Thursday, October 09, 2008

Preparing for financial apocalypse


Chris Kaufman/Appeal-Democrat
Tom King, owner of Sutter Surplus, has seen a spike in survivalist-related gear at his Marysville shop.


Wall Street scare has some thinking chaos coming
September 30, 2008 11:47:00 PM



Some are hunkering down for the economic apocalypse. Others say they are merely stocking up on essentials for a worst-case scenario. In Marysville — and across the country — September's financial disasters have been driving Americans into survival supply stores for Meals Ready-to-Eat, and other emergency goods for long-term storage.
"I've been selling ammo cans by the pallet," says Tom King, owner of Sutter Surplus Sales on D Street.
Many of his customers, he says, "are gearing up to raise their own food and put up security fences. They're telling me to be ready."
"Granted," he says, "they are the extremists."
But precautionary measures are no longer the domain of survivalist regulars.
After the S&P 500's blue-chip index lost 9 percent on Monday — the biggest one-day percentage drop since 1987's Black Monday — Campbell Soup Co. stood tall as the lone sell-off survivor. That fact left one financial strategist, quoted in U.S. News & World Report, to quip, "If you have no confidence in your banking system ... the only thing you can have confidence in is the ability to build a bunker."
At the Ready Store, an Online operation based in Salt Lake City, water filters are at a premium. So are MREs, a key food source for military personnel during training and combat deployments.
"In the last two weeks," says Jonathan Dick, the company's sales and marketing manager, "we've sold 200 percent above normal levels in just about everything."
Hurricane Ike, which reached land Sept. 12, continues to play a big role on both the demand and supply ends of the business, especially when it comes to MREs.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency bought an unprecedented number of the pre-packaged, add-hot-water-and-eat meals from one of two primary wholesale suppliers in the days just after the storm struck the Gulf Coast.
FEMA also bought 13 truckloads of MREs from Ki4U.com, a distributor out of Gonzales, Texas.
"Inventory is shrinking here faster than this page can be updated," reads the explanation on that company's Web site. A seller of anti-radiation pills, fallout shelters and nerve gas detectors, Ki4U.com advertises such information as, "The Good News About Nuclear Destruction."
But Dick says his own spike in sales owes more to bank failures and their aftermath, than to hurricane survivors or the truly paranoid.
"With natural disasters, you see increases in short-term survival sales," he says. "People are trying to get through the next three days."
But since mid-September, people have been ordering a six-month or a year's supply of food, he says.
"We had a record day yesterday," Dick says of Monday, which saw a failed bailout proposal in Congress and plummeting action on Wall Street. Customers told him, "What if I lose my job and I lose my life savings and I don't have any money to buy food?"
"It's not just extremist people," Dick says. "There's a lot of uncertainty out there right now."
For King and his Marysville store, sales of hunting and camping gear are flat for this time of year.
But on Tuesday, he had only two MREs left on the shelf and no way of getting more. He sells the packs for $10 a-piece, and now steers customers to dehydrated foods, also a big seller at the Ready Store.
Sales of duffel bags and other carrying bags also have been remarkably brisk in recent days, King says.
Many of his customers, especially those from the Sierra foothills, he says, mention the current financial crises as their primary reason to stock up on such items.
"They think the polarization between the haves and have-nots is going to be very extreme," King says. And when limited resources become even more valuable, "they'll need to stay mobile."


The Day When Reality Strikes!


Volume XXVII Issue X October 2008Last Trumpet Ministries, PO Box 806, Beaver Dam, WI 53916Fax: 920-887-2626 Internet: http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org


“Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him. But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.”
Ecclesiastes 8:11-13

