In the news: Iran

Iran is back in the news for a variety of reasons, one of which is the information coming from the WikiLeaks story:

WikiLeaks expose makes it clear: Everybody hates Iran

Naturally, Israel is interested mostly in things pertaining to the Middle East. Below are some initial conclusions:

• America is deeply preoccupied with Iran. The administrations in Washington may change but they are all applying enormous pressure, offering enticements and also threats in order to push forth the sanctions against Tehran, all the while trying to gather intelligence about Iran's intentions.

Other countries, from France to Azerbaijan, comprehend the Iranian threat.

Meanwhile, Iran's neighbors are pressuring the Americans to attack Iran's nuclear installations. Saudi King Abdullah explained, two and a half years ago, to Gen. David Petraeus that a determined and quick action is necessary.

• Israel is pessimistic compared to the Americans on Iran's nuclear bomb time table. Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in June 2009 that there are six to 18 months left for an effective strike.

This means until the end of this year. After that, "any military action would result in unacceptable collateral damage," according to a leaked cable.

Now, at least as far as Iran is concerned, the picture is out in the public.

Navy Chief Hints: Secret Ops against Iran-led 'Axis of Evil'

The commander of Israel's navy hinted broadly Sunday that naval forces recently struck unspecified faraway targets as part of the war against the Axis of Evil led by Iran.

"Lately, the Navy has had to stretch its limbs to very distant theaters of operations in order to fight elements of the Axis of Evil led by Iran,” Maj.-Gen Eliezer Marom said in a speech at the annual Haganah Day event in Tel Aviv.

Iranian nuclear scientist 'killed by Mossad or the CIA'

A leading Iranian nuclear scientist was killed and a colleague injured in coordinated attacks blamed by the regime on the Israeli spy agency, Mossad, or the CIA.

Men riding motorcycles stuck magnet-bombs on the two men's car windscreens, police said.

Iran's state media drew a link with a speech by the head of MI6, Sir John Sawers, last month in which he said "intelligence-led operations" had to be used to disrupt Iran's nuclear programme.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said: "One can undoubtedly see the hands of Israel and Western governments in the assassination."
The scientist who died was named as Majid Shahriyari. The head of Iran's atomic energy organisation, Ali Akbar Salehi, confirmed Dr Shahriyari was involved in a "major project".

Nuclear scientist killed in Tehran was Iran's top Stuxnet expert

Prof. Majid Shahriari, who died when his car was attacked in North Tehran Monday, Nov. 29, headed the team Iran established for combating the Stuxnet virus rampaging through its nuclear and military networks.

The scientist's death deals a major blow to Iran's herculean efforts to purge its nuclear and military control systems of the destructive worm since it went on the offensive six months ago.

Prof. Shahriari was the Iranian nuclear program's top expert on computer codes and cyber war.

Ali Salehi, Director of Iran's Nuclear Energy Commission, reacted bitterly that there is a limit to Iran's patience and whoever committed the murder is playing with fire. Tehran held US intelligence and the Israeli Mossad for responsible for the scientist's death.

There is clearly a covert war being waged against Iran. The question becomes: Will it be enough to thwart their nuclear ambitions?

WikiLeaks, Iran and Israel

The information coming from WikiLeaks is casting Israel in a favorable light. It is becoming more and more apparent from these leaks, that Israel's concerns about Iranian progress towards nuclear weapons are more widespread in the region that once thought. In fact, the information is so favorable to Israel, some are speculating that Israel could be behind the leaks.

Israel pleased with WikiLeaks revelations

There was much apprehension and concern on Sunday evening as whistleblower website WikiLeaks began publishing nearly a quarter of a million classified US diplomatic cables. Washington had already phoned Israeli leaders to prepare them for any embarrassing information that would be revealed.

“If anything, the leaks were positive and did not damage Israel’s image at all,” former National Security Adviser Giora Eiland told Voice of Israel radio. “There was no contradiction between what Israel has said in public and in private.”

The documents further aid Israel by revealing that it is far from being the only nation in the region calling for military action against Iran’s defiant nuclear program, or at least greater efforts to effect regime change in Tehran.

A slew of other documents reveal that the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and Jordan all share the Israeli sense of urgency regarding Iran, and also want the US and/or Israel to stop Iran’s nuclear program at any cost.

“That program must be stopped,” King Hamad of Bahrain is quoted as saying in one of the documents. “The danger of letting it go on is greater than the danger of stopping it.”

The article below, from the Jerusalem Post gives us more insight into Iran and the regional fears over their nuclear progress. It is very revealing:

WikiLeaks: Burying linkage between peace process, Iran

Since the earliest days of Barack Obama’s presidency, there have been two major conceptual differences between how Israel and how the US administration view the Middle East.

The first difference has to do with the region.

While the US maintains that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conundrum is the key to unlocking peace in the Middle East and getting other countries in the region on board to help stop the Iranian threat, Israel’s position is to first deal with Iran – neutralize it – which will then make it easier to reach an accord with the Palestinians.

Israel’s logic is that Hamas and Hizbullah – Iran’s two proxies – will be much less able to gum up the works whenever diplomatic progress looms if Iran is defanged.

That seems obvious, especially given that Hamas and Hezbollah have stated that they will never accept a Jewish state of Israel.

The second key conceptual difference has to do with how to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the US still tied into the land-forpeace formula – Israel gives up land and gets peace in return – and much of Israel, bitten badly by reality, no longer convinced that formula is relevant.

This also seems obvious. One only has to look at Gaza to see the clear failure of the "land for peace" scenario. There is absolutely no shred of evidence that "land for peace" actually works.

More below:

And along comes the cache of WikiLeaks documents and reveals that Obama’s linkage of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Iran is nothing short of fiction – a fiction he and his key aides have been spinning since the beginning of his tenure.

Now we see Obama's position that a Middle East peace deal is the best way to deal with Iran:

“Having said that,” the president went on, “if there is a linkage between Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, I personally believe it actually runs the other way. To the extent that we can make peace with the Palestinians – between the Palestinians and the Israelis – then I actually think it strengthens our hand in the international community in dealing with a potential Iranian threat.”

And that position, that progress on the Israeli-Palestinian issue – that stopping settlement construction – would somehow magically mollify the Arab world and get it to put its shoulder to the wheel regarding Iran has been a constant thread throughout the Obama regime.

What the WikiLeaks cache revealed, however, was that this argument was a fabrication.

Below we see the truth of the situation:

There was no need to crack the Palestinian-Israeli nut before getting the “moderate” Arab nations in the region – Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf states, Egypt and Jordan – on board regarding Iran, because those nations were already fully camped out on board the deck of the ship, just waiting for action against Iran.

In other words, the U.S. and Israel didn't need a peace deal with an independent "PA State" to get the Gulf states on board - they already were!

Below we see actual quotes from various Arab leaders:

• Saudi Arabian King Abdullah, quoted by the monarchy’s envoy to the US in 2008 as exhorting the US to attack Iran and end its nuclear weapons program, said in reference to Iran – according to one cable – that it was necessary to “cut the head of the snake.”

• King Hamad of Bahrain was quoted in 2009 as saying, “That program [the Iranian nuclear program] must be stopped. The danger of letting it go on is greater than the danger of stopping it.”

• Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Zayed in 2009 urged the US, according to another cable, not to appease Teheran and said, “Ahmadinejad is Hitler.”

• Maj-Gen. Muhammad al-Assar, assistant to the Egyptian defense minister, was quoted in a cable in 2010 as saying that “Egypt views Iran as a threat to the region.”

The following concludes the article:

Obama was obviously well aware of the views of these leaders, most of whom he personally met, yet he continued to propagate what he must have known to be a falsehood – that these countries would only sign on to sanctions and otherwise support efforts to neutralize Iran if there were progress on the Israeli-Palestinian track.

Obviously these countries wanted to see progress on that track, but this desire had nothing to do with Iran. Nor would an Israeli-Palestinian accord lead them to be supportive of aggressive steps toward Iran, because they were already practically dreaming of those steps.

To link the two issues – the conflict with the Palestinians, and Iran – was to badly muddle the issue. Why exactly Obama felt compelled to do so is one of the key questions the WikiLeaks documents raised in relation to our region.

The information coming from WikiLeaks is very revealing in terms of what is happening in the Middle East, and it is comforting to see that what Israel says and does in private is exactly the same as their public position - a fact that is being noticed by several major publications.

The U.S., on the other hand is propagating a myth that a Middle East peace deal, with all of the caveats around it, is required to get the Gulf states on board. That idea bears no resemblance to reality as one can plainly see that these leaders are desperate for someone to deal with Iran, and to do it decisively and quickly. We now have the quotes to prove what our administration already knew.

It is becoming clear why Israel policy now dictates that they get various U.S. promises in writing before making an agreement.

