News for March 31, 2008

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For over a twenty-five-year period the research used in this chronology has been collected from many sources: the United States Department of Education; international agencies; state agencies; the media; concerned educators; parents; legislators, and talented researchers with whom I have worked. In the process of gathering this information two beliefs that most Americans hold in common became clear:

If a child can read, write and compute at a reasonably proficient level, he will be able to do just about anything he wishes, enabling him to control his destiny to the extend that God allows (remain free);
Providing such basic educational proficiencies is not and should not be an expensive proposition.

Since most Americans believe the second premise -- that providing basic educational proficiencies is not and should not be an expensive proposition -- it becomes obvious that it is only a radical agenda, the purpose of which is to change values and attitudes (brainwash), that is the costly agenda. In other words, brainwashing by our schools and universities is what is bankrupting our nation and our children's minds... Much of this book contains quotes from government documents detailing the real purpose of American education:

to use the schools to change America from a free, individual nation to a socialist, global "state," just one of many socialist states which will be subservient to the United Nations Charter, not the United States Constitution

“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

to brainwash our children, starting at birth, to reject individualism in favor of collectivism
to reject high academic standards in favor of OBE/ISO 1400/9000 egalitarianism
to reject truth and absolutes in favor of tolerance, situational ethics and consensus
to reject American values in favor of internationalist values (globalism)
to reject freedom to choose one's career in favor of the totalitarian K-12 school-to-work/OBE process, aptly named "limited learning for lifelong labor," coordinated through United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

Only when all children in public, private and home schools are robotized -- and believe as one -- will World Government be acceptable to citizens and able to be implemented without firing a shot. The attractive-sounding "choice" proposals will enable the globalist elite to achieve their goal: the robotization (brainwashing) of all Americans in order to gain their acceptance of lifelong education and workforce training -- part of the world management system to achieve a new global feudalism. - excerpt from the preface

Iraqi cleric calls off militias BBC News (March 30, 2008) - Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has ordered his fighters off the streets of Basra and other cities in an effort to end clashes with security forces. He said in a statement that his movement wanted the Iraqi people to stop the bloodshed and maintain the nation's independence and stability. The government called the move "positive", while the military said a curfew in Baghdad would end on Monday. The fighting has claimed more than 240 lives across the country since Tuesday. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki had given militias until 8 April to surrender their weapons in return for cash. But Hazem al-Araji, an aide to Moqtada Sadr, told journalists in Najaf the move would not mean handing in weapons. The BBC's Adam Brookes in Baghdad says this means the Mehdi Army will remain intact and although the move gives Nouri Maliki a chance to claim victory, the central demand has not been met and this is not a resolution of the conflict. The cleric's statement said: "Because of the religious responsibility, and to stop Iraqi blood being shed, and to maintain the unity of Iraq and to put an end to this sedition that the occupiers and their followers want to spread among the Iraqi people, we call for an end to armed appearances in Basra and all other provinces. "Anyone carrying a weapon and targeting government institutions will not be one of us." The cleric also demanded that the government apply the general amnesty law, release detainees and stop what he called illegal and random raids. Moqtada Sadr also told his followers to "work with Iraqi government offices to achieve security and to file charges against those who have committed crimes". A spokesman for Mr Maliki, Ali al-Dabbagh, told Iraq television the statement was positive. "As the government of Iraq we welcome this statement. We believe this will support the government of Iraq's efforts to impose security." He also warned: "The government will be forced to implement the law against those who do not obey the instructions of the government and of Sadr." A spokesman for the interior ministry, Maj-Gen Abdul Karim Khalaf, said government operations in Basra would continue, but would target "criminals". more...
| Islam |

