Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Credit Suisse "Fear Barometer" Hits All Time High
As we noted moments ago, the "old" VIX just hit record lows (and with the "new" one is just shy of single digits, it is hardly an indicator of imminent panic). Surely complacency rules, sentiment which is confirmed by looking at such indicators as intraday trading ranges and (even more) evaporating volumes, not to mention a Fed which explicitly is now involved in market "valuation" exercises following Yellen's statement that the market appears fairly valued (she will surely advise when it is no longer fairly valued).
So is it smooth sailing ahead, with the market firmly under the control of the Fed?
For one possible answer we refer to the latest note by FBN's JC O'Hara who looks at a different "fear" index, namely the Credit Suisse Fear Barometer. He finds that, at 37%, it has never been higher.
For a succinct explanation of what this far less popular indicator captures we use a handy definition by SentimentTrader:
EXPLANATION:The CSFB is an indicator specifically designed to measure investor sentiment, and the number represented by the index prices zero-premium collars that expire in three months.The collar is implemented by the selling of a three-month, 10 percent out-of-the-money SPX call option and using the proceeds to buy a three-month out-of-the-money SPX put option. The premium on both sides will be equal, resulting in a term commonly known as a zero cost collar.The CSFB level represents how far out-of-the-money that SPX put option is, or in insurance terms it represents the deductible one would have to pay before the put kicks in.So, for example, if the CSFB is at 20, then that means an investor would have to go 20% out of the money to be able to buy a put with the proceeds from selling a call that's only 10% out of the money. That means there is more demand for put protection - a sign of fear in the marketplace.The index would rise when there is excess investor demand for portfolio insurance or lack of demand for call options.It differs from the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index or VIX. The VIX, calculated from S&P 500 option prices, measures the market's expectation of future volatility over the next 30-day period and often moves inversely to the S&P benchmark.The VIX is a fear gauge by interpretation, not by definition. It was designed to quantify the expectations for market volatility -- a property that is associated with, but not always correlated to fear.GUIDELINES:The Fear Barometer doesn't work as most of us expect it to. It doesn't necessarily rise as the market drops, or fall as the market rises. In fact, often it's the exact opposite.The reason is because traders in S&P 500 index options are mostly institutional, so the options activity is often a hedge against underlying portfolios. So when stocks rise, we often see more demand for put protection, not less.It turns out that these traders can be pretty savvy short-term market timers. So when we see a sharp upward spike in the Fear Barometer, it means that traders are quickly bidding up put options, and the S&P 500 often sees a short-term decline soon afterward.Conversely, when we see a sharp contraction in the Barometer (and the Rate Of Change drops to -10% or more), then we often see the S&P rebound shortly thereafter.
In brief: when it comes to the "here and now", which in the Fed's centrally-planned market is driven almost excusively by momentum ignition algos, complacency indeed rules. But even the nearest glimpse into the near future, or rather how the present environment may disconnect with what may happen tomorrow, or next week, or, as the case may be, in three months, institutional investors are more concerned than ever before. But is this a confirmation that the US stock market is about to have its own "Dubai" moment?
The answer is unclear. Recall that it is the same "institutional" smart money that has over the past 5 years been hedged by shorting a hedge fund hotel of most hated stocks: the same stocks which as we have shown time and again consistently outperform the market, due to one after another furious short squeeze. Perhaps hedge funds have gotten tired of "hedging" (and generating losses, with hedge fund alpha virtually zero since the Lehman collapse) using cash products, and are now simply rolling over collared protection with every passing month as the stock market rises to recorder highs, well above levels that in 2007 precipitated a crash that nearly wiped out the financial system?
As for whether they are right, well: the best person to ask is Janet Yellen of course. Because with the Fed now permanently broken the business cycle (as any prolonged downturn in the economy will merely bring the Fed back out of hiding and bidding up risk assets), virtually nobody knows just how to trade this centrally-planned construct that the Fed has unleashed on the world.
As for the retail investors, not only do they not know, but as it is quite clear by now, they don't care either.
Credit to Zero Hedge
Iraq invaders threaten nuke attack on Israel
WASHINGTON – The well-organized army of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, claims it has access to nuclear weapons and a will to use them to “liberate” Palestine from Israel as part of its “Islamic Spring,” according to a WND source in the region.
Franklin Lamb, an international lawyer based in Beirut and Damascus, said the move is part of the ISIS aim of creating a caliphate under strict Islamic law, stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to Iraq.
Lamb, who has access to ISIS fighters and sympathizers, said ISIS has been working with a “new specialized” unit organized at the beginning of 2013 to focus “exclusively on destroying the Zionist regime occupying Palestine.”
Lamb added that the ISIS “Al-Quds Unit” is working to broaden its influence in more than 60 Palestinian camps and gatherings from Gaza, across “Occupied Palestine,” or Israel, to Jordan and from Lebanon up to the north of Syria “seeking to enlist support as it prepares to liberate Palestine.”
