Magnitude-6.8 quake shakes Siberia

MOSCOW (AP) — A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 shook southwestern Siberia on Sunday afternoon, the second to hit the area in two months. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, emergency officials said.

Residents of multistory apartment buildings said objects tumbled off of shelves, windows rattled and chandeliers swayed during the quake, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

The earthquake hit about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Kyzyl, the capital of the Russian republic of Tuva, which borders Mongolia.

A quake of similar strength hit the same spot in late December. That quake damaged dozens of buildings, including a bridge over the Yenisei River to Mongolia.

Sunday's quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey said was centered 11.7 (7.3 miles) below the surface, was felt across a broad swath of southeastern Siberia.

"At the moment we have no information about any injuries or destroyed buildings," said Stanislav Aivazov, an official with the emergency services in Siberia. "Our specialists are inspecting the situation in the region. "

Workers reported feeling the quake at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectic plant, the largest in Russia, located more than 300 kilometers (180 miles) from the quake's epicenter.

The temblor also was felt in Krasnoyarsk, a large city about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) away, emergency officials said.

Yahoo News

Babylon Rising Part Three

Joseph Herrin (02-17-2012)

After viewing the post on the half-time show for Super Bowl XLVI, some saints have written that they have never seen such blatant and extensive Satanic symbolism in a public venue. I anticipate far greater messages of the arising of Satan’s rule and the re-formation of Babylon to be present at the upcoming 2012 London Olympics. Already, there are so many occult parables in evidence that I am led to write on these things months before the Olympics are to be held.

The 2012 London Olympics are officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad. These Roman numerals translate to the 30th Olympiad of the modern era. The Olympics originally began in ancient Greece. They consisted of athletic competitions held in honor of Zeus, the chief of the Greek gods. Zeus was the current incarnation of Satan as he appeared to the Greeks. He was worshiped among other titles as Zeus Aphesio “the Liberator,” and as Zeus the Savior. Every four years the Greeks would hold Olympic celebrations. The name Olympic comes from Mount Olympus which was considered to be the dwelling place of Zeus and the pantheon of associated deities. Thus, from the very beginning, the Olympics have served as the high holy days for Luciferian worship.

The ancient Olympics are recorded to have first been celebrated in the year 776 B.C. (You may see a semblance in this year to the establishment of America as a nation, and the year that the Bavarian Illuminati was formed; 1776 A.D.). The ancient Olympics “were celebrated until 393 AD when they were suppressed by Theodosius I as part of the campaign to impose Christianity as a state religion.”

[Quote source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Olympic_Games]

In the modern era, the Olympics were first held in 1896. Each Olympiad continues for a period of four years. Thus, the first Olympiad ran until the year 1900. The upcoming London Olympics are the 30th in the series, expressed by the Roman numerals XXX. This is significant as the repetition of a number three times denotes fulness and completion.

Satan ever seeks to copy and distort the things of Yahweh. The number thirty in the Bible is clearly associated with the beginning of rule. Joseph, the son of Jacob, was made ruler of Egypt at the age of thirty.

Genesis 41:42-46

Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph's hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried out before him, "Bow the knee!" So he set him over all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh also said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man may lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt..." So Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt. Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Similarly, David was thirty years old when he was crowned king in Hebron.


II Samuel 5:4-5

David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

The Scriptures also declare Christ to be King, a position which He affirmed.

John 18:37

Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Yahshua answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world.”

Yahshua began His earthly ministry at the age of thirty.

Luke 3:23

When He began His ministry, Yahshua Himself was about thirty years of age...

It would be in keeping with Satan’s mockery of all that is holy to follow this pattern by associating the number thirty with the beginning of his world rule. As I have made mention of in the first two parts of this series, there are signs being given by Satan and his human subjects that the establishment of his rule on earth is at hand.

Babylon is the city that the Scriptures use consistently to denote Satan’s kingdom, while Zion is emblematic of the kingdom of Yahweh and His Son Yahshua. Satan, of course, would turn this on its head. Even as those in the highest levels of Freemasonry are taught that Satan is the good god, and Yahweh is the evil God, so too does Freemasonry call Babylon by the name Zion. I demonstrated this in the writing titled “Freemasonry, the Spirit of Babylon.” Following is an excerpt from that writing.

To demonstrate further the duplicity exercised by the architects of Freemasonry one need look no further than the pages of a Masonic Bible. As I was conducting this study a Masonic Bible was donated to the Macon Rescue Mission where I was on staff, and I purchased it. This Bible was published by the A. J. Holman company and is a very large family Bible that is filled with Masonic content at the front. One of the first articles is titled “The First Authentic Restoration of King Solomon’s Temple and Citadel.” The restoration is credited to John Wesley Kelchner and a statement precedes the article and following images.



Image of Solomon’s Temple from Masonic Bible

“Exactly the spectacle beheld by the eyes of Solomon when his artisans had finished.” Harvey Wiley Corbett, Architect


Following is an excerpt from this article.

How the Designs, Drawings and Pictures Were Obtained.

It is known to every reader of the Bible and student of Solomon’s days, that an amazingly exact description of the Temple and its associated structures has been carried down from the mists of antiquity by the Scriptures. Lineal measurements, materials employed, and ornamental detail are so graphically presented that restoration of the Temple at any time within a score of centuries past, awaited only the coming of a man with the vision to recognize its historic value, and the imagination to undertake the task.

