Kingdom Chronicles
An Alternative View Of Bible Prophecy

Final Signs Signaling the Imminent Arrival of the Kingdom of God
Two prophecies
foreshadow the arrival of the Kingdom of God. A great global economic collapse - Revelation 18, and the desolation of Jerusalem by surrounding armies (warfare in the Middle East) - Luke 21: 20-24.

The Global Economic Collapse Is Already Underway.
War In The Middle East Fast Approaches

Latest News & Commentary
Updated 7-2-09
Middle East War & Global Economic Collapse

Index 

Prelude

The United States is mentioned with outstanding clarity in Bible Prophecy, but few people are able to discern it's identity. The Ten Kingdoms of biblical mention are not developing in Europe as most Christians are taught to expect, but already exist in another area of the world, yet few people recognize them. What is the importance of this? Because the Bible explains that the Kingdom of God will arrive following the rise of an eighth major world empire, symbolized by the Second Beast of Revelation 13, and simultaneous to the reign of Ten Kingdoms, and because they already exist, the Kingdom of God is much closer to arrival than most people think.

"And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever"- Daniel 2: 44.

The European Union cannot be the location of the Ten Kingdoms because there are already twenty seven member nations and more ready to join. This idea is based on a theory that the Roman Empire is the forth beast/empire of Daniel, and the Ten Kingdoms represented by the ten horns have their beginnings in Europe, in a sort of reconstructed Roman Empire. Twenty seven is a number far greater than ten that the Bible very clearly defines over and over again. Yet, despite the obvious fact that there are already more than ten member nations in the E.U., and the fact that Revelation 17, explains that the Ten Kingdoms will arise from an empire subsequent to that of the Roman Empire, these misinterpretations are still clung to as reality. However, when you dispose of these flawed interpretations, the biblical identity of the U. S., and the Ten Kingdoms, spring prophetically into view. 

Arrival of The Kingdom of God

The arrival of the Kingdom of God is a literal event that will take place in the very near future of humanity, and it will forever alter reality as we know it. It is an event that will be preceded by the mass arrival of extraterrestrial beings biblically referred to as Angels, and when Jesus Christ returns. It is mentioned numerous times in both the Old and New Testament Bible, and is in fact the very purpose and foundation upon which the Bible is based. It is the end of mankind's sojourn in this sorrowful realm of birth and death, and the elevation to eternal life. 

The Bible is a prophetic vision of empires, and nations, that lead up to the arrival of the Kingdom of God, and is a chronology of empires, symbolically represented, spanning the entire history of humanity. It describes the development of eight major empires, and ten smaller kingdoms, that precede the arrival of the Kingdom of God, the final Kingdom that will reign upon the Earth. The first seven empires are represented by the seven heads of the First Beast of Revelation 13. These seven empires have already come and gone. They were the Babylonian, Media Persian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Grecian, Roman and British Empires. The eighth empire is represented by the Second Beast of Revelation 13, and is the United States of America. 

The Ten Kingdoms that the Bible foretold would arise during a time of the arrival of the Kingdom of God have already been formed, and remain in existence today. No, they are not member states of the European Union, a common misconception by most. This theory is based upon the mistaken notion that the Ten Kingdoms arise from an area of the old Roman Empire. Actually, the Ten Kingdoms are in the area of the ancient Seleucid Empire, as foretold by Daniel , and now exist within eight nations located in the Middle East.

The ten kingdoms are.......Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, (Basrah, Baghdad and Mosul) = Iraq. The Ten Kingdoms were formed as monarchies, after the defeat of the Ottoman Islamic Empire by the British Empire during World War I. Basrah, Baghdad, and Mosul were later combined to form the nation of Iraq, the little horn that uproots three, just as Daniel had foretold. The British Empire is the forth beast of Daniel and not the Roman Empire as is popularly believed, and it is diverse from all the rest insomuch as it was the first truly global empire. There was a time when the sun never set on the British Empire. 

By 1921 the British Empire held sway over a population of about 458 million people, approximately one-quarter of the world's population. It covered about 14.2 million square miles, about a quarter of the Earth's total land area. This certainly qualifies the British Empire as the forth beast of Daniel, and makes it very diverse from all the rest. The ten horns of Daniel arising from the forth beast are in fact the formation of ten Middle East monarchies, as mentioned previously above, by the British Empire after it gained control of The Middle East During World War One, following the defeat of the - Ottoman Islamic Empire, in conjunction with treaties involving France, and under the guidance from the League of Nations. 

The Ten Horns of Daniel are also the Ten Horns and Crowns mentioned within the Book of Revelation, and come into existence during a period of the seventh empire, represented by the seventh head of the First Beast of Revelation 13, and remain in existence during a subsequent period of the eighth empire that is represented by the Second Beast of Revelation 13. The reason why the eighth empire is not within the body of the first beast is because it exists in a completely different geographical location, and on an entirely different continent, and is therefore represented as The Second beast of Revelation 13. It is the North American Continent to be more exact, and the United States is the eighth and last great empire before the arrival of the Kingdom of God.

But wait, there is still more. Woven within the prophecy of the eight empires and the Ten Kingdoms is another prophecy about a demonic manipulation of world events. The Bible explains that Alexander the Great, the first king of the Grecian Empire, was empowered by what is described as the dragon, and the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit, a demon of war and conquest - See First Beast of Revelation 13. This is evidenced by the historical feats of Alexander, one of history's greatest conquerors, who forged the Grecian Empire. Alexander was a man whom legend and history describe as having almost miraculous power in his ability to conquer and make war, and of whom it is said wept because there were no more worlds to be conquered. 

With the sudden death of Alexander at a very young age, the Grecian Empire was divided into four smaller kingdoms, which wounded the beast from the pit, insomuch as it's plans for world domination were stopped. The beast from the pit rises again however during the reign of an eighth empire. His deadly wound is healed insomuch as the beast from the pit commences it's original plans for war, conquest, and world domination, by empowering another man who rules over the eighth empire. Here we have the basis of the so called Anti-christ, another popular misnomer, because he is actually never referred to as Anti-christ in the Bible, but as the Beast. This means of course that because the United States is the eighth empire represented by the Second Beast of Revelation 13, that the Beast must then be a ruler or President of the United States. 

There are a number of biblical prerequisites for the position of the Beast in this scenario. He must be the most powerful man in the world, and rule a great world empire. He must be preoccupied with war, military might, and empire building. He must be the ruler of Iraq, the eyes of the little horn that uproots three as described by Daniel. All of these prerequisites now exist within the definitive confines of the President of the United States. The President of the United States is the most powerful man on Earth, and rules over a great global military and economic empire. He is commander and chief of the greatest military machine in history. He is preoccupied with war and military might by virtue of the war on terrorism, and his power base that demands he protect, and expand the American Empire. He is the ruler of Iraq by virtue of conquest and military occupation.

The biblical prerequisites for the eighth and final empire represented by the Second Beast of Revelation 13, are that it must be the most powerful nation on Earth, dazzling the world with it's greatness, and a warlike nation that masquerades as peaceful, horns like and lamb but speaks like a dragon, and it's government must be based upon the Grecian concepts of democracy and the democratic republic, which is the image of the beast, or an image of the Grecian Empire. It's monetary and financial system must be dominant worldwide, insomuch as nobody on the earth can buy or sell without the use of it's money, or financial system, the mark of the beast. It must go about forcing other nations of the world to remake themselves in it's own image - See Second Beast of Revelation 13.

All of the above prerequisites are met within the definitive confines of the United States of America. It is the most powerful nation on Earth, both militarily and financially. Although appearing peaceful on it's exterior, the United States it is very warlike, with a history of many wars, and current wars waged on a global scale, and a military budget second to none. It's military might is historically unprecedented. The U.S. government is an image of the Grecian concepts of democracy and the democratic republic, and the United States also goes about forcing other nations to remake themselves in the same image of the democratic republic. The U.S. financial and banking system are used globally, and it's money, the dollar, is the world's reserve currency. 

There is one other prophecy contained within Revelation 17-18, that further identifies the eighth empire as the United States of America. It describes the great city Babylon, and it's role as the center of a global economic empire which can be none other than New York City & Wall street. These passages also foretell of hatred within the Ten Kingdoms that brings ruin to the global economy, and the great city Babylon. This end time scenario is referred to as the Great Whore That Sits Upon Many Waters. The fall of the great city Babylon, and the crash of the global economy, are one of the last events just prior to the arrival of the Kingdom of God.

The United States is involved in a territorial dispute between Israel and Muslims over Palestine and Jerusalem, and arming Israel against Islamic Nations which include the Ten Kingdoms. It is engaged in a war on terrorism also involving the same Ten Kingdoms. In addition, the United States currently rules Iraq with an ongoing military occupation which contains three of the Ten Kingdoms, Basra, Baghdad, and Mosul, and is threatening Iran with economic sanctions, and possible military action. The war on terrorism coupled with the military occupation of Iraq, and the U.S. alliance with Israel, are causing great hatred of the U.S. amongst the Muslim populations within the Ten Kingdoms, and contributing to a greater threat of terrorism, and war. From these facts it can be safely concluded that a growing hatred of Mystery Babylon within the Ten Kingdoms has already begun, and insomuch as U.S. financial interests in the world are coupled with U.S. policy in the Middle East, it is no surprise that such hatred could lead to the collapse of Babylon. 

In addition to the U.S. dependence on Middle East oil, supplied by these same Ten Kingdoms, the Ten Kingdoms also hold vast reserves of U.S. denominated assets such as U.S Treasuries, and the fact that oil is traded in U.S. Dollars gives the Dollar it's strength as the world's reserve currency. Here we have another fulfillment of Bible Prophecy, "These have one mind and give their power and strength unto the beast." - Revelation 17: 13. (These have one mind) = all Muslim Nations, (Give their power and strength to the beast) = give power and strength to the Beast Empire by forcing the world to trade oil only in Dollars. Given these facts, it is easy to see how a growing hatred of the United States by the Muslim populations within the Ten Kingdoms could bring down the Beast Empire, and the global economy so dependant on Middle East oil, and the U.S. Dollar. 

