JPS Tanakh 1917
Surely our diseases he did bear, and our pains he carried; Whereas we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.

Jubilee Bible 2000
Surely he has borne our sicknesses and suffered our pain: and we considered him stricken, smitten of God, and cast down.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Surely he hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows: and we have thought him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted.

World English Bible
Surely he has borne our sickness, and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted.

Young's Literal Translation
Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains -- he hath carried them, And we -- we have esteemed him plagued, Smitten of God, and afflicted.

The question arises, was Jesus who was perfect and without sin ever sick?

Sickness is many times associated with sin but this is not always the case as the well known story about the man who had been blind from birth illustrates.

“As Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” John 9:1-3

Paul in Hebrews 4:15 makes it very clear that, "we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15

Paul makes it very clear that Jesus was touched by our infirmities, in other words he did experience sickness, yet without sin.

The following excerpt is from a book called “Secrets of Golgotha”.

What Kind of Sicknesses did Jesus Experience?

The reader of the Bible needs to know what kind of sicknesses Jesus experienced throughout his lifetime? Actually, the prophecy of the Suffering Servant (Jesus) is most important to inform us of this matter. If one will pay close attention to what the prophecy actually relates we can gain a great deal of information to illumine this subject for us. I now wish to refer to a book published in 1969 of an out-of-print volume first printed in 1877 which gives a rundown of Jewish interpretation over the past twenty-two centuries on the meaning of Isaiah 52 and 53 in regard to the Suffering Servant. It is titled The Fifty-Third Chapter of Isaiah by S.R. Driver and A. Neubauer. It is a remarkable work and is indispensable in gaining the Jewish understanding of Isaiah's prophecy about the Suffering Servant from the historical viewpoint. And almost all of these early Jewish scholars did not feel Jesus fit the role of the Suffering Servant because of what their Christian contemporaries were telling them about the experiences of Jesus while he was in the flesh.

What is significant is the fact that the majority of about 60 Jewish sources (which the authors referred to) claim that the prophecy could not refer to Jesus because, among other things, Isaiah said that the man of the prophecy would be sickly, while the Jewish scholars had been told over the centuries by their Christian counterparts that Jesus had never been sick a day in his life. And true enough, that is what most Christians erroneously have taught about Jesus. This has been one of the main (there are other very important main reasons as well. Ed.) reasons why Jewish scholars (who adhere to the simple teachings of Isaiah's prophecy about the Suffering Servant) fail to see Jesus in it. They have taken Christian professors at their word that this was what the New Testament taught.

The Errors of Traditional Christian Teaching

But in no way does the New Testament teach what most Christian interpreters have been stating over the centuries. If one will read carefully what the apostles wrote, it can be recognized that they were well aware that Jesus had been sickly during his life (Bearing the sicknesses and sins of mankind in his body), though he never sinned once. This is exactly what the author of the Book of Hebrews stated (Hebrews 4:15). The apostles (many of whom were eyewitnesses of Jesus' ministry) thought that he was precisely fulfilling Isaish's prophecy of the Suffering Servant. The hometown people of Jesus were not uttering some kind of proverb when they said of him: “Physician heal yourself” (Luke 4:23). They knew that he needed healing himself. Secrets of Golgotha (Second Edition) pages 335-336 by Ernest L. Martin

Food for thought!
Have a great week ahead!

***

WND

STATISTICIAN: DATA PROVES BIBLICAL FINANCIAL COLLAPSE

'In September, we can expect something really bad'

Published: September 1, 2015

LEO HOHMANN

Get ready – because the best of times are over and the worst of times may have just begun.

That is the assessment of an Israeli mathematician who has studied the biblical Shemitah cycle as it applies to the financial markets.

Thomas Pound is an educator and mathematician who applies his statistical wizardry to the markets.

The Dow fell another 468 points, or 3 percent, Tuesday, providing fresh evidence for investors the sell-off which began in August was no mirage. It is likely to continue in September.

Only eight more trading days remain until the dreaded Elul 29, which is the final day of the Shemitah year, known as “wipe out day” on the Hebrew calendar.

Since Elul 29 falls on a Sunday, Sept. 13, when the markets are closed, the rest of this week and the following week could bring the most devastating losses. Another theory is that the period of Sept. 14-28 right after Elul 29 and leading up to a scheduled blood moon (on Sept. 27-28) could be worth watching.

Proof in the numbers

Several years ago, Pound corresponded with a financial adviser who was using a decennial analysis to determine which years were optimum for investor returns. According to the theory behind decennial analysis, which was first proposed in the book “Irrational Exuberance” by Yale Economics professor Robert Shiller, years ending in the number eight yielded better returns than other years, according to the Israeli publication Breaking Israel News. Years that ending in seven were less lucrative.

Armed with 144 years of market data going back to 1871, Pound set out to test the validity of this theory. As Pound explained to Breaking Israel News, “Being a statistician, if somebody makes a claim, then statistically, it should hold up.”

Using the Analysis of Variance significance (ANOVA) test, Pound discovered there was some basis for the financial adviser’s strategy of avoiding investing in years that ended in seven. It gave him a statistical advantage of 100 base points, with years not ending in seven averaging an annual return of 10.19 percent, compared to an overall average of 9.04 percent.

Now comes Jonathan Cahn’s New York Times-best selling book about the Shemitah cycle – “The Mystery of the Shemitah” – and Pound was again challenged to study Cahn’s research from a statistical perspective to see if it had merit.

The Shemitah year falls every seventh year, when God instructed Moses to let the land rest, cease sowing and reaping, and then all Israelites were to have their debts canceled on the final day of the year, Elul 29.

Cahn pointed out that the years 1973, 1980, 1987, 2001 and 2008 were all Shemitah years that saw stock markets collapse.

The biggest ever single-day stock market crash occurred on Sept. 29, 2008, when the Dow fell 777.7 points and lost $1.2 trillion in value. This day also happened to be Elul 29, the last day of the Jewish year, one day before Rosh Hashana, signaling the end of the Shemitah cycle.

After a friend told him about the seven-year Sabbatical cycle to the stock market, Pound again set out to see if the theory held up under statistical scrutiny.

Applying the same ANOVA test to the Shemitah cycle, Pound’s research revealed that the sabbatical years were the only group of years in which the market cycle averages consistent significant losses since 1871.

He also found that, in Shemitah years, the difference in loss was greater than that noted in professor Shiller’s decennial cycle.

“Statistically, it appears that the calendar years in which the Sabbatical year ends are worse than the other six years, and that difference is significant based on the data I have,” Pound told Breaking Israel News.

Prepare for a crash

With mathematical precision, Pound quoted King Solomon in Ecclesiastes 11:2, “Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth,” as practical advice to prepare for the inevitable Shemitah market crash, Breaking Israel News reported.

The Israeli newspaper noted that “this bit of biblical wisdom advises we diversify our portfolios.”

Pound also noted the irony that, according to the decennial theory, 2015 should be one of the better years for investing in the stock market. But not so, according to the Shemitah theory. As Pound told Breaking Israel News, “In September, we can expect something really bad.”

Some who have studied and scrutinized Cahn’s research in America are even more dramatic in their advice to investors.

Michael Snyder, author of the blog Economic Collapse, wrote in an Aug. 31 entry:

“All of the intel that I have received is absolutely screaming that big trouble is ahead. So enjoy these last few days of relative peace and quiet. I mean that sincerely. In fact, that is exactly what I have been doing – over the past week I have not been posting many articles because I was spending time with family, friends and preparing for the national call to prayer on September 18th and 19th. But now as we enter the chaotic month of September 2015 I have a feeling that there is going to be plenty for me to write about.”

Snyder pointed out that Augusts are typically not bad months for the stock market. But when bad Augusts do occur, they are almost always followed by a September that is just as bad.

