Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Bank of America Needs $33.9 Billion, U.S. Says


By LOUISE STORY and ERIC DASH
Published: May 5, 2009




The government has told Bank of America it needs $33.9 billion in capital to withstand any worsening of the economic downturn, according to an executive at the bank.


If the bank is unable to raise the capital cushion by selling assets or stock, it would have to rely on the government, which has provided $45 billion in capital through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

It could satisfy regulators’ demands simply by converting non-voting preferred shares it gave the government in return for the capital, into common stock.

But that would make the government one of the bank’s largest shareholders.

Executives at the bank, one of the largest being examined, sparred with the government over the amount, which is higher than executives believed the bank needed.

But J. Steele Alphin, the bank’s chief administrative officer, said Bank of America would have plenty of options to raise the capital on its own before it would have to convert any of the taxpayer money into common stock.

“We’re not happy about it because it’s still a big number,” Mr. Alphin said. “We think it should be a bit less at the end of the day.”

The government’s determination that Bank of America doesn’t need as much capital as it has already received from taxpayers is an indication that even some of the most troubled banks may not need more government money than has been allocated to them.

The Treasury Department declined to comment on Tuesday evening.

Citigroup, by contrast, has already decided to allow the government to convert some of its investment into common stock.

Under the arrangement worked out between the Treasury and Citigroup earlier this year, the Treasury will receive mandatory convertible preferred shares, meaning preferred shares that can be converted to voting shares of common stock at the will of the government.

If Bank of America relied on that conversion for the majority of the capital it needs to maintain, the government would become one of the bank’s largest shareholders.

Regulators have told the banks that the common shares would bolster their “tangible common equity,” a measure of capital that places greater emphasis on the resources that a bank has at its disposal than the more traditional measure of “Tier 1” capital.

Citigroup, the largest and most deeply troubled of the banks, is expected to need to raise capital as insurance against any further downturn in the economy.

The government told the bank it would need $50 billion to $55 billion in capital, a requirement that would force it to raise $5 billion to $10 billion in new capital, according to people briefed on the final results.

Citigroup executives say the bank can easily cover any shortfall, and is considering several options to close that gap.

The Obama administration plans to publicize the results of stress tests on Thursday.

The results are expected to reveal that a number of them need additional capital, and many banks have negotiated with the government on what the actual capital requirements should be since they learned of the preliminary findings last week.

The tests are also expected to show that several banks, including Bank of New York Mellon, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, are healthy enough to repay TARP funds.

Mr. Alphin noted that the $34 billion figure is well below the $45 billion in capital that the government has already allocated to the bank, although he said the bank has plenty of options to raise the capital on its own.

“There are several ways to deal with this,” Mr. Alphin said. “The company is very healthy.”

Bank executives estimate that the company will generate $30 billion a year in income, once a normal environment returns.

The company has faced criticism over its acquisition of Merrill Lynch, the troubled investment bank, and last week, shareholders voted to strip the bank’s chief executive, Kenneth D. Lewis, of his title as chairman of the board. The board said last week that it still unanimously supports Mr. Lewis in his role as chief executive.

Mr. Alphin said since the government figure is less than the $45 billion provided to Bank of America, the bank will now start looking at ways of repaying the $11 billion difference over time to the government.

In the case of Citigroup, which has also received two taxpayer lifelines, executives say the bank can easily cover any shortfall, and is considering several options to close that gap.

Among them are efforts to accelerate the sales of several businesses within Citi Holdings, a holding tank for assets it plans to shed, or to expand its common stock conversion plans to a broader base of private investors who hold Citigroup preferred stock. Both measures would avoid an increase in the government’s expected 36 percent ownership stake.

Taxpayer-supported Banks have been eager to wean themselves from the government’s purview, and many analysts have questioned how useful the stress tests will be in assessing their true health.

Also Tuesday, senior government officials said the Treasury Department is planning to require taxpayer-supported banks seeking to free themselves from the government’s grip to show that they can repay the lifelines without additional subsidies that have helped them survive the financial crisis.

Banks have had an indirect subsidy adopted by the government last fall that allows them to issue debt cheaply with the backing of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The Treasury is expected to announce as early as Wednesday that healthier banks must show that they can issue debt without the guarantees before they are allowed to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

The banks also must demonstrate that they will be able to sell stock to private investors and pass a government stress test to show that they are healthy enough to survive without the taxpayer aid.

Edmund L. Andrews contributed reporting.





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p.s. So, Bancof america needs $33.9 BILLION?
TESTING: IS ANYONE LISTENING?


I say let them go broke! If it takes money, that much money to make them "survive"; Perhaps they shouldn't exist. Afterall, what does a bank produce? They are not part of the infrastructure. So, if a bank needs money to exist, maybe, they should just close down. Why would you feed an entity a new lease on life, if they can't remain solvent?

Banks needing money? This one defies all logic!


Is everyone strung out on prozac, cyalis, ambien, oxycontin, and caffeine that they can't dsitinguish a scam when they hear of one? This scam takes the cake; A Jesuit influenced bank asking for hard-earned tax-payer provided money to further bankrupt the free-enterprise Protestant Republic of the United States; Seems like the Vatican (design) looting has almost achieved its ultimate goal of ram-sacking the sole bastion of Protestant free-enterpise!


Arsenio.

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NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE


Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.

Refrain

Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
Darkness be over me, my rest a stone.
Yet in my dreams I’d be nearer, my God to Thee.

Refrain

There let the way appear, steps unto Heav’n;
All that Thou sendest me, in mercy given;
Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee.

Refrain

Then, with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs Bethel I’ll raise;
So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee.

Refrain

Or, if on joyful wing cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I’ll fly,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.

Refrain

There in my Father’s home, safe and at rest,
There in my Savior’s love, perfectly blest;
Age after age to be, nearer my God to Thee.

Refrain



Words: Verses 1-5,
Sar­ah F. Adams, in Hymns and Anthems, by William Johnson Fox, 1841; verse 6,
Ed­ward H. Bick­er­steth, Jr.

Music: Beth­a­ny (Ma­son),
Low­ell Ma­son, 1856
(MI­DI, score)

Hezekiah's Error Repeated (Today)

Jan Paulsen (John Paul's son) and ecumenical leaders

Hezekiah's Error Repeated


Our modern day spiritual leaders have been given a task to undertake by Almighty God; This is the only reason they exist. Yet, they have laid bare (revealed) the treasures of God's people to the Pagan-Heathen Spiritualistic Bodies personified by the holy see and its Ecumenical designs. The spiritual leaders of Modern Israel are repeating the sins of King Hezekiah, and are compromising their God given authority by comitting (compromise) Spiritual 'Fornication' with the man of sin. Shame on you!

Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Revelation 18:4(b).


For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Matthew 24:24

As King Saul and all the other Kings of Israel had also done in the past, these modern-day Hezekiah's have derilicted in their duties, and have fallen from grace; They are leading Modern Day Israel, the Corporate body to certain destruction. Don't we believe in prophecy?


With leaders like these Who Needs Enemies?

+++++++


2 Kings 20

1In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.

2Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying,

3I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

4And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,

5Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.

6And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.

7And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

8And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day?

9And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?

10And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.

11And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.

12At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

13And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.

14Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.

15And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.

16And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD.

17Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.

18And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

19Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?

20And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

21And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
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Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God


Ezekiel 28


1The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,

2Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

3Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:

4With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:

5By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:

6Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;

7Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.

8They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.

9Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.

10Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

11Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

12Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

13Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

14Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

15Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

16By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

17Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

18Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

19All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

20Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

21Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it,

22And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.