“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.”
Psalm 2:1-5

“And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Acts 2:19-21

In this issue of the Last Trumpet Newsletter, we will use our God-given knowledge and discernment to look at our nation, which is now in a condition such as it never was before. We are living during a time of change, transition, and metamorphosis; and it is not for the good. We are seeing a major shift in the prevailing spiritual wind, which is bringing with it the very essence of antichrist as never before. For a very long time, we have been watching major erosion and deterioration of all of the old and established institutions, morals, and spiritual fiber that brought America to its erstwhile greatness. These foundations are rapidly being pulled away, and they are disappearing without a trace among our new, younger society. The youth of our nation have no reference point to the past and no index of the future as they wander through the corridors of antichrist and illuministic deception. There is such confusion and so many mixed signals that most people will not utilize the mental energy to even think about what is happening to them. We have been told continually that things are not that bad and everything is going to get better. The current American society has never known hard times, and most look at you in disbelief if you tell them hard times are coming.
When people refuse to acknowledge reality, there is nothing left for them but deception, and most people will never wake up until reality hits them squarely in the face. The Almighty is now bringing trouble upon our land as a wake-up call. We are a nation in trouble, and we are stricken with one disaster after another! We are hearing some politicians say, “God is on our side,” but how can that be true if we are not on God’s side?
We know that very soon the ultimate reality is going to hit everyone squarely in the face. The return of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, will bring Judgment Day, and everyone will be there. Judgment Day will be a day when all deception, concealments, and cover-ups will be gone. It will be a day of stark reality for everyone. Then comes the reality that you will spend eternity somewhere. You will be either in the Kingdom of Heaven or in a state of eternal damnation. If you are reading this, there is still time to repent, and the Saviour will hear you. He will not turn you away! Do it now, while the clock is still ticking!
What Happens When an Economy Dies?
What is the current reality of the economy of the United States of America? When we drive from city to city, we see numerous closed and empty businesses and factories. We see the countless “for sale” signs and the shaggy lawns of houses that have been abandoned to foreclosure. We see the trail of thieves and vandals leaving their ugly scars upon once beautiful neighborhoods. We are losing half a million family-supporting manufacturing jobs every year, totaling more than three million such jobs since George Bush took office. The median income for American families, adjusted for inflation, has been dropping continually. Forty-seven million Americans have no health insurance, and for those who do have it, the cost has doubled. (1) Countless millions of Americans are hopelessly in debt and have no money that isn’t spent before they earn it. Americans are not managing money, they are juggling debt. The average credit card interest for the year 2007 was 19%, and mailboxes are stuffed with new credit card offers every business day. Banks and other institutions are now mailing one billion credit card offers every month! It is also a sad fact that with interest and late charges, many people are paying 33% interest and fees on their balances! (2)
In California, foreclosures on homes were up 261% over last year, and the problem is getting worse. (3) When people are in such bondage and are oppressed by the banksters, judgment will surely come on the entire system. We read of this in James 5:1-6 as follows: “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.”
We are now seeing the very fulfillment of Bible prophecy as the Almighty is sending measured judgment on the corrupt banking system of the United States of America. We must remember that the death of the U.S. economy will bring forth the final stages of antichrist domination and the final fulfillment of prophecy. We know that in all of recorded history, no government has ever outlived its economy. When the economy dies, so does the government, and a new one rises in its place. The new world order will have an entirely new and different economy with electronic currency and wealth control that will enslave all humanity, but Almighty God will cut it short! Can any thinking person doubt that this is happening before our very eyes?
On July 22nd, 2008, the banking giant Wachovia reported a loss of 8.9 billion dollars and cut 6,350 workers. (4) On August 19th, 2008, the London Times reported that the former International Monetary Fund chief, Professor Kenneth Rogoff, warned of imminent high-profile casualties among American banks. (5) Then came the Federal bailout of the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which is another heavy burden on the taxpayers of this country. To facilitate this rescue of a failed mortgage system, the ceiling on the national debt had to be raised to an unthinkable amount of $10.6 trillion dollars. (6)
On August 19th, 2008, the London Daily Telegraph reported that the M3 growth rate aggregates fell from almost 19% to 2.1% in three months, going below the rate of inflation. (7) M3 is the money supply index which our U.S. government had traditionally freely published, but recently refused to do so! Something very big, with lasting tragic effects, was about to happen!
On September 11th, 2008, exactly seven years after the twin towers of the erstwhile World Trade Center were destroyed, a chain reaction of events began to take place, which will change our nation forever and will force a new antichrist economy to emerge. On that day of September 11th, 2008, the giant Washington Mutual Bank fell below 2 dollars per share as the bank reported a 33.3 billion dollar loss. (8) Four days later the Washington Mutual stock was declared to be “junk” by Standard and Poor’s! (9) Conditions were soon to grow much worse!
The wealth of our erstwhile great nation once rested on five giant banking pillars that were so large and powerful that they were thought to be invincible. Those five banks were Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, and Lehman Brothers. At this present time, only two of these are left. Bear Stearns was the first to go into insolvency. Then Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers fell into bankruptcy almost simultaneously. I was shocked and stunned as I watched all of this begin to happen. I had just returned from New York City where my wife and I went to pray and do research. We took the Staten Island ferry across New York Harbor, and as we passed the Statue of Liberty, I could see the numerous unmarked black helicopters circling the harbor. The U.S. Coast Guard gun ships were positioned there as well. Once in Manhattan, we walked up Whitehall Street to Broadway, and as we neared Wall Street, there was the landmark that I had seen many times before. In the median where the two streets come together is a massive bronze bull, marking the entrance to the financial district. The Lord reminded me of the golden calf that the children of Israel danced around in a naked frenzy. It struck me that Wall Street and all of its banking houses that have been oppressing the people America and the world have been dancing in a naked frenzy and that soon the ground would open and swallow them up as well.
We continued on to Federal Hall where the masses of people gathered and looked across the street at the banking giants with shock and disbelief when the crash came in 1929. Then the great depression hit and paralyzed our nation. Federal Hall was the first capitol building of the United States, and it was there that George Washington gave the first Presidential inaugural address. As I looked across the street, I saw the New York Stock Exchange and Rockefeller’s personal bank, the Bank of New York, next to it. Both of these massive buildings had black iron fences set up in the streets with special police and guards armed with high-powered automatic weapons positioned about every ten or fifteen feet. A strange feeling came over me and I felt compelled to pray. We walked over to the giant Lehman Brothers building and sat down directly in front of it. I remembered the history of this financial pillar that was immensely successful since the days of the illuminist Jacob Schiff. I remembered the merger of this bank with Kuhn Loeb and Co., and I also recalled that this bank financed the communists Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin and bankrolled the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. The evil in this bank was beyond comprehension, and there is so much more infamy in its history that cannot be mentioned for lack of space on these pages. As I sat there, the Spirit of the Lord came over me, and I began to pray, “Lord, thou knowest what they have done, what they are doing, and what they intend to do. Bring them down quickly, O Lord; let them fall into the hand of thy righteous judgment.”
On Monday, September 15th, 2008, the mighty Lehman Brothers went into bankruptcy with debts of 613 billion dollars. (10) Merrill Lynch also went under and had to find a buyer for what was left of it. When I heard that the mighty Merrill Lynch became insolvent, I remembered their television advertisement stating, “Merrill Lynch is God.”
On September 16th, 2008, the insurance giant AIG, American International Group, was facing a financial crisis as its stock went into a dive of 61%. This caused the shock waves on Wall Street, causing a drop of over 500 points in one day. (11) It was a near crash that was averted only when the U.S. Government bailed out AIG, which put the American taxpayers into deeper debt, involving countless billions of dollars. Many people are losing their retirement funds partially or completely. All of this negative activity has also caused every major stock exchange in Europe to plunge, (12) and some experts say we are very close to a worldwide depression. Recently, financial expert Wilbur Ross, CEO of WL. Ross Co., recently stated that it is likely that one thousand banks will close in the next several months. (13)
It is a sad fact that our national debt as of September 11th, 2008, was $9,695,974,762,677.63. (14) It will soon be over ten trillion dollars. How large is that debt? We know that light travels at a speed of approximately 186,000 miles per second. Thus, light traveling in a straight line could circle the earth seven and one-half times per second. At that speed, light would travel six trillion miles in one year. Our national debt, at nearly ten trillion dollars, is truly astronomical, and it will never be paid. When our Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, was asked where he invests his personal money, he admitted that much of it was in Canadian Treasury bonds! (15)
The Rise of Strange Forces!
It is a Presidential election year in the United States, and strange forces are at work both in our country and elsewhere in the world. There are two predominant forces rising at this time: one is radical, militant feminism, and the other is Islam, the Moslem religion. In Germany, a land where Barack Obama is greatly admired, Chancellor Angela Merkel has once again been named “the most powerful woman in the world” by Forbes Magazine. (16) As revealed in a previous issue of this newsletter, Angela Merkel is likely the biological daughter of Adolph Hitler by artificial insemination. This was discovered in records by the Russian doctor in charge of the project. Merkel loves the militant music of Wagner, such as “The Ride of the Valkieri”, just as Hitler did. She even looks like Hitler except for the mustache. This is the woman who has been and is the driving force that is uniting the European Union. She is very militant and determined in her efforts.
In the United States a strange feministic spirit has recently arisen in the person of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin. Many people have been deceived by this woman who presents herself as a combination of a “hockey mom and pit bull.” The Illuminati is using this woman, who loves to shoot not only rifles but also high-powered automatic weapons. She makes bold speeches, even threatening to get tough with Russia and go to war with them if necessary. She plainly stated this to anchor Charlie Gibson on the World News Tonight show as mentioned on CNN on September 12, 2008. (17) Palin also made it clear that God ordered us to go to war with Iraq. She is echoing the words of George Bush when he said, “I am driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, ‘George, go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan,’ and I did. And then God would tell me, ‘George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq,’ and I did.” Palin made similar statements about “God’s war” while attending the Wasilla Assembly of God Church. (18) According to I Peter 3:4, a woman is to have “a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” There are very few of those women left in our country, but they are the ones who are powerful in prayer, and God’s hand is upon them.
Wherever Sarah Palin goes, she draws much larger crowds than McCain. The contest has taken on strange contrasts as Palin eclipses McCain in popularity.
The other great force that is rising up, not only worldwide but especially in the United States, is Islam, the Moslem religion. In Chechnya, President Ramzan Kadyrov will soon inaugurate the largest mosque in Europe. This mosque will accommodate 10,000 worshippers. (19) Such super mosques are springing up rapidly world-wide. Sharia courts, which are special courts that administer Moslem laws and punishments, have been set up throughout England and are honored by the British Government. (20) Moslems are being given special privileges everywhere, and this religion is a rising force that is rapidly seizing the world. Could this Islamic force seize control of the United States?
The September 1st, 2008, issue of Newsweek Magazine featured a story entitled: “So What If He Were Muslim.” The article points out the Muslim roots of Barack Hussein Obama. (21) It is a fact that Obama comes from a Moslem family, grew up with Moslems, and attended a Moslem extremist school as a child and seems to have the backing of many prominent Moslems. Obama gave his acceptance speech from a stage that replicated an ancient Greek Temple as if he were some kind of god. (22) We also know that according to Federal Election Commission records, some of the massive amount of campaign money raised by Obama has come from radical Moslem extremist groups that are under active investigation for terror financing. These contributions have been accepted and not returned. One donor was Jamal M. Barzinji, who was investigated for the 9/11 attacks, as was Obama’s top Muslim advisor, who recently resigned from Obama’s campaign. (23) Why are Islamic extremists and terrorists supporting Obama for President of the United States? Do they know something about him that we don’t know? Is there a Moslem heart beating inside of Barack Hussein Obama?
We can most assuredly say that Obama is a Moslem, because he admitted it by mistake in an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC News. When Stephanopoulos said, “But John McCain said the same thing about questioning your faith,” Obama replied with the following words: “……You’re absolutely right that John McCain has not talked about my Muslim faith. And you’re absolutely right that that has not come up.” At that point, Stephanopoulos tried to correct him by saying, “Christian faith?” Obama quickly replied, “Christian faith.” (24)
Occult Forces in Overdrive!
On September 22nd, 2008, we will enter a strange time of occult power that continues through October 31st, which is Halloween. The many thousands of witches practicing their craft in the United States and Europe know what this means, and they are trying to change the world with their spells and rituals during this time. This September 22nd is their sabat of Mabon, which is the festival of the “Dark Mother” or the Crone. It is a time when waxing darkness is celebrated. That same day of the autumnal equinox is celebrated as the witches’ Thanksgiving, called Harvest Home. The period of time between September 22nd and October 31st is a time of great spiritual mischief, and only a few days later is Election Day. I mention all of this because the United States of American has been given over to witchcraft, and thus, the people who involve themselves with it are without protection and are subject to its influence. The Harry Potter books and movies have contributed much to the proliferation of evil spirits even though many churches defend these materials. We have now learned that Janet K. Rowling is number one billionaire at the top of the Forbes list. (25) No Christian should have any involvement with any such things and should especially avoid Halloween. It is the Devil’s business and it is serious. It is no joke! Wiccan witchcraft is the force behind the forces that are destroying our country!
Much could be said about the moral decay in our nation, but one example indicates how far gone we are. The state of California is no longer recognizing brides and grooms. The new formula is, “Do you, ‘Party A’, take ‘Party B’ to be legally bound in union until dissolution do you part?” Since the California Supreme Court overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, certificates of marriage have been modified to read “Party A and Party B.” In one case, the Placer County Clerk’s Office denied a marriage license, because the minister altered it to read “bride and groom.” The license was sent back to the minister who officiated at the wedding with the following attached statement: “Does not comply with California State registration laws.” (26) California will see God’s wrath soon!
Illuministic Health Mismanagement!
In a recent report by Medical News Today, it was stated that 79 million Americans have medical bills that they cannot pay. (27) Many of these bills are large, and people are being brought to poverty and homelessness because of it! According to USA Today, drug prices are up 100% and some as much as 1,000%. (28) We have a shameful and corrupt health care system in our country.
We have now learned that the American Academy of Pediatrics is actively promoting the use of statin drugs for children as young as eight years of age. Statin drugs are known to damage muscles, including the heart, and to cause fatigue. (29) Why do doctors not know how to make children healthy without giving them pills? There are only two possible answers to that: either they are very ignorant or very evil!
Something is very wrong with the establishment “health care” system in America. We have runaway epidemics of diabetes, autism, hypertension, cancer, and so on. The following words were submitted to me by a certified natural health professional or CNHP: “Dr. Robert Mendelsohn often criticized modern medicine for its sanctimonious doctrine. He argued that doctors are the priests who dispense holy water in the form of inoculations to ritually initiate our loyalty into the larger medical industry. Dr. Richard Moskowitz agrees. ‘Vaccines have become sacraments of our faith in biotechnology. Their efficacy and safety are widely seen as self-evident and needing no further proof.’ Others see a link between vaccinations and satanic rituals of witchcraft, where animals are sacrificed and their organs brewed in a hellish concoction of horrid substances: voodoo medicine by 21st century mad scientists. Sadly, our children are their unwilling subjects as society is slowly devoured by their insatiable appetite for human experimentation.”
We have now learned that the Food and Drug Administration has approved zapping lettuce, spinach, and other greens with radiation. I am drawing upon forty-five years experience as an avid student of chemistry and physics when I say that radiation breaks down and disassembles organic compounds into free radicals and destroys all nutritional value of food. We should also note that the radioactive waste that is used to irradiate food may kill bacteria, but not viruses. (30) Truly, we live in a polluted land, and I pray that God will give us wisdom and faith.
Final Warnings From Above!
Almighty God is speaking loudly and clearly, but are the people of America listening? In recent weeks we have been hit by hurricanes and major tropical storms, and there is a message from the Creator in them. We know that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration uses alphabetical order to pick names at random for the sequential naming of hurricanes and tropical storms. Without a doubt, God is acting in accordance with the meanings of these names to send us a message!
When Hurricane Gustav hit our country, it was no small storm, and it left a considerable amount of damage in certain areas. The name Gustav comes from the Old Norse and means “staff of the gods.” In the old Norse religion there was a trinity, or three primary gods, named Wodin (Odin), Thor, and Frey. From those three words we derive the words Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The high priest in the Old Norse, or Viking temple was called the “gouda.” This man held a staff in his hand as he stood before the three gods in the shadowy temple with only cauldrons of fire and torches for light. That staff was called a “Gustav.” When the priest lifted it and pounded the floor three times, it meant that the gods had decreed whatever was to be done.
After Hurricane Gustav had come and gone, there were two more hurricanes to quickly follow. Hurricane Hanna struck our coast and traveled up our Eastern seaboard. We even got hit with some of Hanna’s activity as a tropical storm in New York City while we were there; including heavy rain, some flooding, and sustained winds of over forty miles per hour. The name Hannah means “favored grace”, and Hanna was a mild hurricane by comparison. God was being gracious in the midst of his stern warnings. We know that in I Samuel, chapter one, a woman named Hannah wept before God for a child, and God saw her tears and heard her prayer. She gave birth to the prophet Samuel, who during his days saw Israel reject God in favor of an earthly king that would bring them into bondage and servitude. When Hurricane Hanna struck our coast with its heavy rains, the very heavens wept profusely over the East coast of our nation as the storm raced toward Washington, D.C. Our nation is a nation that is continually rejecting the one true God, and it is a nation that is now clamoring for a new President. Will this new President bring deeper sorrow and more bondage and servitude?
The third hurricane in the series was Hurricane Ike. This hurricane struck hard as the frenzied storm devastated Galveston, Texas. That city was virtually wiped out. Nearby Houston was also hard hit, and some of the skyscrapers had every window knocked out. Flying metal and glass were everywhere. Millions were without power, drinking water, and other essentials. (31) President Bush’s home state was hit with shock and awe! Here let it be noted that the name Ike means “he shall laugh.” What happens when the people of our country persist in their rebellion against Almighty God? What happens when they blaspheme him, ignore him, and persist in their iniquity and manifold sins? Hurricane Ike was a stern reminder that God will not be mocked and insulted forever by a rebellious nation such as this. Just as Ike means “He shall laugh”, so we read in Psalm 2:4-5 as follows: “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.”
So much is happening so quickly, and the signs of the times are greatly overlapping each other. Numerous significant earthquakes with a magnitude of 4 or greater have been shaking our earth at an average of over 300 per month. On August 31st, 2008, a magnitude 6.1 quake rocked Red China. This was only one week after the occult Olympic Games closed. (32) God was speaking as he sent a major earthquake to that area both before and after the Olympic madness and idolatry.
Two more major earthquakes struck on September 11th, 2008. A massive 6.9 magnitude quake rocked Japan, and a powerful 6.6 quake shook Indonesia. Both quakes were classified as strong by the U.S Geological Survey. (33) We should also be aware that a recent study by scientists at Columbia University reveals that New York City is in line for a major earthquake. New fault lines with some seismic activity have been discovered within two miles of the Indian Point nuclear power plant, just north of New York City. (34)
In addition to the creation crying out, America going bankrupt, the hurricanes, the massive banks and businesses failing, and numerous other such things; we also have tragedies such as the fire in the tunnel that shut down the undersea tunnel connecting England with France. This happened on September 11th, 2008. (35) We also had a terrible train wreck near Los Angeles, California, when a Metrolink passenger train collided head-on with a freight train. Twenty-five people were killed and many others were injured. (36)
The scientists working in Switzerland are gloating about a successful test with the Hadron Collider, which cost nearly nine billion dollars to build and is supposed to prove that the world was not created but got here by a big accidental bang. So far they have only tried this nuclear collider on low power. What will happen when they ramp up this massive nuclear monster that is seventeen miles in circumference? (37) The device works with what scientists call dark energy and matter. Scientists have this to say about dark energy and matter: “Dark energy and matter remains elusive. Dark energy is weird, best thought of as an elastic, repulsive gravity that can’t be broken down into particles. We know what it does, but we don’t know what it is!” (38)
In closing, I urge everyone, everywhere to pray. We are here to help you. Please send you prayer requests to us, and they will receive individual attention. Thanks to all of you who support this prophetic ministry. I pray you will be greatly blessed. Grace and peace be unto you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.


