First, I did not post this article to join the debate on what faith Obama keeps.
I think if you step back and look at this poll it tells you something significant. We have seen so much deception and spin over the last ten plus years that as a society, we don’t know what to trust. We no longer can trust a man at his word. Politicians have destroyed that trust.
I would even go further, that as a society we have destroyed that trust. We have little white lied ourselves into the situation where truth and honesty are not valued, and so are not upheld.
Christ said this would be part of the end times, as the Church began falling away and having less influence on our culture, we would see increases in sin and deception, until it became like the Days of Noah.
Think about it, and look at events through this third lens of scripture….
By HILLEL ITALIE
The Associated Press
Thursday, August 19, 2010; 10:00 PM
NEW YORK — “President Obama is a Muslim.” “He’s not an American citizen.” “He wasn’t even born here.”None of this is true. But to surprising levels, it is believed.
Blame it on the media, or on human nature. All presidents deal with image problems – that they’re too weak or too belligerent, too far left or far right. But Obama also faces questions over documented facts, in part because some people identify more with the rumormongers than the debunkers.
“Trust and distrust – that explains almost all of it,” says Nicholas DiFonzo, professor of psychology at the Rochester Institute of Technology and an expert on rumor and gossip research. “We are in such a highly polarized political environment. Our country is sorting itself into more closely knit, opposing factions each year” – factions, DiFonzo suggests, that in turn become “echo chambers” for factoids that aren’t fact at all.
Nearly one in five people, or 18 percent, said they think Obama is Muslim, up from the 11 percent who said so in March 2009, according to a poll released Thursday. The proportion who correctly say he is a Christian is just 34 percent, down from 48 percent in March of last year.
This is becoming a huge deal, simply due to the huge number of eggs infected, 380 million.
Good news that most people know but I wanted to make sure to point out is as long as you cook the eggs thoroughly, not raw or over-easy, the heat will kill the bacteria.
The article below has both a link to a list of the recalled egg brands and a video on why they are being recalled.
From a prophecy stand point, I think this is just one more notch in the count of the increasing number of pestilence we are seeing these days. They are the increasing birth pains. Christ never said how these would come about, man-driven due to production issues (like this one) or a new/morphed disease that we don’t have a cure for.
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
The Associated Press
Thursday, August 19, 2010; 11:11 PM
WASHINGTON — A salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds and led to the recall of hundreds of millions of eggs from one Iowa firm will likely grow, federal health officials said Thursday.That’s because illnesses occurring after mid-July may not be reported yet, said Dr. Christopher Braden, an epidemiologist with the federal Centers for Disease Control.
Almost 2,000 illnesses from the strain of salmonella linked to the eggs were reported between May and July, about 1,300 more than usual, he said. No deaths have been reported. The CDC is continuing to receive information from state health departments as people report their illnesses.
“I would anticipate that we will be seeing more illnesses reported likely as a result of this outbreak,” said Braden. The recall of 380 million eggs from Iowa’s Wright County Egg is one of the largest shell egg recalls in recent history.
The outbreak could have been prevented if new rules to ensure egg safety had been in place a few months earlier, an FDA spokeswoman said.
The rules, which require producers to do more testing for salmonella and take other precautions, went into effect in July. They had languished for more than a decade after President Bill Clinton first proposed that egg standards be toughened. The FDA said in July that the new safeguards could reduce the number of salmonella cases by nearly 60 percent.
“There are preventive measures that would have been in place that could have prevented this,” said Sherri McGarry of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
She and other officials declined to say what specific measures would have prevented this particular outbreak, citing an ongoing FDA investigation.
Hinda Mitchell, a spokeswoman for the company, said it abided by guidance issued by the United Egg Producers, an industry group. Those procedures mirror several aspects of the federal egg safety rule.
FDA’s McGarry said illnesses were traced back to eggs produced on three of five farms the Iowa company owns. The investigation, which includes sampling, records review and sanitation assessments, is focusing on those three farms.
Salmonella is the most common form of food poisoning from bacteria, and the strain involved in the outbreak is the most common kind of salmonella – accounting for roughly 20 percent of all such food poisonings.
Minnesota, a state with some of the best food-borne illness investigators in the country, has tied at least seven salmonella illnesses to the eggs. California has reported 266 illnesses since June and believes many are related to the eggs. Colorado saw 28 cases in June and July, about four times the usual number.
Other states have seen a jump in reports of the same type of salmonella. Spikes or clusters of suspicious cases have also been reported in Arizona, Illinois, Nevada, North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.
The CDC said investigations by 10 states since April have identified 26 cases where more than one person became ill. Preliminary information showed that Wright was the supplier in at least 15 of those.
Much of the investigation so far has been centered on restaurants in California, Colorado, Minnesota and North Carolina.
The eggs were distributed around the country and packaged under the names Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph’s, Boomsma’s, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemp.
The businessman who owns Wright County Egg, Jack DeCoster, has been cited for numerous health, safety and employment violations in the past. In 1997, DeCoster Egg Farms agreed to pay $2 million in fines to settle citations brought in 1996 for health and safety violations at DeCoster’s farm in Turner, Maine.
Wright County Egg is already facing at least two lawsuits related to the recall. One is from food distributor Dutch Farms, which says the company used unauthorized cartons to package and sell eggs under its brand name without its knowledge. The other is from a person who said they became ill after eating tainted eggs in a salad at a restaurant in Kenosha, Wis.
The outbreak also raised new questions about federal inspections of egg farms.
McGarry cited jurisdictional issues when she told reporters Thursday that the agency “does not have an inspectional history with this firm.” When asked who does have jurisdiction, McGarry pointed to the Agriculture Department. Yet USDA oversees voluntary grading inspections, but does not test for salmonella in shell eggs.
The FDA acknowledged in a statement late Thursday that it has done some inspections on egg farms already linked to recalls, but did not say anything additional about whether the agency had inspected Wright County Egg.
Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said the egg recall shows that stronger authority is needed on the farm.
“Jurisdiction over eggs has been scrambled between numerous government agencies for the last 20 years, resulting in enormous delays in addressing the hazard posed by salmonella,” she said.
Legislation that would increase the frequency of FDA inspections has stalled in the Senate after the House passed it a year ago.
The most common symptoms of salmonella are diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever within eight hours to 72 hours of eating a contaminated product. It can be life-threatening, especially to those with weakened immune systems.
The form of salmonella tied to the outbreak can be passed from chickens that appear healthy. And it grows inside eggs, not just on the shell, Braden noted.
Thoroughly cooking eggs can kill the bacteria. But health officials are recommending people throw away or return the recalled eggs.
Associated Press writers Mike Stobbe in Atlanta, Jeff Baenen in Minneapolis and AP Business Writer Sarah Skidmore in Portland, Ore., contributed to this report.
This is really just a follow up to the post I made yesterday on the Iman comparing Sharia Law to our founding documents. Can you imagine living in a system, that literally followed an eye for an eye? Or in this case paralysis for paralysis?
By SALAH NASRAWI, Associated Press Writer Salah Nasrawi, Associated Press Writer – Thu Aug 19, 3:26 pm ET
CAIRO – A Saudi judge has asked several hospitals in the country whether they could damage a man’s spinal cord as punishment after he was convicted of attacking another man with a cleaver and paralyzing him, the brother of the victim said Thursday.
Abdul-Aziz al-Mutairi, 22, was left paralyzed and subsequently lost a foot after a fight more than two years ago. He asked a judge in northwestern Tabuk province to impose an equivalent punishment on his attacker under Islamic law, his brother Khaled al-Mutairi told The Associated Press by telephone from there.
He said one of the hospitals, located in Tabuk, responded that it is possible to damage the spinal cord, but it added that the operation would have to be done at another more specialized facility. Saudi newspapers reported that a second hospital in the capital Riyadh declined, saying it could not inflict such harm.
Administrative offices of two of the hospitals and the court in Tabuk were closed for the Saudi weekend beginning Thursday and could not be reached for comment.
Important points: they are called “Feasts of the Lord” not Jewish feasts or feasts of Israel.
The Lord gave these feasts:
So Israel and the Church will remember the past and teach it to their children.
So Israel and the Church will have a better understanding of what God has done and what God will do (have a prophetic view of the future).
Note: Diagram (above) from Frank DiMora’s Blog site.
THE FEASTS OF THE LORD ARE PROPHETIC
Understanding the Feasts of the Lord will help us understand what’s going on.
The three spring feasts are prophecies about the First Coming of Jesus. (They have been perfectly or LITERALLY fulfilled.)
The one summer feast is a prophecy about the Church age. (It is currently being fulfilled.)
The three fall feasts appear to be prophecies connected with the Second Coming of Jesus. (They will probably be perfectly or LITERALLY fulfilled in the near future.)
Every time the Jews have celebrated a feast day for about 3500 years from the time of Moses until today, they have remembered a segment of their history and revealed a prophecy about the first coming of Jesus, the Church or the Second Coming of Jesus.
THE FEASTS OF THE LORD ARE FASTS, CELEBRATIONS & PROPHECIES
Christians sometimes think of a feast as a meal. But to the Jew a feast day could be just the opposite. A feast day could be a fast day instead of a meal or it could be a celebration instead of a meal. Some feast days were fast days (for morning or affliction) and some feast days were celebrations (for rejoicing) but the Feasts of the Lord were fasts, celebrations and prophecies.
THE FEASTS OF THE LORD ARE ALSO THANKSGIVING FOR THREE HARVESTS
The spring harvest or thanksgiving.
The Feast of First Fruits thanks God for the barley harvest (the resurrection of Jesus and others).
The summer harvest or thanksgiving.
The Feast of Weeks thanks God for the wheat harvest (the beginning of the Church).
The fall harvest or thanksgiving.
The Feast of Tabernacles thanks God for the remainder of the harvest of the earth: fruit, dates, etc. (the Tribulation Saints, Israel, etc.).
So the Feasts of the Lord are multi-purpose: fasts, celebrations, prophecies, and thanksgiving.
THE FEASTS OF THE LORD ARE ABOUT JESUS
1. The Feast of PASSOVER (About the sacrifice of Jesus; the redemption of Israel and the redemption of the Church)
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even CHRIST OUR PASSOVER is sacrificed for us: (I Cor. 5:7).
2. The Feast of Unleavened BREAD (About the burial of Jesus; holy living; living without sin, etc.)
And JESUS said unto them, I am the BREAD of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (Jn. 6:35)
3. The Feast of FIRST FRUITS (About the resurrection of Jesus; then all of His)
But now is CHRIST risen from the dead, and become the FIRSTFRUITS of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: CHRIST THE FIRSTFRUITS; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. (I Cor. 15:20-23).
