israel by Hamas missiles, is also reason to doubt the P.A.'s sincerity. The P.A. also continues to honor the memory of slain terrorists as "martyrs" and, as The Jerusalem Post reported this week, plans to celebrate Israel's 60th birthday by having Arab refugees to rush Israel's borders to promote a "right of return," which is synonymous with the destruction of the Jewish State. Supporters of aid respond that these statements do not reflect Abbas' real goals. Yet, they ignore the fact that what the P.A. has done for the past 15 years is to legitimize a Palestinian culture in which political plaudits are won only by killing Jews. Indeed, via its control of broadcast outlets, newspapers and the schools, the P.A. has solidified a mindset of hate. more...
| Iran | Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land | America |


Embassies pay for devalued dollar The Washington Times (March 22, 2008) - The State Department is losing millions as a result of the free-falling dollar, forcing its overseas missions to lay off local staff, reduce energy consumption, put facility repairs on hold and cancel travel, officials said. Although the dollar's weakness is affecting embassies and consulates around the world, the most drastic measures are being taken in Europe, where the euro has been trading around $1.54. "It's beginning to hurt — there is no question about it. It's tough on us," said Christopher R. Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. Another official said that 24 percent of the State Department's main operating account, which is $3.8 billion for 2008, is disbursed in foreign currencies. "We already have a tight budget, and the buying power of those limited resources is further affected by the decline of the dollar," the official said. He noted that the department has a "buying power maintenance account" where it puts money when the dollar's value goes up, but "there is no money in it now." "The biggest impact I have seen is our ability to program events," a Foreign Service officer in Europe said. "We have had to become very creative in finding cost-saving measures." Public diplomacy programs are among the most affected, officials said. The officers spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters. "The weak dollar has made it much more expensive to do our work, limiting our ability to travel around the country to monitor events and engage contacts, limiting the number of representational events we can organize for visiting U.S. and host-country officials," said another officer in Europe. Several officials said the higher cost of maintaining existing facilities abroad reduces the funds available for renovations and new construction. "We'd like to put in new embassies in some places, but the price tag is going up every day," Mr. Hill said. A third Foreign Service officer in Europe said that at his embassy "electricity usage is being cut by reducing lighting and turning off hot water heaters." "We have turned off every other fluorescent light in our offices and hallways," he said. "We can still work, but it feels like permanent sunset." Another major expense in foreign currency are the salaries of thousands of local employees at U.S. embassies and consulates. The first officer in Europe said that her salary is now lower than that of her assistant, who is a national of the host country. Still, the officer said that what the assistant makes is "below the salary level [it] should be to be competitive on the local market." While some posts in Europe are limiting or banning overtime for local employees, others are resorting to freezing pay or even layoffs, officials there said. Layoffs add to the workload of Foreign Service officers, they said. American diplomats are protected against a sinking dollar by an allowance that goes up when the U.S. currency goes down. That allowance has just been increased in most European countries. In Paris, it jumped from 80 percent to 90 percent of "spendable income," or the amount after taxes, contributions and other payments. "Given the time it takes to make the adjustment in the salary, you do lose out a bit, but nothing major," an officer in central Europe said. Several officers said the allowance is less meaningful to junior officers, whose salaries are relatively low. It is also more difficult for those with children, because they buy locally more than others. Most officers make purchases from catalogs that are shipped to them from the United States for no additional charge. Even though many diplomats said they still live comfortably, they are cutting back on eating out, personal travel and other entertainment. The biggest challenge, they said, are events like weddings, births or other celebrations. One officer said that his upcoming wedding, with about 100 guests, will easily cost more than $50,000, while a couple of years ago the price tag would have been about $30,000. "I don't have that kind of money, and I don't make that kind of money," he said. "For this once-in-a-lifetime situation, I'm really struggling." He added that he could have saved thousands of dollars by having the wedding back home, but he is gay, and gay marriage is illegal in the United States. It is legal in the western European country where he is serving, which is also where his partner is from. While the cost-of-living allowance of American diplomats in Europe is going up, their European counterparts in Washington said theirs is being reduced. "At the last adjustment, our 'expatriation bonus' went down about 7.5 percent," one European diplomat said. "We'll lose more money in the coming months."
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America | Economic Crisis |


Treasury Department Making Special Agreements With Islam Over Vital U.S. Investments Bill Koenig News (March 21, 2008) - The U.S. Treasury Department has rushed to secure agreements with Islamic nations over their bid to take huge ownership positions in America’s largest financial institutions. The agreements, although not yet public, seek to allay the concerns that Islamic nations would use their financial muscle to impose Sharia law over U.S. investment firms. The agreements lay down precedence for how secretive sovereign wealth funds will invest their money in U.S. companies. The agreements, which are outside the laws, call for more transparency in disclosing purpose, returns and regulatory compliance. They also seek to prevent political leverage associated with Islamic ownership of U.S. companies. The entire U.S. government is dangerously off base in handling the Islamic world. The government is operating under the concept that by legitimizing Islam through democratic principle and Western-type agreements that Islam will behave like any other entity bound by the covenant of agreement and law. For example, the U.S. has supported the establishing of a Palestinian state in Israel under the belief that by giving Islamic terrorists their own state, they will somehow change their behavior to peaceful coexistence with Israel. The Bush Administration has done the same by recognizing Kosovo and has done the same in Pakistan by allowing a safe zone area near the Afghanistan border for the Taliban and al Qaeda. By entering into agreements, as the Treasury Department has, with Islamic governments, the Treasury Department is under the false assumption that the Islamists will deal honestly according to the agreements. Did the United States expect Hitler to abide by agreements? Did the United States expect the Soviet Union to abide by agreements? If we did, we were highly disappointed. Even today, North Korea, Iran, China, Syria, Russia, and many others are not trustworthy in compliance with agreements. This is because they operate on a different set of standards than does the United States. It is folly to think that countries that do not recognize Judeo-Christian values will abide by laws and agreements based on honoring Judeo-Christian laws. And moreover, if this nation is at war with a fascist entity such as Islam, it is foolish to expect that Islam will honor any agreement with America. Oil prices are at record levels for one reason—Islam is draining the United States of its middle class and using the money to buy key United States businesses that control wealth and wealth distribution. 1st Corinthians 15:33 says, “Be not deceived: evil companionship corrupts good moral habits.” America is breaking its covenant with God by supporting and trusting Islam.
| Islam | America | Economic Crisis |


US Plans to Send Palestinians Almost US $300 Million BFP Israel Mosaic Radio (March 20, 2008) - After a delay in Congress due to needed clarification as to what the funds would be used for, among other things, the United States has decided to send the Palestinian Authority [PA] government US $150 million dollars [NIS 507 million] in aid, according to a news report from Infolive.tv. In addition, a press release from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said the United States has also pledged to give UNRWA US $148 million [NIS 500 million] for Palestinian refugees. The US $150 million [NIS 507 million] for the PA government is part one of a pledge by the US to pay the Palestinians US $550 million [NIS 1.8 billion] over three years. This comes during a period of tension that has seen Israel suffer its first significant terror attack in Jerusalem in years. PA President Mahmoud Abbas [Abu Mazen] suspended the peace negotiations briefly due to the conflict in Gaza and US disapproval over Israel’s intentions to expand Jewish neighborhoods in disputed areas of Jerusalem. US $91 million [NIS 307 million] of the money for UNRWA will go towards the UN agency’s general fund, which works with Palestinian refugees in the West Bank [Judea and Samaria], Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. The remaining US $57 million [NIS 192 million] will go to UNRWA’s 2008 West Bank and Gaza emergency appeal. Among the applications of the money, UNRWA will use the funds for education, health care, social services, food assistance, and the creation of roughly 190,000 temporary jobs. The US government gave UNRWA more than US $154 million [NIS 521 million] last year.
| Islam | America |

Given our current financial situation I think this is bad spending, not to mention the questionable use historically of the money they're given. I suppose I'm not too surprised though.


McCain Believes Abbas YNet News (March 19, 2008) - Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate for president of the United States visited the West Wall in Jerusalem on Wednesday morning and met with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. A person who visits the Western Wall and has been to Yad Vashem understands the Jewish people's deep connection to the Land of Israel and Jerusalem, McCain said, adding that history provided different aspects in terms of the Jewish people's conflict. Accompanied by two other senators, Joe Lieberman and Lindsay Graham, McCain was briefed on the deterioration in the security situation. I believe that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wants to advance the diplomatic process and does not support what is taking place in the Gaza Strip, McCain told Livni, adding that the American government was committed to stop the violence. Senator Lieberman said, "Today we are the target of those radical Islamic elements, and together we can overcome them." Senator Graham of South Carolina warned that within one year the Iraqi people would unite to reject al-Qaeda. "They are advancing politically and economically in order to build a new Iraq. I hope we can create this momentum here as well." In the Middle East if you don’t move forward you take a step backwards, Senator Graham added. "Below the surface Hamas is becoming stronger," Livni told her guests, clarifying that "a so-called calm on the short run, which will increase the danger in the future, is unacceptable." more...
| Israel | Islam |
America |

I believe Abbas too, but he has more than one opinion and other goals than peace it would seem... Abbas Says Terrorist Path is Impractical - "Now" Israel National News (February 28, 2008)


J.P. Morgan Buys Bear in Fire Sale, As Fed Widens Credit to Avert Crisis The Wall Street Journal (March 17, 2008) - Pushed to the brink of collapse by the mortgage crisis, Bear Stearns Cos. agreed -- after prodding by the federal government -- to be sold to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. for the fire-sale price of $2 a share in stock, or about $236 million. Bear Stearns had a stock-market value of about $3.5 billion as of Friday -- and was worth $20 billion in January 2007. But the crisis of confidence that swept the firm and fueled a customer exodus in recent days left Bear Stearns with a horrible choice: sell the firm -- at any price -- to a big bank willing to assume its trading obligations or file for bankruptcy. "At the end of the day, what Bear Stearns was looking at was either taking $2 a share or going bust," said one person involved in the negotiations. "Those were the only options." To help facilitate the deal, the Federal Reserve is taking the extraordinary step of providing as much as $30 billion in financing for Bear Stearns's less-liquid assets, such as mortgage securities that the firm has been unable to sell, in what is believed to be the largest Fed advance on record to a single company. Fed officials wouldn't describe the exact financing terms or assets involved. But if those assets decline in value, the Fed would bear any loss, not J.P. Morgan. The sale of Bear Stearns and Sunday night's move by the Fed to offer loans to other securities dealers mark the latest historic turns in what has become the most pervasive financial crisis in a generation. The issue is no longer whether it will yield a recession -- that seems almost certain -- but whether the concerted efforts of Wall Street and Washington can head off a recession much deeper and more prolonged than the past two, relatively mild ones. 'Uncharted Waters': Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin last week described the situation as "uncharted waters," a view echoed privately by top government officials. Those officials have been scrambling to come up with new tools because the old ones aren't suited for this 21st-century crisis, in which financial innovation has rendered many institutions not "too big too fail," but "too interconnected to be allowed to fail suddenly." Bear Stearns's sudden meltdown forced the federal government to come to grips with the potential collapse of a major Wall Street institution for the first time in a decade. In 1998, about a dozen firms, with encouragement from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, provided a $3.6 billion bailout of Long-Term Capital Management that kept the big hedge fund alive long enough to liquidate its positions. Bear Stearns famously refused to participate in that rescue. The scale of the financial system's troubles are even bigger this time around. Since last summer, the Fed has lowered its target for the federal-funds rate, charged on low-risk overnight loans between banks, to 3% from 5.25%, and it is expected to cut the rate again this week. Last week, the Fed said it would lend Wall Street as much as $200 billion in exchange for a roughly equivalent amount of mortgage-backed securities. more...
| America | Economic Crisis |


Glenn Beck: The $53 trillion asteroid CNN (March 14, 2008) - Let's say a giant asteroid was headed toward Earth right now and experts say it has a good chance of ending civilization as we know it. Let's also say that we've known about this asteroid for years but even as it gets closer and closer our leaders do nothing. "Don't worry," they tell us, "The next administration will figure something out." With the future of our country at stake, would Americans really sit back and tolerate that kind of inaction? Of course not -- we'd be sharpening our pitchforks and demanding answers. Well there may not be a space asteroid heading toward us, but there is an economic one -- and the threat to our future is just as severe. You might think that I'm talking about the recession (sorry: potential recession) or credit crisis, but I'm thinking bigger. Much, much bigger. Let me give you three numbers that will put this economic asteroid into perspective: $200 billion, $14.1 trillion, and $53 trillion.

  • $200 billion is the approximate total amount of write-downs announced so far as a result of the current credit crisis.
  • $14.1 trillion is the size of the entire U.S. economy
  • And $53 trillion is (drum roll please) the approximate size of this country's bill for the Social Security and Medicare promises we've made.

While no one will ever mistake me for Alan Greenspan, it seems to me that the third number is quite a bit larger than the other two. It also seems very few people care. According to the latest Social Security and Medicare Trustees report (and I use that term loosely since it has the word "trust" in it) released earlier this week, the economic asteroid will first make impact in the year 2019 when the Medicaid trust fund becomes insolvent. Only an immediate 122 percent increase in Medicare taxes and a 26 percent increase in Social Security taxes can prevent (or more likely, delay) its impact. Realizing that Americans have become pretty much numb to these kinds of ridiculous sounding proposals, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson tried to up the ante this week. "Without change," he said, "Rising costs will drive government spending to unprecedented levels, consume nearly all projected federal revenues, and threaten America's future prosperity." Now, I know we're all worried about important sounding things that none of us understand, like CDO's, SIV's, and Credit Default Swaps, but did you hear what our Treasury Secretary just said? "Rising costs will ... consume nearly all projected federal revenues ..." Translation: Every single tax dollar that is sent to Washington will be used to pay for just these two programs. That means no money is left for anything else. Nothing. No Department of Defense or Homeland Security, no Department of Energy, no Department of Justice, no Environmental Protection Agency, no Internal Revenue Service. Actually, knowing our government, they'd probably keep the IRS going somehow. Of course, none of this is exactly breaking news. Our leaders have known about this rapidly approaching asteroid for years now and they've done nothing but debate it. At the same time, I'm a realist. I understand that this stuff is "the third rail of politics," but our leaders' negligence on this issue is damn near criminal. No, correction, it is criminal. Americans aren't afraid of the truth. In fact, we crave the truth only slightly more than we crave a leader who will actually give it to us. But part of the problem with this issue is that numbers followed by 12 zeroes aren't very relatable to the average American. more...
| America | Economic Crisis |


Inside the hush-hush North American Union confab World Net Daily (March 13, 2008) - A largely unreported meeting held at the State Department discussed integration of the U.S., Mexico and Canada in concert with a move toward a transatlantic union, linking a North American community with the European Union. The meeting was held Monday under the auspices of the Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy, or ACIEP. WND obtained press credentials and attended as an observer. The meeting was held under "Chatham House" rules that prohibit reporters from attributing specific comments to individual participants. The State Department website noted the meeting was opened by Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Business Affairs Daniel S. Sullivan and ACIEP Chairman Michael Gadbaw, vice president and senior counsel for General Electric's International Law & Policy group since December 1990. WND observed about 25 ACIEP members, including U.S. corporations involved in international trade, prominent U.S. business trade groups, law firms involved with international business law, international investment firms and other international trade consultants. No members of Congress attended the meeting. The agenda for the ACIEP meeting was not published, and State Department officials in attendance could not give WND permission under Chatham House rules to publish the agenda. The meeting agenda included topics reviewing the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, or SPP, and the U.S.-EU Transatlantic Economic Council, or TEC. The SPP, declared by the U.S., Canada and Mexico at a summit meeting in 2005, has 20 trilateral bureaucratic working groups that seek to "integrate and harmonize" administrative rules and regulations on a continental basis. Several participants said the premise of the SPP is to create a North American business platform to benefit North America-based multi-national companies the way the European Union benefits its own. Others noted the premise of the TEC is to create a convergence of administrative rules and regulations between Europe and North America, anticipating the creation of a "Transatlantic Economic Union" between the European Union and North America. Participants pointed out that transatlantic trade is currently 40 percent of all world trade. They argue that trade and non-trade barriers need to be further reduced to maintain that market share as a framework is put in place to advance transatlantic economic integration. Still, some participants argued that many corporations in North America already have moved beyond a North American focus to adopt a global perspective that transcends even the Transatlantic market. "Supply chains and markets are everywhere," one participant asserted. "What's to stop global corporations from going after the cheapest labor available globally, wherever they can find it, provided the cost of transporting goods globally can be managed economically?" Other participants argued regional alliances were still important, if only to put in place the institutional bases that ultimately would lead to global governance on uniform global administrative regulations favorable to multi-national corporations. "North America should be a premiere platform to establish continental institutions," a participant said. "That's why we need to move the security perimeters to include the whole continent, especially as we open the borders between North American countries for expanding free trade." One presentation on the agenda identified four reasons why administrative rules and regulations need to be integrated by SPP in North America and by the Transatlantic Economic Council, bridging together European Union and North American markets:

  • Standardization – to keep prices low and productivity high;
  • Investment – for every $1 traded, $4 is invested; right now 75 percent of investment in the U.S. comes from the EU, and 52 percent of the investment in the EU comes from the U.S.;
  • Productivity Improvements – to lower production costs and stimulate trade; and
  • Open Borders – to facilitate the free movement of labor to markets where employment opportunities are available.

The discussion pointed out the SPP trilateral working groups and the Transatlantic Economic Council were being supported by top-level Cabinet officers and the heads of state in both the EU and in North America. Progress in EU-U.S. regulatory integration was noted in financial market coordination, investment rule cohesion, trade security measures and efforts undertaken recently to preserve intellectual property rights. more...
| EU/UN
/ 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |

Wonder why the borders aren't being dealt with? It works to eliminate national sovereignty for a global environment, a goal of the New World Order to bring all the nations of the world under one authority. International law dictates national law and thereby bringing about global governance while maintaining, for the time being, an illusion of national sovereignty. But if we don't make our own laws or have control of our own currency, how sovereign are we really? The integration under the guise of global markets is leading to the system that will become the mark of the beast, where nobody can buy or sell unless they have the mark. With the emergency situations the Bible foretells of and the economic problems that come about with our current financial situation, a new global cashless society built on the already integrating global economy is that much closer to reality today. The infrastructure is there as is the technology to make it happen. With this kind of integration, it's only a matter of time. Keep watching!


Keeping Europe safe Euro News (March 12, 2008) - Video at link: As the EU continues to expand, openness and greater security are the key subjects for European ministers meeting in Slovenia. They are focusing on possible new measures including fingerprinting, and collecting information on anyone crossing Europe's borders, regardless of whether they are entering or leaving. A vast and profitable single market fulfilling every investor's dreams: that is the optimist's view of an enlarged Europe. But its critics say with no internal borders, any terrorist can move around at will, from country to country, and never be caught. EU Commissioner Franco Frattini says this is about tighter internal security, offset against the problems of the visa waiver agreements with the United States. This meeting builds on the existing European Security Strategy which is a mirror image of a similar arrangement in America. Both Europe and the US believe the world is full of new dangers, and multilateral co-operation is the only way to keep both continents as safe as possible.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | 1st Seal | America |

International integration and cooperation is the key to bringing about global governance right under our noses without taking over nations through war in the traditional manner. In this way, for many once they realize what is going on it will be too late and the law will be, and already is, in the hands of the globalists who will give their power to the beast. For many in the world, this will be a logical progression of government and will make sense. To those who desire to obey the Bible or Torah, they will become enemies of the state in the future because of the Bible's claim as the sole Truth.


Keeping the peace International Herald Tribune (March 10, 2008) - For months, for years, we have been deeply distressed, yet powerless, with respect to the tragedy in Darfur. Two weeks ago, despite the troubles in Chad, Europe gave itself the means to protect the victims and to rebuild their villages in eastern Chad. At the behest of France, and thanks to the efforts of our European partners, the European Union - implementing a unanimous UN Security Council resolution - launched its Eufor operation. There will finally be help and comfort for women - who up to now were raped or killed as soon as they left their camps - and for hungry children. This is no small achievement. I've just returned from Goz Beida in eastern Chad, and I will never forget the enthusiastic welcome the European soldiers received from displaced persons and refugees. The launch of an autonomous EU operation in Africa, led by an Irish general with a Polish deputy and bringing together troops from some 15 countries, illustrates how far we have come in building a European defense. It is now desired and supported by nations that until very recently remained skeptical. We have been working to build a European defense since the 1990s. The Europeans needed military means commensurate with their political ambitions. How could we hope to influence a crisis or negotiations without the means to back up our words? "The Union must have the capacity for autonomous action, backed up by credible military forces, the means to decide to use them, and a readiness to do so, in order to respond to international crises," concluded the Franco-British Saint-Malo Summit in 1998. The European Security and Defense Policy inscribed in the Lisbon Treaty is finally allowing us to meet this need. In the future, if we wish to do so, the EU will be able to fully assume its role on the international scene. No one can deny that this is a major asset for peace in the world. The approximately 15 civilian and military operations that Europe has already conducted since 2003 in the Balkans, in Africa, in the Middle East, in Afghanistan and as far away as Indonesia, largely attest to this. In each of them, the EU was guided by a single ideal: to save lives, to avert war, and to work for reconstruction and reconciliation when the international community had been unable to prevent conflict. Each time we did so with a concern for effectiveness and pragmatism, with or without direct support from the Americans. Our vision of relations between the EU and NATO is that they should be founded on this same pragmatism. In some cases, the EU has used its own military means, as it did in Congo in the past and is doing in Chad and the Central African Republic today. In other situations - Bosnia, for example - the EU benefited from NATO support. Now, in a growing number of crises, the EU and NATO are deployed together on the ground. That is sufficient to show that there is not competition but rather complementarity between the two organizations. How could it be otherwise when 21 of the 26 NATO allies are members of the EU, and 21 of the 27 EU partners are members of NATO? Moreover, it is these individual nations that decide on a case-by-case basis what is the most appropriate framework for their actions. And it is they who supply troops and equipment - there is no EU army, just as there is no NATO army. And all the parties remain free. This very simple truth means that European defense relies on the commitment of each state and that all may do their share. It presumes that all European countries make the effort to ensure that the security of all is no longer guaranteed or financed by only a few. As France is one of the largest contributors to both EU and NATO operations, it is in our interest, even more than in that of others, for the two organizations to work more effectively together. The positions expressed by President Nicolas Sarkozy last fall are clear: A tireless promoter of European defense, France is at the same time a key member of NATO, whose forces it has commanded on several occasions, particularly in Kosovo and Afghanistan. Our new approach to NATO is not an alignment but rather a strengthened European dynamic. Some claim that the United States remains opposed to a European defense, as it would weaken NATO. This claim no longer appears to be true. Recent statements by high-ranking U.S. officials in Paris and London indicate that Washington - aware of the challenges we must face together - acknowledges the necessary complementarity of the two organizations. Trust is built over time and through reciprocity: Our openness to the United States and American support for the EU autonomously assuming its responsibilities shall advance hand in hand. European defense and Europe's anchorage in the Atlantic alliance are two facets of the same defense and security policy, pursued in the name of the values we share. The EU presidency, which France will assume on July 1, must allow us to open new perspectives in the field of security and defense, to fight against terrorism and proliferation more effectively, to reinforce our energy security, and to prepare the implementation of permanent structured cooperation open to all 27 member states, as made possible by the new treaty. We will resolutely strive toward that aim. We are already preparing ourselves under the presidency of our Slovenian friends. This progress will give full meaning to the renewal of our relationship with NATO.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana | NewWorldOrder | 1st Seal | America |

Revelation 17:12,13
And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

Revelation 13:3-8
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

The prophesied war on the saints is coming and I really feel we are watching the international cooperation now whose power will be given over the the man of sin and the head and voice of Europe. To those that don't understand the ultimate end of this, it may sound good because who doesn't want peace and security? But who will be in charge of this collection of cooperating armies and who will become the enemy of the state? As Richard Peterson pointed out in his posting on the Alliance of Civilizations,
The final report of the United Nations’ Alliance of Civilizations (AoC) initiative was released last month. In addition to its usual goal of combating exclusivist ideology, the report contains some interesting elements:

1) Exclusivist ideology is defined as "those who feed on exclusion and claim sole ownership of the truth." (Christians, read John 14:6 as you consider this statement.)
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

The "terrorists" and "destroyers of civilizations" will become Christians and Jews that do not give up their fundamental beliefs in one True God and instead worship the man of sin who works signs and lying wonders. Those who refuse to go along with the New World Order will become the enemy. More on the Treaty of Lisbon.


