Another Credit Downgrade for USA?

The financial news continues to grow more disturbing for the USA.  Today the headline in the WSJ and other papers around the country is that Moody's (large credit rating company) has threatened to cut the USA debt rating AGAIN if Congress doesn't do something quick to close the looming gap between what we are spending verses what Congress is going to do with the Federal Government's Credit Limit...which currently we have maxed out.

Washington • Moody’s Investors Service is warning the U.S. government that it could lose its sterling debt rating if Congress and the Obama administration don’t reach an agreement soon to raise the nation’s borrowing limit.

A credit rating agency said Thursday that if the parties fail to make progress "in coming weeks," it would put the U.S. rating under review for a possible downgrade. That’s because there’s a "very small but rising risk" that the government will default on its debts.

The U.S. government hit its $14.3 trillion borrowing limit on May 16. The debt limit is the amount the government can borrow to help finance its operations.


Moody’s said it had expected strong political debate over the topic. But the entrenchment of both sides is greater than it anticipated.

Time is growing short. The Treasury Department has said the U.S. government is at risk of a default if it does not raise the borrowing limit by Aug. 2. That is when the Treasury department has said it will run out of accounting maneuvers to meet the nation’s financial obligations without breaching the debt limit, which would provoke a crisis, or even a default.

Here it is; http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/51934121-79/debt-government-limit-moody.html.csp

Remember the first downgrade from Moody's was given a few months ago when the USA was downgraded from "stable" to "negative".

This is a pickle.  If you don't raise the limit and let the nation borrow more money (borrow from it's Visa to pay it's American Express) then defaults will start to happen...which will raise our interest rate on our American Express card...which will make it more expensive to keep borrowing...and bankrupt us even sooner than we hoped.

On the other hand, if you raise the debt limit and we already have $14.3 trillion on our American Express Card...and simply allow Congress to kick the can down the road...and end up continuing to punish every saver in America by making his dollars decline in value...then you are still on the road to bankruptcy and it may be a bigger explosion with more damage when it happens in 3 years verses forcing it to happen today.

Good News From France

With discouraging news surrounding us on all sides, we continue to keep our eyes peeled for some positive news.  Today we found a glimmer of hope from the international community when France said that any Israeli peace plan must be "two states for two peoples" and not simply a "two state solution".

Some might say this is simply semantics, but it is much more than that.

Understand this;  the Arabs are saying they want two states with one being Palestine, where no Jews will be allowed and the other being Israel where they plan on having millions of Arabs...and the far ranging plan for Hamas is to have no Jews in Israel either.  In other words...two states loaded with Arabs and no Jews.

What France has done now is correctly frame the distinction that if the Arabs are going to have one state with NO JEWS then the Jews should get a state that has NO ARABS.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe offered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a proposal on Thursday aimed at breaking the Israeli-Palestinian deadlock before the expected showdown at the UN General Assembly in September.


In a first for the wider international community, the French initiative incorporates the position that the goal of negotiations is "two states for two peoples," not just "a two-state solution."


The border issue would be discussed based on the 1967 borders with agreed land swaps, in keeping with U.S. President Barack Obama's speech.

So yes, I realize this is a stretch to qualify as GOOD NEWS...but give us credit for trying.

And then near the end of the article we have this nugget;

If no progress is made in the peace process by September, France would consider recognizing a Palestinian state, he said.


See it here; http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/french-peace-plan-would-require-palestinian-recognition-of-jewish-state-1.365621

So it appears that France is saying that they want pressure applied to Israel and the PLO to come to some peace terms...but if they don't, then France would probably join the international call to recognize a Palestinian state in September when the UN meets for its General Assembly.

We will have to ponder this more....but doesn't that make it sound like MOST of the pressure from France has been laid on Israel...since France has said they may support a Palestinian state in September if NO PROGRESS IS MADE?

Holy bait and switch!  Maybe this isn't GOOD NEWS at all?  Maybe its just more bad news for Israel being concealed by pretty wrapping paper!

Guess we will have to continue to watch and see how God will allow it to play out.

Full Blown Return of Anti-Jew in Europe

I read this morning that Scotland has proposed putting yellow stickers on every product in their stores that comes from Israel.  It made me wonder how long it will be until Scotland starts requiring yellow stickers on every Jew.

Last week we blogged on the Anti-Jew sentiment rising up in Norway.