In the news

There are several very interesting articles out this morning, all of which are unrelated:

The first is another update regarding the potential threat of EMP weapons:

Report warns Obama about 'new' Dark Ages

Two national-security experts have issued a report through the Heritage Foundation that warns Obama administration officials to start working now to prevent – and mitigate the damage from – an electromagnetic pulse attack on the United States because of the potential for "unimaginable devastation."

"Not even a global humanitarian effort would be enough to keep hundreds of millions of Americans from death by starvation, exposure, or lack of medicine. Nor would the catastrophe stop at U.S. borders. Most of Canada would be devastated, too, as its infrastructure is integrated with the U.S. power grid.

"An EMP strike can easily obliterate America's electrical, telecommunications, transportation, financial, food,and water infrastructures, rendering the United States helpless to coordinate actions and deliver services essential for daily life," says the report.

An EMP catastrophe, which scientists have warned also could come through a naturally occurring Coronal Mass Ejection from the sun, largely is feared to come from an act of war from an enemy. If there is a nuclear explosion high in the atmosphere over North America the resulting electromagnetic discharge can "permanently disable the electrical systems that run nearly all civilian and military infrastructures," the report said.

"All past calamities of the modern era would pale in comparison to the catastrophe caused by a successful high-altitude EMP strike," the report said. "The effects of EMP will immediately disable a portion of the 130 million cars and some 90 million trucks.

"Several potential adversaries have the capability to attack the United States with a high-altitude nuclear-weapon-generated electromagnetic pulse, and others appear to be pursuing efforts to obtain that capability," said Graham.

Hamas Resumes Missile Attacks on Negev

This update has been overshadowed by the N Korean situation:

Terrorists in Hamas-controlled Gaza resumed rocket fire on the Western Negev Sunday morning, striking near Sderot.

Below is an interesting update from the WikiLeaks leaked information, and this could have an enormous impact on Iran:

WikiLeaks: Iran's Supreme Ruler has Terminal Cancer

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has terminal cancer, according to a document exposed by WikiLeaks document reports. His death could cause an upheaval in the Islamic Republic.

Rumors that Khamenei has cancer have circulated since 2009, but a WikiLeaks document, quoted by the French daily LeMonde, revealed a diplomatic cable to the United States.

The death of the supreme Muslim ruler, who is superior to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, could spark an uprising against the Iranian regime - a scenario that Israel and the United States have been hoping for.

One blog on Iranian.com reported last year that billions of dollars were moved to Turkey to ensure the funds would be available to Khameni's family in case they have to flee Iran in the face of a revolution.

And last, an update on the EU, the EURO and Spain's potential demise:

Europe's Future Lies, Ominously, with Spain

A debt crisis in Spain would make the problems in Greece, Ireland, and Portugal look pale by comparison; at €1.3 trillion, the Spanish economy is bigger than those three countries combined.

Analysts say the price tag for a Spanish bailout could exceed €500 billion, leading many observers to conclude that Spain is too big to be rescued, and that a Spanish default would almost certainly lead to the breakup of the euro zone.

Standard & Poor’s, the credit ratings agency, believes Spain is caught in a Catch-22 situation. If the government cuts public spending at the level needed to reduce the deficit, it will drag down economic growth and make it more difficult for Spain to emerge from recession.

But if the government fails to reduce spending, the chances increase that Spain will default on its debts.

A financial meltdown in Spain would have repercussions far beyond the Iberian Peninsula. For starters, many analysts believe a debt crisis in Spain would trigger a similar meltdown in Italy, which is the fourth-largest economy in the eurozone, and which suffers from many of the same financial woes that are plaguing Spain.

What’s more, Italy has one of the world’s highest public debts, expected to reach a staggering 118 percent of GDP in 2010.

As mentioned before, this is interesting to the prophecy watcher, because somehow the EU has to morph into "10 Kings" as described in the prophetic scriptures of Daniel 7 and Revelation 17. And, as with most epic changes seen in the world, they usually require a crisis to motivate or to force the evolution. We may be watching such a crisis evolving in the EU. It will be fascinating to see how the EU manages these crises and what changes will be implemented. We could be on the brink of seeing big, prophetic changes in the EU.

WikiLeaks: Secret Documents Lead to "Diplomatic Crisis"

WikiLeaks, the whistleblower website has obtained and is releasing more than 250,000 U.S. embassy cables which were previously secret dispatches. The U.S. administration is already contacting foreign governments around the world in order to brace them for what might be coming out. This is embarrassing for the U.S. but it is also quite revealing in terms of U.S. foreign policy and prophetic related insights into world affairs:

US embassy cables leak sparks global diplomacy crisis

The United States was catapulted into a worldwide diplomatic crisis today, with the leaking to the Guardian and other international media of more than 250,000 classified cables from its embassies, many sent as recently as February this year.

At the start of a series of daily extracts from the US embassy cables - many of which are designated "secret" – the Guardian can disclose that Arab leaders are privately urging an air strike on Iran and that US officials have been instructed to spy on the UN's leadership.

Among scores of other disclosures that are likely to cause uproar, the cables detail:

• Grave fears in Washington and London over the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme

• Alleged links between the Russian government and organised crime.

• Devastating criticism of the UK's military operations in Afghanistan.

• Claims of inappropriate behaviour by a member of the British royal family.

The leaks also involve the Middle-East and Haaretz has an interesting article:

Israel, U.S. tense as WikiLeaks set to release classified bilateral communiques

The United States Embassy in Tel Aviv has informed the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem that the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks was planning on releasing hundreds of thousands of American diplomatic cables, some of which might deal with Israel-America relations.

The Americans said they wanted to let the Israeli government know so it would not be surprised and would be prepared for publicity that might cause diplomatic embarrassment.

Sources in Washington said the documents would be coming out soon, perhaps even today.

A senior Israeli official familiar with the contents of the message, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that according to the Americans, the WikiLeaks material includes diplomatic cables sent to Washington from American embassies throughout the world.

The cables date from the past five years and include media reports, talks with politicians, government officials and journalists, as well as evaluations and various analyses by American diplomats regarding their host countries.

The most recent article reveals some disturbing news that was previously undisclosed:

WikiLeaks documents reveal sensitive U.S. cables:report

The documents show Saudi donors remain chief financiers of militant groups like al Qaeda and that Chinese government operatives have waged a coordinated campaign of computer sabotage targeting the United States and its allies, according to a review of the WikiLeaks documents published in the Times.

The cables also showed that Iran has obtained sophisticated missiles from North Korea capable of hitting western Europe and the United States was concerned that Iran was using those rockets as "building blocks" to build longer-range missiles, the Times said.

The advanced missiles are much more powerful than anything U.S. officials have publicly acknowledged that Iran has in its arsenal, the newspaper said.

The U.S. government, which was informed in advance of the contents, has contacted governments around the world, including in Russia, Europe and the Middle East, to try to limit any damage. Sources familiar with the documents say they include corruption allegations against foreign leaders and governments.

The information may be very revealing when it actually comes out, especially in terms of the type of news that a prophecy watcher follows. Already, even before the information is "officially" out and in circulation, we see that Iran has obtained much more advanced missiles than previously acknowledged, even capable of reaching the U.S. Additionally, as suspected, China has been engaged in a "coordinated campaign of computer sabotage targeting the United States".

As soon as tomorrow, we will begin to see more and more such information as it becomes available. This could become interesting.

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UPDATES: Information already coming out:

WikiLeaks: Saudis on Iran: Cut off the head of the snake

Key Arab states, foremost among them Saudi Arabia, that have publicly been sitting on their hands regarding Iran’s nuclear march have privately been exhorting the US to military action, US diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks showed on Sunday night.

According to a report of the more than 250,000 cables, that appeared on The Guardian’s website, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah asked the US repeatedly to attack Iran and destroy its nuclear program, and in 2008 the monarchy’s envoy to Washington told US Gen. David Petraeus to “cut off the head of the snake.”

And Saudi Arabia was not alone. According to the Guardian report, “officials in Jordan and Bahrain have openly called for Iran’s nuclear program to be stopped by any means, including military.”

Likewise, leaders in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt referred to Iran as “evil,” an “existential threat” and a power that “is going to take us to war,” the paper reported.

Additionally, we see the following bits of information related to Israel:

• Iran used the cover of the Iranian Red Crescent to smuggle intelligence agents and missiles into Lebanon during the Second Lebanon War in 2006, according to a cable from 2008 that originated in Dubai and was based on a meeting between a US diplomat and an unnamed source.

• Mossad director Meir Dagan told Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns in 2007 that Israel and the United States need to do more to create regime change in Iran.

There is a lot more in the article above which makes for interesting reading.

