“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.”
(2 Peter 1:19)

More Sure Word Of Prophecy

Dear Friends,

Greetings! J. Barton Payne’s Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy lists 1,239 prophecies in the Old Testament and 578 prophecies in the New Testament, for a total of 1,817. These encompass 8,352 verses. Most consensus amongst Bible scholars is that there are a total of 31,273 verses in the Bible.

This would mean that 26.7% of the Bible deals with prophecy. A very high percentage indeed. Prophecy shows that there is an emphasis that God has placed on knowing the future.

What a privilege to be living today in a time when it would appear that many of the prophecies concerning the second coming of Jesus are drawing near. God could have placed us anywhere in time, but He choose to place us here and now, in this time.

Jesus said in Matthew, thirteen; “Many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.”

As Simeon remarked upon witnessing the first coming of Jesus: “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation,which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.” Luke 2:29-32

And what of those who will witness His second coming: “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:52-54

In Luke, twenty one, Jesus told us: “There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21:25-28

When we see all these stupendous prophetic End Time events coming to pass Jesus told us to look up, He is coming soon.

The outlook may not always seem so wonderful sometimes, but Jesus didn't tell us to look out, He told us to look up, because the up look could not be better.

“Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

Have a great week ahead.

***

WND

CREATION SMACKDOWN DRAWS MASSIVE AUDIENCE

'Science Guy' admits he doesn't know how key factor came to be

Published: February 5, 2014

ALYSSA FARAH

Image depicting Adam & Eve’s "Walk with God" at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky.

WASHINGTON — More than 800,000 people watched a clash of world views at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., on Tuesday night, with evolutionist Bill Nye, known as the “science guy” for his televised science presentations, admitting he doesn’t know how “consciousness” came to be.

On the other side of the podium was museum creator Ken Ham, who said the Bible offers an explanation about that, and many other issues, and suggested they require no more “belief” than a faith in the unobservable premises of evolution.

Near the end of the debate, each was asked what it would take to change his mind about evolution and creation. Nye said he would need “just one piece of evidence.”

Ham responded, “no one would convince him the word of God is not true.”

In perhaps the most compelling moment of the debate, Nye and Ham were confronted with the question. “How did consciousness come from matter?”

Nye replied bluntly with, “I don’t know. That is a great mystery.”

“Bill, I want to say that there is a book out there that does document where consciousness comes from,” Ham said, referring to the Bible, and adding that he believes man was created “in God’s image.”

The question posed was: “Is creation a viable model of origins in today’s modern scientific era?” About 1,000 people were in attendance at the Creation Museum’s auditorium, but hundreds of thousands watched online.

The debate with Nye, whose 1990s PBS Kids show “Bill Nye the Science Guy” drew large audiences, and Ham, whose ministry plans include a $60 million Noah’s Ark theme park, was moderated by CNN’s Tom Foreman.

Ham focused on “observational science” versus historical science. Throughout the debate he reiterated that Nye couldn’t be certain about events he didn’t witness.

He said the creation evolution debate is really a conflict between two philosophical worldviews based on two different accounts of origins or historical scientific belief.

“The word ‘science’ has been hijacked by secularists,” Ham said, presenting a list of top scientists who are also creationists. “The battle (over creationism) is really about authority. It’s about who is the authority, man or God.”

Ham showed a recorded video of Raymond Damadian, who helped invent the MRI, expressing his belief in Biblical creationism.

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re a creationist or an evolutionist,” Ham argued. “You can be a great scientist.”

Nye responded with his opinion that Ham’s biblical creationism position is “dangerous.”

“If we accept Mr. Ham’s point of view … that the Bible serves as a science text and he and his followers will interpret that for you, I want you to consider what that means,” Nye said. “It means that Mr. Ham’s word is to be more respected than what you can observe in nature, what you can find in your backyard in Kentucky.”

The unlikely opponents explained their decisions to debate each other. Nye said in an interview with HuffPost Live that he chose to debate Ham because the spread of creationism “frightens” him.

He said, “I don’t think I’m going to win Mr. Ham over any more than Mr. Ham thinks he’s going to win me over. Instead, I want to show people that this belief is still among us. It finds its way onto school boards in the United States.”

On the other side, Ham told WND it’s about a “battle of world views, secular humanism and the Christian world view.”

“I think it’s all come together at this time … and is seen by a lot of people not just as evolution vs. creation, but really more a battle of secular philosophy vs. conservative Christianity,” he said.

He said the battle is playing out in many ways today – in textbooks that promote evolution, in the banning of anything “Christian” in public Christmas displays, in what children can say in schools and in what local governments can allow on public land.

Much is at stake, Ham said.

“I don’t look on it as just defending my position,” he said. “It’s more showing that Christians can be bold in standing up, saying there is a God, the Bible is God’s word, morality comes from the Bible.”

Ham said when he was younger, atheists were ardent secularists but allowed Christians to believe the way they chose.

“These days, you’re finding them more aggressive, not against just creationism, but against people who believe in God. They call the Bible an outdated book. God is an ogre, if there is a God,” he said. “There’s all sorts of statements and name-calling.”

Ham, the founder of the Creation Museum, which has had more than two million visitors in six years, pointed out how Darwin’s theory of origins taught that there were higher and lower races – something that was taught in school books for decades. It was taught that there were five races of humans and that Caucasians were the most superior.

Ham noted that if scientists had started from a biblical perspective, they would have known what scientists later discovered, that there is one human race and there is no hierarchy.

Nye jumped around, discussing fossils, sediment deposits, and carbon dating.

He spent a large amount of time challenging the science behind Noah’s Ark. Nye referenced The Wyoming, a massive wooden ship built by “talented shipwrights” that was torn apart in the waters and lost all passengers. The Wyoming was about 50 feet shorter than the Ark.

Nye zeroed in on the biblical account of Noah’s Ark and the flood, questioning how so many animals fit on a ship of its size.

“The National Zoo is 160 acres and they have only 400 species,” Nye pointed out. “Is it possible that Noah and his family were able to maintain 14,000 animals and feed them aboard a ship that was bigger than anyone was ever able to successfully build.”

Ham responded that the Ark didn’t need to carry two of every species, but two of every kind of animal.

“There hasn’t been enough time since Mr. Ham’s flood for this limestone we are standing on to come into existence,” Nye challenged. He used an equation claiming that there would have had to have been 170 winter and summer cycles per year since the flood.

“Wouldn’t someone have noticed that there was winter, summer, winter, summer 170 times in one year?” Nye said.

Ham pushed back at Nye by challenging the process of carbon dating, which he described as extremely flawed and hardly should be considered scientific.

“There are a lot of assumptions when it comes to radioactive dating,” Ham said.

“You can show the earth is not flat. You can show the earth is not 10,000 years old,” Nye exclaimed.

Ham pushed back, “You cannot observe that the earth is not 10,000 years old,” reiterating the difference between historical science and observation science.

Ham explained what he called the “Seven C’s of History” which he argued are foundational to understand human origins and where we are now. The Cs include, creation, corruption, catastrophe, confusion, Christ, cross, and consummation.

The debate was set up after Nye previously posted an online video imploring parents not to teach their biblical beliefs to their children, and Ham, founder of Answers in Genesis, responded with a video supporting biblical teachings.

Plans for the public debate developed from there.

***

Sun Star Bacolod

Are we ready for the end times?

By Ver Pacete

As I See It

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Last of Three Parts

THE secret message at Fatima was revealed by Pope John Paul II. The Vatican version was not that convincing after an interpretation was also given by Pope John Paul II. Great controversy surrounds the third prophecies of the Virgin. It was said Lucia turned white on hearing and cried out in fear.

I have given you the Vatican version. Here is the version from the Stuttgart newspaper, the “Neues Europa.” The said newspaper had no doubt that this was indeed the content of the third prophecy: “For the church too, the time of its greatest trial will come. Cardinals will oppose cardinals and bishops against bishops. Satan will march in their midst and there will be great changes at Rome. What is rotten will fall, never to rise again. The Church will be darkened and the world will shake with terror.”

“The time will come where no king, emperor, cardinal or bishop will await Him who will, however come, but in order to punish according to the design of my Father.” Probably, the Stuttgart newspaper has connection inside the Vatican and the source came from him. That could be a wild guess. The miraculous visitation on Oct 13, 1917 was observed by 70,000 people. The day was overcast and at 10 a.m., it started to rain very hard. At half past one, a pillar of smoke rose above the heads of the three children and evaporated.

The clouds then parted to reveal a disk which shone like dull silver. Not painful to the eyes. It started to whirl thus producing a succession of glowing colors passed over its surface. The atmosphere changed to purple and then to old yellow damask. The light of the Virgin fell on the tree.

Those who were there carried mixed emotions. “Is this a miracle or a figment of imagination?” From the subsequent testimony of thousands, it is certain that something incredible happened and any wonderful mind could not explain if it’s a trick of the light, a hoax, or indeed a climatic aberration.

Only the children saw the Lady, who prophesied that the eldest among them, Lucia Dos Santos, would live to a ripe age; whereas the other two would die soon, a prophecy that came true. The Fatima’s third prophecy as explained by the Vatican has many similarities to the vision of Pope Pius X in 1909. During an audience, the pope leaned back and closed his eyes.

Suddenly like in trance, he awoke and cried out: “What I see is terrifying. Will it be I? Will it be my successor? What is certain is that the pope will quit Rome, and in leaving the Vatican, he will have to walk over the dead bodies of his priests.”

That was just a vision but sometimes reality starts from a vision especially if that vision has been provided by the Most High. There is a timetable to the end times predicted in Daniel 9:24-27. At the end of the 70 weeks (a week in seven years) length of time there will have peace and righteous will reign. All the prophecies will be fulfilled and Jesus will return. In there, there will be a missing week and that will be the seven years of Great Tribulation. (There will be 3½ years of Great Tribulation. See our “Studies” section. Ed)The word “tribulation” is commonly used to describe the immediate pre-millennium period.

There is a speculation by some scholars that whoever completed the process of New World Order Religion will automatically play the role of the False Prophet of Revelation 13. The beast with seven heads and ten horns will have one of his heads wounded to death but which will be miraculously healed; making people of the world wonder and worship him. The Bible is referring to the one who will appear during the Great Tribulation.