4. The Feast of Weeks or PENTECOST (About the Holy Spirit sent by Jesus; harvest; the birth of the Church)
And when the day of PENTECOST was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:1-4).
5. The Feast of TRUMPETS (About gathering; appears to be the Rapture or gathering of the Church and Israel gathered to be grafted back in)
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the TRUMP of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord (I Thess. 4:13-17).
Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last TRUMP: for the TRUMPET shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (I Cor. 15:51-52).
6. The Feast of ATONEMENT (About sorrow and repentance of Israel; appears to be the Second Coming of Jesus with His Church to rescue Israel at the Battle of Armageddon)
And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the ATONEMENT (Rom. 5:11).
7. The Feast of TABERNACLES (About Kingdom rest and restoration; appears to be the beginning of the Millennial Reign of Jesus on the Throne of David with Satan bound and chained for a thousand years)
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt [TABERNACLED] among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth (Jn. 1:14).
Yet have I set my king UPON MY HOLY HILL OF ZION (Psa. 2:6).
Thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall becalled the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him THE THRONE OF HIS FATHER DAVID: and he shall reign OVER THE HOUSE OF JACOB for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1:31-33).
THE FEASTS OF THE LORD ARE “SET APART”
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be HOLY CONVOCATIONS, even these are my feasts (Lev. 23:1-2).
The feasts of the Lord are “HOLY CONVOCATIONS.”
Holy means the Feasts of the Lord are “set apart” by God.
Convocations means the Feasts of the Lord are “assemblies” or “rehearsals.”
The Feasts of the Lord are set apart by God to assemble or rehearse the people for the real thing.
We can rehearse events that are past or future.
Some people rehearse the Civil War which means they remember a past event.
Some people rehearse a play which means they rehearse for a future event.
The feasts of the Lord are holy convocations that do both.
They point backwards and forwards. They remind us of past events, but they also look forward to future events. (The Lord’s Supper is an example.)
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s DEATH till he COME (I Cor. 11:26).
The Lord’s Supper is an assembly or a rehearsal that reminds us of the past (the DEATH of Jesus). And the Lord’s Supper is an assembly or a rehearsal that reminds us of the future (the SECOND COMING of Jesus). The Feasts of the Lord are selected past events that reveal facts about selected future events.
This is an interesting article. When ever I hear peace talks with Israel, my mind clicks to the Bible Prophecy concerning a peace treaty which will be signed between Israel and the Antichrist. It will be for seven years of peace and security. At the midpoint, the peace will be broken by the Antichrist, as he declares himself god in the rebuilt Jewish temple. (I am not saying we know the identity of the Antichrist, but you will know when the seven-year treaty is signed.)
Daniel 9:27 – “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” (In the Bible years are often spoken of as weeks, so one week would equal 7 years.)
A couple of things that also caught my eye in this article where the fact that Peace talks will begin on September 2nd with a summit hosted by Barack Obama. The Quartet thinks it can achieve an agreement within 12 months.
The reason this is significant is that if you follow the Jewish feasts, September is the time for the Rosh Hashanah (Feast of the Trumpets). If you study the Jewish Feasts, you realize that Christ has fulfilled each feast up to Rosh Hashanah. There are four feasts remaining that are yet to be fulfilled, and are believed to be related to our current age and the end times.
God’s word when speaking of the Rapture, talks about a trumpet sounding and Christ gathering his church in the clouds. Rosh Hashanah is the Feast of Trumpets, the first fall feast, and the “Jewish New Year”. It is also, never known until the day of the Feast which day it will fall on since it is based on the new moon. (Today, Jews actually celebrate it on two days unlike any other feast because it is so hard to determine when it starts.)
Once the new moon is seen, a trumpet is sounded and all of the Jews stop what they are doing and go to worship. It was common to have Jews and non-jews working side by side in the fields, and when the trumpet sounded, the Jews would stop what they were doing and the non-jews would continue working. Sound familiar to any other scripture we have heard?
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 – “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 – “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last TRUMP: for the TRUMPET shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Now I am not saying that there is a specific day known on which the Rapture will occur, but it is very interesting study that the Feast of Trumpets, some year soon, may be the time…. The key is for us to remain watchful and the timing should not matter.
Rosh Hashanah will occur on the following days of the Gregorian calendar:
Jewish Year 5771: sunset September 8, 2010 – nightfall September 10, 2010
Jewish Year 5772: sunset September 28, 2011 – nightfall September 30, 2011
Jewish Year 5773: sunset September 16, 2012 – nightfall September 18, 2012
Another piece of data, if you believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, which I do, then the rapture would have to occur before the signing of the seven-year peace treaty, since that would signal the beginning of Daniel’s 70th week (the seven-year tribulation).
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A Middle East treaty creating a Palestinian state at peace with Israel can be completed in one year of negotiations, said major powers who were due on Friday to invite both parties to start talks in two weeks.
A diplomatic source in the United States said the Quartet of world powers engaged in Middle East peace-making had agreed on the details of the invitation on Thursday and would issue it formally on Friday.
Israeli and Palestinian officials said they expected to see the statement and U.S. invitation by the end of the day.
“We are waiting to see the formulation of the American invitation draft. Our position remains that we don’t want preconditions,” an Israeli official said.
A Palestinian official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “If the statement meets what we are calling for, we will say yes of course.”
The Palestinians were focused on the statement they expect from the Quartet — the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations — which would set out terms of reference for the talks. Negotiations would begin with a summit hosted by President Barack Obama on Sept 2.
A draft statement that was being discussed by the partners on Thursday says 12 months should be sufficient. A Quartet statement in June said a deal could be concluded in 24 months.
One of the major events that will occur before the Antichrist can rise to power is the collapsing of all the nations into a single world government and single world currency. Prophecy scholars had until recently struggled with how could this happen with the United States leading the world as a sole super power. Over the last ten years, cracks have begun to form in the United States economy.
You combine this with the articles comparing our economic situation with Greece, and ours is measured to be worse. The only major difference, and why we are still afloat, and that is the ability to print money. Greece can’t due to being tied into the Euro.
Take a look at what is happening to Greece in the article below. It just might be a glimpse into what we may experience in the near future. There is much speculation you can read on how we will get to One world Government, One world Currency, and One world religion. And it is just that, only God knows, the events before they happen.
But I can watch trends and assess what can’t be there for God’s prophecy to be fulfilled. It is kind of like reverse engineering. We know the end state and we know where we are today.
I believe our economy will collapse to a level where we will be on par or below other nations of the world. This simply has to happen for God’s Word to be fulfilled (how and when are unknown, but how big are the cracks today?).
I am sure the rapture will help expedite it at some point. If the US is the largest Christian nation, then when Christ calls all of His church to heaven, the void left will certainly be felt. I think about that a lot, what chaos would that create? Think about it, would losing all of the Christians be similar to 70% unemployment from a productivity stand point?.
The austerity measures that were supposed to fix Greece’s problems are dragging down the country’s economy. Stores are closing, tax revenues are falling and unemployment has hit an unbelievable 70 percent in some places. Frustrated workers are threatening to strike back.
This dire prognosis comes even despite Athens’ massive efforts to sort out the country’s finances. The government’s draconian austerity measures have managed to reduce the country’s budget deficit by an almost unbelievable 39.7 percent, after previous governments had squandered tax money and falsified statistics for years. The measures have reduced government spending by a total of 10 percent, 4.5 percent more than the EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF) had required.
The problem is that the austerity measures have in the meantime affected every aspect of the country’s economy. Purchasing power is dropping, consumption is taking a nosedive and the number of bankruptcies and unemployed are on the rise. The country’s gross domestic product shrank by 1.5 percent in the second quarter of this year. Tax revenue, desperately needed in order to consolidate the national finances, has dropped off. A mixture of fear, hopelessness and anger is brewing in Greek society.
Unemployment Rates of up to 70 Percent
Unemployment in the city [the shipbuilding district of Perama] hovers between 60 and 70 percent, according to a study conducted by the University of Piraeus. While 77 percent of Greek shipping companies indicate they are satisfied with the quality of work done in Perama, nearly 50 percent still send their ships to be repaired in Turkey, Korea or China. Costs are too high in Greece, they say. The country, they argue, has too much bureaucracy and too many strikes, with labor disputes often delaying delivery times.
Barely any of the country’s industries can keep up with international competition in terms of productivity, and experts expect the country’s gross domestic product to fall by 4 percent over the course of the entire year. Germany, by way of comparison, is hoping for growth of up to 3 percent.
Sales Figures Dropping Everywhere
A short jaunt through Athens’ shopping streets reveals the scale of the decline. Fully a quarter of the store windows on Stadiou Street bear red signs reading “Enoikiazetai” — for rent. The National Confederation of Hellenic Commerce (ESEE) calculates that 17 percent of all shops in Athens have had to file for bankruptcy.
No Way Out
The entire country is in the grip of a depression. Everything seems to be going downhill. The spiral is continuing unabated, and there is no clear way out. The worse part, however, is the fact that hardly anyone still hopes that things will improve one day.
‘Things Are Starting to Simmer’
Menelaos Givalos, a professor of political science at Athens University, has appeared on television, warning viewers that the worst times are still to come. He predicts a large wave of layoffs starting in September, with “extreme social consequences.”
“Everything is getting more expensive, I’m hardly earning any money, and then I’m supposed to pay more taxes to help save the country? How is that supposed to work?” asks Nikos Meletis, the shipbuilder. He predicts the situation will only become more heated. “Things are starting to simmer here,” he says. “And at some point they’re going to explode.”
How Long Can Greece Hold On?
Inquiring minds just might be asking “How long can Greece hold on?”
I do not have the answer to that, besides it’s not the important question. A far more worrisome question is “When does similar strife spread to Spain, Portugal, and perhaps even Italy?”
Part of the blame for this goes to the bailout plan itself. France and to a lesser extent Germany would not take haircuts on Greek debt. Aid to Greece by the IMF and European banks simply threw good money after bad.
The problem did not go away. Instead, terms of the bailout made the situation worse.
This is a massive disaster, and most definitely part of the birth pains Christ warned us about.
Luke 21:25 “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring“
I can’t believe we are not hearing more about it in our US media.
Pakistan’s worst floods in living memory have killed more than 1,600 people and affected up to 20 million – more than a tenth of the population. The United Nations estimates at least 8 million people need urgent assistance, but funding has been slow to arrive compared to other major disasters.
