Tuesday, October 30, 2012

In The News:



Of course the news today is dominated by Hurricane Sandy, and the links provided below this post still seem to be the most up-to-date for ongoing news. There are still a few news items worth repeating in the face of watching the aftermath of Sandy:



There may be significant loss of life during storm “Sandy.” Each weak, about 2,300 innocent Americans are murdered in the womb.There will be a great deal of property damage during this storm. Consider the much greater share of property institutionally robbed of Americans, through excessive expenditures, Agenda 21 oriented regulations, Federal Reserve interest, debt repayment to foreign banks, and so many manners of corruption. It all results in a massive robbery of opportunity, for those in need.Let Sandy be a reminder to pray for its potential victims – and for our entire nation, so deeply flooded in it’s many corrupt, thieving, authoritarian ways. These ways are very anti-American. They carry destructive influences to other nations as well as our own. (E.g., the UN, IMF, CFR, Planned Parenthood, etc. are in large part American concoctions, in large part funded by Americans.)Beyond this is the creeping or very potential and impending loss of national sovereignty, to such imperialistic entities – and the potential loss of our Popular Sovereignty, and of Western Civilization, itself.Beyond this is the critical condition of the heart of every present and future American, and the Eternity that is at stake.







The song of the Arab Spring has ended, but the malady lingers on.  Even the most well-intentioned optimist has to acknowledge that the events in the Middle East over the last two years have not succeeded in introducing anything resembling democratic societies or political structures to replace the existing authoritarian regimes.  Those events have not so much reinforced traditional politics in the Arab countries as served to underline the failure of regimes based on secular politics to emerge.  The path to modernity has not been followed; indeed, the reverse has happened, with a greater prominence of religious doctrine and the fragmentation of some of the Arab states.

As a result of the uprisings and violence of the last two years, the Arab Middle East area has witnessed three important developments: an Islamist upsurge and calls for jihad in the name of the glory of Allah, the reassertion of tribalism in a number of countries such as Libya and Yemen, and religious sectarian violence in a number of countries including Syria.  All this is occurring in the context of the demographic factor of the large proportion of youth in Arab societies and the failure to provideemployment or other opportunities for them.
The Islamic upsurge has resulted not in the liberation of Muslims, but rather more restrictions over them. 
Repression has intensified.  The Western world is familiar with the fatwa issued in February 1989 by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini against Salman Rushdie, which called for the writer's execution and which has not been withdrawn.  It is perhaps less familiar with the stories of other authors who have been forced to flee Iran in 2012 after calling for artistic and intellectual freedom.
Islamic fundamentalists, especially the extreme Salafists, believe that their doctrine is superior to that of Western democracies and have become increasingly active on the political stage in states such as Egypt, Tunisia, and Iraq.  That extremism stems from religious conviction, not from economic grievances.
 It is a matter of some concern that the Mohammed Morsi, the president of Egypt, has said that the implementation of the 33-year-old Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, and the maintenance of peace, depends on "peace and justice" for the Palestinians.




There is a debate over the causes of terrorism and anti-Americanism in the world. One possible view is that the principal problem is that of genuine conflict. The adversaries hold certain ideological ideas — say, revolutionary Islamism — to which American society and policies are antithetical. The collision (as with communism, Nazism, and aggressive Japanese militarism in earlier decades) is inevitable. The United States is inconveniencing the totalitarians both because of what it does (policies) and because of what it represents (freedom, democracy, capitalism).

The other view currently dominates among many Western academic “experts,” politicians, mass media, and even governments. That concept is that the hatred is our own fault. We have done things in the past — which require apologies — and are doing things in the present that make people angry at America who otherwise would be friendly.

Thus, in this case, if American facilities are attacked in Cairo and Benghazi it must have been something America did wrong, to wit, an insulting video made by an immigrant from the Middle East about Islam.






