Category Archives: Current Events

Current trends and social commentary

The Most Depressing Time of the Year in the Most Depressed Nation

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The excellent article below from http://endoftheamericandream.com makes a strong case why America needs a spiritual revival that will bring them back to the Bible and to Yeshua, and why Americans need to start eating a healthy diet. I’ve highlighted the salient points of this article in red. Please read this article and pass it on.

Natan

From http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/the-most-depressing-time-of-the-year-in-the-most-depressed-nation-on-the-planet. To activate the links in this article, click on the  above link to go to the article’s website of origin.

The Most Depressing Time Of The Year In The Most Depressed Nation On The Planet

By Michael Snyder, on December 2nd, 2014
     

Christmas Street - Public DomainDid you know that the rate of suicide is highest during this time of the year and that 45 percent of all Americans dread the Christmas season?  We are constantly being told that Christmas is the happiest time of the year, but mental health professionals tell us that the exact opposite is true.  For large numbers of Americans, the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is filled with stress, anxiety, loneliness and family squabbles.  And for most people, the reality of the holidays never even comes close to matching up with the glittering ideal portrayed in movies and on television.  As a result, depression tends to spike during the month of December.  And of course Americans are quite depressed most of the time anyway.  In fact, one out of every ten Americans is on an antidepressant as you read this article.  No other nation in the world even approaches that level.  So right now we are in the midst of the most depressing time of the year in the most depressed nation on the entire planet.  What is wrong with this picture?

A lot of people start to feel down this time of the year, and they don’t realize that there are millions of others that are going through the exact same thing.  The following excerpt from a Psychology Today article explains that this is something that happens every Christmas season…

We are told that Christmas, for Christians, should be the happiest time of year, an opportunity to be joyful and grateful with family, friends and colleagues. Yet, according to the National Institute of Health, Christmas is the time of year that people experience the highest incidence of depression. Hospitals and police forces report the highest incidences of suicide and attempted suicide. Psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health professionals report a significant increase in patients complaining about depression. One North American survey reported that 45% of respondents dreaded the festive season.

So when we get depressed, what do we do?

Well, we do what we always do for depression.

We start popping pills.

Today, America is the most drugged up nation on the face of the Earth by a wide margin.  Just consider the following numbers…

–Americans account for about five percent of the global population, but we consume more than 50 percent of the pharmaceutical drugs.  At the moment, the number one selling pharmaceutical drug in America is called Thorazine.  It is used as a supplement to other antidepressant drugs.

–According to the New York Times, more than 30 million Americans are currently taking antidepressants.

–The number of people that are clinically diagnosed with depression is growing at a rate of 20 percent annually.

–The rate of antidepressant use among middle aged women is far higher than for the population as a whole.  It is hard to believe, but right now one out of every four women in their 40s and 50s is taking an antidepressant medication.

-The percentage of women taking antidepressants in the United States is significantly higher than in any other country in the world.

–Children in the United States are three times more likely to be prescribed antidepressants than children in Europe are.

–If all of these antidepressants are helping, then why are more Americans killing themselves?  The suicide rate for Americans between the ages of 35 and 64 increased by nearly 30 percent between 1999 and 2010.  The number of Americans that die by suicide is now greater than the number of Americans that die as a result of car accidents every year.

Sadly, most Americans have absolutely no idea that the latest scientific studies indicate that many of these drugs could actually be quite dangerous.

For example, one recent study found that children that take antidepressants are more likely to attempt suicide…

High doses of brain-altering chemicals marketed as “anti-depressants” increase the likelihood of self-harm, rather than decreasing the risk, say Harvard health scientists in a study that analyzed data on 162,625 people.

Drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s) may raise the risk of suicidal behavior in children and young adults, according to the analysis. SSRI’s are the chemical substances which make up the antidepressants Prozac and Zoloft.

“Our findings offer clinicians an additional incentive to avoid initiating pharmacotherapy at high-therapeutic doses,” Harvard School of Public Health researchers said.

