“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”
(Matthew 6:14)
Trespasses

WND

Forgiveness: A mental-health elixir

Exclusive: Jerry Newcombe spotlights grace-filled acts by 2 Christians in courtroom

October 8, 2019

An atheist group has filed a complaint against a judge in Dallas, Texas, who supposedly violated the organization's understanding of church and state relations.

The black judge (Tammy Kemp) presided over the racially charged trial of the white ex-police officer (Amber Guyger) who was sentenced last week to prison for 10 years because she shot and killed an innocent black man (Botham Jean). Guyger thought Jean had broken into her apartment. It turns out she mistakenly was in hisapartment.

The victim's brother (Brandt Jean) publicly and emotionally forgave Guyger in court because of the love of Jesus, which he said he hopes the ex-police officer will find. Judge Kemp gave Guyger a Bible and read to her John 3:16: "For God so loved the world…." And for that, the Freedom From Religion Foundation wants to throw the book, so to speak, at the judge.

Others on the left have also thrown a fit against the judge – and even against the victim's brother – for offering forgiveness. But forgiveness is a great healer, cutting even through the racial barriers that so divide us.

Every day, as a spiritual discipline, I review in my mind a list of Scriptural truths, including: "God has forgiven me. I forgive others. I walk in forgiveness."

Yet thoughts of revenge come naturally to us – so naturally that they're even a point of humor:

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure."
– Clarence Darrow

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it."
– Mark Twain

And then there is the famous dialogue between Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Member of Parliament Lady Astor. She said, "If you were my husband I'd poison your tea!" He shot back, "Madam, If you were my wife, I'd drink it."

All humor aside, in His classic Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus taught His followers to pray using what we call "the Lord's Prayer," or the "Our Father." Many churches, including mine, use this prayer week after week.

It includes this petition, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" or "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."

Jesus elaborated on this particular petition: "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

The forgiveness of sins by God is based on the fact that Jesus died on behalf of sinners. Those who believe in Him are forgiven and receive eternal life.

Forgiving others isn't just good spiritual living. The late Lewis Smedes of Fuller Theological Seminary once said, "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you." His 1984 book, "Forgive and Forget," according to Psychology Today (Oct. 7, 2019) "has been credited as the catalyst for modern forgiveness research."

A study reported in the U.K. Telegraph (July 8, 2019) compared the difference between those who forgive to those who hold a grudge. Forgiving is better for your mental and physical health than is "grudge-holding."

Georgia psychotherapist Angela Buttimer observes, "When we hold onto grudges and resentment, it's like drinking poison and expecting the other person to get sick."

I find all this fascinating because I maintain that the Bible beat modern psychology by 2000 years when it comes to the importance of forgiving, of letting it go.

There is a fantastic quote in an old book by two psychiatrists. In 1951, J. T. Fisher and L. S. Hawley, wrote "A Few Buttons Missing," in which they praised the good psychological principles taught by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.

Wrote Fisher and Hawley: "If you were to take the sum total of all authoritative articles ever written by the most qualified of psychologists and psychiatrists on the subject of mental hygiene – if you were to combine them and refine them and cleave out the excess verbiage – if you were to take the whole of the meat and none of the parsley, and if you were to have these unadulterated bits of pure scientific knowledge concisely expressed by the most capable of living poets, you would have an awkward and incomplete summation of the sermon on the mount. And it would suffer immeasurably through comparison."

And they add, "For nearly two thousand years, the Christian world has been holding in its hands the complete answer to its restless and fruitless yearnings. Here … rests the blueprints for successful human life with optimum mental health and contentment."

And, of course, included in that blueprint is to experience God's forgiveness and in turn to forgive others. The brother of the shooting victim and the judge are showing far more healthy behavior than their detractors are.

WND

Country legend Randy Travis cancels bulk of 2019 comeback tour

By Amanda Thomason, The Western Journal
Published October 8, 2019 at 6:22pm

Randy Travis is a country music gem who, despite nearly losing his life in 2013, has made an incredible recovery and gone on to win over even more listeners over the past few years.

While Travis is alive with his dedicated wife by his side, the journey has not been an easy one, and it's taken a lot of grit and determination for the famed country singer to find his voice again.

The serious issues started on July 5, 2013, when Travis went to the hospital for congestion, only to find that his lungs were filled with fluid.

He fell into a coma, and during that time, experienced a stroke that has set him back ever since.

After doctors warned his then-fiancée, Mary, that surgery would be his only (and very slim) chance at survival, she opted to go for it.

"At this point, the 1 to 2 percent chance is 100 percent chance over zero," she told The Tennessean in 2017.

"I prayed hard, 'God, please let me have him back, any way, shape or form.'"

And he lived -- but it has taken years for him to regain any of his former mobility, which is incredibly difficult for the once-productive musician, who has described himself as "damaged."

"I think our goal for five years is to remain hopeful and keep our heads up high and not throw in the towel and be happy with wherever God has us," Mary added. "If it’s back up on that stage singing, hallelujah."

"There is a perfectionist in him that knows he’s not singing exactly like he used to that keeps him from enjoying it like I wish he would," she continued.

"I know the world, when they hear him, they can tell it’s Randy Travis, and the more he does it, the better it’s going to get."

While he no longer graces audiences with long performances, he's made sure to highlight his talent occasionally when the situation calls for it, such as when he sang "Amazing Grace" at his 2016 induction to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

In a bid to keep fans happy and revive many of the hits he's performed over the years, Travis teamed up with James Dupré, and the two were set to start off on a tour this fall, running from Oct. 16 through Nov. 2.

This is the first real tour Travis has had since his health scare in 2013.

***

WND

Christianity goes 'illegal' with 'sanctuary denomination'

'We wanted to now act with our feet and take action'

October 8, 2019

The 2019 Evangelical Lutheran Church of America's Churchwide Assembly has voted to join the politics of "sanctuary" cities, counties and states, becoming the first "sanctuary church body" in the country.

But the impact of the decision still is being worked out.

The denomination said in its recent announcement that a "sanctuary church the ELCA is committed to serving and supporting migrant children and families in communities across the country."

The vote came shortly after hundreds of church leaders joined in a march and prayer vigil that ended up at the Milwaukee Immigration and Customs Enforcement office.

"The march addressed concerns about the human rights of migrant children and families entering the U.S. along the southern border," the denomination said. "Through the ELCA's initiative, Accompanying Migrant Minors with Protection, Advocacy, Representation and Opportunities (AMMPARO), this church is committed to work toward just and humane policies affecting migrants in and outside the U.S."

A report on the decision said the church now will respond to "raids" and fight deportation, and provide "radical hospitality" to immigrants.

The denomination, with some 3.4 million members, has been declining in numbers in recent years.

It promised to work with individual churches to "help them explore and develop sanctuary ministries."

Sanctuary cities, counties and states refuse to cooperate with the enforcement of federal immigration laws. Some have released individuals suspected or convicted of crimes into communities instead of turning them over to federal officials for deportation.

"It just keeps getting worse and worse in terms of unaccompanied children, separated families, detention centers that are just horrific, and so what we wanted to say as a church body, as the Lutheran church, we wanted to now act with our feet and take action," said Evelyn Straw, a spokeswoman for ELCA's Domestic Mission.

Local congregations are considering the impact of the decision, Montrose Daily Press in Colorado reported.

The report said, "The declaration, as of now, hasn't led to much more than some informal conversations among leadership at Montrose's Zion Lutheran Church — an ELCA church — about how members of the Montrose body can help immigrants at the United States-Mexico border."

Michael Mortvedt, an interim pastor at Zion Lutheran, said, "For us, [it means] gathering some supplies and sending them down to the border."

The church also is thinking about offering an English class.

The pastor explained the national vote didn't create any obligations for individual congregations.

"We hear 'sanctuary' and we think of people (seeking refuge) in churches — that old European church idea," Mortvedt told the Daily Press.

The Religious Right Is A Blight

October 10, 2019

The Religious Right was born during the ineptitude of the Jimmy Carter presidency and came to maturity during the Bill Clinton years. It got old and feeble during the G.W. Bush years. And now under the Trump presidency, it is nothing but a rotting corpse. The Religious Right was created to be a cure, but it has become a blight.

I was a young preacher back in the 1970s when the Religious Right (as it was dubbed by the media) was birthed. I had recently graduated from what is now the Willmington School of the Bible (named after my dean, teacher and friend, Dr. Harold Willmington—he was the main reason I transferred to the institute) at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. In fact, I was a member of Liberty’s first full graduation class in 1975. I knew the Falwell children, Jerry Jr., Jeannie and Jonathan, when they were kids. The school was small then; and the school president, Dr. Jerry Falwell Sr., and I became quite close.

Jerry spoke at my church in Florida several times, and he invited me to be the featured speaker at Liberty more than once. In 1979, Jerry asked me to be the executive director of the Florida Moral Majority, which I was happy to do. I traveled with Jerry several times on his private jet; he and I shared the platform together in several conferences; I was a featured guest on his nationally syndicated Old Time Gospel Hour television broadcast; and Jerry featured me in his national publication, the National Liberty Journal. I accompanied Jerry overseas twice, and we often spoke by phone.

During those years, I met most of the leaders of the Religious Right. I was there when Jerry led the Religious Right to endorse George H.W. Bush as Ronald Reagan’s running mate in 1980 (over the strong objections of a few of us). I was at the White House with Jerry on at least two occasions. I had audiences with President Reagan, Vice President Bush, several cabinet members, many U.S. senators, house members and governors. I was one of the young bucks in the room, but I was there.

On my nationally syndicated radio talk show during the 1990s, I interviewed and/or met most of the power elite in the Republican Party. My radio show helped elect dozens of conservatives to national, State and local offices. For those of you who have never read my full biographical sketch, here it is.

I say all of that only to prove my bona fides with the Religious Right. So, know that I am speaking as an insider, not as a critic from the outside.