ISIS is also know as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham. “Sham,” or “Greater Syria,” refers to Cyprus, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and southern Turkey.
ISIS also is known as DAASH, the Arabic acronym for al-Dawlah al-Islamiyah fi al-Iraq wa-al Sham.
The Sunni militant group, which has taken over much of the Sunni region of Iraq, could leave the Shiite-dominated region of the country and head toward Jordan and Turkey.
Lamb said that in Iraq alone, some 6 million Iraqi Sunnis recently have become supportive of the ISIS lightning strikes in the Sunni portion of the country.
Some of the Sunni supporters are secular, such as the Naqshbandia Army of former top officials of executed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. As WND reported, the Sunni group may have given ISIS access to its ongoing sarin production facility in northwestern Iraq.
WND also reported ISIS already has captured towns bordering Iraq and Turkey.
The militant group also has steamrolled through the Iraqi desert in the west and taken over the major al-Walid crossing with Syria and the Turaibil crossing into Jordan.
Lamb said ISIS has established a capital for its caliphate in the Syrian city of Raqqa.
“The Islamist organization believes it currently has massive regional support for its rapidly expanding ‘revolution of the oppressed,’” Lamb said.
ISIS estimates it will take 72 months to “liberate” “Occupied Palestine,” or Israel, according to Lamb.
Lamb quoted an ISIS member as saying: “Zionists call us masked, sociopathic murderers, but we are much more complicated and representative of those seeking justice than they portray us.
“Are we more barbaric than the Zionist terrorists who massacred at Dier Yassin, Shatila, twice at Qana, and committed dozens of other massacres? History will judge us after we free Palestine.”
Lamb said ISIS can do what no other Arab, Muslim or Western backers of resistance have been able to accomplish.
He quoted the ISIS member as saying: “All countries in this region are playing the sectarian card just as they have long played the Palestinian card, but the difference with ISIS is that we are serious about Palestine and they are not. Tel Aviv will fall as fast as Mosul when the time is right.”
The WND source said ISIS appears “eager” to fight Israeli armed forces “in the near future despite expectation that the regime will use nuclear weapons.”
“Do you think that we do not have access to nuclear devices?” Lamb quoted the ISIS member as saying. “The Zionists know that we do, and if we ever believe they are about to use theirs, we will not hesitate. After the Zionists are gone, Palestine will have to be decontaminated and rebuilt just like areas where there has been radiation released.”
ISIS access to nuclear weapons could come from Sunni Pakistan, which is home to more than 30 terrorist groups. Pakistan possibly has transferred nuclear weapons to the chief bankroller of its nuclear development program, Sunni Saudi Arabia, as WND previously has reported.
The Saudis, who also have provided billions of dollars to ISIS, have threatened to acquire nuclear weapons if Iran were to develop its own.
The WND source said ISIS denies any interest in training and directing foreign fighters to attack Europe, claiming its goals are to establish the al-Sham caliphate and “liberate Palestine.”
The source said the West, and especially the Israelis, may already be aware of ISIS plans and tactics to take over “Palestine.” He said Western intelligence sources were in possession of an “encyclopedia of information” obtained by Iraqi intelligence less than 48 hours before Mosul fell two weeks ago.
He said an ISIS messenger who was captured and “under Iraqi torture” turned over more than 160 computer flash sticks with the detailed information.
“The U.S. intelligence community is still decrypting and analyzing the flash sticks,” Lamb said.
He indicated that the information already has been handed over to members of Congress, some of whom are sharing it with the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
“The current sense on Capitol Hill is reported to be that the Obama administration is not in the mood to share anything with Israel these days and certainly not with the Netanyahu regime which it loathes,” he said.
Lamb said only time will tell whether or not ISIS reaches both of its objectives. He added that if the “Zionist regime” can be ejected from Palestine, it will set in motion “historic currents” that will be “rather different from the Ehud Olmert-Condoleezza Rice fantasy of ‘a New Middle East.’
“In any event,” Lamb said, “it is unlikely that Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Lebanon among other countries in this region are going to look much like what George Bush and Dick Cheney and their still active neo-con advisers had in mind when they were beating the drums for a U.S. invasion of Iraq, Libya and now Syria and Iran.”
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/06/iraq-invaders-threaten-nuke-attack-on-israel/#hM54S0yE07TZdoXr.99
Orders from Riyadh – Part 1 – The Birth of the Petrodollar System
After I thought my way through yesterday’s article, things have become a bit clearer. And, this has allowed me to understand the morning news a little better.
As I said yesterday, if the petrodollar system falls, the American Empire falls. This means that whoever controls petroleum, controls the American Empire.
We invaded Iraq twice to preserve the petrodollar. We’ve been training and arming jihadis in Syria to preserve the petrodollar. And, we seem awfully reluctant to do ANYTHING to ISIS because of the petrodollar.
Oh, and we’ll have a nuclear war because of the petrodollar. I almost forgot about that one.
