Extreme Disasters Pummel USA

Here is the headline;  Disasters in US: An extreme and exhausting year

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nature is pummeling the United States this year with extremes.

Unprecedented triple-digit heat and devastating drought. Deadly tornadoes leveling towns. Massive rivers overflowing. A billion-dollar blizzard. And now, unusual hurricane-caused flooding in Vermont.

If what's falling from the sky isn't enough, the ground shook in places that normally seem stable: Colorado and the entire East Coast. On Friday, a strong quake triggered brief tsunami warnings in Alaska. Arizona and New Mexico have broken records for wildfires.

Total weather losses top $35 billion, and that's not counting Hurricane Irene, according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. There have been more than 700 U.S. disaster and weather deaths, most from the tornado outbreaks this spring.

Last year, the world seemed to go wild with natural disasters in the deadliest year in a generation. But 2010 was bad globally, and the United States mostly was spared.

This year, while there have been devastating events elsewhere, such as the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Australia's flooding and a drought in Africa, it's our turn to get smacked. Repeatedly.

See it here; http://www.charter.net/news/read.php?rip_id=%3CD9PH1J4O2%40news.ap.org%3E&ps=1011

"What I say to you I say to everyone, "Watch!" says Jesus.

Hat tip to Guy B.

Greece Has Had Enough Cutting

Let's think of a family who makes $50,000 but recently found a credit card sent in the mail with a credit limit of $100,000.  The family has a boat load of fun using the credit card.  They take trips to Disney, buy new cars, buy the kids all new clothes, I-pods, phones and give them each cars when they turn 16.  The kids love their parents for all the swell stuff they shower their kids with and all the fun vacations they have gone on to exotic locations.

One day a letter shows up in the mail that says, "Your credit limit has been reached.  Your card has been cancelled.  Please begin repaying the $100,000 you owe at the payment rate of $1,000 per month.  Thank you for your business."

In an instant the family goes from living large to having to live like paupers.  Mom has to get a 2nd job, the kids have to give their cars back since the family can't afford the payments, no more vacations, dad is stressed and fighting with mom, the kids have to start shopping at discount stores and are embarrassed by their line of clothing, etc....

No one is happy.

Now let's look at Greece....and remember Greece is simply a foreshadowing for what is coming for every Western country who believed they could live off debt forever.

The Greek government is saying that the country has taken about as much austerity (government cuts) as it can stand.

“It’s killing us,” says one Greek cabinet minister.

Athens can’t force through another round cuts to pay pensions and social services: “An angry population will take matters into its own hands, the government will collapse and we may end up with political crisis in a near-bankrupt euro-zone country which nobody will know how to control.”

The suspension of talks between Greece and its creditors Friday highlights the Greek dilemma. Slow economic growth and increased budget deficits move the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund—the “troika”—to demand still more cuts to cover the gap. The Greeks see that as a recipe for a protracted recession, chronic deficits and an unhappy population.

See it here; http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2011/09/02/greece-has-its-fill-of-austerity/

Just like our unhappy family forced to pay back it's debts....so is the population of Greece becoming unhappy.  And unhappiness can lead to anger and an angry population will take matters into its own hands which leads to collapse and political crisis.

Is anyone out there willing to give Greece some money? 

Greece is small but the story is the same as it extends to Spain, Portugal, Italy, then France, Germany and then the U.S.

Turkey Expels Israel's Ambassador

Yesterday we wrote about how Turkey might implement Plan B if Israel didn't apologize for the flotilla incident.  Today it looks like Plan B has gone into action.

Turkey has expelled Israel's ambassador and suspended all military agreements over its refusal to apologise for last year's raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla.

This comes a day after a leaked UN report said Israeli commandos used excessive force when they boarded an aid ship. Nine Turkish activists died.

The Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said it was "time Israel pays a price for its illegal actions".

Israel has refused to apologise and said its troops acted in self-defence.