Now we find this;

During the last decade, synagogues were vandalized or set on fire in Poland, Sweden, Hungary, France. Anti-Semitic inscriptions are being drawn on building walls in Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam, London, Berlin and Rome. Jewish cemeteries are being ransacked. Jews are being attacked on the streets of most major cities on the continent. In the Netherlands, the police use "decoy Jews" in order to try arrest the perpetrators red-handed.



The new, current anti-Semitism now adds on to the old kind, the demonization of the State of Israel. The Islamic view of Israel is now the dominant view of Israel in Europe. The idea that Israel is a "colonial power" that has "robbed" people of their land, and is an "artificial State", even though the Jews have been on that land for three thousand years -- and even though many states in the area, such as Jordan and Libya, and Iraq are even more illegitimate, their borders having been drawn on paper by the British in the 1920s -- is a commonplace among journalists.

Hatred towards Israel is now the most widely shared sentiment among Europeans, whatever their place on the political spectrum. It is now through hatred of Israel, that hatred of Jews as annoying "troublemakers" can again express itself.

See it here; http://www.aish.com/jw/s/The_Full-Blown_Return_of_Anti-Semitism_in_Europe.html?utm_source=mimi_aish_com&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Aish_com+New+Articles+-+May+29%2C+2011&utm_campaign=Aish_com+New+Articles+-+May+29%2C+2011&utm_term=The+Full-Blown+Return+

Of course Zechariah tells us in 13:8-9, "In the whole land", declares the Lord, "two thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one third will be left in it.  This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold.  They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, "The Lord is our God.'"

So why does Satan always want to kill all the Jews?  Because he doesn't want any Jews alive to call on God's name...and thereby break the Truth of scripture.  Look for this pattern in other Satanic plans as well.

In this case the Truth of scripture tells us that 2/3 of the Jews will be struck down in the coming Holocaust...but 1/3 will be refined through the fire.  Can you see how  rising Anti-Semitism is a foreshadowing of what is coming?

Virginity Tests in Egypt

When we first saw the protests on the street in Egypt it was only natural for us Americans to root for the protestors, knowing full well the Mubarak was a dictator.  It is only natural for us to assume that some nice man will take control of the country that will be MUCH BETTER than Mubarak...and the nation will live happily ever after.

Sadly, that is NOT how it is going to play out.  This overthrow of Mubarak means that an even more violent thug is going to come in and the people are going to chant that they want a return to Shariah law....and that means checking certain women to make sure they are virgins.

(CNN) -- Back in March, Amnesty International began reporting that the Egyptian military had subjected 17 women protesters at a Tahrir Square demonstration to "virginity tests." The women told Amnesty that they had been handcuffed and beaten, stripped searched and photographed by male soldiers, then restrained by female soldiers while a man in a white coat performed a virginity check.

The military denied the accusations, but in the past few days, a senior general has confirmed to CNN that indeed, the virginity tests happened. The general justified the abuse by saying these women "were not like your daughter or mine. These were girls who had camped out in tents with male protesters."

See it here;  http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/06/01/coleman.egypt.women/

Oooooo!!....you mean women slept in tents during the protests!!!  Crazy!!  They should be strip searched and checked to make sure they didn't leave their hymen in that Coleman tent!!

The world is SO CLUELESS as to the Satanic nature of the beast that is coming for the world through Islam. 

So what can we do?  First off, wake up and rub your eyes clear. Secondly, pray for the nations of Islam, pray for their leaders and pray for the lost souls who have bought the lies given to Mohammad from a Satanic spirit.  The battle is not against flesh and blood.  Also remember that, spiritually, they are headed for the same place that your co workers, softball team mates, college friends, and family members who don't know Jesus Christ are also headed.

Be a worker as Christ commands.  "The harvest is at hand and the workers are few."

Pakistan Persecution

The stories like these are going to increase as Satan continues to prepare for The Tribulation.  And of course wherever Satan already has a stronghold (Pakistan, Sudan, Iran, Yemen, etc...) we can expect them to really jump on the Children of the Light.

(CNSNews.com) – A group of radical clerics in Pakistan wants the country’s Supreme Court to declare certain passages in the Bible blasphemous – because they depict as flawed certain biblical characters whom Muslims regard as Islamic prophets.


If the court fails to do so, they said, then lawyers will submit an application for the Bible to be formally banned in Pakistan.

