News for October 31, 2007

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How television controls and programs minds L. Wolfe (September 10, 2007) - Read this powerful indictment of uncontrolled TV viewing written in the early 1990s and then take stock of how much the Boob Tube is on in your own home. Its message is even more important today with TVs blaring in airports, bars, even offices. It is time to try Mr. Wolfe's therapy: "Do you want to stay stupid and let your country go to hell in a basket? Why don't you just walk over to the set and turn it off. That's right, completely off. Go on, you can do it. Now isn't that better? Don't you feel a little better already? You've just taken the first step in deprogramming yourself. It wasn't that hard, was it? Until we speak again, try to keep it off. Now that will be a bit harder." -Jim Marrs Turn Off Your Television: The subconscious is powerful. It is aware of every particle and detail around you. But it doesn't know the difference between fact or fiction and acts on all information passing through the conscious mind as fact, and responds to it. So what do you think happens when you watch silly, moron, goofy commercials and television programs? They are training your thought processes. -Hey buddy, I'm talking to you. Yes, you, the guy sitting in front of the television. Turn down the sound a bit, so that you can hear what I am saying. Now, try to concentrate on what I am going to say. I want to talk to you about your favorite pastime. No, it's not baseball or football, although it does have something to do with your interest in spectator sports. I'm talking about what you were just doing: watching television. Do you have any idea about how much time you spend in front of the television set? According to the latest studies, the average American now spends between five and six hours a day watching television. Let's put that in perspective: that is more time than you spend doing anything else but sleeping or working, if you are lucky enough to still have a job. That's more time than you spend eating, more time than you spend with your wife alone, more time than with the kids. It's even worse with your children. According to these same studies, young children below school age watch more than eight hours each day. School age children watch a little under eight hours a day. In 1980, the average 20-year-old had watched the equivalent of 14 months of television in his or her brief lifetime. That's 14 months, 24 hours a day. More recent figures show that the numbers have climbed: the 20-year-old has spent closer to two full years of his or her life in front of the television set. At the same time, the researchers have noted a disturbing phenomena. It seems that we Americans are getting progressively more stupid. They note a decline in reading and comprehension levels in all age groups tested. Americans read less and understand what they read less than they did 10 years ago, less than they have at any time since research began to study such things. As for writing skills, Americans are, in general, unable to write more than a few simple sentences. We are among the least literate people on this planet, and we're getting worse. It's the change--the constant trendline downward--that interests these researchers. More than one study has correlated this increasing stupidity of our population to the amount of television they watch. Interestingly, the studies found that it doesn't matter what people watch, whether it's ``The Simpsons'' or ``McNeil/Lehrer,'' or ``Murphy Brown'' or ``Nightline':' the more television you watch, the less literate, the more stupid you are. The growth in television watching had surprised some of the researchers. Back a decade ago, they were predicting that television watching would level off and might actually decline. It had reached an absolute saturation point. They were right for so-called network television; figures show a steady dropoff of viewership. But that drop is more than made up for by the growth of cable television, with its smorgasbord of channels, one for almost every perversion. Especially in urban and suburban areas, Americans are hard-wired to more than 100 different channels that provide them with all news, like CNN, all movies, all comedy, all sports, all weather, all financial news and a liberal dose of straight pornography. The researchers had also failed to predict the market penetration of first beta and then VHS video recorders; they made it possible to watch one thing and record another for later viewing. They also offered access to movies not available on networks or even cable channels as well as home videos, recorded on your own little camcorder. The proliferation of home video equipment has involved families in video-related activities which are not even considered in the cumulative totals for time Americans spend watching television. You might not actually realize how much you are watching television. But think for a moment. When you come home, you turn the television on, if it isn't on already. You read the paper with it on, half glancing at what is on the screen, catching a bit of the news, or the plot of a show. You eat with it on, maybe in the background, listening for a score or something that happens to a character in a show you follow. When something you are interested in, a show or basketball game, is on, the set becomes the center of attention. So your attention to what is on may vary in intensity, but there is almost no point when you are home, and inside, and have the set completely off. Isn't that right? The studies did not break down the periods of time people watched television, according to the intensity of their viewing. But the point is still made: you compulsively turn the television on and spend a good portion of your waking hours glued to the tube. And the studies also showed that many people can't sleep without the television turned on! Brainwashing Now, I'm sure you have heard that watching too much television is bad for your health. They put stories like that on the evening news. Bad for your eyes to stare at the screen, they say. Especially bad if you sit too close. Well, I want to make another point. We've already shown that you are addicted to the tube, watching it between six and eight hour a day. But it is an addiction that brainwashes you. There are two kinds of brainwashing. The one that's called "hard" brainwashing is the type you're most familiar with. You've got a pretty good image of it from some of those old Korean war movies. They take some guy, an American patriot, drag him into a room, torture him, pump him full of drugs, and after a struggle, get him to renounce his country and his beliefs. He usually undergoes a personality change, signified by an ever-present smile and blank stare. This brainwashing is called hard because its methods are overt. The controlled environment is obvious to the victim; so is the terror. The victim is overwhelmed by a seemingly omnipotent external force, and a feeling of intense isolation is induced. The victim's moral strength is sapped, and slowly he embraces his torturers. It is man's moral strength that informs and orders his power of reason; without it, the mind becomes little more than a recording machine waiting for imprints. No one is saying that you have been a victim of hard brainwashing. But you have been brainwashed, just as effectively as those people in the movies. The blank stare? Did you ever look at what you look like while watching television? If the angle is right, you might catch your own reflection in the screen. Jaw slightly open, lips relaxed into a smile. The blank stare of a television zombie. This is "soft" brainwashing, even more effective because its victims go about their lives unaware of what is being done to them. Television, with its reach into nearly every American home, creates the basis for the mass brainwashing of citizens, like you. Who's Doing It? more...
| Technology | NewWorldOrder |

While I can't verify some of the specific historic claims made, this is something that we as Christians should be aware of and guarding our minds against. The mind is very easily influenced, especially when dealing with spiritual wickedness in high places. If thought is the voice of the spirit realm, then the spirit realm can affect us through thoughts and words. I know I've "zoned out" on TV many-a-time. Knowing this tool is there, how much will the subtle serpent take advantage of it and try to control it? Watch how rock n' roll has been and is being used today.

New California law labeled anti-family, 'insidious' OneNews Now (October 24, 2007) - An official with the World Congress of Families says it was a surprise when California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a measure into law that many believe is a blatant attack on the natural family. SB 777 prohibits any instruction or school-sponsored activity that would promote discrimination against gender. That means terms like "mom and dad" and "husband and wife" cannot be used in California textbooks because they suggest that heterosexuality is the norm. And under the new law, teachers and students who oppose same-sex "marriage" or who express disapproval of cross-dressing or sex-change operations could face disciplinary measures. Dr. Alan Carlson says the measure -- which he describes as "very insidious" -- is absurd. "This is a huge step in an anti-family direction," he asserts. "This basically turns the public schools of California, in effect ... into indoctrination centers for alternative household arrangements, alternative sexual arrangements." According to the global coordinator for the World Congress of Families, the measure is proof that the homosexual lobby is not interested in non-discrimination, but in forcing its views on an unwilling public. "It's clearly designed to make defenders and advocates of the natural family ... something like thought criminals, essentially," Carlson says. The World Congress of Families says although some may find it unbelievable, the new law even allows students who identify with the opposite gender the freedom to use restrooms and locker rooms of the opposite sex. Carlson says parents who do not want their children to be subjected to "gender indoctrination" now have no alternative but to withdraw their children from California's public school system -- a system he points out parents will still be required to fund through their taxes. SB 777 is currently scheduled to go into effect January 1, 2008. A coalition of conservative and pro-family groups, SaveOurKids.net, has begun the process of collecting the signatures needed to turn the referendum into a valid ballot measure for the state's voters to consider. (See related story)
| America | Signs of the Times |

