Thursday, April 30, 2009

On Israel’s Only Jewish-Run Pig Farm, It’s The Swine That Bring Home the Bacon

Letter From Kibbutz Lahav
By Jeffrey Yoskowitz
Published April 24, 2008, issue of May 02, 2008.

Excerpt:

I stood beside the road with a traveling backpack and a yarmulke, my arm extended, hitchhiking to the junction from Ramat Raziel to catch a bus home. I was singing “Lev Tahor,” a verse from Psalm 51 meaning “pure heart” that I’d been singing all Sabbath long. A car stopped, and a bearded man in a knit yarmulke picked me up. As I entered his car, he turned to me: “I’m Oren… So where you going?” Damn. I’d begun to hate this question, especially when asked by religious people. “Kibbutz Lahav,” I answered, expecting a gasp. Unfazed, he further inquired, “And what do you do there?” Again, I hesitated, this time with dread. “Uh, well… I work on their pig farm.”

Grunt Work: Jeffrey Yoskowitz handles a piglet at Kibbutz Lahav, where the meat is treyf but some of the farmers keep kosher.

STY TOWN: The author, seen here on Kibbutz Lahav, moved to the collective to understand the phenomenon of pig farming in Israel.

And just like that, I managed to overwhelm and confuse Oren, as well as myself, while simultaneously expressing the contradiction that pig farming in Israel played in my life for the two months I spent working at Kibbutz Lahav. Luckily, Oren was an open-minded man whose parting words to me were: “God put you on the pork farm for a reason.”

The kibbutz and its pigs sit comfortably in the northern Negev, just 30 minutes north of Beersheba, surrounded by the Lahav forest, Israel’s largest manmade woodlands...

Toward the end of January, I moved onto Kibbutz Lahav in an effort to understand the phenomenon of pigs in Israel. While there are a number of similar farms in Israel, Kibbutz Lahav is unique because, as its slogan suggests, it is “the meat from the Kibbutz.” All the other pig breeders operate in a zone in the North dominated by Christian Arabs, the only place where raising pork is legal, according to a 1962 law. Kibbutz Lahav, a Jewish-run farm, proudly operates outside the legal zone.

Lahav’s pig breeding gained widespread notoriety because of its legal loophole, almost talmudic in its ingenuity, in which the kibbutz is exempt from the law and can rightfully raise pigs for research as a part of its Animal Research Institute. Thus, the kibbutz raises pigs for science and eats the excess, developing over the years a rather staggering excess. For many years the institute was no more than an ad hoc veterinarian research institute, which, on the scientific side, boasted little more than the successful splicing of an ibex with a goat.

“Israelis weren’t ready to pay more money for it,” said Dodik, a kibbutz elder whose last name I never learned, as was the case with most people on the kibbutz.

Today, as a result of the recent biotech boom, the institute is the center of Israel’s most spectacular medical advancements, where religious Jewish scientists are among the hundreds of researchers who use the pigs for innovative experimentation.

Despite the institute’s success, raising and processing pig meat is the main purpose of the farm, as the 10,000-plus animals suggest....

On Friday night in the kibbutz dining room, there is a Sabbath display of candlesticks, a challah cover and a Kiddush cup. Kibbutzniks thus have the Sabbath on their minds as they eat their special meal of braised pork or ham on the ceremonial white Sabbath linens. During our celebratory barbecue just prior to Purim, management handed out mishloach manot, traditional Jewish gift baskets, to all the workers, with a note wishing everyone a “happy Purim.” Most workers ate the hamantaschen as dessert after the grilled pork spare ribs.

One Thursday, while I was shopping in the kolbo — the kibbutz grocery store — a panicked woman ran behind me to speak to the cashier, urgently asking if she could leave a ham in the freezer and collect it tomorrow for Friday’s dinner. When she left with permission to do so, I turned to the cashier woman, smiled and asked her if the meat was “for Shabbat.” She nodded, and we both laughed...

And even though most kibbutzniks no longer “work in the pigs,” the porcine influence on the kibbutz is nearly impossible to miss. Ten thousand-plus pigs howl throughout the night, along with the desert jackals. There’s a dreaded western wind here that brings with it the inescapable and potent scent of industrial hog waste that cannot possibly be ignored.

In the dining room there is almost always a pork option. The kibbutzniks find no need for the silly euphemisms used by greater Israeli society, like “white meat” and “white steak.” Pork, or at least the right to raise it, serve it and eat it, is no doubt a point of pride at Lahav today, and part of the kibbutz’s national legacy.

Entire post: Israel's Jewish Pig Farm (Hams For Purim)



The Demons of Gadarenes Have Found A new Home
Mark 5:1 - 17

Report: Intelligence Warns Israel is now an ‘Obstacle to Obam

(IsraelNN.com)


According to a classified intelligence assessment handed to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Barack Obama and his senior advisors wish to “incrementally diminish U.S. strategic cooperation with Israel.”