Politico rushes to do Nancy Pelosi’s bidding, investigating funding of Ground Zero mega-mosque foes
Bravo, Politico. Do your worst. When this all comes down, you’ll be in the running for a Walter Duranty Award. Don’t know who he was, Vogel? Look him up.
Well, Politico can be very proud of itself. Instead of looking into where the pro-Sharia, anti-freedom of speech, refuses-to-denounce-Hamas Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and his thug developer Sharif El-Gamal are getting their $100 million to build the mega-mosque, when they haven’t ruled out funding from Iran and Saudi Arabia, they’re spending their time trying to trace the few thousands it will take Pamela Geller and me to mount our rally against the mega-mosque on 9/11.
I just got a call from Kenneth P. Vogel of Politico, asking me a series of questions about donations to our efforts against the Ground Zero mega-mosque, and growing increasingly hostile and belligerent when I declined to answer.
Cost of New York bus ads: $10,000
Cost of press release: $1,500
Cost of watching the lapdog media track the sources of these sums while ignoring the questionable funding of a $100 million dollar mosque: Priceless
Deception, Deception, Deception!!! What the heck? The Constitution and Declaration of Independence is nothing at all like Sharia Law. Name me the Muslim country that has Sharia law, that allows other religions and protects them without persecution? We can not let this creeping sharia get a hold of the US.
I have included a link to the video, three things you must know about Islam at the end of this. Please if you haven’t watched it, take a look, it is very important for our nations, and freedoms survival.
Posted by therightscoop in Politics on Aug 19th, 2010
I can’t believe people let him get away with butchering Sharia Law like this. I mean, just look where it’s been put into practice and you’ll see the exact opposite of what he describes. This is nothing more than a slow calculated assault on our constitution and it must be stopped.
This is unbelievable. It is amazing how far our media has fallen. They might as well be part of this administration. This is just one example of many examples of deception that our Media is selling us every day.
AP Orders Staff: ‘Stop Using the Phrase “Ground Zero Mosque”’
By Alana Goodman
Thu, 08/19/2010 – 16:10 ET
In an unusual move, the Associated Press has publicly released an advisory memo to its reporters on how to cover of the Ground Zero mosque story – and the first rule is that journalists must immediately stop calling it the “Ground Zero mosque” story.”We should continue to avoid the phrase ‘Ground zero mosque’ or ‘mosque at ground zero’ on all platforms,” reads the advisory, which was issued by the AP’s Standards Center.
Instead of the “Ground Zero mosque,” AP recommends that reporters use the terms “mosque 2 blocks from WTC site,” “Muslim (or Islamic) center near WTC site,” “mosque near ground zero,” or “mosque near WTC site.”
The AP suggests that it might “useful in some stories to note that Muslim prayer services have been held since 2009 in the building that the new project will replace.” In addition, the news service offers a “succinct summary of President Obama’s position” on the mosque, but doesn’t include the positions of any other politicians.
Also included in the advisory is a “Fact Check” to provide “additional background” for reporters.
“A New York imam and his proposed mosque near ground zero are being demonized by political candidates – mostly Republicans – despite the fact that Islam is already very much a part of the World Trade Center neighborhood,” reads the first paragraph of the Fact Check. “And that Muslims pray inside the Pentagon, too, less than 80 feet from where terrorists attacked. And that the imam who’s being branded an extremist has been valued by both Republican and Democratic administrations as a moderate face of the faith.”
One of the “facts” that the AP feels the need to “clarify” is that Ground Zero mosque organizer Feisal Abdul Rauf is a moderate Muslim.
“Rauf counts former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright from the Clinton administration as a friend and appeared at events overseas or meetings in Washington with former President George W. Bush’s secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and Bush adviser Karen Hughes,” says the article, though it does also mention briefly Rauf’s comments about America being an “accessory” to the Sept. 11 attacks.
The advisory also “fact checks” pure opinion statements made by conservatives, like former House Speaker Newt Gringrich’s assertion that “America is experiencing an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization.”
“Such opinions are shared by some Americans, while others are more reluctant to paint the religion with a broad brush and more welcoming of the faith in this country,” reads the Fact Check. “Bush, himself, while criticized at the time for stirring suspicions about American Muslims, traveled to a Washington mosque less than a week after the attacks to declare that terrorism is ‘not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace.'”
AP is arguable the most influential news organization in the country, and many media outlets adhere to its guidelines in their reporting.
Today’s devotional comes from Max Lucado’s Grace For The Moment:
A Place of Permanence
The Lord will always lead you.
Isaiah 58:11
You’ve been there. You’ve escaped the sandy foundation of the valley and ascended his grand outcropping of granite. You’ve stepped aways from the masses and followed the Master as he led you up the winding path to the summit….
Gently your guide invites you to sit on the rock above the tree line and look out with him at the ancient peaks that will never erode. “What is necessary is still what is sure,” he confides. “Just remember:
“You’ll go nowhere tomorrow that I haven’t already been.
“Truth will still triumph….
“The victory is yours….”
The sacred summit. A place of permanence in a world of transition.
I love the line, “You’ll go nowhere tomorrow that I haven’t already been”. For me, I don’t think there is a more reassuring statement. We need more of those during these troubling times. Remember, what Christ said as well in the Olivet Discourse:
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” – Matthew 24:6
We must remember that God is in control of all things.
This is a good case for always trust your gut. If it doesn’t feel like something is right, it probably is not. Trust, but verify. What ever happened to that, MSM? Deception is everywhere we turn, just like Christ said it would during the end times, and it will continue to get worst until the tribulation.
What’s the goal? Maybe the Imam’s goal is not simply to force a provocative “insensitivity” about 9-11 on the American public, with the help of America’s elites. Maybe the Imam’s long-term goal is to force Shariah law on the American public – of course, again, with the help of America’s elites.
Why don’t the 15 floors add up? How many floors does Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf need for the mosque portion of this triumphal Islamic command center planned for the two building sites at 45-47 Park Place in New York City? Think about it: maybe 2 floors for the mosque itself and related offices. A 3rd floor for the swimming pool, a 4th for the 500 seat auditorium, a 5th for the halal restaurant and halal culinary school, a 6th for the art studios, the childcare center and library, a 7th for the gym and basketball court. Add an 8th floor for miscellaneous storage and offices. And then add a 9th floor for the September 11 memorial, an after-thought that was recently added to the Imam’s plan, although that may in fact be more of a room off to one side than a whole floor.
That leaves six mystery floors empty – or dedicated to other activities. Six floors – that’s a lot of offices, a lot of employees, maybe more than half of the 150 full-time and 500 part-time jobs the Imam says he’ll bring to Lower Manhattan. What are Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf’s plans for those six mystery floors?
Follow the Shariah Index Project to solve the puzzle of the 6 mystery floors:We found two hidden websites with copiously deleted information, all about the Imam’s Cordoba Institute Shariah Index Project. For reference, here’s the Imam’s most recent hidden website (also available here as a pdf). And here’s the Imam’s earlier hidden website (also available here as a pdf). The information on those websites – information that the Imam tried to hide with a new whitewashed version – suggests that the six mystery floors of the Ground Zero Mosque will be dedicated to the Imam’s long-term goal: the Shariah Index Project, designed to benchmark Shariah compliance, to distribute Shariah propaganda, and to enforce Shariah law in America and worldwide.
Drawing from those hidden webpages and other sites, we’ve constructed a timeline for the Shariah Index Project and a partial list of Rauf’s partners in the Project. In Part 2, we’ll reveal the disturbing background and views of those partners. And in Part 3, we’ll present the bottom line – how this all ties together as a historic Islamist effort to market and to enforce Shariah in America, starting from Ground Zero.
Numbered Documents, for everyone’s convenience! Below, from the hidden websites, is the evidence Rauf tried to cover-up. We’ve even numbered the Shariah Index Project documents he mentioned, to make it easy for the Imam and his staff – for example, Courtney Erwin, attorney and director of the Shariah Index Project and corporate contact for the Cordoba Institute – to provide copies to the American public.
We hear so much about the Muslim world from the Dhimmi in Chief, but never do we hear condemnations on incidents like this. Hillary Clinton is heaping billions of taxpayer dollars on Pakistan, and aiding Muslims in every way…but on this…silence.
Two Christian girls, aged 12 and 16 were gang raped in separate incidents reflecting a frightening trend of abuse by Muslims, who often get away with such heinous crimes under the protection of law enforcers.
On July 22 one Christian child aged 12 was gang raped by seven to eight students from a madrassa while eight others watched. Another child aged 16 was gang raped at gunpoint by three Muslims who worked for the employer of her father, Compass Direct News said.
The 12 year old girl was dragged away by 16 boys and allegedly raped by half of them in Gujar Khan, Rawalpindi district, because the gang of boys wanted to “teach these Christians a lesson,” CDN said.
Pastor Shakeel Javed of United Pentecostal Church which the victim’s family attends said the Muslim students, who were from Jamia Islamia Madrassa, often beat up Christian children who play on the school grounds, telling them to convert or leave. They also throw stones at the church building, CDN said.
Rana Aftab, a school teacher who claims she witnessed the incident said, “Three or four Christian girls were washing dishes near a pond. These guys ran towards them, and the girls started running. One of them fell on the ground, and these madrassa students got hold of her and took her in the fields. I tried to stop them, but they were 15-16 in number,” CDN said.
Aftab said the girl was raped by about half of the boys and the others looked on as the child kept screaming for help. When they were done they left the child in the field and some villagers took her home to Pervaiz Masih, her father, CDN said.
When Masih and Aftab tried to file a complaint at the police station the officer in charge would not register their complaint. When the police station was approached by CDN the police refused to comment. However one of them later said they are being pressured by Muslim leaders and extremists, CDN said.
This news goes hand in hand with my previous posted article on Google, and people not wanting to think. This article outlines several ways we are being deceived.
We so commonly hear the word “spin” it became very highly used in the late 1990’s. Spin is deception. Especially, when people do not think for themselves, question things they see written, and compare them to common sense. People are so busy these days that they have “no time to think or question” what they hear, see, or read.
“Using new technologies and the remnants of the most expensive presidential campaign in history, the Obama administration’s use of taxpayer dollars to engage in covert propaganda is disconcerting,” Issa said in a statement. “This new report and a GAO investigation are needed to help shed light on how taxpayer dollars are being spent to illegally further a political agenda.”
By Gautham Nagesh – 08/17/10 01:46 PM ET
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on Monday accused the White House of using the stimulus tracking website Recovery.gov to disseminate propaganda.