Orders from Riyadh
What an amazing set of circumstances. Because of the deal made back in 1973 between Nixon and Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (friends call him King) of Saudi Arabia, America’s foreign policy has been captured by Islam.
Whoa. I can’t believe that I just wrote that, but it’s true.
The true leaders of Islam, the ruling family of Saudi Arabia, have America on a leash. If America doesn’t do what the House of Saud tells them to do, wellll… they just have to hint at how great the Chinese yuan would be as the new petro-currency… and, America will salute and obey.
And yes, the situation really is that bizarre.
Let me take a moment to go over again why this is true, because I know that this is almost too incredible to believe. And, I only believe it because I did the math. So, let’s DO the math.
It Starts With World War II
At the beginning of World War II, everyone was afraid that Germany and Japan would win, so they shipped their gold to the safest place on the planet – America. Austria, France, Britain, China and a bunch of other people sent their gold bullion to America, for safe-keeping.
After World War II was over, America was the only country with all of her industrial capacity undamaged, so she became the manufacturing powerhouse of the world. And… she had all the gold.
Bretton Woods Agreement
Furthermore, the US dollar was still on the gold standard, so it was natural for all the major currencies of the world to put themselves on the gold standard by tying their currencies to the US dollar. It was just a logical thing to do. We call this the Bretton Woods Agreement.
Oh, and since the Soviets were such a big threat, they left their gold in the US.
All of this concentrated a tremendous amount of financial power in the hands of the US, and as Lord Acton wrote in 1887:
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.
Well, like I said, America couldn’t keep her hands out of the cookie jar and started to print more dollars than she had in gold. And, that worked fine as long as the other nations of the world didn’t figure this out.
And, they didn’t – for about twenty-something years.
This allowed the US to build up a big military, a space program and buy votes… I mean… invest in a welfare state. The fox was in charge of the hen house, and the chickens had no idea.
Bretton Woods Agreement Ends
Unfortunately, for the US, the chickens (Britain, France, Germany, etc.) started to figure out that the US wasn’t playing fair.
However, since the price of gold was set at $35/ounce, the chickens decided to buy back their gold and get out of the ‘hen house’. The process started out as a trickle, and then became a flood. All the dollars that the US government had been printing were starting to come home to roost, and the US treasury was going to run out of gold. And THAT could not be allowed to happen.
That’s why Nixon took the US dollar off of the gold standard on August 15th, 1971. That solved the problem about the declining gold reserves, but it was replaced by a much bigger one.
How was America going to fund Lyndon Johnson’s welfare state AND the cold war with the Soviet Union?
Ouch.
The Oil Problem
As Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger dithered over what to do about this problem, another situation was raising its ugly head – oil.
During the late 1940s, America stopped being an exporter of oil and became a net importer. In the 1950s, 10% of all oil consumption was imported. In the ’60s, it was 18%. And then, in 1970, US production of crude oil peaked. American imports of oil were going to accelerate, right at the time when the US dollar was going to get weaker and weaker.
This meant that the might of the United States was going to weaken, right at the height of the Cold War. It also meant that the rich and powerful in the US were going to be less rich and powerful, and we JUST. COULDN’T. HAVE. THAT.
Henry Has An Idea
However, Henry Kissinger is one of the smartest psychopaths ever to hold political office in the US, and he figured out something that would fix all of America’s ‘problems’ and ensure her hegemony for decades to come:
The Petrodollar System
We can’t be certain when Henry approached King Faisal of Saudi Arabia with this idea. But, Faisal was a smart dude, and wouldn’t have jumped on this without some serious thinking. Faisal also had some problems of his own.
Saudi Arabia’s finances were a mess, and she had a lot of oil wealth under the ground and no military power to protect it. He didn’t like the Communists, but he wasn’t really impressed with the Americans, either. Egypt had been his biggest military threat, but they’d been trounced by the Israelis, so you can imagine that he was taking a ‘wait and see’ approach – as he thought about Kissinger’s offer.
All of that takes time, which is why we don’t know when the petrodollar idea was presented to the Saudis.
Saudi Arabia Agrees
Then came 1973. Israel won big and could have gone on to utterly destroy Syria and Egypt, but Israel was stopped by the US. And THAT demonstrated America’s leash on Israel and America’s willingness to yank on it.
That settled it for our boy Faisal. The US could be trusted to do what he wanted them to do, so he signed the Technical Cooperation Agreement on February 13th, 1974.
And THAT was the birth of the Petrodollar.
(And THAT is also why the US Federal Government has always been an enemy of Israel.)
But, wait…
…why is all of that important?
I’m glad that you asked that, but I’m not done yet. You need to understand a few things first.
So, If You Want Oil, You Need Dollars
This petrodollar system meant that, if you wanted to buy oil, you had to have US dollars to buy your oil.
Why?
I’ll answer that question tomorrow. In fact, I’ll do more than that. I’ll talk about the amazing and mind-blowing implications, and why YOU are in a heap of trouble if you don’t pay attention and prepare. And, later on, we’ll even talk about why this petrodollar system will end in nuclear war.