Also see:

Leak: Iran used Red Crescent to smuggle weapons

Iran used the cover of the Iranian Red Crescent to smuggle intelligence agents and missiles into Lebanon during the Second Lebanon War, according to a leaked US Embassy cable published on Sunday by WikiLeaks.

The source also said, according to the cable, that medical supplies had been used to facilitate weapons shipments.

And this:

Analysis: WikiLeaks vindicate, don't damage Israel

From an Israeli perspective, therefore, it would not be an exaggeration to say that WikiLeaks may have done the country a service on Sunday. By presenting the Arab leaders as more extreme in their remarks than Israeli leaders, the cables show the dissonance in the region and the danger involved in allowing Iran to continue with its nuclear program.

In general and contrary to earlier predictions, the cables did not appear to contain information that could significantly harm Israeli national security.

Amos Yadlin, appear to be careful in what they say in the meetings, which are clearly being documented by American aides in the room. In one cable, while Yadlin said that covert means needed to be used to stop Iran, he was quoted as refusing to elaborate.

ESCALATION

The situation around N Korea is hard to predict, mainly because we are dealing with an unstable regime as led by a highly unstable leader. The situation is clearly escalating and involving more and more countries:

N Korea deploys SA-2 surface-to-air missiles

North Korea has deployed SA-2 surface-to-air missiles to its west coast near the Yellow Sea border with South Korea as U.S.-led naval drills got underway in a show of force against the North's deadly artillery attack on a South Korean island earlier last week, government sources said Sunday.

China Protests U.S.-South Korea Exercises

Beijing on Friday lodged its first official protest of a joint U.S.-South Korean military exercise planned for Sunday, even as the aircraft carrier USS George Washington steamed toward the region.

North Korea also responded angrily. "The situation on the Korean peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war," the state controlled Korean Central News Agency responded Friday to the maneuvers, which are set to take place in the Yellow Sea between the Koreas and northeastern China.

The strong talk was the latest fallout from North Korea's hour-long artillery attack of a South Korean island on Tuesday that killed four people...heightening fears in some quarters that already-tense relations between North and South Korea—and their respective international protectors, China and the U.S.—could be heading for a showdown.

Japan spots Chinese vessels near disputed islands" report

The Japanese coast guard has spotted two Chinese vessels attempting on Sunday to enter waters near islands in the East China Sea that are disputed by the two countries, Kyodo News reported.

Relations between Asia's two biggest economies soured in September after Japan detained a Chinese skipper whose fishing boat collided with Japanese patrol vessels off the disputed islands, which are near potentially rich maritime gas reserves.

China Calls for Urgent Talks on North Korea

Chinese envoy Wu Dawei said chief negotiators to the six-nation talks are being asked to come to Beijing in early December for the emergency session "to exchange views on major issues of concern to the parties at present."

China quickened its diplomatic efforts to ease tensions between North and South Korea, calling Sunday for an emergency meeting of envoys to North Korean nuclear disarmament talks.

Japan Concerned as Military Tensions Continue

Beginning with Prime Minister Naoto Kan's order for his cabinet members to stay in Tokyo and remain on stand-by until Wednesday, in case an emergency situation develops in Korea, the Japanese government is taking steps to prepare against a possible regional crisis.

On Sunday morning, Kan summoned three senior officials to the prime minister's office including Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa and instructed them to address the tense situation between the two Koreas "in a firm manner without lowering our guard."

And reports of Japan's Self-Defense Agency deploying surveillance and patrol aircrafts as well as AWACS, an airborne radar system, have also been coming in.

India to deploy 36,000 extra troops on Chinese border

India has formed two new army divisions - comprising more than 36,000 men - to defend the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

The remote north-eastern state adjoins China which claims large parts of it.

A total of 1,260 officers and 35,011 soldiers have been assigned to the two new divisions, which are being especially equipped for mountain warfare.

Officials say they were formed at the behest of the Indian army chief, General VK Singh - who said they were necessary to beef up defences against China.

He said their formation was India's response to the "huge Chinese build-up" in Tibet over the last three to four years. But he did not wish to elaborate.

America's Grim Options on North Korea

For the past week, the stunning report of nuclear scientist Siegfried Hecker regarding North Korea’s uranium enrichment program has been sending shock waves throughout the world.

This is indeed an extremely grave development, although the most serious aspect of it is not what most people think, i.e., the mere fact that North Korea has the bomb — that particular horse left the barn several years ago.

Instead, the most dangerous aspect of North Korean nuclear-state status is the fact that the DPRK has a very consistent record of selling every weapons technology it possesses to literally anyone who will buy. This record includes the regime’s well-known deal with Pakistan to obtain uranium and uranium enrichment technology in exchange for missiles. Other customers included Iran, Libya, Syria, and Yemen.

The result of the DPRK’s dramatically enhanced uranium enrichment capacity is a situation much worse than the one which nearly triggered a war in 1994, during the Clinton administration. Compared to then, North Korean nuclear capability is now a fact, not a possibility; and unless action is taken, the regime will begin adding warheads to its arsenal at the rate of perhaps one a month.

Korean war tensions mount as South rejects talks amid threats from North

North Korea threatened to inflict "a merciless military blow" if the naval war games the US and South Korea launched on the Yellow Sea border Sunday, Nov. 28 encroached on its waters.

Hours later, for good measure, artillery fire echoed from the North Korean mainland on the island shelled last Tuesday - apparently from military practices. This added to the jitters in Seoul over the worst incident between the two Koreas in more than 50 years.

Later Sunday, South Korea rejected China's call for urgent Six-Power consultations in Beijing early next month (among North and South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the US) to help resolve the escalating crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

Its nuclear test of May 2009, the submarine torpedo which sunk the South Korean Cheonan on March 26 causing 46 deaths and the artillery attack on Yeonpyeong represent the tools and norms of Pyongyang's foreign policy, for which it enjoys Chinese support.

In keeping with those norms, North Korea is bound to respond forcibly to the US-South Korean war game, unless held back by Beijing. Not knowing how or when this will happen is putting many world capitals on edge.

We see "wars and rumors of war" almost everywhere we turn. Its one of the many signs that Jesus gave us and we find these words to be ever so true - just like all biblical prophecy.

The big question for a prophecy watcher is - where will this situation go and what will it lead to next?

There is no telling - but its hard to imagine that something of this magnitude, at this point in history won't have a prophetic role to play. We shall see.

Americans Learning to Submit

The TSA situation just keeps nagging in the back of my mind. Perhaps it is the haunting parallels to footage of Jews being "examined" as they entered concentration camps. Perhaps its because of the nightmare stories that are being compiled by the ACLU (see here). Perhaps its the idea of helpless parents being separated from their children, completely powerless to prevent what is borderline molestation of their children. Perhaps it is the idea that these searches are clearly unconstitutional. Perhaps it is the fact that most U.S. citizens seem just too eager to comply without a major uprising - willing to give up there rights as granted by the constitution.

This article from the American Thinker gives perspective:

Americans Learning to Submit

Well, airport screenings haven't always been this way. Sure, we live in a post-9/11 environment, and caution is prudent. But body-imaging every air traveler isn't the same as intercepting specific phone conversations between Abdullah the Butcher and a cave in Waziristan.

We're dealing with de facto strip-searches of everyday Americans, frisking of nuns, and confiscation of shampoo and nail clippers. All of this nonsense is done so as not to offend Islam, whose virulent adherents fostered this "necessity."

That's little comfort to air travelers who are exposed to humiliating body scans and invasive pat-down searches. Even the stance assumed for the scans -- feet apart and hands held above the head -- portrays a submissiveness that belies a free people. Fellow Americans, our government has declared us guilty until we prove our innocence.

When innocent Americans are electronically strip-searched in airport concourses, the terrorists have achieved a victory. In fact, terrorists are equally served without boarding an aircraft at all. Suicide bombers need only detonate their payload at a crowded TSA checkpoint. Scores of unsuspecting travelers would be killed or injured. Such an attack would do as much to shatter our illusion of security as blowing up an airliner.

We're being sold a false sense of safety from a federal government that can't muster the courage to identify our genuine enemies, much less target them.

Thus, we'll be scanned and probed so as not to offend the very people who hate us, our liberties, and our culture...

The day will come when we won't be able to enter a sports arena, a shopping mall, or a public parking deck without passing a body imaging checkpoint. Maybe then we'll realize we've become like Boxer, dutiful and obedient until securely locked in the knacker's wagon.

Submit and do not question. It'll get worse. There is coming a time in which everyone will be forced to receive a "mark" in order to simply buy and sell goods. This mark will be mandatory and it will also confirm that the individual pledges his or her allegiance to the antichrist.

Are we THAT far from such a scenario?