23For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

24And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

25Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.

26And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.

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Monday, May 04, 2009

The Antichrist


The Antichrist
Rev. Barry Gritters


TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction
ANTICHRIST'S IDENTITY
General Description
Antichrist: A false Christ
Antichrist: Opposed to Christ
Antichrist: In place of Christ
Antichrist: An individual person
Antichrist: A political power
Antichrist: An ecclesiastical power
ANTICHRIST'S PURPOSE
ANTICHRIST'S METHODS
THE CHURCH'S CALLING
Recognizing Antichrist's spirit
A present struggle
The manner of opposition
ANTICHRIST'S CERTAIN DESTRUCTION

INTRODUCTON
What is Antichrist? In these last days, this ought to be a burning question. Who is the Antichrist? How can a lover of Christ identify him? What will he look like? How will he behave? Where will his headquarters be located?

If you are expecting here an identification of a man or men who are Antichrist, you will be disappointed. If you are expecting a prediction as to how many years before Antichrist arises, you will not find it here. We hope to be faithful to the Reformed tradition of sober exegesis of God's Word and careful maintenance of the Reformed faith. (Besides, a desire to identify the Antichrist has often sidetracked the church from the important present calling she has regarding Antichrist's spirit. To see what we mean by this, read on to the end.)

The confessions of Reformed churches say very little about Antichrist. Except for passing references, one finds very little on eschatology (the doctrine of the last things) in the Reformed confessions, and nothing in The Three Forms of Unity (Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, and Canons of Dort) about Antichrist. This is not due to lack of firm positions on eschatology at the time the confessions were written (between AD 1563 and 1619) but to this, that eschatology was not one of the vital issues of the Reformation.

Nevertheless, the Reformers themselves had a good deal to say about Antichrist, not systematically, but throughout the whole of their writings. A treatise of Martin Luther written shortly before his death in 1546 was entitled, "Against the Roman Papacy; an Institution of the Devil." Luther began the holy tirade thus:

"The Most Hellish Father, Saint Paul III, in his supposed capacity as the bishop of the Roman church..." (Luther's Works, Fortress Press, Volume 41, pg 263). In that treatise he says that the pope is "the head of the accursed church of all the worst scoundrels on earth, a vicar of the devil, an enemy of God, an adversary of Christ, a destroyer of Christ's churches, a teacher of lies... a brothel-keeper over all brothel-keepers and all vermin, even that which cannot be named; an Antichrist..." (ibid., page 357-358).
In Calvin's treatise of AD 1544 entitled "The Necessity of Reforming the Church" (Selected Works of John Calvin, Volume 1, part 1, Tracts, Baker: 1983), Calvin says, "I deny that See (the Roman Catholic's throne of authority: BLG) to be Apostolical, wherein nought is seen but a shocking apostasy -- I deny him to be the Vicar of Christ, who, in furiously persecuting the gospel, demonstrates by his conduct that he is Antichrist..." (pp. 219, 220).

The Westminster Confession, Presbyterian creed of the next century, includes an article in which it boldly identifies the pope as Antichrist.

"There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor can the pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition that exalteth himself in the church against Christ and all that is called God" (chapter 25, art. 6).
As heirs of the Reformation and as those told to discern the signs of the times, we, too, are concerned with the Antichrist. We will consider, then, Antichrist's identity, his purpose and method, our calling to oppose him, and his certain destruction.


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ANTICHRIST'S IDENTITY
General description
Scripture teaches Antichrist to be a political, religious, individual, yet to come in the future (as of this writing), who is opposed to God and God's Christ and God's church. Although the only places in Scripture the name Antichrist is used are I and II John (I John 2:18,22,4:3, II John 7), the Bible is replete with instruction regarding the reality we call Antichrist. The key passages are Daniel 7, 8, 11; Matthew 24; II Thessalonians 2; and Revelation 13, 17 and 18 -- where Antichrist is referred to as a beast, a little horn, a false Christ, that wicked one, and the man of sin.


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Antichrist: a false Christ
Antichrist's name gives us indication of what he is. He is Anti-christ As every Jew knows, the name Christ is simply the Greek translation of the Hebrew Messiah, whom the Jews expected to come in God's name to save them. The Messiah, or Christ, is the one anointed by God and qualified to carry out a certain work in God's name. Christ's work is to redeem God's people from sin and death by His own death, and to renew God's creation as a creation of righteousness and peace. The man Jesus of Nazareth (died circa AD 33) is this Christ. He is God's anointed, the servant of Jehovah. He is qualified to do the work of redeeming God's people and renewing creation. The confession of the church down through the ages is, "Jesus is the Christ."

Antichrist is a false Christ, according to Matthew 24:24. He claims to be anointed by God with the Holy Spirit and claims to be qualified to do the work in God's name of redeeming God's people and renewing the creation. But he is not. He is a liar. His claims are false. He is a false Christ.


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Antichrist: opposed to Christ and to God
A little word study may help to understand the prefix "anti" in the name Antichrist. Just as antivenom is given to counteract the venom of a snake bite, and antiseptic is used against infection, so Antichrist is against, is opposed to, Jesus Christ. This tells us the essence of what Antichrist is: he is opposition to God's Christ. He is opposition to Christ personally; he is against Christ's Church; he is against Christ's Word, Holy Scripture. Furthermore, because Christ's mission is to show the name of Jehovah God to men by showing Himself to them (see John 17:6, John 14:8,9, and Revelation 13:6), Antichrist is opposed to God Himself.

So, although the Antichrist will leave the impression that his motivating force is love, concern for humanity, and pity for the oppressed, what drives Antichrist is not love but hatred. The one motivating force in his life is opposition to Jesus Christ, opposition to all that He stands for, and to all that stand for Him.


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Antichrist: in place of Christ
The name Antichrist also indicates substitution. Antichrist opposes Jesus in order to supplant Him, to take His place as Christ. Although the English language does not often use the prefix "anti" to mean substitution, it is a common use of the preposition in the Greek language. When Scripture says that Jesus died "for His people," one of the prepositions used is anti indicating that He died as a substitute for His people. This is the secondary meaning of the preposition anti. Antichrist purposes to be "in the place of," or "a substitute for" Jesus the Christ.

II Thessalonians 2 points out how Antichrist comes as an impostor of the Christ from God, and how there is a striking outward similarity between Antichrist and Christ. Will Jesus Christ be revealed some day? So will Antichrist (Vss 3,8). Will Christ be in God's temple? Antichrist will sit there also (Vs 4). Is Christ God? Antichrist will claim to be (Vs 4). Did Christ support His claim to be God with signs and wonders? Antichrist, too, will perform signs and wonders (Vs 9). Christ has a kingdom; so will Antichrist. Christ comes by the power of the Spirit; Antichrist will come by the power of a spirit, who is the devil himself.

Does it surprise anyone, then, that in the Middle Ages Antichrist was called the "ape of Christ"? He comes in the place of Christ, making himself out to be Christ. In every way mimicking Christ, Antichrist will propose to be Christ. Antichrist is Satan's counterpart to Christ. Jesus was God's choice to establish His kingdom, redeem His people, renew creation; Antichrist is Satan's choice to establish his kingdom, gather in as many people as he can, and subject all to himself. All of God's plan hinges on the works of Jesus, the Christ; all of Satan's plans hinge on the working and success of Antichrist.


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Antichrist: an individual person
Although there is difference of opinion among Reformed students of Scripture regarding this, it is not difficult to see why many believe that Antichrist will be one man.