IDF increases Gaza ground ops in face of heavier rocket fire Haaretz (March 30, 2008) - The Israel Defense Forces has been broadening its ground operations in Gaza in response to the increase in rocket fire on Israel since Wednesday. During the past three days, two Palestinian gunmen were killed in IDF operations in the Strip, and at least 10 Qassam rockets and 25 mortars were fired at Israel. On Friday, a rocket struck a kibbutz in the western Negev, and the shrapnel hit a kindergarten. No one was injured because the kindergarten teacher rushed the children into the reinforced area when the Color Red missile warning siren sounded. There has been a noticeable increase in the number of rockets fired since Wednesday. Most were fired by Islamic Jihad, but smaller groups, like the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, are also involved. Hamas is not believed to be involved. Defense sources say there are several reasons for Islamic Jihad's increased aggression. This includes pressure from within the group, whose militants have seen no action for several weeks. This also serves Islamic Jihad in maintaining its claim to being at the forefront of the "resistance" against Israel, while Hamas is urging calm. Over the past week, the IDF resumed small-scale ground operations in Gaza - up to battalion-level operations, normally in areas that are no more than one or two kilometers from the border fence. On Thursday night, after the Palestinians fired light weapons several times at farmers in the fields of Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, a ground force entered the area, and a Hamas gunman was killed in the exchange of fire. There were no Israeli casualties. On Friday night, an armed Palestinian was identified in northern Gaza, and a unit went into the Strip, engaged the gunman and killed him. Security sources said that the policy of restraint is a political decision and the focus of the operations is to intercept gunmen or militants firing rockets.
| Israel | Islam |

No Lebanon Breakthrough for Arabs BBC News (March 30, 2008) - An annual summit of the Arab League has ended in Syria's capital Damascus with a call for an end to the political crisis in Lebanon. But correspondents say there were no specific proposals to solve the crisis, which has seen Lebanon without a president since November. Only 11 heads of states from the 22-member organisation were present, as key pro-Western leaders stayed away. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan sent low-level delegations. They blame Syria for the ongoing political crisis in Lebanon - a charge denied by the government in Damascus. The Lebanese government boycotted the summit completely. In a final statement, the League called for a compromise candidate to be elected president, and a national unity cabinet formed, AFP news agency reported. But the BBC's Heba Saleh in Damascus says there were no breakthroughs. Opening the meeting, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denied his country was meddling in Lebanon. He was responding to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who had accused Syria of preventing the election of a consensus president in Beirut. Mr Assad said his country was willing to join "Arab or non-Arab efforts" to end Lebanon's political crisis "on condition that they are based on Lebanese national consensus". But our correspondent says it will take more than words to convince his critics, and Syria risks further isolation if there is no immediate resolution to the Lebanon crisis. In Riyadh, the Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, suggested Syria had not abided by the Arab consensus on Lebanon. "The problem is that what was decided unanimously in the Arab League, including by Syria, is not being carried out," he said. The foreign minister called for ''counter-measures". Syria had billed the summit as a golden opportunity for regional unity but there is little sign of this, BBC Middle East correspondent Katya Adler reports from Damascus. She says the leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Lebanon are all staying at home because they view Syria as a trouble-maker, too close to Iran and a destructive force in Lebanon. Syria has accused them in the past of being subservient to the US and Foreign Minister Walid Moualem has blamed Washington for trying to "divide the Arab world". "They [the US] did their best to prevent the summit but they failed," Mr Moualem said on the eve of the summit.
| Iran | Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 | Gog/Magog |

It's interesting to see the lines being drawn in alliances that God foretold in scripture come to pass. Syria is viewed as a troublemaker which may explain why Damascus is destroyed while a group of Muslim nations remains distant from them and are not mentioned in the list of Magog attackers. Lebanon is still teetering, but I wouldn't be surprised if it turned once Damascus is destroyed to act as a staging ground for a Northern attack on Israel. Time will tell if these are the developing stages or not, as for me I'm going to keep watching.

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...
| 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...