The world will really come to an end and God will fix everything after showing His might that He is above Satan and the Antichrist. The prelude to judgment was the resurrection of the dead, the saved and the damned alike. Each person is judged and his destiny fixed at death but his eternal sentence is pronounced at the Last Judgment, the day when history and time cease and the kingdom of God is established throughout creation.

***

cnsnews.com


Pew Study: Christians Are The World’s Most Oppressed Religious Group

Barbara Boland 
February 6, 2014

Restrictions, harassment, and intimidation towards people who practice their religion increased in every major region of the world in 2012 except the Americas, with Christians the major target, says a new report by the Pew Research Center.

“Muslims and Jews experienced six-year highs in the number of countries in which they were harassed by national, provincial or local governments,” the study found, but Christians continue to be the world’s most oppressed religious group, with persecution against them reported in 110 countries.

A recent report by the Christian group Open Doors noted that “North Korea remains the world’s most restrictive nation in which to practice Christianity,” followed by Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Pakistan, Iran and Yemen.

***

WND (Edited from longer article. Ed)

OSCARS UNDER PRESSURE TO REINSTATE CHRISTIAN SONG

Protests, petitions and praise for 'Alone' flooding Hollywood

Published: February 6, 2014

BOB UNRUH

The public already has decided on “Alone Yet Not Alone,” the stunning hymn-like Christian song that was nominated for an Oscar, then had that nomination withdrawn because the songwriter emailed acquaintances about it.

Just look at, and listen to, the brand new cover, above, of the song by singer Kathy Rodriguez.

“Beautiful,” said one commenter when the song was posted just days ago.

And now industry insiders are joining the movement, calling for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to revisit its decision to exclude “Alone” from this year’s awards ceremony.

Academy member John Debney, who scored “The Passion of the Christ” and more movies called it a “grave injustice.”

“The nominations for work in film are meant to be merit based. Finally, a song from a small film barely seen was deemed worth of nomination. That is the way it should work. But alas, the winds of PC and cronyism seem to be at work here.”

His recommendation to friends? “Express your outrage.”

The song’s writer, Bruce Broughton, earlier criticized the Academy decision, noting, “[If] my 70 or so emails constitutes a breach… why could the current Academy president, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, consult on Academy Award-nominated projects like ‘The Artist,’ ‘The King’s Speech’ and others with a history as an Academy governor that far exceeds mine and at the same time produce the Governors’ Ball without having that look like a breach of the same standard.”

He’s now finished commenting. A publicist told WND Wednesday that he believes what needs to be said already has been.

Others disagreed, spilling over with words galore on the dispute.

At iPetitions, a page seeking 1,000 signatures in support of Broughton and Dennis Spiegel, who worked with Broughton on the song, already had 1,184 names.

It states, “I want to show my support for Bruce Broughton and Dennis Spiegel and demand that the Board of Governors prove that … other nominations in the 2014 Academy Awards (in any category) ha[ve] not been promoted in ways similar to, or more aggressively, than ‘Alone Yet Not Alone.’”

On the site, Ronald Pulliam said, “Eradicate a bone-headed decision and reinstate the nomination to Mr. Broughton. His emails are nothing compared to the thousands of dollars spent on promoting other films…”

Gerald Molen, the award-winning producer of “Schindler’s List” told Fox News he’d like the Academy to reconsider, “revisit the issue, take a look at all the facts.”

Fox News legal analyst Peter Johnson Jr. noted that movie studios spend “millions of dollars on parties, ads in Variety, enormous campaigns” without penalty.

“They picked on this film, a faith-based film,” he said.

Broughton has commented that he does not believe the song was targeted because of the film’s faith orientation. But others have said that’s an issue that needs visiting.

The Los Angeles Times asked, “Broughton can’t help that he’s on the branch’s executive committee, and as long as he wasn’t using his status to gin up interest – and, at least in one email in question, no mention is made of his position – then what did he do wrong?”

The report also noted the faith orientation of the movie, and warned, “It may not be long before outlets with a Hollywood-skeptical bent begin making hay of the fact that the academy has never rescinded a nomination due to improper campaigning until a faith-based movie with a quadriplegic pastor came along.”

At the petition site called change.org, the “Artists for Life” are seeking a change in the Academy’s decision.

Director Albert Strong said, “Bruce Broughton has a long and distinguished career which deserves better treatment at the hands of the Motion Picture Academy.”

On the site, Joshua Dugger wrote, “The Academy Awards got it right the first time, they need to re-instate the nomination and stop the anti-Christian bias.”

Added Nora Virrey, “This … does not pass the smell test.”

Other statements that appeared in support of Broughton including Don Davis, who wrote, “The act of rescinding this nomination had no consideration for the artistic merit of the song in question, and as such is an insult to those of us who were asked to consider the artistic merit of each song and found ‘Alone Yet Not Alone’ to be fully worthy of am AMPAS nomination in its category.”

Insider Bruce Babcock said the rescission “wrongly and shamefully impugns their integrity.”

“Shame on the leadership who participated in this decision,” wrote another insider, Mark Watters. “Convene the appropriate committee and rewrite this woefully incomplete rule immediately.”

A Hollywood Reporter snap poll asking “Which should win best original song?” on Jan. 17 had 56 percent of an audience composed largely of Hollywood watchers choosing “Alone.” A day later it was 71 percent. On the 19th it was 72 percent and on the 20th, 75 percent.

Still not finished, though.

On Jan. 21, 78 percent picked “Alone,” and on Jan. 31, it was 82 percent.

Another poll, from People Magazine, said 63 percent chose “Alone,” with the runnerup, “Let It Go” from “Frozen,” a far distant second with 25 percent.

***

The Hill

House candidate calls Clinton ‘Antichrist’

Cameron Joseph



February 1, 2014

Montana House candidate Ryan Zinke, the early Republican front-runner for Montana’s open House seat, called former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the “Antichrist” in a recent campaign appearance, according to a local newspaper.

“We need to focus on the real enemy,” he said referring to Clinton, according to the Big Fork Eagle, before calling her the Antichrist.

Zinke, a former Navy SEAL, is one of six Republicans in a crowded field to replace Rep. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who is running for the Senate. He’s emerged as the early front-runner in the GOP primary due to his fundraising prowess. Zinke raised $450,000 in the last three months of 2013 and has $350,000 in the bank.

Democrats are hopeful they can make the House race competitive and have coalesced around John Lewis, a former staffer to Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), as their candidate for the race.

***

Israel Today

MESSIANIC JEWS FINALLY GET RECOGNIZED

Victory provides tax relief just like for synagogues

Published: February 5, 2014

By David Lazarus

Messianic Jews have won another battle for recognition in Israel. This time a special judicial tribunal has determined that a Messianic congregation in Jerusalem should receive the same full tax exemption as a synagogue.

The battle began back in 2010, when ultra-Orthodox members of Knesset Moshe Gafni of United Torah Judaism and Nisim Zeev of the Shas party passed a law providing Jewish synagogues relief from all municipal taxes. Lawyers from the Jerusalem Institute of Justice, or JIJ, then petitioned the court to also provide a Messianic fellowship in the capital with the same status. And they won.

The ruling is significant in that it allows for full tax relief for all space used by the Messianic congregation, including the meeting hall, a drug rehabilitation center, children and youth activity rooms, pastors’ offices and space for secondhand clothing distribution.

According to JIJ, since the case began in 2010, congregations applying now for the discount will be paid back retroactively for all municipal taxes incurred over the last three years. The Jerusalem Institute for Justice is encouraging all Messianic congregations paying municipal taxes on their facilities to apply for the tax break. The new ruling promises a major windfall of tens of thousands of shekels each year now available for Messianic congregations in Israel.

As with any new law its implementation needs to be worked out on the ground, and already there is opposition.

Secular Israelis fed up with corruption and scandals involving rabbis and religious organizations over the past years are not happy that synagogues don’t need to pay their share of municipal taxes. Many feel that religious Jews are already an unnecessary burden on Israel’s struggling welfare system.

Apparently, the popular new secular government party “Yesh Atid” (There is a Future), led by Finance Minister and former television personality Yair Lapid, has put a proposal on the floor of the Knesset to cancel the tax break for synagogues.

Lapid had garnered support from many Messianics in Israel’s last election, particularly amongst the younger Israeli believers who were attracted to his fresh ideas on economic equality.

Now the Messianics find themselves, perhaps for the first time in their short and turbulent history, partnered together with the Orthodox Jewish parties enjoying the new tax break. As one of the lawyers from JIJ said, “Finally, the Messianics have a common interest with the Orthodox political parties.”

According to the JIJ lawyer, it is very unlikely that anti-Missionary groups will try to overrule the new law in order to prevent court recognition of Messianic congregations, as they themselves enjoy the same tax benefits.

When authorities visited the Messianic congregation in question, they took notice of “drums and a sound system in the hall.” Did such equipment belong in a nonprofit religious organization?

In his testimony before the court, the spiritual leader of the congregation was able to explain: “The gatherings in our meeting hall are for the purpose of prayer and Torah study. We use musical instruments and a sound system for praise. We believe that according to the Book of Psalms we are to worship God with all kinds of musical instruments, including drums and cymbals.”

In its decision to grant the Messianics full tax relief retroactively for the past three years, the Supreme Court’s Appeals Committee referred to the congregation specifically as “a nonprofit Messianic Jewish organization that provides a sanctuary for prayer for all of her members.” The Messianic congregation was clearly not considered a church by the court, nor, for that matter, would they call it a synagogue.

***

WND

'DIVINE WRATH OF GOD' THREAT ON KERRY'S HEAD

'Severe heavenly punishment' if he doesn't change course

Published: February 6, 2014

JOE KOVACS

Secretary of State John Kerry and President Barack Obama

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is now being warned he’s risking the divine wrath of God if he continues plans for Israel that some feel is a war against the Almighty.

“By the power of our Holy Torah, we admonish you to cease immediately all efforts to achieve these disastrous agreements – in order to avoid severe Heavenly punishment for everyone involved,” a group of Israeli rabbis wrote Kerry in a letter on Sunday.

According to Israel National News, rabbis from the Committee to Save the Land and People of Israel are warning Kerry about his “antagonism” of the Jewish state, sharply criticizing him for plans “to establish an Arab capital in Jerusalem for Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, and to have Israel withdraw to the 1949 Armistice lines.”

Over the weekend, Kerry threatened Israel with an international boycott if peace talks fail.

