“For the time will (has) come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables”.
(2 Timothy 4:3-4)
Turned Unto Fables

cnsnews.com

Rev. Graham: Are We in the Last Days? 'I Think God is Describing Our Generation'

By Michael W. Chapman | June 22, 2018 | 5:11 PM EDT

Reverend Franklin Graham, the son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, thinks the world may be in the "last days" as foretold in the Bible and believes that God is warning us "that judgment is coming."

He also believes that much of the "vileness" and "malevolence" expressed by people today is being fueled by "by the media and the entertainment industry."

Rev. Graham made his remarks in a June 21 Facebook post in reference to Pennsylvania State Rep. Brian Sims, a Democrat, and the first openly gay legislator in the state. On June 19, when Vice President Mike Pence visited Philadelphia, the left-wing Sims tweeted an "Official Welcome," a picture of himself giving Pence the middle finger.

Sims wrote, "@MikePenceVP let me be the first to officially welcome you to the City of Brotherly Love and to my District! We're a city of soaring diversity. We believe in the power of all people: Black, Brown, Queer, Trans, Atheist, & Immigrant. So ... get bent, then get out!"

Given Sims' unstatesmanlike tweet, Rev. Graham wrote, "The Bible tells us, 'This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away" (2 Timothy 3:1-5)."

"Does this Scripture not describe the times in which we live?" said Graham. "The outright disrespect, the unbridled hate, the vileness and malevolence that people display, and the way the media and the entertainment industry feed so much of this."

"I think God is describing our generation," said the reverend. "God warns us that judgment is coming. Only God can change the human heart—and He is willing to do that for everyone who calls upon the Name of His Son Jesus Christ."

CultureWatch

Jesus and Division

Jun 22, 2018

It can be said with full biblical warrant that Jesus is the great divider. Perhaps no other figure in human history has been so divisive. And that may strike many people – even many Christians today – as being quite bizarre. “Really? Jesus divisive? I thought he was all about love and unity and just getting along with everybody.”

Um no, wrong Jesus. No one actually reading through the four gospels could ever come away with that completely false understanding of Jesus. They say repeatedly that he came to bring division – and that he did. Just as Jesus still divides today, he certainly did 2000 years ago.

Indeed, all of human history is even divided because of his birth: BC and AD. Christ divides. How could it be otherwise? His message was so countercultural that it ran against all the beliefs, values and convictions of most people. He and his disciples were always bringing about division, turmoil, controversy and upheaval.

If I recorded all the examples of this found in the New Testament I would need to pen several articles at least. So let me narrow things down here a bit. Let me look just at Luke’s gospel. There is plenty of material to be found here on this. Consider these passages:

Luke 2:34-35 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” [Simeon predicts the division Jesus would bring to Israel]
Luke 3:17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire [John prophesies the division Jesus would bring to Israel]
Luke 4:28-29 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff.
Luke 6:11 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
Luke 7:23 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.
Luke 8:37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.
Luke 9:4-5 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.
Luke 9:53a but the people there did not welcome him
Luke 10:10-16 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say,…
Luke 11:14-16 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven.
Luke 11:53-54 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.
Luke 12:51-53 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Luke 13:17 When [Jesus] said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
Luke 16:13-15 He said we “cannot serve two masters”. The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.”
Luke 19:47 Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him.
Luke 20:17-19 Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written:
“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone’?
Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.” The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.
Luke 23:20-21 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

Wow! That is one very divisive figure. Wherever he went, whatever he said, and whatever he did, he caused division. So much for world peace and harmony. And just as it was with Christ so long ago, it is the nature of the Christian gospel to polarise and cause division.

A gospel which says that you are not God, that you are heading to a lost eternity without God, and that you must repent, deny yourself, and turn to Christ, is not exactly how you win friends and influence people. It is how you enrage people and send them into hysterics – the very sorts of things we find in the gospels and the book of Acts.

And the very thing we find in 2000 years of church history. There have been countless Christian martyrs through the centuries, because people hate the gospel and they hate the truth. And that was something Jesus warned us about. He told us that we would not be accepted and our message would be rejected.

And he explained quite clearly as to why this would be. Consider his words as found in John 3:18-21:

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.

Let me return to Luke’s gospel and offer a lengthy but very important quote that comes from James Edwards’ excellent 2015 commentary on Luke. It appears in his discussion of Luke 12:49-59:

There is great disparity between the kingdom and this world. The introduction of the kingdom in Jesus awakens the world to its alienated existence from its Creator and points it to its Restorer and Redeemer. In vv. 51-53 Jesus articulates the effect of introducing the kingdom in terms of division. Division, and in some instances disunity, are not unfortunate side-effects of the Incarnation….

The essential function of the Messiah, according to Luke, is not to heal divisions but to intensify them. Indecision does not divide, but decision, by its very nature, divides the chosen from the nonchosen. The decision to follow Jesus inevitably concentrates and focuses the lives of disciples: Peter and the Zebedees are divided from nets and homes (5:1-11), the women who follow Jesus from homes, spouses, and possession (8:1-3), and disciples in mission from their customary securities (9:3; 10:4). The theme of decision and division has of course been latent throughout Luke’s narrative, but in chaps. 11–12 it is specifically and repeatedly addressed, signifying that decision and division are essential to the gospel….

