Confession

To one & all,
Many might think this blog solely a rant of "Doom & Gloom". While it may appear so on the surface, the waters run much, much deeper. It is primarily a Wake Up Call to America; A voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord Yashua ha Mashaich (King Jesus the Christ, God our Salvation). I use the true Hebrew rendering of His name & title because it honors Him. Our English translated Greek translation, the "Lord Jesus Christ" muddies the "waters" as it were.

During my 50+ years upon this earth, I have experienced & witnessed people, places & things, most will never encounter. This is not a brag, but a praise to Yashua for all the opportunities he has given me. From all these experiences & through His Word, YHWH has also given me a panoramic perspective of our world, time & events (past, present & future), not wholly unlike He gave the OT prophets. Not that I claim to be a Prophet by any means, save that He shows me as they saw through His eyes. While the details aren't always crystal clear, the far-reaching scope from end to end is. It's kinda like God fixing & positioning His panoramic camera or telescope, and saying, "Look! See what is shown you!" "Now, go tell what you see!" Hence, the Watchman on the wall...

I remember America as she once was, a young nation, full of hope & promise, albeit an adolescent in her attitudes, actions & perceptions. Brash, arrogant, even racist, but ever holding forth hope & faith in God's Word and His promises. The Ten Commandments & Biblical, Judeo-Christian precepts were still the basis for our rule of law. All government proceedings, school classes & church services were opened with prayer and/or Bible readings, only in Jesus' name. We were sure & certain of Yeshua's place and hand upon our nation; there was, is, always would be, no other name under Heaven given, whereby we must be redeemed (saved). Only building upon this foundation was our nation blessed above all others on the face of the earth. Growth & prosperity abounded, industry & farming flourished, churches & schools excelled, our leaders & governments held themselves accountable to God and us. The Gospel of Christ was sent out unto all the world. We were YHWH's beacon of light for everyone to see. But then, the unthinkable began to happen...

Through legislation, hardheartedness, apostasy, compromise, spiritual adultery & idolatry, we began, like the children of Israel, to seek other gods. The god of greed, lust, power, covetousness, murder, psycho-drugs, promiscuity, adultery, and all other deadly vices, was allowed into our homes, our schools, our businesses, our government and our churches with his enticement of lies. Little by little, he altered our thinking, then our actions. "You shall not surely die, you shall be as God!", he said, and we believed. Over the course of four generations, we exchanged the truth of YHWH for a lie, and went from favored status to a nation dying in its wickedness. You cannot truly think or say America's best days are still ahead!!! That's a lie! You're blind & foolish to even consider the thought! America is in darkness, and getting darker by the hour, and I really don't know if YHWH has any grace and mercy left for our nation!

Only as individuals does hope flicker for our land. Individuals who determine their state before YHWH, and seek Him with a repentant, whole heart and purposed mind. Individuals who then become fishers of men, to uphold the Word of God in all it puts forth, chiefly the Word become flesh, as our God, Savior & King Yeshua. Individuals who would choose to serve Him rather than men. Mothers, fathers & children who would cling to Christ rather than the world. Only then does America have any breath of life remaining, or any hope for the future.

Granted, I am an ardent student of prophecy. A student who adheres to all the prophecies of the "End Times". These prophecies of both our Messiah Yeshua and the OT Prophets outline the End of the Age of the Gentiles (where we are nearing), King Yeshua's return for His church ( his body of believers, both living & dead into new incorruptible bodies), The physical appearance of persons known as the Anti-Christ & the Beast who lead the One World Order, the rebuilding of the Third Temple in Jerusalem, the Seven Years of Tribulation upon the Earth, the Final Return of Lord Yeshua to defeat the Anti-Christ, the Beast & Lucifer at the Mount of Megiddo, the Millennial (1000 year) reign of King Yeshua over the earth. A last victorious battle over Lucifer, and then, Yeshua creating a new universe in which we will reign with Him forever. These are all well described & detailed in the Holy Scriptures written by YHWH, Yeshua, The Spirit of Holiness, Elohim, El Shaddai, Himself. The names of GOD are important, as they are descriptors of His attributes; His Omniscience, His Holiness, His Love, His Mercy, His Justice, His Omnipotence.

As a further point of discussion, many Americans are falsely convinced that our Supreme Court's & Congress' rulings with regard to "Separation of Church & State" as a mandate to Separation from YHWH, Yeshua. Our nation's forefathers, namely Jefferson, NEVER entertained this thought! Jefferson's personal letter to a local Baptist minister was in the context of not establishing a particular denomination in America, such as Catholicism did in Europe. It was NEVER meant to rip out America's heart toward Christ! Every signer of our Declaration of Independence was deeply familiar with YHWH, the Gospel of Christ and the Holy Scriptures. Their familiarity is exhibited in every line they wrote. The ideas of Islam, Mohammed, or any other errant faith, or atheism was NEVER considered! There is no other faith than Christ! Today's philosophy ascribes this perceived separation to exclude YHWH, Yashua, and the Spirit of Holiness from all aspects of American life and pursuits. Our embrace of these falsehoods is exactly a major cause of our present cancer. Again, we exchanged the truth for a lie, and the results are more than apparent. They are devastating...