The first time I remember hearing the word Zionist in public was in 1980. We were at a press conference in Washington, D.C., and a journalist asked Jerry on live television, “Are you a Zionist?” In my young ignorant mind, I remember saying to myself, “No.” The thought was still reverberating around in my head when I heard Jerry emphatically say, “Yes.” I was confused about it; but I dismissed it to my youth and lack of knowledge. Come to find out many years later, of course, that my initial instinct was 100% right.

The first tarnish on the armor of my mentors in the Religious Right came in 1996, when they overwhelmingly embraced the candidacy of Bob Dole over Pat Buchanan. I was old enough at that point to start standing on my own two feet, and I took that fight to the bitter end. That story, if told in full, is one for the history books—and it forever changed me.

When G.W. Bush came along in 2000, I was skeptical but willing to give him a chance. It didn’t take long. After only a few months of Bush’s unconstitutional conduct—and especially his pathetic penchant for warmongering—I began taking him to task over my radio talk show and in my syndicated column. My brethren in the Religious Right excoriated me. But by then, I had learned my lesson from ’96, and I was man enough to take the heat—which I did for eight long years.

Needless to say, the closeness I had shared with Jerry began to unravel as I refused to complacently go along with my brethren when they compromised principle after principle to stay on Bush’s smiley side. But I grew a tough hide and a strong constitution during those years. I now know that those years were only prep school for the Trump years.

Yes, I saw all of this coming for a long time. But I honestly could never have guessed how bad it would get, because no one (at least not me) could foresee the arrival of Donald Trump. I foolishly thought that G.W. Bush was the worst it would be. And by worst, I’m not talking about Bush; I’m talking about the fawning actions and attitudes of the Religious Right toward Bush.

The power elite that control both political parties have completely mastered the Hegelian Dialectic. They have advanced architectural and engineering degrees in the designing and building of the phony left-right paradigm. They are professional propagandists and experts in political manipulation. Tokyo Rose and Joseph Goebbels were rank amateurs compared to these monsters. And Donald Trump is their greatest achievement. He is the Frankenstein who the Religious Right believes is Cinderella.

Many of the original movers and shakers of the Religious Right (RR) are no longer with us, of course. I would like to think that those dear old souls that I remember would be turning over in their graves if they could see what their spiritual posterity has become.

Pastor Robert Jefress is out there telling the nation that if Trump is impeached, it will bring civil war to America (and, of course, our Divider-in-Chief Donald Trump broadcasts Jeffress’ idiocy to the world). Jeffress is as irresponsible and foolhardy as they come. (Actually, this impeachment effort by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could wind up being the catalyst to Trump’s reelection; and Democrats might rue the day she tried it.)

Jeffress said absolutely nothing about Trump’s promotion of “red flag” gun confiscation laws that violate the vast majority of our Bill of Rights, not to mention the very core of God’s Natural laws of liberty, but wants to take the country into civil war should the constitutional act of impeachment take place. What a crock! If there is anything that would take our country to civil war it would be attempted gun confiscation. Remember Lexington and Concord? That was ALL ABOUT gun confiscation.

I don’t remember anyone calling for civil war when the GOP House of Representatives impeached Bill Clinton with only 5—mark it, 5—Democrats voting yes for impeachment. Talk about pure partisanship. But the good Pastor Jeffress ignores the tyrannical and unconstitutional act of gun confiscation without due process (because Trump is for it) and threatens the nation with civil war over a constitutional act of Congress. This is because Jeffress cares NOTHING for the Constitution and God’s Natural laws. All he cares about is protecting Donald Trump and the Republican Party. And Jeffress is not alone.

Convicted felon and televangelist Jim Bakker (yes, he still has a large “Christian” following) is out there telling the world that if Trump loses the election next year, Christian leaders are going to be murdered. (You know things are upside down when I have to quote this article.) Talk about fear mongering; this is it. Then again, the entire RR seems to be motivated by fear and NOT faith these days.

Pat Robertson is out there decrying Trump’s withdrawal of some 50 American troops from the Turkish/Syrian border. Trump is not evacuating troops from Syria; he only moved a small contingent of troops away from the border (so American troops would not be harmed) in an apparent deal with Turkey’s government, which allows it to attack Syria without risking the lives of American troops. For this, Robertson said that Trump is in danger of “losing the mandate of heaven.” Really, Pat?

Robertson also (FINALLY) condemned Trump for aiding and abetting Saudi Arabia’s brutal murder of American resident, journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Hooray for that point, Pat. It’s a little late, don’t you think? You and the rest of the RR sat back on your hypocrisy and said absolutely NOTHING about Trump’s tacit approval of the House of Saud’s murder of Khashoggi (and tens of thousands of innocent Yemeni people, I might add).

But Robertson—along with the rest of the warmongers in the Republican Party—are suddenly righteously indignant about Trump redeploying (to another part of Syria) 50 troops? Like all of a sudden Trump has become a giant peacenik?

Donald Trump has expanded the Warfare State beyond any of his modern predecessors. He has dropped over 100,000 bombs, killing tens of thousands—maybe over 100,000 innocent people—since taking office. If he is given another term in office, Trump is on a pace to drop more bombs on more innocent people than G.W. Bush and Barack Obama put together. Trump joins those two U.S. presidents as international war criminals and mass murderers, and Pat Robertson goes ballistic over Trump moving 50 troops? Are you kidding?

I’ll tell you what this is all about. Robertson and the rest of the RR are rabid, fanatical Zionists. (Yes, as you know, I finally awakened to what that is.) Robertson’s rebuke is a shot across the bow of Trump’s ship of state warning him to not abandon their idol, Israel, fearing the possibility that he might abandon Syria.

There is only ONE thing over which the RR would abandon Trump. He can do nothing to overturn Roe v Wade, and they will support him; he can enact gun control and even gun confiscation laws, and they will support him; he can partner with gangsters and mob figures, and they will support him; he can explode deficit spending and the national debt, and they will support him. But if they perceive that he might be abandoning Israel—which Trump will NEVER do, as he is an Israeli asset—they will shout it from the housetops.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is incoherence in its rawest form.

Faith and Freedom Coalition founder and RR bigwig Ralph Reed is going to publish a book prior to next year’s elections promoting Donald Trump. The original title for the book was Render To God And Trump, which is taken from Matthew 22:21, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.” Or, in this case, Trump’s. But the title was changed, and the book will be published under the rubric For God And Country: The Christian Case For Trump.

In his book, Reed is going to argue that Christians have a “duty” to defend and vote for Trump. It would not surprise me if Reed made voting for Trump requisite for gaining entrance into Heaven. He’s also planning to hire a paid staff of 500 people and a volunteer staff of 5,000 people to knock on doors eight hours a day during 2020 for Trump.

To people such as Reed, politics—excuse me, Republican politics—is their religion. Trump is not a president; he is a savior. And the Republican Party is their church. If you think I’m exaggerating, just go to church with them one Sunday and then go to a GOP rally with them later in the week, and you’ll instantly see what I mean.

Franklin Graham is such a radical Trump toady that he is using his father’s famous evangelistic platform to travel the country, conducting rallies that are nothing more than an overt effort to move Christians to circle the wagons in support of Trump against potential impeachment. And people call me a political preacher!

The fact is, I am probably the least political preacher you’ve ever heard. I care nothing about partisan politics. I am consistent in my support of Natural law and constitutionally protected liberties in the face of a Republican challenge as much as I am in the face of a Democrat challenge. This is evidenced by the fact that when a Democrat is in the White House, Democrats hate me; and when a Republican is in the White House, Republicans hate me. Why? Because I tell the truth about both.

Then there is Jerry Falwell Jr. What a disgrace this man is to his father’s name! He is photographed carousing in nightclubs (doubtless the oldest man in the joint); he gave his son, Trey (Jerry Falwell III), $4.6 million to buy a gay-friendly/strip club-friendly hostel on Miami Beach; he attacks in vulgar terms evangelical preachers if they don’t support Donald Trump strongly enough; and he is embroiled in a mysterious business and personal relationship with a “pool boy” in Miami. And that’s just the beginning.

But as one of the most famous and most influential leaders of the RR, Jerry Falwell Jr. is one of Donald Trump’s most sycophantic toadies. Why not? They are two peas in a pod.

These men, and hundreds like them, have led America’s evangelicals over the cliff of truth and righteousness and into the abyss of putrid political partisanship. Millennial news blogger Jason Charles is right: Evangelicals Have Themselves To Blame For The Political Divide In The U.S.

When Jerry Falwell Sr. and others started the Moral Majority and the Religious Right, I believe their motives were pure. They wanted Christians to stand up for Biblical righteousness, the Natural laws of our Creator codified in the Bill of Rights and the fundamental laws of morality upon which all societies and governments must build in order to survive.

For a while, they were astoundingly successful. But, as so often happens: success ruined them.

After Ronald Reagan’s election, the RR married the Republican Party. It quickly stopped being about principles, and it started being about partisan politics. And it didn’t take long for the Republican machine to realize that the RR craved attention; it craved popularity; it craved the perks of power. And they swiftly began manipulating the RR into becoming little more than robotic cheerleaders for the GOP.

I well remember another press conference that I attended with the leaders of the RR back in the day. The reporter’s question was, “What exactly is it you want?” I thought the question was terrific. It gave us a chance to express some of the basic principles of truth that we believed and what we were all about. What an awesome opportunity. One of the key leaders of the RR back then answered by saying (and this is a quote), “All we want is a seat at the table.”

I almost gasped aloud. What? All of this effort, all of this adversity, all of this energy, all of this prayer and fasting was simply to give the leaders of the RR an opportunity to sit at the seat of power? At the time, I thought the answer was one man’s opinion. Turns out it wasn’t. He was truly speaking for many of them. To be sure, not all of them had this Machiavellian motivation, thank God. But for far, far too many of them, that is exactly what they wanted.

Well, the RR got their seat at the table. And now that Trump is president, it is a front-row seat. And I’m here to tell you, the RR will do almost anything to keep their seat at the table. When they protect Donald Trump, they are protecting themselves.

