Watching and Waiting

Checking in... and checking out

2011-01-20T00:48:00.001-08:00

Just wanted to say hi to anyone who is still reading this, and to let you know I'm still following related events, but I have decided to leave the reporting and commentary to more qualified people. Check out http://cumbey.blogspot.com, http://www.borntowatch.com, http://www.fulfilledprophecy.com

God bless, keep watching, and keep living your life. Remember the greatest two commandments... Love God, and love your neighbor. I'm out.
-David

EU foreign policy chief Solana to Haaretz: Israeli-Palestinian talks have gone too slowly

2008-09-14T01:59:00.000-07:00

By Barak Ravid

The peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been carried out far too slowly since last November's Annapolis summit, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana told Haaretz.

Solana said in an interview on Friday that "it is true that in this process of negotiations, the more determined one is, the better chances of getting an agreement in the [stipulated] time frame .... I think that it has been done too slowly at the beginning and that probably this is the mistake that has been made."

Solana arrived in Israel Friday morning and had meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials in Tel Aviv and Ramallah. Solana said he has doubts over whether a deal can be completed by the end of the year, saying that the longer the sides wait to go forward with talks, the less they are likely to succeed.

"Because time is shorter, it will more difficult to do," Solana said. "I think we have to maintain the momentum and we will have to see some results before the end of the year". He added that in 2009 "it will be much more complicated to do."

Wow... this is probably the most direct approach I've seen in regards to the Israel/Palestine situation in a while. I wonder what we can expect in 2009?

Moscow halts all cooperation with NATO alliance

2008-08-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

JPOST:

Russia has halted all military cooperation with NATO, the Western alliance said Thursday, in the latest sign of East-West tension over the invasion of Georgia.

Alliance spokeswoman Carmen Romero said NATO had received notification through military channels that Russia's Defense Ministry had taken a decision "to halt international military cooperation events between Russia and NATO countries until further instructions."
She said NATO "takes note" of the decision but had no further reaction.
On Tuesday, NATO foreign ministers said they would make further ties with Russia dependent on Moscow making good on a pledge to pull its troops back to pre-conflict positions in Georgia. However, they stopped short of calling an immediate halt to all cooperation.
Under a 2002 agreement that set up the NATO-Russia Council, the former Cold War foes began several cooperation projects. They include sharing expertise to combat heroin trafficking out of Afghanistan, developing battlefield anti-missile technology, joint exercises and help with rescue at sea.
Romero said she was unaware of any specific events under the cooperation agreement scheduled before early September.
Meanwhile France's foreign minister said Thursday that two small columns of Russian troops were leaving Georgia, in what he called an encouraging sign of a much-awaited pullout.
"Some encouraging signs, even if they are insufficient, were made yesterday and today," including the departure of the columns, Bernard Kouchner told reporters in Paris. He did not say where the troops were or where they were going.
He said that after previous hopes of a pullout were dashed, "this time it appears that there is at least the beginning of a fulfillment."
But even as Kouchner praised the progress, Russian forces dug deeper into their positions at the entrance to Georgia's main Black Sea port city of Poti, excavating trenches and setting up mortars facing the city.
Several armored personnel carriers and troop trucks blocked the bridge that is the only land entrance to Poti and another group of APCs and trucks were positioned in a nearby wooded area.
Although Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has promised that his forces would pull back by Friday, Russian troops appear to be settling in for a long presence, raising concern about whether Moscow is aiming for a lengthy occupation of its small, pro-Western neighbor.
Nonetheless, a top Russian general said troops were moving out in accordance with the agreement.
"The pullback of Russian forces is taking place at such a tempo that by the end of August 22 they will be in the zones of responsibility of Russian peacekeepers," Col.-Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the deputy head of the general staff, said at a briefing Thursday in Moscow.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili told The Associated Press that Russia was seizing strategic spots in Georgia even as it thinned out troops elsewhere. He called the Russian moves "some kind of deception game."
"[The Russians] are making fun of the world," he declared.
An EU-sponsored cease-fire says both Russian and Georgian forces must move back to positions they held before fighting broke out August 7 in Georgia's separatist republic of South Ossetia, which has close ties to Russia. The agreement also says Russian forces can work in a so-called "security zone" that extends 7 kilometers into Georgia from South Ossetia.
Russian forces are also allowed a presence on Georgian territory in a security zone along the border with Abkhazia, another separatist Georgian region, under a 1994 UN-approved agreement that ended a war there. But Poti is 30 kilometers south of Abkhazia and lies well outside the security zone - and it's also at least 150 kilometers west of the nearest point in South Ossetia.
Russian tanks, trucks and troops meanwhile continued to hold positions Thursday around the strategically key city of Gori and in Igoeti, about 50 kilometers west of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Both are along Georgia's main east-west highway.
Georgia said Russian soldiers destroyed military facilities Wednesday in Osiauri, but the claim could not be confirmed.
Several thousand people rallied Thursday in the Abkhazian capital Sukhumi to demand the region be recognized as independent and a similar rally was expected in South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali later in the day. Russian officials, including Medvedev, have indicated Moscow will recognize the regions as independent.
Despite the EU peace accord, Nogovitsyn said Georgia has "no moral right" to return its soldiers to South Ossetia, where they had held some land as part of a peacekeeping mission. He said Russia will build 18 checkpoints in the security cordon around the province.
Western leaders have stressed that Georgia must retain its current borders.
The war in a small country straining to escape Moscow's influence has sent tensions between Moscow and the West to some of their highest levels since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.

Russia moves toward pullback but shows strength

2008-08-19T15:56:00.001-07:00

Associated Press:
By BELA SZANDELSZKY – 1 hour ago

POTI, Georgia (AP) — Russia took the first steps toward a troop pullback from Georgia on Tuesday but at the same time paraded blindfolded and bound Georgian prisoners on armored vehicles and seized four U.S. Humvees.
The mixed signals came as NATO allies met in emergency session in Belgium and demanded Russia fulfill its promise to withdraw its forces from the small former Soviet republic.
A small Russian column including three tanks, three trucks, five armored personnel carriers and a rocket-launcher left Gori, the central city that straddles a vital east-west highway. A Russian officer said they were headed for South Ossetia, the disputed province at the heart of the conflict, then home to Russia.

More News

2008-08-17T02:56:00.000-07:00

It seems as if the reported pullout of Russian forces from Georgia may not be the end of the mini-war that has started, which brang the US into greater animosity with the former Soviet nation.

JPOST:

Russia is considering arming its Baltic fleet with nuclear warheads for the first time since the cold war, senior military sources were quoted as saying by the Sunday Times.

The warning comes after Thursday's agreement between Poland and the United States that will see a battery of American missiles established inside Poland. The plan has infuriated Moscow and prompted a top Russian general to say Friday that the deal exposed Poland to attack, pointing out that Russian military doctrine permitted the use of nuclear weapons in such a situation.

According to the British newspaper, the nuclear warheads could be supplied to submarines, cruisers and fighter bombers of the Baltic fleet based in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave between the Poland and Lithuania.
The Times quoted a senior military source in Moscow as saying that although the fleet had suffered from under-funding since the collapse of communism, "That will change now."

Russia denies withdrawal from S. Ossetia
Russian defense ministry spokesman says troop pullout being "considered" but has not yet begun.

2008-08-09T20:29:00.000-07:00

JPOST:
...Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow sent troops into South Ossetia to force Georgia into a cease-fire and prevent Georgia from retaking control of its breakaway region. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Georgia had effectively lost the right to rule it - an indication Moscow could be preparing to fulfill South Ossetians' wish to be absorbed into Russia.
Medvedev's office said Saturday evening that Russia had not received the Georgian cease-fire proposal. Israel Radio quoted Russian sources as saying that at least 30,000 had fled to Russia.

Georgia is trying to regain control of the breakaway province of South Ossetia.
Photo: Sky News

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters Saturday in Moscow that some 1,500 people have been killed in South Ossetia, with the death toll rising, since Georgia launched an offensive to retake the region overnight Friday. The figures could not be independently confirmed.
But residents of South Ossetia's provincial capital of Tskhinvali gave at least some confirmation of Lavrov's shocking death toll, saying hundreds of civilians had died and bodies littered the streets after Georgia pounded Tskhinvali with heavy rocket and artillery fire. The residents survived the bombardment by hiding in basements and later fled the city.

Domino Effect

2008-08-08T14:47:00.001-07:00

Read first:

Quick News(08/07/08)

Today really did turn out to be a day chock full of news...

JPOST :

Russian Forces Bombing Georgian Air Bases in Ossetia
Russia sent columns of tanks and reportedly bombed Georgian air bases Friday after Georgia launched a major military offensive Friday to retake the breakaway province of South Ossetia, threatening to ignite a broader conflict.

Burning Georgian armored vehicles are seen in Tskhinvali, in the South Ossetian breakaway region of Georgia.
Photo: AP

Hundreds were reported dead in the worst outbreak of hostilities since the province won de-facto independence in a war against Georgia that ended in 1992. Witnesses said the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali was devastated.

US Calls for Immediate Cease-Fire
The United States on Friday called for an immediate cease-fire in a conflict between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia....

...The EU and the NATO alliance also urged Georgia and Russia Friday to stop the fighting in South Ossetia and resolve their conflict through dialogue.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer spoke with Russian and Georgian officials several times by phone urging both sides to show restraint. He planned to continue behind-the-scenes consultations, officials said.

Obama Urges Russians, Georgians To Show Restraint

Presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama condemned on Friday the violence in South Ossetia and urged the two sides to show restraint.

Obama, flying to Hawaii for a vacation from the campaign trail, issued a statement declaring that "Georgia's territorial integrity must be respected."
"All sides should enter into direct talks on behalf of stability in Georgia, and the United States, the United Nations Security Council, and the international community should fully support a peaceful resolution to this crisis," he said.

McCain Urges Russia to Halt Action in Georgia

Presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain is calling on Russia to cease military action in Georgia and withdraw its forces.
Campaigning in Iowa on Friday, McCain called for the US to convene an emergency session of the UN Security Council to resolve the crisis.
McCain says the "most critical" step now is to avoid further confrontation between Russian and Georgian military forces."
He says the US should work with the European Union to put diplomatic pressure on Russia and help establish an independent peace keeping force in South Ossetia.

Turkey Urges Cease-Fire in South Ossetia
Turkey's prime minister has called for a cease-fire then dialogue to end conflict in South Ossetia.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the fighting there is of grave concern for Turkey, which neighbors Georgia.
Erdogan told reporters Friday that Turkey wants "an immediate cease-fire and recourse to diplomacy" to end the hostilities.
The Turkish prime minister also said he would call the Russian and Georgian leaders to urge restraint "if necessary".

Germany Urges Both Sides in Ossetia Conflict to Stop Fighting
Germany on Friday urged both sides in the conflict over South Ossetia to end the fighting and calm tensions, while the country's foreign minister conferred with his Russian counterpart and Georgia's president.

Chancellor Angela Merkel urged "an immediate stop to any use of force" and called on both sides to show "the greatest prudence and restraint," said her spokesman, Thomas Steg.
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier issued a similar appeal after Georgian troops launched a major military offensive to regain control over breakaway South Ossetia, prompting Russia to vow retaliation.

Other news, also from JPost:

Islamic Group Threatens Olympic Transport
Police shut down the bustling International Bazaar in the capital of China's restive Muslim region of Xinjiang on Friday amid threats from an Islamic group that attackers might target buses, trains and planes during the Olympics.

A sign at the entrance of the bazaar in Urumqi did not explain why the area, surrounded by mosques with minarets, was off limits as the country prepared to kick off the Summer Games thousands of miles away in Beijing.
But one of the many security guards in the bazaar's plaza, which was marked off with crime scene tape, told an AP reporter, "The area is closed because of a possible terrorist attack. It's just a defensive measure."
In Tokyo, an anonymous bomb threat e-mailed to Air China's Tokyo offices on Friday forced a passenger jet to make an emergency return to Japan, the Japanese Transport Ministry said. Four other flights were delayed.
The e-mail, written in Japanese and received in the early afternoon, urged the airlines to suspend its flights or the writer would "bomb the aircraft," said Transport Ministry official Fumio Yasukawa.

US Citizen Who Spied For China To Be Sentenced
A New Orleans furniture salesman who spied for China and helped the Communist regime in Beijing obtain secret US military information is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court.

Prosecutors are asking for a prison term of more than 15 years at Friday's sentencing. Defense lawyers say in court papers that 6 1/2 years would be sufficient.
Forty-eight-year-old Tai Kuo is a native of Taiwan and a naturalized US citizen. He pleaded guilty to espionage in May after admitting he obtained classified information about US-Taiwan military relations from a Pentagon analyst.

Background Posts:

Russia - US Satellite Shot a Weapons Test

'Russia may have to rely on brute military force to earn respect'

News to me...

US Intercepts Russian Bombers(again...)

Putin Puts Europe In a Vice... More Towards WWIII

The bear bristles...

More can be found by searching this blog for "Russia"

Russia, China scuttle Western plans for an IAEA resolution on Iran

Chinese Sub pops up in the middle of U.S. Naval exercise

Iran Gets China's Support on Nuclear Issue

China says U.S. missile shield threatens global stability

China, Russia to strengthen science, technology ties

correction

2008-08-08T04:28:00.000-07:00

I had my times messed up... that's 5am pacific, and 8am eastern.

Quick News...

2008-08-07T19:04:00.000-07:00

So, today I've been reading that the US is sending two aircraft carriers to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf(Jpost). The linked article says that Kuwait fears it may be caught in the middle if the US decides to launch a strike on Iran, and has begun finalizing it's emergency war plan.

A description of another article headlined "Israel warns Russia: We'll neutralize S-300 if sold to Iran"(JPost) reads "Israel will use electronic warfare device now under development, presenting Russia as vulnerable to air infiltrations."

This all on the eve of the 2008 Olympic games, the opening ceremony of which is to be held tomorrow, 08/08/08. Part of a BBC article reads:

"The 2008 Olympics have been described as the most politicised Games since the boycott era of the early 1980s, says the BBC's sports news reporter Alex Capstick in Beijing.

But after a succession of controversial issues in the build-up to the Games, the focus is now shifting to the opening ceremony.

Having taken seven years of planning, and a record-breaking $40bn in costs, nothing has been left to chance in China's bid to show the world what it can do, our correspondent adds.

An estimated global audience of four billion people will watch the opening ceremony.

It will be staged at Beijing's national stadium - known as the Bird's Nest because of its steel latticed construction - and some 10,000 performers will take part."

We may see another terroist attack of questionable origin, the beginnings of another war, or Lord willing, maybe nothing on that level. Even so, tomorrow will be a day to watch, if only because of the level of attention given to the olympic games, and the fact that the opening ceremony happens to fall on a date very significant to occult numerology.

After checking Javier Solana's offical page at the European Union website, I found that the day(08/08/08) has been left open on his agenda, so there's not much of significance there. The text linked to says like the other days with nothing scheduled,

"FRIDAY 08 AUGUST 2008

Our office is open on a regular basis.

No activities scheduled. We will inform you on any unexpected event."

He did send a letter to Bejing in support of the games, but that is all for any connection I've found.

One article describing the end of the torch relay says "The second day of the Torch Relay in Beijing ended as the last torchbearer, singer Song Zuying, lit the cauldron before the Worship Platform at the Temple of Earth at 6:30 p.m."

That's some very heavy imagery, but not suprising, considering the nature of the symbolism involved with the olympics.

The wikipedia article on the ceremony says "The expected number of heads of states to attend the opening ceremony will likely be the largest in Olympic history."

Keep your eyes peeled. The ceremony starts at 8pm Bejing time(GMT +8), which will be 4am pacific time, 7am eastern time here in the US. I plan on being awake, as I start work at 5am. I'm not scaremongering, just showing some interest, and discussing some possibilities. Lord bless,

David

ok.

2008-08-02T08:23:00.001-07:00

I think I got things sorted out. I still probably won't be posting as much as I used to, because I'm trying to get a demo recorded and get some music out(I'm thinking that may be a good way to reach a wider audience), but I still plan on posting soon, and definitely more often than the past three months or so. Stay tuned...

...still there?

2008-07-12T19:23:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I have decided to take a break from posting for a while. I probably will not be very active at all internet-wise for a time. I apologize to those whom I have not gotten back to on questions, ect. I have some things I need to work out before I will feel comfortable posting/writing. Feel free to pray, but I'm in the Lord's hands, so don't burden yourself too much with it. I feel that I know what I need to do, but doing it is going to be the hard part. My apologies, keep watching, and check for updates from the faithful bloggers and webmasters on the right. God bless,

David

Police chase UFO over Cardiff

2008-06-19T21:19:00.000-07:00

Telegraph.co.uk
The pilot was forced to bank sharply to avoid being hit by the mystery aircraft as the helicopter was returning to the Ministry of Defence base of St Athan, near Cardiff.
The three crew, who described the UFO as 'flying saucer-shaped', then gave chase, getting as far as the North Devon coast before they ran low on fuel, it was reported.
The police aircraft was hovering at 500ft and waiting clearance to land on June 7, when those onboard spotted the other craft hurtling towards them from below.
A spokesman for South Wales Police said: "We can confirm the Air Support Unit sighted an unusual aircraft. This was reported to the relevant authorities for their investigation."
It was reported that the aircraft closed in at great speed, aiming straight for the helicopter which swerved sharply.
"They are convinced it was a UFO. It sounds far-fetched, but they know what they saw."
The helicopter crew are said to have crossed the Bristol channel in pursuit of the UFO, but lost sight of it and had to turn back due to a fuel shortage.
The sighting comes weeks after the most comprehensive Government files on UFO activity are opened to the public for the first time today and they disclose that even air traffic controllers and police officers have seen mysterious craft in the skies over Britain.
The sightings range from incredible tales of little green men visiting the Wirral to corroborated accounts from policemen and pilots of Unidentified Flying Objects hovering above towns and cities.
All were recorded on official forms, held by air bases and police stations, and compiled by the Ministry of Defence between 1978 and 2002.

Settled...

2008-06-17T08:14:00.001-07:00

Alright, I guess it took me long enough(a month and a half?), but I'm settled, wi-fi equipped, and ready to blog, I think.

Remember reading...

Mt 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

?

How any believer who is well acquainted with this passage can look at recent events, and not want to look into their possible significance in light of it, is beyond me.

Many are taking the "we'll be gone when it happens" route, acknowledging that the Second Coming is near, but not caring to see the specifics because with the way they see it, who cares what's happening here, we'll be "whisked away in the Rapture" before anything big happens! If they would only take a look at the way things are coming together, they might have to re-examine the Word to see if they might have missed something.

