"Contingency Plans" Coming for Syrian Chemicals?

As we already know Obama has recognized the Syrian Rebels as the folks to deal with when it comes to Syria and its future.  So it appears now a certainty that President Assad is done.  It is just a matter of time.

So who will control the tons of chemical weapons?  Will Hezbollah, Hamas, Al Qaida, or the Muslim Brotherhood be able to take a pickup truck full of militants with machine guns into the chemical warehouse and pull out a few drums of nerve gas?

Who will be guarding them?  Who will be willing to DIE defending them?

The Assad regime appears to be edging ever closer to disintegration, and the US and its allies may soon have to activate military contingency plans to secure or destroy Syria’s arsenal of deadly chemical weapons.

As Israeli defense officials have noted in recent weeks, the crumbling of Syria presents a formidable threat to national, regional and global security, a threat that is developing right on Israel’s doorstep.

The presence of disorganized armed militias – some of them affiliated with hardline Islamist-jihadi movements – in a land that hosts what some analysts consider the largest number of chemical weapons in the world creates a clear danger that cannot be ignored. Without external intervention, rebel fanatical elements or Assad’s close ally Hezbollah may try to raid abandoned chemical weapons storage facilities.

It is safe to assume that the US and others have long been preparing contingency plans to deal with this scenario, which could involve a mix of ground forces and air strikes.

Earlier this year, the Pentagon calculated that it would have to deploy 75,000 soldiers to fully secure the weapons sites around Syria, according to a CNN report. The projection was based on the estimation that Syria has some 50 chemical weapons production sites spread out across the country, in addition to storage and research centers.

Middle East and Syria expert Prof. Eyal Zisser of Tel Aviv University told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that a move against the chemical weapons could come before Assad’s final collapse, if the Syrian dictator were to lose control of the weapons sites before falling from power.

That could constitute the most dangerous scenario, as it might leave room for the dying regime to respond to external intervention.

“A pinpoint strike on a warehouse or an underhanded operation probably won’t get a response and won’t change anything,” Zisser said.

But a larger operation could result in the remnants of Assad’s regime ordering a missile strike, he warned.

Syria has also been accused of operating a secret biological weapons program. While few details are available on counter-measures in this field, Israel is considered to have the most advanced defense program against biological weapons in the world.

Here;  http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=297317

Missiles and Muslims and chemicals...Oh my!! (Think Wizard of Oz)

Can you see how the USA and Israel are going to be brought into this thing?  Do you really think China and Russia are going to send crack troops into Syria to keep the crazy Muslim militants from storming the warehouses to get the chemicals?

Sadly, America is truly the world's LAST-BEST-HOPE to stand up against crazy folks who increasingly seem to have access to WMD. (North Korea now has nukes)  And sadly, America had to BORROW ALL THE MONEY NECESSARY TO FUND THE MILITARY LAST YEAR.

For how many decades more will we be able to borrow the money to run our hundreds of military bases all over the world, build our Black Hawk copters and Superiority Class Fighter Jets....when we have to borrow every single dollar to do it?

If the USA has to dispatch 75,000 troops into Syria to stand guard....who will pay for that?

Meanwhile the "fiscal cliff" draws closer...now measured in hours and not days.

It is beginning to appear increasingly obvious that the world is going to be in DESPERATE NEED OF A SAVIOR.

Hat tip to Tom F.

Signs From Heaven?

Jesus told us to watch for signs going on in the skies as another signal that the Day of the Lord is close.

"There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven."

Today we find this in the headline news:

'Brighter than a full moon': The biggest star of 2013... could be Ison - the comet of the century

At the moment it is a faint object, visible only in sophisticated telescopes as a point of light moving slowly against the background stars. It doesn't seem much – a frozen chunk of rock and ice – one of many moving in the depths of space. But this one is being tracked with eager anticipation by astronomers from around the world, and in a year everyone could know its name.

Comet Ison could draw millions out into the dark to witness what could be the brightest comet seen in many generations – brighter even than the full Moon.

