Watchman Newsletter

Guatemala in 'public calamity' as drought and famine worsen

The China Post (Link) (September 11, 2009)

Guatemala's President Alvaro Colom has declared a "public calamity" from drought and famine that have claimed more than 460 lives since the start of the year.

"I have decided to declare a state of public calamity throughout the country," Colom declared in a nationally-broadcast address Tuesday.

"This will allow us to have access to international aid resources and to mobilize resources within our budget with greater ease," the Guatemalan leader said.

The country's health minister said 462 people have died, including 54 children.

Most of the deaths occurred in the impoverished northern section of Guatemala bordering Mexico, where more than half of the 13 million inhabitants in the region subsist below the poverty line.

Is Christianity All About Relationships?

News With Views (Link) - Paul Proctor (September 11, 2009)

“Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” – Luke 6:26

It seems I am receiving a little extra email these days from troubled Christians who have had to give up a church, some friends and/or certain family members in order to remain faithful to God and His Word. I can tell you without hesitation that I certainly have – and on more than one occasion.

No one can lead you down the road of temptation quicker than a close friend, family member or fellow Christian. The downgrading of today’s “Church” along with society has clearly taken its toll on the brethren and is now driving many out the sanctuary doors to preserve their faith in Jesus Christ.

I heard Authority Research founder and director, Dean Gotcher, in a recent radio interview refer to the loneliness that results from the loss of such relationships as the taking up of one’s cross for Christ. When I respond to the heartbreaking email of readers who have had to leave their local church in obedience to God’s Word, I often reply with some empathetic encouragement and a link to a short piece written by A.W. Tozer titled: The Loneliness of the Christian.

For believers new to this column, I realize that the idea of sacrificing treasured relationships, even those we worship with, is probably a stark contrast to what you regularly receive from the pulpit of your local church and the lectern of your weekly Bible study class where most everything these days revolves around establishing, protecting, sustaining and maintaining relationships of all kinds, at all costs – a dangerous notion that is just not biblical.

“Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” – Amos 3:3

Simply put, it turns people into church worshippers who revere, embrace and obey the consensus of a congregation with a contrived unity rather than God worshippers who put His Word and Authority far and above the fellowship, opinions, theories, life experiences and personal tastes of well meaning Christians and clergy.

Pay with a wave of your hand?

MSN Money (Link) - creditcards.com - Jay MacDonald  (September 11, 2009)

An implantable chip could allow you to charge purchases or even start your car. It'd be convenient, to be sure. But would it be too creepy?

It's a simple concept, really: You inject a miniature radio frequency identifier the size of a grain of rice between your thumb and forefinger and, with a wave of your hand, unlock doors, turn on lights, start your car or pay for your drinks at an ultrachic nightspot.

The problem is, the whole concept is a little geeky for most of us, nauseating for some, Orwellian for a few and even apocalyptic for a smattering of religious fundamentalists.

Forget the science of it -- and yes, it does work remarkably well. Forget the convenience of it. Forget that similar identifying technologies, from bar codes to mag stripes, overcame similar obstacles and are now ubiquitous.

Radio frequency ID implants face a hurdle the others did not: ickiness.

"There is sort of an icky quality to implanting something," says Rome Jette, the vice president for smart cards at Versatile Card Technology, a Downers Grove, Ill., card manufacturer that ships 1.5 billion cards worldwide a year.

Svensmark: “global warming stopped and a cooling is beginning” – “enjoy global warming while it lasts”

Watts Up With That? (Link) - Professor Henrik Svensmark (September 10, 2009)

This opinion piece from Professor Henrik Svensmark was published September 9th in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. Translation is from Google translation with some post translation cleanup of jumbled words or phrases by myself. In cases were the words were badly jumbled or didn’t quite make sense I inserted [my interpretation in brackets]. Hat tip to Carsten Arnholm of Norway for bringing this to my attention. – Anthony

While the sun sleeps HENRIK SVENSMARK, Professor, DTU, Copenhagen

Indeed, global warming stopped and a cooling is beginning. No climate model has predicted a cooling of the Earth, on the contrary. This means that projections of future climate is unpredictable, writes Henrik Svensmark.