“Your incessant efforts to expropriate integral parts of our Holy Land and hand them over to Abbas’ terrorist gang, amount to a declaration of war against the Creator and Ruler of the universe. For G-d awarded the entire Land of Israel to our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in order that they bequeath it, as an everlasting inheritance, to their descendants, the Jewish people, until the end of all time,” the rabbis’ letter opens.

The message was signed by Rabbi Gedalya Axelrod, emeritus head of the Haifa Rabbinical Court, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, chairman of the Temple Institute, Rabbi Ben Tziyon Grossman of Migdal Haemek, Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpo, dean of the Institute for the Complete Code of Maimonides, and Rabbi Yigal Pizam, dean of Yeshivat Kiryat Shmuel.

The rabbis slammed Kerry’s plan to immediately uproot “20 percent of the Jews now living productively in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan valley,” warning of the imminent security threat for Israelis, and reminding him how similar uprooting of Jewish residents in Gaza turned that region into a launching pad for Islamic rockets.

The letter says Kerry’s plan “would force tens of thousands of Jews to be evicted from their homes and livelihoods, devastating their lives financially, economically and psychologically, as happened to those expelled from the flourishing Gaza settlements, most of whom still suffer from the expulsion’s ruinous after-effects.”

The message also recounted biblical history, as it declared to Kerry: “If you continue on this destructive path, you will ensure your everlasting disgrace in Jewish history for bringing calamity upon the Jewish people – like Nebuchadnezzar and Titus who destroyed, respectively, the first and second great Temples and the entire Holy City of Jerusalem, and who, by Heavenly punishment, brought eventual disaster upon themselves, too.”

This week’s letter with the threat of divine judgment is being noticed by Carl Gallups, author of “The Rabbi Who Found Messiah: The Story of Yitzhak Kaduri and His Prophecies of the Endtime.”

“This is the same type of curse that was put on [former Israeli Prime Minister] Ariel Sharon,” Gallups told WND.

Last month, Sharon died after spending nine years in a coma.

During his tenure, he initiated a disengagement plan in which thousands of Jews were deported from Gaza and northern Samaria, turning the once-fertile region over to Hamas control.

A “death curse” by a group of rabbis in Israel was issued against Sharon for the action.

Sharon suffered a serious stroke Jan. 4, 2006, and was comatose until his death.

“The only prophetic utterance of Kaduri concerning Ariel Sharon was that Messiah would not appear until Ariel Sharon had died,” said Gallups. “Within a little over two months after speaking these prophetic words, Sharon was in a coma and Kaduri himself died.”

Another Christian writer, Jim Bramlett, says divine punishment is possible or even likely for American political leaders if they stay on their current track.

“I believe the rabbis are correct,” Bramlett said. “Kerry, Obama, et al will suffer God’s judgment for what they are doing or trying to do to Israel.”

(People of the Keys is not necessarily in agreement with the conclusions reached by WND. Ed)

***

Tikun Olam-תיקון עולם

Promoting Israeli democracy, exposing secrets of the national security state

Israeli Columnist Calls for Extermination of Palestinians

by RICHARD SILVERSTEIN on FEBRUARY 2, 2014

Munich has opened a new front in the Israel-Palestine wars. There John Kerry warned Israel that his peace talks would be the last chance. If they failed, he predicted the rise of BDS and a looming one state solution:

For Israel, the stakes are also enormously high. Do they want a failure that then begs whatever may come in the form of a response from disappointed Palestinians and the Arab community? What happens to the Arab Peace Initiative if this fails? Does it disappear? What happens for Israel’s capacity to be the Israel it is today – a democratic state with the particular special Jewish character that is a central part of the narrative and of the future? What happens to that when you have a bi-national structure and people demanding rights on different terms?

So I think if you – and I’m only just scratching the surface in talking about the possibilities, and I’ve learned not to go too deep in them because it gets misinterpreted that I’m somehow suggesting, “Do this or else,” or something. I’m not. We all have a powerful, powerful interest in resolving this conflict…For Israel there’s an increasing delegitimization campaign that has been building up. People are very sensitive to it. There are [sic] talk of boycotts and other kinds of things. Are we all going to be better with all of that?

Israeli nationalists, who dominate Israel’s political landscape, have raised a great geschrei over this rhetoric. What? Even John Kerry must weary us with talk of boycotts, Intifadas and delegitimization? We don’t hear this enough from our enemies that we have to hear it from him as well.

The result has been shouts of “anti-Semite” and worse. As only these Israel apologists can muster.

But what did Kerry say but the truth? If Bibi digs in his heels and refuses to go the extra mile and the talks fail, then it won’t be just the peace activists behind BDS Israel will have to worry about. It will be entire nations. Wait until the first western country votes to sanction Israeli products. Then what? How long before that snowball picks up speed and comes crashing down the hill?

Even more importantly, the Israeli nationalist tumult over Kerry’s remarks is hypocritical because these are the very same statements being made by Israeli centrist politicians like Tzipi Livni and Yair Lapid. Are they anti-Semites too? Of course, to the Israeli far-right they are. They’re persona non grata in the crazy, topsy-turvy reality the ultra-nationalists inhabit. I’m reminded of the saying popularized by Holoaust survivor, Dr. Hajo Meyer:

Anti-Semites used to be those who hate Jews; now anti-Semites are those Jews hate.

In stretching the definition of “anti-Semite” beyond all reasonable proportion, the nationalists have destroyed the importance and value of the term. Now, whenever there’s a real anti-Semite, that person will be able to deny the charge pointing to the damage done by Israel’s political right.

During the same conference at which Kerry made his remarks, there was a heated exchange between Tzipi Livni and Saeb Erekat. The heat first rose when Livni told Erekat that the Palestinians’ refusal to stop calling Israeli cities like Jaffo and Haifa by their Arabic names was what posed an obstacle to achieving peace. In the meantime, Livni readily referred to the Territories as Judea and Samaria, indicating she was refusing to cede an Israeli claim to Palestinian lands based on a Biblical claim. This seemed a particularly incendiary, provocative and tone-deaf argument for Livni to pose in that context. Such a statement would score political points with the Likudist right-wing, but she was in Munich amidst an internationalist audience.

Erekat naturally took umbrage at an Israel Jew telling him he should give up the right to see Israel as part of his Palestinian heritage, since territory that is Israel was the birthplace of the Palestinian people. It launched this diatribe:

“Israel has to choose between three choices one of which is the two-state solution…

The second choice…if the Israelis want to call Jericho by their Hebrew names “Yeriho” and to call Nablus “Shkheim”, is one state for both peoples.

The third choice…is the use of security pretexts to justify “apartheid” in the West Bank. “Now in 2014, there are streets in the West Bank which I can’t use as a Palestinian,” he added.

Livni responded:

“When this happens, please Saeb, don’t use Arabic names to talk about places in Israel such as Jaffa and Haifa. Well, you can use Arab names, but don’t tell refugees who are waiting in Lebanon and other areas with the keys of their houses that they can return to live in these areas because that is against the two-state solution.”

To which Erekat replied:

“You are talking about historical narratives?…I am the son of Jericho. Last year I celebrated my city’s 10,000th birthday. I am proud to be a descendant of the Canaanites who lived in Jericho 5,500 years before Joshua who burnt Jericho and I will not alter my history.”

In Yisrael HaYom, a prominent Israeli rabbi and law professor, Haim Schein (Hebrew), took up the cudgel (Hebrew) on behalf of

Biblical Judaism. He said that if Erekat wanted to be a Canaanite, very well then, we Israeli Jews should give him his wish; while remembering the Biblical command to exterminate those tribes which inhabited the land before the Israelites (among them, the Canaanites ‘natch):

How disturbing to hear, especially in the city of Munich, so near to Dachau, Kerry chose to threaten Israel and persuade its citizens that their sense of security was an illusion and that an economic boycott could be expected if they didn’t accede to international pressure.

John Kerry and the Obama administration has already proven they don’t understand the rules of the Arab world, which have turned lies and deceit into their own unique art form. This too is the reason for the prolonged bloodletting that continues in our region wherever America is involved.

…With his words, Kerry fatally damaged the very process he’s promoting. He encourages Abu Mazen and his friends to resist any possible progress in the path to peace…Under Kerry’s influence the Palestinians have changed their narrative. Instead of being cousins fighting for an inheritance from their common ancestor [Abraham], they’ve now become Canaanites. The meaning of the new narrative is: it’s either them or us. There can never be peace. How to confront the Canaanite legacy? We’ve already received very precise instruction in the Torah.

Schein alludes to this verse from Deuteronomy:

You will not allow a single soul to live. You will exterminate every Hittite, Emorite, Canaanite, and the Prizites, Hivites, and Jebusites as the Lord your God commanded.

Schein has in effect called upon his fellow Israelis (or shall I call them ‘Israelites?’) to harken back to the Bible’s tribal blood feuds and not just ethnically cleanse, but exterminate the Palestinians. He has called for genocide. With a wink and nod, perhaps. But it’s genocide nonetheless.

Will Schein face any legal consequences for advocating genocide in a State built upon the ashes of an earlier historic genocide? Not really. In fact, he’s liable to be added to the next Likud list just behind Moshe Feiglin! Oh, and while I’m on the subject–of which political party is Schein a proud member? You guessed it, Bibi’s Likud. ‘Nuff said.

In a passage from this article I didn’t translate Schein claimed that the Israeli people, in the face of Kerry’s anti-Semitism would become “titanium” in both their strength and their resistance to compromise. For him, this is highest praise. For me, it’s delusional.

Let no reader ever again talk to me of Palestinian incitement, when Israel has such Jewish genocidaires in its midst.

***

Breaking News

Rothschild Prayer Book Sells for $13.6 Million

February 1, 2014

(DM) This 500-year-old prayer book has fetched more than £8 million at auction, making it the most valuable of its kind in the world.

The 10in high, 7in wide manuscript sparked a bidding frenzy at Christie’s in New York.

Called the Rothschild Prayerbook, it was made in the Netherlands in about 1505 and contains ornate paintings of scenes from the Bible.

The 67-page book – once owned by the Rothschild banking dynasty but stolen by the Nazis – was bought by a European collector bidding by phone.

Christie’s called it ‘one of the most prestigious and exquisite examples of Flemish manuscript illumination’

Known as the Book of Hours, the ornate manuscript depicts scenes from the Bible with a collection of texts, prayers and psalms and was the work of a number of master illustrators in Ghent or Bruges.