China song-writers decry "unhealthy" pop tunes Reuters (October 24, 2007) - A group of conservative Chinese songwriters has denounced the emergence of "vulgar" pop music on the Internet which they say is poisoning youth with weird lyrics and lustful themes. The 40 composers, some of who have written songs for Peng Liyuan, a famous singer married to Shanghai Communist Party boss Xi Jinping, signed a petition calling for a boycott of unhealthy online music and vowed to improve young people's music appreciation through their own "outstanding" output. "Music workers should firmly observe the socialist honors and disgraces," a transcript of the petition carried by the official People's Daily Web site (www.people.com.cn) said, referring to a 2006 campaign launched by Communist Party chief Hu Jintao to instill moral values in society. "(They should) resist the incursion of unseemly content, abandon vulgarity ... and work hard to compose outstanding online works that the people, and especially the broader youth, love to hear." With state television and radio broadcasts limited to bombastic patriotic blasts from the past and benign pop, the popularity of online music has exploded in China. China's censors have so far failed to control the Internet, despite a massive surveillance machine and government campaigns to stamp out "unhealthy content." The petition was signed at a seminar held by the official Chinese Music Association last Friday during the recently concluded Communist Party Congress, the newspaper said. Delegates singled out online hits, including "Na Yi Ye" -- "That One Night" -- by Xie Jun, a song about a couple who get drunk and spend the night together. "That one night you didn't refuse me!/That one night I hurt you/That one night you were all tears," are the raciest lyrics. The attack on vulgar online music follows campaigns against online pornography and bans on crass reality TV shows and "sexual sounds" on the country's air-waves.

If you haven't seen They Sold Their Souls For Rock N' Roll, you can watch it now free online. It seems that these conservative Chinese recognize what the conservative Americans spoke out against in the 60's. Only now the music industry is far more blatant in their destruction of family and morals in the world.

'We must be ready to preempt threats' The Jerusalem Post (October 23, 2007) - Israeli Ambassador to the US Sallai Meridor declared Monday that Israel should always be prepared "to preempt, to deter and to defeat if we can" when speaking about the threats facing the country. Chief among those threats was Iran, said Meridor, who called for a unified international as well as domestic American front to counter the Islamic Republic's nuclear ambitions. "This will take a united United States on this matter, that they would not have the illusion today that come January '09, they [Teheran] have it their own way," he said, referring to the inauguration of President George W. Bush's successor, who could potentially change US policy on Iran. Meridor said "very little time" remained to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to avoid the worst-case scenarios, outlined by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, of an Iranian bomb or a war with Iran. "There may be a third way still, but only if the diplomatic and economic steps could be dramatically - not incrementally - intensified," he said, adding that 33 percent of Iran's trade is with Europe. Meridor's comments appeared to put Israel at odds with America's approach to UN Security Council sanctions, in which the US is pushing for a gradual increase of pressure on Iran through a series of sanctions resolutions so long as Teheran refuses to halt uranium enrichment. A third such resolution is currently being considered. Israeli sources said that to their knowledge the administration is also calling for tougher sanctions. The ambassador said Iran would only stop its quest for nuclear capabilities when "the cost [is at] a level that in their minds will put at risk the accomplishments of the [1979 Islamic] revolution." Meridor began his remarks at an American Jewish Committee luncheon by saying, "As strong as we are, we should always be prepared to preempt, to deter, to defeat if we can, to protect, and not assume that threats have evaporated. They have not." more...
| Iran | Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 |

EU Vows To Shape Globalisation EU Observer (October 22, 2007) - Having finally put six years of institutional wrangling behind it with last week's agreement on a new treaty, the 27-nation EU says it is now confident to face outside challenges. In December, EU leaders are expected to adopt a declaration, which should underline the bloc's change of priorities – moving from institutional matters towards issues such as globalisation and climate change. "We have agreed that we should rule out further institutional change for years ahead", UK prime minister Gordon Brown said on Friday (19 October) – something he said he personally hoped would be the case for at least a decade. The union now has less than two months to agree a list of new priorities linked to globalisation and subsequently move on to agreeing the best political recipe for how to deal with the phenomenon. According to the European Commission, the EU should avoid being a passive spectator, but rather "shape" globalisation. In practice, it is promoting the so-called principle of reciprocity - meaning trading partners should open their markets as much as the EU does. "We should be open, but not naive. We should not close our doors, rather we should encourage others to open theirs", commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said, suggesting that openness is a two-way street and that third countries should offer comparable levels of openness to EU exporters and investors. In addition, foreign companies wishing to do business in EU territory should not be allowed to by-pass the rules applied in the union's internal market. Speaking at the EU summit Friday (19 October), French president Nicolas Sarkozy proved to be the strongest advocate of such a principle. "Let's not be naive, we must demand a reciprocity", he said, complaining about the severe environmental and social requirements placed upon EU businesses, but not followed by their non-European competitors. "We have to remind others there are rights as well as obligations", Mr Sarkozy added, singling out Russia and China.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | NewWorldOrder |

According to scripture, Daniel 9:26,27, the antichrist is the future prince of those who destroyed Jerusalem in 70AD, the Romans. We now have a reviving of the Roman Empire as described in the symbology of Bible prophecy. To learn more about this, click here. Europe is going to be the center of the global government that the antichrist will control. That structure is currently in existence and is working to control the world. Already the US is beginning to give over sovereignty by the rule of law and placing our nation under the dictates of outside governments. This will continue more and more until America becomes part of this global governance. Don't think that's possible? Many things will change very quickly and the world will not remain the way it is today. Already the control by finances is well under way and indeed our "Federal Reserve" is actually owned by private bankers, many from outside the US. For more on this, click here to see some videos on this topic.

World Religious Leaders Meet For Peace Summit News.com.au (October 22, 2007) - Leaders of the world's main religions kicked off an annual interfaith peace summit in Naples today with calls for a global organisation uniting their faiths. Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Israel's chief rabbi Yona Metzger and the imam of the United Arab Emirates, Ibrahim Ezzeddin, were among those attending the gathering. "Civilisations don't dialogue directly, but through those who carry their traditions and cultural values. So we should not speak of a dialogue of civilisations, but a culture of dialogue," Bartholomew told the opening. In a similar vein, Rabbi Metzger proposed a "United Nations of Religions" that would "embrace the heads of religious communities that have a profound influence on their congregations". "If we sit down together around one table ... surely we could arrive at effective solutions," he said. Ibrahim Ezzedin, too, advocated a formal structure linking world religions, saying: "This important grouping of God-fearing people cannot and should not limit itself to processions, conferences and seminars." "We need to form a permanent and authorised executive machinery for ... executing any decisions we may make," he added. The Muslim leader however spoke harshly of "unjustified provocations in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan and ... unfair dealings in Palestine" that have prompted "some Muslim individuals and groups (to go) astray and wrong themselves by violent actions". He added: "We are dismayed by the behaviour of some great powers who continue to act aggressively against other countries, by means of military occupation under fabricated pretexts ... forced regime changes and blunt interference in other countries' affairs." The Sant'Egidio summits are meant to carry on the "spirit of Assisi" and were launched 21 years ago by John Paul II in the birthplace of Saint Francis. The first summit, dubbed a World Day of Prayer for Peace, was attended by the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa and other religious leaders. The Pope, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, stayed away, reportedly out of concern that it put all religions on an equal footing. Thus the timing of his pastoral visit to Naples has been billed as a "happy coincidence" by Sant'Egidio, a lay Catholic organisation that has mediated in several world conflicts. The theme of this year's peace summit is "A World Without Violence: Faiths and Cultures in Dialogue", with topics to include AIDS, immigration, the plight of Africa and the quest for peace in the Middle East. more...
| 1st Seal | RCC | Apostasy |

In the name of peace and security, some people are willing to drop their religious beliefs. Christians in particular will always be removed from these groups because Yeshua said that He is the only way to the Father. This is one reason we will be hated in the coming years and the Alliance of Civilizations being developed currently works against those who claim sole ownership to the Truth. Christ defined us as Christians in that way because we profess what He stated, that He is the only way to heaven. How many Christians would stick to that in the face of death? Would you?