The star which keeps us alive, has over the last few years almost no sunspots, which are the usual signs of the sun’s magnetic activity.

Last week, reported the scientific team behind Sohosatellitten (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) that the number of sunspot-free days suggest that solar activity is heading towards its lowest level in about 100 years’.  Everything indicates that the Sun is moving into a hibernation-like state, and the obvious question is whether it has any significance for us on Earth.

If you ask the International Panel on Climate Change IPCC, representing the current consensus on climate change, so the answer is a reassuring ‘nothing’. But history and recent research suggests that it is probably completely wrong. Let us take a closer look at why.

Solar activity has always varied.  Around the year 1000, we had a period of very high solar activity, which coincided with the medieval warmth. It was a period when frosts in May was an almost unknown phenomenon and of great importance for a good harvest.  Vikings settled in Greenland and explored the coast of North America. For example, China’s population doubled over this period.  But after about 1300, the earth began to get colder and it was the beginning of the period we now call the Little Ice Age. In this cold period  all the Viking settlements in Greenland disappeared. Swedes [were surprised to see Denmark to freeze over in ice], and the Thames in London froze repeatedly. But more serious was the long periods of crop failure, which resulted in a poorly nourished population, because of disease and hunger [population was reduced] by about 30 per cent in Europe.

Schulte: Syria may have more nuke sites

The Jerusalem Post (Link) (September 10, 2009)

Syria may be operating more nuclear sites, apart from the reactor at Deir Azour which was bombed by Israel on September 6, 2007 in what came to be known as Operation Orchard, former US envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Gregory Schulte told Channel 10 Thursday evening.

"I think there were other activities that gave us concern, that gave the IAEA concern… IAEA inspectors actually asked to go to a number of other sites, and the Syrians wouldn't let them go there; they claimed they were military sites. They claimed the uranium particles that the inspectors found at the destroyed reactor came from Israeli bombs," Schulte said.

In the past, the Syrian accusation was brushed aside both by the IAEA and Israel, as the uranium used to strengthen the metal of shells is of a different type than the uranium used in producing nuclear energy.

Schulte went on to criticize the conduct of Mohammed ElBaradei, the Egyptian-born outgoing IAEA chief who has been accused by Israel many times of being biased. "I tell you Mohammed ElBaradei was not happy ... he was mad at Israel, he was mad at the United States; he didn't express any discontent about Syria," he said.

Netanyahu Says Israelis Won’t Be ‘Suckers’ for Peace Process

Bloomberg (Link) - Calev Ben-David (September 10, 2009)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that while he is ready to make sacrifices for the sake of peace with the Palestinians and Arabs, his government will “stand up” for the interests of the country.

“We have proven again and again we are ready to compromise for peace,” Netanyahu said tonight in a speech in the Tel Aviv headquarters of his Likud party broadcast on Israeli television’s Channel 1 news. “But we will not delude ourselves -- we are not ready to be suckers.”

Netanyahu said his government is committed to pursuing diplomatic negotiations with the Palestinians and Arab states. At the same time, it will work to ensure that Jewish settlers in the West Bank will still be able to lead “normal lives.”

The Palestinians have said they will not negotiate unless Israel freezes all construction in the West Bank, and the Obama administration has asked Israel to do so to advance the peace process. Israeli officials said last week the Netanyahu government would be willing to declare a temporary freeze to help restart the talks.

Netanyahu also said his government wouldn’t agree to any division of Jerusalem. Palestinians have said that in any final agreement, Israel must cede the eastern half of the city to serve as the capital of a Palestinian state. Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 war.

World system moves towards new order: Singapore official

China View (Link) (September 10, 2009)

The global economic situation appears to be no longer so dire, as with any major shock to the system, there will be profound structural changes that will shift the equilibrium towards a "new world order," a Singapore official said on Thursday.