“Throughout history, there have only been 11 times when the S&P 500 has declined by more than 5 percent during the month of August,” Snyder wrote. “When that has happened, the stock market has almost always fallen in September as well.”

The stock market has already plummeted 14 percent over the last month.

John Hussman, author of Hussman’s weekly financial letter, wrote in an Aug. 30 entry that he sees the Dow falling by 50 percent by the time the dust settles.

Hussman urged his readers not to listen to the so-called experts brought in by networks such as CNN, CNBC and Bloomberg to calm investors’ jittery nerves. He wrote:

“They assured their few thousand remaining viewers the 11% plunge in the stock market was caused by China and the communist government’s direct intervention in their stock market, arrest of a brokerage CEO, and threat to prosecute sellers surely cured what ails their market. The Fed and their Plunge Protection Team co-conspirators reversed the free fall, manipulating derivatives and creating a short seller covering rally back to previous week levels. The moneyed interests are desperate to retain the appearance of normality and stability, as their debt saturated system teeters on the verge of collapse.”

Hussman, in fact, sees a down market for the next 18 months as it gradually falls in line with the down economy of Barack Obama.

“John Hussman’s weekly letter provides sound advice for anyone looking to avoid a 50% loss in the next 18 months. The market has been overvalued for the last three years and now sits at overvaluation levels on par with 1929 and 2000. The difference is that fear has been overtaking greed in the psyches of traders. The average Joe isn’t in the market. Only the Ivy League MBA High frequency trading computer gurus are playing in this rigged market. The 1,100 point crash last Monday is what happens when arrogant young traders, fear and computer algorithms combine in a perfect storm of mindless selling. Suddenly the pompous risk takers became frightened risk averse lemmings.”

***

THE WATCHERS

Supermoon lunar eclipse on September 28, 2015 ends the current lunar tetrad - Blood Moon

Posted by The Watcher on August 31, 2015

A rare celestial event is scheduled for September 28, 2015 (UTC) - a total lunar eclipse and the closest supermoon of the year.

According to NASA's eclipse specialist Fred Espenak, the Moon will be totally eclipsed (totality) for 1 hour and 11 minutes, but the instant of greatest eclipse takes place at 02:47 UTC.

In the US, this is 22:47 EDT, 21:47 CDT, 19:47 PDT on September 27. In Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia: 03:47 BST, 04:47 CET, 05:47 AST, 09:47 ICT, 12:47 AEST... on September 28.

***

RINF

The 2030 Agenda: This Month The UN Launches A Blueprint For A New World Order With The Help Of The Pope

Michael Snyder

Sep 3, 2015

(RINF) – Did you know that the UN is planning to launch a “new universal agenda” for humanity in September 2015? That phrase does not come from me – it is actually right in the very first paragraph of the official document that every UN member nation will formally approve at a conference later this month. The entire planet is going to be committing to work toward 17 sustainable development goals and 169 specific sustainable development targets, and yet there has been almost a total media blackout about this here in the United States. The UN document promises that this plan will “transform our world for the better by 2030“, and yet very few Americans have even heard of the 2030 Agenda at this point. Instead, most of us seem to be totally obsessed with the latest celebrity gossip or the latest nasty insults that our puppet politicians have been throwing around at one another. It absolutely amazes me that more people cannot understand that Agenda 2030 is a really, really big deal. When will people finally start waking up?

As I discussed in a previous article, the 2030 Agenda is taking the principles and goals laid out in Agenda 21 to an entirely new level. Agenda 21 was primarily focused on the environment, but the 2030 Agenda addresses virtually all areas of human activity. It truly is a blueprint for global governance.

And later this month, nearly every nation on the entire planet is going to be signing up for this new agenda. The general population of the planet is going to be told that this agenda is “voluntary” and that it is all about “ending poverty” and “fighting climate change”, but that is not the full story. Unfortunately, there is so much positive spin around this plan that most people will not be able to see through it. Just check out an excerpt from a piece that was published on the official UN website yesterday…

The United Nations General Assembly today approved a resolution sending the draft ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ to Member States for adoption later this month, bringing the international community “to the cusp of decisions that can help realize the… dream of a world of peace and dignity for all,” according to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“Today is the start of a new era. We have travelled a long way together to reach this turning point,” declared Mr. Ban, recounting the path the international community has taken over the 15 years since the adoption of the landmark Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) towards crafting a set of new, post-2015 sustainability goals that will aim to ensure the long-term well-being of our planet and its people.

With world leaders expected to adopt the text at a 25-27 September summit in New York, the UN chief said Agenda 2030 aims high, seeking to put people at the centre of development; foster human well-being, prosperity, peace and justice on a healthy planet and pursue respect for the human rights of all people and gender equality.

Who doesn’t “dream of a world of peace and dignity for all”?

They make it all sound so wonderful and non-threatening.

They make it sound like we are about to enter a global utopia in which poverty and inequality will finally be eradicated. This is from the preamble of the official 2030 Agenda document…

This Agenda is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. It also seeks to strengthen universal peace in larger freedom. We recognise that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. All countries and all stakeholders, acting in collaborative partnership, will implement this plan. We are resolved to free the human race from the tyranny of poverty and want and to heal and secure our planet. We are determined to take the bold and transformative steps which are urgently needed to shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient path. As we embark on this collective journey, we pledge that no one will be left behind. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets which we are announcing today demonstrate the scale and ambition of this new universal Agenda.

If it is a “universal agenda”, then where does that leave those that do not want to be part of it?

How will they assure that “no one will be left behind” if there are some nations or groups that are not willing to go along with their plan?

The heart of the 2030 Agenda is a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals…

Goal 1 End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Goal 2 End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Goal 3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Goal 4 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Goal 5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Goal 6 Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Goal 7 Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Goal 8 Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Goal 9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Goal 10 Reduce inequality within and among countries

Goal 11 Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Goal 12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Goal 13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*

Goal 14 Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

Goal 15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Goal 16 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Goal 17 Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

Once again, many of those sound quite good.

But what do many of those buzzwords actually mean to the elite?

For instance, what does “sustainable development” actually mean, and how does the UN plan to ensure that it will be achieved globally?

This is something that was discussed in a recent WND article…

But what is “sustainable development?”

Patrick Wood, an economist and author of “Technocracy Rising: The Trojan Horse of Global Transformation,” says it’s clear the U.N. and its supporters see sustainable development as more than just the way to a cleaner environment. They see it as the vehicle for creating a long-sought new international economic order, or “New World Order.”

Wood’s new book traces the modern technocracy movement to Zbigniew Brzezinski, David Rockefeller and the Trilateral Commission in the early 1970s.

And Wood is quite correct. The environment is a perfect vehicle for the elite to use to bring in their version of utopia, because just about every possible form of human activity affects the environment in some way. Ultimately, they hope to centrally plan and strictly regulate virtually everything that we do, and we will be told that it is necessary to “save the planet”.

And they will never come out and openly call it a “New World Order” because “sustainable development” sounds so much nicer and is so much more acceptable to the general population.

Needless to say, there wouldn’t be much room for individual liberty, freedom or good, old-fashioned capitalism in the world that the elite are trying to set up. In fact, the U.N.’s number one sustainable development official has essentially publicly admitted this…

“This is probably the most difficult task we have ever given ourselves, which is to intentionally transform the economic development model, for the first time in human history,” Figueres, who heads up the U.N.’s Framework Convention on Climate Change, told reporters in February.

“This is the first time in the history of mankind that we are setting ourselves the task of intentionally, within a defined period of time, to change the economic development model that has been reigning for the at least 150 years, since the industrial revolution,” Figueres said.

They plan to “intentionally transform the economic development model”?

And so what will this new system look like?

How will they achieve this “utopia” that they are promising us?