Leaders push PR campaign for North American alliance WorldNet Daily (March 6, 2008) - The controversial Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, or SPP, continues closed-door meetings with business leaders while the heads of state of the U.S., Mexico and Canada now openly urge them to launch a public relations campaign to counter growing criticism of the trilateral cooperative some fear is a step toward a North American Union. The information is contained in an internal memo from Canada's Foreign Affairs and Internal Trade ministry, obtained by WND under an Access to Information Act request. The text of the undated memo is an internal government summary of the third SPP summit meeting held Aug. 20-21, 2007, in Montebello Quebec. The redacted memo does not disclose the author or the date the memo was written. The first sentence of the memo makes clear, as WND previously reported, the North American Competitiveness Council, or NACC, was the only participant invited to meet behind closed doors with the SPP bureaucrats. The SPP consists of 20 working groups plus the attending cabinet officers from each country and the heads of state. "Leaders had a successful meeting with the members of the NACC, which had been launched at the leader's meeting in Cancun in March 2006, to counsel governments on how they might enhance North American competitiveness," the memo begins. The NACC is a largely secretive SPP advisory council of representatives of 30 North American corporations selected by the Chambers of Commerce in the three nations. The NACC has issued no press releases disclosing specific recommendations made to the SPP trilateral working groups tasked with "integrating" and "harmonizing" administrative rules and regulations into a North American format. Nor have any minutes of SPP meetings with NACC participants ever been made public. The PR offensive is clearly discussed in the third paragraph of the internal memo, where following an initial redacted sentence, the paragraph discusses comments made by the three heads of state in the closed door discussions, noting, "He also urged NACC members to assist in confronting and refuting critics of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP)." The "He" in the sentence is not identified. The fourth paragraph continues the PR theme: "In closing, all leaders expressed a desire for the NACC to play a role in articulating publicly the benefits of greater collaboration in North America." Later, the memo admits, "Leaders discussed some of the difficulties of the SPP, including the lack of popular support and the failure of the public to understand the competitive challenges confronting North America." After a redacted sentence, the memo continues, "Governments are faced with addressing the rapidly evolving competitive environment without fueling protectionism, when industry sectors face radical transformation." The memo then documents a comment made by President Bush: "In terms of building public support, President Bush suggested engaging the support of those who had benefited from NAFTA and from North American integration (including small business owners) to tell their stories and humanize the impressive results." The document says, regarding import safety, "President Bush underlined the importance of tackling the issue more broadly and showing that governments are ahead of this issue in order to prevent a trade protectionist backlash, especially against China." Toward the end, the memo reinforces the public relations theme, emphasizing, "NACC members should have a role in communicating the merits of North American collaboration, including by engaging their employees and unions." Meanwhile, the SPP ministers and trilateral working groups continue to pursue a policy of secret, closed-door meetings, where the press and the public is not invited to participate or observe the process. more...
| NewWorldOrder | America |


Court's home school ban creating 'panic' WorldNet Daily (March 4, 2008) - A ruling from an appeals court in California that a homeschooling family must enroll their children in a public school or "legally qualified" private school is alarming because of the way the court opted to order those results, according to a team of legislative analysts who have worked on homeschooling issues in California for decades. The ruling, when it was released several days ago, sent ripples of shock through the homeschooling community. WND has reported on the order handed down to Phillip and Mary Long over the education being provided to two of their eight children. The decision from the 2nd Appellate Court in Los Angeles granted a special petition brought by lawyers appointed to represent the two youngest children after the family's homeschooling was brought to the attention of child advocates. The lawyers appointed by the state were unhappy with a lower court's ruling that allowed the family to continue homeschooling, and specifically challenged that on appeal. Roy Hanson, chief of the Private and Home Educators of California, said the circumstances of the Long family left the court with the option of handling such a ruling for their particular circumstances in a juvenile court setting. "Normally in a dependency court action, they simply make a ruling that will affect that family. It accomplishes the same thing, meaning they would force [the family] to place their minor children into school," he said. Such rulings on a variety of issues always are "done in the best interests of the child" and are not unusual, he said. But in this case, the court said went much further, essentially concluding that the state provided no circumstance that allowed parents to school their own children at home. "We find no reason to strike down the Legislature's evaluation of what constitutes an adequate education scheme sufficient to promote the 'general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence.' We agree … 'the educational program of the State of California was designed to promote the general welfare of all the people and was not designed to accommodate the personal ideas of any individual in the field of education,'" the ruling said. Specifically, the appeals court said, the trial court had found that "keeping the children at home deprived them of situations where (1) they could interact with people outside the family, (2) there are people who could provide help if something is amiss in the children's lives, and (3) they could develop emotionally in a broader world than the parents' 'cloistered' setting." Further, the appeals ruling said, California law requires "persons between the ages of six and 18" to be in school, "the public full-time day school," with exemptions allowed only for those in a "private full-time day school" or those "instructed by a tutor who holds a valid state teaching credential for the grade being taught." Such a holding, if unchanged, could ultimately be used against the tens of thousands who currently are homeschooling in California by fulfilling the state's requirements to establish a private school in a home, and enrolling the family's children in that school, observers said. For homeschoolers in California, Hanson said, "there may be everywhere from concern to panic, just based on not knowing what the [ultimate] results will be." He said his group has worked to defeat similar arguments in the past, and because of those previous results, he wondered whether the court or the children's lawyers were pursuing some sort of "agenda" with the case. more...
| America |


Feds Cite Hassles if ID Law Not Followed GOP USA (March 4, 2008) - Homeland Security officials are pushing recalcitrant states to adopt stricter driver's license standards to end a standoff that could disrupt domestic air travel. States have less than a month to send a letter to the Homeland Security Department seeking an extension to comply with the Real ID law passed following the 2001 terror attacks. Some states have resisted, saying it is costly, impractical and an invasion of privacy. Four states -- Maine, Montana, New Hampshire and South Carolina -- have yet to seek an extension. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff argues that the law fixes a critical gap in security identified by the commission that investigated the 9/11 attacks: the ease of obtaining government-issued ID. It will also hinder would-be con artists and illegal immigrants, he said. Real ID-compliant driver's licenses would have several layers of new security features to prevent forgery. They would also be issued after a number of ID checks, including verification of birth certificates, Social Security numbers and immigration status. Officials acknowledge it will take years to phase in all the different security measures. To bring the states in line, Chertoff warned that any state that does not seek an extension by the end of March will find that, come May, their residents will not be able to use their licenses to board domestic flights. Chertoff's assistant secretary, Stewart Baker, sent letters to several governors Monday reminding them of the looming deadline, and urging the holdouts to seek an extension. In recent years, 17 states passed legislation or resolutions opposing Real ID, but now only a handful appear willing to challenge the government publicly. Officials in Maine and Montana insisted Monday they would not seek an extension. A spokesman for South Carolina's governor said he was still considering it. New Hampshire passed a law last year prohibiting the state from participating in the Real ID program, and Gov. John Lynch wrote Chertoff last week asking him not to impose the requirements on New Hampshire citizens. A fifth state, Delaware, has sent a letter asking for an extension, but DHS officials are still weighing whether the wording of the letter legally adds up to an extension request. If the states do not seek an extension by March 31, their residents will be subjected to secondary screening by security workers before boarding any domestic flight beginning May 11. ''We're not going to buckle under here,'' said Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer. ''My guess is the people of Montana would be proud to walk through that line.'' Schweitzer called the Real ID proposal a bureaucratic boondoggle that will cost his state a fortune and give a false sense of security without actually making ID more reliable. He has sought to rally opposition to Real ID, but the vast majority of states have decided not to test whether Washington is bluffing. As the high-stakes game of chicken continues, federal authorities are not publicly saying whether seeking an extension actually counts as complying with the law. In his recent letters, Baker said only that the 45 states that have sought extensions are ''on track toward improved security.''
| NewWorldOrder | Technology | America |

Notice how the 2001 terror attacks spawned this new Real ID? In the name of peace and security, greater restrictions are placed on freedoms and a system of international cooperation is created to allow the government to more easily track people around the world. As pointed out in the "Papers Please" blog, "There are good people with bad papers; and bad people with good papers." | Bertolt Brecht This is just a step to the ultimate goal of a global tracking system that will turn into the mark of the beast. I don't believe this is the mark of the beast since it will coincide with a pledge of allegiance to the man of sin following his declaration of being God. I do believe that the ease of faking these kind of documents will trigger the next step of RFID tattooed into the skin that will be the mark of the beast.


U.S. Jews give Palestinian state endorsement World Net Daily (March 3, 2008) - The Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a coalition of major mainstream U.S. Jewish organizations, has for the first time given endorsement to a Palestinian state. But the firestorm of nationalist Jewish outrage on the Internet has targeted the Orthodox Union, or O.U., one of the largest U.S. Orthodox Jewish organizations representing hundreds of Orthodox synagogues, which abstained and did not vote against a successful resolution calling for a "two state solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Surveys have consistently demonstrated American Orthodox Jews oppose a Palestinian state. "It is an outrage Jewish organizations would support a Palestinian state and it's a shock the O.U .would abstain," Mort Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, told WND. "When the Palestinian Authority refuses to arrest terrorists, engages in and glorifies murder against Jews, and puts out maps showing all of Israel is Palestine surrounded by rifles, it becomes clear any Palestinian state will be a terrorist state which will greatly harm Israel," Klein said. At a vote last week during its annual meetings, the JCPA resolved "the organized American Jewish community should affirm its support for two independent, democratic and economically viable states – the Jewish state of Israel and a state of Palestine – living side-by-side in peace and security." The resolution recognized American Jewry's "diverse views about current and future policies of the Israeli government towards settlements," and blamed the standstill in the peace process on Palestinian intransigence. The Council is an umbrella of 14 major national Jewish groups and 125 local Jewish community relations councils. Among the groups represented by the council are such giants as the American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Congress, Anti-Defamation League , National Council of Bnai Brith, Hadassah, the National Conference on Soviet Jewry and Hillel, the largest Jewish university outreach group. The O.U. was recipient of the most criticism for abstaining during the vote in which all other groups voted in favor. According to a source at the organization, e-mails have been pouring in from outraged Orthodox Jews. In a widely circulated e-mail, Pessach Aceman, a Canadian immigrant to Israel and a diarist for the BBC website, lambasted the Orthodox group as a "terror supporting organization through your silence." "What total hypocrisy this is," wrote Acement. "What this goes to show is that politics and funding rule the airwaves which makes your efforts totally hypocritical." Ted Belman, who runs the Israpundit blog, posted, "To my mind this resolution is very detrimental as it makes it harder for alternates to be forwarded. By endorsing this resolution are the O.U. and the others saying they support a two state solution regardless if it necessitates the division of Jerusalem?" In an official clarification, the O.U. released a statement that while it abstained from the final vote endorsing a Palestinian state, the group still managed to insert into the resolution's text a statement explaining Israel's repeated offers to establish a Palestinian state "have been met, time after time, by violence, incitement and terror.” The organization also successfully vetoed a clause that would have stated the American Jewish community views the establishment or expansion of Israeli communities in the West Bank as an "impediment to peace." more...
| Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land |
America |


Europe's Power to Lead The Moscow Times (February 28, 2008) - At last month's World Economic Forum in Davos, the buzz was about Asia's growing power. One Asian analyst argued that by 2050, there will be three world powers: the United States, China and India. He did not mention Europe, but underestimating Europe's power is a mistake. Yes, Europe currently punches below its weight. It is fragmented, peaceful and normative in a world of hard power, but part of the world is not about military power. The use of force among advanced industrial democracies is virtually unthinkable. In their relations with each other, such countries are all from Venus, to paraphrase U.S. political commentator Robert Kagan, and here Europe's focus on law and institutions is an asset. A recent Pew poll found that many Europeans would like Europe to play a larger role in other parts of the world. To balance U.S. military power, however, would require a doubling or tripling of defense spending, and few Europeans are interested in such an increase. Nevertheless, a smart strategy for Europe will require greater investments in hard power. The picture for Europe, however, is not as bleak as pessimists assume. Power is the ability to get the outcomes one wants, and the resources that produce such behavior depend upon the context. In functional terms, power is distributed like a three-dimensional chess game. On the top board are military relations among states, with the United States the world's only superpower with global reach. Here the world is unipolar. On the middle board are economic relations, where the world is already multipolar. Here, Europe acts as a union, and other countries like Japan and China play big roles. The United States cannot reach a trade agreement or settle antitrust cases without the approval of the European Union. Or, to take another example, Europe was able to lead the drive to remove Paul Wolfowitz from the World Bank. The bottom chessboard includes transnational relations outside the control of governments -- everything from drugs to infectious diseases to climate change to terrorism. On this board, power is chaotically distributed among nonstate actors, and it makes no sense to call this world either unipolar or multipolar. Here, close civilian cooperation is important, for which Europe is well endowed. European countries' success in overcoming centuries of animosity, and the development of a large internal market, has given them a great deal of soft power. At the Cold War's end, East European countries did not try to form local alliances, as they did in the 1920s, but looked toward Brussels to secure their future. Similarly, countries like Turkey and Ukraine have adjusted their policies in response to their attraction to Europe. Recently, the U.S. National Intelligence Council published four widely different scenarios for the world in 2020: Davos World, in which economic globalization continues but with a more Asian face; Pax Americana, where the United States continues to dominate the global order; New Caliphate, where Islamic religious identity challenges the dominance of Western norms; and Cycle of Fear, in which nonstate forces create shocks to security that produce Orwellian societies. Like any exercise in futurology, such scenarios have their limits, but they help us ask which three or four major political factors will help shape the outcome. The third major determinant of which scenario will prevail will be U.S. power and how it is used. The United States will remain the most powerful country in 2020, but, paradoxically, the strongest state since the days of Rome will be unable to protect its citizens acting alone. U.S. military might is not adequate to deal with threats such as global pandemics, climate change, terrorism and international crime. These issues require cooperation in the provision of global public good and in the soft-power technique of attracting support. No part of the world shares more values or has a greater capacity to influence U.S. attitudes and power than Europe. This suggests that the fourth political determinant of the future will be the evolution of European policies and power. more...
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |


Survey: Americans freely change, or drop, their religions USA Today (February 28, 2008) - A new map of faith in the USA shows a nation constantly shifting amid religious choices, unaware or unconcerned with doctrinal distinctions. Unbelief is on the rise. And immigration is introducing new faces in the pews, new cultural concerns, new forces in the public square. The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, released Monday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, documents new peaks, deepening valleys and fast-running rivers of change in American religiosity. Based on interviews with 35,556 adults in the continental United States, it shows so much diversity and dynamism that a co-author sums it up simply. "Churn. Churn. Churn. The biggest news here is change," says Pew Forum research fellow Gregory Smith. "It's not that religion won't matter in the future, but that it will matter in new and less predictable ways," says co-author John Green, a political scientist and Pew Forum senior fellow. Key findings from the survey:

  • Faith is fluid: 44% say they're no longer tied to the religious or secular upbringing of their childhood. They've changed religions or denominations, adopted a faith for the first time or abandoned any affiliation altogether.
  • "Nothing" matters: 12.1% say their religious identity is "nothing in particular," outranking every denomination and tradition except Catholics (23.9%) and all groups of Baptists (17.2%).
  • Protestants are fading: 51.3% call themselves Protestant, but roughly one-third of this group were "unable or unwilling" to describe their denomination.
  • Immigrants sustain Catholic numbers: 46% of foreign-born U.S. adults are Catholics, compared with only 21% of native-born adults. Latinos are now 45% of all U.S. Catholics ages 18-29.

Like the Catholic Church, other public institutions will have to accommodate the impact of immigration. Already, more than 34 million of the nation's 225 million adults are foreign-born, and half of these are Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census. "The Catholic Church may be a microcosm of what's going to happen to the country in the next 40 years," says Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum. The Pew survey was based on random telephone interviews conducted in English and Spanish, May 8 through Aug. 13. Another 1,050 interviews were added from an earlier 2007 Pew-sponsored survey of Muslims in the USA, which included interviews in Arabic, Farsi and Urdu. The margin of error is plus or minus 0.6 percentage points for the full sample, higher for subgroups. The findings are being presented in two segments. One looks at religious affiliation (here used to mean identity) and demographic characteristics. The other, to be released in late spring, delves into beliefs, behavior and political views. Today's report (online at www.Pewforum.org) sorts people into major groupings: Christian (78.4%); other religions (4.7%) including Jewish (1.7%) and Muslim (0.7%); and "unaffiliated" (16.1%), which includes atheist (1.6%), agnostic (2.4%) and "nothing in particular." Protestants also are subdivided into three groups: evangelical (26.3%) with shared strict ideas on salvation and common historic origins; mainline (18.1%), which share "a less exclusionary view of salvation and a strong emphasis on social reform"; and historically black churches (6.9%) with traditions "shaped by experiences of slavery and segregation." These overall findings are parsed to a fine degree by being broken down into nearly 250 faiths and traditions and examined by demographic characteristics. more...
| Apostasy | America |

This covers more than Christianity of course, but the fluid nature of belief evident is the whole point. Absolute Truth is not a common bond and this fits into the mold of the Babylonian system of mixing beliefs that the Bible says will lead to acceptance of the antichrist as God because he will have lying signs and wonders. Society today needs to see to believe, which I believe stems from the history of the mystery of iniquity at work today and being indoctrinated taught in our public schools today. The destruction of faith is the goal and it is working amazingly well.

Romans 10:14-17
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

But how many in the world today trust the Bible? Faith isn't blind either. This website is my attempt to make the clarity of scripture obvious and to build the faith in what the Bible says through the testimony of fulfilled prophecy so that believing what the Bible says isn't based on blindness, but rather in seeing the Truth and being set free by it.

James 1:2-8
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Please take the time to listen to this message by Dr. Charles Stanley:
Surviving Our Present Culture - More In Touch Ministries audio


Dollar plunges to fresh record euro low Breitbart.com (February 27, 2008) - The dollar plunged to another record low against the European single currency on Wednesday as a stream of negative US data undermined the greenback, analysts said. In morning deals, the euro surged as high as 1.5088 dollars, after smashing through the 1.50 barrier for the first ever time in US trade on Tuesday. "The euro is trading above 1.50 against the dollar for the first time since the eurozone came into existence in January 1999," said Global Insight analyst Howard Archer. "This is primarily a consequence of the dollar being undermined by further weak US data heightening concerns over the US economy and reinforcing expectations of additional interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve."
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America | Economic Crisis |


Dollar plunges to fresh record euro low Breitbart.com (February 27, 2008) - The dollar plunged to another record low against the European single currency on Wednesday as a stream of negative US data undermined the greenback, analysts said. In morning deals, the euro surged as high as 1.5088 dollars, after smashing through the 1.50 barrier for the first ever time in US trade on Tuesday. "The euro is trading above 1.50 against the dollar for the first time since the eurozone came into existence in January 1999," said Global Insight analyst Howard Archer. "This is primarily a consequence of the dollar being undermined by further weak US data heightening concerns over the US economy and reinforcing expectations of additional interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve."
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America | Economic Crisis |


Foreclosures up 57 percent in the past year MSNBC (February 26, 2008) - The number of homes facing foreclosure jumped 57 percent in January compared to a year ago, with lenders increasingly forced to take possession of homes they couldn’t unload at auctions, a mortgage research firm said Monday. Nationwide, some 233,001 homes received at least one notice from lenders last month related to overdue payments, compared with 148,425 a year earlier, according to Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. Nearly half of the total involved first-time default notices. The worsening situation came despite ongoing efforts by lenders to help borrowers manage their payments by modifying loan terms, working out long-term repayment plans and other actions “You have more people going into default and a higher percentage of the properties going back to the banks,” said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac’s vice president of marketing. The U.S. foreclosure rate last month was one filing for every 534 homes. The Cape Coral-Fort Myers area in Florida posted the highest foreclosure rate of any metro area in the nation, with one of every 86 homes in some stage of foreclosure, said RealtyTrac Inc. Stockton, Calif., was ranked second, with one of every 97 homes involved in a foreclosure filing, while the Riverside-San Bernardino metro area in Southern California had the third-highest foreclosure rate with filings for one of every 101 properties. January’s tally represented an 8 percent hike from December. RealtyTrac follows default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. Lenders typically consider borrowers delinquent after they fall three months behind on mortgage payments. Attempts to help struggling home owners have fallen short. “The loan workout modification programs aren’t having a significant material effect on keeping properties from going back to the banks,” Sharga said. One dramatic trend last month was a 90 percent spike in the number of properties that were repossessed by banks, compared to January 2007. “It suggests that there’s little or no equity in a lot of these homes, because they’re not even being sold to investors at auctions, and it suggests a continuing weakness in a lot of markets in terms of real estate sales,” Sharga said. more...
| America | Economic Crisis |


Moneychangers Destroying America, and Christians Don't See It News With Views (February 26, 2008) - "And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables." John 2:13-15 (KJV) The moneychangers of Jesus' day were the equivalent of the international bankers of our day. With the consent and approbation of the Jewish leaders, these bankers set up shop in the Temple. Their purpose was to exchange whatever currency the Jewish worshipper brought with him or her into Jewish currency, which would then be used to purchase whatever sacrifice the worshipper required. Of course, the exchange rates benefited only the bankers and Jewish leaders (and Caesar, who collected a tax on the exchange, of course). For everyone else, the system was nothing more than legalized extortion. When Jesus saw what the bankers were doing, He was incensed. And throughout the Gospel narratives, this is the only occasion where Jesus is recorded as resorting to violence. He made a scourge (or whip) and drove the bankers out of the Temple by force and destroyed their tables, along with their records, receipts, etc. It is too bad that today's pastors and Christians do not share Jesus' disdain for the current generation of moneychangers, because it is the moneychangers who are in the process of destroying these United States of America--and our pastors and Christians either do not see it, or, if they do see it, do not seem to care. It is modern moneychangers who bully and bribe our spineless and greedy politicians (from both parties) into passing so-called "free trade" deals such as NAFTA, CAFTA, and the FTAA, which have all but destroyed America's manufacturing base and have put millions of American workers out of their jobs. It is the moneychangers who are the driving force behind the burgeoning North American Union, which sacrifices America's national sovereignty and independence. Over the weekend, Dr. Jerry Corsi reported that a new North American Army has been created, without the approval of Congress or any mention by the American media. In World Net Daily, Corsi reports, "In a ceremony that received virtually no attention in the American media, the United States and Canada signed a military agreement Feb. 14 allowing the armed forces from one nation to support the armed forces of the other nation during a domestic civil emergency, even one that does not involve a cross-border crisis.

"The agreement, defined as a Civil Assistance Plan, was not submitted to Congress for approval, nor did Congress pass any law or treaty specifically authorizing this military agreement to combine the operations of the armed forces of the United States and Canada in the event of a wide range of domestic civil disturbances ranging from violent storms, to health epidemics, to civil riots or terrorist attacks.

"In Canada, the agreement paving the way for the militaries of the U.S. and Canada to cross each other's borders to fight domestic emergencies was not announced either by the Harper government or the Canadian military, prompting sharp protest."

Corsi further writes, "The military Civil Assistance Plan can be seen as a further incremental step being taken toward creating a North American armed forces available to be deployed in domestic North American emergency situations.

"The agreement was signed at U.S. Army North headquarters, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, by U.S. Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, commander of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, or USNORTHCOM, and by Canadian Air Force Lt. Gen. Marc Dumais, commander of Canada Command."

For the most part, the American media is blind, mute, and dumb regarding any of the issues relating to the merger of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The only notable media personality to give this matter any significant attention is CNN's Lou Dobbs. Obviously, the same moneychangers who control Congress also largely control the mainstream media. The last three American Presidents, too, have been willing pawns in the hands of the moneychangers. Remember, it was Bill Clinton and Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole who collaborated to shove NAFTA down our throats. It was Bush 41 who first publicly promoted a "New World Order." But it has been George W. Bush who has done more to appease the globalist plans of the moneychangers than any President since Woodrow Wilson. G.W. Bush has used the rubric of "the war on terrorism" to dismantle not only the personal liberties of the American people (most notably with his Gestapo-like Patriot Act), but also the constitutional principles of national sovereignty and independence. For example, back in 2006, G.W. Bush eviscerated one of America's most sacred doctrines protecting liberty and independence: the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which disallowed U.S. military troops from being used against U.S. citizens. (Of course, this did not stop Bill Clinton and Janet Reno from using U.S. troops against U.S. citizens at Waco, Texas. And thanks to G.W. Bush, the crime was permanently covered up.) The expunging of Posse Comitatus becomes even more jeopardous when one considers the current merger of U.S. and Canadian military forces. Dr. Corsi explains:

"In an exclusive interview with WND during Vigilant Shield 2008, Gen. Renuart affirmed USNORTHCOM would deploy U.S. troops on U.S. soil should the president declare a domestic emergency in which the Department of Defense ordered USNORTHCOM involvement.