The war on terrorism, and the U.S. Military occupation of Iraq, is perceived as a war on Islam by Muslims within the Ten Kingdoms. As a result, much of the funding, and many of the guerilla fighters used against the U.S. are recruited from amongst the Muslim populations within the Ten Kingdoms. These extended and protracted wars are causing a deepening financial burden for the United States, and further weakening the dollar in the face of other economic and financial troubles now facing the nation. Muslims in the Middle East know this to be true, and will continue the protracted guerilla wars indefinitely, or until the U.S. is bankrupted, and the U.S. Dollar is severely devalued. The resulting devaluation of the Dollar will cause a move out of the dollar, and a sell off of U.S. Dollar assets on a global scale, and also result in a decision by the oil producing nations to trade oil in a basket of currencies other than the U.S. Dollar. Such a move out of the dollar, will bring down the Beast Empire almost overnight, and the global financial and economic empire it supports. Just as biblically foretold, hatred of Mystery Babylon by the Ten Kingdoms will bring down the entire global economic system.

The biblical prophecies concerning the eight great empires, and the Ten Kingdoms, foretold to happen prior to the arrival of the Kingdom of God have already come to pass. This means that the arrival of the Kingdom of God is very close, and much closer than most people now realize. However, most people believe that the Ten Kingdoms are yet to happen in some future European domain where the so called Anti-christ is yet to rule, despite the fact that at last count there were twenty seven member states in the European Union, and not ten as the Bible clearly defines. Perhaps that is why Jesus Christ said that many people will be taken by surprise when the Kingdom of God arrives. They are still waiting for these biblical prophecies to be fulfilled, while they have already come to pass right before them. I can only conclude that the false prophet mentioned in the Book of Revelation has everything to do with the false interpretation of Bible Prophecy that blinds people to history, and keeps them from viewing their own nation, and their own leaders, as the fulfillment of these same prophecies. 

But even so, there is one other prophecy related to the above that is yet to be fulfilled before the Kingdom of God arrives. It is the Abomination of Desolation, spoken of by Jesus Christ, as a final sign of His imminent return. The Abomination of Desolation has nothing to do with the so called Anti-christ placing a statue in a newly rebuilt Jewish Temple as many people now believe. In fact, the Bible actually predicts that the Jewish Temple will not be rebuilt - See Biblical Proof The Jewish Temple Will Not Be Rebuilt & The Reason Why

The Abomination of Desolation is actually the armies, Muslim armies to be sure, that stand in the holy place = Temple Mount, as the abominable cause of the desolation of Jerusalem by warfare. So, for those of you waiting for a final sign that the end is near, and the arrival of the Kingdom of God is at hand, I say to you, "Watch Jerusalem!" When you see the Abomination of Desolation as described by Jesus, Luke 21: 20-24, the Kingdom of God, and the return of Jesus Christ will be at the door. See also Holy Place And The Temple Mount.

Kingdom of God

First Beast Of Revelation 13

Second Beast of Revelation 13

Great Whore Upon Many Waters

Interpretations of Daniel

Grecia Is The Fifth Head & Iraq Will Be Ruled By The Beast

Nebuchadnezzar Statue

Daniel And The Middle East Wars

Abomination Of Desolation

Biblical Proof The Jewish temple Will Not Be Rebuilt & The Reason Why

Prophecies Of Jesus

Book of Enoch

Imminent Arrival Of The Kingdom of God
Two prophecies
foreshadow the arrival of the Kingdom of God. A great global economic collapse - Revelation 18, and the desolation of Jerusalem by surrounding armies (warfare) - Luke 21: 20-24. The global economic collapse is already underway as of the time of this writing. The desolation of Jerusalem has not yet taken place, but a war has now begun in Gaza, and in Palestine, and many Muslim Nations are preparing for war with Israel. Following the fulfillment of these prophecies the Kingdom of God will arrive as foretold by Jesus Christ and the prophets of old. Below are just a few news articles related to these events.............

 Latest News - Middle East War & Global Economic Collapse

7-2-09

California government declares fiscal emergency over budget

States brace for shutdowns
Of the 46 states whose fiscal year ends today, 32 did not have budgets passed and approved by their governors as of Monday afternoon, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

States without budgets as key deadline passes
States from coast to coast began a new fiscal year Wednesday with no budget plans and with cash quickly running out, sending some to the brink of shutdown and forcing others to furlough workers and cut services. The recession has taken a devastating toll on tax revenues and state finances. States had a cumulative $121 billion budget gap in crafting this year's budgets — and the gap would be even bigger without federal stimulus money, said Todd Haggerty, a research analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures. "You can't look to any one region that's performing better than the others," Haggerty said. "You can see Arizona and California in the west, Ohio and Illinois in the middle and Pennsylvania and North Carolina in the east." The NCSL says seven states — Arizona, Connecticut, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania — have experienced delays or had to extend their sessions to deliberate on the budget.

U.S. job losses spike in June, dampen recovery hopes

U.S. jobless rate in June seen highest since 1983

Easy money reflating house prices
The only way to drive a sustainable increase in prices is to increase buyers’ income.  With the employment picture continuing to deteriorate, don’t look for rising incomes any time soon.

U.S. mortgage applications fall to 7-month low

Delinquencies Double on Least-Risky Loans, U.S. Says

NY City apartment sales down over 50 percent

Gloomy U.S. consumers clip housing recovery hopes

More small business loans in arrears
Delinquent loans at small and medium-sized U.S. businesses jumped in May to new highs for the current recession

U.S. June auto sales tumble, Ford takes share

Soros predicts "stop-go" economy and higher rates
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor George Soros on Tuesday predicted a "stop-go" economy for the United States, saying fears of inflation will drive up interest rates and choke off growth.

China Reiterates Call for New World Reserve Currency

China Requests Debate on Reserve Currency at G14 Summit

China's banks are an accident waiting to happen to every one of us
China's banks are veering out of control. The half-reformed economy of the People's Republic cannot absorb the $1,000bn (£600bn) blitz of new lending issued since December.

Britain ‘can no longer afford to be a mini-US’
LONDON // Britain should stop trying to be “a mini-United States” and give up maintaining armed forces capable of policing world trouble spots, a report from an influential think tank said yesterday.

Just six families helped by government Mortgage Rescue Scheme
Britain is facing a reposession timebomb, Vince Cable warned yesterday, as it emerged just six families have been helped by the Government's Mortgage Rescue Scheme.

Crisis far from over: World Bank chief
warned that the global crisis was far from over in developing countries.

U.S. reapproves loan guarantees with Israel
Israel still has $3.8 billion of guarantees left in the $9 billion total package, which it must use by 2011.

Israel attempts to stop S-300 air defense supplies to Iran

Israel Prepares F-15 Jets for Long Range Attack

Obama Increasing Aid to Jordan, Other Muslim States

6-30-09

Demise Of The Dollar Has begun

China, Brazil reported planning currency trade deal
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- The central bank governors of China and Brazil have agreed in principle to allow trade between the two countries to be settled in their respective currencies, reports said Sunday. People's Bank of China Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan and Banco Central do Brazil President Henrique Meirelles met on the sidelines of the Bank for International Settlement's annual general meeting in Basel and said they would study how to implement the plan, the reports said. The move would bypass the U.S. dollar, to settle trade invoices in Chinese yuan and Brazilian reals. The reports follow China's central bank's repeated assertion Friday that a new global reserve currency is needed. "We agreed to start studies on implementing trade in the local currency. We will gradually move away from the dollar as trade between the two countries," Dow Jones Newswires quoted Meirelles as saying, citing reported remarks in the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper. Reuters quoted Zhou as saying a further step was for Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chinese President Hu Jintao to discuss the arrangement, which he said would not necessarily involve a currency swap like those China has in place with other countries.

Gold Climbs Over $940 in Asia, Heading for Third Quarterly Gain
June 30 (Bloomberg) -- Gold climbed above $940 an ounce in Asia, heading for a third quarterly increase, as the weakening dollar fueled demand for the precious metal as a store of value.

Rising national debt raises prospects of eventual inflation
In a word: debt. The government owes the world $11.4 trillion — $37,000 for every person in the U.S. In the next fiscal year, the government will add $1.8 trillion to the deficit. The government could simply print more dollars to pay off our debts with cheap currency — a tempting but inflationary solution. Politicians wouldn't have to ask citizens to pay for the government's services, and citizens wouldn't have to think about the actual cost of what they demand — until, of course, the currency collapses, interest rates soar and the economy craters. Some on Wall Street are betting on just that scenario. Universa Investments — linked to Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of Wall Street's biggest book, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable— is adding strategies that will soar if inflation takes off. Respected hedge fund adviser 36 South Investment Managers is raising $100 million for a fund that will bet on soaring price increases. And Marc Faber, editor of the Gloom Boom & Doom Report, a newsletter, predicts that U.S. inflation will someday match Zimbabwe's that would be 236 million percent a year.

Where The States GO The federal Government Must Soon Follow

Ailing Calif. economy could prolong US recession
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California faces a $24 billion budget shortfall, an eye-popping amount that dwarfs many states' entire annual spending plans. Beyond California's borders, why should anyone care that the home of Google and the Walt Disney Co. might stop paying its bills this week? Virtually all states are suffering in the recession, some worse than California. But none has the economic horsepower of the world's eighth-largest economy, home to one in eight Americans. California accounts for 12 percent of the nation's gross domestic product and the largest share of retail sales of any state. It also sends far more in tax revenue to the federal government than it receives — giving a dollar for every 80 cents it gets back — which means Californians are keeping social programs afloat across the country. 

While the deficit only affects the state, California's deepening economic malaise could make it harder for the entire nation's economy to recover. When the state stumbles, its sheer size — 38.3 million people — creates fallout for businesses from Texas to Michigan. "California is the key catalyst for U.S. retail sales, and if California falls further you will see the U.S. economy suffer significantly," said retail consultant Burt P. Flickinger, managing director of Strategic Resource Group. He warned of more bankruptcies of national retail chains and brand suppliers. Even if California lawmakers solve the deficit quickly, there will likely be more government furloughs and layoffs and tens of billions of dollars in spending cuts. That will ripple through the state economy, sowing fear of even more job losses.

Calif. lawmakers face deadline to avoid IOUs
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A midnight deadline loomed Tuesday as California lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger dueled over ways to cut into a $24.3 billion budget deficit or face having to issue IOUs to cover the state's bills.