Sadly, they are just selling the same lies that have been sold to people for thousands of years. Paul McGuire, the co-author of a new book entitled “The Babylon Code: Solving the Bible’s Greatest End-Times Mystery“, commented on this recently…

“Deep inside every man and woman is the longing for a far better world, a world without war, disease, death, and pain. Our present world is a cruel world in which every life ends in death. From the beginning of time Mankind has sought to use science and technology to create a perfect world, what some would call Utopia or Paradise. As the Human Race began to organize itself, a Scientific or Technocratic Elite rose to power by promising the masses that they could build this perfect world. Ancient Babylon represented the first historical attempt to build paradise on earth.”

In ancient times, Babylon was the very first attempt to create a type of “global government”, and ever since then the global elite have been trying to recreate what Babylon started.

The promise is always the same – the elite swear that they have finally figured out how to create a perfect society without poverty or war. But in the end all of these attempts at utopia always end up degenerating into extreme forms of tyranny.

On September 25th, the Pope is traveling to New York to give the opening address at the conference where the 2030 Agenda will be launched. He will be urging all of humanity to support what the UN is trying to do. There are countless millions that implicitly trust the Pope, and they will buy what he is selling hook, line and sinker.

Don’t be fooled – the 2030 Agenda is a blueprint for a New World Order. Just read the document for yourself, and imagine what our world would actually look like if they have their way.

They want to fundamentally transform our planet, and the freedom that you are enjoying today is simply not acceptable. To the elite, giving people freedom and liberty is dangerous because they believe it hurts the environment and causes societal chaos. According to their way of thinking, the only way to have the kind of harmonious utopia that they are shooting for is to tightly regulate and control what everyone is thinking, saying and doing. Their solutions always involve more central planning and more control in their own hands.

So what do you think?

Should we hand the global elite that kind of power and control?

If not, then we all need to start speaking out about this insidious agenda while we still can.

***

THE MISES INSTITUTE

WE ARE ALL PREPPERS NOW

We were close enough in 2008 and what's coming is on 20 times that scale

AUGUST 29, 2015

Damian McBride is the former head of communications at the British treasury and former special adviser to Gordon Brown, erstwhile Prime Minister of the U.K. Yesterday he tweeted some surprising advice in response to the plunge in global equities markets.;

Advice on the looming crash, No. 1: get hard cash in a safe place now; don’t assume banks & cashpoints will be open, or bank cards will work.

Crash advice No. 2: do you have enough bottled water, tinned goods & other essentials at home to live a month indoors? If not, get shopping.

Crash advice No. 3: agree a rally point with your loved ones in case transport and communication gets cut off; somewhere you can all head to.

Evidently, McBride interprets the wipe-out of over $3 trillion in total global market cap during the three-day rout as a prelude to a much broader and deeper financial crash that will precipitate civil unrest.

***

SkyWatchTV

Today Begins National Preparedness Month: Does GOD Support Having An Emergency Backup Plan?

September 1, 2015 by Tom Horn

Over the next four weeks SkyWatch TV will feature preparedness broadcasts with experts from around the world covering a broad base of issues from finance to surviving off-grid. A major reason for this special month of programs involves what looks like the fulfillment of prophecy everywhere; unrest in the Middle East, the alignment of Gog and Magog, instability within the global economic system, threats to the national grid, terrorism and even gateways through biotechnology that could unleash upon earth pestilence of biblical proportions. People from all three of the world’s great religions see these developments as potential omens of an ‘End Times’ scenario leading to the Apocalypse. Yet many believers in God, especially in America, remain indifferent to the need to prepare for the unexpected. What can they be thinking!?

An article by Mimi Hall in USA TODAY recently pointed out this phenomenon, saying, “Most Americans haven’t taken steps to prepare for a natural disaster, terrorist attack or other emergency, according to a new study on preparedness, and only about a third have made plans with family members about how they would communicate with each other during a crisis.”

Part of the reason for this may be that we are by comparison well off in the United States, and we trust in our bank accounts to sustain us. Unfortunately, money sitting in savings and investments are useless if you become stuck in a storm or other crisis.

Another disarming reason I witnessed during my 25 years of pastoring for why people of faith neglect preparedness has to do with an odd defeatism that says, “If current events are prophesied to happen, then there’s nothing we can do about it anyway.”

The notion that calamity is unavoidable if it is divinely predicted is even sanctioned by some expositors who miss the pattern for preparedness in the Bible. While it is true that famine was prophesied for Egypt, it is also a fact that God led Joseph to prepare for it, and, as a result, he saved his family and the nations around about.

Proverbs 22:3 tells us that a prudent person will foresee such difficulties and prepare for them, while a simpleton will go blindly on and suffer the consequences. This is good advice not only for religious folks, but also people of any persuasion.

A third and perhaps the greatest reason why some people, including religious people never plan for disaster, is that they view the need to prepare for the unexpected as too complicated and costly. They imagine the back yard being dug up for construction of a massive bomb shelter and the basement crammed with row after row of dry grains and large containers filled with backup water.

The truth is, survival preparation is modestly affordable. Under most circumstances, the ability for individuals to remain mobile for a few days to a week or so by simply grabbing an inexpensive “survival bag” and heading out is more important than silos filled with long term storage foods.

Even when we envision a worse case scenario – such as a terrorist nuke or ICBM exchange – low-cost shelters, that can be built at home and combined with a minimal amount of Potassium Iodide, would help keep as much as 99 percent of the population alive according to one synopsis by the Department of Homeland Security.

While having to try to endure radioactive fallout is a growing possibility, the fact is that most people are more likely to face disaster as a result of things like nature.

Not long ago a journalist became lost in a snowstorm in Oregon and died from the exposure to freezing temperatures. If his car had been equipped with a survival kit, he would have had an excellent chance of survival.

During Hurricane Katrina, one woman had an emergency supplies kit in her attic that kept her and her two cats alive for days until help arrived. Another man, a doctor who had read a preparedness book and followed its instructions, was prepared with equipment and supplies. His house became a gathering place for people displaced by the storm.

For reasons such as these, my wife and I recently provided each of our children with a “walk out” kit for the trunks of their cars. These emergency bags contain enough food, water, shelter, first aid, lighting and communication supplies to keep them alive for days in the case of a vehicle malfunction or other situation where they would need to abandon their car.

Many of the items vital for a good survival kit can be found at your local shopping center: an inexpensive poncho, a basic first aid assortment, nylon cord, canvas for temporary shelter, duck tape, a whistle. Other items are a bit trickier to find and may need to be acquired from one of many online emergency preparedness companies. These include five-year-shelf-life food bars, five-year-shelf-life water boxes or pouches, paper-thin thermal blankets designed by NASA to retain body heat, special hand-crank combination flashlights with radios and emergency signals built in, and so on. My personal favorite is the “Midland ER102” which requires no maintenance, no batteries, no bulb replacements, and can even power your cell phone.

Pre-made emergency kits containing items such as those above can be acquired online at costs from $30.00 and up, depending on the number of people and the number of days they are designed to sustain.

Why then, given how affordable disaster preparedness is, are so many people unprepared for an emergency?

Within “faith communities,” part of the problem goes back to western dispensational fatalism that fails to see God’s instructions about the future and the responsibility He gives concerning preparation. Church authorities may speak of the hidden shelter that God provides His followers during a storm, yet often fail to see the believer’s responsibility cast throughout the Bible where we are to care for our families and communities by readying for the unknown.

Some teachers also erroneously believe that emergency preparedness reflects a lack of faith in God.

The opposite is true. The Book of James measures faith by personal action, and Hebrews 11:7 describes true faith this way: “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear and prepared an ark to the saving of his house.”

God told Noah that He would destroy the earth by a flood. He gave Noah instructions on how to be prepared so that he and his family could survive. Noah didn’t know when the flood would come, only that it was prophesied, and he prepared for it. When the Flood arrived, he was ready. His faith in and obedience to God’s word, his survival instincts, and ultimately his preparedness actions saved his family and preserved the human race.