The Ahmadinejad Machine Spiegel Online (March 25, 2008) - The new Iranian parliament is again dominated by loyalists to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He stands a good chance of being reelected next year -- despite the fact that his constituents suffer the brunt of his mismanagement and corruption. “The president is doing well, in fact, he is doing very well indeed.” Mohammed Ali Ramin leans back, sips his tea, pours in a little milk, and takes another little sip. Then he sets down his glass and folds his hands. The man with reddish-blond hair and a pious full beard enjoys his position as close advisor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ramin, 54, who once studied engineering in the German town of Clausthal-Zellerfeld, has been a member of the president’s inner circle of “friends and companions” for years. The university lecturer is said to be an influential figure even among Iran’s religious zealots, and he is proud to have stood beside the late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during his exile in Paris. “Anyone who knows my thoughts,” he says knowingly, “also knows what motivates the president.” And what motivates Ahmadinejad? Primarily his “boundless love for the people, especially the disenfranchised” and “his commitment to the Islamic principles of truth and justice.” And, of course, “the welfare of the Iranian nation.” Ramin: “Ahmadinejad is the standard-bearer of our people and the entire Islamic world.” Ramin’s confidence in the government is as unshakable as his faith in the Prophet Mohammed -- and his views are shared by millions of Iranians. After nearly three years in office, the extremist Ahmadinejad still enjoys widespread support among the population -- despite tightened sanctions in the dispute over the mullahs’ nuclear program and international outrage over the president’s Holocaust denials. Following last week’s parliamentary elections, Ahmadinejad’s “Principlists” again emerged as the strongest faction in the Iranian parliament, the Majlis, in spite of fierce attacks from the ranks of the conservative camp. Before the elections, the mullah regime had effectively neutralized the reformist wing by preventing many of their politicians from running. more...
| Iran | Islam |

Only Two European Mayors Decline to Participate in Campaign for Gay Pride Parades Life Site News (March 25, 2008) - Only two cities in Europe have refused to participate in a campaign by Europe's leading homosexual lobby group to force the leaders of Europe's cities to allow the homosexual "Gay Pride" demonstrations. But neither of the cities' leaders made any objections to the goals or activities of the homosexual activist movement. On the contrary, one said that his city wished "every success" to the campaign. The mayors of Riga and Tallinn, the capitals of Latvia and Estonia respectively, have politely declined to participate in a campaign launched by the International Lesbian and Gay Association-Europe (ILGA) to attempt to force the leaders of various European cities to hold "Gay Pride" demonstrations. The Gay Pride events have been one of the key tools around the world for normalizing homosexuality in public opinion and are widely supported by city authorities, businesses and non-governmental organisations in the countries where they are allowed. The campaign is a response to the refusal by the former Mayor of Warsaw, Lech Kaczynski, to allow the demonstration that has in other countries been characterized by public nudity and lewd displays of simulated sex acts. Strongly Catholic Poland has been under heavy pressure from the European Union for its refusal to comply with the dictates of the homosexual political movement. ILGA-Europe's letter to the mayors read, "ILGA-Europe is seriously concerned that despite a wide international and European condemnation of bans on pride events and other public demonstrations by LGBT [lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgendered] people and their supporters, some Mayors and local authorities in Europe continue to discriminate and ban or restrict the rights of freedom of assembly and expression for LGBT people. That is why we are appealing to all Mayors of European cities. We sincerely hope that you will support our campaign and sign it." more...
| Signs of the Times | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom |

BBC Caught Red-Handed on Anti-Israel, False Coverage Israel National News (March 24, 2008) - A media monitoring organization and a British citizen forced the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to apologize for blatant anti-Israel news coverage. They caught the network “red-handed,” reporting falsely. The BBC has frequently been accused of biased coverage slanted against Israel; Israeli government officials have summoned the BBC to explain itself in the past. The "red-handed" false report in question was caught by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA). CAMERA revealed that BBC used an old file photo to depict the alleged bulldozing of the home of the terrorist who slaughtered eight young yeshiva boys in Jerusalem this month. “Hours after the attack, Israeli bulldozers destroyed his family home,” reported the BBC – but it was untrue. The home of Ala Abu Dheim continued to stand unharmed, as did the mourning tent in which his family greets people who come to console and congratulate them on his achievement and subsequent ”martyrdom.” That, despite the fact that the Hashemite Kingdom refused to allow the Jordanian branch of the terrorist’s family to erect such a tent or otherwise hold public mourning events for the murderer in their village near Amman. Jordanian officials explained that public mourning in this case would encourage violence, which would in turn constitute a threat to national security. Another well-documented false and biased BBC report, detected by a Jewish resident of Manchester, England, quoted United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as condemning Israeli attacks on Gazan civilians. The BBC used the quote several weeks later, out of context, to tie it to a specific IDF attack on Palestinian Authority terrorists in Gaza. The news report in question stated that Israel had deliberately attacked Gaza civilians. In the report, BBC refrained from reporting the intensified attacks on Israeli civilians, in some weeks more than 100 rockets were fired at western Negev communities by terrorists hiding among women and children in Gaza. Israel's counterterrorism operation “Warm Winter” in Gaza came after an eight-year-old Sderot boy lost his left leg in a Kassam attack that almost cost him his life, as well as that of his 19-year-old brother, who was also seriously wounded by the rocket. The collateral damage to civilians in Gaza, noted Israel, was caused by the terrorists who chose to launch their attacks from playgrounds and areas between residential buildings in densely populated civilian areas. The BBC did issue an official statement of apology for both incidents in which the organization had been caught.
| Israel | Islam | Media Bias |

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 |

Prepare for the Worst, Because Solar Storms Are About to Get Ugly Wired (March 24, 2008) - Every 11 years or so, the sun gets a little pissy. It breaks out in a rash of planet-sized sunspots that spew superhot gas, hurling clouds of electrons, protons, and heavier ions toward Earth at nearly the speed of light. These solar windstorms have been known to knock out power grids and TV broadcasts, and our growing reliance on space-based technology makes us more vulnerable than ever to their effects. On January 3, scientists discovered a reverse-polarity sunspot, signaling the start of a new cycle — and some are predicting that at its peak (in about four years) things are gonna get nasty. Here's a forecast for 2012. Detours Clumps of ions in the atmosphere could interfere with GPS. Satellite signals are slowed by bumping into particles, meaning your trusty navigator may lose its way. Remember those colorful paper things called maps? Falling Satellites Increased solar energy heats Earth's atmosphere, causing it to expand. That's a drag on low-flying satellites and can even knock them out of orbit. A solar storm in 1979 deposited Skylab on Australia. Layovers in Alaska Particles are drawn to Earth's magnetic poles, right through popular flight paths. Electrons absorb the energy in shortwave signals, causing radio blackouts — and unscheduled stops in Anchorage. Light Shows Auroras occur when waves of charged particles light up gases in the upper atmosphere. As more particles stream in, the so-called aurora oval grows, bringing the "northern lights" as far south as Key West.
| Earth Changes |