Comet Ison has taken millions of years to reach us travelling from the so-called Oort cloud – a reservoir of trillions and trillions of chunks of rock and ice, leftovers from the birth of the planets. It reaches out more than a light-year – a quarter of the way to the nearest star. In the Oort cloud the Sun is but a distant point of light whose feeble gravity is just enough to hold onto the cloud. Every once in a while a tiny tug of gravity, perhaps from a nearby star or wandering object, disturbs the cloud sending some of its comets out into interstellar space to be lost forever and a few are scattered sunward. Comet Ison is making its first, and perhaps only visit to us. Its life has been cold, frozen hard and unchanging, but it is moving closer to the Sun, and getting warmer.

By late November it will be visible to the unaided eye just after dark in the same direction as the setting Sun. Its tail could stretch like a searchlight into the sky above the horizon. Then it will swing rapidly around the Sun, passing within two million miles of it, far closer than any planet ever does, to emerge visible in the evening sky heading northward towards the pole star. It could be an "unaided eye" object for months. When it is close in its approach to the Sun it could become intensely brilliant but at that stage it would be difficult and dangerous to see without special instrumentation as it would be only a degree from the sun.

Remarkably Ison might not be the only spectacular comet visible next year. Another comet, called 2014 L4 (PanSTARRS), was discovered last year and in March and April it could also be a magnificent object in the evening sky. 2013 could be the year of the great comets.

As Comet Ison heads back to deep space in 2014 the sky above it would begin to clear as the dust and gas geysers loose their energy. Returning to the place where the Sun is a distant point of light, Comet Ison may never return. Its tail points outward now as the solar wind is at its back, and it fades and the comet falls quiet once more, this time forever.

Here;  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/brighter-than-a-full-moon-the-biggest-star-of-2013-could-be-ison--the-comet-of-the-century-8431443.html

Holy year of the great comets!

God used a strange, once-in-a-lifetime star to announce the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem.  Could comets shining brilliantly across the night sky in 2013 be some of the "great signs from heaven" that Jesus told us to watch for?

Sounds like this comet that is coming has NEVER been by earth before and it sounds like once it leaves it will NEVER come back.

That is strange...and great.

Syrian Rebels Say Chemical Weapons Used

We continue to watch Damascus go up in heaps.

We also continue to watch the chatter on Chemical Weapons. WMD.

Also please remember that Obama has said that if the Syrian Gov't were to use chemicals...that would be the 'red line' as far as Obama is concerned.

A day after reports surfaced of a mysterious gas being used by the Syrian regime, rebels are claiming it was not the first time chemical weapons were employed by Assad's army.

"The opposition recorded 18 separate cases of chemical weapons attacks in the outskirts of Damascus, idlib, Homs and Hama," said Free Syrian Army official Louai Muqdad.

In an interview with the London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat, he noted that the gases used in Homs were used there for the first time but did not provide proof for his claims. On Monday, opposition elements reported that seven people were killed from gas inhalation in Homs.

 Al-Jazeera reported that dozens were hurt in the EL Biadia neighborhood. According to the reports, the victims suffered from nausea, muscle laxity, blurry vision and shortness of breath.

Here;  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4324155,00.html

The plot thickens.

Of course, you and I have NO IDEA what is really happening in the Pentagon.  We mostly have to rely on media reports...and who knows what the real truth is.

But if this is confirmed....I wonder if Obama will come out and say, "OK...so chemicals were used.  But you better quit doing that now...and I REALLY mean it this time!"

I know one thing for sure....if you are going to make THREATS...you better dang well be prepared to follow them up immediately.

Every good parent knows that.

Economic Collapse in 2013?

Well...we have almost made it through 2012.  Hollywood made a bunch of cash over the past few years by playing off all the rumors about 2012 being the end of the world.

But now that 2013 is just a few days away and the 'fiscal cliff" is getting closer and closer...is it possible that big, destructive things may happen if the 'fiscal cliff' becomes the fuse that lights the collapse?

Of course many people have been saying America is heading downhill for many decades...and they have always been proven wrong.  But at some point in time, one of them will be right.  Could this be that time?

Here is the info on the author of the article below;  Simon Johnson is a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He is co-author of “White House Burning: The Founding Fathers, Our National Debt, and Why It Matters to You.” The opinions expressed are his own

Even so, the U.S. has serious economic, social and political problems. Just look at the current budget debacle. Democrats and Republicans are at each other’s throats, struggling theatrically, rather like Holmes and Moriarty above Reichenbach Falls. If they get a fiscal deal done in the next few weeks, do you really think it will result in a sensible tax system, or bring long-term health-care spending under control? Are we going to invest more in education? Will we really have a frank discussion about what kind of social-insurance programs we want, and how to pay for them?

