Crumbling

Here in the USA we have been so concerned about our budget deficit and our $5 billion dollar per day shortfall JUST to keep our Federal Government open....that we have totally ignored the fact that our infrastructure is literally crumbling all around us.  Bridges, highways, dams, subway systems, etc...are all nearing the end of their life expectancy and will cost trillions to fix it or replace it.

I wonder where we might find the money to fix all these things that we rely on every day to keep our lives functioning in the way we are accustomed?

The U.S. population is forecast to grow by 100 million — a 30 percent increase — before the middle of the 21st century. And right now a nationwide transportation system built in the middle of the 20th century is falling apart.

There isn’t enough money to arrest its decline, and the public is largely oblivious to the need.

“Why haven’t we invested?” said Alan Pisarski, a transportation consultant. “We haven’t made a credible case to the American people.”

The problem is twofold. Although complaints about traffic congestion are commonplace, to the average consumer the transportation system appears to be working reasonably well. And, said several speakers at the conference hosted by Washington Post Live, the amount of money needed to restore and expand it is so enormous that few taxpayers can relate.

But if the nation is going to be saved from a deepening infrastructure crisis, the next steps require finding billions in new revenues, streamlining the project approval process and developing private-public schemes to rebuild and expand highway and transit systems, the panelists said.

Without that, the United States will not remain competitive with other countries.

“We are in a crisis,” said Metro’s general manager, Richard Sarles. “After ribbons are cut, systems are ignored and decay sets in. There’s finally recognition we’ve got to find a good level of funding to resolve it.”

See it here;  http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/gargantuan-large-investment-in-infrastructure-needed-experts-say/2011/10/14/gIQAwHn2kL_story.html?hpid=z4

I wonder where we find these trillions of dollars?  I know...we could cut Social Security...nope, people won't let that happen.  I know....we can cut food stamps...nope, that would lead to unrest.  How about unemployment benefits....nope, that would lead to a million more home foreclosures and shove us into depression.  How about Medicare...nope, because we have 60 million people relying on that bankrupt system.  How about dissolving the military and slashing the Pentagon....nope, we would be over run by our enemies.  How about borrowing all the money from China....nope, they are done making us loans.

Oh well...let's just close our eyes and tap our heels together three times and say, "I wish I were in Oz."

Finance Ministers Gather as Time Runs Out

The U.S. stock market has been on a positive run this week ending up over 5%....so not quite as much focus of late on the ugly balance sheet of the USA.

However, Europe continues to be in the pressure cooker and this headline seems prophetic in more ways than one.

G20 finance ministers gather as time runs out

Global imbalances are as entrenched as they ever were. Budget deficits dominate the political agenda, with countries from the US to Italy to Greece still grappling unsuccessfully with their debts. Trade imbalances continue to warp economies, as consumer-heavy nations try to kick-start their manufacturing engines and exporters try to trigger a consumer boom.

Under huge international pressure to unveil a viable rescue, from President Barack Obama to David Cameron to Brazilian finance minister Guido Mantega, President Sarkozy simply can not fail. Traders, economists and bankers are all agreed – if the proposals at Cannes do not go far enough, it will be final proof that Europe’s political troubles are intractable. In that case, it will be open season on the euro - and the Cassandras can get out their Armageddon spreadsheets.

Four frantic weeks start this weekend.

See it here;  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8825570/G20-finance-ministers-gather-as-time-runs-out.html

Holy Armageddon Spreadsheet!  We only have 4 weeks left til this whole house of cards comes apart in Europe and then spreads to the USA and every other Western economy?  Then what?  Can't they just print some money and fix this whole thing?  Can't the governments just order all the corporations to hire a bunch of people to do something and pay them salaries with benefits so we can all get back to consumerism?  When will this all get back to normal?

Is Trouble Coming For Damascus?

On Monday we posted about the threats Syrian President Assad made towards Israel....basically saying that they would destroy Tel Aviv if any NATO bombs came looking for Assad's regime.

We saw this as a movement towards the fulfillment of Isaiah 17.  Today Hal Lindsey sent out his weekly update that I'm sure many of you receive.  Here is what Hal had to say.