Notwithstanding the universal interest in King Solomon’s Temple, a fascination which has created innumerable legends and romances during the intervening centuries, the incredible fact remains that no adequate effort to restore the Temple was made until John Wesley Kelchner, Archaeoligist, Bible Student and Lecturer, began thirty years ago to make real his vision of the scriptural description.

[End Quote]

It is espoused that the images created of Solomon’s Temple are accurate, having followed the Biblical details of its construction. However, the reality is far from the truth. What is depicted in this Bible are images of a Babylonian Ziggurat, the offspring of the original Tower of Babel, as well as numerous other Babylonian buildings and artistic images.

The image above shows the Masonic Bible’s depiction of the front view of Solomon’s Temple. Note that what is visioned here is a tower. Nowhere in Scripture is there any indication of a tower being incorporated in the construction of the Temple. The next image shows a more accurate rendering of the shape of Solomon’s Temple.






One immediately notices the tremendous difference between this Biblically accurate rendering, and the fantastic depiction of the Temple in the Masonic Bible. Absent is any tower, as well as the numerous Babylonian images that decorated the facade of the Masonic painting.

Very clearly we can observe the principle that Masonry utilizes, namely to present before her adherents images of pagan and occult origin and to deceive the viewer as to what they are actually seeing. In this way Freemasonry is even trying to pass off an image of the Tower of Babel as if it was a depiction of Solomon’s Temple. Yet there is much more of this subterfuge in the following pages of the Masonic Bible.

The next image purports to be a faithful depiction of the entrance of the great porch of Solomon’s Temple.



Entrance to the Great Porch of Solomon’s Temple

Due to the size limitations of presenting this image here, you may not be able to observe the fine detail. This painting which is purported to be another angle of the front of Solomon’s Temple is filled with Babylonian imagery. The artwork seen in the murals and statuary is clearly of Babylonian origin. In the next image I have zoomed in on one prominent image, that of the winged bulls with the head of a man which decorate the right side of the stairs leading up to the Temple.


Nimrod, Winged Bull

As the introduction to these pictures in the Masonic Bible has stated, the Scriptures provide precise details of the artwork, materials and dimensions of Solomon’s Temple. Nowhere in the Biblical account do we find any description of winged bulls with the head of a man. Where then does this image come from?

In Alexander Hislop’s classic book The Two Babylons, he shows an image of this same winged bull, and he gives the following account of its origin and meaning.

There was another way in which Nimrod’s power was symbolised besides by the horn. A synonym for Gheber, “The Mighty One,” was “Abir,” while “Aber” also signified “a wing.” Nimrod as head and captain of those men of war, by whom he surrounded himself, and who were the instruments of establishing his power, was “Baal-Aberin,” “Lord of the Mighty Ones.” But “Baal-Abirin” (pronounced in nearly the same way) signified “The Winged One,” and therefore in symbol he was represented not only as a horned bull, but as at once a horned and winged bull - as showing not merely that he was mighty himself, but that he had mighty ones under his command who were ever ready to carry his will into effect.

This symbol of Nimrod was copied by other kings of Mesopotamia, and images of it are still existing to this day. Yet we never read of such an image in association with Solomon’s Temple. Once more the Great Deceiver is seeking to convince the viewer of these images that they are looking at Solomon’s Temple when in actuality they are viewing images of Babylon.



The Masonic Bible then proceeds to show other depictions of Solomon’s works. The Bible describes Solomon building The House of the Forest of Lebanon, and once more an artistic rendering is presented that is supposedly accurate in its representation of the actual building.

As one looks at this image they can see numerous Babylonian images decorating the grounds and the face of the building, including once more the winged bulls of Nimrod. In the background is observed the Tower of Babel which we have been told is Solomon’s Temple. We should understand then that what we are seeing is none other than a further image from Babylon. Indeed, what the artist has done is to copy wholesale an image of the Ishtar Gate of ancient Babylon and to overlay it upon this building. The following image shows what the Ishtar Gate looked like.



Ishtar Gate, Ancient Babylon

As we observe these two images side by side it is clearly observed that the Masonic Bible is practicing great deception by presenting images of Babylon as if they were images of Jerusalem.



When seen side-by-side, it is easy to see what deceit is being used by these Freemasons who were involved in this project.

I included the preceding information that I might show you a great deceit of Satan that is evident in the London Olympics. Satan is constructing Babylon, his kingdom and rule upon the earth, but he is falsely calling it Zion. There has been much discussion of the logo chosen for the 2012 Olympics.



Olympic Logo

People have said that the image is downright ugly. Some have suggested that it resembles the Nazi swastika. Many have questioned why such a design would be chosen. I believe the answer is readily available. The leaders of the nation of Iran lodged a formal protest when they discerned what was signified by this logo. A simple rearrangement of the characters spells the word Zion.




A bizarre footnote to this detail is that the video posted by the Olympic committee that displays the 2012 Olympic logo caused epileptic seizures in a number of people who viewed it, leading to the withdrawal of the video. The video can be viewed on YouTube at the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs0hfhSje9M

In the Scriptures, seizures are associated with demonic possession.

Mark 9:17-26

"Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not." He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me." Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." Yahshua said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" When Yahshua saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!" Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.

You can find an article on the seizures induced by this Olympic video at the following link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6724245.stm

Following is an excerpt from the article:

Charity Epilepsy Action said it had received calls from people who had suffered fits after seeing it...

"The logo came up on TV and I was thinking about the 2012 Games and then I was out," he said...

It said it had even triggered breakthrough seizures where people have a relapse after being seizure-free for a long time.

