California Drought Killed 12 Million Forest Trees Since Last Year

An estimated 12 million trees across California’s forestlands have died over the past year because of extreme drought conditions, according to an aerial survey conducted April 8-17 by the U.S. Forest Service.

In San Diego County, 82,528 trees, mostly Jeffrey pines across Mt. Laguna, have succumbed to a lack of rainfall, with many more struggling to survive, said Jeffrey Moore, interim aerial survey program manager for the U.S. Forest Service. 

There is “very heavy mortality, a lot of discoloration in the pine trees that probably will expire sometime during this growing season, as well as oak trees that are suffering,” Moore said.

Moore was part of a team that surveyed the trees visually, using a digital mapping system while flying in a fixed-wing aircraft 1,000 feet above ground.

A tree’s survival often depends on its proximity to other trees, he said.

“A lot of trees are competing for whatever available moisture there is in a drought situation,” Moore said. “When you have too many trees in an area, it makes it hard on all of the trees.”

In Southern California, the researchers tracked more than 4.2 million acres in Cleveland, San Bernardino, Angeles and Los Padres National Forests, where they found an estimated 2 million perished trees. They combed another 4.1 million acres in the Southern Sierra Nevada, where they documented approximately 10 million dead trees. Their findings were compared to similar surveys taken in July 2014, Moore said.

In San Diego County, Moore said they found substantial pine mortality near Descanso Road in the Cleveland National Forest, and throughout Mt. Laguna.

The team did not attempt to map gold-spotted oak borer beetle-related mortality in this survey, he said. Nor did they track black oak trees, since it's unclear whether those without leaves are dead or just “leafing out”—bare but in the process of growing their new leaves for the spring.

The county’s forests are already reeling from the 2003 Cedar Fire that devoured 280,000 acres, including in the Cuyamaca Mountains. The region was formerly blanketed by a coniferous forest, but recovery has been poor, Moore said.

“Most of those areas aren’t even coming back into trees at all,” Moore said. “They’re kind of being switched over now into Chaparral plants because they burned so hot the seed source is gone.”

Large trees, such as the Jeffrey pine, are important for storing carbon from the air. They also provide food and habitat for various species, including squirrels, deer and birds, such as the Pygmy Nuthatch that probes into clusters of pine needles for small insects.

U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR

This color-coded map shows drought conditions across the U.S., on April 30, 2015. Much of San Diego County, shown in red, is in an "extreme" drought. At this level, major crop and pasture losses are common, fire risk is extreme, and widespread water shortages can be expected, requiring restrictions.

“When you start thinking about what it takes for a tree, which is usually a fairly hearty type of plant to die off, it’s telling you a pretty clear signal of just how intense the drought has been,” said Brian Fuchs, climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center.


“These dead forests are going to be more primed for any type of fire,” Fuchs said. “Also, it’s going to impact water quality as there’s going to be more particulate that will go running off these hillsides into the rivers and streams.”

Fuchs said 67 percent of California remains in an “extreme” or “exceptional” drought, and conditions are expected to worsen as the dry season sets in.

“The heat of the summer really amplifies some of that development,” Fuchs said.

Credit to Kpbs.org

NSA CONVERTS SPOKEN WORDS INTO SEARCHABLE TEXT

Most people realize that emails and other digital communications they once considered private can now become part of their permanent record.

But even as they increasingly use apps that understand what they say, most people don’t realize that the words they speak are not so private anymore, either.

Top-secret documents from the archive of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden show the National Security Agency can now automatically recognize the content within phone calls by creating rough transcripts and phonetic representations that can be easily searched and stored.

The documents show NSA analysts celebrating the development of what they called “Google for Voice” nearly a decade ago.

Though perfect transcription of natural conversation apparently remains the Intelligence Community’s “holy grail,” the Snowden documents describe extensive use of keyword searching as well as computer programs designed to analyze and “extract” the content of voice conversations, and even use sophisticated algorithms to flag conversations of interest.

The documents include vivid examples of the use of speech recognition in war zones like Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as in Latin America. But they leave unclear exactly how widely the spy agency uses this ability, particularly in programs that pick up considerable amounts of conversations that include people who live in or are citizens of the United States.

