"Protests" in the U.S. - A Deeper Meaning?

I'm still trying to get my hands around this so-called 'protest movement' that we are watching in the U.S., and moving past the reflex sarcasm and eye-rolling - just at the absurdity of it all, is difficult at best.

There are so many obvious contradictions and bemusements to be found in these "protests" it is difficult to take them seriously.

For instance, when I see college-aged students railing against "corporations" while wearing designer sun glasses, designer jeans, REI backpacks and nike shoes, while using apple computers and iPods (just to name a few obvious contradictions), makes it hard not to laugh and turn to the football game.

Not to mention the unfortunate fact that their Che Guevara T-shirt was also manufactured by a...(gulp...dare I say it?)... corporation. But I digress.

However, there may be some prophetic significance, so lets take a look:

Video Exposing How "Occupy Wall Street" Was Organized From Day One By SEIU/Acorn Front

Friday Fun. Reason.tv visits Occupy Wall Street

This article underscores the fact that most protestors have no idea what exactly they are protesting or why.

Student loan debt, campaign finance reform, and general anger with the sluggish economy were the more frequent grievances aired, but the demonstrators are hardly monolithic in their passions or opinions.

You Say You Want A Revolution

Some perspective is given here:

What do the Wall Street protesters want? You know, stuff . . .

I chatted with some of the throng. All wanted me to know they were speaking only for themselves, not the group. So what’s the endgame here? “Uh . . . that’s hard to explain,” said Moses, a nice young man. His answer was a nonsensical roundabout, but he used the phrase “socio-economic” a lot. He implied he was unemployed, so I inquired about a dream job. “To be a decent human being . . . to not live in reaction to a market.” Gotcha.

Becca, a sweet “organic gardener” from Brooklyn, was there to “end a capitalist system that treats people like cattle” and live in an America where everyone has “equal wealth.”

She wanted a country with a “high tax,” a la “Sweden and Finland,” to ensure “personal well-being.” (Those Scandinavian examples both have a much lower corporate tax rate—26 percent and 26.3 percent, respectively— than the U.S.’s 35 percent rate, but let’s not get hung up on details.)

Most everyone is aware of how unserious Occupy Wall Street is. The New Republic mocks it. Salon laments its fecklessness, and then curses Fox News for noticing it. Mother Jones sheepishly dubs the childish schizophrenia “The Kitchen Sink Approach” in a piece on the movement’s inertia.

Tea Party: Wall St. crowd not like us

The tea party has just about had it with all of the comparisons between their grass roots movement and the Occupy Wall Street protesters.

Amy Kremer, chairwoman of the Tea Party Express, says the Wall Street demonstrators “don’t even know why they’re out there protesting on Wall Street.”

“You know, it’s really kind of bizarre. These kids are out there and have on these T-shirts that say ‘F capitalism.’ It’s really ironic that they’re out there and communicating through their gadgets that were created through competition and free enterprise and capitalism,” she said.

But Kremer insists that Occupy Wall Street is nothing like the tea party and suggests that the protesters in Manhattan might get more respect if they took their picket signs and chants to the nation’s capital and directed their anger at President Barack Obama.

“It sounds like it’s a lot of people that are out of work, that are angry. Now you have a lot of students that have graduated and can’t get jobs. But that’s not Wall Street’s fault, and we need to look at Washington, D.C., instead,” she said.

Protestors Accused of Hurting NYC Economy

Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Friday accused the Wall Street demonstrators of trying to cripple New York City's economy.

"What they're trying to do is take the jobs away from people working in this city," the mayor declared in his harshest criticism of the three-week-old protest that has caught the attention of the nation.

Although he expressed sympathy for "some of their complaints," Bloomberg warned that addressing them has to be accomplished "without hurting people and making the problem worse."

"If the jobs they are trying to get rid of in this city -- the people that work in finance, which is a big part of our economy -- we're not going to have any money to pay our municipal employees or clean the blocks or anything else."

Shocking Video: Frances Fox Piven and Fellow Professors Indoctrinating College Students

Occupy Wall Street Causing Problems On Main Street

But the group that says it's fighting against banks and corporations on behalf of the "99 percent" of America's "have-nots" may have caught Main Street in the crossfire -- with their continued presence causing big headaches for nearby small businesses.

"Usually, there are hundreds and hundreds of people in this area," said Stacey Tzortzatos, owner of Panini & Co. Breads, which sits adjacent to Zuccotti Park. "People do not want to have to pass through the crowd or walk through the park to come to my business -- so they go elsewhere."

