Monday, January 31, 2011

Muslim Brotherhood rejects new Mubarak government, calls for continued protests

A very interesting post from http://www.jihadwatch.org/ about the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. This follows this post  Barack Obama's State of the Uniton.This follows this post  about Miss USA 2010 and this article about the recent news about the former ban on offshore drilling which would encourage American energy independence and prevent money from going to hostile countries such as Iran   and Venezuela. For more that you can do to get involved click HERE and read this very interesting book HERE!

Muslim Brotherhood rejects new Mubarak government, calls for continued protests


Making it clearer who is calling the shots. "Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood, No To New Government," from ANSAmed, January 31 (thanks to Insubria):



(ANSAmed) - ROME, JANUARY 31 - Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has given its thumbs down to the new Egyptian government and has called on people to continue demonstrating until the present regime falls. In a communique', the strongest opposition movement against President Hosni Mubarak speaks of a ''total refusal'' of the new administration, which ''does not respect the will of the people''.

''We call on Egyptians to carry on participating in the great demonstrations across Egypt until the whole of the regime - President, party, ministers and Parliament - is no longer in power''.



Posted by Robert

Egypt's Coming Transition

An interesting article from http://www.wnponline.org about the future of Egypt.This follows this post  about a Good Health Care Plan. For a free magazine subscription or to get this book for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886-8632.

Egypt's Coming Transition


Egypt's president recently turned 78 years old and a change of leadership is the subject of speculation. What does the future hold for this large Arab nation?

by Darris McNeely

On a recent trip to Egypt I was the typical tourist, traveling by bus to the major tourist sites at Giza and Luxor. We sailed on the Nile and put our lives in danger crossing the busy streets of Cairo. But behind the tourist façade, it was evident that Egypt has a measure of domestic turmoil that could lead to major changes in the future.



Armed soldiers are everywhere, not only at the tourist sites where terrorists struck in the past. In 1997 terrorists bombed a German tour group at Luxor. Now you see dozens of armed soldiers around hotels and shopping areas throughout the city. A little study into the current Egyptian political climate shows the soldiers are not only protecting the tourists but the political regime as well.



Since the start of this year, President Hosni Mubarak has made strong moves to stop dissent among political opponents. Charges of fraud have been made against a lawyer who opposed Mubarak in last fall's elections. Two judges who accused the government of rigging the elections are facing dismissal from the bench for making public comments. One of them, Judge Hisham Bastawisi, suffered a major heart attack last month, which aroused the seething anger of a sympathetic public, resulting in large public demonstrations against President Mubarak.



The Egyptian judiciary was responsible for calling the fraud of last year's elections. Thousands of judges called for reform that would create an independent judiciary. Reports suggest that these opposition judges are joined with a coalition of religious and secular organizations that seek an end to the Mubarak era.



Hosni Mubarak has been president since that fateful day in 1981 when religious fundamentalists stormed a reviewing stand and assassinated President Anwar Sadat. Mubarak sat next to Sadat that day and no doubt vividly remembers the brutal power of religious fury.



In recent weeks, protestors on the streets of Cairo have suffered beatings and some female protestors have been sexually abused. Laws governing presidential voting in Egypt are under the complete control of the president, despite limited reforms.



On May 25, 300 Egyptian judges stood in a silent protest on the steps of the high court in Cairo to press their demands for full independence. "We are calling for the independence of the judiciary…and our complete supervision of elections if there is to be supervision from now on," said Ahmed Salah, a judge at the protest. One observer said, "It's like Egypt has been reborn" (www.gulf-times.com).



Muslim Brotherhood



Last month more than 200 members of the Muslim Brotherhood were arrested in the latest wave of demonstrations. This banned Islamic organization, whose roots are deep in fundamentalist Islam, has done well in parliamentary elections, demonstrating its broad base of support.



In recent months, the Muslim Brotherhood adopted a moderate position on political issues. Leaders continue to call for a democratic government that respects the rights of all minorities rather than establishing an Islamic state. Whether this would change should the group gain control of the government is another matter. So-called moderate approaches often are only skin-deep and merely mask the true nature of movements.



The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928. It is a religious, political and social movement with membership throughout the Arab world. Its mission seems summed up in its creed, "God is our objective; the Koran is our constitution; the Prophet is our leader; struggle is our way; and death for the sake of God is the highest of our aspirations."



In its early decades, it was a political and social revolutionary movement. In 1954, the group was implicated in a plot to assassinate then President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Since then, the government has treated the group as illegal, yet has shown the group sporadic toleration.



Present trends indicate large grassroots support. In last fall's parliamentary elections, Muslim Brotherhood candidates won nearly 20 percent of the seats. They now form the largest body of opposition to the government. Clearly the group will be a player in Egyptian politics going forward.



Last month President Mubarak turned 78, and while he still seems to be fit and in control, speculation has already started as to who will succeed him in office. That may be why we are seeing popular agitation over the electoral process.



It is well known that President Mubarak has been grooming his son, Gamal, to take over. But by all appearances, this is an unacceptable solution for most Egyptians. A sign of the Bush administration's awareness of this reality came last month when Gamal Mubarak was in Washington on private business and had a meeting with National Security Advisor Steve Hadley. While he was in this meeting, President Bush dropped by to greet Gamal Mubarak and to send his best wishes to his father, President Mubarak.



The United States is walking a fine line in Egyptian relations. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has been in the Middle East saying America would no longer stand by despots but would press for democratization in countries where absolutism prevails. The Bush administration's policy is to push democratic reforms. Iraq is the primary focus for this experiment in creating democracies in this volatile region. Critics of American foreign policy claim a double standard when countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia seem to get a "pass" for democratic reform.



The practical reality is that Egypt, and President Mubarak specifically, is a major ally in the Middle East. Egypt has been the recipient of more than $2 billion in direct economic assistance from the United States each year since signing a peace treaty with Israel in 1978. The Egyptian army is one of the largest and best equipped among Arab countries. America needs the support of this country. That is why it has ignored some of these "undemocratic" moves.



The question is whether this will prove to be a problem should a more fundamentalist Islamic government come to power in the future. This is what happened in the late 1970s when the shah of Iran, a key American ally, was deposed in the Islamic revolution that swept the Ayatollah Khomeini and other clerics into power. American intelligence failed to foresee this event, which has continuing repercussions on American influence in the region to this day. The loss of Egypt in a similar manner could lead to major changes, ones that would not bode well for Western interests in the region.



The Bible points to Egypt



The Bible centers on this area of the Middle East in the fascinating prophecy about the king of the South in Daniel 11. In this prophecy (set at the time of the end, prior to Christ's return to earth), a conflict arises between two figures, the king of the North and the king of the South.



Notice verse 40: "At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through."



Bible scholars have long identified the king of the North as the leader of a power centered in Europe. The king of the South is a leader of a power to the south of Jerusalem. (Directions in this and other biblical prophecies are determined from Jerusalem.)



Looking at the modern geopolitical picture, we conclude that this person, the king of the South, will likely be an individual who manages to unite the Arab/Islamic powers of the Middle East and mount some kind of push or attack that threatens the growing power of the king of the North. (We do not have space for all the details here, but please read our booklet The Middle East in Bible Prophecy for a more detailed examination of this prophecy.)