You would think after a half-century of studying Bible prophecy, teaching it, writing about it, and producing a weekly television program on the subject for the last 15 years, nothing would surprise me. Not so. I am continually amazed by how precisely the predictions of the ancient prophets are unfolding in the news.

How's this for prophetic precision? Last week, Iran's Fars news service reported that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad threatened to unleash a missile attack on Tel Aviv if NATO or Turkey dared interfere in Syria's affairs.

This wasn't an off-the-cuff, rash remark made in a fit of anger. He's issued this threat before. On August 9th, Assad told the Turkish Foreign Minister that "it would take only six hours for Syria to devastate Tel Aviv and ignite the Middle East."

Now, as ominous as that sounds, it's not the part of the story that raises the red flag for prophecy watchers. Middle Eastern hotheads have been threatening to wipe out Israel for decades.

Here's the critical part. Debkafile.com reports that after the first threat, Israel sent Syria a warning. In part, the message said, "If a single missile explodes in Tel Aviv, Damascus will be the first to pay the price.."

That raises the goosebumps, doesn't it?

This is the exact scenario foretold by the prophet Isaiah thousands of years ago. He said that a showdown would take place between Syria and Israel, like two gunfighters facing off in the dusty street of an old western town, complete with the townspeople clearing out to hide in the saloon and the stores. According to Isaiah, the rest of the world "will flee far away, and be chased like chaff in the mountains before the wind, or like the whirling dust before a gale."

Then Syria will draw, but before it can clear leather, Israel will strike and Damascus will cease to exist. Here's how Isaiah described it: "And at evening time, behold, there is terror! Before morning they are no more."

Isaiah predicted that Damascus, the oldest continually inhabited city in the world - which has never been destroyed - will disappear in one night. Before today, that would not have been even technically possible. With nuclear weapons, it won't take an evening.

And now the threat has been publicly made and the counter-threat has been delivered. I'm not saying when this will happen, but once an embattled dictator publicly suggests the possibility, I believe the chances of someone choosing that option increase considerably. And the possibility has to be considered that one of Syria's allies (Iran? Hezbollah? Hamas?) may actually be the one to pull the trigger.

Need I say it again? Get ready! Christ's coming cannot be far away.

I think it's simply amazing how the Lord seems to be highlighting the same passages connected to the same headlines to so many of us. I sure hope Hal is right...that the Lord is coming soon!

Obama's Bombs

Depending on how you interpret this article, one may classify it as good news and one may classify it as bad news.

The good news camp will be happy that President Obama gave Israel a boat load of bunker buster bombs that may be used to wreak havoc on Iran and its nuclear program.  So the USA has been a blessing to Israel.

The bad news camp will understand that transferring these massive weapons to Israel means that the likelihood of war in the Middle East has been ratcheted up a notch.

Barack Obama may be widely regarded at home as the least pro-Israeli president in decades, but he has secretly okayed giving the Jewish state a bunch of special bunker-busting bombs – ideal for destroying Tehran’s ruling mullahs’ nuclear ambitions and so powerful that George W. Bush blocked handing them over.

Capable of penetrating deep beneath the surface, the bunker-busters would be crucial for any air strikes at Iran nuclear sites. Mr. Netanyahu has wanted the bunker-busters for years and, as first reported by Newsweek, Mr. Obama agreed to hand over 55 of the sophisticated and powerful weapons.

Given Israel’s track record of pre-emptive bombing strikes to destroy nuclear sites in neighbouring nations and Iran’s ambitious and suspicious nuclear program, the American bunker-busters may increase the chance of another Middle East war. Iran’s unpredictable and bellicose President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed to wipe Israel off the map. Iran continues to defy international sanctions with a clandestine nuclear program. Meanwhile, Mr. Netanyahu now has the means to carry out his threat that “Iran will not acquire nuclear arms, and this implies everything necessary to carry this out.”

The bunker-busters will fit nicely on Israeli’s top fighter-bomber, the F-15. Dropped from up to a dozen kilometres away, the needle-nosed, 2.5-tonne bomb ‘dives” to its target, correcting its course so precisely as it plunges that it will fly down a ventilation stack or slice through six metres of concrete or 30 metres of dirt before exploding with colossal force.

