UNHEARD OF: DEBT STUCK AT $16.7 TRILLION FOR 109 DAYS!

There are just 52 days until the United States government runs out of money.

Maybe.

Even the secretary of the Treasury isn’t quite sure.

One thing is certain: With the passing of August, the official accounting of the U.S. debt has remained stuck at exactly $16,699,396,000,000 for another month – and, as of Wednesday, 109 days in a row.

The debt has been frozen at that amount because of an accounting trick Treasury Secretary Jack Lew calls “extraordinary measures.”

Those measures have prevented the government from defaulting on its obligations and allowed it to keep borrowing for 108 days, while keeping the official debt just $25 million below the legal debt limit set by Congress of $16,699,421,000,000.

Out of cash
But Lew knows those extraordinary measures cannot last forever, and the clock is ticking. But he doesn’t know exactly when midnight will strike.

One month ago, Lew estimated he could keep borrowing until Oct. 11, the last day Congress is in session before the Columbus Day recess.

But last week, he revised his estimate to an imprecise “middle of October” deadline before the federal government can no longer borrow the money it needs to keep running.

Lew has sent three letters to House Speak John Boehner, R-Ohio, to explain the extraordinary situation since May, when federal borrowing hit the legal debt limit.

The most recent letter, sent Aug. 26, revealed the U.S. will be down to just $50 billion actual cash on hand by the middle of October.

That’s all that will be left to fund Social Security, Medicare, federal employee salaries and other obligations included in the 80 million payments the federal government makes each month.

But it would not be enough.
The latest round of the dilemma began May 17, when Lew wrote to Boehner to inform him, having nearly hit the debt limit, the Treasury Department would begin using more extraordinary measures, such as suspending certain pension contributions to “free up approximately $260 billion in headroom under the limit.”

How we got here
The national debt continues to rise because the U.S. Treasury spends more money than it brings in through taxes, fees and other revenue.

The difference between spending and revenue, or annual deficit, is much smaller this year, but it is still expected to be around $600 billion for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30.

The U.S. government actually hit its $16.4 trillion debt limit at the end of last year, but the Treasury Department began using the extraordinary measures to help delay default until Congress agreed to suspend the debt limit through May 18.

The next day, the debt limit was raised to almost $16.7 trillion.

Lew then announced a way to allow the government to pay its bills until September.

Taxpayer-owned Fannie Mae would make a one-time dividend payment of nearly $60 billion to the U.S. government.

Thanks to a housing market recovery, the fortunes of the bailed-out housing finance corporation had improved enough to pay the dividend after posting a record first-quarter profit.

Lew had thought the Treasury Department would stop using the extraordinary measures on Aug. 2.

But on that day, he wrote another letter to Boehner, explaining his new estimate was the government would need to keep using the measures until Oct. 11 to keep borrowing without exceeding the legal limit.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/09/unheard-of-debt-stuck-at-16-7-trillion-for-109-days/#toycYMyfTC30Fhkm.99

Standoff In The Mediterranean: The US vs Russian Navies

While the leaders of the two superpowers are shaking hands for the camera in St. Petersburg, their navies are sending a different message. Here is the latest breakdown of the world's key navies in the Mediterranean theater of naval operations as of last night. By now it is likely woefully outdated, now that there are reports the Chinese have joined the fray too (not on the side of the 'free droning world').

Report: China Sends Warships to Coast of Syria

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com

China has reportedly sent warships to the coast of Syria to “observe” the actions of US and Russian ships as tensions build in preparation for a potential military strike on Syria which could come as soon as next week.


Image: Jinggangshan Warship

According to the Russian news outlet Telegrafist.org, the People’s Liberation Army dispatched the Jinggangshan amphibious dock landing ship and the vessel was seen passing through the Red Sea towards the Suez Canal, the waterway in Egypt that leads to the Mediterranean Sea and waters off the coast of Israel, Lebanon and Syria.

