Friday, February 5, 2016
Return Of The Mahdi
The Islamic Mahdi is eagerly awaited by various sects of Muslims around the world, but most notably ISIS and Iranian leaders. Both share the belief in the establishment of a global Islamic state and in the annihilation of non-Muslim nations. And both are actively working towards the fulfillment of the prophecies that would see the Mahdi rule the world.
While there are differences about the details of who he is and what he will do, both share the belief in the establishment of a global Islamic state under his rule and in the annihilation of non-Muslim nations. And both are actively working towards the fulfillment of the prophecies that would see the Mahdi rule the world.
As Dr. Majid Rafizadeh further explains in his recent analysis for frontpagemag.com, these apocalyptic Muslims also believe that this is The End for non-Muslims. As such, Muslims should prepare the world for the coming of the Imam Mahdi (also known as Muhammad al Mahdi) who would establish global Islamic rule and eradicate non-Muslims.
Apocalyptic Muslims have long believed that the appearance of the Mahdi would coincide with a civil war in the lands of sham [Syria], which will destroy the country. In addition, Iraq will be in engulfed with domestic military conflict. They also believe that other non-Muslims will become vulnerable to Muslims and Islamic rulers.
It's interesting to note all the developments that have been taking place especially over the past few years, encouraging and lending credence to the beliefs and hopes of apocalyptic Muslims. But who exactly is this Mahdi expected to be?
According to Dr. Rafizadeh, the Shiite clerics of Iran believe that Mahdi is the child of Muhammad, the hidden Imam and the twelfth Imam. They argue that Muhammad al- Mahdi was born thousands of years ago and disappeared to reappear later when certain signs emerge. On the other hand, the apocalyptic Muslim leaders of the Islamic State believe that Mahdi has not yet been born but this is the time that he will appear in the world.
More importantly, anyone who rules the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic State (currently Khamenei and Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi) considers himself as the only true representative of Imam Mahdi on earth, so long as the Mahdi remains hidden.
This belief is hinged on prophecies attributed to the prophet Muhammed: "Even if the entire duration of the world's existence has already been exhausted and only one day is left before Doomsday, Allah will expand that day to such length of time as to accommodate the kingdom of a person from my Ahlul-Bayt [family of Muhammad] who will be called by my name..."
Neither Iran nor ISIS is passively waiting around for this outcome; rather they are actively and aggressively pushing for its speedy realization. As Michael Kaplan for Ibtimes.com recently reported, Iran has prepared almost 200,000 young men in countries across the Middle East to help with the arrival of the Mahdi, according to Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari.
"The formation of [the Islamic State group] and Takfiri [extremist] groups, and the events that occurred in the past years are paving the ground for the emergence of Imam Mahdi...you can now see the positive results in the readiness of nearly 200,000 young armed men in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen," said Gen. Jafari according to a report attributed to the Middle East Monitor.
Some may be tempted to dismiss these developments as wishful thinking, far removed from Western civilization. As such, they should not give the militarily superior Western nations cause for major concern. At this point, few really expect the entire world to be soon controlled entirely by Islamic jihadists, despite ongoing concerns about ISIS and Iran s ambitions.
In a recent piece published in Christiantoday.com, Hazel Torres quoted U.S. evangelical Christian political strategist Joel C. Rosenberg s views on this. Rosenberg believes that America, in particular, needs to wake up and smell the coffee.
Quoting a Pew Research study, Rosenberg noted that in nine of the 23 nations where the adult Muslim respondents were asked if they believe the Mahdi is coming, half or more said they believed the Mahdi's return would occur in their lifetime.
"In recent years, I've written two series of novels, not simply to entertain, but to help the American people, members of Congress, presidential candidates and others become aware of such Islamic apocalyptic thinking, and various worst-case scenarios that could result if Western leaders are blindsided by enemies they do not understand. Yet far more must be done to ensure that American voters and the leaders they will choose truly understand these facts...The stakes are too high for anything less , Rosenberg wrote.
And it s one more reason that Israel also needs to be prepared for an increased motivation to obliterate it. William Wagner, author of "How Islam Plans to Change the World," supports Rosenberg's call, adding that this prophecy about the coming of the Mahdi explains the anti-Semitism in the Middle East, particularly in Iran and among the ISIS jihadis.
As Wagner told CBN: "They feel like one of the major blocking points for the Mahdi's return is Israel, and that is one reason why they feel like they must destroy Israel".
Credit to prophecynewswatch.com
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=102#Rl2HZeLizeyOPcrr.99
22 Signs That The Global Economic Turmoil We Have Seen So Far In 2016 Is Just The Beginning
As bad as the month of January was for the global economy, the truth is that the rest of 2016 promises to be much worse. Layoffs are increasing at a pace that we haven’t seen since the last recession, major retailers are shutting down hundreds of locations, corporate profit margins are plunging, global trade is slowing down dramatically, and several major European banks are in the process of completely imploding. I am about to share some numbers with you that are truly eye-popping.