For almost three years, I have studiously documented the fundamental principles of God’s Holy Word, our Creator’s Natural Law and the principles of constitutional government that Donald Trump has egregiously and habitually violated. Worse, as far as true born again Christians should be concerned, I have detailed Trump’s blatant blasphemies against our wonderful Redeemer and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. I’ve done so, NOT because I “hate” Donald Trump (no more than I hated Barack Obama or G.W. Bush or Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter when I challenged their unconstitutional conduct) or because I think Hillary Clinton would have made a better president or because I want Donald Trump to lose the 2020 election—or ANYTHING of the sort.

I say these things because almost no one else among the RR (and I was there when it all began) will objectively and honestly say what they all would be shouting from the housetops if Trump were not a Republican. I say it in the hopes that something—SOMETHING—will awaken evangelical preachers to the need of standing on truth and principle regardless of cost, to the need of divorcing themselves from Georg Hegel’s evil left/right paradigm charade that is shrouded in the mask of partisan politics and to the need of being the independent truth-seeking, bold and courageous men of God that they are called to be—and to the need of forsaking the lust for self-aggrandizement, for which many are sacrificing the soul of our nation.

I say these things, because I fear that Gary Silverman—a man with whom I would probably disagree with just about everything—was right when he said that the Bible Belt lost God and found Trump.

Trump didn’t make America great; neither can he make America great again. God made America great. And only God can save it, much less make it great again. But as long as evangelical Christians (especially pastors) look to politicians—Donald Trump or any other politician (no doubt a Republican)—to make America great, they are unwittingly helping to make America after the similitude of what the Religious Right was originally created to change.

© Chuck Baldwin

MailOnline

Because everyone wants to walk on water! $3,000 Nike sneakers that are filled with HOLY WATER and blessed by a priest sell out just minutes after the 'Jesus shoes' were released

• The white Air Max 97s were redesigned by Brooklyn-based creative label MSCHF

• It injected colored holy water sourced from the Jordan River into the see-through inflated sections on the sole of the shoe

• Each of the pairs of the limited edition shoes were also blessed by a priest, feature a bible verse on the design, and have frankincense-scented soles

• MSCHF said that it wanted to use the religious shoe design as a way of mocking society's 'absurd collaboration culture'

• The brand shared that it made less than 24 pairs of the shoes, however there are no plans to release any more in the future, despite their popularity

• Nike did not have any input or involvement in the design, with MSCHF's head of commerce Daniel Greenberg revealing they bought the shoes at retail value

By DAILYMAIL.COM REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 23:45, 9 October 2019 | UPDATED: 23:45, 9 October 2019

Article

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THE CHRISTIAN POST

Creators of CBS' ‘Evil’ say new series explores demonic possession, miracles and prophecy

By Jeannie Law

September 24, 2019

Tv Show Evil premieres on CBS, airing Thursdays | Grace Hill Media

The creators of CBS' new psychological drama “Evil” say their aim is to give viewers a glimpse into the supernatural and explore unexplained occurrences through science and religion.

“The series focuses on a skeptical female psychologist who joins a priest-in-training and a carpenter as they investigate the Catholic Church’s backlog of unexplained mysteries, including supposed miracles, demonic possessions and hauntings. Their job is to assess if there’s a logical explanation or if something truly supernatural is at work,” the synopsis reads.

Actors Mike Colter (‘Luke Cage”), Katja Herbers (“Manhattan”), Aasif Mandvi (“The Proposal”), and Michael Emerson (“Person of Interest”), are part of the star-studded cast.

The following is an edited transcript of The Christian Post's interview with Robert and Michelle King, the husband and wife creators of “Evil” who reveal how their different beliefs inspired the new series that starts on Sunday.

CP: Where did the idea for this TV show come from?

Michelle:The idea for the show really came out of a conversation that Robert and I have been having for the last 30 years. That is, we both recognize that there's evil around us but we don't necessarily see it coming from the same place. Robert, who's a devout Catholic, explains it through religion. I, as a secular Jew, am far more likely to see it coming from psychological issues.

Robert: I think what we wanted to do was have an exciting genre show. So there would be a thrill. But it's really about the chemistry between the three lead [actors] and how very different people could work together and help each other understand why do people do bad things.

CP: Talk about the importance of people working together despite their differences, especially in a "cancel culture" where people today cancel each other out for having different beliefs or ideas.

Michelle: That was one of the most important things we wanted to underline as we were creating the show, which is we wanted people with very strong beliefs that were different from each other but that could listen to each other and be respectful of each other. Because it feels as though there's a lot of disagreement in the world that is not respectful and does not involve listening.

Robert: I think what helps for the show is they're dealing with very challenging information like "why do people do bad things? Are there miracles in the world? Is their prophecy?" And they come at it from trying to figure out whether something can be considered scientific, explainable through empirical means, or is it something that's beyond empiricism and therefore, either unexplained, as the character Kristen would determine, or something that is miraculous, as David would define it.

CP: How have the actors reacted to this theme of science versus the supernatural?

Michelle: I think they were all intrigued by the theme and characters that they haven't played before, that it was something a little bit new for them. I believe they found that exciting.

CP: Robert, we see in the first episode where a rosary is used for protection and the reciting of the Lord's Prayer. Were these things that you drew from your own belief and faith, in believing that there's power in prayer when it comes to encountering evil?

Robert: Oh, yeah. I think you'll even find it more in the second episode. It's something I believe. The last thing I want in entertainment is to shove things down people's throat. What I love are the works of Flannery O'Connor and Graham Greene, where Catholicism, in that case, or religion, are just part of the fabric of the story, they're not like, "Oh, you have to believe what I believe for this story to make sense to you."

I think part of it is seeing some of the things through Kristen's eyes, who's a nonbeliever, and she's a little alienated and yet she works through it because she sees that maybe there's a way to talk to this guy that I don't believe the same thing he does, and vice versa.

I love the fact that religious people who are strong believers really can understand the science involved in, for example, quantum mechanics or something like that. They don't see it as completely irrelevant to their lives. They see it as a way to understand the world God has made. So to me, it's just wanting to be part of the fabric of the world.

CP: Michelle, did the collaboration and writing for this series open up your understanding of what your husband believes?

Michelle: I've never been not open to what Robert believes. We have a unique partnership, you don't keep going for 30 plus years without that. For instance, I don't fast during Lent but if Robert and I are apart, I'll be the first one to text him to remind him that he isn't eating meat on Friday. So we work together.

Robert: I think for me, part of religion is the discipline of it. So that is one place where I'm probably not proselytizing Michelle that much, but you always want to be living the disciplined aspect of your faith, so I guess I do that. I think we found a good working relationship, and what's helpful with this kind of show is that there's a way to write that through to put it in the lives of the characters you're inventing.

CP: What will the faith-based audience get from a show like this, especially with a title like "Evil'?

Michelle: I actually am concerned that people might get scared by the title. But that said, I do believe that if anyone were to watch an episode, they would recognize that religion is being treated with a lot of respect. So often on TV, people who are religious or have religious ideals are patronized or made villainous, and we're doing just the opposite.

Robert: For my part, why I think people should watch it and get past the title is this show is really about both sides of the question. The second episode is about miracles. There's an episode that is completely asking, "Is there a prophecy post-revelation, post-New Testament?"

I think some of these questions are interesting and challenging, and shouldn't be separated from entertainment. I think the purpose of entertainment is to not just satisfy but to challenge, and I think there's some challenging questions about miracles that are not binary that are just, "are there miracles or are there not?"

But if there are miracles, what do you do when you don't receive one? I have a family that was very sick, who are the holiest people I know; I couldn't think of people who are more deserve of miracles than anyone else in the world. So why is a miracle not available there but is available somewhere else? That's a question from someone of faith. So I do think people of faith may want to tune in to the show because it addresses those conflicts in the show and addresses issues of faith in a complex way.

The second episode goes into the idea of prayer. The Michael Emerson character who's this demonic presence appears in David's head as he's praying, and just distracts him. And I think people who pray, one of the biggest problems with it is not boredom or anything, it's purely how do you focus as you pray? So I do think, in an entertainment mold, there is a lot to find there if people work past the title.

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CJN

THE JEWISH ORIGINS OF THE VULCAN SALUTE

By Lindsay Traves

September 22, 2019

“Live long and prosper.” These words, along with the Vulcan salute, are immediately recognized and associated with Star Trek, which is celebrating the 53rd anniversary of its first episode this month. Their origins do not emanate from the vast final frontier, however, but rather from Leonard Nimoy’s Jewish heritage.

With Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry’s mission was to tell stories that included elements from a diversity of cultures, be they alien or Earthly. So when Leonard Nimoy had an idea for a Vulcan greeting, Roddenberry let him bring along a piece of his culture.

Nimoy recounted the story of Star Trek’s Season 2 premiere, titled “Amok Time,” the first episode of the show where Spock visited the planet Vulcan (where he was to be married). It would be the first time another Vulcan would be seen on screen. After considering the greetings people have across cultures, Nimoy thought the Vulcans should have one of their own.

Though most of us immediately recognize the salute as the Vulcan greeting, its true origin comes directly from the Torah.

I met with Rabbi Howard Morrison of Beth Emeth Synagogue in Toronto, an expert on both Judaism and “nerd TV culture,” who told me more about the origin of the salute. “When the Kohanim do the priestly blessing, they take their two hands and bring the thumbs together and it’s like the ‘Live long and prosper’ sign,” he explained. But, Rabbi Morrison continued, the version in the blessing differs slightly: Spock “only does it on the show with the one hand,” he noted, “but the Kohanim, when they do the blessing, use two hands, and connect the thumbs to make the Hebrew letter shin (representing the first letter of one of God’s names).