[End Excerpt]


Although the medical profession would describe such experiences as the result of a condition known as photosensitive epilepsy, I believe there is a spiritual parable to be discerned. The overall message being conveyed through the XXX Olympiad is the arising of Satanic power in the earth. Satan is an usurper. His goal is to seize control over all humanity, substituting himself as the ruler of man in place of Yahshua the Messiah.

Satan has ever desired to corrupt that which God calls holy. Observing that Yahweh chose the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be a people holy unto Himself, Satan has sought to corrupt this people more than any other. We see so many Jewish men and women in prominent positions in this fallen world system because Satan has chosen to mock Yahweh by turning God’s chosen people into his chief instruments in corrupting this world. Whether in television or the movies, in banking, politics, or many other realms, Jews have been recruited to serve as Satan’s instruments in establishing his rule over all the earth.

Kaballah is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. The knowledge provided by Kaballah is intended to be understood by only a small number of people who are initiated into its mysteries. Kaballah arose out of Judaism, being a corruption of it. (The singer Madonna is a student of Kaballah.) Jewish Kaballist adherents worship Lucifer as the god of this world. Henry Makow, Ph.D. states the following on his website:

The "god" of the Kabbalah is not god at all. It is Lucifer. Freemasonry is based on the Kabbalah. Illuminati Jews and their Freemasonic allies are stealthily erecting a New World Order dedicated to Lucifer.

[Source: http://www.henrymakow.com/david_livingstone.html]

The presence of Jewish symbols and teachings are very much present in Freemasonry. There is a Bible present in the Masonic Lodges throughout Christian nations, but it is only opened to the Old Testament, that portion that the Jews believe to be Holy Scripture. The influence of Freemasonry, Luciferianism, and Kaballistic beliefs is widely seen in prominent places in Israel. The Rothschild banking family designed and paid for the Supreme Court building in Jerusalem. You can see the occult influence in the following article:

http://vigilantcitizen.com/sinistersites/sinister-sites-israel-supreme-court/

I share this to proclaim to Christians that there is both a true and a false Zion. The true Zion is that which is heavenly, of which Yahshua the Messiah is the ruler.

Hebrews 12:22-24

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Yahshua the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

There is also the false Zion. This is that kingdom established by Satan in which numerous men and women have been recruited to bring forth in this earth. A secret cabal of super wealthy bankers, industrialists, politicians, and other powerful, beautiful, or talented members of society are utilized by Satan to bring forth this kingdom. How different are those members of Satan’s kingdom and those whom Christ has chosen!

I Corinthians 1:26-29

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.

Satan would take man in his pride and arrogance and raise up his kingdom. Satan’s kingdom is Babylon, but he would deceive mankind by calling it Zion. Already, there is great evidence of Babylon on the site of the 2012 London Olympics. The main arena where the opening and closing ceremonies will be held, as well as many of the track and field events, is Olympic Stadium. A key component of its design, and one which is filled with symbolic meaning, is the lighting system. The name Lucifer means “light bearer.” Satan promotes himself as the bringer of light to mankind. As I have mentioned frequently, the symbol of Satan’s rule is the pyramid with the all-seeing eye atop it with out-raying beams of light.



The Olympic Stadium in London is ringed with lights around its top edge which are all formed in the shape of pyramids.



It would be hard to conceive of a more telling symbol of Lucifer’s kingdom being established over mankind. The spirit of Lucifer is the spirit of anti-Christ (in the place of Christ). Satan would present himself as the light of the world. It is himself whom he would depict as the one who shines light in the darkness. Let it be known also that it is the true disciples of Yahshua the Messiah who will be characterized as evil, and whose teachings, beliefs and actions will be called dark and wicked in the coming hour.

On the grounds of the Olympic site is also a monument, the largest public piece of art in the United Kingdom. It is being built specifically for the 2012 Olympics. It is called the ArcelorMittal Orbit. It rises 115 meters into the air (377 feet). The Wikipedia article on this monument contains the following words:

Tom Dyckhoff of The Times, while calling it a "a gift to the tabloids" and a "giant Mr. Messy," questioned whether the Olympic site needed another pointless icon, postulating whether Orbit would stand the test of time like the London Eye and become a true icon to match the Eiffel Tower, or a hopeless white elephant. Suggesting the project had echoes of Tatlin's Monument to the Third International, and especially Constant Nieuwenhuys' utopian city New Babylon, he asked whether Orbit was just as revolutionary or possessed the same ideological purpose...

[Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArcelorMittal_Orbit]

Dyckhoff, I believe, is on the right track in his thinking. The Orbit is “possessed” of “the same ideological purpose” as Nieuwhenhuys New Babylon.

New Babylon is a Utopian anti-capitalist city designed in 1959-74 by artist-architect Constant Nieuwenhuys. Henri Lefebvre explained: "a New Babylon -- a provocative name, since in the Protestant tradition Babylon is a figure of evil. New Babylon was to be the figure of good that took the name of the cursed city and transformed itself into the city of the future..."

In the New Babylon, the bourgeois shackles of work, family life, and civic responsibility would be discarded. The post-revolutionary individual would wander from one leisure environment to another in search of new sensations. Beholden to no one, he would sleep, eat, recreate, and procreate where and when he wanted. Self-fulfillment and self-satisfaction were Constant's social goals. Deductive reasoning, goal-oriented production, the construction and betterment of a political community--all these were eschewed.

[Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Babylon_%28Constant_Nieuwenhuys%29]

Thus Satan comes as Zeus Aphesio “the Liberator.” He would set mankind free from all moral and societal constraints. Man would become a purely hedonistic creature, pursuing endless pleasure and self-fulfillment. In a strange twist, unlike Nieuwenhuys who called his kingdom by the evil name of Babylon while pretending it was good, Satan would take his evil kingdom and give it the name Zion.




Artist’s Depiction of ArcelorMittal Orbit

This monstrous construction was designed by Anish Kapoor, and financed by England’s wealthiest citizen, Lakshmi Mittal, owner of ArcelorMittal steel company. Anish Kapoor admits to being inspired by the Tower of Babel in his design (See Wikipedia article).



ArcelorMittal Orbit Under Construction

The impression one has in gazing upon this monstrosity is confusion. There is no symmetry. The mind has trouble perceiving any order or beauty in the tower. A sense of dissonance and discord prevails. This is fitting as the name Babel means “confusion.”

The opening ceremonies of the London Olympics will be held on July 27th, 2012. We are approaching the end of the age when the world must experience birthpangs as the kingdom of Satan and the Kingdom of Yahweh are brought into their great conflict. If the Lord permits, I will write more on the symbolism of the XXX Olympiad in coming days. I will end this post by providing the following additional information.

The torch relay will arrive on 18 May 2012 from Greece. The relay will last 70 days, with 66 evening celebrations, six Island Visits with about 8,000 people carrying the torch 300 m (330 yd) each, starting from Land's End in Cornwall. The torch will have one day outside of the United Kingdom when it will visit Dublin on June 6.

[Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Summer_Olympics]

Note the preponderance of the number six in the torch ceremonies. The torch will arrive in the United Kingdom on the 18th day of May (6+6+6). There will be 66 evening celebrations, and 6 island visits (66 and 6). The torch will visit Dublin on June 6th (6th month, 6th day). Every detail of the Olympic events are planned with great care. They are impregnated with occult symbolism, and this Olympics stands to be the greatest occult celebration of the rising of Satan’s rule over the earth that has yet been seen.

Ticket sign-up, in Great Britain, was launched on 22 March 2010. This is the 3rd month and 22nd day (3-22). Those familiar with occult numbers will recognize these numbers. The Georgia Guidestones were dedicated on March 22nd, and they read as the ten commandments of the New World Order. See Link:

http://parablesblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/deep-things-of-satan.html

This number is also part of the symbol of the secret society known as Skull and Bones of which many prominent United States politicians and corporate leaders have been members, including both Presidents Bush and John Kerry.




Why did the organizers choose March 22nd to begin selling tickets to the 2012 London Olympics? This was not an arbitrary date. Satan is declaring the rise of his kingdom. He pretends to be a savior to mankind, but he comes only to kill, steal, and destroy.

'US to announce aerial blockade on Syria'

The Pentagon is readying for the possibility of intervention in Syria, aiming to halt Syrian President Bashsar Assad's violent crackdown on protesters, the newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Saturday, citing a US military offical.

According to the official, the intervention scenario calls for the establishment of a buffer zone on the Turkish border, in order to receive Syrian refugees. The Red Cross would then provide the civilians humanitarian aid, before NATO crews would arrive from Turkey and join the efforts.

The measure would pave the way for the US to declare an aerial blockade on Syria.

The intercession is to be modeled after NATO's efforts in Kosovo, which brought an end to the Serbian control of the region. NATO's plan of action included prolonged aerial shelling.

The US' diplomatic efforts have yet to yield an effective international resolution that would stop the bloodshed. More than 100 protesters have died over the weekend alone, human rights activists said.

Russia, China to join aid efforts?

According to Asharq Al-Awsat, the Pentagon does not anticipate a change of heart on the part of China or Russia, who have opposed foreign intervention or sanctions against Syria. But the US expects the two nations to join the humanitarian aid efforts, support a ceasefire between the Syrian regime and rebels and send special UN envoys to investigate the developments in the country.

The next step in the reported US Department of Defense plan would be to appoint a team of UN observers to monitor the humanitarian aid, and enter Syria. They would need aerial protection, which would eventually lead to an aerial blockade.

The military official said in the interview that the plan is a cautious one, and takes into account the Syrian air force's advanced capabilities.

In his most forceful words to date on the Syrian crisis, US President Barack Obama said Friday the US and its allies would use "every tool available" to end the bloodshed by Assad's government.

"It is time to stop the killing of Syrian citizens by their own government," Obama said in Washington, adding that it "absolutely imperative for the international community to rally and send a clear message to President Assad that it is time for a transition. It is time for that regime to move on."

As government troops relentlessly shelled rebel-held neighborhoods in the besieged city of Homs, thousands of people in dozens of towns staged anti-regime protests under the slogan: "We will revolt for your sake, Baba Amr," referring to the Homs neighborhood that has become the center of the Syrian revolt.


Ynetnews

Germans set to deliver advanced sub to Israel

BERLIN – One of the world’s most advanced Germanmanufactured submarines is slated to be sent to Israel this year. German media reported last week that the 68-meter Dolphin submarine, the largest post-World War II submarine to be built in the Federal Republic, was openly placed in the harbor of the northern city of Kiel.

The Dolphin submarines are mainly constructed in Kiel, located in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein on the border of Denmark. According to the daily Kieler Nachrichten, the submarine can now be viewed on the harbor compound operated by Howaldtswerke- Deutsche Werft. The highly sophisticated submarine, which is believed to contain secondstrike nuclear weapons capability, is the first of three advanced “Super Dolphin” vessels to be delivered to Israel’s navy. ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, the giant German engineering firm, owns the ship manufacturer subsidiary in Kiel.