Rabbis recite priestly blessing atop Temple Mount Israel Today (October 22, 2007) - A group of Israelis rabbis visiting Jerusalem's Temple Mount last week publicly recited the Priestly Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26), an act that under normal circumstances would results in detention by the police. The group, which was organized by the Temple Institute, was visiting the Temple Mount to commemorate the 1165 visit to Judaism's holiest site by Maimonides, also known as the Rambam, one of history's greatest Jewish philosophers. At one point, a rabbi spontaneously began reciting the biblical blessing, eliciting the expected cries of outrage from nearby Muslim officials who noticed the Jews were daring to pray at the site Islam today claims as its third holiest. To the surprise of the rabbis, Israeli police stationed at the Temple Mount took their side and ordered the Muslims to stop harassing them. In the past, Christians and Jews who were suspected of even praying quietly to themselves were forcibly removed from the Temple Mount and detained for questioning. Israel's official policy is to bow to the Muslims' insistence that none but the followers of Allah may pray atop the Temple Mount. Temple Institute director Rabbi Haim Richman told Israel National News that last week's visit marked probably the first time since the Roman destruction of the Second Temple that descendants of Israel's priestly caste had recited the Priestly Blessing on the holy hill.
| Temple Mount |

Teacher sex abuse scars family, town Associated Press (October 22, 2007) - They've learned to watch their older daughter for any sign that something's wrong. She cuts her long, blond hair and dyes it jet black. And they worry. Her father picks up a book she's been reading, "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, and skims it for clues. He notices a highlighted passage: "You forget some things, don't you," it reads. "Yes. You forget what you want to remember and you remember what you want to forget." Her parents can relate. There's a lot they'd like to forget, too — especially since the day nearly three years ago when their then 15-year-old daughter told them her elementary school band teacher had molested her and other girls. The teacher, Robert Sperlik Jr., pleaded guilty last year to sexual abuse and kidnapping of more than 20 girls, some as young as 9. Among other things, he told prosecutors that he put rags in the girls' mouths, taped them shut and also bound their hands and feet with duct tape and rope for his own sexual stimulation. According to court documents, he rubbed their inner thighs and shoulders and forced them to sit, while bound, in closets and school storage rooms. He pretended it was a game, gave the girls candy and told them not to tell. And for a long time, none of them did. A seven-month Associated Press investigation found stories like these are all too common. AP reporters in every state and the District of Columbia identified 2,570 teachers who were punished for sexual misconduct from 2001 to 2005 alone, for actions that ranged from fondling to viewing child pornography to rape. Though experts who deal with sexual abuse say victims tell the truth more often than not, the ordeal is often worsened when the community around them is drawn in, and people take sides. Often, victims and their families face uncooperative administrators, disbelieving neighbors and an agonizing legal journey. This family in Berwyn, a suburb west of Chicago, understands the emotional toll. "It's a silent epidemic is what it is," the girl's father says. "People are protecting people who aren't worth protecting. I hope our daughters will have that instilled in them, too — that you report what you know." The couple, a telecommunications technician and a stay-at-home mom, spoke on the condition that they and their daughter not be identified, so she can try to move on from the nightmare that began in the late 1990s. They want to share their story to encourage anyone being abused by an educator to come forward. They also hope school officials will do more to get abusive teachers out of classrooms. "I thought my children were safest in school," the girl's mother says. She shakes her head. As a child, she went to Pershing Elementary, the same school her two daughters attended and one of several in Berwyn, where Sperlik taught band for 18 years. "I don't trust anybody now." Her daughter was a fourth-grader when Sperlik began teaching her how to play the clarinet. She liked him. He said nice things about her and played funny games during class, including letting them draw lips on duct tape and put it on their mouths. Eventually, though, she and two of her friends started to feel uncomfortable with what they described as increasingly creepy behavior. more...
| America | Signs of the Times |

There are children being abused all over the world right now that we need to keep in our prayers.

Georgia’s Governor Declares Drought Emergency MSNBC (October 20, 2007) - With water supplies rapidly shrinking during a drought of historic proportions, Gov. Sonny Perdue declared a state of emergency Saturday for the northern third of the state of Georgia and asked President Bush to declare it a major disaster area. Georgia officials warn that Lake Lanier, a 38,000-acre reservoir that supplies more than 3 million residents with water, is less than three months from depletion. Smaller reservoirs are dropping even lower. Perdue asked the president to exempt Georgia from complying with federal regulations that dictate the amount of water released from Georgia's reservoirs to protect federally protected mussel species downstream. "We need to cut through the tangle of unnecessary bureaucracy to manage our resources prudently — so that in the long term, all species may have access to life-sustaining water," he said. On Friday, Perdue's office asked a federal judge to force the Army Corps of Engineers to curb the amount of water it drains from Georgia reservoirs into streams in Alabama and Florida. Georgia's environmental protection director is drafting proposals for more water restrictions. More than a billion gallons of water is released from Lanier every day. The Corps of Engineers bases its water releases on two requirements: The minimum flow needed for a coal-fired power plant in Florida and mandates to protect two mussel species in a Florida river. White House press secretary Dana Perino said Perdue's request will be reviewed. "In the meantime, we have already begun drafting interim rules to use procedures and flexibility to address the endangered species requirements and the Army Corps has started the process of revising the operations manual for the river basin," Perino said. Georgia lawmakers say neighboring states also are exploiting the law as a tool to draw more water from Georgia's lakes. "We've learned from this what a blunt weapon the Endangered Species Act has become," said state Rep. John Linder. "We need to understand this lake was created not for mussels but for people." more...
| America |

If we're really as close to the end, could this help contribute to the famine of the third seal? Let's take into account several other stories that affect this I shared earlier. One is the bee problem where with less pollination comes less crops. We also have the stories of a smaller wheat crop. When taking this into account with the other story in this issue regarding the supply chain and how 2% of Americans produce food for all of America, where does that leave the rest of the country in a national crisis? What if terrorism is included in the mix? There are many factors, all of which could very quickly plunge America into great depression, not the least of which is current volatility in the financial markets as well as the declining Dollar against the Euro. In other words, you may want to start thinking about stocking up on bottled water and non-perishable foods because with the instability mixed with people who want our destruction, we may find that we can't rely on the government to take care of us as well as they did with Katrina and the like. I think churches should start to utilize some of their storage for this purpose as well. As the body of Christ we stand much stronger together than alone and in the coming times of increased persecution and uncertainty we need to build each other up in the Word and be a support for those who have no solid foundation in Christ as we do. Our churches should be centers of selfless love where our awareness spells preparedness to help others both materially and spiritually.

US Food Supplies Ice Age Now (October 19, 2007) - Last week on the George Noory show I said that "we’ll be fighting in the streets for food long before we’re buried in ice." (I say the same thing in Not by Fire but by Ice.) I just received an email from a reader that sums it up better than I did. "I spent about thirty years working in commercial agribusiness. My main job was to purchase ingredients, mainly grain, for flour mills and animal feed mills. As a part of my job I was forced to understand the US food supply system, its strengths and weaknesses. Over the years I became aware of some things that nearly all Americans are completely unaware of. I am going to make a list of statements and then you will see where I'm going.

