On October 14th 2009, Lord Christopher Monckton, a noted climate change expert, gave a presentation at Bethel College in St. Paul, MN in which he issued a dire warning regarding the United Nations Climate Change Treaty which is scheduled to be signed in Copenhagen in December 2009.
Bible prophecy is proceeding rapidly. Once the rapture hits, America's preeminence in the world will come to an end. An age of lawlessness (more on that later) and darkness will overcome the world in a seven-year period known as the Tribulation (Daniel's 70th week). Pray now to receive the free gift that Jesus paid for you on the cross. There's not much time left.
Johnny Cash
Read the article from The Independent in its original form here.
The Demise of the Dollar
By Robert Fisk
In a graphic illustration of the new world order, Arab states have launched secret moves with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading
In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning - along with China, Russia, Japan and France - to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar.
Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars.
The plans, confirmed to The Independent by both Gulf Arab and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong, may help to explain the sudden rise in gold prices, but it also augurs an extraordinary transition from dollar markets within nine years.
The Americans, who are aware the meetings have taken place - although they have not discovered the details - are sure to fight this international cabal which will include hitherto loyal allies Japan and the Gulf Arabs. Against the background to these currency meetings, Sun Bigan, China's former special envoy to the Middle East, has warned there is a risk of deepening divisions between China and the US over influence and oil in the Middle East. "Bilateral quarrels and clashes are unavoidable," he told the Asia and Africa Review. "We cannot lower vigilance against hostility in the Middle East over energy interests and security."
This sounds like a dangerous prediction of a future economic war between the US and China over Middle East oil - yet again turning the region's conflicts into a battle for great power supremacy. China uses more oil incrementally than the US because its growth is less energy efficient. The transitional currency in the move away from dollars, according to Chinese banking sources, may well be gold. An indication of the huge amounts involved can be gained from the wealth of Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar who together hold an estimated $2.1 trillion in dollar reserves.
The decline of American economic power linked to the current global recession was implicitly acknowledged by the World Bank president Robert Zoellick. "One of the legacies of this crisis may be a recognition of changed economic power relations," he said in Istanbul ahead of meetings this week of the IMF and World Bank. But it is China's extraordinary new financial power - along with past anger among oil-producing and oil-consuming nations at America's power to interfere in the international financial system - which has prompted the latest discussions involving the Gulf states.
Brazil has shown interest in collaborating in non-dollar oil payments, along with India. Indeed, China appears to be the most enthusiastic of all the financial powers involved, not least because of its enormous trade with the Middle East.
China imports 60 per cent of its oil, much of it from the Middle East and Russia. The Chinese have oil production concessions in Iraq - blocked by the US until this year - and since 2008 have held an $8bn agreement with Iran to develop refining capacity and gas resources. China has oil deals in Sudan (where it has substituted for US interests) and has been negotiating for oil concessions with Libya, where all such contracts are joint ventures.
Furthermore, Chinese exports to the region now account for no fewer than 10 per cent of the imports of every country in the Middle East, including a huge range of products from cars to weapon systems, food, clothes, even dolls. In a clear sign of China's growing financial muscle, the president of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, yesterday pleaded with Beijing to let the yuan appreciate against a sliding dollar and, by extension, loosen China's reliance on US monetary policy, to help re-balance the world economy and ease upward pressure on the euro.
Ever since the Bretton Woods agreements - the accords after the Second World War which bequeathed the architecture for the modern international financial system - America's trading partners have been left to cope with the impact of Washington's control and, in more recent years, the hegemony of the dollar as the dominant global reserve currency.
The Chinese believe, for example, that the Americans persuaded Britain to stay out of the euro in order to prevent an earlier move away from the dollar. But Chinese banking sources say their discussions have gone too far to be blocked now. "The Russians will eventually bring in the rouble to the basket of currencies," a prominent Hong Kong broker told The Independent. "The Brits are stuck in the middle and will come into the euro. They have no choice because they won't be able to use the US dollar."
Chinese financial sources believe President Barack Obama is too busy fixing the US economy to concentrate on the extraordinary implications of the transition from the dollar in nine years' time. The current deadline for the currency transition is 2018.
The US discussed the trend briefly at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh; the Chinese Central Bank governor and other officials have been worrying aloud about the dollar for years. Their problem is that much of their national wealth is tied up in dollar assets.
"These plans will change the face of international financial transactions," one Chinese banker said. "America and Britain must be very worried. You will know how worried by the thunder of denials this news will generate."
Iran announced late last month that its foreign currency reserves would henceforth be held in euros rather than dollars. Bankers remember, of course, what happened to the last Middle East oil producer to sell its oil in euros rather than dollars. A few months after Saddam Hussein trumpeted his decision, the Americans and British invaded Iraq.
"Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries."
(Revelation 18:2-3)
Who will come to America's aid when the money runs out? I do not believe this will happen during the Church Age. However, once Jesus comes for His bride (the church) America's preeminent global reign will cease. Not something I personally wish for, yet this must happen in order to facilitate the rise of the Antichrist and a one world government. The link to the original Front Page Mag article is here.
Johnny Cash
The Worst is Yet to Come
By: Vasko Kohlmayer
Monday, August 31, 2009
"Today, we're pointed in the right direction... While we've rescued our economy from catastrophe, we've also begun to build a new foundation for growth,” said President Obama recently.
Unfortunately, the president's declarations and all the talk about the green shoots by his acolytes in the media are merely wishful thinking. Far from rescuing it, the Bush/Obama stimulus has dealt a damaging blow to the economy, and one which will exert its harmful effects for years to come. We only need to take a quick look at the big picture to see why.
Last year the American economic system experienced major trauma as more and more banks, companies and individuals were brought to the verge of bankruptcy. In most cases their plight was caused by their inability to service their liabilities. Buoyed by the easy availability of cheap credit and loose monetary policy of preceding years, government, commercial entities as well as private persons had taken on unprecedented levels of debt. Paul Craig Roberts, formerly Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration, correctly points out that we lived in “a debt economy.” Writing in Journal Sentinel, John Torinus, a banker with experience in leveraged buyouts, described the astonishingly lax mindset that had come to dominate the whole sphere of borrowing:
The investment banks that crashed and burned were leveraged as high as 35 to 1. Their 3% equity base disappeared in a sinkhole of excessive debt... The excessive leverage went far beyond the investment banks. Home buyers could get insured or federally backed mortgages with 5% down or sometimes less. They were leveraged 20 to 1 or more. Credit checks were loose.
The cheap credit – which was made possible by artificially low interest rates – brought on the borrowing frenzy to a feverish pitch. Paul Craig Roberts observes:
The debt economy caused Americans to leverage their assets. They refinanced their homes and spent the equity. They maxed out numerous credit cards. They worked as many jobs as they could find. Debt expansion and multiple family incomes kept the economy going.