A report in World Tribune quoted an Israeli source familiar with the intelligence assessment who said that "Obama wants to make friends with our worst enemies and [those who were] until now the worst enemies of the United States. Under this policy,” the source added, “we are more than irrelevant. We have become an obstacle.”
Interesting articles by COGWriter:

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Parental rights already being lost

State could take over decisions on health, schooling, abortion
Posted: April 28, 20098:54 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Excerpt
Supporters of a plan to amend the U.S. Constitution to include parental rights are warning moms and dads across the United States they already are losing their rights to make decisions regarding their children's health, education, welfare, finances, sex education, access to abortion and even leisure time...

"The erosion is upon us," said Michael Farris, founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association, a college and a church and now a dedicated leader in the effort to change the U.S. Constitution through the amendment process to restore and protect parental rights.

Eighty years ago, the amendment website notes, "the Supreme Court declared that 'the child is not the mere creature of the State; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations.'"

However, according to Farris, a survey last year of state and federal appellate court rulings found "the vast majority of the court decisions refused to acknowledge traditional parental rights are fundamental rights."

The problem, says Farris, is the growing reach of domestic and international government into decisions about health, education, discipline and other issues that for millennia have been made by parents. In one recent case in the South, the parents of a 13-year-old juvenile were refused access to his medical records because the doctor decided against including the parents in the discussion.

According to Farris, the parents could only be granted access to their son's medical records with their son's permission...

In another case that outraged parents, a federal court ruled that parents do not even have the right to withdraw their children from public school teachings that violate their religious beliefs.

Farris says the solution is the Parental Rights Amendment, which would embed in the Constitution the description of parental rights as fundamental...

The local alarm is being raised on a number of converging issues, including the Food and Drug Administration's new decision to allow 17-year-old juveniles to purchase abortion pills over the counter. Also among the concerns are a long list of challenges to parents who want to homeschool their own children and medical information disputes.

Critics also point to a developing propensity for U.S. judges in cite foreign law in deciding domestic cases, because of the fundamentally different foundations on which other nations base their laws.

WND reported just this week on a case involving German parents who wanted to protect their daughter from sexually explicit teachings in the local school and were fined for it.

Alliance Defense Fund attorney Roger Kiska said such cases much be fought around the world "to keep bad decisions overseas from being relied upon by activists who attack parental rights in America."

One of the more significant threats to parental rights in the U.S. is the possible vote on the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. Lawmakers have refused to ratify the measure for the 20 years it has existed because of worries over what it could do to the entire structure of U.S. law and practice.

For example, it would turn parents who spank their own children into criminals under international law.

But now there is word that Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., wants to impose a hurry-up timetable for adoption of the radical international plan.

Read more: State could take over decisions on health, schooling, abortion--WND

Read also: WorldNetDailySex ed mandatory for 5-year-olds Program outlines teaching about homosexuality

Monday, April 27, 2009

The Audacity of Mockery

100 days in office, coronated MessiahArms outstretched, he wears crown of thorns on his brow
On his 100th day in office, President Obama will be "crowned" in messianic imagery at New York City's Union Square.

Artist Michael D'Antuono's painting "The Truth" – featuring Obama with his arms outstretched and wearing a crown of thorns upon his head – will be unveiled on April 29 at the Square's South Plaza.

According to a statement released about the portrait, "The 30" x 54" acrylic painting on canvas depicts President Obama appearing much like Jesus Christ on the Cross: atop his head, a crown of thorns; behind him, the dark veil being lifted (or lowered) on the Presidential Seal. But is he revealing or concealing, and is he being crucified or glorified?"

Even the title of the piece, "The Truth," suggests a play on biblical themes, as Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father...

Read all: Arms outstretched, he wears crown of thorns on his brow
Posted: April 25, 20097:13 pm Eastern
By Drew Zahn© 2009 WorldNetDaily
"The Truth" by Michael D'Antuono


As you can see from the artwork it is Obama as the messiah, wearing his crown of thorns, parting the veil if the "temple" with and odd pleased expression on his face for someone mimicking what Jesus the Christ actually endured for all mankind in being beaten and bruised for our healing, and dying and laying down His life, and being empowered to take His life up again so that all believers would live with Him too...

Look at the words the artwork is displaying. Literally it is:
AL of the Esident of the UN ED STAT...
to literally meanThe god of the star we see of the performing the fragmentation of the nation...

What I immediately beheld was the sacred geometry of Obama's backers in the infamous pentagram symbol which is part of the one dimensional power symbols these people put up of the Three Dimensional Tree of Life or Metatron's Cube handed down by one of the principality demons.

Excerpts from Lame Cherry's Possum Obama

Read also: Prophecy Obama: Prophecies of Barack Obama?

And : Obama’s Foreign Policy Disasters

Israel Losing Control of Mt Zion? and Obama Appoints a Troublesome Radical Muslim

April 26, 2009
Israel’s Control of Mt. Zion in Danger
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com)

Ten-year-long negotiations between Israel and the Vatican appear to be drawing to a close, with concerns rising that Israel will cede control of the building housing King David’s Tomb in Jerusalem.