For Tzortzatos, the "occupation" has resulted not just in a loss in business. "I've had a lot of damage from the protesters," she said. "I've had to put a $200 lock on my bathroom because they come in here and try to bathe. The sink fell down to the ground, cracked open, pulled the plumbing out of the wall and caused a flood. It's a no-win situation. If I open the restroom for one, 30 people line up outside, disrupting my business."

A manager at the nearby Essex World Cafe -- who asked to remain anonymous -- shared similar complaints. Referring to three young men waiting at the end of the counter, he explained, "They want to use the toilet, the phones, we give them free water and free ice. They sit here and don't buy anything, but they recharge their phone batteries with our plugs, and I tell them, 'Hey, if you guys are going to come, I need to do some business here. We are suffering, too!'

So what do we have?

It appears that these protests have been organized by a combination of extreme liberal groups, unions, SEIU, Acorn, etc., the usual groups - and populated with bored college students and unemployed post-graduates. The crowd is largely white, and based on the pictures which rapidly reveal the designer accessories, laptops, designer clothes, jewelry, backpacks, and shoes, it appears to be an upper-middle class group as well. Now we are seeing the unions moving in to get in on the action.

So what does this mean?

I am guessing that as soon as the weather turns cold this "movement" will rapidly dissipate.

However that may be the cynic speaking.

At a minimum, this seems to represent yet another effort to dismantle the U.S. system - something the administration has been attempting at breakneck speed for the last 2+ years. The disturbing aspect is the fact that the groups who back the administration's efforts to dismantle the capitalist system in the U.S. are backing these protests.

With a financial system that is currently teetering on the very brink of survival, this "movement" could potentially have an impact - an impact which could further push the U.S. into the abyss.

Every day we see further erosion of the basic freedoms previously enjoyed in America - and ultimately (and paradoxically) these protests are pushing for more central control and less individual freedom - whether done wittingly or unwittingly.

But as stated so many times before - it has to be this way. America has to fall as a world power in order to usher in a world government system with a single leader in charge.

It appears that we are well on the way to seeing that fulfilled.

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Just for some fun. Also see:

Faces of Occupy Wall Street: Mom's Basement Edition

It's not working. It would be nice instead of slobbering over these nitwits that the media did a little digging into who's funding this.

Internet pledges arrive via two main websites: occupywallst.org was registered July 14, two months before the demonstrations began, by a Los Angeles privacy service that shields the owner's identity.

The Alliance for Global Justice, a nonprofit with 501c3 status, helped Occupy Wall Street to collect tax-exempt donations and open a credit union account to centralize funds.

Alliance for Global Justice, huh? Funny, but a few seconds of research leads us directly to none of than George Soros and his Open Society Institute. These folks also show solidarity with Marxist regimes in Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Well, of course.

And this:

A Letter to the New York City protestors

What I mean to say is, you have a marketing problem.

When you decided to sit in traffic and block the Brooklyn Bridge a few days ago, with that blazing pink "SMASH PATRIARCHY-SMASH CAPITALISM" sign in hand, you probably didn't see the regular people you stranded in traffic.

You know, the ones with real-world concerns, business to attend to, families to go home to, et cetera. You may have read about such people during college in a book called "The Petit Bourgeoisie," or something like that. Many of us grew up calling them "the middle class."

Whatever you call them, they are hurting badly in this economy, probably more than you are. (I'm just judging by that sweet digital video camera I see you holding out in front of the cops, in hopes of provoking them into a viral-video police brutality incident.)

Those people you left stuck in traffic have a hard time paying their bills and rents and health insurance and mortgages. They worry about things like finding decent schools for their children to attend and making sure they don't get fired at work, and fixing leaking roofs and chimneys.

You know what they don't worry about, ever? Smashing patriarchy and capitalism.

I know you'll find this hard to believe, but these regular people probably weren't very happy to see you on that bridge, carrying your preprinted black and yellow protest sign that hundreds of you got straight from the communist Workers' World Party (or one of its less frighteningly named affiliates).

And that underscores the problem with the 100 million-plus people who work for a living in this country. They lack an enlightened perspective that would show them how your camping trip in lower Manhattan has already helped their lives.

See, regular people don't like banks any more than you do. But when they go to buy houses for their families to live in, they often find that they don't have half a million dollars stuffed in their mattresses. So they shortsightedly embrace financial imperialism, otherwise known as a mortgage.