Issa released a 37-page report documenting alleged misconduct by the Obama administration in several of its new-media projects. The report documents several instances in which government agencies allegedly promoted administration policies using federal resources.
Issa called on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the allegations and determine if the administration violated federal law by using taxpayers’ dollars for political purposes.
Specifically, the report points to websites it claims contain false or misleading information, such as Recovery.gov and HealthReform.gov, as well as to a conference call during which a White House staff member urged artists and entertainers to support President Obama’s agenda.
Rather than serve as a tool for strong oversight and transparency, “Recovery.gov became a taxpayer-funded tool to promote false and misleading propaganda to support the Democrat-backed stimulus,” the report states. “The manifest inaccuracies in the data the White House used to justify its economic policies constitutes the dissemination of false propaganda by the federal government.”
Recovery Board Chairman Earl Devaney published a blog post Monday arguing the site has accomplished its objective by providing transparency of stimulus investments.
“Although this new level of transparency may not be obvious to casual observers, it is inspiring real transformation in the federal government,” Devaney wrote.
The report also accuses President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden of leveraging their White House platform “to promote websites designed to disseminate propaganda.” It argues the claims made on Recovery.gov about jobs saved or created by the stimulus are fictitious and misleading, citing news reports and individual instances in which the displayed figures appeared to be incorrect.
The report notes the White House responded to critical reports by changing the displayed metric from “Jobs Created/Saved” to “Recovery Funded Jobs Reported by Recipients” but says there is no evidence the reported figures are any more accurate.
This is some scary stuff, remember when all of that big brother stuff seemed so sci-fi? The two quotes that took my breath away were:
“I actually think most people don’t want Google to answer their questions. They want Google to tell them what they should be doing next.”
and
The 55-year-old also predicted that in the future, Google will know so much about its users that the search engine will be able to help them plan their lives.
The sad thing is I believe him. People don’t want to think these days, we are so dumbed down with the media sound bites and mindless TV. People don’t know how to think two or three steps ahead to the consequences for their actions or the actions on their behalf.
Additionally, the fact that someone would have to change their name to avoid being associated with what they did, points directly to the fact that we are living in times like “the days of Noah”. Which was another warning from Christ in his Olivet Discourse.
Young will have to change names to escape ‘cyber past’ warns Google’s Eric Schmidt
The private lives of young people are now so well documented on the internet that many will have to change their names on reaching adulthood, Google’s CEO has claimed.
Eric Schmidt suggested that young people should be entitled to change their identity to escape their misspent youth, which is now recorded in excruciating detail on social networking sites such as Facebook.
“I don’t believe society understands what happens when everything is available, knowable and recorded by everyone all the time,” Mr Schmidt told the Wall Street Journal.
In an interviewMr Schmidt said he believed that every young person will one day be allowed to change their name to distance themselves from embarrassing photographs and material stored on their friends’ social media sites.
The 55-year-old also predicted that in the future, Google will know so much about its users that the search engine will be able to help them plan their lives.
Using profiles of it customers and tracking their locations through their smart phones, it will be able to provide live updates on their surroundings and inform them of tasks they need to do.
“We’re trying to figure out what the future of search is,” Mr Schmidt said. “One idea is that more and more searches are done on your behalf without you needing to type.
“I actually think most people don’t want Google to answer their questions. They want Google to tell them what they should be doing next.”
He suggested, as an example, that because Google would know “roughly who you are, roughly what you care about, roughly who your friends are”, it could remind users what groceries they needed to buy when passing a shop.
The comments are not the first time Mr Schmidt has courted controversy over the wealth of personal information people reveal on the internet. Last year, he notoriously remarked: “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.”
Earlier this year, Google was condemned by the privacy watchdogs of 10 countries for showing a “disappointing disregard” for safeguarding private information of its users.
In a letter to Mr Schmidt, Britain’s Information Commissioner Chris Graham joined his counterparts in countries including Canada, France, Germany and Italy, in raising concerns over its Street View and Buzz social networking services.
I feel funding and motivation for building this mosque are truly the core of this issue. I think the public senses a lot of deception around those topics and there are no clear answers offered that check out. The more people dig into it, the more questions on motivation are raised.
Islamic Center Backers Won’t Rule Out Taking Funds from Saudi Arabia, Iran
‘Ground Zero Mosque’ Developers in Talks With NY Gov. Paterson
By RUSSELL GOLDMAN
Aug. 18, 2010
The developers behind the Islamic center planned for a site near Ground Zero won’t rule out accepting financing from the Mideast — including from Saudi Arabia and Iran — as they begin searching for $100 million needed to build the project. Despite controversy, Obama still supports right to build mosque near ground zero
The religious organization and the development company behind the center declined to say how much of the $100 million needed to build the facility has already been raised.
“We are in the planning stages,” said Oz Sultan, spokesman for the center now called Park51. “We have just started the process of fundraising planning.”
Sultan said it would take three to six months to establish a plan on how to raise the needed capital. He said any fundraising campaign would begin domestically, but he would not comment on whether it would extend overseas or to foreign governments.
“We’ll look at all available options within the United States to start. We’re hoping to fund this predominately from domestic donors. That can be everything from institutions all the way down to personal [contributors,]” said Sultan.
When asked if they would then turn to foreign donors, Sultan replied, “I can’t comment on that.”
Pressed on whether the developers were willing rule out accepting donations from the governments of Saudi Arabia or Iran, he repeated, “I can’t comment on that.”
The center, in the works for over a year, has become a nationwide controversy as the anniversary of 9/11 approaches. Critics charge that having what they call a mosque so close what they consider hallowed ground is insensitive and an insult to the victims’ families, especially since the attack was perpetrated in the name of Islam.
Fifteen of the 19 terrorists were Saudi Arabian and funding from that country could further anger those already opposed to the mosque. Many mosques in the U.S. have been funded in part with Saudi money.
Another article on the preparation that is being made for an attack/war. In the coming days, weeks, years, Israel will be the focus point for several biblical wars: Psalm 83, Ezekiel 38, and Armageddon.
The second half of the article discusses the speeding up of construction.
Jerusalem railway station, Haifa’s Carmel Tunnels and Habima parking lot in Tel Aviv among places slated to protect thousands from chemical or biological attack
Ofer Petersburg
The new railway station being built at the entrance to Jerusalem will turn in times of emergency into an underground bomb shelter which would be able to protest 5,000 people against a chemical or biological attack.
The Israel Defense Forces is currently engaged in mapping additional underground spaces for the installment of filters in order to protest thousands of people for long periods of time.
Simulation of new Jerusalem railway station (Photo: Transportation Ministry)
The Home Front Command’s flagship project will undoubtedly be the railway station in Jerusalem which will serve the fast train from Tel Aviv to the capital. The station’s lower level will be 80 meters deep (262 feet) and will be able to absorb 5,000 people in times of emergency.
The place will be protected through a branched filter system and will include doctors’ corners and a special room for the shelter commander. The room will also have systems for communication with the outside world.
Construction sped up
An elevator and escalator system will lead the people quickly from the station’s top floors to the bottom platform. The station’s construction was sped up recently at the request of Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz. The top platform has already been completed, while the shafts and underground tunnels are in different building stages.
The Home Front Command is still searching for additional places which could be used as shelters against non-conventional weapons. In Tel Aviv, for example, the shelter of the renovated Habima Theater is slated to absorb thousands of people in times of emergency.
The 10 planned light rail stations in Bnei Brak, Ramat Gan and Tel Aviv will also include huge underground halls which will be able to take in tens of thousands of people.
The contractors of an underground parking lot being built in Holon have received instructions from the Home Front Command recently on how to prepare it for a shelter against a non-conventional attack in times of emergency. Haifa’s Carmel Tunnels are expected to be used for this purpose as well.
This article shows the web that is woven concerning support for action against Iran verses support for Israel. It all falls under the category of wars and rumors of wars. Israel holds the answer to everyone’s question. What will they do and what will it trigger? Again, God has said that all eyes will be on Jerusalem, none will support her, and all will be cut to pieces because of it.
First it was the United Arab Emirates ambassador in Washington, now it’s a Saudi Arabian editorial, and John Bolton says the entire Persian Gulf feels the same: an attack on Iran is the only option – if it’s not too late.
An editorial in an official Saudi Arabian newspaper indicates that a military attack against Iran might be the only way of stopping it from obtaining nuclear weapons. “Tehran is moving its conflict with the international community into high gear,” the Al Madina daily wrote this week, “and [in this case] some may consider the military option to be the best solution.”
Delaying recourse to this option, the paper continues, “may lead to a point where it is impossible to implement it – if Tehran manages to produce a nuclear bomb of its own.”
Former Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton goes a bit further, saying it is the only way of stopping it – but adds that it might already be too late.
Just last month, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to Washington said at a conference, “A military attack on Iran by whomever would be a disaster, but Iran with a nuclear weapon would be a bigger disaster.”
Ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba was unusually candid in his remarks, saying, “I think it’s a cost-benefit analysis. I think despite the large amount of trade we do with Iran, which is close to $12 billion… there will be consequences, there will be a backlash and there will be problems with people protesting and rioting and very unhappy that there is an outside force attacking a Muslim country; that is going to happen no matter what… Am I willing to live with that, versus living with a nuclear Iran? My answer is still the same: ‘We cannot live with a nuclear Iran.’ I am willing to absorb what takes place at the expense of the security of the U.A.E.”
Former Ambassador Bolton feels that many states in the Persian Gulf region feel the same. He told Army Radio today (Thursday), however, that it might very well be too late to attack Iran because of the radioactivity that will emanate from the bombed reactor, harming the civilian population.
“Diplomacy and sanctions against Iran have failed,” Bolton told Army Radio’s Nitzan Fisher on the Ma Bo’er program, “and don’t think the West took seriously enough Iran’s efforts over the course of decades to get nuclear power. Frankly, I think the most likely outcome now is that indeed Iran does get nuclear weapons. I think the only possibility of stopping this is the use of military force – an extremely unattractive option, but it’s even more unattractive to consider a world in which Iran has nuclear weapons.”
He explained, though, that it might be too late: “With Russia beginning to supply fuel in Bushehr [two days from now], it makes the reactor essentially immune to attack, except in the most dire circumstances – because to attack it would mean, almost inevitably, the release of radioactivity into the atmosphere and possibly into the waters of the Persian Gulf.”