In all, it's an increasingly horrific world in which we now live. But as a believer in Christ, we have hope, joy, peace and assurance. YHWH, Yashua is for us, who can stand against us? This is where our past, present & future has always been. Not in the empty promises of man, not in the lies of the Accuser. Only in GOD in Christ. Forever.

Choose You This Day America; Liberty or Bondage

Our government is bankrupting us not only financially, but throwing the morale of the nation into the abyss, and casting all present & future generations of Americans into slavery.

Before anything further in this blog, let me state this overriding axiom above all else, "If you take YHWH (GOD) out of the equation, the formula fails." This is not a laboratory tested theorem, but a life tested fact borne out by 7000 years of human civilization. Every empire heretofore who neglects YHWH and his precepts has failed; Babylon, Medo-Persia, Assyria, Egypt, Greco-Macedonia, Han, Rome, Ottoman, et al. "Where there is no vision (YHWH given, driven) the people perish, but happy are they who keep YHWH's Word." Prov. 29:18 para. (circa 1000 BC). America is next in line.

In 1948*, the United States of America embarked on this very same downhill slide of history. In 2008, the avalanche began in earnest. Most likely, it is irreversible. What began in the courtrooms & classrooms has now permeated all aspects of American existence; from the family room to the boardroom. We are being told & reminded constantly that our issues are financial and/or economic, but this is a flat out lie. As I have reiterated over & over, we are dying from spiritual cancer. What began in the heart has spread to every member of the body, and is eating us up from the inside out. I wish I didn't have to be so emphatic about this, but you, the patient, everyone you know, our children, our grandchildren are showing the signs and effects of this terminal disease.

Our government and all its experts think throwing our money at it will fix it. Many US citizens hope beyond reason a new president will fix it. Our Congress keeps proposing new ways to put fingers in the dike, hoping to delay the inevitable, while driving our nation faster into bankruptcy. Every day they commit more & more of our resources to their failing endeavors only brings us more quickly to our collapse.

For sixty (60) years, nearly four generations of Americans, have been inundated with vain & false philosophies, brainwashed by errant science & theories, victimized by societal deterioration, and choked by governmental & fiscal irresponsibility. All because we didn't believe YHWH. We deemed His Word nothing more than myths, fables, helpful hints at best, but a great collection spot for family records. We decided His redemptive work in Yeshua ha' Mashiach is irrelevant, unhistorical, and inapplicable. Yet, we see and dare not deny the results of these decisions.

So, given the conclusion of our terminal condition, do we go for the quick, sharp sting of death, or do we keep prolonging the painful, suffering agony with haphazard life support? It already appears we have opted for the latter, so prepare for excruciating spasms of distress in the days ahead. We, as a people and a nation, would rather partake of the disease, than seek the Healer who can heal all ills.

All it would require on our part is a choice. Albeit, not a lightly made choice, because this choice would change our hearts, our entire nation, and our standing in the world. Our forefathers made it, and it set the tone for America for nearly 200 years. Their choice made us the envy of every other nation on earth, but yet we turned our backs and discarded it as outdated, misinterpreted, discriminatory, hate speech.

We are a nation at the crossroad of decision. Do we continue this broad road to destruction, or choose the narrow path which leads to life? If you truly, deeply care about yourself, your spouse, your children, your neighbor, your country, then bow your head & your heart in this prayer:

Our Father of Heaven and earth, in whom we live and breathe and have our being, God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, our King, our Savior, in Christ, we have sinned against you and you alone. We have forsaken your Word and your precepts, and gone our own way. Oh, Lord Jesus (Yashua), we repent of our wickedness, our adultery against you. You who bore our iniquities upon the cross, died, and rose from the dead to give us life eternal. Forgive us our sinfulness, come in and make new our hearts & minds by your Spirit. We commit our way, our lives, our land unto you. Let us make your Word the lamp unto our feet & the light unto our path once again. Heal us this day, our Strength & our Redeemer. Amen

YHWH, Yashua says, "If my people, on whom My name is called, shall be humbled, and shall pray, and shall seek My face, and shall turn back from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." II Chron 7:14

It doesn't matter your political persuasion, your sexual preference, your religious denomination, your economic condition, your stubbornness of heart, or your mind of unbelief, God (YHWH, YASHUA) will keep His Word. He cannot lie. He cannot fail. He cannot deny Himself.

"Keep remembering Yashua ha' Mashiach (Jesus the Christ) has been raised from the dead. And if we died with him, then we shall also live with him. The Lord knows them that are his. The Word of God is not bound (restricted by human effort). Even if we don't believe, yet he remains ever faithful: for he cannot deny himself." II Tim 2 para.

The time of wasting away is past. The day of reckoning is soon upon us. Do we want to be healed? Do we want GOD to be God over us? Do we imagine that judgment has not come upon us, or that we shall escape the effects of our actions?