Another recent study found that pregnant mothers that take antidepressants are more likely to have babies with brain defects…

Almost one in five children born to mothers taking antidepressants during pregnancy have a brain defect – called a “Chiari type 1 malformation” – according to a groundbreaking study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The study, titled Rate of Chiari I Malformation in Children of Mothers with Depression with and without Prenatal SSRI Exposure, was published May 19 in the peer-reviewed journal Neuropsychopharmacology.

The researchers found that “children of depressed mothers treated with a group of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during pregnancy were more likely to develop Chiari type 1 malformations than were children of mothers with no history of depression,” according to their press statement.

Perhaps popping pills is not the solution after all.

.If you are battling depression, one of the key things to do is to look at your diet.  What we eat and what we drink plays a massive role in how we feel and how our brain functions.  If you start eating better, your life will improve in a multitude of ways.

And certainly there are natural ways to battle depression.  If you want to learn more about this, Natural News has some great articles on the subject.

But more important than all of those things is the fact that most Americans today simply do not have anything to live for.

These days, most people just seem to be living for themselves.  They chase one form of entertainment after another, hoping that something will eventually fill the gaping holes that are constantly aching inside their hearts.  Many go to their graves never finding the fulfillment that they were desperately searching for all of their lives.

You have got to have something to live for that really matters.  That is something that I have found, and it has made all the difference.  No matter how broken your life is right now, the key is to never, ever, ever give up.  As long as you keep fighting, there is always hope that things can be turned around.

So don’t give in to depression this Christmas season.

Yes, this world is an incredibly messed up place.

Yes, things are going to get a lot worse in the years ahead.

But that doesn’t mean that the future has to be bleak for you.

The best chapters of your life could be right around the corner, so don’t you ever, ever give up.

 

A Modern Day Deborah — The Back Story

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From World Net Daily (wnd.com)

CHRISTIAN BOOTED FROM NATIONAL CATHEDRAL SPEAKS OUT

Tells why she made trip from Tennessee to counter Muslim prayer service

By LEO HOHMANN 

Christine Weick is approached be security at the National Cathedral in Washington Friday, Nov. 14, as she stands up to proclaim "Jesus is our Lord and Savior"

It was supposed to be a shining moment for proponents of the interfaith movement.

The Islamic “jummah,” or Friday call to prayer, would be held on America’s grandest Christian stage – the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

It was a bold move that had never been tried. Leaders of the Episcopal cathedral said sending prayers up to Allah from a Christian church would show the world that two religions at odds with each other for centuries could “approach the same God” as one body of believers.

The stage was set. The prayer rugs were neatly arranged facing Mecca. The lights shone down on the imam for his opening remarks.

Not so fast.

Christine Weick, a 50-year-old Michigan woman with flowing blonde hair who lives out of her car, rose from the packed National Cathedral, the hall of halls in terms of religious prominence in America, and moved toward the front of the church.

She pointed to the cross hanging overhead.

To continue reading: http://www.wnd.com/2014/11/christian-booted-from-national-cathedral-speaks-out/#aAyuqRX3fSKa1847.99

 

The Islamization of the US: Shame on America!

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From the ChristianPost.com

YHVH bless the courageous Christian woman protestor!   Natan

National Cathedral Hosts Islamic Prayers; Lone Protester Interrupts Service

BY STEPHANIE SAMUEL , CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER
November 14, 2014|2:52 pm
Muslims hold prayer inside the Washington National Cathedral(PHOTO: REUTERS/LARRY DOWNING)

The Washington National Cathedral and five Muslim groups hold the first celebration of Muslim Friday prayers, Jumaa, in the cathedral’s north transept in Washington, November 14, 2014.

Correction Appended

The Washington National Cathedral hosted it first Muslim prayer service Friday afternoon in an effort to promote interfaith prayer and improved global relations between Muslims and Christians.

  • muslim prayer
    (Photo: NBC Washington screengrab)
    Unidentified woman protester at Washington National Cathedral disrupts first Muslim prayer service Friday afternoon and shouts, “We have built, and allowed you here in mosques across this country. Why can’t you worship in your mosque, and leave our chuches alone?” Nov. 14, 20`14.