“I don’t think there’s a ghost of a chance that the Obama Administration will use force against Iran’s nuclear weapons program,” Bolton said. “If anyone will do it, it’s going to have to be Israel – and I don’t know what Israel is going to do… I am very worried that Obama’s fallback position is to accept an Iran with nuclear weapons. I think that can have potentially catastrophic consequences in the Middle East and beyond – but I think that’s where the Obama Administration is.”
Iran’s Defense Minister Ahmed Wahidi said this week that Israel’s existence will be endangered if it attacks the Bushehr reactor. He said such an attack would be an “international crime.”
An amazing summary article for the Israeli news media. The arab nations are preparing for war against Israel. Jesus said we would be hearing a lot about rumors of war as well as actual wars.
Matthew 24:3-8 – “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
With the tunnel system they are building, there is a lot going on that we don’t know about. The Israeli intelligence group is better than any at gaining intel, and are also, obviously, closest to the situation. It is amazing the different look you get on the situation, when you start reading foreign papers and online outlets.
Hezbollah reportedly builds tunnel system ‘more impressive than Paris underground’ to counter IDF strikes; Yemenite Qaeda leader tells followers to prepare for Israel-Iran war, urges pilots to replicate 9/11 attacks in Israel
According to a report published by the al-Rai newspaper, the tunnel network “is more impressive than the Paris underground,” and is meant to prevent the IDF from gravely hurting Hezbollah by aerial or ground attacks.
The report also claimed Hezbollah created an underground system of weapon caches, and that additional warehouses were dispersed in different locations above ground, so they are not damaged by IDF attacks, as was the case during the Second Lebanon War.
Al-Qaeda wants 9/11 in Israel
Meanwhile, al-Qaeda is preparing its fighters in the Arabian peninsula for the possibility of an Iran-Israel warn, urging Arab pilots to crash into targets in Israel.
A terror leader in Yemen urged Jihad supporters to exploit a future war between the Jewish State and the Ayatollah regime in order to advance al-Qaeda’s causes, the Daily Beast website reported.
The deputy chief of al-Qaeda’s arm in Yemen, Saeed al-Shehri, told supporters via an audio message that a war is expected to break out after Israel will strike Tehran’s nuclear facilities, prompting a chain reaction that would lead to an all-out regional war.Sheri then calls on Arab Air Force pilots who endorse the cause of Jihad to fly their planes into Israeli targets, replicating the September 11 attacks. He also urged followers with access to top Arab leaders to assassinate them, similarly to the killing of “tyrant Anwar Sadat,” the Egyptian president murdered by Islamic radicals.
This is unbelievable! This should be front page news on all of our media outlets.
The deception and failure of our media is too much to take. Our government is just as much at fault for not securing our border.
I believe it is one of the keys that will lead to our collapse and the formation of one world order.
There is nothing stopping anyone once they get to Venezuela from making their way into the US. We are starting to see signs of it this week on our border with story’s about car bombings that are similar to those occurring in the middle east.
WASHINGTON – Iran Air 744 is a bimonthly flight that originates in Tehran and flies directly to Caracas with periodic stops in Beirut and Damascus. The maiden flight was Feb. 2, 2007.
The mere existence of the flight was a significant concern for U.S. intelligence officials, but now a broader concern is who and what are aboard the flights.
“If you [a member of the public] tried to book yourself a seat on this flight and it doesn’t matter whether it’s a week before, a month before, six months before — you’ll never find a place to sit there,” says Offer Baruch, a former Israeli Shin Bet agent.
Baruch, now vice president of operations for International Shield, a security firm in Texas, says the plane is reserved for Iranian agents, including “Hezbollah, the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and other intelligence personnel.”
Current and former U.S. intelligence official fear the flight is a shadowy way to move people and weapons to locations in Latin America that can be used as staging points for retaliatory attacks against the U.S. or its interests in the event Iranian nuclear sites are struck by U.S. or Israeli military forces.
“My understanding is that this flight not only goes from Caracas to Damascus to Tehran perhaps twice a month, but it also occasionally makes stops in Lebanon as well, and the passengers on that flight are not processed through normal Venezuelan immigrations or customs. They are processed separately when they come into the country,” says Peter Brookes, senior fellow for National Security Affairs at the Heritage Foundation.
The 16-hour flight typically leaves Tehran and stops at Damascus International Airport (DAM), which is Syria’s busiest. In 2009, almost 4.5 million passengers used the airport.
After a 90-minute layover, the flight continues the remaining 14 hours to Venezuela’s Caracas Maiquetía International Airport (CCS). Upon arrival, the plane is met by special Venezuelan forces and sequestered from other arrivals.
“It says that something secretive or clandestine is going on that they don’t want the international community to know about,” says Brookes, a former deputy assistant defense secretary for Asian and Pacific Affairs and CIA employee.
“The fact that there is a flight is of course of interest, but the fact that not anybody can gain access to this flight or buy a ticket for that flight is of particular curiosity and should be of concern to the United States.”
In addition to speculation about who is aboard, there are significant concerns that the Boeing 747SP airplane might be transporting uranium to Tehran on the return flight. The U.S. government has enacted strong sanctions against Iran because of its nuclear program and there are worries the flight might provide an opportunity to skirt the embargo against materials that might be used for the program.
Here is a great article I found on Rapture Ready on both the escalation of tensions in Israel that will lead to war as prophesied but also the deception that is ongoing around Jerusalem and the Jews ties to this ancient city.
Published: 08/18/10, 10:51 AM / Last Update: 08/18/10, 10:43 AM
Jerusalem Mufti: Watch Out for Religious War
by Hillel Fendel
Is a Moslem cleric making one war-provoking statement too many? Jerusalem Mufti Muhammad Hussein says Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, Hevron could start a religious war.
Muhammad Hussein, known as the “Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine,” calls on all Moslems to take action to save the “holy places” and to support the Palestinian intifada. In keeping with the recent Moslem line that Judaism is barely linked with the Holy Land, Hussein says that Israel is “working subversively to take over Moslem holy sites,” Arab affairs correspondent Dalit HaLevi reports.
Speaking with the Arabic-language internet site Ilaf on Tuesday, Hussein said that Israel has invested great efforts to erase the Islamic characteristics of Jerusalem, Hevron and other cities, in order to falsely prove Judaism’s connection with these places.
Just a few decades ago, however, it was Jerusalem’s Supreme Moslem Council (Waqf) itself that debunked the Arab Moslem position that the Temple Mount is not Jewish. The Waqf published a Temple Mount guide in 1925 in which it stated clearly that the site’s “identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to universal belief, on which ‘David built there an altar unto the L-rd…’”, citing the source in Samuel II 24,25.
The pamphlet also makes reference to the underground area in the south-east corner of the Mount, which is refers to as Solomon’s Stables. “Little is known for certain of the history of the chamber itself,” the guide reads. “It dates probably as far back as the construction of Solomon’s Temple. According to Josephus, it was in existence and was used as a place of refuge by the Jews at the time of the conquest of Jerusalem by Titus in the year 70 A.D.”
Prophecy Sign: Part of Matthew 24:7 Jesus tells us to watch for the “many earthquakes” in the last days. Below are the Latest Earthquakes Magnitude 5.0 and Greater in the World for the past 7 days.
6.1 2010/08/18 16:28:21 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.2 2010/08/17 10:43:57 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
5.2 2010/08/17 03:22:53 NORTHERN PERU
5.3 2010/08/17 01:39:32 ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
5.0 2010/08/16 22:19:16 JAVA, INDONESIA 6.2 2010/08/16 19:35:48 FIJI REGION
5.3 2010/08/16 18:56:12 KEPULAUAN BARAT DAYA, INDONESIA
5.2 2010/08/16 17:20:12 VANUATU 6.3 2010/08/16 03:30:55 MAURITIUS – REUNION REGION
5.1 2010/08/15 21:18:42 SOUTH OF THE MARIANA ISLANDS 6.3 2010/08/15 15:09:30 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
5.2 2010/08/15 11:53:19 TONGA
5.1 2010/08/15 08:46:57 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.2 2010/08/15 07:50:36 NEUQUEN, ARGENTINA
5.0 2010/08/15 06:13:30 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.0 2010/08/15 04:07:35 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.3 2010/08/15 04:00:59 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.0 2010/08/15 03:04:16 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
5.6 2010/08/15 02:10:39 NEAR THE EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA, RUSSIA
5.2 2010/08/14 23:50:44 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.1 2010/08/14 23:27:34 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION 6.6 2010/08/14 23:01:06 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.1 2010/08/14 21:01:28 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.0 2010/08/14 20:18:01 PAKISTAN
5.1 2010/08/14 19:19:34 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
5.0 2010/08/14 18:39:16 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.7 2010/08/14 16:35:44 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.0 2010/08/14 16:12:40 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.9 2010/08/14 14:44:37 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.0 2010/08/14 10:36:01 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
5.1 2010/08/14 08:40:39 OFFSHORE SUCRE, VENEZUELA
5.0 2010/08/14 08:20:57 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.2 2010/08/14 07:49:00 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION 6.3 2010/08/14 07:30:17 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.2 2010/08/14 01:34:02 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
5.1 2010/08/14 01:08:42 PAPUA, INDONESIA
6.9 2010/08/13 21:19:33 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.0 2010/08/13 18:42:37 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
5.4 2010/08/13 07:58:49 AZORES ISLANDS REGION
5.1 2010/08/13 06:28:14 AZORES ISLANDS REGION
5.4 2010/08/13 05:40:49 AZORES ISLANDS REGION
5.2 2010/08/13 01:33:57 NORTHWEST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
5.2 2010/08/12 12:53:49 VANUATU 7.1 2010/08/12 11:54:16 ECUADOR
5.3 2010/08/12 08:56:02 VANUATU
5.0 2010/08/12 01:24:19 CENTRAL PERU
5.3 2010/08/11 23:58:03 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
5.2 2010/08/11 19:10:21 JAVA, INDONESIA
Saw this article on Drudge from the BBC, it caught my eye because of the ‘indefinite’ that drudge added to his title.
When digging into the article, I was amazed that they are striking over a 1.6% difference in pay. The Government offered them a 7% raise that they can barely afford, but the unions are striking and demanding 8.6%.
We as a world have lost complete perspective. We have the same attitude here in the US. I am always amazed when during down years, people still expect an increase in pay, as if no outside forces affect them personally.
I think it is this loss of touch with reality which is also leading us down the one world government and to one world currency. Today, we will vote for anyone that will help us personally in the short-term, whether it aligns with common sense or reality is not even considered.
