This Week in the News

Our way of living is becoming stranger and stranger. To prove our point, we begin with reports about the strange enigma of Elena Kagan–President Obama’s strange nomination as the new U.S. Supreme Court Justice; a strange–but then, not so strange–ruling to grant asylum to President Obama’s aunt; and a strange and bizarre offer by former President Clinton to “raffle himself” to make money. Tuesday’s U.S. primaries manifested the growing dissatisfaction of American voters with Washington and the “establishment”–but dissatisfaction alone with no clear alternatives except for demands for unspecified “change” has never accomplished anything.

Focusing on Europe, we are trying to counteract the politically motivated short-sighted “messages” of many reports prognosticating the demise of the euro, the eurozone and the EU, by showing what is really happening in Europe. Wild and weird speculations that Germany may return to the German Mark (“Deutsche Mark”) are absolutely unfounded and without basis whatsoever. A recent suggestion that the German “mark” might in some way be related to the “mark of the beast” is ridiculous. Rather than observing the downfall of Europe, those of us who have prophetic understanding and eyes to see the signs of the time, are witnessing the emergence of a “closer” European union under German leadership; a “new European state”; and the “birth” of a “gigantic” Europe. At the same time, we are noticing the prophetically important European shift to the political right.

Many of those who claim that the euro will fail, also state that the U.S. economy will recuperate. Or they encourage everyone to buy gold. However, acting upon such information may prove to become very “costly”–as it is biblically unsupportable. Realize these facts:

According to inflationdata.com, when we adjust for inflation, the value of gold has not increased tremendously in 70 years. In addition, the time will come when people will throw all their gold in the streets, as it has become worthless (Isaiah 2:7-8, 20; Ezekiel 7:19; Revelation 18:11-12).

According to usdebtclock.org, the US is suffering from $13 trillion in national debt; $16.5 trillion in personal debt; $1.1 trillion in state debt; $1.9 trillion in local debt; and $108 trillion in unfunded liabilities (e.g., social security, Medicaid, Medicare), while we have $72.5 trillion total assets in the US. This means, we have more liabilities than assets. We don’t have the income to cover our debts (so we have a $1.4 trillion budget deficit). We don’t have the population to work our way out of the debt. Other countries are becoming more competitive. Our largest manufacturing companies are collapsing (e.g., GM), and our largest financial companies are also collapsing (e.g., Lehman Brothers). This does not sound too hopeful.

The EU is moving ahead. This week, the EU and Central American states reached an agreement to liberalize trade and cut import tariffs. And while Germany and the Palestinian National Authority establish a German-Palestinian Steering Committee, Germany is shortening compulsory military service for everyone with the attempt to create a professional army; and France, following Belgium’s example, is proceeding to ban wearing a “full-face” veil in public places.

Turning to environmental issues, the damage caused by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico appears to be much more devastating than originally assumed and presently admitted by the US Government and B.P.; large animal and plant populations are being wiped out by the “developing” world; and even the famous Jordan River might not exist anymore in a few years from now.

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