• 1% of the US population grows all of the food for all Americans.
• Nearly all Americans know essentially nothing about where the food they eat every day comes from. How it gets from the ground to them. And they don't want to know about it. It's
  cheap, as close as their local store, and of high quality. So no worries.
• The bulk of the food we eat comes from grain. Although they raise a lot of fruits and vegetables in California, Arizona, Florida, Oregon and Washington, those things don't compose the main part of the average diet. Half of what a meat animal is raised on is grain so when you eat meat you are really eating grain. And, of course, we eat grain directly as bread,
  bagels, doughnuts, pasta, etc. Milk (and milk products like cheese) comes from cows that eat grain. A lot of grain. And the grain they eat is not produced where the cows are located.
• The lion's share of grain produced in the US is done in a concentrated part of the US Midwest (Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri is the center of this area). The grain is moved to the coasts (where 70% of the population live) by only two (2) railroads.
• Nothing is stored for very long in a supermarket. One day grain travels (by rail) from Kansas to Seattle to a flour mill. The next day the flour mill makes the flour and sends it to a bakery. The next day the bakery makes it into bread (and other baked things) and the next day it is at the store where it is purchased that day. Nobody stores anything. The grain is produced and stored in the Midwest and shipped daily in a single pipeline to the rest of America where the people live.
• Up until the 1980's there was a system that stored a lot of grain in elevators around the country. At one time a whole year's harvest of grain was stored that way. But since tax-payers were paying to store it, certain urban politicians engineered the movement of that money from providing a safety net or backup for their own food supply in order to give the money to various other social welfare things. So now, nothing is stored. We produce what we consume each year and store practically none of it. There is no contingency plan.

Now for my take on what this means for us and what it has to do with the topic you are publicizing.

• If a drought such as has lingered over other parts of the US where little grain is grown were to move over the grain-producing states in the Midwest where few people live, it would seriously damage the food supply of the country and the apples of Washington, the lettuce of California, the grape-fruit of Florida and the peanuts of Georgia won't make up the difference because grain is the staff of life and most of it is grown in the Midwest.
• Americans are armed to the teeth. In LA people burned down their own neighborhoods to protest a court case.
• In order for riots to break out the whole food supply doesn't have to be wiped out. It just has to be threatened sufficiently. When people realize their vulnerability and the fact that there is no short term solution to a severe enough drought in the Midwest they will have no clue as to what they should do. Other nations can't make up the difference because no other nation has a surplus of grain in good times let alone in times when they are having droughts and floods also. It takes two or three months to raise grain, yet people have to eat usually at least once a day, usually more than that.
• So basically we have in place a recipe for a disaster that will dwarf any other localized disasters imaginable. The important thing to note is that there is no solution for this event. There is no contingency plan for this. People living in certain parts of the US will fare better than others (which is another story) but those who live in big cities, where most of the US population live, are done for.

EU Strikes Deal on Treaty, Ending Political Stalemate Bloomberg (October 19, 2007) - European Union leaders struck a deal on a new governing treaty, ending two years of soul-searching over how to equip the bloc to tackle 21st-century scourges such as climate change and terrorism. The new treaty, if ratified by 2009, would create the post of full-time president, strengthen the EU's crime-fighting powers, enhance the role of the democratically elected European Parliament and streamline a clunky decision-making system. ``We're coming out of this summit stronger, so we can take on world challenges,'' Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said in Lisbon early today after late-night concessions to Poland and Italy sewed up the agreement. The next step is ratification by all EU governments, a hurdle that has doomed EU treaties in the past. Ireland, which voted down the EU's current treaty in 2001 only to back it a year later, will hold a referendum and pressure is mounting on U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown to call a popular vote that polls show he is certain to lose. ``We hope we vote `yes' but we'll wait and see what the outcome is,'' Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern said on BBC Radio 4 today. Failed referendums in France and the Netherlands killed off a planned EU constitution in 2005, stirring concerns that the bloc was out of touch with its citizens. The new treaty, dubbed the Reform Treaty, will be signed Dec. 13 in Lisbon.

U.K. Referendum

Brown held firm against calls for a U.K. referendum, with a YouGov poll for the Daily Telegraph showing 69 percent of British people calling for a vote. Seeking to whisk the new rulebook through the House of Commons and avoid a U.K. referendum, Brown spoke of an ``amending treaty'' that doesn't cross over ``red lines'' drawn in defense of Britain's sovereignty. ``We need the amending treaty because it's designed to make an institution of 27 members work better, but also because the British national interest is being protected,'' Brown said at a pre-summit press conference. Denmark, which triggered a currency crisis in 1992 by vetoing the Maastricht Treaty, will decide in December whether to put the Reform Treaty -- also to be known as the Treaty of Lisbon -- to a popular vote. France and the Netherlands, haunted by the constitution referendums that led to the EU's institutional standstill, plan parliamentary ratification for the Reform Treaty.

Complex Voting

Now with 27 member countries and a probable 28th, Croatia, waiting in the wings, the EU is straining under a decision- making system originally designed for six countries in 1958. The Reform Treaty would replace complex voting mathematics with a ``double majority'' formula enabling laws to pass with the support of 55 percent of the governments representing 65 percent of the EU's population. European Commission President Jose Barroso said the overhaul makes it easier for the EU to live up to global ambitions such as taking the lead in combating climate change and modernizing the economy to deal with competition from China, India and Russia. ``We have a treaty that will give us now the capacity to act,'' Barroso said. ``Our citizens want results. They want to see in concrete terms what Europe brings them.'' Today's accord hinged on last-ditch bargaining with Poland, which has complained of being treated as a second-class power since joining the EU as its largest ex-communist state in 2004.

Polish Elections

With his party trailing in polls before elections on Oct. 21, Polish President Lech Kaczynski won the legally binding right for small groups of countries to delay EU decisions on which they are narrowly outvoted. On that technical yet politically symbolic point, the EU upgraded the delay clause from a non-binding declaration to a law that can't be changed without Poland's consent. ``We got everything we wanted today,'' Kaczynski said. Italy also scored a late victory, winning an extra seat in the European Parliament that puts it on par with Britain, at 73 seats apiece. The leaders put off a final accord on parliamentary seats until their December summit. ``We are now in a situation that recognizes Italy's role in Europe,'' Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said. ``This is the end of a very long period of difficulty in European history. The EU can start again to operate in a concrete way.''

'Red Lines'

The 18 countries that ratified the constitution battled to save as much of that document as possible. Daniel Gros, director of the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels, said ``the substance of the Reform Treaty is 90 percent that of the constitution.'' While the new treaty strips out the constitution's references to the EU's two-decade-old flag and anthem, the public won't notice the difference. EU and national institutions will still fly the flag of 12 gold stars on a blue background, and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony remains the official hymn. Like the constitution, the treaty creates the post of EU president with a 2 1/2-year term, shrinks the Brussels-based European Commission, enhances the power of the European and national parliaments, strengthens the EU's foreign policy representative [Javier Solana] and does away with national vetoes over terrorism, crime fighting and illegal immigration. Britain traced its thickest red line over internal security questions, winning the right to ``opt out'' of EU decisions on policing and criminal justice. Britain and Poland also opted out of the bloc's Charter of Fundamental Rights, fearing it would create rights not enshrined in national law.