The Kieler Nachrichten reported that a heavy police presence is guarding the Super Dolphin. Water-based boat patrols, including the police boat Vossbrook, are frequently circling the submarine.

The new Dolphin is a second- generation advanced underwater vessel. Germany’s government has previously furnished Israel with three earlier models of the Dolphin. A fifth Dolphin is slated to be delivered in 2013.

In view of the growing jingoism coming from Iran’s supreme leader, who recently declared that the “cancerous tumor” of Israel has to be cut away, the timing of the Super Dolphin’s delivery raises new questions about Israel’s strategy to confront Iran’s threats. German media noted that a spokesman from ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems declined to comment on the Super Dolphin.

Germany and Israel have agreed to the delivery of a third Super Dolphin. The Federal Republic will subsidize the sale of the third vessel with a maximum of 135 million euros.

The delivery of the Super Dolphin to Israel is filled with some irony, largely because Iran’s regime as of 2010 maintains a 4.5 percent stock control of ThyssenKrupp. According to ThyssenKrupp’s 2011- 2012 corporate report in connection with Iran sanctions, “the executive board of ThyssenKrupp AG ordered a review of the business activities with Iranian customers in existence before the tighter trade restrictions came into effect to establish whether they comply with the new laws. In September 2010, it was decided that ThyssenKrupp will not enter into any new transactions with Iranian customers.”

ThyssenKrupp, which was involved in German efforts in World War II and used slave labor to advance Nazi Germany’s military aims, has refused to evict its Iranian government stockholders from its corporate ownership. Anti-Iranian regime critics have slammed the massive steel and engineering giant over the last few years for failing completely to slash its ties with the Islamic Republic.

Jerusalem Post

"Caliphate Conference" Seeks to Islamize Europe, U.S.

A Muslim fundamentalist group is organizing a conference focused on turning Austria and other European countries into Islamic states.

The "Caliphate Conference 2012" will be held on March 10 in the Austrian town of Vösendorf, situated just south of Vienna. The main theme of the event will be "The Caliphate: The State Model of the Future."

The conference is being organized by Hizb ut-Tahrir [Party of Liberation], a pan-Islamic extremist group that seeks to establish a global Islamic state, or caliphate, ruled by Islamic Sharia law.

Hizb ut-Tahrir -- which is banned in many countries, including Germany, but is free to operate in Austria -- is virulently opposed to Western capitalism and democracy and seeks to extend the future caliphate to Europe and the United States.

According to a promotional video (in German) for the conference, "the Islamic Caliphate is the only social and political system that has the right solutions to the political, social and economic problems of humanity."

Hizb ut-Tahrir has been banned from holding a similar conference in Belgium that had been scheduled for March 4. The group also organized a Caliphate Conference in Amsterdam last July, 2011, and well as a year earlier in Chicago in June, 2010.

Analysts say the open nature of the conference in Vienna indicates that Hizb ut-Tahrir is enhancing its recruiting efforts among European Muslims.

According to Steven Emerson, a leading authority on Islamic extremist networks, Hizb ut-Tahrir is emulating the three-stage process by which Muslims established the first Islamic caliphate after the death of the Islamic Prophet, Mohammed, in the year 632.

During the first stage, Hizb ut-Tahrir builds a party by cultivating a small number of supporters to engage in recruitment and propaganda. In the second stage (which Hizb ut-Tahrir is now entering in Europe and the United States), the group educates Muslims in order to recruit a larger group of people to join Hizb ut-Tahrir and support its revolution. Finally, having won the support of Muslims, Hizb ut-Tahrir moves to establish a Sharia-ruled Islamic government.

While Muslims are busy working to Islamize the West from within, they simultaneously insist that Westerners should not be allowed to criticize these efforts.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a group of 57 Muslim countries that purports to be the collective voice of the Muslim world, sponsored an anti-Islamophobia symposium in Brussels on February 15 and 16, 2012.

The first-of-its-kind event was entitled "Smearing Islam and Muslims in the Media," and was "aimed at establishing information mechanisms to face up to the slanderous campaigns against Islam in the media."

The workshop was part of the so-called Istanbul Process, an aggressive effort by Muslim countries to make it an international crime to criticize Islam.

The explicit aim of the Istanbul Process is to enshrine in international law a global ban on all critical scrutiny of Islam and Islamic Sharia law.

Based in Saudi Arabia, the OIC has long pressed the European Union and the United States to impose limits on free speech and expression about Islam.

But the OIC has now redoubled its efforts and is engaged in a determined diplomatic offensive to persuade Western democracies to implement United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) Resolution 16/18, which calls on all countries to combat "intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatization of … religion and belief."

Resolution 16/18, which was adopted at HRC headquarters in Geneva in March 2011, is widely viewed as a significant step forward in OIC efforts to advance the international legal concept of defaming Islam.

However, the HRC resolution -- as well as the OIC-sponsored Resolution 66/167, which was quietly approved by the 193-member UN General Assembly on December 19, 2011 -- remains ineffectual as long as it lacks strong support in the West.

The OIC therefore scored a diplomatic coup when the Obama Administration agreed to host a three-day Istanbul Process conference in Washington, DC on December 12-14, 2011. In doing so, the United States gave the OIC the political legitimacy it has been seeking to globalize its initiative to ban criticism of Islam.

Following the Obama Administration's lead, the European Union now wants to get in on the action by hosting the next Istanbul Process summit.