Spying on international telephone calls has always been a staple of NSA surveillance, but the requirement that an actual person do the listening meant it was effectively limited to a tiny percentage of the total traffic. By leveraging advances in automated speech recognition, the NSA has entered the era of bulk listening.

And this has happened with no apparent public oversight, hearings or legislative action. Congress hasn’t shown signs of even knowing that it’s going on.

The USA Freedom Act — the surveillance reform bill that Congress is currently debating — doesn’t address the topic at all. The bill would end an NSA program that does not collect voice content: the government’s bulk collection of domestic calling data, showing who called who and for how long.

Even if becomes law, the bill would leave in place a multitude of mechanisms exposed by Snowden that scoop up vast amounts of innocent people’s text and voice communications in the U.S. and across the globe.

Civil liberty experts contacted by The Intercept said the NSA’s speech-to-text capabilities are a disturbing example of the privacy invasions that are becoming possible as our analog world transitions to a digital one.

“I think people don’t understand that the economics of surveillance have totally changed,” Jennifer Granick, civil liberties director at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, told The Intercept.

“Once you have this capability, then the question is: How will it be deployed? Can you temporarily cache all American phone calls, transcribe all the phone calls, and do text searching of the content of the calls?” she said. “It may not be what they are doing right now, but they’ll be able to do it.”

And, she asked: “How would we ever know if they change the policy?”

Indeed, NSA officials have been secretive about their ability to convert speech to text, and how widely they use it, leaving open any number of possibilities.

That secrecy is the key, Granick said. “We don’t have any idea how many innocent people are being affected, or how many of those innocent people are also Americans.”

I Can Search Against It

NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake, who was trained as a voice processing crypto-linguist and worked at the agency until 2008, told The Intercept that he saw a huge push after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks to turn the massive amounts of voice communications being collected into something more useful.

Human listening was clearly not going to be the solution. “There weren’t enough ears,” he said.

The transcripts that emerged from the new systems weren’t perfect, he said. “But even if it’s not 100 percent, I can still get a lot more information. It’s far more accessible. I can search against it.”

Converting speech to text makes it easier for the NSA to see what it has collected and stored, according to Drake. “The breakthrough was being able to do it on a vast scale,” he said.

Former Lesbian to President Obama: Why Won't You Listen to Voices of Ex-Homosexuals Jesus Set Free?

I do not need to say much to convince you that our religious freedoms are under fire. Around the world, men, women and children alike are being murdered for their faith.

Although we people of faith in America are not yet being physically attacked in large numbers, there is a bully who would like to silence what we believe.

For years, the president of the United States has sat down with those in the LGBTQ community but has failed to hear the stories of those of us who have successfully left the homosexual lifestyle. As someone who spent 14 years in the homosexual lifestyle and then experienced the transforming power of Jesus Christ, I know it is possible to be set free. For 17 years, I have been living proof.

Please join me in signing this petition to ask President Obama to hear the voices of those of us who know from personal experiences or through the experiences of others that it is possible to leave the homosexual lifestyle.

I am confident that our voices can be heard if enough of us will sign this petition and stand united together.

Janet Boynes is the founder of Janet Boynes Ministries, a nondenominational outreach that ministers to individuals questioning their sexuality and those who wish to leave homosexuality. As the author of Called Out, Boynes chronicles her story of living as a lesbian for 14 years until God called her out of that lifestyle. Read more of her story here.

Credit to Charisma News

Italian police 'reveal' what Jesus looked like as a young boy

Using the Turin Shroud, the supposed burial cloth of Jesus, police investigators have generated a photo-fit image from the negative facial image on the material

Detectives claim to have revealed how Jesus Christ looked as a child – based on computer forensics and the world’s most famous relic.

Using the Turin Shroud, the supposed burial cloth of Jesus, police investigators have generated a photo-fit image from the negative facial image on the material. And from this they reversed the ageing process to create an image of a young Jesus, by reducing the size of the jaw, raising the chin and straightening the nose.

The technique effectively reverses the method that Italian police use to generate current likenesses of criminals, including senior mob bosses, for whom new photo fit images are needed when they have been on the run for decades.

Such techniques were used to produce an image of Mafia boss of bosses Bernardo Provenzano, from a photo taken in 1959. Provenzano was eventually captured in 2006.