"In May 2007, WND reported President Bush, on his own authority, signed National Security Presidential Directive 51, also known as Homeland Security Presidential Directive 20, authorizing the president to declare a national emergency and take over all functions of federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments, without necessarily obtaining the approval of Congress to do so."

Are readers getting this? George W. Bush, on his own signature, with no approval from Congress and no input from the American people, has seized unlimited power for the Presidency; he has dismantled the constitutional protections of the American people; he has ignored the courts; he has begun creating the merger of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, including the merger of the U.S. and Canadian militaries; and he has refused to enforce U.S. immigration laws, thus facilitating a borderless North America. And all of this has been done at the behest of David Rockefeller and his cabal of moneychangers at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). more...
| NewWorldOrder | America |

While I agree with the facts of this article, I also see Bible prophecy being fulfilled and the ultimate end shows no ability to stop what is about to happen as a result of these plans. Indeed it will lead to the war on the saints prophesied to come and we will be powerless to stop it.

Revelation 13:7
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

Let's not fight trying to change what the Bible says we cannot, let us fight for the souls of mankind. The call for political inaction is not a popular one to hold for those who think we can change what is happening, but think about this from an eternal perspective. How much time would we waste trying to change what God foretold to happen while the Gospel goes unspoken in the process? Where should our focus be? How many Christians would be silenced with no effect when they could have spent their time reaching those in their area of influence with the message of eternal salvation? Given the futility of fighting the New World Order, I personally feel it a better mission to reach the hearts and minds with the Truth from God's Word while shining its light on current events so that faith in the Bible is not blind, but rather quite plain to see. Life will NOT continue on as it always has, there is a prophesied conclusion that is fast approaching. We are to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Matthew 10:16

So let us obey Christ's mission for us to get out of the world system as much as we can Revelation 18:1-5, read His Word, watch, pray and share the hope that is within us through the saving blood of Yeshua the Christ who died so that we could live. Be aware of what is going on not to affect change of this corrupted world, but change in the hearts of individuals through the light of Truth from God's Word and the unveiling of the wicked plans of the enemy. It's not pretty, but keep watching!


North American Army created without OK by Congress WorldNet Daily (February 24, 2008) - In a ceremony that received virtually no attention in the American media, the United States and Canada signed a military agreement Feb. 14 allowing the armed forces from one nation to support the armed forces of the other nation during a domestic civil emergency, even one that does not involve a cross-border crisis. The agreement, defined as a Civil Assistance Plan, was not submitted to Congress for approval, nor did Congress pass any law or treaty specifically authorizing this military agreement to combine the operations of the armed forces of the United States and Canada in the event of a wide range of domestic civil disturbances ranging from violent storms, to health epidemics, to civil riots or terrorist attacks. In Canada, the agreement paving the way for the militaries of the U.S. and Canada to cross each other's borders to fight domestic emergencies was not announced either by the Harper government or the Canadian military, prompting sharp protest. "It's kind of a trend when it comes to issues of Canada-U.S. relations and contentious issues like military integration," Stuart Trew, a researcher with the Council of Canadians told the Canwest News Service.  "We see that this government is reluctant to disclose information to Canadians that is readily available on American and Mexican websites." The military Civil Assistance Plan can be seen as a further incremental step being taken toward creating a North American armed forces available to be deployed in domestic North American emergency situations. The agreement was signed at U.S. Army North headquarters, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, by U.S. Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, commander of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, or USNORTHCOM, and by Canadian Air Force Lt. Gen. Marc Dumais, commander of Canada Command." This document is a unique, bilateral military plan to align our respective national military plans to respond quickly to the other nation's requests for military support of civil authorities," Renuart said in a statement published on the USNORTHCOM website. "In discussing the new bilateral Civil Assistance Plan established by USNORTHCOM and Canada Command, Renuart stressed, "Unity of effort during bilateral support for civil support operations such as floods, forest fires, hurricanes, earthquakes and effects of a terrorist attack, in order to save lives, prevent human suffering an mitigate damage to property, is of the highest importance, and we need to be able to have forces that are flexible and adaptive to support rapid decision-making in a collaborative environment." Lt. Gen. Dumais seconded Renuart's sentiments, stating, "The signing of this plan is an important symbol of the already strong working relationship between Canada Command and U.S. Northern Command." "Our commands were created by our respective governments to respond to the defense and security challenges of the twenty-first century," he stressed, "and we both realize that these and other challenges are best met through cooperation between friends." In May 2007, WND reported President Bush, on his own authority, signed National Security Presidential Directive 51, also known as Homeland Security Presidential Directive 20, authorizing the president to declare a national emergency and take over all functions of federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments, without necessarily obtaining the approval of Congress to do so. more...
| NewWorldOrder | America |

So what happens when "terrorists" become those claiming sole ownership to the Truth according to the Alliance of Civilizations backed by Europe and NATO? And what about the leadership who is given these emergency powers in the case of an emergency deemed necessary for implementation of this new agreement? These things can sound good on a surface level without looking into the future. The Bible allows us to accurately know the ultimate end and for those who love God, the end is not good. Keep watching!


6.3-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Nevada Fox News (February 21, 2008) - A strong earthquake shook rural northeastern Nevada Thursday, damaging a town's historic district but sparing residents from any serious injuries. The magnitude of the quake, initially estimated at 6.3, was later revised to 6.0 by the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo. The quake, which struck at 6:16 a.m., was centered in a sparsely populated area 11 miles southeast of Wells near the Nevada-Utah line. It was felt across much of the West, from northern Idaho and Utah to Southern California, officials said. At least five less severe aftershocks were reported. "Definitely a lot of people felt this, and if they were sleeping, they were awoken," said USGS geophysicist Carrieann Bedwell. The most serious damage was reported in Wells' largely unoccupied historic district, Elko County Undersheriff Rocky Gonzalez said. Brick facades tumbled off several buildings, signs fell and windows broke, and some vehicles parked on the street were damaged by falling debris, KELK Radio in Elko reported. Dan Burns, spokesman with the Nevada Division of Emergency Management, said transportation and safety personnel were inspecting roads, bridges and dams in the area for structural damage. Burns said at least two buildings in historic area had partially collapsed, and two main water lines had ruptured. A Flying J Truck Stop was evacuated because of a propane leak, Gonzalez said, but no fires broke out. The leak was contained by midmorning. more...
| America | Earth Changes |


Behind The Veil In Washington DC -- The Rise Of Angelic Rule Raiders News Network (January 20, 2008) - On January 20, 2001, President George W. Bush during his inaugural address twice referred to an angel that "rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm." His reference was credited to Virginia statesman John Page who wrote to Thomas Jefferson after the Declaration of Independence was signed, saying, ``We know the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong. Do you not think an angel rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm?'' Five weeks later, on Wednesday, February 28, Congressman Major R. Owens of New York stood before the House of Representatives and prayed to the "Angel in the Whirlwind." He asked the spiritual force to guide the future and fate of the United States (1). At the beginning of his second term, when Bush was being sworn in to office, he offered equally cryptic commentary, saying, "For a half century, America defended our own freedom by standing watch on distant borders. After the shipwreck of communism came years of relative quiet, years of repose, years of sabbatical - and then there came a day of fire...." Bush followed that statement, saying, "By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well - a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress, and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world." The phrase, "a fire in the minds of men," is from Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s nineteenth century book, The Possessed (The Devils) a novel set in pre-revolutionary Russia where civil resistance is seen championed by nihilist Sergei Nechaev who tries to ignite a revolution of such destructive power that society will be completely destroyed. The fact that a United States president would quote this phrase in an official speech of record was astonishing to many analysts, given that The Possessed is about violent government crackdown on dissent that sparks civil unrest and revolution marked by public violence (2). To the occult elite and a handful of historians and scholars, however, the inaugural addresses by the president were not the first or last time a line-by-line analysis of his public references would uncover coded language that seemed designed to convey secret messages to select members of his global audience. Biblical scholar Bruce Lincoln’s examination of a speech delivered to the nation on October 7, 2001, announcing the U.S. attack on Afghanistan (3) produced redundant references from Apocalyptic books of the Bible concerning the End Times. He concluded that the word craft was a strategy "of double coding" to secretly appeal to people who saw Bush as a devout Christian standing up to the enemies of God in an unfolding event in the Middle East, which they believed was foretold in the books of Revelation, Isaiah, et al. Lincoln concluded that Bush was mirroring the dualistic conflict Osama bin Laden had used in speeches to pit his worldview against the West as a struggle between good vs evil and thus to appeal to religious sentiments and traditions. U.S. officials were clearly uncomfortable with anything that allowed bin Laden to be cast in a sympathetic light through propaganda and the transmission of coded messages, therefore according to Lincoln, Bush joined Osama in constructing public perception of "a Manichaean struggle, where Sons of Light confront Sons of Darkness, and all must enlist on one side or another, without possibility of neutrality, hesitation, or middle ground" (4). In his book, American Dynasty, Kevin Phillips agrees with this assessment, pointing out the ever-present references in the president’s speeches to words such as "evil" and "evil ones" (5). At the top of Phillip’s list is reference again to the use of the metaphysical phrase "whirlwind," which Phillips interprets as "a medium for the voice of God in the Books of Job and Ezekiel." From an esoteric point of view, Phillips is either unaware of or unwilling to discuss the deeper contemporary meaning of this language and its importance to secret societies. But such phrasing in the president’s public speeches assuredly did not go unnoticed by the appropriate members of his audience. Lincoln comes closest to acknowledging this when he writes: "Enlisting the specialized reading/listening and hermeneutical skills they cultivate, he encouraged them to probe beneath the surface of his text. There, sotto voce ["under voice"], he told them he understands and sympathizes with their views, even if requirements of his office constrain him from giving full-throated voice…" (6). Of course Bush was not the first president to use the language of the divine to cast himself as "defender of the faith" in order to win support for public policy. Who can forget Ronald Reagan’s view of the Soviet Union as the "Evil Empire" and his feeling that war in the Middle East might draw "Gog" into nuclear war and fulfill biblical prophecy. In his 1984 debate with Walter Mondale, Reagan admitted, "No one knows whether those prophecies mean that Armageddon is a thousand years away or the day after tomorrow." Yet few would argue that with George W. Bush the language of godlike appointment went disturbingly deeper. Even members of his own Methodist denomination saw a change in him after he took office. He seemed to them to have become a man on a mission; somebody who believed he was "chosen" by God to carry out a "master plan." And until the 2006 mid term elections unseated Republican control of congress and effectively stopped the juggernaut of his administration’s changes to domestic and foreign policy, the presidency of George W. was believably on a path toward an Apocalyptic vision led by dictums of the Angel in the Whirlwind. Whether the president fully understood the ramifications of his words and actions, he and others around him had: 1) acknowledged; 2) prayed to; and 3) welcomed supernatural agents to guide and influence the future machine of national sovereignty in a way oddly familiar to Dostoyevsky’s novel. Though we allow that the president might have been unaware of parts of his abstruse actions because he was not the author of his speeches in the conventional sense and members of his staff with input from unnamed guides crafted most of these words, Bush nevertheless delivered these speeches after reviewing them, contemplating them, practicing them and making personal margin notes. More importantly, "he spoke in his official capacity as head of state, representing the state and beyond that the nation," notes Lincoln. So whether Bush was aware of his actions or was puppeted by dominionist allegiances that he and his father had nurtured (or at a deeper level spoke for fraternal societies), occultists in and behind government knew exactly what they were doing. Their choice of words and actions—from the president’s speeches to the council he received from members of an elite, top secret cell of spiritual authorities in Washington (whom I will leave unnamed for the time being)—reveal subtle but informing truths: words were placed in the president’s mouth to be spoken in mystic harmony of a sacred craft, an otherworldly discourse, which the men behind the president, the ‘voices behind the voice,’ believed would launch the ‘Kingdom of God on Earth’ with Washington as its seat if these words were uttered at the right moment in history and from ‘chosen men of God.’ Thus parts of my synopsis require knowledge of the supernatural and belief in prophecy. I contend that between the years 2001-2006 the nation became so disposed in following and not challenging unprecedented changes to longstanding U.S. policies including the Christian rules for just war, that the powerful force known to the Illuminati as the "Moriah Conquering Wind," a.k.a. "the Angel in the Whirlwind" accepted the administration’s invitation and enthroned itself in the nation’s capital. Immediately after, it cast it’s eyes on the ancient home of the Bab-Ili where the coveted ‘Gate of the Illi’ had opened once before. Why was George W. Bush hell-bent on taking the U.S. into Iraq/Babylon, the home of the ‘Etemenenanki’ (House of the Foundation of Heaven and Earth, the ‘Tower of Babel’) even though Iraq was not connected to 9/11? It is argued that he went there for oil or strategic placement of a military base for what some in the war college see as the inevitable Armageddon between the U.S., Iran, Israel, Russia, China and other nations. But according to the British press (7), Bush let his real reasons slip out during a meeting with Palestinian leaders in June 2003 when he admitted that he had committed the United States to enter Babylon because, "God told me to invade Iraq." Why would a voice from God instruct the leader of the world’s most powerful nation to begin what has become, at least on the surface, a debacle? One disturbing possibility is that the president was delusional. On the other hand if God did tell Bush to invade Iraq, given other ‘signs of the times,’ we tune our ears to the prophets who foretold a time when Babylon would be invaded and destroyed—a time when the Almighty would command a ‘ruler’ to ‘open the gates’ in Babylon so that the dead offspring of Nephilim (Gibbowr) who ‘writhe beneath the waters’ could reincarnate and fulfill His wrath on earth (8). As we shall see later, the spirits mentioned by Isaiah are the descendants of fallen angels who went into Hell "in full battle dress" (9) in anticipation of the day leading to Armageddon, when man by free moral agency, military sciences, and global circumstances would beckon the sons of the Watchers to arise for the Final Conflict. more...
| NewWorldOrder | America |

See also Part 2: Demonology 101: When Governments Invite Dark Dominion and Part 3: Something Whirlwind This Way Comes


Israel, US discuss deploying NATO troops in West Bank Jerusalem Post (February 20, 2008) - The United States is reviewing the feasibility of deploying a NATO force in the West Bank as a way to ease IDF security concerns and facilitate an Israeli withdrawal from the area within the coming years, defense officials have told The Jerusalem Post. The plan, which is being spearheaded by US Special Envoy to the region Gen. James Jones, is being floated among European countries, which could be asked to contribute troops to a West Bank multinational force. Jones, a former commander of NATO, was sent to Israel in November to help the Israelis and Palestinians frame some of the security mechanics necessary for a broader peace agreement. As first reported in the Post last month, Jones's plan calls for stationing third-party troops in the West Bank to secure the area in the interim period following an Israeli withdrawal and before the Palestinian Authority can take over full security control. "The deployment of such a force has come up in talks, and Jones is known to be working on it," a senior defense official said Tuesday. "At the moment, it's just an idea and has yet to be accepted or adopted by Israel." Defense Minister Ehud Barak has met with Jones and been briefed on the plan, but has yet to finalize his position. An official close to Barak said the deployment of a multinational force in the West Bank could create operational challenges for the IDF if it decided to respond to Palestinian terror attacks following the withdrawal. One of the issues that most concerns Israel is whether under such a withdrawal, the IDF would retain its operational freedom in the West Bank despite the presence of the multinational force. "If they fire a Kassam rocket into Israel, will we be able to respond, or will we need to rely on the foreign troops stationed there?" one defense official asked. On Tuesday, US Ambassador to Israel Richard Jones hinted at the possibility of deploying an international force for the period following a withdrawal and until the PA could ensure security in the West Bank. Speaking at a meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Jones also predicted that it would take several years before any such plan was implemented. "This is going to be a long, hard slog," he said. "But once a mutually accepted vision is accepted, both sides will accept the reality and encourage each side to work towards goals set out by the road map." more...
| Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land | America |


America's economy risks the mother of all meltdowns Financial Times (February 19, 2008) - "I would tell audiences that we were facing not a bubble but a froth - lots of small, local bubbles that never grew to a scale that could threaten the health of the overall economy." Alan Greenspan, The Age of Turbulence. That used to be Mr Greenspan's view of the US housing bubble. He was wrong, alas. So how bad might this downturn get? To answer this question we should ask a true bear. My favourite one is Nouriel Roubini of New York University's Stern School of Business, founder of RGE monitor. Recently, Professor Roubini's scenarios have been dire enough to make the flesh creep. But his thinking deserves to be taken seriously. He first predicted a US recession in July 2006*. At that time, his view was extremely controversial. It is so no longer. Now he states that there is "a rising probability of a 'catastrophic' financial and economic outcome"**. The characteristics of this scenario are, he argues: "A vicious circle where a deep recession makes the financial losses more severe and where, in turn, large and growing financial losses and a financial meltdown make the recession even more severe." Prof Roubini is even fonder of lists than I am. Here are his 12 - yes, 12 - steps to financial disaster. Step one is the worst housing recession in US history. House prices will, he says, fall by 20 to 30 per cent from their peak, which would wipe out between $4,000bn and $6,000bn in household wealth. Ten million households will end up with negative equity and so with a huge incentive to put the house keys in the post and depart for greener fields. Many more home-builders will be bankrupted. Step two would be further losses, beyond the $250bn-$300bn now estimated, for subprime mortgages. About 60 per cent of all mortgage origination between 2005 and 2007 had "reckless or toxic features", argues Prof Roubini. Goldman Sachs estimates mortgage losses at $400bn. But if home prices fell by more than 20 per cent, losses would be bigger. That would further impair the banks' ability to offer credit. Step three would be big losses on unsecured consumer debt: credit cards, auto loans, student loans and so forth. The "credit crunch" would then spread from mortgages to a wide range of consumer credit. Step four would be the downgrading of the monoline insurers, which do not deserve the AAA rating on which their business depends. A further $150bn writedown of asset-backed securities would then ensue. Step five would be the meltdown of the commercial property market, while step six would be bankruptcy of a large regional or national bank. Step seven would be big losses on reckless leveraged buy-outs. Hundreds of billions of dollars of such loans are now stuck on the balance sheets of financial institutions. more...
| America | Economic Crisis |


Banks "quietly" borrow $50 billion from Fed: report Reuters (February 19, 2008) - Banks in the United States have been quietly borrowing "massive amounts" from the U.S. Federal Reserve in recent weeks, using a new measure the Fed introduced two months ago to help ease the credit crunch, according to a report on the web site of The Financial Times. The newspaper said the use of the Fed's Term Auction Facility (TAF), which allows banks to borrow at relatively attractive rates against a wide range of their assets, saw borrowing of nearly $50 billion of one-month funds from the Fed by mid-February. The Financial Times said the move has sparked unease among some analysts about the stress developing in opaque corners of the U.S. banking system and the banks' growing reliance on indirect forms of government support.
| America | Economic Crisis |


Damaging Tornadoes Touch Down in South Breitbart.com (February 18, 2008) - Rescue crews searched door-to-door for people trapped in wreckage after a tornado crashed through town, part of a wild weekend of weather that also included rain, snow and flooding in the Midwest. No fatalities were immediately reported in Prattville, outside Montgomery, but two people were critically injured, said Fire Department official Dallis Johnson. Twenty-seven people had minor injuries, officials said. About 200 homes were damaged or destroyed. A curfew began as darkness fell Sunday. A 35-bed mobile hospital unit was set up outside a Kmart to treat victims with minor to moderate injuries so that hospitals could take those with serious injuries, Dr. Steve Allen said. Toppled utility poles and storm debris littered the area. Shelters opened at churches, and school buses shuttled storm victims out of the stricken area to the city center. David Shoupe, 18, assistant manager at Palm Beach Tan, said he and a co-worker barely made it into a laundry room before the roof fell in and the wind tossed shopping carts aloft. "Soon as we turned the corner, the roof collapsed everywhere except the laundry room," Shoupe said, standing beside his car, which had its front windshield cracked by debris and the other windows shattered. About 9,000 homes and businesses lost power in Prattville. The tornado was part of storms that swept across the South, damaging homes elsewhere in Alabama and in the Florida Panhandle. A tornado destroyed four homes in Escambia County, Fla. About 60 other homes, businesses and storage buildings were damaged to varying degrees, said county spokeswoman Sonya Daniel. Residents hustled to clear debris, cover broken windows and spread tarpaulins on roofs. "I expected to hear the roof blow off as bad as that wind was blowing," Willie Chastang, 58, told the Pensacola News Journal. Across the border in Escambia County, Ala., two houses were destroyed by a possible tornado in rural Dixie, the Weather Service said. The storm damaged some structures in Covington County, Ala., and toppled trees, said Jeremie Shaffer, assistant director of the county emergency management agency. Freezing rain and snow fell across the southern two-thirds of Wisconsin, still weary from a major snowstorm that stranded hundreds of motorists and snarled travel for days. Numerous crashes were reported, and authorities urged people to stay off roads. The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for much of Iowa and Wisconsin, as well as flood warnings in parts of the two states. The conditions forced shopping malls, libraries and churches to close. Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama postponed or canceled campaign stops ahead of Tuesday's primary. Heavy snow and slush closed Kansas City International Airport for almost six hours, the longest closure in its 35-year history, authorities said. Dozens of flights were canceled. The severe weather in the South comes on the heels of a tornado outbreak this month that killed more than 50 people in several states, including Alabama.
| America | Earth Changes |


Global Systemic Crisis / September 2008 - Phase of Collapse of US Real Economy Global Europe Anticipation Bulletin GEAP (February 16, 2008) - According to LEAP/E2020, the end of the third quarter of 2008 will be marked by a new tipping point in the unfolding of the global systemic crisis. At that time indeed, the cumulated impact of the various sequences of the crisis (see table below) will reach its maximum strength and affect decisively the very heart of the systems concerned, on the frontline of which the United States, epicentre of the current crisis. In the United States, this new tipping point will translate into a collapse of the real economy, final socio-economic stage of the serial bursting of the housing and financial bubbles (1) and of the pursuance of the US dollar fall. The collapse of US real economy means the virtual freeze of the American economic machinery: private and public bankruptcies in large numbers, companies and public services closing down massively (2),... A revealing harbinger: from March 2008 onward, the US government will stop a service publishing its economic indicators due to budget restrictions (3). Those who read the GEAB N°2 (02/2006) and included Alert certainly keep in mind our anticipation which connected the upcoming fall of the US dollar with the US Fed's decision to cease publishing the M3 indicator. This new decision is another clear sign that US leaders are now anticipating a very bleak economic outlook for their country. In this 22nd issue of the GEAB, LEAP/E2020's experts try in particular to anticipate very specifically what will come out of the collapse of the US real economy for the United States themselves and for the other regions of the world. Meanwhile our team presents five sets of strategic and operational recommendations helping to protect oneself from the upcoming deterioration of the global systemic crisis. On the occasion of the second anniversary of the publication of our famous “Global systemic crisis Alert” which toured the world in February 2006 (4), LEAP/E2020 wishes to remind that we are now resolutely stepping into an era with no historical precedent. Our researchers insisted on that many times in the last two years: any comparison with the previous crises of our modern economy would be fallacious. It is neither a “remake” of the 1929 crisis nor a repetition of the 1970s oil crises or 1987 stock market crisis. It is truly a global systemic crisis, that is to say a crisis affecting the entire planet and questioning the very foundations of the international system upon which the world was organised in the last decades. According to LEAP/E2020, it is also instructive to observe that, two years after the release of this « Alert » which at the time generated both the interest of millions of readers worldwide and the condescending irony of most « experts » and « managers » of the economic and financial spheres, everyone is now convinced that a crisis is truly happening, that it is really global, and for most people already that it could indeed be systemic. However, it is always a repeated astonishment for our team to see the degree of incapacity of these same experts and managers in understanding the specific nature of the phenomenon currently unfolding. According to them, this crisis would only be a usual crisis but bigger. As a matter of fact that's how the financial media reflect the dominant interpretations of the ongoing crisis. According to our team, this approach is not only intellectually lazy (5), it is also morally guilty, because it has for a main consequence to prevent their readers (whether they are simple citizens, private investors or public or private organisation managers) from preparing for the upcoming shocks (6). For this reason, in opposition to all what can be read in the mainstream media always eager to conceal the truth and serve the interests of those who rule them, LEAP/E2020 wishes to remind that it is first and foremost in the United States that the systemic crisis is taking an unprecedented shape (the « Very Great US Depression » as our team decided to call it in January 2007 (7)) because it is around this country, and this country alone, that the world got progressively organised after the second World War. The various issues of the GEAB extensively described this situation. In short, it appears to be useful to make clear that neither Europe nor Asia have a negative saving rate, a full-scale housing crisis throwing millions of citizens out of their homes, a free-falling currency, abysmal public and trade deficits, an economic recession and, on top of all this, a number of costly wars to finance. Neither Asia nor Europe (or more precisely ‘nor the Eurozone') will suffer the roughest, the most sustainable and the most negative impact of the ongoing crisis; but the United States will, as well as all the countries/economies strongly linked to the US (what our experts have decided to call “the American risk”) (8). A “decoupling” is indeed taking place between the US economy and the other large regions of the world. But “decoupling” does not mean “independence” and it is clear that, as anticipated by LEAP/E2020 for many months, Asia and Europe will be affected by the crisis. But « decoupling » entails that the evolution of the US economy and of the other large regions of the world are no longer synchronised, that Asia and Europe are now moving along courses no longer determined by the US economy. The global systemic crisis is in fact the beginning of an economic « decoupling » between the US and the rest of the world, knowing that the non « decoupled » economies will be dragged down the US negative spiral. more...
| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