The hand sign is done during the performance of the blessing by the Kohanim, who stand at the front of the sanctuary and bless the congregation. Historically, this was done daily in the Holy Temple, when it stood in Jerusalem. “You needed the Kohanim and their officiating to be able to fulfill certain Jewish practices,” Rabbi Morrison explained, adding, “Now, the blessing is done ‘symbolically’ by the Kohanim daily in Israel, and outside, during festivals.” (The words in the blessing itself are part of the daily prayers, but the sign we know as the Vulcan salute is only done when the Kohanim are called upon to stand before the congregation and recite them.

Though Jewish fans of Star Trek might be thrilled by the revelation of something so deep in our culture, many of us have never seen the hand sign used in religious practice. Per Rabbi Morrison, “You’re not supposed to look when the Kohanim do the blessing and ‘salute,’ because you are supposed to be focusing on the words and thinking of God as opposed to focusing on the people saying the words.

“There are some who believe that if you look, you will go blind, but the idea is that the focus should be on hearing the words and internalizing the meaning of the words and not looking at the Kohanimwho are doing it. But neither Nimoy or I could help ourselves – we peeked.” Indeed, the Spock actor recalled a time he attended synagogue and his father told him not to look when five or six men stepped to the bimah and began shouting a blessing. He knew something “major” was happening, so he snuck a view of those men with their hands poking out from their tallitot in a striking hand sign that he thought was “magical.” Years later, Nimoy would suggest this magical hand sign extend from his personal heritage to that of his character.

Though Nimoy could flash the sign with ease, not every Vulcan could. Celia Lovsky, who played T’Pau, the Vulcan minister, was unable to do the sign on her own and had her fingers taped together for production. Zachary Quinto allegedly had some trouble with the salute and did some Vulcan finger exercises while preparing for his most logical role. It was said his fingers were glued together for production, but Quinto swears this is just a rumour. Though I can’t say for sure, I have a suspicion that Arlene Martel, who played Spock’s bride-to-be, T’Pring, a fellow eastern European Jew, could probably flash the sign with ease.

This story was originally published by StarTrek.com and CBS.

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RUSSIA INSIDER

Jews Dominated the Bloody Terror Apparatus of Stalin's USSR

February 13, 2018

This is an article from 2006 written by a Jewish author in one of Israel's largest online news sites, Ynet. It calls for Jews to recognize their guilt in one of history's bloodiest crimes. It's original title was "Stalin's Jews"

19th and 20th of December 1917, in the midst of the Bolshevik revolution and civil war, Lenin signed a decree calling for the establishment of The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage, also known as Cheka.

Genrikh Yagoda

Within a short period of time, Cheka became the largest and cruelest state security organization. Its organizational structure was changed every few years, as were its names: From Cheka to GPU, later to NKVD, and later to KGB.

We cannot know with certainty the number of deaths Cheka was responsible for in its various manifestations, but the number is surely at least 20 million, including victims of the forced collectivization, the hunger, large purges, expulsions, banishments, executions, and mass death at Gulags.

Lazar Kaganovich

Whole population strata were eliminated: Independent farmers, ethnic minorities, members of the bourgeoisie, senior officers, intellectuals, artists, labor movement activists, "opposition members" who were defined completely randomly, and countless members of the Communist party itself.

In his new, highly praised book "The War of the World, "Historian Niall Ferguson writes that no revolution in the history of mankind devoured its children with the same unrestrained appetite as did the Soviet revolution. In his book on the Stalinist purges, Tel Aviv University's Dr. Igal Halfin writes that Stalinist violence was unique in that it was directed internally.

Leonid Reichman

Lenin, Stalin, and their successors could not have carried out their deeds without wide-scale cooperation of disciplined "terror officials," cruel interrogators, snitches, executioners, guards, judges, perverts, and many bleeding hearts who were members of the progressive Western Left and were deceived by the Soviet regime of horror and even provided it with a kosher certificate.

All these things are well-known to some extent or another, even though the former Soviet Union's archives have not yet been fully opened

to the public. But who knows about this? Within Russia itself, very few people have been brought to justice for their crimes in the NKVD's and KGB's service. The Russian public discourse today completely ignores the question of "How could it have happened to us?" As opposed to Eastern European nations, the Russians did not settle the score with their Stalinist past.

And us, the Jews? An Israeli student finishes high school without ever hearing the name "Genrikh Yagoda," the greatest Jewish murderer of the 20th Century, the GPU's deputy commander and the founder and commander of the NKVD. Yagoda diligently implemented Stalin's collectivization orders and is responsible for the deaths of at least 10 million people. His Jewish deputies established and managed the Gulag system. After Stalin no longer viewed him favorably, Yagoda was demoted and executed, and was replaced as chief hangman in 1936 by Yezhov, the "bloodthirsty dwarf."

Yezhov was not Jewish but was blessed with an active Jewish wife. In his Book "Stalin: Court of the Red Star", Jewish historian Sebag Montefiore writes that during the darkest period of terror, when the Communist killing machine worked in full force, Stalin was surrounded by beautiful, young Jewish women.

Stalin's close associates and loyalists included member of the Central Committee and Politburo Lazar Kaganovich. Montefiore characterizes him as the "first Stalinist" and adds that those starving to death in Ukraine, an unparalleled tragedy in the history of human kind aside from the Nazi horrors and Mao's terror in China, did not move Kaganovich.

Many Jews sold their soul to the devil of the Communist revolution and have blood on their hands for eternity. We'll mention just one more: Leonid Reichman, head of the NKVD's special department and the organization's chief interrogator, who was a particularly cruel sadist.

In 1934, according to published statistics, 38.5 percent of those holding the most senior posts in the Soviet security apparatuses were of Jewish origin. They too, of course, were gradually eliminated in the next purges. In a fascinating lecture at a Tel Aviv University convention this week, Dr. Halfin described the waves of soviet terror as a "carnival of mass murder," "fantasy of purges", and "essianism of evil." Turns out that Jews too, when they become captivated by messianic ideology, can become great murderers, among the greatest known by modern history.

The Jews active in official communist terror apparatuses (In the Soviet Union and abroad) and who at times led them, did not do this, obviously, as Jews, but rather, as Stalinists, communists, and "Soviet people." Therefore, we find it easy to ignore their origin and "play dumb": What do we have to do with them? But let's not forget them. My own view is different. I find it unacceptable that a person will be considered a member of the Jewish people when he does great things, but not considered part of our people when he does amazingly despicable things.

Even if we deny it, we cannot escape the Jewishness of "our hangmen," who served the Red Terror with loyalty and dedication from its establishment. After all, others will always remind us of their origin.

Source: ynet news

NATURAL NEWS

U.S. Marines reserve units activated for “emergency within the United States” which “will come with little warning” – cites “threats in the Homeland”

Sunday, October 06, 2019 by: Mike Adams

(Natural News) BREAKING NEWS UPDATE concerning a directive involving the United States Marine Corps reserve units via MARADMINS number 550/19, signed on Oct. 3, 2019, authorized by Brigadier General Daniel L. Shipley, Director, Manpower Plans and Policy.

Notably, Brigadier General Daniel L. Shipley was nominated by President Trump for the rank of major general, according to a Jan. 16, 2019 Defense.gov press announcement. Before serving in his current role, Shipley served as the deputy director, Program Analysis and Evaluation, Department of Programs and Resources for the U.S. Marines.

This new order is summarized as, “MARINES ORDERED TO ACTIVE DUTY ISO DEFENSE SUPPORT OF CIVIL AUTHORITIES.” (The term “ISO” means In Support Of.”)

Note: There is disinfo being circulated about this order, claiming it was cancelled, but the cancelled order is 300/14, not 500/19. In fact, this new order 500/19 replaces a lot of previous orders, reestablishing the urgency of the situation and making sure any action to defend the Homeland is authorized by orders that are in good standing.

Many observers are concerned that with Democrats like Rep. Tlaib openly talking about which prisons to use for imprisoning President Trump and his cabinet, and with Hillary Clinton positioning herself to run for president, and with the IG’s FISA abuses report set to drop in a few weeks, the deep state Democrats have reached a point of desperation where they may attempt to initiate a “hot coup” (kinetic engagement, arrest or execution of the President and his Cabinet) to avoid going to prison themselves.

The entire CIA-run deep state media (i.e. Washington Post, NYY, CNN, etc.) are all in on the effort and now gaslighting the entire nation with ginned up “whistleblower” schemes that are wholesale fabrications.

TIME

'My Great and Unmatched Wisdom': Trump Ignores Warnings on Syria Retreat, Threatens to 'Destroy' Turkish Economy

BY JOHN WALCOTT AND W.J. HENNIGAN

UPDATED: OCTOBER 7, 2019 10:49 PM ET

***

CNN

Republican anger grows as Trump disavows Kurds by saying they didn't help during WWll

By Nicole Gaouett

October 10, 2019

Washington (CNN)Republicans savaged President Donald Trump Wednesday for allowing Turkey to attack US allies in Syria as the President offered varying reasons for giving Turkey the green light, including the fact that Kurds did not fight alongside the US in World War II.

Turkey launched its military operation to flush Kurds allied with the US out of northeastern Syria sparking outrage in Congress, creating rare bipartisan unity about the risks to the Kurds, US national security interests, regional stability and the fight against ISIS.

Trump apparently gave Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the go-ahead on Sunday to proceed with his long-planned move against Kurdish fighters who make up part of the Syrian Defense Forces and who lost thousands of men fighting with the US against ISIS.

As Turkish planes pounded Kurdish positions from the air and with artillery, CNN reporters on the ground in Syria reported smoke billowing from several large explosions as desperate civilians -- women, children and men -- fled the area on foot, some pushing others in wheelchairs, many crammed into the back of pickup trucks.

With humanitarian groups reporting the bombardment could displace as many as 300,000 people, Erdogan's top adviser told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that Trump knew in advance about the scope of the Turkish attack.

"President Trump and President Erdogan have reached an understanding over precisely what this operation is," Gulnur Aybet said from Ankara on Wednesday. "He knows what the scope of this operation is."