A reality that stands opposed to Jesus, but also that claims to be the Christ, the anointed of God, must be a man as Christ was a man, a man in whom they put their trust, a man to whom the people can look for deliverance from their miseries. How can something claim to be Jesus, the man, and not be a man himself? Supporting this logic, II Thessalonians 2 seems to make this plain. Antichrist is "that man of sin" and "the son of perdition" (Vs 3); he shows "himself that he is God" (Vs 4); he is "that wicked (one)" (Vs 8).

Antichrist will be a definite individual, a particular human being. A single individual of outstanding ability and extraordinary power will arise, who is opposed to Jesus Christ and claims to be the Christ.

It is significant that Antichrist will be a man. Antichrist will not be some strange creature, unrecognizable to you and me, some foreigner, a man from Mars or another solar system. Antichrist will not be a stranger to humanity. Indeed, he will be the final and full development of man, of the human race. You will know him well, for his nature will be your nature. Man always has and always will claim equality and identity with God (witness the insane ravings of the Shirley MacLaines and others today). This man's claims will be believable; he will be one of us.


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Antichrist: a political power
Revelation 13 gives further instruction about Antichrist, teaching that his kingdom will be both a political and an ecclesiastical empire. The vision of Revelation 13 must be read in the light of Revelation 12, where the dragon cast out of heaven, identified as the devil and Satan, pursues the woman (who represents the church of Christ) in the new dispensation.

The dragon is angry because the woman's man-child, Jesus Christ, is caught up into heaven before the dragon can devour him. Now he spits his poisonous black bile on the woman, persecuting her, making war with her seed! He hates and tries to devastate the church.

In chapter 13 we have the appearance of two beasts which are the product of the dragon in chapter 12-- his creation and servants ("...and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority" (Vs. 3). This first beast is a wild animal which arises out of the sea. It looks like a leopard, but its feet are like bear's feet and its mouth like a lion's. Its seven heads and ten horns make us think of the dragon himself in chapter 12:3 where he was pictured with seven heads and ten horns. The heads of the beast are full of blasphemy. And one of the heads has a scar from a wound now healed. After the beast has risen from the sea, the whole world worships this beast, while it spews out blasphemies against God and makes war with the saints and overcomes them.

This is the same beast that Revelation 17:3 refers to, where it is described as scarlet in color, ridden by a great whore. If you study the vision in Revelation 13 in connection with Daniel 7, you will see that the vision of Revelation 13 is based on that of Daniel 7, and that the beast of Revelation 13 is the beast of Daniel 7. John's beast from the sea is a combination of the leopard, bear, lion, and indescribable fourth beast of Daniel 7, whose ten horns give rise to one horn that speaks great, boastful things, and makes war with the saints and prevails!

What does this beast from the sea represent? Antichrist! But Antichrist as a world government, a political power, the likes of which this world has never seen. The origin of this beast is the sea, which represents the restless nations and peoples of the earth. Isaiah 57:20teaches, "The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose water cast up mire and dirt." If more is needed, Revelation 17 tells us that "the waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples and multitudes and nations." Little doubt is left when we see that the beast has horns and crowns. In Scripture horns are symbolic of power, and crowns of ruling authority. Besides, Revelation 13:2 says that the beast has power and a throne and great authority; and verse 7 says that he has power over all kindreds and tongues and nations. If any question remains, Daniel 7 says that the four beasts are four kings; and Revelation 17 says the beast from the earth is a king. The centuries of division and separation on this earth will end in one world government. The Antichrist is a political reality, a new world order, a global unity.

We emphasize the point in the preceding paragraph because there is often the impression that Antichrist will simply be a religious figure. Scripture makes clear, however, that Anti-christ will be a political power.

This political power will be a worldwide power. The beast has ten horns and ten crowns, representing fullness of power and authority over the nations of the world. Verse 3 says that all the world wondered after the beast. Verse 7 says that he has power over all kindreds and tongues and nations. And verse 8 says that all that dwell on the earth shall worship him (all, of course, except those whose names have been written in the Lamb's book of life).

But it is a worldwide power that is the goal of, and embodiment of, all previous world powers. This is brought out in Revelation 13 in two ways. Follow along carefully as we look at this important point. First, the beast of Revelation 13 has the characteristics of a leopard, a bear, and a lion, so that, even though it is the final development of Daniel 7's fourth beast, it somehow embodies the other three as well. The four beasts of Daniel 7, almost all agree, represent four great world kingdoms: Babylon headed by Nebuchadnezzar; the Medes and Persians led by Cyrus; Greece and Macedonia under Alexander the Great, and, finally, Rome. The beast of Revelation 13 is the final development of the old, Roman kingdom (which indicates that Antichrist will come out of the Christian West, and not the pagan East), but it takes into itself also the other great kingdoms.

Secondly, that Antichrist's is a worldwide kingdom is also the meaning of the seven heads of the beast described in Revelation 17. The 7 heads of the beast are 7 kingdoms-- five of them had already fallen, one of them was still standing (at the time John wrote this prophecy about AD 95), and one yet to come. Rome was the kingdom in existence, and the one yet to come is the Antichristian kingdom. The five which have already passed out of existence were the Greek kingdom, the Medo-Persian, the Babylonian, the Assyrian, and the kingdom of Babel, headed by Nimrod. We see, therefore, one beast with seven heads. And now the Spirit teaches us that the great kingdom of Antichrist, as the embodiment of these former kingdoms, succeeds where the other kingdoms ultimately failed, achieving its goal of world dominance. Nations cease their warring; the planet is united; the world is one. And that world belongs to Antichrist.

The healing of the wound in Revelation 13 points to the success of Antichrist. We must not fail to see the significance of the healing of the wound.

One of the heads of this beast had a "deadly wound that was healed." The explanation of this is that in the time of Nimrod, at the tower of Babel, there was an attempt to unite all men into one great world power. God frustrated this attempt by dividing the men and women into different races with different colors and languages, so that they were forced to separate. Races have remained separate ever since. All their efforts to be united have been frustrated up to this point. At the end, Antichrist will succeed.

This, we believe, is what II Thessalonians 2 speaks of when it says, "he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way." That is, "He that restraineth, will restrain...." There is something or someone that restrains, hinders, impedes, the Antichrist from coming; but in the end, that hindrance will be taken out of the way so that the Antichrist can succeed in uniting all the kingdoms and nations of the world into one.

One must be blind and deaf not to detect this happening today. In a way that has never happened before, that was impossible before, nations are holding hands and talking peace. Walls are coming down. Economies are becoming more and more interdependent. The union of all the world into one is on the horizon. One day soon the sun will rise on a united world, and Antichrist will be its bright and morning star.


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Antichrist: an ecclesiastical power
But Antichrist is not only a beast from the sea. The second part of the vision in Revelation 13 further reveals him as another beast, one arising from the earth. This beast serves the first beast, wielding the power of the first beast, making all the world worship the first beast, and showing that without it the first beast is nothing. And the point of the vision is that the reality of Antichrist is two cooperating powers, the one political, the other, ecclesiastical.

The beast that arises out of the earth looks like a lamb. It had two horns of a lamb, but it was a beast. So immediately we understand the nature of this beast; it is a deceptive creature -- a ferocious beast disguised as a gentle lamb. The horror is that this beast masquerades as Jesus Christ, who is THE Lamb of God. This beast, too, is powerful, for it has horns. However, the power of this beast is not political or military. Rather, its power is the power of persuasive speech. It speaks like a dragon, persuading the world to worship the first beast, to build an image of the first beast, and to bow down to it.