David J. MeyerAcknowledgements

01. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sep. 1, 2008, by David Newby, Milwaukee, WI.02. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sep. 4, 2008, by Daniel Torphy, Milwaukee, WI.03. Los Angeles Times, Jul. 23, 2008, DataQuick Report, Los Angeles, CA.04. Associated Press, Jul. 22, 2008, by Leva M. Augstums, Charlotte, NC.05. London Times, Aug. 19, 2008, by Gary Duncan and Ted Lewis, London, England, U.K.06. Associated Press, Jul. 22, 2008, by Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Washington, D.C.07. Daily Telegraph, Aug. 19, 2008, by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, London, England, U.K.08. Reuters News Service, Sep. 11, 2008, by Jonathan Stempel, New York, NY.09. Bloomberg News Service, Sep. 15, 2008, by Ari Levy, New York, NY.10. CNN Dow Jones Report, Sep. 15, 2008,New York, NY.11. Associated Press, Sep. 16, 2008, by Tim Paradis, New York, NY.12. Yahoo Finance, Sep. 16, 2008, http://finance.yahoo.com.13. CNBC News, Sep. 15, 2008, by Wilbur Ross.14. U.S. National Debt Clock, Sep. 11, 2008, http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/15. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jul 22, 2008, by AP, Milwaukee, WI.16. Associated Press, Aug. 29, 2008, AP, Berlin, Germany.17. CNN News, Sep. 12, 2008, CNN.com.18. PressTV, Sep. 3, 2008, http://www.presstv.com.19. Jerusalem Post, Aug. 28, 2008, Jerusalem, Israel.20. Daily Telegraph, Sep. 15, 2008, by Richard Edwards, London, England, U.K.21. Newsweek Magazine, Sep. 1, 2008, by Ellis Cose.22. ABC News, Aug. 27, 2008, by Reuters, Denver, CO.23. WorldNetDaily, Aug. 30, 2008, http://www.worldnetdaily.com24. ABC News, Sep. 9, 2008, Stephanopoulos interview.25. Daily Telegraph, Jul. 24, 2008, by Laura Clout, London, England.26. KWTX-10 News, Sep. 15, 2008, http://www.kwtx.com27. Medical News Today, Aug. 24, 2008, Medicalnewstoday.com28. USA Today, Aug. 9. 2008, by Julie Appleby, Gannett News Service.29. Wellness Resources, Jul. 11, 2008, by Byron Richards, CCN, http://www.wellnessresources.com30. Associated Press, Aug. 22, 2008, by Lauren Neergaard, Washington, D.C.31. Reuters News Service, Sep. 15, 2008, by Tim Gaynor, Galveston, TX.32. Washington Post, Aug. 31, 2008, by Maureen Fan, Beijing, China.33. CNN News, Sep. 11, 2008.34. Associated Press, Aug. 24, 2008, by Jim Fitzgerald, White Plains, NY.35. Associated Press, Sep. 11, 2008, by Angela Charlton, Paris, France.36. KNBC News, Sep. 14, 2008, Los Angeles, CA.37. Daily Telegraph, Sep. 12, 2008, by Jon Swaine, London, England, U.K.38. Melbourne Herald Sun, Jun. 5, 2008, by David Reneke, Melbourne, Australia.