Merkel

The bulk of the treaty was mapped out at an all-night summit in Brussels in June, chaired by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. As the first woman and first eastern German to run Europe's biggest country, Merkel earned plaudits as a crisis manager. In the final talks over the fine print, Merkel chose not to fight for wording changes that the European Central Bank said would bolster its independence. German officials dismissed concerns that the treaty would erode the ECB's legal foundations by listing it along with EU institutions such as the European Court of Justice. The bank's powers, set out in the Maastricht Treaty, remain unchanged.
| EU/UN / 4th Kingdom |

Zechariah's warning to Bush and Condi WorldNet Daily (October 18, 2007) - The Palestinians and Israelis are scheduled to meet at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., this November. This major "peace summit" is the brainchild of the Bush administration and is under the supervision of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Though most of the world – especially the Arab world – seems dubious about the summit's prospects for success, the United States appears bent on forcing some sort of "peace" upon that troubled region. To do so, Secretary Rice is pressuring Israel to drop all of its redline demands. Redlines are the points that cannot be conceded. Both sides have redlines. Both sides have points they will not give up, boundaries they will not cross. But the State Department is pressuring Israel to drop all of its redline conditions. For the first time, the division of Jerusalem is on the table. Since 1967, Israel had steadfastly claimed a united Jerusalem as "its eternal capital, never to be divided again." I will never forget when Gen. Moshe Dayan first stood before the Western Wall after the amazing six-day victory in June of 1967. He dramatically declared, "We have returned to all that is holy in our land. We have returned never to be parted from it again." Evidently, to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, "eternal" and "never" means about 40 years. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Palestinians are pressuring Secretary Rice to guarantee that Israel will relinquish sovereignty over the Temple Mount. What's more, they're making this guarantee a pre-condition before they'll even show up at the conference! According to a senior Palestinian official quoted by Haaretz, "No Arab country would agree for a final-status arrangement in which the Temple Mount was not in Muslim hands, particularly not Saudi Arabia." So, while Israel is not permitted any redline issues, the Palestinian redlines are not only permitted, but Secretary Rice is seeking guarantees of Israeli acceptance of them. And their No. 1 redline demand is that Israel must surrender the very heart and soul of Judaism as the price of admission to even start discussing peace. Just suppose for a moment that Israel and the Muslims were in reverse circumstances. Can you imagine the reaction to Israel demanding that the Muslims guarantee the surrender of Mecca as a precondition to "discussing" peace? The world would consider such a demand unthinkable. Yet, according to a report in WorldNetDaily, Secretary Rice singled out areas of Jerusalem that will become part of a future Palestinian state. She reportedly told Palestinian negotiators that she would publicly blame Israel for the failure of next month's summit if the Jewish state didn't agree to evacuate east Jerusalem neighborhoods. Rice traveled to the Middle East this week to help the Israelis and Palestinians formulate a joint statement ahead of November's conference. The Palestinians want the statement to outline specifically a Palestinian state including the Gaza Strip, West Bank and essentially all of east Jerusalem, which includes not only the Muslim holy places, but those of the Jews and Christians as well. They are ostensibly to be put under Jordanian supervision. But I remember what that was like before June 1967. There were walls and barbed wire separating East Jerusalem from Israel. Christian pilgrims had to carry their own luggage across an intimidating no man's land of about 40 meters while unfriendly Jordanian soldiers looked on. I am stunned the Bush administration is pressuring Israel to agree to all of the Palestinian demands in advance, with the threat that they'll be blamed for the summit's failure if they don't. In view of this, my question is, "What's the point of the conference?" "What's left to negotiate?" President Bush and Secretary Rice have already done the Palestinians' negotiating for them. And all of this despite the fact that the Palestinians have not lived up to one prerequisite condition outlined in Bush's own "Road Map for Peace." You know, I fear for both President Bush and Secretary Rice. I also fear for my beloved country. They must be ignorant of a prophecy God made 2,500 years ago through the Hebrew prophet Zechariah. It applies to this precise time and situation in history. God said, "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples. …" The people surrounding Jerusalem are all the current Muslim nations. As predicted, they have become intoxicated over possessing Jerusalem. Like drunken people, their emotions, inflamed with religious zeal, are causing them to do unwise, reckless and violent things. The truth is hardly any Muslims traveled to visit Jerusalem before the Jews returned to it. Now you would think there is no other holy place on earth as important to them. These are the exact conditions Zechariah predicted would be part of the last stages of this age. He continues, "And it shall happen in that day that I WILL make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for ALL PEOPLES. …" – meaning the entire world. Now here's the punch line: "ALL who would seek to heave it away will surely be cut in pieces." The original Hebrew makes the meaning of this even clearer. It reveals that everyone who tries to remove the heavy burden of the Jerusalem crisis will be utterly destroyed for getting involved with it. Isaac and Ishmael's fight over possession of Jerusalem has drawn the whole world into it – just as the prophets predicted. It is the culmination of Ishmael's 4,000-year-old hatred of his half-brother Isaac, the forefather of the Israelites. I pray that somehow this message will get through to President Bush and Secretary Rice. This prophecy applies to this very moment in which we live. And in light of what they are forcing on Israel, it applies to them personally. While Bush and Rice strive to create legacies for themselves – just as most presidents have tried to do with the Middle East conflict for the last 40 years – they not only endanger themselves, but also endanger this nation with the divine curse promised above. Mr. President, there is nothing on this earth worth what you are doing. In the power of God's Spirit, I warn them both, "Stop, before it's too late!"
| Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land | 1st Seal | Temple Mount | America |

Syrian Confirms Israel Destroyed Nuclear Facility Israel National News (October 18, 2007) - A Syrian official has admitted that the Israeli operation on September 6 destroyed a nuclear facility - but the admission was followed shortly afterwards by a Syrian government denial. A Syrian representative said Tuesday at the United Nations that reports that the target was a nuclear device were accurate. Syrian officials, including President Bashar Assad had previously claimed that Israel attacked an abandoned army base or an agricultural facility. During a meeting of the UN Disarmament Commission, the Syrian representative acknowledged that the target had been the nuclear facility. Israeli Foreign Ministry officials were also attending. He accused Israel of aggression for targeting the facility. In Israel, details of the strike, beyond the fact that an operation took place on September 6 in Syria, are still under gag order. Local media continue to skirt the order by leaking information to foreign papers and then citing their reports. Some analysts have said the reason for the continued silence of the Israeli government on the September 6 attack is to avoid humiliating Assad and leading to a possible military escalation. Dr. Elon Liel, a former Director General of the Foreign Ministry, has gone one step further in his hope for a conciliatory approach to Israel’s northern neighbor, sending a letter to Education Minister Yuli Tamir asking her to prevent high school students from participating in the “In the Footsteps of the Warriors” tours in the Golan Heights. Liel said he feared the tours would strengthen the students’ connection to the Golan. He called the tours “a provocation,” saying Israel would discourage Syria from negotiating an Israeli retreat from the Golan. Brigadier-General Avigdor Kahalani, who participated in the liberation of the Golan and the creation of the “In the Footsteps of the Warriors” tours, rejected Liel’s demand as “nothing more than a leftist initiative.” The tours are important to the students’ morale and strengthen their sense of identification with IDF soldiers who fought in previous wars, he said. “A bus full of students is not a provocation.” more...
| Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 |

Mini-Earthquake Sets Off Predictions of a Larger One Israel National News (October 18, 2007) - The Patzael region in the central Jordan Valley, just 20 kilometers north of Jericho, was touched by a small earthquake on Saturday night, registering 3.0 on the Richter scale. A similar quake occurred in the same area two months ago. On Sunday morning, researchers at Tel Aviv University presented a new study on the timeline of earthquakes throughout history. No precise future earthquake dates can be extrapolated from the data, but the researchers say one is on the way - as no major quake has hit the danger area between the Dead Sea and the Kinneret in centuries. "It's like the first winter rain," said Dr. Shmuel Marko, who took part in the study. "The longer the dry summer lasts, the closer the first rain is. Here, as well: The quiet is worrisome. The longer we go without a large quake, the more we can expect one." On the other hand, experts have said that Israel's earthquakes are in general less frequent than those in other quake-prone regions such as California, Japan and Turkey. Israel is located along the Syria-Africa rift, a friction point between two subterranean plates and is therefore considered earthquake-prone. In 1927, some 250 people were killed in an earthquake that hit Jericho and central Israel. In November 1995, a 6.2 quake caused injuries to several people in Eilat. A minor quake, 5.0 on the Richter scale, hit Israel in February 2004, shaking buildings in many cities and even causing damage to the Knesset building. No one was reported hurt. The northern city of Tzfat was hit by two earthquakes in recent centuries, in 1759 and in 1837. The latter one killed at least 2,000 people, when residents were buried under the ruins of their homes and help did not arrive for days.
| Israel | Earth Changes |