Next time you are at an airport, just look around at what is happening, and notice the complete control the federal government has over your body. If someone happens to object to this, or voice complaint, see what happens to that individual.

No - we aren't that far from seeing a government which does have this level of control. Its a step-wise progression, and the TSA's complete control over your body and the bodies of your children and loved ones represents a BIG step in that direction.

And like cattle being led to the slaughter, the people comply as directed. Just as they will when ordered to take the Mark of the Beast. Only a few brave souls - primarily those who discovered Christ Jesus during the Tribulation - will reject this control - but they will do so at great personal risk. They will be forced to live in hiding - on the run from a draconian government who will have them put to death for their refusal to take the Mark.

Meanwhile, in preparation for that coming era, we are told to obey and not question our government, despite their flagrant abuse of the constitution.

As Jesus said: "For then there will be great distress, unequalled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again." (Matthew 24: 21)

That time - known as the Tribulation is coming - and we are witnessing a world which is being prepared for those dark days.

EU in Crisis: Time for the 10 Kings to Emerge?

The EU seems to be hanging by a thread these days and one has to wonder how much longer before we begin to see the emergence of the 10 Kings phase of progress.

Big changes usually require some sort of a crisis and there has been no shortage of such with the EU lately.

A commentary and a news article underscore the problems:

Nigel Farage poses an excellent question. We're still waiting for the answer

Here’s a typical headline from the Associated Press today:

“Debt turmoil, contagion fears sweep Europe.”

(this referenced article is found below)

Yikes. Yesterday it was Greece: they’re in debt to the tune of $175 billion. Now that may seem like small potatoes in the age of Barack “the sky’s the limit” Obama. But keep in mind that there only about 11 million Greeks.

Of course, Greece will never pay back this money. In the time-honored custom of Third World nations across the globe, it will default.

But now it looks like the habit may be catching. Yesterday it was Greece, today it is Ireland — remember the “Irish tiger”? Turns out it was an inflatable pussy cat: pumped full of gas by artificially low interest rates underwritten by the EU.

And tomorrow? Well, Portugal is choking under debt that is 325 percent of its GDP. Of course, Portuguese officials say they won’t be seeking a bailout. But that was what Ireland said a couple of weeks ago, too.

And what about the day after tomorrow? “Analysts,” quoth that AP story, “say markets need more reassurance from EU leaders that the rot can be stopped in Portugal before spreading to Spain, the continent’s fourth-largest economy — a scenario that would threaten the 16-nation euro currency itself.”

Now, the money situation is bad, very bad. But worse news concerns politics, in particular the fate of freedom and democracy in Europe.

Now we get to some inside glimpses into the new Roman Empire:

The European project has always been a game played by unelected political elites and foisted on the people. When EU leaders couldn’t get the Lisbon Treaty, a.k.a. the European Constitution, ratified by a popular vote, they did what any sensible totalitarian would do: they circumvented the people and declared the treaty passed.

Most people don't realize the facts presented above. The constitution failed because the voters of the various countries didn't vote favorably, and at that point the decision was made to create the Lisbon Treaty to replace the constitution, only the Lisbon Treaty did not require a popular vote in the countries.

Enter Nigel Farage. Who is Nigel Farage? He is a former Conservative British politician who left the party in 1992 when John Major’s government signed on to the Maastricht Treaty, thereby selling out a large measure of British sovereignty

Now we should all read the following paragraphs very carefully:

Partly an economic fire alarm, the deeper message of Mr. Farage’s speech concerns the way EU politicians are deliberately subverting democracy — removing, in Mr. Farage’s words, “any remaining traces of democracy form the system” — in order to keep the dream of a European superstate alive.

The problem is, Mr. Farage pointed out, that people all over Europe are waking up and saying “we don’t want this, we don’t want [the EU] flag, we don’t want the anthem, we don’t this political class, we want the whole thing consigned to the dust bin of history.”

And the response by the EU bureaucrats who run things? Well, Ireland was told that it would be inappropriate from them to have a general election; they had to agree on a budget first. Mr. Farage had the perfect response to this effrontery: “Just who the hell do you think you people are? You are very, very dangerous people indeed. Your obsession with creating this Euro state means that you are happy to destroy democracy.”

Mr. Farage got it in right: the political crisis facing Europe may be exacerbated by the domino-like collapse of the economies of the member states.

But the critical issue is the future of democracy, i.e., the future of freedom.

It is “more serious than economics,” Mr. Farage argued, “because if you rob people of their identity, if you rob them of democracy, then all they are left with is nationalism and violence. I can only hope and pray that the Euro project is destroyed by the markets before that really happens.”

In many ways, what we see happening in Europe seems to be paralleling current politics in the U.S., with much of the current policies being enacted against the will of the American public. Its an ominous and alarming trend to say the least.

Also see:

Debt turmoil, contagion fears sweep Europe

Europe struggled mightily Friday to keep the debt crisis from engulfing country after country.

"This confusing `pea-soup' of indecision, vacillation and disunity by the EU is beginning to create unnecessarily seismic waves of fear in international bond and money markets," said David Buik, markets analyst at BGC Partners.

Analysts say markets need more reassurance from EU leaders that the rot can be stopped in Portugal before spreading to Spain, the continent's fourth-largest economy — a scenario that would threaten the 16-nation euro currency itself.

"Markets remain nervous, and the key to a stabilization in the euro and other global currencies likely hinges on whether we can see some stabilization in eurozone government bond markets in the coming days," said Nick Bennenbroek, head of currency strategy at Wells Fargo.

It will be fascinating to watch how this plays out.

Portugal, Spain and Ireland present the most immediate problems, with all presumably needing "bail-outs" as funded by the other Euro countries, and that process may choke the rest of the EU countries in efforts to keep the entire union afloat.

The bail-out "cure" may prove to be worse than the "disease". As Mr Farage stated, the critical issue is "the future of democracy" and "the future of freedom". He added that the problems are "more serious than economics, because if you rob people of their identity, if you rob them of democracy, then all they are left with is nationalism and violence."

We know from biblical prophecy that the next step in the progression of the new Roman Empire will be into the "10 Kings" phase. We also know, as Mr Farage stated, unwittingly, that this progression will also include a complete lack of anything resembling democracy - and we know that people WILL be robbed of their identity and freedom.

The details can be found in Revelation, chapters 6-18. This is just the beginning.

Peace deal falling apart (again). Iran-Lebanon. Persecution

Just a small sample of the news today:

US-Israel building freeze deal falling apart

This is actually quite stunning in terms of how the "new and improved" peace talks fell apart. When Israel forced the U.S. to commit to the "deal" in writing, the attempted fraud by the U.S. was exposed.

Originally, it was reported that in return for the building freeze and restarting direct talks with the Palestinians, the US would take Israeli security demands more seriously, provide greater backing at the UN, and give Israel 20 F-35 fighter jets.

The freeze would not include eastern Jerusalem, and would be the last time the US asked for or supporting a Jewish building freeze.

That is how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented the deal to his cabinet, because that is how US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented it to him.

The above describes the "original deal" that was brokered by the U.S. Lets see what happened:

But Israeli cabinet ministers were wise to insist on a written letter from the Obama White House before agreeing to the freeze, because it now seems the American leadership was trying to pull a fast one on Israel.

The first crack began to show early last week when American officials reneged on Clinton’s original wording by saying that a Jewish building freeze in Jerusalem was part of the deal. Israelis had at first been told Jerusalem would not be part of the freeze, in line with Israel’s position that Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem are not “settlements.”

Around the same time, National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau clarified that even Clinton’s wording was being misrepresented, as her offer of jets and diplomatic support would only be realized if the building freeze resulted in a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, a near-impossible feat considering Palestinian positions.

Israeli ministers later learned that the F-35 fighter jets, which were touted as the best reason for taking a risk on the freeze, were to be part of a separate package, and that Israel would pay for them in full.

More lies and deception - this time as promoted by the U.S. administration. At least Israel is finally getting the idea that the current administration cannot be trusted:

Israel National News (INN) is now reporting that Clinton and Obama tried to pull a “bait and switch” on Israel, with Clinton offering a deal the White House hoped Israel would accept without confirmation, only to later have Obama renege on the deal because he had never approved it in the first place.

According to a senior unnamed diplomat cited by INN, State Department officials were surprised when Netanyahu called them wondering why no formal letter or proposal had yet been sent. They insisted that Netanyhau had to have known that anything Clinton promised was only a suggestion, and that Obama has the final say.

Without a US letter guaranteeing that no additional freezes will be demanded and that the requested freeze will expire in 90 days, Netanyahu will not have the support of his cabinet in this matter. As the situation now stands, if Netanyahu goes ahead with the freeze under US pressure, it is highly likely that his government will be brought down by the right-wing parties.