The parallel between Noah and today is astounding. “As it was in the days of Noah,” says Luke 17:26-27 concerning the last days. Noah’s actions should define the modern believer’s responsibility, including the need for spiritual and physical preparedness.

Of course there are other places in the Bible that provide lessons about preparedness, including principles in the Books of Psalms and Proverbs, the parable of the faithful and evil servants (Matthew 24:45-51) and the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). But 1 Timothy 5:8 goes even further, saying that a person who does not provide for the survival of their relatives has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Given these instructions and the belief held by many today that we are living in “the last days” or at a minimum a time of unusual earth changes, leaders of religious institutions urgently need to educate their followers about taking personal responsibility for preparedness in an age of growing uncertainty. Dramatic lessons over the last few years have proven that we cannot depend on government agencies such as FEMA to save us if we need them. In fact, a report last month found that five years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the government still isn’t fully prepared to respond to a major public health emergency such as bioterrorism or a pandemic flu outbreak.

So what can one do to help people with disaster preparedness?

This is the good news. Hundreds of pages from reports and booklets on how to perform first aid, prepare temporary shelters, build bomb shelters, defend against terrorism and chemical contamination, shield against nuclear fallout, survive earthquakes, storms, floods, and dozens of other emergency situations are available at places like SkyWatchTVStore.com.

Spiritual leaders can obtain such works and place them on a table in a church foyer, hand them to neighbors, give them out during classes, or better yet teach a class on preparedness and tie it in with the mandates of Scripture. If nothing else, everybody can forward this article to the people they know with a recommendation that they do what is right to protect themselves as well as those God has placed under their care.

As a veteran of more than 40 years of church ministry, I call on pastors and other religious leaders to stand at the forefront of this issue and to make disaster preparedness some part of their ministry. This doesn’t need to define what you or your fellowship is about, but this can and must be part of the wise counsel you offer those you have responsibility for. You could literally save a believer’s life!

Together as people of faith, we should face the future with confidence and take the lead in disaster preparedness. Deuteronomy 30:19 says, “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live!”

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theguardian
Pope Francis sends letter praising gay children's book

Italian book that explores different family types including same sex was banned by mayor of Venice, but pontiff becomes unlikely supporter

Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square, Rome. The pope was sent a parcel of children’s books by Lo Stampatello, the publisher of Piccolo Uovo. Photograph: Fabrizio Belluschi/Demotix/Corbis

Rosie Scammell in Rome

Friday 28 August 2015 08.14 EDT

Last modified on Friday 28 August 2015 19.02 EDT

The hippos, kangaroos and penguins adorning the cover of Piccolo Uovo (Little Egg) give little hint of the political and religious storm the children’s book has caused. While following the adventures of an egg may seem harmless enough, its discovery of different family types – including same sex – has prompted a backlash by conservatives who accuse Italian author Francesca Pardi of promoting a pro-homosexuality gender theory.

In the book, the egg encounters a pair of gay penguins, lesbian rabbits successfully bringing up a family, as well as other family models, including a single parent hippo, a mixed race dog couple, and kangaroos that have adopted polar bear cubs.

The book, however, was met with disapproval by Venice’s new mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, who in June banned Piccolo Uovo and about 50 other titles from schools. The decision led more than 250 Italian authors to demand their own books be removed from the city’s shelves, a move one writer described as a “protest against an appalling gesture of censorship and ignorance”.

Now Pardi has found an unlikely supporter in Pope Francis, who through his staff has written to the author praising her work. “His holiness is grateful for the thoughtful gesture and for the feelings which it evoked, hoping for an always more fruitful activity in the service of young generations and the spread of genuine human and Christian values,” wrote Peter B Wells, a senior official at the Vatican secretariat of state.

The letter, dated 9 July and recently seen by the Guardian, was a response to a parcel of children’s books sent by Pardi to the pontiff in June. The collection from her publisher, Lo Stampatello, including seven or eight books which deal with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues (LGBT), was accompanied by a heartfelt letter from the author describing the attacks she has come under in recent months.

“Many parishes across the country are in this period sullying our name and telling falsehoods about our work which deeply offends us,” she wrote. “We have respect for Catholics ... A lot of Catholics give back the same respect, why can’t we have the whole hierarchy of the church behind us?”

Some of the free-thinking cast of characters in Piccolo Uovo. Photograph: www.lostampatello.com/

Pardi said she had not expected a reply and was surprised to receive the letter at her Milan home. “It’s not that I think that he’s for gay families, because there’s the Catholic doctrine, but we mustn’t think that we don’t have rights,” she said.

The Vatican said the closing blessing of the private letter was addressed to Pardi and not in support of teachings which went against church doctrine on ‘gender theory’.

The Vatican deems homosexual relationships “intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to natural law”, preaching that gay people must live a life of chastity in order to be good Catholics. While such a doctrine has effectively excluded people in same-sex relationships from the church, Pope Francis has adopted a more welcoming approach during his papacy.

“If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” he said in 2013. The same year, a gay man in France told his local newspaper he had received a reassuring phone call from the pope – a claim the Vatican denied.

The pope’s more inclusive approach has been countered by those within the Vatican. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, said Ireland’s decision to legalise gay marriage in May was a “defeat for humanity”.

Despite the pope’s praise of Pardi’s work, a significant shift in the Vatican’s view of gay relationships is unlikely. The pontiff will next month head to the World Meeting of Families, gathering Catholics from across the globe in Philadelphia in the US, but LGBT groups have not been invited to air their views.

Catholics worldwide have started campaigning against the pope’s openness, with more than half a million signing a petition calling on Francis to reaffirm church teachings on gay people and divorcees.

Signatories of the Filial appeal aim to have an impact on the Vatican’s synod on the family in October, when church teachings will be discussed by the world’s leading churchmen. The petition has notably been signed by traditionalist Cardinal Raymond Burke, who was demoted by the pope last year.

Catholicism has a strong influence on Italian society, and Pardi’s letter to the pope also took aim at the country’s “we defend our children” committee, which in June brought hundreds of thousands of people to Rome to protest against gay parenting.

But attitudes in Italy are changing, with recent polls showing the majority of voters are in favour of giving rights to gay couples. Pardi is herself in a same-sex relationship with her business partner, Maria Silvia Fiengo, but the pair had to travel to Spain to be legally married. Granted no legal rights to have a family in Italy, they had their four children in the Netherlands.

Although gay marriage and adoption are off the government agenda, Italy’s prime minister, Matteo Renzi, has pledged to legislate for same-sex unions this year. He has come under growing pressure to fulfil the promise following a decision by the European court of human rights, which ruled that Italy failed to protect same-sex couples.

***

ANCIENT CODE

Have researchers found evidence of an “inner sun” heating the planet?

• Planet Earth produces a heat flow of unknown origin according to scientists

• According to experts, “Ghost Particles” are coming from the Earth’s center

• Researchers have found, according to Geoneutrinos; around 70 percent of Earth’s heat is generated from radioactivity

Is it possible there is an “inner sun” heating our planet?

Researchers have found out recently that there is a huge ocean beneath the surface of our planet. Now, Italian researchers state that over 70% of the Earth’s heat comes from its center. What does this mean for the Hollow Earth theory? Is it possible that discoveries like this support the existence of a mysterious world located deep below the surface of our planet? Many people believe that the Hollow Earth theory is more than a myth, and they point towards these discoveries as evidence.

Italian scientific studies support the possibility of radioactive decay processes deep below the surface of our planet. Scientific findings have been made possible thanks to data obtained by the Borexino neutrino detector designed to study the flow of low energy solar neutrinos produced by radioactive decay in the sun.