"Israel, like any other country, has a legitimate right to protect its citizens and soldiers," an Israeli government official told the BBC.

A copy of the UN report leaked to the New York Times says Israeli forces did use excessive force when they intercepted the Turkish-led flotilla trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza in May 2010.

But the report also concludes that Israel's naval blockade of Gaza is legal - a move that has angered Turkey.

See it here;  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14762475

Of course we know where this is leading...to a day when Turkey will be one of the countries that seeks to destroy Israel and take her riches.

Turkey Talks of Plan B

Remember the Turkish flotilla where 9 Turks were killed when Israel boarded their ship that was attempting to break through a legal blockade?  The UN found that Israel acted legally and that the blame should lie with Turkey for the mishap.

Turkey doesn't care for the truth so instead is starting to threaten Israel that they better apologize or else Plan B will be coming.

NO!!!!  NOT THE DREADED PLAN B!!!!  Sorry...could not resist a little comic relief there.

With the oft-delayed UN Palmer Commission report on the Mavi Marmara incident due to be handed to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Friday, Turkey's foreign minister warned that if Israel did not apologize for the incident by the time the report is released, Turkey will "put Plan B into play," Turkish Foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted as saying Thursday.

Plan B refers to a threat made by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last month saying that if Israel did not apologize, Turkey would further downgrade ties with Israel and aggressively oppose it in international forums. The Turks have also threatened to cut economic ties as part of a "Plan B."

Davutoglu, referring to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's recent proposal – shot down by the Turks – to postpone the release of the commission report for another six months, said, "We cannot accept a six month extension. The release date of the UN report is the last date for us. We will put Plan B into play if [there is] no apology."

Davutoglu's remarks were made in an interview with the Turkish newspapers Today's Zaman and Hurriyet.

Israel Radio quoted senior diplomatic sources as saying Thursday that Israel had decided that it would not apologize. A message to that effect was passed on to the Americans some two weeks ago.

See it here; http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?ID=236359&R=R1&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Those Muslim nations seem to be getting angrier every day at Israel.  How long can it go on before tension turns to turmoil?

Let's also remember to watch and see if Turkey, Russia and Libya all start drawing close as the weeks go by.

No Ones Reading It

Caught this tidbit from another prophecy writer;

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3. According to the Barna Research Online a whopping 85% of the American population claim to be Christian, but out of that grand total only a group of 35 to 42 percent actually claim to be born again. Barna’s study gave way to some very interesting boasts. When the first group was asked why they were staking claim to being Christian the answers were: 1) Because I live in a Christian nation. 2) Because my family is Christian. 3) Because I go to church at least twice a year. But even more interesting was the last figure that the Barna research group posted, that only about 8% of American adults believe that salvation comes by faith in Christ alone, and without any human works. Wow! Throw the Bible out, no one’s reading it anyway.


See it here;  http://www.raptureready.com/featured/graham/g193.html


Is it any wonder that this country seems like it is on a track of destruction...."My people perish for lack of knowledge."


"Narrow is the path to life and few will be on it." says Jesus.  Looks like the Barna study is confirming those words.

Iran Willing to Cooperate With Russia

One of the events we have been closely watching over the years is the building of the Ezekiel 38 coalition.  The four named players we are watching is Russia, Turkey, Iran and Libya.  So we should expect to see the cooperation increase between those countries as we move ever closer to the fulfillment of that prophecy.

Remember how the prophecy goes; a coalition of armies will be gathered from these nations getting ready to invade Israel and wipe her off the map.  Before they can attack, the God of Israel will confuse the armies and they will turn on each other in confusion and wipe each other out.  When the Israelites go out to assess the damage, they will burn the weapons of war they find laying there for 7 years.  This will be a turning point for Israel when they, as a nation, will understand what God has done to protect them.

Today in the headlines out of Iran we find that Iran is willing to cooperate with Russia on their nuclear program.