But it was confiscated from Baron Louis Nathaniel von Rothschild after the Nazis annexed Austria in 1938.

The Rothschild collections were earmarked for Hitler’s personal art reserve, the Fuhrervorbehalt.

After the war, the Rothschilds – who had fled to safety – did not return to their Vienna homes, which had been occupied by the Gestapo.

They requested the return of their art collection but the Austrian government forced the family to ‘donate’ a third of it to Austria in order to be able to take the rest abroad.

The Renaissance prayer book was not returned to the Rothschild family until 1999. They sold it at a Christie’s auction in London to a private buyer for a then world record $13.4 million.

Masterpiece: The ‘Book Of Hours’ was made in about 1505 by a number of master illustrators in Ghent or Bruges in the Netherlands.

Christie’s Nicholas Hall said: ‘Every aspect of this book of hours – from the quality of the parchment to the wealth and refinement of the decoration – marks the Rothschild Prayerbook as one of the most prestigious and exquisite examples of Flemish manuscript illumination.

‘Christie’s is honoured to be entrusted with its sale for the second time in a generation.’

Drawings in the book include scenes of peasant life and and shepherds dancing in a Nativity sequence.

Ahead of the auction, the book went on a world tour that took in branches of the auction house in London, Moscow and Hong Kong.

The manuscript is closely related to another book in the British Library.

Piece of history: Nazis confiscated the prayerbook from Baron Louis Nathaniel von Rothschild in Austria in 1938. The book was only returned to the Rothschild family in 1999 when they sold it at auction for $13.4million

***

THE VOICE OF RUSSIA

Human-animal hybrids, disasters in the making

4 February 2014, 13:24

© Flickr.com/lunar caustic/cc-by

Scientists worldwide are creating bizarre human-animal hybrids that could wreak havoc on society. In the past ten years alone, unforgettable advances in the field of genetic modifications have left researchers and on-lookers stunned.

Nowadays, it is possible for a couple of university-age students to concoct new life forms in the comfort of their own basement. Regrettably so, laws have not been able to keep up with the pace at which scientists have been toying around with their creations.

In turn, the entities being created are not at all illegal but by all means could pose a risk to society by and large. There is no telling what may happen if these life forms are allowed to mate. Still, eagerness can be seen in the eyes and minds of scientists on a global level just waiting to unleash their next creation to the world, that all seemed liked fantasy just a short time ago.

To give a concrete example, scientists have made mice with an artificial human chromosome “in every cell of their bodies”. Such an act is being praised as a “breakthrough” which may lead to different cures for a wide scope of disease. As reported by Lifenews.com, University of Wisconsin researchers have had much success by transferring cells from human embryos into the brains of mice. These very cells began to grow, and in time made the mice more intelligent.

The mice showed that they were able to solve a simple maze and learn conditioning signals at a more enhanced level than if compared to before their transformation. Critics are quick to question whether a practice of injecting parts of humans in animals carries more benefits than risks.

Even now it is apparent that growing human organs inside of animals is not science fiction, but pure reality. Japanese scientists have started using pigs to grow human organs inside of them. The entire growth process takes up to 12 months to complete.

Their main goal is to add onto the amount of organs available for medical procedures according to an Infowars.com write up about the topic. However, this is no basement operation as the Japanese government is figuring out guidelines for the embryonic research initiative.

Thetruthwins.com is quick to point out that once a human organ has begun to grow inside of a pig, that pig is no longer 100 percent pig. If that can be said to be true, then the human organ that grows inside of the pig cannot be perceived as 100 percent human after it developed inside of another animal. Recipients of such organs will be letting human-animal hybrid parts be put inside their bodies.

The consequences of creating such hybrids could pose a hazard to communities near and far. However, the perhaps more unsettling part is realizing that it is not known what is to be predicted should the hybrids become uncontrollable.

What is even more daunting is that most countries do not have laws against creations of this kind, leading people to produce these entities freely. Additionally, no punishment is set in place should the living thing become a walking disaster.

It is believed that genetically tweaking animals to grow human parts is just another way of corrupting nature. Back in 2011, the Daily Mail reported on UK scientists creating “more than 150” human-animal hybrid embryos and very few readers got upset over this.

Other examples have been noted of in a Slate article, such as packs of humanized-milk producing goats, an anal sphincter being placed into a mouse, and doctors constructing a human immune system made for animals. Still, these are just the projects that are known about. There may be other experiments underway that are off the radar. Human-animals hybrids are possible, but it leaves people debating on whether the benefits truly outweigh the risks involved.

***

MailOnline

The mystery of the North Star: Astronomers baffled to find Polaris is getting BRIGHTER

Team found that Polaris is 2.5 times brighter today than in 137CE

Experts say find is 'entirely unexpected'

By MARK PRIGG

PUBLISHED: 16:17 EST, 5 February 2014 | UPDATED: 16:18 EST, 5 February 2014

Astronomers have discovered that Polaris, the north star, is getting brighter.

They say the star has suddenly reversed two decades of dimming.

It is expanding at more than 100 times the rate they expected - and nobody is sure why.

Pinpointing Polaris: Researchers say it is getting brighter far more quickly than they expected after reversing its dimming

Polaris, also known as the North Star, Northern Star or Pole Star, is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor.

Historically it has been used to guide travellers, and is very close to the north celestial pole, making it the current northern pole star.

Recent papers calculate the distance to Polaris at about 434 light-years, although some suggest it may be 30% closer which.

A team led by Scott Engle of Villanova University in Pennsylvania recalibrated historic measurements of Polaris by Ptolemy in 137 C.E., the Persian astronomer Al-Sufi in 964 C.E., and others.

They investigated the fluctuations of the star over the course of several years, combing through historical records and utilising the Hubble Space Telescope.

The team found that Polaris is 2.5 times brighter today than in Ptolemy's time, which they say is a remarkable rate of change.

'If they are real, these changes are 100 times larger than predicted by current theories of stellar evolution,' says Villanova astronomer Edward Guinan.

The team's data also hint that the star's cyclic 4-day variation in brightness, although still weak, is once again growing more robust--but no one knows what's driving these flutterings or how long they will last.

Engle and his team began to research the star around the beginning of 2000, when they found that the dropping brightness was on the rise again.

'It was unexpected to find,' Engle  told SPACE.com.'It started increasing rather rapidly.'

'Polaris is arguably the best-known star in the Northern Hemisphere, since it lies within a degree of the North Celestial Pole,' the researchers wrote.

'For much of human history, Polaris was highly regarded for its unchanging nature.

'However, we now know that Polaris is a Cepheid variable, undergoing ultra-low-amplitude pulsations.

'Thirty years ago, a paper in the Astrophysical Journal by A. Arellano Ferro announced that the amplitude of these pulsations was diminishing.

'This behavior was confirmed, and it was believed that soon enough Polaris would no longer be a Cepheid variable.

'We started photometrically monitoring Polaris in 1999 and discovered that the amplitude of pulsations had reached a minimum and was now, in fact, growing again.

'It was while gathering historic photometry for the amplitude study that we noticed the published magnitudes of Polaris were systematically fainter, the further back in time the data went.

'This is an entirely unexpected behavior for a Cepheid variable, and one that we wanted to investigate further.

Engle presented the results of his research in a poster session at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington.

***

Veda

Ancient City Found in India, Irradiated from Atomic Blast

Radiation still so intense, the area is highly dangerous. A heavy layer of radioactive ash in Rajasthan, India, covers a three-square mile area, ten miles west of Jodhpur. Scientists are investigating the site, where a housing development was being built.

For some time it has been established that there is a very high rate of birth defects and cancer in the area under construction. The levels of radiation there have registered so high on investigators' gauges that the Indian government has now cordoned off the region. Scientists have unearthed an ancient city where evidence shows an atomic blast dating back thousands of years, from 8,000 to 12,000 years, destroyed most of the buildings and probably a half-million people. One researcher estimates that the nuclear bomb used was about the size of the ones dropped on Japan in 1945.

The Mahabharata clearly describes a catastrophic blast that rocked the continent.

"A single projectile charged with all the power in the Universe…An incandescent column of smoke and flame as bright as 10,000 suns, rose in all its splendor…it was an unknown weapon, an iron thunderbolt, a gigantic messenger of death which reduced to ashes an entire race.

"The corpses were so burned as to be unrecognizable. Their hair and nails fell out, pottery broke without any apparent cause, and the birds turned white.

"After a few hours, all foodstuffs were infected. To escape from this fire, the soldiers threw themselves into the river."

A Historian Comments

Historian Kisari Mohan Ganguli says that Indian sacred writings are full of such descriptions, which sound like an atomic blast as experienced in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He says references mention fighting sky chariots and final weapons. An ancient battle is described in the Drona Parva, a section of the Mahabharata.

"The passage tells of combat where explosions of final weapons decimate entire armies, causing crowds of warriors with steeds and elephants and weapons to be carried away as if they were dry leaves of trees," says Ganguli.

"Instead of mushroom clouds, the writer describes a perpendicular explosion with its billowing smoke clouds as consecutive openings of giant parasols. There are comments about the contamination of food and people's hair falling out."

Archeological Investigation provides information

Archeologist Francis Taylor says that etchings in some nearby temples he has managed to translate suggest that they prayed to be spared from the great light that was coming to lay ruin to the city.

"It's so mind-boggling to imagine that some civilization had nuclear technology before we did. The radioactive ash adds credibility to the ancient Indian records that describe atomic warfare."

Construction has halted while the five member team conducts the investigation. The foreman of the project is Lee Hundley, who pioneered the investigation after the high level of radiation was discovered.

There is evidence that the Rama empire (now India) was devastated by nuclear war. The Indus valley is now the Thar desert, and the site of the radioactive ash found west of Jodhpur is around there.

Consider these verses from the ancient (6500 BC at the latest) Mahabharata:

…a single projectile 
Charged with all the power of the Universe. 
An incandescent column of smoke and flame 
As bright as the thousand suns
 Rose in all its splendour…
a perpendicular explosion 
with its billowing smoke clouds…
…the cloud of smoke 
rising after its first explosion
formed into expanding round circles 
like the opening of giant parasols…

..it was an unknown weapon,
 An iron thunderbolt, 
A gigantic messenger of death, 
Which reduced to ashes 
The entire race of the Vrishnis and the Andhakas.
…The corpses were so burned
 As to be unrecognisable. 
The hair and nails fell out;
Pottery broke without apparent cause, 
And the birds turned white.