It is plain that this beast represents false religion. Preaching and teaching make men worship something or someone. But this is false teaching and lying preaching. That's evident from the fact that this beast looks like a lamb, looks like Jesus Christ and all that Jesus Christ represents, but in actuality is a beast. He claims to speak like Jesus, but has the foul breath and fiery speech (in the eyes and nostrils of God) of a dragon.

This beast will not arise from Hinduism or Buddhism or any other pagan religion; he will arise out of Christianity itself. Few Christians would believe a Ghandi's claim to be Christ. When one looks at Revelation 19:20, that becomes obvious. There, in the passage that describes the defeat of Antichrist, we read that the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that worked miracles before the beast. This second beast represents false Christianity, the apostate church that calls itself "the Church of Christ" (we mean by this designation the broad "church," and do not intend it to be confused with a certain denomination of that name).

The work of the second beast is the service of the first, the cooperating with the Antichristian world government. What is that service? It is causing all the world to worship the first beast. He will call all men and women of the world to bow down to the first beast, who is the "Savior of the world." Now the prophecy of Revelation 17 comes to pass: the kings of the earth commit fornication with the whore, the false church.

If one asks what he should look for in the days to come, we say this: there will be political union all nations will be gathered together into one mighty empire. This is the first beast. There will also be religious union, joining all the religions and religious empires of the world. The powerful ecumenical movement of today, led by the religions of Christianity, will in the end fully succeed, swallowing up all the other religions of the world. You may expect to see one man over it all. Antichrist.


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ANTICHRIST'S PURPOSE
Why in the world would anyone work such deceitful effrontery? Why such effort in a sham kingdom? Why would any man with that kind of worldwide sovereignty even want his kingdom identified with Christ, labeled with the name of God?

To ask these questions is to answer them. Antichrist's purpose is to destroy the saints, God's elect. And here we get to the heart of the matter. The man Antichrist, indwelt by Satan's spirit, is opposed to God and opposed to Jesus His Christ. With a hatred that can be traced back to the fall of the angels prior to Genesis 3, he despises God and God's cause in Jesus. But he cannot touch God because God cast him out of heaven, according to Revelation 12; and he cannot touch God's Christ, because Jesus was caught up into heaven. So the only thing that remains for him to do is to breathe his fire on the seed of the woman, the Church of Christ. Revelation 12 describes this church as the "remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." In Matthew 24 they are described as the "elect" of God.

The devil knows that to attack the Church is to attack Jesus, the Christ; and to do damage to the body of Christ is to inflict damage upon Christ. He also knows that, because the members of the church are the chosen of God, eternally loved by God (Deuteronomy 7:6-8), to destroy them is equivalent to defeating God. So the objects of his fury are the beloved of God.

His worldwide empire will be less an inflating of his ego than an attempt to see come to pass his millennia-long dream of defeating God and God's purpose in the woman's Seed. In his mind, the promise of God that the Serpent's head would be crushed must never be fulfilled. He must have the victory over and defeat God. To defeat God's people is to defeat God.

He desires to have you, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ -- the elect of God. And if that is true, you must know how he works. You must understand his methods.


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ANTICHRIST'S METHODS
Antichrist goes about his business by speaking the lie. II Thessalonians 2 says that he comes "with all deceivableness of unrighteousness." Revelation 13:12 says, "and he spoke as a dragon...." Revelation 17 tells us that he was a false prophet, a prophet being one whose calling it is to speak and to teach. The armies of the world may have guns and tanks and bombs to bring people into submission; but the power of speech and ideas is a mighty power. In his initial attempts to destroy the cause of God, the devil used a serpent to deceive the woman with crooked speech: "You will be like God." Now he uses a "dragon" who speaks crafty, lying words. His speeches will be heard by millions who will hang on his persuasive rhetoric. The content as well as the form of his speech will attract. Like most false prophets, he will even be sincere and passionate. But he is a liar. He adds dashes of truth to the mix, so that his lie tastes like truth. He will use all the right catchwords, using the language of the church, even throwing in a Bible text or two. But he is the ultimate Liar, and will deceive many.

He will use every tool available: school teachers, politicians, news broadcasters, artists, musicians, scientists and doctors, lawyers and businessmen. All will be pressed into the service of Antichrist to deceive men. But especially he will use those whose calling it is to persuade and to teach -- men who claim to be preachers of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What is this message that has such power to deceive? What is it that is preached by the now-apostate churches once rooted in true Christianity, that stirs up mankind to this ecumenical worship? What gospel will attract the hordes of men and women? What good news will knit the souls of such diverse peoples and nations and tongues?

The gospel of Antichrist is humanism -- the happiness of man, the glory of man, the peace and prosperity, the health and wealth of man. The number of the beast, do not forget, is 6-6-6, the number of man.

But we remind you, the Antichrist deceives. He will not tip his hand by declaring publicly, "I am the Antichrist." He will not claim that there is no God, no Christ, no salvation, and that the message of the Bible is a lie. But he will say, "I am your Messiah; you are God (Shirley MacLaine has comrades and consorts in the Rastifarians of Jamaica, whose word for "divine" is "I-vine"!); and an earthly life of peace and prosperity, of health and happiness -- that is salvation." The distant rumblings of Antichrist's thunder are growing louder.

Performing miracles, Antichrist will establish himself and validate his claim as God's anointed. This is the emphasis of II Thessalonians 2. Men have always performed miracles to establish their authority, presenting them as the credentials of their divine appointment. Moses did in Egypt. Elijah did on Mount Carmel. Jesus Christ and His apostles did. So will Antichrist. Revelation 13:13 says that the second beast "doeth great wonders..." and verse 14 that "he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast." Matthew 24:24 indicates the same thing: "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." This is the teaching of II Thessalonians 2:9, "even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders...." The works of Antichrist will be the works of Satan, who has power beyond the natural ability of man.

Nor will these be fake miracles. These will not be just magic tricks of talented men like Harry Houdini and David Copperfield, but amazing deeds that simply defy explanation in human, scientific terms. Buttressing the claims of Antichrist will be nothing less than the superhuman power of the devil himself.


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THE CHURCH'S CALLING: OPPOSE ANTICHRIST PRESENTLY
The critical danger for the church today is exactly the reality called Antichrist. There is a danger that the church, as it were, posts a lookout to scan the horizon for Antichrist, so that the lookout can warn the people of God when the enemy has arrived and sound the warning to give battle. In the meantime the church is busy with its own legitimate work, but supposes that the Antichrist is of no danger presently. That is precisely what Antichrist wants the church to believe.

God's call to His people is to oppose the Antichrist now. We are not saying here that the Christian's calling is to be ready to oppose Antichrist when he comes, urgent as that calling is. We are saying that our calling and the calling that we urge you to carry out is this: Oppose the opposer of Jesus Christ presently. Not someday, but today.

It is possible to oppose him now, for he is present now. Before you race ahead to find us naming names, or identifying persons and churches, let us explain. I John 2:18 does not say, "Antichrist shall come" but "Antichrist comes...." That is, there is a process of Antichrist coming all down through the history of this world. This process involves the coming of many Antichrists (in the plural). Thus, Matthew 24 can warn of "false Christs" and can say that many shall come in Jesus' name saying, "I am Christ." This also explains how Paul can say in II Thessalonians 2 that the mystery of iniquity is working. Even as Paul wrote that letter, the mystery of iniquity was active in the world, preparing the way for the final Antichrist and his work.