According to the report, the ship has not been sent to engage in any aggressive actions but is merely there to “observe” the actions of Russian and US warships. However, the Jinggangshan is equipped for combat, is armed with missiles, and was utilized as part of a “show of force” in maneuvers aimed at defending the South China Sea earlier this year.

The report states that additional PLA warships have also been sent to the region but that their identity is unknown.

Yesterday it was reported that Russia was sending three more ships – two destroyers and a missile cruiser – to the eastern Mediterranean to bolster its forces which already include three other warships dispatched over the last two weeks.

Earlier this week, Russia criticized the United States for sending warships close to Syria, with Russian Defense Ministry official Oleg Dogayev remarking, “The dispatch of ships armed with cruise missiles toward Syria’s shores has a negative effect on the situation in the region.”

Five U.S. destroyers and an amphibious ship are currently positioned in the eastern Mediterranean awaiting strike orders. The USS Nimitz and three other warships are also stationed in the nearby Red Sea.

In a related story, China today toughened its rhetoric on Syria, warning President Barack Obama that, “Military action would have a negative impact on the global economy, especially on the oil price – it will cause a hike in the oil price.”

The Global Times, a newspaper described by Foreign Policy Magazine as “hyper nationalistic” and an “angry Chinese government mouthpiece, also published an editorial yesterday which slammed Obama for failing to prove that last month’s chemical weapons attack was the work of the Syrian government, charging that Washington’s “geopolitical interests” in the region were behind the military build-up.

The editorial, which also complains of the total lack of media coverage in America concerning reports that Syrian rebels admitted responsibility for last month’s chemical weapons attack, accuses the White House of “ignoring logic as it beats war drums.”

Credit Infowars

Apocalypse Today – The Four Horsemen

Barbara H. Peterson

Farm Wars
I had a dream around two weeks ago. I saw four horses milling around together, rearing, snorting, and charging. The most distinct one was the white one, with the red, black, and pale ones in the background. Then I saw a tank come straight at me, and then I woke up. When I saw the horses I thought Apocalypse. When I saw the tank, I didn’t know what to think. I do now. I believe that this dream foretold what is to come. The four horses are here, they are active right now, and the war machine is rolling that will take out a good portion of the earth. No, I was not afraid in my dream, and I am not afraid now.

If this is Scripture coming to fulfillment, then I will trust in my Creator to safeguard me through it all and lead me to do what is necessary. I write this to those who have ears to hear and eyes to see. Prepare….

Apocalyptic Times
As a student of Scripture, it has become quite apparent to me that the question of the day is, are we living in Apocalyptic times as envisioned by the writers of ancient texts such as the Bible, or are the series of events that are unfolding as I type just mere coincidences with no connection to Scripture or significance to what is known in Biblical circles as end time events?

If you believe like I do that Biblical Scripture has significance and is not simply a book to be cast aside as having no useful value, then you are probably asking yourself that very same question. So, let’s take a little stroll down Scripture lane and compare what we see to what is happening right now. Are the four horsemen of the Apocalypse here, or are they awaiting some future time to appear?

The Four Horsemen
The following verses are taken from the KJV (King James Version) of the Bible:

Rev. 6:1 – And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, come and see.

Rev. 6:2 – And I saw, and behold, a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

This horse represents a position of power and leadership – One that is equipped to engage in war and conquest.

Rev. 6:3 – And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, come and see.

Rev. 6:4 – And there went out another horse that was red and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

This horse represents the ability to make war and remove peace from the earth. How long have we been hearing that in order to have peace we must bomb the life out of everyone and everything anywhere people exist that disagree with our politics? Just how long have we as a country been engaged in war for peace?

Rev. 6:5 – And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, come and see. And I beheld, and lo a Black horse, and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

Rev. 6:6 – And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, a measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

Let’s go to a word search for the meanings of the words “measure” and “penny:”

Penny: Strong’s NT 1220: denarion – from Latin – a denarius, or ten asses.

