| 1. Where is America in Bible Prophecy? Rising debt may be next crisis
The Founding Fathers left one legacy not celebrated on Independence Day but which affects us all. It's the national debt. The country first got into debt to help pay for the Revolutionary War. Growing ever since, the debt stands today at a staggering $11.4 trillion - equivalent to about $37,000 for each and every American. And it's expanding by over $1 trillion a year. The mountain of debt easily could become the next full-fledged economic crisis without firm action from Washington, economists of all stripes warn.. . . ............................. read more India Joins Russia, China in Questioning U.S. Dollar Dominance
Suresh Tendulkar, an economic adviser to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said he is urging the government to diversify its $264.6 billion foreign-exchange reserves and hold fewer dollars. “The major part of Indian reserves is in dollars -- that is something that’s a problem for us,” Tendulkar, chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, said in an interview yesterday in Aix-en-Provence, France, where he was attending an economic conference................................ read more U.S. military chief says clock ticking on Iran nuke
The top U.S. military officer warned on Tuesday that time is running out for dialogue with Tehran to avoid either a nuclear-armed Iran or a possible military strike against the Islamic Republic. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it is critical for diplomatic efforts to reach a solution before Iran develops a nuclear weapon or faces an Israeli or U.S. strike to turn back its nuclear program. "That window is a very narrow window," Mullen told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. Mullen noted that some forecasters believe Iran could be as little as a year away from developing a nuclear bomb, adding: "The clock has continued to tick."............................... read more Mysterious tremors detected on San Andreas Fault
Scientists have detected a spike in underground rumblings on a section of California's San Andreas Fault that produced a magnitude-7.8 earthquake in 1857. What these mysterious vibrations say about future earthquakes is far from certain. But some think the deep tremors suggest underground stress may be building up faster than expected and may indicate an increased risk of a major temblor................................ read more
2. Israel - God's Timepiece Israelis eye cyberwar on Iran
In the late 1990s, a computer specialist from Israel's Shin Bet internal security service hacked into the mainframe of the Pi Glilot fuel depot north of Tel Aviv. It was meant to be a routine test of safeguards at the strategic site. But it also tipped off the Israelis to the potential such hi-tech infiltrations offered for real sabotage. "Once inside the Pi Glilot system, we suddenly realised that, aside from accessing secret data, we could also set off deliberate explosions, just by programming a re-route of the pipelines," said a veteran of the Shin Bet drill. So began a cyberwarfare project which, a decade on, is seen by independent experts as the likely new vanguard of Israel's efforts to foil the nuclear ambitions of its arch-foe Iran............................ read more Terrorists to descend on Jesus' birthplace
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization has decided to hold in the West Bank city of Bethlehem its first congress in 20 years. Well-known terrorists and anti-Israel extremists are slated to descend upon the important Christian city, where, among other things, the Fatah party is set to vote on a clause that would affirm "resistance" against Israel, WND has learned. The event will mark Fatah's sixth General Congress. At the meeting, hundreds of voting Fatah members will discuss the future of their party and pass official resolutions outlining Fatah's major objectives. Abbas secured special permission from Israel to allow Fatah members to travel to Bethlehem from other West Bank towns and the Gaza Strip as well as from Jordan, Syria and Lebanon........................... read more Blue and White Gas: Israel to be Self-Sufficient for 20 Years
New estimates of natural gas reserves recently discovered off the Mediterranean Coast near Haifa will allow Israel to be self-sufficient in energy for two decades, according to Yitzchak Tshuva, one of the investors in the project. “Israel today is independent – completely independent with blue and white [Israeli-made] energy,” said Tshuva, chief executive office of Delek Energy.. ......................... read more Flight of 230 North American Immigrants Arrives in Israel
The first chartered Aliyah flight of 2009 arrived at Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. Two hundred and thirty-two olim (new immigrants) from the United States and Canada were aboard the flight. The immigrants are the first of 3,000 olim from North America and the United Kingdom to arrive this summer, on the first of 15 chartered Aliyah flights sponsored by the Nefesh B'Nefesh organization and the Jewish Agency. . ......................... read more Hizbullah's rise from the ashes
They show up along the Lebanese border in Land Rovers. One time they'll roll down the window, lift a camera with a long lens and snap a few pictures of an IDF outpost on the other side of the border before driving away. Other times, they will get out and stroll along the border, right next to the UNIFIL and Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) positions. While the men don't wear Hizbullah uniforms, the IDF has no doubt that they belong to the Iranian-backed Shi'ite guerrilla group. On rare and lucky occasions, IDF cameras catch a face of a known Hizbullah operative. These Hizbullah operatives are not alone. On some tours they take with them groups of foreigners, sometimes members of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards. This is the reality along the northern border three years after the Second Lebanon War - Hizbullah may not maintain overt military positions like it did before 2006, but it is still there, growing stronger by the day. According to Israeli estimates, Hizbullah today has somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 rockets of various ranges that could reach from Kiryat Shmona in the North to Dimona in the South and the sensitive nuclear reactor nearby.. . ......................... read more
3. A Revived Roman Empire? Ireland to vote again on EU's Lisbon Treaty on Oct 2
Ireland will hold a second referendum on the European Union's key Lisbon reform treaty on October 2, Prime Minister Brian Cowen told parliament on Wednesday. Cowen said he had received assurances from his European colleagues on issues that concerned Irish voters, who threw the EU into chaos when they rejected the treaty in a referendum in June last year. "I believe these concerns have been addressed now in the shape of the legal guarantees which have been agreed by the 27 heads of state," he said. "On that basis, I recommended to the government that we return to the people to seek their approval for Ireland to ratify the treaty. "That referendum will take place on October 2nd.".. .. .......................... read more Top EU diplomat Javier Solana to step down this Fall - who will emerge as the new voice of the EU?