Toward the end of 2008 the overall debt level – public, commercial and personal – in the American economy was well over $50 trillion. This was three and a half times the size of the country's total economic output (around $14 trillion) and more than double the debt level of 2000. At over 350 percent, this made ours the most over leveraged economy in history. To put it bluntly, all of us – individuals, businesses and especially government – lived beyond our means. The American economy was over-leveraged through and through.
The racket held while the economy boomed. But once it seized, the over-indebtedness became unsustainable and things began falling apart. Describing this process, Nouriel Roubinini, one of America's leading financial commentators, wrote in Forbes:
Americans lived in a "Made-off" and Ponzi bubble economy for a decade or even longer. Madoff is the mirror of the American economy and of its over-leveraged agents: a house of cards of leverage over leverage by households, financial firms and corporations that has now collapsed in a heap.
Painful as the impending bankruptcies tsunami would have been, it would have ultimately delivered a remedy. In order for an economic system to remain viable, excessive indebtedness must be corrected and those responsible chastised for their misjudgment. It is for this purpose that the market evolved the institution of bankruptcy. Had it been left to unfold unimpeded, the process would have reduced the overall leverage and the economy would have eventually found itself on a sound footing once again.
The government, however, resolved not to allow the market do its work. In a misguided attempt to avert the necessary pain, it began propping up failing enterprises and individuals with more easy credit and direct cash injections. And even though it was initially advertised as a relatively short-term and targeted effort, the operation has been ongoing for nearly nine months while continually expanding in scope.
This approach is fundamentally flawed on a number of levels. To begin with, the government's actions interfere with the market's corrective forces. But the most obvious problem is that the government simply does not have the money to do this. It is ironic that even before it embarked on its “rescue” effort, the government itself was already more deeply indebted than the companies it sought to save. With some $65 trillion in total obligations, the federal government was, in fact, the most over-leveraged institution in America.
The rescue has unsurprisingly turned out to be a singularly expensive undertaking. So much so that the government's deficit at the end of this fiscal year will exceed the previous record by nearly a factor of four. At some 11 percent of GDP, this is also the highest peacetime deficit in American history when measured as a portion of the overall economy.
If the government's strategy – bailing out debt-ridden companies and individuals by enlarging its own astronomical debt – seems misguided, it is. There is an old truism that says you cannot get out of debt by running deeper into debt. And yet this is precisely what the government has been trying to do. This is why its approach will ultimately fail.
The authors of the latest Comstock Partners special report put their finger on the crux of the matter. Countering the conventional wisdom of the spend-and-stimulate Keynesians, they write:
We, however, don't believe that the U.S. massive stimulus programs and money printing can solve a problem of excess debt generation... If this were the answer Argentina would be one of the most prosperous countries in the world. This excess debt actually resulted from the same money printing and easy money that we are now using to alleviate the pain.
The bailouts reward bad management and irresponsible businesses practices and forestall the remedy the market is trying to administer. Contrary to what we have been told, all those injections of credit and capital do not contain a cure. Instead they are filled with the noxious serum of public debt whose toxic effects are slowly poisoning the whole system. The festering sores of the economic crisis have been only temporarily masked with government made bailout band aids, but those are no thicker than a dollar bill. The sickness will eventually break out again, but next time it will hit with greater intensity.
Our over-leveraged government can give out those lavish bailouts only because it can still borrow at low interest. But bond investors have been growing increasingly vocal in expressing their doubts about the government's ability to make good on its debts. It is only a matter of time before they start demanding higher bond yields. When that happens, borrowing will become prohibitively expensive. Saddled with an enormous debt and with no one to advance easy cash, the government will find itself in the same position as the companies it is trying to save today. When that moment finally arrives, there will be no one to finance the ultimate bail out. If you thought that letting a couple of big banks fail would have been bad, wait what happens when the federal government itself goes under.
Make no mistake: The worst is still yet to come.
Not all churches have gone by the wayside. Sadly, many have - both Catholic and Protestant alike. You can basically boil it down to three main points. First, sound Biblical doctrine is abandoned. Second, the false church will emphasize sensuality and our experience as a means to reach God. Lastly, the move towards ecumenism and a one-world religion. Watch this six-minute video and/or read the points below for yourself.
President Barack Obama was in Arizona recently selling his mortgage relief plan. As stratfor notes, this 'concentrates an unprecedented amount of financial power in government hands'. It also dovetails perfectly with Bible prophecy. If more and more money can be funneled into fewer and fewer hands, then all the money (and all the power) can be bestowed to one man. Lenin (and Jesus) was right! Imperialism is the highest form of capitalism.
Johnny Cash
A lot of Americans are enamored of Ron Paul (R-Texas) and I can see why. The GOP should've stood behind this man (or Mike Huckabee) instead of John McCain. Rep. Paul is a free market advocate and a straight-shooter, a rarity in Washington. He's the man that George W. Bush always wanted to be but never was. Highly unlikely that President-elect Obama will give Rep. Paul the time of day.
Johnny Cash
After Jesus told Nicodemus 'For God so loved the world .....', He gave us this warning about those who choose darkness over the light:
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
(John 3:19-21)
Saving the World Can Be Hazardous to Your Health
Have you heard of this 'one world' movement? You know what I'm talking about: That annoying touchy-feely Hollywood PC that has all the charm and romance of a malignant brain tumor. Were it not for such conservative thinkers such as Pat Buchanan, this type of doe-eyed pacifism would destroy us.
All Is One, Dammit!
All is indeed one - except for those who see this sham for what it truly is. Do you want to know the greatest lie out there today? It goes something like this:
Truth divides and causes problems (true). Therefore, eliminate truth (and all those who speak it) and all our divisions and problems will cease (false).
To the short-sighted and foolish this logic makes sense. But like all good lies, it must have an element of truth in order for it to be believed. 'Let us rid ourselves of these truthmongers', the elites tell us, 'and then shall we have our godless utopia!'. Know what I call that? A death wish. Here in point form is my refutation of that silly lie:
There is no unity apart from truth.
Truth is not some inanimate object that we play with for a while and afterwards throw it away when we get bored.
Truth is a person whom we know as Jesus Christ. Jesus is the visible, undeniable and physical manifestation of truth. Therefore whoever rejects Christ rejects truth also. Hence, there will never be unity in a Christ-rejecting world.
Truth is both timeless and universal. All the time, everywhere! What a concept! Like it or not religion matters, be it in church, business or in nation-wide elections. Despite all the secularists' best efforts, people are still defending the cause of Christ.
There is no 'Whatever, whatever, whatever' when it comes to truth. Either something is or it is not. If it be true then we must seize it. If it is false it must be vigorously opposed. So yes, truth does divide. Who says that's necessarily a bad thing? What's wrong with making the right kind of enemies? What's wrong with striking fear into the hearts of those who wish to eliminate our God-given freedoms? There's nothing wrong with it!
Calling out our Enemies: Islam, the Loony Left and the Law
As I see it, we have a choice. We can fight in the darkness and lose. Or we can fight in the light and achieve victory. There cannot, nor will there ever be, peace, justice and unity apart from victory. For it is only in the crucible of victory that freedom is upheld.