The Bilateral Permanent Working Commission – a team of negotiators representing Israel and the Vatican – released an upbeat press release at the end of last week, speaking of "meaningful progress," "great cordiality," and a mutual commitment to reaching a final agreement "as soon as possible.”

Tellingly, a plenary meeting has been announced for this Thursday, April 30, at the Foreign Ministry. The meeting will be chaired by the two states’ deputy foreign ministers, Danny Ayalon and Monsignor Pietro Parolin. It is widely believed that the agreement will be signed then.

Church Demands Parts of Mt. ZionThe two states have been negotiating a treaty since March 1999 on matters having to do with Church-owned or Church-claimed property in Israel. Among the most significant issue under negotiations is the Vatican’s demand for the Last Supper room, located on the second floor of the ancient Mt. Zion building that also houses the tombs of Kings David, Solomon, and Hezekiah.

In addition, the Vatican is claiming areas around Lake Kinneret, as well as in Caesaria and Jerusalem.

Hints and implications in the Vatican and Catholic press have long indicated that the negotiations are expected to end successfully, from the Catholic vantage point, in time for Pope Benedict’s visit to Israel two weeks from now.

“This is a shame and a disgrace of unequalled proportions,” said Daisy J. Stern, M.D., who has been leading an information campaign on the topic. “Giving away these important areas has no Halakhic [Jewish legal] validity, of course, but signing it away will definitely make it very difficult to ever reclaim them.”

Mt. Zion - International Center for Catholics?At present, since shortly after the Six-Day War in 1967, the Diaspora Yeshiva has run the Mt. Zion compound, on which it is located, and warns of the catastrophic implications for Israel and the Jewish People if the deal goes through.

The director of the yeshiva explained that if the Catholic Church receives control of the area, just a few hundred yards from the Temple Mount and adjacent to the Old City walls, it will turn it into "the international center for Catholics all around the world, and if the pope just gives the word, Christians will be flocking over here en masse."

"This is an enormous issue that is being pushed through without any public debate whatsoever," he said.

Vatican Signs Agreement with Arab LeagueDr. Stern notes that though there had been reports that an agreement might be signed last week, “nothing happened – except that while they [the Vatican representatives] were talking with Israel, they signed an agreement with the Arab League. This is very worrisome. There are no details on the agreement with the Arab League, except that it aims to promote ‘peace, security and stability.’ Who knows what that really means? Are they dividing up the spoils of the future Vatican agreement with Israel – or perhaps they are preparing for the next Arab war with Israel? We don’t know.”

“This new agreement with the Arab League renders the Vatican, most gravely, an interested party in the Israeli-Arab dispute,” said Prof. Hillel Weiss of Bar Ilan University, who has been closely following the issue.

Of further concern is the fact that Israel is investing some 6 million shekels in improvements and renovations to various sites in preparation for the Papal visit. Work at the Last Supper room has been underway for some time.

Blueprint of an AgreementA Foreign Ministry official confirmed in 2005 that a “blueprint of a possible agreement with the Vatican has been received.” The proposed contract, as Arutz-7 reported at the time, read as follows:

"The State of Israel hands over to the Holy See the use of the Cenacle [the room of the event known as the Last Supper, above King David's tomb - ed.], of the access path to it, and of the spaces adjacent to it... It is the Holy See's intention to inform the Bishops - and through them the world's Priests - that the Catholic Church has been given the use of the Cenacle, inviting them to visit the Holy Place together with their faithful... The Holy See hands over this use of the Cenacle to the Custody of the Holy Land [which acts on behalf of the Holy See]... [which] will keep the Cenacle open from 6 AM to 8 AM for the celebration of the Holy Mass... Official liturgical celebrations of non-Catholic Churches can take place only upon prior written permission by the Custody of the Holy Land."

The proposed agreement also stipulated that the Holy See will preserve the historic character of the site and keep it open to pilgrims and tourists, and that Israel will provide for the safety of the site. The Foreign Ministry official said at the time that “Israel is not prepared to relinquish its jurisdiction over this area.” The world will find out later this week whether this position is still valid.

Rabbi Mordechai Goldstein, who founded and still runs the Diaspora Yeshiva, officially known as Yeshiva Toras Yisrael, told Arutz-7 in the past that "according to their bible, the Land is to return to the Christians, and 144,000 Jews are to return to Mt. Zion. Their plan is for them to take control of the site, and then to announce that they are holding a mass reenactment of the Last Supper, with [all types of religious rituals], and to invite millions of Christians to come to Jerusalem and celebrate." Rabbi Goldstein said that this means much tourism money for Israel, and that someone in the Israeli government is apparently very interested in making this happen.

The King David's Tomb complex, some 100,000 square feet, is "certainly one of the holiest spots in the Land of Israel," a yeshiva source said. "David, Solomon and others kings of Judea are said to be buried here. We've already given away the Temple Mount and the Machpelah Cave, except for here and there when we're allowed in; now they want to give Mt. Zion away as well? For thousands of years, this area was almost always totally closed off to Jews. G-d gave it back to us in 1948, but parts of it were still in range and sight of Jordanian snipers and were not in full use. After 1967, Rabbi Goldstein founded the Diaspora Yeshiva here - and it became an island of holiness, the first yeshiva for baalei teshuvah [newly religious] in Israel; we were there day and night learning Torah. Rabbi Goldstein was almost prophetic in establishing this yeshiva at that time at that spot; destiny from above intertwined him with Mt. Zion."
When a left-wing, Obama adoring publication hails an action by this President of the United States it is always prudent to research the facts.

