Memorial Day

I thought I would post something that reminds me of when I was little, in grade school. We used to observe Remembrance Day in Canada- on November 11, Veteran's' Day in the States. I remember wearing the poppy, and also remember reciting this poem every year with all my classmates. Back then, we went to School on Remembrance Day, and learned the reasons for observing such a solemn day.

Dedicated to all those who have given their lives, those who gave us their sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters. And also to those who have bravely kept passing the torch so we can be free. Thank you.

IN FLANDERS FIELD
In Flanders fields, the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
in Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; Be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
in Flanders fields.

It was due to the poem “In Flanders Field” that Miss Moina Michael originated the
Flanders Memorial Poppy which has raised millions of dollars for veterans and their
families. Miss Michael became known to millions of World War I veterans as the
“Poppy Lady” and on 9 November 1918 she wrote the poem, We Shall Keep the Faith in
answer to the In Flanders Field poem.

WE SHALL KEEP THE FAITH
Oh! You who sleep in “Flanders Fields,”
Sleep sweet – to rise anew!
We caught the Torch you threw
And, holding high we keep the Faith.
With all who died.
We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led:
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.
And now the Torch and Poppy red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We’ve learned the lesson that ye taught
In Flanders Fields.

To see photos of this beautiful cemetery in Belgium, please go here.

I have a file for this. It's called "Stupidity"

Lately, I have noticed more and more things going on in the world which make absolutely no sense to me. I am not a brilliant person, so why is it that people who are purportedly brilliant do such stupid things?
Anyway, here's just a sample:

May 18/2009 DEBKAfile's Washington sources report that the gap between US president Barack Obama and Israel prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Iran was wider even than on the Palestinian issue. Overshadowing their outwardly easy conversation was the US president's growing inclination to meet Iran halfway on uranium enrichment and call off UN and American sanctions if Tehran allows international monitoring of the process.

OK first of all- the occupant of the oval office (I got that title from someone else, and I really like it- OOO for short) is inclined to meet a nation (who has said at every given chance that they want to wipe the State of Israel off the face of the planet, and shout death to America "the great Satan") , half way in uranium enrichment which everyone knows is working towards nukes?! OK, like the sanctions have really worked, but come on! Do you really think Tehran will allow international monitoring?! Will this be anything like the oil for food fiasco which paid the Saddam Hussein regime so handsomely? Is the international community really that much different from the UN anyway?


Next,
Our intelligence sources report that Obama is seriously considering taking up the Anglo-German proposal for an international monitoring mechanism strict enough to preclude Iran's attainment of weapons-grade enriched uranium.
The president was convinced by American intelligence and nuclear experts that this can be done. He also believes that nothing will persuade Tehran to cede its right to enrichment activity on its soil.

OK. Now correct me if I'm wrong here. First the OOO is considering a proposal which will be strict enough to finish Iran's chance to get W.G enriched uranium, but in the second breath- he believes nothing will make Tehran to stop making it?! Hello? Why bother then, if you think they will do it anyway?! Again, telling someone who hates you to "stop it" (insert teenager sibling whine here) is not necessarily going to get them to stop- no matter how many countries ask them!

Next.
Israeli intelligence and military experts take the opposite view. They believe the Anglo-German plan gives Iran the perfect cover for concealing its race for a nuclear bomb, a misgiving shared by the political and military establishments of the moderate Arab governments in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.

Uh, yeah!

It is their view that if Obama adopts this plan, Iran can be sure of arriving at a nuclear weapon capability by the end of 2010.

Ditto!

This dispute did not come up in the Obama-Netanyahu conversation. Both skated around the Iranian nuclear threat separately without touching on options outside diplomacy. The US president said he was in the process of "reaching out" to Iran and was confident he could persuade Tehran's rulers that a nuclear weapon was not in their best interest if they wanted to be fully accepted as part of the international community. He did not mention uranium enrichment or a military option against Iran. Neither would he accept a deadline for negotiations with Tehran, except to say that at the end of the year, "we will see where we stand."

OK, this is what REALLY gets my hair in a knot! Our own Department of homeland security deems people such as yours truly a dangerous threat because I believe not only in the Bible, but also the prophecies concerning the end times. Yet- our same government is confident that they can persuade a leader who believes that their own version of the end times is close to being fulfilled, and they are willing to blow themselves and others to smithereens to usher in their mahdi?! You've got to be kidding me! It's clear that OOO has NO clue in the religious beliefs of the Ayatollah and Amadinijhad! He knows I am dangerous- but willing to cut these guys some slack?
Get a clue people. Iran will continue to build their weapons no matter how nice we play. If we don't help- Israel will do it themselves, but I think this is what is meant to happen anyway, and OOO will not have to worry about it anymore, and the leg tingling excitement of change can keep on killing our country.