Recently in Canada and in Europe, it is obvious where the real allegiances of our courts lie. The term 'legal jihad' has greater swath than ever before. Our dhimmi courts have abandoned our Judeo-Christian traditions and have sided with the enemy.
Does the term 'amoral sociopath' mean anything to these MoveOn.org types? Bill O'Reilly exposes an outlandish ad launched recently smearing Republican candidate John McCain. The concept of 'shame' and 'accuracy in journalism' is forever lost to them.
Were they just plain annoying (not to mention rude and abrasive), we could ignore the Left completely. But as observers of both Islam and the Left, it is clear that an 'Unholy Alliance' of sorts has arisen. In this Daniel Pipes article, a particular paragraph for me stood out:
Throughout his life, Michel Foucault's concept of authenticity meant looking at situations where people lived dangerously and flirted with death, the site where creativity originated. In the tradition of Friedrich Nietzsche and Georges Bataille, Foucault had embraced the artist who pushed the limits of rationality and he wrote with great passion in defense of irrationalities that broke new boundaries. In 1978, Foucault found such transgressive powers in the revolutionary figure of Ayatollah Khomeini and the millions who risked death as they followed him in the course of the Revolution. He knew that such "limit" experiences could lead to new forms of creativity and he passionately threw in his support.
Great passion in the defence of irrationalities? No wonder these socialists scare us!
The Forces of Light: The (Hidden) Army of Jesus Christ
Gospel for Asia missionary Layak Kamol risks his life every time he walks to church and back. Anti-Christian fanatics have threatened him numerous times that they will kill him because he continues to share Christ in Chhattisgarh, India. On June 29, they did more than threaten.
You can read the rest here.
Jesus said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26)
Do you believe?
Johnny Cash
French President Nicolas Sarkozy's rise has not gone unnoticed by us Bible scholars particularly as it concerns Europe. Daniel gives us this prophecy of a kingdom that has at least partially arrived:
After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns. (Daniel 7:7)
The move towards greater military integration is the third step that the EU is about to take (the first being economic and the second political). France's move to re-join NATO represents a giant leap forward in end-time prophecy.
Johnny Cash
Nicolas Sarkozy Speaking in London
EU, NATO: Sarkozy's European Defence Plan
April 2, 2008
Summary
French President Nicolas Sarkozy not only wants to return France to NATO’s fold — he also wants to bring the European Union and NATO closer together. His plan for European defense involves close cooperation, rather than competition, between the European Union and NATO. If he can drum up support for his plan at the current NATO summit, Sarkozy will be in a much better position to earn support from EU members during France’s EU presidency in the latter half of 2008.
Analysis
French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s vision for future defense relations between the European Union and NATO has become clearer in recent days. In addition to France’s reintegration as a full member of NATO’s military command (a topic to be discussed at the April 2-4 NATO summit), Sarkozy will seek support, especially from the United Kingdom and United States, for bringing the European Union closer to NATO. He hopes to convert the old dream of an autonomous EU army into a specialized European force operating in tandem with NATO.
In the past, Europe has suffered from two divisive impulses that weakened its collective security. On one hand, European countries recognized the absolute need for protection provided by the United States and its creation, NATO. On the other, many countries felt a desire for self-reliance and freedom from U.S. interests. France, under the leadership of Jacques Chirac, hoped to take advantage of this latter impulse of U.S. resentment by creating the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP), which was to rival NATO as Europe’s defender while serving as an instrument of French power.
Now Sarkozy is redefining Europe’s security and defense strategy in a distinctly post-Gaullist and post-Chirac way.
He first signaled a break from previous French policy when he announced that he would bring France back into NATO as a full member. (France withdrew from the integrated command structure in 1966, though it increased participation under Chirac.) Some NATO members might grumble that France is a Johnny-come-lately, but most will be happy to have France back in the fold.
In addition to rejoining NATO, Sarkozy’s administration has devoted press time to proclaiming France’s partnerships with the United States and United Kingdom as “beacons of freedom” in the world. With Germany’s reunification and resurgence spurring competition, France is attempting to realign its interests with the Anglo-American alliance. Because France is a formidable military power on the Continent, European defense is an area where it can strengthen ties with its Anglo allies while one-upping Germany. Also, by the same means, France can send a clear message to Russia about European self-sufficiency.
But such an alliance means France must revise its concept of European defense. An independent EU army that is both financially sustainable and strategically effective is highly unlikely to develop. The European Union currently sustains troops in Bosnia and Chad and will soon rotate troops into Kosovo to replace U.N. peacekeepers. But these forces have strictly defined missions, little flexibility, minimal rapid deployment capacity and few resources. To build a coherent and enduring fighting force for all of Europe would require funds that no EU member has to spare. And as they stand, few EU armies could make a significant contribution to a pan-European army in terms of materiel and personnel. Of 300,000 troops available from NATO members, 290,000 are already committed. Sarkozy realizes these inherent limitations for the European Union’s defense structure and has therefore conceded that the ESDP cannot — and should not — rival NATO for military dominance.
But Sarkozy expects some returns for his renewed devotion to NATO. After Sarkozy’s recent talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, it is clear what Paris wants from London in exchange: British support in transforming the old dream of an independent EU army into a special European component under NATO’s aegis. In particular, France needs British approval to build a European military command headquarters on the Continent.
The advantages of a coordinated EU-NATO defense policy are manifold. First, member states of both organizations would be able to consolidate their military spending. (Only a few members are spending NATO’s recommended minimum 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense.) They would also avoid the costly redundancy of paying for the upkeep of both NATO and the ESDP. Moreover, all parties — even countries such as Turkey, which are involved in NATO but not the European Union — will save money when the European Union and NATO stop intentionally obstructing each other, as when France interfered with NATO’s attempts to acquire transport aircraft, for example.
But the most significant advantage of a closer EU-NATO partnership would come from uniting the European Union’s trade policy and civilian policing capabilities with NATO’s military might. The combined efforts of these two organizations would be considerably more difficult for countries from Sudan to Iran to resist.
As compensation for France’s return to NATO — especially in the interest of building a unified Western power capable of reaching the farthest corners of the globe to intervene economically and militarily — the United States will probably agree to assist Sarkozy in creating a European substructure within NATO.
Inevitably, major budgetary problems will challenge France’s plan for EU defense. But if Sarkozy and his ministers succeed in drumming up support at the ongoing NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania, Paris will be in a much better position to cajole EU members in July, when it takes over the rotating EU presidency. Then Europe can begin bridging the chasm that has divided its defense structures for decades.
So many people overlook the book of Genesis as a significant contributor to Bible prophecy. Diligent study of this much revered book reveals some startling facts about modern technology and its true beginnings.
The Tower of Babel
Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." (Genesis 11:1-4)
You know what happens next:
But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." (Genesis 11:5-7)
God Cannot Deny Himself
Funny how the LORD refers to Himself in the plural form. 'Come, let us go down' He says. This is not a fluke. In Genesis 1:26 He uses the plural form 'us' and 'our' instead of the singular 'me' and 'my'. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one.