“Jesus Christ died on that cross over there!” a woman said loudly, immediately after announcements at the beginning of the service were made. “He is the reason why we are to worship only him. Jesus Christ is our lord and savior!”

According to the NBC report, she continued, “We have built, and allowed you here in mosques across this country. Why can’t you worship in your mosque, and leave our chuches alone?”

The protester was then escorted out of the cathedral, News4’s Kristin Wright reported. She was removed without incident, but she continued her protest once she was taken to an adjoining space. 

The Episcopal church set in Washington, D.C. altered its visitor tour schedule in order to host traditional Islamic Friday prayers called Jumu’ah. The service was led by South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, and held in the Cathedral’s north transept, an area considered “almost mosque-like” because of its arches and limited iconography.

Muslims hold prayer inside the Washington National Cathedral(PHOTO: REUTERS/LARRY DOWNING)

Omar Abdul-Malik prays alone as the Washington National Cathedral and five Muslim groups hold the first celebration of Muslim Friday prayers, Jumaa, in the cathedral’s north transept in Washington, November 14, 2014.

Although this is not the first time the Cathedral has welcomed Muslims to join in on its interfaith services and events, it is the first time it has invited Muslims to lead their own prayers within its walls.

Rev. Canon Gina Gilland Campbell was scheduled to offer a welcome to start off the service.

According to the National Cathedral website,Campbell wanted to hold the historic service because she believes that “powerful things come out of praying together.”

The site further explains “Leaders believe offering Muslim prayers at the Christian cathedral shows more than hospitality. It demonstrates an appreciation of one another’s prayer traditions and is a powerful symbolic gesture toward a deeper relationship between the two Abrahamic traditions.”

Muslims hold prayer inside the Washington National Cathedral(PHOTO: REUTERS/LARRY DOWNING)

Women pray as the Washington National Cathedral and five Muslim groups hold the first celebration of Muslim Friday prayers, Jumaa, in the cathedral’s north transept in Washington, November 14, 2014.

Not everyone supports the Cathedral’s gesture. American Family Association Director of Issue Analysis Bryan Fischer said the Muslim prayer service violates the Ten Commandments.

“The first one of the Ten Commandments is what, you—talking the nation of Israel, true for individuals but this was the Ten Commandments for a nation – you shall have no other Gods before me. Allah is another God,” He explained on his Focal Point podcast.

This is not the first time the National Cathedral has invited controversy with its services. In June the Cathedral invited openly transgendered Episcopal priest Rev. Cameron Partridge to preach from its pulpit in honor of LGBT pride month. Openly gay Episcopal Bishop Rev. Gene Robinson presided over the Sunday service. The Cathedral also hosts gay marriage ceremonies.

Planners hope Friday’s service will inspire Muslims around the world to be hospitable to Christians.

The service was scheduled to be livestreamed onto the Cathedral’s website so it is accessible to everyone.

Correction:  Saturday, November 15, 2014:

An article on Friday, November 14, 2014, about a Muslim prayer held at the National Cathedral incorrectly described the Cathedral as a Catholic church. It is an Episcopal church. 

 

 

Is this why BO bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia?

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This is one of the best analysis of the US’s current economic condition in layman’s terms including the historical events that have brought us to this point that I have ever read. Natan

From http://www.internationalman.com/articles/timing-the-collapse-ron-paul-says-watch-the-petrodollar

Timing the Collapse: Ron Paul Says Watch the Petrodollar

by Nick Giambruno, Senior Editor

​

“The chaos that one day will ensue from our 35-year experiment with worldwide fiat money will require a return to money of real value. We will know that day is approaching when oil-producing countries demand gold, or its equivalent, for their oil rather than dollars or euros. The sooner the better.” (emphasis mine)

~ Ron Paul

What Ron Paul is referring to here is the petrodollar system. It’s one of the main pillars that’s been holding up the US dollar’s status as the world’s premier reserve currency since the breakdown of Bretton Woods.