In the news:

First up is a brief video that is a must see. It completely exposes the truth regarding what is going on in the Middle East, after peeling the onion several layers in order to get to the core of the matter:

Video: The Great Palestinian Lie

Also see:

Teaching Journalists How to Report on Jihad

Israel Police on high alert ahead of Yom Kippur

Israel Police have been holding talks with Israeli Arab representatives in bid to diffuse tensions ahead of Yom Kippur, after the burning of an Upper-Galilee mosque earlier this week.

Police hope that calm will be restored in time for Yom Kippur on Saturday.Security forces sealed off the West Bank on Thursday at midnight, and the blockade will last for 48 hours until Yom Kippur at midnight. The blockade can only be lifted for humanitarian or medical reasons and with the permission of the civil administration.

Public opinion surveys over the past few years show most Jews in Israel observe Yom Kippur.

High alert on Yom Kippur for fear of riots

Security forces reinforce deployment in northern Israel and Jerusalem for fear of clashes with Tuba Zangaria residents, possible riots in Temple Mount. Magen David Adom raises alert to highest level; volunteers to guard synagogues

Police will restrict entry to the Temple Mount to men over the age of 45 following intelligence indicating plans to start riots. Meanwhile, police and Border Guard forces will be deployed in Jerusalem to maintain order. Officers will also guard the Western Wall from Friday afternoon until the end of Kippur.

Movements towards a central currency:

Dominant Dollar May Give Way to "Multipolar" System, Merkel Says

The dollar’s dominance may give way to a “multipolar” currency system as power shifts in the world economy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

The future of the global monetary system, including monitoring of capital flows, will form part of the discussion at next month’s Group of 20 summit in Cannes, France, she said.

Assad warns Jordan against holding a war game like Turkey and Israel

Tensions peaked again around Syria's borders with Israel, Turkey and Jordan as the first two embarked on large-scale mobilization maneuvers near those borders Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 5-6 and the Jordanian armed forces prepared to follow suit.

United States and Turkey urged Jordan's King Abdullah to hold a similar maneuver or reinforce his units on the Syrian border. But Bashar Assad decided that being forced to build up his forces on Syria's borders with Turkey and Israel was enough and a Jordanian exercise must be stopped.

It was the second time this week that the Syrian ruler had threatened to punish an enemy with ground-to-ground missiles. Tuesday, Oct. 4, DEBKAfile revealed that Assad had threatened to demolish Tel Aviv by missiles within six hours of an attack on Syria.

Now we get to the really interesting part of this article:

In Washington, Ankara and Jerusalem, the Syrian message to Jordan was taken as an implied warning to Turkey and Israel alike that Assad had no intention of taking their military exercises lying down either and a military response was coming.

The Turkish war game is taking place in the Hatay province which borders on northern Syria. It is scheduled to last nine days. Israel ended its two-day maneuver Thursday, deploying troops within sight of southwest Syria and Jordan.

The two-day Israeli war game was not announced. It entailed the call-up of the Northern and Central Commands reserve brigades without prior notice. The units were directed to collect the men and officers from home and drive them to their units on the assumption that a missile attack on Israel was already underway and road disruptions prevented them from making their own way.

Also in the news:

Obama's Rhetoric Could Turn 'Occupy Wall Street' Violent

During a Fox Business interview with Judge Andrew Napolitano, Senator Rand Paul warned that Barack Obama’s implicit support for the grievances of the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protesters could provoke them to turn into a violent mob.

Scaling the heights of hypocrisy once again, Barack Obama – whose 2008 campaign was funded by Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley – sympathized with the OWS protesters yesterday while grandstanding as the man to bring Wall Street back in line, despite the fact that his own cabinet is full of former Wall Street executives and he is even more reliant on Wall Street for his 2012 presidential run.

The Kentucky Senator highlighted the hypocrisy of some of the protesters vowing not to work for a corporation while carrying around expensive consumer products.

Fukushima desolation worst since Hiroshima, Nagasaki

Beyond the police roadblocks that mark the no-go zone around the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, 2-meter-tall weeds invade rice paddies and vines gone wild strangle road signs along empty streets.

While nature reclaims the 20-km no-go zone, Fukushima's ¥240 billion a year farm industry is being devastated and tourists that hiked the prefecture's mountains and surfed off its beaches have all but vanished.

The bulk of radioactive contamination cuts a 5- to 10-km-wide swath of land running as far as 30 km northwest of the nuclear plant, surveys of radiation hot spots by the science ministry show. The government extended evacuations beyond the 20-km zone in April to cover this corridor, which includes parts of Iitate.