According to Bible prophecy, Europe will be the source of power in the world during the great tribulation. Indeed things are shaping up that way and when you examine history and our current monetary system, also here and here and here, this collapse seems tailor made. If America's economic collapse negatively affects the rest of the world, could we see an emergency action to create a new global monetary system not dependent upon printing currency, but rather using current electronic international banking systems to create a cashless society that is secured through the use of tattoo RFID ink and readers? These drastic changes are all set up around emergency powers being implemented that are being put into law now in both the US and Europe. The mystery of iniquity is hard at work I think. Keep watching and praying! Luke 21:34-36


6 Dead In N. Illinois University Massacre CBS (February 15, 2008) - A gunman opened fire on a geology class at Northern Illinois University Thursday afternoon, killing five people before taking his own life on stage as panicked students ran and ducked for cover. NIU President John Peters said a total of 22 people were shot, including the gunman. Four people, including the gunman, died at the scene; two others died later at area hospitals. Earlier, the DeKalb County coroner's office had said seven people had died, but Friday morning, coroner Dennis Miller said that was incorrect. The gunman was identified Friday as 27-year-old former student Steven Kazmierczak, according to Florida authorities and a source familiar with the investigation. Polk County, Fla., sheriff's officials said they were asked to notify the suspect's father -- Robert Kazmierczak of Lakeland, Fla. -- of his son's death. "His son, Steven, was the shooting suspect at Northern Illinois University and ... he was deceased," said Carrie Rodgers, spokeswoman for the sheriff's office. The five victims have been identified. They are: Ryanne Mace, 19, of Carpentersville; Catalina Garcia, 20, of Cicero; Dan Parmenter, 20 of Elmhurst; Gayle Dubowski 20 of Carol Stream; and Julianna Gehant, 32, of downstate Meridian, according to the DeKalb County coroner's office. All of the gunman's victims were students. Officials said the gunman opened fire in a lecture hall shortly after 3 p.m. and the campus was immediately placed on lockdown. Police were on the scene within a few minutes, but the gunman had already killed himself by the time they arrived. more...
| Signs of the Times | America |


AIM Says Media Cover-Up Obama’s Socialist-Oriented Global Tax Bill Accuracy In Media (February 13, 2008) - Accuracy in Media editor Cliff Kincaid disclosed today that a hugely expensive bill called the "Global Poverty Act," sponsored by Democratic Senator Barack Obama, was quickly passed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday and could result in the imposition of a global tax on the United States. Kincaid said that the major media's cover-up of the bill, which makes levels of U.S. foreign aid spending subservient to the dictates of the United Nations, demonstrates the media's desire to see Senator Obama elected to the presidency. In a column posted on the AIM web site, Kincaid noted that Senator Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was trying to rush Obama's "Global Poverty Act" (S. 2433) through his committee without hearings. The legislation would commit the U.S. to spending 0.7 percent of gross national product on foreign aid, which amounts to a phenomenal 13-year total of $845 billion over and above what the U.S. already spends. It was scheduled for a Thursday vote but was moved up a day, to Wednesday, and rushed through by voice vote. Kincaid learned, however, that conservative Senators have now put a "hold" on the legislation, in order to prevent it from being rushed to the floor for a full Senate vote. The House version (H.R. 1302) was suddenly brought up on the House floor last September 25 and was passed by voice vote. House Republicans were caught off-guard, unaware that the pro-U.N. measure committed the U.S. to spending hundreds of billions of dollars. Kincaid's column notes that the official in charge of making nations comply with the U.N. Millennium Goals, which are prominently highlighted in the Obama bill, says a global tax will be necessary to force American taxpayers to provide the money.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |

More on the politics of the 2008 election.


Enemy of the Civilization A Time, Times, and Half A Time (February 12, 2008) - Shared Security is the doctrine that a person living in one part of the world has responsibility for the security and well being of a person living in other parts of the world. For example, a person living in Mexico shares responsibility for the well being of a person living in Pakistan and so forth. Shared Security incorporates the doctrines of EU and UN-architected human security and Canadian-architected Responsibility to Protect. These doctrines are designed to eradicate and prevent extreme poverty, hunger, abuses against women and children, genocide, terrorism, insecurities caused by economic collapse and/or state failure, etc. The Shared Security doctrine is the security model for the new global government. In a globalized world where national borders shall become obsolete, nations are expected to fundamentally shift their security strategies. Strategies which once were concerned primarily with forces of external aggression are now being called upon to focus on threats from within. The issues Shared Security addresses are legitimate and should concern all of us—so why should we oppose it? As one becomes familiar with the global governance leadership one learns to read further to, as Paul Harvey says, “get the rest of the story”. Having read calls for sustainable development following drastic population reduction has left me skeptical that good will is the guiding principle. Underlying Shared Security is a fully-developed interlocking security model called CIMIC, i.e., Civilian-Military Cooperation. To understand CIMIC, let’s further examine the components which make up Shared Security. Starting with the Canadian-architected “Responsibility to Protect”, this doctrine has become the cornerstone of the United Nations’ reform and security architecture. The Report of the International Conference "The EU, the US and the Reform of the United Nations: Challenges and Perspectives reveals that “the most significant conceptual shift occurred through the linking of the notions of sovereignty with that of responsibility. Responsibility is not only a virtue to be promoted to achieve international security; it is also a condition necessary to exercise full sovereignty. For the High Level Panel States are means, not ends per se. The “responsibility to protect” populations from atrocities and gross human rights violations shared between states and international institutions, becomes the new organizing concept for the new international security system. A number of participants shared the view that when states are unable or unwilling to perform these functions, the international community must intervene, even with the use of force when necessary.” Responsibility to Protect is understandable where nations are called upon to respond to state aggression and genocide, but language exists which is vulnerable to broad interpretation and abuse. In my previous blog post I presented some of the global governance documents which target political dissent and monotheistic religious doctrines as “extremist” ideologies which lend themselves to violent radicalization. Interpretations of religious texts which do not conform to the Alliance of Civilizations’ guidelines are said to cause social exclusion and violate others’ human rights. (It escapes their attention that syncretism of the world’s faiths and the requirement that everyone discard their religion for a new revelation—one which their messianic figure Maitreya is expected to introduce—is itself exclusivist and violently radicalizing.) While the Responsibility to Protect establishes the framework for vacating a nation’s sovereignty, it is the Human Security doctrine that, in the interest of human rights, implements the global interlocking civilian-military cooperation (CIMIC) model. The idea behind CIMIC is that it places the civilian population under military policing authority. Canada’s experience with CIMIC provides some insight to what we might expect. The Human Security doctrine, originated by European Union High Representative Javier Solana, is the “preventive engagement” framework which is to be implemented globally. The 10-nation military wing of the European Union—the Western European Union—provides Solana with emergency powers to convene the European Council and preside over the military and civilian crisis management (CIMIC) machinery. Solana’s Human Security doctrine outlines the makings of a police state. Some of its characteristics are:

  • “The European Union pioneered the technique of integration at the level of society, based on the interdependence and adherence to common standards, as a way of promoting peace. The same approach should be adopted in external relations…And if necessary, it must be guaranteed by the use of military capabilities.”
  • “The debate about sovereignty and the conditions under which human rights concerns should take precedence over sovereignty has been a central preoccupation…The primacy of human rights also implies that those who violate human rights are treated as individual criminals rather than collective enemies…assigning individual criminal responsibility might be more effective. In the case of terrorism it is equally important to realise that the perpetrators are individuals and the means of curbing terrorism should be tailored to that insight.”
  • “An integrated civil-military force is most suitable for carrying out human missions. Military troops will be an important component of these operational capacities, but they will have to restructure and reequip along new lines and they will need to be integrated with civilian capabilities, such as police, tax and customs officers, judges, administrators, providers of aid and human rights specialists.”
  • “Effective civil-military integration is only possible in situations where the military act in a law-enforcement role and the civil agencies are part of a combined politically led operation.”
  • “The central goal of a human security strategy has to be the establishment of legitimate political authority capable of upholding human security.”
  • “The human security response force should be multinational with national military building blocks not below battalion level.”

Notice that Solana understands that CIMIC must be legitimized throughout the populations if he is to be successful. As I read through the global counter-terrorism materials I noticed that religion is being used as the legitimizing vehicle. This reminds me of the Peter Lemesurier’s blueprint for bringing forth Maitreya. In the Armageddon Script one of Lemesurier’s themes is the use of religion against itself:

"Rather than attempt to create a new vision, therefore, the task which presses most urgently upon us at the present time would seem to be to investigate those ancient prophecies which seem to swamp our world of modern vision, to research their origins and implications, to observe their extraordinary effects throughout history and above all to watch the successive efforts of those concerned to control and cope with the forces thus unleashed...we may finally find ourselves in a position not merely to anticipate the likely flow of future events …but actually to exercise a conscious control over those events by co-operating with, rather than opposing, the prophecies...Only then, perhaps, having, as it were, exorcised the former visions, shall we be in a position to create new visions of our own, and thus go on to create a 'new heaven and a new earth' of our own devising." p. 30

"For the wisdoms of all ages and cultures will be called upon to surrender their most precious secrets...The massed forces of the Old Age, however, will be unable to check their headlong onrush. In large measure they will go on to destroy each other in a massive, mutual venting of long pent-up aggression…" p. 237

It is not surprising to see that two United Nation’s organizations—the Alliance of Civilizations and Religions for Peace—have combined efforts to promote the concept of Shared Security. more...
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana | NewWorldOrder | 1st Seal | America |

This is some excellent research by Richard Peterson, please read the whole article! He goes further into how this global governance ideology will turn into the war on the saints who refuse to give up their Biblically-founded beliefs to worship a false god. We will become enemies of the global state, and it's all well in the works RIGHT NOW! Keep watching!


Small town thanks God for response Disaster News Network (February 11, 2008) - Ed Broyles, a self-proclaimed worry wart who previously stressed over all the small stuff, said he now has a new perspective on life. Broyles and his family were inside their home in Gassville last Tuesday when the house was broadsided by a tornado. The structure looked like it had been dumped into a mammoth blender, spun until it was shredded into a million tiny pieces, then poured out onto its concrete slab. All that was left standing was the bathroom vanity and the kitchen table holding a pitcher of just-made ice tea. However, the entire family all walked away without a scratch. And although Broyles, a military contractor who was home on leave from Iraq, had no insurance on the home or on its contents, he said he knows everything will be alright because he still has his family. “This really opened my eyes. Nothing else matters to me anymore,” he said. “God’s hand was all over this town. There’s no other explanation. Look at these homes and listen to the people’s stories. . . What’s even more incredible is all the help that’s arrived! There are hundreds of total strangers here helping us clean up or bringing us food. There is no other explanation for it. This is God’s handiwork,” Broyles said emphatically. A volunteer with the Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief organization who asked not to be identified said hearing those kinds of stories from the residents was refreshing. “We’re here to help because that’s what we’re supposed to be doing. But it’s really great when God gets the glory for it,” he said. Broyles is just one of close to 200 Gassville residents whose homes were destroyed or severely damaged in the series of tornadoes that began in Arkansas, and then continued on through the south. Cynthia Ferguson and her husband Shane, next-door neighbors to Broyles, also witnessed what they called “a miracle.” Right before the tornado hit, the couple had been watching television with their son and two children Cynthia was babysitting when they looked out the front window and saw their trees bending in half. Shane grabbed the kids and ran to the bathroom while Cynthia raced down the hall to retrieve her two napping daughters. But just like a scene from the movie “Poltergeist,” when she got to the door, it slammed in her face. “I had to throw my body against it to get it to open. Then I screamed for the girls to run. My 6-year-old ran tore past me but when I looked over at my 4-year-old I saw her little legs running but she was lifted up off the ground – her feet weren’t touching the floor – and she was getting sucked backwards. I grabbed her hand and yanked her out of the room and just as I did, the windows blew out of the house and the door slammed shut again,” she said. They made it to the bathroom, where they safely rode out the storm. And while their house sustained much damage, no one was injured. “I don’t think we’ll ever forget this,” Cynthia said, adding that she too was amazed and overwhelmed by the amount of help that had shown up without being asked. “We are so grateful – for everything.” All up and down the streets, the scene was the same. more...
| America |

God never leaves us or forsakes us. I'm so glad to read stories of faith in the lives of those in devastation and the selfless love shown by those who have stepped up to help their neighbors. I was also encouraged by the faith placed on God's provision by Ed Broyles. I have experienced that in my life several times as well. Times are going to get more difficult for everyone soon, trust in the Lord.

Matthew 6:24-26
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?


World markets lose $5.2trillion Reuters (February 11, 2008) - Fears of a global slowdown triggered by US housing market woes wiped $5.2 trillion (£2.7 trillion) off global stock markets in January, say analysts. According to ratings firm Standard and Poor's, 50 out of 52 share indexes around the world ended the month lower. Politicians also are concerned about the spiralling US financial problems. On Sunday, finance ministers from the G7 group of industrialised nations said losses from the US mortgage crisis could reach $400bn. The US Federal Reserve has previously estimated losses of up to $150bn after a surge in the number defaults on sub-prime loans. Sub-prime loans are made to people with poor or non-existent credit histories. Over the next two weeks banks are expected to report further write-offs of bad debt as the banking reporting season kicks off. One of the major problems facing policymakers and analysts is that new losses linked to sub-prime problems keep emerging. "The only thing we know is that it is big and we keep on discovering new dimensions," Italy's central bank governor Mario Draghi said after the G7 meeting. "House prices keep falling (in the US) and subprime and mortgage sectors stay vulnerable." Uncertainty over the financial repercussions of the sub-prime crisis was reflected in stock market falls in January, according to Standard and Poor's figures. Just under half of the major markets lost more than 10% of their value. In London, the main FTSE 100 index lost almost 9% in January and 16.5% in the past three months. In Paris, the stock market fell 12.3% in January and was down 15.3% in the three months from November. The falls wiped out all of the index's gains for the previous 12 months. Emerging markets were hit even harder. China lost 21.4% in January, while Russia and India both fell 16%.
| America | Economic Crisis |


The Great Depression 2008 - It Can't Happen to Us....Can It? The Market Oracle (February 9, 2008) - Webster's defines complacency as “1.satisfaction or contentment 2. smug self-satisfaction” There is probably not a better word to describe the current state of perception with regard to economic and financial malady. I had an interesting conversation the other night about exactly this topic and the individual I was speaking with had an overriding belief that we cannot suffer economically simply because the current generation is not prepared to deal with it. While I certainly agree with the latter assertion, the former continues to baffle me. I am certainly not prepared to deal with a lengthy hospital stay as the result of a horrific car crash, but that alone doesn't cloak me in immunity from having an accident. The reasoning is so broken and flawed, yet it is often all we get in terms of a perception of what is going on. This disconnect begets a discussion of why exactly it is that society has chosen to believe itself to be immune from bad things. It is odd in itself that when you talk to individuals, they seem to be acutely aware of many of the challenges facing us, but when you put all the individuals together and create a society, we act as though the party will indeed last forever. We are certainly dealing with a situation in which the intelligence of the whole is by far less than the sum of all its parts. Here's a little bit of déjà vu for you, compliments of Wikipedia:

“In the 1920s, Americans consumers and businesses relied on cheap credit, the former to purchase consumer goods such as automobiles and furniture and the later for capital investment to increase production. This fueled strong short-term growth but created consumer and commercial debt. People and businesses who were deeply in debt when price deflation occurred or demand for their product decreased often risked default. Many drastically cut current spending to keep up time payments, thus lowering demand for new products. Businesses began to fail as construction work and factory orders plunged.”

Sound familiar anyone? See any price deflation going on? The Wilshire 5000 has only lost about 2.5 TRILLION dollars in value in the last two months or so. What about the loss in home equity? Another trillion or two? Who knows, but I think you get the point. We are seeing almost to the final utterance the same play we saw unfold in 1929. Were those folks any more prepared for the Great Depression than we are today? I'd argue that while they were perhaps a bit better equipped to provide for their own sustenance that American society in the 1920's was as complacent as we are today. When the realization of history's coup de grace hits, we will be caught as unaware as our ancestors were back in 1929. Here are some other examples of what Alan Greenspan likes to call ‘irrational exuberance' in the 1920's:

We will not have any more crashes in our time.” | John Maynard Keynes in 1927 (The authenticity of this one is a little suspect) DOW ~ 175

There will be no interruption of our permanent prosperity.” | Myron E. Forbes, President, Pierce Arrow Motor Car Co., January 12, 1928 – DOW ~ 200

There may be a recession in stock prices, but not anything in the nature of a crash.” | Irving Fisher, leading U.S. economist, New York Times, Sept. 5, 1929 – DOW ~ 375

All safe deposit boxes in banks or financial institutions have been sealed... and may only be opened in the presence of an agent of the I.R.S.” | President F.D. Roosevelt, 1933 – DOW ~ 65

Tuesday morning we received news that according to the Institute of Supply Management, the service portion of our economy underwent a significant contraction during the month of December. This is alarming given the fact that December is normally one of the busiest times of the year. Even still, a trip past the local mall provides a busy scene. People are streaming in and out, carrying boxes and bags of imported trinkets to their imported cars. They will then use imported gasoline to drive to their home, the mortgage of which is likely to be owned by a foreign investor. Yet the average American citizen sees nothing wrong with this picture. Or could it be that they don't even see the picture at all? The media has certainly been playing the role of absentee informant in recent years, choosing to focus on such insipid topics as Britney Spears' latest rehab stint rather than the important business at hand. Here now, are some quotes from this generation's 1929..in 2007 and 2008:

“It is encouraging that inflation expectations appear to be contained,” | Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke – Testimony to Congress – March 28 th , 2007 – DOW ~ 12,500, Headline CPI-U ~ 2.8% Y/Y

“As I think you know, I believe very strongly that a strong dollar is in our nation's interest, and I'm a big believer in currencies being set in a competitive, open marketplace,” | Henry Paulson – Secretary of the Treasury – USDX ~ 81.50

“We are making history. What has passed the Congress in record time is a gift to the middle class and those who aspire to it in our country.” | House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the $168 Billion tax ‘rebate' while the middle class is spending their Wal-Mart Christmas gift cards on food and other necessities.

They're making history all right. Too bad it will end up being the WRONG kind. How can we ever hope to focus the population on the urgency of our current predicament when our leaders are willing to make it worse by handing our freebies, bailing out those who willingly make poor investment choices and telling us everything can be ‘free' if we'll only pull their lever on election day? Or am I putting the cart in front of the horse? Perhaps a contrarian opinion might be that our leaders are giving the public exactly what it wants. In either case, I am quite certain that our state of unpreparedness will not constitute a free pass from the negative effects of a recession or a retraction of any of the financial excesses we've enjoyed over the past few decades.
| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


"Comrad J" what björn (farmer) thinks (February 8, 2008) - In the book Comrade J, which is about the Russian master spy Sergei Tretyakov, Strobe Talbott is described as beeing duped by the Russian intelligence service and that the UN is penetrated by Russian spies. Read about it HERE. Does it surprise us, who easy it was for J. Solana to get the former Eastern-block States into NATO and how easy it was for him to talk Putin to open the gas-tap again for the EU states back in January 2006, despite the then very hesitating Austrian Presideny of the EU? (read about it here) Further back in 2000, when Talbott was named head of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, he was named “a key architect of U.S. foreign policy” during the Clinton years. From 2002-2007 headed the Brookings Institution. Strobe Talbott stated in Time magazine that U.S. sovereignty would cease to exist in the 21st century and that we would all answer to a single global authority, (“The Birth of the Global Nation,” Time, July 20, 1992). Shortly after making these statements, Talbott was elevated to the White House by President Bill Clinton, where he served as Deputy Secretary of State for the next seven years. Rhodes scholars Bill Clinton, Strobe Talbott and Richard Gardner were largely responsible for Javier Solana's appointment as head of NATO in 1995. "Talbott has been promoting his own book, The Great Experiment, about the need for “global governance” and expanding the power of the U.N. in foreign affairs. His book ignores the role of Soviet spy Alger Hiss in founding the U.N. but thanks George Soros and Walter Isaacson, formerly of Time but now with the Aspen Institute, for their input on his manuscript. Talbott also gives thanks to convicted document thief Sandy Berger, Bill Clinton’s national security adviser who now advises Hillary’s presidential campaign; Soros associate Morton Halperin, formerly of the ACLU; (Comrad) Javier Solana of the European Union; and Bill Clinton, “for helping me better to understand several aspects of his view of the world and America’s role in it.” link stay tuned!
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana | NewWorldOrder | America |


Is the euro becoming the new greenback? Axcess News (February 8, 2008) -  Some merchants in New York have begun accepting the euro as currency, citing the ever-growing weakness of the dollar. While the stores are taking foreign currency, they're still required to exchange it at the appropriate rate when deposited at their banks. But some fear that the euro could become the new American currency of choice. Not so, says New Yorkers, the greenback will also be tops. Well, at least to us anyway, to Europeans its a cheaper currency and that's turned New York merchants into a global class of business owners now in tune to foreign currency exchange rates and the advantages of accepting it. Part of New York shop owners move in accepting Euros is because of the flood of the European vacationers showing up at their shops, Euros in hand wanting to buy cheap American goods. The European tourists showing up at their shops have gone up in numbers since merchants started displaying signs in their shop windows saying they accept Euros. The convenience of not having to exchange them when they reach New York is becoming a mixed blessing for the merchants who have made slightly more by hanging on to the foreign currency and depositing less often as the dollar has sagged in value. "It's no windfall, in exchanging Euros," one shop owner explained. "But we are getting more Europeans coming into our store because of we accept their currency." Since the dollar began dropping and the euro rising, coming to America for vacation, or in some cases just to shop, has turned into a boom for those New York merchants who've been savvy enough business owners to cash in on the rush. But the euro isn't the only currency finding its way into the hands of New Yorkers. Canadian and British tourists are pouring into the Big Apple as well. During the holiday shopping season, there were hundreds of Britons arriving in New York just to shop on a daily basis and their level of visits didn't stop after the holidays either. Here, they could buy goods for less than fifty pence to the dollar, or in our language, a half buck bought a dollar's worth of goods. Canadian's too were flooding over the border to shop in the United States as the Canadian dollar, called the 'Loonie' surpassed the dollar in valuation. Gasoline was less, food in restaurants and vacation hot spots like Las Vegas, all saw a rise in Canadian tourism beginning in the fourth quarter of last year when the dollar began to weaken.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |


World Leaders Gather To Roast Mahmoud Ahmadinejad The Onion **Warning sexually explicit content on link from event. (text of quotes by attendees) You will get the jist here without reading the whole article. You've been forewarned. (February 6, 2008) - In what observers are calling an unprecedented opportunity for the international community to express its grievances against Iran's controversial leader, dozens of world leaders and key U.N. delegates gathered Saturday to roast Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The event, which took place beneath U.N. headquarters in the historic Geneva Friars Club, brought together the heads of every G8 member state, as well as some of today's top foreign policy makers and peace brokers. Roastmaster and former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan kicked off the evening by welcoming President Ahmadinejad to "what [was] sure to be the first and last time Mahmoud would ever be surrounded by 72 virgins." "Ladies and gentlemen, and Tony Blair, we stand here in the presence of one of the most vicious and destructive forces in the world today—but enough about Bea Arthur," said Annan, gesturing with a tumbler of Makers Mark across the long white tables of chuckling diplomats to the former Golden Girls star. "Some people here tonight will tell you that Mahmoud refuses to engage in diplomatic talks, that he is the most ruthless stonewaller who has ever lived. Well, those people have obviously never met my first wife." The black-tie affair brought together representatives from warring nations and longtime enemies who sat in the hallowed, oak-walled dining room and patiently awaited their turn to lambaste Ahmadinejad. Some of the evening's most pressing topics included the Iranian president's insistence on developing a nuclear program, his possible involvement in the 1989 assassination of an exiled Kurdish leader, and his excessive body hair. "You know, a lot of folks have been criticizing Ahmadinejad for covering up one of the most horrifying and unspeakable crimes ever perpetrated on humankind," Russian president Vladimir Putin told the assembled guests. "But don't you listen to them, Mahmoud. I happen to like your beard." Ahmadinejad, seated in a plush red armchair just to the right of the podium, seemed in high spirits as he calmly endured countless ribs from his allies and fellow arms-race competitors. Rolling his eyes and shaking his finger in mock disapproval, he was taken to task for everything from his brutal treatment of political dissidents to his recent visit to Columbia University. more... *Be forewarned, the crudeness in the detail of the rest of the story I left out. If you want to see what passes as a comedy roast and are not offended, then read the rest. -It's really not that important anyways, I just think this gathering may have had hidden importance considering who was all there.
| Iran | Israel | Islam | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |

I think the "spirit" of the gathering it is telling in examining their humor. Isn't that one of the reasons the fundamentalist Muslims don't like Western values? They certainly let it all out, I wonder what else these globalists all discussed outside of the show? Attendees were: Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda, Henry Kissinger, Israeli president Shimon Peres, President George W. Bush, Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf, former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Gilbert Gottfried, King Abdullah, and Margaret Thatcher among many others.