Each one by itself would be reason for concern, but when you put all of the pieces together it creates a picture that is hard to deny. The global economy is in crisis, and this is going to have very serious implications for the financial markets moving forward. U.S. stocks just had their worst January in seven years, and if I am right much worse is still yet to come this year. The following are 22 signs that the global economic turmoil that we have seen so far in 2016 is just the beginning…
1. The number of job cuts in the United States skyrocketed 218 percent during the month of January according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
2. The Baltic Dry Index just hit yet another brand new all-time record low. As I write this article, it is sitting at 303.
3. U.S. factory orders have now dropped for 14 months in a row.
4. In the U.S., the Restaurant Performance Index just fell to the lowest level that we have seen since 2008.
5. In January, orders for class 8 trucks (the big trucks that you see shipping stuff around the country on our highways) declined a whopping 48 percent from a year ago.
6. Rail traffic is also slowing down substantially. In Colorado, there are hundreds of train engines that are just sitting on the tracks with nothing to do.
7. Corporate profit margins peaked during the third quarter of 2014 and have been declining steadily since then. This usually happens when we are heading into a recession.
8. A series of extremely disappointing corporate quarterly reports is sending stock after stock plummeting. Here is a summary from Zero Hedge of a few examples that we have just witnessed…
- SHARES OF LIONS GATE ENTERTAINMENT FALL 5 PCT IN EXTENDED TRADE AFTER QUARTERLY RESULTS – RTRS
- TABLEAU SOFTWARE SHARES TUMBLE 40 PCT IN AFTER HOURS TRADING – RTRS
- YRC WORLDWIDE SHARES DOWN 16.4 PCT AFTER THE BALL FOLLOWING RESULTS – RTRS
- SPLUNK INC SHARES DOWN 7.6 PCT IN AFTER HOURS TRADING – RTRS
- LINKEDIN SHARES EXTEND DECLINE, DOWN 24 PCT AFTER RESULTS, GUIDANCE – RTRS
- HANESBRANDS SHARES FURTHER ADD TO LOSSES IN EXTENDED TRADE, LAST DOWN 14.9 PCT – RTRS
- OUTERWALL SHARES FALL 11 PCT IN EXTENDED TRADING AFTER QUARTERLY RESULTS – RTRS
- GENWORTH SHARES DOWN 16.5 PCT AFTER THE BELL FOLLOWING RESULTS, RESTRUCTURING PLAN
9. Junk bonds continue to crash on Wall Street. On Monday, JNK was down to 32.60 and HYG was down to 77.99.
10. On Thursday, a major British news source publicly named five large European banks that are considered to be in very serious danger…
Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Santander, Barclays and RBS are among the stocks that are falling sharply sending shockwaves through the financial world, according to former hedge fund manager and ex Goldman Sachs employee Raoul Pal.
11. Deutsche Bank is the biggest bank in Germany and it has more exposure to derivatives than any other bank in the world. Unfortunately, Deutsche Bank credit default swaps are now telling us that there is deep turmoil at the bank and that a complete implosion may be imminent.
12. Last week, we learned that Deutsche Bank had lost a staggering 6.8 billioneuros in 2015. If you will recall, I warned about massive problems at Deutsche Bank all the way back in September. The most important bank in Germany is exceedingly troubled, and it could end up being for the EU what Lehman Brothers was for the United States.
13. Credit Suisse just announced that it will be eliminating 4,000 jobs.
14. Royal Dutch Shell has announced that it is going to be eliminating 10,000 jobs.
15. Caterpillar has announced that it will be closing 5 plants and getting rid of 670 workers.
16. Yahoo has announced that it is going to be getting rid of 15 percent of its total workforce.
17. Johnson & Johnson has announced that it is slashing its workforce by 3,000 jobs.
18. Sprint just laid off 8 percent of its workforce and GoPro is letting go 7 percent of its workers.
19. All over America, retail stores are shutting down at a staggering pace. The following list comes from one of my previous articles…
-Wal-Mart is closing 269 stores, including 154 inside the United States.
-K-Mart is closing down more than two dozen stores over the next several months.
-J.C. Penney will be permanently shutting down 47 more stores after closing a total of 40 stores in 2015.
-Macy’s has decided that it needs to shutter 36 stores and lay off approximately 2,500 employees.
-The Gap is in the process of closing 175 stores in North America.
-Aeropostale is in the process of closing 84 stores all across America.
-Finish Line has announced that 150 stores will be shutting down over the next few years.
-Sears has shut down about 600 stores over the past year or so, but sales at the stores that remain open continue to fall precipitously.
20. According to the New York Times, the Chinese economy is facing a mountain of bad loans that “could exceed $5 trillion“.
21. Japan has implemented a negative interest rate program in a desperate attempt to try to get banks to make more loans.
22. The global economy desperately needs the price of oil to go back up, but Morgan Stanley says that we will not see $80 oil again until 2018.
It is not difficult to see where the numbers are trending.
Last week, I told my wife that I thought that Marco Rubio was going to do better than expected in Iowa.
How did I come to that conclusion?
It was simply based on how his poll numbers were trending.
And when you look at where global economic numbers are trending, they tell us that 2016 is going to be a year that is going to get progressively worse as it goes along.
So many of the exact same things that we saw happen in 2008 are happening again right now, and you would have to be blind not to see it.