Inside the evacuation areas, levels of radiation higher than the government's criteria for evacuation have been recorded at 89 of 210 monitoring posts. At 24 of the sites, the reading was higher than the level at which the International Atomic Energy Agency says increases the risk of cancer.

Strong quake rattles northern Argentina

A strong, 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck Argentina on Thursday, rattling a sparsely populated northern region bordering Bolivia and Paraguay but so far causing no damage or casualties.

Take a look at the seismic monitor - earthquakes seem to be on the rise again:

Seismic Monitor

In addition to the large quake in Argentina, we also had multiple quakes >5.0, including yet another 6.5, this one in the Kermadec Islands.

World Facing "Worst Financial Crisis In History"

There is a point to posting these links - but to the news first:

World facing worst financial crisis in history, Bank of England Governor says

The world is facing the worst financial crisis since at least the 1930s “if not ever”, the Governor of the Bank of England said last night.

Sir Mervyn King was speaking after the decision by the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee to put £75billion of newly created money into the economy in a desperate effort to stave off a new credit crisis and a UK recession.

“This is the most serious financial crisis we’ve seen, at least since the 1930s, if not ever. We’re having to deal with very unusual circumstances, but to act calmly to this and to do the right thing.”

To make matters worse, at least in the U.S., we have this added problem:

"Economic Terrorist" wants "New Financial Crisis" now

Stephen Lerner, a controversial anti-capitalist SEIU organizer, is one of the forces behind the protests on Wall Street and nationwide, according to quotes obtained by a socialist activist who doubles as a Washington Post columnist.

Lerner was the brain behind some of the economic protest templates being used by the Occupy Wall Street campaign.

Lerner recently laid out a mass economic protest plan intended to bring down the stock market, and boasted his plan could be used to cause a new financial crisis. His ideology prompted some conservative critics to go so far as to label him an economic terrorist.

His stated aim was to "destabilize the folks that are in power and start to rebuild a movement."

In an interview about the Wall Street protests, Lerner outlined his goals: "How do we bring down the stock market? How do we bring down their bonuses? How do we interfere with their ability to, to be rich?"

Lerner continued, "There are actually extraordinary things we could do right now to start to destabilize the folks that are in power and start to rebuild a movement."

During the presentation, Lerner called for a mass strike by mortgage payers that, he said, could cause a new financial crisis.

IMF Advisor: Global Financial Meltdown in 2 to 3 Weeks

In an interview with IMF advisor Robert Shapiro, the bailout expert has pretty much said what,once again, is on everyone’s mind: “If they can not address [the financial crisis] in a credible way I believe within perhaps 2 to 3 weeks we will have a meltdown in sovereign debt which will produce a meltdown across the European banking system.

We are not just talking about a relatively small Belgian bank, we are talking about the largest banks in the world, the largest banks in Germany, the largest banks in France, that will spread to the United Kingdom, it will spread everywhere because the global financial system is so interconnected.

All those banks are counterparties to every significant bank in the United States, and in Britain, and in Japan, and around the world. This would be a crisis that would be in my view more serious than the crisis in 2008….

Also:

"In The Absence Of A Credible Plan We Will Have A Global Financial Meltdown In Two To Three Weeks" - IMF Advisor

The world is teetering dangerously close to a complete financial breakdown. One that, according to many analysts is unprecedented.

What does this mean?

It seems that the world is inching closer and closer to accepting a world leader who would appear to have solutions to these problems. Currently, there seems to be no way out of this mess, as the solutions offered present only more of the same.

Meanwhile, we see the Middle East inching closer and closer to the final battles, as foretold by biblical prophecy. Syria is threatening Israel and has a leader who is desperate to cling to power - a leader who needs a diversion and who is now threatening Israel. The United States is seeing a rapid decline from power. Persecution continues its ominous rise. The nations continue to isolate Israel and offer less and less resistance to the radical Islamic groups sworn to her destruction. Earthquakes continue their rise in numbers and in magnitude. And on and on it goes.

Prophetic birth pains are occurring more rapidly and more intensely than ever before, as we approach the last days of this generation.

And the world needs a such leader. The world will accept a such leader.

Only this leader will become the most brutal, horrible dictator the world has ever seen.

The time is almost here. If you are someone who has followed prophecy you not only see it daily in the news, you can also feel it.

We can be grateful for the promises given by Christ Jesus, as we were told to have hope and encouragement in these days - knowing what awaits us.