The news trickling out of Syria fed increasing Republican anger, as lawmakers, former officials and analysts reacted throughout the day, and the US military stayed conspicuously silent.

'Sickening'

"News from Syria is sickening," Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the third-ranking Republican in the House, tweeted Wednesday, echoing lawmakers across the spectrum. "Turkish troops preparing to invade Syria from the north, Russian-backed forces from the south, ISIS fighters attacking Raqqa. Impossible to understand why @realDonaldTrump is leaving America's allies to be slaughtered and enabling the return of ISIS."

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio noted that "at request of this administration the Kurds served as the primary ground fighters against ISIS in Syria so U.S. troops wouldn't have to." Then, he charged, the administration "cut deal with Erdogan allowing him to wipe them out. Damage to our reputation & national interest will be extraordinary & long lasting."

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland on Wednesday announced a framework to place immediate sanctions on senior Turkish government officials, ban all US military business and military transactions with Turkey, and immediately activate 2017 sanctions on the country until Ankara stops its operations against the Kurds.

"This unlawful and unwarranted attack against an American friend and partner threatens the lives and livelihoods of millions of civilians, many of whom have already fled from their homes elsewhere in Syria to find safety in this region," Graham and Van Hollen said in a statement.

"This invasion will ensure the resurgence of ISIS in Syria, embolden America's enemies including Al Qaeda, Iran, and Russia, and launch yet another endless conflict in what had been, until today, one of the most safe and stable areas of Syria and a region experimenting with the best model of local governance currently available in that war-torn country."

Brad Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies -- a veteran with 15 years active duty service -- reflected the sentiment of many other Republicans CNN spoke with, describing the day as "a sickening and shameful moment in US history and I put that at the foot of the President."

'Millions have died'

Both Pentagon and State Department officials had advised Trump against making the move, arguing a US presence is needed to counter ISIS and keep Iran and Russia, both influential inside Syria, in check.

Syrian Democratic Forces said in a statement Wednesday that they were suspending military operations against ISIS in northern Syria following the "Turkish aggression."

On Sunday, after Trump's phone call with Erdogan, the White House said US troops would move out the way and would not support or be involved in the operation. Trump downplayed Turkey's move in comments to reporters at the White House Wednesday.

He shrugged off the likely escape of ISIS fighters from Kurdish prisons, essentially saying it is Europe's problem, not his. "Well, they're going to be escaping to Europe, that's where they want to go," Trump said. He added that "we have no soldiers in the area."

Trump downplayed the alliance with the Kurds, 11,000 of whom died fighting to help the US mission against ISIS. "They didn't help us in the second World War, they didn't help us with Normandy for example," Trump said. "They're there to help us with their land, and that's a different thing." Normandy is an area of France, not the US.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday that it was "false" that the US withdrawal of troops from northeastern Syria was a green light for the slaughter of the Kurds, but did not explicitly endorse them as US allies.

Analysts such as Bowman say part of the outrage is driven by the fact that "we would have not defeated ISIS' Caliphate ... without their help" and that the Kurds had just recently lowered their defenses, trusting the US to protect them from Turkey.

Since August, the US has been pushing the Kurds to dismantle their defensive fortifications and pull back their troops along the border that Turkey is now attacking as part of a "security mechanism" framework. The goal was to appease Turkey enough so they wouldn't invade. Kurds agreed to participate "presumably because they trusted the US to restrain the Turks diplomatically," Bowman said.

"We are breaking faith with the Kurds," Bowman said. "The SDF did everything we asked them to do. This will have ramifications for every individual soldier, every squad, every platoon operating in a dangerous place trying to earn the trust of their partners."

Earlier Wednesday, Trump took angrily to Twitter to push back on criticism. The President appeared to reference the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which was premised on faulty and manipulated intelligence that former leader Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

"There were NONE!" Trump tweeted. "Now we are slowly & carefully bringing our great soldiers & military home. Our focus is on the BIG PICTURE!"

'Untrustworthy'

But analysts and lawmakers of all stripes argue that the big picture and benefits to the US of standing its ground are exactly what Trump is missing. They pointed to the ramifications for future US alliances and the fight against ISIS, which remains a threat, among other issues.

They said the move was strategically shortsighted in Syria and internationally, that it will lend credibility to the narrative -- often pushed by Iran and Russia -- that the US is an unreliable partner making it harder to build future coalitions. That could mean that the US may have to send its own forces into harm's way more often.

"People will come to see the United States as untrustworthy or transactional," Bowman said. "The net result is that the next time we need friends allies partners, they won't be there."

Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah pointed to the sense that once Trump pulled the US back, the Turkish attack was inevitable.

"Reports indicate Turkey is predictably attacking the Kurdish allies we abandoned," Romney tweeted. "It's a tragic loss of life among friends shamefully betrayed. We can only hope the President's decision does not lead to even greater loss of life and a resurgence of ISIS."

The wave of criticism -- including from a usually acquiescent Republican Party and in particular from some staunch Trump allies -- seemed to sting the President into damage control mode. On Wednesday afternoon, he released a statement that did not mention his role in giving Erdogan the green light or the fate of the Kurdish fighters.

'A bad idea'

"From the first day I entered the political arena, I made it clear that I did not want to fight these endless, senseless wars—especially those that don't benefit the United States," Trump said.

Trump said Turkey had "committed to protecting civilians, protecting religious minorities" and "ensuring no humanitarian crisis takes place," and said Ankara "is now responsible for ensuring all ISIS fighters being held captive remain in prison and that ISIS does not reconstitute in any way, shape, or form."

Graham, usually a stalwart Trump ally, is predicting his sanctions legislation on Turkey will have a veto-proof majority in the Senate, making it impossible for Trump to stop.

Trump responded to talk of the bipartisan legislation saying "Lindsey and I feel differently."

"I think Lindsey would like to stay there for the next 200 years and maybe add a couple a hundred thousand people every place. But I disagree with Lindsey on that. But I will tell you that I do agree on sanctions."

Trump claimed he has stopped Erdogan from moving into Syria "from virtually the first day" he was in office. "They wanted to fight, and that's the way it is," Trump said.

***

RT

‘Hey EU, wake up’: Erdogan threatens to send millions of refugees to Europe if EU labels Turkish op in Syria an invasion

10 Oct, 2019

A Turkish soldier walks next to a Turkish military vehicle during a joint U.S.-Turkey patrol, near Tel Abyad, Syria September 8, 2019. © REUTERS/Rodi Said

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Europe against criticizing his country’s newly-launched military incursion into Syria, claiming he could allow millions of refugees to pour into the EU if he so chooses.

In a speech to lawmakers from his AK party, Erdogan warned that there would be repercussions if Europe viewed Turkey’s operation in Syria as an invasion.

Hey EU, wake up. I say it again: if you try to frame our operation there as an invasion, our task is simple: we will open the doors and send 3.6 million migrants to you.

The threat comes after European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said that Ankara “must cease the ongoing military operation” in northeast Syria. He said that the incursion would “not work” and that Turkey should not expect Europe’s help with creating a so-called “safe-zone.”

Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring on Wednesday, in order to create a “safe zone” on the Syrian side of the border. The area is controlled by US-backed Kurdish militias, which Ankara views as terrorists. Erdogan claimed that Turkish forces have already killed 109 “militants” since the operation began.

US forces withdrew from the region earlier this week, prompting accusations that US President Donald Trump had betrayed Washington’s Kurdish allies. As a result, leaders of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have signaled that they might turn to Damascus and Moscow to repel the Turkish incursion.

***

MailOnline

In the dark: Outraged Californians scramble to get supplies as the PG&E power cut off is expected to affect about 2 million people – closing schools, shuttering businesses and overwhelming roadways

• The PG&E power shutoff began Wednesday morning and is the largest effort to combat wildfires caused by windblown power lines in the state's history

• Californians are outraged as the PG&E's power shutoff, announced on Tuesday, forces them to scramble for supplies

• Schools have been cancelled, businesses shut down, roadways overwhelmed with disabled traffic lights and dwindling supplies in stores

• One of the shutoff's biggest critics are those living in senior centers and people who rely on electric medical supplies

• PG&E have assured residents this is a preventative measure to reduce the risk of preventable wildfires

• Power cuts can be expected to be seen in 34 counties, affect nearly 800,000 customers and leave around 2 million people in the dark

By ASSOCIATED PRESS and LAUREN EDMONDS FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 06:22, 9 October 2019 | UPDATED: 02:14, 10 October 2019

PG&E shared maps (pictured) outlining potential areas in California that could be affected, including parts of San Francisco, Redding and Sacramento

Article

***

DAILY RECKENING

Are You Prepared for a US Bank Bail-In?

Jeff Berwick

November 6, 2013

If you have cash in a US bank, you can expect to have the federal government take it all the next time US banks find themselves in trouble.

The days of the federal government stealing money from taxpayers, or borrowing it from the Federal Reserve, to save troubled banks — as in they did in the 2008 crisis — may be over. Congress is considering imitating the theft in Cyprus and letting troubled banks “bail-in” depositor money in order to make themselves solvent.

Jim Sinclair, chairman and chief executive officer of Tanzania Royalty Exploration Corp., and whose family started Goldman Sachs, Salomon Brothers, Lehman Brothers, and others, has been warning of this for a while.

“Bail-ins are coming to North America without any doubt, and will be remembered as the ‘Great Leveling,’ of the ‘great Flushing’. Not only can it happen here, but it will happen here…It stands on legal grounds by legal precedent both in the US, Canada and the UK.”

Financial expert Michael Snyder adds, “When major banks fail, they are going to bail them out by grabbing the money that is in your bank accounts. This is going to absolutely shatter faith in the banking system and it is actually going to make it far more likely that we will see major bank failures all over the Western world.”

This news isn’t exactly new, but the story is still developing, the monetary system is much closer to collapse and the bail-in is imminent. In fact, US banks presented the Federal Reserve with a bail-in plan to pay for large banks’ restructuring in the event of a future crisis, The Wall Street Journal reports. The plan was presented to the US Federal Reserve in an attempt to preempt tougher rules from the regulators.

