The Arctic Ice cuts far below
Mt. Kilimanjaro covered in Snow
Egypt’s plains with all its tombs
Rolling sand of the Sahara Dunes
Raging Waves of the Baltic Sea, Russian Tundra covered in Trees
Cooper Canyon deeper than Grand, The Sequoyah tree mighty as it stands
Christ’s crown of Thorns
He was beaten and torn
That old rugged Cross
For all are born Lost
The sins of all
Put on Him to fall
Salvation Attained
He rose Ordained
Month: January 2015
Breaking – Middle East Whirlwind!
You may remember a post here back in December of Avi Lipkin outlining the possibility of the Houthis overtaking the country of Yemen and how that may affect the future of Saudi Arabia. Well that vision has now come to pass as today Yemen’s president, cabinet resign amid rebel standoff.
Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has resigned under pressure from Shiite rebels who seized the capital in September and have confined the embattled leader to his home for the past two days.
Presidential officials said Hadi resigned after being pressured to make concessions to the rebels, known as Houthis.
On top of that, the King of Saudi Arabia has died with power currently transferred to his half-brother, but it will be interesting to see what develops in the near future.
The death of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdallah puts the Yemen crisis on the front burner for the king’s successor Prince Salman. Abdullah’s death comes on the heels of the resignation of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, which is a major setback for American and Saudi diplomacy, a limited victory for Iran and a plus for al-Qaeda.
To make matters worse, ISIS is gaining ground in Yemen, competing with al Qaeda.
Remember that ISIS has threatened to invade Saudi Arabia and the Saudi’s have taken the threat very seriously as they are determined to build a 600 mile wall to keep them out.
Link to the original post with Avi Lipkin here: https://atharris.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/middle-east-in-the-midst-of-the-storm/
Psalm 2
Psalm 2
2 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying,
3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
7 I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
Russian and European unrest continues…
Is this the beginning of worldwide financial chaos that will ultimately lead to one world currency? No matter how one looks at it, it is big news.
Europe plunged into energy crisis as Russia cuts off gas supply via Ukraine
Russia cut gas exports to Europe by 60 per cent today, plunging the continent into an energy crisis ‘within hours’ as a dispute with Ukraine escalated.
This morning, gas companies in Ukraine said that Russia had completely cut off their supply.
Six countries reported a complete shut-off of Russian gas shipped via Ukraine today, in a sharp escalation of a struggle over energy that threatens Europe as winter sets in.
Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Croatia and Turkey all reported a halt in gas shipments from Russia through Ukraine.
Croatia said it was temporarily reducing supplies to industrial customers while Bulgaria said it had enough gas for only ‘for a few days’ and was in a ‘crisis situation’.
Around 80 per cent of the gas European Union countries receive from Russia comes through Ukraine.
Russia Just Pulled Itself Out Of The Petrodollar
Back in November, before most grasped just how serious the collapse in crude was (and would become, as well as its massive implications), we wrote “How The Petrodollar Quietly Died, And Nobody Noticed“, because for the first time in almost two decades, energy-exporting countries would pull their “petrodollars” out of world markets in 2015.
This empirical death of Petrodollar followed years of windfalls for oil exporters such as Russia, Angola, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. Much of that money found its way into financial markets, helping to boost asset prices and keep the cost of borrowing down, through so-called petrodollar recycling.
As Bloomberg reports Russia “may unseal its $88 billion Reserve Fund and convert some of its foreign-currency holdings into rubles, the latest government effort to prop up an economy veering into its worst slump since 2009.”
These are dollars which Russia would have otherwise recycled into US denominated assets. Instead, Russia will purchase even more Rubles and use the proceeds for FX and economic stabilization purposes.
Switzerland stuns markets by giving up on currency peg
Bowing to the inevitable, Switzerland has ditched an increasingly expensive policy to limit the export-sapping rise of the Swiss franc — a decision that propelled the currency a whopping 30 percent higher against the euro within minutes.