Calif. Senate OKs budget headed for certain veto

Home prices post 18.1 percent annual drop in April

Employment Is The True Measure Of Economic Recovery

Jobless rates rise in all US metro areas in May
WASHINGTON – Unemployment rates rose in all the largest U.S. metropolitan areas for the fifth straight month in May. The Labor Department said Tuesday that jobless rates in May rose from a year earlier in all 372 metropolitan area it tracks. The U.S. unemployment rate climbed to a quarter-century high of 9.4 percent in May. Many economists predict it will rose to 9.6 percent in June. The government releases the new national employment report on Thursday....much more.

Gloomy U.S. consumers clip housing recovery hopes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence took an unexpectedly steep slide in June, figures released on Tuesday showed, suggesting the 18-month-long recession had yet to loosen its grip on the economy.

Where Britain Goes The United States Must Soon Follow

Warning: Britain faces new recession
Economy set to relapse into dreaded 'double-dip' downturn, say world's central bankers
A continuing drought in bank lending, evidenced in the latest figures from the Bank of England, and the threat that spiralling public borrowing will feed through to higher interest rates and inflation, are judged by international economists to be mortal dangers to a sustained recovery. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which comprises the 30 most advanced economies in the world, added to the gloom, saying that Britain remained "deep" in recession and faced a "bleak short-term outlook". "The recovery is likely to be slow and unemployment is expected to climb significantly," it said, adding that the Treasury could do "considerably more" to fix the public finances.
Both warnings are at odds with recent market optimism and so-called green shoots suggesting that output in the economy may be recovering. But the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which includes the Bank of England, the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, said it feared that the problems of the world's banks are far from fixed and could easily trigger a so-called "double dip" or "W-shaped" downturn. 

"A major cause for concern is the limited progress in addressing the underlying problems in the financial sector," it said. "A significant risk is therefore that the current stimulus will lead only to a temporary pick-up in growth, followed by protracted stagnation." The BIS cautioned that "governments may not have acted quickly enough to remove problem assets from the balance sheets of key banks". It added that financial products should be treated like medicines and sold to consumers only when they are certified safe, to help prevent a repeat of last year's financial meltdown. Figures from the Bank of England yesterday confirmed that the banks and building societies remain reluctant to lend to any but the most secure of businesses and home buyers. Mortgage approvals barely improved during May, remaining stuck at a little over 43,000 – some way above the nadir of 27,000 last winter, but under half of their normal level. Analysts at Capital Economics said the figures were "consistent with house prices falling at double-digit annual rates". Detailed data on changes to the money supply indicated that relatively little of the £100bn pumped into the economy by the Bank of England through its policy of "quantitative easing", akin to "printing money", is finding its way as yet into meaningful lending by the banks to small businesses and first-time buyers.

Heed The Biblical Warning To Prepare

6-29-09

Hark! Where's the Bible Ark?
Ethiopia's Orthodox patriarch cops out on revealing plan for public viewing
The leader of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church today backed off on a much-anticipated announcement about the Ark of the Covenant -- the ancient container holding the Ten Commandment -- which he claims to have seen.But no other evidence or, indeed, even any announcement, was made public today when word had been expected.
Ark hunters and Bible enthusiasts have been buzzing for two days on the report from the Italian news agency Adnkronos that Patriarch Abuna Pauolos, in Italy for a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI this week, said, "Soon the world will be able to admire the Ark of the Covenant described in the Bible as the container of the tablets of the law that God delivered to Moses and the center of searches and studies for centuries."
He had suggested the possibility the artifact might be viewable in a planned museum.....more.

Dollar Falls Most in Month as China Urges New Reserve Currency

Beijing Formalizes Call for New Reserve Currency
BEIJING -- China's central bank reiterated its call for the creation of a new international currency that could replace currencies such as the dollar in countries' official reserves. In its annual report on financial stability, issued Friday, the People's Bank of China said the country will push reform of the international currency system to make it more diversified and reasonable. While it didn't specifically target the U.S. currency, it said it aims to reduce over-reliance on the current reserve currencies, of which the dollar is the biggest. "To avoid the shortcomings of sovereign credit currencies acting as reserve currencies, we need to create an... international reserve currency that can maintain the long-term stability of its value," the PBOC said.

China’s Central Bank Renews Call for New World Reserve Currency

What Really Backs the U.S. Dollar?
Correa calls for new finance system
The president of Ecuador has criticised capitalism for its role in the global financial crisis, in a speech to delegates attending a United Nations conference on the state of the world economy. Raphael Correa also suggested on Thursday that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, two bodies within the group of so-called Bretton Woods institutions, be dismantled.
"Patching up the Bretton Woods system, which we do not control, makes no sense for [developing] countries," Correa said on the second day of the summit at the UN General Assembly in New York. Making changes to the IMF and World Bank "would be an insufficient stop-gap solution," he said. "We are faced with a crisis unlike those [previously] provoked by capitalism."........more

Economic And Financial Systems Intertwined
Where cities go economically and financially so does the state government. Where states go economically and financially so does the Federal Government. Where nations go economically and financially so does the entire global economic and financial system. No state or nation on the Earth today is economically and financially independent of the global market, and when cities, states, or nations, are financially and economically afflicted, the entire global economic system is likewise afflicted. You need only to see evidence that the former is in trouble to know that corresponding trouble must eventually manifest in the later. This situation is unprecedented in world history. Never before has there been another time when the entire planet was united under a single global economic and financial system, dominated by a single currency, the Dollar, of a single nation, the United States, and under a single banking system, the Federal Reserve. At no other time in history has the global economic system fit more into the biblical prophecies of Revelation 17-19. The judgment of the Great Whore is symbolic for the collapse of the global economy, and the fall of Babylon is symbolic for the monetary and financial collapse of the Beast Empire, the Dollar, and the United States, along with the Federal Reserve Banking System. There has never been another such time in history so perfectly to match these prophecies as foretold, so there can be no doubt that current events are the fulfillment of Bible Prophecy concerning the later days before the arrival of the Kingdom of God. 

UK's debt will quadruple unless drastic steps are taken, says S&P
Britain's national debt will quadruple to peaks only ever seen in the wake of the Second World War unless the Government takes drastic steps to address the pensions and ageing crisis, Standard & Poor's has warned. The ratings agency has calculated privately that the UK's public sector debt could quadruple from its current level of just over 50pc of economic output to 200pc or above within the next four decades as the cost of servicing public sector pensions, ballooning social security costs and healthcare burdens becomes overwhelming, The Sunday Telegraph has learned. The warning is doubly sobering since S&P last month placed Britain's debt on to "negative outlook" – an explicit signal that it could soon be downgraded.

Recession brings 'Las Vegas dream' to an end

U.S. housing misery poised to enter new phase
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Signs that home prices may have bottomed have stirred hope on Wall Street that the economy is on the mend, yet tight credit and a new foreclosure wave cast doubt on any looming housing revival. Sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose for a second straight month in May, realty data on Tuesday showed, while the U.S. government and Federal Reserve have designed a number of programs to alleviate a battered housing market. However, the chief economist of the National Association of Realtors warned of the danger of a "delayed" recovery in housing, with prices down 32 percent nationwide from their peak three years ago. 

Big risk factors that could spur more foreclosures include expectations of rising unemployment and the forecast resetting of interest rates on 2.8 million subprime and Alt-A mortgages in the next two years. Delinquency rates on mortgage payments typically rise in tandem with unemployment, which is expected to top 10 percent after hitting a 25-year high of 9.4 percent in May. And when mortgages interest rates reset, they are typically at higher rates that can cause monthly payments to balloon. "I'm worried that the investment community is a little too sanguine about how much of the housing pain is behind us and that we might be in the all-clear," said Ronald Temple, co-director of research at Lazard Asset Management in New York.

CIA involved in Neda's shooting?
The US may have been behind the killing of Neda Agha-Soltan, the 26-year-old Iranian woman who was shot to death in Tehran's post election protest. "This death of Neda is very suspicious," Iran's Ambassador to Mexico, Mohammad Hassan Ghadiri said. "My question is how is it that this Miss Neda is shot from behind, gets shot in front of several cameras, and is shot in an area where no significant demonstration was being held?" CNN reported on Friday. He suggested that the CIA or another intelligence service may have been responsible. "Well, if the CIA wants to kill some people and attribute that to the government elements, then choosing women is an appropriate choice, because the death of a woman draws more sympathy," Ghadiri told CNN. 

Ghadiri said that the bullet that was found in her head was not a type that was used in Iran."These are the methods that terrorists, the CIA and spy agencies employ," he said. "Naturally, they would like to see blood spilled in these demonstrations, so that they can use it against the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is one of the common methods that the CIA employs in various countries." But, he added, "I am not saying that now the CIA has done this. There are different groups. It could be the [work of another] intelligence service; it could be the CIA; it could be the terrorists. Anyway, there are people who employ these types of methods."

Syrian group threatens 'force' against Israel
Warns it may move to capture strategic Golan Heights

6-28-09

Ark of the Covenant' about to be unveiled?
Ethiopian patriarch tells pope he will show artifact to world

The patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia says he will announce to the world Friday the unveiling of the Ark of the Covenant, perhaps the world's most prized archaeological and spiritual artifact, which he says has been hidden away in a church in his country for millennia, according to the Italian news agency Adnkronos.Abuna Pauolos, in Italy for a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI this week, told the news agency, "Soon the world will be able to admire the Ark of the Covenant described in the Bible as the container of the tablets of the law that God delivered to Moses and the center of searches and studies for centuries."

The announcement is expected to be made at 2 p.m. Italian time from the Hotel Aldrovandi in Rome. Pauolos will reportedly be accompanied by Prince Aklile Berhan Makonnen Haile Sellassie and Duke Amedeo D'Acosta."The Ark of the Covenant is in Ethiopia for many centuries," said Pauolos. "As a patriarch I have seen it with my own eyes and only few highly qualified persons could do the same, until now."The idea that the Ark is presently in Ethiopia is a well-documented, albeit disputed, tradition dating back to at least 642 B.C. The tradition says it was moved to Elephantine Island in Egypt, then to Tana Kirkos Island in Ethiopia and finally to its present site at St. Mary's of Zion Church in Axum. Ethiopians believe it is destined to be delivered to the Messiah when He reigns on Mount Zion – the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

The Fed The Ultimate Zombie

Fed As Policeman For Economy A Big Mistake
As you have already seen this is a worldwide depression and no one will escape. Europe’s economy is already in a shambles as is the US economy. Inflation will rage all over the world, because every nation has created massive amounts of money and credit as demanded by US and British elitists. They have all overmedicated the patient. As the Broadway hit play of many years ago told us, we are going to have to go through a “Period of Adjustment.” Some nations will get off easier than others. There will be no decoupling and many nations could have revolutions. Government spending and increased debt has been taken on by all countries and to in part pay for that taxes will rise everywhere. Deficits will hit records as far as the eye can see. You can’t have massive spending, massive debt and massive tax increases and expect to have growth. It is impossible.