Paul is essentially saying that, if we want to better understand the answer to the elusive question of “When will the fiat US dollar collapse?“, we have to watch the petrodollar system and the factors affecting it.

At the recent Casey Research Summit, I had the chance to speakextensively with Dr. Paul on this subject, and he told me that he stands by his assessment.

I believe this is critically important, because once the dollar loses this coveted status, the window of opportunity to take preventative action will definitively shut for Americans.

At that moment, I believe the US government will become sufficiently desperate and implement the destructive measures that governments throughout the world and throughout history have all taken (overt capital controls, wealth confiscations, people controls, price and wage controls, pension nationalizations, etc.)

But it’s not just the financial implications that need to be considered. The destruction of the dollar is going to wipe out the wealth of a lot people, and that will cause political and social consequences that will likely be worse than the financial consequences.

The three points to understand here are:

  1. You absolutely must be internationalized before the US dollar loses its status as the premier reserve currency. Internationalization is your ultimate insurance policy.
  1. The US dollar’s status as the premier reserve currency is tied to the petrodollar system.
  1. The sustainability of the petrodollar system is linked to Middle East geopolitics. Having lived and worked in the Middle East for a number of years, this is a topic I know a thing or two about.

From Bretton Woods to the Petrodollar

The dollar’s role as the world’s premier reserve currency was established in 1944 by the Allied powers in what was known as the Bretton Woods international monetary system.

Being victorious in WWII and possessing the overwhelmingly largest gold reserves in the world (around 20,000 tonnes) allowed the US to reconstruct the global monetary system with the dollar at its center.

Simply put, the Bretton Woods system was an arrangement whereby a country’s currency was tied to the US dollar through a fixed exchange rate, and the US dollar itself was tied to gold at a fixed exchange rate.

Countries accumulated dollars in their reserves to engage in international trade or to exchange them with the US government at the official rate for gold ($35 an ounce).

By the late 1960s, exuberant spending from welfare and warfare, combined with the Federal Reserve monetizing the deficits, drastically increased the number of dollars in circulation in relation to the gold backing it.

Naturally, this caused countries to accelerate their exchange of dollars for gold at the official price.

The result was a serious drain in the US gold supply (20,000 tonnes at the end of WWII to around 8,100 tonnes in 1971, a figure supposedly held constant to this day).

Nixon officially ended convertibility of the dollar for gold to halt the gold outflow, thus ending the Bretton Woods system, on August 15, 1971.

The US had defaulted on its promise to back the dollar with gold.

The central justification that the gold–backed dollar had provided as to why countries held the dollar in their reserves and used it as a medium of international trade was now gone.

With the dollar no longer convertible into gold, demand for dollars by foreign nations was sure to fall and with it, its purchasing power.

OPEC passed numerous resolutions after the end of Bretton Woods, stating the need to retain the real value of its earnings (including discussions about accepting gold for oil), which resulted in the cartel significantly increasing the nominal dollar price of oil in the wake of August 15, 1971.

If the dollar was to sustain its status as the world’s reserve currency, a new arrangement would have to be constructed to give foreign countries a compelling reason to hold and use dollars.

Nixon and Kissinger would end up succeeding in retaining the dollar’s premier status by bridging the gap between the failed Bretton Woods system and the emerging petrodollar system.

The Petrodollar System

Between the years of 1972 to 1974 the US government completed a series of agreements with Saudi Arabia to create the petrodollar system.

Saudi Arabia was chosen because of its vast petroleum reserves, its dominant influence in OPEC, and the (correct) perception that the Saudi royal family was corruptible.

In essence, the petrodollar system was an agreement that, in exchange for the US guaranteeing the survival of the House of Saud regime by providing a total commitment to its political and security support, Saudi Arabia would:

  1. Use its dominant influence in OPEC to ensure that all oil transactions would be conducted only in US dollars.
  1. Invest a large amount of its dollars from oil revenue in US Treasury securities and use the interest payments from those securities to pay US companies to modernize the infrastructure of Saudi Arabia.
  1. Guarantee the price of oil within limits acceptable to the US and act to prevent another oil embargo by other OPEC members.