Some who believe pre-millenial, but aren't necessarily pre-trib, possibly decidedly pre-wrath or post-trib, have made the statement "it won't affect my spiritual life...", saying that they're going to be doing what they're doing till the Lord returns anyways, despite the events of the 70th week, so there's no reason to look into it. I believe they are sorely mistaken...

Many genuine believers have subscribed to amellenialism, post-millenialism, or some other eschatalogical system that denies the reality of the literal fulfillment of the prophecies.

Others aren't too concerned about much having to do with the Bible and prophecy, period. I was in that boat for a long time, and it's an easy thing to do when you're backsliding.

I'll tell you one thing, though. We're all going to be awake and watching by the time Jesus comes back. It will be undeniable by that point, I believe, and in Scripture, there's only two options:

Mt 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

God has ways of waking us up, when needed. True believers(Joh 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out) can't take the second route above for too long, because ultimately, those who don't watch are "cut asunder"; the phrase "weeping and gnashing of teeth" is synonymous with eternal judgment in the New Testament(Mt. 8:12, 22:13, 25:30, Lu. 13:18).

It may be that some don't wake up until this life is past... standing before Jesus in heaven, it would be impossible to not want to pay attention to His plan. I'm not sure of the details, as Scripture doesn't really go that far into it, but the basic fact still stands. Why wait until it's too late for it to make a difference to watch?

Some may be put off by attempts in times past to predict the Lord's return. Upon examining those particular instances, though, they would find that none of them fit the pattern of Daniel with the 10 nation alliance, led by a single man responsible for a "covenant with many", including Israel, and then through seemingly every other detail in the prophecies.

Some may have even been put off by attempts to predict events within the framework of the ENP's timeline, such as mine, when I tried to pin down the day that Israel would begin sacrifices again. I was never dogmatic, but that doesn't mean as much as it could when you write about it so much. I am truly remorseful for that, but I just keep thinking of that Reliant K song, "forgiven", where they sing at the end of the chorus:

"I know that I have been forgiven, and I just hope you can forgive me too".
(if you heard the song, it might get stuck in your head too, it's really good)

I believe one of the biggest problems is that possibly even more than the idea of a "pre-trib rapture", teachers of our day have popularized the idea that the entire 70th week is synonymous with "the tribulation", which is an idea foreign to Scripture. If you've decided to continue reading this blog, chances are you agree with me on that, so I don't intend on expounding on that again, but if you want you can use the search box at the top of the page to search for "tribulation", and see what you come up with. There's also a post linked to under "key posts" to the right, titled "Tribulation and Wrath as Defined by Scripture", on the subject.

I'm still catching up from my time away from the net, so I can't post much as far as significant news goes for now, but check out Constance, Farmer, and Richard Peterson's blogs, linked to the right, along with Holly and Adam's news site, Fulfilled Prophecy.com, also linked to on the right. Lord bless, thanks for reading, and I may have part 2 of "the 70th week" series up next.

David

quick update

2008-06-08T17:55:00.000-07:00

I still haven't got internet set up at my new place yet, but I'm hoping to have it going by the end of this month. I think I found a carrier that will work.

Things are still going as they have been, it seems. Check the blogs on the links to the right, and check out the 6.5 magnitude quake that just hit Greece.

With my down-time from the internet, I've been putting more effort towards muscal endeavors. I just set up a MySpace Music page at www.myspace.com/davidbutterfieldmusic. I've got one song recorded on there that a friend from work helped me out with, and I plan to get more recorded when he's back from vacation.

Keep watching, Lord bless.

David.

**Update - Tuesday, 06/10**

Good news! I'm getting internet set up tomorrow. It's not a bad rate, and I'm splitting the cost with my friends upstairs. Should be posting more soon.

Strong Delusion = Aliens???

2008-05-26T17:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a response to a question a reader asked, wondering if I believed that the "strong delusion" or the "mystery of iniquity" will involve some kind of deception concerning extra-terrestrial life. I do believe that it will likely be part of it, so here is the response:

"I do believe that the "strong delusion", which will come about when the "mystery of iniquity" is no longer hindered by the restrainer of 2 Thess., will involve deception concerning extra-terrestrial life. While the Bible does not rule out alien life, it does seem that man, the earth, and the angels are the center of God's creation. In Genesis, God mentions the earth, mankind, animals, and stars and planets(planets are lights in the sky just like stars, Genesis 1:14-15), but no mention of life on these other planets. But, just because they are not written of does not mean that they are not there.

The main reason that the concept of extra-terrestrial life as it is promoted in new age circles and the like these days does not mesh with God's Word is that most of the messages people receive from supposed E.T.'s are right in line with luciferianism, the new age movement, and are explicitly anti-fundamentalist. Luciferianism and the new age movement are without a doubt explicitly demonic to those who know the Word, and while anti-fundamentalism may not conjure up images of demonic activity, 1 John 4 gives it that stipulation:

1Jo 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Every false ideology, including anti-fundamentalism, has roots with the fallen angels, and, in part, sinful man. While sinful man is still fully guilty, the actual origin really lies with the fallen angels. For example, take Lucifer in the garden of Eden, when he enticed Eve with the desire to "be as gods". He came up with the idea, presented it to mankind, and they bit.

If there are extra-terrestrials, who are somehow different than the Nephilim of Genesis 6, they would still be in line with the demons because of the ideology that they promote. The Scriptures, though, seem to point to them being actual demons or nephilim. I believe that 2 Tim. 3 implies that we will not be left without explanation for anything we encounter in this life:

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

"Througly furnished" -- "Throughly" meaning complete and absolutely, and "furnished" meaning provided with whatever is necessary for a purpose. For those who still have doubts about that, though, 1 John 4:3 should be one of our guiding prinicples, whether or not we are sure that something is a demeon, half-demon, or "extra-terrestrial"(which could by definition easily refer to both of the first)."

Daniel's 70th Week(Part 1)

2008-05-19T18:37:00.000-07:00

Much of this has already been covered by myself and others who write on the topic, and much of this will not be new to many of you, but I am discovering new things myself as I go through this, and I have yet to see a condensed-yet-thourough study of Daniel's 70th week, so here goes:

In the book of Daniel, a prophecy is given which details a time-line that stretches from the declaration to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, and to build Israel's second temple, through the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and on through His second advent and the institution of His kingdom on earth.

Understanding this prophecy is critical to knowing how and when the last days before the return of the Lord will pan out, and that knowledge may be critical to full success of our work on earth in these last days. As the Lord says in Hosea 4:6, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge". One's understanding of the prophetic significance of events unfolding around them will likely have an effect on how they react to these things. It should be our intention to understand this prophecy, at least in part, and how it may relate to the times we find ourselves in. In Daniel 9:24-27, we read:

Da 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Daniel had been seeking the Lord in prayer, fasting, and he donning of sackcloth and ashes, asking for mercy upon the people of Israel, in response to reading of the seventy years of desolation prophesied in Jeremiah(see Dan. 9:2). His confessional plea for mercy is encapsulated in Daniel 9:16:

Da 9:16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.

The people of Israel had fallen into great sin, and they were being chastised because of this. Their sin was so great that those around them had taken notice. He says in Daniel 9:5-6,

Da 9:5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

While Daniel was aware of the state of his people, he was also aware of his inability to stand on his own as a righteous man. This is made evident in Daniel 9:18, where he says, "for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies". In response to this heartfelt plea for mercy, Daniel may have received more than he had bargained for. The angel Gabriel was sent by the Lord to give Daniel this prophecy, which spoke of the times leading up to the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the events leading up to the return of our Lord, "to bring in an everlasting righteousness"(see Dan. 9:24) and to finally restore the Jewish people to their chosen place with God.

The time-frame is given in a series of "weeks", translated from a word that simply means "seven", and refers to groups of seven years in this context, as is shown by the amount of time between the portions that have already been fulfilled and documented. In Daniel 9:25, we read:

Da 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

This portion of the prophecy is divided into two successive time periods. The first is the seven "weeks", or 49 years, between the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem, to it's completion. The second is the following 62 "weeks", or 434 years, between the restoration of Jerusalem, including it's temple, and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, "Messiah the Prince".

The 49 years began at the second decree of Artaxerxes, giving the permission to rebuild the city walls, which his first decree did not allow for(see Ezra 4). This second decree came on the first of Nisan, 445 BC(see Nehemiah 2:1, knowing from history that: A. Artaxerxes reign started in 465 BC, and: B. A king's reign was traditionally dated from the first month of his reign), which would be March 14, 445 BC according to our calendar. The rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem during the following 49 years is documented in Ezra 9 and 10, and Neh. 4, 6, 9, and 13. These 49 years ended in 396 BC.

The next time period, spoken of as 62 "weeks"(434 years), commenced at this time. Combined with the first, this creates a time span of 483 years(49 + 434). The Jews used a 360 day calendar, so this would bring the 69 "weeks"(again, 483 years) prophesied until "Messiah the Prince" to a total of 173,880 days, to be exact. The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem has been calculated by Sir Robert Anderson of Scotland Yard, using astronomical calendars and charts, to be April 6, 32 AD, which is exactly 173,880 days from the first of Nisan, 445 BC. Next, in Daniel 9:26, we read:

Da 9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

The next event in the sequence is the crucifixion of Christ following the 62 "weeks", which ended with His triumphal entry. Referring to this, the Scripture says that he would be "cut off, but not for himself". Then, we read that "the people of the prince that shall come" would destroy "the city and the sanctuary" of Jerusalem. This occurred in 70 AD with the incursion of Rome to the city. So far, only 69 of the prophesied 70 "weeks" have been fulfilled. Daniel 9:27 addresses this:

Da 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

The "he" here, by the rules of language, must refer to the last singular male person spoken of in the passage, which is the "prince that shall come" of verse 26. Since his "people" have already identified themselves as the people of the Roman empire, when they fulfilled the destruction of the city and the sanctuary, it follows that this prince must be of the Roman empire as well. Next, I hope to cover Daniel's description of this Roman prince, and Daniel's 70th, yet-to-be-fulfilled(see Matt. 24:15, where Jesus synonymizes Daniel 9:27 with His second coming) "week".

I wouldn't be able to write this without all those who have helped and encouraged my study of prophecy, and this section owes a particular debt to John MacArthur and Arno C. Gaebelein, along with those I know in person. Thanks for reading!

TO BE CONTINUED(LORD WILLING)

Even more quake news

2008-05-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

Thousands dead in Chinese quake

Parents wait anxiously outside the flattened Juyuan Middle School

A powerful earthquake has killed at least 8,500 people in China's south-western Sichuan province, up to 5,000 of them in just one county.

Many more are feared killed and injured in other parts of the country after the 7.8-magnitude quake struck at 1428 local time (0628 GMT).

At least 50 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of a school where an estimated 900 students were buried.

BBC

More "diverse places".

I've got a series planned for posting that doesn't require me to be online while I write, I can just copy and post. It is intended to be a semi-thorough explanation of Daniel's 70th week. The first installment should be up a week from today. Thanks for reading, and check back!

Denver man seeks support for citywide panel on space aliens

2008-05-03T21:52:00.001-07:00

A Denver man who wants the city to be prepared for space aliens is proposing a commission to deal with the matter.

Jeff Peckman says the 18-member commission would form a strategy "dealing with issues related to the presence of extraterrestrial beings on Earth."

His proposal is slated to be discussed next week during a "review and comment" meeting.

The assistant city attorney says he doesn't know what officials will ask about it.

The 54-year-old Peckman also needs 4,000 signatures to get his proposal on the November ballot.

Jpost

Once gain, more evidence that the mystery of iniquity may be getting closer to going all-out.

My move worked out well, and I'm back in my hometown for the time being. Thanks to everyone who was praying. I don't have internet access at home, but I'm in cahoots with the managers of the pizza place down the street that has free wi-fi, so I should be able to post semi-often. Thanks for reading!

Clinton: We could 'obliterate' Iran

2008-04-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

"I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran," said Democratic Presidential hopeful Senator Hilary Clinton Tuesday in an interview on ABC News.

"In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them," she added.
Also discussing the Iranian threat, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday night that the country is "hell-bent" on acquiring nuclear weapons, but he warned in strong terms of the consequences of going to war over Teheran's intentions.
"Another war in the Middle East is the last thing we need and, in fact, I believe it would be disastrous on a number of levels," he said in a speech he was delivering Monday evening at the US Military Academy at West Point, New York. A copy of his prepared remarks was provided in advance by the Pentagon.
JPost

Hey Everyone

2008-04-18T15:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the relative lack of good posts. I've been trying to figure out my living situation, and my plan is now to move back to my home town next month. Until then I'll be trying to get as much extra work as I can to pay for the deposit, ect., packing, fixing this place up a bit before I leave, and also working towards getting a transfer there, so I probably won't be posting much until the middle of next month or so. I'd like to say thanks to everyone who's been praying... sorry for being so self-absorbed! Lord bless,

David

BBC - IMF head gives food price warning

2008-04-13T02:35:00.000-07:00

The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that hundreds of thousands of people will face starvation if food prices keep rising.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that social unrest from continuing food price inflation could cause conflict.
There have been food riots recently in a number of countries, including Haiti, the Philippines and Egypt.
Meeting in Washington, the IMF called for strong action on food prices and the international financial crisis.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7344892.stm

Need I say more? God help us, and I mean that with all sincerity. We're gonna need it.

BBC - Hungry mob attacks Haiti palace

2008-04-09T00:41:00.000-07:00

Crowds of demonstrators in Haiti have tried to storm the presidential palace in the capital Port-au-Prince as protests continue over food prices.
Witnesses say the protesters used metal bins to try to smash down the palace gates before UN troops fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse them.
Several people are reported to have been injured in the clashes.
At least five people have been killed in Haiti since the unrest began last week in the southern city of Les Cayes.
The demonstrators outside the presidential palace said the rising cost of living in Haiti meant they were struggling to feed themselves.
"We are hungry," they shouted before attempting to smash open the palace gates.
In recent months, it has become common among Haiti's poor to use the expression grangou klowox, or "eating bleach", to describe the daily hunger pains people face, because of the burning feeling in their stomachs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7337792.stm

Getting closer to "famines"?

Mt 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

The Implications of Delusion

2008-04-04T22:55:00.000-07:00

There are a few places in Scripture that I believe should really cause us to think about the severity of the times ahead, and also the times we find ourselves in. These same Scriptures are also the some of the ones that can give us the most comfort, as they really emphasize the sovereignty of God in all things. We find ourselves in times where the message of the Bible is constantly distorted -- sometimes inadvertently, sometimes purposefully -- and misinformation runs rampant. Leading into an example of what I believe to be purposeful deception, I'll quote Share International on "the Maitreya" and his relation to their supposed Jesus:

"What we have to look forward to is not the end of the world, which will not take place for millions of years ahead, but for the creation of a new civilisation based on higher and truer spiritual values than were possible for humanity at the time of Jesus. Jesus Himself, now a Master, works with the Christ on a daily basis and will reform the Christian churches and teaching, as His part in the Great Plan."

Isn't this exactly what Jesus warned us about in Luke 21:8?

Lu 21:8 And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.

Paul writes to the church in Corinth:

2Co 11:1 ¶ Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me.
2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

"If he that cometh preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached"... and to the church in Galatia:

Ga 1:6 ¶ I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

I believe that none of us, including myself, fully understand just how bad the deception around us will be. We will see a great falling away, spoken of in 2 Thess. 2, and I believe that this will have something to do with it. Not to worry; all that God the Father gave to God the Son will come to Him, and none will be cast out(John 6:27). In fact, those who are deceived, already being guilty as all men are by nature, will not be able to rightfully accuse God of wrongdoing when they stand before His throne, when they realize that God has purposefully sent this delusion upon them("for this cause He shall send them strong delusion - 2 Thess. 2).

On a page titled 'Hidden Esoteric Widsom in the Bible', Share International takes part in some of the most devious perversions of the Word of God that I have ever come across. The most basic example might be this one:

"Take, for instance, the account given in Mark 4:35-41. It is the story of Jesus and His disciples caught in a severe storm on the Sea or Lake of Galilee. The boat seemed in danger of sinking. Jesus was asleep in the stern of the boat, when His disciples, in panic, awakened him. He asked, ''Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?'' He is reported to have calmed both the sea and the disciples by His word. Those who look at this as an historical incident sometimes argue as to whether the water becoming calm was a natural phenomenon, or whether Jesus used supernormal power to still the raging waves.

But let us look at it as having an important hidden meaning as an inner happening within us. Let the waters of the sea represent the sea of life over which we are making our life's voyage; the boat, our lower self or body; the raging storm, the emotional disturbances we may encounter; the disciples, the many aspects of our consciousness. The most important passenger in our boat ---- our life ---- is the Christ within. Why do we wait until some crisis seems to threaten us before awakening this Christ consciousness? But when this Christ life is awakened within us, what power it has to quiet the surging billows of our emotions ---- including the fears aroused by life's threatening storms!"

The core of the Luciferic message is one's own supposed Godhood, and here it is claimed to be taught in the Bible. As modern Christianity has moved slowly away from sound doctrine, it has become increasingly harder to distinguish between those who truly believe and those who are the seed who will "fall away". I fear for those true believers who surround themselves with the types who will fall for what's coming, as Jesus said in Matt. 24, referring to a time after the false Christs appear, "then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another". The guideline of "no private interpretation" has been slowly inched away from to suit the desires each successive generation, and there may be a harsh price to pay for our lack of attention to it:

2Pe 1:19 ¶ We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

God's Word is complete! The more one moves away from what is explicitly said, or explicitly implied, the further they get from the "God" in the Word.

2Ti 3:14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

While there may be temporary consequences for believers during this time period("as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten" - Rev. 3:19), it is not possible that they will be swayed from the core truth of Jesus Christ. Jesus said,

Joh 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

This is confirmed by Paul in Romans 9:

Ro 9:14 ¶ What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

The last statement above comes into play in 2 Thessalonians 2:

2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

For those of us who are still alive when things really start to get bad(after all, I'm still not 100% without a doubt certain that the WEU and the ENPI fulfill Daniel, but pretty close), there may be a great temptation to fret, to despair, and to agonize over those we see falling away. We may want to act out of our desparation - but perfect love casts out all fear(1 John 4:18), and without love we are nothing(1 Cor. 13), and we can't well do God's will when we are in bondage to ungoldy fear. While it is our duty to love all of mankind, and to speak the Word without reservation(which is easier said than done at times), we must realize, not just on some distant ultimate level, but on the day-to-day, minute-by-minute level, that God is in control, and nothing, not even the most powerful deception, can thwart His will. We are kept by the power of God(1 Pet. 1:5), not by our own power to remain His. At the same time, the unpleasant events around us will also be fulfilling God's will:

Re 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

This is so severe - but it is so comforting, when we realize what is implied! God is really in control, even in the hardest of times, and especially with the future of His people. It is no reason to disobey the commands to evangelize, to teach, to love, and to stay true, but it puts a different perspective on it. Instead of doing it for need of the results, we can do it out of love for God, and a desire to obey Him, and that is when our lives will truly shine. So while the implications of delusion may be severe, they are also comforting in that God is never sitting on the sidelines, hoping something will happen. Nothing is beyond His power!