"Euros Accepted" signs pop up in New York City Reuters (February 6, 2008) - In the latest example that the U.S. dollar just ain't what it used to be, some shops in New York City have begun accepting euros and other foreign currency as payment for merchandise. "We had decided that money is money and we'll take it and just do the exchange whenever we can with our bank," Robert Chu, owner of East Village Wines, told Reuters television. The increasingly weak U.S. dollar, once considered the king among currencies, has brought waves of European tourists to New York with money to burn and looking to take advantage of hugely favorable exchange rates. "We didn't realize we would take so much in and there were that many people traveling or having euros to bring in. But some days, you'd be surprised at how many euros you get," Chu said. "Now we have to get familiar with other currencies and the (British) pound and the Canadian dollars we take," he said. While shops in many U.S. towns on the Canadian border have long accepted Canadian currency and some stores on the Texas-Mexico border take pesos, the acceptance of foreign money in Manhattan was unheard of until recently. Not far from Chu's downtown wine emporium, Billy Leroy of Billy's Antiques & Props said the vast numbers of Europeans shopping in the neighborhood got him thinking, "My God, I should take euros in at the store." Leroy doesn't even bother to exchange them. "I'm happy if I take in 200 euros, because what I do is keep them," he said. "So when I go back to Paris, I don't have to go through the nightmare of going to an exchange place."
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |


Tornadoes rip through South, killing 48 Associated Press (February 6, 2008) - One man pulled a couch over his head. Bank employees rushed into the vault. A woman trembled in her bathroom, clinging to her dogs. College students huddled in dormitories. Tornado warnings had been broadcast for hours, and when the sirens finally announced that the twisters had arrived, many people across the South took shelter and saved their lives. But others simply had nowhere safe to go, or the storms proved too powerful, too numerous, too unpredictable. At least 54 people were killed and hundreds injured Tuesday and Wednesday by dozens of tornadoes that plowed across Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama. It was the nation's deadliest barrage of twisters in almost 23 years. "We had a beautiful neighborhood. Now it's hell," said Bonnie Brawner, 80, who lives in Hartsville, a community about an hour from Nashville where a natural gas plant that was struck by a twister erupted in spectacular flames up to 400 feet high. The storms flattened entire streets, smashed warehouses and sent tractor-trailers flying. Houses were reduced to splintered piles of lumber. Some looked like life-size dollhouses, their walls sheared away. Crews going door to door to search for bodies had to contend with downed power lines, snapped trees and flipped-over cars. Cattle wandered through the debris near hard-hit Lafayette (pronounced luh-FAY-et). At least 12 people died in and around the town. "It looks like the Lord took a Brillo pad and scrubbed the ground," said Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, who surveyed the damage from a helicopter. Hundreds of houses were damaged or destroyed. Authorities had no immediate cost estimate of the damage. President Bush gave assurances his administration stood ready to help. Teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency were sent to the region and activated an emergency center in Georgia. "Loss of life, loss of property — prayers can help and so can the government," Bush said. "I do want the people in those states to know the American people are standing with them." Students took cover in dormitory bathrooms as the storms closed in on Union University in Jackson, Tenn. More than 20 students at the Southern Baptist school were trapped behind wreckage and jammed doors after the dormitories came down around them. Danny Song was pinned for an hour and a half until rescuers dug him from the rubble. "We looked up and saw the funnel coming in. We started running and then glass just exploded," he said. "I hit the floor and a couch was shoved up against me, which may have saved my life because the roof fell on top of it." more...
| America | Earth Changes |


Economist: Expect Fed to lower Dow to 8,000 WorldNet Daily (February 5, 2008) - Consumers should expect a deep recession, triggered by the "stealth methodology" of the Federal Reserve to "depress" the market even while lowering interest rates in an ostensible effort to stimulate economic growth, an economic analyst is charging. "The Federal Reserve is directly involved in manipulating the stock market," said economic analyst Mike Bolser in a telephone interview with WND yesterday. The New York Stock Exchange finished the day down 108.03 points, closing at 12,635.16, much as Bolser predicted, despite recent emergency Fed rate cuts of 1.25 percentage points aimed at stimulating the economy. "Fed wants the Dow Jones Industrial Average and other financial indicators to descend in a managed way," Bolser said. "The Fed wants to drive the DJIA toward the 8,000 level, or below, in order to help create a deep recession which will have the effect of slowing consumption across the board, and dampening the otherwise harmful effects of inflation. "A falling DOW is only one element of the recession effects of the excessive Fed-created housing and credit creation, whose bubbles are now bursting," he added. "Without this recession, we would be on quick trip to hyper-inflation," Bolser, the author of an internationally followed newsletter published in conjunction with his InterventionalAnalysis.com website, said, "and the Fed wants to prevent this." In his twice-daily subscription newsletter, Bolser has devised a quantitative methodology for utilizing Federal Reserve repurchase agreements to predict upward and downward movements of the DJIA, measured on a 30-day moving average. Yesterday, Bolser noted the Fed added $18 billion to repurchase agreements, edging the pool up to a total of $153.158 billion in unexpired temporary repurchase agreements. Repurchase agreements involve a sophisticated use of government securities issued every day by the Fed, but little understood or followed, even by sophisticated investors. A repurchase agreement, as defined by the Fed, is a government security offered by the federal government to a small list of specified primary government securities dealers, for a limited period of time, usually 28 days or less, with overnight return being the most common. The government securities are "rented" by the primary dealers and they can be added to the primary dealer's portfolio or collateralized and then used in the open market to implement the Fed's open market policy. At the end of the repurchase agreement, the Fed obligates itself to take back the government securities from the primary dealers, effectively canceling the contract. Meanwhile, while holding the government securities let out by the Fed in the repo agreement, primary dealers are free to utilize the liquidity provided by the repurchase agreement to manipulate the economy in accordance with the Fed's true monetary policy, whether publicly declared or not. Primary dealers use the funds provided by the government securities they hold under the repurchase agreements to buy dollar exchange futures contracts, stock market futures, or to buy commodities contracts, including gold mining shares, all in accord with implementing Federal Reserve monetary policy to manipulate currency, commodity and stock markets up or down, depending what goals the Fed wants to accomplish at any particular time, the economist alleges. Over the past several months, however, the Fed has implemented a policy to issue smaller amounts of daily repurchase agreements, with the goal of reducing the total pool of repurchase agreements available to the Fed's short list of 20 banks that are qualified by the Fed to serve as primary government securities dealers participating in the Fed's Open Market Operations. Only the 20 banks specified in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's list of primary government securities dealers are allowed to participate in Fed repurchase agreements. more...
| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Judges: 'Gay' exposure OK for kindergarteners WorldNet Daily (February 1, 2008) - In a case that could wind up in the U.S. Supreme Court, an appeals panel upheld dismissal of a lawsuit by Massachusetts parents seeking to prevent discussion of homosexual families in their children's elementary school classrooms. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday agreed with a judge's decision last year that a school can expose children to contrary ideas without violating their parents' rights to exercise religious beliefs. "Public schools," wrote Judge Sandra L. Lynch, "are not obliged to shield individual students from ideas which potentially are religiously offensive, particularly when the school imposes no requirement that the student agree with or affirm those ideas, or even participate in discussions about them." Lynch reasoned that schools must accept the Massachusetts high court's groundbreaking 2003 decision ruling "that the state constitution mandates the recognition of same-sex marriage." As WND reported in 2006, U.S. District Judge Mark L. Wolf dismissed the civil rights lawsuit by David and Tonia Parker of Lexington, concluding there is an obligation for public schools to teach young children to accept and endorse homosexuality. The Parkers' lead attorney, Jeffrey Denner, declared after yesterday's ruling the parents are preparing to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. "We are fully committed to go forward," he said, according to the non-profit advocacy group MassResistance. "We will continue to fight on all the fronts that we need to." David Parker said the ruling "will surely embolden and enable the schools even more on this if it's not fought." "There's going to be an accountability, you can count on it," he said. The dispute began in the spring of 2005 when the Parkers then-5-year-old son brought home a book to be shared with his parents titled, "Who's in a Family?" The optional reading material, which came in a "Diversity Book Bag," depicted at least two households led by homosexual partners. The Parkers filed suit against the Lexington school district in 2006 and later were joined by Joseph and Robin Wirthlin, whose second-grader's class was read a story about two princes who become lovers. more...
| Signs of the Times | America |


Dozens of U.S. banks will fail by 2010: analyst Canada.com (February 1, 2008) - Dozens of U.S. banks will fail in the next two years as losses from soured loans mount and regulators crack down on lenders that take too much risk, especially in real estate and construction, an analyst said. The surge would follow a placid 3-1/2 year period in which just four banks collapsed, all in the last year, RBC Capital Markets analyst Gerard Cassidy said in a Friday interview. Between 50 and 150 U.S. banks -- as many as one in 57 -- could fail by early 2010, mostly those with no more than a couple of billion dollars of assets, Cassidy said. That rate of failure would be the highest in at least 15 years, or since the winding down of the savings-and-loan debacle. "The initial round of failures will come from smaller banks with limited access to capital and overexposure to commercial real estate," Cassidy said. "Could banks with $75 billion or $100 billion of assets fail? That's hard to say, but it depends on the severity of the economic downturn and the real estate decline," he added. Banks are under pressure as a slowing economy, the housing crunch, weak job growth and rising energy costs make it harder for individuals and businesses to pay their bills. Compounding the problem has been the seizing up of capital markets that has led to more than $130 billion of write-downs worldwide, including at lenders such as Citigroup Inc , Bank of America Corp and Washington Mutual Inc. On Wednesday, Standard & Poor's said financial industry losses linked to mortgages may reach more than $265 billion. Analyst Tanya Azarchs expects the pain to spread to regional banks, and especially "some of the smaller players that have yet to feel the full extent" of the credit crunch. more...
| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Top Economist Warns Of "Serious Breakdown" In World Financial System Prison Planet (January 22, 2008) - Father of Reaganomics and former editor of the Wall Street Journal Paul Craig Roberts today warned that the Fed's shock 75 basis points interest rate cut would only succeed in putting average families through the ringer and could even portend the collapse of the dollar as the world reserve currency. Speaking on The Alex Jones Show, Roberts said that average hard working families, and not money casino cowboy shareholders, would be the biggest victims of the latest downturn as a recession looms on the back of the surprise rate cut. "The more important thing is the hardship for the average American family - many of them have not had any real increase in their income for years and they've lost jobs to offshoring, they've lost jobs to work visas for foreigners and now they're confronted with losing jobs to recession," said Roberts. "They also are heavily indebted and have used up their home equity in consumption and many of them now have mortgages that threaten them with being homeless and so I think the worst part of this will not be felt by Wall Street and banks and shareholders but by the average American family - I think they're now going to go through the ringer," he concluded. Roberts speculated on the impact that today's rate cut would have on the dollar, further undermining its position as the world reserve currency. "It is true that in the long run the decline of the dollar could cause it to lose its reserve currency role and if another currency has a rythm to take its place, it would be very hard to conduct international trade on the basis that it is now where you have a reserve currency that one accepts in payment," said Roberts, adding that the massive interest rate cut today only signalled more inflation despite the tax rebate. Roberts said that he expected the economic decline to be slow and gradual, but that it was inevitable that the living standards of Americans would drop, similar to when the pound lost 80 per cent of its value during the two world wars and lost its status as a world reserve currency. Roberts said that the only solution to the current crisis was to cut the current defense budget in half and halt the offshoring of jobs by U.S. corporations. "If they can't do anything about that the world is going to conclude that the dollar is not going to be the reserve currency forever and they'll start getting out from under it in larger ways and then that pressure on the dollar will mount and become stronger and it will completely cancel the ability to do anything about the domestic economy - whether it's in recession or depression," said Roberts, adding that a "real serious breakdown," the likes of which have not been witnessed so far, will occur if these issues are not addressed. Roberts said that it was difficult for ordinary people to diversify and find a safe haven because if they bought gold they would become a target for government theft just as happened in 1933. Roberts added that a total breakdown of the global economy would take place, "If the destruction of the dollar's role as world reserve currency continues and there's not a clear alternative that arrives to take its place," warning that it was the biggest danger and there would be "no way to survive" its impact.
| NewWorldOrder | America | Economic Crisis |


Obama would talk with Iran and Syria The Jerusalem Post (January 31, 2008) - US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said he would favor holding direct talks with Iran and Syria in a bid to stabilize the Middle East if elected president. In an interview with France's Paris Match on Thursday, Obama said: "I want to have direct talks with countries like Iran and Syria because I don't believe we can stabilize the region unless not just our friends but also our enemies are involved in these discussions." He was also quoted as saying he would also hold a summit with leaders of Muslim states to address the growing gap between the West and the world of Islam. The Illinois senator added that to repair the image of the United States in the world, he would "put an end to the war in Iraq." "Occupying the country has put the odds against us with the world," Obama said. Meanwhile, a visiting Iranian official said Thursday in Cairo that Iran and Egypt would work together to resolve the Middle East's top crises such as in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, and that both wanted to upgrade their diplomatic relations, severed nearly three decades ago. But the Egyptians did not comment on the remarks - as they hadn't on those the day before by the Iranian parliament speaker who said Egypt and Iran would soon restore full ties. Cairo's silence indicated that, despite the flurry of visiting Iranian officials and an apparent thaw between the two states, Egypt expects more than just words from Teheran. The North African Sunni state has always maintained that normal diplomatic relations would come only after the overwhelmingly Shi'ite Iran stopped meddling in the internal affairs of Arab countries. Teheran cut diplomatic ties after Cairo signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1979 and provided asylum for the deposed Iranian Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi. more...
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Iran | Islam | America |


Coincidence, or Message From God? Israel National News (January 20, 2008) - It seems like this is just too uncanny that these are all 'coincidences'. On January 8, 2008 the day that President Bush left the USA for Israel in order to lay the framework for the establishment of a Palestinian State and the division of Jerusalem for its capital , a freak 'January' tornado swept through a city in Bush's own country. The place hit was 'Jerusalem', Arkansas. Coincidence? One church was totally destroyed in the tornado’s path. The name of it was “Mt. Zion” Community Church. Coincidence? To see video, click HERE.  Video will load and play automatically. One man was killed in the tornado.  He was a ‘Pope’ County resident.  His name, was Billy Carter. On Sunday of last week, I read out a report about this 'freak tornado' which hit Jerusalem, Arkansas. (Tovia Singer spoke about the tornado on his show after mine, on Wednesday) I was emailed by a few people last week to write on the tornado, but I didn’t have time to do it until now.  So, let’s examine some interesting ‘coincidences’ here.

1)  A tornado in the month of JANUARY?
2)  This tornado hits a city called  ‘Jerusalem’.
3)  It destroys a church called, ‘Mt. Zion’.
4)  Hits in a place called ‘Pope’ County

All this on the day Bush leaves for Israel to wage war on G-d by going against the Bible and dividing the Land of Israel. The very next day, Thursday January 9th,  another calamity strikes America.  As Israel experiences a very heavy and unusual heavy fog during Bush’s visit, central Florida gets hit with a freak heavy fog.   A mega 70 car accident takes place.  The worst highway disaster in Florida’s history.   See video by clicking HERE. (Video will play after one ad). What is interesting here is the number 70.  A neighbor of mine whom I often give a lift to, was waiting at the gas station near where Bush’s entourage passed on its way to Ramallah. The roads were closed down and he was stuck waiting and watching. He saw Bush’s entourage pass by.  He counted 70 cars. 70 cars driving with Bush to Ramallah in heavy fog, and 70 cars in a horrible accident in Florida under heavy fog.  Coincidence? Let me remind you again what I wrote in a blog on the significance of the number 70 that we keep seeing in the news these last few weeks.  The number 70 is the number of nations that met in Paris, France, to raise billions of dollars to create a viable (enemy) Palestinian State.  70 is the number that the letters Gog and Magog add up to.  Gog and Magog is the war of the Nations of the world who come against Jerusalem and Israel.  And the nations of the world, numbers 70 according to the Bible as explained in the story of the Tower of Babel where G-d mixes up the people with 70 languages, who then disperse to become 70 different nations. Is all of this JUST a coincidence?
| Israel | Dividing the Land | America |

I would recommend also reading Eye to Eye - Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel by Bill Koenig. This isn't the first time the winds have battered America on the very days we meddled with the division of Israel.

Jeremiah 30:20-24
Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them. And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD. And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he hath done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.

EU blames US spending for market turbulences EU Observer (January 23, 2008) - The European Commission has pointed to unhealthy public spending in the US as the main cause of the current global market turbulences and urged Washington to cut expenditure and boost savings, while praising Europe's own "solid and sound" economy and the positive effect of the common currency. The topic dominated a regular meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels on Tuesday (22 January), shortly after the biggest plunge of global stock markets since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. While evidently concerned about the possible consequences for the region - mainly if there is a recession in the US, where most of Europe's exports are heading - both the finance chiefs and the commission were keen to avoid pessimistic statements. "This is not about a global recession, but about the risk of a recession in the US, as during the last years, big imbalances have been created in the US economy - a big current account deficit, a big fiscal deficit, a lack of savings," said EU economy commissioner Joaquin Almunia. Mr Almunia suggested that US policy-makers should tackle the current crisis with measures that would secure "reducing the external deficit and the fiscal deficit, and increasing domestic saving in the US both in the public and the private sectors." He maintained that Europe's own previous reforms and pressure for cuts in public finances have paid off, leaving the fundamentals of the bloc's economy - in contrast to the situation across the Atlantic - as "solid and sound". "So we are well prepared to weather this situation even if we cannot ignore the risk of our growth rates being affected by this turmoil," he added. A similar message was echoed by several ministers and national capitals. "The last forecast shows that economic reforms that have been implemented in the EU increase the resilience of the European economy in trying to face such shocks," said Slovenia's finance minister Andrej Bajuk on behalf of the bloc's presidency. German chancellor Angela Merkel also urged for calm, describing Europe as an "anchor of stability for the global economy." But Berlin is expected on Wednesday (23 January) to announce a downward revision of the country's economic forecast in 2008 for the third time in less than a year, down to 1.7 percent from 2.5 percent last year. A full and clear picture of the impact of the turbulences and recent development in the global economy is expected to emerge following the European Commission's quarterly preview, due to be unveiled in February. "Everybody is concerned, but more than that, everybody is uncertain. We must wait to see whether the US government interventions will prove to be effective or not," Dutch finance minister Wouter Bos commented. more...
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EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | America | Economic Crisis |


US warns EU on using climate change as pretext Boston.com (January 22, 2008) - The United States warned the European Union yesterday against using climate change as a pretext for protectionism, setting the stage for trans-Atlantic tension over a new package of EU measures to combat global warming. The pointed comments by the US trade representative, Susan Schwab, after talks in Brussels, came just two days before the European Commission introduced its proposals for cutting EU emissions at least 20 percent from 1990 levels by 2020. "We have been dismayed at a variety of suggestions where we have seen the climate and the environment being used as an excuse to close markets," Schwab said after discussions with Peter Mandelson, her European counterpart. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France has called for a carbon tax on imports to ensure that European companies that need to comply with tough environmental rules are not undercut by foreign competitors whose governments are not capping carbon emissions. EU officials were not expected to propose such a measure tomorrow but were expected to keep alive the possibility of a so-called border tax to keep European industries competitive. The EU pledge to protect European industry by 2011 at the latest will be aimed at assuaging powerful lobby groups from sectors like steel and aluminum manufacturing, which say they are facing higher costs than their overseas competitors because of the EU's determination to lead the world in climate protection. Even so, EU officials hope to be able to avoid the issue, not least because any European border tax could be challenged at the World Trade Organization. Instead, EU officials hope that other developed countries like the United States, which did not sign the Kyoto climate treaty, will join an international treaty by the end of the decade, making protectionist measures unnecessary. more...
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America | Earth Changes |


Overseas Investors Buy Aggressively in U.S. NY Times (January 20, 2008) - Last May, a Saudi Arabian conglomerate bought a Massachusetts plastics maker. In November, a French company established a new factory in Adrian, Mich., adding 189 automotive jobs to an area accustomed to layoffs. In December, a British company bought a New Jersey maker of cough syrup. For much of the world, the United States is now on sale at discount prices. With credit tight, unemployment growing and worries mounting about a potential recession, American business and government leaders are courting foreign money to keep the economy growing. Foreign investors are buying aggressively, taking advantage of American duress and a weak dollar to snap up what many see as bargains, while making inroads to the world’s largest market. Last year, foreign investors poured a record $414 billion into securing stakes in American companies, factories and other properties through private deals and purchases of publicly traded stock, according to Thomson Financial, a research firm. That was up 90 percent from the previous year and more than double the average for the last decade. It amounted to more than one-fourth of all announced deals for the year, Thomson said. During the first two weeks of this year, foreign businesses agreed to invest another $22.6 billion for stakes in American companies — more than half the value of all announced deals. If a recession now unfolds and the dollar drops further, the pace could accelerate, economists say. The surge of foreign money has injected fresh tension into a running debate about America’s place in the global economy. It has supplied state governors with a new development strategy — attracting foreign money. And it has reinvigorated sometimes jingoistic worries about foreigners securing control of America’s fortunes, a narrative last heard in the 1980s as Americans bought up Hondas and Rockefeller Center landed in Japanese hands. With a growing share of investment coming from so-called sovereign wealth funds — vast pools of money controlled by governments from China to the Middle East — lawmakers and regulators are calling for greater scrutiny to ensure that foreign countries do not gain influence over the financial system or military-related technology. On the presidential campaign trail, the Democratic candidates have begun to focus on these foreign funds, calling for international rules that would make them more transparent. more...
| America | Economic Crisis |

How long until America is not owned by Americans? The Federal Reserve (neither 'federal' nor 'reserve') owns our money and now we're so financially unstable and full of people who don't mind selling out a country for a buck or to save themselves leading us into an international debt beyond what we already have. Throw in an emergency or two (natural and man-made), and America won't have a choice but to join the New World Order's cashless banking system where a mark is required to buy or sell.

No one will enter the New World Order unless he or she will make a pledge to worship Lucifer. No one will enter the New Age unless he takes a Luciferian initiation. | David Spangler Director of Planetary Initiative

Revelation 13:15-17
And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

The plan all along is to financially and legally integrate all nations in the name of peace and security so that at some unknown trigger point (to them - God's timing), an "emergency state" can be declared wherein the new legal framework snaps into place and military and civilian forces are legally under the control of one man. So far the selling out of America seems to have worked well to the end of America's reign as Europe takes her place. That's what the Bible has always said.