Even as an infant, the significance of his life was foreseen in terms of “division.” “The child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many . . . and a sword will pierce your own soul too,” declared Simeon (2:34-35). If the mother of Jesus is “constrained” to participate in the division that Jesus brings into the world, then all human families are constrained by the same division, “father against son . . . daughter against mother” (v. 53).” Division may seem discordant and even offensive to our inclusive age, but it is a fundamental property of God’s relation to the world.

Exactly right. Sure, when and where possible we seek to be peacemakers. And we do not go out of our way looking for trouble or seeking to be divisive. But the gospel by its very nature IS divisive. Jesus was divisive. And the followers of Jesus will be divisive as well. It just can’t be helped, if we seek to be faithful to biblical truth, and proclaim it far and wide.

In this sense, three cheers for division. I conclude with three brief quotes:

“Peace if possible, truth at all costs.” Martin Luther

“Never let us be guilty of sacrificing any portion of truth on the altar of peace.” J. C. Ryle

“To pursue union at the expense of truth is treason to the Lord Jesus Christ.” Charles Spurgeon

CBN News

Is God Male or Gender-Neutral? Episcopal Church Begins Debate on Book of Common Prayer

Steve Warren

July 3, 2018

Since before the days of the early church, God has always been addressed in prayers as a male, including terms like Father, King, and Lord.

In the New Testament, Jesus taught his disciples to pray to God using a male term. In Luke 11:1-4, one of the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. "And He said to them, When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be Your name.'" (NASV)

Now the Episcopal Church is debating about overhauling its Book of Common Prayer, which is used in Episcopal congregations worldwide.

The debate centers on making sure that prayers in the book are clear that God is not male, but doesn't have a gender, The Washington Post reports.

"As long as 'men' and 'God' are in the same category, our work toward equity will not just be incomplete. I honestly think it won't matter in some ways," the Rev. Wil Gafney, a professor of the Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School in Texas told the paper.

Gafney is on the committee recommending a change to the gendered language in the prayer book. Like many other Episcopal priests, he wants a prayer book that upholds that God is bigger than any gender.

Long separated from the Church of England, the leaders of the Episcopal Church will be considering two resolutions during its convention which begins Tuesday in Austin, Texas.

One resolution asks for a modernization of the Book of Common Prayer which was last revised 39 years ago. According to the church, a complete revision would take several years and a new prayer book would probably not be ready for use in congregations until 2030.

Besides adding gender-neutral language concerning God, some advocates also want other revisions including, a Christian's duty to the Earth's conservation, adding same-sex marriage ceremonies to the liturgy, (since the church has been performing homosexual weddings for years) and even adding a ceremony to celebrate a transgender person's adoption of a new name.

The other resolution asks that the church not update the Book of Common Prayer, but should spend the next three years studying the existing book. The prayer book's roots go back to the first Anglican prayer book which was first published in 1549.

Chicago Bishop Jeffery Lee is one of the church leaders supporting the second resolution. The Book of Common Prayer "really constitutes the Episcopal church in significant ways. Our theology is what we pray," he told the Post.

Lee says recent events have revealed to him why the church needs to listen to the women who are pushing for gender-neutral language in the prayer book.

"In the culture, the whole #MeToo movement, I think, has really raised in sharp relief how much we do need to examine our assumptions about language and particularly the way we imagine God," he said. "If a language for God is exclusively male and a certain kind of image of what power means, it's certainly an incomplete picture of God. . . . We can't define God. We can say something profoundly true about God, but the mystery we dare to call God is always bigger than anything we can imagine."

That includes gender, he told the newspaper - even if one of the three components of the Trinity is depicted as Jesus' "Father" God, that God is bigger than male or female.

Other Protestant denominations, including the United Methodist Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, have also debated the use of gendered language for God.

In 2007, the Reform Jewish movement changed its God language in its prayer book to gender-neutral terms.

***

THE CHRISTIAN POST

Canadian Man Faces 2 Years in Prison for Passing Out Jesus Saves Pamphlets at Gay Pride Parade

By Anugrah Kumar , Christian Post Contributor

June 30, 2018

(PHOTO: REUTERS/BEN NELMS)Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reacts as he and his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau (L) walk in the Vancouver Pride Parade in Vancouver, British Columbia, July 31, 2016.

A Christian bus driver in Toronto has been charged with a "hate crime" for distributing pamphlets saying homosexuality can lead to diseases and that Jesus can save gay people if they repent.

Bill Whatcott "distributed anti-gay material which promoted hatred toward the gay community," Toronto Police Service said in a statement, adding that he was arrested in Calgary and later returned to Toronto.

The 51-year-old Christian man was charged with "willful promotion of hatred against an identifiable group, namely the gay community."