Tehran has offered a proposal to Moscow on the building of new nuclear plants using Iranian-made nuclear fuel, Abbasi who is also Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Iran said.

Referring to the 'step by step' proposal of Russia to settle the standoff between Iran and the West, he said any nuclear proposal either step by step or all at once must guarantee Iran's nuclear rights.

He added, "I don't think Iran-G5+1 talks can resolve the issue in near future. Any partner who wants to get involved on talks on Iran's nuclear issue and who makes a proposal in this regard should recognize Tehran's nuclear rights, at first."

"The Islamic Republic of Iran would study Russia's "step by step" plan on Iran's nuclear issue," the official told the Islamic republic news agency.

Nuclear issue is just an excuse for the West to put pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran and if it is resolved, the US and its allies would impose more sanctions against Iran under the pretext of human rights violations, Abbasi stated.

See it here;  http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9006080014

Turkey is also drawing closer to these two.  Now with Libya in full scale collapse, we can expect that their new leaders will also look to Russia, Turkey and Iran for help as the Last Days coalition builds.

Israel Warns Gaza Militants

The Palestinians are planning on seeking statehood next month when the United Nations meets.  But in the interim, the militants who run the place want to continue lobbing missiles into Israel and planning terror attacks...but they know this doesn't look good for their cause of statehood....such a dilemma....what to do?....

Ah-hah!  They will move the terrorists into Egypt and then attack Israel from the south...thereby disguising the fact that the militants running Palestine have anything to do with killing Jews in Israel.

Today we have Israel warning those same militants that they are aware of their attempt at deception....and that it won't work.  Gaza will be punished if terrorists come in via Egypt.

JERUSALEM — Israel's top military chief has warned Gaza militants not to "test" Israel's strength as troops and police remained on high alert on Wednesday over warnings of a planned attack from Sinai.

"Hamas and other terrorist organisations in Gaza must know that they are wrong to test our strength and that any attempt to harm the citizens of Israel will result in a severe response," chief of staff Benny Gantz said in remarks released by the army.

The military two days earlier raised the level of alert on the Israel-Egypt border and around Gaza following specific intelligence warnings that militants were planning a fresh attack on south Israel along the lines of a series of deadly ambushes on August 18.

"The defence establishment has received a warning that a terror cell in Sinai, comprised of more than 10 terrorists, is going to try and carry out an attack," Home Front Defence Minister Matan Vilnai told Israeli reporters on Tuesday, indicating Islamic Jihad was involved.

See it here; http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gp8VKqaAu9NEyZ6cQn0t0ufzoxlw?docId=CNG.716ead3a23b755a3ef87be596079b49b.801

Of course as the threats and warnings increase, as Muslim militants continue to gather control in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan...the region has become a tinder box that is just waiting for a match to ignite the whole mess.

So as we watch all these prophetic happenings materialize before our very eyes, remember to "fear not"...since we all know where our eternity lies and since all of these things "must happen".

Also take cheer because we know by watching all these events happening with increasing frequency that the hour is approaching when we, who love the Lord and await his glorious appearing, will suddenly get our new bodies and meet our Savior in the air!  What a day that will be!!

World Collapse Explained in 3 Minutes

This humorous short video explains why the financial systems of the world will one day collapse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVwA_Y4KBqY&feature=related

Even a serious topic deserves to be smiled at every once in a while.

The folly of man knows no limits.

FEMA Runs Out of Cash

I heard on the news this morning that "good news" was coming to Vermont because 30 trucks from FEMA were heading that way with bottled water, food and desperately needed generators...since the electricity may be down for days.

Boy...that FEMA must have wads of cash because they have trucks running all over the country from Minot to Joplin to Vermont.

Surprise!  It turns out they don't have wads of cash.

Costs Of Irene Add Up As FEMA Runs Out Of Cash

 

It's not yet certain what the total cost of Hurricane Irene will be, but it's likely to add up to several billion dollars. That means tough choices for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has had to deal with a string of natural disasters this year.