This week the LA Times, celebrates Obama's appointment of Dalia Mogahed to his Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Mogahed is a self described expert on studying the way Muslim's think.The left-wing media has dubbed her a Muslim moderate.

The American Daily Review questions these descriptions of Mogahed.It turns out that Mogahed is associated with a group that advocates engaging the very troublesome and radical Muslim Brotherhood. More

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Arab League Visits Pope

April 25th, 2009
COGwriter

جامعة الدول العربيةJāmaʻat ad-Duwwal al-ʻArabiyya Arab League Flag


An Arab League official met with the Pope:

Arab League Official Visits Pontiff

New Agreement Reached With Holy See

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 24, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The secretary-general of the League of Arab States visited Benedict XVI today after signing a new agreement with the Holy See.
Amre Moussa signed Thursday a Memorandum of Understanding with the Holy See on behalf of the League.

A Vatican announcement shortly thereafter described the document as further consolidating “the existing ties of collaboration between the Holy See and the League of Arab States, especially at a political and cultural level, in favor of peace, security and stability, both regionally and internationally. Furthermore, it proposes instruments for consultation between the two sides, with particular emphasis on initiatives of interreligious dialogue.”

Regarding Moussa’s visit today with the Pontiff and with Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for relations with states, the Vatican reported that the discussions highlighted the “importance of [this] agreement, which seeks to favor an ever greater collaboration between the two parties in favor of peace and justice in the world.”

As well, the Vatican confirmed, there was an “interchange of ideas on the international situation, in particular in the Middle East, and on the need to find a just solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, and to the other conflicts that grieve the region.”…

“I believe that the Arab League very much appreciates the declarations of the Holy Father,” Archbishop Fitzgerald added. And, he affirmed, “it also takes into account the situation of Christians in the Arab nations for the furthering of peace and development in the region.”

http://www.zenit.org/article-25704?l=english

The Vatican has several reasons to meet with the Arab League.

  • The Vatican does not want Catholics in Muslim nations to be persecuted.

  • The Vatican wants Palestinian Catholics in Jerusalem to remain there (so much so that it has been taking up a special offering on “Good Friday” that past couple of years to provide those Palestinians to do so).

  • The Vatican wants more influence in the Middle East and especially Jerusalem.
    And there is another reason that I am not sure that the Vatican is fully aware of.
    The Bible shows a time when Arabs make major deals with with Europeans (Psalm 83; Daniel 9:27) which will ultimately result in the destruction of Israel as well as the United States and its Anglo-allies. Increased cooperation between the Vatican and the Arab League would seem to help set the stage for these deals.
Entire post: Arab League Visits Pope

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

Is There A Future King of the South? Some no longer believe there needs to be. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? What does the Bible say?
The Arab World In the Bible, History, and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam?

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Human Sexuality as God Intends It to Be

God Created Sex!

BEWARE OF THIS BOOK THAT OPRAH IS PUSHING!

This email is doing the rounds.

Oprah has been a topic of great concern for sometime. So many Christian recognize her false beliefs but many new Christians are being misled.

BEWARE OF THIS BOOK THAT OPRAH IS PUSHING!


If you have children or grandchildren, work with children at church, or you have neighborhood children whose parents you know, please take note of the information below and pass it along to others. Schools are distributing this book to children through the Scholastic Book Club.

The name of the book is Conversations with God...

James Dobson talked about this book twice this week. It is devastating. Parents, churches and Christian schools need to be aware of it. Please pass this information on to church/e-mail addresses, Parents, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, friends. Please pay special attention not only to what your kids watch on TV, in movie theaters, on the internet, and the music they listen to, but also be alert regarding the books they read.

Two particular books are, Conversations with God and Conversations with God for Teens, written by Neale D. Walsch. They sound harmless enough by their titles alone. The books have been on the New York Times best sellers list for a number of weeks, and they make truth of the statement, "Don't judge a book by its cover or title." The author purports to answer various questions asked by kids using the "voice of God"..

However, the "answers" that he gives are not Bible-based and go against the very infallible word of God. For instance (and I paraphrase), when a girl asks the question "Why am I a lesbian?" His answer is that she was 'born that way' because of genetics (just as you were born right-handed, with brown eyes, etc.). Then he tells her to go out and "celebrate" her differences.

Another girls poses the question "I am living with my boyfriend. My parents say that I should marry him because I am living in sin. Should I marry him?" His reply is, "Who are you sinning against? Not me, because you have done nothing wrong..."

Another question asks about God's forgiveness of sin. His reply "I do not forgive anyone because there is nothing to forgive. There is no such thing as right or wrong and that is what I have been trying to tell everyone, do not judge people. People have chosen to judge one another and this is wrong, because the rule is "'judge not lest ye be judged."