The pamphlets he allegedly distributed said homosexuality is associated with sexually transmitted diseases, including HPV of the rectum, which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control says is true, according to The Federalist.

The pamphlets, which reportedly included negative remarks against the Liberal Party and left-wing politicians, also said that supporting homosexual acts without repentance could lead to "eternal peril," and repentance to "the free gift of eternal life."

However, reports say that the pamphlets neither encouraged hate against homosexuals, nor advocated violence.

Whatcott, who has been fired from his job, said he wasn't given food for 24 hours while in jail, according to The Daily Wire.

"It might have been on purpose, because it didn't happen, like — some inmates did go half a day without food — but they actually made me go a full 24 hours," he was quoted as saying.

He said he was also denied medical attention for a leg injury. "I had a leg infection, and it was bad enough that I was brought to the hospital, but they simply refused to fill the prescriptions. So for four days I had no medications. The infection was actually going up my leg. I was a little concerned it was gonna go systemic."

In July 2016, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a Roman Catholic, became the world's first national leader to march in a gay pride parade when he took part in Toronto's event.

Trudeau has also supported Canada's embrace of same-sex marriage, which stands against the Catholic Church's definition of marriage between one man and one woman.

Months later that year, a poll showed that the majority of Canadians supported the expansion of the country's non-discrimination laws to include gender identity. The Angus Reid Institute survey was conducted four months after Trudeau's Liberal Party introduced a bill that would punish transgender discrimination with up to two years in prison for violators.

Earlier this year, Ontario Province started allowing individuals born there to remove "male" or "female" on their birth certificates or opt for a "nonbinary" designation.

Evangelical leaders, such as the Rev. Franklin Graham, have strongly condemned such actions, saying that God created people as men and women.

(We also need to keep in mind Matthew 7:6.)

***

NOW THE END BEGINS

MAN HANDS: FOR FIRST TIME EVER, A TRANSGENDER ‘WOMAN’ WILL COMPETE IN THE MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT

“Let’s make history,” Ponce wrote in English on Twitter in celebration, tagging Pride Month to note her win’s timing at the end of June. “Bringing the name and colors of Spain before the universe is my great dream,” wrote Ponce in Spanish on Instagram. “My goal is to be a spokesperson for a message of inclusion, respect and diversity not only for the LGBTQ+ community, but also for the entire world.”

By Geoffrey Grider

July 2, 2018

For the first time ever, a transgender woman will compete for her country in the Miss Universe pageant, with Angela Ponce having been crowned as Spain’s representative.

What a strange time to be living in, as we see end times prophecy from the Bible come to life in stunning fashion. First the battle was for men to be with men. Then the man became a women. Then the man who ‘became’ a woman finally morphed into a non-binary cisgender person. Confused? You certainly should be.

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (KJV)

In the latest story from the genderqueer front, we bring you the person who will represent Spain in the Miss Universe pageant, Angela Ponce. And, oh yeah, Angela is a dude.

FROM THE ADVOCATE: Angela Ponce this weekend won the Spanish crown and now becomes the first transgender woman to compete on behalf of any country. Ponce is able to do that thanks to trailblazer Jenna Talackova of Canada. Back when Donald Trump still owned the pageant in 2012, Talackova had been barred from competing to win the Canadian crown, until Trump sided with GLAAD and thousands of people who petitioned him in the fight over inclusion. Talackova — who also had high-profile attorney Gloria Allred on her side — was allowed to compete and went on to win Miss Congeniality in Canada; then all trans women were allowed to compete in Miss Universe starting in 2013.

“Let’s make history,” Ponce wrote in English on Twitter in celebration, tagging Pride Month to note her win’s timing at the end of June. “Bringing the name and colors of Spain before the universe is my great dream,” wrote Ponce in Spanish on Instagram. “My goal is to be a spokesperson for a message of inclusion, respect and diversity not only for the LGBTQ+ community, but also for the entire world.” read more

Can you imagine what effect all this is having on our kids? What thoughts are going through their impressionable young minds as they watch men putting on dresses and lipstick and calling themselves women? Adolescence is hard enough, but now this? But maybe that’s the point.

***

Click to View PDF online
or Right-click to Download PDF.

***

RT

This month’s ‘blood moon’ eclipse to be the longest of the century

July 1, 2018

© Yiannis Kourtoglou / Reuters

Lunar lovers, rejoice. The longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century is taking place this month, and will briefly turn the Moon an eerie shade of red.

NASA explains the entire event will go on for about four hours, while the ‘blood moon’ phenomenon itself will be visible for an hour and 43 minutes at its peak.

A blood moon takes place when Earth blocks the light of the sun from the moon. Some light does get around our planet’s atmosphere, lending the moon a reddish-brown hue. The air around Earth scatters more of the short-wave light, like green and blue, than the longer wavelength light, which is on the red end of the spectrum.