Who this person will be and exactly which nations will make up this southern power is not known at this time. History teaches us that times and events usually bring great men to power at the moment of crisis to lead major movements. Often these people come out of relative obscurity and can be someone least expected to lead powerful forces.



But to carry on with Daniel's prophecy, verses 41-43 show the path that the king of the North takes in his response to the move of the king of the South.



"He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels."



Egypt and Libya are two North African countries specifically mentioned. This power from the north will occupy them.



Why is Egypt targeted? Is it the political center of this southern alliance? Egypt has once before attempted to unite Arab power into one bloc. In 1952 Egyptian General Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew the corrupt monarchy of King Farouk. His dreams of a pan-Arabic league of states were never fully realized.



As mentioned earlier, Egypt has a large, well-equipped modern army, among the largest in the Middle East. If this army were to form the nucleus of a regional force, it would be logical the country would be taken out by a counterattack. The Bible mentions these nations for a reason. We can only look at the current geopolitical scene and watch closely the events taking place in these areas mentioned in prophecy.



Egypt was the breadbasket of the ancient Roman Empire. Her political stability was crucial to the long-term prosperity of Rome. Egypt and its leaders attracted the interests of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Pompey. Perhaps the long ago battles and intrigues in that fabled land presage a future conflict that draws forces across its borders. Time will tell. WNP

Friday, January 28, 2011

Health bill repeal introduced in Senate

An interesting story from http://www.lifensiteews.com/  about Obamacare Repeal in the Senate. This follows this post about Texas attempt to show sonograms before abortions.  For more that you can do to get involved click  HERE and you can also get a very interesting book HERE !

Health bill repeal introduced in Senate


by Kathleen Gilbert

Thu Jan 27, 2011 15:31 EST

Senator Jim Demint introduced the health care repeal bill on Wednesday.WASHINGTON, D.C., January 27, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Following its success in the U.S. House last week, a bill to repeal the abortion-expanding health care reform law has been introduced by a leading pro-life lawmaker in the Senate.



U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) introduced the repeal bill on Wednesday, joined by 35 co-sponsors.



“Republicans are standing with the American people who are demanding we repeal this government takeover of health care,” said Senator DeMint in a statement. “Repealing ObamaCare is vital to the future of our nation and the health of our people.



“ObamaCare will raise health costs, reduce choices, ration care, hike taxes, cut jobs, increase the national debt, and put bureaucrats between patients and their doctors.”



While the repeal’s success in the House was widely expected, a similar outcome in the Senate, which remains dominated by the Democratic party, will be far more difficult. The GOP nonetheless hailed the House victory as sending a strong message to President Obama of the bill’s deep unpopularity.



A survey released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 43 percent of U.S. adults favor repealing the health care bill. Among Americans eligible to vote, a Rasmussen Reports survey released Monday found 55 percent favoring repeal, and only 40 percent opposing. Voters polled by Rasmussen have never dipped below 50 percent supporting repeal.



“Economists have described ObamaCare as ‘fiscally dangerous,’ warning it will create barriers to job growth and increase costs at a time of great economic uncertainty,” said Senator DeMint. “American families and businesses are struggling and it’s our duty to respond quickly to their calls to repeal this bill and push for solutions that will make health care more affordable.”



President Obama signed the bill into law in March after mounting a monumental effort to break the resistance of a small group of pro-life Democrats who blocked passage based on the bill’s abortion funding. The White House overcame the obstacle just prior to the final vote by issuing an Executive Order applying Hyde-like restrictions for the bill that was blasted by pro-life experts as woefully inadequate.



Rep. Dan Lipinski of Illinois, one of a small group of House Democrats who opposed the final bill, said this weekend that, although it was “extremely difficult” to contradict the party bosses, there was “never any question” that he would support the bill with its embedded taxpayer funding of abortion.

Ask Your U.S. Senator to Support Jobless U.S. Workers

An interesting post from www.NumbersUSA.com  about the Senate Judiciary Committee's immigration legislation. This follows this post about the disappointing State of the Union and this post which shows that there are 30,000 openly illegal immigrants in the border town of El Paso. On a related note, you can read about Miss Kentucky Latina here, an interesting article about Jessica Alba here or another article about Salma Hayek here. For more that you can do to get involved click HERE and you can read a very interesting book HERE!


Ask Your U.S. Senator to Support Jobless U.S. Workers


 
You can find this fax by proceeding to


http://www.numbersusa.com/faxes?ID=12682




Your Republican U.S. Senator sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which just started its work on January 27th. The Judiciary Committee has the authority to examine and vote on immigration legislation, including legislation controlling the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country. With more than 22 million Americans unable to find a job, it clearly makes no sense to continue to issue 125,000 new work permits each month.




Please send a fax to your U.S. Senator and urge him/her to propose legislation that would reduce the number of work permits until America recovers from the current jobs depression

Barack Hussein Obama STFU, er . . . SOTU: “US Muslims Part of American Family”

A very interesting post from www.debbieschlussel.com about Barack Obama's State of the Uniton. This follow this post about Sharia being rejected in South Carolina. This follows this post  about Miss USA 2010 and this article about the recent news about the former ban on offshore drilling which would encourage American energy independence and prevent money from going to hostile countries such as Iran   and Venezuela. For more that you can do to get involved click HERE and read this very interesting book HERE!

Barack Hussein Obama STFU, er . . . SOTU: “US Muslims Part of American Family”

By Debbie Schlussel



I did not watch tonight’s Barack Hussein Obama STFU. I mean SOTU–State of the Union. I was too busy watching a screening of “The Rite,” starring Anthony Hopkins, which I know had far better acting. But I hear that the most “memorable” lines of his speech included lectures about gays in the military and how “American Muslims are part of the American family.” It’s funny how he didn’t tell American Muslims that gays (and Jews and Blacks and non-Muslims) are a part of the American family. That would be “intolerant” and “offensive,” right? Frankly, since I’ve been the victim of several legitimate, anti-Semitic death, rape, and torture threats . . . ALL of them from Muslims, I’d like to know when Barry Hussein O will lecture Muslims that Jews are part of the American family and always have been, well before any Muslims slithered onto American shores.











Ya know, Nidal Malik Hasan and Faisal Shahzad are American Muslims, so I guess we must welcome them and more Fort Hood massacres and attempted Times Square bombings into the American family.



The thing is that the rest of the American people are not the ones who need to be lectured with the baloney that Muslims are a part of the American family. It’s American Muslims who need to be reminded that they are a part of the American family . . and they need to start acting like it.







Also, note that he didn’t call them, “Muslim Americans,” but “American Muslims.” They are Muslims for whom Islam is first–always–and for whom “American” is a mere irrelevant adjective of geography, not loyalty or pride.



Like I said, we don’t need to be lectured about Muslims in America being part of the American family. It’s Muslims who need that lecture.

U.S. Health Care: Will It Be Repealed by the GOP or GOD?

An interesting article from http://www.ucg.org/ about the Bible as a SCIENCE book. This follows this post about America's debt problems. For a free magazine subscription or to get this book for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886-8632.