We are reaching a fork in the road, as we now see two distinctly different paths taken by mankind (emphasis mine):

"...for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman and they will not escape"

Note that the apostle Paul is already drawing a difference in two groups of people:

1. Those Christians to whom he is preaching - those who have an understanding of the day of the Lord as contrasted with
2. "Them" - those who will experience the sudden destruction - and "They" will not escape.

"But you brothers are not in darkness, so this day should surprise you like a thief. You are sons of light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

(1 Thessalonians 5:2-6)

Then we get to the most important part - the conclusion:

"But since we belong to the day...For God did not appoint us to suffer this wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ."

(1 Thessalonians 5:9)

So we see the two parallel groups in these last days.

One group ("they" and "them") is living in darkness (without salvation through Christ Jesus) and therefore will not escape the coming day of the Lord, also known as the Tribulation.

The other group ("we") are living in the light and belong to the day - via salvation - and therefore are not destined to suffer this coming day of the Lord ("wrath") but through Christ - will escape this coming Tribulation.

And from every sign that we observe around us - signs that we were told would come in waves, like birth pains - we know with great certainty that our mission on the earth as the Church is coming to a close.

Paradise awaits us.

New Jerusalem awaits us.

And more importantly - Jesus awaits us.

"Amen. Come, Lord Jesus"

In the news:

This first story isn't surprising but it is definitely disappointing and in direct conflict with God's command of Genesis 12:3:

Washington Warns Israel Not To Launch Pre-Emptive Strike Against Iran

“U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta visited Israel Monday with a clear message from his boss in Washington: The United States opposes any Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities,” reported the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

“The United States, he said, is ‘very concerned, and we will work together to do whatever is necessary” to keep Iran from posing “a threat to this region.’ But doing so ‘depends on the countries working together,’ he added. He repeated the word ‘together’ several times in this context.

”Panetta’s strong-arm tactics towards Israel was likely overlooked by most Americans, who are currently focused on high unemployment, surging foreclosures, anemic growth, skyrocketing national debt, the 2012 presidential campaign, and final days of the Major League Baseball season. But it was certainly noticed by the people of the Middle East who are growing increasingly concerned about the prospects of a major new regional war.

So, in other words, the U.S. expects Israel to sit and wait until Iran finalizes their nuclear ambitions, and await the incoming missiles.

The facts:

- The latest U.N. report found credible evidence that Iran is moving steadily towards building and deploying nuclear weapons.

- Iran’s leaders continue to espouse apocalyptic beliefs about the End of Days, the coming of the Twelfth Imam, and the rise of an Islamic caliphate, even as they long for the annihilation of Israel (the so-called “Little Satan”) and the United States (the so-called “Great Satan”).

- Yet while Western diplomats keep talking and talking about restraining the Iranian threat, the world is not taking decisive action to actually stop Iran from getting the Bomb.

Israeli leaders state the obvious:

A senior Israeli general in September warned that Iran is getting closer to the Bomb and the “Arab Spring” could turn into a “radical Islamic winter” and that “this raises the likelihood of an all-out, total war, with the possibility of weapons of mass destruction being used.”

And this:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned in his U.N. speech last month. “If Iran is not stopped, we will all face the specter of nuclear terrorism, and the Arab Spring could soon become an Iranian winter….The world around Israel is definitely becoming more dangerous.”

Report: Iranian Warship Route To U.S. Coast

Last week, an Iranian Naval Commander threatened to deploy ships off the U.S. coast as a provocative show of force.

Now it looks like Iran might actually be serious.

A new map that allegedly shows the expected path of the Iranian Naval expedition to the U.S has leaked online from an Iranian website, according to MEMRI.

Sarkozy: It is silly to talk about a Jewish state

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has always described himself as a true friend of Israel. However, according to unusual statements attributed to him in the French magazine Le Canard Enchaîne, he unequivocally sides with the Palestinians.

"It is silly to talk about a Jewish state," Sarkozy said while referring to the Israeli demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state. "It would be like saying that this table is Catholic. There are two million Arabs in Israel."

According to the report, the French president told the ministers that he fully supports the establishment of a Palestinian state. "The Palestinians have been waiting for a state they deserve for 60 years now," he said. "Is it not fair that Palestine is recognized by the UN even in an observer status?"

Syria's Assad intent on dragging Israel into his mess

Syrian President Bashar Assad on Tuesday reportedly threatened to bombard Tel Aviv with ballistic missiles if NATO or other Western powers dare to interfere with his violent crackdown on Syrian pro-democracy demonstrations.

Iran's Fars news agency reported that Assad made the threat during a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmad Davutoglu. According to Assad, he would "not need more than 6 hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv."