Up until now, the European Union has kept the OIC initiative at arms-length. But Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary-General of the OIC, says the EU's recent offer to host the meeting represents a "qualitative shift in action against the phenomenon of Islamophobia," according to the International Islamic News Agency (IINA), the OIC's official news and propaganda organ.

According to the IINA, "The phenomenon of Islamophobia is found in the West in general, but is growing in European countries in particular, in a manner different from that in the US, which had contributed to drafting Resolution 16/18. The new European position represents the beginning of the shift from its previous reserve over the years over the attempts by the OIC to counter 'defamation of religions' in the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations."

The IINA report continues: "Officials in the Cultural Affairs Department of the OIC said that the European Union's offer to host the third meeting (the first was in Istanbul in July, and the second in Washington, DC last December) is considered a promising new possibility of solving this problem. The 'Istanbul Process' will have an added momentum by holding the meeting in Europe, which is more affected by the phenomenon of Islamophobia and hostility towards Islam."

According to the OIC, the anti-Islamophobia workshop in February was of "particular importance" as it was held only weeks before the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva from February 27 to March 23, during which time Resolution 16/18 will come to a second vote.

In September 2011, an OIC organ called the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (IESCO),organized a seminar in Brussels on "how to deal with stereotypical images of Islam in European television programs."

The seminar was designed to help European journalists "identify characteristics of stereotypes about Islam in European television programs, highlight the dangers of defamation of religions, and clarify the distinction between freedom of expression and the right to cultural difference, the commitment to the Islamic cultural identity and the struggle against racism and hatred."

In her latest book titled "Europe, Globalization, and the Coming of the Universal Caliphate," Bat Ye'or, a leading scholar on Islam in the West, writes that the OIC is essentially a "would-be universal caliphate" which exercises significant power through the European Union, the United Nations and other international organizations.

Ye'or describes an OIC strategy manual, "Strategy of Islamic Cultural Action in the West," in which the OIC asserts that "Muslim immigrant communities in Europe are part of the Islamic nation." The document goes on to recommend "a series of steps to prevent the integration and assimilation of Muslims into European culture."

According to Ye'or, "The caliphate is alive and growing within Europe…It has advanced through the denial of dangers and the obfuscating of history. It has moved forward on gilded carpets in the corridors of dialogue, the network of the Alliances and partnerships, in the corruption of its leaders, intellectuals and NGOs, particularly at the United Nations."


Stonegate Institute

Smartphone users give total access to spying apps

Every time you use your smartphone app your personal information – emails, phone numbers and even photos – is sent off to dozens of Internet companies all over the world. And you are the one who is allowing them access.

Most users are aware that Internet companies like to collect information on their clients so that they can target their adverts better. But the sheer extent of their spying is shocking. And it’s all buried in the small print of the license agreement few bother to read. Often the information collected has nothing to do with function of the application.

Despite being a social network, Facebook reads your text messages, while photo application Flickr raids your contact book. In turn, video portal Youtube can access and download all of the users’ photographs.

While it is bigger companies that get flak for the privacy policies, at least they are usually careful not to lose or sell their users’ private information. For less reputable outfits, this may not be a concern.

Chris Brauer, co-director of the Centre for Creative and Social Technology at Goldsmiths, University of London, told the Sunday Times many apps are mere “fronts” for data mining companies. Their main source of profit is selling personal information to advertisers.

Once the information passes down the chain, it is almost impossible to trace who will end up with it leaving smartphone owners open to anything from unsolicited advertising to identity theft.

While iPhone maker Apple at least tries to bind its application programmers with a common license agreement, according to Nick Pickles, director of privacy and civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch, Android phone owners leave themselves in the greatest danger.
“Google’s name lends credibility to the Android market place, when in reality it is an unregulated Wild West with hugely intrusive applications being touted as innocent games,” he says.

Pickles points out that customer protection regulation lags years behind in a market that changes beyond recognition from year to year.

But even the most stringent regulation will not save users who voluntarily sign up to give away their most private data.

RT

Greek Bailout terms remind of Hitler Epoch

'US strengthening defenses around Hormuz'

In an attempt to counter any attempt by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz, the Pentagon is strengthening US defenses in the Persian Gulf, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal on Saturday.

According to defense officials, the US military has notified Congress of plans to beef up sea and land bases in the area,The Wall Street Journal reported.

The official said that plans will include new equipment to detect and clear mines as well as improved surveillance capabilities in and around the strait, according to the report.

Iran has made a series of threats in recent weeks to disrupt shipping in the Gulf or strike US forces in retaliation if its oil trade is shut down by sanctions, or if its disputed nuclear program comes under attack.

Iran has built up its naval forces in the Gulf and prepared boats that could be used in suicide attacks, but the US Navy can prevent it from blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the commander of US naval forces in the region said earlier in the month.

"They have increased the number of submarines ... they increased the number of fast attack craft," Vice Admiral Mark Fox told reporters. "Some of the small boats have been outfitted with a large warhead that could be used as a suicide explosive device. The Iranians have a large mine inventory."

"We have watched with interest their development of long range rockets and short, medium and long range ballistic missiles and of course ... the development of their nuclear program," Fox, who heads the US Fifth Fleet, said at a briefing on the fleet's base in the Gulf state of Bahrain.

Iran now has 10 small submarines, he said.

Military experts say the US Navy's Fifth Fleet patrolling the Gulf - which always has at least one giant supercarrier accompanied by scores of jets and a fleet of frigates and destroyers - is overwhelmingly more powerful than Iran's navy.