Among the biblical figures viewed by Muslims as Islamic prophets are some whom the Bible clearly describes as behaving immorally, such as David, who coveted a man’s wife and so sent him to face certain death on the battle front lines; and Solomon, who later in life sought out pagan women and their gods.


On the other hand, biblical assertions that Jesus is God, that he died and rose from the dead, and that salvation comes through his name only, are all in conflict with Islamic teachings. They, too, could arguably be seen by Muslims as blasphemous – both towards the Qur’an and, indirectly, towards Mohammed, who Muslims believed received the inerrant revelation from Allah.


See it here; http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/latest-target-pakistani-radicals-ban-bib

And this also from Pakistan;

Faisalabad (AsiaNews) – Christian tombs were recently desecrated and a young Christian woman was gang-raped for an entire night. In both cases, police refused to file a First Information Report, allowing the culprits to escape justice. These are examples of the ordinary violence visited upon Pakistan’s Christian minority. Whether it involves Christian-owned land and property or individuals who are targeted because they are defenceless, victims will not find justice with the country’s legal system. Gradually, Pakistan’s ‘Islamisation’ slowly progresses, especially in the densely populated province of Punjab. 

See it here; http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Anti-Christian-violence-in-Faisalabad:-tombs-desecrated,-young-woman-gang-raped-21673.html

So you are you doing today Mr. and Mrs. American Christian?  A little frazzled maybe because your kid has soccer practice in Blaine and your lawn needs mowing?  A little peeved because Pia got cut from American Idol?  A little upset about how a sales tax may be used to fund the new Minnesota Vikings Stadium?  A little sullen because the church budget is 10% less than it was last year?

Seriously, if we ran into our persecuted brothers and sisters from China, Iraq, Pakistan, etc...  would we even have anything to say to them?  Would we have anything in common?  No wonder they are begging us, and begging God to wake up the Christ followers in the USA. 

But even with all the disasters that have recently happened and all those that are set up to happen in the near future....how many "Christians" will truly open their eyes and realize what we were created for?

Hat tip to Lisa H.  

Conflict Coming

We have talked about another group of ships heading for Gaza looking to break the Israeli "blockade"...its called the "flotilla".  It was supposed to leave the middle of May but the organizers have moved it back a few weeks.  Of course we know this is simply a ploy brought on by anti-Israel activists and will be used as an attempt to spark conflict and Israeli condemnation...as it did last year when Turkish activists entered Israeli waters and ended up having nine of them shot dead by the IDF.

So here is the latest news on a German ship setting sail to join the flotilla on June 20;
http://www.abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&id=244564

And below is the link from MSNBC that clearly says the IDF will stop the flotilla.

JERUSALEM — Israel's top general said on Tuesday the military is making preparations to stop a new aid flotilla that pro-Palestinian groups plan to dispatch in late June to the Gaza Strip in defiance of an Israeli naval blockade.

The groups said 15 ships, including the Mavi Marmara, would be in the new flotilla, carrying 1,500 people from around 100 countries, humanitarian aid and construction materials.


Here; http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43225799/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa

The nations continue to gather around Israel...and their intent is to tear her down.

The God of Israel, Isaac and Jacob will not have it.

Hat tip to Tom F.

June 2011 is LGBT Month!

Yep!  It's true!  Obama just declared the month of June 2011 as, "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month".

Here it is; http://news.yahoo.com/s/dailycaller/20110531/pl_dailycaller/obamaagaindeclaresjunelesbiangaybisexualandtransgenderpridemonth;_ylt=AqX7liaGRuzdy_dBo3Ajy5gUewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTUyMWFhajRkBGFzc2V0A2RhaWx5Y2FsbGVyLzIwMTEwNTMxL29iYW1hYWdhaW5kZWNsYXJlc2p1bmVsZXNiaWF

So let's tell Israel to divide Jerusalem, let's tell the Muslim strong men to leave, to make way for Islamic extremists, let's continue to arm the enemies (and future enemies) of Israel, let's continue to print money and raise the debt limit and NOW...let's declare the entire month of June as a celebration of perversion and the fall.
Sounds like we continue to shove ourselves further into the garbage disposal every single day!  How long til there is nothing left?

As one reader recently said, "God Bless America....for what?"  Why should God bless America? 

Deflation or Inflation...Take Your Pick

Talk of economic problems in the USA continue to bubble to the surface.  Today the Senior Economist for Europacific Capital was on Yahoo Finance.