In other news:

Lebanon PM: Cooperation with Iran indispensable

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Friday that cooperation with Iran was indispensable for Lebanon, the Iranian agency IRNA reported.

"We consider cooperation (with Iran) as indispensable for the threats endangering both countries," Hariri told official news agency IRNA in Beirut agead if his visit to Tehran.

Thats a big mistake on the part of Lebanon. We know the future of those who are aligned with Iran and it isn't pretty.

The Lebanese prime minister said that security among the Arab states in the Middle East was also important for Iran and therefore Tehran would do its best for realizing this security, including in Lebanon.

"The visit by President Ahmadinejad (last month) to Beirut was an opportunity for strengthening bilateral ties and God willing, this aim will be further materialized by my visit to Tehran," Hariri said in the exclusive interview with IRNA.

Iran supports the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah which however is leading the opposition against Hariri's Western-backed government.

Persecution grows in the region:

Things getting worse for Egyptian Christians

One Egyptian Christian was killed and hundreds more were arrested this week while protesting a government ban on their completing the construction of a new church near the famed pyramids. Naturally, government officials in Cairo blamed Israel for the entire affair.

The trouble started on Wednesday, when Egyptian police violently confronted about 200 Coptic Christian demonstrators outside an unfinished church building in Giza. The police shot and killed one protestor and wounded dozens of others. Another two dozen protestors were arrested.

A day later, the demonstration intensified, and police arrested 156 Christians.

They were denied legal representation during their questioning, according to local media reports.

The building at the center of the confrontation is already partially completed. But after discovering that the Christians intended to use it as a church, Egyptian police banned further construction work at the site.

Despite the dangerous situation for Egypt’s 10 million Christians, these events have garnered very little coverage from an international media still far too obsessed with reporting on the construction of a few Jewish apartments that upset the Palestinian Arabs.

It seems that the common denominator to so many of these stories involves lies and deception. And who is the father of all lies?

Lies and deception. If you think its bad now, just wait until the Tribulation begins and the antichrist and false prophet take over. At that time the world will witness lies and deception at levels never seen before on this earth.

Meanwhile, we continue the march towards the Tribulation.

In the news

There are a lot of interesting news stories today, so I'll keep the commentary brief.

Update: Korea

N Korea warns region is on brink of war

North Korea warned Friday that U.S.-South Korean plans for military maneuvers put the peninsula on the brink of war, and appeared to launch its own artillery drills within sight of an island it showered with a deadly barrage this week.

The fresh artillery blasts were especially defiant because they came as the U.S. commander in South Korea, Gen. Walter Sharp, toured the South Korean island to survey damage from Tuesday's hail of North Korean artillery fire that killed four people.

"The situation on the Korean peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war," the report in the North's official Korean Central News Agency said.

North Korea says U.S.-South Korea drills bring war closer

"The situation on the Korean peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war due to the reckless plan of those trigger-happy elements to stage again war exercises targeted against the (North)," the North's official KCNA news agency said.

"...The army and people of the DPRK (North Korea) are now greatly enraged at the provocation of the puppet group (South Korea) while getting fully ready to give a shower of dreadful fire and blow up the bulwark of the enemies if they dare to encroach again upon the DPRK's dignity and sovereignty even in the least."

North Korea said on Friday that impending military exercises by the South and the United States were pushing the region towards war, days after it launched its heaviest bombardment since the 1950-53 Korean War.

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Update: The EU's financial crisis

Euro-Zone debt Crisis Escalates

The euro zone's sovereign debt crisis escalated Friday as the market homed in on Spain as another potential weak spot, leaving officials scrambling to quell investors' fears.

Finance ministers from all 27 EU member states are expected to hold a teleconference on Sunday to discuss the economic situation in Europe, a person in the diplomatic world said.

EU rescue costs start to threaten Germany itself

The escalating debt crisis on the eurozone periphery is starting to contaminate the creditworthiness of Germany and the core states of monetary union

"Germany cannot keep paying for bail-outs without going bankrupt itself," said Professor Wilhelm Hankel, of Frankfurt University. "This is frightening people. You cannot find a bank safe deposit box in Germany because every single one has already been taken and stuffed with gold and silver. It is like an underground Switzerland within our borders. People have terrible memories of 1948 and 1923 when they lost their savings."

'Day of Reckoning' Nears

Borrowing costs for Europe’s most indebted nations are at record highs as Ireland’s capitulation in accepting a bailout of its banking industry stokes concern that other countries also will have to seek aid.

Policy makers must head off a “spreading disaster” in the euro region, said Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive officer of Newport Beach, California-based Pacific Investment Management Co. “The comforting statements issued by European ministers in recent days must be urgently translated into meaningful actions,” he wrote earlier this week in an article for the Financial Times.

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Update: The Middle East

As predicted, based on Ezekiel 38, we see Turkey continue its anti-Israeli stance:

Erdogan: Turkey will not remain silent if Israel attacks Lebanon

Turkey PM warns Lebanese leaders that Israel may be planning an attack, calls on 5 permanent members of the UNSC to pressure Israel over its nuclear program.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday that Turkey would not remain silent if Israel attacked Lebanon or Gaza, French News Agency AFP reported.

"Does (Israel) think it can enter Lebanon with the most modern aircraft and tanks to kill women and children, and destroy schools and hospitals, and then expect us to remain silent?" Erdogan said at a conference in Lebanon organized by the Union of Arab Banks.

Syria warns Israel: Evading peace will lead to Mideast war

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem on Friday criticized stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, warning that closing the horizons to peace could lead to war in the Middle East.

In an interview with the Russian newspaper Moscow News, Moallem accused Israel of evading peace and said that the window of opportunity for a peace deal is slowly closing.

Moallem warned of the ramifications of a new Middle Eastern war emerging, saying that in a new war everyone will lose due to the existing advanced military technology which could cause great damage even for the side with the greater military might.

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It is amazing just how many prophetic stories are just on the very brink of exploding.

The EU's tenuous status and the instability if the Euro: Could this lead to the long awaited "10 Kings" phase?

The Korean crisis: Will this continue to escalate and will China become involved, leading to conflict with the U.S.?

The Middle East: Just on the brink. Turkey, who is part of the Gog-MaGog alliance is continuing with their rhetoric threatening war. Syria is doing the same. When will this powder-keg become ignited?

As mentioned before - so many aspects around biblical prophecy seem JUST on the brink.

Currency Crisis: Euro and Dollar Crisis to Lead to World Currency

Its hard to believe that we are watching the evolution into a world currency - and the people of the world meet the news with a collective yawn.

It wasn't long ago - maybe 3-4 years ago, that I would quickly brush over the prophetic scriptures which would indicate that the world will have a single currency, accompanied by a world economic system and a world governance to handle the complex economic situation - a world governance which would evolve into what is described in the book of Revelation (specifically, chapters 6-18).

This prophetic scenario just seemed a little too "out there" and accompanied by the fear that presenting this information would be met with skepticism and doubt. The information was difficult to present and one feared the loss of credibility upon such presentations.

No longer. Now, just a few years later, one can pick up almost any magazine or news article and read about the world economic crisis along with the proposed solutions including a single currency backed by a world-wide governance.

It is amazing just how fast this scenario has come to reality.

Currency Crisis! So What Happens If The Dollar And The Euro Both Collapse?

Some analysts are warning that the U.S. dollar is in danger of collapse because of the exploding U.S. government debt, the horrific U.S. trade deficit and the new round of quantitative easing recently announced by the Federal Reserve.

Other analysts are warning the the euro is in danger of collapse because of the very serious sovereign debt crisis that is affecting nations such as Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Belgium and Spain.


So what happens if the dollar and the euro both collapse?

Well, it would certainly throw the current world financial order into a state of chaos, but what would emerge from the ashes? Would the nations of the world go back to using dozens of different national currencies or would we see a truly global currency emerge for the very first time?

Up until recently, the idea of a world currency was absolutely unthinkable for most people.

In fact, the notion that all of the major nations around the globe would agree to a single currency still seems far-fetched to most analysts. However, if enough "chaos" is produced by a concurrent collapse of the U.S. dollar and the euro, would that be enough to get the major powers around the world to agree to a new financial world order?

Let's hope not, but it is getting hard to deny that we are heading for a major currency crisis, and if the U.S. dollar and/or the euro collapse, the world will certainly never be the same afterwards.

This part of the commentary sets the stage. Now on to the most recent news which has escalated the push into a world currency:

In case you missed it, China and Russia made a very big announcement the other day.

They told the world that instead of using the U.S. dollar to trade with each other, they will now be using their own national currencies.

Most Americans don't realize it, but that is a very, very big deal.

The fact that the U.S. dollar has been the primary reserve currency of the world for decades has given the United States a tremendous amount of economic power.