Were that scenario to play out, Assad is said to be confident that Iran would launch an attack on US warships in the Persian Gulf.

While the situation is wholly out of Israel's hands, there is concern in the Jewish state over what Assad may interpret as Western interference.

And this represents the big fear - raising the issue of whether Assad is capable of actually taking actions that would trigger either UN troops or NATO troops to take action, such as entering into Lebanon or Turkey. Assad's troops are already dangerously close to both borders.

Israeli commentators have already stressed that if Assad feels he is going to be toppled, he will have nothing to lose by launching a last minute attack on Israel. In fact, by doing so he has much to gain, as a missile assault on Tel Aviv would solidify Assad's legacy as a dedicated enemy of the hated "Zionist entity."

Middle East unrest spreads to Saudi Arabia

Saudi police sealed off the village of al-Awamiya in the east of the country on Monday night after using live fire to disperse Shia protesters, according to exiled Saudi dissidents.

A group calling itself arabianrevolution have posted videos on YouTube which they claim show Saudi security forces in al-Awamiya, home to much of the Sunni kingdom's Sunni minority, firing on protesters on Monday evening.

Saudi reinforcements rushed to oil regions to quell machine-gun toting Shiites

Has the 11-month Arab revolt reached Saudi Arabia? Or been imported? This week saw weeks of simmering unrest in the Shiite-populated eastern oil regions boiling over.

Wednesday, Oct. 5, the Saudi Ministry of Interior warned it would "strike with an iron fist" against any breaches of the country's stability and security after security officers came under automatic fire and Molotov bombs fired from motorbikes in Saudi Arabia's richest oil center in the eastern region of Qatif.

Saudi officials blamed "a foreign country" and "mercenaries" after demonstrators fought the police with classical Iranian Revolutionary Guards tactics in the Shiite town of al Awamiya

Of course, we all know who this country would be:

Although Iran is not named in official Saudi communiqués – only "a foreign country seeking to undermine the security and stability of the homeland in blatant interference in national sovereignty," no one in Riyadh doubts Tehran's hand in the unrest, using its own and Hizballah undercover agents to smuggle the guns through neighboring Bahrain to Shiite activists in Al-Awamiya and teaching them assault tactics.

EU calls for global tax

The European Commission said on Wednesday it would push next month's G20 summit to agree on a global financial transaction tax, but Canada said it may have enough support to block such a move.

Flanked by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a news conference in Brussels, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said it was time to push ahead with the initiative.

Earthquake Swarm Keeps Iceland's Katla Rocking

We’ve been keeping an eye on Iceland’s Katla for quite a while now and over the past year; the volcano has been showing signs that magma is moving under the ice-capped edifice. There have been frequent seismic swarms around and within the caldera that is currently filled with the Mýrdalsjökull (glacier) and on at least two occasions, small glacial outburst floods (jokulhlaups) have issued from Katla.

Mideast Quartet to Meet Sunday

Personally, I don't think this means a lot, as the whole concept of the Quartet has become a standing joke, but here it is:

Mideast Quartet to Meet Sunday

Envoys from the Middle East Quartet -- the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States -- will meet in Brussels on Sunday in hopes of restarting moribund peace-talks between officials in Jeruslaem and Ramallah, Reuters reports.

Direct talks have been stalled for two years despite a 10-month building freeze in 'disputed territories' captured by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War by Israel that had been intended to bring PA officials back to the negotiating table.

Israel has accepted a Quartet proposal for resumed talks without preconditions, but officials in Ramallah have rejected the proposal saying it is "too vague to be useful" and did not include their own preconditions for talks.

Israeli officials say PA demands for another building freeze, when they ignored the last one, is a fair accompli to maintain their unilateral course while blaming Israel for failed talks.

In some other news coming from the region - also in the category of "what could this mean?" we see this story:

Report: Syrian Unrest Spilling into Lebanon

Syrian tanks entered the Bekaa border region of Arsal in on Tuesday and fired in the direction of an abandoned factory, Lebanon's National News Agency reported.

The agency said the tanks fired at a batteries factory in the area, thinking that armed men were hidden within the facilities.

Sources told The Daily Star the Syrian Army has made repeated hit-and-run incursions into Lebanon’s territory over the past three days.

Syria has massed thousands of troops along its border with northern Lebanon in recent weeks raising fears in Beirut the move may be a prelude to the first incursion since Syrian forces pulled out three years ago.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, who has put Hizbullah on notice over its refusal to disarm and disband its militias, said Monday that Assad's allies in Lebanon are getting nervous.