From washed-away roads in North Carolina to historic bridges flooded out in Vermont, Hurricane Irene took its toll up and down the Eastern Seaboard.

But the East is not the only region to suffer from natural disasters this year. There was a string of deadly tornadoes in the South this spring, floods along the Mississippi and in the Upper Midwest, and last May's devastating tornado in Joplin, Mo.
All told, there have been 10 storms that cost at least a billion dollars each this year, if you include Irene's expected costs. And FEMA says its disaster relief fund is below the billion dollars it likes to keep on hand.

So the administration will be forced to go to Congress for more aid, setting up a potential fight with House Republicans.

See it here;  http://www.wgbh.org/News/Articles/2011/8/30/Costs_Of_Irene_Add_Up_As_FEMA_Runs_Out_Of_Cash.cfm

As the Germans asked last week when faced with the daunting task of bailing out Greece, Spain, Portugal and now Italy, "Who will be left to rescue the rescuers?"  Good question.

Can you see how the world will soon start looking for a Messiah?  For Christians we will keep watching for Jesus...but for the secular world, they will start looking for a charismatic man riding a white horse promising peace, security, order and prosperity.

Interesting times are coming.

U.S. Government Struggles as Biggest Seller of Homes

Ahhh....the tangled webs we weave.  First the Congress came out with the plan that ALL Americans should own homes because it was the American dream.  Then Congress told the major mortgage lenders to ease off on all the difficult mortgage application and credit questions.  Questions such as, "Can you afford this house seeing that you don't have a job?"  And finally Congress told the lenders not to worry because if the mortgages went bad then the Federal Government would stand behind them and make everything OK.

Sounds good!!  What could possibly go wrong?...because EVERYONE knows that real estate ALWAYS goes up in value...right?  After all, they aren't making it anymore....or so goes the false saying that was so popular right before the crash.

Now we find out that the U.S. government has just become the largest seller of homes...homes that they got when they had to back up the lenders after thousands of homes went into default.

For sale or rent by motivated owner: 248,000 foreclosed homes.

The U.S. government, which has become the nation’s biggest owner of residential properties, is looking for ways to reduce and manage its huge inventory without swamping the real estate market or exposing federal agencies to enormous losses.

Government-run Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration now own about a third of the country’s nearly 800,000 foreclosed properties. With that inventory predicted to grow, they are looking for new ways to cope.

In a joint public appeal this month, the agencies invited the public to send in suggestions for managing the inventory, particularly ideas for turning foreclosed homes into rentals.

Karen Petrou, managing partner of Federal Financial Analytics Inc., said the unusual appeal is a sign the agencies recognize the backlog of distressed properties has grown so large that it can’t be sold off without inundating the market and depressing prices.

“They’re stuck,” said Petrou. “All sorts of people are demanding they do something. They don’t know what to do but they have to do something.”

See it here;  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-26/u-s-government-struggles-as-the-biggest-seller-of-homes.html?cmpid=bit 

You gotta love that quote, "They don't know what to do but they have to do something."  So what is the "something" they have done so far?;  print money by the billions and purchase U.S. Treasury's at auction and attempt to drive the interest rates down so more people can refinance their homes and also buy homes with cheap interest on new mortgages. 

In the meantime, with interest rates at or near 0% at bank savings accounts, anyone who saved money for retirement is being punished by not being paid anything on their savings.  So the government's latest plan is to punish those who were responsible and attempt to continue rewarding those who made bad choices and/or were irresponsible.

That ought to go well. (insert sarcasm)  But hey....they gotta do something because the children are getting restless.

Time To Normalize Pedophilia

Marriage is supposed to be between a man and a woman and the intimate sexual relations that they have are blessed by God.

But what if you are born attracted to the same sex and you have a strong desire to have intercourse with another man?  We are seeing that argument play out before our very eyes....most recently when New York has now allowed gay marriage.