After a few hours 
All foodstuffs were infected…
…to escape from this fire
 The soldiers threw themselves in streams 
To wash themselves and their equipment.

Until the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, modern mankind could not imagine any weapon as horrible and devastating as those described in the ancient Indian texts. Yet they very accurately described the effects of an atomic explosion. Radioactive poisoning will make hair and nails fall out. Immersing oneself in water gives some respite, though it is not a cure.

When excavations of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro reached the street level, they discovered skeletons scattered about the cities, many holding hands and sprawling in the streets as if some instant, horrible doom had taken place. People were just lying, unburied, in the streets of the city. And these skeletons are thousands of years old, even by traditional archaeological standards. What could cause such a thing? Why did the bodies not decay or get eaten by wild animals? Furthermore, there is no apparent cause of a physically violent death.

These skeletons are among the most radioactive ever found, on par with those at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. At one site, Soviet scholars found a skeleton which had a radioactive level 50 times greater than normal. Other cities have been found in northern India that show indications of explosions of great magnitude. One such city, found between the Ganges and the mountains of Rajmahal, seems to have been subjected to intense heat. Huge masses of walls and foundations of the ancient city are fused together, literally vitrified! And since there is no indication of a volcanic eruption at Mohenjo-Daro or at the other cities, the intense heat to melt clay vessels can only be explained by an atomic blast or some other unknown weapon. The cities were wiped out entirely.

While the skeletons have been carbon-dated to 2500 BC, we must keep in mind that carbon-dating involves measuring the amount of radiation left. When atomic explosions are involved, that makes then seem much younger.

Interestingly, Manhattan Project chief scientist Dr J. Robert Oppenheimer was known to be familiar with ancient Sanskrit literature. In an interview conducted after he watched the first atomic test, he quoted from the Bhagavad Gita:

"Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.' I suppose we all felt that way."

When asked in an interview at Rochester University seven years after the Alamogordo nuclear test whether that was the first atomic bomb ever to be detonated, his reply was,

Ancient cities whose brick and stonewalls have literally been vitrified, that is, fused together, can be found in India, Ireland, Scotland, France, Turkey and other places. There is no logical explanation for the vitrification of stone forts and cities, except from an atomic blast.

Bibliography

1. Best Evidence?, by Philip Coppens; Are the Indian remains of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa, their sudden abandonment and the apparent discovery of an ancient site with a layer of radioactive ash the best available evidence for the possibility that our ancient ancestors possessed a highly advanced technology – which might have included atomic warfare?

2. Nuclear events in Ancient India, Rajasthan: Evidence of Ancient Atomic Explosion

3. Evidence of Ancient Atomic Knowledge?

***

SHFTpan

Elite Insider Predicted Massive Crash in 2012: “Very Large Probability… Around March 4, 2014″

Mac Slavo


February 4, 2014

We understand that Doomsday predictions are aplenty these days, but given what’s going on around the world right now it may be time to revisit the eerily prescient forecast of an elite insider.

Grady Means is a former advisor to Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, a former economist at the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and has managed multi-billion dollar firms over his career. Back in October of 2012 Means penned a commentary and analysis for the Washington Times in which he noted that “America’s fall will take global economies with it.”

But he didn’t stop there. Means gave us a target date.

There is a very large probability that the real end of the world will occur around March 4, 2014.

The doomsday clock will ring then because the U.S. economy may fully crash around that date, which will, in turn, bring down all world economies and all hope of any recovery for the foreseeable future — certainly over the course of most of our lifetimes. Interest rates will skyrocket, businesses will fail, unemployment will go to record levels, material and food shortages will be rampant, and there could be major social unrest.

Any wishful thinking that America is in a “recovery” and that “things are getting better” is an illusion.

…

The central issue is confidence in America, and the world is losing confidence quickly. At a certain point, soon, the United States will reach a level of deficit spending and debt at which the countries of the world will lose faith in America and begin to withdraw their investments. Many leading economists and bankers think another trillion dollars or so may do it. A run on the bank will start suddenly, build quickly and snowball.

At that point, we will need to finance our own deficit, and we will not be able to do so. We will raise bond rates to re-attract foreign investment, interest rates will go up, and businesses will fail. Unemployment will skyrocket.

The rest of the world will fully crash along with us.

There’s a sentiment among those on Main Street, and as of today on Wall Street, that there is a major disconnect between company stock valuations and economic activity in the real world.

Despite their best efforts to convince us that we’re in a recovery, the establishment is running into a problem… reality.

This morning we learned that the Institute for Supply Management monthly report went kaboom, showing a large contraction in new production, indicating that retailers are pulling back on stocking their shelves. Perhaps the ISM report has something to do with consumer sentiment, which according to today’s Gallup survey on consumer spending suggests consumers are cutting costs wherever possible.

But that’s not all. Even the largest retailer in the world is having problems and seeing negative growth. Walmart announced that last November’s cuts to food stamp recipients hurt their fourth quarter sales, adding further credence to the notion that without direct government bailouts the stability of America’s companies comes into question.

Need we even mention that over 100 million Americans are not in the labor force, or that five million people may lose their unemployment benefits by the end of this year?

And, of course, let’s not forget that we’ve created more debt as a nation in the last five years than in all of the years from our country’s founding through the year 2008 combined.

Those investing in financial markets have certainly taken note. On top of the 326 point decline in the Dow Jones today, the market is down a combined 1,000 points from its peak just a month ago. And, with three well known bankers committing suicide in the last week, people are starting to pay attention.

No one really knows exactly why the market is falling or what happens next, but if you’re going to consider any prediction on the future of the financial and economic sector, why not consider what the elite have to say about it?

If there is a major financial collapse in the works as we speak, then Grady Means’ prediction should scare the hell out of you. If he’s right, then this isn’t just going to be a market crash.

We could well be facing the beginnings of an all-out financial Armageddon that will make 2008 look like a brief warm up.

This collapse, as noted by the US Treasury Department and Grady Means, is going to have generational effects – a depressive economic environment for our entire lifetimes.

Preparing for such a scenario is not easy. One must take into consideration everything from emergency supply lists to deal with the instantaneous collapse of our monetary system and financial markets, while also considering long-term strategies that involve the development of barterable trade skills and relocating to land that has productive capacity so you can grow your own food.

We had a reader recently comment about the coming collapse. She warned that preparing for a weeks- or months-long emergency is insufficient. She suggested that perhaps we need to consider the worst case scenario: years of joblessness, destitution and depression.

It’s happened before and it was so bad that we still talk about the Great Depression to this day.

Who’s to say it can’t happen again?

***

The Economic Collapse

The Stock Market In Japan Is COLLAPSING

By Michael Snyder, on February 4th, 2014

Did you see what just happened in Japan? The stock market of the 3rd largest economy on the planet is imploding. On Tuesday, the Nikkei fell by more than 610 points. If that sounds like a lot, that is because it is. The largest one day stock market decline in U.S. history is only 777 points. So far, the Dow is only down about 1000 points during this "correction", but the Nikkei is down more than 2,300 points. The Nikkei has dropped more than 14 percent since the peak of the market, and many analysts believe that this is only just the beginning. Those that have been waiting for a full-blown stock market collapse may be about to get their wish. Japan is absolutely drowning in debt, their central bank is printing money like crazy and the Japanese population is aging rapidly. As far as economic fundamentals go, there is very little good news as far as Japan is concerned. So will an Asian financial collapse precede the next great financial crisis in the United States? That is what some have been predicting, and it starting to look increasingly likely.

What happened to the Nikkei early on Tuesday was absolutely breathtaking. The following is how Bloomberg described the carnage...

At the end of January 2013, Japanese stocks trailed only Portugal for the biggest rally among developed markets. Now the Nikkei 225 Stock Average is leading declines, slumping 8.5 percent last month and today capping a 14 percent drop from its Dec. 30 peak.

Losses snowballed in Tokyo during a global retreat that has erased $2.9 trillion from equity values worldwide this year amid signs of slower growth in China and stimulus cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

As Bloomberg noted, much of the blame for the financial problems that we are seeing all over the planet right now is being placed on the Federal Reserve.

The Fed created this bubble by pumping trillions of fresh dollars into the global financial system, and now they are bursting this bubble by starting to cut off the flow of easy money.

This is something that I warned would happen when the Fed decided to taper, and now RBS is warning of a "market bloodbath" unless the Federal Reserve immediately stops tapering.

Most Americans simply do not realize that our financial markets no longer resemble a free market system. Instead, they are highly manipulated and distorted by the central banks, and the trillions of dollars of "hot money" that the Fed has poured into the global financial system has infected virtually every financial market on Earth...

On Wall Street they call it "hot money"—that seemingly endless flow of cash that goes to the most profitable country du jour—but in the real economy it's gone cold.

That hot money has come mostly in the form of a low-yielding U.S. dollar, which investors have borrowed en masse to fund investments in other higher-yielding currencies across the globe. The so-called carry trade has helped fuel an investment bonanza across the world that has boosted risk assets thanks primarily to the U.S. Federal Reserve's easy-money policy.

But with the Fed tiptoeing away from what initially was an $85 billion-a-month infusion of liquidity, investors are beginning to prepare themselves for a world of rising rates in which the endless cash flow to emerging market economies begins to ebb, then cease.

We never fixed any of the fundamental problems that caused the last financial crisis. Instead, the Fed seemed to think that the solution to any problem was just to create more money.

It was an incredibly stupid approach, and now our fundamental problems are worse than ever as Marc Faber recently noted...

"Total credit as a percent of the global economy is now 30 percent higher than it was at the start of the economic crisis in 2007, we have had rapidly escalating household debt especially in emerging economies and resource economies like Canada and Australia and we have come to a point where household debt has become burdensome on the system—that is, where an economic slowdown follows."

So what comes next?

Well, unless the Fed or other central banks intervene, we are probably going to have even more carnage.

At least that is what Dennis Gartman, the editor and publisher of "The Gartman Letter", told CNBC on Tuesday...

"I just think you're going to have a very severe, very substantive and really quite ugly correction that will probably make a lot of people wail and gnash their teeth before it's done."

Other analysts share his pessimism. According to Doug Short, the vice president of research at Advisor Perspectives, the U.S. stock market "still looks 67% overvalued".

Most sobering of all is what Richard Russell is saying. In his 60 years of writing about financial issues, he has never been "so filled with foreboding regarding what lies ahead"...