For more on the subject, try A.W. Pink's "The Soverignty of God", which can be read in it's entirety here, and points out the most wonderful things in Scripture about the immutability of God's will.

Tensions rise(yet again...)

2008-04-02T23:31:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday morning, Israel awoke to a headline in the London-based daily Al-Quds al-Arabi saying Syria had concentrated troops and tanks along the Lebanese border and summoned reserve forces in preparation for a possible Israeli attack.

Syrian troops stand in formation.
Photo: AP [file] , AP

A few hours later, the security cabinet decided to distribute gas masks to the public. The ministers also approved an unprecedented emergency exercise to be held next week aimed at preparing the country for a nonconventional missile attack.
All of this happened a day after Defense Minister Ehud Barak toured the northern border and issued a threat to Syria and Hizbullah declaring that "Israel is the strongest country in the region" and he would therefore "not recommend that anyone provoke us."

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1207159745931&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

The article continues to say, "Next Sunday, the IDF, Defense Ministry, Israel Police and civilian emergency services will hold the largest emergency exercise in Israel's history, which will include simulated conventional and nonconventional missile attacks, cabinet meetings and hospital drills, as well as the activation of emergency sirens countrywide", and "With regard to Syria and Israel, however, it is no secret that both countries are preparing for war."

I have been of the opinion that both sides are waiting for the other to move first... I don't believe we'll see a peace deal until Hamas is subdued, and if there is one before that, they will probably be the first to shatter the notion of peace. Who knows, though, maybe "Maitreya the Mahdi" will show up and talk some interfaith sense into them. I'm not sure what the Hamas take on the Mahdi is, so they may reject "him", if "he" does show up, providing a stereotype for people future critical of the likely second beast of Revelation.

If you have no idea who the "Maitreya" is supposed to be, just google the name. The same would probably work for Mahdi. Ok, I've linked the Wikipedia articles here:

Mahdi

Maitreya

Also, searching Constance Cumbey's and Rich Peterson's blogs, linked on the right of my blog, should yield some good results. Try Watchmanbiblestudy.com too.

UFO reports draws national attention to Capitola

2008-03-28T02:09:00.000-07:00

I love to visit the little tourist beach-town of Capitola, and I was quite intrigued when I first read about the sightings of the "strange craft" mentioned in the news article below. About a year or so ago, I found the story surrounding the sightings while looking at evidence for UFO's(which there is plenty of evidence for... just not ones flown by space aliens, as I believe the coming deception will purport).

If you follow this link,

http://isaaccaret.fortunecity.com/

you'll find the website of a man who claims to have worked on the specific technology behind this craft, and gives a detailed explanation of his work for the Department of Defense. It's understandable, if he's telling the truth, that he wouldn't want to reveal his identity. Especially interesting are the "document and photo scans". Anyways, here's the related recent news article:

J.M. BROWN - SENTINEL STAFF WRITER Article Launched: 03/27/2008 01:32:46 AM PDT

The news that private investigators are on the hunt for UFO evidence in Capitola hit the tiny beach town like a meteor Wednesday as TV and Internet chatter about last summer's alleged sighting escalated and residents came out of the woodwork to report other strange sightings.

Wednesday's Sentinel article about the work of two retired cops to find the man who allegedly took a photograph of a supposed alien drone drew a lot of speculation and media attention, but no new evidence for police, Chief Richard J. Ehle said.

After a photograph of the alleged drone appeared in the newspaper, Ehle said his agency did not receive any calls Wednesday from residents saying they remembered seeing the UFO. In the 10 months since the photograph first appeared online, no one has ever called to say they saw the UFO, he said.

The only people he talked to about the case Wednesday were TV reporters. Saying he firmly believed the photo is a hoax, Ehle declined to take a look at e-mails sent to the Sentinel from residents who reported other sightings dating back eight years ago. "I'm done," Ehle said.

But T.K. Davis isn't.

The former Santa Clara County sheriff deputy who was hired by members of the Open Minds Forum Web site to investigate the authenticity of the photo, said he responded to at least five interview requests from national and local TV and print media Wednesday, and received several dozen new e-mails and phone calls from tipsters. He said he passed the tips along to his clients to sort the wheat from the chaff.

Davis, a Saratoga resident, said he and partner Frankie Dixon, who lives in Capitola, will eventually go back to the streets, trying to find out where the photo was reportedly taken on May 16. He said the pair will widen their search to streets in nearby towns, and will try to draw out from cyberspace people from three other areas in California who have reported seeing similar objects.

Davis said the man who allegedly took the photograph in Capitola and shared it with Open Minds Forum disappeared after getting spooked.

Because there isn't any definitive evidence yet, Davis said he can't say the photo is real, but added, "The more research we've done, I'm leading towards believing. I'm not a skeptic anymore."

Bloggers on UFO sites and enthusiasts who contacted the Sentinel Wednesday say the photo is a hoax, saying signs of digital manipulation are evident. But several residents said the story confirmed suspicions that they had seen a UFO years ago.

Mayor Kirby Nicol said he had never heard of the UFO report before Wednesday, but said he wasn't worried about the cosmic publicity blitz for Capitola, a city that feeds on tourism.

"There's no such thing as bad publicity," he said.

http://www.mercurynews.com/centralcoast/ci_8712917

If you're waiting to see if this will play out into something or nothing, there is an excellent series of videos(which I endorse whole-heartedly, except for the endorsement of the pre-trib theory) that www.watchmanbiblestudy.com has posted here that may explain the possible significance:

Alien Encounters Conference Roswell, NM 1997

Session 1: Return of the Nephilim (Chuck Missler) PowerPoint
Session 2: The Days of Noah (Chuck Missler) PowerPoint
Session 3: The History of UFOs (Mark Eastman) PowerPoint
Session 4: Alien Contact? (Mark Eastman) PowerPoint
Session 5: Chariots of the Frauds (Mark Eastman) PowerPoint
Session 6: The Coming Cosmic Deception (Chuck Missler) PowerPoint

LA TIMES - North Korea test-fires missiles

2008-03-28T01:59:00.000-07:00

Some see the short- range launches as a bid to pressure U.S. and South Korea. Seoul calls them routine.

By Ching-Ching Ni, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 28, 2008
BEIJING -- North Korea test-fired several short-range missiles off its west coast today in a possible effort to show dissatisfaction toward the new South Korean government and lack of progress in nuclear disarmament talks.

The missile launches, reported by Yonhap news agency citing unidentified government officials, came a day after the government in Pyongyang expelled South Korean experts at a joint industrial zone just north of the shared border.

"This looks like typical measures on the part of the Kim Jong Il regime to exert pressure on South Korea and the U.S," said Joseph Cheng, a political scientist at the City University of Hong Kong. "They want to attract attention and highlight the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula."

South Korea, however, downplayed such concerns in a statement posted on a government website.

"The government regards North Korea's missile firing as merely a part of its ordinary military training," presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan told Yonhap, the statement said. "President Lee Myung-bak was briefed on the news of North Korean missile launches while presiding over a meeting of senior presidential secretaries, but didn't show any extraordinary response."

One of the reasons why the North may be feeling ignored is that the United States is preoccupied with a presidential election and seems unlikely to be pushing for any major breakthroughs in the laboring six-nation nuclear talks, Cheng said.

North Korea also is angry at Washington for maintaining that Pyongyang is still pursuing a uranium-based atomic bomb program, and asserts that it has taken steps to prove that the charge is untrue. "The United States is clinging to shabby magic to make us a criminal in order to save face," the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the government's official Korean Central News Agency.

"If the United States keeps delaying the resolution of the nuclear issue . . . it could gravely affect disablement of nuclear facilities," the statement said.

North Korea had agreed last year to shut down and disable its sole functioning nuclear reactor, at Yongbyon, and other atomic facilities in exchange for aid and political concessions. Washington has insisted that it still has not received a full account of the North's nuclear activities.

Now Pyongyang may be growing impatient, especially at the end of a harsh winter in which fuel and food shortages could be at their worst.

South Korean President Lee, who took office a month ago, has taken a tougher line toward the communists to the north than his predecessors, including threatening to link future economic cooperation with the resolution of the nuclear standoff, said Hak Soon Paik, a North Korean expert at the South's Sejong Institute.

"They need the South Koreans' help and economic cooperation, but the South Koreans' new policy is clearly not well received, and this is a warning to show their discontent," Hak said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-norkor28mar28,1,1401856.story

"Famines..."

2008-03-20T12:26:00.001-07:00

North Korea is facing a chronic and worsening food crisis, according to an aid group which has experience of working inside the secretive state.
The Good Friends aid agency, based in South Korea, says rations have been cut severely, badly affecting even elite citizens in the capital, Pyongyang.
Good Friends says that to protect its sources, it cannot reveal where its latest information has come from.
But previous reports from the group on North Korea have later been confirmed.
Good Friends - a Buddhist-affiliated group that takes food and other aid into North Korea - says the crisis is most serious in rural areas, with people in many parts of South Hwanghae province living without rations since November.
Rations cut
But privileged medium- and lower-level officials based in Pyongyang are also said to have received no rations this month; they had already been cut by 60% in February.
Earlier this month, Good Friends said it had received evidence that 15 North Koreans had been publicly executed for illegally crossing the Chinese border in search of food.
The World Food Programme has warned that almost a quarter of North Korea's 20 million people is suffering from a severe lack of food.
Soaring international grain prices are making the situation much worse.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7306787.stm

Karen Armstrong of the AOC targets us

2008-03-19T00:33:00.000-07:00

"Central to the ideology of the Christian right is their apocalyptic vision of the end of days. They are convinced that God is so frustrated by the world that he can only redeem it by launching a terrible end-time catastrophe. It is a vision of intense despair... I'm not a big fan of the book of Revelation, I think it is a most unfortunate Scripture."

Thanks again to FulfilledProphecy.com for pointing this one out. Karen launches into a direct observation of the idea of a pre-trib "rapture", and actually points out some things that may come back to haunt the people who have espoused it when it doesn't happen.

She falsely proclaims that the theory is central to a literal reading of Revelation... I don't know how anyone who reads Revelation literally can pull a pre-trib rapture out of it, instead of pushing one onto it.

Karen Armstrong is apparently a member of the Alliance of Civilizations, which works closely with Solana and the EU(see Farmer's, Richard's, and Constance's blogs on the right of the blog).

BBC: No stopping Solana

2008-03-18T11:49:00.000-07:00

Thanks goes to fulfilledprophecy.com for pointing this one out. If you haven't seen this yet, take a look at Solana rising:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6443213.stm

excerpt from comment on Constance's blog

2008-03-14T02:58:00.000-07:00

I remember saying that I didn't think much would come of Sarkozy's mediterrenian union... but I didn't think of what it could do to expand the reach of the EU(and by extension, Solana, or maybe the other way around), and just add to the influence gained with the ENP.

quoting JPost on it:

"French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday he won "unanimous" backing for his plan to forge closer political ties with Europe's North African and Mideast neighbors on the Mediterranean Sea.

The agreement came at the end of the first day of a two-day EU summit, but the specific details of the plan will still have to be worked out by June, other leaders said.

The project would involve 39 partners - the 27-nation EU plus a dozen on the Mediterranean's southern shores, from Mauritania to Algeria, Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian Authority to Syria and Turkey."

Along with the climate change card, and the EU's new proposed security revisions(quotes following) this could turn out to be another step towards true global governance:

"A research paper commissioned by the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) has called for major changes to the way security is currently handled, advising tighter regulations for developers and ISPs and the foundation of an independent agency to monitor cybercrime."

http://www.virusbtn.com/news/2008/03_13.xml

"BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission unveiled on Wednesday a plan to fingerprint all foreigners visiting Europe's 24-nation border-free area, as part of a series of border-security proposals.

The electronic register, similar to a policy adopted by the United States after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, could go into effect by 2015 if governments and European lawmakers agree with the plan, the European Union executive said.

The European Commission says the scheme, part of a series of proposals to fight terrorism, organised crime and illegal migration, is needed to protect the bloc's borders now that travellers can cross national boundaries without checks between 24 member states in the enlarged border-free "Schengen" zone.

"This package puts forward new ideas on the table for the control of our borders ... using the most advanced technology to reach the highest level of security," EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini said in a statement."

http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKL1368147220080

'Before calm, Gaza will escalate beyond anything we've seen'

2008-03-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

"Continued combat in Gaza will bring an escalation beyond what we have seen so far, before we reach a period of calm," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday.

An IDF tank heads towards the Gaza Strip.
Photo: AP

Barak was touring the northern brigade of the IDF's Gaza Division. With him were IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen Yoav Galant and OC Gaza Division Brig.-Gen. Moshe Tamir.

"We are not in a state of calm with Hamas, we are in ongoing activity meant to stop Kassam fire," he said. "There is no change in what we are doing. What awaits us here is further operations and [the soldiers] will need to be prepared again for action in order to win this issue.

JPost

'Israel and Hamas have reached truce'

2008-03-11T14:52:00.000-07:00

An Egyptian-brokered truce has been reached between Israel and Hamas, a senior Israeli security official said Tuesday.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
Photo: AP [file]

The official told AFP that Hamas agreed to stop firing rockets as long as Israel ceases its military operations in the Gaza Strip.

According to the unnamed official, Cairo played an active role in the deal, in an effort to reach a ceasefire which would eventually lead to the removal of the Israeli blockade imposed on the Strip.

JPost

wow!!!

2008-03-10T21:24:00.000-07:00

fringe? not anymore, I guess. not even since '55.

"You now face a new world, a world of change. We speak in strange terms, of harnessing the cosmic energy, of ultimate conflict between a united human race and the sinister forces of some other planetary galaxy." "The nations of the world will have to unite, for the next war will be an interplanetary war. The nations of the earth must someday make a common front against attack by people from other planets."

>General Douglas MacArthur - Oct. 8, 1955.<

http://www.phils.com.au/macarthur.htm

update

2008-03-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

update:

columbia and venezuela have "made up": http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7286765.stm

also at this page on JPost we are being told that war is unlikely in '08 for Israel according to "the Mossad, Military Intelligence, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), the intelligence arm of the Foreign Ministry and the Israel Police."

but, we are also told that "The intelligence community warned that a major flare-up on any front could lead to other fronts opening as well. For instance, an escalation in violence in the Gaza Strip could lead to a Hizbullah attack in the North."

Livni: If necessary, Israel will reoccupy the Gaza Strip

2008-03-04T08:15:00.000-08:00

Israel has informed foreign diplomats that it would reoccupy Hamas-ruled Gaza if necessary, though it prefers not to do so, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, as the IDF operated against defiant Gaza rocket squads.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
Photo: GPO

Slideshow: Anti-Israel demos

Israel is contemplating a reoccupation of Gaza even as it makes efforts to make peace with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who controls the West Bank. On Sunday, Abbas called off talks with Israel to protest the high death toll from the IDF's latest incursion into Gaza. Palestinians reported more than 120 dead in the military campaign.
Israeli leaders have signaled that a broad invasion of Gaza is in the works to halt rocket fire that is striking closer to Israel's center.
In a meeting Monday with foreign diplomats based in Israel, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni did not rule out an Israeli reoccupation of the Strip, home to 1.4 million Palestinians. Israel pulled its settlers and troops out of Gaza in 2005, and last June, Hamas violently seized control there.

JPost

Russia, China scuttle Western plans for an IAEA resolution on Iran

2008-03-04T08:08:00.000-08:00

Diplomats say Russia and China have scuttled a Western attempt to introduce a resolution on Iran's nuclear defiance at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The diplomats said the move by Moscow and Beijing appears to have been prompted by unhappiness about not being informed in time that such a resolution was in the making. They spoke Tuesday to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because their information was confidential.

JPost

Somehow, everything that's been happening in the last few days may end up fizzing out to nothing, but to me it looks like conflicts are escalating at a frightening pace worldwide. Is this it?

I'm really at a loss for words right now. I hope this isn't.

Peretz: IDF should fire at homes used to launch rockets

2008-03-03T23:53:00.001-08:00

The IDF should be allowed to fire at homes used to fire rockets at Israel, former defense minister Amir Peretz was quoted by Israel Radio as saying Tuesday.

"If Palestinian families turn their houses into rocket production labs or weapons caches, we should treat them as military installations and attack them," he said.
Peretz added that Israel should differentiate between those cases and places where Hamas was forcing its presence on the civilian population. These should not be attacked under any circumstances, he said.

JPost

US bombs Islamist town in Somalia

2008-03-03T23:27:00.000-08:00

The US has launched an attack against a "known al-Qaeda terrorist" in southern Somalia, the Pentagon says.
Three missiles hit Dhoble town early on Monday, reportedly killing four people and wounding 20.
People are fleeing the town, fearing more strikes. Residents say planes could still be seen flying overhead on Monday morning.
Islamist insurgents seized the town last week and reports said a leader, Hassan Turki, had been in the area.
Mr Turki is on the US list of "financers of terrorism".
US Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman refused to give the identity of the target, whether the strike had achieved its goal or how the strike had been carried out.

The planes keep flying over us. They are so low that we're deafened by their engines

Dhoble resident

A US military official, who refused to be named, told the AFP news agency that at least one cruise missile had been fired.
Meanwhile, Islamists have attacked the town of Bur Hakaba, leaving the local police chief and four others dead.
The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says the Islamists have adopted a new strategy of launching attacks outside the capital.

BBC

2 NATO soldiers killed, 4 wounded in bombing of Afghan government office

2008-03-03T23:25:00.000-08:00

A suicide attack on a government office guarded by Afghan and NATO troops in eastern Afghanistan left two alliance soldiers dead and four more wounded, a US military spokesman said Tuesday.

The bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into the gates of the building in the Yaqoubi district of Khost province on Monday.
Sgt. 1st Class Brian Lamar, a US military spokesman, said two NATO soldiers were killed and four others wounded in the blast. Lamar would not disclose the soldiers' nationalities. However, the majority of international forces in Khost province are American.