"The Lord of the promise is not slow, as some deem (count) slowness, but is long-suffering (infinitely patient) toward us, not having purposed any of us to perish, but for all of us to come to repentance (turn back to Him)." II Peter 3:9

"Thus says the LORD, In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in this day of salvation have I helped you: and I will preserve you." Is 49:8 "Know you the God of your father, and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts: if you seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off for ever." II Chron 28:9

To heck with political correctness, all other imaginations of religion & righteousness be condemned. Either we choose according to God's Word or fail miserably. It couldn't be simpler or more dire. Only after we choose thusly, can we, "Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, you who are made righteous; and shout for joy, all you who are made upright in heart!" Ps 32:11

*U.S. Supreme Court ruling, McCollum v. Board of Education: The court found faith in Christ instruction in public schools to be a violation of the establishment clause and therefore unconstitutional.

How deep does the rabbit hole go?

As a military veteran (ret.) who has lived & traveled in 37 American states and 17 foreign countries, it has always been starkly apparent that each nation’s peoples have a myopic world view. Americans are only dimly aware of the world at large, and are most often criticized for their inflated self-importance in dealing with & living among foreigners. Many home grown Americans have long expected everyone else to speak English and cater to their Western lifestyle, even when traveling abroad. Ambassadors, diplomats, & envoys live and stay within a Americanized compound, and rarely venture out beyond a choreographed expedition or shopping spree. By contrast, American GIs occupying foreign soil get first hand experience of living among the populace.

The same can be said for our pre-packaged, filtered world news as presented by the mainstream media. We only get topical news that barely skims the surface, or tells of a particular atrocity or calamity. Of course we know of famine, starvation, civil war, foreign invasion in Darfur, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Georgia and the like, but how much do we really tie it all together to include America in the global big picture? How much do we know & understand the vast behind the scenes machinations which effect all of us?

Do we truly pay attention to the details? The present global financial crisis is beginning to show everyone just how effusive the money trail goes from continent to continent, country to country, government to government, bank to bank, broker to broker, straight out of your wallet.

Let’s see from another viewpoint, in this case German newspaper, Der Spiegel, just how broad & deep the rabbit hole goes: (Keep in mind the United States is the IMF's largest shareholder to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, also partly taxpayer funded.)

What Happens when Countries Go Bankrupt?

By SPIEGEL Staff, Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan

First it was mortgage lenders. Then large banks began to wobble. Now, entire countries, including Ukraine and Pakistan, are facing financial ruin. The International Monetary Fund is there to help, but its pockets are only so deep.

No, Alexander Lukyanchenko told reporters at a hastily convened press conference last Tuesday, there is "no reason whatsoever to spread panic." Anyone who was caught trying to throw people out into the street, he warned, would have the authorities to deal with.

Lukyanchenko is the mayor of Donetsk, a city in eastern Ukraine with a population of a little more than one million. For generations, the residents of Donetsk have earned a living in the surrounding coalmines and steel mills, a rather profitable industry in the recent past. Donetsksta, a local steel producer, earned €1.3 billion ($1.65 billion) in revenues last year.

But last Tuesday the mayor, returning from a meeting with business leaders, had bad news: two-thousand metalworkers would have to be furloughed. Lukyanchenko doesn't use the word furlough, instead noting that the workers will be doing "other, similar work." But every other blast furnace has already been shut down, and one of the city's largest holding companies is apparently gearing up for mass layoffs.

Under these conditions, how could panic not be rampant in Donetsk, the capital of Ukraine's industrial heartland? In Mariupol, a steelworking city, a third of the workers have already been let go. The chemical industry, Ukraine's second-largest source of export revenue, is also ailing. In the capital Kiev, booming until recently, construction cranes are at a standstill while crowds jostle in front of currency exchange offices, eager to convert their assets into US dollars.

Donetsk is in eastern Ukraine, 8,100 kilometers (5,030 miles) from New York's Wall Street and 2,700 kilometers (1,677 miles) from Canary Wharf, London's financial center. But such distances are now relative. The world financial crisis has reached a new level. No longer limited to banks and companies, it is now spreading like wildfire and engulfing entire economies. It has reached Asia and Latin America, Eastern Europe, Iceland the Seychelles, the Balkan nation of Serbia and Africa's southernmost country, South Africa.

It is a development that has investors and speculators alike holding their breath. Some are pulling their money out of troubled countries, while others are betting on a continued decline -- and in doing so are only accelerating the downturn. Central banks are desperately trying to halt the downward trend, but in many cases the plunge seems unstoppable.

At first, it seemed as if the crash could be limited to Iceland. But now countries like Ukraine, Pakistan and Argentina are proving to be almost as vulnerable as the small island nation in the North Atlantic. It seems as though another country is added to the growing list of nations on the verge of collapse almost daily.

A national bankruptcy isn't just some theoretical construct. Argentina experienced it in 2001 and Russia three years earlier. Germany has gone bankrupt twice in its more recent history, once in 1923 and the second time after 1945. A country has reached this final stage if, as a result of war or blatant mismanagement, it has gambled away all trust, can no longer service its debt or convince anyone to lend it any money, no matter how high an interest rate it promises to pay.