School Board Approves Birth Control Prescriptions at Maine Middle School Fox News (October 18, 2007) - Pupils at a city middle school will be able to get birth control pills and patches at their student health center after the local school board approved the proposal Wednesday evening. The plan, offered by city health officials, makes King Middle School the first middle school in Maine to make a full range of contraception available to students in grades 6 through 8, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. There are no national figures on how many middle schools, where most students range in age from 11 to 13, provide such services. "It's very rare that middle schools do this," said Divya Mohan, a spokeswoman for the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care. The Portland School Committee voted 5-2 for the measure. Chairman John Coynie voted against it, saying he felt providing the birth control was a parental responsibility. The other no vote came from Ben Meiklejohn, who said the consent form does not clearly define the services being offered. Opponents cited religious and health objections. Diane Miller, who said she has worked as a school nurse in another district for eight years, called the proposal "tragic" and asked "What would God have us do?" Miller said the plan gives children an adult responsibility they are not ready for, and puts them at risk from sexually transmitted disease and emotional problems. "I just don't know how we can even look at this and consider it," she said. Peter Doyle, a former middle school teacher, said the proposal violates the rights of parents, potentially ignoring their special knowledge of their children's health, and puts young girls at risk of cancer from too early use of hormone-based contraceptives. "You all are going to be responsible for the devastating effects on young women when this goes through," he said. Those who favored the plan said it isn't about encouraging premature sex, but protecting kids who don't have strong support from their parents. "Unfortunately, not every child is getting the kind of parental involvement that is going to help keep them safe," said Richard Verrier. "If my daughter were not able to talk with me about something, if she couldn't reach me for whatever reason, to keep her safe and healthy, I would want to make sure she had access to those resources from trusted adults," Verrier said. Condoms have been available since 2002 to King students who have parental permission to be treated at its student health center. more...
| Signs of the Times |

Bush warns of World War III if Iran goes nuclear Breitbart (October 17, 2007) - US President George W. Bush said Wednesday that he had warned world leaders they must prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons "if you're interested in avoiding World War III."

"We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel," Bush said at a White House press conference after Russia cautioned against military action against Tehran's supect atomic program. "So I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon," said Bush.
| Iran | America |

What does the Bible have to say about Iran's future? Ezekiel 38, 39 labels Iran, Turkey, Russia, Ethiopia and others are part of an attack on Israel, the Gog/Magog invasion. It is at that point that God destroys them in the mountains of Israel. This tells us that whether or not Iran has or will have nuclear weapons, they are going to make an attempt at a ground invasion of Israel. They are drawn into this with "hooks in the jaws." So nuclear weapons are not a part of that future with Israel. And first Israel must be living in safety. Ezekiel 38:8-15 The fate of America is not laid out in Bible prophecy however. Either we will be integrated into the global governance and also come against Israel, or we will not be an influential power in support of Israel. The Bible says that all the world will come against Israel and it will be a burdensome stone to all who come against her. Right now the US is joining in the call to divide Israel and Jerusalem to create a Palestinian State. Indeed all the world is pushing for this goal. Will America enter WWIII with Iran? I think America will collapse from the perch of power before it comes to that. The Dollar is failing globally and everyone knows it while foreign governments have too much control of a currency that is dictated by private bankers. I think the bubble is going to burst, those who hate America will make sure of it. And this would explain why America may not be influential enough to show up in Bible prophecy, which focuses on Israel and Jerusalem mostly. Either that or we will be a part of the same antichrist kingdom and will have given our power to him. With the need for a bailout from Europe and the global power and influence being exerted from Europe, those who make the laws, rule. I think the purposes of the terrorist cells will come into play when the antichrist demands worship and people reject him. These groups will probably be the centers for the new converts to worship, train and enforce. All the world will wonder after the beast and the dragon that gives him his power. Revelation 13 Keep watching!

Rabbis urge: 'Save Jerusalem!' WorldNet Daily (October 16, 2007) - A group of hundreds of prominent Israeli rabbis yesterday called on Jews worldwide to speak out against what rabbinic leaders called the "crime of dividing Jerusalem as proposed by the current Israeli government." The move follows a flurry of media reports that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is contemplating handing over sections of Jerusalem to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization. Yesterday Olmert hinted he would be willing to divide Jerusalem, asking during a speech whether it was "really necessary" to retain certain Arab neighborhoods in Judaism's capital. At a Tel Aviv press conference yesterday, leaders of the Rabbinical Congress for Peace, a coalition of more than 350 Israeli rabbinic leaders and pulpit rabbis, including some of Israel's most prominent Jewish leaders, urged Jews worldwide to speak out. "We must scream and protest not only to go through the motions, but maybe our protest will bring another one in its chain and awaken the public," said RCP leader Rabbi David Drukman, the rabbinic leader of the Kiryat Motzkin Israeli community. "It pains us to see that there is no public outcry against this; everyone is complacent," Drukman said at the press conference. Rabbi Meir Horowitz, leader of the Hassidic Bostoner community and a U.S. citizen, addressed U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice directly: "Madam Secretary, we request that you convey to President Bush and to the leaders of the civilized world that although Jerusalem is also holy to the three great faiths of the world, for the Jewish people it is our only holy city; therefore, no one can expect the Jewish people to forgo the central theme and focus of their religion." Rabbi Avrohom Yaakov Shreiber, who was the rabbinic leader of Kfar Darom, one of the largest Gaza Strip Jewish communities evacuated by Israel in 2005, pointed out that while most Jewish expulsions throughout history were perpetuated by non-Jews, he was "stunned" the Jewish state would "expel their brothers from their homes." Meir Porush, a nationalist Knesset Member, called Jerusalem "the soul of the nation and just like a man cannot live without a soul, so we cannot live without Jerusalem." Rabbi Gerlitzky, chairman of the Rabbinical Congress, commented, "It has been several months now that the government has been discussing dividing Jerusalem, but it was done quietly behind our back. Now when it came out in the open, there is no outcry. I feel as though the public has been sprayed with some kind of sleeping gas." A Rabbinic Congress resolution, passed at yesterday's meeting, urged the Olmert government to "come back to your senses." "The Congress calls on the government to abandon the 'land for peace' formula. It never worked in the past, it doesn’t work now and will never work in the future. This formula is obsolete, outdated, leads to bloodshed." The rabbis' statements followed a speech yesterday in which Olmert asked whether it was "really necessary" for Israel to control Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem. more...
| Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land |

I think this is more like what most of Israel will be like after God destroys the Magog invaders in the mountains of Israel. Ezekiel 38:19-23 I believe this will be what pushes the rebuilding of the temple soon and I think it will also be what causes the mortal wound to the antichrist when he declares himself god at the abomination of desolation.

