More News

There are several interesting stories in the news today:

I have to be honest: This guy scares the heck out of me, and I am beginning to believe that with his vast money/resources and his desire to directly influence world wide politics and the world wide financial scenario - perhaps he will play a role in end times prophecy:

All the News That Fits Soros' Agenda

Are three liberal billionaires trying to control what we think of as news in America?

Hedge fund billionaire George Soros, the sugar daddy of the Democratic Party, has given NPR an initial grant of $1.8 million dollars to begin a project called Impact of Government that will allow NPR to hire 100 journalists at NPR member stations in all 50 states.

At the same time, Soros sends a million dollars to Media Matters, a leftist "media monitoring" group that sends out barrages of criticism whenever a news outlet (especially Fox News) reports news that does not fit Media Matters' liberal agenda. Media Matters tries to chill free speech and censor conservatives.

What has not drawn any attention is that his political allies, Herb and Marion Sandler (billionaire profiteers from the Savings and Loan crisis -- one more thing they have in common with George Soros), founded a group called Pro Publica, that has the same purpose as this new effort by George Soros (see How Allies of George Soros helped bring down Wachovia Bank and "The Sandlers, Soros and Marcellus Shale reserves")

The Sandlers and Soros also co-founded the liberal think-tank Center for American Progress ("The Democratic Idea Factory"). The Center for American Progress also has a media agenda: its "experts" are often quoted by newspapers across America as if they were independent, neutral experts; their ties to liberal billionaires are never mentioned.

One of the "arms" of the Center for American progress is called "Think Progress," and this was the source, the Ground Zero, of the agitprop regarding The Chamber of Commerce ads being funded by foreign money. This absurd charge (ridiculed by even the New York Times) was fanned by Barack Obama, Robert Gibbs, and Democrat politicians running for office across America.

Will Soros and the Sandlers try to leverage their generosity to journalists in a way to influence reporting on state politics so that Democrats friendly to them and their agenda are elected as Secretaries of States? Will they use their leverage to make sure that the various states endowed with vast reserves of shale gas are prevented from tapping these resources? (This agenda seems to be of particular import to Pro Publica.)

There is much much more to the "Soros story", and it is worth covering. This article just covers one tiny aspect of Mr Soros' influence (in this case, the media). From viewing his influences in the media - his influences in world wide finances, and his covert power base - George Soros may be one of the most powerful figures in the world today, and his agenda and his movements are definitely worth watching very closely.

One more note about Soros. I personally don't believe that his "liberal agenda" is the definitive part of his influence and power. I believe his goals and ambitions far exceed the simple liberal-conservative battle that we are used to seeing. In other words, the Soros agenda is much deeper and much more sinister than simple politics as we are used to seeing. It hasn't been completely revealed yet, but Soros is up to something and whatever it is seems very "covert" and one can only imagine what it may be. But it is undeniable that Mr Soros HAS an agenda, and it definitely involves, at a minimum, manipulation of world wide finances and world wide governance. The details haven't been revealed yet - but they definitely exceed the simple political agenda as we know it.

Now we turn to the EU (aka "The Revived Roman Empire") and watch their new developments:

EU - The Unrepresentative Union

We've already seen the new taxation scheme that will be imposed, now this:

It is something of a paradox that the European Parliament, despite being directly elected, is often the most unrepresentative institution in an Unrepresentative Union.

The decision by MEPs on Wednesday to increase the EU’s budget by six per cent on 2010, or by three per cent on Council’s July budget is a sign of an institution that is independent of politics as it is currently being played out across Europe.

Statements by Jerzy Buzek, the parliament’s president, that cuts are “populist” and that the increased budget was needed “in order to meet the ambitions set out in the Lisbon Treaty” add insult to injury by reinforcing the impression that MEPs live in a different world to the rest of us.

Most voters, almost 100 per cent certainly, if they were given a choice between cutting back at the EU level rather than by slashing national public spending, would swing the axe in the direction of Brussels. Should the parliament really be completely independent of those kinds of choices?

Included in the parliament’s budget demands is a staffing increase of 388 posts to swell the ranks of the 6,166 civil servants who vastly outnumber the 736 MEPs and give the institution its mind-numbingly bureaucratic character.