“Allies of the Syrian regime in Lebanon are in a state of nervousness to the point where they are now asking for dialogue,” Geagea said during a call with the annual conference of the LF party in North America.

“Syria’s allies feel that the regime is going to fall so they are trying to take all possible measures to protect themselves in case this happens. Consequently, everyone in Lebanon today is monitoring the events"

Updates from the Middle East:

The situation with Syria continues to heat up considerably and shows no signs of slowing down. At the same time, from Israel's southern border we also see escalation. Things seem to be closing in around Israel (as we would expect).

First, a perspective from Debka on yesterday's news involving Syria's threats to Israel:

Turkey to hold military exercise on Syrian border. Assad threatens to destroy Tel Aviv

War tensions between Turkey, NATO and Syria shot up again Tuesday, Oct. 4, with the announcement from Ankara that Turkey embarks Wednesday on a 10-day "mobilization" exercise in the southern province of Hatay along the Syrian border, through which arms are being funneled to Syrian protesters.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is expected on the same day to visit the 7,000 Syrians who have taken refuge in Hatay from President Bashar Assad's troops.

DEBKAfile reported earlier Tuesday that Syrian President Bashar Assad has for three months staved off a military attack by Turkey or NATO for halting the exceptional brutality of his crackdown on protest by explicitly holding Greater Tel Aviv's 1.2 million inhabitants under threat of missile retaliation.

That certainly takes things 'up a notch' as they say. As if the region needed any further escalation.

The following looks like it was taken directly from the pages of biblical prophecy - specifically Isaiah 17:

The drill may well revive speculation in Damascus that Turkey is preparing to go ahead with a plan to carve out a buffer enclave inside Syria to protect civilians and provide rebels with shelter and logistical and medical assistance. The Assad regime would no doubt regard this act as a direct attack on sovereign Syrian territory by a NATO member.

According to Western intelligence sources, Syria, Iran and Hizballah have charted a coordinated military operation for flattening metropolitan Tel Aviv, Israel's financial, industrial and cultural center, with thousands of missiles launched simultaneously by all three - plus the Palestinian Hamas and Jihad Islami firing from the Gaza Strip.

Western intelligence sources have reported that Israel reacted with a warning of its own: If a single Syrian missile explodes in Tel Aviv, Damascus will be first to pay the price, and if the missile offensive persists, one Syrian town after another will be destroyed.

This specificity of this evolving scenario is almost surreal, as it fits precisely with what we have been told via the prophetic scriptures. Once again, like so many times throughout history, we see the precision of biblical prophecy.

Davutoglu warned Assad that if he did not desist from his actions he would share the fate of Muammar Qaddafi at the hands of NATO and Turkish forces.

The Syrian ruler's response was harsh: From the moment a shot is fired against Syria, "it will take only six hours for Syria to devastate Tel Aviv and ignite the entire Middle East," he said.

The barrage of Syrian threats was reinforced from Tehran Monday, Sept, 26 by Ayatollah Jafar Shoujouni, a close associate of the all-powerful Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

This was no coincidence. Their threat has since been repeated with greater emphasis to provide the Assad regime with insurance for its survival against foreign military intervention while continuing its pitiless onslaught on dissent.

These are just a few quotes; the entire article is well worth reading.

Also see this predictable development:

Russia and China Veto UN Resolution on Syria

Russia and China joined forces on Tuesday and vetoed a European-drafted UN Security Council resolution condemning Syria and hinting it could face sanctions if its bloody crackdown on protesters continues.

France’s UN Ambassador spoke out harshly following Russia and China’s veto.

“We cannot today doubt the meaning of this veto of this text,” Ambassador Gerard Araud was quoted by Reuters as saying. “This is not a matter of wording. It is a political choice. It is a refusal of all resolutions of the council against Syria.”

He added, “This veto will not stop us. No veto can give carte blanche to the Syrian authorities.”

Additionally, we see the following evolving and related stories

Sinai Anarchy To Mean More IDF Reserves

Former IDF soldiers may find themselves called back to duty more frequently this year as the IDF responds to growing terrorist threats from Sinai.

Following the deadly attacks near Eilat several weeks ago, in which Gaza terrorists infiltrated Israel through Sinai, the IDF has decided to station many more soldiers along the 230-kilometer/150-mile Egyptian border. The soldiers have been pulled from positions elsewhere – positions that, for the time being, will be filled by reservists.

2,000 Through Porous Sinai Border into Israel

An estimated 2,000 people managed to sneak through the porous Israel-Egypt border along the Sinai Peninsula in August, according to a report made in the course of a discussion on human trafficking this week in the Knesset.