Striking workers in Katlehong and Pretoria protest over pay
Public sector workers in South Africa have begun an open-ended strike, having rejected the government’s offer of a pay rise.
Unions affiliated with Cosatu, South Africa’s main union federation, have been holding out for an 8.6% rise, more than the latest government offer of 7%.
The strike was reported to have got off to a slow start, though unions say more than a million people could take part.
Many schools, hospitals and public offices are expected to be affected.
Police, teachers, doctors, and nurses are demanding an above-inflation 8.6% pay rise, improved housing subsidies, and other benefits.
But South Africa’s government says it can barely afford the 7% offer it has put on the table.
The government needs to find 5bn rand (£440m; $687m) and will have to “re-prioritise” its plans for the year to fund their offer, the minister in charge of the public sector has said.
“It is not the final offer of choice, it is the final offer out of affordability,” Minister for Public Service and Administration Richard Baloyi told reporters at the Parliament in Cape Town.
I had sent a couple of articles on this to friends a few years ago. It was amazing to me that God’s word was being fulfilled right in front of my eyes. And the faith that these men had to begin exploring simply based on the Biblical prophecy, and an obscure one at that. It is truly God’s will. It was this event that really solidified for me, my faith in Bible Prophecy. It sounds strange that such an obscure prophecy would be the turning point, but God works in strange and amazing ways.
I saw the article from the Israel National News on Rapture Ready and then this post on Frank’s Blog where he pulled in what we saw back at the end of last year and before, I know I had to post this. It is very exciting. Israel will be self-sufficient for up to 30 years! Check out the Videos that Frank put up on his site as well (I have embedded them below), they are excellent.
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In my post dated December 28, 2009 I wrote this to you.
“Prophecy Sign: Did you know God warned us that Israel would be blessed in the last days? Guess where these blessings would come from? Can’t get it? Let me show you what the Lord said in Deuteronomy 33 19. “They will summon peoples to the mountain and there offer sacrifices of righteousness; they will feast on the abundance of the seas, on the treasures hidden in the sand.” Let me ask you a question? What is usually found in the seas and in the deserts in the Middle East? Gas and Oil! Did you know part of Deu. 33:19 was fulfilled in Feb. 2009? Read this. “Last month Delek-Noble an energy exploration partnership, announced a massive natural gas discovery off Israel’s northern coast. According to reports, they may have enough natural gas to supply Israel’s needs for fifteen years. In the energy exploration world it’s generally understood that where you find gas, you find oil and vice-versa. Zion Oil and Gas, founded by John Brown received its first onshore exploration license in 2000. Brown came to Israel in the 1980’s with the belief that a massive oil discovery for Israel was predicted in the pages of the Bible. With nothing but his Bible and his faith John Brown began his quest for Israel’s oil. The company now holds 162,000 acres under license in Northern Israel and is planning to drill its second well next month.” Since God showed us Israel will pull treasures out of the sand one can conclude that the next blessing Israel will have very shortly is they are going to locate a massive oil discovery in their sand. Today I received new that, “The Israeli National Parks Council has granted three major petroleum companies in Israel permission to do exploratory drilling for oil in the Judean Desert Nature Reserve in the Dead Sea region to see if there is a major source of oil in the lowest location on the Earth.” Please watch the news and keep what I am saying to you in your mind because when you see on the news that Israel has discovered massive amounts of oil you will know that it wasn’t Frank DiMora who warned you ahead of time but, the Lord in Deuteronomy. 33:19.” (end of my quote from 2009).
After reading my warning from a year ago read this news was just released. The headline to this report reads as follows: “Central Israel Oil Discovery: 1.5 Billion Barrels” I quote, “Estimates of the amount of oil in the Rosh HaAyin discovery have rises to 1.5 billion barrels, and there is more oil off-shore, but it is not yet known how much of the “black gold” can be extracted for commercial use. The new estimate, along with the gas and oil finds off the Mediterranean Coast, raise the likelihood that Israel will be self-sufficient for energy for the next three decades and even become an exporter of gas. The amount of oil at Rosh HaAyin represents a tiny percentage of Israel’s oil consumption, but development is continuing in the area as well as in the Dead Sea. Economists have noted that the discoveries will have a huge impact on society, creating more jobs and strengthening the shekel against world currencies.”
You may think the oil and gas discoveries as of late are nothing but a “great” coincidence? I can assure you what you are reading about is a blessing right from the Lord and it is a sign of the last days. Put all these very specific signs together and you get a clear picture that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back shortly. j
After you watch the next two videos keep in mind they had a vision of finding oil in Israel based on scripture. As you see from the recent news the oil that used to be hidden is just now being discovered just as the Lord promised.
Wow, this has got to be the biggest case of hypocrisy that I have seen in a while. The mayor and president both support the building of a mosque but can’t support the re-building of a church that has been there for decades and was destroyed in the 9/11 attack? What has our nation come to.
Jesus did warn us as we move further into the end times that persecution of Christians would rise, I didn’t think it would be this blatant or so filled with hypocrisy.
Matthew 24:7-11 – “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. 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.
Greek Orthodox leaders trying to rebuild the only church destroyed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks expressed shock this week after learning, via Fox News, that government officials had killed a deal to relocate the church.
The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, once a tiny, four-story building in the shadows of lower Manhattan, was destroyed in 2001 by one of the falling World Trade Center towers. Nobody from the church was hurt in the attack, but the congregation has, for the past eight years, been trying to rebuild its house of worship. …
Confronted with the Port Authority’s verdict, Father Mark Arey, of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, said it’s the first he’s heard that.
“Negotiations did break off last year. We were expecting to hear from their lawyers — we never did. We’re still expecting to hear from them,” he told Fox News. “We’re disappointed. … 130 Liberty Street was promised to us.”
There are three mosquito-borne viruses that are on the rise over the last few years in Florida, Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), Dengue Fever, and West Nile. These are still small in numbers but the number of deaths has increased.
The Bible talked about pestilence as part of the birth pains. As we progress through the birth pains, they will potentially become more frequent or have a larger impact.
Luke 21:9-11 – “But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.“
By Michael Peltier Michael Peltier – Tue Aug 17, 4:49 pm ET
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) – Four Florida residents have died from a mosquito-borne disease that normally afflicts horses, health officials reported on Tuesday as the swampy state enters peak season for mosquito-borne illnesses.
Health officials said last month that two Tampa-area residents had died from eastern equine encephalitis, a viral disease that inflames the brain.
Two additional deaths from the disease known as EEE have since been confirmed, one in the state capital of Tallahassee and one in the northwest Florida town of Sopchoppy.
The disease mostly affects unvaccinated horses but a handful of human deaths are recorded each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is no human vaccine for the disease, which kills a third of its human victims and often leaves survivors with significant brain damage.
The Florida Department of Health is also tracking two other less deadly mosquito-borne diseases, West Nile virus and dengue fever.
EEE and West Nile virus have been detected in 43 of Florida’s 67 counties, while dengue cases have been confirmed in two south Florida counties, Monroe and Broward, according to the state Department of Health.
The dengue virus began showing up in Florida in 2009 after an absence since its last major outbreak in 1934. At least 28 confirmed cases of domestically transmitted dengue fever have been reported in Florida this year, along with 67 foreign-acquired cases. The disease is more prevalent in Central and South America.
Carina Blackmore, state public health veterinarian, said the number of mosquito bites to people, horses and livestock resulting in EEE or West Nile appears consistent with the last several years.
“The two things we try to relay are get rid of mosquitoes and avoid contact,” said Blackmore, adding that August and September are peak seasons for most mosquito-borne illnesses.
State health officials are urging residents to avoid contact with mosquitoes by wearing protective clothing and using insect repellent, especially products that include DEET. Homeowners are also asked to remove standing water where mosquitoes breed.
There are many theories out there on what will trigger America’s collapse. One of the techniques we used on the USSR before the collapse was the arms race. We out spent them.
The tables may be turned, as China passes Japan to become the #2 economy in the world, is moving away from investing in the US dollar & Treasuries, and is now pushing on the military side. Do I think we will end up at war with China? No, but it will help nudge us closer to the edge and stretch our already stretched military even further.
There is also the deception question of why was this report delayed, and buried on a busy news day…
Chinese navy seamen stand in front of missiles from the frigate Ma’anshan. A Pentagon report says China is “pursuing a variety of air, sea,…
Defense: A Pentagon report suppressed by the administration describes a massive Chinese military buildup that has only one purpose: to deny us access to the Western Pacific and destroy American forces that try.
The required annual report to Congress on China’s military power was finally released Monday amid questions of why the document, due in March, was delayed five months. With the Ground Zero mosque dominating the news, maybe now was considered a good time to sneak the grim news past the American people.
Perhaps it was to avoid offending the sensibilities of the country helping to finance the Obama administration’s unconscionable debt. Maybe it was delayed to avoid questions as to why, with this growing threat, we are unilaterally disarming, shredding our nuclear inventory and canceling major weapons systems America needs to defend itself.
We have commented extensively on China’s growing threat, and this report, coming alongside news that China has passed Japan as the world’s second largest economy, confirms our worst fears as China builds a military far beyond its legitimate defense needs.
The 2010 report, curiously renamed the “Annual Report on Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China,” speaks of China’s program to deny U.S. forces access to regions it considers critical to its security.
“China is fielding an array of conventionally armed ballistic missiles, ground- and air-launched cruise missiles, special operations forces and cyberwarfare capabilities to hold targets at risk throughout the region,” the report says. These targets would be American bases and carrier battle groups that might be sent to aid Taiwan.
The 74-page Pentagon report also notes that China is “pursuing a variety of air, sea, undersea, space and counterspace” weapons designed specifically to attack U.S. forces. Primary among them is the Dong Feng 21D carrier-killer ballistic missile that can hit moving and heavily defended American carriers with pinpoint accuracy at distances between 900 and 1,000 miles from China’s coasts.
China’s midrange missiles are “designed to target forces at sea, combined with overhead and over-the-horizon targeting systems to locate and track moving ships. At the same time, China’s growing cyberwarfare and anti-satellite capabilities are designed to blind and hinder any U.S. military response.”
For anti-access airstrikes, the Chinese have home-built fighter aircraft as well as Russian Sukhoi SU-30s, all armed with anti-ship cruise missiles. At sea, anti-access weapons include guided missile ships equipped with anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles.
China’s increasingly blue-water navy includes Sovremenny-class guided-missile destroyers purchased from the Russians. They come equipped with supersonic, sea-skimming SS-N-22 Sunburn cruise missiles designed for one purpose: attack American carrier battle groups.