One Language and a Common Speech
Don't you find God's objections most curious? God says "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them." What's the lingua franca of the internet? It's English. It's the one language and a common speech now in global usage. The majority of information being exported on the web is in English. Much of the instruction the world receives is in English, usually to mixed results. None of this could have come about except for two important events:
a) The rise of American power after WW II and;
b) The world wide web was originally created by the American military and is currently HQ'ed in California.
History Comes Full Circle: Modern Day Iraq
The plains of Shinar where the Tower of Babel was built is in Iraq. Guess which country once had the Garden of Eden?
The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. (Genesis 2:14)
Even the Muslims refer to Iraq as 'The Land of Two Rivers'. No other country can boast of these two unique rivers. Seeing as the Garden of Eden was a big place, I bet you Baghdad was right smack dab in the middle of it. Man's rebellion against God began in Iraq. Original sin entered this world through Iraq. Abraham and Sarah sojourned there too a long time ago. Where are we today? Trying to rebuild Iraq with American dollars. I firmly believe that history is linear and not circular. However there's something about 'returning to the scene of the crime' that piques my curiousity. The internet may be distinctly American in its origins but the real birthplace is where Adam first sinned and corruption entered the Earth.
Johnny Cash
Good Friday everyone! Thought I'd share this little nugget from stratfor. The original link to this article can be found here. Another related article is found here too. Both require memberships to access. Or you can just listen to the stratfor free podcast on this subject.
I found this article fascinating. The Bible talks about financial 'birth pangs' in the last days:
When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!" (Revelations 6:5-6)
My friends, we are not there yet. These are simply shadows of things to come. Take note of the massive gov't intervention used in both the American and the U.K. cases. Calls for greater regulation and oversight is always a portend to global government.
Johnny Cash
Global Market Brief: The Bear Stearns Bailout and Calls for Oversight
March 20, 2008
Bear Stearns Cos was the first major Wall Street player to fall under pressure from the housing and credit market crises. The Federal Reserve’s historic rescue — in which the central bank extended credit to investment banks and guaranteed up to $30 billion of the failed investment bank and securities trading brokerage so it could be purchased by JP Morgan Chase & Co. — marked a new level of U.S. government intervention in the financial markets.
The U.S. financial community will have new expectations and requirements. This is underscored by a March 20 announcement from Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the U.S. Congress House Financial Services Committee, that he favors the creation of a new regulatory body (or new duties within the Fed) to monitor credit institutions’ risks. However, what is taking place now is large-scale tinkering, not a fundamental shift away from the underlying philosophy of American financial markets — a philosophy designed to punish mismanagement and promote economic efficiency and returns on investments.
When to Bail
The Fed has heretofore reserved the use of the discount window (a monetary mechanism in which the central bank makes short-term loans to banks facing liquidity shortages) for commercial banks. But the Fed created a similar system for the much more complex world of investment banking when it announced March 14 that it would extend unlimited credit to investment banks and brokerage houses for six months. This move, which secured $30 billion in funds from the Fed to back up some of Bear Sterns’ assets as part of the JP Morgan Chase deal, prevented what could have been a domino effect across financial markets. If individuals and institutions could not make transactions from their Bear Stearns accounts because of the firm’s lack of cash, those individuals and institutions would have lacked the money to pay up on other liabilities, potentially triggering a wave of bankruptcies. JP Morgan Chase’s Fed-insured buyout guarantees that Bear Stearns’ trading obligat ions are met and prevents the start of a cascade of bank failures.
Whenever the government of a predominantly free-market economy makes such interventions, critics often say the government is “undermining capitalism.” Such interventions can bring about the so-called “moral hazard” condition in which investors make unsound and overly-risky decisions because they know someone or something will eliminate or soften the blow of unwise business decisions. In this case, laissez-faire advocates fear that banks will be less inhibited with reckless lending in anticipation of state assistance if there is a massive run on their funds. Some say that if negative consequences are softened or removed, investors eventually will only see the possible rewards of such behavior, resulting in a bubble that must eventually burst.
The United Kingdom recently experienced a dilemma directly related to the subprime meltdown. When Northern Rock bank was faltering, London decided to nationalize it rather than risk a cascade of failures throughout its financial houses. The government has pledged to sell the bank’s assets to the private market when the global credit crisis diminishes, but British taxpayers will ultimately bear any risks associated with any of the bank’s failings. This decision led to accusations that the Labor government was backing away from its decade-long commitment to more pro-market economic principles.
While the U.S. government did not nationalize a major private financial institution, it did intervene to back up the assets of a failing institution, insuring that investors whose money was managed by Bear Sterns were allowed to continue market transactions. However, this was not — and will not be — without considerable costs to Bear Stearns’ management and shareholders. Institutions and individuals who put their savings into or worked at Bear Stearns are not being “bailed out.” Half of the firm’s 1,400 employees could be laid off during restructuring. Bear Stearns shareholders are being offered $2 per share in the JPMorgan Chase acquisition; shares were priced at $50 each at closing the previous night.
Had the government supported the management and shareholders of Bear Stearns throughout this turbulent period, a fundamental change in American capitalism may have been abreast. However, those directly involved with Bear Sterns are profoundly hurt by the week’s events, and such harsh realities promote the efficiency of U.S. markets and high returns for investors.
Had the Fed bailed out a smaller firm whose failing would not have seriously affected global markets, as is often done in Asian economies, then fears that the Fed is not properly guarding against moral hazard would be well-founded. However, in the Bear Stearns case, the stakes were too high.
Why the United States Will Not Be Japan
In the United States, the financial system’s efficiency and robustness are maintained largely through self-regulation that often entails severe legal ramifications and little mercy for failing companies. This fear keeps managers in check. While the safety net exists for depositors rather than the failing businesses and shareholders, U.S. financial institutions will remain competitive. Were the United States headed in the direction of Asian financial markets — in which non-performing loans (NPLs) are a way of life and government bailouts are commonplace and not viewed negatively — then there would be cause for concern.
In contrast, the Japanese government often lavishly protects firms suffering from sudden bouts of illiquidity or insolvency, as well as the firms’ shareholders and management (such protection is often greatest for the worst-performing institutions). During the 1990s, Japan experienced a wave of bank failures, but the country’s banking regulator — the Financial Reconstruction Commission — was protecting the banks. As the banks were cleaned up, few managers faced charges of wrongdoing or corruption leaving the system open to further mismanagement.
Japan’s financial system is dominated by “relationship banking,” broadly defined as the nurturing of personal relationships that often trump sound financial decisions. The system also emphasizes maintaining social and political stability, a characteristic found in most East Asian financial practices. Ultimately, this prevents the markets from exerting discipline on bank managers and eliminating NPLs. In Japan, the expectation of bailouts means that policies and personnel do not change and problems are allowed to fester.