Not only are these books the false doctrine of the devil, but in some instances quote (in error) the Word of God. And the list goes on. These books (and others like it) are being sold to school children through (The Scholastic Book Club), and we need to be aware of what is being fed to our children. Our children are under attack..

So I pray that you be sober and vigilant about teaching your children the Word of God, and guarding their exposure to worldly mediums, because our adversary, the devil, roams about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). We know that lions usually hunt for the slowest, weakest and YOUNGEST of its prey.

Pass this on to every Believer you know. God bless! And, if you are in doubt, check out the books yourself.

Read also: Modern Morality and the Ten Commandments - by Richard F. Ames
and Sin is a Reproach to Any People - by Richard F. Ames

Friday, April 24, 2009

Israel's Threat

Israel's threat
Friday, April 24, 2009
www.lcg.org

The new Israeli President, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated in a recent interview that “The American president… must stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons—and quickly—or an imperiled Israel may be forced to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities itself.”

Mr. Netanyahu went on, “You don’t want a messianic apocalyptic cult controlling atomic bombs. When the wide-eyed believer gets hold of the reins of power and the weapons of mass death, then the entire world should start worrying, and that is what is happening in Iran” (Atlantic Monthly, March 31, 2009). Also, in a recent meeting with President Obama, the Sultan of Saudi Arabia pressured the U.S. not to concede to Iran’s nuclear ambitions and risk destabilizing the Middle East.

Long ago, God prophesied that He would make Jerusalem a “cup of drunkenness” or a “cup of reeling” to all the surrounding peoples. He also warned that Jerusalem would be a “very heavy stone” and that nations who would arise against it would be “cut in pieces” (Zechariah 12:1-3). Today, while many nations would like to destroy Israel if they could, this nation is “too heavy” to move and is really causing world leaders to “reel” as they try to figure out what to do with it. We must continue to watch how God’s prophecies will come to pass.

Read also U.S. helps build the Beast?

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

'Dr Doom' predicts further shocks in the market

Stock market bulls have got it wrong, warns Nouriel Roubini
By Nick Clark
Tuesday, 21 April 2009

Nouriel Roubini, the so-called "arch bear" economist who predicted the current financial crisis in 2006, added further gloom yesterday after he wrote off recent rises in global stock markets as no more than a dead cat bounce.

While an increasing number of analysts have in recent weeks urged investors to go back into equities, Mr Roubini, a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business who has emerged as one of the most respected economic voices in the wake of the credit crunch, warned yesterday that he didn't yet see a buying opportunity.

He holds little faith in the recent market rallies, which prompted some to suggest a recovery was underway. "I'm still cautious and bearish," he said. "I believe we are closer to a bottom in the stock market than a year ago, but this is a bear market rally."

Anthony Bolton, fund manager at Fidelity International, said last month that a bull phase had started, while analysts at Goldman Sachs have argued in recent weeks that "we are past the low point in the economic cycle".

However, Mr Roubini, dubbed "Dr Doom" for his warnings about financial meltdown, said there would be more bad news in the next few quarters.

In particular, the economist warned of further dangers ahead for the financial services industry in the US. "I see financial shocks in the months ahead. Some financial institutions are in so much trouble we may have to take them over," he said, before adding that losses in the industry could rise from $1 trillion to as high as $3.6 trillion.

Firms from across financial services will go out of business or be taken over, he said, particularly focusing on the bleak future for hedge funds.

Mr Roubini also disagrees with more optimistic forecasts for the US economy. In an interview published on Forbes.com yesterday, he said that the prediction of a 2 per cent growth rate next year was far too bullish...

He blamed weak recovery, deflation which would dog the US for the next two years, and financial shocks for the lower-than-expected growth...

Read entire post: Roubini - Market Bulls Have It All Wrong

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

NATO Doddering at Sixty

Doddering at Sixty
By George H. Wittman
The American Spectator on 4.17.09 @ 6:07AM

The core element in the American relationship with Europe is membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. After President Barack Obama's recent trip to Europe it is not unreasonable to inquire as to the relevance of that organization to U.S. military and political interests.

Often quoted has been the justification for NATO in Europe given by its first Secretary General, Lord Ismay: "to keep the Russians out, to keep the Americans in, and the Germans down." It doesn't appear to be working anymore.

The Russians have thoroughly penetrated West Europe as their major supplier (controller) of energy. The Germans are calling the tune when it comes to both European economic and military matters. And the United States has proven itself to have little in common with continental Europe other than near total failure of memories of past glories and obligations therein. The concept of "an attack on one is an attack on all" has aged to the point of atrophy.

The European Union's new defense structure already has intimated what the future will be as it now has an established claim on the NATO military organization's assets if the latter doesn't want to use them. All that NATO has now is a so-called "right of first refusal." If that isn't a planned redundancy, it will have to do until the new De Gaulle or perhaps Bismarck comes along. NATO's 28 member countries, 22 partner countries, 43 different agencies and organizations plus 9 logistics bodies and 5 production bodies appear formidable in theory. In practice it is little more than an expensive bureaucracy.