See it here; http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/africa-mideast/obamas-bomb-deal-with-israel-raises-the-spectre-of-war/article2184424/

Holy big bang!  A bomb that will slice through 18 feet of concrete BEFORE it explodes?!  That is simply unimaginable.

Mankind's capability of destroying each other has sure gone up exponentially in the last hundred years.  Think about it.....150 years ago we had just invented the single shot rifle.  And now we have chemical weapons, nuclear weapons, biological weapons and bombs so huge they can destroy an underground city.  Of course we all know that eventually all these weapons will be used against other humans. 

At the end of The Tribulation Jesus himself tells us that if those days of tribulation are not cut short that no flesh on earth would survive.  I'm guessing every nasty man-made instrument of destruction will be pulled out during these coming days.

Thank you Jesus that we will not be here on earth to witness these days.  We patiently await the soon coming day when we hear the trumpet that calls us all into the clouds to meet You face to face.

Harrisburg Files for Bankruptcy

The capital of Pennsylvania has filed for bankruptcy protection.  They simply couldn't meet their bond payments anymore so the city controller told us, "it's irresponsible not to file for bankruptcy."

Pennsylvania's capital has authorized a bankruptcy filing, making the city the nation's highest-profile municipality to acknowledge that it can no longer handle its burdensome debt.

Harrisburg's city council authorized the measure Tuesday after the government spent the past year and a half trying to find a solution to its $300 million debt crisis.

In the face of a continuing political battle over whether the city should restructure its debts, Harrisburg's leaders finally capitulated and said the Chapter 9 filing is the only way out of the situation.

"Actually it's irresponsible not to file for bankruptcy," city Controller Dan Miller told CNBC. "It's the only plausible option we have for a long-term recovery in our city."

The city's troubles began in early 2010 when it could no longer meet debt service payments on an incinerator project gone awry. Harrisburg missed a debt payment before ultimately turning its finances over to the state government in hopes of a long-term solution.

Bond holders now will face the prospect of taking what likely are substantial haircuts on the principal they are owed for the incinerator project.

See it here;  http://www.cnbc.com/id/44874046

As reader Mike pointed out....it's funny how filing for bankruptcy used to be a sign of financial and even moral failure...but now we are told it's irresponsible NOT to file for bankruptcy.

The right will be wrong and the wrong will be right.  Evil will be called good and good will be called evil.

Also interesting is that this announcement is PRETTY BIG NEWS....but the municipal bond market has just yawned and shrugged it off.  It makes one wonder if we are just getting so used to shocking headlines that we simply aren't shocked anymore??

Hat tip to Mike S.

Protests Will Bring Down USA

It appears that Iran was caught red-handed trying to blow up foreign diplomats on U.S. soil...which some are calling an act of war.  Remember, this isn't some plot by a few dudes....this was backed and paid for by the government of Iran.

Of course Iran is denying that anything this "childish" has ever taken place and believe that we are pointing fingers at them just to distract ourselves from our own internal problems....especially the Wall Street Protests.

Iran's supreme leader has told a mass rally that the Occupy Wall Street movement will bring down capitalism in America.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the US government could crack down, but would not be able to stop the movement.

Occupy Wall Street is a leaderless group of peaceful protests speaking out against corporate greed and economic inequality in the US.

The protests have spread to dozens of US cities and are in their fourth week.

"They [US officials] might be able to oppress the uprising," he said, according to a translation of the speech by BBC Monitoring.

"However, one day the developments will become so big that it will cause the capitalist system of the USA and West to collapse."

He said the world was at "a historical turn" and the West had reached a dead-end.

See it here;  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15278925

How come all this talk of collapse?  It seems everywhere we turn there is talk of governments collapsing, currencies collapsing, markets collapsing, buildings collapsing, nuclear reactors collapsing, etc...

Also I think it is interesting that President Bush called Iraq, Iran, and North Korea "evil" when he was President...and the liberals went insane!  Now it is turning out to be true that Iran is up to mischief...and it's evil mischief at that!  They want a nuclear bomb and have already said they would use one on Israel and try to use one on the USA, and yet the liberals yawn.

It will be interesting to watch what kind of "strong message" the USA sends to Iran for all this mischief about blowing up diplomats.  I wonder if Obama will send them a strongly worded letter?