Measure: Strong’s NT 5518: choinix – of uncertain derivation; a dry measure

So, the exact measure of wheat is uncertain, but in the NIV (New International Version) of the Bible, it is translated as “quart.”

According to these verses then, a quart of wheat goes for an amount equal to the price of ten asses, and three quarts of barley for the same amount. Pretty spendy. Although not quite there yet, it appears that food prices are on the rise, and with the impending war on Syria, we can expect them to go even higher.

Rev. 6:7 – And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, come and see.

Rev. 6:8 – And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill [Strong’s 615: to kill outright or figuratively to destroy] with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

That is self-explanatory. There will be lots of destruction going on, and a fourth part of the earth will be destroyed along with its inhabitants.

Okay, let’s see what we have so far – Four horses, and four pronouncements:

1. The White horse, representing leadership – one that is equipped to engage in war and conquest.

2. The Red horse, representing the power to engage in war and take peace from the earth.

3. The Black horse, representing a huge increase in price resulting in a shortage of food for those who cannot afford it.

4. The Pale horse, destroying a fourth part of the earth with sword, hunger and death.

Connecting the Dots
Now let’s connect a few dots, assuming that these verses are prophecy.

We can already see that the White and Red horses are working amongst us. We are poised on the brink of yet another war for conquest in Syria, which is merely another nation that the U.S. government has decided needs to be bombed into oblivion, and we are on the fast track to do that now. The plan is in motion, and the only thing needed is the order to do it. We have been in a constant state of aggressive warfare for years, and it is only getting worse.

The Black horse has been steadily increasing its influence in the realm of food freedom grabs such as Monsanto’s grip on the food supply via seed patenting, people facing huge fines and jail time for merely attempting to grow some of their own food, bans on raw milk and its distribution, and the war on clean, organic food grown without deadly pesticides and GMOs (genetically modified organisms). We can also face a huge increase in prices of everything due to the pending war in Syria.

The Pale horse has entered the gate also, and is steadily gaining momentum through food shortages, food monopolies, wars, water pollution, and catastrophes such as Fukushima.

So, are we merely waiting for these prophecies to start, or are we already there, smack dab in the middle of them? I think we are already there, and it is only a matter of time before the Pale horse is fully out of the gate and on its way to the finish line.

The time for preparation is now. If you believe in Scripture and are waiting for these prophecies to begin, you are too late. They are being fulfilled as I type, and are on the ground running. If you don’t believe in Biblical Scripture as anything but an historical book, then you will still find the revelations contained therein strikingly similar to current events. In any case, it is time to take a good, hard look at what is going on around us and do some planning for future survival.

Credit Barbara H. Peterson

The Rapture As Used In The Bible

"The word "Rapture" is found in the Bible in light of what the scoffers of today would rather say. The word "rapture" comes from Paul's "caught up" remark mentioned in 1 Thess. 1:17. The words "caught up" are translated from the inspired Greek word "harpazo", which means "to carry off," "snatch up," or "grasp hastily." The translation from harpazo to "rapture" involved two steps: first, harpazo became the Latin word raptus; second, raptus became the English word "rapture."

Foundational verses pertaining to the Rapture.

 (John 14:3,  1 Cor. 1:51-53, Phil. 3:20-21, 1 Thess. 4:13-18, Titus 2:13, 1 John 3:1-3, Rev. 3:10-11).

Related Rapture verses in context of the Rapture teaching.

(Psalm 110:1, Zech. 14:4, John 14:3, Rom. 8:14-19, 29, 1 Cor. 1:5-9, 15-51-53, 16:22, Col. 3:1-4, Eph. 1:13-14, 4:11-13, 30, Phil. 1:6, 3:20-21, 1 Thess.1:10, 2:19, 4: 13-18, 5:23, 2 Thess. 2:1-12:  Titus 2:13, 1 John 2:28, 3:1-3, Rev. 3:10-11, Rev. 4:1, 19:7-10, 14, 22:20)


The Second Coming of Christ after the Rapture at the end of the Great Tribulation.