My Own Private Focus Group


Timothy Egan
October 8, 2008, 9:30 pm — Updated: 12:08 am -->



COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — I didn’t hook up people to electronic monitoring devices, nothing to measure leg trickles and blood-sugar spikes in response to off-key talking points.
I had no magic maps, no demographic weighting formulas. I simply went to the heart of one of the fastest-growing, most Republican counties in the land — as red as rib-eye steak on the e-coli side of raw — and wandered aimlessly, like John McCain in Tuesday’s debate.
Here in Colorado Springs — the Vatican of evangelical political power, home to the Air Force Academy and a community where optimism usually matches the sunrise glow at the base of Pikes Peak – you can see what will happen in less than a month.
My friends: it’s not good for Senator McCain.
“As a small business owner, it’s very hard to watch a lifetime of hard work and savings just wither away in the last two weeks,” said Jan Martin, a native of this more-than-mile-high city, and a lifelong Republican. “The debate on Tuesday night has, if anything, bolstered my opinion.”
So Jan Martin, who also serves on the city council, will cross party lines in less than a month and vote Barack Obama for president, she said. She’s not leaving the Republican party – she’s deserting the nominee.
But…but…what about Bill Ayers? That radical! Obama served on some charity boards with him – he must be a terrorist sympathizer! And what about Sarah Palin’s claim, with a knowing wink, that Obama “is not a man who sees America the way you and I see America.”
The sludge of insinuation is loose, but has no more staying power than the Chicago Cubs in a playoff series. (And I like the Cubbies.) All the desperate demagogues of talk radio and Fox News, summoning the kooks and fringe lunatics for one last blast of scary Barack Hussein Obama talk, are melting in 2008’s bonfire of economic vanities.
You want scary? How about this: two trillion dollars. That’s the amount that Americans have lost over the last 15 months in their retirement accounts.
“The financial crisis is point number one,” said Pastor Brady Boyd, head of New Life Church, 250,000 square feet of concentrated Christianity. “These attacks against the candidates are just irrelevant right now. Why are you all attacking one another when we’re dying out here?”
The pastor oversees a mega-church with 10,000 members. When I was here four years ago, Pastor Ted Haggard, the onetime head of the National Association of Evangelicals, boasted of his conference calls with Karl Rove and his deep affection for George Bush.
But then, Pastor Ted was a very bad boy, caught up in a meth and male prostitute scandal. He left New Life and went off to get rehabbed at some place that was supposed to make him right in the head.
Pastor Brady Boyd is a different breed of evangelical. His political suggestions this year, delivered in a sermon on Sunday and repeated in our interview, were simple.
“The only advice I give is pray, fast and vote, and that can be for any political party,” he said.
This year, the church hasn’t even heard from the McCain campaign. “What’s happening to us is less allegiance to the Republican party, and more to our core principles,” he said.
Which gets us to the second message to come from Colorado Springs: on election day, there will be no repeat of 2004, when people woke up to the surprise that “moral values” was the leading issue of the campaign, according to exit polls.
Down the road, Focus on the Family is still in a bit a of dither over what to do about John McCain. James Dobson, the founder of what is essentially a political action committee for evangelicals, had said earlier this year he would never vote for McCain. Never. Not under any circumstances.
Now he’s changed his mind. Sort of.
“While I said I will not endorse either candidate this year, I can say I’m now supporting John McCain,” he said in his October newsletter. However, “the senator continues to embrace issues that concern me.”
Dobson’s Web site contains outdated-looking scare alerts with headlines like “American Airlines extends special benefits to homosexuals.”
Dobson is yesterday. Boyd is tomorrow, saying that the environment, the poor, and helping those in his church who’ve lost a job or a house are things that matter to his congregation.
Abortion? Homosexuals? Bill Ayers?
“To be focused on those things at a time when people are hurting would really be to the detriment of families,” said Boyd.
Obama will not win Colorado Springs. John Kerry got just 32 percent of the vote in this county in 2004. But if Obama gets 40 percent – which is what Democrats expect based on the surge of newly registered voters and independents who are following Jan Martin’s path – he will win this state, and the election.
That leaves the circus of Sarah Palin and the sad specter of a snarling John McCain fading as they embrace the slippery bonds of the last century.


Dow plunges more than 678 to fall below 9,000


A weary trader rubs his eyes as he pauses outside the New York Stock Exchange following the end of the trading session in New York October 9, 2008. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 678.91 points on the day to finish at 8579.19 closing below 9,000 for the first time since 2003.

REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES)


By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer 32 minutes ago


NEW YORK - Stocks plunged in the final hour of trading Thursday, sending the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 675 points, or more than 7 percent, to its lowest level in five years after a major credit ratings agency said it was considering cutting its rating on General Motors Corp.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index also fell more than 7 percent.
The declines came on the anniversary of the closing highs of the Dow and the S&P. The Dow has lost 5,585 points, or 39 percent, since closing at 14,198 a year ago. The S&P 500, meanwhile, is off 655 points, or 42 percent, since recording its high of 1,565.15.
Thursday's sell-off came as Standard & Poor's Ratings Services put GM and its finance affiliate GMAC LLC under review to see if its rating should be cut. GM has been struggling with weak car sales in North America.
The action means there is a 50 percent chance that S&P will lower GM's and GMAC's ratings in the next three months.
S&P also put Ford Motor Co. on credit watch negative. The ratings agency said that GM and Ford have adequate liquidity now, but that could change in 2009.
GM led the Dow lower, falling $2.15, or 31 percent, to $4.76, while Ford fell 58 cents, or 22 percent, to $2.08.
"The story is getting to be like that movie Groundhog Day," said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. He pointed to the still-frozen credit markets, and Libor, the bank-to-bank lending rate that remains stubbornly high despite the Fed's recent rate cut.
"Until that starts coming down, you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone getting excited about stocks," Hogan said. "Everything we're seeing his historic. The problem is historic, the solutions are historic, and unfortunately, the sell-off is historic. It's not the kind of history you want to be making."
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow fell 678.91, or 7.3 percent, to 8,579.19. The blue chips hadn't closed below the 9,000 level since the June 30, 2003.
Broader stock indicators also tumbled. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 75.02, or 7.6 percent, to 909.92, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 95.21, or 5.47 percent, to 1,645.12.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 47.37, or 8.67 percent, to 499.20.
A wave of fear about the economy sent stocks lower late in the final two hours of trading after a volatile start to a day in which major indicators like the Dow and the S&P 500 index bobbed up and down. The Nasdaq, with a bevy of tech stocks, spent much of the session higher but eventually as the sell-off intensified. Still, its losses were less severe because of the relatively modest drops in names like Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp.
On the New York Stock Exchange, declining issues came to nearly 3,000, while fewer than 250 advanced.
The sluggishness in the credit markets that triggered much of the heavy selling in markets around the world since mid-September appeared little changed Thursday following days of efforts by the Federal Reserve and other central banks to resuscitate lending.
Libor, the bank lending benchmark, for three-month dollar loans rose to 4.75 percent from 4.52 percent on Wednesday. That signals that banks remain hesitant to make loans for fear they won't be paid back.
The Fed and other leading central banks this week lowered key interest rates to help unclog the credit markets and promote lending to help the global economy. While a rate cut can take up to a year to work its way through the economy, the move was aimed as a boost to investor sentiment.
"We're stuck in a morass and I think it's going to take quite some time to come out of it," said Stephen Carl, principal and head of equity trading at The Williams Capital Group.
Demand remained high for short-term Treasurys, a refuge for investors willing to trade modest returns to protect their money. The yield on the three-month Treasury bill, which moves opposite its price, fell to 0.51 percent from 0.63 percent late Wednesday. Longer-term debt prices fell, with the yield on the 10-year note rising to 3.77 percent from 3.65 percent late Wednesday.
Investors across markets were mulling a plan being considered by the Bush administration to invest in hobbled U.S. banks as a way to stabilize the financial sector. The $700 billion rescue package signed into law last week allows the Treasury Department to inject fresh capital into financial institutions and obtain ownership shares in return.
Britain rolled out a similar plan, though no U.K. bank has received any investments. In Iceland, the government now has control of the country's three major banks as it struggles to contain the troubles there.
Wall Street is also looking for any effects of short selling now that a three-week ban imposed by regulators has expired. Short selling is a technique in which investors borrow shares in a company from a broker and sell them, hoping to buy them back later at a lower price. Essentially, it's a bet that a stock's price will fall. Short sellers can lose money if they have to repurchase the stock after it has risen.
Some analysts believe the unprecedented ban on short selling — an effort to bolster investor confidence — did more harm than good at a time of historic market volatility. They contend that short sellers help the market rally by covering their bets and creating demand for stocks.
"I think the market's way oversold. But I can't stand in the way of this falling knife — I'd get sliced open," said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors. "Investors are just saying, get me out at any price."
He also said that with the short-selling rule back in play, hedge funds might be shorting again to make up for their forced liquidations.
Volume on the NYSE came to 2.04 billion shares.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed down 0.50 percent while the Hang Seng added 3.31 percent. In Europe, Britain's FTSE-100 fell 1.21 percent, Germany's DAX fell 2.53 percent, and France's CAC-40 declined 1.55 percent.
___
On the Net:
New York Stock Exchange: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/storytext/wall_street/29431248/SIG=10l40o7fp/*http://www.nyse.com
Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com/


Synod: Ambivalence about modern Bible scholarship continues to swirl




Submitted by John L Allen Jr... on October 9, 2008 - 3:56am.
-->Posted on Oct 9, 2008 03:56am CST.