China has six nuclear-powered attack submarines and 54 quiet, diesel-electric submarines, many of them equipped with advanced, anti-ship cruise missiles. In October 2006, a Chinese Song-class attack submarine surfaced within weapons distance of the American carrier Kitty Hawk off Okinawa. China also plans to deploy two aircraft carriers of its own by 2015. It has already acquired four retired carriers.
As Defense Secretary Robert Gates leaves his post, we have more to worry about than our strategy in Afghanistan and the July 2011 target for withdrawal.
China is challenging diminishing American power in the Western Pacific and globally, and Gates’ replacement and the rest of the administration need to be grilled on what they intend to do about it, if anything.
Things continue to intensify on all sides of Israel. They are alone, with all the eyes of the world on them. Only three days left till Iran joins the nuclear club…
Two Israeli soldiers were wounded when Palestinian terrorists operating out of the Gaza Strip fired two mortar shells into southern Israel on Tuesday. The artillery fire came as part of escalating tension along the Gaza border that began a day earlier when Palestinian terrorists fired two rockets into southern Israel. There were no injuries in Monday’s rocket attack. Another Israeli soldier was wounded by sniper fire while intercepting a Palestinian terrorist cell in the Gaza Strip on Monday. Israeli forces spotted the terrorists moving toward the Gaza security fence, presumably with the intent of planting a bomb there for use against Israeli border patrols. Since the start of the year, Gaza-based terrorists have tried to plant 35 bombs along the security fence. In Monday’s confrontation, the Israeli troops opened fire on the terrorists, killing at least one. The terrorists returned fire, wounding one of the soldiers. The wounded soldier was evacuated to Soroka Hospital in nearby Beersheva in moderate condition.
A friend passed this video on to me, it outlines the topic very well, as well as the motives behind it. Great, advice from our friends across the pond…
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Pat Condell on Ground Zero mosque: “Is it possible to be astonished, but not surprised?”
Pat Condell ably articulates everything that’s wrong about the mosque at Ground Zero.
Today’s devotional is from Max Lucado’s Grace for the Moment:
Spiritual Bankruptcy
God will show his mercy forever and
ever to those who worship and serve him.
Luke 1:50
God does not save us because of what we’ve done. Only a puny god could be bought with tithes. Only an egotistical god would be impressed with our pain. Only a temperamental god could be satisfied by sacrifices. Only a heartless god would sell salvation to the highest bidders.
And only a great God does for his children what they can’t do for themselves.
God’s delight is received upon surrender, not awarded upon conquest. The first step to joy is a plea for help, an acknowledgement of moral destitution, an admission of inward paucity. Those who taste God’s presence have declared spiritual bankruptcy and are aware of their spiritual crisis…. Their pockets are empty. Their options are gone. They have long since stopped demanding justice; they are pleading for mercy.
One of my favorite verses is from the gospel of John and I believe aligns with this devotional above, it was what came to my mind after reading it. It is John 6:28-29, Jesus has just been asked by the crowd, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The works of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
That is what God considers “works”, belief in Jesus Christ! We can not save ourselves, it is something God has to do for us, as a good Father, as a gift!
This news report has been reported on several sites, Rapture Ready, Drudge, Fox News, but I pulled it from Frank DiMora’s site as he had a very good commentary on the prophecy ties as well as some great video’s I have embedded below as well with a BBC documentary on Israel’s struggle.
This could be a trigger event to a large set of prophecy. All we can do is wait and watch. Amazingly, all eyes are on Israel for the next week. The video series is very much worth watching. The BBC did an excellent job.
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Israel has “eight days” to launch a military strike against Iran’s Bushehr nuclear facility and stop Tehran from acquiring a functioning atomic plant, a former US envoy to the UN has said.
Iran is to bring online its first nuclear power reactor, built with Russia’s help, on August 21, when a shipment of nuclear fuel will be loaded into the plant’s core.
At that point, John Bolton warned Monday, it will be too late for Israel to launch a military strike against the facility because any attack would spread radiation and affect Iranian civilians.
“Once that uranium, once those fuel rods are very close to the reactor, certainly once they’re in the reactor, attacking it means a release of radiation, no question about it,” Bolton told Fox Business Network.
The world waits to see if Israel will attack Iran by Aug. 21, 2010. If they do get ready to enter the last phase of Bible prophecy. What phase is that? The start of the Psalm 83 war where Israel bordering nations will attack Israel after Israel bombs Iran’s nuclear power plant. Could the next 5 days bring us all to the doorstep of the seven year tribulation. I believe if we witness the Attack on Iran that there will be no question that the next wars will prove to everyone who has been waiting for Christ’s second coming that we have reached the final events that will not only cause the Psalm 83, and Ezekiel 38 war, but will help bring on the Antichrist. Watch the videos because it shows you what happened in the past and what they predict Israel will be forced to do with the Iranian nuclear plant. If you haven’t received Jesus by now you are now living on borrowed time. Don’t wait to ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, Christ can come back at any time and if you aren’t ready you will be tossed into the tribulation to face the Antichrist. This is what Satan wants for you, but Jesus is calling you, directing you all to come to Him before it is to late.
Prophecy Sign: Both Daniel and Jesus warned us that the old Roman Empire would again rise in the last days. That empire, the Western and Eastern legs of that empire have already been raise again. The Western leg is called the European Union and most of the nations in the EU use the currency called the euro. Although the EU has been hurting economically the euro is still out doing the US dollar. As the America economic scene looks more like a new depression China is turning to the euro. Is this things to come? Since Jesus warned of the rise of the old Roman Empire and we are seeing signs that nations want to turn to the euro instead of the dollar, we need to keep an eye on the EU.
“China Favors Euro Over Dollar as Bernanke Alters Path” “
China, whose $2.45 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves are the world’s largest, is turning bullish on Europe and Japan at the expense of the U.S. The nation has been buying “quite a lot” of European bonds, said Yu Yongding, a former adviser to the People’s Bank of China who was part of a foreign-policy advisory committee that visited France, Spain and Germany from June 20 to July 2. Japan’s Ministry of Finance said Aug. 9 that China bought 1.73 trillion yen ($20.1 billion) more Japanese debt than it sold in the first half of 2010, the fastest pace of purchases in at least five years. “Diversification should be a basic principle,” Yu said in an interview, adding a “top-level Chinese central banker” told him to convey to European policy makers China’s confidence in the region’s economy and currency. “We didn’t sell any European bonds or assets, instead we bought quite a lot.” China’s position may make it harder for the greenback to rebound after falling as much as 10 percent from this year’s peak in June as measured by the trade-weighted Dollar Index. The nation cut its holdings of U.S. government debt by $100 billion, or 11 percent, through June from last year’s record of $939.9 billion in July 2009, according to Treasury Department data released today.
It will be interesting to see how these proceed with the other rumors about troop build-up on the borders and talk of an attack on Iran’s nuclear plant.
Prophecy is coming true, all eyes are on Israel, a tiny little country with so much world focus. At some point, Israel will sign a peace agreement with the Antichrist that will be for seven years of peace and protection, which he will break at the half way point. That agreement will signify the begin of the Tribulation.
I do not believe this is it, but simply the build up to it, another iteration. Showing us that man still thinks he can bring peace to the world, when only God can.
Israel to establish c’tee to communicate with Palestinians.
Direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians will begin “in the very near future,” with a summit in either Washington or Cairo, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told reporters in Athens on Monday following a meeting with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.
Netanyahu discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran, and military and economic cooperation with his Greek counterpart in a one-on- one meeting that lasted an hour and a half. Papandreou and his wife, Ada, then accompanied Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, on a visit to the Acropolis.
“We are ready to go to Cairo, Washington, ready to go anywhere in order to give flesh and bones to this initiative and get this process moving,” Netanyahu said when asked by reporters whether the talks would begin in Egypt or in the US.
“For the past year and a half, I’ve been trying to have direct meetings, without a predetermined agenda, with the Palestinian Authority,” he said. “We have to have patience. Of course, we won’t need to wait for many months or many years. I believe that with some patience you will see results.”
Loss of 25 percent of Russian wheat crop worries international grain markets
By Miriam Elder
MOSCOW, Russia — The deadly forest fires ravaging the Russian countryside have wiped out a quarter of Russia’s grain crop, prompting the country to ban all wheat exports as of Sunday and inflaming worries of a global food crisis.
A similar food crisis in 2007-08 provoked riots around the developing world, from Bangladesh to Yemen and from Haiti to the Ivory Coast. Is the world in store for a similar fate this year? Not necessarily, analysts say.
This time around, global reserve stocks are stuffed, and healthy grain crops in countries like the U.S. and Argentina are expected to mitigate Russian shortfalls. This year, a crisis will likely be avoided, analysts say.
Yet with Russia already making predictions that its fall and winter planting will likely be disrupted, bigger problems could lie ahead. And analysts warn that a heavy reliance on this year’s record U.S.
crop means that if the weather stateside changes, all predictions would go out the window.
These are serious charges. Amazing article by World Net Daily. It will be interesting to see how the MSM handles them and if we see a reaction similar to that of Watergate. I am afraid we live in different times, where deception is both accepted, as well as so ingrained in our media system that it will not allow the truth to be heard. The Deception runs deep…
That is why we need to turn back to God, and put our faith in Him. He is the only one we can truly trust completely. His Word is the Truth and through accepting it, we will have eternal life with him in a world without deception, just peace.
Scathing Congress report slams Obama’s ‘covert, criminal activity’
President charged with illegally using taxpayer money to manipulate public
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, issued a scathing staff report today charging that the White House has “used the machinery of the Obama campaign to tout the president’s agenda through inappropriate and sometimes unlawful public relations and propaganda initiatives.”An advance pre-publication copy of the report
, accuses the White House of nothing short of criminal activity. It charges the Obama administration with violating federal laws to advance what the Government Accounting Office has characterized as an unlawful “covert campaign,” using federal resources “to activate a sophisticated propaganda and lobbying campaign.” WND Washington office with Issa’s, shared by
Pulling no punches, the Oversight Republican Report accuses the Obama White House of “violating federal law prohibiting the use of appropriated funds for publicity or propaganda purposes.”
“The White house has failed to transition from campaign mode to leadership mode and is now inappropriately leveraging those campaign-trail relationships to unlawfully generate support for the president’s agenda,” the report concludes.
Read in its entirety, the Oversight Republican Report charges the Obama administration with the type of callous, unethical and possibly criminal manipulation of public opinion that is reminiscent of Watergate and the illegal campaign activities engineered by Donald Segretti on behalf of the Committee to Re-Elect the President during Richard Nixon’s presidential election campaign of 1972.