Scientists have demonstrated that the Earth produces a heat flow but its origin is unknown. According to experts from the “Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy, the most likely hypothesis is that the source is radioactive in nature. Approximately half of the neutrinos produced by natural underground sources come from the Earth’s mantle , and not the earth’s crust, according to the analysis. Researchers announced the detection of 24 neutrinos produced by the radioactive decay within the Earth within 2,056 days of data from the detector to find that 11 came from the Earth’s mantle and 13 from its crust.

‘It’s at 98 per cent the confidence level, which means there is still a small probability that there is no signal from the mantle,’ Aldo Ianni, an experimental particle physicist at the laboratory told the BBC.

Of all the known “long-life” radioactive isotopes, only uranium-238 and thorium-232 are abundant enough to “warm up” the planet during its life. According to the group of researchers, they calculated the total amount of heat generated by radioactive decay and concluded that the Earth generates about 47 terawatts of energy from within.

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336268Ancient Code AD2!

Borexino team leader Aldo Ianni, of the Gran Sasso Laboratory, believes that future studies conducted over prolonged periods of time will reduce uncertainties and allow accurate geoneutrino spectroscopy—which will allow to distinguish neutrinos according to the element from which they originated. This information will help provide the necessary knowledge about the distribution of isotopes throughout the Earth’s interior.

Not only is there a “Sun” underneath the surface of our planet, there is also an ocean, 644 km below the surface.

Scientists at Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy, which is located one mile (1.5km) below the Apennine Mountains, used the Borexino neutrino detector (pictured)

After decades of theorizing and discussing possibilities, scientists report to finally have discovered a large ocean of water inside the mantle of Earth, and they point out that it is a large water “tank” that could fill the oceans on Earth three times. This incredible discovery suggests that the surface water of the planet came from within Earth, as part of a “complete water cycle on the planet” instead of the dominant theory proposed that water arrived to Earth by icy comets that passed by the planet millions of years ago.

An article published in the journal “Nature” states that researchers have found a small diamond that points to the existence of a vast water reservoir beneath the mantle of the Earth, approximately 600 kilometers beneath our feet. According to the lead author of the study Graham Pearson, member of the University of Alberta, Canada, “This provides extremely strong confirmations that there are wet spots deep inside the Earth”. “The transition zone may contain as much water as all the oceans together,” Pearson said. “One reason why the Earth is a dynamic planet, is the presence of water inside. The water changes depending on the way the world works,” he added.

Is it possible that there is something else down there? If we have found evidence of the existence of a “Sun” and oceans beneath the surface, is it possible that there are more enigmas below the surface of our planet?

***

VTN

Fukushima: The End of Mankind?

By Dennis Cimino

Thursday, 27 August 2015 00:00

In the aftermath of the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, it’s hard to fathom or describe the environmental damage to the Earth, because it eclipses all prior nuclear accidents by such a huge margin. In the four years now since the earthquake caused the breakage of critical reactor cooling apparatus and plumbing to the point where the plants were not able to sustain or maintain the nearly one million gallons per reactor per minute, needed to cool them, the continued exposure to the entire world has continued unabated, unchecked. Adequate cooling flow to prevent what is truly a "China Syndrome" (see the film starring Jane Fonda), was not possible even had the cooling system at Daichi survived the earthquake event.

At Daichi, where a reactor meltdown of no less than ‘3’ operational reactors--which incidentally were fueled up with MOX fuel, a highly unstable form of nuclear fuel that not only mandates total cooling control, but ensures disastrous results if such cooling ‘fails’ as was the case in March of 2011 in Japan--we had a situation whereupon these ‘3’ reactors were overheated beyond cooling within minutes. By the time the tsunami hit the plants, these reactors were in very dire condition and the fuel had already overheated and breaching their containment vessels, to the point of no return. I have studied literally hundreds of photos of the aftermath damage to the facility, and come to the conclusion that indeed, Unit #3 detonated in a ‘prompt uncontrolled criticality’ (nuclear explosion) and effectively destroyed the spent fuel pool at Unit #4 when it did so.

Nuclear Expert Arnie Gunderson, in his very sobering video (see below) had stated that it is very clear that statements and reports about the wholesomeness of Unit #4’s SFP (pool) are out and out ‘lies’ and ‘fabrications’ as it would be tantamount to expecting a spaghetti collander to hold boiling water within it, post explosion damage. Close up photographs show massive wreckage from overhead refueling cranes and other equipment and, in some photographs, it is crystal clear that the pool was so destroyed that it was impossible to keep enough water in it to cool the fuel within that pool. Add to that the fact that the unwise use of seawater really accelerated the corrosion and breach of the zircalloy cladding of the fuel assemblies in their racks, ensuring that within hours, the fuel reached temperatures that, in effect, guaranteed the breach of the fuel rods within these racks and absolutely positively ensured that, in effect, the fuel in this pool was in fact an open air reactor without any control capability of any kind.

This is, in effect, what we have ongoing today, as well as millions of gallons of highly radioactive seawater being dumped by TEPCO into the ocean from a large number of inadequate for the task, storage tanks which are not only leaking, but being pumped into the sea on purpose, because they lack the capacity to contain all of the seawater that has been pumped into the breached reactor containments since 2011. Now, many now have surmised that as the Japanese have restricted reporting about this incident, that CIA teams that were flown into Japan in hours after the incident, must have instructed the Japanese to obfuscate the truth about the gravity of the situation in Fukushima prefecture--and that is reinforced by the total lockdown of the Japanese press in factual reporting about what has transpired in the aftermath. Instead of transparency and meaningful honest assessments, we have in the past four years, been fed incessant BS stories about valiant struggles to keep the Unit #4 spent-fuel pool intact and the cooling water flowing there.

Gunderson has all but confirmed that this is, at best, wishful thinking, and in fact, clearly is a total deception about the grave situation that the world now faces due to the lack of meaningful technical assessment and swift action to locate and arrest the travel of ‘3’ reactor coriums which now are in the ground beneath the facility, having flowed thru breached reactor containments like hot fudge would flow thru a damp cheesecloth. We are now confronted with obvious signs of massive animal "die offs" in the Pacific rim area, from Alaska all the way down to Peru and some of the South and the Central American nations, who have the misfortune of being exposed to the radiation that outflows from Japan unabated, which has continued to kill nearly every living species that exists in these waters. Just recently it was stated that sea lions rescued in San Francisco were afflicted with a form of leukemia from their exposure to the huge amount of radiation in the ocean from this massive, unchecked disaster.

EVIDENCE OF THE DEATH OF THE PACIFIC

Specifically, dolphins and whales have borne the brunt of the relentless onslaught of radiation flowing freely from Daichi across the Pacific to the west coast of the United States. In some cases, entire species of fish have been totally wiped out and, as many have guessed, the many mammals which depend on these species of fish to survive have paid a terrible price for being in the wrong place at the right time. Recently, many herds of sea lions and mammals that rely on these now decimated fish to eat have been found on the California Coast, so desperate that they are literally found gnawing on rocks and eating sand on the beach to fill their emaciated and nutrition depleted bodies. A number of species of whales have beached themselves between Alaska and Southern California, with no signs of predation, they too emaciated and their bodies normal storage of blubber, depleted.

Why? It’s been speculated by alleged ‘scientists’ that a ‘warm blob’ has caused the massive die-off’s of these fish species and mammals, yet in case after case, nary one word in any of their disclosures mentions the testing for radionuclides and daughter products from the destroyed reactors at Daichi. With all of these scientists scratching their collective noggins about the root cause of these deaths, not one has remotely suggested that testing for radiation in these carcasses be done. That is not only criminal, that is absurd.

In one case, an alleged scientist named Torah Kachur has said that it cannot really be blamed on ‘radiation’ because ‘potato chips’ contain more radiation than the seawater flowing from Japan to the West Coast of the United States. Makes one wonder where she buys her potato chips at, or who sponsors her to make such outrageous statements as this. Ken Buesseler from Woods Hole, California, is of the same ilk, downplaying the effects of the radiation while allegedly parroting obtuse statements that would lead everyone to believe that this radiation, no matter how much or for how long, poses ‘no threat’ to anyone or anything. This is, at the very least, incredible chutzpah to the point of absurdity.