Putin Visits Iran, Sends Warnings to US Associated Press (October 16, 2007) - Russian leader Vladimir Putin met his Iranian counterpart Tuesday and implicitly warned the U.S. not to use a former Soviet republic to stage an attack on Iran. He also said nations shouldn't pursue oil pipeline projects in the area if they weren't backed by regional powers. At a summit of the five nations that border the inland Caspian Sea, Putin said none of the nations' territory should be used by any outside countries for use of military force against any nation in the region. It was a clear reference to long-standing rumors that the U.S. was planning to use Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic, as a staging ground for any possible military action against Iran. "We are saying that no Caspian nation should offer its territory to third powers for use of force or military aggression against any Caspian state," Putin said. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also underlined the need to keep outsiders away from the Caspian. "All Caspian nations agree on the main issue - that all aspects related to this sea must be settled exclusively by littoral nations," he said. "The Caspian Sea is an inland sea and it only belongs to the Caspian states, therefore only they are entitled to have their ships and military forces here." Putin, whose trip to Tehran is the first by a Kremlin leader since World War II, warned that energy pipeline projects crossing the Caspian could only be implemented if all five nations that border the Caspian support them. Putin did not name any specific country, but his statement underlined Moscow's strong opposition to U.S.-backed efforts to build pipelines to deliver hydrocarbons to the West bypassing Russia. "Projects that may inflict serious environmental damage to the region cannot be implemented without prior discussion by all five Caspian nations," he said. Other nations bordering the Caspian Sea and in attendance at the summit are: Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. The legal status of the Caspian - believed to contain the world's third-largest energy reserves - has been in limbo since the 1991 Soviet collapse, leading to tension and conflicting claims to seabed oil deposits. Iran, which shared the Caspian's resources equally with the Soviet Union, insists that each coastal nation receive an equal portion of the seabed. Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan want the division based on the length of each nation's shoreline, which would give Iran a smaller share. Putin's visit took place despite warnings of a possible assassination plot and amid hopes that a round of personal diplomacy could help offer a solution to an international standoff on Iran's nuclear program. Putin's trip was thrown into doubt when the Kremlin said Sunday that he had been informed by Russian intelligence services that suicide attackers might try to kill him in Tehran, but he shrugged off the warning. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini dismissed reports about the purported assassination plot as disinformation spread by adversaries hoping to spoil good relations between Russia and Iran. Putin has warned the U.S. and other nations against trying to coerce Iran into reining in its nuclear program and insists peaceful dialogue is the only way to deal with Tehran's defiance of a U.N. Security Council demand that it suspend uranium enrichment. "Threatening someone, in this case the Iranian leadership and Iranian people, will lead nowhere," Putin said Monday during his trip to Germany. "They are not afraid, believe me." more...
| Iran | Gog/Magog | Islam |

Weak Dollar Allows Foreigners to Snap Up U.S. Firms News Max (October 16, 2007) - Bargain-hunting foreigners are snapping up U.S. companies at a record pace as the weak dollar, a growing trade imbalance and spiking oil prices spark a raid on America’s corporate assets. Through September, foreign firms have spent $276 billion to acquire U.S. businesses, according to Thomson Financial. At that rate, the 2007 total will easily surpass 2000’s record of $325 billion in foreign buy-outs. With the dollar at a record low against most major foreign currencies, and with a robust economy abroad, “It’s a fire sale for companies in Europe, Canada, Australia and some emerging markets that want to buy in the U.S.,” says David Gilmore, a partner at consulting firm Foreign Exchange Analytics in Essex, Conn. The biggest deals over the past two years include:

• French telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel’s $13.4 billion takeover of Lucent, of Bedminster, N.J.
• The U.K’s National Grid buyout of New York’s KeySpan for $11.8 billion
• Saudi Basic Industries’ $11.6 billion purchase of GE Plastics of Pittsfield Mass.

Earlier this month, Canada’s Toronto-Dominion Bank announced an $8.5 billion deal to acquire Commerce Bank of Cherry Hill, N.J. The trend not only raises national security red flags but has also sparked concerns that U.S. assets--and associated investment returns--are increasingly falling into foreign hands, experts say. “If they’re productive investments, foreigners will receive the dividends rather than Americans, but that’s the consequence of living beyond your means,” says Michael Klein, professor of economics at Tufts University. more...
| NewWorldOrder | America |

Turkey Forms Alliance With Iran Against Kurds News Max (October 15, 2007) - U.S. ally Turkey and U.S. arch-enemy Iran have formed a military alliance to drive opposition Kurds from bases in northern Iraq they have used since 2004 to launch guerrilla operations inside Iran, rebel leaders told Newsmax at a secret base in the Qandil mountains. Both Iran and Turkey have vowed to send troops into northern Iraq, but until now evidence of active military cooperation between them has remained a closely-held secret. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stepped up political and diplomatic threats in recent days, telling the United States he would cut off U.S. access to the strategic Incirlik airbase in eastern Turkey if the U.S. tried to prevent Turkey from sending troops against the Kurdish bases in northern Iraq. Leaders of the Party of Free Life of Iranian Kurdistan, known as PJAK, provided Newsmax with extensive evidence of the Iran-Turkey alliance in two days of exclusive interviews at a secret guerilla base deep in the Qandil mountains. An Iranian Revolutionary Guards outpost was visible on a nearby mountain peak. “Iran and Turkey attacked jointly on August 16 against our forces inside Iran and against Turkish self-defense forces in northern Iraq,” a PJAK commander using the nom de guerre Xerat told Newsmax at the Iranian rebel base. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards “attacked us across a broad front in the areas of Sardasht, Piranshahr, Shaho, Urmieh, and along the border line,” Xerat said, citing the names of major cities in Iranian Kurdistan where PJAK rebels have been operating. While those ground operations were underway, Iranian and Turkish artillery simultaneously began shelling civilian villages inside Iraqi Kurdistan from Metina, Zaab, Haftani, and Hakurke in the north, to Haji Oumran, Qalatdizza, Zeh, Marado, and Xinera in the south, he added. Turkish artillery hit the northern villages, while Iranian gunners hit the southern ones. Iranian troops attempted to cross into Iraq through the mountain passes, but PJAK fighters held the line. “The goal of the Iranians is to drive us from the border area,” rebel leader Biryar Gabar told Newsmax. “They want to turn this area into a no-man’s land, so they can use it to smuggle weapons and Islamist guerillas into Iraq to fight the Americans.” He called the Iran-Turkey entente “an anti-American alliance,” not just an anti-Kurdish agreement, and said that it resulted from deliberate decisions from the ruling Islamist AKP party of Prime Minister Erdogan to transform Turkey into an increasingly Islamist state. A senior European official, who was involved in talks to bring Turkey into the European Union, told Newsmax recently he had been “stunned” by the hard-line toward the Kurds taken by AKP party leader Abdullah Gul, now Turkey’s president. “He was totally uncompromising,” the official said. “He took a harder line than the Turkish military.” Iran has been offering Turkey an economic agreement with Iran in July to build a strategic pipeline that will bring Iranian natural gas to Europe, in defiance of a U.S. led effort to increase the economic squeeze on Iran. During a press conference in August while he was still foreign minister, Gul defended Turkey and Iran’s joint action against Kurdish guerillas in Iraq. “They pose a threat to Turkey as well as to other neighbors. Therefore, every country has the right to defend its borders and take legitimate measures for its own security,” Gül said. more...
| Iran | Gog/Magog | Islam |