(Gen. 49:10, Numb. 24:17. 1 Sam. 2:10, 2 Sam.7:16, 1 Chron. 16:31-33, Psalm 2:8-9, Isa. 2:4, 9:6-7, 11:4-12, 25:8-9, 26:19, 40:10-11, 59:20, 66:15-16, Ezek 21:26-27, Dan. 2:44-45, 7:13-14, Joel 3:16-21 Zech.8:3, 9:10,14:1-9, Mal. 3:1, , Matt. 24:3, 27-30, 25, Mark 13:26, Luke 21:27, Acts 1:9-11, 2 Thess. 1:7-9, 2:7-8, Jude 1:14-15, Rev. 1:7, 19:11-21).

The Ignorant Fishermen Blog

MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD IN SYRIA: SHARI’A OR DEATH

Armed gunmen claiming to belong to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood gave a glimpse of their growing strength in Syria when they threatened 30 Kurdish fighters they took hostage last month with death if they didn’t accept Shari’ia law and the “Brotherhood’s” interpretation of Islam, a recently uploaded YouTube video showed.


The photo is taken from a YouTube video posted by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a nongovernmental organization monitoring the crisis in Syria. The video was uploaded on Aug, 29, and the masked armed fighter is believed to be a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, handing out booklets on Islam and Shar’ia law to Kurdish PKK hostages. (Credit: YouTube)

While the Obama administration waits for Congress to vote on whether military action should be taken in Syria, concern is growing among some lawmakers and Middle East analysts that worry a limited U.S. strike in Syria would benefit terrorist groups, like that of Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood.

The video, originally posted by the nongovernmental watchdog Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, shows 30 members of the Syrian PKK, also known as the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, being held hostage by the armed gunmen. The group of PKK members is seen sitting on the Persian rugged floor of an empty room, while while a member of the Muslim Brotherhood fighters tells them that they must “practice the real Islam and follow Sha’ria law” or face the “consequences.”

The men identified themselves as members of the Muslim Brotherhood and they spoke in a distinct classic Arabic with an Egyptian accent, an Arabic translator, who viewed the video, told TheBlaze.

Strangely enough, the Kurdish rebels were forced to sign a contract and were told that if they prayed with the Muslim Brotherhood, turned over all their weapons and refrained from fighting for a full year they would not be harmed.

“If you don’t do this, you know the consequences?” warned a man with a strong Egyptian accent. The Kurdish men sat quietly, listening.

Under Assad, the Muslim Brotherhood was banned but the uprising in 2011, opened a door that had been closed for nearly 30 years.

Some analysts suggest that the Muslim Brotherhood is strongest fighting force against Assad in Syria, and that the group is providing assistance to various rebel military units fighting the regime.

“The danger in Syria is what happens next,” said a U.S. Official, who works in the Middle East. “Do we really believe the Muslim Brotherhood members, who are already threatening the (Syrian) people, will just leave when Assad is gone? Or that Al-Qaeda will? No, they won’t – we’ll just be dealing with a new set of bad guys.”

The Blaze

Grindhouse Wetwares Has Got Science Fiction's Future Under Its Skin

In the 1970s, "The Six Million Dollar Man" said of Steve Austin's broken human body, "We can rebuild him, we have the technology." Except that it was a fiction, and we still don't have the technology. Some transhumanists are tired of waiting. They want to make human bodies better -- now -- and a few are willing to go to extremes to do it.

Generally speaking, the transhumanist movement envisions using science and technology to surmount humanity's natural limitations. The most famous transhumanist of the moment is probably Peter Thiel, a founder of PayPal who in 2006 invested $3.5 million into the Methusaleh Foundation, a group that is looking for an alternative to aging. Other transhumanists include Robert Ettinger, who invented cryonics, and Ray Kurzweil, who first proposed the digital "singularity."

But many transhumanists aren't up for actually doing radical body modification. After all, even common body modifications like magnetic fingertip implants arepainful and potentially dangerous, and anesthetics for such modifications are off-limits in the U.S.