A MIASMA OF RADIATION CIRCLING THE GLOBE EVERY 44 DAYS

Maybe Torah Kachur is right. I sure know that all of the potato chips I have consumed in my life certainly caused major illness and symptoms of radiation poisoning, and certainly breached reactors thousands of miles away in Japan pose no threat to anyone. Or, as some flight crews are finding, they are losing their hair and developing symptoms of immune system breakdowns that are traditionally very symptomatic of long term high altitude exposure to radionuclides in the cabins of airliners they work in. One airline had the audacity to blame the uniforms for this nuance, but some passengers have taken expensive geiger counters with them on trans-Pacific flights and found the radiation levels aloft are unusually ‘high’, notwithstanding what you would normally expect from cosmic radiation up there.

Though many people are not trained radiologists, they do in fact have the ability to read their geiger counters correctly, even if they cannot themselves isolate which isotope or radionuclide is causing the readings. In the cases of people in California, who own many HEPA air filters in their homes, they merely take the aggregate dirt off the filters and then read this with their meters. Many, many videos of these experiments by ordinary people with expensive meters shows that, beyond any reasonable doubt, the radiation not only is here, but it’s here in inexplicable abundance. Arguably one could make a case that in a post nuclear era, radiation is abundant; but since 2011, the global background radiation measurements made by many of us, including myself, are so alarming that they fall into a category known as ‘breathtaking’, to say the least.

So what was the EPA and the government’s answer to this very plausible threat from Japan? Well, for starters, they began to petition to raise the allowable limits in our environment by a magnitude of at least ‘ten’ if not more, in drinking water and food. One has to ask one’s self that if there was no ‘threat’ from this problem in Japan, ‘why’ would a sudden fast track approach to raising these limits really need to be? Why would the government need to change anything if Fukushima was not really a problem at all? Well, certainly the limits imposed on food and water put all of our food and water we ingest today into a near ‘hazardous waste’ category of contaminated material. Unfortunately it’s our ‘food’ and ‘water’ supply here, not something we can choose not to ingest or bathe in or drink. Part of the answer lies in results normal everyday shoppers have gotten from taking their GM meters to the grocery store.

It’s very ‘sobering’ to have your meter indicate a significant ‘rise’ in radiation in everything from dairy products to produce, and indeed, any number of types of seafood that has been harvested from Pacific Ocean waters. I have, as a truck driver, personally seen where a load of 38,000 pounds of ‘Pacific salmon’ suddenly became less than 8,000 pounds of ‘heavily reworked’ salmon that had to be chopped up to remove lesions and sores on it before repackaging for a major food supplier in So. California. Why? Especially if there was no threat? Had a geiger meter been taken into that 53 foot trailer I hauled it in, there is no doubt in my mind that in fact that ‘salmon’ they reworked probably met the category of amount of radiation to mandate labelling the truck with HAZMAT placards. This is food we’re talking about here. In the past four years, background radiation in many many U.S. localities has risen dramatically:

As we do have data from pre-Fukushima times, where background gamma levels in major metropolitan area’s were certainly quite ‘low’ then, without any linkage to other possible sources, one has to at least consider the fact that the manifold increases in background gamma radiation in America must be from somewhere else perhaps, as the feasibility of such widespread increases across the continent seem to defy single or even multiple ‘local’ sources of it. We know that WIPP in Carlsbad, New Mexico is one source, as are many nuclear power plants, but here again, these rises across the board say that the United States is being lambasted with radiation from at the very least, a very high altitude source that keeps on coming and increasing. What source would that be?

In the aftermath of Chernobyl, the population of much of Europe has been exposed to the fallout from that disaster. It began to appear in mother’s milk and the bones of infants, within a short span of time. Dramatic increases in various radiation related illnesses began to appear in countries thousands of miles from the ‘exclusion zone’ in the Ukraine. Now more than 25 years later, we still see a wide region in this area that many organisms that would cause rapid decomposition of dead wood to be so absent that ‘wormwood’ seems to remain intact when many species of insect life are ‘gone’ in the area. So, without going to this exclusion zone, we have some photos of what the area in the region around this disaster look like today, taken by a young Russian woman who braved the levels on her motorcycle. Clearly, decades later, Chernobyl did not recover, and the large and vast area that was made into a ‘forever’ exclusion zone in human lifetimes, will never ever be the same ever again. Some species of wild Deer and Boars seem to thrive there, and some humans have moved back in at their own risk, but this area is not as some ‘nut job’ miscreants declare the area to be; “A BOOMING WILDLIFE REFUGE AND VACATION AREA”

If Chernobyl’s single reactor failure could do this, how is it that no less than ‘3’ reactors that were breached in Japan would be somehow lesser than this, especially with one of them having detonated and blown fissile fuel rod material as far away from these reactors as NORWAY? Any reasonable person would at least deduce that given the fact we can compare the amount of reactor fuel involved at Chernobyl and at Fukushima’s three destroyed reactors, that an approximate total tonnage of ejected fuel from the reactor at Unit #3 there in Fukushima means that for the foreseeable future, we’ll have circling the globe, a massive amount of upper atmosphere ‘poison’ from this one plant, and untold amounts of sea-borne radiation constantly finding it’s way into the world’s oceans, from the Pacific.

Is it any wonder that rosy suppositions about the ‘harmlessness’ of this disaster are at the very least, very banal and pathetically criminal intentional attempts to shield the public to the overall grave consequences of having done absolutely ‘nothing’ to stop or ameliorate the continued flow of radiation out of Japan, globally? I know of one person so in ‘denial’ that her daily swim fest in the Pacific goes on every chance she gets, as she believes that this threat is merely a ‘PsyOp’ the government is running and nothing is amiss. How sadly far from the truth is her denial.

AN EXTINCTION LEVEL EVENT

It has been affirmed that the magnitude of the disaster we have in Japan poses such a grave threat that, over time, the loss of the food chain--and in fact, the very plankton that generates the bulk of the breathable oxygen we depend on, and the long term destruction to mitochondrial DNA in many living species, over a few decades--poses such a grave threat to all living things that not only humans but much of the animal kingdom face ‘extinction’ due to these changes. When asked by a fellow co-worked about the gravity of the Fukushima radiation problem, I told her, “Many of us believe this will in time bear itself out to be an ELE or ‘extinction level event’ and that as the destruction of the Pacific spreads, magnification of the effects will make it very apparent that something is horribly wrong.” She asked, “So how much time?”, to which I answered, “Perhaps twenty years--maybe a bit longer, given the rapidity of the death of the Pacific and many species in it.”

I don’t think I have to tell you her reaction--and it wasn’t disbelief. It was sadness. In any case, whether you agree to disagree, or think this is a ‘PsyOp’ as one friend believes (and blaming it all on the Navy’s ‘sonar’ systems and other intentional poisonings), what is clear to me is that the dearth of sea birds and other life in the area where I live off the coast of Washington State is so dramatic to me that at some point all of the government obfuscation and lying won’t cover this up. No cat can hurl that much litter over this turd that keeps stinking. Every day of every year, we are ingesting food and water that is now tainted with Fukushima radiation. How much cellular destruction our bodies can withstand without gross mutation is unclear, but those who have watched “RADIO BIKINI” and seen first hand what exposure to radiation does to humans, cannot be glib or silent about their concerns. We have a very very serious problem.

Nobody apparently believes it to be so, but my guess is that the folks at the highest levels of our world governments are preparing for the societal breakdown once this ‘cat’ gets out of the proverbial bag. 20 years? Who knows? But one thing is clear: As the Pacific Ocean dies, so do the rest of the world's oceans in time. The onslaught of the radiation is never ending in human lifespans. Pooh pooing the threat or guffawing it away won’t fix it.