Possibility of volcanic activity near Quesnel excites scientists Vancouver Sun (October 15, 2007) - Scientists are headed tomorrow to an area 75 kilometres west of Quesnel to install seismological equipment aimed at determining whether a "swarm" of small earthquakes are evidence of a forthcoming burst of molten lava -- potentially the first volcanic activity in the province in two centuries. "It's pretty exciting to see this," John Cassidy, earthquake seismologist with Natural Resources Canada, confirmed in an interview. "The earthquakes are continuing, even today. We should have some answers soon." The story began last Wednesday when existing seismological equipment located, appropriately enough, at Thunder Mountain began recording earthquake activity. Since then, there have been more than 100 small earthquakes -- most of them magnitude 1.0 or less on the Richter scale, but as big as 3.1 -- including an average of one per hour over the past 24 hours. The activity is located 20 kilometers west of Nazko Cone, which last erupted 7,200 years ago and is currently being mined for scoria, used for light-weight aggregate, landscaping and ground cover, and in agricultural and horticultural applications as a soil additive. The new seismic equipment is expected to be installed as early as Tuesday right on top of the earthquake activity, allowing scientists to better determine the depth and direction of the activity. Upward movement could be evidence the lava is working its way to the surface, causing small earthquakes as it muscles its way through the earth's rocks. "That's one option," Cassidy said. "We don't know if it's caused by magma at depth or if it's tectonic -- just an earthquake in an unusual area, because we haven't seen earthquakes here before. "It may turn out to be a little swarm of earthquakes in an unusual spot, but it may turn out to the be reawakening of a volcano, which is really exciting." Even if lava is on its way, it could be take weeks or months to reach the surface, Cassidy said, noting it took Mount St. Helens in Washington about two months to finally blow its top in 1980.
| Earth Changes |

The Panic Window Approaches Financial Sense University (October 15, 2007) - Adding to the list of things that can go wrong from our last discussion, things that could cause a possible dislocation in the stock market during the possible panic window opening next month, we have an astute observation by Rick Ackerman. Then you have Gary North out further discussing Fed antics associated with a contracting monetary base, which he is suggesting will topple the equity complex, and possibly the system. Here, you can’t blame the Fed for instituting such policy. Again, the idea behind constricting growth in the monetary base is to support the dollar ($) and curb the inflationary effects of easing rate policy. And while I agree with the conclusions of both these gentlemen, as stated in our last commentary the timing associated with when such factors will come home to roost is still very much up in the air however, not imminent by any means. Enter Goldman Sachs, where last week they came out saying the worst of the credit crunch is over, and to bet on a recovery. Obviously this must be the way they are betting now, betting their expanding balance sheet (buyers of last resort) on seasonal tendencies and an easy money environment. One does need wonder just how long this can go on for however if as Rick Ackerman above points out the consumer is saturated with debt. Try as they will however, brokers, bankers, and politicos (the ‘authorities’) are attempting to get the borrowing binge back on track, attempting to get companies interested in leveraged buyouts again, anything to keep the credit bubble from collapsing. If you believe the message in a rising gold price, one must consider the possibility they will be more successful than is the conventional wisdom at the moment, making short selling a very dangerous prospect indeed. Outcomes in October will tell the story in this respect. And then we have the Chinese, whose ‘upper-ups’ are apparently waking up to what Goldman Sachs and the Rothschild’s have planned for them now. So, it will be interesting to see just how things develop moving forward. I am looking for profound change in trade related exchange between China and the West developing after the Olympics next year to mark acceleration in the demise of the Western Banking Model known as ‘Globalization’. This is when you can expect to see the $ come under intense pressure as the Chinese pull their support, and interest rates rise. (More on this below.) This of course will make above considerations very important because if the monetary base is already shaky by then, a genuine system collapse is possible at the extreme. Continue to buy gold and silver bullion. You will not regret it in the end. The markets have now completed a close resemblance of a 1987 signature in the trade as month end approaches. That being said, based on the strength of the move in stocks into new all time highs in many cases, this does suggest that despite what authorities would have you believe, money supply growth rates are accelerating. In this regard I will refer you to the attached resource piece pointing out the fact one need be a scientist these days in grappling with increasingly complex accountings and methodologies employed by monetary authorities. Of course we have known this for some time, along with the fact unaccounted for inflation is coming from so many sources now that it’s not possible to add the total largesse befalling the larger system today. Here, the only way one can be sure you are on the right track interpretation wise is to watch prices, with gold featuring prominently as a leading indicator. This may become more apparent to Gary North in coming days. more...
| America |

Israel Minister: War is Inevitable News Max (October 15, 2007) - An Israeli mission to destroy the terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is inevitable, an Israeli official said Monday. According to the Jerusalem Post, Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that Israel should conduct a mission similar to the country's Operation Defensive Shield in the West Bank, which occurred in the spring of 2002. Lieberman also advised Rice not to pressure Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to take steps that would cause the downfall of the Israeli government. "In the current political conditions, the government cannot allow itself to make controversial decisions on sensitive issues," Lieberman told Rice. "The conference planned for Annapolis is a mistake. It will be just another conference and just another document. Without a noticeable improvement in Israeli security or Palestinian economic conditions, the conference will not be different than any of the unsuccessful conferences of the past."
| Gog/Magog | Israel | Islam | Isaiah 17 |

From Bible prophecy, we do know that war is inevitable. We also know that until the abomination of desolation Israel will remain where she is, protected by God. When that day comes however, 2/3 of Israel will be cut off and only 1/3 will be taken and protected in the wilderness until Yeshua returns in glory with His wife. Zechariah 13:8,9 | Revelation 12:13-16 So I wouldn't expect any war to successfully get rid of Israel until a man demands worship from the world after declaring himself god in the rebuilt Hebrew temple on the Temple Mount.

More than half of Jews under 35 would not view the destruction of Israel as a personal tragedy Jewish World Review (September 12, 2007) - Sociologists Stephen Cohen and Ari Kelman have now confirmed what everyone already knew: Young American Jews do not care very much about Israel. They are not just apathetic about Israel, that indifference is "giving way to downright alienation," write Cohen and Kelman. More than half of Jews under 35 said that they would not view the destruction of Israel as a personal tragedy. The death and expulsion of millions is something they could live with. By those standards, they probably would not see the Holocaust as a "personal" tragedy either. "These results are very upsetting," said Jewish Agency chairman Zev Bielski. He then proceeded to give an inane explanation for those numbers: the comfortable life of most American Jews. Cohen and Kelman know better. And their answer is summed up in the demographic they did not interview for their study: Orthodox Jews. A survey of young Orthodox Jews would have yielded a diametrically opposed and highly embarrassing result. Among younger Jews, those for whom their Judaism is important — primarily the Orthodox — will remain connected to the fate of their fellow Jews in Israel. Most Orthodox American youth will study in Israel after high school, some for many years. And almost all will visit Israel many times. Eretz Yisrael is not a mere abstraction for them, but the center of the spiritual life of the Jewish people. Even an anti-Zionist Satmar chassid living in the secluded village of Monroe will intensify his prayers when Israel is at war and follow the action closely. Why? Because for him the name Jew means something. The majority of young American Jews and the majority of young Israelis share in common a lack of interest in their Judaism. But that shared negativity provides little basis for a relationship. Shared gene pools won't do it either — that smacks of racism. And ethnic identity, it turns out, cannot be passed down, or survive the breakup of ethnically homogeneous neighborhoods. What young Jews under 35 feel towards Israel goes beyond apathy to outright resentment. Israel complicates their social lives and muddies their political identity. Only 54% profess to be comfortable with the idea of a Jewish state at all. In Europe and on elite American campuses, internationalism and a world-without-borders are the rage. The Jews of Israel, with their stubborn insistence on protecting their nation-state, are, as always, out-of-sync. more...
| Israel | Islam | Dividing the Land |

This would explain why the dividing of Israel may work out at first. It also shows how quickly a generation forgets things like the holocaust and fail to recognize the spiritual hatred for their people as significant. I also think this attitude will change significantly once God destroys the attacking armies of Iran, Russia, Turkey and Libya. This could also represent many of those who could be blinded enough not to run at the abomination of desolation to be killed by the antichrist. Zechariah 13:8,9