This is what is currently happening to Iceland. The central bank in the capital Reykjavik increased its prime rate by six points to 18 percent last week. Venezuela, where inflation is also high, is now offering 20 percent to stimulate interest in its government bonds. At the moment, however, investors are shying away from all risk.

In the end, the rating agencies will have no choice but to downgrade the problem countries to their lowest level of creditworthiness. When that happens, lenders will have no choice but to write off much of their money. For citizens, national bankruptcy would probably lead to massive inflation.

The threshold countries, described until recently as "emerging" economies, are in for an especially rough ride. "The dream that they would be spared seems to have come to an end," says Rolf Langhammer, vice-president of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Countries like Russia and Brazil owe their recent success in large part to the boom in commodities the world has experienced in recent years. But now prices for oil, copper, wheat and corn have plunged and a giant spiral of debt has begun to turn. The companies and banks that borrowed vast amounts of money abroad for their investments can no longer service their debt, and investors are pulling out their capital. As foreign currency becomes scarce and imports unaffordable, the currencies of these countries are losing value, which only increases the mountain of debt.

According to Stephen Jen, a currency specialist with the US bank Morgan Stanley, the flow of capital to threshold countries could drop by more than half -- from the current level of €575 billion ($730 billion) to €230-270 billion ($292-343 billion) -- if world economic growth drops to only 1 percent in 2009. The demise of these countries, says Jen, represents the new "epicenter of the global crisis."

The looming crisis has the countries in most dire need lining up for emergency loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But all they are doing is buying time -- a few weeks, or perhaps even months -- and hoping that the general situation will soon improve.

The Ghost of Buenos Aires

The signs of looming national bankruptcy are plentiful, and bankers in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo know them well. In late 2001, they were the first to see the coming crash in Argentina. Men traveled across the Rio de la Plata, from Buenos Aires to Montevideo, carrying suitcases filled with US dollars. They stood in long lines at the city's banks, depositing the contents of their suitcases into accounts and safe deposit boxes there. Uruguay is South America's Switzerland, a safe haven for money in times of crisis. No one asks about where the millions come from.

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Argentina in crisis.

Once the Argentine businessmen had transferred their dollars abroad, the second phase of the collapse began. The Argentine government froze all bank accounts, capping the maximum amount an accountholder could withdraw at only $250 (€198) a week. Small investors, those who had left their money in the banks, were the hardest hit. Tens of thousands of desperate citizens stormed the banks, and many spent nights sleeping in front of the automated teller machines.

The last phase of the downturn began in the Buenos Aires suburbs. After consumption had dropped by 60 percent, young men began looting supermarkets. In December 2001, 40,000 people gathered on Plaza de Mayo in front of the Casa Rosada, the presidential palace. There, they banged pots and pans together day and night, until an unnerved President Fernando de la Rúa fled by helicopter.

The image of the fleeing president has burned itself into the collective memory of Argentineans. It marks the worst financial crisis of the last 100 years. De la Rúa's successor allowed the peso to float free on the world currency-exchange markets after it had been pegged to the US dollar at a ratio of 1:1. Tens of thousands of small business owners, who had incurred debt when the peso was still pegged to the dollar, filed for bankruptcy. Unemployment quickly ballooned to 25 percent.

Five presidents passed through the Casa Rosada in the space of two weeks, until Nestor Kirchner, a provincial governor until then, assumed the presidency in 2003. Kirchner informed the country's international creditors that Argentina would not be able to repay its $145 billion (€115 billion) in foreign debt.

Is history repeating itself today?

Economic experts have been warning for months that Argentina is again heading toward national bankruptcy. Men are traveling to Uruguay once again with suitcases filled with cash. In the space of only three weeks, more than $700 million (€553 million) was withdrawn from Argentine bank accounts. Government bonds have lost more than half of their value. ATMs are no longer giving out more than 300 pesos, and inflation is running rampant.

Bailing Out a Sinking Ship with a Bowl

And the sound of pots and pans being banged together is back. President Cristina Fernandez, who succeeded her husband Nestor Kirchner in 2007, increasingly resembles the hapless de la Rúa. Last week, she presented her version of the "Corralito" -- the term used to describe the freezing of bank accounts in 2001 -- when she ordered the nationalization of private pension funds, allegedly to prevent the funds from going bankrupt.

But economic experts believed that Fernandez's true objective in nationalizing the private deposits, which are worth $30 billion (€24 billion), is to avert a government bankruptcy. Columnist Mario Grondona criticized the president, likening her to "a captain trying to save a sinking ship by bailing it out with a bowl from the kitchen."

Her husband was more decisive. He defied the IMF, which has sought to impose drastic rules on the country. He alienated international creditors by offering to buy back government bonds for only 25 percent of their face value. Since then, Argentina has received almost no new loans in the global financial marketplace.

Nevertheless, the country recovered from the crash with astonishing speed. In recent years, the Argentine economy has grown at impressive rates of 7 to 9 percent. At the first signs of the impending end of the boom, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez came to the country's rescue by buying up Argentine bonds. But now the authoritarian Venezuelan leader can no longer serve as Argentina's savior. With oil prices sharply in decline, Venezuela itself is seen as yet another candidate for economic disaster.