JPost

google news "earthquake" results

2008-03-03T21:15:00.000-08:00

AFP

Strong earthquake hits eastern Philippines
Xinhua, China - 13 hours ago
MANILA, March 3 (Xinhua) -- A 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit a maritime area 184 km northeast of Catarman, northern Samar in eastern Philippines Monday ...
Strong earthquake rocks Philippines southeast of Manila; no ... The Canadian Press
Earthquake hits Bicol, Visayas provinces Philippine Star
No casualty, damage reports yet in Catanduanes temblor Inquirer.net
Canoe.ca - Inquirer.net
all 96 news articles »

Boston Globe

Strong Earthquake Rocks Indonesia
The Associated Press - 22 hours ago
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A strong earthquake hit off western Indonesia on Monday, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. ...
Strong earthquake jolts Indonesia's West Sumatra Bangkok Post
Powerful quake hits off Indonesia's Sumatra island Forbes
all 74 news articles »

KPIC

2 Earthquakes Hit Off Oregon Coast
The Associated Press - 11 hours ago
(AP) — Two back-to-back earthquakes have struck about 200 miles off the Oregon coast. The National Earthquake Information Center says there's been no damage ...
Two earthquakes registered off Oregon coast Seattle Times
all 73 news articles »

Ghana: Earthquake Threat is Real - Geologist Warns
AllAfrica.com, Washington - 14 hours ago
Mr. Philip Yaw Oduro Amoako, a Geologist with the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), has warned that the threat of an imminent earthquake ...

Strong earthquake shakes Philippines, no injuries reported
Boston Herald, United States - 13 hours ago
By AP MANILA, Philippines - A strong earthquake deep in the ocean rocked the Bicol region southeast of Manila late today, scientists said. ...

Pacific News Center

Philippines hit by 6.9 magnitude earthquake
Monsters and Critics.com - 12 hours ago
Washington - An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale struck the Philippines Monday, the US Geological Survey reported. ...
Magnitude 7.0 quake hits off Philippine coast-USGS Reuters India
Magnitude 7.0 quake hits off Philippines Melbourne Herald Sun
(UPDATE) 5.8 magnitude quake hits Batanes Inquirer.net
United Press International
all 27 news articles »

Chile Shaken by Magnitude 5.6 Earthquake Near City of Iquique
Bloomberg - Mar 2, 2008
By Heather Walsh March 2 (Bloomberg) -- Chile, the world's biggest copper producer, was shaken by an earthquake yesterday, the US Geological Survey said. ...
Moderate earthquake hits northen Chile Xinhua
Northern Chile shaken by 5.6-magnitude quake elEconomista.es
Northern Chile shaken by 5.6-magnitude quake Washington Post
all 18 news articles »

Ecuador cuts ties with Colombia

2008-03-03T19:04:00.000-08:00

The raid inside Ecuadorean territory left 17 rebels dead

Ecuador has cut diplomatic ties with Colombia in a deepening crisis over a cross-border raid by Colombian troops.
Venezuela also said it was expelling all Colombian diplomats in the wake of the raid, which killed senior Farc rebel Raul Reyes and 16 others.
Ecuador and Venezuela have deployed troops to their borders amid calls for restraint led by the head of the UN.
BBC

South America on brink of war

2008-03-03T18:17:00.000-08:00

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia — South America was on the brink of war yesterday as Venezuela and Ecuador amassed troops on the Colombian border in response to the killing of a Marxist rebel leader.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened to join the rebels in a war to overthrow hard-line Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, a key ally of the United States, deploying tanks, fighter jets and thousands of troops along the Colombian border.
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa also ordered troops to the border, expelled Colombia's ambassador and recalled its ambassador to Bogota, but left its embassy open. Venezuela closed its embassy in Colombia and ordered all diplomats home.

Washington Times

N. Korea dashes hopes of quick progress on nuclear standoff after concert

2008-03-03T17:31:00.000-08:00

Less than a week after a soaring symphony raised hopes of detente on the Korean peninsula, North Korea leveled a new tirade against the U.S. military presence in South Korea, dashing expectations of quick progress in its nuclear standoff.

In a further setback, the main US negotiator in the long-running arms talks with Pyongyang headed home Monday having failed to win a meeting with his North Korean counterpart, after lingering in the region following the New York Philharmonic's historic performance in Pyongyang last Tuesday.
US officials had warned the good will generated by the emotional concert would be meaningless without North Korea fulfilling its requirements under an international nuclear accord reached last year.

JPost

Chavez orders 10 battalions of troops to Columbian border

2008-03-02T14:55:00.000-08:00

President Hugo Chavez ordered Venezuela's embassy in Colombia shut and sent 10 battalions of troops to the countries' shared border after Colombia's military killed a top rebel leader.

Chavez told his defense minister: "move 10 battalions for me to the border with Colombia, immediately." He ordered the Venezuelan Embassy in Bogota closed and said all embassy personnel would be withdrawn.

JPost

Olmert defiant over Gaza assault

2008-03-02T02:39:00.000-08:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7273520.stm

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has vowed to continue operations against Gaza militants despite international calls for restraint.

Mr Olmert said he had no intention of stopping the fight "even for a minute".

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on both Israel and Palestinians to halt several days of violence.

Israeli air strikes continued after Saturday saw one of Gaza's bloodiest days since Israel withdrew in 2005, with at least 61 Palestinians killed.

Nothing will prevent us from continuing operations to protect our citizens

Ehud Olmert
Israeli prime minister

excellent quote

2008-02-28T22:53:00.000-08:00

The sheer magnitude and complex web of deceit surrounding the individuals and organizations involved in this conspiracy is mind boggling, even for the most astute among us. Most people react with disbelief and skepticism towards the topic, unaware that they have been conditioned (brainwashed) to react with skepticism by institutional and media influences. Author and de-programmer Fritz Springmeier (The Top 13 Illuminati Bloodlines) says that most people have built in "slides" that short circuit the mind's critical examination process when it comes to certain sensitive topics. "Slides", Springmeier reports, is a CIA term for a conditioned type of response which dead ends a person's thinking and terminates debate or examination of the topic at hand. For example, the mention of the word "conspiracy" often solicits a slide response with many people.

What most people believe to be "Public Opinion" is in reality carefully crafted and scripted propaganda designed to elicit a desired behavioral response from the public. Public opinion polls are really taken with the intent of gauging the public's acceptance of the New World Order's planned programs. A strong showing in the polls tells them that the programming is "taking", while a poor showing tells the NWO manipulators that they have to recast or "tweak" the programming until the desired response is achieved.
http://www.threeworldwars.com/new-world-order.htm

US sending warships to Mediterranean

2008-02-28T16:25:00.000-08:00

The US Navy is sending three warships to the eastern Mediterranean Sea in a show of strength during a period of tensions with Syria and political uncertainty in Lebanon.

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters the deployment should not be viewed as threatening or in response to events in any single country in that volatile region.
"This is an area that is important to us, the eastern Med," he said when asked about news reports of the ship movements. "It's a group of ships that will operate in the vicinity there for a while," adding that "it isn't meant to send any stronger signals than that, but it does signal that we're engaged, we're going to be in the vicinity and that's a very, very important part of the world."
Another military officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because full details about the ship movements are not yet public, said the USS Cole is headed for patrol in the eastern Mediterranean and that the USS Nassau, an amphibious warship, would be joining it shortly. The officer said a third ship would go later, but he did not identify it by name.

JPost

'Russia may have to rely on brute military force to earn respect'

2008-02-22T19:49:00.000-08:00

Moscow's envoy to NATO warned Friday that Russia may have to rely on "brute military force" to earn respect on the world scene if all EU nations recognize Kosovo's independence and NATO oversteps its authority in Kosovo.

However, Dmitry Rogozin said Russia was not going to get involved in any armed confrontation over Kosovo.
He said some Western countries were ruining the entire system of international law by recognizing Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia.
"If the European Union works out a single position and NATO goes beyond its current mandate in Kosovo, these organizations will conflict with the United Nations," he said in a televised hookup from Brussels.
"And we, I think, will proceed from an assumption that to be respected, we have to use brute military force," Rogozin said.

JPost

And, related:

US calls on Russia to repudiate NATO envoy comment

A senior US official on Friday called on Russia to repudiate a suggestion one of its officials that it may need to use military force to earn respect after Western governments recognized Kosovo over its objections.

The third-ranking official in the US State Department, Nicholas Burns, called the comments by Dmitry Rogozin Friday "highly irresponsible."
Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs, also criticized the Russian government's strong language condemning the recognition this week of Kosovo's independence by the United States and some European countries.
"We strongly advise Russia to be more responsible in its public comments toward Kosovo," Burns said, responding to questions in an online written discussion. "Russia is isolated this week - very few countries are supporting its position."

JPost

It looks like we're getting closer... how many straws will it take to break the camel's back???

News to me...

2008-02-20T23:38:00.000-08:00

14/02/2008 | Moscow News,№06 2008

In Brief - Russia Warns Iran on Missile Development

Russia Warns Iran on Missile Development

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia warned Iran on Wednesday that its development of rockets and continued uranium enrichment was creating the impression Tehran was intentionally ignoring the concerns of the international community.

"We do not approve of Iran's actions in constantly demonstrating its intentions to develop its rocket sector and continue enriching uranium," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

http://www.mnweekly.ru/news/20080214/55310231.html

No comment...

2008-02-18T15:11:00.000-08:00

There was a time when the MSM (mainstream media) would have the decency to at least wait until a "theory" was presented, before shooting it down and branding the author a "conspiracy theorist". Not any more it seems.

According to reports, a transcript of a purported conversation between Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby has just been discovered, and will be released by Dallas officials. The opening sentence in an article by ABC said "It reads like a movie screenplay," and then adds "it is likely to give new life to conspiracy theories that there was something more to President Kennedy's assassination."

Apparently, the documents were discovered in a forgotten Dallas courtroom safe, and "may be a President's Day gift to conspiracy believers who have long disagreed with the official version of what happened" says the ABC article (a comment repeated in a Reuter´s article).

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/52776

A Very Informative Article On the Looming Financial Collapse

2008-02-17T19:52:00.000-08:00

"Webster's defines complacency as “1.satisfaction or contentment 2. smug self-satisfaction” There is probably not a better word to describe the current state of perception with regard to economic and financial malady. I had an interesting conversation the other night about exactly this topic and the individual I was speaking with had an overriding belief that we cannot suffer economically simply because the current generation is not prepared to deal with it. While I certainly agree with the latter assertion, the former continues to baffle me. I am certainly not prepared to deal with a lengthy hospital stay as the result of a horrific car crash, but that alone doesn't cloak me in immunity from having an accident. The reasoning is so broken and flawed, yet it is often all we get in terms of a perception of what is going on.

This disconnect begets a discussion of why exactly it is that society has chosen to believe itself to be immune from bad things. It is odd in itself that when you talk to individuals, they seem to be acutely aware of many of the challenges facing us, but when you put all the individuals together and create a society, we act as though the party will indeed last forever. We are certainly dealing with a situation in which the intelligence of the whole is by far less than the sum of all its parts. Here's a little bit of déjà vu for you, compliments of Wikipedia:

In the 1920s, Americans consumers and businesses relied on cheap credit, the former to purchase consumer goods such as automobiles and furniture and the later for capital investment to increase production. This fueled strong short-term growth but created consumer and commercial debt. People and businesses who were deeply in debt when price deflation occurred or demand for their product decreased often risked default. Many drastically cut current spending to keep up time payments, thus lowering demand for new products. Businesses began to fail as construction work and factory orders plunged.”
Sound familiar anyone? See any price deflation going on? The Wilshire 5000 has only lost about 2.5 TRILLION dollars in value in the last two months or so. What about the loss in home equity? Another trillion or two? Who knows, but I think you get the point. We are seeing almost to the final utterance the same play we saw unfold in 1929. Were those folks any more prepared for the Great Depression than we are today? I'd argue that while they were perhaps a bit better equipped to provide for their own sustenance that American society in the 1920's was as complacent as we are today. When the realization of history's coup de grace hits, we will be caught as unaware as our ancestors were back in 1929.

Here are some other examples of what Alan Greenspan likes to call ‘irrational exuberance' in the 1920's:

"We will not have any more crashes in our time."

John Maynard Keynes in 1927 (The authenticity of this one is a little suspect) DOW ~ 175

"There will be no interruption of our permanent prosperity."

Myron E. Forbes, President, Pierce Arrow Motor Car Co., January 12, 1928 – DOW ~ 200

"There may be a recession in stock prices, but not anything in the nature of a crash." - Irving Fisher, leading U.S. economist, New York Times, Sept. 5, 1929 – DOW ~ 375

"All safe deposit boxes in banks or financial institutions have been sealed... and may only be opened in the presence of an agent of the I.R.S." - President F.D. Roosevelt, 1933 – DOW ~ 65

Tuesday morning we received news that according to the Institute of Supply Management, the service portion of our economy underwent a significant contraction during the month of December. This is alarming given the fact that December is normally one of the busiest times of the year. Even still, a trip past the local mall provides a busy scene. People are streaming in and out, carrying boxes and bags of imported trinkets to their imported cars. They will then use imported gasoline to drive to their home, the mortgage of which is likely to be owned by a foreign investor. Yet the average American citizen sees nothing wrong with this picture. Or could it be that they don't even see the picture at all? The media has certainly been playing the role of absentee informant in recent years, choosing to focus on such insipid topics as Britney Spears' latest rehab stint rather than the important business at hand.

Here now, are some quotes from this generation's 1929..in 2007 and 2008:

“It is encouraging that inflation expectations appear to be contained,” Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke – Testimony to Congress – March 28 th , 2007 – DOW ~ 12,500, Headline CPI-U ~ 2.8% Y/Y

"As I think you know, I believe very strongly that a strong dollar is in our nation's interest, and I'm a big believer in currencies being set in a competitive, open marketplace," - Henry Paulson – Secretary of the Treasury – USDX ~ 81.50

““We are making history. What has passed the Congress in record time is a gift to the middle class and those who aspire to it in our country.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the $168 Billion tax ‘rebate' while the middle class is spending their Wal-Mart Christmas gift cards on food and other necessities.

They're making history all right. Too bad it will end up being the WRONG kind. How can we ever hope to focus the population on the urgency of our current predicament when our leaders are willing to make it worse by handing our freebies, bailing out those who willingly make poor investment choices and telling us everything can be ‘free' if we'll only pull their lever on election day?

Or am I putting the cart in front of the horse? Perhaps a contrarian opinion might be that our leaders are giving the public exactly what it wants. In either case, I am quite certain that our state of unpreparedness will not constitute a free pass from the negative effects of a recession or a retraction of any of the financial excesses we've enjoyed over the past few decades."

By Andy Sutton
http://www.my2centsonline.com

Russia - US Satellite Shot a Weapons Test

2008-02-17T08:53:00.000-08:00

MOSCOW (AP) - Russia said Saturday that U.S. military plans to shoot down a damaged spy satellite may be a veiled test of America's missile defense system.
The Pentagon failed to provide "enough arguments" to back its plan to smash the satellite next week with a missile, Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement.
"There is an impression that the United States is trying to use the accident with its satellite to test its national anti-missile defense system's capability to destroy other countries' satellites," the ministry said.
The Bush administration says the operation is not a test of a program to kill other nations' orbiting communications and intelligence capabilities. U.S. diplomats around the world have been instructed to inform governments that it is meant to protect people from 1,000 pounds of toxic fuel on the bus-sized satellite hurtling toward Earth.
The diplomats were told to distinguish the upcoming attempt from last year's test by China of a missile specifically designed to take out satellites, which was criticized by the United States and other countries.
Known by its military designation US 193, the satellite was launched in December 2006. It lost power and its central computer failed almost immediately afterward, leaving it uncontrollable. It carried a sophisticated and secret imaging sensor.
Left alone, the satellite would likely hit Earth during the first week of March. About half of the 5,000-pound spacecraft would probably survive its blazing descent through the atmosphere and would scatter debris over several hundred miles.
Military and administration officials said the satellite is carrying fuel called hydrazine that could injure or kill people who are near it when it hits the ground.
The operation to shoot down the dead satellite could happen as soon as next week.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8URMG5G0&show_article=1

The Conspiracy -- partially nailed down?

2008-02-17T06:34:00.000-08:00

Friends, if you've been reading for a while, you know that I have thought for a while that there may be a false Alien invasion, possibly involving the Nephilim of Genesis 6, brought about by the shadow government, and designed to set the events that will bring about a New World Order into motion. Search my blog for "alien", "ufo", "deception", and you'll see what I mean.

A good friend of mine recently pointed me to an article by a supposed former member of the United States Navy. This article presents a detailed description of most of the things that have been verified in my knowledge of the Conspiracy, like David Rockefeller's involvement, it's different arms, ect., and is the most complete description of it all that I have seen in my two or three years of actively researching this. It also presents a scenario that we may face soon -- along with a description of a "test run" which will be familiar to many of you. Of course, I cannot say that I know this article is truthful, but it does make quite a bit of things make sense. If it is mostly true, it presents quite a few things I was not previously aware of, and strings others together in a way that I had not thought of before. He might get a little ahead of himself in a couple of paragraphs(making purely intellectual predictions on what might be the next event to occur, but hey, I've been there) but he does not seem like a rambling conspiracy nut by any means, and explains well my suspicion of Art Bell.

First, a disclaimer. At the end, he denounces waiting on the Lord, and advocates joining a militia(which will be entirely useless against a police state anyways). He misinterprets(as most do these days) Jesus saying that His coming would be as "a thief in the night"("But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief" 1 Thess. 5). Anyways, here's a quote:

Full article here - must read if you have an interest on the subject

"When I saw Operation Majority while serving in the Navy I believed the alien threat was real just like everyone else. It was not until I had performed many years of research that I was able to fully understand exactly what it was that I had seen. It was extremely difficult for me to believe that my government and the United States Navy had used me, especially since I had dedicated my life to government and military service. Most government and military personnel cannot and will not believe such and idea.

The plan is real. The extraterrestrial threat is artificial. The threat is presented through the use of secret technology originally developed by the Germans in their secret weapons programs during WW-II, by geniuses like Nikola Tesla, and many others.

Military and government personnel who have access to this material believe it is real. None of them, however, has ever seen any evidence of the existence of any extraterrestrial creature nor any advanced technology other that that of human origin. It is not what they see that convinces them it is extraterrestrial in origin but the manner in which it is presented. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to believe that Top Secret government or military documentation could be lies. It is trust in government by men and women who have given their lives in its service that keeps this monumental lie a alive.

All so-called leaks are intentional misinformation projects designed to promote the alien threat scenario while allowing for complete deniability on the part of government. The antics of Vicki (Cooper) Ecker (CIA), Donald Francis Ecker III (Dupe), William Moore, Jaime Shandera, Stanton T. Friedman, Bruce Maccabee (CIA, ONI), Barry Taff PhD.(Pneuropsychiatric Institute of UCLA worked with recently deceased Dr. Louis Jollyn "Jolly" West), Whitley Strieber, Bud Hopkins (CIA), John Lear (CIA), Linda Moulton Howe Order of the Eastern Star and American Federation of Human Rights (American co-masonry), Art Bell (Freemason), Glen Campbell, George Knapp (Freemason), Colonel Philip Corso (CIA, a monumental liar now Deceased), Richard Hoagland and his Face on Mars, the so-called alien autopsy film, NASA and the Apollo Moon Missions, the so-called Mars Meteorite which was fraudulently promoted as containing fossil evidence of life on Mars, the War Of The Worlds, and many other people and events are projects of this type. Some (very few) of these People are unwitting accomplices in the charade and truly believe in the extraterrestrial threat.