More Massive Flooding

So where is the biggest, worst, coldest, hottest, driest, wettest ever event happening today?  Today it happens to be on the other side of the globe in Thailand.

BANGKOK—Thai rescue teams battled to fend off a worsening humanitarian disaster Monday as fast-moving floodwaters that already have killed more than 260 people since July overwhelmed industrial zones north of Bangkok.

The floods—the country's worst in decades—have inundated 30 of Thailand's 77 provinces and submerged a land mass around 13 times the size of Hong Kong.

Economists said Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, has long endured heavy rains and occasional flooding affecting agricultural harvests. But this time the sheer volume of the floodwaters, after a series of large storms and tropical depressions, is exacting a heavy toll on the country's industrial output and damage logistics.

See it here;  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203499704576622552600327010.html

Wow!  The world's largest rice exporter has just been hit by one of the worst floods ever.  I wonder if that could add to the already short food supplies...and bring about more famine?

The world is shaking. 

Lebanese Analyst Warns of Strike on Israel

Lebanese Analyst Warns of Hezbollah's Impending Strike on Israel

TEHRAN (FNA)- A Lebanese strategic analyst warned on Monday that Hezbollah would strike the Israeli facilities if Tel Aviv continues stealing Lebanon's oil and sea reserves.

"In case the enemy steals Lebanon's oil, Hezbollah will have the right to strike its oil installations and facilities," Feisal Abdossater told FNA on Monday.

The analyst cautioned that Zionists' aggressive and expansionist moves in the Mediterranean Sea has heightened tension between the two sides, and said the situation is now ripe for the start of clashes between Lebanon and the Israeli regime.

"Zionists' plot to find control over Lebanon's sea wealth has a high potential for clashes between the two sides and is likely to have dire consequences," he stated.

See it here;  http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9007160352

So.....we have Lebanon to the north, Syria to the NE, Jordan to the E and Gaza and Egypt to the S.  That pretty much means Israel is totally surrounded.  Plus we now know that Iran and Turkey are moving their navy into the Mediterranean so Israel is TOTALLY surrounded by people who seem increasingly unstable, violent and many of them are apocalyptic.

What could possibly go wrong??

Hat tip to Tom F.

This is What We Are Creating

If you have a few minutes you really do need to watch this video clip from Judge Judy.  She is trying to explain to a young man that taxpayers are paying for all of his tuition and they also are paying $450 per month for him to pay rent...since he doesn't have a job.  Clearly the guy has been living off the system his whole life because he simply can't comprehend where the money is coming from and certainly doesn't understand why he needs to explain where his rent money has been spent.

At one point in the clip Judge Judy turns to the bailiff and says, "Do you hear this?  This is what we are creating."  Sadly she is 100% correct....we have created millions of people who think they deserve money from the government simply for being alive.

How many millions of these folks can we have in this country before the whole system turns over on itself?

See clip here;  http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=15915

Hat tip to Jamie J.

Christians Under Siege in Egypt and Afghanistan

Things appear to getting worse in Egypt when it comes to religious freedom and democratic principles.  There was hope by many that when the Egyptian people overthrew their tyrant, Mubarak, that peace, love, hope and freedom would ring.  I'm guessing if you were one of those folks....you can quit holding your breath because the people seem to be demanding that Islam squash out everything else and that the law of the land should be the Koran.

CAIRO (AP) -- Egypt's Coptic Christians have long felt like second-class citizens in their own country.

Now many fear that the power vacuum left after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak is giving Muslim extremists free rein to torch churches and attack Coptic homes in the worst violence against the community in decades.

An assault Sunday night on Christians protesting over a church attack set off riots that drew in Muslims, Christians and the police. Among the 26 people left killed in the melee, most were Copts. For Coptic scholar Wassem el-Sissi, it was evidence that the Christian community in Egypt is vulnerable as never before.

"In the absence of law, you can understand how demolishing a church goes unpunished," he said. "I have not heard of anyone who got arrested or prosecuted."