Thus far government has been able to paper over the systemic meltdown in the financial area. They still haven’t dealt with off balance sheet and derivative losses. Even with the trillions poured into these entities it has not been enough to solve their problems and over the next few years that will become obvious.

The Treasury plans of having the fox, the Fed, take over the chicken coop is pure insanity. These are the very people who caused the problem by encouraging mis-rating, securitization and lending that defied reality. Now the Fed is to become policeman. It is really insulting and removes any sense of security from the system. The problem of protecting consumers lies in the hands of the Fed, raters, lenders and Wall Street. Greed overcame any semblance of prudence........much more.

Regulators shut 5 banks; 45 failures this year

Fed extends emergency funding programs, swap lines
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Thursday extended by three months a number of emergency funding facilities and a foreign exchange program with central banks around the world designed to support lending, saying that some financial markets remain impaired and seem "likely to be strained for some time." The U.S. central bank had established a number of programs last year to extend lifelines to credit markets frozen in fear of large losses as a result of the financial crisis. The programs, which had been scheduled to expire at the end of October, were extended to February 1, 2010.

Federal Government Increasing Spending & Taxation

 At a time when the American People are struggling with the worse economic crisis in modern times, the Federal Government continues with business as usual, spending more, increasing the size of the government bureaucracy, the global military empire, and proposing the implementation of new taxes in the guise of environmental protection, national health care, the war on terrorism, and even a hidden value added tax on consumers. Spending is power and more spending is more power, and it is clear from the $trillions in new spending that the intent is to expand power into infinity. The government was given an open ended charge card ever since President Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard and allowed for an unlimited amount of Dollars to be created in binary code, or the printing press, and federal spending without limitations via government bonds. Whenever Congress or the President needed to increase spending they simply raised the national debt limit to tap into unlimited cash to accommodate their insatiable appetite for more. 

The government has become so accustomed to unlimited spending that they think any problem can be solved by throwing more money at it. The economic crisis is no exception. The very first knee jerk reaction to the banking and economic crisis was to throw $trillions at banks in bail-out money, and economic stimulus programs. There was never a thought to cut spending as a solution, but to spend more to fix the problem. They care nothing for the plight of the people, but only how they can get more funds to maintain their power base, and increase spending, whether it be by pawning the nation to foreign governments via bonds, taxing the people into poverty, or destroying the Dollar via inflation, and monetization of debt and deficit spending. They never think about decreasing taxes, or consumer debt forgiveness as a solution to the economic crisis, but only to bail out banks and big corporations at public expense, while at the same time expecting the public to pay every last farthing to these same banks and corporations in rising prices, debt and interest payments. Who will bail-out the consumer?

There is only one federal bank account into which all funds collected or borrowed must flow. Whether it be Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes, Income Tax, or the sale of government bonds, it all goes into the same general account. Any new taxes via energy bills or health care proposals will all go into the same general account, and from the same general account all spending is transacted. The more money that goes into the general fund, the more spending is increased without regard to the long term financial survival of the various programs created by Congress to be financed from the general fund. With only one account who can keep track? Under these conditions there will never be a time when there is enough money in the general fund to pay for all the various dependant programs, and consequently there will always be a need for more deficit spending. If they cannot get the necessary funds through legitimate means, bonds or taxation, they will simply increase the money supply so as to keep the spending train in motion.  

There can only be one inevitable outcome to all of this. The continuous monetization of debt and deficit spending must inevitably lead to a worsening economy because of increased taxation, rising interest rates, and inflation, causing a further drop in consumer spending, while at the same time causing a decrease in the sale of U.S. Treasuries abroad, all of which will lead to decreasing government revenue, and necessitate further monetization of spending by the government to maintain the status quo. When once this cycle begins, there is no way out except to reduce taxes, eliminate all budget defects, and cut spending to the bone. Since we see the opposite happening, the collapse of the economy, the Dollar, and the financial insolvency of the United States is soon forthcoming. No household can survive by increasing it's spending during a period of decreasing income. Increasing the money supply will simply crash the whole system. 

The prophecies of Revelation 17-19 continue to unfold before us with startling accuracy. The judgment of the Great Whore, symbolic of a global economic collapse in the later days, and the fall of Babylon, symbolic for the collapse of the financial and monitory system of the Beast Empire, the United States, and the Federal Reserve banking system, are happening with frightening speed. With the fulfillment of these prophecies, and with the announcement that the Ark of the Covenant will soon to be revealed to the world, one can only conclude that the arrival of Christ, and the Kingdom of God are now very close indeed. Heed the Biblical Warning To Prepare. There are yet dark days ahead, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

Cap-and-trade would push economy to 'breaking point'
"The economic winds are blowing. We're losing our jobs, our homes, factories closing, businesses failing, families hurting. Now Congress is about to make things dramatically worse by passing a new national energy tax. We'll lose more jobs, pay more for gas and electricity -- pushing our economy to its breaking point." 

House Health-Care Proposal Adds $600 Billion in Taxes
June 12 (Bloomberg) -- Health-care overhaul legislation being drafted by House Democrats will include $600 billion in tax increases and $400 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel said. Asked whether the cost of a health-care overhaul would be more than $1 trillion over a decade, Rangel said, “the answer is yes.” Some Senate Republicans, including Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, say the costs will likely exceed $1.5 trillion.

Stocks end mixed as savings rate jumps
NEW YORK – Consumers are saving more than they're spending, and that has investors worried. Stocks capped a choppy week of trading with a mixed finish Friday after the Commerce Department reported that personal spending, incomes and savings all rose in May. What troubled investors was that the savings rate soared to 6.9 percent, a 15-year high, while spending rose by a modest 0.3 percent. The trend suggests consumers are being very careful with their money. That's good for the individual, but not great in the short term for the overall economy, which relies heavily on consumer spending for growth.

Can Obama keep up with falling home prices?
Good news or bad news? The National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday that 33% of May existing-home sales were distressed (read: foreclosures and short sales) and the median sales price is now $173,000.
f you’re employed by the glass-half-full NAR, you need to spin that as good news, and the eternal optimists did not disappoint.  The trade association pointed out that the share of sales that were distressed has declined from the 45% rate in April. But the half-empty view is hard to ignore. The current median sales price is still 25% below its May 2006 level and down 17% from the year-ago figure. The NAR may suggest that a decline in distressed sales to merely one-third of market volume is a green shoot, but that shoot is still about six feet under. Plenty of homeowners seem to agree. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling released a survey last week indicating that nearly one-third of current homeowners doubt they will ever be able to buy another home. Forty-nine percent of respondents agreed with the statement, “Because of the current economic climate, the American dream of home ownership is no longer a realistic strategy for building wealth.

Mounting Jobless Claims Force States To Borrow Funds
Fifteen states have depleted their unemployment insurance funds so far, forcing them to borrow from the U.S. Treasury. A record 30 of the country's 50 states are expected to have to borrow up to $17 billion by next year, said Rick McHugh of the National Employment Law Project, a nonpartisan advocacy group. "We are setting the stage for big pressures for states to restrict eligibility and benefit levels," McHugh said. "Those type of restrictive actions undercut the (Depression-era program's) economic and social stability purposes."

The state-run unemployment insurance programs are normally financed with payroll taxes paid by employers on each worker. But the funds' tax revenues are falling at the same time as benefit demands are rising. Nine million Americans are receiving jobless benefits, triple the number who got checks at the beginning of the year. Experts predict the number of recipients will peak sometime this summer as long-term unemployed run out of benefits, which were recently extended and last for 59 weeks in most cases.

The majority of states that did not foresee the recession's devastating impact and failed to create an adequate cushion in their unemployment insurance funds may seek to raise payroll taxes, meeting resistance from employers, experts predicted. "State unemployment taxes will have to go up, but unemployment will have to come down," said Andrew Stettner of the National Employment Law Project.

A warning bell on California muni bonds
As sure as the sun will set on the Golden State, analyst Martin Weiss says California is going to default.
NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Known for his early warnings on Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, analyst Martin Weiss of Weiss Research is now sounding the alarm about state of California municipal bonds. In a new report, Weiss has some rather blunt advice for California muni investors: "Sell all California paper now!" His reasoning? California is facing a $24 billion budget gap with no obvious way to close it.

The state has appealed to Washington for a federal bailout, but it got a cool response from the Obama Administration. The next step is draconian cuts in state services and payroll, but Weiss says that will only deepen the "depression" in California, where the unemployment rate is 11.5%, by further cutting into tax revenue. Asked to put odds on California defaulting on its $59 billion in outstanding general obligation bonds, Weiss doesn't hedge. "It's unavoidable," he tells Fortune.

If he's right, the impact on investors would be far broader and deeper than Bernie Madoff, General Motors (GMGMQ) or any of the other investment implosions that have occurred over the past year. Municipal bonds tend to be a retail product, which means that those most affected by a large muni bond default are not endowments, banks, or foreign governments but mom-and-pop investors.

A California default would be especially devastating for two reasons: Munis have generally been viewed as a safe haven and California is the nation's largest issuer of tax-exempt bonds. According to Morningstar, assets in California muni bond funds now total $46 billion -- with billions more of California bonds held in national muni funds and individual bond portfolios.

Schwarzenegger proposes closing 80 percent of California state parks

Dollar slips as China repeats calls for new reserve currency
The US dollar dropped on Friday against most of its major counterparts after China’s central bank renewed its call for a new global reserve currency and said that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should manage more of members’ foreign-exchange reserves. The US currency declined 0.6% to US$1.4078 per euro at 3 p.m. in New York, from US$1.3988 yesterday, extending its loss this week to 1%. The dollar fell 0.8% to 95.17 yen from 95.95 and was poised for a 1.1% weekly decline, its third consecutive drop. The ICE’s Dollar Index fell below 80 on the call from China for an alternative to the dollar as the world’s main reserve currency. The gauge tracking the greenback versus the currencies of six leading trading partners decreased 0.8% to 79.84.