Not everyone will be able to see the long-lasting lunar spectacle, however. While people in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, New Zealand and South America will be able to enjoy the eclipse, those in North America won’t be so lucky. On the bright side, the lunar eclipse doesn’t take place for a few weeks, on July 27, so there’s enough time to book a flight to check it out!

***

SPUTNIK

Arab States Reportedly Warn US Not to Unveil Mideast Peace Plan

June 30, 2018

The Trump administration has been seeking to implement its Mideast peace plan despite the Palestinian Authority president’s rejection of Washington’s mediation role in the conflict with Israel after the US moved its embassy to the Jerusalem.

Arab countries have reportedly warned the US against unveiling its Middle East peace plan, saying that it could lead to yet more turmoil in the region. A source familiar with the situation told Haaretz that any deal, which does not meet Palestinian expectations could only add to already escalated tensions with Israel.

"If the administration presents a plan without Jerusalem and without the refugees it will be an earthquake whose repercussions will undermine stability in the entire region and no one is ready for that," Haaretz reported, citing a source familiar with the situation.

The source also claimed that the Arab delegation cited the fact that their countries were dealing with internal challenges.

"Egypt isn't short on internal issues, along with fighting terror in Sinai; Jordan is dealing difficulties on the home front and repercussions from the Syrian war don't simplify things and the Saudis with the challenges in Yemen and the struggle against Iran," the official said.

These remarks are at odds with Israeli Hayom daily’s earlier report, suggesting that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Jordan had given the green light to the US plan for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process regardless of the PA’s boycott and rejection of US’ mediation role.

The so-called “deal of the century” is being promoted by Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner and envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt, who recently returned from a Mideast tour.

Earlier this week, French website Intelligence Online reported that the duo initiated a clandestine meeting between intelligence chiefs of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Israel’s Mossad head.

Speaking with the Palestinian newspaper Al Quds last week, Kushner said that he was ready to negotatiate the peace plan with Mahmoud Abbas.

"If President Abbas is ready to go back to the negotiating table, then we are ready to participate in the discussion, but if that's not the case, then we are going to make the plan public," Kushner said, adding that the plan would be ready "soon."

According to Israeli intelligence website DEBKAfile’s report last month, the plan would give the Palestinians limited sovereignty over about half of Israel-occupied West Bank and pronounce the village of Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem, as their capital.

Historically, Palestinians consider East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
The US plan would also reportedly insist on Hamas’ full disarmament in exchange for granting Palestinians sovereignty over the Gaza Strip.

Last year, Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocated the US embassy to the city, triggering a new wave of intensified tensions between the Palestinians and Israel.

Trump's decision, which sparked violence on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, was harshly criticized by most Muslim countries, as well as nations, supporting a two-state solution to the long-standing conflict.

AMMC

SPUTNIK

Memes Are Safe: European Parliament Rejects Controversial EU Copyright Law

July 5, 2018

The EU Copyright Directive, which is aimed at protecting the intellectual property of people who author material that is uploaded to the internet, has come under criticism because it could effectively lead banning parody content on the world wide web, such as viral memes, for example.

Members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg have rejected the copyright directive, with 318 voting against, 278 in favor and 31 abstaining.

Article 13 of the directive, which was rejected by European MPs, states that online media would be liable if its users upload or publish unlicensed content, including photos, videos, source code or music. According to the bill, such actions would require either that a license fee be paid, that the content be pre-filtered or that it be automatically censored.

The bill has faced harsh criticismfrom Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, net neutrality expert Tim Wu, internet pioneer Vint Cerf and other specialists in the field.

First proposed in 2016, the document was intended to update copyright rules in order to tackle piracy and to introduce "fair pay" for artists and media when the fruits of their labor were used online and in real life. Opponents of the bill, however, have claimed that it would endanger freedom of expression and the public's access to information.

***

RT

‘Post-West world order’ being shaped as we speak – Lavrov to Channel 4

June 30, 2018

A new multipolar order, driven by economics and history, is emerging in the world and Western attempts to stop or to slow it down are unlikely to succeed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told UK’s Channel 4.

“I think that we are in the post-West world order,” Lavrov told the British Channel 4 in an interview on Friday. “It is a historical epoch, if you want. Certainly, after five or so centuries of domination of the collective West, as it were, it is not very easy to adjust to new realities that there are other powerhouses economically, financially and politically,” he added, pointing to China, India and Brazil.

Asked if Russia was shaping this world order, Lavrov replied it was rather the product of history and “development itself.”

“You cannot really hope to contain [these] new powerful, economically and financially, countries. You cannot really ignore their role in world trade and world economy,” despite attempts to slow down the process with sanctions and tariffs, the top Russian diplomat said.

The European Union is “certainly a very important pillar of any world order,” Lavrov added, but it needs to decide whether to remain reliant on the US or become more self-sufficient. By way of illustration, Lavrov brought up the migrant crisis, which the EU is currently struggling with.

“NATO bombed Libya, turned Libya into a black hole through which waves of migrants, illegal migrants, rushed to Europe. Now EU is cleaning the broken china for NATO,” Lavrov said.