It's the end of Britain as we know it Christian Science Monitor (March 24, 2008) - The Lisbon Treaty spells the end of a sovereign Britain. You might want to take that vacation in England just as soon as you can – before its 1,000-year run as a sovereign nation comes to an end. This winter, 27 nations of the European Union (EU) signed the Treaty of Lisbon. You may think, "Innocuous enough," as Portuguese-inspired visions of the Tagus River and chicken piri-piri swirl before your eyes. But for England (Britain, actually) the Treaty of Lisbon isn't that appetizing. That's because, if ratified, it will become the decisive act in this creation of a federal European superstate with its capital in Brussels. Britain would become a province and its "Mother of Parliaments," a regional assembly. And that's no small humiliation for a country that gave the world English and saved Western civilization in the Battle of Britain in 1940. The Eurocrat elite in Brussels might not admit it, but the Treaty of Lisbon is essentially a constitution for a "country" called Europe. More bluntly, it's a cynical repackaging of the EU Constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair promised to put the EU Constitution to the British people in a referendum. But his successor, Gordon Brown, has reneged on that promise. He insists that the Treaty of Lisbon is shorn of all constitutional content and that it preserves key aspects of British sovereignty. On March 11, the bill to ratify the treaty cleared the House of Commons. And now the Brown government is poised to win passage in the House of Lords, too. But British resistance is stirring. In a recent series of mini referendums, almost 90 percent of voters gave the Lisbon Treaty an emphatic thumbs down and demanded a nationwide referendum. If all 27 nations ratify the treaty this year, it will begin to come into effect on Jan. 1, 2009. The British will then be expected to transfer loyalty and affection to the EU and devote themselves increasingly to its wellbeing. With its flag, anthem, currency, institutions, regulations, and directives, the EU has long been indistinguishable from a nation-state-in-waiting. Now the Lisbon Treaty gives it those requisites of nationhood it's always lacked: a president, a foreign minister (and diplomatic corps), a powerful new interior department, a public prosecutor and full treaty-making powers. Add to those its common system of criminal justice, an embryonic federal police force, and the faintly sinister-sounding European Gendarmerie Force, and what this union becomes is a monolithic state with great power pretensions. Most alarmingly, though, is that the Lisbon Treaty can be extended indefinitely without recourse to further treaties or referendums. That 27 European nations are on the verge of being reconstituted as a federal European superstate is substantially the achievement of the fanatical French integrationist Jean Monnet, for whom the nation state was anathema. When British Prime Minister Edward Heath took Britain into the Common Market in 1973, the country thought it was entering a free-trade agreement. It hoped membership would sprinkle some European stardust on Britain's shipwrecked economy. Mr. Heath, a passionate Europhile, assured the country that membership would not entail any sacrifice of "independence and sovereignty." Like Europe's fervent integrationists, whose plans for political union had always been disguised as increasingly beneficial economic integration, Heath maintained the fiction that he had simply joined a trading bloc. Britain had been a highly successful nation state and global power. Now, it seemed, she needed Europe to reverse a relentless decline. Thus when the British were asked to decide on continued membership in the Common Market in a 1975 referendum, almost 70 percent voted to stay in. The "Yes" campaign swept to victory on a platform of jobs, prosperity, and peace. But the implications for the weakening of national sovereignty went unheeded. Few recalled that in 1961 the Anti-Common Market League had warned that signing the Treaty of Rome (which created the Common Market) "would mean a permanent, irrevocable loss of sovereignty and independence" and that Britain's affairs "would increasingly be administered by supranational bodies … instead of by our own elected representatives." Surrendering to supranational rule is hard for Britain given its celebrated past. Its European neighbors, by contrast, their histories indelibly stained by tyranny, military defeat, and imperial barbarity, seem eager to subsume themselves in a suffocating superstate. The Treaty of Lisbon crystallizes the EU's core belief that nation states are every bit as defunct as Stone Age tribes. In the case of Britain, though, it would curtail the freedom of action and global vision of a nation whose people are far from convinced that sovereign independence is a badge of shame. Britain could walk out of the EU today simply by repealing the 1972 European Communities Act. But political courage of that order is in short supply. Perhaps only Queen Elizabeth II can rescue her realm from the baleful Treaty of Lisbon. She could veto it when it comes to her for royal assent and – sensationally – declare that she's not prepared to see her proud, independent, liberty-loving country swallowed up by an arrogant, authoritarian, and unloved European superstate. She would be in excellent company. Queen Anne refused assent to the Scottish Militia Bill in 1708. And that was only about a bunch of musket-toting rubes of doubtful loyalty. This is about national survival.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Solana | NewWorldOrder |