What China’s Push for An Alternative World Reserve Currency Means
Yesterday, after China called for a super-sovereign currency, the dollar slid as investors started seeing the writing on the wall. Specifically, the People’s Bank of China said the International Monetary Fund should manage part of members’ foreign-exchange reserves. “To prevent the deficiencies in the main reserve currency, there’s a need to create a new currency that’s delinked from the economies of the issuers,” the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said in a review of the economy in 2008 released today. In March, the PBOC had urged the IMF to expand operations of its Special Drawing Rights currency (SDRs) and move toward a “super-sovereign reserve currency.”

The PBOC argues that the frequency and intensity of financial crises following the collapse of the Bretton Woods system suggests costs of the dollar-based system may have exceeded its benefits and that that the SDR could take on a key global role. The PBOC statement comes a day after a top Communist Party research chief said that China should buy gold and U.S. real estate rather than Treasurys. American officials and talking heads have attempted to downplay the irreversible trend of the dollar fading as the world’s reserve currency. They have argued that China is in a dollar trap. 

With trillions in dollars, they argue, China cannot let the dollar tank.
But as Marc Faber has pointed out, 2 trillion dollars in reserves isn’t really that much for a country with as many people as China has. And China long ago signaled that it was gradually moving out of dollars. The signals came in the form of (1) China moving out of long treasuries and into treasuries with a duration of 3 years or less, and (2) China using its reserves to buy commodities, instead of more dollars.

The process that will lead - in the medium-long term - to a challenge of the US dollar as the major global reserve currency has started. The US creditors - the BRICs, the Gulf states and others - are becoming increasingly alarmed that the US will deal with its unsustainable fiscal path via inflation and debasement of the value of the dollar via depreciation. So they will not sit idly waiting for this to happen: they are already diversifying into gold, into resources (as China purchases mines and energy, mineral and commodity resources all over the world).

Russia considers bail-out for banks

British banks highly vulnerable to future shocks, Bank of England warns

6-25-09

U.S. dollar tumbles ahead of Fed statement

World wants "major reserve currencies" stable: China

May new home sales dip 0.6 percent
WASHINGTON – New U.S. home sales dipped slightly last month, in another sign that the housing market recovery is likely to be gradual and prolonged.

Jobs picture dims and overshadows improved GDP
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fresh signs of weakness in U.S. job markets on Thursday underlined the strains faced by a recession-struck U.S. economy that contracted slightly less in the first quarter than previously thought. The Labor Department said the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits last week jumped unexpectedly by 15,000 to a higher-than-forecast, seasonally-adjusted total of 627,000.

Sinking At A Slower Speed - Article Below
It makes no difference whether a ship sinks within a few hours or a day. The fact is that it is still sinking. If a ship sinks at a slower rate it does not point to a reversal. It just means that it will take a longer before it is completely submerged. The passengers on such a ship would be wise to use the extra time to prepare life boats to abandon ship, or secure life jackets to survive in the water. Only the foolhardy would lounge on deck thinking that if the ship is sinking slower there is nothing to worry about. So it is with the economy.

Jobless claims rise; GDP dips at lower pace in 1Q
WASHINGTON – Despite persistent layoffs, the economy seems to be faring better than it was at the start of the year. The Labor Department said Thursday that new jobless claims jumped unexpectedly last week. And the number of people continuing to receive unemployment aid rose more than expected. The figures indicate that jobs remain scarce even as the economy shows some signs of recovering from the longest recession since World War II. A revised reading on gross domestic product — the broadest measure of the nation's output — said the economy posted a 5.5 percent annualized decline from January through March. That was slightly better than the 5.7 percent estimate made a month ago. Economists generally think the economy is shrinking at a slower pace — about 2 percent — in the current quarter.

A Tale of Two Depressions
The world economy is tracking or doing worse than during the Great Depression (update) | vox - Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists

California set to issue IOUs as fiscal crisis weighs
LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) - California's controller said on Wednesday that he would have to issue IOUs in a week if lawmakers can't quickly solve a $24 billion budget deficit, and the state's treasurer plans to tap a reserve fund to meet debt service costs.

Iran minister says CIA funding "rioters": report
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's interior minister on Wednesday accused U.S. spy agency the CIA of helping to fund "rioters," stepping up accusations of Western involvement in street unrest following the country's disputed election. "Britain, America and the Zionist regime (Israel) were behind the recent unrest in Tehran," Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars News Agency.

Iran's Interior Minister Is Not Far Wrong - Article Above
The articles below reveal that former President Bush, and Congress, appropriated $millions for covert operations inside Iran in 2007 & 2008. This included funds to terrorist organizations and political opposition groups aimed at regime change. While the media currently dwells on political problems inside Iran, and ignores major problems within the U.S., keep in mind that much of the political unrest inside Iran was paid for by previous U.S. administrations and Congress. Much of what now dominates the headlines are the result of these covertly funded C.I.A. operations. This is not to say that political opposition in Iran is not legitimate, but that much of the current excessive media coverage, and the demonstrations, are part of the same strategy to foment political descent and regime change in Iran, and promote a negative world view of that nation. It would not be surprising if the political unrest within Iran, paid for by the U.S., is not the first stage of a much larger military operation that will include an air strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, and war. Iran is now surrounded by U.S. forces on all sides. There are thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq to the west of Iran, and thousands more in Afghanistan to the east of Iran. Coupled with the current social and political unrest inside Iran, the U.S. is well positioned for war. 

U.S. funding terror groups in Iran
July 5, 2008 - As worry mounts that the same right-wingers who got us into the Iraq war are now pushing for war with Iran, journalist Seymour Hersh has revealed that the Bush administration is supporting terrorist groups in Iran that are believed to be linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban. Writing in the New Yorker July 7, Hersh reports that the administration has significantly escalated covert operations in Iran aimed at “regime change,” including actions such as killings and kidnappings. Neverthless, Hersh says, late last year Congress agreed to a request from President Bush to fund a major escalation of covert operations against Iran — up to $400 million. 

Iran On Guard Over U.S. Funds
April 28, 2007 - The Bush administration's $75 million program to promote democracy in Iran has undermined the kind of organizations and activists it was designed to help, with U.S. aid becoming a top issue in a broader crackdown on leading democracy advocates over the past year, according to a wide range of Iranian activists and human rights groups. Since Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice unveiled the program more than a year ago, a wide array of activists -- teachers, women's rights campaigners, labor organizers, students, journalists and intellectuals -- have faced interrogations, detentions, imprisonment and passport confiscation over suspected links to the new U.S. funding, activists and human rights groups say. Iranian officials have charged that Washington is supporting the kind of soft revolution that transformed Eastern Europe.

War With Iran: Has It Already Begun?
In public, when it comes to the Iranian question, President Obama is all sweet reason and kissy-face. His recent video message to the Iranian people was just what the doctor ordered. However, this public performance is severely undercut by an ongoing covert program aimed at regime-change in Tehran – or, at least, at undermining the Iranian regime to such an extent that it must respond in some way.

This covert action program, reported by Seymour Hersh last year, was started by the Bush administration and funded to the tune of $400 million. The U.S. is, in effect, conducting a secret war against Tehran, a covert campaign aimed at recruiting Iran’s ethnic and religious minorities – who make up the majority of the population in certain regions, such as in the southeast borderlands near Pakistan – into a movement to topple the government in Tehran, or, at least, to create so much instability that U.S. intervention to "keep order" in the region is justified. 

What’s going on in Iran today – a sustained campaign of terrorism directed against civilians and government installations alike – is proof positive that nothing has really changed much in Washington, as far as U.S. policy toward Iran is concerned. We are on a collision course with Tehran, and both sides know it. Obama’s public "reaching out" to the Iranians is a fraud of epic proportions. While it’s true that our covert terrorist attacks on Iran were initiated under the Bush regime, under Obama we’re seeing no letup in these sorts of incidents; if anything, they’ve increased in frequency and severity.

Those who dread the prospect of war with Iran and hope to avoid it are a bit tardy in their concerns. I have news for these people: we’re already at war with Iran, and have been for quite a while. It’s only a matter of time, and circumstance, before it becomes official..........much more.

6-23-09

Optimism stalls amid second thoughts on recovery
NEW YORK (Reuters) - After months of wishful thinking, investors are nervous again about financial markets and the world economy, and it may take a flurry of much better economic data to make them believe in a sustainable recovery. Anxiety grew on Monday after the World Bank cut its 2009 global growth forecast, saying the world economy will contract 2.9 percent this year. That added to a decline that has hit major markets identified with increased risk -- global stock markets, currencies such as the euro, and oil, copper, gold and other commodities.

S&P turns negative for year in broad sell-off
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks suffered their worst one-day loss in two months, dropping the S&P 500 back into negative territory for the year on Monday in a broad-based sell-off, as investors reconsidered the health of the economy.

Global stocks skid on growth prospects
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global stocks and oil prices skidded on Monday as doubts about a nascent economic recovery, highlighted by a gloomy World Bank report, weighed on market sentiment.

When The Banks Need Their TARP Funds Back
Deutsche Bank says that the commercial real estate market in America will not recover until 2017. Richard Parkus, Deutsche Bank head of Commercial Mortgage-backed Securities and Asset-Backed Securities Synthetics Research, told Reuters that values could drop 50% from their 2007 peaks. Some experts in the housing markets have produced similar numbers, showing that the current 25% drop in the value of American homes could be followed by another 20% decline. The residential figures are plausible even if they are based on nothing more than rising unemployment and interest rates. There are no inertia breaks on the housing price free fall while Americans lose jobs at a record pace.

Most of the losses in both the home and commercial real estate markets will make their way through bank balance sheets. Commercial property values cannot withstand the bankruptcies and defaults of tenants and the paucity of new renters. Banks will end up owning multi-story glass offices and retail malls, half empty and spread out next to empty car lots which are rarely even part full. Accountants will be watching the value of the paper on bank balance sheets as will be newly zealous bank regulators. The amount of red ink from real estate may actually grow during the next four quarters compared with the last four. The “stress tests” of large financial firms may have erred in estimating how severe that part of the leverage problem may be.

The government and banks have also probably underestimated their exposure to consumer credit. “The banks have been through the market losses — now its time for them to go through the credit losses,” Diane Vazza, head of global fixed income research at Standard & Poor’s, told the New York Post. S&P puts the amount owed on credit cards at between $900 billion and $1 trillion. That number is much larger if home equity loans and lines of credit are factored in. S&P speculates that all of these problems could send banks back to the government for more bailout money.