The original purpose of NATO in 1949, with apologies to the brilliantly cynical General Lord Ismay, was to convert the WWII alliance of Western European nations into a similar grouping to check the post-war Soviet expansion to the west. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has been the center of American relations with Western Europe ever since. President Obama's recent trip to Europe has clearly shown exactly how little that relationship is now worth.

In simple terms, the arithmetic of American relations with West Europe -- conspicuously excluding the United Kingdom -- is as follows: Taking serious additional steps to stimulate the EU economy so that it might increase its capability to assist the rest of the world economy -- Zero! Acceptance of a fair portion of NATO's obligation in Afghanistan -- Zero! Support for strengthening of economic sanctions on Iran condemning their nuclear weapon development -- Zero!

In fact, the entire basis for continued American participation in NATO may have been undercut. Attempts to broaden NATO's role have failed or simply been subsumed in the ambitions of the European Union that instead of wanting the United States as an ally views its onetime champion as a competitor.

In spite of U.S./UK efforts to drag NATO along with them in Bosnia, Iraq, and now Afghanistan, the results have been either negative or marginal at best. NATO may have some basing advantages for U.S. forward defense posture, but in terms of being an active military participant alongside US/UK forces, the major powers in the European Union no longer see a profit.

NATO came under attack during the Clinton years and was strongly defended by high profile generals. The thesis of the American defenders of NATO was based on the perception of both the need for and ability of the United States to maintain a special role in Europe in the newly post-Soviet period. There was a logic to that argument then, but that logic is now strained.

An oft-repeated defense of American continued military participation has been to suggest the value to the U.S. of the political leverage afforded by maintaining its physical presence in Europe. This certainly has not turned out to be the case with Germany, where the American military long has had its largest continuing presence.

The current situation is as follows: There is no doubt the Russians would love the suspension of NATO; that in itself could be reason enough to keep it going. The reality, however, is that the ineffectuality of NATO negates its value as an instrument of American policy and severely diminishes its military worth to the United States.

The solidarity of NATO has been severely weakened and its viability as an effective military alliance has been endangered by European popular political indifference. The United States soon must ask what is in it for the American people.

For a better understanding of the role of Europe in future events, read: Europa, the Beast, and Revelation by COGwriter

Obama’s stance worries Israelis

Jason Koutsoukis, The Age
April 18, 2009

CAN Israel still call the United States its best international friend?

Apparently not, if you believe the tone of the local media.Watching the drama unfold inside Israel, the increasingly tense dialogue between US President Barack Obama and new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is taking on all the trappings of a duel.

Almost every day brings news of another sore point between the two countries, a source of yet further inflammation of their once warm relations.

One could be forgiven for thinking that the more immediate threat to Israel’s national security lay across the Atlantic rather than from closer to home.It is bad enough that President Obama uses almost every opportunity he can to set the parameters of a final peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Now US officials are openly using Israeli anxiety over Iran’s fledging nuclear program as a bargaining chip to force Israel’s hand on giving up control of the West Bank Palestinian territory.

No less a figure than White House chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel — whose father fought with the militant Zionist group the Irgun, and whose appointment had provided such reassurance to Israeli officials — was quoted this week laying down the law to Israel.

If Israel wants US help to defuse the Iranian threat, Mr Emanuel was reported to have told Jewish leaders in Washington, then get ready to start evacuating settlements in the West Bank.
Talkback radio blazed with fury across the country the same day, as Israelis protested that no US official had the right to tell them where to live.

Then on Thursday came the news that Mr Netanyahu’s planned first meeting with President Obama in Washington next month had been called off.

Mr Netanyahu had hoped to capitalise on his attendance at the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington to visit the White House.
But Administration officials informed Mr Netanyahu’s office that the President would not be “in town”.

Washington sources added that the Obama Administration would not be continuing the tradition that had developed during the Bush years of hosting Israeli prime ministers whenever they showed up in town, sometimes with just a phone call’s notice.

It might have been no more than coincidence, but yesterday Israeli defence officials told the liberal daily Haaretz that Israel’s $US15 billion ($A21 billion) purchase of 75 US-made F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets was now under review due to “the unexpected high cost and disagreements with the manufacturer”.

Contrary to initial expectations, President Obama has wasted no time becoming fully engaged in the Middle East peace process, despite the magnitude of his domestic political agenda. While Mr Netanyahu has refused to endorse a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict agreed to by his predecessor, President Obama has made it abundantly clear that the US will accept nothing less than Israel living side by side with a sovereign Palestinian state.

Mr Obama is also demanding a freeze on Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank, and has dropped the Bush administration’s opposition to Hamas being part of a future Palestinian Authority government.

Read more:
Obama's stance worries Israelis

Read also: Prophecy Obama: Prophecies of Barack Obama?

Saturday, April 18, 2009

The Columbine High School shooting: ten years later

By William Bowmer Saturday, April 18, 2009

In less than an hour on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, twelve students and a teacher were dead, 23 others had been injured, and the shooters had killed themselves in the school library. The Columbine High School shooting came and went quickly, but the question, “What really happened at Columbine—and why?” has remained ever since.