Once a majority in Egypt, Copts now make up about 10 percent of the country's 85 million people. They are the largest Christian community in the Middle East. Their history dates back 19 centuries and the language used in their liturgy can be traced to the speech of Egypt's pharaohs. Proud of their history and faith, many Copts are identifiable by tattoos of crosses or Jesus Christ on their right wrists, and Coptic women do not wear the veil as the vast majority of Muslim women in Egypt do.

See it here; http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_EGYPT_CHRISTIANS_UNDER_SIEGE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-10-17-27-48

We need to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters.  As Satanic forces continue to increase as The Tribulation draws close, we can expect hatred of the Children of the Light to increase.  

Also out of Afghanistan today we find out that there isn't ONE SINGLE CHURCH left in the entire country.  So 10 years into the U.S. led invasion to stomp out terrorists and maybe build some hope for these impoverished, illiterate people....it appears that what tiny light of Jesus MAY HAVE BEEN shining in the darkness....Satan is doing his best to extinguish it.

(CNSNews.com) -- There is not a single, public Christian church left in Afghanistan, according to the U.S. State Department.

This reflects the state of religious freedom in that country ten years after the United States first invaded it and overthrew its Islamist Taliban regime.

In the intervening decade, U.S. taxpayers have spent $440 billion to support Afghanistan's new government and more than 1,700 U.S. military personnel have died serving in that country.

The last public Christian church in Afghanistan was razed in March 2010, according to the State Department's latest International Religious Freedom Report.

See it here; http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/not-single-christian-church-left-afghanistan-says-state-department

Optimism Grows

Trumpets please!!  May I have your attention!!  We have some good news according to the LA Times;

Stocks close up sharply as optimism grows

U.S. stocks saw their biggest gains in over a month after European leaders signaled a willingness to tackle the financial crisis brewing there.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended Monday up 330.06 points, or 3%, to 11,433.18. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index jumped 3.4%, or 39.43 points, to 1,194.89.

Over the weekend, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced in Berlin that they would come up with a plan to help stabilize and recapitalize struggling European banks. They gave few specifics but said a definite plan would be ready by a Nov. 3 meeting of the Group of 20.

See it here;  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/10/stocks-close-up-sharply-as-optimism-grows.html

Oh pooh!  I was getting all optimistic myself until I saw that last sentence..."They gave few specifics but...." 

If you really believe that some socialist governments in Euroland are going to have a definite plan to magically rid themselves of trillions of dollars of debt... while systematically avoiding unrest...and that great, middle class jobs with nice pensions and benefits are going to spring up like mushrooms on a soggy log....then get REALLY OPTIMISTIC and enjoy the whole LA TIMES article.

If, on the other hand, you feel like you have heard this song before and recognize the tune of "no specifics".....you may want to stay pessimistic about what's in store for this system run by Mammon.

Israel Ready to Strike

Last week Syria threatened that they would attack Israel if NATO had any plans on knocking Assad off the Syrian throne.

Today we have Israel threatening Assad in Syria.

Israeli officials have reportedly warned Syrian dictator Bashar Assad that if he uses the downfall of his regime as an excuse to launch missiles at Tel Aviv, Israel will respond with a massive assault against Syria, Lebanon and Gaza.

Unnamed Israeli government sources told News First Class that the threat was relayed to Assad via European intelligence agencies.

The Israeli counter-threat came just days after Iran's Fars news agency quoted Assad telling Turkey's foreign minister that he would launch hundreds of ballistic missiles at Tel Aviv if the West interferes in his violent crackdown on pro-democracy protestors in Syria.

"If a crazy measure is taken against Damascus, I will need not more than six hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv," Assad reportedly said.

Israel's threat included Lebanon and Gaza because Assad is said to have boasted that his own missile barrage on Tel Aviv would be complemented by Hizballah and Hamas attacks on Israel.

See it here; http://www.israeltoday.co.il/News/tabid/178/nid/22971/language/en-US/Default.aspx

It sure makes one wonder if we are close to seeing the fulfillment of Isaiah 17..."in the evening, sudden terror!  Before the morning, they (Damascus) are gone!"

I know if I was a leader in Israel and you saw what Assad said....you would have to wonder if it wouldn't be smarter to TOTALLY destroy Damascus rather than just kind of destroy it.  If you just kind of destroy it, tremendous retaliation may result.