The private meeting was reportedly attended by officials from Wells Fargo & Company, Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc. and several other banks. The bail-in mechanism would be designed to place a greater burden on creditors, as opposed to the taxpayers (theft victims), in the event of a bank’s collapse. In addition to the fleecing of depositors in Cyprus, the burden keeping a bank afloat was put on bondholders already this year when the UK’s Co-operative bank unveiled a rescue package that forced the bank’s bondholders to take a £1.5 billion hit to plug the £1.5 billion hole in the bank’s balance sheet.

The proposal presented to Federal Reserve officials would involve the largest financial-services holding companies would be willing to hold a certain amount of debt and equity which would be used to prop up any failed bank subsidiary seized by regulators, but the regulators will likely stick to their own plans which involves more aggressive measures including capping bank-size, breaking-up institutions or forcing banks to take on more long-term debt.

In the end, however, it’s not just creditors who will be on the hook but depositors as well. Jim Sinclair pointed out that banks legally own depositors’ funds as soon as the depositors hand those funds over to the banks. The money becomes the banks and the “depositors” actually become unsecured creditors holding promises to pay. Previously the banks were obligated to pay back this loan on demand with cash. Under the new Federal Deposit Insurance Company – Bank of England (FDIC-BOE) plan revealed this year, however, these promises to pay become equity in the bank, which won’t be able to be used as payments for bills, which is why most people have money in the bank in the first place.

The point is that your money is not yours while it is “deposited” with a bank. And bail-ins are coming to shatter any illusion that they are for US depositors. Notice that banks are already setting up deposits for seizure. Despite the excuses of the likes of JPMorgan, the banks are indeed clamping down on outgoing international wire transfers and now putting in limits for withdrawal that they are closing the doors. If you don’t get your money out now, possibly by end of this year or sooner, you may not be able ever to get it out. Once doors are closed the federal government might do a bank holiday and bail in to make the banks “solvent” again. At best you may get some “bank equity” that is both illiquid and which will ultimately be worth a tiny fraction of the deposit it replaces.

And, not to mention FATCA coming into effect in July 2014 it will be nearly impossible for an American to get a bank account outside the US (it already is, but will be even worse). Now is the time to get your assets in an offshore account and TDV can help. Click here to learn more about how with TDV offshore.

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ALT-MARKET.com

Geopolitical Signals Of Global Economic Crisis Abound

Brandon Smith

October 10, 2019

As I write this, news feeds are buzzing with questions and confusion over the October US/China trade talks. In September there was a massive propaganda campaign within the mainstream media to push the notion that a deal with China was imminent, which boosted markets otherwise on the verge of a plunge due to a hailstorm of bad financial news. This media campaign also indicated to me that there would be no deal in October – best case, there will be an announcement of “progress” and a temporary pause in tariffs, which will fall apart once again in a month's time. Worst case scenario, the talks will falter before they ever really begin. Either way, the trade war will continue well into next year.

As I predicted in my article 'The Ugly Truth About The Trade War' in September:

"...Every couple of months the trade war deal hype is recycled and every couple of months the markets are hit with renewed disappointment. The latest trade talks are set for Octoberand if they happen at all, it is unlikely they will result in anything of significance. At most, they will be heralded as the "start of a great deal" and both sides will claim "progress was made", and then, once again, nothing will happen and the conflict will accelerate. You would think people would have figured it out by now, but the investment world learns very slowly and functions solely on blind hope. At the very least, economic analysts are starting to realize that no deal is coming and that the situation is only going to get more tense. In fact, it is designed to get more tense..."

The trade war is only one of many major distractions being implemented at this time. While Trump plays his role for the globalist establishment as a bumbling populist villain and a Herbert Hoover clone, the sheer scope of events is becoming quite epic. This crash must be treated slightly different from the crash of 2008, because if we are to predict the pace of the implosion, we have to measure the number of geopolitical signals rather than just the financial signals.

That is to say, the globalists will trigger a Lehman Moment when there is enough geopolitical tension to keep the public mesmerized. In this way, they hope to conjure a “perfect storm”, one that can be blamed for the crisis they created. It would seem that as we close in on the end of 2019 we are very near to the avalanche...

Here I would like to briefly cover a number of developments that have accelerated in the past couple of weeks and give my take on what they mean to the liberty movement and the economy at large. Some people might question the idea that these events have economic implications. I suggest they look at the bigger picture. Much of what is happening today is engineered by the establishment not only as cover for the financial downturn, but also as partial fuel for collapse.

Trump/Ukraine Impeachment Circus

As I noted in my last article, Trump cannot be anti-globalist while working directly with global elites on a daily basis. The impeachment farce, like Russiagate, is carefully crafted 4^th Generation warfare designed to keep leftists rabidly extreme while pushing conservatives fearful of a leftist takeover into the waiting arms of Trump, a puppet of the banking elites beholden to the Rothschild family for saving his fortune in the 1990s. The elites have no intention of getting rid of Trump at this time – he is too useful to them and their script, which requires an unstable conservative nationalist anti-globalist that eventually destroys the American economy.

The impeachment proceedings are far more likely to blow back on Joe Biden and remove him from the Democratic primaries, opening the door to an alternative candidate (probably Elizabeth Warren). With Bernie Sanders much too old and heart attack prone, Warren makes the most sense as the establishment choice for the 2020 Dem candidate.

Talk of Hillary Clinton entering the race as a kind of Cracker Jack candidate seems like Kabuki theater to me. Warren's scandals are rather minor compared to Clinton's, and really, the leftists don't care anyway. Her lying about being fired from a job in the 1970's for a pregnancy will be forgotten well before November, especially in the event that we are in the middle of a 2008-level economic crash. Liberty movement activists should not get too worked up about Clinton, they should focus more on Warren, and overall, they should stop deluding themselves into thinking that the election matters in the slightest.

As for Trump's impeachment, it will probably fall apart by the end of the Democratic primaries, but this in no way secures Trump's presidency (for those that still actually think that Trump is on the side of the liberty movement). Trump's role as president will only continue so long as the US economy limps forward. If we do see a Lehman moment before the election, then Trump is slated to be removed from office.

The only wild card scenario I could see taking place in terms of the impeachment is that it hangs on until the election and throughout the economic downturn, and is shockingly successful. In this case, Trump would be removed from office (potentially) just before he was about to lose the election anyway. Why would the establishment make such a move? Because it would galvanize both the left and the right into a possible widespread conflagration; more so that merely replacing Trump with someone like Warren.

Believe it or not, there are actually a minority of dummies in the liberty movement that want to fight a civil war over Trump. I suggest that it would be a strategic disaster to fight a civil war over a banker puppet that is TRYING to take credit for the market bubble and by default the crash. It would be the fastest way for the liberty movement to lose all credibility. If we do end up in a war, it should not be in the name of Trump and should be focused on the banking elites, not the Democrats.   Beyond this, if the elites need a distraction and scapegoat for their controlled demolition of the economy, a mindless left/right civil war would be more than enough to do the trick.

US/China Trade War On The Edge Of Something More Dangerous

The trade war has lasted for around 22 months; far longer than most analysts in the mainstream and alternative media predicted. Do not be surprised if it goes on until the end of 2020, or perhaps even longer. The conflict (like Trump) is FAR too useful to simply get rid of at this time

There are some analysts out there that assume that the globalists want to keep the current system propped up. They assume that the elites need it to continue, or they will “lose their power”. I wish it was that easy. Sadly, these people have been blinded by a narrow view of events and history. The elites are VERY AWARE of the consequences of what they are doing, and they absolutely intend for those consequences to happen. In order for them to build their “new world order”, the old world order has to be dismantled.

Part of this process will eventually require the end of the US dollar's world reserve status and it's replacement with a basket currency system and a eventually a cashless society, as has been openly discussed by globalist institutions like the IMF.

I can't think of a better way for the elites to kill the dollar than to spark off a trade war with China until China uses the “nuclear option” as the largest importer/exporter in the world and abandons the dollar in global trade. With China dropping the dollar, numerous other nations will follow their lead in order to maintain ties to their manufacturing base. China has already begun dumping US treasuriesexponentially. People tracking the trade war should understand that the final outcome if the trade war continues will be the end of the dollar's reserve status.

Dollar advocates and fanboys will cry “No way!”, but they will be proven wrong in due course.

The Turkey/Syria/Kurdish Debacle

Over a year ago the Trump Administration pronounced the end of US troop involvement in Syria. This action was applauded by conservatives and liberty advocates as a sign that Trump was finally going to follow through on his campaign promises to stop the endless wars in the Middle East. Of course, it was announced only a week later that US troops would be staying where they were.

Now, we see the propaganda narrative that Trump is "fighting the establishment" yet again as he returns with ANOTHER declaration that US troops will be removed from Syria, this time in the face of a potential Turkish invasion in the region. I'm not sure how, but the Q-cult is spinning this move as a "Win" for Trump, perhaps because the Republican establishment is stating it is against the move. Already, Trump has been walking back his statements and indicating that troops will indeed be staying in Syria (but still not interfering in the ethnic cleansing of our Kurdish allies by Turkey).

This merely shows that nothing Trump says can be taken seriously and that we should wait and see what ACTUALLY happens in the coming weeks. In all likelihood, a Syrian "withdrawal" is meant to trigger a separate agenda, and this agenda may include an economic or shooting war with Turkey.

I have said for many years, long before the Syrian civil war was instigated by western covert agencies, that Syria represents a key component for a wider war in the Middle East. With so many interests involved in Syria, from the US to Iran to Russian to Turkey, one conflict in the region could spread into many conflicts. At the very least, it looks like my prediction in January that Turkey would leave NATO by the end of 2019 might be proven correct.