These next quotes are quite ominous, and set a very "prophetic tone" in terns of what we know about the Roman Empire of our age, and how it will evolve:

So why is the parliament so unrepresentative, or so independent, both of voters and political developments across Europe? The problem goes to the heart of what the EU and its tame assembly is all about.

The EU has evolved as a means of taking politics out of the public realm and removing it to a “rules based” domain from which decisions are transmitted to voters after they have been taken. I have written much more about how this works here.

“How can this be sold to the public?,” is a question often asked in the dreary Brussels meeting rooms and offices, naturally there is a burgeoning publicly funded “communications” industry to fill the need. The question hits the nail on the head, EU decisions have to be “sold” to voters because the institutions that take them, in a public free zone, are unrepresentative.

Like the EU, the parliament has evolved out of administrative arrangements that have tended towards convenience for Europe’s elites not from the expression of popular movements. Its antecedents and contemporary role are more about cloaking the EU consensus making behind closed doors in legitimacy (and not even doing that well) than anything else.

Euro-MPs of all the main European political parties reflect this development showing, more often than not, signs of a slavish support for the EU. Most MEPs see their primary role as upholding the treaty – never mind those dodged referendums or ignored popular votes. The parliament does not see its role as representing the public.

At the same time, we are watching the "Foreign Policy" arm of the EU grow in leaps and bounds - this too should be interesting for a prophecy watcher:

Full Speed Ahead on EU Diplomacy After Strasbourg Vote

The European Parliament on Wednesday (20 October) adopted by a crushing majority new budgetary and staff regulations for the European External Action Service (EEAS), clearing the last legal hurdle for the launch of the new institution.

"It's a historic vote. We're all one happy family now," an official in the entourage of EEAS chief Catherine Ashton told EUobserver.

EU foreign ministers are set to approve the parliament decision when they meet in Brussels on Monday. Ms Ashton is then expected to name people for the three or four top posts in her service on Tuesday or Wednesday. Another 100 or so senior posts remain to be filled by the end of the year.

Ms Ashton is also close to a compromise with the parliament's foreign affairs committee on hearings for new EEAS ambassadors. The diplomats are likely to face parliament questions in early December, after receiving full accreditation from host countries.

Ms Ashton wants the hearings to be held mostly behind closed doors. Following the vote on Wednesday, the foreign affairs MEPs have little leverage to use against her.

Ideas on what the EEAS should actually do in the coming years are still evolving.

German Green MEP Franziska Brantner on Wednesday urged Ms Ashton to specialise in conflict prevention. "What Europe needs are crisis management and mediation experts rather than an unwieldy service of high-salaried diplomats," she said in a statement.

Hmmm. This is very interesting on many levels. First of all, is it just me, or are more and more "decisions" made by the EU, being done "behind closed doors", as the article states? This seems to be an international trend, not only regarding the EU, but groups such as the G20, who are making world wide financial decisions "behind closed doors".

Additionally, I find it somewhat chilling, that the group's mandate will be "conflict prevention". Could this be the group who resides in Israel in a post-agreement "covenant confirmation"? Hmmm....More food for thought.

Also from the EU:

EU Atheist-Freemason Summit 'Very Odd' says Europe's Chief Unbeliever

The first ever summit between representatives of secularist, atheist and masonic organisations and the leaders of the European Union's three main institutions was "very odd," Europe's top unbeliever has said.

On Friday (15 October), leaders from what the European Commission describes as "philosophical non-confessional organisations" met with the presidents of the European Commission, Parliament and Council to discuss their views on poverty and social exclusion. The first meeting of its kind, it is the secular counterpart to the summits the three institutions are now obliged by the Lisbon Treaty to regularly have with religious leaders.

The group has opposed the Lisbon Treaty's institutionalisation of religious consultation, but: "As the treaty has passed, this can't be undone, and the churches have this ready access at the most senior level, so it is important that we take part in order to make the counterargument."

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, a devout Catholic, said after the meeting: "We acknowledged the experience of humanist and philosophical leaders when dealing with this challenge [poverty]. I look forward to further strengthening this dialogue."

One in three Europeans have no religion, according to the European Humanist Federation.

This post is getting too long already.

Here are additional articles that may be of interest to a prophecy watcher:

US deploys second air carrier in Persian Gulf with 60 warplanes

First joint Saudi-Egyptian maneuver ever was geared to Iranian threat

Anti-Israel Conference in Montreal

Should the Settlements Be so Vital to the Peace Process?