Russia’s relations with the West, which have soured dramatically since the 2014 US-backed coup in Ukraine, will be among the topics discussed at the July summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump in Finland.

During the interview, Lavrov brushed off Channel 4 speculation that Russia could offer to hand over NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, whom it granted political asylum, in exchange for the lifting of US and EU sanctions.

***

KING WORLD NEWS

Greyerz – The World Is About To Face Another Lehman Moment

July 1, 2018

July 1 (King World News) – Egon von Greyerz: “Can investors really be that wrong? Today global risk is greater than at any time in history, and at the same time, the great majority of investors show no fear at all. There are so many potential catalysts that could shake the world economy out of its sweet dreams into a living nightmare. It is impossible to forecast where the trigger will come from. It could be a debt collapse in Japan, China, USA, Eurozone or emerging markets. Or it could be a currency collapse in any of those regions. Or it could be a stock market collapse, or it could be …, or it could be …

“Many stock markets around the world are at all time highs. But there is no fear and no serious selling. Any slight decline is treated as a buying opportunity. The S&P is up 4x since 2009 but that does not make investors nervous. That markets have been fueled by dangerous and unsustainable credit expansion does not concern investors either. Not even the fact that global debt has doubled since 2006. But change starts in the periphery where very few are looking. Look at China, where the Shanghai composite is down 22% in 2018. And look at Brazil, where the Bovespa is off 17% so far this year and Turkey, which has lost 20%.

What is important to understand is that most major markets are now looking extremely vulnerable, be it Japan, Germany or the US. Fundamentally most markets are overvalued with the help of central bank liquidity, and technically we are not far from crashes in most markets. While there is always a possibility of a last hurrah, it looks like all markets have topped, including the US, and that later in 2018 we will see major declines. Once the bear markets start, they are likely to turn into secular trends that last many years, and will result in declines of 75% to 95%. That is difficult to believe for most investors today, but nobody in 1929 believed that the Dow would fall 90% in the ensuing years and take 25 years to recover.

The investment world has been lulled into a permanent state of security and euphoria. Nobody can deny that central banks and governments have been extremely skillful in telling the world constant lies. And why would anyone protest, as the rich are getting incredibly rich and many normal people in the West have a higher standard of living than ever? Very few of the “normal people” understand that their prosperity is built on personal debt and their government borrowing. Nor do they understand that they are responsible for this debt that they of course can never repay it.

Even less do they understand that they will be on their own when debt implodes and they lose their jobs. Because the state will, at that point, have run out of money and there will be no social security or unemployment benefits. Nor will there be any pension for the retirees as pension funds will go from extremely underfunded to totally unfunded.

When Trump was elected in November 2016, I forecast that US debt would continue to double every 8 years on average, as it has done since Reagan become president. That would lead to $28 trillion in debt by 2021 and $40 trillion by 2025.

Well, it seemed quite unrealistic back in 2016 that the US would average over $2.5 trillion deficit in the ensuing 8 years to 2025. Judging by current forecasts, it looks like debt will “only” be $25 trillion in 2021. But as tax revenues decline and spending increases, I would not be surprised to see $28 trillion debt in 2021. That would put the US on course for a $40 trillion debt in 2025. That would mean a doubling of the debt from 2017, which is in line with the historical trend of a 100% increase every 8 years

A $40 trillion debt in 2025 would be bad enough but things are likely to get worse. With debt exploding, the Fed will lose control of interest rates as foreign investors dump US bonds. A rate of 10% at that point would not be unrealistic. That would lead to an interest bill of $4 trillion per year (10% on $40T). This would mean that just interest costs are likely to be higher than total tax revenue.

So the US is on the cusp of a deficit and debt explosion of catastrophic proportions. And this forecast does not include major problems in the financial system, leading to additional money printing as well as a collapsing dollar. With the US by far the biggest threat to the global economy, the world focuses on the problems in the EU. Yes, there are major problems in Greece, Italy, Spain and many more European countries as well as in the European banking system. But relatively, the fiscal discipline in the EU is far more disciplined than in the US. Just look in the chart below at the Eurozone austerity compared to the US profligacy.

While the US deficit is forecast to continue at around 5% of GDP, the Eurozone is running at 1% or less. There is a consensus that many of the Eurozone countries are basket cases and that is hard to argue against. Very few talk about the US as a basket case. But with no real budget surplus since 1960, the US financial and military hegemony will soon come to an abrupt end, especially since deficits are likely to increase further in the next few years. So as the currencies continue their race to the bottom, the US dollar is likely to beat the Euro to zero. But it really doesn’t matter who will be first too the bottom in a race that only has losers taking part.

Another potential catalyst could be one of the world’s biggest banks, which has a balance sheet and share price that look extremely ominous. Deutsche Bank (DB) has fallen 90% from 2007. The chart looks very similar to Lehman in 2008 just before it collapsed.