U.S. Health Care: Will It Be Repealed by the GOP or GOD?


A commentary by Randy D'Alessandro

United Church of God pastor, Ann Arbor and Detroit, Michigan

Posted January 27, 2011

In 2010 Congress, after considerable debate, passed a landmark piece of legislation insuring that most Americans would receive some level of health care.



This legislation was largely the work of the Democratic Party that controlled Congress at the time. However, in the national elections of November 2010, the Republican Party made great inroads in the House of Representatives, taking control of that half of Congress. On Jan. 19 the House of Representatives voted to repeal the law. Of course, the Democratic Party–controlled Senate and the president will not go along with that move, so it is considered largely symbolic.



But is there another power that has something to say about—as well as the ability to provide—proper health care for all people? The answer is yes. The power that speaks loud and clear on this issue is none other than the great God Himself! The Bible speaks quite eloquently about the need for all peoples, in all nations (not just in the United States), at all times to have the blessing of excellent health and excellent health care.



What God says about health

This will all begin with the return of Jesus Christ to govern all nations. A critical aspect of insuring excellent health will be the proper education of all people as to what will bring about that desired end. The prophet Isaiah speaks to this.



"Many people shall come and say, 'Come, and let us go up to…the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3).



Our great God has designed and created the laws governing excellent health. Those laws will be universally taught to all people for their benefit. Does it make any sense that an automobile manufacturer would include an owner's manual detailing what type of fuel to use in its new product, but that God would not include information on what types of food ("fuel") we humans are to consume for maximum health?



Let's focus on just one aspect of God's health-care plan for all peoples—His laws regarding the food we eat. Those laws, some of which are found in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, include what should be eaten and not eaten so that our bodies are properly nourished.



The Scriptures tell us that in Christ's Kingdom the earth will abundantly produce health-giving, nutritionally rich foods needed for robust health. "'Behold, the days are coming,' says the Lord, 'when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it" (Amos 9:13).



God's health-care plan, free to all the earth's people, will properly educate mankind regarding the laws of health such as which foods are best to be eaten. Additionally, these foods will, themselves, have healing qualities and be in great abundance.



Divine healing

There is another aspect of God's health-care plan that I would like to briefly touch on. There will be divine intervention by Jesus Christ to heal those who have health disorders. As Christ did in His earthly ministry nearly 2,000 years ago, He will do again after He establishes His Kingdom on earth.



Note what the Bible says about Christ's ministry 2,000 years ago: "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people" (Matthew 4:23).



Now notice what prophecy says will take place after the return of Christ and the establishment of His Kingdom on earth: "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing" (Isaiah 35:5-6).



We invite you to read our free booklet that explains in greater detail the coming Kingdom of God. The name of the booklet is The Gospel of the Kingdom. To understand more about the laws God has set in place regarding proper foods to be eaten, we suggest our booklet What Does the Bible Teach About Clean and Unclean Meats?

Thursday, January 27, 2011

South Carolina introduces law banning Sharia

A very interesting post from www.jihadwatch.org  about CAIR and Peter King. This follows this previous post about House member Peter King of Long Island. This follows this post  about Miss USA 2010 and this article about the recent news about the former ban on offshore drilling which would encourage American energy independence and prevent money from going to hostile countries such as Iran   and Venezuela. For more that you can do to get involved click HERE and read this very interesting book HERE!

South Carolina introduces law banning Sharia


Crescent moon on flag, sí, Sharia, no

"There are numerous examples in dozens of states in which parties to such a dispute attempted to invoke Shariah."



"Bill Aimed at Protecting S.C. From Foreign Law Introduced in Legislature," by W. Thomas Smith Jr. in Human Events, January 26:



COLUMBIA, S.C. - A legislative initiative aimed at preventing "a court or other enforcement authority" from enforcing foreign law in the Palmetto State was introduced today in both the S.C. House and Senate by Rep. Wendy Nanney (who drafted the bill) and Sen. Mike Fair respectively, who say the bill will preempt violations of a person's constitutional rights resulting from the application of foreign law. Legislators and other proponents of the bill say America has unique values of liberty which do not exist in foreign legal systems. Yet foreign laws are increasingly finding their way into U.S. court cases, particularly in the area of family law, involving divorce and child custody where, for instance, Islamic Shariah Law has been invoked in several U.S. states.

According to Christopher Holton with the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Security Policy (CSP), "There are numerous examples in dozens of states in which parties to such a dispute attempted to invoke Shariah."



David Yersushalmi [sic], general counsel to the CSP, argues it's not just "patently bad foreign laws [creeping into our court systems]," it's that once in the system, the state's police power would be used to "enforce laws that could never pass federal or state constitutional muster."...



Posted by Robert

The Biblical Authors: Men of God and Science

An interesting article from http://www.ucg.org/ about the Bible as a SCIENCE book. This follows this post about America's debt problems. For a free magazine subscription or to get this book for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886-8632.


The Biblical Authors: Men of God and Science


Solomon, king of Israel, was a man of remarkable learning. The Bible describes him as having great interest and understanding in scientific disciplines. Solomon understood the movement of the prevailing winds about the earth and the hydrological cycle that brings rain (Ecclesiastes 1:6-7). He was a horticulturist, creating a great assortment of vineyards, gardens and orchards (Ecclesiastes 2:4-5).



He was something of a botanist and zoologist, understanding plants, animals, birds, insects and fish (1 Kings 4:33). He was a student of psychology, sociology and human relations, as demonstrated by the subject matter of the book of Proverbs.



But Solomon eventually realized that all his scientific, material knowledge did not bring him satisfaction. His life grew hollow and unsatisfying. His concentration on scientific knowledge, without proper emphasis on God's spiritual knowledge and understanding, rendered life meaningless (Ecclesiastes 1:16-18). He concluded, after much retrospection, that a man must put the knowledge of God first: "This is the end of the matter: you have heard it all. Fear God and obey his commandments; this sums up the duty of mankind" (Ecclesiastes 12:13, Revised English Bible).



Moses is another example of a man trained in the physical sciences but blessed with spiritual understanding. Moses was educated "in all the wisdom of the Egyptians" (Acts 7:22). With the guidance of God he could separate the good from the bad, and undoubtedly his early education was of great help in his life of fulfilling God's calling to lead his fellow Israelites out of Egyptian slavery and to govern a nation.



Other men of God were educated in the intellectual pursuits of their day. The prophet Daniel was a brilliant student brought up in the royal academy of the Babylonians (Daniel 1:4). The Babylonian Empire of Daniel's day dominated the world and was scientifically advanced, particularly in astronomy.



Daniel apparently saw no conflict between the scientific truths the Babylonians had discovered and the knowledge of God that he had held from his youth. Indeed, he thrived, serving rulers of the Babylonian and Medo-Persian empires as a high-ranking government official. Daniel's education did not undermine his faith in God. He knew God's Word to be true and inviolable and saw no conflict between scientific knowledge and Scripture.



We must study the Scriptures to gain eternal life (John 5:39). But, as time and inclination allow, we should study the physical sciences as well. In so doing we will gain a deeper appreciation of the world our Creator has made and increase our faith and understanding of Him.