That's where Grindhouse Wetwares comes in.
Started in 2012, this self-described "rag tag" group of Pittsburgh, Pa.-based "programmers, engineers and enthusiasts" has made it their mission to bring affordable, DIY, "scrapheap transhumanism" to the U.S., or as they put it on their website, "augmenting humanity using safe, affordable, open source technology."

Grindhouse Wetwares' members have their share of body modifications, or "biohacks," and have even invented a few of their own that they've shared with the larger biohacking community, such as an implantable chip to store biomedical dataand a sensor array that sends data to one's finger-magnet.

The Huffington Post interviewed Grindhouse Wetwares' project manager, Lucas Dimoveo, via email.

How'd your operation get its name? What's a grindhouse and what's wetware?
The term "grinder" comes from the ... comic "Doktor Sleepless" -- it is a subculture of technophiles that hack their bodies with technology out of dissatisfaction with the promises of futurism. A common view espoused by grinders in the comic is, "Where is my [expletive] jetpack?" -- an idea quickly taken up by young and disillusioned transhumanists.

"Wetware" is a shorthand for biology or biological systems. "House" represents a common banner under which passionate individuals can gather and hack their bodies to work towards a fair, transhuman future.

Why do you mod?

Enhancing the body to use more of its potential is our main motivation for modifying our bodies and minds. We are required to sleep a certain amount of time or cognitive function begins to deteriorate. Out of the whole electromagnetic spectrum, we can only sense a small portion. Our bodies, even at our youngest and most vibrant years, are still capable of disease and injury. This is an area that grinders share with "traditional" transhumanists.

Many grinders were followers of one science-fiction universe or another, and we are disappointed that the future we've been promised as children hasn't been actualized. The promises of mind-uploading and nanotechnology common in futurist circles haven't satiated us either. We want the future now.

Do any of you have body modifications? If so, what mods have you got?

Most members of Grindhouse Wetware have a number of piercings, tattoos and other bells and whistles on or attached to their body. Roughly five of us have magnet implants. Two or three of us don't have any sort of modifications or body art.

Are there any mods you want but can't have for some reason? Any mods you would never get?

Most mods that grinders want are not unlike those desired by the majority of the transhumanist community. Modular and redundant organ systems, a nervous system spread out across the Internet (ex: Kevin Warwick's cyborg program), and a variety of brain augmentations are at the top of the grinder wish list. Most of these are impossible at this time due to limitations in technology.

Each individual in the community has a limit to which they would augment themselves. Some would stop at joining their brains with others in a hive-mind, others shrink at the idea of removing sex or sexuality, and some even advocate retaining some amount of biology.

How safe is what you're doing? Have you done implants in your lab? What safety procedures have you implemented?
The most basic grinder modifications are as safe as a typical invasive body-art implant. More complex implants being developed by grinders have added risk due to possible malfunctions with electronic components. Various safety features such as kill-switches and early warning systems are being used in the event of implant failure. A full procedure of our safety protocols, as well as hardware safety features are generally released with each project in the grinder community.

Hufftington Post

US Downplays Concerns About Al-Qaida in Syria

WASHINGTON, September 4 (By Maria Young for RIA Novosti) – As the White House pushes Congress to back a military strike in Syria, it is drawing a distinction between Islamist extremists and “moderate,” secular forces among the opposition, insisting it can aid the latter without benefiting the former.

In testimony before a Senate panel on Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry denied that al-Qaida and affiliated Islamist forces had taken full control of the Syrian opposition, saying the number of fighters under the extremist al-Nusra Front linked to al-Qaida were “actually lower” today than in the past.

Instead, Kerry said, the Syrian opposition as a whole “has increasingly become more defined by its moderation, more defined by the breadth of its membership and more defined by its adherence to some … democratic process.”

“They reached out and expanded significantly their base within Syria,” Kerry went on, referring to what US officials have frequently termed the “vetted, moderate” component of the Syrian opposition. “They’ve built up a much more competent leadership.”