The market clearly sees the writing on the wall. The share price only needs to drop another 10% from the top to go to zero. That is why no one believes that DB is even worth the equity as the market cap is only 28% of shareholders’ funds. A 4.6% loss on the DB loan book or a 0.1% loss on the derivative portfolio would totally extinguish the equity. Both of these events are very likely to take place within the next few years.

Since DB is part of the establishment, the German government would do everything within its powers to save the bank. But how can they save a bank with a balance sheet of 50% of German GDP and a derivative portfolio of 14x GDP? Well, they can’t but they will probably try. And the consequences are very clear: Welcome to Weimar II.

But no one must think that DB is the only bank in trouble. JP Morgan, for example, has $50 trillion in derivatives, which totals 2.5x US GDP. And the Swiss banking system is 5x Swiss GDP. The fractional banking system is soon coming to an end with the most massive bang.

RT

US started biggest trade war in history, China forced to retaliate – Beijing

July 6, 2018

China's commerce ministry says the country has no choice but to fight back after the US "launched the largest trade war in economic history," as Washington's 25 percent tariffs on various Chinese imports go into effect.

Economic Collapse
WE ARE WITNESSING UNUSUAL STOCK MARKET BEHAVIOR THAT IS UNLIKE ANYTHING THAT WE HAVE SEEN SINCE 2008

We truly are facing a scenario that Wall Street has never seen before

Michael Snyder

July 5, 2018
We have not seen Wall Street this jumpy since just before the great financial crisis of 2008.

As I have explained so many times before, when the waters are calm and there is low volatility, markets tend to go up. And when the waters are choppy and volatility starts to spike, markets tend to go down. That is why the behavior that we have been witnessing from investors during the first two quarters of 2018 is so alarming. A high level of market turnover is often a sign of big trouble ahead, and according to Bloomberg our financial markets “are churning at the fastest rate since 2008″…

“From junk bonds to emerging-market stocks, market turnover is through the roof, reaching multi-year highs. Within the S&P 500 Index, investors traded more than $2.9 trillion worth of shares in each of the past two quarters, a feat last achieved in early 2008.”

Bloomberg is not prone to hyperbole, and so when they say that “market turnover is through the roof”, I hope that you will take that statement seriously.

We truly are facing a scenario that Wall Street has never seen before. The Wilshire 5000 stock index to nominal GDP ratio has been hovering near all-time highs, and what that tells us is that stock prices are more overvalued today than they have been at any other point in modern American history. Meanwhile, all sorts of red flags continue to indicate that big trouble is on the horizon, but most investors are ignoring those red flags.

But if you look closely, it is becoming clear that the most savvy investors are getting out while the getting is good. In a previous article, I explained that the “smart money” is getting out of stocks at a pace that we have not seen since just before the last financial crisis. Fortunately for them, the “dumb money” has been willing to buy what they are selling at these massively inflated prices.

We see a similar spike in the “churn rate” when we look at emerging markets. In fact, Bloomberg says that we have not seen this much volatility in emerging market stocks since the international financial crisis of 1998…

“It’s a similar story for developing-nation assets at the mercy of a strengthening U.S. dollar and trade tensions. Volume on the MSCI Emerging Market index reached $1.9 trillion in the three months through June, the most since 1998 when a wave of currency devaluations and defaults ripped through emerging economies from Thailand to Russia.”

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, global stocks lost approximately 10 trillion dollars in value during the first six months of 2018.

Just think about that.

10 trillion dollars is almost half of the U.S. national debt.

If global stocks continue to fall at a similar pace during the second half, it is only a matter of time before U.S. stocks get absolutely slammed.

One of the emerging markets that is showing significant signs of trouble is India.

According to Bloomberg, India’s banks are now dealing with 210 billion dollars of bad debts…

“India’s nearly $1.7 trillion formal banking sector is coping with $210 billion of soured or problem loans, and some regional banks have been ensnared in fraud scandals.”

If U.S. banks had 210 billion dollars of bad debts that would be a big problem.

In India, a number like that is a complete and utter financial catastrophe that is not going to be easy to clean up.

According to CNBC, most of the bad loans are owned by India’s state-controlled banks…

“India’s public-sector financial institutions control about 70 percent of all banking assets in the country, but they have the highest exposure to soured loans amounting to as much as $150 billion. In fact, the 21 state-owned banks had stressed loans of about 8.26 trillion rupees ($120 billion) as of Dec. 31, Reuters reported. Private sector lenders, meanwhile, reportedly had a bad loan pile of just about 1.1 trillion rupees.”

Things have already gotten so bad in India that some people are starting to panic.

In fact, it is being reported that ATMs in some areas of the nation have been “running dry”…

“On top of that, ATMs in some parts of the country have been reported to be running dry in recent days. There’s an unusually high demand for cash, according to the Finance Ministry. The rupee shortage is being blamed on everything from farm spending to looming elections and hoarding by some families.”

This is yet another example that shows that it always pays to not put all of your eggs in one basket. In the event of a major emergency, you will want access to cash, and you cannot necessarily count on your bank to always be there for you.