Number of mass layoffs in U.S. ties record
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of mass layoffs by U.S. employers rose last month to tie a record set in March, according to government data released on Tuesday that suggested the labor market has yet to stabilize. The Labor Department said the number of mass layoff actions -- defined as job cuts involving at least 50 people from a single employer -- increased to 2,933 in May from 2,712 in April, resulting in the loss of 312,880 jobs. It was the largest loss of jobs connected to mass layoffs on records dating to 1995. While signs have emerged suggesting the 18-month-old U.S. recession has begun to ease, the labor market continues to deteriorate. The U.S. unemployment rate hit 9.4 percent in May, the highest in nearly 26 years, and economists expect a report on July 2 to show it climbed further to 9.6 percent this month. The economy has lost six million jobs since the recession began in December 2007. Economists polled by Reuters expect the economy shed a further 368,000 jobs in June.

Israel's military planning for a multi-front war
TEL AVIV — Israel's military has intensified coordination between the army and air force to conduct simultaneous operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. Officials said the effort reflects an assessment that Israel's next war would include such adversaries as Hamas, Hizbullah and Syria. "The Israeli military's future operations will be broader and more demanding in terms of their scope and pace, with more risks than Operation Cast Lead," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said. Operation Cast Lead marked the Israeli military attack on the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip. The 22-day war spanned December 2008 and January 2009.

6-22-09

Evidence That Something Big Is About To Happen  (Revised)

The Dollar is up in contradiction to shrinking global demand, and worsening economic news, while gold is down, oil is down, the stock market is in decline, and corporate insiders are selling off their own shares in numbers not seen since the recession started. Governments of the world have arranged closed door meetings this week, excluding the United States, concerning the future of the Dollar as the world's reserve currency, and the nations of the world are dumping dollars like never before. It looks like the Dollar is in serious trouble in the global arena. Put it all together and what does it mean? The answer is that something big is about to happen. 

Insiders know that the collapse of the Dollar, financial insolvency, and a great economic depression are about to hit the United States and several other nations of the world in the next few weeks or months. They also know that the stock market is overvalued and about to take a dive, and the bond market will face a crisis as interest rates and inflation are about to rise. As a result, they must eliminate paper assets and investments now while the getting is good, and transfer their wealth into commodities such as oil and gold before the crisis begins.  

Via currency manipulation and central bank control the value of the Dollar is being artificially supported in spite of shrinking global demand, and worsening economic news, while at the same time a higher Dollar decreases the price of gold and oil. In an article below we can see that insiders within major corporations are now selling their own shares in haste, which is a clear indication that they know a stock market and Dollar decline is coming soon.

If so, then it's a sure bet that these same individuals, and many others who are not so visible, including many nations of the world, will exchange Dollars for gold and oil while the Dollar is still high, and the commodities market is down. In this way they will reap the highest profit from their stock sell off, and the highest profit from their gold and oil investments which are sure to rise after the stock market and Dollar decline.

In articles further below, it has been forecasted that the United States will face a Dollar and T-Bond crisis, as well as a worsening financial and economic crisis by the end of this year, and perhaps much sooner should a sudden event cause some kind of panic. All of this means that we are very close to a major financial and economic event that those in the know are now preparing for in advance. The fact that the stock market has already begun to decline means that this scenario is already underway. If I am right, we can expect a continuation of a declining rollacoster stock market from here on out, a declining Dollar after the stock market has dropped considerably, and gold and oil will once again climb, but to record levels. 

Prepare for a worsening financial and economic crisis in the weeks and months ahead in spite of all the glowing predictions that a bottom has been reached and a turnaround is imminent. The governments of the world are afraid to reveal the truth, and intend to let the passengers go down with the ship in complete ignorance. The biblical prophecies of Revelation 17-19 continue to unfold before us with frightening speed. The judgment of the Great Whore = global economic collapse, and the fall of Babylon = the financial collapse of the Beast Empire - The United States and the Federal Reserve System, are now before us. Heed the biblical warning to prepare.

Spending, Debt and Collapse Predicts Hyperinflation
We now have the Fed increasing total money and credit (M3) at a rate of 18% while our GDP is contracting at a rate of minus 6%.  That is a 24% differential, and that means that the amount of goods and services being produced has an ever-growing supply of money chasing after it, money and credit that is growing at a pace that is 24% more than the pace at which goods and services are growing.  Based on all the foregoing, we'll give you three guesses as to what the outcome will be somewhere down the road when the Fed's ever-burgeoning money blob starts chasing after a shrinking supply of goods and services.........much more.

The American Empire Is Bankrupt
This week marks the end of the dollar’s reign as the world’s reserve currency. It marks the start of a terrible period of economic and political decline in the United States. And it signals the last gasp of the American imperium. That’s over. It is not coming back. And what is to come will be very, very painful. Barack Obama, and the criminal class on Wall Street, aided by a corporate media that continues to peddle fatuous gossip and trash talk as news while we endure the greatest economic crisis in our history, may have fooled us, but the rest of the world knows we are bankrupt. And these nations are damned if they are going to continue to prop up an inflated dollar and sustain the massive federal budget deficits, swollen to over $2 trillion, which fund America’s imperial expansion in Eurasia and our system of casino capitalism. They have us by the throat. They are about to squeeze.

There are meetings being held Monday and Tuesday in Yekaterinburg, Russia, (formerly Sverdlovsk) among Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and other top officials of the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The United States, which asked to attend, was denied admittance. Watch what happens there carefully. The gathering is, in the words of economist Michael Hudson, “the most important meeting of the 21st century so far.” It is the first formal step by our major trading partners to replace the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. If they succeed, the dollar will dramatically plummet in value, the cost of imports, including oil, will skyrocket, interest rates will climb and jobs will hemorrhage at a rate that will make the last few months look like boom times. State and federal services will be reduced or shut down for lack of funds. The United States will begin to resemble the Weimar Republic or Zimbabwe. 

“This means the end of the dollar,” Hudson told me. “It means China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran are forming an official financial and military area to get America out of Eurasia. The balance-of-payments deficit is mainly military in nature. Half of America’s discretionary spending is military. The deficit ends up in the hands of foreign banks, central banks. They don’t have any choice but to recycle the money to buy U.S. government debt. The Asian countries have been financing their own military encirclement. They have been forced to accept dollars that have no chance of being repaid. They are paying for America’s military aggression against them. They want to get rid of this.” China, as Hudson points out, has already struck bilateral trade deals with Brazil and Malaysia to denominate their trade in China’s yuan rather than the dollar, pound or euro. Russia promises to begin trading in the ruble and local currencies. 

The governor of China’s central bank has openly called for the abandonment of the dollar as reserve currency, suggesting in its place the use of the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights. What the new system will be remains unclear, but the flight from the dollar has clearly begun. The goal, in the words of the Russian president, is to build a “multipolar world order” which will break the economic and, by extension, military domination by the United States. China is frantically spending its dollar reserves to buy factories and property around the globe so it can unload its U.S. currency. This is why Aluminum Corp. of China made so many major concessions in the failed attempt to salvage its $19.5 billion alliance with the Rio Tinto mining concern in Australia. It desperately needs to shed its dollars. 

“China is trying to get rid of all the dollars they can in a trash-for-resource deal,” Hudson said. “They will give the dollars to countries willing to sell off their resources since America refuses to sell any of its high-tech industries, even Unocal, to the yellow peril. It realizes these dollars are going to be worthless pretty quickly. "The architects of this new global exchange realize that if they break the dollar they also break America’s military domination. Our military spending cannot be sustained without this cycle of heavy borrowing. The official U.S. defense budget for fiscal year 2008 is $623 billion, before we add on things like nuclear research. The next closest national military budget is China’s, at $65 billion, according to the Central Intelligence Agency. There are three categories of the balance-of-payment deficits. America imports more than it exports. This is trade. Wall Street and American corporations buy up foreign companies. This is capital movement. The third and most important balance-of-payment deficit for the past 50 years has been Pentagon spending abroad. It is primarily military spending that has been responsible for the balance-of-payments deficit for the last five decades......more.

Dollar strength presses gold down towards $920
LONDON (Reuters) - Gold hit its lowest level since mid May on Monday, breaking below $920 per ounce as the dollar lengthened broad gains with investors looking to a Federal Reserve meeting for clues about U.S. economic health. Spot gold fell 1.4 percent to $920.80, having earlier hit a one-month low at $917.90. That compared with $933.80 quoted late on Friday in New York. The price was fixed or set in London on Monday afternoon at $919.25. The dollar gained at the expense of higher-yielders <.DXY, normally associated with risk-seeking behavior, reflecting investor concern about growth prospects in the euro zone and jitters ahead of Fed's rate setting meeting, a factor that was seen supporting gold at the lower levels.

Oil tumbles 4 percent on economic outlook, dollar

Insiders Exit Shares at the Fastest Pace in Two Years
June 22 (Bloomberg) -- Executives at U.S. companies are taking advantage of the biggest stock-market rally in 71 years to sell their shares at the fastest pace since credit markets started to seize up two years ago. Insiders of Standard & Poor’s 500 Index companies were net sellers for 14 straight weeks as the gauge rose 36 percent, data compiled by InsiderScore.com show. Amgen Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Sharer and five other officials sold $8.2 million of stock. Christopher Donahue, the CEO of Federated Investors Inc., and his brother, Chief Financial Officer Thomas Donahue, offered the most in three years. Sales by CEOs, directors and senior officers have accelerated to the highest level since June 2007, two months before credit markets froze, as the S&P 500 rebounded from its 12-year low in March. The increase is making investors more skittish because executives presumably have the best information about their companies’ prospects. “If insiders are selling into the rally, that shows they don’t expect their business to be able to support current stock- price levels,” said Joseph Keating, the chief investment officer of Raleigh, North Carolina-based RBC Bank, the unit of Royal Bank of Canada that oversees $33 billion in client assets. “They’re taking advantage of this bounce and selling into it.”

Stocks off sharply as global economic worries rise
NEW YORK — Lowered expectations for the global economy are giving investors more to be wary about. Major stock indexes are down more than 2 percent today after the World Bank predicted the global economy will shrink 2.9 percent in 2009. Its previous forecast was a 1.7 percent decline. Deteriorating hopes for a quick economic recovery also weighed on the prices of oil, metals and other commodities. Companies that produce these commodities saw their shares tumble. In midday trading, the Dow Jones industrial average is down 177.14, or 2.1 percent, at 8,362.59. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is down 23.63, or 2.6 percent, at 897.60. The Nasdaq composite index is down 52.59, or 2.8 percent, at 1,774.88.