Most of those named, and others not named, are active, and with full knowledge, agents of illuminism/socialism. The most well known are active Fellow Travelers, communist agents of the KGB, the Central Intelligence Agency, or one of the many psychological warfare agencies founded by the Rhodes Round Table Group (The Group), the Royal Institute of International Affairs, and the Council On Foreign Relations...

...The plan to create an artificial extraterrestrial threat to the Earth was first mentioned by the Marxist, John Dewey.

"Some one remarked that the best way to unite all the nations on this globe would be an attack from some other planet. In the face of such an alien enemy, people would respond with a sense of their unity of interest and purpose." John Dewey, New York 1917.

The premise was tested for credibility with the CBS presentation of War Of The Worlds on the CBS Radio Network by Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre. At 8:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, on the evening of October 30, 1938, the night before All Saints Day, now generally celebrated as Halloween, an estimated six million Americans listened to the famous Orson Welles broadcast, War Of The Worlds. The broadcast described an extraterrestrial invasion from Mars. An estimated one million sheople responded with sustained credulity and fear. Thousands responded with sheer panic.

The broadcast was a psychological warfare experiment conducted by The Princeton Radio Project. The Rockefeller Foundation funded the project in the fall of 1937. An Office of Radio Research was set up with Paul F. Lazarsfeld as director. Frank Stanton and Hadley Cantril were named associate directors. Cantril used a special grant from the General Education Board to study the effects of the broadcast. Cantril published the study as a book titled The Invasion From Mars - A Study In The Psychology Of Panic. It contains a complete script of the broadcast. The book is one of a series of studies sponsored by the Federal Radio Education Committee.

War Of The Worlds, was broadcast by Mercury Theater on the Air, from a microphone in a New York studio of the Columbia Broadcasting System. Council on Foreign Relations member Frank Stanton was a CBS executive. Stanton would later direct Radio Free Europe. Regarding the programs realism Cantril writes, "The sheer dramatic excellence of the broadcast must not be overlooked. The unusual realism of the performance may be attributed to the fact that the early parts of the broadcast fell within the existing standards of judgment of the listeners..."

A few short weeks before this broadcast, millions of listeners had kept their radios tuned for the latest news from a Europe apparently about to go to war. They had learned to expect that musical programs, dramas, broadcasts of all kinds would be cut off in a serious emergency to inform or warn an eager and anxious public. A large proportion of listeners, particularly those in the lower income and educational brackets, have grown to rely more on the radio than on the newspapers for news... On this particular night when the listener tuned to the Mercury Theater, he heard the music of "Ramon Raquello" and his orchestra coming from the "Meridian Room" in the "Park Plaza Hotel" of New York City. Soon after the first piece had begun an announcer broke in: "Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt our program of dance music to bring you a special bulletin from the Intercontinental Radio News."

...This report brought the story of the first explosion on Mars. The music was resumed only to be followed by another break: "Ladies and gentlemen, following on the news given in our bulletin a moment ago, the Government Meteorological Bureau has requested the large observatories of the country to keep an astronomical watch..." This bulletin contains the information that a "huge flaming object, believed to be a meteorite, fell on a farm in the neighborhood of Grovers Mill, New Jersey." The swing band gets in 20 seconds more. Then the invasion continues uninterruptedly..."

The last announcement comes from New York City, the Announcer says,

"I'm speaking from the roof of Broadcasting Building, New York City. The bells you hear are ringing to warn the people to evacuate the city as the Martians approach. Estimated in last two hours three million people have moved out along the roads to the north Hutchison River Parkway still kept open for motor traffic. Avoid bridges to Long Island --hopelessly jammed. All communication with Jersey shore closed ten minutes ago. No more defenses. Our army wiped out -- artillery, air force, everything wiped out. This may the last broadcast. We'll stay here to the end -- People are holding service below us -- in the cathedral. (VOICES SINGING HYMN). Now I look down the harbor. All manner of boats overloaded with fleeing population, pulling out from docks. (SOUND OF BOAT WHISTLES) Streets are all jammed. Noise in crowds like New Year's Eve in city. Wait a minute -- Enemy now in sight above the Palisades. Five great machines. First one is crossing river. I can see it from here, wading the Hudson like a man wading through a brook -- A bulletin's handed to me -- Martian cylinders are falling all over the country. One outside Buffalo, one in Chicago, St. Louis -- seem to be timed and spaced. -- Now the first machine reaches the shore. He stands watching, looking over the city. His steel, cowlish head is even with the skyscrapers. He waits for the others. They rise like a line of new towers on the city's west side -- Now they're lifting their metal hands. This is the end now. Smoke comes out -- black smoke, drifting over the city. People in the streets see it now. They're running towards the East River -- thousands of them, dropping in like rats. Now the smokes spreading faster. It's reached Times Square. People trying to run away from it, but its no use. They're falling like flies. Now the smokes crossing Sixth Avenue -- Fifth Avenue -- 100 yards away -- it's 50 feet --"

The announcer breaks off, and a field artillery radio operator is heard,

"2X2L calling CQ...

2X2L calling CQ...

2X2L calling CQ...New York

Isn't there anyone on the air?

Isn't there anyone...

2x2L_______ (MIDDLE BREAK)"

XX (Roman Numeral 20), X-2, or 2-X are espionage code names for a double-cross. The fictitious call letters can be interpreted by insiders to mean DOUBLE-CROSS [2X] TO HELL [2L].

Hadley Cantril was born in Hyrum Utah on the 16th June 1906. He graduated Dartmouth College with a B. S. in psychology in 1928. He studied in Munich and Berlin (1929-1930). He received a Ph. D. in psychology from Harvard in 1931. In 1949 Cantril received a LL.D. from Washington and Lee University. Cantril taught sociology at Dartmouth College (1931-32), and psychology at Harvard (1932-1935), and Columbia University (1935-36). In 1936 Cantril joined the Princeton psychology department. He remained a member of the department until his death in 1969. In 1950 Cantril authored a book called Tensions that Cause Wars (1950). Hadley Cantril was an active and influential member of the Council On Foreign Relations.

The public believed the War Of The Worlds was an actual news broadcast thus setting the stage for the implementation of an alien threat scenario. The only problem was that the state of the art of technology at that time did not allow for a believable presentation. The development of saucer shaped wingless and tailless flying machines by the Germans during WW-II and the implementation of psychological warfare against the sheople of the world solved the problem.

"In our obsession with antagonisms of the moment, we often forget how much unites all the members of humanity. Perhaps we need some outside, universal threat to make us realize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world." - President Ronald Reagan, in a speech made to the 42nd General Assembly of the United Nations, Sept. 21, 1987

He inserted it in eight speeches during his time in office.

Say it again Ron."

another take on Russia's bombers...

2008-02-15T08:33:00.000-08:00

Referring to the incident in which two Russian TU-95 Bear bombers overflew the USS Nimitz in the western Pacific near Japan on Saturday, the unnamed Russian official said "this was routine training for long-range air force crews... for combat with aircraft carriers and large naval formations."

"No international norms or neutral-water flight rules were violated," the official said.

On Tuesday the chief of the U.S. Navy Admiral Gary Roughead described the incident as "benign" and added that while Russia's military was trying to re-emerge as a global force: "I did not consider it to be provocative."

http://www.mnweekly.ru/news/20080214/55310224.html

>>It's hard to tell with different news agencies spinning it different ways. I lean towards believing statements like this could easily be spun this way to reduce the fear of a war that may actually be imminent, but I'm not going to make a judgment on it.

Lyrics, the need for the truth

2008-02-15T07:25:00.001-08:00

just finished these this morning. commentary follows.

have we forgotten the exhortation that speaks to us as children,
and let down our guard? have we not been trying that hard?
does safety breed complacency, and will it take a blow for us to see where we've gone wrong,
have we been singing the wrong song?
has entertainment become our banner,
is this world now our best friend? have we forgotten where our first love did begin?
do we make idols out of those who we trust,
do we keep on pointing fingers at those who speak among us,
and are we going to see this before it's too late?

I don't know how much time we have in this life
I don't know how long it will be before we see strife
all I know, is if He doesn't want it for me, I shouldn't want it anymore

now there's a stillness in the air,
some continue without care for what may come,
this is the calm before the storm,
if you can tell things aren't right, you're already for-warned
when the panic hits will you gasp for air
or will you cast your cares on Him, if you're prepared
when you only have a moment to act
will you already know when it's coming so fast
where to go along this road

will you be blindsided
are you blind-sighted
will we be blindsided
are we blind-sighted
will I be blindsided
am I blind-sighted today?

>>I think the only part that needs explaining is the second verse(begins "now there's a stillness in the air"). This is in reference to the things we may, and likely will experience as believers in the years to come. If we have really entered the 70th week somewhere around Jan. 1st of 2007, we should be seeing the second seal opened any time now, and some time after that, the "abomination of desolation", and the worldwide persecution of our kind. How will we react to this? Will those who are unprepared ignore the Lord's commands to endure persecution(1 Pet. 2:19-25), and obey the government in everything that does not cause us to disobey Him(1 Pet. 2:13-28), and react with violence? There is a verse in Revelation that indicates that some may(which is not suprising, considering the mindset that many have today):

Re 13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Some related verses:

Jas 1:2 ¶ My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

2Th 1:4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:
5 ¶ Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:
6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

The word "endure" can be defined:

"Undergo or be subjected to"

The greek word used there, "anechomai"( an-ekh'-om-ahee), means:

"put up with:--bear with, endure, forbear, suffer"

This is entirely consistent with the idea of taking up one's cross, losing one's life to save it, loving our enemies, and following the example of Christ. When it says in Romans that by doing good to our enemies, we, in essence, will heap hot coals on their heads, it points to the fact that God is the only one who can take care of the matter, and that by leaving it up to Him, we make things worse than they would be for our enemies(that is, of course, unless they repent, which should be our deisre).

Isa 31:1 ¶ Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!

Another benefit to being prepared will likely be a relative calmness compared to those who are taken by complete surprise. When you are aware that something is approaching, you are able to react better, to be more productive in a situation, than if it takes you by surprise. Even if one has already heard that we may have to go through these things, if they are not expecting it, they will still be taken by surprise, to some degree. Brothers and sisters, if you love your own, do not let fear of what others will say or do keep you from sharing what you know about the Lord's return and the events associated with it. I have been convicted of this myself for a while, and while I will not try to shove it in peoples faces, I have resolved to try and speak more freely about the truth He has given without fear. Jesus said:

Mt 10:27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.

Friends, if we know it's true, we have His permission to speak it, if it is in love. Not only this, but we have a command. Will we heed it?

Putin threatens to aim rockets at U.S. bases

2008-02-14T10:06:00.000-08:00

Russian premier again reacts to plan for U.S. installations in Eastern Europe

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin on Thursday repeated his threat to aim Russian rockets at former Soviet satellite states if U.S. missile defense facilities are deployed there.

Speaking about U.S. plans for interceptors in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic, Putin said that "our experts consider that this system threatens our national security and if it appears, we will be obligated to adequately react to this."

He said Russia's action would be to "retarget our missiles toward a system that we aren't creating."

article here

US Intercepts Russian Bombers(again...)

2008-02-14T09:57:00.000-08:00

Navy Intercepts Russian Bombers

By LOLITA C. BALDOR – 2 days ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. fighter planes intercepted two Russian bombers flying unusually close to an American aircraft carrier in the western Pacific during the weekend, The Associated Press has learned.

A U.S. military official says that one Russian Tupolev 95 buzzed the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz twice, at a low altitude of about 2,000 feet, while another bomber circled about 50 nautical miles out. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because the reports on the flights were classified as secret.

The Saturday incident, which never escalated beyond the flyover, comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and Russia over U.S. plans for a missile defense system based in Poland and the Czech Republic.

article here

why am I not suprised...

2008-02-13T07:33:00.000-08:00

Thanks goes to fulfilledprophecy.com for pointing this one out:

http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL08767881.html

EU foreign policy plan may not deliver strong voice

Mon 11 Feb 2008, 13:39 GMT

By David Brunnstrom

BRUSSELS, Feb 11 (Reuters) - A minister from a major Asian state visiting Brussels last month said he planned to meet the "Prime Minister of Europe". Of course he could not recall the person's name -- the post does not exist.

The remark shows how the European Union still struggles to find its voice in the world, decades after U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's famous question in the 1970s: "Who do I call if I want to call Europe?"

The bloc now numbers 27 states and its stature has grown but it plays second fiddle to the United States in many parts of the world -- notably in Middle East diplomacy -- and its power to act remains hobbled by complex internal red tape.

It was to revamp a system described as "verging on dysfunctional" by British diplomat and former EU External Relations director-general Brian Crowe that foreign policy was included in an EU reform treaty due to take effect in January.

EU member states broadly agree that they can exert more influence in a globalised world collectively. But with those same states anxious to protect national interests, it remains to be seen how far-reaching the reforms will prove.

Who will fill a new role of foreign policy supremo, how that person interacts with a planned new EU president, and how the diplomatic support will function have all still to be resolved.

The reform will create a powerful high representative for foreign affairs -- combining the role of an existing EU foreign policy coordinator with that of the European Commissioner in charge of the EU's multi-billion euro aid budget.

That person will be supported by an EU diplomatic corps of some 3,000-4,000, drawn from staff from Brussels, 130 EU delegations worldwide, and the diplomatic services of EU states.

"It's hugely important, because all our challenges are now external," said Katinka Barysch deputy director of the London-based Centre for European Reform (CER) think tank.

"You have climate change, terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, energy security and how to deal with China and Russia."

TURF BATTLES

Antonio Missiroli, director of the European Policy Centre think tank, said the treaty provided a good legal basis for a more coherent EU foreign policy. "But at the moment it's very difficult to predict how everybody will play this game."

"There is a little bit of a worry that the whole Brussels machinery will be caught up in battles for turf."

Barysch said the influence of the high representative -- a post currently held by Spanish socialist Javier Solana -- depended very much on personality.

"It should be someone well known and respected by world leaders. But frequently in the EU you end up with a compromise -- someone who looks like the lowest common denominator."

One EU foreign policy insider called the expected jostling for position for the jobs of president and foreign policy chief and in the new diplomatic corps "an accident waiting to happen".

FAIT ACCOMPLI

Smaller states fear France and other big nations are already trying to be stitch together arrangements that will be presented as a fait accompli when Paris takes over the rotating EU presidency in July, the source said.

A key question is whether the new EU president evolves as a largely ceremonial role or one with real influence.

Britain's former prime Minister Tony Blair has made no secret of his desire for the job, but Missiroli said he would be "very intrusive" in the foreign policy field.

EU diplomats and politicians believe Blair has little chance, as Britain is too disconnected from the EU mainstream, and he is discredited in Europe by his support for the Iraq war.

The smart money is on Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker. A master consensus-builder, he would steal less limelight, but would not accept a purely ceremonial role.

Long a favourite as high representative is Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, a former prime minister with extensive diplomatic experience. However, some consider him too outspoken.

"The rumour gaining ground is that the best personality for the high representative at the beginning is Solana himself -- to have a an old and safe pair of hands, at least for one year or two, it would be better to keep him in place," said Missiroli.

good material

2008-02-12T15:22:00.000-08:00

I'd like to point you all to one of Ted Montgomery's email responses, found here:

How can the European Neighbourhood Policy be the Daniel 9:27 covenant, if the latter is a "peace treaty"?

Email Received:
I've always understood that the covenant mentioned in Daniel 9:27 would be a peace treaty involving Israel. You seem to indicate that the European Neighbourhood Policy might qualify as that covenant. Is there something in that policy indicating that some type of peace negotiations with Israel have taken place?

Ted’s Response:

Those who have studied prophetic passages in the Bible, in particular Daniel 9:27, often have speculated that the referenced covenant would be specifically or primarily a "peace treaty," involving Israel—even though the word "peace" appears nowhere in that prophecy. I feel that the words "peace treaty" boil down to an oversimplified supposition of Daniel 9:27. In eleven renderings of Daniel 9:27, from eleven Bible versions, the word "peace" is not mentioned, nor even indirectly implied.

In the past, I have surmised that the covenant might be, primarily, a "peace treaty" (for instance, one involving "land for peace"). However, I also have acknowledged that this is mere conjecture, since there is nothing in Daniel 9:27 (nor anywhere else, unless I am overlooking some verse or passage) explicitly stating that the covenant (which simply is a "formal and binding agreement") will be a treaty of "peace." The most I feel that can be conceded is that some portion of the covenant or agreement may contain language promoting or advancing the cause of peace in Israel, thus helping to persuade Israel to sign onto the covenant.

In fact, there are numerous innuendos of "peace" contained in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). For example, here are passages, contained in the The European Neighbourhood Policy Fiches on Partners:
How does the ENP deepen the EU-Israel relationship? The EU-Israel ENP Action Plan opened up new possibilities for developing EU-Israel relations by setting out a wide range of areas for greater cooperation including: promoting peace in the Middle East; tackling racism, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia; stepping up cooperation in the fight against terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; tackling human-trafficking, organised crime and migration issues; upgrading political cooperation; encouraging the approximation of Israeli legislation to that of the EU as a means of opening the EU internal market to Israel; and pursuing greater liberalisation of trade, services and agriculture.

The Action Plan deepens political dialogue inter alia working together with the EU, bilaterally and as a member of the Quartet, with the objective to reach a comprehensive settlement of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict....
Here are passages taken from the EU/Israel Action Plan, a document in the procession of many documents along the way to the formalization of the ENP. They also appear to promote peace-related objectives:
The EU and Israel are now closer together than ever before and, as near neighbours, will reinforce their political and economic interdependence. Enlargement offers the opportunity for the EU and Israel to develop an increasingly close relationship, going beyond co-operation, to involve a significant measure of economic integration and a deepening of political co-operation. The European Union and Israel are determined to make use of this occasion to enhance their relations and to promote stability, security and well-being. ... The European Neighbourhood Policy of the European Union sets ambitious objectives based on commitments to shared values and effective implementation of the political, economic, social and institutional actions agreed to in this Action Plan. Israel and the EU will strive to intensify political, security, economic, scientific and cultural relations, and shared responsibility in conflict prevention and conflict resolution.
I feel that all of this, and more, is powerful wording which, essentially, has "enticed" Israel into signing onto the European Neighbourhood Policy—which, potentially, has begun the 70th Week.
Israel always is hoping for a lasting peace in their nation, along with the guarantee of being able to participate in world affairs with the respect afforded any other nation. As such, it is plausible to suppose that Israel would engage in a "peaceful" agreement with several nations, many of which have been its sworn enemies for as long as Israel has existed. The European Neighbourhood Policy appears to qualify as such an agreement.