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Recognizing Antichrist's "spirit"
Even in the old dispensation there were Antichrists, like Nimrod, Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus Epiphanes, and others. But especially in the New Testament since Christ's ascension, Antichrist has been coming. The great Antichristian kingdom with its mighty head will not appear ex nihilo, out of nothing, but will be the result of a long and gradual development. And that long and gradual development is and has been the work of the spirit of Antichrist, the spirit of Satan himself, laying the groundwork, preparing the way, making ready for the revelation of the man of sin, the son of perdition.

Was it wrong, then, of the Reformers to say that the pope was Antichrist? If the Reformers meant that the pope at that time, Pope St. Paul III, or another, was the personal Antichrist, the man of sin, the final culmination of the Devil's work in this world, they were mistaken. He did not complete the picture the Scripture draws. But one may not dismiss the Reformers as wild-eyed fanatics. Consider: the pope is and was also a political figure. That is no less plain today than it was in Luther's day. Then already the pope laid claim to the right to crown kings and invest them with the authority to rule the world. Today, the Vatican has its ambassadors in almost every nation of the world and even we, the United States, send our own representatives to the pope. The pope is a political head.

Rome has always embodied the Antichristian spirit and principles: a headship that is in a man, a pope, a hierarchy; an authority of tradition in addition to the one Word of God; a salvation by works in addition to faith and grace; a worship of another (Mary) in addition to the worship of the one alone in whose name we find salvation (Acts 4:12).


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A present struggle
The struggle of the people of God against Antichrist has always been and will always be a present struggle. The call to oppose Antichrist must always be given in the present imperative. Whether in the future the church's children (your children and my children) are able to withstand the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition, depends, to a great degree, on the success of the battle we wage against his spirit today.

The second beast is working; his labor is under way. We are not referring to specific persons, or particular institutions and churches. We are referring to the spirit of our age that rejects God and God's Word, and promotes with all of its power, MAN. The purpose of education today is man's welfare; the purpose of science is man's pleasure; the goal of entertainment is the good life for man. Hedonism says it all. The world is crowded with Antichrists presently. No, look not only on the horizon for Antichrist. Look about you. Oppose him today.


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The manner of opposition
We do not oppose him with guns and tanks and bombs. We do not try to prevent his coming or overthrow it when it comes by political power plays. We oppose him in a spiritual manner, in the same way Jesus Christ opposed him during His ministry, and in the way Jesus taught His disciples to oppose him in theirs -- by faith and the powerful Word of the gospel. We oppose all that opposes Jesus Christ. We oppose humanism that exalts man and promotes the cause of man and man alone. This is why Reformed believers from the beginning have maintained that it is necessary for them to maintain good, Christian schools in which their children are educated. The world inculcates its young with humanistic values and humanistic goals, and we must have no part of that mis-education. We oppose humanism from the pulpits of our churches, and put out those ministers and elders who would preach and teach this kind of a gospel. In this way we oppose Antichrist today.

We oppose hierarchical church government. Hierarchy in the church (the rule by a few "holy ones," or by an intellectual elite, from the top down) is Antichristian in spirit and purpose. That is one main reason the Reformers were opposed to the pope. Audaciously, he set himself up as Vicar of Christ, head of the church, whose word no priest or bishop or counsel, much less layman, could question. We oppose Antichrist today by opposing hierarchy -- a lordship of man, a setting aside of the Word of God and the replacing of it with the word and will of man.

We oppose the ecumenical mania, rife today in the churches. There are powerful winds blowing -- hurricane force winds -- blowing across the churches to bring them together into one, large church body. Robert Schuller, world-acclaimed pastor of one of the largest Reformed churches in America, calls the church world: "It is time for Protestants to go to the Shepherd (pope) and say, What do we have to do to come home?" (Los Angeles Herald Examiner, September 19, 1987). The bottom line, the common denominator, that summons all together is the goal of a world in which man will have earthly peace and prosperity. It seems that the only "heresy" in the minds of most churchmen today is the questioning of the ecumenical movement. There is even a widespread notion abroad, showing itself also in Reformed circles, that all the pagan religions are legitimate, nothing other than the expression of the universal religious feelings of mankind that probably find their best expressions in Christianity. Witness the Protestant preachers praying with Muslims. The basis for that is Humanism. The church of Christ today opposes Antichrist by giving battle to those notions and ideas prevalent in the church today.

We oppose Antichrist by opposing all heresy in the church. Heresy, or false doctrine, is nothing less than opposition to Jesus Christ, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. How often does not Jesus warn His disciples of those wolves in sheep's wool who will misrepresent the truth to draw men away from Jesus? But how much concern is there today for fighting heresy, exposing false doctrine for what it is -- Antichristian in spirit and purpose, paving the way for the man of sin himself who will deceive many?

Opposing heresy, we promote the truth. The people of God who have a heart for God's Christ and Christ's church take the offensive in this battle against Antichrist. Promote the gospel of Jesus Christ. Promote biblical church government. Promote the proper, presbyterian form of church government. Promote the proper manner of church union and reunion -- on the basis of the truth of the gospel of God.

Finally, we do battle with Antichrist in ourselves. For Antichrist has an ally in my own sinful nature. Here is humanism in its basic form -- in my own heart. Here is the false doctrine of salvation by the works of man, right here in my own proud breast. Here is hierarchy, the rule by a few --by me. Right here in my own heart I find sympathy with the notion that salvation comes by faith and by works. In myself is the lie in its crudest form -- "Ye shall be as God."

When the saint fights Antichrist in his heart, with his heart, God will give him the strength to oppose Antichrist when he is revealed in the last day, at the end of which he will be destroyed utterly and completely.


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ANTICHRIST'S CERTAIN DESTRUCTION
Antichrist will succeed in deceiving many. By his earthly successes and charm, Antichrist will deceive millions. The ungodly world as well as many in the churches will fawn over him. Those who do not will not only be mocked, they will be killed.

And for that, the wicked will be damned. This is the teaching of II Thessalonians 2:10-12. Even their deception is a judgment of God upon them; when Antichrist comes, God will send a strong delusion that they should believe a lie. The reason for this is that they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. They heard the gospel, understood the truth, but rejected it. They will perish with the Antichrist.

But in the end, Antichrist will be destroyed. God's people will be saved by sovereign grace, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. And Antichrist will be destroyed.

The religious Antichristian empire will be destroyed by the political Antichristian empire. For a time he uses the whore; in the end he turns on her (Rev 17:16). The political empire breaks up into the battle of Armageddon: the kingdom of the beast (the Western, "Christianized" nations) against the kingdom of the east (the pagan, non-Christian nations). In the middle of that battle, Jesus Christ will return to destroy the Antichristian kingdom, consume Antichrist with the spirit of His mouth, destroy him with the brightness of His coming, and begin the judgment.

Jesus Christ reigns!

There will be no struggle by Jesus Christ with Antichrist. In moment of time, where the entire history of the world climaxes, Christ in an instant will destroy the man of sin.

Therefore, do not fear!

The truth of the Antichrist is dreadful. The church must suffer under him, too. But we are not to fear for a moment. And when you see the Antichrist in the future, be not in terror. For in that darkest hour the world has ever known, we will be doing the same as we have all our lives, waiting "with uplifted heads" for the coming of Jesus Christ, Who will redeem us from all distress.


Source:http://www.prca.org/pamphlets/pamphlet_3.html


Note: Highlights, Bolds and Illustration added by Arsenio.

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100 Rabbis Prepare to Welcome Pontiff to Holy Land


ZE09043012 - 2009-04-30
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-25759?l=english

100 Rabbis Prepare to Welcome Pontiff to Holy Land


Affirm Unity in Commitment to Interreligious Dialogue



JERUSALEM, APRIL 30, 2009 (Zenit.org).- More than a hundred rabbis of various denominations will sign a message welcoming Benedict XVI to the Holy Land and encouraging dialogue between Jews and Christians.