By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.Rome

Ambivalence about modern Biblical scholarship, which uses the same historical and literary tools to study scripture that one might apply to any other ancient text, continues to course through the Oct. 5-26 Synod of Bishops, devoted to “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.”
On the one hand, speakers have praised the contributions of Biblical scholars and called their work “essential” for a proper understanding of scripture. Yet several have also warned about a gap between exegetes and the rest of the church, especially the bishops, and the need for scientific study to be understood as no more than an appetizer, so to speak, before the main course of deep spiritual meditation.
In other words, the concern is that using the methods of scientific study should not lead to seeing the Bible as no more than an interesting piece of ancient literature, rather than the living Word of God.
That note was struck yesterday afternoon, in various ways, by at least four participants in the synod: Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa, Canada; Bishop Félix Lázaro Martínez of Ponce, Puerto Rico; Cardinal William Levada, an American who heads the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; and Fr. Julián Carrón, President of the Communion and Liberation movement.
Lázaro, for example, called for “mutual exchange between theology and exegesis.”
“It is the People of God,” he said, “who suffer the consequences of the existing dichotomy between theology and exegesis.”
Levada said that while the church must “treasure scientific research by the exegetes,” nonetheless “the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures cannot be only an individual scientific effort, but should always be compared, inserted and authenticated by the living tradition of the church.”
Prendergast called for the synod to ponder “the loss of confidence among Catholics that scripture truly communicates God’s revelation” and “how this may have been brought about by the influence of modern Biblical scholarship on preaching.” He also suggested renewal in “the church’s understanding of the spiritual sense of scripture” as a possible remedy.
Other notes struck yesterday afternoon include:
• Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., pointed to “a highly secular and materialistic world view,” with an exaggerated focus on the individual, as a major pastoral challenge. He recommended efforts in preaching and religious education to connect the Bible readings presented in the Lectionary with the doctrinal teaching found in the Cathechism of the Catholic Church.• Archbishop Tomash Peta of Astana, Kazakhstan, in effect echoed Cardinal Marc Ouellet’s call for a “Marian paradigm” in the interpretation of scripture, though without directly using that term. He argued that Mary is the “key to understanding the Bible,” both in terms of her openness of heart and her “complete union with Jesus.”• Bishop Eduardo Patiño Leal of Córdoba, Mexico, was the first to raise the issue of “private revelation,” meaning spontaneous eruptions of alleged divine revelation in venues such as Marian apparitions (The on-going reports of revelation from Mary in Medjugorje, Bosnia, are probably the best-known contemporary example). In broad strokes, Patiño called for caution in approaching private revelation: “Simple people of good will are drawn to alleged manifestations,” he said, “but sometimes they transform themselves into isolated religious groups within the Catholic church who spread devotions and spiritual pointers whose origins are to be found in ‘private messages and revelations,’ that have to be evaluated with care and that still have to provide an impulse toward overall public revelation in the living tradition of the church.”• Fr. Heinz Steckling, Superior General of the Oblate Missionaries, urged synod members not to restrict their sense of God’s Word to the printed page, but rather also to be attentive to what God might be saying “in human culture, in inter-religious dialogue, in our own life history.” The Bible, he said, is like a language school in which one learns to hear God, but “it would remain dead letters on a page if we spent our whole lives in school without going out to hear God’s voice in the world around us.”• Beyond the nexus between the Bible and the church, Levada also stressed the importance of the Bible in the search for unity among the divided branches of the Christian family. He noted that through the centuries, the Bible has sometimes been a source of division – citing, for example, the Arian heresy and the Protestant Reformation. Nevertheless, he said, “attention given to the written Word of God is certainly a very strong bond that draws the Catholic church closer to the other confessions in the common search.”• Perhaps the day’s most practical speech came from Bishop Peter Ingham of Wollongong, Australia, who focused at some length on the role of the lector at Mass, meaning the person who reads the scripture passages aloud. Some lectors read too fast, Ingham complained, and others don’t give each word or bit of punctuation their due. He recommended practice reading aloud before Mass.• On a more lofty theological note, Bishop Oscar Brown Jiménez of Santiago de Verguas in Panama stressed the link between the Eucharist and the Bible. In that context, he suggested that perhaps the Western church should steal a page from the East, speaking of a “double epiclesis,” or calling down of the Holy Spirit, during the Mass – one which is implicit in the liturgy of the Word, and the other which is explicit in the words of consecration that transform the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. After all, Brown argued, it’s the same Holy Spirit present in both.• Archbishop Geraldo Lyrio Rocha of Mariana, Brazil, stressed the importance of Liturgies of the Word in communities that lack a priest. He said that in Brazi, an astonishing 70 percent of Catholic communities do not have regular Sunday celebrations of the Eucharist, a reflection of severe priest shortages in much of Latin America. (In the United States and Europe, the ratio of priests to Catholics is roughly 1-1,300; in Latin America, it's closer to 1-7,000.)
Each morning before the work of the synod begins, the bishops and other participants take part in a brief rite of morning prayer. As part of the service, a different bishop offers a brief spiritual reflection – ideally, modeling the sort of good homiletic practice for which various speakers have called.
This morning’s reflect was delivered by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa, who is also president of the Italian bishops’ conference. Speaking primarily to his brother bishops, Bagnasco said that pastors are painfully aware of their “moral and anthropological poverty” and the “insufficiency of our powers” facing the great challenges of the day. He called upon bishops to keep their gaze fastened upon Christ, and to be for one another a “small ray” of Christ’s light.
In other business, the synod yesterday chose moderators and relators for the small groups in various languages. Two Americans were tapped: Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, president of the U.S. bishops' conference, was elected moderator of one English-language group, and Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucscon, vice-president of the U.S. conference, was chosen as relator of the same group.




Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Thousands of Troops Are Deployed on U.S. Streets Ready to Carry Out "Crowd Control"


Members of Congress were told they could face martial law if they didn't pass the bailout bill. This will not be the last time.