Putin Puts Europe In a Vice... More Towards WWIII?

2008-02-11T12:04:00.000-08:00

Spiegel Online

Putin Puts Europe In A Vice

By Benjamin Bidder in Moscow

The Russian pipeline North Stream is on its way. Now Vladimir Putin wants to put a second gas pipeline through Bulgaria. The new project not only competes with the European pipeline Nabucco, but also entrenches Europe's dependence on Russian gas.

REUTERS

Putin says his new South Stream pipeline is in the interest of both Russia and the EU.

"Projects like South Stream are in the long-term national interests of Russia and those of our European partners," wrote Russian president Vladimir Putin in an article published on the occasion of his two-day visit to the Bulgarian capital city, Sofia. It was a swipe at the EU that Putin simply couldn't resist. And it hit home. Many in the EU are, after all, trying to reduce theirm dependence on Russian gas.
Putin has again thrown a wrench in the system. In Sofia on Friday and Saturday, he secured Bulgarian agreement for a new pipeline to cross the country on its way further into Europe. The project is called South Stream, and it's in direct competition with the EU joint project known as Nabucco. The pipeline named after a Giuseppe Verdi's opera connects Europe directly to the sources of gas in the Caspian Sea and in Central Asia -- and the idea was to circumvent Russia altogether.

Europeans, though, have had problems realizing their $5 billion project. So far, Nabucco exists only on paper. And it's still unclear where the gas for the pipeline would come from. There is an agreement with Azerbaijan, but experts doubt that sources there are sufficient to supply the massive project.

>>Is this part of a possible cold war starting between Europe and Russia, too? We know that Europe wants to become the world's superpower, and if Russia is vying for that position too, there either has to be a conflict, or one has to withdraw their bid, and cede to the other. I think the Bible points to Europe becoming the next(and last) real superpower, and stories like this make me doubt that Putin wants to step away from being at the seat of the empire. Perhaps he will be content with the influence he has at home, but this article points to a different Putin.

Recently...

2008-02-06T17:19:00.000-08:00

I have received emails and been approached in person about the idea of trying to hold to the OT law as far as sabbath, not eating hooved animals that don't chew their cud, ect. Usually, the same people try to convince me that Jesus did not really mean that He would return in the clouds like He said He would. I would like to respond in love:

The commandments of the Lord to the Church are very clearly defined in the New Testament. We are not bound to the law that Israel was bound to:

Heb 7:14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
15 And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,
16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
17 For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.

Mt 24:32 ¶ Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

The word translated "generation"(genea) in verse 34 does not always refer to what we know as a literal generation, as is shown by it's use in the following passages:

Ac 14:16 Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways .
Ac 15:21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him , being read in the synagogues every sabbath day .
Eph 3:5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men , as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit ;
Eph 3:21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages , world without end . Amen .
Php 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless , the sons of God , without rebuke , in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation , among whom ye shine as lights in the world ; {harmless: or, sincere} {ye shine: or, shine ye}

Jesus was simply referring to the present dispensation, which will not end until He returns in the manner that He prophesied in the Olivette Discourse. This is confirmed by the fact that he said "when ye see all these things"...

Mt 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

There is a reason that Matthew wrote what he did in parenthesis there. "All these things" also includes the following:

Mt 24:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

You know which commandments were deemed the most important in the New Testament?

1. Love God
2. Love your neighbor
3. Pray
4. Watch!!!

Mt 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Mt 24:43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
Mt 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Mt 26:38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
Mt 26:40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
Mt 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Mr 13:37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
Lu 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
1Th 5:6 ¶ Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
1Pe 4:7 ¶ But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
Re 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

What are we to be watching for, again?

Mt 24:32 ¶ Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

His words need no explanation, they speak for themselves:

"29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

chew on this

2008-02-01T14:06:00.000-08:00

"Why do pastors have such a difficult time being pastors? Because we are awash in idolatry. Where two or three are gathered together and the name of God comes up, a committee is formed for making an idol. We want gods that are not gods so we can "be as gods".

The idolatry to which pastors are conspicuously liable is not personal but vocational, the idolatry of a religious career that we can take charge of and manage.

Vocational holiness, in direct opposition to career idolatry, is my subject. Personal holiness, the lifelong process by which our hearts and minds and bodies are conformed to Christ, is more often addressed. But it is both possible and common to develop deep personal pieties that coexist alongside vocational idolatries without anyone noticing anyone amiss."

Eugene H. Peterson

"number of his name"?

2008-01-26T08:30:00.001-08:00

Re 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

I figured that "number of his name" could easily refer to his title, which in the case of Solana is associated with 666 as that is the document number that created two of his titles(i.e. Secretary General of the Council of the EU and High Representative of the CFSP with EU Article 666).

I want to show you all a quote from a very fringe forum that points out some interesting information. I do remember that Solana's full name used to have "Francisco" at the front of it on Wikipedia before the historical revisionism that Cumbey has written of, and you can find an archived version of his biography here. Anyways, here's the quote:

"But hold on, if one mathematically adds his full name, it would equal 30; which is a multiple of 6. If you separate , Francisco Madariaga from Francisco Javier Solana Madariaga, and add Francisco Madariaga it would equal 18. Take 18 and divide it by 3, that would equal 6!

Here's a diagram to simplify this:

Francisco 9 letters
Javier 6 letters
Solana 6 letters
Madariaga 9 letters

Francisco Madariaga
9 + 9 =18
18/3 = 6

Francisco
Madariaga 18\3 =6
Javier = 6
Solana =6

Combining Francisco Madariaga with Javier Solana will equal 666"

If it seems like a stretch because of the 18 associated with his first and last names, consider the following:

He goes by "Javier Solana", so "Francisco Madariaga" are both combined by going unmentioned, and:

Numerology, used extensively by the occult, uses a method known as "digit summing" to simplify numbers, with some being relatively complex:

"Numerologists often reduce a number or word by a process known as digit summing, then reach conclusions based on the single digit that is produced.

Digit summing, as the name implies, involves taking the sum of all of the digits in a number, and repeating the process as necessary until a single-digit answer is produced. For a word, the values corresponding to each letter's place in the alphabet (e.g., A=1, B=2, through Z=26) are summed.

Examples:

3,489 → 3 + 4 + 8 + 9 = 24 → 2 + 4 = 6
Hello → 8 + 5 + 12 + 12 + 15 = 52 → 5 + 2 = 7

A quicker way to arrive at a single-digit "summation" is simply to take the value modulo 9, substituting a 0 result with 9 itself.

Different methods of calculation exist, including Chaldean, Pythagorean, Hebraic, Helyn Hitchcock's method, Phonetic, Japanese and Indian.

The examples above are calculated using decimal (base 10) arithmetic. Other number systems exist, such as binary, octal, hexadecimal and vigesimal; summing digits in these bases yields different results. The first example, shown above, appears thus when rendered in octal (base 8):

3,489₁₀ = 6641₈ → 6 + 6 + 4 + 1 = 21₈ → 2 + 1 = 3₈ = 3_{10" - Wikipedia}

more gold...

2008-01-24T18:00:00.000-08:00

Farmer has pointed out to me that Gold closed at 666.00 even on the eve of Solana's birthday last year, along with closing at 666.30 on his birthday the year before. His birthday was a saturday in 2007, so the market was closed, and the price remained at 666.00 for the duration of his birthday. If you go to www.kitco.com, and enter "July 13 2007" in "Daily Gold Charts" on the right-hand side, you'll see what he means.

Good catch, bjorn!!

Watch - Part 3

2008-01-23T11:34:00.000-08:00

Quoted information is from Wikipedia, cited and corroborated by many soures, unless otherwise noted. Items inside quotations enclosed in <> are my commentary:

"July 14th, 1942 - " Javier Solana Madariaga is born the son of "a chemistry professor" and Obdulia de Madariaga. He is the great nephew of Spanish League of Nations disarmament chief, diplomat, writer and European integrationist Salvador de Madariaga and his wife the British Scholar and economic historian Constance Archibald de Madariaga.

<***NOTE: Constance Cumbey recently pointed out something valuable, here. To quote:

Sometime after the commence of what I term "the editing wars" on Wikipedia vis a vis, "the good doctor" Javier Solana (he has a doctorate in physics), a strange article was posted by the person known as "Squeakbox" on Wikipedia. He rewrote history and claimed that Javier Solana's mother was "the Obdulia Madariaga."

Above all, I wanted to be accurate and not guilty of passing on false information. I researched this "Obdulia Madariaga" and put the series of articles I was doing on this blogspot on hold until I could verify which was right. I went to Spanish stories and read that Solana was the "nieto" meaning "grandson" of Salvador de Madariaga, Nieves Mathew's father. Nieves' Italian language obituary included information that during World War II she had been married with two sons. It also revealed her to be a correspondent with New Age activist Fritjof Capra as well as her fascination with Sir Francis Bacon and "the invisible college." I obtained her Yale University published book and learned from her "Acknowledgments" that Osho, better known to Americans, as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh had been her "teacher." Perhaps a better translation would be "guru."

After doing my own checking, as to the Spanish sources using the word "Nieto," I concluded that Salvador de Madariaga was the grandpa and Nieves Mathews had to be mom. I edited the article with the footnote that the Spanish source "Cidob" used the word Nieto and they were positioned to know.

A few short months ago, I again noticed that Nieves Mathews and Salvador de Madariaga had been distanced, again by Squeakbox, as immediate family to Javier Solana and his elder brother, Luis. This time, Squeakbox claimed his authority was the Spanish organization CIDOB. I went over there and sure enough that was what it was saying in an article sounding very much like the writing style of Squeakbox who lives in a Latin American country and has solid Spanish writing skills.

Well, today my office was visited by an elderly gentleman who once heard me speak and didn't have great computer skills. He wanted to view information I had archived on Javier Solana. I was busy with a client in my inner office, but I brought out my large notebook binders of hardcopied articles for him to peruse. Turning to a few things that I thought would interest him, I was dumbfounded to find my 2001 CIDOB archived articles. They clearly said, both in Spanish and their English translations that Salvador de Madariaga was Javier Solana's grandfather!***>
Solana studied at the El Pilar College, an exclusive Catholic secondary school, before going to Complutense University (UCM). There as a student in 1963 he was sanctioned by the authorities for having organised an opposition forum at the so-called called Week of University Renovation. In 1964 he clandestinely joined the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), which had been illegal under Franco since the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939. In the same year he graduated and then spent a year furthering his studies at Spain's Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and in the United Kingdom.
In 1965 he went to the United States of America, where he spent six years studying at various universities on a Fulbright Scholarship^[2] . He visited the University of Chicago and the University of California, San Diego, and then enrolled in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. There, he taught physics classes as a Teaching Assistant and carried on independent research; he also joined in the protests against the Vietnam War and was President of the Association of Foreign Students. He received his doctorate in physics from Virginia with a thesis on Theory of the Elementary Excitation Spectrum of Superfluid Helium: the Roton Lifetime , in 1971, extending his planned stay in the US by a year in order to continue his research. Returning to Spain he became a lecturer in solid-state physics at the Autonomous University of Madrid, UAM, and then in 1975 he became a Professor at Complutense University. During these years he published more than 30 articles. For a time he worked as assistant to Nicolás Cabrera, whom he had met when Cabrera was Professor at the University of Virginia. The last PhD dissertations that he directed were in the early 1990s.
On returning to Spain in 1971 Solana joined the Democratic Co-ordination of Madrid as the PSOE representative... He was made Minister for Foreign Affairs on July 22, 1992, the day before the opening of the II Ibero-American conference of the heads of state in Madrid, replacing the terminally ill Francisco Fernández Ordóñez. On November 27-28, 1995, while Spain held the Presidency of the Council of the EU , Solana convened and chaired the Barcelona Conference. A treaty was achieved between the twenty-seven nations in attendance with Solana gaining credit for what he called "a process to foster cultural and economic unity in the Mediterranian region".

On December 5, 1995, Solana became the new Secretary-General of NATO, replacing Willy Claes who had been forced to resign in a corruption scandal. His appointment created controversy as, in the past, he had been an opponent of NATO. He had written a pamphlet called 50 Reasons to say no to NATO, and had been on a US subversives list.

On March 24, <1998>, Solana launched air attacks on military and civilian targets in Yugoslavia without authorization from Security Council because of the opposition of veto-bearing Russia, an historic Orthodox Slav ally of Serbia. He justified the attacks on humanitarian grounds, and on the responsibility of NATO to keep peace in Europe and to prevent ethnic cleansings and genocide similar to the ones that happened during the Bosnian War (1992-1995).

After leaving NATO, Solana took up a role in the European Union. Earlier in the year, on the 1999-07-04ww, he was appointed by the Cologne European Council as Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union. An administrative position but it was decided that the Secretary-General would also be appointed High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). In this role he represented the EU abroad where there was an agreed common policy. He took up the post on 1999- 10-18, shortly after standing down from NATO. The post has a budget of €40 million, most of which goes to Balkan operations. From 25 November 1999-11-25 he was also appointed Secretary-General of Western European Union (WEU), overseeing the transfer of responsibilities from that organisation to the CFSP. In 2004 his 5 year mandate was renewed. He has also become president of the European Defence Agency."

Additional quote from a previous Wikipedia entry:

"In terms of personal habits, Solana is said to eat little and sleep less, surviving on a diet of organic fish and fruit. Recently, however, it is noted that he has made media statements that he enjoys Peking Duck, so obviously he departs from the fish and fruit regimen at times. Solana is a gun collector, and enjoys studying military battles. General Wesley Clark, a man who greatly admired and respected Solana, once asked Solana the secret of his diplomatic success. Solana answered, "Make no enemies, and never ask a question to which you do not know or like the answer." He has been described as a "squarer of circles". Solana is a Knight of the Order of St Michael and St George, a member of the Spanish section of the Club of Rome, and has received the Grand Cross of Isabel the Catholicin Spain . . . Solana has also received the Manfred Wörner Medall of the Defense Minister in Germany."

>>Here's where it starts to get interesting. First, it's notable that he chaired the Barcelona Conference, the results of which have been incorporated into the European Neigborhood Policy(more on that later). Also, as the Secretary General of the Council of the European Union, not to mention the High Representative for the CFSP(Common Foreign and Security Policy), he has quite a bit of power. The kicker(or one of many) is that he's also the Secretary General of the WEU. The WEU was established on the basis of the Treaty of Brussels of 1948(read: the year Israel became a nation again). By the time Javier Solana became Secretary General of the WEU, it was composed of the following permanent members:

"Member countries: (modified Brussels Treaty - 1954)
All of them being members of both NATO and the European Union. These are the only nations that have full voting rights.
United Kingdom
France
Germany
Italy
Belgium
Netherlands
Luxembourg
Portugal (March 27, 1990 )
Spain (March 27, 1990)
Greece (1995)"

>>By the time he became the Secretary General, this was a ten-nation military alliance. In Daniel 7:23 and 24, we read:

Da 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.

Of note is that it says "he shall subdue three kings". Shortly after the ENPI budget period(which runs from Jan 1st, 2007, to December 31st, 2013, which is seven years, more on that later) began, the prime ministers of the EU "big three" were changed. In Germany, Schroeder was replaced by Angela Merkel(who has previously worked with Javier Solana, and was instrumental in getting the EU's constitution{after being renamed to a "reform treaty} started in the ratification process), In France, Chirac was replaced by Nikolas Sarkozy, and in Britain, Blair was replaced by Gordon Brown. It was reported that those three nations had been stalling the EU's progress in certain areas, and I've got a blog post on all of that with news articles linked here. Next, check out the EU's Article 666, from the EU website:

"General Report 1998 - Chapter V: Role of the Union in the world
Section 1: Common foreign and security policy (3/24)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

666. In December the Vienna European Council expressed the opinion that the Secretary-General of the Council and High Representative for the CFSP should be appointed as soon as possible and be a personality with a strong political profile. It invited the Council to prepare common strategies on Russia, Ukraine, the Mediterranean region and the western Balkans, on the understanding that the first would be on Russia. Welcoming the new impetus given to the debate on a common European policy on security and defence, the European Council also noted that the CFSP should be backed by credible operational capabilities (1)."

-http://europa.eu/generalreport/en/1998/x0666.htm

>>This was instrumental in creating Solana's position as Secretary General of the Council, and High Representative for the CFSP. Prior to his appointment, this office did not exist. The next document, found under the heading "RECOMMENDATION 666 - on the consequences of including certain functions of WEU in the European Union" at the WEU website, here, contains the following text:

"The Assembly... recommends that the council... Support proposals for the WEU Secretary-General and CFSP High Representative to preside over the PSC and civilian crisis-management machinery and give him powers to convene the Council of the European Union in the event of an emergency"

>>The PSC is the " Political and Security Committee or PSC, which monitors the international situation in the areas covered by the CFSP and contributes by delivering opinions to the Council of Ministers, either at its request or its own initiative, and also monitors the implementation of agreed policies."

On June 6th, 2006, I was on my way home from Capitola. I remember stopping by a Starbucks to grab some coffee, only to see Javier Solana on the front page of the New York Times in their news stand. If you go to nytimes.com and search the archives for "June 6, 2006", the following results should come up:

For Law Firm, Serial Plaintiff Had Golden Touch

By JULIE CRESWELL and JONATHAN D. GLATER

June 6, 2006 - By JULIE CRESWELL and JONATHAN D. GLATER - Front Page - 2056 words

House at Stake, Midterm Election Gets Early Start

By ADAM NAGOURNEY

June 6, 2006 - By ADAM NAGOURNEY - Front Page - 1227 words

Video: Races in Full Swing
Video: The California House Race

U.S. Assails Albany's Efforts on Medicaid Fraud

By MICHAEL LUO and RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA

June 6, 2006 - By MICHAEL LUO and RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA - Front Page - 1097 words

Supreme Court Roundup; COURT TO WEIGH RACE AS A FACTOR IN SCHOOL ROLLS

By LINDA GREENHOUSE

June 6, 2006 - By LINDA GREENHOUSE - Front Page - 1322 words

SOMALI ISLAMISTS DECLARE VICTORY; WARLORDS ON RUN

By MARC LACEY; Mark Mazzetti contributed reporting from Washington for this article.

June 6, 2006 - By MARC LACEY; Mark Mazzetti contributed reporting from Washington for this article. - World - 1261 words

U.S. Is Offering Deals on Trade To Entice Iran

By HELENE COOPER

June 6, 2006 - By HELENE COOPER - World - 794 words

Is it a coincidence that Javier Solana's picture comes up for number 6? That itself makes a total of three sixes: the search result, the 6 in "June 6", and the 6 in "2006".