Manouchehr Manteqi, head of Iran’s aerospace industry, announced that Tehran now had drones capable of flying a distance of 2,000 kilometers – and therefore reaching Israel. Iran plans to store a supply of those advanced models to Lebanon for the use of Hizballah – and not only against Israel but  to extend its range against a whole array of Tehran’s enemies – before flying them back to home base in Iran.

Iranian sources claim that the latest drone was tested in combat conditions In November 2011. A UAV was sent secretly over US Fifth Fleet vessels in the Persian Gulf, collected data and gained valuable experience for its further development.They have now advanced to the planning stages of a spy drone with stealth qualities and a large UAV bomber, cannibalizing technology pirated from the American RQ-170 Sentinel drone they downed on Dec. 4, 2011, buying it from Russia and China and stealing it from the West.

Most of their UAV development program budget is being spent on upgrading their drones’ navigation, transmission and cyber warfare systems.The great progress Iran has made in the past five years in all these fields has been helped along by Iranian students returning home from studies at MIT and other universities in the United States, Britain and Germany.  They are offered attractive salaries to work hard on the goals set before them.





A strong earthquake struck a largely unpopulated island off Canada's west coast on Monday evening, two days after a much larger earthquake triggered a small tsunami in the Pacific Ocean, seismologists said.
The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) said the earthquake was felt on the Queen Charlotte Islands, which are also known as Haida Gwaii, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The USGS estimated some 5,000 people near the epicenter may have felt very light shaking, but said damage was unlikely.






For the longest time, I tried to avoid any mention of politics on the blog, but right now, at such a critical time in U.S. history it is unavoidable. Additionally, it does tie into biblical prophecy, perhaps now more than ever. The reason is - liberalism in the U.S. has moved so severely to the 'left' that the views currently held by the extreme left are entirely consistent with the world-wide totalitarian form of government that the world will see during the Tribulation. To ignore it is almost a form of dishonesty. 

Below is a long introduction to this timely article:


Did California’s redistributive elite really believe that they could all but shut down new gas and oil production, strangle the timber industry, idle irrigated farmland, divert water to the delta smelt, have 37 million people use a highway system designed for 15 million, allow millions of illegal aliens to enter the state without audit, extend free medical programs to 8 million of the most recent 11 million added to the population, up taxes to among the highest in the nation, and host one-third of the nation’s welfare recipients — and not have the present chaos?

The California schools — flooded with students whose first language is not English, staffed by unionized teachers not subject to the consequences of subpar teaching, and plagued with politicized curricula that do not emphasize math, science, and reading and writing comprehension — scarcely rate above those in Mississippi and Alabama. Did liberals, who wanted unions, a new curriculum, and open borders, believe it was good for the state to have a future generation — that will build our power plants, fly our airliners, teach our children, and take out our tumors — that is at the near-bottom in national test scores?

Do Bay Area greens really believe that they that will have sufficient water if they blow up the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir? Did Barack Obama think that the Keystone pipeline or new gas and oil leases in the Gulf were superfluous, or that we do not need oil to make gasoline, wheat to make flour, or to cut timber to produce wood?

Did liberals (and their hand-in-glove employer supporters who wished for cheap labor) think that letting in millions from Central Mexico, most without legality, English, or a high school education (and in some sense at the expense of thousands waiting in line for legal admission with capital, advanced degrees, and technological expertise), was not problematic and that soaring costs in law enforcement, the criminal justice system, the schools, and the health care industries were irrelevant?




12 comments:

David said...

Enter Tony Blair back onto the political stage: Sounds like this could be a future job for say the....uuummmmm......ANTICHRIST maybe!

Tony Blair: the EU needs a president
Tony Blair has said the EU would be better off with a directly elected president, as he warned deep political rifts between countries could lead to a break-up. In a move interpreted by some as a job application, the former prime minister said the EU could do with a strong leader approved by the people.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9641302/Tony-Blair-the-EU-needs-a-president.html




JD Siegel said...

