China

Make It Rocky Road

No, not ice cream.

The not-so-distant future here in the United States, as forecast by a Chuck Baldwin (whoever he is):

It is no hyperbole to say that the U.S. federal government has been on a “Ban God” bandwagon for the past 50 years. Whether it kicks prayer and Bible reading out of school, bars military chaplains from praying in Jesus’ name, burns Bibles in Iraq, removes state supreme court chief justices from their positions for posting the Ten Commandments, or threatens high school principals with jail for asking the blessing, the federal government has invoked the judgment of Heaven upon our country as surely as did Old Testament Israel.

Although the comfortable, sports-crazed, TV addicts probably aren’t paying attention, this country is on the verge of an implosion like you cannot believe. For anyone who cares to notice, the signs are everywhere.

First of all, Israel and Iran are on the verge of war. And right now, I’m not concentrating on the “why” or “who’s right or wrong” of the equation. I’m simply telling you, war between Israel and Iran could break out at any time. And when it does, the chances that it will not become nuclear and not become global are miniscule. Yes, I am saying it: the prospects for nuclear war have never been greater. […]

Secondly, America is on the verge of total financial collapse. By the end of this year, America’s budget deficit will stand at around $2 trillion. The debt gap is many trillions more than that. But the nail in the coffin for America’s fiscal health will be the decision by China to dump the U.S. dollar. Ladies and gentlemen, this will be the death knell for our financial stability and a painful lesson in sowing and reaping.

[…]

Third, the paranoia regarding the Swine Flu being demonstrated by both government and media spokesmen begs a giant push for some type of “government solution.”

[…]

Exactly how and when all of the above will actually materialize is yet to be seen. There is no doubt in my mind, however, that within the next few months, the world that we know today is going to vanish. And most Americans are totally unprepared for what’s coming.

If you are able to get out of debt, do it. If you need to scale down your lifestyle in order to be better prepared for difficult days, do it. If you don’t have guns and ammo, buy them.

Somehow, I don’t think he has FAFA solely in mind with that last sentence. If I’m right, I disagree with him. Vigorously. Biblically, in my view. (For the record, I do not agree 100% with Chuck Badlwin’s rhetoric and so forth. Not even close. I reference this article to expand your world view a bit — perhaps — but certainly not to endorse Mr. Baldwin or his theology.)

Anyway, you can read the full article here: It Is Going To Be A Rocky Road — it might do you some good.

Oh, you’re wondering what FAFA is, I suppose.

Firearm-Assisted Food Acquisition — another acronym of my very own arrangement and a PC-friendly way of saying hunting — Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! 🙄

Oh, having disclaimed Mr. Baldwin, allow me to claim Jesus and His Word:

“In the last days,
perilous times
shall come.”
2 Timothy 3:1

Heads Up

So…what’s in the headlines this morning?

An Urgent Message from David Wilkerson

AN EARTH-SHATTERING CALAMITY IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN. IT IS GOING TO BE SO FRIGHTENING, WE ARE ALL GOING TO TREMBLE – EVEN THE GODLIEST AMONG US.

More Americans say they have no religion

A wide-ranging study on American religious life found that the Roman Catholic population has been shifting out o of the Northeast to the Southwest, the percentage of Christians in the nation has declined and more people say they have no religion at all.

Wikipedia scrubs Obama eligibility

Wikipedia, the online “free encyclopedia” mega-site written and edited entirely by its users, has been deleting within minutes any mention of eligibility issues surrounding Barack Obama’s presidency, with administrators kicking off anyone who writes about the subject….

World Bank offers dire forecast for world economy

In a bleaker assessment than those of most private forecasters, the World Bank predicted Sunday that the global economy would shrink in 2009 for the first time since World War II.

China’s Navy expansion “no threat to others”

China’s plans to add aircraft carriers to its fleet and an historic long-distance mission by its navy are aimed only at protecting the country and its trade interests….

“Iran crossed nuclear tech threshold”

In a chilling indication that Iran’s arms program is advancing steadily, Israel acknowledged for the first time that Teheran had mastered the technology to make a nuclear bomb on the same day that the Iranians announced they had successfully tested a new air-to-surface missile.

Syria: Peace With Israel Possible

Syria President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview published on Monday that a peace deal with Israel was possible but that normal relations would only be possible if Israel ended its conflict with the Palestinians.

There. I don’t know how long that took. But it was quite a while. It would have been faster, but I did it between other computer and online projects. It’s much more efficient for me that way.