The economic situation has somewhat stabilized these two quarters, which thanks to the concerted and decisive efforts of many governments and central banks, said Lim Hwee Hua, Singapore's Minister in Prime Minister's Office, Second Minister for Finance and Transport.

Speaking here at a forum dinner, She said that three trends have already begun to take shape towards a new world order, namely rebalancing of the global economy, increased domestic protectionist pressure in many countries, and "global green new deal."

She said that as many economists have observed, a "delicate rebalancing act" of international trade flows would be required for a global recovery.

Growing ties between Israeli, PA police forces

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Yaakov Lappin (September 10, 2009)

Away from the media spotlight on efforts to kick-start diplomatic talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the two parties' police forces together with the IDF's civil administration are increasing their cooperation, and have implemented a series of confidence-building measures over the past two years.

The cooperation has taken a number of surprising forms. One example is the payment of an estimated NIS 4 million in traffic fines paid to Judea and Samaria Police by PA residents. The police transfer the money to the civil administration, which in turn invests the money in Palestinian infrastructure in the West Bank.

The traffic offenses include speeding, U-turns, and failure to obey traffic signs, and the fines are given out by Judea and Samaria Traffic Police.

Ch.-Supt. Daniel Israel, who heads the Israel Police's Coordination Unit with the Palestinian Civil Police, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that the fines represent an effort by both Israeli and Palestinian police to crack down on dangerous driving habits in the West Bank.

"Almost every day, traffic violations in Judea and Samaria kill Palestinians and Israelis. Those who are fined know they can't escape payment, because of the cooperation between the two police forces. The real deterrent effect is what is important," he said.

Syria storing heavy weapons in caches near border with Israel

World Tribune (Link) (September 10, 2009)

Israel has learned that the Syrian military was preparing massive weapons caches near the border with Israel. Officials said the Israeli military has detected Syrian deployment of heavy weapons near the southern border with the Jewish state. They said the Syrian Army was using civilian assets to conceal the rearmament operation.

"They are using civilian trucks to bring weapons near the border," Ground Forces Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrachi said.

In an address to a military conference on Sept. 2, Mizrachi said the Syrian Army was storing massive amounts of weapons in villages near the Israeli border. He said unmarked trucks were transporting a range of weapons to villages in the Golan Heights, Middle East Newsline reported.

"This is why we need to split up our capabilities between a conventional war scenario to one that we are fighting against a non-conventional force," Mizrachi said.

A year after financial crisis, a new world order emerges

Yahoo! News (Link) - McClatchy Newspapers - Kevin G. Hall (September 8, 2009)

One year after the near collapse of the global financial system, this much is clear: The financial world as we knew it is over, and something new is rising from its ashes. Historians will look to September 2008 as a watershed for the U.S. economy.

On Sept. 7, the government seized mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Eight days later, investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, sparking a global financial panic that threatened to topple blue-chip financial institutions around the world. In the several months that followed, governments from Washington to Beijing responded with unprecedented intervention into financial markets and across their economies, seeking to stop the wreckage and stem the damage.

One year later, the easy-money system that financed the boom era from the 1980s until a year ago is smashed. Once-ravenous U.S. consumers are saving money and paying down debt. Banks are building reserves and hoarding cash. And governments are fashioning a new global financial order.

Congress and the Obama administration have lost faith in self-regulated markets. Together, they're writing the most sweeping new regulations over finance since the Great Depression. And in this ever-more-connected global economy, Washington is working with its partners through the G-20 group of nations to develop worldwide rules to govern finance.

"Our objective is to design an economic framework where we're going to have a more balanced pattern of growth globally, less reliant on a buildup of unsustainable borrowing... and not just here, but around the world," said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

The first faint signs that the U.S. economy may be clawing its way back from the worst recession since the Great Depression are only now starting to appear, a year after the panic began. Similar indications are sprouting in Europe, China and Japan.

Poll: Israelis more secure

YNet News (Link) (September 7, 2009)

A poll by the War and Peace Index, published monthly by Ynet, has concluded that feelings of national and personal security are on the rise among Israel's Jewish citizens.