This has prompted President Fernandez to discreetly seek rapprochement with the hated IMF and the Club de Paris, a group of lending nations made up of some of the world's richest countries, in an attempt to reconnect Argentina to the international lending cycle.

The European Union's Achilles Heel

Hungary is another country being hit hard by the financial crisis. Until recently, the Hungarian government would not have dreamed it would be forced to accept aid from the IMF. But in recent days Hungary barely avoided sliding into national bankruptcy, and only a €12.5 billion ($15.9 billion) IMF rescue package -- bolstered by billions more from the European Union and the World Bank -- prevented it from happening.

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The collapse of the forint.

The incident has historic significance. Hungary is the first country in the European Union obliged to accept an IMF loan of this nature. The conservative newspaper Magyar Nemzet writes that the move will turn Hungary into the "only colony of the International Monetary Fund" within the EU. The opposition party calls the plan "a disgrace." Brussels's contribution was €6.5 billion ($8.26 billion), while the World Bank contributed another €1 billion ($1.27 billion). The measures represent the most comprehensive international rescue package assembled in the current financial crisis.

How could this have happened, an EU member finding itself in such difficulties?

Much of the blame for Hungary's current debacle lies with the failings of the past. The once-successful nation of 10 million people lived beyond its means for years. With government finances spinning out of control, the national debt ballooned to two-thirds of the country's GDP. "The funding for our excessively high standard of living came from other countries," admits András Simor, the governor of the central bank, not without a dose of self-criticism.

The Hungarians have always been considered shopaholics. Hundreds of thousands bought themselves big cars and went on shopping sprees in the chic boutiques on Váci Utca in Budapest -- all on credit. The real estate market boomed, turning close to 90 percent of Hungarian apartments are privately owned. Most mortgage loans were denominated in euros and Swiss francs. But that practice has taken its toll. As the Hungarian forint plunges in value, mortgage holders are suddenly paying astronomical interest rates. It was primarily this dependency on other countries that has fueled the crisis in Hungary. Ironically, Budapest was once seen as a role model for other countries seeking EU membership. But instead of following in the footsteps of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and introducing structural reforms after the collapse of communism, the Hungarians kept growing their national debt. A few days before the runoff vote in the 2002 parliamentary election, the conservative government of then Prime Minister Viktor Orban increased pensions by a substantial amount. Orban's successor, Peter Medgyessy, a socialist, introduced a 50 percent salary hike for teachers and healthcare workers.

The current premier, Ferenc Gyurcsány, also chose borrowing as his preferred method, at least initially. Only when the planned introduction of the euro threatened to become a more distant possibility for his country did Gyurcsány change course and encourage saving, at least to the extent possible. The opposition fought against the necessary reforms with missionary zeal. A referendum eventually broke the deadlock, and Gyurcsány was forced to put his savings plans on ice.

Nevertheless, the socialist was able to celebrate a few modest successes. The country's public deficit was brought down from more than 9 percent of gross domestic product in 2006 to about 3 percent more recently. But this was still not enough to help the country withstand the tremors of the financial crisis. "Before we were able to reach a safe harbor," says central bank Governor Simor, "the hurricane caught up with United States"

After receiving international credit assurances, neighboring Austria can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Its financial institutions, including Erste Bank, the Raiffeisen savings bank and Austria-Creditanstalt, have a strong presence in Hungary, where they control 22 percent of the banking sector. These days, it is quite possible that a crisis in small countries could end up pulling larger ones into its vortex.

Ukrainian Crash

Further east, the Ukrainian Central Bank last Thursday set the official exchange for the country's currency at 5.70 hryvna per US dollar. But its effort was in vain. By noon, currency traders in Odessa were already charging 9 hryvna for a dollar, until they were forced to close when their supply of greenbacks ran out. Ukrainians with rents to pay in dollars -- a common practice in many parts of the country -- suddenly faced the prospect that they couldn't pay their landlords come Nov. 1.

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Problems in Ukraine.

Europeans are familiar with the constant trouble between Yulia Tymoshenko, the prime minister, and President Viktor Yushchenko, her curmudgeonly rival. But it is less well known that Ukraine was in a better economic position than Hungary until recently.

Massive amounts of foreign capital began flowing into the country in 2007. The Ukrainian market was attractive and brought in unexpectedly large investments. At the same time, the price of steel, Ukraine's top export, was ballooning on the world market. The price of a ton of steel in July, €189 ($240), was already €55 ($70) higher than at the beginning of the year.

After the government had forecast 6.5 percent GDP growth, the precipitous drop in Ukraine's economy came as a shock to Kiev's political elite, especially in a country that was barely integrated into the global financial system. Ukraine was in a "state of euphoria," and yet it was unable to cope with the massive influx of capital, say the Eastern Europe specialists at the University of Bremen. Pensions and wages were raised, in some cases savings accounts lost at the end of the Soviet era were replaced and banks issued loans without examining their borrowers' creditworthiness. This stimulated consumption, with consumers increasingly spending their newfound riches on imports. But then the price of steel plummeted.