But what if you were born with a strong desire to have sex with a man AND a woman, and you desperately want to be married to one of both?  That will be next.

But what if you were born with a strong desire for sex and one woman just wasn't enough and I wanted to have 4-5 women who all wanted to marry me?  That also will be next.

But what if I was born with a strong desire for sexual relations with my favorite animal?  Why should I be discriminated against or made to feel bad just because I have a favorite beast?  That also is coming.

And finally, what about the people who are born with a desire to have sex with children?  Can it really be so wrong?...say the pedophiles.

Read on if you want to get an idea about how low we are sinking into the abyss:

Lynchburg, VA – On Wednesday, August 17, child advocates Matt Barber, Vice President of Liberty Counsel Action, and Dr. Judith Reisman, a visiting law professor at Liberty University School of Law, attended a Baltimore, MD conference hosted by the pedophile group B4U-ACT. Around 50 individuals were in attendance including a number of admitted pedophiles – or “Minor-Attracted Persons” as they prefer to be identified (MAP “sexual orientation”) – as well as several supportive mental health professionals. World renowned “sexologist,” Dr. Fred Berlin of Johns Hopkins University gave the keynote address, saying: “I want to completely support the goal of B4U-ACT.”

Highlights of the conference:

• Pedophiles are “unfairly stigmatized and demonized” by society.

• There was concern about “vice-laden diagnostic criteria” and “cultural baggage of wrongfulness.”

• “We are not required to interfere with or inhibit our child’s sexuality.”

• “Children are not inherently unable to consent” to sex with an adult.

• “In Western culture sex is taken too seriously.”

• “Anglo-American standard on age of consent is new [and ‘Puritanical’]. In Europe it was always set at 10 or 12. Ages of consent beyond that are relatively new and very strange, especially for boys. They’ve always been able to have sex at any age.”

• An adult’s desire to have sex with children is “normative.”

• Our society should “maximize individual liberty. … We have a highly moralistic society that is not consistent with liberty.”

• “Assuming children are unable to consent lends itself to criminalization and stigmatization.”

• “These things are not black and white; there are various shades of gray.”

• A consensus belief by both speakers and pedophiles in attendance was that, because it vilifies MAPs, pedophilia should be removed as a mental disorder from the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), in the same manner homosexuality was removed in 1973.

• Dr. Fred Berlin acknowledged that it was political activism, similar to that witnessed at the conference, rather than scientific considerations that successfully led to the declassification of homosexuality as a mental disorder: The reason “homosexuality was taken out of DSM is that people didn’t want the government in the bedroom,” he said.

• Dr. Berlin appeared to endorse the politically maligned clinical practice of “reparative therapy” for homosexuals and pedophiles alike, saying, “If someone, for their own reasons, doesn’t want to live a homosexual lifestyle, I tell them that it’s hard but I’ll try to help them.”

• The DSM ignores that pedophiles “have feelings of love and romance for children” in the same way adult heterosexuals and homosexuals have romantic feelings for one another.

• “The majority of pedophiles are gentle and rational.”

• The DSM should “focus on the needs” of the pedophile, and should have “a minimal focus on social control,” rather than obsessing about the “need to protect children.”

• Self-descried “gay activist” and speaker Jacob Breslow said that children can properly be “the object of our attraction.” He further objectified children, suggesting that pedophiles needn’t gain consent from a child to have sex with “it” any more than we need consent from a shoe to wear it. He then used graphic, slang language to favorably describe the act of climaxing (ejaculating) “on or with” a child. No one in attendance objected to this explicit depiction of child sexual assault.

Read it here; http://www.championnews.net/2011/08/22/‘time-to-normalize-pedophilia’-firsthand-report-on-b4u-act-conference/

Lord have mercy!

Hat tip to Tim H.