I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t worried about the way things are going. Frankly, I’m truly scared for myself, my family and the nation. I have the sinking feeling that the stock market is on the edge of a crash. If that happens, investor sentiment will turn quickly bearish. And the bear market will start feeding on itself. Ironically, the recent action occurred in the face of almost insane bullishness on the part of the crowd and on the part of investors.

Obviously smart heads and institutional money managers know that the US is semi dead in the water. And all the talk about an improving economy is just wishes and hopes. Bernanke’s dream of a flourishing new economy, improving without the need of the Fed’s help, is an idle dream.

I’ve been writing about the stock market for over 60 years and I can’t remember a time when I was so filled with foreboding regarding what lies ahead. The primary trend of the market, like the tide of the ocean, is irresistible, and waits for no man. What scares me the most in this current situation is that I see no clear island of safety.

U.S. stocks may not totally crash this week, this month or even this year, but without a doubt a day of reckoning is coming. As a society, our total consumer, business and government debt is now equivalent to approximately 345 percent of GDP.

The only way that the game can continue is to keep pumping up the debt bubble even more.

Once the debt bubble stops expanding, it will start collapsing very rapidly.

Those that foolishly still have lots of money in the stock market better hope that the Federal Reserve decides to intervene in a major way very soon.

Because if they don't, there is a very good chance that we could indeed have a "market bloodbath" on our hands.

***

Activist Post

The New Social Class Structure Of The United States

February 1, 2014

Dave Hodges

Orwell's conceptualization of today's structure

America is being nudged and now pushed into the heinous world of Agenda 21. However, I believe that when self-preservation takes over, the use of force will be necessary to get most people to willingly go along with this encroaching tyranny. This is another topic for another article.

Whistleblowers such as Deborah Tavares, Rosa Korie and Patrick Wood et al., have all been sounding the Agenda 21 alarm for a very long time. Yet, with each and every passing day, we see new stories which inch us toward the end point destination of total tyrannical control of our daily lives which will result in the loss of our fortunes.

No matter how many times a journalist in the alternative media identifies Agenda 21 as the scourge of the planet, it seems as if more people are not listening, and even fewer are acting. This is because most of our population is no longer capable of critical thinking and subsequently accept the unproven philosophies of climate change and the Agenda 21 policies which underlie this myth. Most Americans feel that going along with the social planners will help them survive and even thrive. Too much CNN, too much FOX, too much fluoridated water and too many distractions have left us with a country incapable of defending itself from enemies both foreign and domestic.

Recent Undeniable Truths About Agenda 21...

When we carry out the principles of Agenda 21 to its end point destination, the citizens of our country will be living in less than 500 square foot stack and pack apartments, they will not own an automobile because it will be cost prohibitive, they will not grow their own food and they will pay even a greater disproportionate percentage of their income for housing costs. Additionally, there will be no property rights, because there will be no Constitution. There will be no small farms, privately owned farms and privately grown food.

Since the government will soon own all healthcare, most of us will be priced out of the market, and the Agenda 21 CODEX provisions will soon control alternative healthcare treatments. The Agenda 21 inspired Cap and Trade policies seek to reduce the energy usage of the average citizen by 80%. This means the average American will be living an 1890s lifestyle. And, more than likely, some of the population reduction quotes which are so infamous (e.g. Ted Turner’s expressed desire to reduce the planet’s population by 95%), may come to fruition. The statements in this paragraph are self-evident. But for those new to this topic, pull up a chair, grab your favorite beverage and be prepared to be shocked as you weave your way through the words of the Agenda 21 planners.

What is not obvious is the dismantling of America’s traditional socio-economic structure. A new and evolving social class structure is emerging right before our eyes. The former economic mobility of the new American society (i.e. rags to riches) has all but disappeared. The new social stratification will be forever fixed under the new social class structure of Agenda 21.

The Three Social Class America’s Brand of Agenda 21

Agenda 21 seeks to totally eliminate the middle class and the Obama wing of Agenda 21 is well on its way to making this a reality. Today, there are more American citizens who are receiving federal handouts than there are working Americans. Soon these classes will become one class and what is left of the middle class is destroyed. You may find this analysis to be very enlightening as to the veracity of these claims.

Most people believe that America is bifurcating into a two-class society; those who live off of the table scraps of those who still have a job, and those who still have a job. Temporarily, these two groups still constitute two separate classes. However, they will soon become one class. This will leave America with the traditional two-class system, the haves and the have-nots. However, we are not quite there yet.

At the present time, we still see a three-class system. For the purposes of clarity and discussion, we will refer to these classes as the First Tier (the elite), the Second Tier (the beleaguered middle class) and the Third Tier (the growing welfare class that has been fully domesticated through federal handouts).

The First Tier

On the top level of the pyramid we find the George Soros’, the David Rockefellers’, et al. The minions of these elite control the politicians and the legislation, they control the dialogue (e.g. sustainability and climate change) and they are moving towards controlling every aspect of our lives.

In a case of “Rules for thee, but not for me”, the elite do not live by the same Agenda 21 policies that they are attempting to impose on everyone else. Make no mistake about it, the First Tier are the creators of Agenda 21. They get the corporate heads and the politicians to enforce their brand of Utopia, with the promise of salvation for these minions who play along. And many of these minions know exactly what is coming. For example, why do you think McCain can endure the condemnation of his own home-state Republican Party without blinking an eye? It is because he knows he’s working for a higher authority. McCain obviously believes that the life of he and his family are at stake as he throws caution to the wind. To McCain’s mindset, it is a matter of either serving the globalist monster, or perish.

McCain’s mindset would also explain the abject lunacy of Pelosi, Reed, Bachman, Graham and all the other out-of-touch Kool-Aid drinkers. Someone should point out to these “public servants” that history does not paint a kind picture for those who help to facilitate a tyrannical takeover of a government. Most minions usually get sacrificed along the way. Oh, by the way, John McCain told a town hall audience in Mesa, AZ., and clearly stated that he had never heard of Agenda 21. The purveyors of Agenda 21 and their minions are your worst enemy.

The Second Tier

In the Second Tier of America lies what is left of the middle class. Frequently, these Americans, are still able to keep their job with inflation-damaged salaries and are still trying to hold on to the outdated notion of the American dream.These people face the prospect of working second jobs and becoming bargain hunters when it comes to shopping. College student loans for their children, the soon-to-be-gone pensions and retirement accounts, as well as the increasing theft of their home mortgages constitute the increasing threats to their solvency.

God bless the Second Tier whose majority tries to embrace the pseudo-threat of climate change by conserving more and more. For example, the people of Arizona heeded the call of Arizona Public Service (APS) by adopting more “eco-friendly” solar technology and what did APS do as a result? They raised the electric rates because they claimed they lost money on all the solar technology adopted by the public which led to declining energy use. If this does not expose the fraud of Agenda 21, I do not know what does. We see the same silly mindset in the state of Washington, where the legislature wants to impose a 1.5 cent tax on every mile driven because the state is losing revenue due to the use of more fuel efficient cars. Same chapter, just a different verse.

Agenda 21 proponents will never let you catch up and prosper, no matter how many of their programs that you successfully embrace. The Agenda 21 system is pervasive and seeks to destroy the middle class at all costs.

Many of the second tier of America, still believe Obama when he says that economic recovery is right around the corner. So they keep drinking the KoolAid and work harder and harder while falling further behind the lifestyle once enjoyed by their parents.

Adding insult to injury, this second tier is being forced to support those who cannot/will not work crowd through higher taxes and regulatory fees. Eventually, every single one these people in the second tier will eventually slip into the Third Tier.

The Third Tier

The third tier has an interesting dynamic. Meet the welfare class. Many members of this class have been hopelessly conditioned to not take personal responsibility for their lives. For an excellent description of the psychological mindset for many in this social class, see Seligman’s experiments on acquired learned helplessness.

How many people have been kept in their place by the promise of food stamps and an Obama phone? Is there any social mobility arising out of the members of this social class? There is almost no social mobility, only misery. Once someone is on federal welfare, the chances of staying off are near zero. This is a great personal tragedy as many people in the Third Tier are robbed of their autonomy and self-determination. And this is just what the social planners want as they want us hopeless, helpless and totally dependent on their generosity.

The financial drain to support this growing class, now over 50% of the country, is breaking the backs of what is left of the middle class. Soon the remnants of the middle class will collapse and be absorbed by the Third Tier.

A New World Order

A two-class social structure is emerging in America. There are the hopelessly poor who do not riot - in exchange for basic life support services. And there will be the social class that hoards all resources in an attempt to control the populace.

This transformation will be completed when there are too few of the middle class to support the subsistence lifestyle of the Third Tier.

It is uncertain if the ultimate middle class collapse will come by a sudden chain of events like the ones we witnessed in 1929. Or, will the slide continue in the form of its barely perceptible but dramatic slide?

There is one thing that you can count on. Americans will reach a breaking point when subsistence payments to the Third Tier are greatly reduced. When these parents, who love their children no less than anyone else, cannot adequately feed them, there is going to be trouble in the American streets. Perhaps this is why DHS has acquired 2.2 billion rounds of ammunition and 2700 armored personnel carriers.

If the “people” lose this war against the elite and we disintegrate into a society of haves and have-nots, we will indeed be living the American nightmare, Agenda 21 style.

Dave is an award winning psychology, statistics and research professor, a college basketball coach, a mental health counselor, a political activist and writer who has published dozens of editorials and articles in several publications such as Freedoms Phoenix, News With Views and The Arizona Republic.

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Tell Me Now

GOVT. “THREAT LIST” NAMES 8 MILLION AMERICANS WHO WILL BE DETAINED WHEN MARTIAL LAW IS IMPOSED

Admin. January 24,2014

The government has been compiling a list of names since the 1980′s called “Main Core“. It contains the names of people who it considers to be ‘threats’ and would be the victims of having their constitutional rights ‘suspended’ in the event of an emergency or if martial law is declared. They would be the first to be tracked, detained, questioned, and basically targeted for detention due to being labeled a threat of some sort.

The criteria for being placed on the list is rather loose, as is the criteria for a “national emergency”, however government sources have said that if you’re on the list that you can plan on being detained should martial law be declared. A senior government official, who’s served with 5 administrations, said that “There exists a database of Americans, who, often for the slightest and most trivial reason, are considered unfriendly, and who, in a time of panic, might be incarcerated. The database can identify and locate perceived ‘enemies of the state’ almost instantaneously.”