This image of Jesus as a young boy, and the methods used to create it, will be the subject of an upcoming programme on Italian television. But the exercise was done to mark the latest ostensione – a rare public display of the Shroud at Turin Cathedral.

The 14-foot-long sheet, made of herring-bone linen cloth, appears to show the front and back impression of a bearded man with long hair.

The body imprinted on the cloth appears to bear numerous injuries consistent with crucifixion, plus a gash in its side, consistent with the lance-wound suffered by Jesus.

It will be on public display for two months, with millions of visitors expected. Pope Francis is due to visit and pray before the relic on June 21.

 

The ingenuity of the Italian police is unlikely to dispel the doubts of the many regarding the veracity of the image on which their detective work was based, however.


Credit to The Independent

Gov't Insider: U.S. Created ISIS To Destablize Middle East

ISIS Attacks and Contrived Race Riots Will Make Jade Helm Go Live

Not today ISIS!

An incredibly brave and highly skilled Texas traffic cop saved multiple lives Sunday night when he killed two heavily armed men bent on storming a building where Pam Geller’s “Draw the Prophet Muhammad” contest was taking place.

The founder and organizer of the “Draw a prophet” contest, Pam Geller.

The unidentified police officer encountered the two suspects, believed to have driven some 1,100 miles from Phoenix to commit mass murder at the contest at a suburban Dallas venue. 

The two fatally wounded ISIS-supporting terrorists shot assault rifles outside the building and wounded a security guard and bullets struck a police car. The ISIS supporters wore body armor and were very heavily armed. 

Local police, a SWAT team, FBI and ATF agents were on hand for the event, attended by approximately 75 people, which authorities anticipated could bring out Muslim extremists. 

ISIS tweet

The extremists sent out at least two tweets prior to the shootings, linked to radical Islam social media accounts, and they indicated that the attack was imminent. One tweet, which was sent at 6:35 p.m., only 15 minutes before the attack, used the hashtag #texasattack. “May Allah accept us as mujahideen.” Fortunately, these two terrorists were sent to the great Allah in the sky and their plans for mass murder were thwarted. 

My advice to all is that if you are ever pulled over by a Texas traffic cop, keep your hands where he can see them and do exactly what you are told. This particular Texas traffic cop, armed with only a pistol, took down two ISIS terrorists, protected by body armor and carrying assault weapons. Don’t mess with Texas.

The First Serious ISIS Attack Has Occurred- More to Come

On April 28, 2015, I shared the contents of a letter that was written to me by an unidentified Texas Ranger, who warned me to not view the Walmart closings a pre-emptive move to establish FEMA camp processing centers. The Ranger warned me that his organization was bracing for a series of ISIS incursions and attacks on Texas soil. We have just witnessed the first ISIS attack and it certainly will not be the last, nor will it be the most violent. 

In the Garland attack, the ISIS perpetrators were thwarted, but will America be so lucky the next time?

FBI Director Warns of ISIS Threat In 49 States: Obama and Holder Ignored the Warning As They Put Americans at Risk

In less than two years, ISIS has gone from a terror start-up organization, supplied with abandoned American military equipment and funded by the CIA to what FBI Director, James Comey, calls a “chaotic spider web” inside of the United States who have a presence and are radicalizing Americans in 49 other states. Comey stated that ISIS uses social media like a job fair in order to recruit members and Comey suggests that this is how ISIS recruited three New York men which are now facing terrorist charges related to their ISIS activities. 

Didn’t Comey get the joke? He is not supposed to do his job. He was not put into the Director’s chair to stop ISIS from coming into America. He, like DHS, is supposed to play dumb and ignore the ISIS invasion of our southern border. It may not be long until the FBI has a new director.

Where’s Obama?

It is most certain that there is one so-called “American” who is not celebrating the avoidance of the potential massive loss of life in Garland, TX. and that would be the undeserving resident at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. His middle name is certainly not “Jesus” as he has banned the use of the Bible and blessings from Jesus by military chaplains. He has instructed DHS to identify Bible-believing Christians as domestic terrorists and he supports Muslim extremism as evidenced by his soft Iranian policy which will someday allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, if they have not already.