This article makes several valuable points. First of all, the road to a European State being created through the Treaty of Lisbon began with free-trade agreements, exactly what the SPP is working on with Canada and Mexico for a "North American Union." This works to harmonize trade and laws to international law, which is increasingly being dictated from Europe. This shouldn't be any surprise to those that study Bible prophecy as Europe is the center of the circles of power for the fourth kingdom. The Treaty of Lisbon is the constitution creating the nation of Europe, Rome revived and headed by the 10 member-states with voting powers from which Javier Solana has risen. He is the first one in line to take over the foreign minister position created by the Lisbon Treaty. Even if the treaty isn't ratified by all 27 members, certain powers will go into effect January 1, 2009. The article also points out the deception given to the public regarding these participations in "trade blocs" that are not taking away sovereignty or independence. However, what makes a nation sovereign? I posit that self-determination is a factor and the ability to create and enforce its own laws and money. Under the guise of free-trade, law is internationalized and harmonized to the extend that national law is dictated from outside in the interest of international integration. That is global governance in a nutshell and how the New World Order is coming into effect silently and effectively. It makes the powerful richer and those who see the problems cannot effect any change. Ireland is the only country able to hold a referendum to stop the Treaty of Lisbon, but a big media blitz to "inform the public" is probably going to nullify that prospect of stopping it. What began in Europe as "free-trade" has turned into unelected leaders determining policy without the regard of the people they "serve." Sure, that's national sovereignty! The bad news is that if we are really in the end-times, there is absolutely nothing we can do to change it. But the good news is that God is in control and has a plan which He has revealed in His Word, the Bible for those who have faith in His Word. My faith has grown in study of it and I welcome you to strengthen your faith too.

Syria Deploys Three Military Divisions on the Border with Lebanon Naharet (March 23, 2008) - Syria has deployed three military divisions along the borders with Lebanon amidst mounting tension in the region, press reports said Sunday. The leading daily an-Nahar attributed the report to well informed sources, noting that the deployment backs a similar massing of fighters by pro-Syrian Palestinian factions in the Bekaa valley, especially Ahmed Jibril's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) in the Qoussayah area. The development followed Hezbollah's open war declaration against Israel after the Feb. 12 assassination in Damascus of the party's Imad Mughniyeh by a bomb explosion. Hezbollah is sponsoring a major rally in south Beirut's suburb of Rweis on Monday to commemorate Mughniyeh, labeled commander of the "two victories" in reference to the Liberation of south Lebanon from Israeli occupation in May 2000 and the 34-day war against Israel in the summer of 2006. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has pledged that "thousands of Imad Mughniyehs would confront the Zionist enemy if it invades Lebanon." Israel has ordered its troops on alert to confront a possible attack by Hezbollah operatives when the party marks Mughniyeh's memorial rally on Monday, 40 days after his assassination.
| Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 |

Livni: Jerusalem on the Table Israel National News (March 22, 2008) - Despite assurances by her boss, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, to the contrary, Foreign Minister Tsipi Livni said in a weekend interview with Channel Two that Jerusalem would indeed be a subject for negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. “All core issues are up for negotiations,” she said in the interview – regardless of what Shas was told or believes. The Likud reiterated its demand that Shas withdraw from the government, adding that the Olmert government was “dangerous for Israel.”
| Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land |

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 |

Climate facts to warm to The Australian (March 22, 2008) - Last Monday - on ABC Radio National, of all places - there was a tipping point of a different kind in the debate on climate change. It was a remarkable interview involving the co-host of Counterpoint, Michael Duffy and Jennifer Marohasy, a biologist and senior fellow of Melbourne-based think tank the Institute of Public Affairs. Anyone in public life who takes a position on the greenhouse gas hypothesis will ignore it at their peril. Duffy asked Marohasy: "Is the Earth still warming?"

She replied: "No, actually, there has been cooling, if you take 1998 as your point of reference. If you take 2002 as your point of reference, then temperatures have plateaued. This is certainly not what you'd expect if carbon dioxide is driving temperature because carbon dioxide levels have been increasing but temperatures have actually been coming down over the last 10 years."

Duffy: "Is this a matter of any controversy?"

Marohasy: "Actually, no. The head of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has actually acknowledged it. He talks about the apparent plateau in temperatures so far this century. So he recognizes that in this century, over the past eight years, temperatures have plateaued ... This is not what you'd expect, as I said, because if carbon dioxide is driving temperature then you'd expect that, given carbon dioxide levels have been continuing to increase, temperatures should be going up ... So (it's) very unexpected, not something that's being discussed. It should be being discussed, though, because it's very significant."