But now nations are beginning to lose confidence in the U.S. dollar and they are slowly starting to move away from it.

When the Federal Reserve announced a new round of quantitative easing in early November, it created a huge backlash from other nations. For decades, many other countries have been heavily investing in dollar-denominated assets, and now they are quite upset that those assets are going to be devalued.

So where is all of this going?

If the Federal Reserve keeps flooding the system with new dollars, the rest of the world could eventually totally reject the U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasuries.

If that day ever arrives, the results would be beyond catastrophic as the following short video from the National Inflation Association demonstrates....

This video is found in the link provided for this article, and it is well worth investing 7 minutes to watch this video.

There is more below:

But it is not just the U.S. dollar that is in trouble.

The euro is in danger as well.

After a detailed listing of the various countries in the EU (Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Belgium and Spain), who are on the brink of financial collapse, the commentary continues:

EU President Herman Van Rompuy recently warned that if some of the weaker countries in Europe are forced to abandon the euro it will likely cause a total meltdown of the European Union....

"We’re in a survival crisis. We all have to work together in order to survive with the euro zone, because if we don’t survive with the euro zone we will not survive with the European Union."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is also warning that a failure of the euro could bring down the entire European Union....

"If the euro fails, then Europe fails."

So now what happens?

So if the U.S. dollar and the euro do collapse, what would happen?

Well, already many world leaders are openly speaking of the need for a true global currency.

After all, they argue, there won't be any "currency wars" if we are all using the same currency

In fact, the Institute of International Finance, an organization that represents 420 of the biggest banks and financial institutions on the globe, recently declared that the time has come to adopt a one world currency.

A paper entitled "Reserve Accumulation and International Monetary Stability" by the Strategy, Policy and Review Department of the IMF recommends that the world adopt a global currency called the "Bancor" and that a global central bank be established to administer that currency.

The report is dated April 13, 2010 and a full copy can be read here. Unfortunately this is not hype and it is not a rumor. This is a very serious proposal in an official document from one of the mega-powerful institutions that is actually running the world economy. Anyone who follows the IMF knows that what the IMF wants, the IMF usually gets. So could a global currency known as the "Bancor" be on the horizon? That is now a legitimate question.

However, we do live at a time when the world financial system seems to be perpetually on the edge of chaos. If at some point the U.S. dollar and the euro totally fall apart perhaps we will see a "new order" arise out of all of that chaos.

Also see:

420 banks demand 1-world currency

The Institute of International Finance, a group that represents 420 of the world's largest banks and finance houses, has issued yet another call for a one-world global currency

"A core group of the world's leading economies need to come together and hammer out an understanding," Charles Dallara, the Institute of International Finance's managing director, told the Financial Times.

An IIF policy letter authored by Dallara and dated Oct. 4 made clear that global currency coordination was needed, in the group's view, to prevent a looming currency war.

Likewise, a July United Nations report called for the replacement of the dollar as the standard for holding foreign-exchange reserves in international trade with a new one-world currency issued by the International Monetary Fund.

And this:

Bancor: The Name Of The Global Currency That A Shocking IMF Report Is Proposing

Over the past few years, there have been many rumors about a coming global currency, but at times it has been difficult to pin down evidence that plans for such a currency are actually in the works.

Not anymore.

A paper entitled "Reserve Accumulation and International Monetary Stability" by the Strategy, Policy and Review Department of the IMF recommends that the world adopt a global currency called the "Bancor" and that a global central bank be established to administer that currency.

The report is dated April 13, 2010 and a full copy can be read here. Unfortunately this is not hype and it is not a rumor. This is a very serious proposal in an official document from one of the mega-powerful institutions that is actually running the world economy.

Anyone who follows the IMF knows that what the IMF wants, the IMF usually gets. So could a global currency known as the "Bancor" be on the horizon? That is now a legitimate question.

So where in the world did the name "Bancor" come from? Well, it turns out that "Bancor" is the name of a hypothetical world currency unit once suggested by John Maynard Keynes. Keynes was a world famous British economist who headed the World Banking Commission that created the IMF during the Breton Woods negotiations.

So who would print and administer the "Bancor"?

Well, a global central bank of course. It would be something like the Federal Reserve, only completely outside the control of any particular national government....

The truth is that a global currency (whether it be called the "Bancor" or given a different name entirely) would be a major blow to national sovereignty and would represent a major move towards global government.

However, the truth is that there are some very powerful interests that are absolutely determined to create a global currency and a global central bank for the global economy that we now live in.

It would be a major mistake to think that it can't happen.

Referenced Link:

Reserve Accumulation and International Monetary Stability

This seems very real and very imminent. One also has to wonder if the collapse of the dollar and the euro were planned in advance for the specific purpose of precipitating this crisis which would then be followed by a single currency.

Either way, its coming our way.

What was recently met with skepticism and disbelief is now gradually being discussed and written about as fact. What was once unthinkable is now being accepted as an inevitable conclusion to the world's financial situation - and it has all happened in a few brief years.

After all, this is just another aspect of biblical prophecy coming to conclusion - and once again, we can sit back and look at biblical prophecy in complete amazement.

As the apostle Peter informed us:

"And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as a light shining in a dark place..." (2 Peter 1:19).

Amen. Maranatha. Come quickly Lord.

Miscellaneous News Update

I guess I'm having a hard time letting go of the TSA story - but as a physician I feel obligated to post the following story (and I completely agree with the content):

Doctors sound TSA germ alert

Syphilis, lice, gonorrhea, ringworm, chlamydia, staph, strep, noro and papilloma viruses all are part of the possible fringe benefits when airline passengers next go through a full hands-on pat-down by agents of the federal government's Transportation Security Administration, according to doctors.

WND reported two days ago on alarmed passengers who noted that TSA agents doing the pat-downs that have been described by critics as molestation since they include touching private body parts were not changing gloves between passengers. In fact, some apparently were patting down dozens of passengers or more wearing the same gloves.

"There is no doubt that bacteria (staph, strep, v.cholerae etc.) and viruses (noro, enteroviruses, herpes, hepatitis A and papilloma viruses) can be spread by contaminated vinyl or latex gloves," Dr. Thomas Warner of Wisconsin told WND in a letter to the editor.

Added a pulmonary critical care physician from Connecticut who did not want to be identified by name, "That doesn't make sense that they're not changing gloves."

"Anything can be transmitted. If there are open wounds and they [TSA agents] are not aware, there's syphilis, gonorrhea, herpes, chlamydia, lice, ringworm."

Worse yet would be for people whose immune systems are compromised by treatments they may be having, including cancer patients, she said.

Warner told WND some of the infections are "a tough little beast" and easily would be spread through the contact being used by the TSA.

"Staphylococci are also tough and can be spread on fomites (eg . towels, tampons or gloves ) and survive in dry conditions. Methicillin resistant staph creates havoc in hospitals AND in those awaiting surgery (eg. traveling for a transplant ) when the 'carrier' patient must be clear of the bacterium before elective surgery," he said.

"Emerging infectious and tropical agents create another wild scenario," he said.

He said at a minimum gloves should be changed between pat-downs, "especially if the gloved hand is inside clothes or in the genital ... area even if clothed. Travelers should be advised of this and hand-wash and change clothes ASAP after these intimate examinations."

In other news:

China, Russia quit dollar

St. Petersburg, Russia - China and Russia have decided to renounce the US dollar and resort to using their own currencies for bilateral trade, Premier Wen Jiabao and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin announced late on Tuesday.

Putin made his remarks after a meeting with Wen. They also officiated at a signing ceremony for 12 documents, including energy cooperation.

The documents covered cooperation on aviation, railroad construction, customs, protecting intellectual property, culture and a joint communiqu. Details of the documents have yet to be released.

The demographic secret about Jerusalem the NY Times refuses to reveal to its readers

In 1967, when Israel captured the eastern part of Jerusalem and put an end to 19 years of illegal Jordanian occupation, there were 72,000 Arabs in the unified city and they comprised 27 percent of its total population. Today, 43 years later, there are 264,000 Arabs living in Jerusalem and their portion of the population has risen to 34 percent, according to the latest figures of Israel's census bureau.

In the last several decades, Arab construction has consistently outpaced Jewish construction in Israel's capital. And demographers see no end to the trend of Arabs comprising an ever growing portion of Jerusalem's population -- up to 38 percent by 2020 and close to parity with Jews by mid-century.

However, this history, along with overall population figures and trends, continues to be ignored by the New York Times, which instead swallows the Palestinian myth -- in the words of Mahmoud Abbas -- that the very opposite is happening in Jerusalem, that Israel's capital somehow is in the throes of unrelenting "Judaization."