Forty-nine percent of Jews in Israel ranked their personal feeling of security as high or very high, and only 19% ranked it as low, despite reports of a recent crime surge. In comparison, in April of 2007 just 42.5% ranked it as high, and 24% ranked it as low.

Regarding national security, 38% said they felt very secure and 22% said they didn't feel secure at all. The data constitutes a considerable improvement from 2007.

UN wants new global currency to replace dollar

Telegraph UK (Link) - Edmund Conway (September 7, 2009)

The dollar should be replaced with a global currency, the United Nations has said, proposing the biggest overhaul of the world's monetary system since the Second World War.

In a radical report, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has said the system of currencies and capital rules which binds the world economy is not working properly, and was largely responsible for the financial and economic crises.

It added that the present system, under which the dollar acts as the world's reserve currency, should be subject to a wholesale reconsideration.

Although a number of countries, including China and Russia, have suggested replacing the dollar as the world's reserve currency, the UNCTAD report is the first time a major multinational institution has posited such a suggestion.

In essence, the report calls for a new Bretton Woods-style system of managed international exchange rates, meaning central banks would be forced to intervene and either support or push down their currencies depending on how the rest of the world economy is behaving.

Hizbullah offered one-third of new Lebanese government

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - AP (September 7, 2009)

Hizbullah will take 10 of 30 seats in a proposed list for a new national unity government submitted to Lebanese president Michel Suleiman.

Prime minister-designate Saad Hariri said Monday that the Western-backed parliamentary majority would get 15 seats out of the 30-member Cabinet. The Hizbullah-led parliamentary minority would get 10 seats, while the president would choose the remaining five seats.

The unilateral submission by Hariri could anger Hizbullah and its allies, who have not approved the list. Together they have demanded to head several ministries, and offered several names that Hariri rejected.

Hariri has been trying to put together a Cabinet since he was appointed by Suleiman on June 27, but its formation has been prevented by disagreements over the allocation of top ministerial seat.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned Beirut in August that if Hizbullah becomes an official member the Lebanese government, "[Israel] will hold the government accountable for any aggression against Israel coming out of its territory."

Arab League: Shun Israel, or Else

Israel National News (Link) (September 6, 2009)

Arab League head Amr Moussa issued a warning Sunday to Arab countries to avoid normalizing ties with Israel until Israel gives in to the League's demands, which include a complete building freeze in Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria, and much of Jerusalem. Any country that warms its ties with Israel before Arab demands are met will face a “tough” response, Moussa said, speaking at a news conference in Egypt.

"If we discover that someone normalized ties with Israel, I believe the reaction across the Arab world would be very violent,” he clarified.

Moussa made it clear last Friday that the Arab League's demand for a building freeze includes all Jerusalem neighborhoods east of the 1949 armistice line. Among such neighborhoods are Pisgat Zeev, Ramat Eshkol, Neve Yaakov, Har Homa, French Hill and the Old City.

The League demands that Jews be forbidden to build in those areas, while Arab construction would be permitted throughout the city.

China alarmed by US money printing

Telegraph UK (Link) - Ambrose Evans-Pritchard (September 6, 2009)

The US Federal Reserve's policy of printing money to buy Treasury debt threatens to set off a serious decline of the dollar and compel China to redesign its foreign reserve policy, according to a top member of the Communist hierarchy.

Cheng Siwei, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee and now head of China's green energy drive, said Beijing was dismayed by the Fed's recourse to "credit easing".

"We hope there will be a change in monetary policy as soon as they have positive growth again," he said at the Ambrosetti Workshop, a policy gathering on Lake Como.

"If they keep printing money to buy bonds it will lead to inflation, and after a year or two the dollar will fall hard. Most of our foreign reserves are in US bonds and this is very difficult to change, so we will diversify incremental reserves into euros, yen, and other currencies," he said.

China's reserves are more than – $2 trillion, the world's largest.