The need to use dollars to transact in oil, the world’s most traded and most strategic commodity, provides a very compelling reason for foreign countries to keep dollars in their reserves.

For example, if Italy wants to buy oil from Kuwait, it would have to first purchase US dollars on the foreign exchange market to pay for the oil, thus creating an artificial market for US dollars that would not have otherwise naturally existed.

This demand is artificial, since the US dollar is just a middleman in a transaction that has nothing to do with a US product or service. It ultimately translates into increased purchasing power and a deeper, more liquid market for the US dollar and Treasuries.

Additionally, the US has the unique privilege of not having to use foreign currency but rather using its own currency, which it can print, to purchase its imports, including oil.

The benefits of the petrodollar system to the US dollar are indeed difficult to overstate.

What to Watch For

The geopolitical sands of the Middle East have been rapidly shifting.

The faltering strategic regional position of Saudi Arabia, the rise of Iran (which is notably not part of the petrodollar system), failed US interventions, and the emergence of the BRICS countries providing potential future alternative economic/security arrangements all affect the sustainability of the petrodollar system.

In particular, you should watch the relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia, which has been deteriorating.

The Saudis are furious at what they perceive to be the US not holding up its part of the petrodollar deal. They believe that as part of the US commitment to keep the region safe for the monarchy, the US should have attacked their regional rivals, Syria and Iran, by now.

This would suggest that they may feel that they are no longer obliged to uphold their part of the deal, namely selling their oil only in US dollars.

The Saudis have even gone so far as to suggest a “major shift” is underway in their relations with the US. To date, though, they have yet to match actions to their words, which suggests it may just be a temper tantrum or a bluff. In any case, it is truly unprecedented language and merits further watching.

A turning point may really be reached when you start hearing US officials expounding on the need to transform the monarchy in Saudi Arabia into a “democracy.” But don’t count on that happening as long as their oil is flowing only for US dollars.

Conclusion

It was evident long before Nixon closed the gold window and ended the Bretton Woods system on August 15, 1971, that a paradigm shift in the global monetary system was inevitable.

Likewise today, a paradigm shift in the global monetary system also seems inevitable. By considering Ron Paul’s words, we will know when the dollar collapse is imminent.

“We will know that day is approaching when oil-producing countries demand gold, or its equivalent, for their oil rather than dollars or euros.”

There is no question that you want to be internationalized before that day arrives, which seems to be getting closer and closer. It is very possible that one day soon, Americans will wake up to a new reality, just as they did on August 15, 1971.

Your goal should be to remove as much political risk from as many aspects of your life as possible so that you are not caught flat-footed when the next August 15, 1971 moment arrives.

Be sure to get the free IM Communiqué to keep up with the latest news and actionable information on how to protect yourself from an economic collapse

 

He may be my president, but he doesn’t represent me!

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The following op-ed piece gives some perspective on the less than friendly stance of President Obama and his administration toward the nation of Israel.

From the Jerusalem Post (10/30/14)

Yehudah Glick has spent the better part of the last 20 years championing the right of Jews to pray on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Yehuda Glick

Yehuda Glick. (photo credit:TAZPIT)

Yehudah Glick has spent the better part of the last 20 years championing the right of Jews to pray on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem – Judaism’s holiest site. On Wednesday night, the Palestinians sent a hit man to Jerusalem to kill him.

And today Glick lays in a coma at Shaare Zedek Medical Center.

Two people bear direct responsibility for this terrorist attack: the gunman, and Palestinian Authority President and PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas. The gunman shot Glick, and Abbas told him to shoot Glick.

Abbas routinely glorifies terrorist murder of Jews, and funds terrorism with the PA’s US- and European-funded budget.

But it isn’t often that he directly incites the murder of Jews.

Two weeks ago, Abbas did just that. Speaking to Fatah members, he referred to Jews who wish to pray at Judaism’s holiest site as “settlers.” He then told his audience that they must remain on the Temple Mount at all times to block Jews from entering.

“We must prevent them from entering [the Temple Mount] in any way…. They have no right to enter and desecrate [it]. We must confront them and defend our holy sites,” he said.