In the upside-down world of Kershner and the New York Times, only Jews purchasing homes in eastern Jersualem are "settlers." But actual Palestinian "settlers," who in far greater numbers occupy illegally built homes in Jerusalem, are totally absent from the demographic radar of the New York Times.

So, Kershner simply cherry-picks a few isolated instances of Jews buying or building residential property in eastern Jerusalem, while she totally ignores the far larger and more determinative picture of a much faster rise in Arab population in Israel's capital.

The paragraphs below go straight to heart of the matter:

Selective and thus distorted journalism also is reflected by how Kershner and other Times correspondents report the history of Jerusalem. As is their wont, it all started at the end of the Six-Day War in 1967, when Israel -- victorious against half a dozen Arab armies intent on eliminating the Jewish state -- captured the eastern part of the city from Jordanian occupation. The clear implication is that Jews, as late arrivals in East Jerusalem by force of arms, have no rights whatsoever in that part of the capital, including the Old City with its revered Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious shrines. They don't belong there.

To bolster this false impression, Kershner and the Times have to turn a blind eye to the fact that from the middle of the 19th Century through the early years of the 20th Century, the preponderant population of Jerusalem was Jewish. Jerusalem in those years comprised basically the Old City and a few adjacent neighborhoods -- all of which now are in what has come to be known as East Jerusalem.

It was only when Arab pogroms began in earnest in the 1920s leaving Jews as unprotected targets during the British Mandate that the Jewish population of the city began to shrink. And it was cleansed altogether throughout the Old City and other sectors of East Jerusalem during the brutal Jordanian occupation from 1948 until 1967 when synagogues were systematicaly destroyed throughout Old Jerusalem and Jews were barred from praying at their holiest site, the Western Wall.

That history -- along with real, not mythical, demographic trends -- will not appear in the "news" pages of the New York Times, which values Palestinian myths over firmly grounded Jewish claims to the city.

As for recent and current demographic trends, they clearly point to Jerusalem as actually being "Islamicized," not "Judaized."

As mentioned so many times in the past - the truth is very elusive in these last days. Lies and distortions rule the day. Lies and distortions which seem to come from every angle - the MSM as the main culprit but also politicians and other "world leaders" who propagate lies and distortions to meet their political agenda.

Fortunately, we are approaching the end of human government forever. Once Jesus returns, He will establish HIS "government" and it will be full of nothing but truth and love.

Quite a contrast to what we see now every day from government leaders around the world.

Durban III Coming Our Way

This article says it all, and provides perspective:

UN to Hold Another Durban Conference; Anti-Semitism Expected

By a 121-19 vote, with 35 abstentions, the UN General Assembly resolved to launch what has been called another “global anti-racism hatefest,” known as Durban III.

The conference, known as the World Conference against Racism, commemorates the 9th anniversary of the first such conference, held in Durban, South Africa just 10 days before the 9/11 World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.

So whats this meeting all about? See below:

That conference was described by the ICEJ as a “concerted effort by nearly all the Muslims of the world to denounce and de-legitimize the Jewish state of Israel; an awful verbal forerunner much as the one the Nazis sent before launching the Holocaust of the expunging of Israel as sovereign Jewish state from their Arab Muslim midst.”

Now on to the upcoming meeting:

The upcoming conference is to be held in New York City just ten days after the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, in September 2011.

“for Durban III, the UN decided to ensnare most heads of state and government by scheduling the event to coincide with the annual opening of the UN General Assembly, when they are all present in New York anyway.”

John Sammis, the U.S. Deputy Representative to the UN’s Economic and Social Council, stated that the vote “risks undermining the relationship we have worked hard to strengthen over the past few years between the United States and the UN.” In addition, he added, the U.S.is “deeply troubled by the choice of time and venue for the 10th anniversary commemorative event [just days after] we will have honored the victims of 9/11… [We] regret that this resolution contains elements that require us to vote no…”

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (NY, D) said, “We all witnessed how extreme anti-Semitic and anti-American voices took over Durban I and Durban II, and we should expect the same thing to happen with Durban III…

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was very critical of the UN resolution, calling it "outrageous and shameful." ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman issued a statement saying, “The 2001 Durban Conference is permanently tainted as a notorious vehicle to promote anti-Semitism and incite hatred against Israel…

What is stunning and reveals how close we are to the Tribulation - is the fact that anti-semitism isn't even hidden anymore. Its right out there for the world to see, and the people of the world barely notice or seem to care.

It fits in exactly as we would expect in these last days - the UN once again will find a formal way to criticise Israel and reveal the deep rooted hatred of Israel.

Exactly as the prophet Zechariah informed us. It shouldn't be a surprise.

Escalation in Korea?

Its hard to know how this situation in Korea will end up. What was probably a simple manipulation from N Korea's viewpoint, as we have seen throughout history, sometimes a simple provocation can lead to full scale war. These situations are always delicate and one wrong move can cause war to erupt - that is why this situation is worth watching closely.

South Korea to defy North by sending in troops

South Korea's president vowed today to increase the number of troops on the island hit by a North Korean artillery barrage.

The North immediately countered by warning of more attacks if the South carried out any “reckless military provocations”.

“We should not let our guard down in preparation for another possible North Korean provocation,” South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said during an emergency meeting in Seoul. “I think a similar North Korean provocation could come at any time.”

“The government has decided to sharply increase military force, including ground troops, on the five islands in the Yellow Sea and allocate more of its budget towards dealing with North Korea's asymmetrical threats,” said Hong Sang-Py, the president's senior public affairs secretary.

Yeonpyeong Island, home to military bases as well a fishing community of 1,300 people, looked like a battle had been fought there today, with homes and shops completely flattened and the streets strewn with blackened rubble, mangled window frames and shattered glass.

Hundreds of residents have fled the devastation for the mainland but a few were still rooting around in the rubble looking for belongings and spending nights in underground shelters.

South Korea strengthens military near border after attack from North

Sudden spike in tension in the world's fastest growing economic region is putting mounting pressure on China to rein in its ally; U.S., South Korea to hold joint military exercises next week.

South Korea said on Thursday it would increase troops on islands near North Korea with Pyongyang warning it would follow its bombardment earlier in the week with more attacks if its wealthy neighbor tried any "provocations".

The sudden spike in tension in the world's fastest growing economic region is putting mounting pressure on China to rein in its prickly ally. South Korean media reports said Tuesday's artillery attack was likely personally ordered by reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

The United States and South Korea are to hold joint military exercises next week, with the aircraft carrier USS George Washington participating, although KCNA made no mention of that.

Many analysts expect the plan to send the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to the joint exercises will enrage the North and unsettle Chin

Beijing has said previously that it sees any joint U.S.-South Korea exercises in the waters between the Korean peninsula and China as a threat to its security and to regional stability.

Again, for the reasons stated, this episode could spiral out of control rapidly. It could also end up with a China-U.S. confrontation. This situation is worth watching VERY closely.

One more note regarding TSA security procedures

This article comes from the Canada Free Press site, and it is based upon the leaking of an internal memo from DHS, so it must be taken with a small grain of salt. However, if true, it is quite ominous. Our freedoms are being eroded at light speed.

DHS & TSA: Making a list

Following the publication of my article titled “Gate Rape of America,” I was contacted by a source within the DHS who is troubled by the terminology and content of an internal memo reportedly issued yesterday at the hand of DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Indeed, both the terminology and content contained in the document are troubling. The dissemination of the document itself is restricted by virtue of its classification, which prohibits any manner of public release. While the document cannot be posted or published, the more salient points are revealed here.

The memo, which actually takes the form of an administrative directive, appears to be the product of undated but recent high level meetings between Napolitano, John Pistole, head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA),and one or more of Obama’s national security advisors.

This document officially addresses those who are opposed to, or engaged in the disruption of the implementation of the enhanced airport screening procedures as “domestic extremists.”

This isn't surprising one bit and it is highly consistent with almost everything else we have been observing over the past several months. There is more:

The introductory paragraph of the multi-page document states that it is issued “in response to the growing public backlash against enhanced TSA security screening procedures and the agents conducting the screening process.”

Implicit within the same section is that the recently enhanced security screening procedures implemented at U.S. airports, and the measures to be taken in response to the negative public backlash as detailed [in this directive], have the full support of the President. In other words, Obama not only endorses the enhanced security screening, but the measures outlined in this directive to be taken in response to public objections.

The terminology contained within the reported memo is indeed troubling.

It labels any person who “interferes” with TSA airport security screening procedure protocol and operations by actively objecting to the established screening process, “including but not limited to the anticipated national opt-out day” as a “domestic extremist.”

The label is then broadened to include “any person, group or alternative media source” that actively objects to, causes others to object to, supports and/or elicits support for anyone who engages in such travel disruptions at U.S. airports in response to the enhanced security procedures.