Even though this program has been around since the 80′s, one can’t help but wonder if the post 9/11 NSA has used its spy programs to exponentially expand the list, which is a terrifying prospect if you’re one of the people the DHS has labeled as a “domestic terrorist” for your conservative values. We know that the FBI, Defense Department and local police have worked to infiltrate and spy on peaceful domestic groups because they were seen as threats, and the revelations from Snowden have shown us that the NSA reads our Facebook posts, scans our emails, follows our Twitter accounts, listens to our phone calls, etc.

So can we assume that anybody who’s ever spoken out against the government is on the list and will be the first to be paid a visit should SHTF? So much for the massive spy network being used to ‘protect’ us from terrorism.

In a Salon.com article last year one of their journalists did some digging into Main Core and what he found merely confirms what Snowden had to say. His article was lengthy and detailed, but a main part that stuck out was this;

“The following information seems to be fair game for collection without a warrant: the e-mail addresses you send to and receive from, and the subject lines of those messages; the phone numbers you dial, the numbers that dial in to your line, and the durations of the calls; the Internet sites you visit and the keywords in your Web searches; the destinations of the airline tickets you buy; the amounts and locations of your ATM withdrawals; and the goods and services you purchase on credit cards. All of this information is archived on government supercomputers and, according to sources, also fed into the Main Core database.”

As of 2008 it was well known the list had over 8 million people on it and since then billions have been spent to expand the surveillance operations and identify enemies of the state. In an article last summer an anonymous government official spoke to a reporter and had this to say;

“We know all this already,” I stated. He looked at me, giving me a look like I’ve never seen, and actually pushed his finger into my chest. “You don’t know jack,” he said, “this is bigger than you can imagine, bigger than anyone can imagine. This administration is collecting names of sources, whistle blowers and their families, names of media sources and everybody they talk to and have talked to, and they already have a huge list. If you’re not working for MSNBC or CNN, you’re probably on that list. If you are a website owner with a brisk readership and a conservative bent, you’re on that list. It’s a political dissident list, not an enemy threat list,”

If that’s not enough to send chills down your spine think about this, the government is building a massive data center out in Utah to store the 2.1 gigabits per hour it collects and keep it for easy indexing.

So what started out as a means to protect us has been transformed into a surveillance monster that’s being used against us, to protect the government and the people within it if things go south. Unfortunately the mainstream media won’t report on this and if they do it’s to ‘reassure’ us that the NSA and its spy programs are there for our ‘protection’, meanwhile it being used to figure out who to round up when the failed policies of our government finally catch up to us and our economy collapses before our eyes.

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CNN

Vladimir Putin's remarkable comeback

By Daniel Treisman

February 3, 2014 -- Updated 1239 GMT (2039 HKT)

Russian president Vladimir Putin hits the slopes of Sochi during a pre-Olympic Winter Games visit to the Black Sea resort.

(CNN) -- As Russian President Vladimir Putin opens the Winter Olympics in Sochi on February 7, there will be relief hidden behind his characteristically guarded smile. For Putin, the past two years have witnessed a remarkable recovery.

Two years ago, Putin seemed to be on the ropes. Tens of thousands of Muscovites were flooding central squares to protest a parliamentary election they said had been tarnished by massive fraud. His approval ratings were in free fall, having dropped 15 points since December 2010, according to polls from Moscow's Levada Center.

Internationally, Putin was also on the defensive. He appeared to have isolated himself by backing the wrong horse in Syria's civil war. As rebels closed in on the Damascus suburbs, many observers thought Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom Putin supported, would soon be swept from power. If so, Russia stood to lose its only Mediterranean military outpost, the naval station it leased at Tartus.

The European Union, alarmed at the continent's dependence on Russian gas, had raided offices of the Russian company Gazprom in Germany and the Czech Republic and was planning further investigations. When built, a projected EU- and U.S.-supported Nabucco pipeline threatened to pump gas from Azerbaijan to Vienna, undercutting Russian supplies.

Not since the height of the global financial crisis had Putin seemed so embattled.

Today, things look quite different. Over the following year, the Moscow protests died away. Putin's ratings stabilized in the low 60s, a level many Western leaders would envy. With a mixture of new repressive laws, prosecutions and co-optation tactics, the Kremlin managed to box in and divide its domestic critics.

So confident did Putin feel by mid-2013 that he could, without losing sleep, allow the opposition activist Alexei Navalny to run for mayor of Moscow (he lost, though with an impressive 27%) and pardon his nemesis, the imprisoned former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, allowing him to leave for Switzerland.

Putin's star has also risen on the international stage. In September, he persuaded al-Assad to pledge to give up his chemical weapons, saving President Barack Obama from a military intervention the U.S. leader clearly dreaded. Al-Assad looks more secure today than he has since protests against his rule began.

By granting asylum to the NSA leaker Edward Snowden, Putin managed -- ironically, given Russia's own record of secrecy and spying -- to place himself on the side of a global movement for greater transparency and respect for citizens' privacy. One example: The New York Times, in a recent editorial, called Snowden's revelations "a great service" and urged Obama to end Snowden's vilification and offer him "a plea bargain or some form of clemency."

In a showdown with the EU over the future of Ukraine in November, Putin again came out on top, persuading Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to reject a trade deal with Europe to which Brussels had committed its prestige. Instead, Yanukovych pledged to deepen his country's trade ties with Russia, prompting furious protests from pro-Europe Ukrainians. As for Gazprom, its sales of gas to Europe rose by 16% in 2013 to a record high. The Nabucco pipeline failed to line up committed gas supplies. According to one of the consortium's partners, as of June the project was "over."

Most of these successes are temporary, and time is not on the Kremlin's side. Fighting continues to rage in Syria, and the destruction of al-Assad's chemical weapons has been painfully slow. Ukraine will sooner or later integrate with Europe. Yanukovych is struggling to stay in power as violence flares nightly in central Kiev. Gazprom's buoyant sales reflected an unusually cold winter in Europe.

At home, the frustrations that fueled the demonstrations two years ago have not gone away, just lost a focus. A major economic deterioration could prompt a new, potentially more consequential wave of protests. Russia's growth rate has been falling steadily, reaching just 1.4% by the end of 2013, the lowest rate of Putin's years as President. And the Kremlin has no serious strategy to restart the economic engines.

For now, Putin still has reason to feel confident. Even Sochi, which could have turned into a political disaster, might well pass off positively for the Kremlin. The advance bad press has lowered expectations so much that the Games will seem something of a success if they merely take place without the stadium collapsing or terrorists exploding bombs in Sochi itself.

The de facto boycott by Western leaders over Russian intolerance toward gays will probably buy Putin a little support at home since most Russians share his discomfort with "nontraditional lifestyles" and do not like outsiders telling them what to do. In a recent poll, 73% agreed the state should ban public displays of homosexuality.

What explains this turnaround?

Putin has benefited more from luck than skill. Even without new repressive measures, the wave of demonstrations was bound to subside, following the natural ebb and flow of protest movements. Those that climax without producing leader turnover tend to lose momentum, though some might reignite months or years later.

In international affairs, Putin profited from the mistakes of the West. Obama, having backed himself into a corner with talk of "red lines" and facing a humiliating veto in Congress, had to smile and accept help on Syria from the leader he had recently taunted for his "slouch." The European Union overplayed its hand in Ukraine, insisting on terms that Yanukovich thought would damage him politically. Putin, offering a bailout with fewer visible strings attached, walked away with the Ukrainian leader's agreement.

One may debate whether the real mistake in the Snowden case was the extent of U.S. spying or the lax security that allowed Snowden to expose it. Either way, it was a U.S. blunder, which landed unexpectedly in Putin's lap.

At some point, Putin's luck is bound to run out. Both at home and abroad, political challenges loom in 2014. Still, as he prepares to greet and congratulate the Olympic athletes, Russia's President is on a roll.

(“Luck” has nothing to do with Putin's success. “There is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another. He removeth kings, and setteth up kings. That the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. Romans 13:1, Psalm 75:7, Daniel 2:21, Daniel 4:17)

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CBS Pittsburg

Be On The Lookout For The “One Ring” Cell Phone Scam

By: Alyssa Marsico

January 30, 2014 7:52 PM

PITTSBURGH (NewsRadio1020 KDKA) – The Better Business Bureau is warning cell phone users of a new scam that can cost you a lot of money. They are calling it the “one ring” scam.

In this one, the scammer programs a computer called autodialers to call thousands of phone numbers, ring once then disconnect. They do this in hopes that the owner of the phone calls back the number to see who it is, usually they report they hear music, advertising messages or adult entertainment services.

President of the Better Business Bureau of Western Pennsylvania Warren King joins KDKA Radio’s Bill Rehkopf on the KDKA Afternoon News.

“This is kind of a new twist to an old scam called the 809 scam; 809 is the area code that used to be used by the Caribbean Islands,” says King. “What happens is these numbers look like a number that may be somewhere in the United States when in fact they are overseas and they are overpriced international calls.”

King says they are bypassing the consumer protection laws by using these numbers and charging the fees to your cell phone bill. You can be charged $20 for the initial international call, then $9 for every minute you stay connected after that.

For those of you thinking this has to be illegal! Well you are right, to an extent. King says that since there is no legal action that can be taken it is up to us to be aware and spread the word.

“What’s happening is that its difficult for regulatory agencies and consumer protection laws to protect us because these are entities that are overseas. So again its up to the consumer to recognize this is something that could happen to them. You know if your not familiar with the phone number you see on your cell phone then you can always Google it, find out where the area code is that will help you,” King said.

If you think you have been a victim of this “one ring” scam, you are to contact your cell phone provider to let them know what has happened and monitor your phone bills.

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AlterNet

How Big Pharma Brainwashes Americans Into Believing They're Sick

Big pharma uses celebrities and other sneaky ways to sell diseases that may not exist.

By Martha Rosenberg

January 29, 2014

Most of us have our guard up when it comes to direct-to-consumer drug advertising. We know the butterflies, sunsets and puppies in the TV ads are designed to distract us from terms like "blood clot," "heart attack," "stroke," "seizure," "life-threatening allergic reaction" and "death." We are aware that more than half the ads tell us why we don't actually want to ask our doctor about the new wonder drug.

Unbranded advertising, however, is much more insidious. Instead of selling a drug, it sells the disease driving the drug sales and sometimes doesn't mention the drug at all.