Credit to OmegaShock.com
Did Israel Just Start World War III?
Doug Hagmann and I have been very consistent in stating that World War III would begin in Syria. Further, my military sources have been telling me for 15 months that war in the Middle East, and possibly World War III, will commence in Syria for a variety of reasons. The world is beginning to witness the unfolding of this prediction. Historians may look back upon Israel’s recent attack upon nine military targets inside of Syria as the Archduke moment for World War III.
A Convenient Provocation
A total of nine Syrian military targets have been hit by Israeli jets and guided missiles, according to IDF officials. The IDF claims they were a part of a clear message being delivered to the Syrians in response to a series of cross-border shootings to protect the citizens of Israel. As many as 10 Syrian soldiers have been killed, but that is not the real story. The attacks, on the surface appear to be a retaliation to the threats posed by Syria against Israeli citizens, most notably, the killing of anIsraeli teen, Mohammed Karaka.
On the surface, the attacks appear to be measured and completely justified. However, when one examines the nature of the attacks, a very ominous picture begins to emerge. The bulk of the attacks were directed against targets on the Golan Heights. This is highly significant because any conventional military force incursion into Syria would have to be precipitated by eliminating the threat to Israel posed by forces on the Golan Heights.
As tragic as the killing of the Israeli teen, Mohammed Karaka is, his death is being exploited by Israel because the boy was an Arab who was also an Israeli citizen. To some degree, this gives Israel the moral high ground because Israel’s military actions are not just based upon retaliation for the killing of an Israeli teen, he is also an Arab. What a perfect poster child, pun intended, to justify Israel’s actions against Syria.
Israel is exploiting the situation for military gain and I am speaking directly about some of the military targets which were attacked by Israel that have nothing to do with retaliating against Syria for the death of the boy. Many of the targets included, anti-aircraft military installations. And what would be the one target that Israel would have to take out prior to having its tanks cross the board and attack Damascus? Any prelude to invasion, whether it be by the U.S., NATO, Israel or ISIS, would consist of taking out the anti-aircraft capabilities of Syrian military bases.
In order to launch a successful invasion, either by proxy forces or through direct intervention, Israel would need to have an immediate and complete control of the skies. The “retaliation” for the death of the Israeli teen allowed Israel the pretext and ability to test the capabilities of the anti-aircraft facilities by striking at them under the guise of retaliating for the killing of a teen.
Why Syria?
It is no secret that Russia cannot match America/NATO airpower. Therefore, the Russians have built the best anti-aircraft facilities in the world and the Russian capabilities in this area are second to none. Since Russia is considered to be the architect of the Syrian military, it would make sense that Syria could be expected to have some of the same capabilities that Russia enjoys with regard to this type of defense. Therefore, it makes even more sense that Israel needs to test the Syrian defenses prior to attacking. Hence, you have the real reason for yesterday’s attacks.
Israel wants to escalate the situation. They want the world to believe that it can expect Syria to have a provoking counter response. However, Assad is not ignorant enough to play into Israel’s hand and retaliate. Therefore, a reason must be invented and yes, I am speaking about a major false flag event which will be promoted by and carried out by the CIA and possibly the Mossad.
The ISIS Factor
ISIS will no doubt cross into Syria and its actions will lead to widespread destabilization of the Syrian government. The world would soon see a horrific carnage as ISIS’ actions in Iraq are merely the preliminary event.
Syria must be taken and fortified by the West. Holding Syria is the key to warding off a Russian invasion should the IDF and NATO invade Iran to stop its practice of selling its oil for gold to the BRICS.
If Syria is occupied, the United States will be able to employ airpower and utilize its small and medium missile batteries. These weapons would be able to repel a Russian counter-attack in Syria. With Russia being stopped at the gate, the door is open to invade Iran. Yet, another false flag will have to be unleashed to give the U.S. the justification to invade Iran.
In retaliation, Ukraine may be overrun by Russia, however, this might be an acceptable loss as the real threat to American hegemony and Western central banking dominance is more threatened by Iran’s rogue move of forsaking the dollar. The Petrodollar is gasping for breath and the U.S. must act now.
While appearing as a guest on my show on June 15, 2014, Doug Hagmann predicted that ISIS will not only consume Iraq but will blow by the border and go into Syria as well. Israeli air support would be needed to use these CIA funded proxy troops to stir up civil unrest, otherwise ISIS would be crushed by the Syrian military. This action against Syria will require either the Americans or the IDF to take out the Syrian command and control structures, such as its air defenses, thus leaving Damascus basically undefended. The CIA has attempted to destabilize Assad for three years by starting and supporting a bloody civil war. However, these actions have not resulted in the desired regime change. Therefore, intervention in Syria is being taken to a whole new level.