The apostle Paul understood that man stands to learn a great deal about His Creator by observing His creation: "Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible nature—his eternal power and divine character—have been clearly perceptible through what he has made. So they have no excuse" (Goodspeed's American Translation). The Wall Street Journal put it this way: "If a little science takes one away from God, a great deal of science brings one back to him" (Oct. 10, 1994).

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Geller: Why CAIR is going after Peter King

A very interesting post from www.jihadwatch.org  about CAIR and Peter King. This follows this previous post about House member Peter King of Long Island. This follows this post  about Miss USA 2010 and this article about the recent news about the former ban on offshore drilling which would encourage American energy independence and prevent money from going to hostile countries such as Iran   and Venezuela. For more that you can do to get involved click HERE and read this very interesting book HERE!

Geller: Why CAIR is going after Peter King


BLOGGER'S NOTE: click HERE to tell Rep. Peter King that you support him!
In "Why CAIR is Going After Peter King" at Big Government today, Pamela Geller explains why the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations is targeting Congressman Peter King despite the defanged nature of his upcoming hearings:



The Hamas-tied Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) is viciously going after Congressman Peter King (R-NY), who is planning on holding hearings about the radicalization of Muslims in America.

On Monday, CAIR's daily "American Muslim News Briefs" mailing contained no fewer than three shots at King:



Rep. King Turns Dispute with Mosque into Personal Vendetta



King Hearing Witness: 'We Are at War with Islam'



Video: GOP Rep. Bashes Islam, First Muslim in Congress



You might get the idea from this that King's hearings are actually going to do some good. After all, if the Hamas group CAIR is angry, King must be doing something right. Yet last week I called King's hearings a "show trial" after King told Politico that he was "not planning to call as witnesses such Muslim community critics as the Investigative Project on Terrorism's Steve Emerson and Jihad Watch's Robert Spencer." I wrote that "for King not to avail himself of Emerson's knowledge and Spencer's scholarship is an astounding case of willful blindness." Even worse, King (R-NY) said he was going to call Muslim Brotherhood-linked Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN).



I support increasing awareness of the jihadist threat in our midst. Who more than I? But when Politico reported that King, who is the new chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, plans to take "testimony primarily from Muslims" during his upcoming hearings, I thought, why? The media considers it its mission to take its spin primarily from Muslims. The cultural elites are constantly haranguing us with the Islamic supremacist narrative of calling any candor or criticism of jihad "Islamophobia." [...]



So why is Hamas-tied CAIR so upset? Is CAIR going after King in spite of his capitulation? No. They are going after him because he conceded.



The Islamic supremacists sense King's weakness. They see that he is anxious to accommodate them and to avoid bad publicity, despite his earlier statement that he didn't care about being called a bigot if that was the price of exposing jihad activity in America. And so they are going in for the kill. This is what they do. We see this over and over again in Islamic history. It is an Islamic pattern: they treat every concession as surrender in installments. The record of the "Palestinian" peace talks with Israel is a primary case in point. The accommodation of Muslims in Europe, leading those Muslims to grow more aggressive and demanding every day, is another example. Appease jihad and they go for the jugular....


Read it all.

Posted by Robert

Texas gov. declares sonogram-before-abortions bill a legislative ‘emergency’

An interesting story from http://www.lifensiteews.com/  about Texas attempt to show sonograms before abortions. This follows this post about forced abortions in China. For more that you can do to get involved click  HERE and you can also get a very interesting book HERE !

Texas gov. declares sonogram-before-abortions bill a legislative ‘emergency’


by Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

Texas Gov. Rick PerryAUSTIN, Texas, January 26, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Texas governor Rick Perry is throwing his weight behind legislation to require doctors to show women a sonogram of their unborn child before having an abortion, declaring the issue a legislative “emergency.”



As an emergency item on the legislative agenda, the state congress will have the option of voting on the measure within the first 30 days of the current legislative session.



In addition to the sonogram, the bill would also require doctors to give mothers a detailed description of their child and his state of development, including the presence of limbs and internal organs. Mothers will also listen to their children’s heartbeat, and must be given information about abortion alternatives no less than 24 hours before the abortion occurs.



Perry’s decision to fast track the legislation was announced at a speech before the Texas Rally for Life, held on Saturday in Austin, the state capital.



“Nearly 40 years have passed since the tragedy of Roe vs. Wade was decided by the United States Supreme Court, and since then, fifty million, fifty million children have lost their chances,” Perry told the crowd.



“That is a catastrophic number. That’s twice the population of this entire state. It’s pretty hard to imagine people of good conscience sitting idly by through this, and in Texas we haven’t. We have actively worked against that Roe vs. Wade decision. We have taken great strides in protecting the unborn.”



After listing previous legislative measures, such as parental notification and parental consent laws, Perry added, “today I am pleased to announce that I am designating the sonogram bill an emergency item for the 87th legislative session.”



“A woman seeking an abortion must be given a sonogram, ensuring that she understands the full impact of her decision, a decision that can scar her physically and otherwise for the rest of her life. When you consider the magnitude of that decision, ensuring that someone understands what is truly at stake, seems to be a small step, in my opinion.”



The decision by Perry to fast-track the legislation was praised by pro-life organizations, and denounced by the abortion provider Planned Parenthood, which has a policy of opposing measures that require potential abortion clients to be informed about their child and options before undergoing the procedure.



A similar bill was defeated in the Texas House in 2009.

Response to immigration in State of Union -- send new faxes‏

An interesting post from www.NumbersUSA.com  about the disappointing State of the Union. This follow this previous post about influencing the State of the Union speech's content and this post which shows that there are 30,000 openly illegal immigrants in the border town of El Paso. On a related note, you can read about Miss Kentucky Latina here, an interesting article about Jessica Alba here or another article about Salma Hayek here. For more that you can do to get involved click HERE and you can read a very interesting book HERE!

Response to immigration in State of Union -- send new faxes‏



From: Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA


Date: Tuesday 25JAN2011 10:30 p.m. EST





PRES. OBAMA'S IMMIGRATION COMMENTS WERE INSULT TO AMERICAN STUDENTS . . .






. . . AND CALLOUS DISREGARD FOR AMERICA'S UNEMPLOYED






Below is my overall assessment of the President's immigration-related comments in his State of the Union address.






Action 1 Click here to send NEW faxes to your 3 Members of Congress about your reaction to the President's approach to immigration and jobs.






http://www.numbersusa.com/faxes?ID=12666  






These are not the faxes you sent earlier.






After you send these new faxes, please go to your Action Buffet and:






(A) Send the new fax to the White House.






(B) Many of you also have VERY important faxes to send to your STATE legislators on extremely important immigration legislation in front of state legislatures NOW.






The rest of this alert are excerpts from my live blog tonight. Read the entire live blog at:






http://www.numbersusa.com/content/nusablog/beckr/january-25-2011/live-blog-state-union-2010-if-jobs-are-priority-will-anybody-connect-  






MY OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF THE IMMIGRATION PART OF THE ADDRESS






10:10 p.m. -- FINAL COMMENTS FROM ME FOR TONIGHT






Pres. Obama spent most of the speech talking about preventing U.S. jobs from going overseas to be done by foreign workers there, and then incongruously argued for increasing the number of foreign workers to take the scarce jobs we keep in the U.S.