Thursday’s decision by the Swiss National Bank, or SNB, to end its efforts to keep the euro from trading below 1.20 francs came amid mounting speculation that the European Central Bank will next week back a big stimulus program that will put more euros in circulation, which would further dilute their value.
That expectation has seen the euro face intense selling pressure in currency markets, particularly against the dollar. The euro has fallen to nine-year lows against the dollar and below its launch rate in 1999.
Take a look at the US debt clock for some perspective.
Defending the Pre-Trib Rapture
Another excellent video with Gary Stearman and Doug Stauffer.
Ancient Prophecy of Elam unveiled??
Major movement in Iran’s nuclear program. Is this the unveiling of the Prophecy against Elam? Will it bring an Israeli airstrike against the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant or some other natural disaster in the near future?
Iran has begun construction on two new nuclear plants as negotiations with America over its contested program continue in Geneva, according to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Construction of the nuclear plants, which Iran claims are for peaceful energy purposes, was revealed on Tuesday, the day before Secretary of State John Kerry was to meet with his Iranian counterpart for talks in Geneva.
News of the two new nuclear plants come on the heels of reports that Iran has been operating advanced missile sites in Syria and also building a secret nuclear plant there.
Rouhani touted the new nuclear construction following a meeting with investors in Iran’s southern Bushehr province, where the nuclear facilities are being built.
The new nuclear plants are being constructed with help from Russia, which signed an agreement in March with Iran to aid in the endeavor.
German reports also have claimed that Iran is building a clandestine nuclear site in Syria.
For a complete description of the Prophecy against Elam, click the link below.
Middle East updates
Israel
Netanyahu vowed that no matter how dark the present situation, the terrorists “will never, ever beat us. This is the strength of an ancient people that has always prevailed and thank God, look around you, here in the mountains of Jerusalem, today we have a state of our own, flourishing and advanced, a state that is a moral beacon to the world.”
Israeli Leaders Defiant as Paris Victims Buried in Jerusalem
Almost half of British Jewish people fear they have no long-term future in Britain or Europe, while nearly one in two British people hold anti-Semitic views, a pair of surveys published on Wednesday showed.
Polls show British Jews fear for future in rising anti-Semitic climate
Iron Beam will constitute the fifth element of Israel’s integrated air defense system:
Israel Iron Beam will become the world’s first active duty combat laser in 2015
President Francois Hollande visited the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in Toulon Wednesday ahead of its departure for the Gulf and Indian Ocean. There was no word on its mission in those waters, but the presidential visit on the carrier’s deck, a week after deadly Islamist terror attacks shocked France, suggested operations were afoot against Al Qaeda in Arabia (AQAP), its Yemen headquarters and/or Islamic State targets in Iraq. DEBKAfile: If the Charles de Gaulle does carry out such operations, it will be the first time that a Western nuclear warship has ever gone into action against Al Qaeda targets.
Iran
In the eyes of most Iraqis, their country’s best ally in the war against the Islamic State group is not the United States and the coalition air campaign against the militants. It’s Iran, which is credited with stopping the extremists’ march on Baghdad.
Iran eclipses US as Iraq’s ally in fight against militants
The commander of Iran’s notorious Basij forces declared Monday that the Islamic Republic’s ultimate goal is the destruction of America and Israel.
Iran General: Our Ultimate Goal Is the Destruction of America And Israel
A decline in oil exports, largely because of Western economic sanctions, has cost the Iranian economy more than $100 billion, a senior official said.
Syria and the Bomb?
Underground facility under construction near Lebanese border reportedly being protected by Nasrallah’s fighters
Assad said seeking nuclear weapons with Hezbollah aid
For years, it was thought that Israel had destroyed Syria’s nuclear weapons capability with its 2007 raid on the Kibar complex. Not so. New intelligence suggests that Bashar al-Assad is still trying to built the bomb. And he may be getting help from North Korea and Iran.