It is estimated that by the end of December, as many as 15,000 infiltrators will have succeeded in crossing Israel's borders, more than in any previous year.

Meanwhile, the other signs of the generation continue to percolate as expected:

Earthquake Swarm Continues On El Hierro, Canary Islands

The number of earthquakes recorded since July 17 on the smallest of The Canary Islands exceeded 9250 on Tuesday morning.
IGN confirmed on Monday that 1172 earthquakes were recorded last week, the majority of which were located in the sea to the SW of the 280-sqkm island.

Seismologists say the majority of the earthquake activity has shifted from El Golfo in the island’s northwest to beneath the Las Calmas Sea in the south.

A dramatic rise in recorded earthquakes on El Hierro last Tuesday prompted officials to evacuate some local residents, shut El Hierro’s main tunnel, and close local schools.

And this:

Rare Subsea Earthquakes Rattle Bermuda

The western Atlantic Ocean island of Bermuda, which was hit by its first earthquake in over a decade in April, has been rattled by two moderate quakes.

The earthquakes, both measuring 4.5 magnitude on the Richter Scale, struck at 10:18 PM and 10:36 PM local time on Monday.

The subsea quakes, the strongest to be recorded in the region in more than 20 years, were centred about 80 miles (130 km) south of Hamilton, the capital of the British overseas territory.

Almost everything that we are seeing in the news lately fits exactly with what we were foretold by Jesus and the prophets. More importantly, the 'birth pain' contractions are coming in waves that are more rapid and more potent.

None of this should be surprising in the least. Just like all biblical prophecy, these things are happening exactly as we were told.

Jesus told us (Luke 21:28, Luke 21:31) to look up for His coming during this time - a time in which all of the signs are present and accounted for.

And that time is undeniably here now - it is upon us in an undeniable way.

Therefore, we need to be obedient with Jesus' request: looking up - solely focused on Jesus. After all, as stated in the scriptures, our redemption is drawing near.

Maranatha!

Assad: Syria will "Shower Tel Aviv with Rockets"

This probably represents the most serious spoken threat yet to Israel (in recent history), and the prophetic implications are enormous:

Assad: Syria will shower Tel Aviv with rockets if attacked by foreign powers

Syria will strike Israel and "set fire" to the Middle East if foreign forces choose to launch a military strike on the protest-ridden country, Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Tuesday.

During a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Assad was quoted by the Iranian semi-official news agency Fars as saying that Syria would not hesitate to strike major Israeli cities if it was attacked."

And for anyone questioning the importance and the military significance of the Golan Heights - well, just see the following quote:

If a crazy measure is taken against Damascus, I will need not more than 6 hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv," Assad said.

And this:

In addition, Fars reported that the Syrian president told the Turkish FM that he would also call on Hezbollah in Lebanon to launch a rocket attack on Israel, adding: "All these events will happen in three hours, but in the second three hours, Iran will attack the U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf and the U.S. and European interests will be targeted simultaneously."

Also see:

Syria threatens to set Middle East on fire

Fars reported Davutoglu conveyed a warning from NATO and the U.S. that Syria could face an international military campaign if Assad does not halt his violent crackdown on an insurgency targeting the Syrian president's regime.

WND was first to report that Turkey secretly passed a message to Damascus that if it does not implement major democratic reforms, NATO may attack Assad's regime, according to Egyptian security officials.

The Egyptian officials said Turkish leaders, speaking for NATO, told Assad that he has until March to implement democratization that would allow free elections as well as major constitutional reforms.

According to informed Middle Eastern security officials speaking to WND, Assad asked his military to make specific preparations in the event of a U.S.-led NATO campaign similar to the military coalition now targeting Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi.

This article goes on to make the case that the infamous "responsibility to protect" could be the doctrine used to justify intervention into Syria. After receiving the news of potential intervention into Syria, we see Assad's response:

Syrian President Bashar Assad today reportedly warned he will set the Middle East on fire if NATO forces attack his country.

"If a crazy measure is taken against Damascus, I will need not more than six hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv," Assad reportedly said, according to Iran's state-run Fars news agency.

Assad also reiterated that Damascus will call on Hezbollah in Lebanon to launch an intensive rocket and missile attack on Israel, reported Fars.

Things continue to escalate significantly in the region.

It is interesting that according to Assad, a NATO attack into Syria would precipitate their attacking Israel.

But in these last days anything is possible as we watch the prophetic developments unfold.

This development is most certainly worth watching closely.