Duffy: "It's not only that it's not discussed. We never hear it, do we? Whenever there's any sort of weather event that can be linked into the global warming orthodoxy, it's put on the front page. But a fact like that, which is that global warming stopped a decade ago, is virtually never reported, which is extraordinary."

Duffy then turned to the question of how the proponents of the greenhouse gas hypothesis deal with data that doesn't support their case. "People like Kevin Rudd and Ross Garnaut are speaking as though the Earth is still warming at an alarming rate, but what is the argument from the other side? What would people associated with the IPCC say to explain the (temperature) dip?"

Marohasy: "Well, the head of the IPCC has suggested natural factors are compensating for the increasing carbon dioxide levels and I guess, to some extent, that's what skeptics have been saying for some time: that, yes, carbon dioxide will give you some warming but there are a whole lot of other factors that may compensate or that may augment the warming from elevated levels of carbon dioxide.

"There's been a lot of talk about the impact of the sun and that maybe we're going to go through or are entering a period of less intense solar activity and this could be contributing to the current cooling."

Duffy: "Can you tell us about NASA's Aqua satellite, because I understand some of the data we're now getting is quite important in our understanding of how climate works?"

Marohasy: "That's right. The satellite was only launched in 2002 and it enabled the collection of data, not just on temperature but also on cloud formation and water vapor. What all the climate models suggest is that, when you've got warming from additional carbon dioxide, this will result in increased water vapour, so you're going to get a positive feedback. That's what the models have been indicating. What this great data from the NASA Aqua satellite ... (is) actually showing is just the opposite, that with a little bit of warming, weather processes are compensating, so they're actually limiting the greenhouse effect and you're getting a negative rather than a positive feedback."

Duffy: "The climate is actually, in one way anyway, more robust than was assumed in the climate models?"

Marohasy: "That's right ... These findings actually aren't being disputed by the meteorological community. They're having trouble digesting the findings, they're acknowledging the findings, they're acknowledging that the data from NASA's Aqua satellite is not how the models predict, and I think they're about to recognize that the models really do need to be overhauled and that when they are overhauled they will probably show greatly reduced future warming projected as a consequence of carbon dioxide."

Duffy: "From what you're saying, it sounds like the implications of this could be considerable ..."

Marohasy: "That's right, very much so. The policy implications are enormous. The meteorological community at the moment is really just coming to terms with the output from this NASA Aqua satellite and (climate scientist) Roy Spencer's interpretation of them. His work is published, his work is accepted, but I think people are still in shock at this point."

If Marohasy is anywhere near right about the impending collapse of the global warming paradigm, life will suddenly become a whole lot more interesting. A great many founts of authority, from the Royal Society to the UN, most heads of government along with countless captains of industry, learned professors, commentators and journalists will be profoundly embarrassed. Let us hope it is a prolonged and chastening experience. more...
| Earth Changes |

Since plants breathe CO₂, and volcanic eruption produce more of it in a short time than long-term vehicle emissions, it seems logical and appears to be that the planet would have been created to deal with this. As these findings point out though, CO₂ emissions and global warming have less to do with each other than solar activity and global warming do. Makes sense to me. However, the fear and guilt of humans destroying their home can be used to cause knee-jerk actions such as higher taxes and other control mechanisms that end up filtering money to "fixing the problem." Blind action lacks intelligent reaction though and with facts like this, those that stick to their guns demanding further restrictions and taxes because we're destroying the planet are going to have a harder time fooling those that know the facts. The question is, will the media make the facts widely known? Let's see...

Regarding weather changes, it doesn't require a constant increase in temperature for bizarre weather patterns to emerge, just changes in solar activity. Over the past 100 years the Sun's activity has been increasing and this data would point to that coming to a plateau now. In light of the HIStory, Our Future conclusions and what Bible prophecy says is coming, this could be the quiet before the storme as the previous story of a coming solar increase would indicate. I'm no expert, just watching...