Conclusion
Israel’s controversial military actions were not motivated by the death of one teenager. The teen is the convenient excuse. Now that the IDF has its answers as to Syrian military air defenses, the path is paved for an invasion of Syria and the fall of Assad has begun. With regime change in sight, an occupied Syria will result as a new puppet Syrian regime will do exactly what they are told to do. The only remaining question is who will use nuclear weapons first. This will be the topic of a future article.
Credit to Common Sense
BLOOD ON THE ALTAR Part Number 10
PART 10 - THE WHORE AND THE EMERGENT "CHURCH"
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“Babylon” is a word, place, and name that occurs very frequently in Scripture. In the book of Revelation, one out of every ten verses concerns an entity identified as “Babylon.” Two entire chapters—Revelation chapters 17 and 18—are devoted to Babylon. However, while the word is a high-frequency one, the exact identification is somewhat challenging. Mark Hitchcock gives seven clues that can help identify Babylon:
Babylon is a literal city (Rev. 17:18).
Babylon is a city of worldwide importance and influence, probably the capital city of the Antichrist (Rev. 17:15, 18).
Babylon and the Beast (the Antichrist) are very closely connected with one another. The woman (Babylon) is pictured riding on the Beast (Rev. 17:3–5, 7).
Babylon is the center of false religion (Rev. 17:4–5; 18:1–2).
Babylon is the center of world commerce (Rev. 18:9–19).
Babylon persecutes the Lord’s people (Rev. 17:6; 18:20, 24).
Babylon will be destroyed suddenly and completely at the end of the Tribulation, never to rise again (Rev. 18:8–10, 21–24).[i]
Even among premillennialists, there is disagreement as to the precise meaning of “Babylon” in Revelation 17:
Some see it simply as an illustration of something that is evil and diabolical, while others understand “Babylon” to be a literal restoration of an ancient city. Some Dispensationalists believe that “Mystery Babylon” is a reference to a false religious system that has been around for centuries but has become particularly evident through certain religions and religious practices.[ii]
The religious system established at the original site of Babylon by its founder and first king, Nimrod, is the source of Babylonian religion and philosophy. With the scattering resulting from the Babel event, this religion was carried into every corner of the earth. This is why every nonbiblical religious system—and we see it today in the hodgepodge of designer religions that are proliferating the American religious scene—is pantheistic, polytheistic, astrological, and universal. Nimrod himself was a violent man. Some of the major religious movements are violent and are take-over religions desirous of taking over the planet.
This woman of Revelation 17 “was arrayed in purple and scarlet color , and bedecked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication” (v. 4). Spiritual whoredom is associated with a defection from the truth, a willful act of embracing “other lovers.”
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We notice that the woman is drunk—not with alcohol, but with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus (Rev. 17:6). These are the followers of Jesus who have died for their faith and commitment to Christ as Lord. Here we have a religious prostitute making martyrs. Sexual immorality and apostasy are linked in the Bible—the former often symbolizes the latter (Rev. 2:20–23; Ezek.16:15–43). Babylon’s suggestive beauty is irresistible.
Her fornication has been universal and pervasive, not local or regional: “The inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication” (Rev. 17:2). She is “the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters” (Rev. 17:1), the “waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” (v. 15). This “harlot,” or whore, is an entity that transcends geopolitical as well as cultural, ethnic, and linguistic divisions. This suggests that the whore is more than a single person or even a single expression of religion that is against God. Only a universal false religion seems to fit the description. This is the woman who rides the Beast (Rev. 17:3).
This great whore sits on seven hills or mountains (Rev. 17:9). Mountains are often emblematic of whole kingdoms (cf. Ps. 68:15; Dan. 2:35; Amos 4:1, 6: 1; Obad. 8–21). This all seems to describe more than one local area and is better seen as representing the universal spread of false religion. Historically, many expositors have argued that Vatican City is “that great city, which reigneth over the king s of the earth” (Rev. 17:18). Vatican City is certainly not reigning over the kings of the earth at present, nor does there seem to be much to indicate that it, in its particular denominational identification, will do so at a future time.
The language is highly fluid. In Revelation 17:3, the word “city” doesn’t necessarily mean one municipality in a limited area. Walid Shoebat cogently argues that most prophecy writers think out of a Western/European mindset, and writes:
Bear in mind that the above verse is in Greek, and a “city” in the Bible doesn’t always denote a single place. For instance, today the nation of Israel is called Medinat Yesrael in Hebrew. In Aramaic or Arabic, the word Medinat is “a city.” In the ancient context, for example in Jeremiah, Gilead actually speaks of all of Judah as one city. The same is true for “house,” which is not a single house but all the people of Judah. “For thus says the Lord unto the king’s house of Judah; thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon; yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.” Judah itself will be a wilderness like cities devoid of their people (Jer. 22:6).[iii]
This seductive temptress is given an enigmatic name: “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS” (Rev. 17:5). “Babylon is probably the place from which all false religious beliefs had their beginning. From Babylon stemmed a religious rebellion that has blinded people everywhere, so that they are in opposition to the true God. Thus Babylon is a place, but it is much more.”[iv]
“The mother of harlots” is not simply the source, but the size, of the influence of this enigmatic entity. Shoebat writes that “mother” means “the biggest” or “the greatest.” “Remember Saddam Hussein’s comments in the days leading up to [the] first Gulf War? He declared that the U.S. and Iraq were about to engage in ‘the mother of all battles.’ Of course, in typical megalomaniacal game-talk, he also declared that America was about to experience ‘the mother of all defeats.’”[v]
This monstrous and filthy entity is “the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.” “Abominations”(bdelugma) refers to something, or someone, that is vile and detestable, that defiles and corrupts, such as “the abomination [bdelugma] of desolation” (Matt. 24:15). It is so vile that it contaminates the Temple and renders it unfit for worship. It is something nauseating to God because of its moral and spiritual filthiness. It is this “mother” from whose womb comes spiritual filthiness that has led to the death of God’s faithful servants.