October 8, 2008

By Naomi Wolf

AlterNet


Background: the First Brigade of the Third Infantry Division, three to four thousand soldiers, has been deployed in the United States as of October 1. Their stated mission is the form of crowd control they practiced in Iraq, subduing "unruly individuals," and the management of a national emergency. I am in Seattle and heard from the brother of one of the soldiers that they are engaged in exercises now. Amy Goodman reported that an Army spokesperson confirmed that they will have access to lethal and non lethal crowd control technologies and tanks.George Bush struck down Posse Comitatus, thus making it legal for military to patrol the U.S. He has also legally established that in the "War on Terror," the U.S. is at war around the globe and thus the whole world is a battlefield. Thus the U.S. is also a battlefield.He also led change to the 1807 Insurrection Act to give him far broader powers in the event of a loosely defined "insurrection" or many other "conditions" he has the power to identify. The Constitution allows the suspension of habeas corpus -- habeas corpus prevents us from being seized by the state and held without trial -- in the event of an "insurrection." With his own army force now, his power to call a group of protesters or angry voters "insurgents" staging an "insurrection" is strengthened.U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman of California said to Congress, captured on C-Span and viewable on YouTube, that individual members of the House were threatened with martial law within a week if they did not pass the bailout bill:"The only way they can pass this bill is by creating and sustaining a panic atmosphere. … Many of us were told in private conversations that if we voted against this bill on Monday that the sky would fall, the market would drop two or three thousand points the first day and a couple of thousand on the second day, and a few members were even told that there would be martial law in America if we voted no."If this is true and Rep. Sherman is not delusional, I ask you to consider that if they are willing to threaten martial law now, it is foolish to assume they will never use that threat again. It is also foolish to trust in an orderly election process to resolve this threat. And why deploy the First Brigade? One thing the deployment accomplishes is to put teeth into such a threat.I interviewed Vietnam veteran, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and patriot David Antoon for clarification:"If the President directed the First Brigade to arrest Congress, what could stop him?""Nothing. Their only recourse is to cut off funding. The Congress would be at the mercy of military leaders to go to them and ask them not to obey illegal orders.""But these orders are now legal?'""Correct.""If the President directs the First Brigade to arrest a bunch of voters, what would stop him?""Nothing. It would end up in courts but the action would have been taken.""If the President directs the First Brigade to kill civilians, what would stop him?""Nothing.""What would prevent him from sending the First Brigade to arrest the editor of the Washington Post?""Nothing. He could do what he did in Iraq -- send a tank down a street in Washington and fire a shell into the Washington Post as they did into Al Jazeera, and claim they were firing at something else.""What happens to members of the First Brigade who refuse to take up arms against U.S. citizens?""They'd probably be treated as deserters as in Iraq: arrested, detained and facing five years in prison. In Iraq a study by Ann Wright shows that deserters -- reservists who refused to go back to Iraq -- got longer sentences than war criminals.""Does Congress have any military of their own?""No. Congress has no direct control of any military units. The Governors have the National Guard but they report to the President in an emergency that he declares.""Who can arrest the President?""The Attorney General can arrest the President after he leaves or after impeachment."[Note: Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi has asserted it is possible for District Attorneys around the country to charge President Bush with murder if they represent districts where one or more military members who have been killed in Iraq formerly resided.]"Given the danger do you advocate impeachment?""Yes. President Bush struck down Posse Comitatus -- which has prevented, with a penalty of two years in prison, U.S. leaders since after the Civil War from sending military forces into our streets -- with a 'signing statement.' He should be impeached immediately in a bipartisan process to prevent the use of military forces and mercenary forces against U.S. citizens""Should Americans call on senior leaders in the Military to break publicly with this action and call on their own men and women to disobey these orders?""Every senior military officer's loyalty should ultimately be to the Constitution. Every officer should publicly break with any illegal order, even from the President.""But if these are now legal. If they say, 'Don't obey the Commander in Chief,' what happens to the military?""Perhaps they would be arrested and prosecuted as those who refuse to participate in the current illegal war. That's what would be considered a coup.""But it's a coup already.""Yes."




Possible "Bank Holiday" in the Wings?



HOLLY NOTE: Last week Stan spoke to our local banker whom we have dealth with over the last 7 years. In this smaller-town environment, bankers are more inclined to tell clients the real deal than in larger cities where customers are just account numbers. When Stan inquired if a bank run might occur, while the answer was not an overt "yes", the look he was given said everything. It was a huge statement since bankers are notoriously conservative and don't want to rock their boat.In addition to having a couple of months' cash on hand, if you can pay your mortgage and utilities in advance for a month or two, it will bridge the gap of a temporary closure.



October 7, 2008

By Jim Sinclair,MineSet


Please understand that the Fed reacts to circumstances rather than acting before potential problems happen.If the Fed hadn't taken the rather strange action they took today by becoming OTC derivative dealers themselves this would have been the day the USA banking system imploded.Watch Libor rates to signal the point of detonation.Circumstances appear as if there were many problem Angels dancing on top of a pin that is being balanced on the nose of just those people who created the problem in the first place.An implosion of the banking system is coming, which means a bank holiday will occur.You now must have enough cash in hand to last a month or two.If you have not distanced yourself from financial agents then you have a financial death wish.If you have NOT made absolutely sure that your custodian account is a real custodial- ship you are probably in for a surprise.I took a call yesterday from a mature lady who told me she feels her money market fund that is only in Treasuries will not pay her out. They did tell her they intend to in seven days. I asked her to call me back in eight days. How does she know that this money market fund is not in OTC derivatives based on the movement of Treasuries?I do not want you to make that call to me.If you can retire from your retirement program at some reasonable discount do it NOW.This is it and it is NOW. Gold is going to $1200 and $1650. The US dollar rally has NO fundamental legs.Why are so many of you sitting there like a deer caught in the headlights? Protect yourself and do it TODAY!


Respectfully,

Jim


Jim Sinclair is primarily a precious metals specialist and a commodities and foreign currency trader. He founded the Sinclair Group of Companies (1977), which offered full brokerage services in stocks, bonds, and other investment vehicles. The companies, which operated branches in New York, Kansas City, Toronto, Chicago, London and Geneva, were sold in 1983.Sinclair has authored numerous magazine articles and three books dealing with a variety of investment subjects, including precious metals, trading strategies and geopolitical events, and their relationship to world economics and the markets. He is a frequent and enormously popular speaker at gold investment conferences and his commentary on gold and other financial issues garners extensive media coverage at home and abroad.




WORLD GOVERNMENT IS NOT COMING, IT'S HERE!