I’m also well aware that incentives to take excessive risk remain at the heart of Wall Street. The Dodd-Frank financial reforms contain some useful measures but do too little to significantly alter the balance of power between global megabanks and the rest of us. The Federal Reserve seems to be edging in the right direction on regulation but it is moving too slowly to make any difference for the next cycle.

And the U.S. is now entering perhaps the most dangerous phase of its long-standing tax revolt, in which Republicans insist on holding down federal revenue while the population is aging, but they won’t propose specific cuts in social programs, precisely because they know that Medicare and Social Security remain immensely popular.

More Borrowing

As a result, the political logic of the moment leads to continued increases in U.S. government borrowing, about half of which is financed, for now, by international savings at lowinterest rates. Our post-crisis monetary policy is contriving to keep those rates very low for a long time, presumably setting the table for a further round of mismanaged risk taking in the financial sector (just as it did after 2001).

So while no country will rise up to take America’s place as the world’s leading economy, its global position is indeed threatened -- by its own reluctance to have an honest conversation about the federal budget and by the unwillingness of its political leadership to confront powerful interests onWall Street.

Sooner or later, it will be America’s turn to fall out of favor with investors and to see its own interest rates rise. It is hard to know when that day will come, or precisely what pressures the country will face.

Let me only venture one forecast: We will not be ready.

Here:  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-23/will-2013-mark-the-beginning-of-american-decline-.html

(sarcasm alert) What??  He doesn't think we will be ready?  How can that be?  We have been watching Oprah and Dr. Phil for years now telling us how to be happy...no matter what.  I even remember a book out called THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING which became a best seller.  Or how about that great saying, "If you believe, you can achieve!"

And now this MIT dork is telling us we won't be ready?!?!

What is he suggesting?...that we set aside some canned goods and water just in case some financial collapse overtakes us?  Well that's just 'stinkin-thinkin'".  If we just believe ONLY GOOD THINGS and keep repeating in our brains, "GOOD THINGS FOR GOOD PEOPLE"....then nothing bad can EVER happen...because we have the power to shape our own destiny.

Ummm...just for the record...I agree with Professor Johnson from MIT....we will NOT be ready.

"The prudent man sees danger coming and makes preparations."

The State of "Palestine" Quiz

I saw this quiz in the Zola Levitt January newsletter and thought it was pretty good...so put on your thinking caps as you ponder the "Nation of Palestine" that the world so desperately wants.

1.  When was the country of "Palestine" founded and by whom?

2. What were its borders?

3. What was its capital?

4.  What were its major cities?

5. Nate at least one "Palestinian Leader" before Arafat?

6. What was the language of the "country of Palestine"?

7. What was the prevalent religion of the "Ancient country of Palestine"?

8.  What was the name of its currency?

9.  Choose any date in history and tell what was the approximate exchange rate of the "Palestinian" monetary unit against the US Dollar, German Mark, GB Pound, Japanese Yen, or Chinese Yuan on that date.

10.  Since there is no such country as "Palestine" today, what caused its demise and when did it occur?

11. Why did "The Palestinians" never try to become independent until after the devastating defeat of invading Arab States in the 1967 Six Day War?

Of course there is no answer to any of these questions because the answers don't exist.

So why would the world be so determined to make another state for a bunch of Muslim-Arabs right next to Israel?

Simple.  The Prince of the Earth hates Israel and Jews and will teach his followers to repeat lies over and over again until many believe that it is the truth...and then the United Nations will start to demand that this new "truth" becomes a reality.

Satan Worship and Sandy Hook

What would possess a 20 yr old man to walk into a grade school and shoot twenty little kids?

Maybe the key word there is 'possess'.

Adam Lanza’s reported devil worship a missing link that could help explain what motivated the Sandy Hook gunman to carry out the school house massacre?

Was Lanza part of a larger Satanic or ritualistic subculture locally or online in which he could have revealed his plans or could have even received support in preparing for the killings?

Although largely underreported, Satanic subculture and so-called devil worship has been a factor in numerous other mass killings, including the recent Batman shooting massacre.