But ever since al-Qaida suicide bombers in a small boat killed 17 sailors on board the destroyer USS Cole in a port in Yemen in 2000, Washington has been wary of the vulnerability of its huge battleships to bomb attacks by small enemy craft.

Asked whether the US Navy was prepared for an attack or other trouble in the Gulf, Fox said: "We are very vigilant, we have built a wide range of options to give the president and we are ready... What if it happened tonight? We are ready today."

Iranian officials have threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, the outlet to the Gulf through which nearly all of the Middle East's oil sails.


Jerusalem Post

Syria , Tanks destroyed in aftermath

Elite upset with the U.S. president

G20 to Europe: Show us the money

Leading economies told Europe it must put up extra money to fight its debt crisis if it wants more help from the rest of the world, piling pressure on Germany to drop its opposition to a bigger European bailout.

Euro zone countries pledged on Sunday at a Group of 20 meetings of finance leaders to reassess the strength of their bailout fund in March, which could clear the way for other G20 countries to contribute more funds to the International Monetary Fund.

“This will provide an essential input in our ongoing consideration to mobilize resources to the IMF,” the G20 said in the final communique of the two-day meeting of finance ministers and central bankers due to be released later on Sunday.

Germany, as Europe’s largest economy, came under intense pressure to support enlarging the region’s war chest. But facing political hurdles at home, it has sent conflicting signals over whether it was ready to move.

British finance minister George Osborne left no doubt the G20 requires a clear euro-zone commitment.

“We have to see the color of the eurozone’s money first – and, quite frankly, that hasn’t happened. Until it does, there’s no question of extra IMF money from Britain or probably anyone else,” he said.


The G20 is racing to line up massive international resources worth nearly $2 trillion – including existing and new funds – possibly by late April. That would help to draw a line under the financial crisis that erupted in 2008 when Lehman Brothers collapsed, spawned the deepest U.S. recession since the 1930s and now has engulfed Europe’s deeply indebted countries.

It would mark their boldest move since they ploughed $1 trillion into their economies three years ago to combat recession. Many advanced economies are still flooding markets with cheap money to combat weak growth and prevent financial contagion.

Yet the world economic recovery remains patchy and risks remain high that it could stumble, the G20 finance officials said in the communique.

Germany said it would make a decision sometime in March on strengthening Europe’s bailout fund.

The proposal is to combine Europe’s temporary and permanent bailout fund to create a 750 billion euro ($1 trillion) war chest. This would open the door for other G20 countries, like Japan and China, to meet the IMF’s request for $500-$600 billion in new resources, on top of its current $385 billion in funds.

Put together, this would total almost $2 trillion in firepower. The G20 finance chiefs next meet in Washington in late April and they showed they will not ease pressure on Europe by giving it a signal now that new IMF money is in the bag.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Saturday that Europe had come a long way in laying the foundations for a “credible” crisis response but could not rest there.

“It’s important not to rest on that progress … That progress is in part based on expectations of more progress to come,” he said.
Financial Post

Death Spiral: 'Greece stranded, won't survive'

Expired Warning: Panic over Iran nuclear threat outdated

The True Unemployment Rate: 36%

How would you define “unemployment?” Statistics on unemployment are bandied around in the media all the time. Changes in these statistics are hailed as good or bad news for the President, with varying degrees of emphasis from the news networks, depending on which party the President belongs to. But what do these statistics truly measure?

Would you define “unemployment” as measuring “people who want a job, but can’t get one?” This is, broadly speaking, the definition embraced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The trick to making those numbers dance lies in measuring “people who want a job.” The widely reported U-3 unemployment metric, currently standing at 8.3 percent, is very aggressive in shaving off people who have not made recent efforts to find work. It is further distorted by massive “seasonal adjustments,” which made over a million people vanish into thin air last month.

This is why the official unemployment rate gets lower when the American workforce contracts. Workforce contraction is a very bad thing. People who simply cannot find work, and languish on unemployment insurance for years, are the last thing a prosperous country needs… but those people don’t count in the official unemployment rate. For example, if everyone under the age of 25 abruptly stopped looking for work, it would be an economic disaster, but the official unemployment rate would go down, because the pool of people looking for work would get smaller.

(That’s not quite as far-fetched an example as it might sound, incidentally. Even the heavily-massaged U-3 unemployment rate currently sits at 23.2 percent for ages 16-19, and 13.3 percent for ages 20-24… and it’s about two percent higher for young men. Policies that increase the cost of labor, such as minimum-wage increases and mandated benefits, have a particularly punishing effect on young entry-level workers, since their labor has less intrinsic value than experienced older employees.)

This is precisely what has been happening under Barack Obama. The workforce is contracting with horrible speed, but it has the beneficial side effect of making the official unemployment rate go down a little, although 8.3 percent is still pathetic. The Administration bounces happily before the cameras and announces its policies are “working,” and job creation is now “on the right track,” even as their best months post job creation only slightly in excess of population growth – and they’ve only had a few such months. Pundits begin wondering if the old political rules that say re-election is impossible with unemployment over 6 or 7 percent might not apply to this President, if he can campaign on a slowly declining unemployment rate.

Another side effect of the way our unemployment statistics are prepared, and reported, comes when America's employment picture is compared to the figures from other nations. Are the unemployment statistics reported from, say, Greece or Italy calculated in precisely the same manner as the American U-3 rate? If not, then how can we make valid comparisons between them?