Why isn’t this hero of the Garland Police Department being invited to the White House to receive a medal from the President for stopping these two ISIS terrorists? Why isn’t Obama singing the praises of this officer’s heroic act? Isn’t the answer to these questions obvious? It is because Obama is playing for the other side as he denigrates, marginalizes and persecutes the founding religion of this country while honoring and protecting the invasive religion. Obama’s administration is a reflection of this philosophy.

Before the disinformation artists begin to deny the ISIS connection with the Garland attack, please note that the ultra liberal CNN just reported the following:

“ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack outside a Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest in Texas — and warned of more attacks to come.

In a broadcast on its official radio channel Tuesday, the group said two Al Khilafa soldiers opened fire outside the event in Garland, a suburb of Dallas. Al Khilafa is how ISIS refers to its soldiers.”

In light of the White House’s blackout on communications regarding the event in Garland, should we not continue to question the motives behind Jade Helm since Barak Hussein Obama is ultimately in charge?

While we are at it, why do the riots in Ferguson (twice), New York City and now Baltimore all look the same? If one wants to stop the mayhem, they should be looking for groups like ACORN, The Southern Poverty Law Center, the race-baiters like Holder-friendly Al Sharpton and the CIA funded ISIS at these events? These race riots are clearly being orchestrated.

Conclusion

ISIS made their presence known in Ferguson. What did Eric Holder know that we are just figuring out?

I have shown this photo before, it is time to show this photo again. ISIS is here and can there be any question as to the intent of these events? These attacks which will emanate from our southern border will no doubt intensify as we move into summer. The artificially agitated race riots will increase through the summer and there is a link between the two events. ISIS will continue to be involved in future race riots. This administration will continue to leave our southern border defenseless for more ISIS attacks upon Texas, of an ever-escalating nature. Finally, Jade Helm, or its successor, will be required to bring martial law order to the United States. And sitting in the middle of it all are the lackeys working for this administration who are deliberately agitating the entire scenario through the anarchist practices of Cloward and Piven who have guided this President since day one. People often ask me how Jade Helm could go live? This is my answer.

Credit to Common Sense

American Pharaoh

A number of people have written to notify me of the results of the 141st running of the Kentucky Derby. This premier American thoroughbred horse race was held on May 2nd, 2015. Twenty-one horses competed in what was considered one of the strongest groups of contenders in decades. The winning horse bore the name ofAmerican Pharaoh.

That this race and its winner should evoke thoughts of America’s 44th President is not unusual, for Barack Obama has been linked in the past to horse racing, the Kentucky Derby, and the Pharoah’s of Egypt. Back in 2008, the year in which Barack Obama was elected to his first term as President of the United States, a symbolic event occurred on May 3rd when both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton attended the Kentucky Derby. Following is an excerpt from an article I posted at the time.
---
Pertaining to the election, I want to speak of another sign that arrested my attention some months ago. Back in early May the news was focused upon the Democratic Party’s race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. During the height of the political race an amazing occurrence took place. On May 3rd the Kentucky Derby was held, and there was no better venue for two politicians to be seen than at the race. Before the race Hillary and Barack both were seen near the horses they had chosen to root for. Hillary quite naturally picked the only filly running, which was a horse named Eight Belles. Barack Obama, perhaps because he is a man of color, picked Big Brown.

Interestingly enough Big Brown won the race and Eight Belles came in second, and this is the order in which the Democratic race also ended. A tragedy occurred when Eight Belles collapsed right after she had passed the finish line and began the cool down lap. It was discovered that she had shattered both of her front ankles and she had to be euthanized on the track. Interestingly, Eight Belles was the 40th filly to run in the Kentucky Derby, and 40 denotes judgment as is seen in the flood of Noah’s day when it rained 40 days and nights.

This seems to be a fitting parallel to Hillary Clinton’s run for the presidency. Many thought because of her strong support that she would at least be offered the vice president’s position, but it was offered to Joe Biden instead. Hillary was taken out of the presidential race completely.




Eight Belles Down on the Track at the Kentucky Derby, 2008

Obama was rooting for Big Brown, and this horse won the Kentucky Derby even as Obama later won the Democratic nomination. Big Brown went on to race in the Preakness on May 17th, coming in first by a good margin.