Columbine High School students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had been in trouble with the law even before the Columbine school shootings. For breaking into a parked van in January 1998, they had been sentenced to a juvenile diversion program. Harris impressed program administrators, but boasted in his diary that he enjoyed faking emotions of regret and remorse.

Investigative reporter Dave Cullen, one of the first to write extensively on the Columbine massacre, points out in his book Columbine that psychologists labeled Harris a textbook psychopath, able to mimic emotions but unable to feel genuine empathy for those around him. Klebold’s profile pictures him as a depressed teen, who looked to Harris to fill a void in his life.


Surveillance video of Eric Harris, left, and Eric Klebold in the Columbine High School cafeteria during the shooting. Dec. 16, 1999 Littleton, Colo (SHNS photo courtesy The Denver Rocky Mountain News)

Cullen’s information-filled book documents some surprising facts and dispels a number of common myths about the tragic Columbine murders:

• Cassie Bernall’s affirmation of faith at gunpoint never took place.
• Harris and Klebold were never members of Columbine’s “Trench Coat Mafia” and were neither bullies nor particularly bullied by classmates.
• The Columbine killers did not go bowling on the morning of the shootings (just one of the many factual errors promoted by filmmaker Michael Moore in his flawed movie Bowling for Columbine).

The Columbine murderers kept journals expressing the hope that their plan would take more lives than the 168 lost in the Oklahoma City bombing four years earlier (in which Timothy McVeigh destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Building on April 19, 1995). Thankfully, they failed.

Ten years later, Columbine is not even America’s worst school shooting; 33 were slaughtered in the tragic Virginia Tech killings on April 16, 2007, and both of these massacres are dwarfed by the September 2004 Beslan school siege in the former Soviet Union, in which 380 died.

What causes such violence? We might expect the families of Columbine victims to turn inward, focusing on the tragedy of their personal loss. But notice these perceptive words from Brian Rohrbough, whose son Dan was killed in the Columbine shootings:

“This country is in a moral free-fall. For over two generations, the public school system has taught in a moral vacuum, expelling God from the school and from the government, replacing Him with evolution, where the strong kill the weak, without moral consequences and life has no inherent value. We teach there are no absolutes, no right or wrong. And I assure you the murder of innocent children is always wrong, including by abortion. Abortion has diminished the value of children.”

Rohrbough is right. We live in a society that has diminished the value of children. Abortion of our littlest children has become commonplace. Children who survive the womb grow up in a world that is too-often bereft of true Christian values and true Christian love. Ten years ago, the Columbine story felt like a rare and troubling event. But as we approach the tenth anniversary of the shootings, such violence now seems almost routine, as we watch the sad pattern continue with this year’s March 11 school shooting in Winnenden, Germany and the April 10 shooting in Dearborn, Michigan.

Shortly after the Columbine massacre, Tomorrow’s World presenter Richard Ames offered a spiritual perspective on the horrible event. We must face the reality of the evil that can in time turn bright-eyed toddlers into psychopaths and depressives, and recognize that the ultimate remedy for such violence will not come through human efforts alone. Certainly, parents should do all they can to protect their children from the “seeds of violence” all around them. But it is not realistic to think that every parent can protect every child from every potentially bad influence.

Ultimately, the only solution is God’s love. Parents, despite their own stresses, burdens and imperfections, can expose their children to the reality of God’s love (please read “Youth Violence: What Difference Can Parents Make?”). The love of God can penetrate even the bitterest hate. It can bring peace and joy even to those feeling deep despair. A time is soon coming when God’s Kingdom will be established on this earth, and the whole world will know that love. Yes, there is hope!


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Sunday, April 12, 2009

A single nuke could destroy America?

By James W. Sweat

The coalescence of science fiction and politics together is no longer such a dubious lineup. Take for instance the March 29 Newsmax piece written by former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich and science fiction author William Forstchen: “Newt Gingrich: A Single Nuke Could Destroy America.”

Unfortunately this is NOT science fiction – it is far too real. The authors explain in this article that in the hands of nations such as Iran or North Korea, “…one small nuclear weapon, delivered by an ICBM can destroy the United States by maximizing the effect of the resultant electromagnetic pulse upon detonation.”

This electromagnetic pulse (EMP) emitted from gamma rays is a side-effect of detonating an atomic weapon at high altitude in space. Strategically positioned explosions of one or more atomic weapons over the continental United States would ravage the power grid, transportation and communication networks, and all things electric, hurling our modern technological culture back to the Stone Age.

Possession of nuclear warheads and the capability to launch a communications satellite are the basic technology needed to deliver an EMP anywhere on the planet within minutes. Russia and China already have this capacity while other nations such as Iran and North Korea are suspected of developing it. ...Read more »

A single nuke could destroy America?