Japan can only continuously fund and bail out its financial sector by maintaining a stranglehold on the ultimate source of money: Japanese depositors. In order to fund the financial system, Japanese and many Chinese consumers are forced to deposit their money into government-influenced institutions. This does not occur in the United States, which does not prop up banks.
New Needs and Regulations
A fundamentally new development is unfolding, however. Until this crisis, the Fed had not opened up its credit window to investment and brokerage firms which are less tightly regulated and typically more speculative than normal banks. Now, however, the Fed is offering to be a lender of last resort to 20 major Wall Street firms. It is allowing investment banks to borrow money in return for collateral; thus, these firms’ assets could be put on the line. With the entrance of the Fed into their affairs, investment banks and brokerages could look back at this period as the point when they lost their full independence.
Most firms take pride in their independence. Outside assistance can indicate that their houses are not in order. However, the opportunity the Fed is offering could encourage more risk-taking and leveraging, ultimately leading to more bad loans. Now that the Fed has established itself as a safety net, its key challenge lies in determining how much collateral it will require to prevent firms from undertaking too much risk under the assumption that they now have access to easier money.
The House Financial Service Committee’s Frank addressed these concerns head on by calling for a reassessment of capital, margin and leverage requirements for the financial sector. Frank’s call for a “risk regulator” is vague at this point, but if it catches on, it could move significant oversight away from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to the Fed or lead to the creation of a new regulatory body. The Fed’s new role as a source of money for investment banks would never come without new restrictions and new government powers — and they are coming.
In the short term, new regulations could exacerbate the current credit crunch by creating more confusion and barriers to liquidity. But in the long term, the U.S. government will be obliged to regulate investment banks the way they do regular banks, as the former increasingly compete against the latter, and they all obtain similar insurance guarantees. If regulations are not extended to investment and securities firms, those firms would be able to access the Fed as banks do but without submitting to oversight and risk assessments.
If policymakers begin to demand that the Fed or another body have an active role in investment banks’ activities, the final critical question will be the degree to which these houses will have to open their book to regulators, as other banks already do. In the past 10 years, most have opened their books a crack in order to list on the New York Stock Exchange — a move that many insiders fought. Any increased Fed support will require more openness than just a crack.
There are three levels when nation-states decide to integrate themselves. The first level in economic. The second is political and the third (and the most advanced) is military co-operation. It appears that NATO is now at the third stage. What an incredible advancement in Bible prophecy this is! You can be lazy and listen to the stratfor podcast here.
Johnny Cash
Geopolitical Diary: The Future of the NATO Alliance
January 23, 2008 0330 GMT
A summit of NATO heads of state scheduled for April 2-4 in Bucharest, Romania, appears to have gotten its first real jumpstart about 10 days ago with the circulation of a manifesto written by distinguished and well-respected former senior military officers from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France and the Netherlands who served at the height of their careers during the early post-Soviet years. The impressive list of names at the end of the paper includes former NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe and former U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. John Shalikashvili, former British Baron Field Marshal and Defense Staff Chief Sir Peter Anthony Inge, and former Inspector General of the German military and NATO Military Committee Chairman Gen. Klaus Naumann.
The EU Observer and the Guardian newspaper released some of the details of the manifesto over the past few days. This document marks the potential culmination of a series of trends that could result in deep structural changes to the alliance.
The manifesto includes:
A more overtly stated nuclear first-strike option than NATO had previously;
A statement of willingness to use nuclear weapons pre-emptively to prevent states from gaining nuclear capabilities;
A shift from unanimous consensus decision-making to majority voting, which effectively ends national vetoes;
The end of national caveats for troops deployed in NATO operations;
The end of decision-making by alliance members that are not participating in the NATO operation in question; and
The ability to use force without the authorization of the U.N. Security Council when “immediate action is needed to protect large numbers of human beings.”
Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has struggled with the demise of its raison d’etre: the Soviet Union. After the fall of the Soviet state, serious questions emerged about whether NATO should even exist. Tensions among member states over Bosnia — and later, Kosovo — (not to mention the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq) further strained the alliance.
But now, a number of trends that were weakening the alliance have been reversed: Russian belligerence is on the rise. Putin has made clear that the waning of Russia is over (long before Russian military Chief of Staff Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky’s Jan. 19 reiteration of Moscow’s nuclear weapons policy). Moreover, NATO now includes Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania — all of which are former Warsaw Pact or Soviet Union states. And the governments of these new member states are extremely concerned about the potential dangers posed by the Russian bear.
In addition, the departure of French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder from the political scene marked the end of strong European opposition to U.S. moves, as well as the end of meaningful discussions about a European defense entity independent of NATO. Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel’s transitions to power cemented a fundamental shift in the domestic politics and international stance of continental Europe’s two great powerhouses. Paris and Berlin have returned to the NATO camp, and they have recrowned NATO the pre-eminent military tool of European foreign policy.
Such developments would shift the global military balance back toward Europe. And an increasing recognition among NATO members of the benefits of the alliance means that it (along with the United States) ultimately could continue to lead the military trends that shape the world, rather than drifting further away. This is great news if you happen to be in — or a friend of — the alliance, and somewhat terrifying if you are not.
What Roman roads and Alexander the Great's military successes were for the First Advent, the rise of the internet and global regulation coming out of the EU is to the Second Advent of Christ. Expect this trend to continue and accelerate in the coming years. Please note this is not the full article. I have pasted only those paragraphs which I thought were relevant for this post.
Johnny Cash
Global Market Brief: Europe's 'California Effect'
The European Commission launched a new antitrust investigation into Microsoft Corp. on Jan. 14. This comes four months after Microsoft lost an appeal on a commission ruling that the firm was engaging in anti-competitive practices by protecting the source code for the Windows operating system. EU antitrust regulators also are looking closely at Google’s recent acquisition of DoubleClick and U.S. chipmaker Intel Corp.’s business practices.
EU antitrust regulators’ focus on these technology companies foretells Europe’s emergence as the world’s primary regulatory authority. The European Union’s strategy to take the regulatory helm is evident in issues such as climate change, chemicals regulation, genetically modified organisms and antitrust regulation, for which Europe has adopted legislation or enforcement regimes that are stricter than those of the United States — and that, through the “California effect,” are forcing changes globally.
This drive has benefited from (Europe would say it was necessitated by) the deregulatory mood that has prevailed in Washington for the past decade. Issues such as the health effects of chemicals and global warming have evolved in ways that have open the door for new regulation, while increasing merger activity has dramatically increased the chances of anti-competitive business practices. The U.S. federal government, meanwhile, has maintained a deregulatory posture in the face of these changes. This posture reflects the majority view in the United States that regulation is a brake on innovation and productivity, and that government should regulate as lightly as possible.
Because of the continued integration of the global economy, the U.S. deregulatory posture also has allowed Europe to step into a vacuum and define the regulatory parameters for global commerce without facing a competing U.S. regulation built in response to contemporary business pressures. (The most powerful U.S. regulations, save Sarbanes Oxley, were drafted before 1991.) The change of U.S. administration in 2009 almost certainly will bring with it a more active set of regulators, whether in securities, environment, consumer protection, telecommunications or antitrust. The question is whether this change will slow the European Union’s emergence as the de facto global regulator.