Unbranded advertising often appears to be from the CDC and can even run free as a public service announcement thanks to its apparently altruistic message. The hallmark of unbranded advertising is it calls the disease it's hawking (whether depression, bipolar disorder or restless legs) "under-diagnosed,” and “underreported” and cites "barriers" and "stigmas to treatment" which of course means sales. Sometimes it calls the disease a "silent killer" to scare people who think they're fine. (Before drug advertising it was the opposite: the medical establishment said you were probably fine despite how you felt.)

Do You Have Undiagnosed Hypothyroidism?

From Joan Lunden and Mike Piazza selling Claritin, to Dorothy Hamill and Bruce Jenner selling Vioxx, celebrity drug advertising is often phenomenally successful. No wonder the drug company AbbVie has selected actress Sofia Vergara to lead its hypothyroidism campaign.

"Emmy-nominated actress Sofia Vergara is helping to raise awareness about the importance of diagnosing and treating hypothyroidism," read a press release last spring, "a thyroid condition that affects millions of Americans." Her campaign, called "Follow the Script," funded by AbbVie, "aims to educate individuals with hypothyroidism about the importance of being consistent with the treatment their doctor prescribes, and provides a 'script' to ensure they consistently receive the medication prescribed by their doctor when they visit the pharmacy." Ka-ching.

While hypothyroidism certainly exists (as do other kinds of thyroid disorders) Vergara's campaign capitalizes on the gray areas in its diagnosis and the well-documented human tendency to self-diagnosis, by planting fear and doubt. For example, the AbbVie press release says, "Thyroid conditions affect an estimated 30 million individuals in the U.S." and "one in every eight women will develop a thyroid condition in her lifetime." Yet Harvard Health Publications at Harvard Medical School places the figure at 12 million.

Commensurate with unbranded advertising—aka "disease mongering"—Vergara's “Follow the Script” campaign websitefeatures "interactive polls, symptom and treatment information," "stories and videos from other individuals with hypothyroidism," and a chance for visitors to "share their own experiences." In classic unbranded pill marketing, the site also provides "helpful 'scripts' for speaking with your doctor and pharmacist" — so patients don't go all the way to the doctor and fail to ring the cash register.

AbbVie was formed in early 2013 when Abbott, located near Chicago, split into two companies, with AbbVie to concentrate on the blockbuster Humira, which made it $2 billion in one quarter of 2013. But Synthroid, the thyroid supplement drug behind Vergara's campaign, enjoyed almost 25 percent growth last year and accounted for $153 million during the same quarter. Synthroid is the nation's leading thyroid supplement drug despite going off patent decade ago, because it is widely perceived as more stable than competitor and generic versions of the drug.

Lest no potential customers miss the fact that hypothyroidism is an under-diagnosed, underreported major health problem with barriers and stigmas to treatment, Abbvie has also set up the "National Academy of Hypothyroidism." The first thing visitors to the site will see is a slide of an overweight woman on a scale with the brazen headline "Is Your Thyroid Making You Fat?" Visitors will also learn that hypothyroidism could be causing their stress, depression and chronic pain just as lack of hormones or antidepressants caused them problems 10 years ago. There is even a perk for sufferers of hypothyroidism. The Academy tells them how to apply for disability benefits for their hypothyroidism. Just trying to help!

Do You Have Non-24 Hour Sleep Wake Disorder?

"You can't see me because of radio... and I can't see you because I'm totally blind."

So begins a high-saturation radio campaign that launched late last year to boost "awareness" of an obscure circadian rhythm disorder called Non-24 Hour Sleep Wake Disorder in typical unbranded drug marketing fashion. How obscure is Non-24? There are only 146 citations for the disorder in the entire U.S. National Library of Medicine. By comparison, there are 8,463 citations for the plague.

The narrator says his blindness doesn't "hold me back" but he often "struggles to keep up" because he is not "sleeping through the night." He then says, "Sound familiar? You're not alone!" The ads are from the Washington, DC-based drug company Vanda whose drug candidate for people who are blind and have Non-24, Hetlioz, received an FDA Advisory Committeerecommendation for approval in January which means the FDA will likely approve it. Hetlioz is said to be chemically related to the sleeping pill marketed as Rozerem (Ramelteon).

Developing "orphan drugs" that treat such a small part of the population (like the blind) they are not commercially viable is laudable. But orphan drugs are not usually accompanied by multi-million-dollar ad campaigns and slick websites. (Nor are important messages for the blind usually on the Web.) Is there something disingenuous going on? Under "Could You Have Non-24?" on the site, it says "The key symptoms of Non-24 are the inability to sleep or stay asleep and a powerful urge to sleep during the day" with no mention of blindness. A longer list on the site mentions waking up "groggy," being "less productive than usual at work or at school," relationships that "are strained," "sluggishness and forgetfulness," mood that is "affected" and frustration "because no one seems to understand what you're going through," and also doesn't mention blindness.

You don't have to be a cynic to wonder if the new disease — and the drug that will treat it if approved — is actually being marketed to the hundreds of millions of adults with sleep problems. When I called the phone number and asked the "health educator" if I could have Non-24 even though I am not blind, I was told "you don't have to be blind to have Non-24" though it is more common in blind people. When I asked if there was a pill I could take if I had symptoms, my educator said he was unable to answer that because, "I am not a doctor," and promised to send me more information.

Getting a pill approved by the FDA so it can be legally sold and then widening its apparent uses through ad campaigns is called off-label marketing and it is strictly illegal. Since the lab tests and clinical trials that would establish safety for a new condition haven't been done, patients are guinea pigs. Almost all recent major settlements with drug companies revolve around off-label marketing of drugs including Johnson & Johnson's Risperdal, Bristol-Myers Squibb's Abilify, Eli Lilly's Zyprexa, GlaxoSmithKline's Paxil, Pfizer's Neurontin, Bextra, Geodon and Lyrica, AstraZeneca's Seroquel, Ortho-McNeil-Janssen's Topamax, Forest Laboratories' Celexa and Lexapro and Abbott's Depakote.

"15,000 elderly people in nursing homes [are] dying each year from the off-label use of antipsychotic medications," testified FDA drug reviewer David Graham, during congressional hearings, adding that Pharma is "laughing all the way to the bank."

Selling the "disease" of Non-24 is reminiscent of the campaign to sell Shift Work Sleep Disorder two years ago. "Do you work a nontraditional work schedule?" asked the ads for Cephalon's stimulant Nuvigil. "Do you struggle to stay awake?" You may be suffering from Shift Work Sleep Disorder! Soon there was a unbranded website called the Wake-Up Squad to sell the disease without ever mentioning the drug. The Wake-Up Squad is "on a mission to lead the fight against Shift Work Disorder," it announced, offering facts and myths about the disease and a big red headline asking, "Are You At Risk?"

Both the hypothyroidism and Non-24 unbranded ad campaigns are so general, they apply to almost everyone. They bring us closer to what comedian Chris Rock predicted drug advertising would become, in a TV special: "Do you fall asleep at night and wake up in the morning? You may be suffering from ...."

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Natural News

Butter consumption up as margarine health hoax finally collapses

Saturday, February 01, 2014 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer(NaturalNews)

Good old-fashioned butter has once again become the spreadable fat of choice for most Americans, who new research says are increasingly opposed to synthetic fat spreads like margarine that have long been hailed as healthy alternatives to animal-based saturated fats. The American Butter Institute recently found that per capita butter consumption is at a 40-year high, the direct result of the longstanding margarine health hoax finally collapsing.

According to the data, butter sales are up a whopping 65 percent since 2000, topping $2 billion annually in the U.S. The average person is also eating a lot more butter these days, with per capita consumption hovering around 5.6 pounds annually. On the flip side, the overall number of margarine consumers has dropped significantly in recent years, despite the fact that U.S. health authorities continue to demonize saturated fats in favor of margarine and vegetable oils.

"As the locus of health and nutrition concerns have shifted away from fat content and toward worry over processed foods, margarine sales have tanked," writes Roberto Ferdman for Quartz, noting that margarine sales are currently at a 70-year low. "Since 2000, sales are down by more than 30%. Meanwhile, butter consumption in the U.S. hit a 40 year high in 2012."

But the heavy processing required to manufacture margarine is hardly the only major issue people are having with the butter substitute. Nutrition professor Marion Nestle from New York University recently told Bloomberg reporter Matthew Boyle that people are done with margarine. Many now realize that, unlike natural butter, margarine is nothing more than a man-made, synthetic fat substitute with little or no nutritional value.

"Margarine has become a marker for cheap, processed, artificial, unhealthy food," she is quoted as saying, noting that the opposite is true for how butter is viewed.

Saturated fats from pastured animals is healthy, people are learning

There is also a major shift taking place with regard to the way that people view saturated fats. Surviving decades of propaganda that decried them as unhealthy, saturated fats are undergoing a resurgence as people discover that they have been lied to about the "dangers" of saturated fats.

"ALL margarine [is] made of bad fats - PUFAs [polyunsaturated fatty acids]," writes one commenter over at MarketWatch about the issue. "[T]hey oxidize rapidly, are unnatural and are all trans-fat as a by-product of their manufacture. They were NEVER healthy in any way. Natural fats are saturated and mono-saturated."

Even Unilever, the multinational consumer products giant that invested tens of millions of dollars and more than 20 years' worth of research into promoting margarine as better than butter, now admits that it made a huge mistake. Antoine Bernard de Saint-Affrique, head of Unilever's food division, told investors last month that his company would be shifting gears and ditching the product that it worked so hard to promote.

"For the last 20 years or so, we have been too obsessed, overly obsessed on the fact that butter was opposed to margarine," the company executive stated, noting that Unilever has already begun incorporating more real butter into its spread formulas. "I'm happy to say that this time is over and we have changed. And we have changed in a very significant way."

Meanwhile, a growing number of health professionals, including Aseem Malhotra from the U.K.-based Academy of Medical Royal Colleges Obesity Steering Group, are coming forward in support of saturated fats. Malhotra recently told the media that, contrary to popular myth, the saturated fat in butter has not been scientifically linked to causing heart disease and is actually a necessary part of a well-balanced diet.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.marketwatch.com

http://qz.com

http://www.bloomberg.com

http://science.naturalnews.com

http://science.naturalnews.com

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Until next week...keep on believing.
Almondtree Productions

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.”
(Isaiah 7: 14-15)