No recovery for U.S. property markets until 2017
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. urban commercial real estate markets probably will not recover until 2017, the head analyst of commercial mortgages for Deutsche Bank Securities (DBKGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Monday. "The froth is still working itself out," Richard Parkus, Deutsche Bank head of Commercial Mortgage-backed Securities and Asset-Backed Securities Synthetics Research said at the Reuters Global Real Estate Summit in New York. "We are currently in something which is comparable to what we saw in the 1990s and potentially worse." U.S. commercial real estate values could fall by more than 50 percent from the peak in 2007, he said. Although asking rents are down about 28 percent in New York, factoring in free rent and other perks by landlords, rents are down about 50 percent, Parkus said. 

"Rents will be back to where they were in 2017," Parkus said. Building prices also will take six to eight years to recover, he said. The U.S. commercial markets are deteriorating at an increasing pace as rent dries up and demand plummets. That is leaving borrowers struggling to make their monthly mortgage payments. "The number of new loans that are becoming delinquent each month are defaulting at rates between 5 percent and 8 percent per year, with the most loosely underwritten loans of 2007 defaults at 8 percent per year, Parkus said. That puts accumulated losses at about 4 percent this year, and 12 percent over the next four years. Loans loses ranged between 7 and 11 percent a year during the commercial real estate crash of the early 1990s. "We are not only not approaching stability, we are at a period of maximum deterioration," Parkus said.

New York Home Prices Forecast to Drop 40%

Foreclosures grind on as lenders fail to modify loans
The Obama administration's $75 billion program to reduce foreclosures has been beset by backlogs and delays, leading many overstretched homeowners to complain about unreturned phone calls and inaccurate information from lenders, while others say they were denied help for reasons that weren't clear.Details of the plan were unveiled in early March. The goal is to prevent up to 4 million foreclosures by having banks modify loans into more affordable monthly payments. Since its debut, the plan has led to offers of more than 190,000 mortgage modifications with lower monthly payments, according to the Treasury Department. During that time, lenders either have started or advanced foreclosure proceedings against more than 1 million homes, according to RealtyTrac. 

About 20% of those were foreclosed upon and repossessed. The Center for Responsible Lending says 2.4 million Americans are at risk of foreclosure in 2009, and 8.1 million could be over the next four years.
Homeowners who apply for mortgage modifications are finding that banks typically are taking 45 to 60 days to respond to inquiries, according to a report this month by NeighborWorks America, a provider of foreclosure-prevention counseling. Some homeowners who applied for mortgage modifications five months ago still have no answer on whether they will be able to arrange smaller monthly payments, leaving them uncertain whether they'll keep their homes or lose them shortly.

Employers eye changes to 401(k) plans, study shows
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A quarter of U.S. employers have eliminated or plan to cut matching contributions to employee 401(k) retirement plans to save money amid the economy's downturn, according to research released on Monday. A quarter of U.S. employers also have instituted or are planning limited enrollment rather than open the savings plans to all employees, according to the study conducted for Charles Schwab Corp. by CFO Research Services.

World Bank cuts 2009 global growth forecast
BEIJING — The World Bank has cut its 2009 global growth forecast, saying the world economy will shrink by 2.9 percent and warning that a drop in investment in developing countries will increase poverty. "The global recession has deepened," the Washington-based multilateral lender said in a report. Global trade is expected to plunge by 9.7 percent this year, while total gross domestic product for high-income countries contracts by 4.2 percent, the bank said. It said economic growth in developing countries should slow to 1.2 percent — but excluding relatively strong China and India, developing economies will contract by 1.6 percent. The bank's latest forecast is a sharp reduction from its March prediction of a 1.7 percent global contraction, which it said then would be the worst on record. Economic damage to developing countries "has been much deeper and broader than previous crises," warned the report, issued Sunday in Washington. "Unemployment is on the rise, and poverty is set to increase in developing economies," it said.

France’s budget deficit to exceed 7%
France’s budget deficit will widen to more than 7 per cent of gross domestic product this year and next as tax receipts fall and unemployment rises, Budget Minister Eric Woerth said on Sunday. Speaking on RTL radio, he said the deficit would come to between 7.0 and 7.5 per cent of GDP in 2009 and 2010, more than twice the 3 per cent ceiling laid down by European Union borrowing rules.

6-19-09

U.K & U.S. Forecasted To Default On Debt By End OF Summer
New Wave Of Unemployment - Bankruptcies - Dollar & T- Bond Crisis This Year
California Credit Rating To Be Downgraded

This is it folks. Please heed the biblical warning to prepare. Revelation 17-19 are coming to pass with frightening speed. The judgment of the Great Whore, symbolic of the global economic collapse, and the Fall of Babylon, symbolic of the collapse of the banking and financial system of the Beast Empire - The United States, and the Federal Reserve Banking System, are now upon us. The articles below evidence the fact that these events will take place before the end of this year. The government, media, banking, and financial experts are not revealing the true extent of the crisis, and many will be unprepared. Where California is now going other states will soon follow, and the federal government must likewise follow as well. Great social unrest is about to befall the nation. Keep in mind that the economy works from the consumer up and not from the banks down. Most of the economic stimulus and financial bailouts have been aimed at banks with very little aimed at consumers. Consequently, all has been for naught, and nothing can now avert the coming economic collapse.

GEAB N° 36 is available! Global systemic crisis in summer 2009
The cumulative impact of three rogue waves

As anticipated by LEAP/E2020 as early as October 2008, on the eve of summer 2009, the question of the US and UK capacity to finance their unbridled public deficits has become the central question of international debates, thus paving the way for these two countries to default on their debt by the end of this summer. At this stage of the global systemic crisis’ process of development, contrary to the dominant political and media stance today, the LEAP/E2020 team does not foresee any economic upsurge after summer 2009 (nor in the following 12 months). On the contrary, because the origins of the crisis remain unaddressed, we estimate that the summer 2009 will be marked by the converging of three very destructive « rogue waves », illustrating the aggravation of the crisis and entailing major upheaval by September/October 2009. As always since this crisis started, each region of the world will be affected neither at the same moment, nor in the same way. However, according to our researchers, all of them will be concerned by a significant deterioration in their situation by the end of summer 2009.

This evolution is likely to catch large numbers of economic and financial players on the wrong foot who decided to believe in today’s mainstream media operation of “euphorisation”. In this special « Summer 2009 » edition, our team describes in detail these three converging « rogue waves » and their impact, and gives a number of strategic recommendations (currencies, gold, real estate, bonds, stocks, currencies) to avoid being swept away in this deadly summer. LEAP/E2020 believes that, instead of « green shoots » (those which international media, experts and the politicians who listen to them kept perceiving in every statistical chart in the past two months), what will appear on the horizon is a group of three destructive waves of the social and economic fabric expected to converge in the course of summer 2009, illustrating the aggravation of the crisis and entailing major changes by the end of summer 2009… more specifically, debt default events in the US and UK, both countries at the centre of the global system in crisis. These waves appear as follows:

1. Wave of massive unemployment: Three different dates of impact according to the countries in America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa
2. Wave of serial corporate bankruptcies: companies, banks, housing, states, counties, towns
3. Wave of terminal crisis for the US Dollar, US T-Bond and GBP, and the return of inflation 

In fact, these three waves do not appear in quick succession like the « sisters rogue waves ». They are even more dangerous because they are simultaneous, asynchronous and non-parallel. Hence their impact on the global system accentuates the risks because they hit at various angles, at different speeds and with varying strength. The only certain thing at this stage is that the international system has never been so weak and powerless to face such a situation. The IMF and global governance institutions’ reforms announced by the London G20 are at a standstill. The G8 becomes more like a moribund club whose utility is increasingly questioned. US leadership is the shadow of what it used to be, mostly concerned by desperately trying to find purchasers for its T-Bonds. The global monetary system is in a process of disintegration, with the Russians and Chinese in particular accelerating their positioning in the post-Dollar era. 

Companies foresee no improvement in the business climate and speed up the pace of layoffs. A growing number of states falter under the weight of their accumulated debt created to “rescue banks” and are about to be faced with a welter of failings by the end of this summer. And, last but not least, the banks, once they have squeezed money out of naive savers thanks to the market upsurge orchestrated in the past few weeks, will be have to admit that they are still insolvent by the end of summer 2009. In the United States and United Kingdom in particular, the colossal public financial effort made in 2008 and at the beginning of 2009 for the sole benefit of large banks became so unpopular that it was impossible to consider injecting more public money into banks in spring 2009, despite the fact that they were still insolvent. It then became necessary to invent a “fairy tale” to convince the average saver to inject his/her own money into the financial system. 

By means of the « green shoots » story, overpriced stock indices based on no real economic grounds and promises of « anticipated public funding repayment », the conditioning was achieved. Hence, while big investors from oil-producing and Asian countries withdrew capital from these banks, large numbers of small individual investors returned, full of hope. Once these small investors discover that public funding repayment is only a drop in the ocean of public aid granted to these banks (to help them dispose of their toxic assets) and that, after three or four months at best (as analyzed in this GEAB N°36), these banks are again on the verge of collapse, they will realize, powerless, that their share is worth nothing once again.

Intoxicated by financiers, world political leaders will be surprised - once again – to see all the problems of last year reappear, all the more severe since they were not addressed but only buried under piles of public money. Once that money has been squandered by insolvent banks compelled to « rescue » even more insolvent rivals, or by ill-conceived economic stimulus plans, problems will re-emerge, further exacerbated. For hundreds of millions of citizens in America, Europe, Asia and Africa, the summer 2009 will be a dramatic transition towards lasting impoverishment due to the loss of their jobs, with no hope of finding new ones in the next two, three or four years, or due to the disappearance of their savings invested in stocks or capital-based pension funds, or in banking investments linked to stock markets or denominated in US dollars or British pounds, or investment in shares of companies pressured to desperately wait for an improvement not coming soon.--------More - Notes and charts

The Credit Crisis Is Not Over After 23 Months
The next major move in the stock market will be down. We are seeing the last vestiges of a rally similar to what we saw in 1931. The rally we expected at 6600 up to 8500 will end as soon as all the financial institutions that need to sell what stock is necessary to bolster their balance sheets. Our guess is the rally has been aided in a big way by short covering and the participation of the US government. Those who believe the SEC has stopped naked short selling are sadly mistaken. 