Hopefully I am wrong about what is coming in our immediate future, because millions upon millions of Americans are not prepared for what is ahead, and most of them are going to get absolutely blindsided by the coming crisis.
Credit to Economic Collapse
81% of Germans say refugee crisis 'out of control' under Merkel govt
The vast majority of the country's citizens disagree with Merkel’s refugee policy, according to the poll conducted last weekend. Asked whether “the federal government has the refugee situation under control,” 81 percent of Germans answered “No,” with just 18 percent saying “Yes.”
Those answering “No” also included members of Merkel’s Christian Social Union, with a notable 67 percent of the party’s voters unhappy with the chancellor’s policies.
Voter support for Merkel’s government dropped from 57 percent in July 2015 to 38 percent on February 2016 – “the worst estimate during the current government’s term,”the pollster said.
Germany’s right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) which advocates an anti-immigrant agenda became the third most influential party. It was projected to get 12 percent of the vote if the federal election were held this Sunday.
Most Germans also think more restrictive measures towards refugees and asylum seekers must follow.
A remarkable 88 percent believe the government should curb benefits for refugees who fail or are unwilling to integrate into German society, with 10 percent saying “No” – a measure previously announced by Germany’s Labor Minister Andrea Nahles.
Introducing tougher border control on the EU’s external frontiers and a more detailed processing of asylum seeker applications, debated over the past months in Germany, was also widely supported. Some 63 percent said “Yes” to install the EU’s external border, while 33 percent were opposed.
Consequently, 53 percent of Germans said border controls within EU countries – seen as threatening the Schengen border-free zone by many in Brussels – should be introduced as well.
According to 77 percent of respondents Europe must also set up refugee centers at the EU’s external borders to process migrants’ applications and send back ineligible asylum seekers.
The poll came alongside the so-called “Asylum package II” (Asylpaket II) – the newest set of measures by the German government designed to toughen refugee policies. The package includes putting limits on the number of asylum seekers admitted to Europe, and also an attempt to integrate those who have already reached Germany. Refugees will have to take integration courses, costing €10 a month.
Credit to RT
In Greece, Familiar Scenes Are Back: General Strike, Molotov Cocktails, Tear Gas
Greece was fixed for a few months, when the so-called "anti-austerity" government of PM Tsipras which came to power just over a year ago did what each on its predecessors did by kicking the can and trading off what little sovereignty Greece has left for promises of more cash from Europe, but it is broken once again.
Earlier today, services across Greece ground to a halt Thursday as workers joined in a massive general strike that cancelled flights, ferries and public transport, shut down schools, courts and pharmacies, and left public hospitals with emergency staff. Even the undertakers are striking.
Thursday's general strike is the most significant the coalition government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has faced since he initially came to power about a year ago. As an opposition party, Tsipras' radical left Syriza party had led opposition to pension reforms, but he was forced into a dramatic policy U-turn last year when he faced the stark choice of signing up to a third bailout or the country being kicked out of the eurozone.
The strike comes as the government negotiates with Greece's international debt inspectors, who returned to Athens this week to review progress on the country's bailout obligations. The central Athens hotel where the inspectors were staying was heavily guarded by police.
As CBC reports, well over 20,000 supporters of a Communist party-backed union were marching through central Athens, while around 10,000 more people — including about 1,000 lawyers in suits and ties — were gathering for a separate demonstration. A heavy police presence was deployed in the capital, as previous protests have often degenerated into riots.
Unions are angry at pension reforms that are part of Greece's third international bailout. The left-led government is trying to overhaul the country's ailing pension system by increasing social security contributions to avoid pension cuts, but critics say the reforms will lead many to lose two-thirds of their income to contributions and taxes.
Opposition to the reform has been vociferous, uniting a disparate group of professions, including farmers, artists, taxi drivers, lawyers, doctors, engineers and seamen among others.
Demonstrations were also planned in Thessaloniki — where about 200 taxi drivers drove through the city centre honking their horns in protest Thursday — and other Greek cities.
Proving just how messed up things in Greece are, Syriza has even issued a statement backing Thursday's strike: a strike aimed at Syriza!
The sentiment on the ground is back to square minus one: Athens pensioner Yannis Kouvalakis said Tsipras' government "fooled" Greeks by promising to reverse austerity cuts.
"Because they are from the left, what happened? Was the situation saved? Things got worse. They'd said they'd give some money to pensioners or the unemployed, increase the minimum wage to 750 euros (per month)," he said. "They cut five euros from my pension ... What can they give? Forget it."
Ferries between Greece's islands and the mainland remained tied up in port as part of the strike, while only limited public transport was operating in Athens for a few hours in the day and taxis also stayed off the streets. More than a dozen domestic flights were cancelled, while farmers maintained their blockades of highways that have forced motorists into lengthy detours.
State-run hospitals were functioning on emergency staff, while state schools, many shops and gas stations were shut.
Meanwhile, the mood earlier today reverted to one seen years ago, when violence among a small group of people, engaging in exchanges of Molotov cocktails and tear gas with riot police, was the daily norm.
Credit to
Derek Gatopoulos
Zero Hedge
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