That earth quake activity in Queen Charlote Islands is unbelievable, its the only location on the whole planet having any earthquakes at all and these are all after shocks. None are happening anywhere else as I write this. Wierd!

nathan said...

Wow David , i just read that article about Tony Blair . We all know Europe is going to have Ten Kings . This whole Eurocrises has offered a bunch of different scenerios on how its going to happen . "Big Crises equals big change" and "Never letter a crises go to waste"

I don't think Blair fits the Anti-christ role . He's not that stern looking . He's married so he isn't (gay or unattracted to females) and he lacks a head wound that has healed). He does however work for Goldman Sachs so he could be the AC (lol) .

Does anybody know the scripture about the LION (England) in prophecy ?

And Jd that is strange . Its also strange to think that on one coast were having 7.7 / 6.4 Earthquakes and on the other a Megastorm .

God Bless
Nate

Ps WV hang in there just saw the footage . Go make some snowangels .

Nathan said...

Oh p.s.s Don't you think its funny how EVERYone is talking about the October surprise along with about 50 theories on how it could happen and it was GOD who ended up being the power behind it :) :)

David said...

Nate, how about JFK? He had a bit of a head injury....sorry that was ugly of me

David said...

Hey guys, on a more serious note. I had a question from my 11 year old son tonight that I couldn't answer. He asked what happened to the people that died before Jesus? Then he asked do they or did they get a chance to go to heaven. I was stunned. I don't know the answer. Any scripture you could point me to would be appreciated.

WVBORN56 said...

David the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross goes both forward and backward in time. Those before Christ were saved by their faith just like we are. Their faith was in god but Christ sacrifice also pays for their sin.

The snow in our town was only 4-5 inches but enough to close schools. The bordering county received 22 inches and the state has 100K people without power.

Scott said...

WV - I completely agree. And more in depth - it has to do with dispensational eras - and the old test. Saints will receive their glorified bodies at the end of the Tribulation, along with the Tribulation Saints, which is another distinct difference between the Church and the OT Saints. But the central point is what you say - Those before the time of Christ were still looking for a needed messiah - they couldn't help it if He hadn't come yet!

Anonymous said...

but werent the old testament people under the law and not grace? David, this is a very great question! Ive wondered this very same thing. Thanks for asking. Hope everyone is doing okay after the storm.

Anonymous said...

David,

Ephesians 4:8 states: "Wherefore he saith, When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men."

Also, Psalm 68:18 "Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men;...."

As I understand it, "He led captivity captive" is referring to what took place at Jesus' death and resurrection. He descended into death to retrieve those who died in faith before Jesus came to the earth. These saints were held in captivity (death), until He took them captive and returned to heaven with them.

So, those who died in faith before Jesus came to earth, are now in heaven with Him.

I hope I have not misinterpreted this, but this is how I understand it.

Our children ask wonderful questions, too; and it causes us to dig for the answer! :)

From "M" in the Garnet state....

JD Siegel said...

Hi David,
I have been taught Jesus desended into Hades to rescue the before-cross saints awaiting salvation, like Abraham, Moses, King David, Elijah, etc. Evidence of this place is found in the parable by Jesus in Luke 16:22

"22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom."

Abraham was not in flames, but on the other side of a great casm.

26-"26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us."

I have come to believe that when Jesus decended into hell after His death, He went there not only to take the keys of death and Hades away from Satan, but to lead the captives out in triumph. We know Moses and Elijah appeared WITH Jesus on the mount of transfiguration. I DO NOT believe they rose up from hell to be with Him there on the mountain before the disciples, but they came down from heaven.

Just my own beliefs. I can't prove it with scripture.

David said...

Great references. I appreciate the help. I'm still blown away by my 11 yr. Olds question, this coming from one who's life mastery is the PlayStation 3 and smart phone. I guess he is paying attention. I'm still a little confused but this will definitely help me get there. Thanks again.