The picture being drawn in Revelation 17 is not a picture of an entity with no faith or religious belief that persecutes God’s true children; rather, it is a picture of an entity with the wrong faith that causes grief. It’s the faith of apostates.
Some have identified the whore of Babylon as the Roman Catholic Church, because the woman sits on seven hills, identified in ancient times as the city of Rome. It is this writer’s view that much more is involved in this picture. Verse 10 proceeds to explain that the seven hills represent seven kingdoms, five of which have fallen, one that is, and one that is to come. This whore is a world system dominated by the Antichrist. At one time in the future, this whore will have control over these kings, but at some point prior to Armageddon they will turn on her and destroy her (Rev. 17:16).
While it is always precarious to make specific designations and give specific explanations, there are various movements today within the pale of “Christendom” that are having a greater and greater resemblance to the harlot church of Revelation chapter 17.
The Whore & The Emergent Church
Worldview impacts and intersects with one’s understanding regarding the nature and definition of truth. Much of the error and confusion being taught by those in the emergent movement is due to their embracing—wittingly or unwittingly—the Hegelian dialectic. Under this thinking, truth is never final or complete, nor can it be articulated rationally. Truth is evolving. There is the thesis—an idea that is less than perfect. This leads to opposition, refinement, and restatement, known as the antithesis. As a result of this conflict in point of view and the resultant tension, the tension screams for resolution. This resolution is achieved by reaching a higher level of truth, a synthesisof the thesis and antithesis.[vi]
In this scheme of things, truth can never reach finality. There is always some new antithesis leading to a greater refinement of truth. For emergents, they are not quite sure what to make of homosexuality, or how to think about it. Brian McLaren, in an article published on the web for Christianity Today titled “Brian McLaren on the Homosexual Question: Finding a Pastoral Response,” writes:
Frankly, many of us don’t know what we should think about homosexuality. We’ve heard all sides but no position has yet won our confidence so that we can say “it seems good to the Holy Spirit and us.” That alienates us from both the liberals and conservatives who seem to know exactly what we should think. Even if we are convinced that all homosexual behavior is always sinful, we still want to treat gay and lesbian people with more dignity, gentleness, and respect than our colleagues do. If we think that there may actually be a legitimate context for some homosexual relationships, we know that the biblical arguments are nuanced and multilayered, and the pastoral ramifications are staggeringly complex. We aren’t sure if or where lines are to be drawn, nor do we know how to enforce with fairness whatever lines are drawn.[vii]
John MacArthur perceptively analyzes thoughts such as these, especially as it intersects with the modern gay rights movement. The following is from a transcript of an interview between John MacArthur and Phil Johnson.
One of the big issues is homosexuality in the Emerging Church. They don’t want to take a position on homosexuality. The Bible is not vague or obscure or oblique about homosexuality. It couldn’t be more clear. A homosexual will not inherit the Kingdom of God…that’s pretty clear. Homosexuality in Romans chapter 1 is a perversion that is manifested when it happens in a culture, begins to dominate a culture, an evidence of divine wrath and divine judgment. So the Bible is clear. They don’t want that clarity. They want to run from the light. Scripture is light, it is not darkness, but they like the darkness because their deeds are evil…this is just another way to set the Bible aside.[viii]
This tentativeness on McLaren’s part can be traced to his view of Scripture and uncertainty as to its inspiration in the classical sense of being the inspired Word of God. He is even uncomfortable with the Bible’s masculine pronouns for God:
This is as good a place as any to apologize for my use of masculine pronouns for God in the previous sentence. You’ll notice that wherever I can, I avoid the use of masculine pronouns for God because they can give the false impression to many people today that the Christian God is a male deity.[ix]
The Bible does not, and cannot, give us an exhaustive knowledge of God. However, while the Bible does not tell us everything that God knows, what the Bible does tell us is accurate, even in its limitations. McLaren could very well criticize the Greek New Testament on the grounds that it makes God sound like a Greek-speaking deity.
