Christian Persecution Reaches Global Historic High, 'Hating Israel', Watch The Petrodollar

Christian Persecution Reaches Global Historic High, Thanks to Rise of Radical Islam

Christian persecution is at an historic high thanks to global rise of religious fundamentalism, most notably by radical Islam, Christian charity Open Doors has found. Persecution has seen the biggest rise in countries such as Pakistan and Eritrea where radical Islam is on the rise, but North Korea still tops the list with its systematic oppression of Christians.

More than 100 million Christians are being persecuted globally, according to the 2016 Open Doors World Watch List, and more than 80 percent of that persecution is down to religious fundamentalism of some kind.

At least 7,000 Christians have been killed for their faith in the last year alone, up from 4,000 in 2014, the report notes. But it admits that the figure is likely to be a significant underestimate as it does not include murders in Iraq, Syria and North Korea, where violent persecution of Christians has become the norm, as accurate records do not exist in those countries.

North Korea, where citizens are required to revere their leader, remains the most dangerous place on earth to be a Christian. It is estimated that around 70,000 Christians are currently imprisoned in labour camps, while others who worship in secret risk death if they are discovered.

An Open Doors partner working with twelve families in North Korea reported: “They have only one Bible in the whole group, and each family must take turns to borrow it. They hide the Bible in a secret place. Once a month, three families get together and worship together; once a year all believers get together in a mountain valley to worship and have secret fellowship.”

However, it is in sub-Saharan Africa where the greatest numbers of Christians are killed for their faith, thanks to the rapid rise of radical Islam. In Nigeria, where Boko Haram is carrying out the systematic slaughter of Christians, more than 4,000 Christians have been killed in the last year, and displaced a further 2.1 million people internally. At least 198 church buildings were also targeted.

Ron Paul Warns: "Watch The Petrodollar"

Essentially, Paul is saying that understanding the petrodollar system and the forces affecting it is the best way to predict when the U.S. dollar will collapse.

Paul and I discussed this extensively at one of the Casey Research Summits. He told me he stands by his assessment.

This is critically important. When the dollar loses its coveted status as the world’s reserve currency, the window of opportunity for Americans to protect their wealth from the U.S. government will definitively shut.

At that point, the U.S. government will implement the same destructive measures other desperate governments have used throughout history: overt capital controls, wealth confiscation, people controls, price and wage controls, pension nationalizations, etc.

The dollar’s demise will wipe out the wealth of a lot of people. But it will also trigger political and social consequences likely to be far more damaging than the financial fallout.

The two key takeaways are:

1. The U.S. dollar’s status as the premier reserve currency is tied to the petrodollar system.

1. The sustainability of the petrodollar system relies on volatile geopolitics in the Middle East (where I lived and worked for several years).

The geopolitical sands of the Middle East are rapidly shifting.

Saudi Arabia’s strategic regional position is weakening. Iran, which is notably not part of the petrodollar system, is on the rise. U.S. military interventions are failing. And the emerging BRICS countries are creating potential alternatives to U.S.-dominated economic/security arrangements. This all affects the sustainability of the petrodollar system.

I’m watching the deteriorating relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia with a particularly close eye.

The Saudis are furious because they don’t think the U.S. is holding up its end of the petrodollar deal by more aggressively attacking their regional rivals.

This suggests that they might not uphold their part of the deal much longer, namely selling their oil exclusively in U.S. dollars.

The Saudis have even suggested a “major shift” is under way in their relationship with the U.S. To date, though, they haven’t matched their words with action, so it may just be a temper tantrum or a bluff.

The Saudis need an outside protector. So far, they haven’t found any suitable replacements for the U.S. In any case, they’re using truly unprecedented language.

This situation may reach a turning point when U.S. officials start expounding on the need to transform the monarchy in Saudi Arabia into a “democracy.” But don’t count on that happening as long as Saudi oil sells exclusively for U.S. dollars.