The Californization of Brussels
Brussels has become the city to watch on regulatory developments, not because EU regulations are necessarily the best but because they increasingly are the strictest. In part, this is because of Europe’s culture and its voters’ priorities, but it also is a result of business and government officials seeing opportunity through regulation. This opportunity is amplified by the common perception that the United States largely has turned its back on regulation over the past decade. Europeans see this as an opportunity not only to step in to “fix” things where the United States is lagging but also to find real advantage in the U.S. abdication.
As if climate change and chemicals policy regulations — or the lack thereof — were not enough, the subprime mortgage crisis’ impact in Europe has heightened Europe’s perception of the United States as a laggard. Bankers and regulators in Europe argue that lax U.S. regulation of mortgage-backed securities is responsible for the problems in Europe emanating from the subprime crisis (even though Europe has its own regulators looking at the same securities).
Were Europe a small economy with a tiny population, its strong regulatory system would spell disaster for its populace, as global business would abandon this market; however, the EU bloc is the largest economy in the world — it has a consumer market near 500 million and a combined gross domestic product in excess of $14 trillion.
Europe is, in effect, becoming the new home to the “California effect,” a reference to the phenomenon in the United States in which the largest U.S. state has, at various times, dictated national policy by adopting a stricter regulation than the federal government, forcing corporations to choose whether to follow California’s law or give up on selling goods in the country’s largest market. Just as few major U.S. companies can afford to ignore California’s market, few multinational corporations can compete without maintaining a presence in the EU economy.
Looking Beyond 2008
The next U.S. administration is almost guaranteed to bring the U.S. and EU economies closer together on regulations, and it will mark the end of a period in which Europe perceives the United States as strictly opposed to regulation. But the United States is not likely to move very far, since the prevailing view of regulation in the United States remains overwhelmingly negative.
Here are three main points which for me prove God is still interested in our well-being and that He still loves us.
Answered Prayer
Many atheists scoff at this notion. Say a believer is sick and his (or her) church is praying for a healing. Later on however that person dies. 'See!', the scoffer would say, 'Your prayers weren't answered!'. That may be true if we rely on human experience to solve the problem. God doesn't answer prayer when, where, or how WE think He should answer our prayer. The death of a beloved member of a church will never be fully explainable using our fallible and mortal logic. So it is when we see little or no progress in a prayer that is consistent with God's will. God is just and forgiving and is sovereign above all. Just because it doesn't make sense to you does in no way imply God doesn't know or care. He DOES know and He DOES care!
Changed Lives
God is still in the business of reclaiming lost souls. Indeed, He has not changed one bit! This is wonderful news for those that knew Him when they were young but fell away or those that have never heard God's plan of salvation before. Whether it be daredevil Robert 'Evel' Knievel who came to faith late in life before passing away or Franklin Graham preaching in Hong Kong, people are coming to faith in Christ in record numbers. In the above article it states:
American evangelist Franklin Graham held his largest evangelistic event to date this past weekend with 423,335 people overflowing seven separate venues in Hong Kong and in neighboring Macau.
And ...
By the final night, 33,464 people had responded to the invitation to accept Jesus Christ as their savior.
In one day nearly half a million people heard the message of salvation and some thirty-three thousand responded. Peter gave a sermon on Pentacost and 3,000 souls were added to the Book of Life. Mr. Graham has now superseded that miracle event eleven times over. Do not believe the secular humanist media who say that Islam is the world's fastest growing religion. It isn't. Muslim women may be winning the 'War of the Womb' but in terms of adult converts the contest isn't even close.
Fulfilled Prophecy
I could fill a hundred pages if I had the time and money to show you that God's plan of redemption is still on track. Fortunately for you I will not attempt to do this right now. Precept upon precept and line upon line is the only way to show the veracity of this position. Here are seven reasons why Christ's return is far closer than what we think:
The regathering of the Jews in Israel (Ezekiel 37): Despite the odds and its formidable foes (see below), Israel continues to flourish amidst a sea of hostility.
Israel is made a nation in one day (Isaiah 66:8):
Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labour than she gives birth to her children.
Yet the impossible happens and Israel is reborn on May 15, 1948. Is this a disaster or 'al-Naqba'? For Satan and all those who follow him it is!
Jerusalem Becomes The World's Burdensome Stone (Zechariah 12:2-3):
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 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.
Throw the Jews under the bus and peace will surely follow! What folly. Sadly we have learned NOTHING from history.
The Rise of Russia (Ezekiel 38-39):
The recent reversal by the Bush administration regarding Iranian nuke capabilities takes the heat off of Iran as far as the rest of the world (namely the EU and UN) is concerned. With Iran no longer under the microscope Israel is placed in even greater peril than before.
The Call For Global Gov't (Daniel 7:7):
After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.
I'm of the firm belief that along with the ME conflict and economic integration, climate change will be a big enabler of global government.
Increase in Knowledge, Power and Speed of Travel (Daniel 12:4):
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
This one is really personal. I cannot help but think of my two nephews Huey and Duey (not their real names obviously) who are growing up in this modern age. The technological gap between when my sister and I were born and when Huey and Duey were born is like none other. Thanks to air travel I've visited all four provinces of Western Canada (BC, AB, SK, MB), as well as Quebec and the Maritimes (NS and NB). Mom and Dad visited England (again) this year and have journeyed as far as Australia! No other generation previous to this one is more travelled.
The Rise of Immorality (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
OK, so I know this sounds old. While every generation has had its share of cads and bounders, can any other generation boast of such sensuality as ours? I don't think so. We have forgotten how to blush. Shame is just another word in the dictionary. Know this: all this bad behaviour we see doesn't prove the Bible false, it proves it to be true.
So there you have it. You can argue if you wish but all my points are valid. It takes more faith to be an atheist than a Christian. Be one less of them and one more of us and join the adventure!
Johnny Cash
There are two big lies undermining Western civilization:
1) Shoddy theology divorced from Biblical truth and;
2) 'See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' PC multiculturalism.
The persecution that Christians are enduring today is increasing. The shadows of what is to come will only increase with time as the church age draws to a close. There are two groups which are leading the charge: The secular-progressives and the Muslims. This post will deal with the first enemy of Christianity.
The Church of Militant Secular-Progressive Humanism
What do a bisexual female rabbi, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Methodist Church have in common? Absolutely nothing. These three disparate groups recently combined for a bizarre spectacle on Capitol Hill protesting the Iraqi war. I have no problem if someone wants to protest the ongoing debacle that is unfolding in Iraq. Nor do I have a problem if a bunch of religious groups want to get together to issue a joint statement. What I do have a problem with is what these groups are preaching and teaching. Ecumenicalism is a bloodless gospel and is shoddy theology (see above). Any effort to deny the shed blood of Christ as the only atonement for sin is bad doctrine. The opposite of truth isn't error, it's pure death.