Though mostly ambiguous, his statements on immigration seemed to put illegal foreign workers and foreign students first while keeping unemployed Americans in the shadows.






On trade, he said he would "only sign deals that keep faith with American workers, and promote American jobs" and yet on immigration policy he failed American workers, declining to ask for reductions in immigration even though 24 million American and legal immigrants can't find a full-time job. And he declined to ask for mandatory E-Verify to put millions of them back to work by opening up 7 million jobs held by illegal foreign workers. Instead, he vaguely asked for work permits for illegal aliens and an increase in foreign workers.






The disappointment over his comments was tempered by the lukewarm response from Members of Congress who seemed in no mood to follow his unpopular suggestions.






CONGRESSIONAL AUDIENCE RESPONSE TO THE IMMIGRATION COMMENTS






9:39 p.m. -- Well, now he's made the immigration statement and it was not a crowd pleaser. Very good sign.






It felt like there were a couple of major applause lines in these paragraphs, but there was no or very little response.






Here is what he said and how the folks reacted:






"One last point about education. Today, there are hundreds of thousands of students excelling in our schools who are not American citizens. Some are the children of undocumented workers, who had nothing to do with the actions of their parents. They grew up as Americans and pledge allegiance to our flag, and yet live every day with the threat of deportation. Others come here from abroad to study in our colleges and universities. But as soon as they obtain advanced degrees, we send them back home to compete against us. It makes no sense."






I feared we'd get a standing ovation on the "It makes no sense." But there was absolute silence in the Chamber!






In fact, "It makes no sense" was one of his repetitive lines through the speech and it usually got applause. But not this one. Maybe Congress has a little more interest in our American kids graduating from college than does the White House.,






"Now, I strongly believe that we should take on, once and for all, the issue of illegal immigration. I am prepared to work with Republicans and Democrats to protect our borders, enforce our laws and address the millions of undocumented workers who are now living in the shadows. "






Finally, some response. It was one of those slow rolling applauses that lasted a little while and then got quite a few people to stand. But a very short ovation.






So what were they applauding? Protect our borders? Enforce our laws? I hope so. If they were applauding "address the millions of undocumented workers who are now living in the shadows," they were applauding a very ambiguous generalization.






It is a very good sign that Obama KNOWS how extremely unpopular "amnesty" is. So, he didn't dare use the word. But note that he also didn't dare use the words "DREAM Act" or "legalization" or "comprehensive immigration reform."






He seemed afraid to even use the word "REFORM."






I find all that pretty delicious.






"I know that debate will be difficult and take time. But tonight, lets agree to make that effort. And lets stop expelling talented, responsible young people who can staff our research labs, start new businesses, and further enrich this nation. "






Well, here was the crazy talk that all those American kids who have graduated recently and are unemployed or underemployed don't deserve protection but instead should be forced to compete with tens of thousands of foreign students for these jobs.






There was a smattering of applause, but I saw NO standing. Nice!






As bad as the language of the President's text -- and as disappointing that he would not put unemployed Americans first by reducing immigration -- I am reassured that this section of the speech basically bombed.






A FEW MORE COMMENTS






9:28 p.m. -- What is the point of innovatiojn to produce jobs IN AMERICA and not OVERSEAS if we give many of those jobs to workers who we allow into our country from overseas?






Here's what he just said:






"Maintaining our leadership in research and technology is crucial to Americas success. But if we want to win the future if we want innovation to produce jobs in America and not overseas then we also have to win the race to educate our kids."






It is hard to take this statement seriously when we know that later in this speech he will call for us to keep foreign students when they graduate in our universities so they can compete with our own American grads for the jobs that he admits we are going to really have to struggle to keep in the U.S. vs. them being in other countries.






(Read the entire live blog at:)






http://www.numbersusa.com/content/nusablog/beckr/january-25-2011/live-blog-state-union-2010-if-jobs-are-priority-will-anybody-connect-  








Debt Troubles Mount for Britain and America

An interesting article from www.ucg.org/commentary about America's debt problems. This follows this post about the dollar's potential to fall. For a free magazine subscription or to get this book for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886-8632.

Debt Troubles Mount for Britain and America


The late French President Charles de Gaulle once dismissed the United States and Britain as "the Anglo-Saxon debtor nations." Four decades later, their enormous debt is forcing the two countries into a period of dramatic change.

by Melvin Rhodes

It's now official.



When I was at school in England in the 1950s and early 60s, we were taught that the two primary functions of government were "defense of the realm" and maintaining a strong and stable currency.



That's now changed.



Faced with increasing financial problems due to years of overspending, Western governments are having to cut their big budgets. This includes the United Kingdom, which is having to cut billions of pounds in government spending to bring down the nation's debts. Austerity—strictness in curtailing spending—is the constant refrain.



All government departments were told to submit plans for massive reductions in spending, with the exception of two departments considered sacrosanct—health and overseas aid.



Defense is to be slashed amid fears that the country will no longer be able to defend itself. There is even to be some sharing of major military hardware with France—including an aircraft carrier!—so that both countries can save money. This is rather ironic when we consider that the British have fought France more times than any other country!



Clearly, "defense of the realm" is no longer the government's foremost priority.



There are also to be cuts in welfare and other forms of government assistance. When it was announced that government support for rent was to be capped at £400 per week (about $630), the Conservative mayor of London, Boris Johnson, charged his colleagues at Westminster of "ethnic cleansing" (he later softened his stance somewhat).



This was a reference to the fact that many of those in London receiving assistance are nonwhite immigrants and their adult children. Housing in London is extremely expensive, and news reports have frequently highlighted families that receive thousands of pounds every week to help them remain in their homes. (One British pound equals approximately $1.60.)



What's happened to the United Kingdom?

A century ago, the United Kingdom was the greatest military power in the world. The country was also the greatest investing nation, accounting for almost 50 percent of all international investment on the eve of World War I in 1914.



Yet by 1916, halfway through the "war to end all wars," the United Kingdom was borrowing heavily from the United States. The country still remained a global superpower right through World War II. Even in 1953, at the time of Queen Elizabeth's coronation, it was a major military and political power.



But by the 1950s it was in rapid economic decline. Contributory factors were a lack of competitiveness and government control of much of the nation's production. Added to these were rising welfare and health costs, a consequence of the postwar welfare state introduced by the government elected after the war ended in 1945.



For more than six decades Britain has been gradually reducing its military spending, effectively to finance its ever-increasing welfare and health costs.



Bible prophecy helps us understand

Regular readers of this magazine know that modern-day Britons are largely the descendants of the biblical half-tribe of Ephraim. God promised Ephraim and his brother Manasseh, the two sons of Joseph, incredible blessings for their descendants.



Manasseh was prophesied to become a great nation, whereas Ephraim was to be a "multitude of nations" (Genesis 48:19), a prophecy fulfilled in the former British Empire and Commonwealth, as explained in our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy.



The empire was still fairly intact when Queen Elizabeth assumed the throne on her father's death in February 1952. Today, it has almost all gone, a reflection of the great decline the country has undergone during the reign of just one monarch.