The presidents of the International Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Education, Adalberta and Armando Bernardini, told ZENIT that the message is due to be published on the Web site of an Israeli newspaper, "Ha'Arezt."

The initiative is being promoted by one of the foundation's members, Rabbi Jack Bemporard, also director of the New Jersey based Center for Interreligious Understanding.

From May 8 to 15 the Pope will visit the Holy Land, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories, in a visit described by the government of Israel as a "bridge for peace."

The Rabbi message, titled "United in Our Age," is inspired by "Nostra Aetate," the statement that the Second Vatican Council issued on October 28, 1965, which motivated closer relations between Jews and Catholics.

In particular, the message cites the document that states: "Since the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is thus so great, this sacred synod wants to foster and recommend that mutual understanding and respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and theological studies as well as of fraternal dialogues."

Addressing the Pontiff, the message affirms: "In this spirit, we -- rabbis and Jewish leaders -- warmly welcome you and your mission of peace to Israel.

"With one voice, we are united in our commitment to interreligious dialogue, to opening more paths to increased understanding, and to continually recognize and strengthen the important relationship between Catholics and Jews worldwide."

"And where better to reaffirm that relationship," it adds, "than in the Holy Land of Israel, a place both religions treasure as part of a shared heritage."

The message concludes: "B'shalom."

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On the Net:

International Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Education: http://www.ifiie.org/

Center for Interreligious Understanding: http://www.faithindialogue.org/


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The Geopolitics of Pandemics


May 4, 2009 1926 GMT


By George Friedman


Related Special Topic Page
Swine Flu Outbreak 2009


Word began to flow out of Mexico the weekend before last of well over 150 deaths suspected to have been caused by a new strain of influenza commonly referred to as swine flu. Scientists who examined the flu announced that this was a new strain of Influenza A (H1N1) derived partly from swine flu, partly from human flu and partly from avian flu strains (although there is some question as to whether this remains true). The two bits of information released in succession created a global panic.

This panic had three elements. The first related to the global nature of this disease, given that flus spread easily and modern transportation flows mean containment is impossible. Second, there were concerns (including our own) that this flu would have a high mortality rate. And third, the panic centered on the mere fact that this disease was the flu.

News of this new strain triggered memories of the 1918-1919 flu pandemic, sparking fears that the “Spanish flu” that struck at the end of World War I would be repeated. In addition, the scare over avian flu created a sense of foreboding about influenza — a sense that a catastrophic outbreak was imminent.

By midweek, the disease was being reported around the world. It became clear that the disease was spreading, and the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a Phase 5 pandemic alert. A Phase 5 alert (the last step before a pandemic is actually, officially declared, a step that may be taken within the next couple of days) means that a global pandemic is imminent, and that the virus has proved capable of sustained human-to-human transmission and infecting geographically disparate populations. But this is not a measure of lethality, only communicability, and pandemics are not limited to the deadliest diseases.

‘Pandemic,’ not ‘Duck and Cover’
To the medical mind, the word “pandemic” denotes a disease occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population. The term in no way addresses the underlying seriousness of the disease in the sense of its wider impact on society. The problem is that most people are not physicians. When the WHO convenes a press conference carried by every network in the world, the declaration of a level 5 pandemic connotes global calamity, even as statements from experts — and governments around the world — attempt to walk the line between calming public fears and preparing for the worst.

The reason to prepare for the worst was because this was a pandemic with an extremely unclear prognosis, and about which reliable information was in short supply. Indeed, the new strain could mutate into a more lethal form and re-emerge in the fall for the 2009-2010 flu season. There are also concerns about how its victims disproportionately are healthy young adults under 45 years of age — which was reported in the initial information out of Mexico, and has been reported as an observed factor in the cases that have popped up in the United States. This was part of the 1918 flu pandemic pattern as well. (In contrast, seasonal influenza is most deadly among the elderly and young children with weaker immune systems.)

But as the days wore on last week, the swine flu began to look like little more than ordinary flu. Toward the end of the week, a startling fact began to emerge: While there were more than a hundred deaths in Mexico suspected of being caused by the new strain, only about 20 (a number that has increased slightly after being revised downward earlier last week) have been confirmed as being linked to the new virus. And there has not been a single death from the disease reported anywhere else in the world, save that of a Mexican child transported to the United States for better care. Indeed, even in Mexico, the country’s health minister declared the disease to be past its peak May 3. STRATFOR sources involved in examining the strain have also suggested that the initial analysis of the swine flu was in fact in error, and that the swine flu may have originated during a 1998 outbreak in a pig farm in North Carolina. This information reopens the question of what killed the individuals whose deaths were attributed to swine flu.

While little is understood about the specifics of this new strain, influenza in general has a definitive pattern. It is a virus that affects the respiratory system, and particularly the lungs. At its deadliest it can cause secondary infections — typically bacterial rather than viral — leading to pneumonia. In the most virulent forms of influenza, it is the speed with which complications strike that drives death rates higher. Additionally, substantively new strains (as swine flu is suspected of being) can be distinct enough from other strains of flu that pre-existing immunity gained from flus of years past does not help fend off the latest variation.

Influenza is not a disease that lingers and then kills people — save the sick, old and very young, whose immune systems are more easily compromised. Roughly half a million people (largely from these groups) die annually worldwide from more common strains of influenza, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) pegging average American deaths at roughly 36,000 per year.

Swine flu deaths have not risen as would be expected at this point for a highly contagious and lethal new strain of influenza. In most cases, victims have experienced little more than a bad cold, from which they are recovering. And infections outside Mexico so far have not been severe. This distinction of clear cases of death in Mexico and none elsewhere (again, save the one U.S. case) is stark.

Much of what has occurred in the last week regarding the new virus reminds us of the bird flu scare of 2005. Then as now, the commonly held belief was that a deadly strain was about to be let loose on humanity. Then as now, many governments were heightening concerns rather than quelling them. Then as now, STRATFOR saw only a very small chance of the situation becoming problematic.

Ultimately, by the end of last week it had become clear to the global public that “pandemic” could refer to bad colds as well as to plagues wiping out millions.

A Real Crisis
The recent swine flu experience raises the question of how one would attempt to grapple with a genuine high-mortality pandemic with major consequences. The answer divides into two parts: how to control the spread, and how to deploy treatments.

Communicability
The flu virus is widely present in two species other than humans, namely, birds and pigs. The history of the disease is the history of its transmission within and across these three species. It is comparatively easy for the disease to transmit from swine to birds and from swine to humans; the bird-to-human barrier is the most difficult to cross.

Cross-species influenza is of particular concern. In the simplest terms, viruses are able to recombine (e.g., human flu and avian flu can merge into a hybrid flu strain). What comes out can be a flu transmissible to humans, but with a physical form that is distinctly avian — meaning it fails to alert human immune systems to the intrusion. This can rob the human immune system of the ability to quickly recognize the disease and put up a fight.

New humanly transmissible influenza strains often have been found to originate in places where humans, pigs and/or fowl live in close proximity to each other — particularly in agricultural areas where animal and human habitation is shared or in which constant, close physical contact takes place.

Agricultural areas of Asia with dense populations, relatively small farms and therefore frequent and prolonged contact between species traditionally have been the areas in which influenza strains have transferred from animals to humans and then mutated into diseases transmissible by casual human contact. Indeed, these areas have been the focus of concern over a potential outbreak of bird flu. This time around, the outbreak began in Mexico (though it is not yet clear where the virus itself originated).