Then there is this little tidbit. I am shaking my head in wonder as I re read this.

Obama Says U.S. Long-Term Debt Load ‘Unsustainable’ (Update2) Share Email Print A A A
By Roger Runningen and Hans Nichols
May 14 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama, calling current deficit spending “unsustainable,” warned of skyrocketing interest rates for consumers if the U.S. continues to finance government by borrowing from other countries.

Our current deficit spending is unsustainable. So what's Obama's answer? Simple silly! Spend more!

“We can’t keep on just borrowing from China,” Obama said at a town-hall meeting in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, outside Albuquerque. “We have to pay interest on that debt, and that means we are mortgaging our children’s future with more and more debt.”

Ours maybe, but I doubt yours. Got a question for you though. Every time I hear anything about taxes or tightening belts (ours not yours) you always claim it's for the children. Say, is this massive debt load for the children too?

Holders of U.S. debt will eventually “get tired” of buying it, causing interest rates on everything from auto loans to home mortgages to increase, Obama said. “It will have a dampening effect on our economy.”

NO! Really?!

Earlier this week, the Obama administration revised its own budget estimates and raised the projected deficit for this year to a record $1.84 trillion, up 5 percent from the February estimate. The revision for the 2010 fiscal year estimated the deficit at $1.26 trillion, up 7.4 percent from the February figure. The White House Office of Management and Budget also projected next year’s budget will end up at $3.59 trillion, compared with the $3.55 trillion it estimated previously.

Uhm, weren't the liberals screaming when Bushs' deficit was like 1 hundred billion because of the war? Where's the peeps for this more than a trillion in 100 days? A billion/ a trillion? What's the big deal?

Two weeks ago, the president proposed $17 billion in budget cuts, with plans to eliminate or reduce 121 federal programs. Republicans ridiculed the amount, saying that it represented one-half of 1 percent of the entire budget. They noted that Obama is seeking an $81 billion increase in other spending.

Now please, Democrats used to do this backwards math where they would claim republicans were cutting spending on things (thereby hurting the poor and the children) because they would only RAISE the funding by like 20 percent from the previous year. So, now they have a different math system- spend another 81 billion, but cut back 17 billion, and that's a GOOD thing. OK.

Entitlement Programs
In his New Mexico appearance, the president pledged to work with Congress to shore up entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare. He also said he was confident that the House and Senate would pass health-care overhaul bills by August.


HOW? WITH WHAT?

“Most of what is driving us into debt is health care, so we have to drive down costs,” he said.

Yeah, by picking which old people and disabled to screw by passing them over for someone you deem to have more of a chance of a productive life. Look at Europe- France, Great Britain and Canada!

Obama prodded Congress to pass restrictions on credit-card issuers, saying consumers need “strong and reliable” protection from unfair practices and hidden fees.

“It’s time for reform that’s built on transparency, accountability, and mutual responsibility, values fundamental to the new foundation we seek to build for our economy,” the president said.

Sure, there's that word "transparency" again. Gee, I thought he was talking about his own, not everyone else's. Silly me.

Obama called on Congress to send to him by May 25 a bill that would clamp down on what he says are sudden rate increases, unfair penalties and hidden fees. He also wants the measure to strengthen monitoring of credit-card companies.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the credit-card bill last month after adding a provision requiring banks to apply consumers’ payments to balances with the highest interest rates first. The bill also imposes limits on card interest rates and fees.
The Senate continued debating its version of the bill today. It would require credit-card companies to give 45 days’ notice before increasing an interest rate. It would prohibit retroactive rate increases on existing balances unless a consumer was 60 days late with a payment.
The president said Americans have been hooked on their credit cards and share some blame for the current system. “We have been complicit in these problems,” he said. “We have to change how we operate. These practices have only grown worse in the midst of this recession.”

What's this we business? I operate the same way I always have OOO. If I can't afford it- I don't buy it! It's called a budget. You ever hear of one?

The American Bankers Association, which represents card issuers, has warned lawmakers and the Obama administration against taking punitive action or setting requirements that are too stringent. Doing so, the lobby group says, would limit consumer credit and worsen a credit crunch.
Obama said that restrictions “shouldn't diminish consumers’ access to credit.”