For individuals who engaged in such activity at screening points, it instructs TSA operations to obtain the identities of those individuals and other applicable information and submit the same electronically to the Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division, the Extremism and Radicalization branch of the Office of Intelligence & Analysis (IA) division of the Department of Homeland Security.

For “any person, group or domestic alternative media source” that actively objects to, causes others to object to, supports and/or elicits support for anyone who engages in such travel “disruptions” at U.S. airports (as defined above) in response to the enhanced security procedures, the [applicable DHS administrative branch] is instructed to identify and collect information about the persons or entities, and submit such information in the manner outlined [within this directive].

It would appear that the Department of Homeland Security is not only prepared to enforce the enhanced security procedures at airports, but is involved in gathering intelligence about those who don’t.

As I have written before, it has nothing to do with security and everything to do with control.

We are no longer watching the march towards the Tribulation - at this point its a full sprint.

And we're just getting a brief glimpse of what is to come.

Jerusalem: A cup of trembling and a burdensome stone

No, thats not my title, it comes from "Israel Today" Magazine. It is always of great interest when a "non-prophecy" publication touches on subjects like this. Lets see what is said; below is the article in its entirety:

Jerusalem

The prophecy of Zechariah Chapter 12 was written approximately 2500 years ago predicting a future day when the world’s focus would be on Jerusalem:

“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.”

“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.”

Further in verses 7, 8 and 9, the prophecy makes it clear that God will ultimately save the city and its people, but to the surrounding nations, the attempted conquest of Jerusalem will cause them great trouble, and to every nation pressuring to lift Jerusalem out of Jewish control, it will prove to be a heavy burden, and be injurious to them all.

This is widely regarded as an End Time prophecy, and by examining the current geo-political and spiritual situation of the Middle East conflict, it is safe to say the time-frame of this prophecy is upon us.

The words to Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah” (The Hope) written in 1886 by Naphtali Herz Imber, express the powerful emotion and inmost God-given desire of the Jewish people, and the deep longing of the Jewish heart while living in exile among the nations, for their homeland. Praying, they faced Jerusalem, and never gave up the hope for their promised return there, as prophesied in the word of God. (Isaiah 11:11-12; Ezekiel 36:8-11 Ezekiel 37:21-22; Ezekiel 38:8, Isaiah 43:5-6; Jeremiah 31:7-10)

Today, millions of Jewish people have returned, and many are still making aliyah, as prophesied in the Bible.
However, the Islamic community, the nations surrounding Israel (Psalm 83:4-8), the international community, and the Vatican - all have a different goal in mind for Jerusalem. They would all remove complete Jewish control over the city and erase the Jewish victory in the June 1967 (miraculous) Six Day War, and either divide Jerusalem, or attempt a complete conquest of it, if they could.

The call of the world at this time then is the attempt to lift this ‘immovable rock,’ but in return, to only find that the word of God is the unshakeable truth. All who burden themselves with pressuring Israel in changing what God has said in His word concerning Jerusalem, will find themselves facing nothing less than God’s judgment. Jerusalem will be a cup of trembling to the surrounding nations attempting to take it over from Israel; the Six Day War is an example of the supernatural protection around this Holy Land. His word is faithful and true.

At present, the US and Israel are negotiating a deal that would effectively bring both the Palestinians and Israel back to the table for direct peace talks, under the pressure from the international community, with the prospect to bring about a “two-state solution” that would supposedly solve the Middle East conflict.

The negotiations are stalled at the moment as Israel is waiting for a written letter of promise back from the Obama Administration assuring them that this current construction freeze demand does not include “East Jerusalem”; it is “only” imposed on construction in Judea and Samaria. Israel is to receive certain military gestures, security guarantees, and 20 aircraft, in return for agreeing to the freeze.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has strongly declared to the Obama Administration that “Jerusalem is not a settlement, it is our Capital!” He has stated previously that Jerusalem is not to be included in this round of talks. However, the letter from the US is slow in coming back - apparently the Obama Administration does not want Israel to continue building in East Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a burdensome stone!

Israel is like a banner to the entire world that the word of God is the truth. With each passing day, as Jerusalem becomes more and more the center of the world’s attention, it will become increasingly difficult for anyone to dispute the incredible accuracy of these ancient prophecies. Truly, the time to seek God is now, if you don’t know Him. Zechariah Chapter 12 ends with the Messiah’s prophesied return:

“And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.”

Let us Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem - Psalm 122.

Also found in "Israel Today" is the following article, keeping in mind that the Temple Mount is the epicenter of the epicenter (Jerusalem):

Palestinians at it again, claim Jews have no ties to Temple Mount"

One of the most telling stories to come out of the spectacular failure that was the 2000 Camp David Summit between Israeli and Palestinian leaders was Yasser Arafat’s turning down of a pretty comprehensive peace deal because he refused to recognize Jewish historical ties to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, to the horror of many Israelis, had offered to divide Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, with the caveat that Jews be allowed to continue visiting the Western Wall of the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, unimpeded.

To the astonishment of their host, former President Bill Clinton, Arafat rejected the proposal on the grounds that the Jews never had a temple at the site, and that it was wholly an Islamic site with no connection to the Jews or the their Bible.

On Monday, the Palestinian Ministry of Information in Ramallah published a “study” claiming that the Western Wall is an integral part of the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Haram al-Sharif (the Islamic term for the Temple Mount).

According to the study, what the Jews call the Western Wall of the Temple compound originally built King Solomon and expanded by King Herod is a wholly Islamic site with no connection to the Jews whatsoever

Israeli leaders demanded that Abbas and his government distance itself from the study.
“This is not the sort of statement to be expected from a partner in peace,” government spokesman Mark Regev told The Jerusalem Post.

Regev continued: “Denying the Jewish connection to the Western Wall is to deny reality. If you deny the Jewish connection to the Western Wall you are in fact denying the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and the land of Israel itself.” Of course, that is likely the ultimate goal of the Palestinian leadership.

The prophet Zechariah saw this day coming, and of course he was exactly right.

As mentioned so many times before - the accuracy and specificity of biblical prophecy is breathtaking.

N. Korea: Showing us the future with Iran?

Several stories are circulating today which are stating that the current situation with N Korea is revealing the future concerning Iran:

Analysis: Korean clash could happen with nuclear Iran

Many Israelis heard about the Korean flare-up on Tuesday between the North and the South and justifiably wondered what it had to do with the Jewish state.

Thousands of kilometers away from Israel, which already has enough problems closer to home, the tension in the Yellow Sea should not immediately be a point of concern. But it is.

From an Israeli point of view, the North Korean attack on Yeonpyeong Island Tuesday morning is an example of what Israel has been warning will happen if Iran is allowed to continue developing a nuclear capability – a nuclear power will be bolder in its acts of aggression.

North Korea and Iran are close allies and have for decades collaborated on military and nuclear technology. North Korea is a known exporter of missile technology to Syria and Iran, which have both built up formidable ballistic missile capabilities, from various versions of Scud missiles to Shihabs and Sajils. Some of the missiles are modeled on North Korean designs.

This next question hits the nail squarely on the head:

“I think that North Korea is, as we see, a threat not only for their part of the world, but also for the Middle East and the entire world,” Lieberman said. If the international community “cannot stop, cannot suffocate this crazy regime,” then how could it deal with Iran, he asked.

Also see:

Lieberman: How will the world stop Iran if it can't stop N. Korea?

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Tuesday slammed the world's response to North Korea's atatck on its southern neighbor, saying the intenational community was showing weakness in the face of aggression.

Lieberman told journalists in Jerusalem that a failure to confront the regime of dictator Kim Jong-il left the world little able to confront other agreesors, including Iran - which Israel and the West accuse of developing a nuclear bomb.

In other news regarding the N Korean situation:

US aircraft carrier heads to Korean peninsula

The USS George Washington, an aircraft carrier carrying 75 warplanes and a crew of over 6,000, shipped out towards Korean waters on Wednesday. According to US officials in Seoul, the carrier left Japan and was expected to join naval exercises with South Korea next week.

Also on Wednesday, South Korea said it found the burnt bodies of two male civilians on the island attacked by North Korea one day before.

The South Korean Coast Guard said the two construction workers were found Wednesday. They were believed to be in their sixties. The discovery came day after a frightening military skirmish between the Koreas ratcheted tensions on the peninsula to new extremes.

As closely as Iran and N Korea are aligned, one has to wonder if the "lines" are being tested - in other words, is the so-called "international community" being tested to see exactly what will and will not be allowed in terms of aggressive acts from one country to another.

If N Korea can destroy almost one hundred homes in S Korea, killing and injuring a number of innocent citizens, what is to stop Iran from doing the same thing to Israel?

Could Iran be involved in this latest crisis?

This story is far from being over, but so far, the "bad guys" are winning in a big way.