Here's a short article from the late Herb Peters, who ran www.fulfilledprophecy.com, which has been taken over by his daughter and her husband:

"Last night I was watching Fox News when I noticed the date on the screen. Sure enough, the clock on the wall indicated it was a little after 12. It was 06-06-06.
My attention returned to Fox News and the story being reported. To my surprise, it was about the European Union's top diplomat arriving in Iran. As I began to realizing who the story was about, the camera came in for a close-up and the reporter said his name. It was Javier Solana.
Only hours before, on the same network, I had watched a documentary about how some people -- both religious and secular -- were anticipating the coming date of 06-06-06. Some people were uneasy and concerned. Others were actually a bit excited. I had thought the whole idea about the date meaning anything somewhat funny. Now I was seeing this.
You see, this is the first time in the American media that I had seen Javier Solana at the center of attention. I've seen him before in the background -- like while standing beside other important leaders, but never in the foreground like now.
Last week I did a commentary titled, That's how I knew. I drew attention to the work of Dr. John F. Walvoord and his book, Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East Crisis. I wanted to show how accurately Walvoord foresaw the events that we're now witnessing in Europe. I accomplished this by quoting some of Walvoord's observations. Let's take a look at two of them. The first is about a coming ten-nation alliance. Walvoord said:
"The first movements toward the revival of the fourth empire are in today's headlines as the drama of international power and wealth again focuses on the Middle East. Ten strong nations can be expected to emerge in an alliance of political and economic power. That will be the beginning of the future revival of the Roman Empire. This will set the stage for the emergence of the new world dictator" (pg 155).
As you know, a ten-nation alliance did appear in Europe in 1995, the Western European Union -- exactly as Walvoord foresaw.
The second observation is about the coming world dictator that's expected to rise from among these ten nations. Walvoord says:
"A new world dictator will first reveal himself in the role of a peacemaker in the Middle East" (pg 155).
Here's my point: If Walvoord was right regarding his first observation, it's highly probable he'll be right about his second as well.
This morning I went to Google News, as I usually do. But, what I saw wasn't usual. According to Google, the top story in the US was about Solana arriving in Iran. See below:

Later in the day, not only was the story about Solana and Iran still at the top position, but also another story about Solana and the Palestinian power struggle appeared.

Friends, for the first time, the eyes of the world are on Solana.
And, it's 06-06-06."

>>Also, if you go to http://www.kitco.com/charts/historicalgold.html and enter July 14(Solana's birthday), 2006, under "DAILY GOLD CHARTS", and click "view charts", you'll see that Gold closed at $666.30 that day. All of this seems pretty convincing to me that this man's number might just be 666.

Some other interesting similarities:

Da 11:36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.

Verse 37 - "Neither shall he regard... the desire of women". Javier Solana is married, but has lived apart from his wife since 1995 when he took up his job at NATO.

"Solana is still legally married to Concepción Giménez. They have two grown children, a girl, Vega and a boy, Diego. However, per the EuropeanVoice?, the couple separated in 1995. They still make occasional public appearances together; however, they live separately. Solana did not move his family to Brussels and he has a separate apartment in Madrid which he uses on his trips home."
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:t-DYcNum5mQJ:www.legjoints.com/Javier_Solana/+%22Javier+Solana%22+honourable&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=6

The link above will take you to an archived version of the Wikipedia entry with this information, as it has been recently removed. To quote a Constance Cumbey(author of A Planned Deception: The Staging of a New Age Messiah and other widely acclaimed books exposing the New Age movement) blog post,

"The European Voice has reported since 1995 that the couple "called it quits" in early 1995 and that his wife would not be joining him in Brussels.

I notice that the new historical revisionism on Wikipedia came from Squeakbox. "Squeakbox," claims his great contributions to the world were (1) proving former Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie was God; and (2) proving Javier Solana was not the devil. Squeakbox has leaned over backwards with the help of an alleged Australian Christian collaborator, "One Salient Oversight" to delete anything from Solana's internet encyclopedic entries that would cause anybody to read anything of prophetic fulfillment in them, e.g. The Barcelona Process; the 10 Nation Western European Union; Recommendation 666; Section 666, etc.

I suspect that the same spirit which has led Squeakbox to proclaim "Haile Selassie" "God" has led him to his historical revisionism in the name of Javier Solana. I wonder what Javier Solana thinks."

To quote another Constance Cumbey article found here,

"If Herb Peters were still living, I am very sure that our telephones would have mutually rang today and we would have been discussing this EU Business article. Javier Solana's African operations have obviously been very successful, as evidenced by the Sierra Leone elections. You may read it for yourself here. You may also read about it here as since I originally posted the article, the EU source has obviously decided to limit its access!I am equally certain we would have been making comparisons between the content of this article and Daniel 8:9. One of us, maybe both, would have been commenting on the Daniel phraseology "And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land."

At any rate Javier Solana's prestige on the African continent, directly to the south of his EU bailiwick, appears to be growing. Likewise with his Neighbourhood Action Plans, to the East (Caucasus, Balkans, etc.) and clearly "toward the pleasant land," (Israel). Recently, he played a major role at ASEAN and here in the USA, his "global governance" leadership role is solid."

And another, found here,

"General Report 1998 - Chapter V: Role of the Union in the worldSection 1: Common foreign and security policy (3/24)
666. In December the Vienna European Council expressed the opinion that the Secretary-General of the Council and High Representative for the CFSP should be appointed as soon as possible and be a personality with a strong political profile. It invited the Council to prepare common strategies on Russia, Ukraine, the Mediterranean region and the western Balkans, on the understanding that the first would be on Russia. Welcoming the new impetus given to the debate on a common European policy on security and defence, the European Council also noted that the CFSP should be backed by credible operational capabilities (1) .
(1). Bull. 12-1998.

Both the verbiage and its cadence strangely (perhaps unreasonably) reminded me of a passage from the Book of Daniel :

"And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land." Daniel 8:9

Another coincidence, I guess. Toward the south (Mediterranean region); toward the east (Russia, Ukraine, western Balkans), toward the pleasant land (Solana's big emphasis on Israel?)."

Another similarity is found in Daniel 11:21:

Da 11:21 ¶ And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
22 And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant.

One thing I have noticed about Mr. Solana, and this is subjective, is that he is always very flattering in his speeches. Look one of them up to see what I mean. Not only that, but even with the incredible amount of power this man holds, he is not honored as a king, merely a foreign minister.

Next, we'll look at the ENPI, which is the speculated "covenant with many", with a seven-year budget period, and a mid-term review.

Da 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

The direct history of the ENP actually began with the Barcelona Process:

"The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership or Barcelona Process is a wide framework of political, economic and social relations between member states of the EU and countries of the Southern Mediterranean. It was initiated on 27-28 November 1995 through a conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, held in Barcelona. Besides the 27 member states of the European Union, the remaining "Mediterranean Partners" are all other Mediterranean countries without Libya (which has had 'observer status' since 1999). Since the establishment of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument in 2007 the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership initiative will become fully a part of the wider European Neighbourhood Policy."

So here, we read that the "Euro-Mediterranean Partnership", or Barcelona Process, became part of the European Neighborhood Policy in 2007. The Barcelona Conference, which began the process, was chaired by Javier Solana before his appointment to be the Secretary General of NATO(see his biography at the beginning of this article). The "Mediterranean Partners" of the ENP are as follows:

ENP partner EU contract Country Report Action Plan Adoption by the EU Adoption by the ENP partner

Morocco AA, March 2000 May 2004 End 2004 21.2.2005 27.7.2005

Algeria AA, September 2005 Under development (2007) (2007) (2007) (2007)

Tunisia AA, March 1998 May 2004 End 2004 21.2.2005 4.7.2005

Libya Libya has not yet started to negotiate an Association Agreement as envisioned by the Barcelona Process .

Egypt AA, June 2004 March 2005 End 2006 5.3.2007 6.3.2007

Jordan AA, May 2002 May 2004 End 2004 21.2.2005 11.1.2005

Lebanon AA, April 2006 March 2005 Autumn 2006 17.10.2006 19.1.2007

Syria AA signature by the EU Council pending Syrian co-operation with the UN Investigation Commission.

Israel AA, June 2000 May 2004 End 2004 21.2.2005 11.4.2005

Palestinian Authority Interim AA, July 1997 May 2004 End 2004 21.2.2005 4.5.2005

Moldova PCA, July 1998 May 2004 End 2004 21.2.2005 22.2.2005

Ukraine PCA, March 1998 May 2004 End 2004 21.2.2005 21.2.2005

Belarus EU considers the Belarus authorities too undemocratic; PCA ratification procedure suspended since 1997.

Georgia PCA, July 1999 March 2005 Autumn 2006 13.11.2006 14.11.2006

Armenia PCA, July 1999 March 2005 Autumn 2006 13.11.2006 14.11.2006

Azerbaijan PCA, July 1999 March 2005 Autumn 2006 13.11.2006 14.11.2006

Russia PCA, December 1997 opted to cooperate through the formation of EU-Russia Common Spaces instead of the ENP.

Kazakhstan PCA, July 1999 the Kazakh Foreign Ministry has expressed interest in the ENP [4]. Some MEPs also discussed Kazakhstan's inclusion in the ENP [5].

ENP partner	EU contract	Country Report	Action Plan	Adoption by the EU	Adoption by the ENP partner
Morocco	AA, March 2000	May 2004	End 2004	21.2.2005	27.7.2005
Algeria	AA, September 2005	Under development (2007)	(2007)	(2007)	(2007)
Tunisia	AA, March 1998	May 2004	End 2004	21.2.2005	4.7.2005
Libya	Libya has not yet started to negotiate an Association Agreement as envisioned by the Barcelona Process .
Egypt	AA, June 2004	March 2005	End 2006	5.3.2007	6.3.2007
Jordan	AA, May 2002	May 2004	End 2004	21.2.2005	11.1.2005
Lebanon	AA, April 2006	March 2005	Autumn 2006	17.10.2006	19.1.2007
Syria	AA signature by the EU Council pending Syrian co-operation with the UN Investigation Commission.
Israel	AA, June 2000	May 2004	End 2004	21.2.2005	11.4.2005
Palestinian Authority	Interim AA, July 1997	May 2004	End 2004	21.2.2005	4.5.2005
Moldova	PCA, July 1998	May 2004	End 2004	21.2.2005	22.2.2005
Ukraine	PCA, March 1998	May 2004	End 2004	21.2.2005	21.2.2005
Belarus	EU considers the Belarus authorities too undemocratic; PCA ratification procedure suspended since 1997.
Georgia	PCA, July 1999	March 2005	Autumn 2006	13.11.2006	14.11.2006
Armenia	PCA, July 1999	March 2005	Autumn 2006	13.11.2006	14.11.2006
Azerbaijan	PCA, July 1999	March 2005	Autumn 2006	13.11.2006	14.11.2006
Russia	PCA, December 1997	opted to cooperate through the formation of EU-Russia Common Spaces instead of the ENP.
Kazakhstan	PCA, July 1999	the Kazakh Foreign Ministry has expressed interest in the ENP [4]. Some MEPs also discussed Kazakhstan's inclusion in the ENP [5].

Israel is just one among these "many" nations. Once again, it is important to note that the ENPI, which is the funding instrument for the European Neighborhood Policy, has a seven year budget period, from Jan. 1st 2007 to Dec. 31st 2013. Further, this has been clearly stated to "confirm" what began with the Barcelona Process, as pointed out by Bjorn Freiberg on the fulfilledprophecy.com forum, here:

"1. hint:
Under the „FAQ about the ENP" on the official EU-Website we find the following question:
"1. 6. How does the so-called "Barcelona Process" relate to the ENP?"
The EU's answer is: " ...the Neighbourhood Policy Action Plans, agreed with the partners, will strengthen the Barcelona objectives and provide benchmarks and incentives to improve their implementation" .
http://europa.eu.int/comm/world/enp/faq_en.htm#1.6

2. hint:
Further in the „EU ENP action plan" for Israel it is written, that it's goal would be to:
"...promote incrementally regional peace and security through inter alia the relevant provisions in the Barcelona Declaration of 1995 ,..." .
http://europa.eu.int/comm/world/enp/pdf/action_plans/israel_enp_ap_final_en.pdf
(p. 7.)
3. hint:
In an Interim Report from the Council of the European Union by Javier Solana on the "EU Strategic Partnership with the Mediterranean and the Middle East" already from 19-3-2004, on page 8 under "Neighbourhood Policy - deepening the emp" is written:
"...In contact with our partners in the region, we should clearly situate the Neighbourhood Action Plans in the context of a reinforcement of the Barcelona Process... ."
http://ue.eu.int/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/EN/reports/79886.pdf

If we take a look at the dictionary we find:
„reinforce.
re•in•force also re-en•force or re•en•force Audio pronunciation of "reinforce" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (rn-fôrs, -frs)
tr.v. re•in•forced, re•in•forc•ing, re•in•forc•es
1. To give more force or effectiveness to; strengthen: The news reinforced her hopes.
2. To strengthen (a military force) with additional personnel or equipment.
3. To strengthen by adding extra support or material.
4. To increase the number or amount of; augment.
5. Psychology.
1. To reward (an experimental subject, for example) with a reinforcer subsequent to a desired response or performance.
2. To encourage (a response) by means of a reinforcer".

And under:
"confirm.
con•firm Audio pronunciation of "confirm" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (kn-fûrm)
tr.v. con•firmed, con•firm•ing, con•firms
1. To support or establish the certainty or validity of; verify.
2. To make firmer; strengthen: Working on the campaign confirmed her intention to go into politics.
3. To make valid or binding by a formal or legal act; ratify.
4. To administer the religious rite of confirmation to.
I used The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000."

So this is without a doubt a "covenant", "confirmed", and for "one week". To quote the official ENPI PDF, dated 9/11/2006, and found here,

"Joint operational programmes shall be established by the
Member States and partner countries concerned at the
appropriate territorial level, in accordance with their institutional
system and taking into account the principle of partnership
referred to in Article 4. They shall normally cover a period of
seven years running from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2013."

The funding page from the same website also says,

"From 1 January 2007 onwards, as part of the reform of EC assistance instruments, the MEDA and TACIS and various other programmes will be replaced by a single instrument – the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument [113 KB] (ENPI). This will be a much more flexible, policy-driven instrument. It is designed to target sustainable development and approximation to EU policies and standards - supporting the agreed priorities in the ENP Action Plans (as well as the Strategic Partnership with Russia, which was previously also covered by the TACIS programme). For the next budgetary period (2007-2013), approximately €12 billion in EC funding will be available to support these partners' reforms, an increase of 32% in real terms."

Not only that, but there are a few items in this timetable which appear to align even further with the one set forth by Scripture. Again, Daniel 9:27 reads:

Da 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

"In the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate" -- this refers to the Abomination of Desolation, spoken of by our Lord in the Olivette Discourse. If the "week" ran from the beginning of 2007 to the end of 2013, the mid-point would be in 2010. Included in the ENP is what they call the "Headline Goal 2010". The official PDF here includes the following statements, organized by Ted Montgomery, here:

Headline Goal 2010

Included are the following statements:

"Member States have decided to commit themselves to be able by 2010 to respond with rapid and decisive action applying a fully coherent approach to the whole spectrum of crisis management operations covered by the Treaty on the European Union. This includes humanitarian and rescue tasks, peace-keeping tasks, tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking. As indicated by the European Security Strategy this might also include joint disarmament operations, the support for third countries in combating terrorism and security sector reform. The EU must be able to act before a crisis occurs and preventive engagement can avoid that a situation deteriorates. The EU must retain the ability to conduct concurrent operations thus sustaining several operations simultaneously at different levels of engagement."
"Interoperability but also deployability and sustainability will be at the core of Member States efforts and will be the driving factors of this goal 2010. The Union will thus need forces, which are more flexible, mobile and interoperable, making better use of available resources by pooling and sharing assets, where appropriate, and increasing the responsiveness of multinational forces."
"The ability for the EU to deploy force packages at high readiness as a response to a crisis either as a stand-alone force or as part of a larger operation enabling follow-on phases, is a key element of the 2010 Headline Goal. These minimum force packages must be military effective, credible and coherent and should be broadly based on the Battlegroups concept. This constitutes a specific form of rapid response, and includes a combined arms battalion sized force package with Combat Support and Combat Service Support. Rapid reaction calls for rapid decision making and planning as well as rapid deployment of forces."
"Between 2006 and 2010 the normal iterations described in the Capability Development Mechanism will continue to take place with the involvement of the European Defence Agency, as appropriate. Building on the Headline Goal 2010, a longer term vision beyond 2010 will be formulated with the objective of identifying to rends in future capability developments and requirements and increasing convergence and coherence."

It appears that within this same time frame, a comprehensive agreement on Animal Health and Welfare has been reached:

"Questions and Answers on the Action Plan on the Protection and Welfare of Animals

Included are the following statements:

"The overall aim of the Action Plan is to set out timetabled measures that will be taken by the Commission to promote animal welfare over the next 5 years. ... Commission has set out the following primary objectives for the Action Plan:
To give a clearer direction to EU animal welfare policies
To continue the promotion of high animal welfare standards
To provide better focus for the allocation of resources
To support future trends in animal welfare research
To continue to seek alternative solutions to animal testing
To ensure a more consistent and coordinated approach to animal welfare across all EU policy areas"

"The Action Plan identifies 5 broad areas for action in the field of animal welfare for the 2006-2010 period:
Upgrading minimum standards for animal protection and welfare
Giving high priority to promoting policy-oriented research and the application of the '3Rs' principle (replacement, reduction and refinement of the use of animals in experiments) to animal testing
Introducing standardised animal welfare indicators
Ensuring animal handlers and the general public are more involved and informed on animal welfare issues"

"In a table annexed to the Action Plan, the Commission outlines planned specific actions to improve the protection and welfare of animals, some of which are already underway. These include: ... the possible establishment of a European Quality Standard for products emanating from high animal welfare standards (2010)."
"The Action Plan clearly states that any measures taken in relation to animal welfare at EU level must be founded on a solid scientific basis, provided through research. ... The 7th EU Research Framework Programme (FP7), currently being finalised by the Commission and foreseen to run from 2007-2013, integrates animal welfare into its thematic action on Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology."
"The legally binding Protocol on Protection and Welfare of Animals, annexed to the EU Treaty, recognises that animals are sentient beings. It states, therefore, that full regard should be paid to animal welfare concerns when formulating or implementing policies relating to agriculture, transport, research and the internal market. This will be done while respecting the legislative or administrative provisions and customs of Member States relating in particular to religious rites, cultural traditions and religious heritage.""

http://www.nieuwsbank.nl/en/2006/01/23/r014.htm"

This would give ample opportunity for the fulfillment of Daniel 8:12:

Da 8:12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.