Oh, OK. Isn't giving credit to people who couldn't afford houses a big part of how we got into this mess?!

Uncollectible credit-card debt rose to 8.82 percent in February, the most in the 20 years that Moody’s Investors Service Inc. has kept records. Lawmakers have said they’re under increasing pressure from constituents to respond to rising interest rates and abrupt changes to consumers’ accounts.
Obama held a White House meeting last month with executives from the credit-card industry, including representatives from Bank of America Corp. and American Express Co. Afterward, he told reporters that credit-card issuers should be prohibited from imposing “unfair” rate increases on consumers and should offer the public credit terms that are easier to understand. '

That I can understand, but at the same time, people ought to know credit companies are sharks. Who would want one, when these same companies send applications to grade school kids?! Anyway, where in the Constitution does it say the Feds have any right to tell private industries how to charge things?!

“The days of any time, any increase, anything goes -- rate hike, late fees -- that must end,” Obama said today at Rio Rancho High School. We’re going to require clarity and transparency from now on.”

Funny, I thought you promised that before you were elected. So, it's from now on is it.... BTW, I'm getting as tired of hearing about transparency and reaching out as I am of the word "change".

He also said the steps he has taken to stimulate the economy and start the debate on overhauling the health-care system are beginning to take effect.

And how is forcing doctors to buy millions in computer programs so the government can have every citizen's medical and other records on computer files helping the economy?

“We’ve got a long way to go before we put this recession behind us,” Obama said. “But we do know that the gears of our economy, our economic engine, are slowly beginning to turn.”

Yeah- maybe in the government sector! Or those run by the unions, or if you work for community organisers like ACORN!

Taking questions from the audience, Obama repeated his stance that he wants legislation to overhaul the health-care system finished before the end of the year, saying it is vital to the economy.
Health-care costs are driving up the nation’s debt and burdening entitlement programs such as Medicare, the government- run insurance program for those 65 and older and the disabled.

Uh, NO. Sorry OOO, I don't have health care, but that's not what's killing us. It's the "hidden taxes" you are shoving on the working and unemployed poor! Sure, the outrageous taxes on the wealthy aren't hidden- you want us poor folk to be angry at all those greedy rich. The rest of the money comes from the poor schleps like us. You know, higher property taxes because our governments couldn't balance a budget if their lives depended on it. Because our government schools are out of money that was supposedly coming from all those lottery winnings. Higher gas costs because you think raising taxes on oil companies is a new found wind fall. Higher car prices to come because of your dedication to an unproven, but very profitable politically correct idea of Co2 (which we need by the way) is killing the earth by frying us. Like it's working in California.No, OOO. It's not the health care that's killing us. It's the thought of government controlling everything that is killing us. Like the government has done so well with other entitlements like social security and Medicaid/medicare, or the system for our returning wounded vets!

OH speaking of which:

The programs’ trustees reported May 13 that the Social Security trust fund will run out of assets in 2037, four years sooner than forecast, and Medicare’s hospital fund will run dry by 2017, two years earlier than predicted a year ago.

Oh, that's nice.
There's more, but that's enough sarcasm for one night.

What's Up in Israel?

For the longest time, I've said we need to keep watch on Israel. There are a lot of happenings in the middle east, around the world, here in the US, and in Israel which are pointing to a few prophecies- mainly the Ezekiel Prophecies:

Ezekiel 36

“Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The enemy said of you, “Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession.” ‘ Therefore prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because they ravaged and hounded you from every side so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations and the object of people’s malicious talk and slander, therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign LORD : This is what the Sovereign LORD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and the deserted towns that have been plundered and ridiculed by the rest of the nations around you- this is what the Sovereign LORD says: In my burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, for with glee and with malice in their hearts they made my land their own possession so that they might plunder its pastureland.’ Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I speak in my jealous wrath because you have suffered the scorn of the nations. Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I swear with uplifted hand that the nations around you will also suffer scorn. (Ezekiel 36:1-7)

Now, there are a few things I want to point out from the above verses.

First this verse-"Because they ravaged and hounded you from every side so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations and the object of people’s malicious talk and slander..."

Israel, ever since coming back to their own again, they have had to either fight enemies, be surrounded by enemies, told that they must give land to their enemies. Supposedly, they were supposed to get peace for the land, but that hasn't, nor will it happen. Israel is still having to fight just to survive as their own country. They have and are literally hounded by every side and nation in the world.