Because the emergent view of truth is dialectical, we can agree with MacArthur that emergent theology teaches a “doctrine of Christian postmodernism.” The movement is:
…an amorphous sort of loose-knit association of churches that have decided that there is value, there is even virtue, in uncertainty about Scripture. The bottom line in the movement is they believe that we aren’t even suppose [sic] to understand precisely what the Bible means.… It’s an attack on the clarity of Scripture and they elevate themselves as if this is some noble reality…it’s amorphous because there’s a mish-mash of approaches to this and a mish-mash of styles and things like that. But they have embraced this mystery as if it’s true spirituality. And so, it becomes celebration of mystery, a celebration of ignorance, a celebration that we can’t really know.[x]
This “celebration of mystery” leads the emerging church into medieval, contemplative spirituality.
They want more mystery. So they go back to medieval Catholicism and they light a bunch of candles. You know, really it smells like orthodox, Greek orthodoxy, Russian orthodoxy kind of approach, milling people. I’ve been in a Russian Orthodox Church that there’s no center, there’s no focal point, there’s no pulpit, there’s no platform. There are these guys, they swing these censors and smoke and stuff rises and these really weird smells and they just…they walk in a little parade.… And then people mill over here and they will and then these guys walk around. This goes on for like a half an hour and they’re making these weird chants.[xi]
What The Whore Is Telling The Emergent Church About "The Atonement"
Emergent theology takes exception to the “violent view” of the atonement. The idea that God must satisfy divine justice in order to forgive sin is barbaric. It makes God look like a monster, because, they say, God cannot forgive without inflicting pain on someone, either on His Son, Jesus Christ, or the impenitent sinner. Emergents critique the traditional view of the atonement because it presents God as the “greatest existential threat to humanity.”
Penal substitution, the traditional view, presents Christ as the substitutionary sin bearer. It makes God look like a petty, spoiled tyrant and turns many off to Christianity. Emergents don’t like the idea that Jesus had to be “beat up” so that people could go to heaven.
Yet, Isaiah 53:5 is violent: “But he was WOUNDED for OUR transgressions, he was BRUISED for OUR iniquities” (emphasis added). Because of the Christian’s mystical union with Christ, Jesus Christ fulfills the demands of justice not for an unrelated third party, but for those identified with Him. He is our vicarious substitute. Revelation 5 reveals that a new song will be sung lauding the worthiness and glory of Christ, “for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God BY THY BLOOD out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (v. 9, emphasis added).
The traditionalist will point out that the argument that it is unjust to punish an innocent bystander involuntarily for someone else’s sin is refuted by Scripture. Jesus Himself said that He was offering Himself to voluntarily die on the cross for the sins of the world: “Greater love hath no man that this, that a man lay down his life FOR his friends” (John 15:13, emphasis added).
The traditional, substitutionary view is illustrated by the ritual that took place on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16). Two goats were used on that day. One was slaughtered—that signifies and illustrates propitiation. The other was released to wander in the wilderness—that is expiation. Propitiation indicates that God is justly angry over our sins. How could He not be? Propitiation requires death—but it is the death of a substitute. “For he hath made him, who knew no sin, to be sin FOR US, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21, emphasis added).
But, as readers of the new book Blood On The Altar will learn, not only is the traditional view of the atonement rejected, but so is the return of Christ.
Credit to RaidersNewsupdate.com
Muslim Hackers Are Plotting a Major Attack on Big Oil
A hacker group calling itself AnonGhost has claimed responsibility for defacing hundreds of websites and doxing 500 names and credit card numbers, part of a religiously motivated cyberattack campaign called #OpPetrol.
The operation is targeting corporate websites from oil-rich countries in the Middle East and the West, to protest what it calls exploitation via the currency of oil and gas. AnonGhost, which has a history of targeting Israeli websites, wrote in a message on Pastebin that the corporations and governments being targeted have created a world order built on the “Petro Dollar,” which fundamentally dehumanizes the economy.
The group is planning cyberattacks on oil and gas corporations in the United States, Canada, England, Israel, China, Italy, France, Russia, and Germany, and government websites in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar.
The self-described Muslim hackers claim they’ve already defaced hundreds of sites to protest American imperialism and the global dominance of the greenback, seeing Saudi Arabia’s cooperation with the US as a betrayal of Muslim values.
“The new world order installed their own rules so that they can control us like robots,” the message reads.
So far, few of the websites affected seem to have anything to do with the oil industry, however. The main attack is planned for June 30.
Despite early reports that the group is tied to the hacktivist collective Anonymous, an AnonGhost representative told me that’s not the case. “I hope anonymous will join (y) and many other teams, if they join the Op it will be good, if not we can do it alone as usual ;)”
The groups claims it’s going to use different methods than Anonymous’ now-infamous distributed denial of service (DDoS). “Ddos is just for Anonymous Clowns with their LOIC [Low Orbit Ion Cannon, Anonymous’ DDoS application] xD, we breach only, Ddos anyone can do it, we gonna do magic things and see.”