Since the concept of people who aren’t looking for work is so fluid, and some of those people have clearly been persuaded not to look for work because of job-destroying government policies, it might be more logical to measure unemployment using the standard incorrectly offered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the U-3 rate: “total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force.” That’s what the U-3 rate claimsto measure, but it doesn’t, not by a long shot.

What is the current percentage of working-age Americans, eligible to participate in the civilian labor force, but not currently working? Answer: 36.3 percent.

That’s the worst labor participation rate in three decades, and it’s part of the worst employment picture we’ve seen since the Great Depression. Labor force participation is the number we should really be looking at, even more than the unemployment figures cooked up on the monthly basis by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those figures have their uses as well, but it seems reasonable to measure the overall health of the economy by the number of people who simply are not participating in the labor force.

This would always be a much higher number than the BLS unemployment statistic, even when the economy was humming along at maximum power. There are always going to be working-age people who drop out of the labor force, for reasons that have nothing to do with the nation’s overall economic health. The labor force participation rate hasn’t exceeded 67 percent in the past decade, so we would be looking at a true “unemployment” number that bounces between roughly thirty and forty percent. The difference between good and bad percentages is relatively small, which makes the true “unemployment” figure less sexy for news coverage, and therefore less useful to politicians… but it’s more logical to measure small changes in a large, accurate number than big changes in a small, largely fantastic number.

Writing at Red State, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who chairs the House Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight, and Government Spending, offers an eye-popping chart measuring the effect of President Obama’s “stimulus” policies on workforce participation:

Jordan writes in support of the Jobs Through Growth Act, a package of dramatic reforms that includes a flat tax with two low rates, reduced corporate taxes, regulatory relief, and increased domestic energy production. Those are the sort of changes America needs to make, if we want to do more than fiddle with imaginary unemployment numbers, whose very definition is subject to “adjustment” on a massive scale. Those who define “unemployment” as “the number of working-age Americans who aren’t working” should waste no time on small reforms.

Keiser Bubbling Economy

US deficit ‘a serious accident waiting to happen’

The rise in the United States public debt is a serious threat to the whole world if Washington fails to rein it in, the head of the Institute of International Finance warned on Feb. 25.

“You look at the U.S. budget deficit, and you cannot help but feel that this is a serious accident waiting to happen. And not just a serious U.S. accident, but a serious global accident,” IIF chief Charles Dallara told a conference on the sidelines of a G-20 meeting of finance ministers and central bankers.

“Countries that are occasionally immature in their ability to manage their economic affairs as well as they should -- and that includes most of them -- are going to find that the world is at risk,” Dallara said.

‘Shower of cold water’“These countries are going to wait for the marketplace to give them a shower of cold water. And we know that when that happens... it can give a shower of cold water to the global economy.”

The non-partisan U.S. Congressional Budget Office estimates that President Barack Obama will finish his first mandate with four consecutive fiscal years showing a deficit above $1 trillion.

Earlier this month an administration official said Obama’s budget for the current fiscal year projects a $1.3 trillion deficit, slightly higher than the $1.296 trillion in 2011.

According to estimates from the International Monetary Fund, the U.S. national debt surpassed the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011 and should rise to more than 107 percent of GDP this year.


Economics

Lloyds Banking Group makes annual loss of £3.5bn

Lloyds Banking Group made a loss of £3.5bn for the year to 31 December after setting aside £3.2bn to cover payment protection insurance claims.

In 2010 the bank, which is 41% owned by the UK taxpayer, had made a pre-tax profit of £281m.

The bank said last year that it was setting money to cover claims over mis-sold PPI - loan repayment insurance for borrowers should they lose their job.

Lloyds said its bonus pool for 2011 was £375m, down 30% against 2010.

The average bonus for each of its 100,000 staff will be £3,900.

Earlier this week the bank, which also owns TSB and Halifax Bank of Scotland, announced it would not be paying £2m of the pre-announced bonuses to 13 executives, including the former chief executive Eric Daniels.

The current chief executive, Antonio Horta-Osorio, took over at the start of last year. Towards the end of the year he took two months off after suffering severe sleep deprivation.

He returned to work last month, but said he would not take the bonus he was entitled to, which was worth up to £2.4m.Challenges

The bank is undergoing a wide-ranging reorganisation, which includes 15,000 job cuts and the disposal of 632 branches.Continue reading the main storyThe bank's shares fell after the results announcement.

Lloyds is also cutting its international activities to 15 nations by 2014, compared with 30 currently.

Its share price was 63p at the time the government took ownership of what was then just over 43% of the company. But it was about half that, at 35p, in Friday morning trading.

The bank said that it was "in a significantly stronger position than it was 12 months ago", but that the 2012 financial year was likely to present a raft of challenges, from regulatory issues to the eurozone economy.

Lloyds' chief executive, Antonio Horta-Osorio, said in a statement: "We expect the external environment to remain challenging in 2012, with a subdued economy, continued high levels of regulatory scrutiny and political uncertainty relating to the banking sector, and the continued potential for downside effects from financial market volatility and instability in the eurozone."

Lloyds, which is the country's biggest retail bank, said it expected the unemployment rate to top 9% in 2013.

It does not expect to see any improvement in the housing market this year or next and is forecasting prices to remain flat well into 2013.

Mr Horta-Osorio told BBC business editor Robert Peston that Lloyds is only one year into a three-to-five-year process of rehabilitating the bank.

He said that by the start of 2013, Lloyds may have adequate capital for the board to start thinking about the resumption of dividend payments, something that is crucial if taxpayer is ever to see a return on their investment in the bank.

BBC