Could the IMF Run Out of Money?

In only one year, the foreign debt rose from €27 billion ($34.3 billion) to €78 billion ($99 billion), of which €23 billion ($29 billion) is due by the end of 2009. But Kiev is no longer receiving any loans from abroad, while Ukrainians are withdrawing their savings from domestic banks to the greatest extent possible.

Europe's largest nation is a textbook example of how an economic cycle can collapse in only a few months. The Ukraine specialists in Bremen assume that the country could face "a deep national crisis" in 2009, the "consequences of which are difficult to predict."

A vicious circle has already been put in place, now that steel mills are cancelling their coal orders. The coals mines, most of which survive on loans, can no longer pay the utilities, which in turn are shutting off the power supply. Winter is around the corner and Kiev has not yet reached a definitive agreement with Moscow over natural gas prices. Indeed, Moscow could be tempted, once again, to take advantage of the plight of its reviled neighbor.

It is "like a tornado" that increases in strength every day, says one industry leader. Some are already calling for a return of the barter economy, an antiquated system of trading among companies, which was implemented in the early 1990s when money was scarce. "It would be like turning away from the market economy," warns former President Leonid Kravchuk.

The head of the Ukrainian central bank characterizes the €13 billion ($16.5 billion) that the IMF is now providing as "technical bankruptcy." But the IMF is also attaching conditions to its bailout for Ukraine. They include a freeze on social services, increasing natural gas prices, privatizing government-owned businesses and eliminating subsidies.

Last week, the Ukrainian parliament held a heated debate over a crisis program. But the president and the prime minister did what they have been doing for months, taking advantage of the crisis to continue their duel. Tymoshenko, with her populist politics, is to blame for the plight, Yushchenko complained. Tymoshenko promptly responded by calling the president's decision to schedule new elections now "criminal."

Ukraine never fulfilled obligations, warns one of the country's former leading economists. In an article titled "Kiev's Crackup," the Wall Street Journal writes that Ukraine's only hope for success is to find new political leaders.

Concerns of a Pakistani Meltdown

Thousands of miles away last Wednesday, a powerful earthquake struck in Pakistan, killing about 300 people in poverty-stricken Beluchistan Province. It was yet another blow to country whose troubles are myriad and serious. The nuclear-armed country has been plagued by suicide bombings, corruption scandals and radical Islamists -- and now by the financial crisis.

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The rupee plummets.

On the day before the quake, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was in Pakistan, on a visit that signaled Islamabad's importance for the West. Although Pakistan does not occupy a key position in the global financial system, the fear that this country, of all places, could collapse sends a cold shiver down the spines of observers.

Last Tuesday, according to reports, there were only two to three weeks separating Pakistan, a nation of 165 million, from bankruptcy. Pakistan, says Steinmeier, "was hit hard." He supports an immediate IMF loan to Pakistan to the tune of several billion euros.

Islamabad's economy has been in a free fall for months. Skyrocketing prices for oil and food drove up the inflation rate, while ongoing terrorist attacks by Islamist extremists drove away investors. Few doubt that the current situation could lead to anarchy in Pakistan, a country already under stress from numerous forces. If the government fails completely, the consequences will be more serious that in other nation threatened by the financial crisis.

In speeches to business leaders in Lahore and Karachi Shaukat Tarin, a former banker at Citibank and the current financial advisor to Pakistan's prime minister, promised an entire package of measures. But without money they are not feasible. They include government subsidies for agriculture, expansion of the energy sector to do away with the country's chronic power outages and simplification of the tax system.

In addition, President Asif Ali Zardari is proposing a program he calls the "Benazir Card," named after his murdered wife Benazir Bhutto, which would entitle seven million needy citizens to monthly welfare benefits. Poverty is a mounting problem in Pakistan, where inflation is at 25 percent and a budget deficit and shortage of currency reserves have led to significant subsidy cuts and growing hunger.

Quick action is needed. It would be catastrophic were the unity of Pakistan threatened -- a unity already fragile given the lack of authority the government and its representatives has in many tribal regions. An estimated €11.5 billion ($14.6 billion) in aid will be needed for the next two years, although Shaukat Tarin puts that number at only €2.3 billion ($2.9 billion). Commitments so far, however, include only €1 billion ($1.27 billion) from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Now that China has only offered to build two nuclear power plants, instead of contributing a hoped-for $1 billion (€790 million) financial injection, the only remaining big spender is the unpopular IMF.

An IMF loan would be tied to savings requirements, but these would not necessarily apply to the defense budget. The army is the only stabilizing force in the country. Weakening it would not be helpful in the war on terror.

Pakistan's military has already put a stop to the construction of its €160 million ($203 million) new headquarters in Islamabad. But irking the keepers of the country's nuclear bombs with additional savings requirements would be dangerous. The West's greatest concern is that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal (an estimated 60 warheads and 70 delivery missiles) could end up in the wrong hands.