Big Brown was then set to compete in the Belmont Stakes on June 7th to attempt to become a Triple Crown winner. He entered as the overwhelming favorite, and Obama has been the overwhelming favorite to enter the White House. Amazingly, and I do not say this lightly, Big Brown came in dead last at the Belmont Stakes. He was the first triple crown contender to ever come in dead last at the Belmont Stakes.
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Big Brown’s win in both of the first two races of what is referred to as the “triple crown” may correlate to his victories running for President and being elected to two terms. That Big Brown came in “dead last” at the third event of the triple crown surely bears significance as well, a significance that we are yet to see materialize.

In March of 2009, Obama made a trip to the Middle East which included a stopover in Egypt. The President was given a tour of numerous historical sites, including the pyramids and the Sphinx.


Obama Touring Egypt

From the time of Obama’s visit to Egypt, a wide number of sources have commented on the American President’s similar appearance to the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. Numerous photo mash-ups are available online comparing the two.



Pharaoh Akhenaten/President Obama

American Pharaoh By the Numbers



American Pharaoh ran in the 18th position and bore the number 18 during the 141st running of the Kentucky Derby. The number 18 is (6+6+6). The horse is owned by Ahmed Zayat, a businessman from Cairo, Egypt. Zayat Stables bears the following Jersey design.




Zayat Stables, LLC

There are 13 circles on the Jersey. The letter Z is also found on the Jersey, this being the 26th and last letter of the English alphabet. 26 is (2 x 13). The number 13 Biblically signifies rebellion, disintegration, apostasy, and defection.

As to the significance of thirteen, all are aware that it has come down to us as a number of ill-omen. Many superstitions cluster around it, and various explanations are current concerning them.

Unfortunately, those who go backwards to find a reason seldom go back far enough. The popular explanations do not, so far as we are aware, go further back than the Apostles. But we must go back to the first occurrence of the number thirteen in order to discover the key to its significance. It occurs first in Gen 14:4, where we read "Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and the thirteenth year they REBELLED."

Hence every occurrence of the number thirteen, and likewise of every multiple of it, stamps that with which it stands in connection with rebellion, apostasy, defection, corruption, disintegration, revolution, or some kindred idea.
[E.W. Bullinger, Number in Scripture]

That these “kindred ideas” relate to Barack Obama is further revealed in the President’s Secret Service codename of “Renegade,” and in the fact that he is transported in an armored car that is referred to as “the Beast.”

Renegade: a person who deserts and betrays an organization, country, or set of principles.

One must ask what the rationale was in choosing a codename for the President that identifies him as “a person who deserts and betrays (his) country,” or a “principle” (such as democracy). The selection of this codename was deliberate. During Obama’s Presidency the world has witnessed America’s descent from a land of liberty and free enterprise to one of eroding personal rights and growing government surveillance and oppression. It is leading to martial law and perpetual serfdom. This process will accelerate until there is no liberty left in America.

In the Bible, two of the most prominent mentions of a Pharaoh both have associations with the enslavement of a once free people. In the book of Genesis we read of Joseph being sold into Egypt as a slave. At the age of 30 Joseph was brought before the Pharaoh and given authority, wealth, and much glory. Yet, the task Joseph was charged with carrying out would ultimately lead to the enslavement of the citizens of the Egyptian dynastic empire. During the seven years of famine which Joseph prepared for after being divinely informed of its approach, the people of Egypt first gave all their money to Pharaoh in exchange for food. Then they gave up all their livestock. Finally, they gave all their land to Pharaoh. Pharaoh allowed the people to continue to live on the land and farm it, but they were from that time forward required to give one fifth of their crops to Pharaoh.

Genesis 47:13-26
There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, "Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For our money fails." Joseph said, "Give me your livestock; and I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone." They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock for that year. When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, "We will not hide from my lord how our money is all spent, and the herds of livestock are my lord's. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands. Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. Give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land won't be desolate." So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine was severe on them, and the land became Pharaoh's. As for the people, he moved them to the cities from one end of the border of Egypt even to the other end of it. Only he didn't buy the land of the priests, for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them. That is why they didn't sell their land. Then Joseph said to the people, "Behold, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Behold, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. It will happen at the harvests, that you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts will be your own, for seed of the field, for your food, for them of your households, and for food for your little ones." They said, "You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants." Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth.