On the action plan specific to the EU/Israel, it has been said:

"EU/Israel Action Plan

Included are the following statements:

�The enlargement of the European Union on 1st May 2004 has brought a historical shift for the Union in political, geographic and economic terms. The EU and Israel are now closer together than ever before and, as near neighbours, will reinforce their political and economic interdependence. Enlargement offers the opportunity for the EU and Israel to develop an increasingly close relationship, going beyond co-operation, to involve a significant measure of economic integration and a deepening of political co-operation. The European Union and Israel are determined to make use of this occasion to enhance their relations and to promote stability, security and well-being. The approach is founded on partnership, joint ownership and differentiation. It will contribute to the further development of our strategic partnership. The European Neighbourhood Policy of the European Union sets ambitious objectives based on commitments to shared values and effective implementation of the political, economic, social and institutional actions agreed to in this Action Plan. Israel and the EU will strive to intensify political, security, economic, scientific and cultural relations, and shared responsibility in conflict prevention and conflict resolution.�
http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/action_plans/israel_enp_ap_final_en.pdf"

I believe that this has likely been the rise of the first beast of Revelation. The likely second, with "the Matreiya" as it's "Christ", often called the "false prophet", is next, I believe. I will write about that in the next installment, Lord willing.

Watch - Part 2

2008-01-23T09:58:00.001-08:00

As to what to watch for, Scripture makes it pretty clear for the seeking heart:

Mt 24:32 ¶ Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Verses 33 and 42 are strongly connected here. "Watch therefore: for ye know not...", and "when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near" especially make sense in light of the Lord's statement in Revelation 3:3, " If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee".

So what are "all these things"? To find out, we just have to read what was written before, in the same context(you don't have to read it all through if you know it well, but I'm posting the majority of the chapter to show the continuity of His teaching from vs. 4 to the end of the chapter, and also to show the context of vs.15 especially):

Mt 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4 ¶ And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 ¶ Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors

While most of "these things" are pretty "in-your-face", extreme happenings, and will be pretty hard to miss when they do start happening(although the wars and persecution could easily be assigned some other cause by anyone who does not want to make the connection, as they have happened throughout history), Jesus points us to Daniel in verse 15:

15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

Daniel describes an 11th king, a leader, of a 10-nation alliance, who subdues 3 of the 10(Dan. 7:17-28, Rev. 13:1), "confirms" a "covenant with many" for "one week"(seven years, as our pastor has pointed out, Dan. 9:27), and ends Israel's sacrifices "in the midst of the week"(which will have to be resumed by this time) "by way of transgression"(Dan. 8:12), and it says that "for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate"(Daniel 9:27). It describes how at the beginning of these things, he will wax "exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land"(Dan. 8:9). It says that he will not regard "the desire of women"(Dan. 11:37), that "he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries" and that he will be one "to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom"(Dan. 11:21).

The WEU, Javier Solana, EU/WEU Recommendation 666, and the ENP appear to fulfill all of these things, except for the AOD(which cannot happen until "the midst of the week", or in the middle of the 7 years) to the "t", down to the tiny details, and it also appears that the AOD is set up to be fulfilled when the time comes in light of the Temple Institute's preparedness for the sacrificial system, and the ENP's mid-term review set for 2010, with Animal Health and Welfare on the agenda for EU-Israel relations(sounds quite a bit like ending sacrifices "by way of transgression").

Just reading over alot of my old blog posts...

2008-01-21T09:40:00.000-08:00

not the ones in the "key posts" section, but mostly the ones when I was relentlessly persuing the 2300 day theory. I wish I was perfect. reality declares otherwise, though. thank God I have Jesus.

The bear bristles...

2008-01-19T07:47:00.000-08:00

Russia's military chief of staff said Saturday that Moscow could use nuclear weapons in preventive strikes in case of a major threat, the latest aggressive remarks from increasingly assertive Russian authorities.

"We have no plans to attack anyone, but we consider it necessary for all our partners in the world community to clearly understand ... that to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia and its allies, military forces will be used, including preventively, including with the use of nuclear weapons," General Yuri Baluyevsky said.

The comments from the hawkish Baluyevsky did not appear to mark a policy shift for Russia, whose leaders have stressed the need to maintain a powerful nuclear deterrent and reserved the right to carry out preventive strikes to counter existential threats.

But they were made at a time of increasingly strained relations between Moscow and the West, which are at odds over a range of issues and are embroiled in persistent disputes over US plans for missile defense facilities in former Soviet satellite states that have joined NATO as well as alliance members' refusal to ratify an updated European conventional arms treaty.

Ynet News

>>Re 6:1 ¶ And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
3 ¶ And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

Da 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.

Mt 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Friends, I think we may be getting even closer to the second seal, if this is it. This is not based on any calculation of days, merely events that seem to line up with the pattern prophesied in Scripture.

I believe that the first seal may have been getting the constitutional ratification process begun in the EU, and the "subduing" of "three kings"; Chirac, Schroeder, and Blair. See this post for more info.

I think this next war, if it occurs, may be labled falsely as "Gog/Magog" by many, especially Israel. I believe we can expect to see a false fulfillment of Ezekiel 38, and the eventual establishment of a temple in Jerusalem, before the Abomination of Desolation(Dan. 9:27, Zech. 14, Matt. 24:15-21), the "great tribulation", and the subesquent return of Jesus Christ for His saints.

Mt 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Where were you on 06/06/06?

2008-01-18T02:29:00.000-08:00

I was on my way back up to Auburn from Capitola, CA, near Santa Cruz. I remember stopping by a Starbucks to grab some coffee, only to see Javier Solana on the front page of the New York Times in their news stand. If you go to nytimes.com and search the archives for "June 6, 2006", the following results should come up:

1. For Law Firm, Serial Plaintiff Had Golden Touch

By JULIE CRESWELL and JONATHAN D. GLATER

June 6, 2006 - By JULIE CRESWELL and JONATHAN D. GLATER - Front Page - 2056 words

2. House at Stake, Midterm Election Gets Early Start

By ADAM NAGOURNEY

June 6, 2006 - By ADAM NAGOURNEY - Front Page - 1227 words

3. U.S. Assails Albany's Efforts on Medicaid Fraud

By MICHAEL LUO and RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA

June 6, 2006 - By MICHAEL LUO and RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA - Front Page - 1097 words
4. Supreme Court Roundup; COURT TO WEIGH RACE AS A FACTOR IN SCHOOL ROLLS

By LINDA GREENHOUSE

June 6, 2006 - By LINDA GREENHOUSE - Front Page - 1322 words

5. SOMALI ISLAMISTS DECLARE VICTORY; WARLORDS ON RUN

By MARC LACEY; Mark Mazzetti contributed reporting from Washington for this article.

June 6, 2006 - By MARC LACEY; Mark Mazzetti contributed reporting from Washington for this article. - World - 1261 words

- 6. U.S. Is Offering Deals on Trade To Entice Iran
  
  By HELENE COOPER
  
  June 6, 2006 - By HELENE COOPER - World - 794 words

Is it a coincidence that Javier Solana's picture comes up for number 6? That makes a total of three sixes: the search result, the 6 in "June 6", and the 6 in "2006".

"Boast not against the branches..."

2008-01-16T18:13:00.000-08:00

I want to be careful that my comments concerning the Temple Institute and Othrdox Jewry are not deemed anti-Semitic. The world situation is a very complex one, and accusations are often thrown around before something is given time to be understood, which only leads to trouble.

I do not believe that the Jews are behind the NWO. I do not in any way, nor have I ever, identified with the ideology propounded by the "Christian Identity" cult, or others like it. I think the Holocaust was an atrocity, and that racial or religious persecution in any form is unjust. This does not mean, though, that it is right to sugar-coat false religion, present-day Judaism included. Critical thinking is necessary to establish a proper world view in light of God's Word.

I merely believe that:

1. Orthodox Israel is currently apostate(Romans 11:7).

2. God Himself will bring about consequences for this(Zech. 14, Deuteronomy 8)

3. Anyone who does not know God(which is everyone at one point, hence the need for salvation in Jesus Christ), including present day Orthodox Jews, could be described in this way:

Ro 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17 And the way of peace have they not known:
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

This understanding must also be balanced with the knowledge that salvation is wholly of grace, and that, as Paul says just before the passage above, "What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise". God commands us to love all of mankind, Israel included, because it is only His place to judge. Love is a verb... the word used in this case(Romans 13:10 for example) is "agape", which is benevolent love. It is good will towards mankind, which includes telling the truth about any given situation. Romans 11 has some good things to say about how we should relate to Israel as they stand now:

Ro 11:1 ¶ I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,
3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded
8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
9 And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:
10 Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.
11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
12 Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?
13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
14 If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.
15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.

Here, in verses 18-21(I quoted a large section of the chapter for context), Paul is condemning an attitude of boasting against Israel, i.e., "we are better than them". He does note in verses 2 and 3 how Elijah "maketh intercession to God against Israel", but also in 4 and 5 that there is still a remnant according to grace in spite of this. This remnant, which I believe will be enlarged as we get closer to the Lord's return, will be the "Israel" that will inherit the promises:

Ro 9:6 ¶ Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

As for those outside of the remnant, Paul says:

Ro 11:7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded
8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
9 And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:

With this in mind, it would seem that the political support(above that of other nations) of those spoken of in Romans 11:7-9 based solely on their racial heritage would be at odds with God's Word. We are not executors of God's wrath, but if we try to keep Israel in the land of Israel forever, we will eventually be at odds with God's plan:

Zec 14:1 ¶ Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

The knowledge of their spiritual condition should also cause us to be cautious about their motives, especially when it comes to religious things, as it should with anyone who does not know the Lord.

Thanks for reading!

And more...

2008-01-15T07:26:00.001-08:00

While not yet rivaling UFO hot spots like Mexico City or Phoenix, Lake Erie has generated enough buzz that news and documentary filmmakers are taking notice. Several Lake Erie UFO videos have made the national news, and The History Channel is airing a segment on Lake Erie UFOs, due to air in February.

There have been more than 20 credible UFO sightings in the area in the last two years, according to Clark, a spokesman for the Cleveland Ufology Project, one of the oldest UFO-spotting groups in the country.

"There's a pattern here," says Sam Phillips, a musician who filmed a UFO hovering over downtown Cleveland in March 2007, which was shown nationwide by CBS News. "There's a riddle here. And I want answers. I want an explanation."

Phillips' video is one of a dozen-plus amateur videos posted on YouTube tagged "Lake Erie Lights" and "Lake Erie UFOs."

One YouTube video shows several pulsating lights materializing under an orange-red crescent moon.

Another clip, viewed more than 600,000 times, appears to show two UFOs hovering, then merging above the lake.

"There's a huge story unfolding here," says Michael Lee Hill, a musician and the person who shot the "merging UFOs" video. "I think they're absolutely sending us a message. I believe they are here to help us become a galactic society."

Wired News

>>Need I say more? If you don't know what I think about all this, check the links to the right.

More UFO Business

2008-01-15T07:15:00.001-08:00

Several dozen people — including a pilot, county constable and business owners — insist they have seen a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast. Some reported seeing fighter jets chasing it.

"People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it's the end of times," said Steve Allen, a freight company owner and pilot who said the object he saw last week was a mile long and half a mile wide. "It was positively, absolutely nothing from these parts."

While federal officials insist there's a logical explanation, locals swear that it was larger, quieter, faster and lower to the ground than an airplane. They also said the object's lights changed configuration, unlike those of a plane. People in several towns who reported seeing it over several weeks have offered similar descriptions of the object.

Yahoo! News

>>Check the links to the right for more UFO info. This very well could be the prequel to the "strong delusion" mentioned in 2 Thess. 2.

The Temple Institute

2008-01-13T14:07:00.000-08:00

Last week, I posted a letter that was sent to Bush by the Temple Institute. The first part of that letter read:

"To The Honorable Mr. George W. Bush,
President of the United States of America,

Who comes seeking the presence of the Most High God, to Jerusalem, city of God, Divinely chosen site of the Holy Temple, eternal capital of our land, “the joy of the entire earth (Psalms 48:3),” may it be rebuilt and established speedily and in our days, Amen!

Esteemed Mr. George W. Bush, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal (Ezekiel 38:1), leader of the west!"

The rest of the letter is a supposed plea for Bush to recognize a Judaistic basis for Christianity and Islam, and thus support the Orthodox desire to build a temple in Jerusalem.

While Christianity does have roots in the Judaism of old, and Islam does borrow from it heavily, Judaism as it stands now has no place with God, and neither does Islam. While this should be an apparent fact for most Christians, while still recognizing Israel's as-yet-future redemption and possesion of the land with God's blessing, it seems that many are acting like they currently hold the land with God's blessing. I do not advocate trying to take them out of it, but risking our neck to keep them there against God's will(Zech. 14) will only do us harm in the long run. I do not say this out of fear for the reactions of the Muslims, any other religious group, or any nation, but out of a fear of God. It is clear from passages like Deuteronomy 8 that they do not have God's blessing in their apostasy, and we know from Zecheriah 14, the Olivette Discouse, and other passages, that they will be taken out in the midst of the 70th week before they are restored as God's nation.

De 8:11 Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:
12 Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
13 And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
20 As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.

Zec 14:1 ¶ Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

Lu 21:20 ¶ And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

With that said, something in that letter blew my mind when I first read it. While the letter seems to praise Bush by calling him "honorable", they name him "the prince chief of Mesech and Tubal" and refer to Ezekiel 38. To those who know Ezekiel 38 well, this will seem very self-contradictory. If they really believe that Bush is Gog, then they believe they already know what will happen, as Ezekiel 38 describes Gog coming against Israel and being destroyed:

Eze 38:1 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.

Eze 38:21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother.
22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Perhaps they feel as if this letter is their warning trump, absolving them from the guilt of blood:

Eze 33:4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.

With this in mind, knowing that many of the Orthodox believe that Ezekiel 38 will soon be fulfilled(as for myself, I believe it is the same war spoken of as occuring at the end of the Lord's millenial reign in Revelation 20), this letter starts to make more sense.

To better understand the intent of this letter, it might be wise to remember the words of Jesus:

Joh 8:38 ¶ I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

I do believe that Israel will soon have a temple, at least before the middle of 2010 if the ENP is the "covenant with many" of Dan. 9:27(see links on the right for more info, namely Herb Peter's overview). I think there may also be a false fulfillment of Ezekiel 38 that allows this to happen. The most tenacious people on the earth right now just may be the Jews with their desire for a temple, and it is possible that they have something planned that will allow just this.

At this link, you can see some of the "sacred vessels and vestiments" that the Temple Institute has prepared for use in a future temple. Interesting to note was what was written as a caption for the picture of the mock-up Ark of the Covenant:

"The ark of the covenant is the only object that is placed within the Holy of Holies. Once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the high priest enters the Holy of Holies, asking G-d to forgive the transgressions of the entire house of Israel. Made of wood covered with gold, it contained within it, during the period of the First Temple, the Two Tablets of the Law brought down from Mount Sinai by Moses, as well as a vessel containing mannah, and the staff of Aharon. Fearing its capture by the invading Babylonians, King Josiah had it removed from the Holy of Holies, and hidden in a chamber deep beneath the Temple Mount. A tradition of its exact location is maintained to this day. The above picture depicts a mock-up made by the Temple Institute for purposes of research and instruction."

It seems that with all this, they are very close to being prepared for Temple service, and this is only what they have revealed publicly at this point. Not only that, but we know from Ezra that they don't have to have a temple before they begin sacrifices:

Ezr 3:1 ¶ And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
2 Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
3 And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening.
4 They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required;
5 And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the LORD.
6 From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid.

From what we know, the temple may only be completed right before the Abomination of Desolation, as Scripture does not require it to be completed any earlier than this for it's fulfillment.

I think this letter indicates the amount of confidence Israel has that it will happen relatively soon, and on top of the multitude of supporting evidence, this leads me to believe more strongly that the ENP is "it".

Many people are looking for the antichrist to draft a seven-year peace treaty exclusive to Israel, that will allow them to rebuild a temple, but this is not required by Scripture, and is merely an expectation built up by man. Scripture only requires him to "confirm" a "covenant with many" for that amount of time, and for him to end the sacrifices in the midst of it, and go into the temple and set up the AOD. All of this appears to either be fulfilled or set up for a soon fulfillment, with Javier Solana, the WEU, Reccomoendation 666, and the ENP with it's mid-term review, which has "Animal Health and Welfare" on the agenda for Israel in 2010, giving a perfect setup for the fulfillment of what is spoken of in Daniel 8:12, "And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression".

As for expectations beyond what the ENP has affected and been affected by, a friend of mine, who takes no particular position on the timing of "the rapture", had some very insightful things to say:

"honestly when I was studying all that years ago... I dont know what I was told and what I actually read... it all blurred together for me... it was very confusing... reading on my own... so I listened to trusted teachers of the day... went to conferences and all... of course I dont think there are many teachers out there, especially on end times prophecy, that arent adding "bridges" in the word to make things make sense..."

Some of these "bridges" can be dangerous, because they build unscriptural expectations for the Lord's return. I've posted it before, and Lord willing, I'll post it again:

Re 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

I believe the Lord will hold teachers far more accountable than those who are merely taught. For those of you who are watching, keep at it!

on the 2300 day theory

2008-01-12T21:09:00.001-08:00

Da 8:13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

If you've been reading for a while, you know that there was a time when I was convinced that I could figure out the day that Israel resumed sacrifices. I was thinking about this verse, I think it was yesterday, and something jumped out at me that I had thought about before(briefly) and then chosen to ignore:

"How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice...?"

Unless Daniel had another vision that he didn't write, he could only be talking about the one contained in the same chapter. I had thought that the 2300 days would begin when the sacrifices started, but the vision only entails their end:

Da 8:11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.
12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.

I now believe this means that there will be 2300 days from the time the sacrifices are ended, until the cleansing of the sanctuary. I realized I had been taking it out of context.

My apologies to anybody who may have been slightly fooled by my theory(which admittedly, was just a theory). I'm glad I didn't teach that one as God's truth, because it wasn't!

Alrighty then...

2008-01-12T19:16:00.000-08:00

Phew. Played a few 3 song sets at Jericho Coffee's open mic last night(if you live in the Placer/Sacramento county area, you should check this place out, it's a Christian-themed coffeehouse with great live music on Fridays and Saturdays, google "Jericho Coffee" to get info and directions), gave a five-minute devotion on Tuesday that took me hours to prepare for(public speaking is not my bag, yet) and prepared some music for church, too, and my last song is tomorrow night, but I've already got it down. In other words, I should have time to blog tomorrow! I really want to try and write about the Temple Institute, their letter to Bush, and some other things, so I'm praying I'll get something good out. I should have something up tomorrow before 5pm pacific time. Thanks!