The Old Testament prophet Hosea addressed his prophecies to modern-day Ephraim. Many reject that the prophecy is about our time, but a passage in chapter 5 of the book of Hosea shows that it was not a message intended for ancient Ephraim. In Hosea 5:5 we read that Israel and Judah will both fall and stumble within a period of 30 days, the "New Moon" referred to in verse 7.



This did not happen in ancient times. The 10 tribes comprising the kingdom of Israel, of which Ephraim was a part, fell to Assyrian invaders more than a century before the kingdom of Judah was overthrown and crushed by the Babylonians.



The decline of present-day Ephraim has a lot to do with the country turning away from God. Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 show the connection between a nation's obedience and blessings or disobedience and negative consequences.



One of the consequences of disobedience is economic decline, which the country is feeling now as it struggles with a heavy burden of debt. This is not new. The late French President Charles de Gaulle once referred to "the Anglo-Saxon debtor nations" when rejecting Britain's bid to join the European Community (now the European Union).



He was talking about the United Kingdom and the United States, whose modern economies have been built on massive borrowing. (It's ironic, but more than 40 years later France also wrestles with its own serious debt problems!)



One of the reasons for Ephraim's economic decline is Britain's 50-year obsession with Europe. The 1957 Treaty of Rome pledges member countries to form "an ever closer union." Gradually, since joining in 1973, Britain has been losing more and more of its sovereignty and has traded places with others in Europe.



The country that once led Europe economically is now behind both Germany and France and is on a par with Italy as an economic power. Britain is a net contributor to the EU, which means it subsidizes other countries in the Union to the tune of billions of pounds each year.



Hosea 7:9 says that "aliens have devoured his strength, but he does not know it." Whereas this certainly applies to the drain from the EU, it is also applicable in other ways. While on the surface a commitment to maintain overseas aid at its former level during a period of austerity may seem generous, it is difficult to understand how this should take precedence over the "defense of the realm." After all, if the country suffers defeat in war, there will be no aid to give to anybody!



Even more curious is the fact that India is the foremost recipient of aid from Britain—the same India that is fast becoming an economic superpower! Other recipients include nations ruled by dictators who notoriously pocket a great deal of the money for themselves!



"Aliens have devoured his strength" at home too, as Boris Johnson's comment on housing and subsidizing immigrants testifies. It's well known in the United Kingdom that the country's generous welfare system and free health care attract many to the nation's shores. While many contribute to the country, huge numbers of other immigrants require financial help with housing, health care and financial support for their children.



Is the United States any different?

While Britain's priorities have changed since World War II, the country has always known it could, in the end, rely on the United States to defend it in the event of a major conflict. Britain itself has contributed to America's wars, and the expectation is that the United States will always provide a military umbrella if the United Kingdom were attacked. But can the United States fulfill its military obligations at a time when U.S. debt is at record levels?



The United Kingdom and some other countries are in a time of austerity. America's debts are just as bad. The only reason why the United States has gotten away with it longer is because the U.S. dollar is the world's reserve currency.



This means that many countries willingly take American dollars as payment for goods because they can use those dollars to buy oil and other commodities from many different countries. The United States has even been able to print more dollars seemingly without too much concern, an option the United Kingdom and other nations can't normally exercise without serious negative consequences.



But now some countries are clearly turning away from the dollar. At the November 2010 G20 meetings in Seoul, South Korea, Germany, China and Japan all called for an end to the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency, due to anxiety over reckless U.S. government policy in printing more money to stimulate the economy. On Nov. 24, 2010, the China Daily website carried the headline "China, Russia Quit Dollar."



The article, written from St. Petersburg, Russia, began with the following: "China and Russia have decided to renounce the US dollar and resort to using their own currencies for bilateral trade, Premier Wen Jiabao and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin announced late on Tuesday."



Major changes looming for the United States?

A U.S. congressional committee looking into ways to reduce the nation's debt is advocating cuts similar to those in Britain—including a call for reduced military spending. Just as Britain's policing of the world, a job it had done for two centuries, was overtaken by other priorities for the British after World War II, so America will follow suit.



U.S. News and World Report publisher Mortimer Zuckerman, in the December 2010, issue, summed up what has become the new economic reality for many Americans. Titled "Tax Hikes, Fewer Benefits Key to Federal Deficit Crisis Fix," the article was more ominously subtitled, "Americans feel anxiety without pause as millions fall out of the middle class."



Zuckerman states: "The dominant mood in America today is one of anxiety without pause. Millions of decent, self-reliant, regular Americans who had begun to fear that the prolonged recession means the American dream is over for them now brood that their children and even their grandchildren are also to be denied the prospects of the good life they took for granted just a decade ago.



"Once, the vast majority thought they were in the middle class, not rich and not poor. Today, more and more Americans are starting to identify themselves with lower economic groupings and see no prospects of moving higher, whether in terms of job opportunities or earnings. The fear has grown that years of hard work will no longer translate into a better life for themselves and their families.



"The new normal is that millions of them are facing the risk, or the reality, of falling out of the middle class, losing all that this once meant in America—financial independence, sending your kids to college, having equity in your home, choosing where you live.



"Today, people in their 20s are hard-pressed to get jobs, and those who do are taking them at incomes lower than they ever imagined. For those who are surviving as middle-class families, they are facing years of financial insecurity."



In an earlier Aug. 26, 2010, article by Zuckerman titled "The Most Fiscally Irresponsible Government in U.S. History"—subtitled "Current federal budget trends are capable of destroying this country"—he wrote: "There is another instinctive conclusion among the American people. It is that the national deficit, and the debts we have accumulated, are of critical political importance.



"On the national debt, the money the government has spent without the tax revenues to pay for it has produced mind-numbing numbers so large as to be disconnected from reality. Zeros from here to infinity. The sums are hard to describe; it is hard to describe an elephant, but you know one when you see one. The public knows that, shuffle the numbers as you may, the level of debt is unsustainable.



"Who could be surprised since millions of voters have discovered that for themselves? As one realizes the morning after the night before, there is an unavoidable penalty for excess."



Heading down the road to ruin

The United States is clearly going down the same path as the United Kingdom, its predecessor as global superpower. Only a few decades ago the United States was the world's greatest lending nation. Today it is the largest debtor nation. By some estimates, when all of America's debt is added to its future obligations to fund Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the nation's true debt is more than $50 trillion—a staggering half million dollars for each American household!



With both Britain and the United States clearly in a period of financial decline, three questions loom with global implications: Where are these nations headed now? Who will be the new global leaders? And how will these developments transform the world in the next few years?



As for you personally, will you be ready? GN

Monday, January 24, 2011

STOPPING THE OBAMA SURGE

A very interesting post from www.dickmorris.com about Barack Obama's poll numbers. This follows this post about making the SENATE repeal Obamacare and and this article about  the recent news about ending the ban on offshore drilling which would encourage American energy independence This is a key issue to prevent money from going to hostile countries such as Iran  and Venezuela. For more that you can do to get involved click HERE and you can read a very interesting book HERE!