Markets weaken during the summer as volume dries up during the vacation season. In addition, second quarter earnings will be very disappointing, especially in the financial segment. Unemployment continues to worsen and capacity utilization is at its lowest level in years. Banks continue to cut credit lines and not lend nearly as much as they did before. Citigroup’s earnings should turn down again. They won’t have another $2.7 billion gain or another $400 million mark-to-market fictitious gain. Absent those gains they would have lost $2.8 billion.

The credit crisis certainly isn’t over after 23 months. The credit markets are still very tight and the residential and commercial real estate markets are still in a state of collapse. In the midst of this ongoing fiasco the Fed is monetizing $2.2 trillion in treasuries, Agencies and CDOs, collateralized debt obligation, otherwise known as toxic junk. Our fiscal deficit for this year ended 9/30/09 will be between $2 and $2.5 trillion, followed by more than $2 trillion in 2010...........much more.

Global crisis pushes 100 million into hunger
ROME (Reuters) - The global economic crisis will help push 100 million people into poverty this year through lost jobs and lower earnings, leaving one sixth of the world's population living in hunger, a U.N. agency said on Friday. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) forecast the number of people living in hunger would reach a record high of 1.02 billion this year, exacerbated by persistently high prices for staples following the food crisis of 2006-2008. Not only will the global slowdown destroy livelihoods in the developing world -- where almost all of the world's hungry live -- it will reduce aid spending from wealthy countries by around a quarter, just when it is most needed, the FAO warned. "The silent hunger crisis ... poses a serious risk for world peace and security," said FAO Director General Jacques Diouf. "We urgently need to forge a broad consensus on the total and rapid eradication of hunger."

Rosy thoughts on U.S. economy clash with reality
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. financial markets entered a new era of good feelings in March on the back of sentiment surveys pointing to a rebound just around the corner, but hard economic data has yet to back it up. Skeptics say investors have put too much faith in softer indicators, such as regional manufacturing indexes, purchasing manager surveys and consumer confidence numbers, pointing to "green shoots" of economic improvement to price in a V-shaped recovery. Such a recovery depends on steady and rapid improvement after the economy's decline reaches bottom. However, those surveys do not compare absolute figures -- retail sales from one month to another -- but measure the beliefs of respondents from one month to the next. "A lot of sentiment indicators are phrased in rate-of-change terms," said Michael Feroli, economist at JP Morgan. "So we're getting better from very bad levels, but if you were talking in objective terms you might say 'very low.'"

More concrete measures of activity like industrial production paint a different picture. Output is down 15 percent from December highs and fell 1.1 percent in May alone. The contraction is even more pronounced in exporting economies like Europe and Japan, suggesting the downward pressures are global -- and have yet to abate considerably. Jobless claims, another indicator seen as pointing to recent improvement, are still too high to signal any sort of rebound in hiring. Weekly claims for unemployment benefits have hovered near 600,000, having peaked at 674,000 at the end of March. Despite the decline, analysts say such levels are consistent with a continued rise in the U.S. unemployment rate, which in May climbed to a 26-year high of 9.4 percent. Equities and corporate bonds have experienced historic rallies since March, but investors are now waiting for confirmation in corresponding hard data. "I don't know what it's going to take for the market to see that things aren't turning around that quick," said Warren Simpson, managing director at Stephens Capital Management. "We certainly think we'll get some kind of correction."

U.S. homes recovery distressingly slow
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A "distressingly slow" U.S. housing recovery, with inflation-adjusted home values expected to decline over the next five years, makes it unlikely that housing wealth will drive consumer spending in the next decade, a Reuters/University of Michigan survey found. Consumers are apt to maintain their renewed emphasis on savings and paring debt, Richard Curtin, director of the survey, said in a June home price update on Friday. Housing wealth changes have a lagged impact on spending, and the influence of declines seen in 2008 will depress growth in consumer spending in 2009 and 2010, the survey said.

Jobless rate in Western US tops 10 percent
WASHINGTON – The unemployment rate in the West jumped over 10 percent last month, the first time that regional threshold has been broken in about 25 years. On the state level, eight set record-highs and only two — Nebraska and Vermont — did not report increases. The Labor Department reported Friday that 48 states and the District of Columbia saw employment conditions deteriorate last month. The fallout from the longest recession since World War II, was the worst in Michigan as automakers cut tens of thousands of jobs. Its unemployment rate rose to 14.1 percent. The West region reported the highest jobless rate at 10.1 percent. The last time any region had a rate of at least 10 percent was September 1983, when the country was emerging from a severe recession. The region is home to California, where the jobless rate jumped to a record 11.5 percent last month, Nevada, where it's a record 11.3 percent, and other states that have been slammed when the housing boom went bust — snatching jobs and wealth. The other six states that set new highs on records dating to 1976 were: North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia.

Jobless pain continues in most states in May
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Signs unemployment pains may be easing in individual U.S. states in April disappeared by May, when jobless rates jumped in 48 states and the District of Columbia, according to data released on Friday. Michigan again reported the highest unemployment rate of 14.1 percent, followed by Oregon, which notched 12.4 percent, its greatest on record, the U.S. Labor Department said. Not only did Michigan hold the highest spot in terms of unemployment, a position it has had for 25 of the last 26 months, but the state also experienced the largest monthly increase in its rate as two American auto behemoths -- General Motors and Chrysler -- struggled. Michigan has had a jobless rate of 7.0 percent or more since April 2007, and broke above 9.0 percent in December. 

Oregon, which has seen its rate spike over the last few months, had the largest increase from a year earlier, 6.7 percentage points, the Labor Department said. "News on state unemployment rates is dismal," wrote Philippa Dunne, editor of the economic newsletter The Liscio Report. The National Conference of State Legislatures called the data "disappointing". The national unemployment rate last month was 9.4 percent, and 17 states and the District of Columbia recorded rates that were higher. In 15 states and the District of Columbia rates were greater than 10 percent, meaning that in those states at least one in 10 people does not have a job. In Nebraska, the rate edged down to 4.4 percent from 4.5 in April while the rate in Vermont was unchanged at 7.3 percent. California registered its highest unemployment rate on record, 11.5 percent, and also lost the most jobs, 68,900, of all the states in May, followed by Florida, which lost 61,000.......more.

Moody's warning on California debt stuns state
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California, which is struggling to close a $24.3 billion budget gap, faces the prospect of a "multi-notch" downgrade in its credit rating if the state's legislature fails to act quickly to produce a budget, Moody's Investors Service warned on Friday. Moody's decision to place California's general obligation debt on alert for a possible "multi-notch" downgrade stunned state officials. The state's current A2 credit rating is Moody's sixth-highest investment grade and makes California the lowest rated of the 50 states. The A2 rating is just five notches above speculative status and Moody's raised the potential for the rating to tumble toward "junk" status if lawmakers fail to quickly produce a budget for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign. 

"If the legislature does not take action quickly, the state's cash situation will deteriorate to the point where the controller will have to delay most non-priority payments in July,"Moody's said in a statement. "Lack of action could result in a multi-notch downgrade," Moody's added. "I cannot remember reading a ratings note that raised the specter of a multi-notch downgrade," said H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger on state finance matters. "It's another clear warning from the financial markets that there will be substantial and costly consequences if the legislature does not send the governor a budget that he can sign."A downgrade could push California's borrowing costs up at time when state officials expect to issue up to $9 billion in revenue anticipation notes as soon as possible after a budget agreement is notched -- a deal whose timing is in doubt. Moody's said California's leasing debt and other state-related debt are also on review, affecting a total of $72 billion of debt.

Previous News Articles  & Commentary

Biblical Warning To Prepare
"Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."- Revelation 18:4

Biblical Warning: The warning above means that people should become independent of the economic system, so that they won't suffer after it's collapse. A global economic collapse will mean a shortage of food and other essentials required for survival. This is a warning from God to prepare. Stock up on food and emergency supplies, and keep extra cash, or gold, so that you aren't dependant on supermarkets, banks, or credit cards for your survival. There is no telling how much time will elapse between the coming global economic collapse and the arrival of the Kingdom of God. These things must happen because they have been written in Bible Prophecy, and all that has been written must come to pass before the Kingdom of God will arrive. "For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled."- Luke 21: 22.

Fulfillment of Revelation 18: The current global economic and financial crisis is unprecedented in human history, because never before has there been a time when the entire world was under a single global economic system, and a single currency, the Dollar, of a single nation, the United States, and a single banking system, the Federal Reserve. It has taken since World War II, to develop the current economic and financial system, and the causes for it's collapse, and it is unlikely that such a system will again be implemented in our lifetimes. After the existing global financial/economic system fails, the world will move towards a multi-currency system, which has already been suggested by many. Because of the unprecedented nature of the global economic crisis, and when viewed with other biblical signs that have already come to pass - Prophecies of Jesus, there is no doubt that this is the fulfillment of Bible Prophecy - Revelation 18, that warns of such a global economic collapse in the final days before the arrival of the Kingdom of God, as follows: "the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more."Revelation 18: 11.

Fulfillment of Revelation 19: War in the Middle East will develop during this same period of economic collapse so as to fulfill the biblical prophecies of Revelation 19. First, God completes the judgment of the great whore, symbolic of the global economic system, and it's collapse - Revelation 19: 2, and then follows a gathering of armies for war in Revelation 19: 19-21, which is then followed by the arrival of the Kingdom of God. We know from other biblical prophecies contained in Revelation, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Prophecies of Jesus, that this war will be in the Middle East, in the area of the ancient Seleucid Empire, where now exists the Ten Kingdoms, but also in Palestine, and the area of ancient Samaria, the location of Armageddon, and in Jerusalem, that will be desolated by surrounding armies - Abomination of Desolation. "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh."- Luke 21: 20. These are the final signs before the return of Jesus Christ, and the arrival of the Kingdom of God, "When they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption drawled nigh." Luke 21: 27-28.

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Born 10-29-50 Died 4-24-08
Wife, Best Friend, And Lifelong Companion Of 33 Years.
She Didn't Survive To Witness The Arrival Of The Kingdom Of God. 
We Will Witness It Together During The Resurrection To Come. 
Sleep For Now My Love.
R.I.P.

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Larry A. Wright