By Joan VeonOctober 6, 2008NewsWithViews.com


Understanding World Events and the Credit Crisis


For many of us, reading history does not provide us with the flavor of life, the uncertainties of the moment and the fears of facing the truth of the situation. The events over the past six weeks and more specifically from August, 2007 have provided us with a myriad of events which leave even the most astute observer speechless. Over the past fourteen years, I have written extensively about a global currency, global tax, global stock exchange, global central bank, and world government. I have stated on many occasions that world government is not coming, it is here. In order to bring in world government, it will have to be through crisis—continuing, constant crises. The solution will be world government, total integration of all the countries of the world.
The remaining piece that needs to be put in place is for the United States to adopt a global regulatory system to merge our banking, insurance, and stock market and commodity industries to that of the other countries of the world. While only a handful of countries like Britain, Canada, Australia, and the Nordic countries have already adopted some type of global regulatory system, it is America’s turn and once America changes, the rest of the countries will follow suit. As part of a two step process to change the financial and economic landscape of America and Americans, the Treasury Blueprint saw the first step confirmed: the bailout of Wall Street to the tune of $700B with an additional $300B in sweeteners, giving lawmakers the ability to face their constituents as victors. However, the reality is that America has neither the $300B nor the $700B. At every turn, the amount of money that we owe the Federal Reserve rises. Add the interest to the debt and America is reduced to pauper status.
In the whirlwind of the situation, most people don’t know whether to breathe a sign of relief that the darkness of the situation has passed or if this may be just the beginning.
The credit crisis has evolved over the past 13 months from a problem regarding a small percentage of sub-prime mortgages to a full blown global credit crisis. In response, Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson issued the "Treasury Blueprint for a Modernized Financial Regulatory System." By reading the Blueprint, it is very clear that the former international banker, turned treasury secretary, is basically waging all out war on American financial sovereignty, demanding that all of our remaining financial assets be federalized and put under the control of the Federal Reserve.
In light of the credit crisis and all the money the Federal Reserve is making available, it should be understood that the private corporation of the Federal Reserve prints money on demand and has grown immensely in power over its 95 years of existence. Whenever America needs money, it simply prints it up out of paper, calls the newly created note “The Federal Reserve Note” and credits the account of the United States of America for the liability of the loan. The reason why Americans cannot forgive themselves the interest on the debt is because it is owed to the Federal Reserve and not ourselves. They have a racket going that is better than all of the mafia’s of the world combined. They have brought the most powerful country in the world to its knees by usurping the authority of congress, which has bestowed a blank check to the Federal Reserve giving it all powers. However, we won’t fall completely on our faces until the new international regulation demanded by the Blueprint is put in place.
We should remember that when the Federal Reserve Act was in the making, it promised to “free the country ‘from panics and consequent unemployment and business depression by such a systematic revision of our banking laws…with protection from control or dominion by what is known as the money trust’” (Harold van B. Cleveland, Thomas F. Huertas, Citibank 1812-1970, p.68). We will now be told that given the credit crisis the adoption of the Blueprint is necessary to calm the global markets.
In order to transfer the final and last vestiges of America’s sovereignty, which is made up of many components, to these really evil and ruthless people, some type of major financial crisis would have to be perpetrated. The stakes are very high. Those assets to be conveyed in its entirety include the mortgage industry, the insurance industry, the Payment and Settlement System of Wall Street, and all financial institutions not under the Federal Reserve including credit unions, savings and loans, thrifts, and state chartered banks.
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To give us an understanding of what is behind the Blueprint plan, I would like to refer to the very brave and honest senator from Alabama, Senator Richard Shelby. In testifying why he would not vote for the Senate version of what has become known as the “Bailout Bill,” he said,
“The proposal before us tonight provides $700B to provide illiquid assets from financial institution. The stated goal of this scheme is to return confidence and liquidity to our markets. We did not get into this situation within days and we are not going to fix with a quick piece of legislation quickly cobbled together in the back room of the U.S. Capitol. This crisis has been years in the making. Over the last decade, trillions of dollars were poured into our mortgage markets, often at the direction of well intended but ill conceived government programs. At first the conventional mortgages, with standard down payments and verified incomes, [did well, but] over time the number of home buyers that met conventional requirements dwindled. In order to fuel the upward spiral, mortgage products became more exotic requiring less of borrowers and involving more risk. Eventually economic reality caught up when housing prices stalled and then started to fall. Many who bought homes with unconventional loans could not afford the increased payment. I have been a member of Senate Banking Committee for 22 years. When I joined, the S&L Crisis was beginning to unfold and it took 10 years, 5 Congresses and 3 Administrations, until that smaller, more contained crisis, which cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars, was resolved.
In 1995, I opposed CRA and loosening of loan underwriting standards. Credit cannot be safely extended only on any basis other than risk and risk cannot be mitigated through social engineering. The appropriate allocation of credit is not political, it is based on merit. The CRA was an attempt to get around it and it failed. I reminded my colleagues of this as we prepare to buy mortgages backed by the very same mortgages born of this flawed policy. It is not free market that failed, but government policies. In 1999, I opposed the Financial Modernization bill, I did not think it had a sufficient regulatory structure to oversee the financial system it created, also known as GLB. In 2001, I became concerned about banking regulators efforts to modernize bank capital standards, known as Basel II. While it is very important to updated these standards , it appeared to me and others on the Banking Committee, Democrats and Republicans, that modernization was concerned more on reducing bank capital levels than on improving bank capital standards.
In 2003, I became concerned about the financial health and regulatory structure of Fannie and Freddie. I did not think they had sufficient capital, management control, or regulatory oversight. I and others were troubled with their size because their combined portfolios totaled $2T. We tried to pass tough GSE reform and was rebuffed by the Democrats on the Banking Committee, and the Senate. As driving force in mortgage finance, the GSE purchasing efforts broke down when scant underwriting standards remained in the marketplace. Many of the toxic investments this bailout is designed to buy, were originated in an atmosphere created by the GSE and facilitated by their supporters here in Congress In 2007, I publically questioned the adequacy of the SEC Consolidated Supervisory Entity program-CSE. This non-statutory program was put in place by the SEC for the 5 big investment banks to meet European regulatory standards without having to submit to the Federal Reserve supervision as provided in the Financial Modernization Act [Gramm-Leach-Bliley]. It also allowed the investment banks, most are gone now, to reduce their capital requirements.
Because I thought that the ‘99 act did not have adequate supervision, I was troubled that the investment banks continued to chafe even at this minimal supervision with their trillions of dollars in asset, global operations, and hundreds of thousand employees. They were content to be regulated by a program with a staff of less than 20 and they lobbied the Banking Committee to keep it that way. I insisted that the Banking Committee hold hearings to exam the structure in greater detail before we ratified that which the SEC created through regulatory fiat. Once again, we did not. Instead my colleagues on the other side of the isle, voted not only to codify the CSE program but to expand it. When my republican colleagues voted to reject it unanimously. Today the CSE program is gone because our major investment banks have merged, gone bankrupt or become that, which they fought to avoid, bank holding companies, supervised by the Federal Reserve. I would like to point out that a great deal of assets to be purchased by the Paulson plan were originated or held by Bear Sterns, Lehman, Merrill Lynch, Morgan. Know the first House version was soundly defeated.“
For a day or two, Americans had some type of victory knowing their voices had been heard by their elected representatives. On September 29, The Washington Post reported, “The normally sure-footed Paulson stumbled badly last weekend when he rushed to the Capitol with a vague and poorly-explained proposal that all but invited politicians and the news media to label it as a $700B bailout for Wall Street.” On 10/1/08, The Financial Times reported, “Embattled Paulson—seeking to regroup his forces and salvage the rescue plan…the loss was a stinging setback for the former Goldman Sachs chairman.” As credit dried up across America, the bailout was re-characterized from being a “Bailout of Wall Street” to a “Bailout of Main Street.” Auto dealers could not get credit to purchase cars and could not extend credit and small and mid-size corporations could not get loans to expand or to meet payroll. As a result, we saw more carnage last week than ever before.
On September 29, the Bailout Bill was unveiled. The Washington Post stated, “[Paulson] would largely stand unfettered by traditional rules, largely unrestricted in his ability to spend $700B of federal money. The Treasury would decide what kind of assets to buy, and which financial companies could sell them. It would decide how much to pay and it would hire companies to manage its acquisitions, without having to obey the normal rules for hiring contractors.” On September 30, Wachovia was sold to Citigroup for $2.16B. Wachovia was run by Treasury Secretary Paulson‘s former deputy, Robert Steel who came with him to Treasury from Goldman Sachs. On Friday, Wells Fargo put a bid in for Wachovia to the tune of $15.4B which would not involve any FDIC insurance. A judge overturned the buy-out by Wells Fargo in favor of Citigroup over the weekend. Again, the taxpayer will make up the difference.
As Congress was voting, the Dow Jones dropped 7% by 777 points, a market loss of $1.4T. Markets around the world dropped in response to the news: Britain’s stock market dropped 5.30%, Russia dropped 7.11%, Europe dropped 5.23%, Brazil’s dropped 9.36%, and Chile’s dropped 9.10%. Gold went up only $5.30 to $888.30. Banking stocks took a bath, and the S&P500, had its worst day since 1987. The Federal Reserve had to pump $630B into the world financial system, including an extra $330B that would be lent abroad via nine other central banks. The Financial Times had a commentary entitled, “Have a Nice Depression.”
The next day, the market rose 345 points on news the Senate would pass a revised bailout bill. On Wednesday, October 1, the Senate ratified their bill, which was the 107 page House bill plus an additional 344 pages of proposals. The Senate proposed, in part, $700B to buy bad assets from faltering financial institutions, an array of tax breaks worth $108B, and a temporary increase in the limit of FDIC from $100,000 to $250,000.
Two days later, on Friday, October 3, the House voted on the expanded Senate version of 451 pages, comprised of the following: The Trouble Asset Relief Program totaled 105 pages, the FDIC totaled 8 pages, major tax breaks totaled 154 pages and the remaining 184 pages was for all the pork they could muster. The size of the final bill was over $1T. We can’t afford $750B, let alone an additional $250B. The market’s failed to respond positively, closing down.
The financial news of larger than expected job losses helped Congress confirm their votes. They are so sure of their power, position, and might. Ohio Congressman John Baynor said he feels the second bill is better than a week ago and that it was time “to act on behalf of the American people—their savings, jobs, retirement securities” and that they have a responsibility to protect the American economy. I agree more with Congressman Brad Sherman who said the bill was a “pork-laden, earmarked laden Wall Street bailout bill.” He pointed out that the oversight board can critique but it cannot stop anything. He said to vote no and to stay in town to write a good bill. The fact of the matter is the Federal Reserve is the Chairman of the oversight committee. Congress is about to find out who holds the real power.

The rocking and rolling has only begun. We are in the final stages of a move into world government. Congress has already shown they are emotionally weak and that they have no idea of what they are doing or not doing. They have not defended the Constitution they swore to upon hold, as they are playing into the hands of the Federal Reserve and the other major central banks of the world, which are controlled by a small group of very powerful people. In order to finalize the Blueprint, which I have heard will come before a new Congress in January, what will it take to traumatize the new legislators? Will the powers that be decide on a Banking Holiday in the spirit of 1933? Will they cause a total bank collapse by demanding sound banks to down grade their solid loans, as has recently occurred when the Comptroller of the Currency did a bank audit? Or will they simply change our currency to adjust our debt load?

In the book of Esther, we read about the decision a young Jewess had to make in response to the pending annihilation of her people. At the urging of her uncle, she broke all royal protocol to make a plea to her husband, the country’s ruler. Her uncle said, “Who knows if you have come into the kingdom for such a time as this?” The days ahead will try our very souls. When you see the value of your savings drop by 50% and the equity in your home dwindle to the point of foreclosure, what will you do? Who will you turn to? The day the banks close, whether for a day or week, is the day Americans will really wake up to the cold hard facts that the world has changed and individual nation-states are no longer.


© 2008 Joan Veon - All Rights Reserved


Oil prices: Buckle up for a wild ride


Outlook for crude depends largely on the health of the global economy. Analyst predictions range from a fall to $50 or a surge to $150 a barrel.