Assad’s Secret: Evidence Points to Syrian Push for Nuclear Weapons
Senior Free Syrian Army official says suspicious Syrian, Iranian movement noted in Qusayr, where plant is said to be, enhanced by ‘unprecedented’ Hezbollah security.
Syrian rebels: Iranian officers spotted near site of reported nuclear facility
Russia
Moscow State University declares ambitious project to collect DNA samples of all of Earth’s living and extinct creatures
In Russia, a ‘Noah’s Ark’ of genetic proportions
The gigantic ‘ark’, set to be completed by 2018, will be 430 sq km in size, built at one of the university’s central campuses.Chief of the General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov stated that the strengthening of Russia’s nuclear triad will be the top priority for the Russian Armed Forces next year.
Setting the stage for World War 3, Russian leader Vladimir Putin is threatening to expand Russia’s nuclear weapon defense systems near Europe in response to efforts by NATO and the United States to extend air and anti-missile defense coverage over Europe.
Vladimir Putin Sets Stage For World War 3, Expands Russia’s Nuclear Weapons Defenses Near Europe
ISIS
The arrival of the Dhar family in Syria last month represents a key strategic goal of the Islamic State: to build not just an army but a society. The group has vowed to create a nation ruled by Islamic sharia law, and its leaders and online recruiters have encouraged doctors, nurses, lawyers, engineers and accountants to join them in building the institutions of a new holy land.
Entire families — fathers, mothers and children — have answered that call in numbers that have surprised and alarmed analysts who study the extremist group.
Hoping to create a new society, the Islamic State recruits entire families
High Taliban officers in Pakistan and Afghanistan made a vow of allegiance Sunday, Jan. 12 to the Islamic State’s leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi – initiating concord among key groups of the Islamist terror movement in defiance of the values that brought millions out in a mammoth rally of Western unity against terror that day.The Islamic State’s elite unit wiped out the forward command group of the a commando force belonging to Iran’s Al Qods Brigades early Monday, Jan. 12, killing its commander, Gen. Mehdi Norouzi,Al-Qaeda in Yemen is becoming more powerful because it provides the troops for a Sunni community that feels under increasing threat from a Shia insurgency that has seized much of the country.A top leader of Yemen’s al-Qaeda branch claimed Wednesday responsibility for last week’s attack on a Paris newspaper when two masked gunmen killed 12 people, including much of the weekly’s editorial staff and two police officers. Al-Qaeda in Yemen claims attack on Charlie Hebdo
Egypt
Egyptian experts tell the Guardian the ruler’s anti-democratic decrees are unmatched in rate and scope
Is it possible that 1.6 billion people [Muslims] should want to kill the rest of the world’s inhabitants—that is 7 billion—so that they themselves may live? Impossible!
I am saying these words here at Al Azhar, before this assembly of scholars and ulema—Allah Almighty be witness to your truth on Judgment Day concerning that which I’m talking about now.
All this that I am telling you, you cannot feel it if you remain trapped within this mindset. You need to step outside of yourselves to be able to observe it and reflect on it from a more enlightened perspective.
I say and repeat again that we are in need of a religious revolution. You, imams, are responsible before Allah. The entire world, I say it again, the entire world is waiting for your next move… because this umma is being torn, it is being destroyed, it is being lost—and it is being lost by our own hands.
Egypt’s Sisi: Islamic “Thinking” Is “Antagonizing the Entire World”
The successful roll-out so far of a new “smart card” system to distribute subsidized bread has been a major achievement for Egypt’s government, saving money while earning praise from families who no longer have to wake early to fight for loaves.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi appears to be succeeding where predecessors Hosni Mubarak and Mohamed Mursi both failed in the delicate task of reforming a system that has drained the state’s finances while angering the population.
Egypt’s Sisi scores early success with smart cards for bread subsidies
Archeologists discover Mythical Tomb of Osiris, God of the Dead, in Egypt
Looking for that Blessed Hope! 