Regardless, the chances that the Kingdom might implode on its own are growing.

Today, another paradigm shift seems inevitable. As Ron Paul explained, there’s one sure way to know when that shift is imminent:

We will know that day is approaching when oil-producing countries demand gold, or its equivalent, for their oil rather than dollars or euros.

It’s very possible that, one day soon, Americans will wake up to a new reality, just as they did in 1971 when Nixon severed the dollar’s final link to gold.

The petrodollar system has allowed the U.S. government and many U.S. citizens to live way beyond their means for decades. It also gives the U.S. unchecked geopolitical leverage. The U.S. can exclude virtually any country from the U.S. dollar-based financial system…and, by extension, from the vast majority of international trade.

The U.S. takes this unique position for granted. But it will disappear once the dollar loses its premier status.

This will likely be the tipping point…

Afterward, the U.S. government will be desperate enough to implement capital controls, people controls, nationalization of retirement savings, and other forms of wealth confiscation.

Hillary's Emails: Hating Israel

There are many reasons to dislike Hillary Clinton. For one, she’s an unrepentant liar, fabricating everything from her Brian Williamesque brush with death in Bosnia to her parent’s pedigree to her claim that she believed a video caused the deaths of four heroes in Benghazi.

She is also unethical, having accepted large sums of money to the Clinton Foundation from countries and entities working on behalf of foreign governments impacted by her decisions as secretary of state. There is some circumstantial evidence suggesting that she may have been influenced by these rather large contributions. In one well publicized case, Russia was able to acquire 20% of the United States’ uranium reserves in an energy deal that required State Department approval. A paper trail from that transaction reveals that the Clintons’ and their foundation benefited from substantial donations issued by entities with vested interests in ensuring the Russian acquisition of America’s strategic assets. Clinton was required to publicly disclose these contributions but never did. The FBI has now expanded its Emailgate probe of Clinton to include whether the possible “intersection” of Clinton Foundation work and State Department business violated public corruption laws.

Hillary Clinton, who fancies herself as the champion of human rights and women’s rights, is also a serial hypocrite. Records show that the Clinton Foundation accepted funds from countries with abysmal human rights records where misogyny is regularly practiced and the principles of due process are routinely trampled upon.

She gives new meaning to the term flip-flopper, changing her views on various issues on multiple occasions. On everything from gay marriage to NAFTA to the Keystone Pipeline, Hillary is all over the map. Depending on the prevailing winds and the target audience, she’s either for it or against it. With Hillary, it’s all about expediency while principle plays little if any role. When asked by Chris Matthews about the difference between a Socialist and a Democrat, Hillary, ever the professional panderer, sidestepped the issue and predictably, a pliant Matthews from the uber-left MSNBC, let the matter pass without protest. As an aside, there is no longer any difference. Both parties believe in big, intrusive government and “redistribution” of wealth.

She is more than likely a felon having committed numerous transgressions in connection with her usage of private, unsecured servers to send classified State Department emails which likely fell into the hands of the Russians, Chinese and God knows who else.

In fact, Hillary’s crimes are likely far greater in scope and scale than those committed by General David Petraeus. At least with Petraeus, the damage was limited and contained. Not so with Clinton’s malfeasance. We may never know the extent of the damage caused by her deliberate circumvention of law and government protocol but it is a virtual certainty that government secrets were compromised and national security was placed at risk.

Bob Woodward compared Hillary’s server scandal to that of Watergate, which brought down the Nixon administration. Woodward is not some far-right tea-bagger but an accomplished and well-respected Washington insider and investigative journalist who brought down an American president.

These examples by themselves should give pause for thought before one entertains the notion of pulling the lever for an unprincipled liar and possible, nay probable felon but unfortunately, there’s more, a lot more.

If you hate Israel and wish to see nothing but misfortune for the Jewish State, stop reading because Hillary is your candidate. If you care about Israel and its relationship with the United States, read on.