There is great significance in this account as it relates to the experience of Americans today. The number of Americans relying on government assistance to purchase food has ballooned during the period of Barack Obama’s Presidency. Following is a chart of the number of Americans receiving food assistance by year, beginning with 1975.




In 1969, the average participation in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) stood at 2,878,000. In 2014, average participation grew to 46,536,000 showing an increase of 1516.96 percent.
[Source: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/food-stamp-beneficiaries-exceed-46000000-38-straight-months]

It is estimated that nearly 20%, or 1 in 5 households in America, are receiving government food assistance. As history has shown, and as it is poignantly revealed in the account in the book of Genesis, a people who look to the government for their food will ultimately become subservient to the state. Joseph spoke as Pharaoh’s representative when he said “Behold, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh.”

Throughout the Bible, the Pharaoh’s of Egypt are depicted as slave masters. In the first chapter of the book of Exodus we read of the Pharaoh of Egypt conspiring with his counselors to enslave all of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Thus all Israel was brought into bondage that lasted for 400 years.

Exodus 1:8-14
Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who didn't know Joseph. He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it happen that when any war breaks out, they also join themselves to our enemies, and fight against us, and escape out of the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. They built storage cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They were grieved because of the children of Israel. The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve, and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.

What is the message of the triumph of the horse named American Pharaoh, a horse which wore the number 18 (6+6+6) in the Kentucky Derby? Is it not that America is falling under subjection to a dictator like unto the Pharaoh of Egypt? America has already fallen away from her original governmental principles as a Constitutional Republic. She has fallen under the rule of a ruling oligarchy who enforce their will upon the populace, turning a once free people into perpetual slaves of the state. At this moment there is still an appearance of freedom of movement, of personal direction, but it is nothing more than an illusion. At any time it desires, the government can enforce draconian measures, restrict travel, declare martial law, and turn the entire population into virtual serfs who must become slaves of the state in order to receive their necessary food.

For some time now the government has been making plans to be able to wrest control of all aspects of society including transportation, communication, food distribution, and energy. In a post two years ago I shared the following:

Some of the most threatening, indeed startling, changes of law have been passed by the Congress and President of the United States in recent years without the media giving any attention at all to what is being done. There is absolute silence. For example, I recently posted the words of Congresswoman Kay Granger from the state of Texas. She was seeking to alert the populace to alarming things being done in government. Following is an excerpt from her post.

Dear Friend,

With all that is going in Washington these days some things don’t make the news the way they should. Fourteen days ago President Obama issued an Executive Order that you should know about. This order gives an unprecedented level of authority to the President and the federal government to take over all the fundamental parts of our economy - in the name of national security - in times of national emergency.

This means all of our water resources, construction services and materials (steel, concrete, etc.), our civil transportation system, food and health resources, our energy supplies including oil and natural gas – even farm equipment – can be taken over by the President and his cabinet secretaries. The Government can also draft U.S. citizens into the military and force U.S. citizens to fulfill "labor requirements" for the purposes of "national defense." There is not even any Congressional oversight, only briefings are required.
[Source: Page has been removed]

The part about the Government being able to coerce U.S. citizens to fulfill “labor requirements” is strikingly reminiscent of the actions of the Pharaoh who pressed the Israelites into forced labor, making slaves of an entire people. There have been numerous statements, and even Congressional bills proposed, to make public service mandatory to all U.S. citizens between the ages of 18-25. Although these bills have not gained any traction thus far, they will eventually. This will be only the beginning, for the goal is to make all Americans, indeed all people of the world, indentured servants who will serve a small ruling class of oligarchs. Movies such as The Hunger Games (pay close attention to the wording of the title) are forms of predictive programming which are conditioning the populace to accept the new dystopian society that has been planned for generations. Hunger will be used as an instrument to subdue the people. As in the days of Joseph, men, women, and children will sell their lives in order to receive food to eat.

Interestingly, on Jimmy Fallon’s late night show two days before the running of the Kentucky Derby, they broadcast an element of the show where they predicted which horse would win the race. Instead of horses, they raced puppies. Strikingly, the puppy representing American Pharaoh won the contest, accurately predicting which horse would also win the race.

https://youtu.be/jMsIPmaAILo




This puppy skit makes the matter seem very cute, innocent, and non-threatening, but what is coming to America and the nations will be ugly, harmful, and an act of great oppression.