Brexit Confusion

I continue to see the Brexit storm in the UK resulting in a “No Deal” outcome, or, a bad deal outcome that looks a lot like a No Deal. I believe the Brexit itself, while noble in the movement that supports it, is actually a highly beneficial situation for the globalists IF it ends in a 'No Deal'. The mainstream media and multiple elites have set the narrative that a No Deal will result in fiscal calamity. Of course, the elites have already ensured economic calamity by creating and then popping the Everything Bubble; but as with Trump in the US, they need someone to blame in Europe for the damage that is about to be done to the public.

The Brexit movement and sovereignty activists are the intended scapegoats. While the intricacies of parliamentary gymnastics in the UK are difficult to track, so far it appears that Boris Johnson will seek to follow through with Brexit at the end of this month. While there is a potential for a three month extension, I still see no indication that Johnson plans to acknowledge it. Even more interesting is that the EU is hell bent on refusing any deal, all while painting the Brexit campaign as uncompromising. It's as if the European establishment WANTS a No Deal...

This makes sense on a surface level, as any good deal that ends with the British leaving the EU might encourage other nations to leave the supranational union as well. A No Deal ending in disaster for the UK and parts of Europe would inspire Europeans to want even more centralization. As the new head of the IMF stated this week, nations must 'unite to halt the global economic slowdown'. In other words, give up your sovereignty or you will be made to suffer.  But going much deeper, a No Deal blamed for an economic crash would also set up sovereignty activists in Europe as the bad guys, all while the banking elites elude any scrutiny.

The Perfect Storm?

I have to say, even more so than 2016, 2019/2020 is shaping up to be the most unstable time period in modern world history. I do not think this is a storm of coincidences. The evidence does not support this notion. Rather, the evidence shows a deliberate agenda of destabilization, one that serves the interests of a globalist minority that functions much like an organization of guerrillas, or terrorists. One of the primary goals of any guerrilla war is to covertly undermine the infrastructure and economy of a system so that the population is forced to adapt to a new way of thinking – and the globalists already have a particular ideology in mind.

In other words, chaos is useful in that it can be exploited to frighten or manipulate the public psyche. The most important target of a war is the mind of the enemy. Everything else is peripheral. Killing an enemy is not enough. There are always more to replace the ones you kill. But if you can trick the enemy into giving up, or thinking just like you do, or even trick him into admiring you, then your enemy becomes your slave without knowing it. No one will replace him, and thus, there are no more opponents to fight you. This is the path to total victory that the globalists most desire.

***

ZeroHedge

Bank Crisis Hits India: "Bank Stops Functioning, People Crying Outside Bank Branches"

By Tyler Durden

October 5, 2019

The Punjab Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC), in India, has been caught cooking the books and misreporting non-preforming loans (NPL) of Mumbai-based real estate developer Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL). As Reuters reports, PMC hid the bad loans with 21,000 fictitious accounts, which has spooked depositors, investors and government officials,

Reuters learned about the massive fraud through a complaint filed with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police earlier this week, alleges that PMC concealed $616 million in NPLs.

BloombergQuint said PMC's loan book had a 73% exposure to HDIL's failed real estate dealings.

"The actual financial position of the bank was camouflaged, & the bank deceptively reflected a rosy picture of its financial parameters," said the complaint, noting that the fictitious loan accounts were not entered into the bank's core banking system - a factor key in the perpetration of a $2 billion fraud at Punjab National Bank that was uncovered in 2018, said Reuters.

The complaint says PMC's Chairman Waryam Singh and its Managing Director Joy Thomas were at the center point of the fraud. It also names HDIL's former senior executives Sarang Wadhwan and Rakesh Wadhwa, who were the recipients of the real estate loans.

As recession fears intensify in India, the PMC banking crisis has ignited the debate among government officials that the banking sector could be headed for turmoil.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) took over PMC last week and has prevented the bank from new loan creation, while nearly 900,000 depositors have been informed that capital controls are being placed on their accounts for six months.

Dozens of videos have been uploaded to social media this week, detailing how depositors are being locked out of their accounts, some fear the worst, as the bank has likely failed.

One depositor said he lost all of his money in the PMC banking crisis.

Thousands of people have marched in the streets this week, demanding PMC return their savings.

Another heartbreaking moment when a woman discovers her family's savings were completely wiped out in the banking crisis.

Hundreds crowd inside one PMC bank branch, attempting to withdraw their savings, as they learn the bank failed.

CNBC TV18 reported depositors are feeling "anger and pain" as they learn capital controls have limited them to only withdrawing $100.

With a financial crisis developing, the Reserve Bank of India is scrambling to reassure the public that the banking sector isn't imploding.

***

ZeroHedge

GE Freezes Pension Benefits For 20,000 Employees To Lower Debt Burden

By Tyler Durden

October 7, 2019

In what looks like a dry run of the looming pension crisis facing corporate America, GE said on Monday that it would freeze pension plan benefits for 20,000 American employees with salaried benefits, WSJ reports. The company also plans to freeze supplementary benefits for roughly 700 employees who became executives before 2011 in an attempt to shave as much as $8 billion off its long-term pension deficit.

With GE shares down 20% since Larry Culp took over as CEO last year, the CEO who was supposed to rescue the company's perennially-languishing share price is facing pressure to cut GE's debt burden amid a downturn in the company's power-equipment business, Bloomberg reports.

To offset the cuts, the company is planning to pre-fund $4 billion to $5 billion of the retirement obligations it's anticipating for 2021 and 2022 (the obligations are owed according to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or Erisa).

The money will come from $38 billion GE expects to net from divestitures and savings from the pension freezes.

GE's plans to offer 100,000 former employees who haven't yet started collecting retirement benefits the option of a lump sum, in effect buying them out of the company's retirement obligations. It expects roughly one-fifth of those offered to accept the buyout.

"Returning GE to a position of strength has required us to make several difficult decisions, and today’s decision to freeze the pension is no exception," said Kevin Cox, GE’s chief human resources officer, in a statement.

GE closed its pension plan to new entrants at the start of 2012.

While several states, including Illinois and New Jersey, have opted recently to start reducing their pension shortfalls, US corporations are often in even worse shape than the public sector. But these cuts should help forestall the pension nightmare facing the US, if only for a little while.

"Returning GE to a position of strength has required us to make several difficult decisions, and today’s decision to freeze the pension is no exception," said Kevin Cox, GE’s chief human resources officer, in a statement.

GE closed its pension plan to new entrants at the start of 2012.

While several states, including Illinois and New Jersey, have opted recently to start reducing their pension shortfalls, US corporations are often in even worse shape than the public sector. But these cuts should help forestall the pension nightmare facing the US, if only for a little while.

***

RT

'Absolute chaos' as thousands protest in Ecuador's capital, braving tear gas and clashes with police

10 Oct, 2019

Tens of thousands of protesters have surrounded the presidential palace in Quito, where Lenin Moreno returned after fleeing. Demonstrations sparked by spending cuts linked to an IMF loan have led to violent clashes over the week.

After seven consecutive days, the expression of discontent has burgeoned into a general strike. “This is a national strike and what we’ve seen here on the front line is absolute chaos,” said RT correspondent Nicolas O’Donovan, reporting from outside the presidential palace, where “the air is heavy with tear gas [and] smoke.”

Though President Lenin Moreno had reportedly fled south to the city of Guayaquil earlier this week, where he relocated the seat of Ecuador’s government, O’Donovan said the president had returned to Quito to “monitor the situation on the ground” from an undisclosed location.

That situation has been one of “extreme tension,” O’Donovan said, with protesters equipping themselves with bricks, stones and even petrol bombs against a heavily armed police force guarding the palace. The officers responded with clubs, stun grenades and copious amounts of tear gas.

The Red Cross has suspended all activities in the capital city over safety concerns, including ambulance services, with teams of volunteers providing improvised treatment to dozens of protesters injured in the clashes.

The demonstrators, many hailing from poor and indigenous communities around the country, reportedly plan to remain outside the palace until dusk, though O’Donovan said some will stay overnight, defying a curfew order issued earlier this week. They hope the days of rage will convince the government to come to the table for a dialogue and ultimately reverse the austerity measures, namely the elimination of fuel subsidies.

“The people here say that the government is going to save the banks and big business instead of the people, and that’s why all these people are here protesting,” O’Donovan said.

President Moreno has remained defiant in the face of the strike, insisting he will not back down from the recent economic reforms, though his aides confirmed they were participating in preliminary talks with the protest leaders, mediated by the United Nations and the Catholic Church.

***

VOICE OF EUROPE

German interior minister warns of migrant crisis greater than 2015

By ARTHUR LYONS

October 7, 2019

As greater numbers of migrants make their way to the Greek islands from Turkey, Germany’s Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has called on EU member states to step up and provide more support to Greece and Turkey.

Seehofer warned that if the EU fails to address the migration situation in Turkey and Greece, a new mass migration of people from southern Europe into Germany – similar to what was seen in 2015 – could occur, Spiegel Online reports.

“We have to help our European partner more with the controls at the EU’s external borders, we have left them alone for too long,” Seehofer told Bild.

“If we do not, we will see a wave of refugees like 2015 – maybe even more than four years ago,” he added.

As things currently stand, growing numbers of migrants, mainly from Afghanistan, are making their way from the Turkish coast to Greece’s the Aegean Islands. As per the 2016 EU-Turkey Refugee Agreement, migrants are required to remain on the islands until their asylum applications are processed.

But as the number of migrant arrivals have increased drastically in the past few months, migrant facilities operating on the Greek islands have become overwhelmed. 

In August, Greece saw close to 7,000 migrants arrive by boat, the highest number since 2016.

Last week, two people were burned to death after angry migrants living in Moria – a camp on the Greek Island of Lesbos – set several temporary housing units ablaze and prevented firefighters from putting it out.

The German Interior Minister also called EU member states to do more to assist Turkey.

“Turkey is doing a great deal in welcoming refugees, which is also in our interests,” Seehofer said.

On Thursday and Friday, Seehofer traveled to Turkey and Greece in an attempt to salvage the quickly deteriorating migration pact between the EU and Turkey. He promised Athens and Ankara that Germany would support them in dealing with refugees and border guards.