And this is key to understanding this flu. Because it appears relatively mild, it might well have been around for quite awhile — giving people mild influenza, but not standing out as a new variety until it hit Mexico. The simultaneous discovery of the strain amid a series of deaths (and what may now be in hindsight inflated concerns about its lethality) led to the recent crisis footing.

Any time such threats are recognized, they already are beyond containment. Given travel patterns in the world today, viruses move easily to new locations well before they are identified in the first place they strike. The current virus is a case in point. It appears, although it is far from certain, that it originated in the Veracruz area of Mexico. Within two days of the Mexican government having issued a health alert, it already had spread as far afield as New Zealand. One week on, cases completely unrelated to Mexico have already been confirmed on five continents.

In all probability, this “spread” was less the discovery of new areas of infection than the random discovery of areas that might have been infected for weeks or even months (though the obvious first people to test were those who had recently returned from Mexico with flu symptoms). Given the apparent mildness of the infection, most people would not go to the doctor. And if they did, the doctor would call it generic flu and not even concern himself with its type. What happened last week appears to have been less the spread of a new influenza virus than the “discovery” of places to which it had spread awhile ago.

The problem with the new variety was not that it was so deadly; had it actually been as uniquely deadly as it first appeared to be, there would have been no mistaking its arrival, because hospitals would be overflowing. It was precisely its mildness that sparked the search. But because of expectations established in the wake of the Mexico deaths, the discovery of new cases was disassociated from its impact. Its presence alone caused panic, with schools closing and border closings discussed.

The virus traveled faster than news of the virus. When the news of the virus finally caught up with the virus, the global perception was shaped by a series of deaths suddenly recognized in Mexico (as mentioned, deaths so far not seen elsewhere). But even as the Mexican Health Ministry begins to consider the virus beyond its peak, the potential for mutation and a more virulent strain in the next flu season looms.

Mortality
As mentioned, viruses that spread through casual human contact can be globally established before anyone knows of it. The first sign of a really significant influenza pandemic will not come from the medical community or the WHO; it will come from the fact that people are catching influenza and dying, and are doing so all over the world at the same time. The system established for detecting spreading diseases is hardwired to be behind the curve. This is not because it is inefficient, but because no matter how efficient, it cannot block casual contact — which, given modern air transportation, spreads diseases globally in a matter of days or even hours.

Therefore, the problem is not the detection of deadly pandemics, simply because they cannot be missed. Rather, the problem is reacting medically to deadly pandemics. One danger is overreacting to every pandemic and thereby breaking the system. (As of this writing, the CDC remained deeply concerned about swine flu, though calm seems to be returning.)

The other danger is not reacting rapidly enough. In the case of influenza, medical steps can be taken. First, there are anti-viral medicines found to be effective against the new strain, and if sufficient stockpiles exist — which is hardly universally the case, especially in the developing world — and those stockpiles can be administered early enough, the course of the disease can be mitigated. Second, since most people die from secondary infection in the lungs, antibiotics can be administered. Unlike with the 1918 pandemic, the mortality rate can be dramatically reduced.

The problem here is logistical: The distribution and effective administration of medications is a challenge. Producing enough of the medication is one problem; it takes months to craft, grow and produce a new vaccine, and the flu vaccine is tailored every year to deal with the three most dangerous strains of flu. Another problem is moving the medication to areas where it is needed in an environment that maintains its effectiveness. Equally important is the existence of infrastructure and medical staff capable of diagnosing, administering and supporting patients — and doing so on a scale never before attempted.

These things will not be done effectively on a global basis. That is inevitable. But influenza, even at the highest death rates ever recorded for the disease, does not threaten human existence as we know it. At its worst, flu will kill a lot of people, but the human race and the international order will survive.

The true threat to humanity, if it ever comes, will not come from influenza. Rather, it will come from a disease spread through casual human contact, but with a higher mortality rate than flu and no clear treatment. While HIV/AIDS boasts an extraordinarily high mortality rate and no cure exists, it at least does not spread through casual contact as influenza does, and so the pace at which it can spread is limited.

Humanity will survive the worst that influenza can throw at it even without intervention. With modern intervention, its effect declines dramatically. But the key problem of pandemics was revealed in this case: The virus spread well before information on it spread. Detection and communication lagged. That did not matter in this case, and it did not matter in the case of HIV/AIDS, because the latter was a disease that did not spread through casual contact. However, should a disease arise that is as deadly as HIV, that spreads through casual contact, about which there is little knowledge and for which there is no cure, the medical capabilities of humanity would be virtually useless.

There are problems to which there are no solutions. Fortunately, these problems may not arise. But if they do, no amount of helpful public service announcements from the CDC and the WHO will make the slightest bit of difference.
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Sunday, May 03, 2009

US Supreme Court set to have first Latina justice

She grew up in a single parent family among the burned out tenements of one of New York’s toughest districts.

By Leonard Doyle in Washington
Last Updated: 8:18PM BST 02 May 2009


Sonia Sotomayor is tipped to replace Justice David Souter, who resigned on Friday Photo: Pace.edu


Now Sonia Sotomayor, who was raised by Puerto Rican immigrants on a Bronx housing project, is set to make history after being tipped to become the US Supreme Court’s first Latina justice.
Mrs Sotomayor, 59, is thought to be the preferred choice of President Barack Obama to replace Justice David Souter, who announced his resignation from America’s highest court on Friday.


Given the Supreme Court’s paramount role in adjudicating on key “cultural issues” such as abortion, gun control and gay marriage, nominating her would send out a powerful signal about Mr Obama’s commitment to promote people from working class and ethnic minority backgrounds,

But it has prompted unease among America’s Right-wing, who fear her strong liberal credentials will undermine the court’s delicate balance between conservative and progressive thinking.

Mrs Sotomayor’s life story of hardship and setbacks in her early years bears more than a passing resemblance to Dreams from My Father, Barack Obama’s best-selling memoir.

Her mother, who worked with heroin addicts, raised Sotomayor and her younger brother alone in a neighbourhood riven with racial tensions, gang wars and drug violence. Her father, a factory worker, died when she was nine.

As a child, she studied hard at school and initially wanted to become a detective after reading the Nancy Drew storybooks. But at the age of eight, she was diagnosed with diabetes and was told she would have to abandon her childhood dream. By the age of ten, she had settled on becoming a lawyer, determined to escape the district she was brought up in by going to college and rising to the very top of her career.

“I was going to college and I was going to become an attorney, and I knew that when I was ten,” said Mrs Sotomayor, who went on to Yale Law School and then the high-powered Manhattan District Attorney’s office. “Ten. That’s no jest... If I couldn’t do detective work as a police officer, I could do it as a lawyer.”

A Democratic President has not had an opportunity to nominate a Supreme Court justice for 15 years, and the battles over nominations have left deep scars.

The court has become a crucible for such fiercely contested issues as abortion, gun control, immigration, stem cell research and the torture of terrorist suspects.

Rush Limbaugh, the conservative talk show host with 25 million listeners, has already attacked Mrs Sotomayor, who is currently a Federal Court judge, as a liberal activist.

The next appointment will not decisively tip the court’s balance in favour of liberals, but Republicans are determined to resist it nonetheless, fearing Democrat dominance in all branches of government – the Court, the Presidency and Congress.

However, with the defection to the Democrats earlier this week of moderate Republican Senator Arlen Specter, the president is likely to gain the 60-vote majority needed to see the appointment pushed through.