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. 1 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 |

Abortion at industrial level - MP BBC News (March 20, 2008) - Abortions in England and Wales have reached "industrial levels", according to a Conservative MP who obtained figures on multiple terminations. The statistics, for 2006, showed nearly 15,000 women were having their third or more abortion, while 54 of those had terminated eight or more pregnancies. This was "shocking and disturbing", said Mark Pritchard, who sits on the all-party Pro-life group in Parliament. Health chiefs say they are working to improve access to contraception. Almost £27m would be spent on this in the next financial year, the Department of Health said in a statement, including a "targeted campaign to highlight contraceptive choices available to women" when they have an abortion. But Mr Pritchard, the MP for The Wrekin in Shropshire, said abortion was being seen as an alternative to contraception "in far too many cases". more...
| Signs of the Times |

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)

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 |

Israel in cross-hairs of summer war? World Net Daily (March 13, 2008) - Britain's Secret Intelligence Service says Iran's Revolutionary Guards are training hundreds of Hamas fighters to prepare for an all-out war this summer against Israel, according to Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin. The Gaza-based organization's elite Izzedine al-Qassam Brigade will form the southern front of an attack against the Jewish state while Hezbollah will launch its simultaneous assault from southern Lebanon, according to MI6. Analysts with the organization believe the attack will come in the rundown of the Bush administration and closing months of the bitter Democratic campaign. "With the Bush White House virtually a spent force and both the Democrats and Republicans looking inward to their conventions, there is mounting evidence that Tehran will seize the opportunity to attack Israel through its surrogates, Hamas and Hezbollah," said a senior intelligence source in London. MI6 analysts have confirmed tortuous negotiations in which Egypt acted as an intermediary between Hamas and Israel are now increasingly fragile. Hamas, which is pledged to destroy Israel, is officially excluded by Israel from direct negotiations with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government. But with the mounting threat of a simultaneous attack on Israel from two fronts, several members of the Israeli security services have begun to urge Olmert to meet with Hamas leaders. However, hardliners like the head of Mossad, Meir Dagan, and Yuval Diskin, the director-general of Israel's internal security service, Shin Bet, are opposed to any negotiations. Dagan has told Olmert: "To talk to Hamas is a waste of time. Gaza is a noxious mixture of our oxidized hopes." And Diskin added last week: "While we would be talking, Hamas would be sending still more of its fighters to Iran to be trained." MI6 undercover agents in Tehran – operating out of a secret base on the country's border with Iraq – have established there are three training camps.
| Iran | Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 | Gog/Magog |

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!

Syria 'intensely' arming itself World Net Daily (March 9, 2008) - Syria is in the midst of "intensely" arming itself, placing into position rockets and missiles capable of striking the entire Jewish state, according to an assessment presented to the Knesset today by multiple Israeli security agencies. The announcement follows a WND exclusive report last month quoting security officials stating Syria, aided by Russia and Iran, has been furiously acquiring rockets and missiles, including projectiles capable of hitting any point in Israel. The officials listed anti-tank, anti-aircraft and ballistic missiles as some of the arms procured by Syria. Yesterday, Israel's Mossad and Israel Defense Forces Military Intelligence chiefs presented an annual security report to the Knesset warning of Syria's armament program. The chiefs also warned of a possible flare-up at Israel's northern border with the Hezbollah terror group and said in their assessment Iran could cross the technological threshold enabling it to assemble a nuclear bomb by the end of next year. The assessment came after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced last week negotiations between the Jewish state and Syria should be seriously considered it if would bring an end to Syrian-sponsored terrorism and Damascus' "involvement in the axis of evil." The negotiations would aim for some sort of Israeli evacuation from the Golan Heights strategic, mountainous territory looking down on Israeli and Syrian population centers twice used by Damascus to launch ground invasions into the Jewish state. Syria openly provides refuge to Palestinian terror leaders, including the chiefs of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and has been accused of shipping weapons to Hezbollah. Damascus is also accused of supporting the insurgency against U.S. troops in Iraq. more...
| Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 |

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 |

“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21

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