Watch the video/article here; http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/michael-pento-central-bankruptcy-why-qe3-inevitable-105819637.html

In short he says that either the Fed will NOT continue printing money and we will have a deflationary depression.  And if they DO continue printing money we will have an inflationary depression.  Either way...the pain is coming.  And to top it off he says what we have been saying, either way the middle class is going to get clobbered.

Why?  Because if you are poor, you are already poor.  And the rich will always figure out a way to stay well fed and keep gas in their yachts.  It's the middle class that has some money but is getting pinched by rising food costs, medical costs, gasoline costs and the demand for higher taxes on everything we buy that is going to get crushed.

And we all know the societies devoid of a middle class are terribly unhealthy societies.

But as the size of the Fed's balance sheet ballooned, the dollar amount of capital held at the Fed has remained fairly constant. Today, the Fed has $52.5 billion of capital backing a $2.7 trillion balance sheet. While the size of the portfolio expanded three fold (and the quality of its assets diminished), the Fed's equity ratio plunged from 6% to just 2%. Prior to the bursting of the credit bubble, the public was shocked to learn that our biggest investment banks were levered 30 to 1. When asset values fell, those banks were quickly wiped out. But now the Fed is holding many of the same types of assets and is levered 51 to 1! If the value of their portfolio were to fall by just 2% the Fed itself would be wiped out.


The Fed acknowledged this insolvency risk on January 6th when it modified its accounting rules to ensure that it never technically runs out of capital. In a system that would make Enron jealous, the new gimmickry allows Fed losses to be booked directly as Treasury liabilities. In other words, just throw it on the deficit pile with the rest of the Federal red ink. But fictional solvency has nothing to do with its ability to successfully withdraw liquidity.

Yep...just throw the whole mess on the deficit pile with the rest of the Federal red ink!  That oughta work for a while....right?

Hat tip to Mike S. and Jared F.

PBS Meteorologist on Severe Weather

The liberals are having a really tough time explaining what the heck is going on with all these floods, tornadoes, droughts, earthquakes, etc...

See video here of the dude on PBS explaining the "bad luck" we are all having.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNbHa3zbwjU

Wouldn't it be something to hear a meteorologist come on line and say, "I think  all this freaky weather has something to do with Jerusalem being a burdensome stone...."

UN Says U.S. Dollar Could Collapse

We have been saying all along that the U.S. dollar WILL collapse...we just don't know when.  That being said I admit it is a tad unsettling to see an article like this.

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations warned on Wednesday of a possible crisis of confidence in, and even a “collapse” of, the U.S. dollar if its value against other currencies continued to decline.


In a mid-year review of the world economy, the UN economic division said such a development, stemming from the falling value of foreign dollar holdings, would imperil the global financial system.


The report, an update of the UN “World Economic Situation and Prospects 2011” report first issued in December, noted that the dollar exchange rate against a basket of other key currencies had reached its lowest level since the 1970s.


“As a result, further (expected) losses of the book value of the vast foreign reserve holdings could trigger a crisis of confidence in the reserve currency, which would put the entire global financial system at risk,” it said.


See it here; http://www.canada.com/business/dollar+could+collapse/4839011/story.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+delicious%2Fgqlf+%28Christian+Headlines+Top+Headlines%29

Did you catch those key phrases, "crisis of confidence" and "imperil the global financial system"?  What they don't tell us is what this scenario would look like when it plays out.  Some will read the article and say, "Ya, ya....so what?  So the global financial system is in peril.  Isn't it always?  What does that mean to me?  Let's move on."

Here is what it might look like...and why they don't want to frighten us by telling us this;  Stores would be swept clean, banks would be overrun by folks demanding all their money ASAP so they could convert it into something besides dollars, businesses would come to a screeching halt,  Government agencies may fail to function properly, savings that people have worked their whole lives for could be trashed, service businesses wouldn't know what to charge, grocery stores wouldn't know what to charge,  imports would be confused as foreign companies used to taking dollars may demand payment under other terms.....and the list goes on.  The panic that would ensue would make all of us believe we were in the Tribulation...and to be honest it may feel like we are.

Are we ready for our sleepy little lives to change abruptly?  Are we preparing for the Coming of the King?...or are we still going to cling to the patterns of this world with our bleeding clutched fingers?  Is our faith secure in the times of storm...or have we just been doing the "Jesus thing" because it has been a good source of community programs and the kids like Sunday School?