Friday, April 10, 2009

What Obama MUST DO, He is Doing Quickly

Farewell to Zion. Forever
"Next Year in Jerusalem" may be heard no more, because Hussein Obama will use the US Air Force to keep Israel from bombing Iran's nuclear facilities.
The nightmare scenario for Israel is troubling me more and more. The end of the Jewish state is all too thinkable. More
Obama set to betray Israel, big time
Imagine if we woke up tomorrow with a president named Solomon Goldstein. A President, who for sure lived in and maybe was even born in Israel. A President, who as a boy went to a very conservative Jewish religious school in Israel. A President who as soon as he was elected calls the Israeli PM and promises that a peace the Jews can live with will soon be implemented. Then in his first interview as President he sits down with the Jewish Television Network and apologizes for Americans' past arrogant behavior. More


O'S AMATEUR HOUR
On every stage, Obama draped Lady Liberty in sackcloth and ashes, drawing plentiful applause but no serious economic or security cooperation in return. Then, in Turkey, he surrendered our national pride, undercut our interests and interfered in matters that aren't his business. More


Obama to host Seder Thursday night
US President Barack Obama will celebrate Passover Thursday night with staff and friends in what is believed to be the first White House Seder attended by an American president.
Though Passover starts on Wednesday evening, Obama will be hosting the second Seder, on Thursday night, apparently so that those in attendance can celebrate with their families on the first night.


April 07, 2009
Obama: Islam Has Shaped the U.S.A. as he kisses the Kings hand
Undeniably the Islamic faith has done a great deal to shape the world – a statement that makes no value judgment about exactly how it has shaped the world. It has formed the dominant culture in what is known as the Islamic world for centuries. But what on earth could Obama mean when he says that Islam has also “done so much” to shape his own country? More




The Bible says:

Then Jesus said to him (Judas Iscariot, the Betrayer), What you do, do quickly.

Send for you free booklets:
The Middle East in Prophecy
The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy


Saturday, April 4, 2009

Obama, The EU, Jerusalem and the House of Israel

NEWS
Obama favors stronger EU defense capacity

EU eyes bigger role in global financial reform

Sarkozy and Merkel Try to Shape European Unity

Netanyahu government could face EU sanctions over two-state stance

BIBLICAL PERPECTIVE
Read:
Babel’s last hurrah!
A global currency?

And:
Understanding End-Time Prophecies
Five Prophetic Signs for the Middle East
The Beast of Revelation: Myth, Metaphor or Soon-Coming Reality?

Being queer is a sexual disorder

The sexual liberation movement now controls the White House
By David R. Usher
March 29, 2009NewsWithViews.com

There is no finer metaphor for “pretzel logic” than the issue of “gay rights”. The contemporary addiction to “gay” liberation is no less dangerous or mind-altering than being addicted to heroine.

Being gay is a sexual disorder the American Psychological Association does not recognize because it drove out Division leaders and members who recognized sexual addiction for what it is. Gay men have eight times more sexual partners than heterosexual men do, and are the prevalent reason why 3% of individuals living in Washington D.C. are infected with H.I.V – on par with AIDS crisis countries such as Kenya

Read more: The sexual liberation movement now controls the White House

Read also:
"Vile Passions"
Sodom Rises Again!

Justices 'mainstream'homosexual 'marriage'

Posted: April 04, 200912:10 am Eastern
By Drew Zahn© 2009 WorldNetDaily
IowaSupremeCourt
DES MOINES, Iowa –

In the Midwest, a region of the country widely considered to be a bedrock of traditional American values, many people are in shock following an Iowa Supreme Court decision this morning overturning the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

Read full article: 'I don't think Iowans imaginedthis could be foisted on the state'


Read also: The Plain Truth About Homosexuality!
Does God accept the “gay lifestyle”? Though the mass media are pushing to make homosexuality seem healthy and normal, your Bible reveals the whole truth of the matter

And:
From Closet to Mainstream: The Homosexual Agenda
Homosexual activists have won wide acceptance for practices considered deviant just decades ago. What does the Bible say will happen to a society that abandons God’s standard of morality? Can homosexuals find true happiness beyond the false promises

Friday, April 3, 2009

World Bank President Admits Agenda For Global Government

World Bank President and Bilderberg elitist Robert Zoellick openly admitted the plan to eliminate national sovereignty and impose a global government during a speech on the eve of the G20 summit.

Speaking about the agenda to increase not just funding but power for international organizations on the back of the financial crisis, Zoellick stated,

“If leaders are serious about creating new global responsibilities or governance, let them start by modernising multilateralism to empower the WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank Group to monitor national policies.”

In other words, give global institutions the power to regulate national policy as part of the creation of global government.

What Zoellick is outlining is essentially the end of national sovereignty and the reclassification of national governments as mere subordinates to a global authority that is completely unaccountable to the voting public of any country.

The more cynical amongst us would call this a global dictatorship. Zoellick couches the plan in flowery rhetoric of helping the poor and alleviating poverty, but as we have documented for years, the global elite’s goal of world government has little to do with saving the planet and everything to do with creating a global fascist state.

Read more: World Bank President Admits Agenda For Global Government

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Watch: What Is the "Kingdom of God?"