It’s like a roaring fire in your living room, only you realize you don’t have a fireplace. Then it gets rather sticky, if not downright soberingly dire. Our inaction is the foreword to our very epitaph if we shrug our shoulders and decide it’s not our problem, or too big for us to worry about. If this is the best humankind can do in such a circumstance as this, maybe it is best we just went to our demise, oblivious, ignorant in most cases, and woefully incomprehending of the probability that it all ends here all too soon, for our children and their children, if we do nothing. And there may be nothing we can do.

***

LIBERTY BLITZKRIEG

The Financial Times Calls for Ending Cash, Calls it a “Barbarous Relic”

Michael Krieger | Posted Thursday Aug 27, 2015 at 3:04 pm

Earlier this week, as the financial world was mesmerized by a min-stock market crash, the Financial Times published a dastardly little piece of fascist propaganda.

There is no more egregious anti-liberty economic policy imaginable than banning cash. I covered this earlier in the year in the post, Martin Armstrong Reports on a Secret Meeting in London to Ban Cash. Here’s an excerpt:

At this point, anyone paying even the slightest bit of attention to the central planning economic totalitarians running the fraudulent global financial system is aware of the blatant push in the media to acclimate the masses to accepting a “cashless society.”

In the mind of an economic tyrant, banning cash represents the holy grail. Forcing the plebs onto a system of digital fiat currency transactions offers total control via a seamless tracking of all transactions in the economy, and the ability to block payments if an uppity citizen dares get out of line.

While we’ve all seen the idiotic arguments for banning cash, i.e., it will allow central planners to more efficiently centrally plan economies into the ground, Martin Armstrong is reporting on a secret meeting in London with the aim of getting rid of any economic privacy that remains by ending cash.

Three months later, the Financial Times publishes an article titled, The Case for Retiring Another “Barbarous Relic.” When you start to see increased propaganda about banning cash, you know the status quo is very scared and things are getting very serious. You’ve been warned.

From the FT:

The fact that people treat cash as the go-to safe asset when banks are teetering is heavy with historical irony. Paper money was once the symbol of monetary irresponsibility. But even as individuals have taken recent crises as reasons to stock up on banknotes, authorities would do well to consider the arguments for phasing out their use as another “barbarous relic”, the moniker Keynes gave to gold.

Already, by far the largest amount of money exists and is transacted in electronic form — as bank deposits and central bank reserves. But even a little physical currency can cause a lot of distortion to the economic system.

So what about the reasoning for ending people’s ability to physically hold on to their own money? Wait, you’ll never guess, yes, it’s apparently necessary in order to give the least democratic, most destructive entities on planet earth, Central Banks, more power.

The existence of cash — a bearer instrument with a zero interest rate — limits central banks’ ability to stimulate a depressed economy. The worry is that people will change their deposits for cash if a central bank moves rates into negative territory. The Swiss, Danish and Swedish central banks have pushed rates lower than many thought possible; but most policymakers still believe in an “effective” lower band not far below zero.

Naturally, it’s all about state power, control and the ability to make sure the slave population is easily and efficiently milked.

Electronic money also permits innovations to reward law-abiding businesses. Value added tax, for example, could be automatically levied — and reimbursed — in real time on transactions between liable bank accounts. Countries that struggle with tax collection could go a long way in solving their problems by restricting the use of cash. Greece, in particular, could make lemonade out of lemons, using the current capital controls to push the country’s cash culture into new habits.

Of course, if cash were involuntarily”ended,” there would be a surge in demand for physical gold and silver, which would then necessitate a ban on those items. Then the cycle of economic and financial tyranny would be complete, and crawling our way out of it, nearly impossible.

***

Zero Hedge

Polish Government Confirms Discovery Of Nazi "Gold Train", Warns It May Be Booby-Trapped

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/30/2015 21:14 -0400

Last weekend we reported that in the past month two men, a Pole and German, claimed to have discovered the legendary Nazi "gold train" - a 150 meter long German train alleged to be full of gold, gems and weapons, which disappeared just before the end of World War II - in the proximity of the Polish town of Walbrzych, close to where the Nazi are said to have loaded up the train with valuables for its final voyage in the town of Wroclaw, just as the Soviet forces approached in 1945.

As we detailed, the train is said to have been entombed in the vast tunnel labyrinth located close to Ksiaz castle, which served as Nazi headquarters during World War II...

Ksiaz castle, Nazi headquarters during World War II

... and specifically, was said to be located at the foot of the Sowa mountain, in the woods three miles outside the town of Walbrych.

The "gold train" is said to be located under this hill

While many were skeptical that the mystical Nazi treasure train had been finally discovered after many years of searching, an official update last Friday by the Polish government suggested that that may indeed be the case. As the Mail reported on Friday, a representative of the Polish culture ministry, Poland’s National Heritage and Conservation Officer Piotr Zuchowski, said that the man who helped hide the train had revealed its location shortly before he died, and that proof of the train has been observed on radar.

Zuchowski added that "Information about where this train is and what its contents are were revealed on the deathbed of a person who had knowledge of the secret of this train.' He added that Polish authorities had now seen evidence of the train’s existence in a picture taken using a ground-penetrating radar. He said the image - albeit blurred - showed the shape of a train platform and cannons.

Piotr Zuchowski, Poland’s National Heritage and Conservation Officer, confirmed the 'unprecedented' find

Mr Zuchowski said the find was 'unprecedented', adding: 'We do not know what is inside the train. 'Probably military equipment but also possibly jewellery, works of art and archive documents.

'Armored trains from this period were used to carry extremely valuable items and this is an armored train, it is a big clue.' He said authorities were now '99 percent sure the train exists' and whatever is on it will be returned to the rightful owners, if they can be found. 'We will be 100 per cent sure only when we find the train,' Mr Zuchowski added.

The train found in the mountains is an 'armored train' which looks similar to the one pictured

Mr Zuchowski told reporters that the train was about 100 metres long but added: 'It is not possible to disclose the exact location of where the train can be found. Still, he noted cryptically that "The local government in Walbrzych knows where it is."

He explained it is hidden along a 4km stretch of track on the Wroclaw-Walbrzych line.

Mr Zuchowski said the person who claimed he helped load the gold train in 1945 said in a 'deathbed statement' the train is secured with explosives. The official declined to comment further about the man who said this but speculation is now rife that it was a former SS guard or a local Pole who stumbled upon the train before hiding it.

Deputy Mayor of Walbrzych, Zygmunt Nowaczyk told the press: 'The city is full of mysterious stories because of its history. 'Now it is formal information - we have found something.'

Key excerpts from the press conference by the Polish official can be seen on the Euronews clip below:

The confirmation of the discovery unleashed a surge of treasury hunters, and forced the Polish government to warn the population to stop looking because it could be booby-trapped and dangerous. Zuchowski said "foragers" have become active since two people claimed to have discovered the train last week and urged eager fortune-hunters to stop searching, saying they risk injury or death.

Zuchowski adds that "there may be hazardous substances dating from the Second World War in the hidden train, which I'm convinced exists. I am appealing to people to stop any such searches until the end of official procedures leading to the securing of the find. There's a huge probability that the train is booby-trapped.'

If anything, tthese warnings are sure to unleash an even more aggressive wave of seekers now that the train's existience has been confirmed, and the government is actually warning seekers to be careful in their search.

But perhaps what is more interesting is just what the discovery, which would be straight out of an Indiana Jones sequel, will contain, and whether someone already got to the precious cargo over the past 7 decades. The answer should be made public shortly.

***

SPUTNIK

World Jewish Congress Claims to Gold of Third Reich

30/08/2015

Poland’s Deputy Minister of Culture, Piotr Zhuhovsky, said that the gold of the Third Reich, which was found in the German armored train of the Second World War, will pass into the possession of the State Treasury unless a legitimate contender comes forward, Russian news service reports.