Critics in the United States and abroad, notably in Russia, have underscored the presence of al-Qaida and other Islamist forces among the Syrian opposition and have cited this as one of several basic arguments against US military action directed at the regime of President Bashar Assad.

But Kerry and other top officials in the administration of President Barack Obama have asserted that action targeting Assad’s regime – blamed by Washington for an apparent chemical weapons attack last month – is required and have sought to attenuate fears that such a move would strengthen al-Qaida.

An alleged chemical attack on August 21 killed more than 1,400 people including hundreds of children, according to a US intelligence report.

Efforts by Kerry and other US officials to minimize the role of Islamist extremists in the Syrian opposition have been derided by critics including Russian President Vladimir Putin who on Wednesday stated bluntly that Kerry had “lied” about the presence of al-Qaida in Syria.

Experts on Syria are divided on the question, but some say that strikes like those sought by Obama – “limited” in nature with “no boots on the ground” of US troops in Syria – could telegraph backing for secular opposition forces there that would undermine religious extremists.

The link between a military strike on select regime targets and the resulting strengthening of al-Qaida in Syria is “at best, dubious,” said Steven Heydemann, a special advisor on Middle East Initiatives at the US Institute of Peace (USIP), a nonpartisan institution funded by Congress to support US efforts to manage international conflict without violence.

“Militant Islamist armed groups in Syria have benefitted from the perception that the West does not care about what happens in Syria and does not support the opposition. A shift in US policy in which limited strikes are combined with more active support for the moderate opposition is a threat to al-Qaida’s power,” Heydemann wrote in a question-and-answer statement.

However other experts, including prominent US politicians, are less certain.

“We should be focused on defending the United States of America. That’s why young men and women sign up to join the military. Not to, as you know, serve as al-Qaida’s air force,” the ultra-conservative Breitbart News internet website quoted Senator Ted Cruz, an influential Republican, as saying this week.

“I’ll give you one of the simplest principles of foreign policy that we ought to be following: Don’t give weapons to people who hate you. Don’t give weapons to people who want to kill you," Cruz said.

That view was echoed by other experts who said any outside military action against the Assad regime would inevitably bolster his opponents, including Islamist extremists.

“The more the regime is weakened, the more the opposition gains,” said Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow and Middle East policy expert at Brookings, a Washington-based think tank.

“Since the opposition includes a strong and growing al-Qaida component, such an approach could mean inadvertently helping that organization,” Riedel said in an article published in Al-Monitor, a website that covers news about the Middle East.

In his testimony on Tuesday, Kerry estimated the overall numbers of Syrian opposition fighters at 80,000 to 100,000, but said recent figures show the percentage of those aligned with al-Qaida is “lower” than previous estimated.

“Extremists groups benefit from the lack of international action, while moderate groups are marginalized,” said a representative from the US-based National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, which supports the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighting in Syria.

“The majority of Syrians are moderates and the majority of FSA fighters are moderates as well. Extremism grows when desperation flourishes and so it's time to end the crisis in Syria,” the representative, who asked not to be named, said in a statement sent by email to RIA Novosti.

Riedel said the United States will have to address al-Qaida’s presence in Syria one way or the other.

“Whatever policy Congress endorses, it should include a robust effort to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda in Syria before it becomes an even greater threat to US interests,” he said.

Credit RIA Novosti

U.S. Moves Closer to Military Intervention in Syria

U.S. & NATO Now Mercenaries for Saudi Arabia in Syria

6.9 quake shakes Tokyo

A quake of that magnitude is at the upper range of a "strong" earthquake capable of causing major damage to buildings in populated areas. Most buildings in Japan meet modern standards for earthquake resistance and would withstand shaking that might cause major damage elsewhere.

Despite the remoteness of the epicenter, tremors were felt from the north of the main island of Honshu to the west. In Tokyo, buildings swayed for several moments.

The national broadcaster NHK said some train lines stopped briefly for safety checks as a precaution. No tsunami alert was issued.



From News 24