Only foreign capital can prevent more and more of the poor seeking their salvation among the radical mullahs. Pakistan cannot be allowed to become insolvent, and for this reason the IMF's offer of assistance is inescapable. Indeed, there is already evidence of improvement for Pakistan. In two weeks, a group called Friends of Democratic Pakistan, which includes the United States, the EU, Japan and a few Gulf nations, will meet in Abu Dhabi. And now that the German foreign minister paid a visit to Saudi Arabia last week, the wealthy oil-producing nation is also on board. Steinmeier had urged the hesitant Saudi king to take part in the Pakistan rescue program, apparently with success.

Can the IMF Keep Up?

But what happens if the IMF runs out of money? The Washington-based financial fire department has already promised to pony up €27 billion ($34.3 billion) for Iceland, Ukraine and Hungary. This is about one-fifth of the funds the IMF currently has available for such packages, and Pakistan is looming.

DER SPIEGEL

Can the IMF afford to help?

Should the virus of financial failure continue to spread, the €156 billion currently available to the IMF would soon be exhausted. If that happened, the major industrialized nations would have to inject additional funds and provide the IMF, possibly through loans, with fresh capital for the high-risk countries. Global investors would hardly be interested.

And what happens if capital flight from the faltering threshold countries fuels the greed of speculators even further? For months now, they have been betting their money on, not just the ruin of banks and insurance companies, but the demise of entire countries. "It's blood in the water for the hedge fund sharks," wrote Britain's Sunday Telegraph, noting that economies like Hungary's are simply too weak to resist.

"Major players in the foreign currency market, like hedge funds and banks, are betting on the further decline of Eastern European currencies," says Hans-Günter Redeker, chief strategist with the foreign currency division of French banking conglomerate BNP Paribas. The gamblers have also set their sights on Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Turkey. Even Russia, the natural resource paradise, is seen as a worthwhile bet, because it will hardly be able to defend the ruble for much longer, given the massive exodus of capital.

The entire world is currently spooked by the Argentine ghost. Even if wealthy countries reach out to ailing nations, some governments will not survive the storm. Even this would not be truly dramatic. But if the industrialized nations then decide to leave the threshold countries to their own devices, the ensuing wildfire will burn indefinitely.

By Beat Balzli, Rüdiger Falksohn, Jens Glüsing, Alexander Jung, Marion Kraske and Christian Neef

Epitaph for America

I do pray YHWH's forgiveness and help for our newly elected leader and our nation, but then I hear the Savior's words echoing in my head, "Father, forgive them for they don't know what they're doing." "They wouldn't believe the Prophets, and neither will they hear my words."

America's candidates & electees for President have been been exceedingly worse since Ronald Reagan. We were blessed as a nation under Reagan because at his core, he was a man of Faith. Faith in Christ, faith in His Word. No President since, even G. Bush, has exhibited that trait. Now America has elected the most radical, leftist, Muslim & domestic terrorist sympathizing, Israel back-stabbing, double-talking, socialist liberal in the nation to lead us. Did I fail to make myself clear? We will reap what we have sown. Don't misconstrue this dire situation as an allusion about race, skin color or any physical characteristic. It is wholly a matter of the spirit, the inner soul of the man. President-elect Obama and now a majority Socialist Democrat Congress will take America down a road from which there is no return. This Congress will yank this rookie's marionette strings in ways that far surpass what they did to Jimmy Carter. Carter is now looked upon as a horrible president, and he had a similar, yet less socialist, congressional makeup. We can still pray for God's help, but Scripture tells us His mind is already made up when it comes to what we have done...

Don’t get too comfortable, or worse, complacent

Swings and sudden upturns in the stock market are knee-jerk reactions and then, wishful thinking by so called experts & their followers. I’ve never seen an industry so driven by emotion & psychology based upon misconstrued assessments of perceived “facts”.

The real facts are:

1) We are a world, and a nation which, after 40 years of fiscal & spiritual irresponsibility, living & building our lives & civilizations on credit (borrowed money, time, resources), have come near to the end of our road. There is no place to go but ruin. We all are guilty.

2) The face of America is changing right before our eyes from a democratic republic into a socialist oligarchy; the elite versus the poverty stricken, the haves versus the have-nots.

3) Regardless of the Presidential outcome, the undercurrent has already shifted the national landscape. Congressional reshaping of all aspects of business, financial & personal life is already in motion, and beyond the point of no return. America, once the “the land of the free and the home of the brave” is no more. You are foolish to think otherwise. The “change” you desire is not the change you will receive. The propaganda & brainwashing have already begun.

Read Lori Kalner’s, a Holocaust survivor, thoughts on America today in light of Hitler’s Germany prior to WWII.