In 1974, Donald Segretti pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of distributing illegal campaign materials, for which he served in federal prison four months of a six-month term.
The Obama administration’s abuses alleged in the Oversight Republican Report can be summed up under the term “astro-turfing,” a fraudulent public relations activity in which “the White House and the agency whose resources it is co-opting attempt to create the impression that grassroots support for a particular policy exists when in fact it has been fabricated using taxpayer dollars.”
The report points to several instances of alleged, unlawful abuses:
Prop 8 Ruling Could Criminalize Christianity, Leaders Warn
Monday, August 16, 2010 By Pete Winn, Senior Writer/Editor
(CNSNews.com) – Religious leaders warn that if an Aug. 6 ruling by a federal judge on same-sex marriage is upheld, it could wind up putting a gag on Christians speaking out about homosexuality – a gag that a top Southern Baptist leader says his denomination will not accept.
In a 136-page decision barring California’s Proposition 8, which limited marriage to one man and one woman, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker found that “Religious beliefs that gay and lesbian relationships are sinful or inferior to heterosexual relationships harm gays and lesbians.”
Mathew Staver, dean of the Liberty University Law School and chairman of the Orlando-based Liberty Counsel, said Walker’s finding is shocking, and, if upheld, would have ominous implications for Christians wanting to present the Bible’s position on homosexuality.
“It’s an astounding statement by a judge, and if that finding were to be upheld, it would criminalize Christian beliefs, because the Bible and Christian beliefs historically have clearly indicated that homosexuality is sex outside of marriage – and is contrary to God’s design,” Staver told CNSNews.com.
He added: “For this judge to say that Christian beliefs or religious beliefs contrary to homosexuality are actually harmful — what that essentially says is, that if that’s the case, then you’ve got to change your religious beliefs, and if you don’t, you’re going to be penalized as result. That is a very dangerous aspect of this court decision.”
Tensions are rising between these neighbors. I think this powder keg will probably ignite soon… who knows if it will be the full-blown prophesied Psalm 83 or another birth pain along the path. Here is some information about what God says about it…
If you look at the players in the Psalm 83 War, they include many of those strengthening their forces today.
MOUNT ADIR, Israel – With tensions mounting along their shared border, Israel’s military says Hezbollah is moving fighters and weapons into the villages of south Lebanon, building up a secret network of arms warehouses, bunkers and command posts in preparation for war.
The Israeli military has begun releasing detailed information about what it calls Hezbollah’s new border deployment, four years after a cross-border raid by its guerrillas triggered a 34-day war.
A reminder of the volatility came on Aug. 3, when Lebanese troops fired at Israeli soldiers clearing brush on their side of the border. One Israeli officer was killed, another badly wounded, and a retaliatory helicopter strike killed two Lebanese soldiers and a reporter.
Hezbollah, which is armed …
This source is a prescription based site so follow link below to original source.
This is a very interesting article. I am always amazed at how the two sides are treated differently by the Quartet and the media. Israel has said it will talk at any time without preconditions (meaning pre-decided boundary changes, or concessions).
This seems very reasonable with any negotiation, why should one side have to give up something to simply talk about the situation and solutions. Yet Israel is always made out as the bad guy for not accepting what ever preconditions are demanded (most of the time the concessions put their people’s safety at risk).
There is a lot of deception around these talks, make sure you check out several sources to get the full picture.
From the Prophecy perspective, it is said that in the end times, God will make Israel a burdensome stone and that all nations will turn against her. With the US beginning to back away from supporting Israel, we are beginning to see this come to pass. Be watchful, because God also prophesies that any nation that does not support Israel will be cut to pieces.
Zechariah 12:3 – “And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.”
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his “Septet” of trusted ministers met Sunday evening to discuss diplomatic moves expected to take place this week. They were reportedly set to reject a demand that the Quartet (the U.S., the U.N., the European Union and Britain) is apparently about to make, according to which Israel must pledge to enter direct negotiations with the Palestinian Authority and end them within a year’s time.
The preconditions were demanded by PA head Mahmoud Abbas, and the EU has reportedly accepted them. The U.S. is still undecided.
The Quartet will also demand that Israel continue the building freeze imposed on Jews in Judea and Samaria until the one-year-long negotiation period ends and that the guideline for the negotiation will be a return to 1949 ceasefire lines. Israel will reportedly reject these demands, too.
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, David Hale, was scheduled to meet in Ramallah Sunday evening with Abbas and to present him with the draft of an announcement that the Quartet intends to issue.
A senior PA source told London-based newspaper Al Sharq al-Awsat that the direct negotiations are a certainty. The source said that Abbas has been under “unprecedented and very heavy pressure from the U.S. and other countries that demand that he sit down to negotiations with Israel even though Israel refuses to commit to anything in advance.”
The Arab world, he said, has abandoned Abbas and left him alone in the fray.
Once a week the two men that manage Rapture Ready write an article. It is the Nearing Midnight section and I would suggest checking it out each Monday. Here is what Terry wrote this week.
This article sums up pretty well, the struggles I went through internally with God as he convinced me to launch this site. Since giving into His Will, I must confess, I have not felt any animosity toward non-believers or those that have not awoken yet. Instead, I feel this urgency to wake as many as I can before God’s timeline runs its course.
I use the term “wake up” simply because that is the feeling I felt when my eyes were open to looking at life through the third lens of scripture. Once I was awakened, all of the events took on a more positive note, more like amazement at God’s power and the Truth of His Word, then fear. Yes, these events still concern me and I sometimes lose sleep, but it is so much better than before I woke up.
One of the most false and cutting accusations launched at the belief that the Bible teaches that a person cannot lose his or her salvation when truly born again (John 3:3) is: “If you believe once saved, always saved, you are saying that people can live any way they want without fear of punishment.” Or so the line of condemning criticism goes.
The absolute assurance of eternal security, of course, engenders no such thought within the mind truly regenerated by the saving power of Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that the Lord convicts His children in their spirits, and that habitual, unrepented-of sin will result in severe penalties–even physical death, in some cases. The Heavenly Father’s patience is longsuffering, but it is not infinite.
A person who is a child of God cannot sin without severe repercussions, if repentance isn’t forthcoming. But, that person will never be kicked out of God’s family. Never.
A kindred sort of accusation is thrown at those who believe in the Pre-Trib view of Bible prophecy. The Pre-Tribulation view, of course, is the one we at Rapture Ready believe God’s Word teaches. It is the view that Jesus Christ will call all who are born again to Himself before the Tribulation, which is the last seven years of history leading to the Second Advent (Rev. 19: 11).
The angry diatribe against the Pre-Trib Rapture view–by even genuine Christians, in many cases–usually goes something like this: “People like you, who believe that the Lord is going to rapture them before the Tribulation, think you can live however you want, because you think and teach falsely that you are going to be rescued before God’s judgment and wrath fall, no matter what.”
The non-Christian accusers who castigate those of us who hold the Pre-Trib rapture view have their own version. It goes something like: “Christians who believe like that don’t care anything about making the world better. You even hope for things to get worse and worse. You wish for earthquakes, famines, pestilence, war in the Middle East, and for Armageddon to hurry up and get here so you will go to your pie in the sky, and watch the rest of us get ours.”
Although the first criticism is absolutely not true, I have to admit that, regarding the second, too often I’ve sensed–even heard–such sentiments from some of those who believe in the Pre-Trib rapture. And, it is entirely the wrong attitude for the Christian to hold. There are no excuses for wanting the Christ-rejecting world of non-believers to be the recipients of God’s judgment and wrath. It is only by God’s unfathomable grace that every one of us isn’t headed into that time of unprecedented horror.
No matter how–to use Lot’s King James Version word–“vexed” we becomes by the debauched, debased actions of the lost world around us, our job as Christ’s children–His representatives here on earth–is of a completely different nature than wanting to see them “get what’s coming” to them. The changed nature produced by being born again into God’s eternal family should make you and me do just the opposite of wanting them, in our vexation, to get what we see as coming to them.
The Christian whose spirit is attuned to the Holy Spirit’s desire for the lost doesn’t want to see them “get what’s coming to them” either during the Tribulation or upon death. Rather, we want to do all within our power to keep them from having to go through the coming time of God’s judgment and wrath. That’s what Christ’s Great Commission to His disciples before He ascended to sit at the Father’s right hand is all about, you see. That is what God’s love–love that those who have Christ indwelling them possess–is all about. (Read Matthew 28:18-20.)
In the same vein, that’s what Bible prophecy is all about. Prophecy given in God’s Word has purpose–profound purpose. Bible prophecy has at its center the commission from the Lord to forewarn of God’s judgment and wrath to come upon all who oppose Him–the Lord of Heaven and Creator of all things. It is not the hatred of God for the lost people of this fallen planet that drives prophecy. It is the love of God that powers His prophetic Word. It must be the Christian’s desire, therefore, to study Bible prophecy and put forth those forewarnings out of a spirit of God’s love, not through an anger-filled abhorrence of those who are lost.
Christians who do study prophecy–and they seem to be few these days, I’m sad to have to say–are often heard wondering about when Christ will call the church (born-again believers) in the rapture. Everything seems so ripe for His plucking His people from this sin-darkened sphere.
Nothing and no one can change God’s timing for His next catastrophic intervention into earth’s history. It will happen exactly on time, as He has determined since before the foundation of this world. However, we might as believers look to ourselves for the Lord’s–often in our view–delay in calling us as outlined in 1 Corinthians 15:51-55 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
The apostle Peter gave the heart of the reason Christ hasn’t raptured His church: “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” (2 Pet. 3:9).
The purpose of Bible prophecy is to show the love of God to a lost and otherwise doomed world. God is not willing that anyone should perish (die in his or her sins), but that all should come to repentance (accept Jesus Christ as the one and only sacrifice for sin that God will accept).
The Lord is “longsuffering.” The reason, I’m convinced, that the Lord seems so “slack” to many in His coming is because those same people have neglected their duty to share the love of God with the lost–the lost whom God loves so very much that He sent His only begotten Son in order that they not perish.
It is well past the time for God’s people to begin investing in getting the message of the love of God to those who will otherwise not hear the warning of deadly things soon to befall this Christ-rejecting planet. Considering these times that so dramatically are signaling the coming Tribulation, Bible prophecy can and must be used as a productive tool for evangelism.
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." -- Ephesians 2:8-10
In an unusual move, the Associated Press has publicly released 
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