Rather than just rendering websites inoperable, AnonGhost has a history of defacing sites. Much of the group’s propaganda has been recycled from last year’s #OpPetrol operation, including the statement text, and an Anonymous-style video promoting the campaign.
The AnonGhost member I talked to declined to discuss the operation in more detail, saying, “we can't give them a hint about how we gonna do it ;), they should just expect us dear.”
But as security firm Symantec noted, “Public announcements by these groups are often used as a means to gain notoriety or media attention and can be of highly volatile credibility.”
Symantec also noted however that it’s important to take such threats seriously, and that DDoS attacks can simply be a diversion from the real attacks like fraudulent or illegal wire transfers.
AnonGhosts’ agenda combines online activism with conservative Islam. Last year, a few days after the first #OpPetrol campaign, Reuters contacted the group’s leader, alias “Mauritania Attacker” who explained the group represents “represents a new generation of Western-style Islamists who promote religious conservatism and traditional values, and oppose those they see as backing Zionism and Western hegemony.”
When I asked the unnamed spokesperson why call the group AnonGhost, the reply was simple: “Anon = Anon Hacker, Ghost = Crazy ghost hacker.”
Credit to motherboard.vice.com
RUSSIA PREPARES FOR AN “EXPECTED U.S. NUCLEAR ATTACK”
In response to the Obama Administration’s Ukrainian coup that replaced the democratically elected pro-Russian President of Russia’s neighboring country by a regime that is seeking to join NATO and become a base for U.S. nuclear missiles, Russia is girding for America’s expected attack.
BurkoNews, an organization of journalists based in Crimea, headlined on 22 June 2014, “Why Is Russia Preparing for the Nuclear War?” and reported:
“From the middle of May to early June 2014, the Russian Federation [i.e., 'Russia'] undertook two large command-staff exercises testing the realization of a local nuclear attack. According to military experts there were never such dense and extensive testing scenarios of nuclear war even in the Soviet Union. … The 12th General Directory of the Ministry of Defense, which is the most secret department, was involved in the exercises.”
Previously, the present reporter had headlined “Why Ukraine’s Civil War Is of Global Historical Importance” and explained the connection between America’s coup in Ukraine in February 2014 and America’s re-start of the anti-Soviet Cold War.
The U.S. coup in Ukraine cannot be understood outside the context of that country’s being able and willing now to allow the U.S. to place nuclear missiles right next door to Russia, close enough for a first-strike against Moscow to prevent any retaliation by Russia. Our missiles would destroy Russia within ten minutes of launch — too short a time-window for Russia to be able to respond.
Another recent report was headlined, “Indications that the U.S. Is Planning a Nuclear Attack Against Russia,” and it described NATO military exercises and anti-Russian propaganda to prepare for a U.S.-led nuclear attack against Russia. In other words: this new “Cold War” is actually preparation for a nuclear war that is being not just planned but now actually being practiced in military exercises. One cannot understand U.S. President Barack Obama’s propaganda campaign against Russia if one does not understand what it is heading towards.
Yet another article was headlined “How and Why the U.S. Has Re-Started the Cold War (The Backstory that Precipitated Ukraine’s Civil War),” and it explained in even more depth the reason why Obama has been doing this.
This reporter has also explained why all U.S. news media (with very few exceptions) have refused to publicize these unquestionable realities; U.S. media have refused to publish any of those news-reports that place these current events into historical context. For example, one of my news reports was titled “Videos Americans Didn’t Get to See on Our Nightly News,” and it opened:
“While the U.S. media obsess with the Iraq War that we created 11 years ago and can’t stop, and that we aren’t really causing right now, they’re covering-up our current invasion (overseen by our CIA and former Blackwater mercenaries), which Obama and more than $5 billion of U.S. taxpayer money started in February, and which has been reported only via amateur videos uploaded to youtube and linked-to by Pravda and other ‘Russian propaganda’; so, here’s what U.S. ‘news’ media don’t want us to see, because it’s ‘only Russian propaganda’: it’s what we’re doing (through our own Ukrainian agents, our ‘heroes of Maidan’), right now.”
I shall continue trying to get the U.S. media — both its major news-media, and the smaller-circulation “alternative news” media, to report to the American people what Obama is doing to Ukraine, and why.
If this matter does not become a major issue during the upcoming Democratic Presidential primaries, which will start next year, then there will be no way to avert nuclear war, because Hillary Clinton shares Obama’s plan 100%, and was part of its operation while she was U.S. Secretary of State; and no Republican U.S. Presidential nominee will oppose an operation to “win a nuclear war.” Any contender in Republican Party Presidential primaries who would oppose it wouldn’t stand a chance to win that Party’s Presidential nomination, because being “strong on defense” is the biggest rallying cry to that Party’s voters: the people who actually vote in Republican Party primaries and so determine its nominee.
Consequently, the available time-window for the U.S. press to change its tack on this and to start informing the American public on this matter that they’ve been hiding from the public, will soon become closed.
Credit to Infowars
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