Top EU diplomat Javier Solana on Sunday announced plans to retire this autumn, in an interview with Spanish newspaper ABC. "I think my time has come," said Solana, 66, who has held the position for ten years. He said a decade was "more than enough." Solana's term in office as the European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy is set to expire in October........................... read more
5. Apostate Christianity Episcopal Bishop calls individual salvation 'heresy,' 'idolatry'
Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori says it's "heresy" to believe that an individual can be saved through a sinner's prayer of repentance. In her opening address to the church's General Conference in California, Jefferts Schori called that "the great Western heresy: that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God." According to Schori, it is heresy to believe that an individual's prayer can achieve a saving relationship with God. "............................ read more
6. The Rise of Islam Arab group says restoring the Islamic Caliphate is the answer not Hamas or Fatah
The Hizb ut Tahrir Islamic fundamentalist movement has become active among Palestinian Authority Arabs in Judea and Samaria, pushing a message that only restoring the Islamic caliphate and the rule of Islamic law, not Fatah or Hamas, holds the answer for the region. According to National Public Radio (NPR), the group is arranging rallies and drumming up support while dodging security forces loyal to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who see the group as a threat. "The coming of the caliphate threatens the Palestinian Authority regime and threatens the American interests in the area,” said Hizb ut Tahrir supporter Osama al-Ansari from Hebron, “They are harassing us because a caliphate will not provide for the existence of the Palestinian Authority.". ........................... read more Seven Christians beheaded in Somalia by Islamic hardliners
Somalia's hardline Islamist rebels beheaded seven people on Friday for being "Christians" and "spies" in the latest imposition of strict sharia, Islamic law, by the Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group, witnesses said. Al Shabaab, which controls large tracts of south Somalia and parts of the capital Mogadishu, has carried out such executions before, but the beheadings on Friday were believed to be the largest number of killings at one time, Somalis say. Al Shabaab, which means "Youth" in Arabic, has vowed to rule the majority Muslim nation by a hardline interpretation of Islamic law. The group has dug up Sufi graves, forced women to wear veils, closed down movie halls and cut off limbs for theft. . .. ........................... read more
7. Increase in Knowledge/New Technologies Microsoft Chief: In 10 years, computers will know your intent
In the next 10 years, computers as flexible as a sheet of paper will replace notepads and newspapers, while others will be able to intuit what you're trying to find online, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Friday to a group of Charlotte technology workers. In 1999, fewer than half of households had desktop computers or cell phones, which are now ubiquitous. The next 10 years, Ballmer said, should see even more rapid changes............................. read more
8. Christian Worldview/Issues Survey Finds More Hispanic Americans Becoming Protestant
The percentage of Hispanic Catholics in America has dropped, while the proportion of born-again Hispanics has increased, a new survey by the Barna Group found. Over the past 15 years, the proportion of Hispanics in America that is aligned with the Catholic Church has fallen by 25 percent. By comparison, the proportion of born-again Christians for this ethnic group has increased by 17 percent. “You cannot help but notice the changing relationship between Hispanics and the Catholic Church,” commented George Barna, whose company conducted the research. “While many Hispanic immigrants come to the United States with ties to Catholicism, the research shows that many of them eventually connect with a Protestant church.” Moreover, many second and third generation Hispanic Americans are leaving the Catholic tradition, he noted............................ read more Church camps closing amid declining use, economy
Camp Sumatanga has meant Bible stories and softball games for generations of Methodist families. Young and old alike come to the old church retreat for renewal in its quiet coves and chapels. Today, though, the 1,700-acre retreat is in danger of shutting down. Nestled in the Appalachian foothills, it's among hundreds of church camps nationwide that are on the critical list. Years of declining usage and the recession have forced administrators to consider closing or cutting services. The president of the Christian Camp and Conference Association, Bob Kobielush, said dozens of camps nationwide ceased operating in the last three years, and this could be the last summer for many more. "I think this fall through Christmas we will see as many as 10 to 15 percent of camps decide they no longer can continue operating," said Kobielush, whose organization has about 950 member camps. He estimates there are about 3,000 church-affiliated camps nationwide.. . . ................. read more
9. Other Events To Watch Pope calls for a "world political authority" to manage the global economy
Pope Benedict called on Tuesday for a "world political authority" to manage the global economy and for more government regulation of national economies to pull the world out of the current crisis and avoid a repeat. The pope made his call for a re-think of the way the world economy was run in a new encyclical which touched on a number of social issues but whose main connecting thread was how the current crisis has affected both rich and poor nations. An encyclical is the highest form of papal writing and gives the clearest indication to the world's 1.1 billion Catholics -- and to non-Catholics -- of what the pope and the Vatican think about specific social and moral issues............................. read more Medvedev Unveils “World Currency” Coin At G8
In a highly symbolic moment at the G8 summit in Italy today, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev unveiled to reporters a coin representing a “united future world currency”. “We are discussing both the use of other national currencies, including the ruble, as a reserve currency, as well as supranational currencies,” the Russian leader said at a news conference. The question of a supranational currency “concerns everyone now, even the mints,” Medvedev said. The test coin “means they’re getting ready. I think it’s a good sign that we understand how interdependent we are.” Press images released to the Yahoo photo wire did not show any close up shots of the coin and little was known about it, except that it had been minted in Belgium and bears the words “unity in diversity”. An RIA Novosti report noted that the coin represented an example of a “possible global currency”. China and Russia have repeatedly called for a new global currency to replace the dollar............................ read more |
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