As we move forward into the second half of 2018, red flags continue to appear on an almost daily basis. The Federal Reserve is steadily raising interest rates, civil unrest is erupting in the streets of America, and the Trump administration is starting trade wars with virtually everyone else on the planet.

In the end, these trade wars are going to prove to be very painful for U.S. businesses. Earlier today, CNBC posted a piece about the impact that tariffs are likely to have on our pork producers…

“U.S. pork producers are about to be bitten by a second batch of hefty retaliatory tariffs from China and Mexico — and that has some large producers predicting they could lose big money and be forced to invest overseas.

Executives say the pork industry has been expanding in recent years, in part on the expectation of export opportunities that would continue to support growth. However, the threat of a trade war is adding uncertainty and driving fear. One in 4 hogs raised in the U.S. is sold overseas, and the Chinese are the world’s top consumers of pork.”

As I write this article, I can hear fireworks going off in the background. The 4th of July is always a time for celebration, and without a doubt many Americans are extremely optimistic right now.

But as I have just explained, major storm clouds are gathering, and it isn’t going to take much to push the U.S. economy into another major crisis.

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RT

Switzerland chooses gold bullion over paper wealth backed by US dollar

June 30, 2018

© Ruben Sprich / Reuters

Another country is betting on physical gold. Switzerland's pension fund has boosted its investments in bullion, switching from the paper-backed securities in US dollars.

“The Swiss government Pension System decided to change from paper gold in the amount of 700 million CHF into physical gold and store it in Switzerland. The 700 million only stands for 2 percent of the total assets, but it is quite a surprise that they do this,” Claudio Grass, an independent precious metals advisor and Mises Ambassador told RT.com.

According to Grass, it is a strong signal that people should take seriously, since a pension fund is an investment vehicle that has a long-term strategy.

“Physical gold is the best way to hedge as well as to accumulate wealth over decades. If you would have purchased for $100,000 gold in mid 70ties the holding without doing anything would be worth more than $2 million,” the analyst said. Another factor why the pension fund demanded physical gold was that they understand that paper gold just represents a claim on gold in a highly paper-leveraged gold market, Grass explained.

“It makes common sense under the actual circumstances to assure it is stored in the home country, Switzerland, instead of London or the US, which reminds me of the central bank repatriation,” the analyst added.

Grass adds that countries are noting the geopolitical shift from West to East and that is why they are buying more real gold instead of the US dollar-based papers.

“The last geopolitical shift that started with WWI and ended with WWII, put the US in a dominant position and it owned and stored 70 percent of the gold reserves of the free world. This is also one of the main reasons why the US won the Empire over from the Brits. Now we can witness another geopolitical power shift, with the rise of the East,” he said.

The global debt burden continues to grow, while more than 65 percent of all monetary reserves on this planet are in US dollars, Grass notes. “Holding physical gold is definitely the best hedge against all sorts of fiat money risks, but from a central bank perspective it is definitely the best hedge against a weakening dollar that is on its way to reaching its intrinsic value which is zero,” he said.

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Zero Hedge

Mapping Where The Most Refugees Live

By Tyler Durden

July 3, 2018

With populist movements currently resurgent across Europe, refugees remain the single most discussed topic in the Union’s political discourse.

However, as Statista's Patrick Wagner notes, countries with the most prominent xenophobic political movements do not tend to host the largest share of asylum seekers.

You will find more infographics at Statista

Our chart shows that even though Germany tops the ranking when it comes to the total number of people seeking refuge in the respective country, it does not come first when looking at the share of refugees in comparison to a country’s total inhabitants.

In Italy - ranked fourth when it comes to GDP in the EU - only 0.5 percent of all inhabitants are seeking refuge.

Even though Data suggests that in Latvia, almost 12 percent of the population may count as refugees, almost all of them are stateless persons who did not flee from conflict.