STOPPING THE OBAMA SURGE

By Dick Morris And Eileen McGann
01.24.2011





All the public opinion polls now confirm that President Obama has moved up sharply and significantly in popularity and job approval since he began to tack toward the center after the November election. Rasmussen and Zogby both have him over 50% job approval for the first time in almost a year. The key event was his high-minded speech in the aftermath of the Tucson shootings and his clear separation from the blame-oriented liberal commentators who tried to pin the killings on the Tea Party and Sarah Palin.



Now, as he prepares to deliver his third State of the Union address, he will have a national audience that will see him for one hour doing what he does best – giving a speech. State of the Union addresses are not to be taken lightly. In the Clinton Administration, I compared them to the towers of a suspension bridge. When the speech was given, the president’s ratings would rise only to fall gradually until they perked up again at the next State of the Union speech.





Obama will, doubtless, be the soul of moderation, bipartisanship, and compromise in his speech and may well see his ratings soar further upward.



But don’t panic. Obama has to begin to take real positions on real issues posed by the Republican Congress. Will he cut spending sharply when the debt limit is increased? Will he agree to defunding Obamacare? Will he go along with banning the EPA from issuing regulations taxing carbon emissions? Will his Administration permit the National Labor Relations Board to ban secret ballots in union elections or let the FCC regulate the Internet and cripple talk radio? Will he veto budgets that have earmarks inserted by his Democratic allies?



On these issues, there really is no center. If Obama wants to cut spending by only a moderate amount, that is not centrism. Half of too much is still too much.



If the Republicans pose these choices starkly, Obama’s so-called move to the center will be exposed as the fraud that it is. He cannot remain protected by his own platitudes and clichés when he has to make real decisions about public policy, choosing between his own liberal/socialist ideology and what America wants.



Indeed, the public will be doubly cynical about him if his move to the center turns out to have no substance. They will feel conned once again by the glib silver tongue in the White House. And Obama will have a hard time fooling the people thrice!



But the Republicans must do their part. To call Obama’s bluff, they will have to pass serious alternatives to his policies – big cuts in spending, defunding of Obamacare and of his administrative orders, and a procedure for state bankruptcies. On the rocks of these issues, Obama’s centrism will smash to pieces and he will be revealed for the radical that he really is.



There will be some Republicans who will want to meet him in the middle and agree to some cosmetic changes in Obamacare and some peripheral cuts in spending. We must not listen to these voices. It is only by posing sharp issues and manifestly different paths that Obama will be forced to choose and, in the process, be exposed.

Like clockwork: Muslims highlight "backlash" fears ahead of congressional show-trial on "radicalization"

A very interesting post from www.jihadwatch.org  about the House member Peter King of Long Island. This follows this post about Sarah Palin and the Ground Zero Mosque.  This follows this post  about Miss USA 2010 and this article about the recent news about the former ban on offshore drilling which would encourage American energy independence and prevent money from going to hostile countries such as Iran   and Venezuela. For more that you can do to get involved click HERE and read this very interesting book HERE!

Like clockwork: Muslims highlight "backlash" fears ahead of congressional show-trial on "radicalization"


Never mind the fact that Rep. Peter King's hearings have already been sanitized of almost all potential criticism of Islamic teachings, and that the deliberate exclusion of controversial points of view will doom those hearings to be a pointlessly ritualistic display of Congress looking busy.



Even so, standard operating procedures are kicking in among King's Muslim constituents. We see this every time Islam comes under scrutiny, particularly in the wake of an attempted act of jihad. Muslim groups aim to deflect any criticism of Islam or attention to conduct by Muslims that brings bad publicity by shifting the focus and casting Muslims as victims or potential victims of "Islamophobia."



The implication is that all criticism of Islam that can't be neutralized with a little one-way "dialogue" can only be motivated by hate. Seething, bilious, irrational, and unstable hatred, that makes speaking ill of Islam tantamount to incitement. It is an emotional ploy to silence legitimate and well substantiated concerns about jihad, immigration, and Sharia law.



"Long Island Muslims fear their congressman's hearings could flame [sic] Islamophobia," by William Wan for the Washington Post, January 24:



WESTBURY, N.Y. - They called it a summit to teach Muslims how to fight prejudice and fear. But all day long, fear was inescapable in the fluorescent-lit meeting hall of the Long Island mosque.

One begins to wonder if there isn't a stock, Mad-Libs sort of template for these stories on the hard drives of major news organizations. Just fill in the names, places, and the grievance du jour.



The top issue on everyone's mind this month at the Islamic Center of Long Island was this: What could be done to stop planned congressional hearings on alleged hidden radicalism among American Muslims and mosques?

The House hearings, scheduled to begin next month, have touched off a wave of panic throughout the U.S. Muslim community, which has spent much of the past year battling what it sees as a rising tide of Islamophobia. Conference calls, strategy sessions and letter-writing campaigns have been launched. Angry op-eds have compared the congressional inquiry to McCarthyism and the World War II persecution of Japanese Americans.

But for those who gathered at the Long Island mosque, the coming hearings represented not just a political issue, but a personal one. For the man organizing the hearings was the very lawmaker who was supposed to represent them in Washington - Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.). Long before he had become their enemy, he had been one of their community's closest friends.

"He used to come to our weddings. He ate dinner in our homes," said the mosque's chairman, Habeeb Ahmed, a short medical technologist with graying hair sitting near the front. "Everything just changed suddenly after 9/11, and now he's holding hearings to say that people like us are radical extremists. I don't understand it." [...]

On the contrary, it looks like he's bending over backwards to exclude the most substantive criticism of Islam at its primary sources.



Although no member of the Islamic Center has ever been accused of terrorism, King has singled out the mosque as a hotbed of "radical Islam" and called its leaders extremists who should be put under surveillance. He maintains that most Muslim leaders in this country aren't cooperating with authorities, even as arrests of homegrown terrorists are rising greatly.

Now, as the new chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, King said he is finally in a position to do something about it.

"My first goal is just to have people even acknowledge this as a real issue," King said. "This politically correct nonsense has kept us from debating and discussing what is one of this country's most vital issues. We are under siege by Muslim terrorists."

Steve Emerson and Robert Spencer would be happy to help "acknowledge this as a real issue." They've been doing it for years.



Anyway, cue the violins:



For years, such statements by King have provoked anger among Muslims in his district, but with the hearings looming, there is also a sense of shame and regret. Long Island Muslims worry that what began long ago as a broken relationship between them and their congressman could soon pose a threat to the entire U.S. Muslim community....

And there you have it. Criticism = incitement = danger: Q.E.D.

Posted by Marisol

Could the Dollar Fall?

An interesting article from www.ucg.org/commentary about the dollar's potential to fall. This follows this post about the debt and deficits of the United States.  This follows this post about the End of the World.  For a free magazine subscription or to get this book for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886-8632.

Could the Dollar Fall?


Could the dollar be challenged and replaced by another world currency? Will something that until recently was "unthinkable" become a reality? The global financial slump is challenging long-held assumptions.

by Beyond Today host Darris McNeely

Several recent headlines in London's Financial Times illustrate a continuing thought among world financial leaders. The first headline said, "Brazil and China Eye Plan to Axe Dollar." "China Attacks Dollar's Dominance" read another. A third spoke of "De-Dollarization and the Ending of America's Financial-Military Hegemony." Another spotlighted the lack of confidence in American financial leadership: "Dollar Falls as Geithner [the U.S. Treasury Secretary] Hails Recovery Hopes."