Mr Souter, who is resigning for personal reasons, is expected to step down sometime this summer. Mr Obama has not yet officially named a successor, but has already hinted that he wants someone with the kind of gritty life experience that Mrs Sotamayor’s CV boasts.

“I will seek someone who understands that justice isn’t about some abstract legal theory or footnote in a casebook,” he said. “It is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of people’s lives.”

He did not use the buzz word “diversity” but the President is under huge political pressure to appoint the first Hispanic to the court. In the race for the White House he had a rocky relationship with Hispanic voters who make up 15 per cent of US voters, although he ultimately won them over.

Other possible names include Ann Williams, a 59-year-old black woman and Notre Dame Law School graduate as well as the Solicitor General Elena Kagan, the 49-year-old former dean of Harvard Law School.

Whoever Mr Obama chooses, he will also have to consider the views of Democrats who operate not so much as a party but like a sprawling tribe, with multiple political, cultural, economic and geographic interests.

With five of the nine member court already over age 70, the administration has been preparing for an anticipated vacancy for months.
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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Souter to Leave Open Seat in June


Friday May 1, 2009


TODAY'S HEADLINES

By Kathleen Gilbert

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - President Obama will have his first opportunity to influence the U.S. Supreme Court after Justice David Souter retires at the end of the term in June, according to news reports.

An NPR report and sources with the New York Times say that Justice Souter, 69, is in very good health, but is expected to return to New Hampshire amid strong rumors that he had grown to dislike life in the nation's capital. The NPR report suggests that Souter waited to retire until President Obama's term, as he expects the new president to pick a justice with ideals similar to Souter's.

Although installed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990, ostensibly as a strict constructionist and a moderate Republican, Souter has proven instead to be solidly liberal and a supporter for both abortion on demand and partial-birth abortion.

President Obama is unlikely to announce his candidate for the empty seat before the end of the Supreme Court's session this year. After the announcement, the nomination will be sent to the Senate for hearings and confirmation before the new session begins in October.

Among possible candidates rumored to be on the President's shortlist is Elena Kagan, whom he chose as the current U.S. Solicitor General. The former Harvard Law dean's current appointment was vigorously opposed by pro-life groups, as Kagan also supports partial-birth abortion and abortion on demand.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, an aggressive pro-abortion and same-sex "marriage" advocate, has also been floated as a possible Obama pick. Patrick has led the charge in recent years to normalize homosexuality in his state, where pro-homosexual public school curricula is now mandatory. (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/feb/08020404.html) In regard to abortion, Patrick signed a 2007 bill creating a 35-foot "buffer" zone around abortion clinics, within which pro-life sidewalk counseling or witness is illegal.

According to commentators, some sitting federal court judges Obama may be considering are Sonia Sotomayor of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, and Diane Wood of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. Obama may also be considering Stanford Law professor Kathleen Sullivan, and Harvard Law's Cass Sunstein.

Pro-life leaders are already urging President Obama to avoid using a "pro-abortion litmus test" in his selection.

"We will work to oppose any nominee for the Supreme Court who will read the Freedom of Choice Act into the Constitution in order to elevate abortion to a fundamental right on the same plane as the freedom of speech," stated Dr. Charmaine Yoest, President & CEO of Americans United for Life.

"In his search for a replacement for Justice Souter, President Obama should avoid a pro-abortion litmus test." Dr. Yoest continued. "This nomination represents a test for a President who has expressed a public commitment to reducing abortions while pursuing an aggressive pro-abortion agenda."

"Obama received greater than expected opposition to his nomination of extremist pro-abort Kathleen Sebelius to HHS," commented Operation Rescue Troy Newman today. "He can only expect that opposition will continue to grow if he has the poor sense to appoint a justice that will promote abortion from the bench."




22 Arrested at Blackwater's Illinois Compound


Posted by Jeremy Scahill, Rebel Reports at 11:00 AM on April 28, 2009.



More people have been arrested for protesting on Blackwater property than mercenaries who have killed innocent Iraqis.


Twenty-two people were arrested yesterday at the Blackwater/Xe compound in Jo Daviess County Illinois as they carried out a nonviolent direct action against a company at the center of some of the worst violence in Iraq. They were part of a larger group of about 75 people who marched on Blackwater to serve the company with a Notice of Foreclosure for Moral Bankruptcy.


“There’ve been more people arrested for trespassing on Blackwater property than Blackwater employees that have been held accountable for their illegal actions which include tax evasion, smuggling illegal arms into Iraq as well as illegal use of firearms on their facility in Moyock, North Carolina,” charged Dan Kenney, one of the organizers of the protest. From the Stockton Journal Standard:
[R]esident Martin Hippie said he finds it worrisome that local police are training with a company ejected from Iraq by its government for wrongdoing.
“It’s kind of like organized crime coming in and taking over a casino,” Hippie said. “We have laws against that and I think we have to have laws against private companies taking over our police forces and military training.”

Blackwater recently changed the name of its training facilities to the “US Training Center.” Monday’s demonstration at Blackwater came after a weekend conference focused on the company and its domestic expansion in the U.S. It was sponsored by the Clearwater Citizens group, the Midwest Regional Catholic Worker Movement and other groups.

Jeremy Scahill is the author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army.



Source:http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/138779/22_arrested_at_blackwater%27s_illinois_compound/


How many Catholic Chief Justices are needed on the Supreme Court?


Souter is giving up what he once called "the world's best job in the world's worst city" :






How many Chief Justices must be Catholics before someone realizes that they are over-representing that segment of the American population? 25% of the U.S. is Catholic? Yet, 5 out of 9 on the Supreme Court are Roman Catholics.


As it stands, there are 5 catholics on the bench, now; Will President Obama add another Catholic to the Supreme Court? That would make them 6 out of 9, chief Justices.


Stay tuned and see the outcome of Justice Souter's replacement!


Arsenio.

Momentous Struggle Before Us


We ought to obey God rather than men. Acts 5:29.


A great crisis awaits the people of God. A crisis awaits the world. The most momentous struggle of all the ages is just before us. . . . The question of enforcing Sunday observance has become one of national interest and importance. We well know what the result of this movement will be. But are we ready for the issue? Have we faithfully discharged the duty which God has committed to us of giving the people warning of the danger before them? . . . {Mar 131.1}

There are many who have never understood the claims of the Bible Sabbath and the false foundation upon which the Sunday institution rests. Any movement in favor of religious legislation is really an act of concession to the papacy, which for so many ages has steadily warred against liberty of conscience. Sunday observance owes its existence as a so-called Christian institution to "the mystery of iniquity"; and its enforcement will be a virtual recognition of the principles which are the very cornerstone of Romanism. When our nation shall so abjure the principles of its government as to enact a Sunday law, Protestantism will in this act join hands with popery; it will be nothing else than giving life to the tyranny which has long been eagerly watching its opportunity to spring again into active despotism. . . . {Mar 131.2}

If popery or its principles shall again be legislated into power, the fires of persecution will be rekindled against those who will not sacrifice conscience and the truth in deference to popular errors. This evil is on the point of realization. {Mar 131.3}

When God has given us light showing the dangers before us, how can we stand clear in His sight if we neglect to put forth every effort in our power to bring it before the people? Can we be content to leave them to meet this momentous issue unwarned? . . . {Mar 131.4}

When the laws of earthly rulers are brought into opposition to the laws of the Supreme Ruler of the universe, then those who are God's loyal subjects will be true to Him. {Mar 131.5}



Maranatha, E. G. W. pp.131.