Support Our Troops
There can be no shallower statement issued by the self-serving left. Given their actions, why bother? Terrorists hide behind children while American troops are hamstrung by a long list of ROE's. News of success in the field is largely ignored by the press while any hints of wrongdoing by our military is given blanket coverage. Is it any wonder I get a little cynical?
The Hermit Kingdom
It should surprise no-one that North Korea is at the forefront of Christian persecution. Being found with a Bible in your possession sends you and your entire family to prison camp. North Korea is also in the business of arming Israel's enemies.
Free Speech Is Acceptable Provided We Agree With It.
That is if you happen to be rich, white and liberal. Or give generously to the Democratic Party. As the lovely Michelle Malkin reports, God help you if you make your dissatisfaction with MoveOn.org public. The difference between the German SS and MoveOn.org's lawyers? The latter are better dressed. The tactics are frighteningly similar though.
Forget about Islam. That's what students at Columbus State in Ohio are being told as efforts to bring Islamo-Fascism Week to campus is shut down by the school's administrator. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was given a forum at Columbia University in NYC yet students at a public college are denied access to their own campus. The hypocrisy couldn't be starker. The censorship of unpopular speech and the use of intimidation is alive and well in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Two more miscellaneous links to close out this post.
Mark Of The Beast Update: The technology for this has already arrived. Right now it's simply a matter of logistics and the gaining of public support. One of the biggest enablers of the MOTB is credit card and debit card fraud. A microchip embedded in the card will go a long way in preventing identity theft. It will also facilitate the greatest persecution of Christians just prior to the Second Advent. 'Chipping', as it's being called is already in use by veterinarians and cattle farmers. The jump to chip humans is not as big of a leap in public policy as you might think.
So long as we're here we'll still be helping the less fortunate. In West Bengal, flood relief by GFA workers are opening up doors for the Gospel. Hallelujah! Praise God for He is Most High!
Johnny Cash
Not according to the FDNY. Or Pastor Chuck Baldwin for that matter. Did you ever wonder why so few police died on that fateful day compared to the 121 firefighters that did? The answer is simple: The cops had radios that worked and the firefighters didn't. Actually, two orders were given to evacuate, the first one at 56 minutes and the second 29 minutes before the North Tower collapsed. Rudy Giuliani as 'America's Mayor' is nothing more than a clever myth.
Like most politicians, Rudy is a lawyer. That is a well known fact. What most people don't know is the dirty tricks he used to entrap Michael Milken. Such tactics make Hillary look tame by comparison.
Mr. Giuliani has made some questionable allies that do not believe in America as a sovereign nation. His connection to the NAFTA Superhighway connecting Mexico, the U.S. and Canada is troubling. Any politician that has globalist tendencies should be singled out for ridicule and be dismissed from his post immediately.
Is America LOST? Surrendering much of the world's seas to the UN strikes me as an incredibly bad idea.
It is no secret that America is the world's biggest arms supplier to developing nations. Yet that doesn't scare me. What does scare me is a global treaty on arms control. The National Rifle Association has every right to be concerned about this. A global treaty on arms control will lead to the socialist dream of confiscation of civilian-held firearms by an overreaching federal government. Say goodbye to the Second Amendment and the rest of that 'troublesome' constitution the NWO leftists love to despise.
I'll tell you what America needs to do. Disentangle itself from foreign (and likely hostile) influence. Elect a president and Congress that that embrace Christian values and doesn't spend tax dollars like a sailor on shore leave. Look forward to the future rather that being trapped by the past. Strong and vibrant masculine leadership don't create wars. It's the weak and emasculated leaders that do.
Johnny Cash
With apologies to the late great Bon Scott of AC/DC. Hope everyone is enjoying the last long summer weekend of 2007. Yep, '07 is two-thirds done. So glad I'm not facing school anymore. Next work week will be just like any other, except shorter. Anyways, I'm not going to do a long preamble so let's get right to it.
Take a good long look at this football. Various flags of different countries are displayed with the Saudi Arabian flag featured most prominently. Note the sword and the Arabic lettering. This is the shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith. The Israeli Star of David is seen along with the Danish cross and the Davidic star and cross of Northern Ireland. All Judeo-Christian symbols the Muslims despise. How offensive is this nondescript football? Very, according to recent attempts to drop soccer balls for Afghani children. A big hullaballoo was created and the 'good dhimmi' apology was promptly issued. I think this particular ball is an earlier one, made for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Honestly, what gives with these guys? Shredding Bibles in KSA and we don't even blink. An infidel touches one of their demonically inspired Korans and riots ensue. All of which renders me totally indifferent to Muslim sensibilities. I just simply couldn't care less. The opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference.
I know people love to eviscerate Bush and the Americans for their snubbing of the Kyoto Protocol. But it appears that China is taking over as the world's worst polluter. There is a huge difference in how the two countries operate. American pollution is a result of it's sheer size. Chinese pollution is a result of unrestrained growth without due regard to the end product. Corruption is still a big problem and many Chinese are dying due to the steamrolling of environmental safeguards. Below is the Shenmu coal mine in China, taken from the article.
As the world draws together, the softer the underbelly one world gov't appears. The UN Development Program (UNDP) is placing itself above it's own laws and seeks secrecy over transparency. What a farce the UN is!
Speaking of the UN, Iran is tapped to be a member of the planning committee of the 2009 UN World Conference Against Racism. The ugliness will become apparent very quickly. It will be more like a conference against Zionism like what happened in Durban, South Africa. It must be repeated that all hatred of the Jews is supernatural (Satanic) in its origins. I cannot emphasize this point enough. Either you understand it or you don't.
I don't think there are many here in the West who fully realize the extent that Iran poses. Recent talks with the U.S. over the fate of Iraq have ended leading to animosity between the two. The Iranians are active in their support of the Taliban in Afghanistan where Canadian troops are stationed. Should the Democrats ride the wave of discontent all the way to the Oval Office, there's ample reason to believe that Iraq will cynically be abandoned out of political expediency. This is a very serious situation. Whoever gets the ring in November '08 cannot ignore Iraq. When presidents look towards the ME they look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Whilst tragic in its continual spilling of innocent blood, it is for the most part self-contained and predictable. All these political assumptions miss the point. Look, comprehending the ME isn't difficult. What you need to know is that there are two wars being waged parallel to one another. The 1400 year-old civil war between the Sunni and the Shia is the first one. The jihad that Islam (Dar al-Islam) is waging against the West (Dar al-Harb) is the second. What we see in Iraq right now is both these concurrent wars in microcosm. As bad as Bush has bungled the Iraqi war, things could (and likely will) get worse. I cannot shake this feeling that once the American troops pull out (along with the Canadians possibly leaving Afghanistan by 2009) things will deteriorate rapidly. Our gov'ts ought to be prepared for this and it's painfully obvious that they're not. Just as the Bible prophecied it must come to pass.