As Palestinian Media Watch reported Thursday, in the three days leading up to the assassination attempt on Glick, the PA’s television station broadcast Abbas’s call for attacks on Jews who seek to enter the Temple Mount 19 times.

While Abbas himself is responsible for the hit on Glick, he has had one major enabler – the Obama administration. Since Abbas first issued the order for Palestinians to attack Jews, there have been two terrorist attacks in Jerusalem. Both have claimed American citizens among their victims. Yet the Obama administration has refused to condemn Abbas’s call to murder Jews either before it led to the first terrorist attack or since Glick was shot Wednesday night.

Not only have the White House and the State Department refused to condemn Abbas for soliciting the murder of Jews. They have praised him and attacked Israel and its elected leader. In other words, they are not merely doing nothing, they are actively rewarding Abbas’s aggression, and so abetting it. (To continue reading http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Column-One-Being-safe-while-isolated-380359.)

 

U.S. Funnels Billions to Child-Killing at Home

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From Newsmax.com

Tuesday, 28 Oct 2014 07:51 AM

By Matt Barber

Christians and Yazidis, by the thousands, are fleeing for their lives in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere as devout followers of the “prophet” Muhammad, aka the “Islamic State,” continue to brutally slaughter these “infidels” on the run, even torturing, dismembering and beheading children as their parents are forced to watch.

As the father of three, it’s unfathomable. I can’t even let my mind go there. What would I do — what would any of us do, to stop it? If you and I were in place of our Arab-Christian brothers and sisters, would we not give up our very lives so that our precious babes might live?

In a heartbeat.

Now this: It has come to light that, under the Obama administration, the U.S. government has been subsidizing, to the tune of billions, another sect of militant extremists who, likewise, are, with an equally religious zeal, torturing, dismembering and beheading children en masse. The only material difference is that, according to officials within the U.S. government, and as per formal U.S. policy, this second batch of terrorist monsters are somehow considered to be “freedom fighters.”

Multiple reports have come in proving conclusively that these fundamentalist fanatics are coaxing families away from relative safety with beguiling talk of freedom and a better life, and then abruptly turning on them like the godless sociopaths they are. It’s almost too horrific to describe, but I think I must.

These “freedom fighters” are then callously torturing to death terrified children in the very presence of their parents.

Reams of evidence reveal, for example, that these barbarians are, in many instances, brutally sawing off the arms and legs of innocent children as they writhe in excruciating pain, only to finish them off with an unceremonious beheading.

Perhaps the most sickening and unpardonable aspect of it all, however, is that, while reports have established that most members of Congress, governors and even state legislators have been alerted to the fact that the U.S. government is helping to both fund and facilitate these widespread crimes against humanity, only a minority of lawmakers are willing to lift a finger to stop it.

And so this U.S.-taxpayer-funded genocide continues unabated.

Even as our elected officials, Democrat and Republican alike, look the other way, the Obama administration continues to quietly funnel $540 million per year (that’s $1.5 million each day) of taxpayer dollars to arm and equip this murderous band of radicals. And so any notable distinction between the murdering Islamists in the Middle East and the American government’s child-murdering ally at home is, at most, somewhere between superficial and negligible.

Whereas ISIS, the fundamentalist Muslims in Iraq, behead innocents and, in so doing, consider themselves freedom fighters for Allah, America’s fundamentalist allies behead children and, in so doing, consider themselves freedom fighters for Aphrodite.

While the former don black masks, wave black flags and, even as I write, are driving their caravans to Baghdad, the latter don medical scrubs, wave the banner of “reproductive freedom” and, even as I write, are driving their Mercedes’ to your local Planned Parenthood.

Matt Barber is founder and editor-in chief of BarbWire.com. He is an author, columnist, cultural analyst and an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. Having retired as an undefeated heavyweight professional boxer, Matt has taken his fight from the ring to the culture war. (Follow Matt on Twitter: @jmattbarber.)

(http://www.newsmax.com/US/planned-parenthood-isis-islamic/2014/10/28/id/603496/)