However, an interested contender has stepped forward. The head of the World Jewish Congress, Robert Singer, believes that the gold may have belonged to the Jews which were killed in concentration camps, and therefore “should be transferred to their heirs.”

In the absence of heirs, Singer promised to transfer the gold to the organization of Polish Jews as “the state did not compensate for their suffering and economic losses during the Holocaust,” agency NEWSru.Com reported.

Treasure Hunters Claim Discovery of 'Nazi Gold Train' in Poland

It is estimated that during the course of the Second World War, Nazi Germany looted approximately $550 million in gold from the governments of the countries it occupied.

In addition, the Nazis took gold from individuals, particularly victims of the holocaust, who were searched in concentration camps for gold, including their gold teeth.

A Pole and a German claim to have found a legendary Nazi gold train in Poland, 70 years after it pulled out of Wroclaw (formerly the German city of Breslau) carrying a trove of gold and other valuable treasures back to Germany ahead of the Red Army's advance.

Instead of arriving at its planned destination of Swiebodzice, it is alleged that the train was lost without a trace in the mountains around the town of Walbrzych, the same region in southwest Poland where the two men now claim to have found it.

***

FOXNEWS

Midday nap beneficial for blood pressure

Published August 31, 2015

Always envied the Spanish tradition of a midday nap? Turns out, the siesta may help your heart. New research presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress on Saturday found that middays naps are associated with reduced blood pressure levels and prescription of fewer anti-hyperintensive medications.

Researchers studied 200 men and 186 women with an average age of 61.4 with arterial hypertension. Participants who slept midday had five percent lower average 24-hour ambulatory systolic BP, compared to those who did not sleep at all midday. Their average systolic BP readings were four percent lower when they were awake and six percent lower while they slept, compared to non-nappers.

“Although the mean BP decrease seems low, it has to be mentioned that reductions as small as 2 mmHg in systolic blood pressure can reduce the risk of cardiovascular events by up to 10 percent,” Dr. Manolis Kallistratos, a cardiologist at Asklepieion Voula General Hospital in Athens, Greece, said in a news release.

The team observed that longer sleep was more beneficial, as patients who slept for 60 minutes midday had 4 mmHg lower average 24-hour systolic BP readings.

Additionally, participants who slept at noon were observed to take fewer anti-hyperintensive medications, compared to those who did not sleep midday.

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Daily Mail

What really happens when you eat nothing but fast food? Mood swings, exhaustion, greasy skin and double the body fat... and that's just after ONE week

• Phoebe Jackson-Edwards, 24, ate junk food for all meals for a week

• Skin and body tests before and after showed the damage done

• The havoc wrought on her body will take at least two months to fix

By PHOEBE JACKSON-EDWARDS FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 03:55 EST, 2 September 2015 | UPDATED: 05:06 EST, 2 September 2015

When filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ate junk food every day for a month for his 2004 documentary Super Size Me, the results were shocking.

But despite the litany of problems, among them weight gain, sexual dysfunction and mood swings, reported by Spurlock, the world's appetite for cheap convenience foods is undiminished.

And although fast food outlets have added 'healthy' options to their menus, eating there every day still means loading up on calories, sugar and fat.

So what happens when you live on junk for a week? As one FEMAIL writer, Phoebe Jackson-Edwards, 24, discovered, just seven days is enough to make skin greasy and double the fat on your thighs.

Here she shares her experience...

On day one, FEMAIL writer Phoebe has a Big Mac meal and fries for lunch washed down with a Diet Coke

Before I began the challenge, I went for a series of tests at Santi Clinic - a medical spa in west London - to assess my skin and measure my body fat.

I was told that my complexion, which is perfectly normal for a 24-year-old, was hydrated and retained water well.

An ultrasound on my arms, hip and thighs revealed an overall body fat percentage of 23 per cent - apparently well within the normal range for my age.

The challenge of dining out on fast food every day appealed to me. I'm by no means a health nut but I'd treat myself to a takeaway once every couple of weeks.

On day one, I was more than happy to face a day of grease beginning with a floppy bacon sandwich from Greggs at 7.30am.

At lunch came my first visit to McDonald's, where I opted for a classic Big Mac meal with regular fries and a coke.

I'm partial to the odd McDonald's so this slipped down without a thought and I carried on with my normal working day.

Colleagues told me I was 'lucky' to be able to gorge on foods that were usually forbidden and not feel guilty - after all it was in the name of research.

For dinner, KFC was calling me and I picked through the bucket for one, polishing off two hot wings, two mini breast fillets, two pieces of chicken and a corn on the cob.

By the time the grease from the fourth piece of chicken was running down my face, I had begun to find it disgusting. And when day two came, the novelty was already wearing decidedly thin.

Fast forward to day four and I was close to giving up altogether. Dragging myself out of bed to make my pilgrimage to the fast food outlets I was now frequenting, I felt distinctly lacklustre.

My mood was up and down and I was constantly exhausted no matter how long I slept. Although I wasn't breaking out in spots, my skin felt as greasy as the food on my plate.

Over halfway through my mission, my life was revolving around finding junk food. And fast food is quick but it definitely isn't convenient.

I was spending a huge chunk of my day running around London to reach my greasy destinations, on one occasion travelling more than three stops on the Tube just to pick up lunch.

I tried to get any sort of vegetables where I could, but the options were limited and surprisingly my meat feast diet wasn't actually filling me up.

On top of that my experiment was making me really anti-social. I couldn't just meet with friends for brunch at the weekend or for dinner after work. After all what self-respecting grown up wants to dine in a fast food joint?

One particularly painful night I was forced to watch my friends eat their delicious-looking restaurant meals before sloping home for my pizza delivery.

By the end of the week, I was far from myself. My concentration levels were much lower than usual and my fatigue was a real issue, even after a long night's sleep.

It was a real effort to stay switched on at work and I found myself getting irritable and impatient. What's more I'd come to dread mealtimes and the limp offerings, sitting sorrily in their greasy cardboard packages.

My skin was slippery and my hair needed washing more often - all pretty shocking after just seven days of junk food.

With such an obvious change in my energy levels and my appearance, I couldn't help worrying about the impact on my health.

Was it possible that my diet had already done long-term damage to my body?

Unsurprisingly, when I returned to the Santi Clinic, the results weren't pretty. My body fat had increased from 23 per cent to 25 per cent - taking me above the normal threshold of 24.

Nutritional therapist Lelani Loubser at Santi skin lab said: 'It takes, on average, one month to lose one to three per cent of body fat so an increase of two per cent in one week is quite significant.'

Not only that, the amount of body fat on my thighs had almost doubled from 6.1 per cent to 11.8 per cent.

'Junk foods are hard for the body to process,' added Loubser, 'It also inhibits absorption of nutrients needed for energy and mood.'

That explained why I'd been feeling so lousy.

One surprise came in the dermatology results which showed my skin was actually more hydrated. But specialist Tariq Karim explained that it was only superficial hydration because my skin was so oily.

In reality, I was now losing water from my skin much more rapidly at an increase of 27 per cent.

Karim also took microscopic images of the skin on my forehead and the glabella, the patch between my eyebrows, during the tests.

The grease on the surface of my skin was clearly visible after just seven days of junk food.

With the experiment over, I have been told it will take at least two months before my body and complexion return to normal.

That came as something of a shock. It took just one week to get myself into this position, and I'd need eight times as long to recover - a worrying thought.

I can't help thinking about the people who regularly eat this way and wonder what long-term damage they are doing to their bodies.

My wardrobe isn't thanking me for this experiment either, with my stomach bloated and my jeans noticeably tighter.

After this, I don't think I'll ever look at a burger in quite the same way again.

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