In July, Turkey’s Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said that if European governments didn’t do more to help Turkey deal with migrants, then it would let them flood into Europe.

“We are facing the biggest wave of migration in history. If we open the floodgates, no European government will be able to survive for more than six months. We advise them not to try our patience.”

***

RT

Explosions rock Iranian tanker near Saudi port city of Jeddah, oil reportedly spilling into Red Sea

11 Oct, 2019 05:24

FILE PHOTO © Tasnim News Agency/Handout via REUTERS

A tanker belonging to Iran’s government-owned oil corporation has been hit by two missiles and caught fire in the Red Sea, 60 miles from Saudi shores. The incident is being treated as a terrorist attack, local media says.

The vessel, operated by the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), was sailing through the Red Sea when the explosion occurred. The blast was powerful enough to damage two of its reservoirs, leading to an oil spill in the area.

Local media cited unnamed Iranian “technical experts” who believe that the incident could have been caused by a“terrorist attack,” but didn’t provide any evidence to back the claim.

The tanker’s crew wasn’t hurt in the incident, which took place near Jeddah, the largest port in the Red Sea and maritime gateway to Saudi Arabia.

NIOC, which once ranked second after Saudi Aramco in terms of crude oil extraction, told state-run IRNA news agency that the vessel was hit by what appears to be two missiles. That report did not expand on where the attack came from.

The news comes less than a month after a swarm of drones and missiles targeted Aramco’s major oilfield in the city of Abqaiq, inflicting heavy damage to the facility and cutting production in half. Yemeni Houthi rebels, who have been fighting Saudi troops since 2015, claimed responsibility for the attack, but Riyadh and its ally Washington pinned the blame on Iran – a claim which it vehemently denies.

DAILY STAR

USS Nimitz UFOs 'were always there' and 'secret spyware upgrade' exposed them

The US Navy Senior Chief Operations Specialist who specialised in radar systems claimed UFOs may have always been present but had only become visible after a "top secret upgrade on spyware"

Kathy Gill

October 9, 2019

Article

The Economic Collapse

An “All-Out Blizzard” That Is “Unheard Of For October” Is About To Hit Farms In The Midwest With Up To 2 Feet Of Snow

by Michael Snyder

October 9, 2019

Farmers in the middle of the country are about to get hit by what could potentially be the worst October blizzard in U.S. history. According to USA Today, “the massive size and intensity of this snowstorm is unheard of for October”. In other words, we have never seen anything like this in the month of October ever before. Such a storm would have been disastrous enough in a normal year, but this has definitely not been a normal year for Midwest farmers. As I detailed extensively in previous articles, endless rain and horrific flooding made planting season a complete and utter nightmare for many Midwest farmers this year. Millions of acres did not get planted at all, and planting was seriously delayed on tens of millions of other acres. As a result, corn, soybeans and other crops are simply not ready to be harvested in many parts of the Midwest, and now an unprecedented winter storm is barreling directly toward our heartland.

This is a very, very serious situation. Normally, most corn in the Dakotas and Minnesota is considered to be “mature” by now, but this year we are facing a completely different scenario.

According to the latest USDA Crop Progress Report, only 22 percent of the corn in North Dakota is considered to be “mature” at this point…

Many farmers continue to wait on the sidelines to get into the fields. With freezing temperatures, heavy snowfall, and high winds set to hit the northern Plains this week, the corn in North Dakota is only 22% mature vs. a 75% five-year average, according to Monday’s USDA Crop Progress Report.

Also, South Dakota corn is rated 36% mature vs. an 80% five-year average. Minnesota farmers have a corn crop that is just 39% mature vs. an 83% five-year average.

And now here comes an “all-out blizzard”.

In case you are wondering, I am not the one that put such an extreme label on this storm. In fact, Accuweather is specifically using that term to describe this historic storm…

An unusually far-reaching snowstorm for early October will stall, strengthen and evolve into an “all-out blizzard” over the Dakotas and then will send a blast of cold air across much of the Plains and Midwest.

Heavy snow has already fallen on the northern Rockies and was progressing southeastward along with a charge of cold air. Snow and slippery travel were also being reported in parts of Washington state, including around Spokane where new daily snowfall record for Oct. 8 was set. Spokane International Airport recorded 3.3 inches of snow Tuesday, shattering the previous record for the day, which was a trace set in 1981.

It is crazy that Spokane is already getting snow.

According to Yahoo News, that snowfall already makes this the “third-snowiest October” that the city has ever experienced…

Spokane, Washington, was one town that was hit particularly hard by the snow on Tuesday. A record-breaking 3.3 inches of snow fell, the first measurable snow in the month of October since 2001. It also made this month the third-snowiest October on record, following 3.9 inches in October of 1975 and 6.1 inches in October of 1957.

Ultimately, a few inches of snow is not that big of a deal.

But once this storm reaches the middle of the country, it is going to dump up to 2 feet of snow on some of our most important agricultural areas…

A general 6-12 inches is forecast over much of the Dakotas. However, a large swath of 12-24 inches is likely with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 30 inches likely from north-central North Dakota to central and northeastern North Dakota.

Cities that could end up with 2 feet of snow include Bismarck, Jamestown and Devils Lake, North Dakota, as well as Mobridge, South Dakota, and Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Needless to say, that much snow at this time of the year is going to be absolutely devastating for many farmers.

And we are being told that this coming storm actually has “two parts”. After the first part strikes, the second part is going to come rolling through on Friday and Saturday…

The storm will have two parts, the first of which is targeting the northern and central Rockies and High Plains on Wednesday into Thursday. The second part will bring snow to the eastern and central portions of the Dakotas and western Minnesota by week’s end.

“Near-blizzard to full-fledged blizzard conditions are possible across portions of central North Dakota Friday afternoon into Saturday morning,” the weather service in Bismarck said. “Expect high impacts and dangerous to impossible travel conditions.”

I can’t even imagine how corn and soybean farmers are going to feel once their unharvested fields are buried under two feet of snow.

As I keep warning, weather patterns just continue to become more extreme, and many believe that what we have witnessed so far is just the beginning of our problems.

There is one more thing that I would like to mention before I wrap up this article.

Do you remember the “Perfect Storm” that we witnessed in the Atlantic Ocean back in 1991?Hollywood made a big movie about it, and that film ended up making more than 300 million dollars worldwide.

Well, according to Accuweather a very similar storm is now developing in roughly the same location…

Interestingly, around the same time in 1991, the “Perfect Storm”was in the making over the western Atlantic Ocean. There are some similarities to the pattern this week with a smaller storm taking shape and stalling just off the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts.

I found this to be particularly interesting, because I wrote an article about “the perfect storm” that is about to hit America just a few days ago. If you missed it, you can find my article entitled “The Book Is About To Close On The Late Great United States Of America” right here.

We live in truly unprecedented times, and things are about to start getting really crazy out there.

So get prepared for “the perfect storm” while you still can, because time is quickly running out.

WND

'Guardian angel' rescues single mom of 4 stranded for hours when car dies

By Cathy Cornelison, The Western Journal
Published October 8, 2019 at 12:07pm

Frank Somerville, an anchor for KTVU News, asked for people to send in their inspirational stories. He received many emails, but this story of a young mother with four girls really touched his heart and he couldn't help but share it on Facebook.

Tawny Nelson, a single mom of four precious girls, shared her story in a letter to Somerville.

Nelson explained how she has been going through a really tough time since her ex left her. Her girls are 9, 5, 2, and 6 weeks old.

They have a truck, but it is in bad shape. The tires always go flat, it needed a new alternator belt, and the driver's window would not roll down.

Nelson never drove the truck unless it was absolutely necessary.

But one evening, she was desperate for food for the girls, so she had to make the trip to the store — only nine blocks away.

As she loaded the girls back in the truck with the groceries after completing their shopping, it was raining hard and already dark out. She turned the key in the ignition, but to no avail.

"One of my girls accidentally left a light on. My battery was dead. My phone was also disconnected. I have no family to speak of and was on my own," Nelson shared in her message.

She stepped out in the pouring rain and asked people to help, but was ignored by all who passed by.

No one stopped and acknowledged her situation.

"They all ignored me. Not even a no. Just acted like I didn't exist," Nelson explained.

Her three youngest children were in different stages of breaking down, and their cries mingled as the precious 9-year-old did her best to help out. Nelson broke down and began to sob.

"I was bawling and felt like the worst Mom ever," Nelson wrote. But then something amazing happened: there was a knock on the car window.

Nelson opened her door to find an older man with a plate of hot food and water bottles from the store.

"Feed those babies and yourself, young lady. I have a tow truck on the way and my wife will be here shortly to take y'all home," the gentleman said.

The next morning, the older fellow arrived at Nelson's home with a mechanic to fix her truck. He repaired the alternator belt, the window, and replaced the battery.

As he was leaving, she asked if she could pay him in installments. The mechanic smiled at her and said the bill was paid in full by the older gentleman.

Apparently, the good Samaritan had mentioned that the only payment he requested was that Nelson "never give up and keep being an amazing mom."

Nelson broke down, bawling her eyes out and sobbing over the care and concern of the man who'd so generously provided for her: "I've never cried so hard in my life."

"And without knowing us or our situation this kind man helped us in ways he will never know," Nelson shared. "What he did revived my faith when I was falling apart. But he wouldn't even take a hug."

Nelson experienced a "guardian angel" here on earth that she will never forget. This act of kindness even inspired Somerville.

"Someday I'm going to do something like that," Somerville ended his post. "I can just feel it. And it's going to make me so happy."

I love Somerville's hashtag... #GoOutAndMakeADifferenceToday. This is such a good reminder for all of us to not ignore what is happening around us but be a blessing to someone now!

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

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

“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed [thee?] or thirsty, and gave [thee] drink?When saw we thee a stranger, and took [thee] in? or naked, and clothed [thee? ] Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”
(Matthew 25:34-40)