Not only in the land are the Jewish people hated and fought. After the second world war, when the truth of the holocaust became known, people swore never again would such a thing happen. For years, Jewish people were finally able to have some peace, no matter where they lived. Sure, there may have been some lingering anti Semitic provocations, depending on where in the world- mainly the middle east. Many places in the West and in Europe, Jewish people were able to live relatively free of any persecution. Until now.

Now, they are hated for the situation in Gaza last summer. They are blamed for provoking and murdering civilians. No mention any more about how many rockets are fired on the Israeli population, nor of the practice of the PA, Hamas and Hezbollah to use women and children as human shields- thereby guaranteeing their deaths.

Israel is pressured to divide Jerusalem, which Biblically and Historically, has been their Holy City for the past 4000 years. They are also being pressured to give up the West Bank and Golan Heights, which would make it that much easier for their enemies to attack from all sides daily with missile and rocket, and mortar rounds.

Around the world, Jews are being blamed, persecuted and murdered, they are hated by governments, by Islamists, and by the media.

Bibi Netenyahu will be here in the US to have "peace" talks again with Obama and his bunch, and I can tell you right now, Bibi will not take any crap from Obama on the issue of Iran. On the other things, land for peace, I am not so sure. I do know that Obama's behavior so far shows that this administration seems to lean towards leaving Israel out to dry as far as Israel's enemies are concerned.

Before I go on with the last part of this post, I want to ask you to really think about a few things.

Is there any other nation on this earth which has been "ordered" to give land to enemies? I mean, has the US been ordered to give the eastern or western seaboard to say, Russia or Iran or China? How about made to give Texas to the Mexican government? Has any other nation ever had to "show restraint" against their neighboring countries as they hurl rockets at civilian targets- including schools and hospitals? Has any other nation ever had their enemies declare that they would wipe their whole country off the face of the earth? Not only that, but given no outrage by those kind of comments? Has any other country with those kinds of threats daily ever had to go it alone the way Israel has, and been blamed for it?!

Think of this last part of Ezekiel 36:

"I speak in my jealous wrath because you have suffered the scorn of the nations. Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I swear with uplifted hand that the nations around you will also suffer scorn.."

The way I see things on the near horizon are these:

Within the next few weeks, if Obama leans on Israel to push for the failed road map, America will be hit again- with either wicked weather events, more economic woes, or maybe even a terror event. I posted a while back about the happenings whenever a US president pushed for some kind of peace deal or showed more respect to Israel's (and our own) enemies than they did our only Middle eastern ally. The day the Jews were evacuated out of Gaza, was the day Hurricane Katrina smashed into the Gulf States. That was not the only case.

Israel will not allow Iran to finish their nuke program. If they have to go it alone, they will- but the world will condemn them, for not waiting for someone like the UN to intervene (like that's about to happen!) They will (I'm 99.9% sure of this) go after Iran alone without the US help- after all, Obama is talking with Iran, wanting to deal with them diplomatically, which again, LIKE THAT WILL WORK?

Whether Russia will come to the aid of Iran, I am not sure yet- but they are actively involved with each other. Russia is helping Iran with their nuke programs and weaponry.

And don't forget about Syria either. Sure, we've had plenty of US good will ambassadors freely chatting with the terrorist state- so I don't see them helping us any time soon.

God will intervene in a way which shows that He is REAL. He is going to do some mighty things to save Israel from her enemies, in a way which will bring secular and on religious Jews back to Himself, and also to show the rest of the world who He is.

God Will judge those who curse His people. He has shown blessings on us and others when we helped Israel, and protected them. We do not do that anymore, and we as a nation have turned our backs on the Lord's Own People. He will show the world His love for Jews, and his anger on her enemies.

I will be posting more along this line on my new blog- how the situation in the middle east, Islam and God's judgement all tie into the coming one world religion- and the false peace deal made by the coming Antichrist.

Keep a lookout for big happenings in the Middle East in the next few months, a lookout for new posts on the Prophecies in Understanding The Biblical Prophecies, and keep looking for Jesus!

If you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, I pray you will learn about Him, and accept Him as your Salvation. Time really is running out. To learn more, please read: John and Romans

New Blog

Hi Everyone. For anyone who is interested, I wanted to let you know that I created a new blog which will have all of my archived series on the end time prophecies which I wrote back in the AOL days! God Bless!

http://understandingthebiblicalprophecies.blogspot.com/