Now, make it a good day.

Christians in the News

Got you curious who will be featured here?

Almost certainly not the ones you might expect, I suspect. 🙂

IRAN: Two released; one missing

Two of the Christians who were held in custody have been released on bail and guarantee but there is no news of whereabouts of the third.

The Farsi Christian News Network reports that after the arrest of the 3 Christians by the security forces in Tehran on 21st January, and the general concern on their safety, Mrs. Nadere Javadi was released after 2 weeks of imprisonment in Evin Prison . there was no charge and no explanation as to the reason of her arrest by the security forces. She was released on bail, having left house documents as guarantee.

Also, Hamik Khachiki, another Christian leader from the Central Assemblies of God church in Tehran, who was also arrested on 21st January, was released after one week of being in custody. Another member of church leadership had to guarantee for him.

For the last two weeks, despite all efforts and enquiry, there has been no success in finding out the location and the condition of Jamal Ghalishourani, a Farsi speaking Christian, who was also arrested on the same date as the above.

Read it all

November 10

1871 — Henry Morton Stanley locates missing explorer and missionary Dr. David Livingstone near Lake Tanganyika (somewhere in Africa), saying “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”

1951 — Direct-dial coast-to-coast telephone service begins in the USA.

1969 — “Sesame Street” debuts on US television.

1970 — The Great Wall of China opens for tourism.

1975 — The United Nations General Assembly approves Resolution 3379 equating Zionism with racism. The resolution was repealed with Resolution 4686 — 66 years later in December 1991!

1983 — Microsoft unleashes Windows upon the world.

1997 — WorldCom and MCI Communications announce a $37 billion merger (the biggest at that point in history).

1998 — The Pentagon steps up the movement of warships to the Persian Gulf as the Clinton administration sweeps aside the idea of negotiations with Iraq over UN weapons inspections rejected by the Iraqis.

2003 — Federal regulators allow customers to switch home phone numbers to their cell phones.

2007 — Skipping (or perhaps fed up with) the diplomatic niceties, Spanish King Juan Carlos famously asks Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, ¿Por qué no te callas? 😯

2008 — President-Elect Obama takes his wife to visit their new residence (but they have to wait a few more weeks to take possession).

Skype User, Beware

Another company in the bag for the Chinese government?

Skype’s China Spying Sparks Anger

Savvy Internet users in China began avoiding the version of Skype offered by its Chinese partner two years ago, but news it filtered and recorded text messages has sparked new worries about the global firm’s commitment to privacy.

The U.S.-owned Web communications firm faces a backlash at home and in China for apparently allowing core principles to be compromised in order to meet the demands of Chinese censors, analysts warned.

“We may never know whether some of those people whose conversations were logged have gone to jail or have had their lives ruined in various ways as a result of this,” said Rebecca MacKinnon, an Internet expert at Hong Kong University.

“This is a big blow to Skype’s credibility, despite the fact that Skype executives are downplaying it as not such a big deal.”

Skype, with its promises of total security and privacy, has long been popular with Chinese looking to keep their conversations away from the prying eyes of government censors.

But the eBay-owned firm had to apologize on Thursday after a report revealed that its Chinese service not only monitors text chats with sensitive keywords, which it had earlier admitted, but also stores them along with millions of personal user records on computers that could easily be accessed by anybody.

Got Colgate?

Companies import poisonous Chinese toothpaste in disguise

Four defendants pleaded guilty yesterday to importing from China more than a half million tubes of toothpaste falsely labeled as the popular brand Colgate and containing a toxic chemical found in antifreeze.

According to a U.S. Department of Justice statement, the defendants were responsible for 518,028 tubes of toothpaste worth an estimated $730,419 that were shipped into the country and distributed to bargain retail stores in several states last year.

[…]

The toothpaste itself was nearly indistinguishable in its packaging color and design from Colgate, but a few spelling errors and a false label statement that the product was made in South Africa identified the counterfeit.

The toothpaste was actually manufactured in China, which has a long and grisly history of manufacturing poisonous toothpaste, prompting the FDA last year to warn consumers from using any toothpaste made in the communist country.

[…]

Colgate-Palmolive, which sells toothpaste and toothbrushes in more than 200 countries, according the Department of Justice report, has inspected several thousand discount stores over the past year to identify and remove the counterfeit toothpaste marketed under its name.
Above all, love God!