New EU treaty worries US intel services Jane's Public Safety News (January 17, 2008) - As EU governments focus on securing ratification of the proposed Lisbon Reform Treaty in 2008, United States policymakers are concerned its provisions could present serious challenges to transatlantic intelligence and homeland security co-operation. The main US reservation is that, by transferring additional law and justice functions from the individual EU member states to EU institutions, the treaty could disrupt existing bilateral relations between US and EU governments without establishing anything better. Since the September 2001 terrorist attacks on the US, its intelligence and homeland security officials have prioritised the strengthening of collaboration with European governments against the mutual threat of Islamist-inspired terrorism. Despite periodic expressions of discontent, which naturally attracted the most media attention, US intelligence community officials, US law enforcement agencies and the Department of Homeland Security routinely praise their European counterparts for using various bilateral mechanisms to pursue joint initiatives encompassing non-proliferation, immigration and other counterterrorism-related issues. In contrast, Washington-based policy makers regularly criticise EU-wide bodies for proving at best ineffectual - and at worst downright disruptive - in their efforts in the 'global war on terrorism'. Common criticisms include an inability to determine an appropriate point of contact for US officials in Brussels - a perception that many Europeans are misguidedly seeking a negotiated solution to the 'war on terrorism' and excessive preoccupation on the part of EU lawmakers with protecting the privacy of EU nationals suspected of engaging in terrorist-related activities. US intelligence and security officials have been able to circumvent EU institutions in many cases so far by relying extensively on formal and informal arrangements with the individual member governments. In addition, Washington has felt confident that its European allies would use their powers to veto unwelcome EU-wide proposals in areas related to security and defence. If adopted, the Lisbon treaty could threaten many of these arrangements.
| EU/UN / 4th KingdomNewWorldOrder | America |


The Panic Starts Jim Sinclair's MineSet (January 17, 2008) - There is no doubt the Fed and the PPT are meeting right now. A drop of over 300 points on the Dow after the Chairman of the Federal Reserve speaks publicly presages a 1000 point break in the Dow Jones Industrial Average coming quite quickly, if not tomorrow. Unless the equity markets can be calmed, a panic is about to happen, making the statement "This is it" a horrible reality. If the equity markets cannot be calmed then:
  • Recognize this is the Formula happening like everything else much sooner and much bigger in its implications than anticipated.
  • Gold will rise to $1650 as an almost immediate effect of what will be done to attempt to fend off a total panic starting to take place in general equities, therein threatening to be followed by all credit markets of all kinds.
  • The funds and hotshot short term traders in gold shares will be killed by the upward explosion of the gold price about to occur.
  • The PPT and the Fed will step out of gold’s way because gold is one of the tools used in 1930 by Roosevelt and in 2000 by Bush. It will be used again now on the upside.
  • Gold is the only insurance there is against what all this means because a panic in equities will blow the financial system, already coming apart, to smithereens.
  • All country funds would shut down on any further investments in "at the wall" financial institutions.
  • The rollover in credit and default derivatives would exceed the entire foreign debt of the USA.
  • The rest of the $450 trillion dollar mountain of derivatives would start a disintegration like nothing you have every seen in your lifetime.
  • Consumer demand would slam shut.
  • The auto industry might as well go into liquidation this coming Monday, avoiding the June 2008 rush.
  • The US dollar would burn a hole in the floor going directly to .5200 or lower.
  • As the dollar disintegrates gold would rocket to and through $1650 in days.
  • The markets for general equities would all have to institute total trading halts every 100 points on the downside for 30 minutes each.
  • All commercial call loans would be called.
  • All debtors one day late on any payment, lacking grace period, would be liquidated. All debtors over one day of the grace period would be liquidated.
  • It is clearly visible to anyone with eyes or a mind to think that the PPT has lost all semblance of control in the equity markets and will soon in all remaining markets.
  • The commercial paper credit market which is almost dead will die totally.
  • Should no emergency action take place soon, you will see an old fashioned panic of the 1929 variety.
  • Just as emotional fools sell gold and gold shares, be assured that more emotional general equity fools will unload and bring the averages down more than ever in history in one day.
  • Recognize this is the Formula happening like everything else much sooner and much bigger in its implications than anticipated.
  • Emergency action will be all splash and theatrics but truthfully the cat is out of the bag. It buys some time but corrects nothing. It makes the Formula 100% correct.
  • There now must be EMERGENCY ACTION because the Chairman of the Fed has BOMBED OUT PUBLICLY and a PANIC is about to occur. Expect EMERGENCY ACTION in days, not weeks.

If you have not protected yourself, you may only have days to do so now.
| America |
Economic Crisis |


Foreclosures - The Untold Story Rense.com (January 17, 2008) - While we are being distracted with the theatrics of these long months of presidential canidates theatrics and hollow rehtoric, the grave issues in our nation (purposefully) are being ignored.  The latest antics has Michigan (in ecomomic free fall) ignored by the party (Democratic) that once represented the working man. This because of rules (?) that punished Michigan for holding its primary too early. Now they are told they cannot send delegates to the National Convention. That's par for the course - why would the voice of the dispossessed be represented? Both parties have been complicit over these past decades in the meltdown we're witnessing. People need to climb down off their elephants and donkeys. They need to discard their red - white - and boo attire and enter into the neutral zone. As long as people can be kept in the arena of elephant dung and donkey drippings they'll remain ignorant to the facts that will vitally affect their lives and their children. REAL ESTATE: This problem began in the early 90s. This is when the Federal Reserve began lowering the costs of funds and banks encouraged people to borrow at low rates. Mortgage rates were lowered in 1991. This is when credit lines using home equity were created by your friendly banker. That was when people began going into debt up to their eyeballs using the inflationary increases in the value of their primary residence as a personal ATM machine! People forgot that the only true value in real property is the equity. Market estimates of home values can drop 50% in one day. Why would the Federal Reserve do something so harmful to the national economy? When a bank makes a loan of $100,000, ninety per cent of that amount ( or, $90,000) creates new money out of thin air. This is called 'fractional - reserve' banking. It is a system used in most nations worldwide. Most nations have central banks - the Federal Reserve is a central bank. It is not a federal agency as most people have been led to believe. It is a cartel of privately owned bankers and other affluents - much like OPEC is owned by people in oil producing nations. When Congress are over spending like mindless idiots, when the cost of war is approximately $245 million a day, one of the best ways to create money to pay these costs is to encourage American consumers to borrow. Every time you borrow - ninety percent of that amount creates new money from thin air. That money is injected into the economy. As long as we all borrow more and more and more money from banks more money is created. No wonder borrowing was made so easy - it gave them the cash they needed for all that spending. Every good thing comes to an end. Expect an economic upheaval when Washington's cash cow quits giving milk.

"All of the perplexities, confusion, and distress in America arises, not from the defects of the Constitution or Confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and circulation." | John Adams, Founding Father

"Mr. Chairman, we have in this country one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever known. I refer to the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Banks. The Federal Board, has cheated the Government of the United States and the people of the United States out of enough money to pay the national debt. This evil institution has impoverished and ruined the people of the U.S.; has bankrupted itself, and has practically bankrupted our government. It has done this through the defects of the law under which it operates, through the maladministration of that law by the Federal Reserve Board, and through the corrupt practices of the moneyed vultures who control it." | Louis T. McFadden, Congressman and head of Congressional Banking Committee for 11 years; before Congress June 10, 1932

The chief aim of the money men (assisted by both Republicans and Democrats) for decades was to roll back FDR's New Deal. Anti-government rhetoric ( distracting labeling) has hidden this from public view. The 'Banking Act' of the New Deal was a priority by vested interests in being repealed. The undoing of this Act took decades and approximately $200 million in lobbying funds to accomplish. "Billionaire Sanford Weill made 'Citigroup' into the most powerful financial institutions since the House of Morgan a century ago. A major trophy of Sanford's is the pen Bill Clinton used to sign the REPEAL of FDR's Banking Act - a move which allowed Weill to create Citigroup. " Sanford Weill called President Clinton to break the deadlock after Senator Phil Gramm, chairman of the Banking Committee, warned Citigroup LOBBYIST Roger Levy that Weill has to get the White House moving on the bill or he would shut down the House-Senate Conference. A deal was announced at 2:45 a.m. Just days after the Clinton administration (including the Treasury Department) agrees to support the REPEAL, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, the former co-chairman of a major Wall Street investment bank, Goldman Sachs, raises eyebrows by accepting a top job at Citigroup as Weill's chief lieutenant. The previous year, Weill had called Rubin to give him advance notice of the upcoming merger announcement. When Weill told Rubin he had some important news, the secretary reportedly quipped, "You're buying the government." Progressive Historian. With the stroke of a pen, Bill Clinton ended the long saga of Republicans and Democrats, working in concert, for their puppet masters (the bankers) with his signing of the 'Financial Modernization Bill' (Nov 12, 1991). Clinton ended an era that stretched back to William Jennings Bryan and Woodrow Wilson and reached fruition with FDR and Harry Truman. As he signed his name, William Jefferson Clinton symbolically signed the death warrant of a level playing field that had guided the Democratic Party. Clinton (both parties) knew better than FDR and our Supreme Court. Nov 12-1999, President Clinton stated, " Glass- Stegal (FDR Banking Bill) is no longer appropriate for our economy. This was good for the industrial age. The (1999) Financial Modernization Bill is the key to rising paycheck and great security for ordinary Americans". Tell this to Michigan - NH - California - Georgia etc. The public was distracted from one of the most important pieces of legislation in this nation's history being signed by Bill Clinton, with round the clock coverage, of the Monica debacle. Seeing how Clinton came out of this shameful episode lauded as heroic - super stud - and a multi-millionaire, why one one would almost think that the whole sordid affair was contrived? Most especially with Lieberman acting as the holier than thou apologist ! Missed was Clinton's reason for the undoing of FDR's landmark bill Press release. What does this repeal mean? The hedge fund industry and subprime mortgage market is out of control. The New York Times in a June 2007 profile of Goldman Sachs: "While Wall Street still mints money advising companies on mergers and taking them public, real money - staggering money - is made trading and investing capital through a global array of mind bending products and strategies unimaginable a decade ago." Goldman Sachs head Lloyd Blankfein paints the perfect picture of what has happened: "We've come full circle, because this is exactly what the Rothschild's or J.P. Morgan the banker were doing in their heyday. What caused an aberration was the Glass-Steagall Act (FDRs - Banking Act)." Blankfein, like his cohorts in corporate greed, sees the New Deal as an aberration  and longs for a return to the Gilded Age. In enters a reincarnation of our old carnival snake oil salesman. Bill Clinton delivered his 'New Democrat Party' with a lot of the usual scripted rhetoric. Meaningless made up words. The combination of insurance, investment banking, and old-line commercial banks, have multiplied the conflicts of interest within banks, despite so-called 'firewalls'. Much like Enron, placing some deals in off-balance sheet entries did not insulate Citigroup from losses in its swollen subprime housing lending. The bank (Citigroup) has so far written off something like $15 billion and there's more to come. Ah - but meantime we're going to see these presidential canidates argue over who loves Blacks the most - or the miracle of Hillary's tears ! It's interesting that in the Neveda debates (Nov 15), when Hillary was asked about Citigroup and the subprime debacle she responded, that that she was concerned over these huge pools of money, and that Congress and the Federal Reserve need to ask questions. She went on to remark on how mortgages (subprime and conventional) were being bundled and sold to foreign investors. THE 64,000 QUESTION (yet to be addressed in these debates) was not asked: 'Senator Clinton, its a known fact, that Citigroup would not exist, except for President Clinton's repeal of FDR's 'Banking Act'. Would you (other canidates) not agree with the 1971 Supreme Court ruling, Goldman Sachs, and testimony by economists, that we have re-enacted the same conflicts of interest that were in place before the Great Depression and thus are doing the very same things that the Rothschild's and J.P Morgan were guilty of?' This is the question that has yet to be asked in any of these 'debates' (Republican or Democrat). The media and canidates blame the victims or wander off into some esoteric meaningless gibberish. more...
NewWorldOrder | America |
Economic Crisis |
 

Rethink Conference Starts Today: Christian Leaders Help Bring About Robert Schuller's Dream of an All-Inclusive Spirituality Lighthouse Trails Research (January 17, 2008) - Robert Schuller once said: "Standing before a crowd of devout Muslims with the Grand Mufti, I know that we're all doing God's work together. Standing on the edge of a new millennium, we're laboring hand in hand to repair the breach." He made that statement in his 2001 biography, My Journey  (p. 501), and today he has taken a giant step forward in seeing his dream of an all all-inclusive spiritual body come true. What's more, Christian leaders and organizations are helping to bring it to pass. Today, the Rethink Conference at Schuller's Crystal Cathedral began. This three day event is hosted by Schuller and popular emerging futurist Erwin McManus. In addition to McManus, the Rethink Conference has several other Christian leaders speaking: Gary Smalley, Henry Cloud, Chuck Colson, and Kay Warren, to name a few. While the speaker list includes several names outside the Christian camp (Larry King, George Bush Sr., Rupert Murdoch, etc.), a majority of the speakers, both Christian and non-Christian, are proponents mystical spirituality. The reason this is important to know is because Schuller's vision of an all-inclusive global religious body cannot happen without mysticism. It is in fact the vehicle through which Schuller's dream will occur. He discloses a little more of this vision in his book:

I met once more with the Grand Mufti (a Muslim), truly one of the great Christ-honoring leaders of faith. ... I'm dreaming a bold impossible dream: that positive-thinking believers in God will rise above the illusions that our sectarian religions have imposed on the world, and that leaders of the major faiths will rise above doctrinal idiosyncrasies, choosing not to focus on disagreements, but rather to transcend divisive dogmas to work together to bring peace and prosperity and hope to the world. (p. 502).
In order for this "bold impossible dream" to occur, change agents such as Schuller and McManus realize that Christianity needs to be redefined. Thus, the term rethink. McManus has believed this for some time. In an interview, he stated:
My goal is to destroy Christianity as a world religion and be a recatalyst for the movement of Jesus Christ.... Some people are upset with me because it sounds like I'm anti-Christian. I think they might be right!(1)
It's easier to understand what McManus means by this by reading this next statement from him:
The Barbarian Way was, in some sense, trying to create a volatile fuel to get people to step out and act. It's pretty hard to get a whole group of people moving together as individuals who are stepping into a more mystical, faith-oriented, dynamic kind of experience with Christ. So, I think was my attempt to say, "Look, underneath what looks like invention, innovation and creativity is really a core mysticism that hears from God, and what is fueling this is something really ancient." That's what was really the core of The Barbarian Way. (from Relevant magazine)
To put this in plain terms, there is a three step process in making this new vision become a reality. First, reeducation: convince Christians that the Christianity of today has to be thrown out and replaced by a whole new way of thinking. Second, get these new thinking Christians to incorporate mysticism into their lives and hear the voice of a new kind of God, not one that is described in the Bible but one that is found through altered states of consciousness. McManus put it this way: "I build my life not on the Word of God, but the voice of God. The Scriptures are to me the instrument that God has placed in history for me to learn the voice of God." (2) The voice of this mystical god will direct people to the final step of the process, and that will be to bring about a supposed kingdom of God where all will be one, and where man finally realizes his own divinity. Unfortunately, it will be a kingdom built, not on the truth of the Word of God, thus not on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. more...
| NewWorldOrder | America | Apostasy |

This article connected a lot of things. George Bush Sr., Larry King, Rupert Murdoch, Kay Warren and more all come together to "rethink" Christianity in the world and support globalism. Given Bible prophecy regarding the woman riding the beast and the false prophet, I think this is the New World Order working to influence evangelical Christians and prepare as many of them, if possible, for the coming deception and falling away from the Truth, God's Word. Bible prophecy lays out the timeline for Christ's second coming and the political scene is showing the fruits of fulfilled prophecy. There is a great delusion coming and a falling away and the revealing of the man of sin before the bride escapes God's wrath. The goal of the spiritual wickedness trying to deceive mankind is for as many as possible to reject the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as written in the Holy Bible. For some, experience and special prophecy will trump the written Word and not having a firm foundation in what God says about the end-times, will be deceived. My goal for this website is to not let that happen. If these newsletters resonate in your spirit, share with those you believe have ears to hear. Yeshua is coming, watch!


Joint US-EU-NATO security body mulled The Jerusalem Post (January 17, 2008) - While rejecting the idea of Israel or other countries in conflict joining NATO, five former Western defense chiefs called Wednesday for the alliance and the European Union to create a joint security "directorate" to address global terrorism and the challenges posed by Iran and China. In a report presented in Brussels, former military commanders of the United States, Germany, France, Britain and the Netherlands laid out a new strategy for NATO designed to create stronger ties between the US and its European allies. The authors of the report included Gen. (ret.) Dr. Klaus Naumann, former German chief of staff, and Gen. (ret.) John Shalikashvili, former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. "There is a great mismatch between the interconnected list of dangers and the international and national capabilities to respond to them - capabilities that are weakened by their disunity," the authors wrote in the report, titled "Towards a Grand Strategy for an Uncertain World." "No institution and no nation is capable of responding to these dangers and risks on its own; and just a cursory glance at our international organizations leads us to ask whether we have a proper basis for coordinated action. Unfortunately, it would appear that we do not," the report concluded. The report's authors recommend the establishment of a US, EU, NATO "steering directorate" to coordinate operations when common interests are in danger. "The point of such a directorate would be to better liaise for the common good, to coordinate who takes the lead on which issue, and to ensure that the three entities support each other," the report reads. The proposal comes ahead of a NATO summit set for April during which leaders of the 32 member states are expected to discuss the alliance's post-Cold War future. While Israeli defense officials were not familiar with the report they were not surprised by its recommendation that the Western alliance undergo a major restructuring. "For years now, NATO has been looking for a new purpose," said one Israeli official. "With the Cold War over, they are looking to preserve their strength, and a new directorate uniting the US, NATO and the EU could do that." While the report does not specifically mention the issue of Israeli membership in NATO - for years debated within the IDF and the Defense Ministry - it does recommend not accepting as a member any country that is engaged in conflict or territorial disputes. Outgoing Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman has over the past year pushed for Israel to ask for full membership in the military alliance. "NATO should state that it will not extend membership invitations to countries in which the standards of NATO members - such as democracy, respect for human rights, the rule of law and good governance - are not fully adhered to. It should also be agreed that the alliance will not accept any country as a member which has unresolved territorial claims or which is involved in ongoing armed conflicts," the report reads. The report's authors also referred to the Second Lebanon War, citing it as an example of non-state actors involved in asymmetric warfare and saying that Hizbullah engaged in "war crimes" by positioning its fighters and launching rockets from within civilian population centers.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |

Keep in mind that according to Bible prophecy, Christians and anyone refusing to worship the antichrist are going to become the terrorists and enemies of the globalist state during the great tribulation. Right now the terrorists are mostly limited to radical Islamic fundamentalists, but once the man of sin demands worship, the "Islamic" part will be removed from the definition to include all "radical fundamentalists," including Jews and Christians as well as anyone refusing to accept the antichrist. NATO is also on board with the Alliance of Civilizations and, unknown to most Americans, has split under the Berlin-Plus Agreement. In the event of a crisis situation, NATO assets are transferred to the European Union’s Political and Security Committee presently presided over by EU High Representative Javier Solana. With NATO's continuing integration with European forces, I think we can begin to see how global enforcement of antichrist policies will be implemented. We're also seeing a move to a North American Union through trade agreements and security issues that will make legal control of the Americas much easier once the antichrist takes power. My friends, the writing is on the wall. But don't just listen to me...

The age of Nations must end… The Government of nations has decided to order their separate sovereignties into one government to which they surrender their arms.| United Nation’s World Constitution

No one will enter the New World Order unless he or she will make a pledge to worship Lucifer. No one will enter the New Age unless he takes a Luciferian initiation. | David Spingler, Director of Planetary Initiative, United Nations


Islamic charity indicted for ties to terrorist Reuters (January 16, 2008) - A federal grand jury on Wednesday returned a 42-count indictment against a now-defunct Islamic charity for sending money to an Afghan "terrorist" and accused a former Republican congressman of money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice. According to the indictment, former Rep. Mark Deli Siljander of Michigan allegedly received about $50,000 in stolen federal funds from the charity, the Islamic American Relief Agency. He could not be reached for comment. He was hired in 2004 to help get the charity removed from a congressional list of non-profit organizations suspected of supporting international terrorism, the government said. The charity, also previously known as the Islamic African Relief Agency, was based in Columbia, Missouri. It closed in 2004 after the U.S. Treasury Department said it was a global terrorist organization. Wednesday's indictment supersedes a previous one brought last March that charged the charity with making illegal transfers of more than $1.4 million to Iraq. "This superseding indictment paints a troubling picture of an American charity organization that engaged in transactions for the benefit of terrorists and conspired with a former United States Congressman to convert stolen federal funds into payment for his advocacy on behalf of the charity," said Assistant Attorney General Wainstein in a statement. The indictment alleged that IARA and its former executive director, Mubarak Hamed, engaged in prohibited financial transactions for the benefit of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Afghan mujahideen leader designated by the U.S. government in 2002 as a terrorist. Hekmatyar, a former warlord who fought against the Soviet Union and later served as Afghanistan's prime minister in the 1990s, supported terrorist acts by al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and "vowed to engage in a holy war against the United States and international troops in Afghanistan," the government said. Siljander served in the U.S. House of Representatives from April 1981 to January 3, 1987. He is an owner and director of Global Strategies, Inc., a marketing and public relations company in Washington.
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Islam | America |


7-year plan aligns U.S. with Europe's economy WorldNet Daily (January 16, 2008) - Six U.S. senators and 49 House members are advisers for a group working toward a Transatlantic Common Market between the U.S. and the European Union by 2015. The Transatlantic Policy Network – a non-governmental organization headquartered in Washington and Brussels – is advised by the bi-partisan congressional TPN policy group, chaired by Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah. The plan – currently being implemented by the Bush administration with the formation of the Transatlantic Economic Council in April 2007 – appears to be following a plan written in 1939 by a world-government advocate who sought to create a Transatlantic Union as an international governing body. An economist from the World Bank has argued in print that the formation of the Transatlantic Common Market is designed to follow the blueprint of Jean Monnet, a key intellectual architect of the European Union, recognizing that economic integration must inevitably lead to political integration. As WND previously reported, a key step in advancing this goal was the creation of the Transatlantic Economic Council by the U.S. and the EU through an agreement signed by President Bush, German Chancellor Angela Merkel – the current president of the European Council – and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at a White House summit meeting last April. Writing in the Fall 2007 issue of the Streit Council journal "Freedom and Union," Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., a member of the TPN advisory group, affirmed the target date of 2015 for the creation of a Transatlantic Common Market. Costa said the Transatlantic Economic Council is tasked with creating the Transatlantic Common Market regulatory infrastructure. The infrastructure would not require congressional approval, like a new free-trade agreement would. Writing in the same issue of the Streit Council publication, Bennett also confirmed that what has become known as the "Merkel initiative" would allow the Transatlantic Economic Council to integrate and harmonize administrative rules and regulations between the U.S. and the EU "in a very quiet way," without introducing a new free trade agreement to Congress. No document on the TEC website suggests that any of the regulatory changes resulting from the process of integrating with the EU will be posted in the Federal Register or submitted to Congress as new free-trade agreements or as modifications to existing trade agreements. In addition to Bennett, the advisers to the Transatlantic Policy Network includes the following senators: Thad Cochran, R-Miss.; Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.; Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.; Pat Roberts, R-Kan.; and Gordon Smith, R-Ore. Among the 49 U.S. congressmen on the TPN's Congressional Group are John Boehner, R-Ohio; John Dingell, D-Mich.; Kenny Marchant, R-Texas; and F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc. WND contacted Bennett's office for comment but received no return call by the publication deadline. A progress report on the TEC website indicates the following U.S. government agencies are already at work integrating and harmonizing administrative rules and regulations with their EU counterparts: The Office of Management and Budget, the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Streit Council is named after Clarence K. Streit, whose 1939 book "Union Now" called for the creation of a Transatlantic Union as a step toward world government. The new federation, with an international constitution, was to include the 15 democracies of U.S., UK, France, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and South Africa. Ira Straus, the founder and U.S. coordinator of the Committee on Eastern Europe and Russia in NATO, a group dedicated to including Russia within NATO, credits Bennett as TPN chairperson with reviving Streit's work "seven decades later." A globalist with leftist political leanings, Straus was a Fulbright professor of political science at Moscow State University and the Moscow State Institute of International Relations from 2001 to 2002. The congruity of ideas between Bennett and Streit is clear when Bennett writes passages that echo precisely goals Streit stated in 1939. more...
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |

Now I'm not the brightest bulb in the box when it comes to money markets or international trade, but understanding what Bible prophecy says about the timing of the end and the kind of global financial system that will be in place, I think things are becoming more clear even to a clueless guy like me. With the financial troubles in the credit and housing markets, lenders keep having to get bailed out by the European Central Bank and Federal Reserve (neither federal or reserve), more and more people are beholden financially to international bankers. Notice all the company consolidation going on too? As good deals pop up or financial woes threaten companies and individuals, those with money can buy the property, companies, etc. In the case of housing, how many people actually own their homes? And of those, how many will be able to continue to pay property taxes if the system crashes? What happens if you don't pay taxes? I believe this is all leading down a road to a collapsing bridge where in the crash, a new financial system will arise from the ashes that is global in nature and no nation will be in a position to deny it because over time it has been the international bankers who have been manipulating and controlling the financial markets and making all the money. From the article above, "An economist from the World Bank has argued in print that the formation of the Transatlantic Common Market is designed to follow the blueprint of Jean Monnet, a key intellectual architect of the European Union, recognizing that economic integration must inevitably lead to political integration." The international trade agreements and the global war on terror is all coming to a head that will work very well I think with the financial difficulties that many nations are having now. But then again, maybe I'm way off...