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NEONNETTLE

San Fransisco has become one of the world's dirtiest cities
By Jay Greenberg

June 30, 2018

San Fransisco has become one of the world's dirtiest cities
San Francisco has been declared one of the filthiest slums in the world following an investigation.The Californian city has been found to have dirtier conditions than slums found in third world countries such as India or Kenya. According to an investigation by NBC, large areas of the city are covered in needles and feces, as hospitals are struggling to cope with the influx of patients that have fallen ill as a result of the contamination from the third-world living conditions.How dirty is San Francisco? NBC reports: An NBC Bay Area Investigation reveals a dangerous mix of drug needles, garbage, and feces throughout downtown San Francisco.The Investigative Unit surveyed 153 blocks of the city – the more than 20-mile stretch includes popular tourist spots like Union Square and major hotel chains. The area – bordered by Van Ness Avenue, Market Street, Post Street and Grant Avenue – is also home to City Hall, schools, playgrounds, and a police station.As the Investigative Unit photographed nearly a dozen hypodermic needles scattered across one block, a group of preschool students happened to walk by on their way to an afternoon field trip to city hall.“We see poop, we see pee, we see needles, and we see trash,” said teacher Adelita Orellana.“Sometimes they ask what is it, and that’s a conversation that’s a little difficult to have with a 2-year old, but we just let them know that those things are full of germs, that they are dangerous, and they should never be touched.” In light of the dangerous conditions, part of Orellana’s responsibilities now includes teaching young children how to avoid the contamination. ‘There’s Poop in There’“The floor is dirty,” said A’Nylah Reed, a 3-year-old student at the preschool, who irately explained having to navigate dirty conditions on her walks to school.“There is poop in there,” she exclaimed.“That makes me angry.” Kim Davenport, A’nyla’s mother, often walks her daughter to the Compass preschool on Leavenworth Street in San Francisco.She said she often has to pull her daughter out of the way in order to keep her from stepping on needles and human waste. “I just had to do that this morning!”The Investigate Unit spent three days assessing conditions on the streets of downtown San Francisco and discovered trash on each of the 153 blocks surveyed.While some streets were littered with items as small as a candy wrapper, the vast majority of trash found included large heaps of garbage, food, and discarded junk. The investigation also found 100 drug needles and more than 300 piles of feces throughout downtown.
Dried Feces can Lead to Airborne Viruses

“If you do get stuck with these disposed needles you can get HIV, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, and a variety of other viral diseases,” said Dr. Lee Riley, an infectious disease expert at University of California, Berkeley. He warned that once fecal matter dries, it can become airborne, releasing potentially dangerous viruses, such as the rotavirus.“If you happen to inhale that, it can also go into your intestine,” he said.The results can prove fatal, especially in children.Riley has researched conditions across the poorest slums of the world. His book titled, “Slum Health,” examines health problems that are created by extreme poverty. San Francisco Compared to Some of the Dirtiest Slums in the World Based on the findings of the Investigative Unit survey, Riley believes parts of the city may be even dirtier than slums in some developing countries.“The contamination is … much greater than communities in Brazil or Kenya or India,” he said.He notes that in those countries, slum dwellings are often long-term homes for families and so there is an attempt to make the surroundings more livable.Homeless communities in San Francisco, however, are often kicked out from one part of town and forced to relocate to another.The result is extreme contamination, according to Riley.
‘We Aren’t Addressing the Root Cause’

“Unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable,” said Supervisor Hillary Ronen.“We’re losing tourists. "We’re losing conventions in San Francisco. "All of this is happening because we aren’t addressing the root cause, which is we need more temporary beds for street homelessness.”Ronen believes San Francisco has been too focused on permanent housing for the homeless and that the city has neglected to provide enough temporary shelter, which can provide the homeless a respite from the streets. The city currently has about 2,000 temporary beds. Ronen, however, believes an additional 1,000 are needed, at a cost of about $25 million.“We need to find a source of revenue,” said Ronen.“Whether that’s putting something on the ballot to raise business taxes or taking a look at our general fund and re-allocating money towards that purpose and taking it away from something else in the city.”

‘Human Tragedy’ in San Francisco

Until the problem is fixed, Mohammed Nuru, the Director of the Public Works Department, is charged with the towering task of cleaning the streets, over and over again. “Yes, we can clean," he said, “and then go back a few hours later, and it looks as if it was never cleaned. So is that how you want to spend your money?”The 2016-2017 budget for San Francisco Public Works includes $60.1 million for “Street Environmental Services.” The budget has nearly doubled over the past five years. Originally, that money was intended to clean streets, not sidewalks.According to city ordinances, sidewalks are the responsibility of property owners. However, due to the severity of the contamination in San Francisco, Public Works has inherited the problem of washing sidewalks. Nuru estimates that half of his street cleaning budget – about $30 million – goes towards cleaning up feces and needles from homeless encampments and sidewalks.A single pile of human waste, said Nuru, takes at least 30 minutes for one of his staffers to clean. “The steamer has to come. He has to park the steamer. "He’s got to come out with his steamer, disinfect, steam clean, roll up and go.”Asked if he’d be willing to give up part of his budget and allocate it to more directly addressing the homeless problem – which would likely alleviate his cleaning problem – Nuru said, “The Board of Supervisors, the mayor – those are decisions that they need to make.” He added, “I want to continue cleaning and I want to be able to continue to provide services. "The Public Works Department provides services seven days a week, 24 hours a day.”Ronen acknowledges that finding the money to provide 1,000 additional beds for the homeless may very well take years.The city is planning on opening three new Navigation Centers for homeless people by the summer, but two centers will also be closing.“We’re not going to make a huge dent in this problem unless we deal with some underlying major social problems and issues,” she said.“There’s a human tragedy happening in San Francisco.”

STRANGE SOUNDS

The volcanic unrest continues: Eruptions of Agung volcano (Indonesia), Anak Krakatau (Indonesia), Mayon volcano (Philippines), White Island (New Zealand), Updates for Kilauea eruption (Hawaii) and Fuego eruption (Guatemala)

July 5, 2018

Article

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

“And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave [them] to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. And they did all eat, and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.”
(Mark 6:41-42, 44)