By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: October 8, 2008: 1:48 PM ET


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Expect nothing but volatility for oil prices over the next year or two - with the fate of the global economy largely dictating whether crude will fall to $50 or shoot up to $150 a barrel.
The global economy is teetering on the edge, and no one really knows if it will muscle through this credit crunch or succumb to a pronounced recession.
With crude prices so closely linked to the health of the economy - unemployed people tend to drive a lot less - oil analysts don't really know where oil prices are headed either.
The case for $50
Oil prices have fallen over 40% since July and are currently trading around $86 a barrel, but if the $700 billion government bailout for financial sector doesn't work and the world's economy plunges into a serious recession prices could still fall further - as low as $50 a barrel.
With the U.S. stock market's steep losses following the approval of the economic bailout plan, and bank failures in Europe prompting a $350 billion-plus bailout in Britain and talk of more to come across the Continent, it's a scenario that shouldn't be quickly discounted.
"Should we enter a synchronous global recession...oil prices could fall further to $50 a barrel next year," Francisco Blanch, head of global commodities research for Merrill Lynch, wrote in a recent research report.
Blanch doesn't think such a recession is likely, nor does Citigroup futures analyst Tim Evans.
But in the event of a deep global recession, Evans also said "The market would find value at $50 a barrel."
The global recession scenario only exaggerates the trend of falling demand seen recently.
In the United States it's been quite dramatic. Oil demand fell over 6% in July, according to the Department of Energy. Europe has also witnessed a drop in demand, while in the red hot economies of China and India oil use is growing slower than previously thought.
Evans said the main causes for the U.S. decline weren't the slowing economy, but government policies promoting biofuels and greater fuel efficiency, as well as consumers buying more efficient cars and driving less.
"This is not a token shift," he said. "There is hard work that goes into decreasing demand by that extent."
Plus, this decline in demand is coupled with an expected increase in supply.
Merrill estimates new OPEC investments will boost production capacity by 3 million barrels a day - or nearly 4% of current world output, over the next 18 months.
This picture of falling demand and rising supply - coupled with a strengthening dollar and investor flight from oil futures - has led to oil's rapid decline in price over the last couple months.
The case for $150
Now, if the bailout works and a global recession is averted and the world's economies come roaring back to life, dreams of $50 oil will certainly be dashed.
Crude would once again run into the same supply and demand scenario that helped push it to nearly $150 a barrel this July - namely, growing demand from the billions of people in China and India gaining middle class lifestyles butting against a global oil industry that struggles to produce much more than the current 85 million barrels a day.
It's this scenario that caused oil bulls like Goldman Sachs and Boon Pickens to to declare as recently as July that we'll likely see $150-$200 a barrel oil in the next year.
Even post credit crunch, Goldman is still predicting oil to average $110 a barrel in 2009.
"Investors appear to be placing greater weight on the demand concerns rather than the supply shortfalls," Goldman said in a research note.
If the U.S. goes through a mild recession, but the world economy chugs along and eventually heats up, oil is likely to trade back in the triple digits at some point in the next couple of years, according to Merrill's Blanch.
The bank bailout is likely to cause higher inflation as massive amounts of cash enters the market - pushing up oil prices as investors buy it as a hedge.
But again, analysts turn back to strong demand and tight supplies once economies pick up speed.
"As economic activity starts to recover in the emerging markets, their energy demand will likely start to strengthen again," wrote Blanch. "Energy and commodity demand growth is a secular investment theme that probably has decades to run."
The middle road
With so much uncertainty, it's not surprising that most analysts are taking a middle-of-the-road approach, predicting prices somewhere in the $70 to $100 range for 2009.
This is predicated on the expectation of a middle-of-the-road performance for the economy.
Most economists see the U.S. economy slumping into an official recession in the later part of 2008 and the first part of 2009 before recovering, and see global growth slowing but not contracting.
Citi's Evans thinks $70 to $80 is a reasonable range for the next year, low enough to not draw the ire of consumers but high enough to satisfy OPEC and encourage new production and alternative sources.
Merrill also lowered its 2009 oil price forecast from $107 a barrel to $90.
Deutsche Bank recently reduced it's late 2008/early 2009 oil price forecast to $85 a barrel, citing a weak global economy.
"We believe crude oil prices have further downside as the fall-out of the financial crisis spreads into the real economy and ultimately global oil demand," Adam Sieminski, the bank's chief energy economist, wrote in a recent research note.
Sieminski also noted how credit-related trouble in Europe, exemplified by this week's sharp selloff in European shares, is boosting the dollar and lowering oil prices.
"For the past few days, European equities have been underperforming their U.S. counterparts," he said, "possibly signaling the markets concerns that European authorities may find it more difficult than the US to coordinate a rescue package in the event of a large-scale banking failure."
First Published: October 8, 2008: 12:31 PM ET

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/07/news/economy/oil_prices/?postversion=2008100813

Financial storm tips world toward recession -- IMF


Reuters



Wednesday October 8 2008
* IMF says world economy entering 'major downturn'
* Coordinated rate cuts step in right direction
* IMF says more action needed, especially in Europe
* IMF says risk of new 'Great Depression' is small (Adds comments by IMF and World Bank chiefs)



By Lesley Wroughton and Emily Kaiser
WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund, in its bleakest forecast in years, said on Wednesday the world economy was set for a major downturn with the United States and Europe either in or on the brink of recession.
The IMF said the worst financial trauma since the Great Depression would exact a heavy economic toll as investors wrestle with a crisis of confidence and a credit crunch.
"The world economy is now entering a major downturn in the face of the most dangerous shock in mature financial markets since the 1930s," the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook.
The assessment was written before a coordinated interest-rate cut of a half-percentage point on Wednesday by the U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England, Switzerland, Canada and Sweden.


China also joined the move with a more modest cut.
The IMF's new chief economist, Olivier Blanchard, said the coordinated drive was a step in the right direction, but more action may be needed as the world economy slows.
"Fifty basis points is not nothing," Blanchard told a news conference. But he said monetary policy was only part of the answer and further measures were needed to clear up clogged credit markets. "More is needed, in particular in Europe," he said.
In an interview with Reuters, Blanchard said the rash of crises in recent weeks had convinced world policy-makers that it was time to work together to find a way out of the credit turmoil, which has raged for 14 months.
"Events focus the mind," Blanchard said. "What's absolutely essential to solve this financial crisis is the perception by the public and by the markets that there is a coherent plan."

WORKING TO AVERT DEPRESSION
In its twice-yearly World Economic Outlook, the IMF slashed its 2009 forecast for world growth to 3 percent, which would be the slowest pace in seven years, from a July projection of 3.9 percent, and warned that a recovery would be unusually slow.
It said growth this year would come in at 3.9 percent, a touch below the 4.1 percent it projected in July.
While the world economy was unusually frail, Blanchard told reporters there was little chance of a global depression, provided leaders adopt policies to address market distress.
"If the right policies are in place, then the probability of a 'Great Depression' is extremely small," he said.
Blanchard said leaders in Europe were having "some difficulty" agreeing on how to deal with the crisis but the financial markets were forcing them to move quickly.
If they succeed, "the risk of a 'Great Depression' is nearly nil," he added.

CRISIS SPREADS; EMERGING ECONOMIES HIT
The IMF blamed lax economic and regulatory policies for the current woes, saying they probably allowed the global economy to "exceed its speed limit." At the same time, market flaws combined with policy shortcomings to allow stresses to build.
Now, the world is about to pay the price.
The IMF had believed developing economies could largely steer clear of any painful spillover from the credit mess, but no longer. In its latest report, the global economic watchdog warned emerging and developing economies are also slowing, in some cases to rates well below trend.
The immediate challenge for policy-makers is to stabilize credit markets, while nursing economies through the global downturn and keeping inflation under control, the fund said.
IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said more coordinated steps would be warranted to remove distressed assets from banks' balance sheets and to protect depositors.
"This is the right course of action in the face of the deflationary impact of the major financial shock in mature markets and against a background of declining inflation pressures," Strauss-Kahn said in a statement.
World Bank President Robert Zoellick said China's participation in the action was part of a process in which it was becoming a constructive stakeholder in the world economy.
Zoellick this week said the Group of Seven industrial nations was not broad enough to deal with the magnitude of the crisis, and called for a broader grouping of countries that included China and other emerging economic powers.
But Zoellick also said coordinated action was needed to help vulnerable, poor countries that will be hit by a crisis that was not of their own making. He said the World Bank had identified about 30 of these countries who would need help.
"We will play a role, but we need the developed countries to also act in a coordinated way to support that," he added.

U.S. SCREECHES TO HALT
Meanwhile, the IMF said the U.S. economy was screeching to a halt and warned a recession was increasingly likely.
For all of next year, it projects U.S. growth of just 0.1 percent. The near-term course of the U.S. economy, the IMF said, will largely depend on the effectiveness of recent government initiatives to combat the spreading credit crisis.
In Europe, the crisis has stalled growth, and interest-rate cuts and decisive government action to restore confidence to prevent a lasting slowdown are needed, the report said.
The fund said growth in the euro zone was set to slow to 1.3 percent in 2008, easing to a scant 0.2 percent in 2009.
Asian powers China and India will also experience slower growth due to weaker exports, but should continue to be supported by solid private consumption, it said.
Growth in China is likely to come in at 9.7 percent this year and 9.3 percent in 2009 -- compared to 11.9 percent in 2007, the IMF said. India will grow 7.9 percent this year and slow to 6.9 percent in 2009, it said. (Editing by Tom Hals and Jan Paschal)

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2008

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/7846966/print