Trevor L. Todd, a former classmate of Lanza’s, told media that Lanza worshiped the devil and had an Internet page dedicated to Satan.

Lanza’s worshiping page had the word “Devil” written in red, Gothic-style letters against a black background, stated Todd, the London Daily Mail reported.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/satan-worship-motivated-sandy-hook-killer/#VElfuL7esoo2KgKT.99

If this is true, does it surprise you that the media hasn't jumped all over this?  Why would they want to bring up something like this when they have such a great opportunity to jump on the "ban guns" movement?

Sadly we have lots of folks who call themselves "Christians" who don't believe in the devil and/or hell.  Of course this is exactly what Satan wants.  That way he can move around any way and anywhere he wants...even in the very places that should be praying against him.

Christians In Middle East Almost Extinct

It's pretty interesting that in the place Christianity started...today we find it almost extinct.

The study warns that Christians suffer greater hostility across the world than any other religious group.

And it claims politicians have been “blind” to the extent of violence faced by Christians in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The most common threat to Christians abroad is militant Islam, it says, claiming that oppression in Muslim countries is often ignored because of a fear that criticism will be seen as “racism”.

It warns that converts from Islam face being killed in Saudi Arabia, Mauritania and Iran and risk severe legal penalties in other countries across the Middle East.

The report, by the think tank Civitas, says: “It is generally accepted that many faith-based groups face discrimination or persecution to some degree.

“There is now a serious risk that Christianity will disappear from its biblical heartlands,” it claims.

The report shows that “Muslim-majority” states make up 12 of the 20 countries judged to be “unfree” on the grounds of religious tolerance by Freedom House, the human rights think tank.

It catalogues hundreds of attacks on Christians by religious fanatics over recent years, focusing on seven countries: Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Nigeria, India, Burma and China.

It claims George Bush’s use of the word “crusade” after the September 11 attacks on New York created the impression for Muslims in the Middle East of a “Christian assault on the Muslim world”.

“But however the motivation for violence is measured, the early twenty-first century has seen a steady rise in the strife endured by Christians,” the report says.

Here;  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9762745/Christianity-close-to-extinction-in-Middle-East.html

"In this world you will have trouble..." said Jesus.  He also asked if he would find faith on earth when he returns.

Isn't is amazing that as Christmas Day draws to a close, the world is making a final run at trying to wipe out the very story that Christ came to bring?

Hat tip to Tom F.

Something Like a Huge Mountain

Have you guys noticed lots of talk about big asteroids in the news as of late?  Just in the past few weeks a rather large one came real close to the earth.

Of course, planet earth has been hit by some massive ones in the not distant past.  In the early 20th century in Siberia, Russia, and asteroid slammed into the forest with the power of a nuclear weapon and leveled thousands of acres of trees.

Few people lived in that area and it was so remote that it took quite some time to even figure out what had happened.

Scientists tell us that a massive one hit in Mexico some eons ago and wiped out half the planet.

Revelation 8:8
"The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze was thrown into the sea.  A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of all living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed."

Huh....sure sounds like a meteor to me.

Now today on the front page of Google News we have this article.

Is the Earth in imminent danger from an asteroid collision? Some doomsday prophecies suggest as much, and scientists don't entirely disagree even as they remind us of the infrequency of such events (on the order of millennia) and the long odds against an impact of sufficient magnitude to imperil life on Earth. So while the threat is not zero, it's also a remote one that pales before human-caused existential threats such as those posed by cascading climate change or the prospect of thermonuclear war.

NASA surveys indicate that there are about 5000 potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs) in near-earth orbit. By comparison, it's estimated that there are around 25,000 nuclear warheads on the planet. We can't say for certain how many of these it would take to annihilate life on Earth altogether; scenarios that factor in not only blast damage but also radiation and the prospect of a "nuclear winter" (in which the sun is blotted out for years or more) suggest that the number is fewer than we might like to contemplate.

Here;  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randall-amster/collision-course_b_2357044.html

Since it appears that an asteroid WILL hit the earth during The Tribulation, it would only make sense that we will see the foreshadowing of this event start to be seen now...BEFORE the actual event happens in The Tribulation.

So if you haven't noticed the increase in talk about asteroids...check it out.