The wickedness and cruel oppression of the Pharaoh was so great that he even commanded the infanticide of all male babies. Similar acts of the most brutal oppression will be observed in coming days. The evil of what is coming will surpass all the suffering that this sin-cursed world has known up until this time.

Mark 13:19-20
“For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created, until now, and never shall. And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect whom He chose, He shortened the days.”

The triumph of American Pharaoh foretells the defeat and subjugation of the people of America. Who will you look to for your sustenance? Will you do as Christ taught His disciples and beseech the God of heaven to provide you with your daily bread? Or will you turn to the arm of the flesh and be made a slave of the state? The time is far past to begin experiencing a life of practical faith and trust in Yahweh. If you cannot walk by faith in a time of peace, how will you do so in a time of great turmoil.

Credit to Joseph Herrin 

parablesblog.blogspot.com

The Dwindling US Economy

Paul Craig Roberts

The announcement today (April 29) of a barely positive GDP first quarter 2015 growth rate of 0.2 percent (two-tenths of one percent) is an intentional exaggeration.

Today’s GDP report is the “advance estimate.” There will be two revisions, with the first occurring in one month on May 29.

Although the “consensus estimate,” which is Wall Street’s estimate, declined dramatically over the past month, the consensus estimate was for 1.0 percent.

The BEA’s advance estimate bears the burden of impact on financial markets even though it is the least reliable estimate. Subsequent revisions receive much less attention. Because of its market impact, the advance estimate is fudged by the Bureau of Economic Affairs (BEA) in order not to upset financial markets keyed to the consensus forecast.

All indications are that the first quarter experienced negative GDP growth, that is, a decline from the previous quarter. However, if BEA reported a negative GDP when the financial markets were relying on positive real growth, the government’s Plunge Protection Team might be unable to prevent a substantial market decline.

Therefore, the BEA in its advance estimate reported a barely positive result that kept GDP out of negative territory. This gives financial markets a month to undergo an orderly reduction prior to the first and then second revisions of the advance estimate, or simply to forget the poor performance altogether until the second quarter advance estimate.

Maintaining stability and not shocking financial markets is now ingrained in US economic reporting. No government statistical department wants to be blamed for crashing the financial markets. So bad news leaks in slowly if at all.

Indications are that the second quarter 2015 will also have negative GDP growth, that is, a further decline. As John Williams (shadowstats.com) is likely correct that there has been no recovery from the prior recession, just bottom bouncing with stock and bond markets driven by the Fed’s outpouring of liquidity, the first half of 2015 will signal a second downturn in the US economy which is collapsing as a result of jobs offshoring and a deregulated financial system.

The real economic outlook, which will emerge from BEA in a month or two, should be obvious to anyone who had the introductory course to macroeconomics. The economy depends on consumer spending. Consumers have two ways of spending more. One way is from rising incomes. The other way is from rising consumer debt.

With the advent of jobs offshoring, real median family incomes ceased to rise. The ability of consumers to substitute larger debt burdens for the missing growth in their real incomes was used up by Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan’s policy of expanding consumer debt in order to fill in for the missing growth in consumer income. Today consumer debt levels are too high for consumers to incur more debt. The only element of consumer debt showing an increase is student loans.

The offshored jobs were not replaced with the promised “New Economy” jobs. No one has seen any sign of the mythical New Economy jobs. The “New Economy” is the transformation of the once powerful US economy into a third world labor force where new jobs exist only in domestic non-tradable services (services that cannot be exported) such as retail clerks, hospital orderlies, waitresses, and bartenders. As there are not enough of these jobs to go around, the labor force participation rate has dropped sharply.

The United States is an economic basket case. Washington has given away the US economy to Asian countries with lower labor costs. The owners and mangers of capital have benefitted, but the vast bulk of Americans have suffered. As capital’s owners and managers are not sufficiently numerous to drive the economy with their expenditures, the fabled American economy is no more.

What will bring the US economy out of the second leg of the downturn? If massive federal budget deficits and zero interest rates could not correct the first leg of the downturn, what does fiscal and monetary policy have left in its arsenal?

Credit to Paul Craig Roberts