Hymn to Hitler

by
Lori Kalner

In Germany, when Hitler came to power, it was a time of terrible financial depression. Money was worth nothing. In Germany people lost homes and jobs, just like in the American Depression in the 1930s, which we have read about in Thoene's Shiloh books.
In those days, in my homeland, Adolph Hitler was elected to power by promising "Change."
He blamed the "Zionists" around the world for all our problems. He told everyone it was greedy Zionist Bankers who had caused every problem we had. He promised when he was leader, the greedy Zionist bankers would be punished. The Zionists, he promised, would be wiped off the face of the earth.
So Hitler was elected to power by only 1/3 the popular vote. A coalition of other political parties in parliament made him supreme leader. Then, when he was leader, he disgraced and expelled everyone in parliament who did not go along with him.
Yes. Change came to my homeland as the new leader promised it would.
The teachers in German schools began to teach the children to sing songs in praise of Hitler. This was the beginning of the Hitler Youth movement. It began with praise of the Fuhrer's programs on the lips of innocent children. Hymns in praise of Hitler and his programs were being sung in the schoolrooms and in the playyard. Little girls and boys joined hands and sang these songs as they walked home from school.
My brother came home and told Papa what was happening at school. The political hymns of children proclaimed Change was coming to our homeland and the Fuhrer was a leader we could trust.
I will never forget my father's face. Grief and fear. He knew that the best propaganda of the Nazis was song on the lips of little children.
That evening before he said grace at the dinner table, he placed his hands upon the heads of my brothers and me and prayed the Living Word upon us from Jeremiah 1:4-5…

'Now the Word of the Lord came to me, saying,
"Before I formed you in the
womb I knew you,
and before you were born I
consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to
The nations."

Soon the children's songs praising the Fuhrer were heard everywhere on the streets and over the radio. "With our Fuhrer to lead us, we can do it! We can change the world!"
Soon after that Papa, a pastor, was turned away from visiting elderly parishioners in hospitals. The people he had come to bring comfort of God's Word, were "no longer there."
Where had they vanished to while under nationalized health care? It became an open secret. The elderly and sick began to disappear from hospitals feet first as "mercy killing" became the policy. Children with disabilities and those who had Down syndrome were euthanized.
People whispered, "Maybe it is better for them now. Put them out of misery. They are no longer suffering…And, of course, their death is better for the treasury of our nation. Our taxes no longer must be spent to care for such a burden."
And so murder was called mercy.
The government took over private business. Industry and health care were "nationalized." (NA-ZI means National Socialist Party) The businesses of all Jews were seized. (Perhaps you remember our story in Berlin on Krystalnacht in the book Munich Signature)
The world and God's word were turned upside down. Hitler promised the people economic Change?
Not change. It was, rather, Lucifer's very ancient Delusion leading to Destruction.
What began with the propaganda of children singing a catchy tune ended in the deaths of millions of children. The reality of what came upon us is so horrible that you in this present generation cannot imagine it.
Our suffering is too great to ever tell in a book or show in a black and white newsreel.
When I spoke to Bodie about some of these things, she wept and said she could not bear to write them. Perhaps one day she will, but I asked her, "who could bear to read our suffering?"
Yet with my last breaths I warn every Christian and Jew now in the name of the Lord,
Unless your course of the church in America is spiritually changed now, returning to the Lord, there are new horrors yet to come.
I trembled last night when I heard the voices of American children raised in song, praising the name of Obama, the charismatic fellow who claims he is the American Messiah.
Yet I have heard what this man Obama says about abortion and the "mercy killing" of tiny babies who are not wanted.
There are so few of us left to warn you.
I have heard that there are 69 million Catholics in America and 70 million Evangelical Christians.
Where are your voices? Where is your outrage? Where is passion and your vote?
Do you vote based on an abortionist's empty promises and economics? Or do you vote according to the Bible?
Thus says the Lord about every living child still in the womb…
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you…"

I have experienced the signs of the politics of Death in my youth.
I see them again now.
Christians! Unless you stand up now, you will lose your freedom of religion.
In America priests and preachers have already lost their freedom to speak openly from their pulpits of moral danger in political candidates. They cannot legally instruct you of which candidate holds fast to the precepts of scripture! American law forbids this freedom of speech to conservative pastors or they will lose their "tax exempt" status.
And yet I have heard the words of Obama's pastor Damning America! I have heard the words of Obama damning and mocking all of you in small towns because you "Cling to your religion…"
But I am a woman whose name is unknown. My life is recorded as a work of fiction. I have no fear of reprisal when I speak truth to you from the pages of a book. (Though the Zion Covenant books are mocked and condemned by the Left in America.)
I am an old woman and will soon go to be with my Lord. I have no fear for myself, but for all of you and for your children, I tremble.
I tremble at the hymns to a political leaders which your children will sing at school. (Though even now a hymn or a prayer to God and our Lord Jesus is against the law in public school!)
Your vote must put a stop to what will come upon America if Barrack Obama is elected.
I pray you will personally heed this warning for the sake of your children and your grandchildren. Do not be deceived.
The Lord in Jeremiah 1:7-8 commands every believer to speak up!
"Do not say, 'I am only a youth,' for to all whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them for I am with you, declares the Lord!"

I am in Prayer for you, and for the Church!
Spoken to you in the authority of Jesus the Christ,
the Name Above All Names,
Lori Kalner

See the YouTube video, look at the similarities between Obama acolytes & Hitler’s Youth Corps. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gH-2Fwx5RU0&feature=related

Never in American history have we been so close to the brink…