Give me control of a Nation's money and I care not who makes the laws.| Mayer Amschel Bauer (Rothschild)


White House recycles backup e-mail tapes Associated Press (January 16, 2008) - The White House has acknowledged recycling its backup computer tapes of e-mail before October 2003, raising the possibility that many electronic messages — including those pertaining to the CIA leak case — have been taped over and are gone forever. The disclosure came minutes before midnight Tuesday under a court-ordered deadline that forced the White House to reveal information it has previously refused to provide. Among the e-mails that could be lost are messages swapped by any White House officials involved in discussions about leaking a CIA officer's identity to reporters. Before October 2003, the White House recycled its backup tapes "consistent with industry best practices," according to a sworn statement by a White House aide. Backup tapes are the last line of defense for saving electronic records. Separately, the statement reveals the extent to which the White House is apparently unable to answer how many e-mails are missing from White House servers. The White House "does not know if any e-mails were not properly preserved in the archiving process," said the statement by Theresa Payton, chief information officer for the White House Office of Administration. "We are continuing our efforts," said Payton, whose staff is responsible for the White House e-mail system. If the e-mails were not saved, the White House might have violated two laws requiring preservation of documents that fall into the categories of federal records or presidential records. White House spokesman Tony Fratto said that "there is no basis to say that the White House has destroyed any evidence or engaged in any misconduct." Fratto said that despite the recycling, some tapes should contain e-mails from before October 2003. "Of course the disaster recovery backup tapes were, at one time, recycled," said Fratto. "However, since October 2003, the Office of Administration has retained and preserved its disaster recovery tapes. The disaster recovery system is set up to regularly back up everything on the network for the Executive Office of the president at the time of each backup." The seven-page document filed in U.S. District Court says the White House in October 2003 "began preserving and storing all backup tapes and continues to do so." Payton said this means that e-mails sent or received in the 2003-2005 time period should be contained on existing backup tapes. The period of 2003 and 2005 is the time frame at issue in lawsuits seeking information about possibly millions of missing e-mails at the Bush White House. more...
| America |


Inflation rate is worst in 17 years Associated Press (January 16, 2008) - Higher costs for energy and food last year pushed inflation up by the largest amount in 17 years, even though prices generally remained tame outside of those two areas. Meanwhile, industrial output was flat in December, more evidence of a significant slowdown in the economy. Consumer prices rose by 4.1 percent for all of 2007, up sharply from a 2.5 percent increase in 2006, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Consumers felt the pain when they filled up their gas tanks or shopped for groceries. Prices for both energy and food shot up by the largest amount since 1990. In a second report, the Federal Reserve said that output at the nation's factories, mines and utilities showed no growth in December, adding to a string of weak economic reports showing that the economy was slowing at the end of last year. That weakness has shown up in the biggest one-month jump in unemployment since the 2001 terrorist attacks and billions of dollars in losses at many of the country's biggest financial institutions. Citigroup Inc. reported Tuesday it had suffered a $10 billion loss for the last three months of 2007, reflecting bad bets on investments backed by subprime mortgages. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged by 277 points on Tuesday and fell even further on Wednesday as Intel reported weak earnings for the fourth quarter. The Dow was down by 26 points in late morning trading. The unchanged industrial output in December was the poorest showing since industrial output actually fell by 0.5 percent in October. Output had been up by 0.3 percent in November. The December weakness reflected flat output at U.S. factories, a tiny 0.1 percent rise in the mining industry and a 0.2 percent drop at the nation's utilities. The Consumer Price Index rose by 0.3 percent in December, slower than the 0.8 percent in November, as food costs were flat for the month and energy prices rose by 0.9 percent after an even bigger 5.7 percent jump in November. Outside of food and energy, inflation rose a more moderate 0.2 percent in December. This measure of core inflation rose by 2.4 percent for all of 2007, down slightly from a 2.6 percent increase in 2006. The Federal Reserve is closely watching to see whether the jump in food and energy becomes more widespread and starts pushing core inflation higher. more...
| America |


Don't panic over heart drug news, U.S. group advises Reuters (January 15, 2008) - News that the popular cholesterol drug Vytorin may not work to protect arteries and may in fact worsen clogging should not cause patients to panic, the American College of Cardiology said on Tuesday. They said the study -- which was carried on newspaper front pages and which depressed the shares of one of the makers, Schering-Plough -- was not the last word on the drug's efficacy. Merck & Co and Schering-Plough said on Monday that in a study known as ENHANCE, Vytorin failed to significantly halt clogging of arteries better than an older generic drug. Members of Congress said they planned to investigate the companies' handling of the study results, which were delayed for what many people considered to be a suspiciously long time. In the meantime, patients should not suddenly stop taking the drug, the cardiology group said. "There is no reason for patients to panic," the ACC said in a statement. "This is not an urgent situation and patients should never stop taking any prescribed medications without first discussing the issue with their health care professional," the statement added. Vytorin combines two cholesterol-lowering drugs -- ezetimibe, sold under the brand name Zetia, and simvastatin, sold generically and under the Zocor brand name. more...
| America |

This is a primary example of the flip-flopping on medication showing how much we are guinea pigs in the chemical pharmaceutical industry. There are many stories of big pharma wooing doctors to support their medication and the doctors only have what they present to go on unless they do their own research. How many doctors have time for that? Maybe if we didn't mess with the food sources and allowed God back into society, the physical issues we battle against would not exist. Read Deadly Emotions for a better understanding of how our spiritual condition affects our physical body. Adding chemicals usually requires even more chemicals to counteract the negative reactions of the body to the original medication. How many people have to take multiple different pills daily and just how healthy do they feel? Now I'm not saying everyone should stop taking medications because some medications have negative reactions to just stopping suddenly. What I would suggest is getting alone in prayer with God to come to Him about it, He can heal all things.

Citi writes off $18 billion, Merrill gets capital Reuters (January 15, 2008) - Citigroup wrote off a colossal $18.1 billion on Tuesday and secured new capital as Merrill Lynch, also seen heading for big losses due to the U.S. subprime mortgage meltdown, announced a $6.6 billion shot in the arm. Citi, the largest U.S. bank by assets, announced an overall fourth quarter loss of $9.83 billion -- its first quarterly loss since its creation in 1998 -- on the back of losses tied to subprime home loans and other risky debt. It said it was raising $14.5 billion from offerings of convertible preferred securities and cut its dividend. Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed and the government of Singapore were among the recipients. "Believe it or not, the write-downs are better than what was being discussed. Yesterday, I saw an analyst estimate of $27 billion," said William Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Smith Asset Management in New York. "It wasn't the worst case scenario." U.S. investment bank Merrill said it would issue $6.6 billion in preferred shares to investors, including the Kuwait Investment Authority, the Korean Investment Corp and a unit of Japan's Mizuho Financial Group, as it looked to shore up its capital base. The New York Times on Friday reported Merrill was expected to suffer $15 billion in losses stemming from bad mortgage investments, when it releases its fourth quarter results on Thursday. It wrote off $8.4 billion in the third quarter. Banks, wrestling with huge losses stemming from U.S. mortgages lent to people ill-equipped to repay them, have actively been seeking cash from abroad. In December, Merrill secured as much as $7.5 billion by selling a stake to Singapore's government and an asset manager. The month before Citi agreed to sell up to a 4.9 percent stake to Abu Dhabi for the same amount. Other big names such as State Street and JP Morgan also report results this week, which is shaping up to be a pivotal one in the credit crunch saga. "The market is set up for bad news," said Adam Cole, global head of FX currency strategy at RBC Capital Markets. At 1500 GMT, the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Swiss National Bank will announce results of their latest "term auctions," which offer billions of dollars in short-term money to banks to try and ease the credit market logjam. The results will show how much demand there remains for central bank cash, and therefore how tough it is to secure money via interbank lending which has dried up since August when banks realized they did not know which were dangerously exposed to the U.S. subprime sector. The Fed has put up $30 billion this time, under a coordinated central bank plan hammered out in December, the ECB $20 billion and the SNB $4 billion. more...
NewWorldOrder | America |


Bush stops in Saudi Arabia for talks Associated Press (January 14, 2008) - President Bush, on his first visit to this oil-rich kingdom, delivered a major arms sale Monday to its ally in a region where the U.S. casts neighboring Iran as a menacing threat to stability. Bush's talks with King Abdullah also were expected to cover peace between Israelis and Palestinians and democracy in the Middle East. The administration was notifying Congress of its intent to sell $20 billion in weapons, including precision-guided bombs, to the Saudis. It is "a pretty big package, lots of pieces," national security adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters on Air Force One. The sale is an important part of the U.S. strategy to bolster the defenses of its Arab allies in Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing majority Sunni Muslim Gulf nations against threats from Shiite Iran. The official announcement will start a 30-day review period during which Congress could try to block the sale, which has raised concern among some lawmakers. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, which have majority Sunni Muslim populations, harbor deep suspicions about Shiite Iran's apparent designs to establish itself as a major power and have reacted skeptically to the conclusions of intelligence estimate about Iran. The president, who flew to Riyadh from Dubai on his eight-day Mideast trip, was to meet with King Abdullah. The king was expected to urge Bush to keep up the pressure on Israel to halt settlements in Palestinian territories. The administration was able to persuade the Saudis to participate in the U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Md., in November. As for the topic of rising oil prices, Hadley would only say "we'll have to see" when asked whether Bush would raise the issue with the king. The Saudis are responsible for almost one-third of OPEC's total output. Bush also has promoted democratic principles during his trip. While Abdullah has tried to push some reforms on education and women's rights, and there have been limited municipal council elections, the king has been cautious and limited in his efforts. He apparently has been hampered by others in the royal family worried that fast changes could upset the country's conservative clerics and citizens. The king greeted Bush at the base of the steps of Air Force One. A band played each country's national anthem as the leaders walked on a red carpet behind a high-stepping uniformed officer carrying a gold sword. In the airport terminal, the president shook hands with a long procession of robed men and military officers. Earlier, in Dubai, Bush got a flavor of the cosmopolitan banking and business hub, whose glass skyscrapers and booming construction have turned it into the capital of Middle East bustle. The soaring Persian Gulf city-state was Bush's second stop in the seven-state United Arab Emirates federation, following his gentle lecture on democracy in Abu Dhabi and an opulent picnic at a desert horse camp Sunday. more...
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Islam | America |

Who isn't America selling arms to? We just gave a bunch to Abbas forces, Iran, Saudi Arabia now... I wonder how many of those weapons will be used against Israel in the coming prophesied time of Jacob's trouble? Didn't this kind of thing get revealed in the Iran-Contra Affair?

Coast Guard forces vaccine derived from aborted child Breitbart.com (January 13, 2008) - A U.S. Coast Guard officer and devout Catholic has filed suit to prevent being forced to receive a vaccination derived from the lung of an aborted child after a higher ranking officer disputed his understanding of Church theology. The Alliance Defense Fund filed a complaint last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Healy, charging the government with using its own arbitrary judgment of what constitutes Catholic theology while permitting religious exemptions to others, effectively discriminating against Healy's sincerely held religious beliefs. Healy's request for religious exemption cited a 2005 letter from the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life which condemned the use of cell lines from abortions in vaccines and supported Catholics' right to refuse them while not requiring them to reject the medicines. In May, 2007, Capt. Brent Pennington rejected Healy's request, saying Catholic teaching "does not state that these immunizations are against the religious tenets of the Catholic Church." "Please note that the refusal to be vaccinated or failure to comply with a lawful order to be vaccinated is a violation of Coast Guard regulations," Pennington wrote Healy. "Any member who refuses to be vaccinated or fails to comply with a lawful order to be vaccinated is subject to military proceedings under [the Uniform Code of Military Justice] or other appropriate administrative proceedings at the unit commander's discretion." All members of the Coast Guard must be vaccinated against a broad spectrum of diseases. The requirement for all active-duty personnel to be inoculated against Hepatitis A was instituted in May 2006. While a vaccine derived from animal sources is awaiting FDA approval, the immunization procedure currently available in the U.S. is based on lung cells taken from an elective abortion performed at 14 weeks approximately 40 years ago. "Those who lay their life on the line to defend our shores are entitled to the same religious freedoms as anyone else," said ADF attorney Matt Bowman, according to the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. "Members of the U.S. military should never be forced to make an unconstitutional choice between honoring their country and honoring their faith." Healy is a long-time opponent of abortion and is listed on a Coast Guard website as the contact for an October 2006 pro-life awards banquet held in Glen Burnie, Md. Healy is stationed at the Coast Guard facility in Alexandria, Va. more...
| Signs of the Times | America |


Homeland Security Department Announces Deeply Flawed Regulations for National ID System Electronic Privacy Information Center (January 11, 2008) - Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff today released the agency's final regulations for REAL ID, the national identification system. The law was passed in 2005 and will require the states to make significant changes to the state driver's license. EPIC and other civil liberties and privacy organizations have objected to the federal identification system, which will include the sensitive information of 245 million license and state ID cardholders across the country. The proposal has drawn sharp criticism from state governments, members of Congress, civil liberties advocates, and security experts. The Secretary scaled back some of the  requirements, reduced the cost, and extended the deadline for state compliance. However, Secretary Chertoff also indicated that the REAL ID card would be used for a wide variety of purposes, unrelated to the law that authorized the system, including employment verification and immigration determination. He also indicated that the agency would not prevent the use of the card by private parties for non-government purposes. As part of the cost-saving effort, Homeland Security has decided not to encrypt the data that will be stored on the card. Melissa Ngo, Director of the EPIC Identification and Surveillance Project, said, "REAL ID creates a United States where individuals are either 'approved' or 'suspect,' and that is a real danger to security and civil rights." The REAL ID proposal has been widely criticized. Seventeen states have passed legislation against REAL ID, and Congress is debating its repeal. The Department of Homeland Security has also been criticized for its own poor security practices. In May 2007, a Homeland Security office lost the personal data of 100,000 employees. According to security expert Bruce Schneier, "Measures like REAL ID have limited security benefit. Identification systems are complex, and the unforgability of the plastic card is only a small part of the security equation.  Issuance procedures, verification procedures, and the back-end database are far more vulnerable to abuse, and -- perversely -- a harder-to-forge card makes subverting the system even more valuable. Good security doesn't try to divine intentionality from identification, but instead provides for broad defenses regardless of identification." EPIC is a public interest research center in Washington, D.C. EPIC was established in 1994 to focus public attention on emerging civil liberties issues and to protect privacy, the First Amendment, and constitutional values. In 2007, EPIC led a grassroots coalition of organizations and bloggers that urged the Department of Homeland Security to withdraw the REAL ID plan.
| Technology | NewWorldOrder | America |
Papers please! Beyond the recollection of history and how this kind of system was used during WWII and elsewhere, this article brings up the issue of trust and security. Can you really trust a plastic card to be secure and applicable only to yourself? What if its stolen? With identity theft running rampant, a new system that still uniquely identifies everyone initiated into it is necessary, but a method that cannot easily be stolen will be needed. This is where I think RFID tattoo ink comes in. I think Real ID is just a stepping stone to the next level. It prepares the consciousness of the population and the need for security will cause the next step to be taken. With the issue of terrorism causing fear in those with no hope, many will be more than willing to pledge allegiance to the beast and to the global government for which he stands under Lucifer to save their mortal lives, only to lose their eternal souls. Eternity apart from God, who IS love, is not an eternity anyone really wants.

Prof teaches 'being gay' with taxpayer funding WorldNet Daily (January 11, 2008) - A University of Michigan class that earlier prompted state lawmakers to consider a 10 percent budget penalty for the school and is taught by a homosexual professor openly endorsing the "uncompromising political militancy" of "lesbian and gay studies" is returning. But so is the opposition. The class at the tax-funded University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is called "How to be Gay: Male Homosexuality and Initiation," and is taught by David Halperin. It surfaced in 2000, returned the following year and again a couple years later. Now university officials have confirmed it is returning, and Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan, said "it was and remains an outrageous abuse of taxpayer dollars." "Each time it has been offered we have renewed our objections to it. The first time around the Michigan House of Representatives came with a few votes of cutting the university budget by 10 percent," he said. He said Halperin "makes no bones about it on the other side of the world, knowingly using tax dollars to promote the militant political agenda of homosexuality." Glenn was referring to Halperin's writings on his activities as part of his work in Australia, where he spends part of each year. There, Halperin has written, "The fact is that lesbian and gay studies simply is the academic wing of the lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgender movement … no one in the field has ever (to my knowledge at least) contested this…" "Let there be no mistake about it: lesbian and gay studies, as it is currently practiced in the U.S., expresses an uncompromising political militancy," he wrote. "We have lobbied universities and professional associations to adopt and enforce anti-discrimination policies, to recognise same-sex couples, to oppose the U.S. military's anti-gay policy, to suspend professional activities in states that criminalize gay sex or limit access to abortion, and to intervene on behalf of human rights for lesbians, bisexuals, and gay men at the local and national levels," he wrote in Australian Humanities Review. "Just because you happen to be a gay man doesn't mean that you don't have to learn how to become one," he writes in the University of Michigan course description. "Gay men do some of that learning on their own, but often we learn how to be gay from others, either because we look to them for instruction or because they simply tell us what they think we need to know, whether we ask for their advice or not." Further, he advises potential students, "the course itself will constitute an experiment in the very process of initiation that it hopes to understand." University officials posted a defense of the decision to allow the course on the university website, a tacit acknowledgment of its controversial nature. "This course is not about encouraging people to become gay, but about how individuals in our society create meaning and beliefs about gay culture from literature and the arts," explained Robert M. Owen, associate dean for undergraduate education. "The course also makes no assumptions about the sexual orientation of its students." "We are aware that much of the concern is with the title of the course and acknowledge that the interpretation of that title is very troubling for some people. The English Department … approved this course," he said. Provost Paul Courant boasted of the evolution of the school into one "of the finest public institutions of higher education in the world" and attributed that to "the free and open exchange of ideas." He said Halperin's course "is similar to literature courses taught at many other universities in our state and across our country." Concerns over Halperin's actions were raised even within the homosexual community. In an online forum for homosexuals, one wrote, "Having a course in initiating young people into the gay lifestyle? Isn't that what Christian Fundementalists (sic) claim actually goes on in the gay community? Thank you Dr. Halperin for confirming their suspicions." Halperin also has written that, "I still find the possibility of an open, uncensored, honest, and sexually explicit gay male literature thrilling, and I expected my students to do the same…" "Lesbian/gay studies necessarily straddles scholarship and politics …. It would be hard to be more explicit than that," said Halperin, who is has written several homosexual-oriented books. In the past, Glenn promised, "Every time U-M offers this ludicrous class, you and I cannot fail to speak out against it." Reports said in 2003, Halperin refused to meet Glenn's offer for a face-to-face public debate on the merits of the class.
| Signs of the Times | America |


Report launch for "Towards a Grand Strategy for an Uncertain World" Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) (January 10, 2008) - The CSIS Europe and International Security Programs, in partnership with the Noaber Foundation, hosted the launch of "Towards a Grand Strategy for an Uncertain World: Renewing the Transatlantic Partnership," a new report authored by Gen. Dr. Klaus Naumann (Germany), Gen. John Shalikashvili (United States), Field Marshal The Lord Inge (United Kingdom), Adm. Jacques Lanxade (France), and Gen. Henk van den Breemen (the Netherlands), with Benjamin Bilski and Douglas Murray. The event also featured commentary by Robert E. Hunter, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO. In the report, these five distinguished military leaders consider the complexity of emerging global security challenges and the capabilities of existing institutions to address them. They conclude that dealing with these challenges requires a new transatlantic grand strategy that ensures a better integration of military and non-military capabilities. They argue that a transformed NATO, working closely with the European Union, should serve as the core element of a future security architecture. The group advances a number of near- and longer-term proposals to enhance NATO and transatlantic unity of effort. They advocate replacing the two-pillar concept of U.S.-European relations with an alliance of democracies ranging from Finland to Alaska. AUDIO (02:12:47 mp3) | REPORT (pdf)
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |

This integration of government in the name of peace and security is precisely what will lead to global governance that is the New World Order. There are "emergency powers" built into EU law given to implement control of government infrastructure for the purpose of keeping peace. With NATO and America's own emergency powers in the Patriot Act, how quickly could these integrated forces be combined and controlled by the center of the circles of power? Given what the Bible says about a global dictator given power by Lucifer for 3½ years and submitted to by all the world who are not written in the Lamb's book of life, these kinds of moves combined with the Biblical look at the timing of the end catch my attention.

Revelation 13:3-10
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.


Netanyahu to Bush: Jerusalem to stay under Israeli control for eternity Haaretz (January 10, 2008) - Opposition leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday morning told visiting U.S. President George W. Bush that "Jerusalem belongs to the Jewish people and will remain under Israeli sovereignty for eternity." Netanyahu, who is chairman of the Likud party, made the remarks at a meeting with Bush at the King David hotel in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a highly contentious issue in final status peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, in particular for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's right-wing coalition partners. Bush is pushing for the negotiations to conclude in a peace deal by the end of 2008. Netanyahu said he sees in the U.S. president a true friend, and expressed his esteem for Bush's role in protecting the free world against extremist Islamic terror. At the beginning of the meeting, which ran 45 minutes over the time allocated to it, Netanyahu gave Bush an ancient coin discovered in Jerusalem that dates from the third year of the great Judean revolt against the Romans in the first century CE. The coin bears Hebrew writing, signaling that the Jewish people's connection to Jerusalem has lasted thousands of years. The Likud chairman presented to Bush his program for economic peace in the Middle East as a basis for a future agreement, and voiced his support for Quartet Middle East envoy Tony Blair's economic initiatives. more...
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Israel | Dividing the Land | America |

The Bible does say that Israel will dwell in the land forever, however there is another prophesied time yet to come that must come first, the time of Jacob's trouble and the 1260-day great tribulation. During this time the 1/3 of Israel that is not murdered, Zechariah 13:8,9, will be protected in the wilderness for 1260 days and will not be in control of Jerusalem, the antichrist will. Revelation 12:13-17 There is also the dividing of Israel I believe is prophesied in Zechariah 14:1,2 where half the city is removed and the other half remains. At no other point in history or prophesied future is only half of Israel removed. In the past the large majority of the nation was taken into Babylonian captivity and also throughout the world until the creation of Israel in 1948. At the time of great tribulation, any Jew found in Jerusalem will be killed until Christ returns in glory ending the antichrist's reign. Revelation 19:20 So Bible prophecy gives a little more clarity to the belief that Israel will forever control Jerusalem. Once Christ comes, He will control Jerusalem and all the world. At the same time, God has promised to punish those that come against Israel. Jeremiah 30:20-24 | Zechariah 12:1-3

Bush predicts Mideast peace treaty Associated Press (January 10, 2008) - President Bush, summing up meetings with both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, said Thursday that a peace accord will require "painful political concessions" by each. Resolving the status of Jerusalem will be hard, he said, and he called for the end of the "occupation" of Arab land by the Israeli military. "Now is the time to make difficult choices," Bush said after a first-ever visit to the Palestinian territories, which followed separate meetings with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem the day before. Bush is in the Mideast for eight days, trying to bolster his goal of achieving a long-elusive peace agreement by the end of his presidency in a year. Speaking at his hotel in Jerusalem, he said again that he thinks that is possible. "I am committed to doing all I can to achieve it," Bush said. Within minutes, Bush's national security adviser Stephen Hadley said the president would return to the Middle East "at least once and maybe more" over the next year. He wouldn't elaborate on possible destinations, but another White House official said Bush is likely to attend Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations in May. Bush gave his most detailed summation yet of what a final peace should include, including U.S. expectations for the resolution of some of the hardest issues in the violent conflict, one of the world's longest-running and most intractable. He used tough language intended to put both sides on notice that he sees no reason they cannot get down to serious business, "starting right now." In his set of U.S. bottom lines were security for Israel, a "contiguous" state for the Palestinians and the expectation that final borders will be negotiated to accommodate territorial changes since Israel's formation. He also suggested international compensation for Palestinians and their descendants who claim a right to return to land they held before Israel's formation. He made a point of using a loaded term — occupation — to describe Israeli control over land that would eventually form the bulk of an independent Palestinian state. That he did so in Jerusalem underscored that he is trying not to seem partial to Israel. On borders, Bush said any peace agreement "will require mutually agreed adjustments" to the lines drawn for Israel in the late 1940s. He was referring primarily to Israeli neighborhoods on disputed lands that Israel would keep when an independent Palestinian state is formed. Earlier in the day, Bush had said Palestinians deserve better than a "Swiss cheese" state fitted around Israeli land and security bulwarks. "The point of departure for permanent status negotiations to realize this vision seems clear," he said. "There should be an end to the occupation that began in 1967. The agreement must establish a Palestine as a homeland for the Palestinian people just as Israel is a homeland for the Jewish people." White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Bush was referring to the West Bank when he spoke of occupation. more...
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Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land | America |