Secularists Behaving Badly Dep't: Last word goes to David Limbaugh who notes how secularists usually end up becoming the very thing they despise. It's all about the specks and planks we find in our eyes from time to time I reckon.
Johnny Cash
Got this really funny diss of the KSA for you. Not for the easily offended or the humorless.
Before I get started, I have neglected to mention that the X-Def is now a year and a half old! An 18 month old blog is breathing rarefied air indeed. So be a good citizen of the world wide web and delete those sites or blogs you no longer use. Way too much internet clutter out there! A helpful hint from yours truly.
So what do we do with all these wars and rumors of wars? Are you suffering from headline hysteria? Personally, I'm looking in awe at what's happening. We need not be afraid because God's plan of redemption is closer than ever! If you know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, this moment in time should be the most exciting and exhilirating for the faithful. Strange that so few are taking advantage of this day and age. All stories have a climax and an end. Should we view human history as any different? No! A vise-like grip on God's word is the only remedy for these dying days of human empire. It must be reiterated that Bible prophecy is not doom and gloom. It is a rock to stand on as opposed to the shifting sands of a post-modern society. So do you stand on rock or quicksand? Time is running outt!
Man, these bookmarks have been burning a hole in my pocket for over a week and I gotta get rid of 'em. All good stuff and worthy of your attention of course.
The Iranians are really ratcheting up the pressure on the U.S.. From a growing military and political alliance with Syria to the shelling of the Kurds in northern Iraq, the Gog-Magog prophecy seems closer to fruition than ever. With American forces stretched to the limit, any kind of military response to Iranian shenanigans are unlikely. The Syrians can make trouble in the Golan Heights and accomodate the Russian navy if it wants to. Iran and Syria end up doing what they like because they fears no reprisal from the West. Therein lies the problem. If the U.S. cannot stand up for it's allies in the ME (ie. the Kurds), it will lose a lot more than a war. It will lose it's ability to project force throughout the region. The only thing to fear more than a ineffectual American foreign policy is an non-existent one. After Bush leaves office in Jan of '09 I believe that's where we're headed.
One of the (unintentional? intentional??) consequences of the Iraqi war has been the proliferation of Western arms into the region. After all, you can't have a war without them, can you? Italian police have uncovered some shady business dealings with some Italian arms dealers and Iraqi leaders. The message is clear. Selling arms into a war zone not is wrong. Selling arms into a war zone without gov't oversight is wrong. So there. Figure that one out.
New World Disorder Alert
Well, two actually. It seems that the UN is going to get a lot more involved in Iraq, whether it likes it or not. And the EU is planning a continent-wide fire fighting force. Can a EU-wide police force be that far behind?
Better You Than Me!
School is a mere twelve days away! Suckers! Been there, done that. So parents, what's your approach? Do you favor the left-brained (and very manly) wiles of Victor Davis Hanson or the right-brained (and oh so feminine) guile of Suzanne Fields? Science or arts? I'll let you hash this one with your spouse. Think I'll wisely steer clear of this debate if you don't mind.
Johnny Cash
I've always had my sneaking suspicions about the enviromental movement. To be sure there are some gentle souls within who mean well. I just cannot shake this feeling that much of the green movement is profoundly anti-capitalist (not to mention 'soft' globalists at heart) and pro-Marxist in their orientation. Rather than claiming interest in clean air and water and having a sustainable global economy, the greens seem to be more ideologically driven in preventing Third World nations from reaching their full potential. In places like Eastern Europe and Africa, mortality rates are high (as is unemployment) and such essentials as running water and electricity is but a dream. I'm well aware that there is a cost involved in industrializing a nation. But the cost of NOT creating jobs using advanced technology is even greater. The mantra 'suffer and die quietly' is what the green movement is telling the world's poor. I think their short-sighted attitude stinks.
Johnny Cash
Below is an actual tunnel dug by Hezbollah in Rshaf, Lebanon. Not to give the devil his due, I still have to say I'm quite impressed by the work that was done. Anybody who thinks Hezbollah is digging these complex bunkers because they're poor or they've been dispossesed of their land by the big bad Jews is dreaming. They do it because they hate, plain and simple.
When I hear the political discourse happening out there, I am struck by the fact that there are more and more individuals publicly rooting for the enemy. Twenty or thirty years ago anybody who displayed such open contempt for their country had to seek refuge for fear of being lynched by a mob. Today no-one even blinks at such treasonous behaviour. Dissatisfied patriots aren't the problem, they need to be listened to. The ill-informed and ignorant don't cause me concern, they need to be educated. Air-head celebrities such as Rosie O'Donnell are no threat to freedom either, they can be ignored. I do concern myself with those who get on their knees and fervently pray to their false gods for America's destruction. Whether it be Hezbollah tunnels in Lebanon, Iranian interference in Basra, Iraq, or paramilitary jihadis operating in upper New York state, those who give aid and comfort to the enemy should be dealt with swiftly. Allowing evil to flourish isn't kindness, it's cultural suicide.
Despite what you hear from the Bush administration, we are in the midst of a new Cold War with Russia. Now I know it's popular to blame Bush for all this, Lord knows the man has made his mistakes. But when you take the larger view you realize that this problem with Russia cuts across many administrations. I think the only president who had a clue what the Russians were truly about was Reagan. While the Gorbachev-Reagan era was looked upon rather fondly by the politically naive, Reagan always knew that Gorbachev was a committed communist and a wolf in sheep's clothing. He never said such a thing in public of course, Ronnie was forever the consummate pro, always able to smile for the cameras. A still very alive Gorbachev is now shilling for the enviromental movement, ironic considering it was 'Gorby' who presided over the Chernobyl disaster. And while EU-Russian relations are in a bit of a bind, a new report paints the Russians in a much darker picture 40 years after the Six-Day War of 1967.
I don't think the West has ever appreciated the horrific toll that the Russians endured in the Second World War. We tend to glamorize the WW II American G.I. (keeping the upcoming Memorial Day in mind), glossing over it like it was some grand adventure. The reality was much bleaker and a hell of lot colder for those Germans and Russians who fought in the Eastern Front, often doing so in pitched urban battles. Due to the lay of the land, Russia has always been vulnerable to a mass land invasion from Europe, a fact that Adolf Hitler (and Napoleon before him) knew all too well. It is precisely those battles that reverbrate through the Russian heart, influencing current policy and why Russians to this day deeply mistrust all things Western. Bottom line is we've never truly understood Russian-ness, a fact that will cost us dearly in the long run.
Lastly a link about those dastardly Bilderbergers who are meeting in Istanbul, Turkey from May 31 to June 3. See the sidebar link for more in depth info on these high priests of globalization.
I'm going to add a quick X-Def update before I go. I've just added sitemeter to the blog. If you're reading this, just go right to the bottom of the page and you'll see the sitemeter logo. Just remember, the more you visit the more you encourage me. And please don't be shy, leave a quick comment if you like what you see.
Johnny Cash