Financial Market Crash May Be Weeks Away

Of course we know the financial markets are going to crash and that some new currency scheme will need to be ushered in to save the day...but we don't know exactly when.  Remember that the Antichrist will need to have the entire world put onto some form of single currency....so we know that the existing currencies will need to fall away.

This headline and article claims it may be a lot closer than anyone thinks.

Market crash 'could hit within weeks', warn bankers

Insurance on the debt of several major European banks has now hit historic levels, higher even than those recorded during financial crisis caused by the US financial group's implosion nearly three years ago.

"The problem is a shortage of liquidity – that is what is causing the problems with the banks. It feels exactly as it felt in 2008," said one senior London-based bank executive.

"I think we are heading for a market shock in September or October that will match anything we have ever seen before," said a senior credit banker at a major European bank.

See it all here;  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8721151/Market-crash-could-hit-within-weeks-warn-bankers.html

With solar storms set to peak next month, rumors of Israel planning a major military move on Iran and it's proxies, Palestine expecting to declare it's statehood in the UN and the Feast of Trumpets set for the end of September...a collapse of financial markets that same month could REALLY set the world spinning.

It will be interesting to watch for any prophetic major moves during this coming month.

Hat tip to Tom F.

Germany in Hysteria Over Bailout

We have wondered recently about how long Germany would continue to co-sign loans for all the other countries in Euro-zone.  Today we find out that the Germans may have had about enough.

Mrs Merkel has cancelled a high-profile trip to Russia on September 7, the crucial day when the package goes to the Bundestag and the country's constitutional court rules on the legality of the EU's bail-out machinery.

If the court rules that the €440bn rescue fund (EFSF) breaches Treaty law or undermines German fiscal sovereignty, it risks setting off an instant brushfire across monetary union.

The seething discontent in Germany over Europe's debt crisis has spread to all the key institutions of the state. "Hysteria is sweeping Germany " said Klaus Regling, the EFSF's director.

German media reported that the latest tally of votes in the Bundestag shows that 23 members from Mrs Merkel's own coalition plan to vote against the package, including twelve of the 44 members of Bavaria's Social Christians (CSU). This may force the Chancellor to rely on opposition votes, risking a government collapse.

See it here;  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8728628/Euro-bail-out-in-doubt-as-hysteria-sweeps-Germany.html

What will happen if the Euro starts collapsing?...no one really know how it will play out, but we can assume it will be a very violent event for the financial markets...which are already more volatile than they have EVER been.

Hurricane Irene

It appears that Irene has passed by the USA and now the clean up can begin. 

Many people in NYC are complaining because the storm didn't hit them as hard as was predicted and they are wondering why they had to evacuate and shut down.  But if you were in Vermont or New Jersey you probably wouldn't be making those statements.

Of course the comments coming out of Vermont after inches of rain turned streets into rushing rivers was that it was the worst flooding the state had EVER seen.  Just one more for the record books.

Also to be noted is that Irene is the the 10th multi-billion-dollar disaster to befall the USA in 2011...and we aren't done with the year yet.  Usually the US may only see on or two in a slow year.

Brattleboro, Vermont (CNN) -- The torment from Irene isn't over as parts of the East Coast grappled Monday with still-dangerous flood waters, widespread power outages and stranded residents.

At least 21 deaths in nine states were blamed on Irene, which fizzled to a post-tropical cyclone and headed over eastern Canada on Monday.

About 3 million customers were without power across the path traveled by Irene.

But much of the remaining trouble centered on flooding from North Carolina through New England, with homes inundated and roads torn apart by floodwaters.

Some of the worst flooding since 1927 ravaged Vermont's normally tranquil countryside, turning babbling brooks into turbulent rivers, knocking homes from their foundations and washing away a young woman who had been standing near the river in Wilmington.

See it here; http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/08/29/irene.aftermath/

One interesting thing about Irene and all the coverage about this "once in a lifetime hurricane" slamming the East Coast....it made us forget about the "once in a lifetime earthquake" that rattled the East Coast earlier in the same week.