ECB, Bank of England holds rates steady Associated Press (January 10, 2008) - The European Central Bank and the Bank of England kept their benchmark interest rates on hold Thursday, both torn between the opposing challenges of higher inflation and worries about economic growth. Those two factors could put the central banks on different paths in the coming months, with the ECB striking a hawkish note in the face of strong Euro-zone inflation while the Bank of England is widely expected to deliver a cut next month to restore shaky consumer confidence. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said the bank "remains prepared to act preemptively" to keep inflation in check, a statement economists interpreted as the bank retaining its holding stance while leaving the door open for a potential interest rate rise later this year. The ECB is concerned that sharp rises in food and energy prices will turn into broader and more persistent inflation if workers obtain higher wages and producers begin to transfer higher costs to consumers. "We are in the position of total alertness ... and won't tolerate this risk to materialize," Trichet said in Frankfurt after the bank announced its decision to keep its key interest unchanged at 4 percent. The bank's concerns about inflation carry intense weight given that it sets monetary policy for Germany, France and 13 other countries home to 318 million residents, which account for more than 15 percent of the world's gross domestic product. The ECB faces inflation estimated at 3.1 percent — well above its guideline of just under 2 percent — but it also must contend with sliding business and consumer confidence thanks to the global credit crisis. Rate increases to rein in inflation can also restrain economic growth and fears of an economic malaise could be enough to discourage the bank from lifting rates in the near term. "In line with the market we expect no change in ECB rates this year, with Trichet, et al, happy to let further U.S. monetary policy easing prop up global demand," said Calyon economist Stuart Bennett. While the ECB has held rates steady for seven months since it raised borrowing costs in June 2007, the U.S. Federal Reserve has cut its key rate three times over recent months to 4.25 percent and analysts there believe another half a percentage point cut is likely. British policymakers, meanwhile, are dealing with mirror image of the ECB's concerns. more...
NewWorldOrder | America |


World Powers call for Coalition Government The Australian (January 4, 2008) - EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called for the creation of a coalition government in violence-wracked Kenya. The pair "agreed the focus should be on pressing the parties to agree on setting up a coalition government," the spokeswoman for Mr Solana said. Mr Solana and Dr Rice also discussed sending EU and US envoys to convince Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to negotiate, but no decision was taken, the spokeswoman said. Kenya's main opposition party claims the vote count after last week's presidential election was rigged. More than 340 people have been killed in violence since the election and tens of thousands displaced, mainly in western regions. European Commission external relations spokeswoman Christiane Hohmann earlier appealed for calm. "Violence does not have any place in a country after an election," she said. International diplomatic efforts to halt the Kenyan crisis have been intensifying. Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for mediation to stop the violence, while South African Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu was in th capital Nairobi on Thursday to try and mediate between Mr Kibaki and opposition Mr Odinga.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | SolanaNewWorldOrder | America |


Bush sees Israeli-Palestinian peace deal in 2008: report Breitbart (January 3, 2008) - US President George W. Bush believes an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal will be reached this year, according to excerpts of an interview published on Thursday ahead of his visit to the region. Bush said the two sides must clinch a deal in 2008 in order to see the creation of a Palestinian state, Israel's top-selling Yediot Aharonot newspaper quoted him as saying in the interview which will be published in full on Friday. The US president is visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories next week in a bid to give a push to Middle East peace talks which were relaunched at an international conference in Annapolis in November. In the interview, Bush sought to ease Israeli fears that any future Palestinian state could threaten its security. "I will not allow the creation of a terrorist state on Israel's border," he said in a quote translated into Hebrew.
| Israel | Islam | Dividing the LandAmerica |


America Has Lost Her Mind News With Views (January 3, 2008) - As the old United Negro College Fund commercial used to tell us, “the mind is a terrible thing to waste.” Losing one’s mind is even worse. America has lost her mind. What is the mind? It is "the element, part, substance, or process that reasons, thinks, feels, wills, perceives, judges, etc." In most Americans this part of the brain no longer functions. For many the loss of our mind is a result of the “mind blowing” experience of the sixties, or from sitting at the feet of the radical Humanists who permeate our nation’s universities, or perhaps from a life filled with Oprah, Dr. Phil, Jerry Springer and the Cable News outlets. The average American no longer thinks. Years in the public-fool system has sucked all ability to use logic and reason out of our populace. Americans have been systematically dumbed-down. “No Tax Dollar Left Behind” had as its goal a slick transformation in educational method. Measure, measure, measure…test, test, test. This is the only way, we were told, to determine whether or not our children are learning. Testing measures rote memory. In other words, for those of you who never learned that word, it means a measurement of WHAT YOU HAVE MEMORIZED. “Jack Spratt could eat no fat, his wife could eat no lean.” Today’s “testing” measures whether you can recite the poem, not your ability to analyze the dietary principles enunciated therein. (I used those fancy words so that you would know I still have my mind.) Logic is the ability to frame an argument based on knowledge. Knowledge is “acquaintance with facts, truths, or principles, as from study or investigation" and reason requires the application of logic in order to determine the validity of a particular theory. Ultimately, wisdom is the goal. Wisdom is “the ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting.” Proverbs 4:7 says “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” “What is true, right, or lasting……” sort of puts you in mind of the knowledge we are pumping into America’s young “skulls full of mush,” doesn’t it? Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. What is a fool? Why, a fool is “a person who lacks judgment or sense.” Americans and American schools are producing trained-fools. Not just fools, “a stupid person,” but trained fools, fools who have been “coached in or accustomed to a mode of behavior or performance.” All wrong thinking leads to wrong action. The thief thought he would get away with it. The rapist never thought he would get caught. The teenager never thought she would get pregnant. Just because you believe something, anything, does not make it true. We no longer teach our children HOW to think. Instead, we “coach” them on WHAT to think and then test to measure if the indoctrination has worked. Ooops, “indoctrination,” that is probably another word many are not familiar with. Indoctrination is “teaching someone to accept doctrines without proof.” Everywhere you look we are being indoctrinated. Our news is indoctrination. “They decide, we report.” “We have to stop Hillary.” “Who are you to judge?" “Global warming is destroying the planet.” “Top-tier candidates.” American-adults have lost their minds. Look at the garbage we are teaching our kids:

  • A child doesn’t need a mother and a father. Two moms or two dads are fine, because men and women are really no different.
  • Anal sex between men is normal, but those who speak out against it are not.
  • Killing a wanted unborn child is homicide; an unwanted unborn child is choice.
  • Global warming kills more people than abortion.
  • “Choice” is good for unborn children, but bad for born school children.
  • A young woman can have an abortion and yet never have regrets about it.

We have lost our minds!

  • A child must say no to cigarettes, but it is ok to say yes to sex.
  • Abortion is good and the death penalty is bad.
  • Divorce is best for the children if it makes the parents happier.
  • Spanking your children will cause them to be violent.
  • Famous people are better than “regular” people.
  • Love is sex and sex is love.
  • Condoms will prevent disease.

We have lost our minds!

  • Creating more laws will lower crime.
  • Gun control makes law-abiding citizens safer.
  • Being sick is an excuse for breaking the law.
  • Government needs to spy on us to keep us safe from terrorism.
  • “Experts” know what is best for the rest of us.
  • Our rights are granted by government.
  • We need more money for education.

We have lost our minds!

  • Paying people not to work will make them more productive.
  • We have no right to judge the actions of another person.
  • The government is the answer to everyone’s problems. .
  • There is a big difference between Democrats and Republicans.
  • President Bush is a Christian-conservative.
  • The National Education Association cares more about kids than teachers.

We have lost our minds!

  • Jesus has forgiven our sins so stop talking about sin.
  • An hour of Sunday school will undue 7 hours a day in public schools.
  • God is not to be included in public ceremonies, government, or education.
  • Remove the teachings of Christianity and people will naturally be good.
  • The US Supreme Court over-rides the law of God.
  • Jesus is most concerned with making us happy.
  • Those who believe the Bible are not very well educated.

We have lost our minds! I could go on. Let me leave you with a few Scriptures to chew on. Perhaps they can help explain the mess we are in. Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge.” Philippians 2:5 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:” Psalm 14:1 “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.” America has become a “ship of fools” captained by fools. The ship has lost her moral rudder. The blind are leading the blind. more...
| AmericaApostasy |

2 Timothy 3:1-7
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Isaiah 5:20-24
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.


SWF'S - Saviours or Harbingers of Economic Apocalypse? Financial Sense University (January 3, 2008) - Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF's) are being hailed as the saviours of the financial world, but in reality are more akin to harbingers of the economic apocalypse for countries such as the United States and United Kingdom. The SWF's have been stepping in of late with tens of billions in financing and investments into the cash starved US banking and finance sector with financial institutions such as Citicorp selling off large chunks every other week to funds such as that to the Abu Dhabi SWF at 4.9% of the company for $7.5bn on a fixed yield of 11%, the terms are far more favorable than offered to domestic investors. Most recent speculation is that Rio Tinto maybe inline for a Chinese SWF bid of as much as $150 billion. As petro and trade dollars flow into these SWF's, we will find increasingly larger and larger slices of important US and western world capital producing infrastructure flowing into the hands of asian and the middle eastern government controlled funds as part of a multi-pronged strategy. The effect of which is literally to gradually transfer sovereignty of the United States to these countries. Whilst there are many arguments as to the value of sovereignty to the average citizen given the observed quality of the democratic institutions where as little as 50% actually turn out to vote, and further diminished by suspected corruption in the voting process such as hanging shads and denial to thousands of democratic black voters in Florida during 2000. The transfer of sovereignty has consequences that could be deemed to be permanent and irreversible. The Multi-pronged strategy towards the transfer of sovereignty -

1. Transfer of manufacturing base eastwards.
2. Transfer of service sector industries eastward
3. Securing control of energy and mineral resources.
4. Theft of new technologies through state sponsored espionage
5. Investment in prime western companies in the West via SWF's.
6. Transfer of western commercial and financial expertise eastward.

Whilst trillions of dollars flowed into US government bonds to support the dollar, the US government and Fed were able to effectively manage the influence of bond holders via monetary policy i.e. to maintain the US economy and corporate infrastructure via foreign financing in the form of lower domestic taxation, corporate favorable laws and foreign policy. However the SWF's are invested in assets that are priced to fluctuate inline with profitability and the value of the underlying assets such as mineral and energy reserves, therefore are less influenced by monetary policy and the exchange rates then the bond markets. As SWF's buy up hard assets, these resource and technology corporations and banks are increasingly going to come under the influence of the sovereign wealth funds, which have their own agendas at work based on national self interest. The amount in SWF's continues to grow at an astonishing rate as the giant US deficit of $700 billions continues to feed their coffers. Current estimates put the funds at more than $ 3 trillions and growing as more of the trade surpluses flow directly into the funds...

What does this mean for the US and UK?

As part of the multi pronged strategy of the transfer US based assets and the means of production. The key to the strategy is to support the US dollar will for the time being at least, by the likes of China, Arab states and Japan , so as these countries can continue to buy US assets and transfer US and British jobs abroad through outsourcing and maintain supply of goods and services to the US consumer in exchange for more dollars to buy more US assets with. However the situation has reached a point that the amount of sovereignty and manufacturing base transferred to date may be so great that even the strategy of supporting the dollar is breaking down. The eventual inevitable outcome is for a sharp fall in the currencies of the UK and USA as a result of market forces so as to diminish the ability of these countries to be able assert themselves economically and militarily across the globe as these countries will no longer have the economic base to do so. Russia being more immature and a late comer to the game, is prematurely eager to demonstrate the impact of the trend towards transfer of sovereignty then China is, hence the increasing noises emanating from Putin's Kremlin. This should be taken as a strong warning of what the future holds as sovereignty continues to drain eastwards. If Russia is this aggressive with a $150 SWF, how will it behave once currency reserves allow it to create a $1 trillion SWF? more...
| Islam |
EU/UN / 4th KingdomNewWorldOrder | America |

Deuteronomy 28:43-45
The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail. Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:

The destruction of America as a power must happen for power to be ceded to Europe. As I've pointed out before, Albert Pike's plans for America have been accomplished in fomenting chaos between Islam and the West supporting the existence of Israel, being responsible for Israel's creation. Now those behind the West do not want Israel to exist either because they are opposed to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and are part of the New World Order that will give their power to the antichrist and fight God at His return. The first hour of the January 1, 2008 Coast to Coast AM show focused on trend watchers in examining where America is headed. The financial crisis that has been unfolding was the main focus of the shaky year they predicted would be coming. Those that own American business and finances own America. What are you going to do when companies lay off employees, the banks close and the dollar collapses? What about the mortgages on houses? The banks own the land and the government can take it if we don't pay taxes. Can you see how quickly those who don't participate in the bail-out will be left with nothing? Be aware so you are not blindsided and trust God.


Trends to a New World Order: Part 1 Transnational Elites and Pernicious Globalization Old-Thinker News (January 3, 2008) 

"Countless people... will hate the new world order... and will die protesting against it... When we attempt to evaluate its promise, we have to bear in mind the distress of a generation or so of malcontents..." - H.G. Wells, The New World Order (1939) 

As we enter the new year of 2008, themes of a "global community" and a "unified global approach" are becoming more prevalent. When keeping an eye on current events and reading various think tank projections regarding the future of the world, a sobering picture begins to emerge. Forecasts are being made of a world in which a sharp divide exists between the elite and the rest of humanity. Advanced technology offers those who can afford it a means of personalized "auto-evolution". "Pernicious globalization" takes its toll on the world and global elites thrive, leaving the rest of us in the dust. Increasingly open borders, unchecked immigration and trends to world governance cause communal conflict between various groups. The middle class becomes revolutionary as economic hardship hits hard on millions of Americans. Dictators utilize life extension technologies to prolong their reign of terror. A computer simulation offers government agencies and corporations a system to test marketing strategy and psychological operations on a virtual mirror of the real world in real time. "Gen-rich" and "Gen-poor" classes emerge to form a new "biological caste system". All of this would make for a thrilling Sci-Fi novel, but these trends come not from science fiction - though science fiction has proven to be a prophetic precursor to these developments -, but from present day realities seen by the U.K. Ministry of Defense, the CIA and other prominent individuals in the fields of technology, science and government. This short two part report will attempt to answer these questions: What impact has globalization had on us and how will it effect us in the future? How do present day trends in technology, globalization, politics and government relate to the prospect of a New World Order?

The New World Order

A "New World Order" has been heralded by global elites for many years. We are told by these elites that trends to a system of world governance are only natural, that national sovereignty must be eliminated. James Paul Warburg, speaking before the US Senate in 1950, stated that, "We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent." Globalization and advances in technology have undoubtedly impacted our lifestyles, world-views, and lives dramatically. A "global outlook" has planted itself in our society, but more so among elites. Zbigniew Brzezinski writes of this global outlook in his 1970 book, Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era,

"A global human consciousness is for the first time beginning to manifest itself... we are witnessing the emergence of transnational elites... composed of international businessmen, scholars, professional men and public officials. The ties of these new elites cut across national boundaries, their perspectives are not confined by national traditions..." [1]

The dissemination and injection of globalist ideology into the collective vocabulary and consciousness of society has been a leading goal of such transnational elites. Regional governance in conjunction with regional economic systems inside a world government has also been a long term goal of globalist organizations. In order for these regional systems to operate smoothly and to be generally accepted, think tanks have undertaken projects of social engineering on a massive scale to rid the population of "outdated" ideas of national sovereignty. [2] The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars hosted a conference in 2002 which was dedicated to the development of strategies to overcome such "outdated" ideas. The political, social and economic integration of the United States, Canada, and Mexico into a union similar to the European Union was discussed. America was acknowledged by the conference panelists as being one of the largest obstacles to globalist planning. Expanding the definition of "we", framing integration in a non threatening manner and a "winner at the polls" were some of the suggested social engineering strategies. A summary of the conference states,

"Further economic, political, and social integration will depend on how citizens of the three countries define their national identities and the degree to which they are willing to cede some of their countries’ sovereignty to a larger entity." [3]

"Foreign policy... provides three things for a nation’s citizens: sovereignty, security, and identity. Sovereignty dictates that the state’s citizens and government (“we”) decide policy, identity defines “who we are” as a nation, and security protects a nation’s sovereignty and identity. Governments must convince citizens that the regional project is consistent with these three values by expanding the definition of the “we.” [4]

As we enter the new year of 2008, themes of a "global community" and a "unified global approach" are becoming more prevalent. The United Nations has recently begun an initiative to bring more into agreement with the "global consciousness" with a comic book geared towards children. Marvel Comics has teamed up with the UN to create a comic book that will teach children "...the value of international cooperation." [5] Another example comes from the London based think tank mi2g, which released a statement in late December of 2007 that stated in part,

"One world: The global community of nations is realizing that regardless of the complex global risk we wish to address, we all have to come together. The mantra of a "unified global approach" is becoming essential whether it is countering climate chaos and environmental degradation... advanced technologies -- bio, info, nano, robo & AI -- ... financial systems and systemic risk; or transhumanism and ethics..." [6]

Combating climate change with a "global unified approach" is a concept that Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, is quite familiar with. In an article carried in the Taipei times, Haass writes that sovereignty must become weaker in a globalized world faced with climate change,

"Some governments are prepared to give up elements of sovereignty to address the threat of global climate change..."

"Globalization thus implies that sovereignty is not only becoming weaker in reality, but that it needs to become weaker. States would be wise to weaken sovereignty in order to protect themselves..." [7]

more...
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EU/UN / 4th KingdomTechnologyNewWorldOrder | America | Earth Changes |
 

Borse Dubai to acquire stake in NASDAQ Earth Times (January 2, 2008) - The US foreign investment committee has cleared a proposal of Dubai's state-owned stock exchange Borse Dubai Limited (BDL) to acquire a stake in Nasdaq, the second largest US equities exchange, WAM news agency reported Wednesday. According to the plan, the BDL will get Nasdaq's stake in the London Stock Exchange Group and a 19.9 percent stake in the US exchange, although its voting stake will be limited to 5 percent. It will also allow Nasdaq to proceed with its plan to merge with Stockholm-based OMX exchange. After that deal closes, Nasdaq will be known as Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. Nasdaq will make an investment in Dubai International Financial Exchange and enter into certain technology and trademark licences with Borse Dubai and its subsidiary, Dubai International Financial Exchange Limited.
| Islam | America |


Kosovo train-wreck warnings The Washington Post (January 2, 2008) - It is expected that early on in 2008, probably February, the United Nations-supervised Albanian Muslim Administration of the Serbian province of Kosovo will make a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI). The United States has said it is prepared to recognize Kosovo, despite the objections of the Serbian government and more importantly, despite the fact that Russia, a key ally of Serbia, does not want Kosovo independence. While unclear, it is likely a number of European countries starting with the United Kingdom, France and Germany will follow Washington's lead. Several other countries, notably Spain, Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia and Greece say they will not recognize Kosovo's UDI. The UDI would be undertaken without approval from the U.N. Security Council because of the vigorous objection of Russia and China, who claim no sovereign state's territory can be detached without its consent. Further, as pointed out by George Friedman in his Stratfor article, there was an absolute consensus that post-World War II borders of Europe were sacrosanct. Therefore, no borders would shift. Most ominously, Russia with its newfound resurgence under Vladimir Putin's guidance has stated its willingness to support Serbia against what they would consider an illegal occupation of Serbian territory. The current Serbian government is divided on whether it would be prepared to use force to protect its citizens in a breakaway Kosovo, but there have been clear indications that Moscow is prepared to provide military assistance if Serbia requests it. A government crisis in Belgrade would certainly unfold in the wake of a Kosovo UDI and U.S. recognition. This certainly would solve Serbia's dilemma about requesting Russia's offer of aid. As described in a recent article in Stratfor, Washington and Moscow seem to blunder into what is described as an "asymmetrical" crisis. The U.S. seems intent on letting the Serbian province of Kosovo break away and apparently sees the issue of no great importance. Russia on the other hand, sees the situation very differently. Moscow has warned it will not accept independence for Kosovo. Mr. Putin has put his prestige on the line. He cannot afford to back down as Boris Yeltsin did. And therein lies the crisis. This is an "optional" crisis. We cannot overlook the fact that the dominant element in the local Albanian administration are commanders from the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army that have known ties to the global jihad movement and organized crime. Further, more than 300 mosques have been built in Kosovo, funded mainly by Saudi Arabia where the radical teachings of the Wahhabi sect are promoted. From a strategic viewpoint, we are endorsing formation of a "Taliban-like" state in the very heart of Europe. It is difficult to see what advantages exist for the U.S. to force a resolution for Kosovo, especially one that threatens to unleash instability in the troubled region, as well as a broader political showdown with Russia, and China too. Not only do we have enough serious issues with those countries, over Iran, Taiwan and North Korea, the U.S. can ill afford with our ongoing efforts in the Middle East to commit additional military forces to a new confrontation in the Balkans. With an unemployment rate of up to 70 percent, no one who has been to Kosovo, as I have, can doubt we are looking at the creation of a failed, nonviable rogue state. This, notwithstanding claims by the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman that somehow Muslim-led governments will embrace the United States for supporting creation of a Muslim state in the very heart of Europe. They will embrace us the same as Iran did after our elimination of their archenemy Saddam Hussein. more...
| Islam | 
NewWorldOrder | America |


Just wanted to remind everyone in light of the initial video and the information here. Global governance in an emergency...

U.S. under U.N. law in health emergency World Net Daily (August 28, 2007) - The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America summit in Canada released a plan that establishes U.N. law along with regulations by the World Trade Organization and World Health Organization as supreme over U.S. law during a pandemic and sets the stage for militarizing the management of continental health emergencies. The "North American Plan for Avian & Pandemic Influenza" was finalized at the SPP summit last week in Montebello, Quebec. At the same time, the U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM, has created a webpage dedicated to avian flu and has been running exercises in preparation for the possible use of U.S. military forces in a continental domestic emergency involving avian flu or pandemic influenza. With virtually no media attention, in 2005 President Bush shifted U.S. policy on avian flu and pandemic influenza, placing the country under international guidelines not specifically determined by domestic agencies. The policy shift was formalized Sept. 14, 2005, when Bush announced a new International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza to a High-Level Plenary Meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, in New York. The new International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza was designed to supersede an earlier November 2005 Homeland Security report that called for a U.S. national strategy that would be coordinated by the Departments of Homeland Security, Health and Agriculture. The 2005 plan, operative until Bush announced the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza, directed the State Department to work with the WHO and U.N., but it does not mention that international health controls are to be considered controlling over relevant U.S. statutes or authorities. Under the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza, Bush agreed the U.S. would work through the U.N. system influenza coordinator to develop a continental emergency response plan operating through authorities under the WTO, North American Free Trade Agreement and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. WND could find no evidence the Bush administration presented the Influenza Partnership plan to Congress for oversight or approval. The SPP plan for avian and pandemic influenza announced at the Canadian summit last week embraces the international control principles Bush first announced to the U.N. in his 2005 International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza declaration. The SPP plan gives primacy for avian and pandemic influenza management to plans developed by the WHO, WTO, U.N. and NAFTA directives – not decisions made by U.S. agencies. The U.N.-WHO-WTO-NAFTA plan advanced by SPP features a prominent role for the U.N. system influenza coordinator as a central international director in the case of a North American avian flu or pandemic influenza outbreak. In Sept. 2005, Dr. David Nabarro was appointed the first U.N. system influenza coordinator, a position which also places him as a senior policy adviser to the U.N. director-general. Nabarro joined the WHO in 1999 and was appointed WHO executive director of sustainable development and health environments in July 2002. In a Sept. 29, 2005, press conference at the U.N., Nabarro made clear that his job was to prepare for the H5N1 virus, known as the avian flu. Nabarro fueled the global fear that an epidemic was virtually inevitable. In response to a question about the 1918-1919 flu pandemic that killed approximately 40 million people worldwide, Nabarro commented, "I am certain there will be another pandemic sometime." Nabarro stressed at the press conference that he saw as inevitable a worldwide pandemic influenza coming soon that would kill millions. more...
EU/UN
/ 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder | America |

Now imagine if a flu pandemic happened to break out purely by accident of course... Could this be a way for global governance to take control in an emergency? Certainly sounds like it. And Nabarro is fueling the fire of fear in order to get people to accept this. After all government has our best interest in mind, right?! We all know where this is leading and now it's here. Even so Lord Yeshua, come!!! George Noory interviewed Jerome Corsi regarding this story for the first hour on the August 29 show. The spirit of antichrist doesn't change...

Daniel 8:25
And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

How do you destroy by peace? I think it is destroying in the name of peace and with the terrorism in the world, our freedoms are being taken away in the name of peace and security.

Revelation 6:1,2
And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

Conquering in the name of peace, coming in with flatteries, and all the other characteristics are coming into play today and the globalist plan of bringing order out of chaos is well under way. I believe we are seeing the process of the first seal being broken.