Warning shots are being fired across America's bow. Many want an end to the era of the dollar as the world's reserve currency. If that happens, your financial world will be forever altered.



Could this happen?

The United States is now the world's largest debtor nation ($10.6 trillion). And China owns more of that debt than any other nation—more than $800 billion. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has publicly expressed "worries" over China's significant holdings of U.S. government bonds, which ties China to America's good times and its bad times.



China is concerned that the U.S. Treasury bills (T-bills) and bonds it holds will lose much of their worth if the dollar is devalued or the financial crisis does not turn around.



By calling for the creation of another reserve currency, China, Russia and other nations seek insurance for their economies against the problems generated when one country's economy goes bad. They also seek to end American dominance over the world economy. America's decline and China's rise fit their geopolitical ambitions.



Ending the dollar's role in the world economy is not an easy matter. The Wall Street Journal stated: "The technical and political hurdles to implementing China's recommendation [to create a new standard world currency to replace the dollar] are enormous, so even if backed by other nations, the proposal is unlikely to change the dollar's role in the short term.



"Central banks around the world hold more U.S. dollars and dollar securities than they do assets denominated in any other individual foreign currency. Such reserves can be used to stabilize the value of the central banks' domestic currencies" ("China Takes Aim at Dollar," March 24, 2009).



Will the dollar's reign soon end?

Before the dollar, the British pound sterling formed the underpinning of the global economy. It took two world wars and several decades for the world standard to shift from the pound to the dollar. Since the end of World War II, the dollar has been king.



Although the current financial problems ignited in America have led to a global meltdown, it will take more than what we've experienced so far to topple America from its current role. That is not to say this could not or will not happen.



Creating another world currency requires several factors to be in place. Research analysts at the private intelligence agency Stratfor outlined what those factors would be:



"As to a world beyond the dollar, the issue is that a reserve currency is not decided upon; it creates itself. Two things are needed to create a reserve currency. First, there must be sufficient liquidity to support a global system. That requires a central bank with an enormous amount of autonomy from a state government, and the U.S. Federal Reserve is unparalleled on this count. Not even the European Central Bank can compete.



"Second, the economy upon which the currency is based must be large enough to withstand fluctuations caused by other economies buying and selling its assets in massive amounts. Again, the United States is the only economy that potentially could qualify.



"Part and parcel of any replacement of the U.S. dollar would be a large-scale abandonment of U.S. T-bills as the core of Chinese currency reserves, which—as the conventional wisdom holds—would force intractable economic problems upon the United States. But a closer look reveals that this is not the case.



"First, selling U.S. T-bills en masse simply is not possible. Every seller requires a buyer, and the volumes at hand cannot be exchanged quickly. Second, starting down that road would cause the value of the securities in question to plummet, destroying the savings the Chinese have been building up for years. The so-called 'nuclear option' really is not an option at all" ("China's Calculated Currency Rhetoric," March 25, 2009).



China has its own problems. The huge middle class created by their recent boom is beginning to experience layoffs and financial setbacks. The ruling Communist Party cannot afford discontent from this segment of its society. Once people have tasted materialism, they won't go back. For now it's in China's interest to blame a foreign power (America). It deflects attention from the home front.



Yet clearly, China is playing a very dangerous geopolitical game with calls for a new reserve currency.



What would it mean for Americans?

Since the end of World War II, the dollar has been the dominant world currency. For most living Americans, this is the world into which they were born. This is all they have known. Americans enjoy one of the world's highest living standards due to the stability and wealth created by America's dominant economic role.



So what would it mean for the American consumer if the dollar were no longer the world's reserve currency?



Everything Americans import would cost more—everything. Americans would have to buy the new currency in order to trade in world markets. Last year's $4-per-gallon gasoline would quickly look like a bargain.



The credit market would collapse. Investors would flee toxic assets, further locking up the economy.



The U.S. Federal Reserve would print more money to combat the credit squeeze, with the likely result being hyperinflation, meaning higher prices for available goods. Remember the stories of Weimar Germany after World War I when it took a wheelbarrow full of money to buy a loaf of bread? Not pretty.



American power and influence in the world would seriously decline. Little understood today is the role of the economy in shaping and controlling world events. The dollar's place in the world adds incalculable weight to American influence. With the dollar diminished, that influence would be reduced substantially. Russia and China are waiting for their turn to assume that power, but they would certainly meet with competition from the European Union.



Big losers from the fall of the dollar would include Japan and Latin America. Because they hold much of America's debt, China and the oil-rich Persian Gulf states would also see huge losses. Israel and Egypt would suffer as well because of massive amounts of American aid they would lose. What this would mean to the Middle East calculus is unknown, but Egypt could be destabilized as a result.



World politics would be altered. The vacuum of power created would be contested. The EU, which stands to gain from the fall of the dollar, would be among the chief contenders. China would no doubt make a play as well, but a number of factors would hinder its bid. Stability would arise from the potential period of chaos with another power becoming the global economy's main engine. America's time in the sun would be over.



American lifestyles would change radically. The end of cheap oil, low interest rates and deficit spending would mean a lower quality of life and higher taxes. What this would mean to the social fabric of the nation is unknown. But Americans' way of life would dramatically change.



This last point speaks to the character of the American people. Do they have the same qualities that helped a prior generation survive the upheaval of a Great Depression and World War II?



America losing the pride of her power?

Those pushing to create a different world are no doubt working hard to bring about the demise of the dollar and the end of America's dominant role in the world. In The Good News we have spoken before of America's prophesied loss of "the pride of [its] power" (Leviticus 26:19). While military might is what we think of first in this regard, economic factors are also important here. The dollar losing its reserve currency status would radically change America's leading role in the world.



For one, America's crippling foreign debt would get worse with decreased ability to finance the burden. In time the country would be at the mercy of those holding its obligations, with little room to maneuver. Economic enslavement to other nations would be on the horizon.



However, it's unlikely that this will happen immediately. China and several Arab states hold too many dollar-denominated instruments to see this change. As mentioned, they would lose too much. Right now the United States is too big, too rich and too powerful for them to allow it to fail. There is too much at stake on the global scene.



That does not mean things couldn't change—and change quickly—but the proper circumstances have to be in place.



It will not happen until the God of heaven allows it to happen. God has blessed America with its wealth, power and resulting prestige. He will move to change that when it fits His timing for His great plan for all the nations.



Until then we have days to live and many lives to touch. We have character to develop and mistakes to correct. We have days to love those close to us and, above all, time to discover God and His attention to the details of eternity, history and our lives. Make the most of the time while you can. GN







Related Resources

The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy

Where does the United States of America appear in Bible prophecy? Does Bible prophecy neglect to mention major nations such as the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom? In fact, many prophecies do mention these nations.



What's Behind the Falling Dollar?

With a barrel of oil near $100 and the dollar recently falling 16 percent against other currencies, Americans need to understand what's behind the falling dollar and what the consequences will be for them