Hillary’s email scandal has unleashed a treasure trove of information pertaining to the former secretary of state’s views on Israel as well as those of her closest advisors, Sidney Blumenthal, Anne Marie Slaughter and Thomas Pickering. The latest email exposé involves Thomas Pickering.

Pickering has never been known to be friendly toward Israel but what he suggested to Hillary in a 2011 email is frankly shocking, even by anti-Israel standards.  He hatched a scheme to foment unrest in Israel through mass Arab demonstrations to pressure the Israeli government and arm-twist it into making damaging concessions. The nefarious plan, Pickering advised, would require the assistance of third parties and NGOs so that the U.S. could not be linked to it in any way. Apparently, even Pickering, the author of this malevolence, understood its negative implications for the U.S.-Israel alliance should the U.S. role in it ever come to light.

One would think that Hillary would have dismissed such an outrageous suggestion outright but instead, she ordered an aide to print the email providing keen insight into the extent of Clinton’s disdain for the Jewish State. It only gets worse from there.

One of Clinton’s closest advisers was Anne Marie Slaughter. She served as Clinton’s director of policy planning at Foggy Bottom from 2009 until 2011. In 2010, she sent an email to senior Clinton staffers hatching a ludicrous plan involving a pro-Palestinian fundraising initiative that would have had the net effect of “shaming” Israel into submission.

Another miscreant and perhaps the most troubling on the list of shady anti-Israel characters advising Clinton is Sidney Blumenthal, father and defender of the notorious anti-Semite, Max Blumenthal. Max has never met a Hamas or Hezbollah terrorist he didn’t like and subscribes to every single anti-Israel calumny and conspiracy theory winding its way through the blogosphere. So extreme are his views that even the German Communist party washed its hands of him.

Sidney Blumenthal is a passionate defender of his son’s unscholarly, anti-Semitic dung and has passed much of it along via email to a very receptive Hillary. Among the articles forwarded was a lengthy conspiracy piecewritten by Max for the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Akhbar. Rather than rejecting it outright, Clinton responded, “interesting reading.” Shmuley Boteach provides brilliant insight and analysis on the pernicious Sidney Blumenthal-Max Blumenthal-Hillary Clinton axis and its ramifications on the U.S.-Israel alliance should Clinton be elected.

Perhaps Clinton’s closest adviser is Huma Abedin. She has wisely kept her views on Israel close to her chest but her past flirtations with the fascist Muslim Brotherhood are undeniable as noted by FPM’s Joseph Klein. Abedin and her Saudi-connected parents have held high-level positions with various Muslim affiliated organizations that have openly adopted extremely hostile views toward the Jewish State. While Abedin is not on record making anti-Israel remarks, it is safe to assume that given her past affiliations and those of her closest relatives, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

The Obama administration is in its twilight year and Israel has endured and survived eight torturous years of open hostility from a virulent Israel-hater. The next president will determine the trajectory of the U.S. Israel alliance. David Petraeus has insightfully noted that despite some differences and disagreements that may arise between Israel and the U.S. from time to time, we would be wise to focus on the big picture. He states:

The simple reality is that Israel and the United States are long-standing friends and allies in an increasingly dangerous world – and we ought to treat each other as such. From an American perspective, Israel has proven itself to be an exceptionally capable, resourceful and valuable ally to the United States in a very important and treacherous region. We share many fundamental interests, and we face enemies that wish to do both countries harm. Just as importantly, we share core values and we therefore wrestle with many of the same questions – about how to keep our people safe from the forces of terrorism that seek our destruction while preserving our respective democratic freedoms, rule of law, and respect for fundamental and eternal human rights, which define who we are.

Should Clinton become president, it is safe to assume that she will disregard Petraeus’ advice and employ the same destructive policies championed by her predecessor, placing the final nail in the coffin of an alliance that has endured for 68 years and causing tremendous harm to the interests of two great democracies. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

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