Watchman Newsletter

Pressure on Czechs after Poland signs EU treaty

Reuters (Link) - Kuba Jaworowski (October 10, 2009)

Polish President Lech Kaczynski signed the European Union's reform treaty into law on Saturday, leaving the Czech Republic as the only country still to ratify the document.

The Lisbon Treaty is designed to streamline decision-making and give the 27-nation bloc a long-term president and a stronger foreign policy chief. It can only take effect when all member states have approved it.

"Only (Czech) President Vaclav Klaus' signature is missing. Europe eagerly awaits this to happen, Europe needs no more delays," said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, who attended the televised signing ceremony in Poland's presidential palace.

Klaus set out his terms on Friday for signing the treaty, demanding an exemption to protect Prague from post-war property claims and safeguard the sovereignty of the judiciary.

Poland and Britain have won opt-outs on the application of some of the provisions of a Charter of Fundamental Rights which will be given binding force when the Lisbon Treaty is ratified.

DNA Proves Intelligent Design

Bible Prophecy Today (Link) - Nathan Jones (October 9, 2009)

One of the world's leading spokesmen for Atheism, Dr. Anthony Flew of England, announced that he now believes in Intelligent Design rather than Evolution as the best explanation for the existence of the Universe. What amazing piece of evidence could move a staunch Evolutionist to conclude that there has to be an intelligent designer?

To discover just what this tremendous evidence is that would turn even the biggest skeptic's mind around, we went to Dr. Jobe Martin, former dentist, professor and Evolutionist. Having clearly seen God's eternal power and divine nature from what has been made (Romans 1:20), Dr. Martin came to faith in Jesus Christ and a trust in the biblical account of the six days of Creation. He and his wife Jenna Dee have since formed Biblical Discipleship Ministries based in Rockwall, Texas to teach on campuses, classrooms and churches that we can trust the Bible's account of the Creation and Jesus as Savior.

Temple Mount Tensions Rise; Fatah, Hamas Call Muslims to Act

Israel National News (Link) - Maayana Miskin (October 9, 2009)

Thousands of police officers have deployed in Jerusalem Friday in advance of Muslim prayers on the Temple Mount. Police are on high alert following a week in which Muslims rioted in and around Jerusalem, as Muslim and Arab leaders accused Israel of attempting to harm the al-Aksa Mosque atop the Mount.

In an attempt to reduce the chance of riots, police have limited access to the Temple Mount to Muslims only - only females, or men who are under age 18 or over 50. In addition, only those with Israeli or Jerusalem identity cards will be allowed in, while foreign Muslims will be told to pray elsewhere.

Tensions remained high on Thursday. While relative quiet was maintained in Jerusalem's Old City, attacks on Jews were reported in the nearby neighborhood of Mei Shiloach (Silwan) and across Judea and Samaria.

Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Movement call to 'Defend Al-Aksa'

As Israel attempts to reduce tensions, Hamas, Fatah and the Israel-based Islamic Movement have each called on Muslims to “defend al-Aksa.” Hamas declared Friday a “Day of Rage” and called on followers to protest, while Fatah called for a general strike on Friday on behalf of the al-Aksa mosque.

What happened to global warming?

BBC News (Link) - Paul Hudson (October 9, 2009)

This headline may come as a bit of a surprise, so too might that fact that the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998.

But it is true. For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures.

And our climate models did not forecast it, even though man-made carbon dioxide, the gas thought to be responsible for warming our planet, has continued to rise.

So what on Earth is going on?

Climate change sceptics, who passionately and consistently argue that man's influence on our climate is overstated, say they saw it coming.

They argue that there are natural cycles, over which we have no control, that dictate how warm the planet is. But what is the evidence for this?

Global Muslim population hits 1.57 billion

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - AP (October 9, 2009)

The global Muslim population stands at 1.57 billion, meaning that nearly one in four people in the world practice Islam, according to a new report billed as the most comprehensive of its kind.

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life report provides a precise number for a population whose size has long has been subject to guesswork, with estimates ranging anywhere from 1 billion to 1.8 billion.

The project, three years in the making, also presents a portrait of the Muslim world that might surprise some. For instance, Germany has more Muslims than Lebanon, China has more Muslims than Syria, Russia has more Muslims than Jordan and Libya combined, and Ethiopia has nearly as many Muslims as Afghanistan.

"This whole idea that Muslims are Arabs and Arabs are Muslims is really just obliterated by this report," said Amaney Jamal, an assistant professor of politics at Princeton University who reviewed an advance copy.

US deficit 'hits record $1.4 trillion'

BBC News (Link) - Christian Caryl (October 2, 2009)

The US budget deficit hit a record $1.4 trillion (£877bn) in the year to 30 September, US Congress estimates say.

Analysts had predicted a $1.6tn deficit but revised the estimate, which comes after the end of the US financial year.

The deficit was equal to 9.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) - more than treble the 2008 level and the highest since the end of World War II.

The surging deficit was put down to increased government spending and a big drop in tax revenues.

The Treasury Department will report the actual deficit later this month.

The previous record deficit was $459bn, set last year.

After Irish vote on Lisbon Treaty, EU looks anxiously to Czech president, British Conservatives

China View (Link) - Paul Ames (October 7, 2009)

Ireland's vote to approve the European Union's Lisbon Treaty has left the future of the EU in the hands of an odd couple.

One is a thrusting young British politician raised in riches and educated at one of the world's most exclusive schools. The other is a castle-dwelling former banker who thinks global warming is a myth invented by leftists plotting to take over the world.

David Cameron, an alumni of England's ultra-posh Eton Collage, is the leader of Britain's opposition Conservative Party, which wants to overturn Britain's approval of the treaty if, as is widely expected, it topples the Labor government in next year's general election.

The climate-change-denier is Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who has steadfastly refused to sign the Lisbon Treaty despite his parliament's vote in favor of the blueprint for reforming the way the EU does business.

This unlikely duo is the reason why celebrations were muted in the corridors of power at EU headquarters in Brussels last week when Irish voters approved the Lisbon Treaty in a second referendum.

EU Making Plans for a Bigger Role Globally

Bible Prophecy Today (Link) - Jimmy DeYoung (October 7, 2009)

The recent "yes" vote by the Irish voters on the Lisbon Treaty has brought forward the prospects that the EU wants to play a greater role in world affairs and the ratification of the EU treaty by the 27-member states of the EU will set this plan in motion.

There are two provisions in the treaty which make such a plan very viable, with the position of a permanent president to lead the EU forward and the naming of a foreign policy representative, the EU would have a greater say in world affairs.

Jimmy's Prophetic Prospective on the News

As the EU member states ratify the Lisbon Treaty, this European, political, governmental and economic power will indeed become a major force on the international scene, that is according to Bible prophecy.

The recent "yes" vote by the Irish on the Lisbon Treaty has moved the EU closer to becoming the united superpower that many EU member states want to see happen in our world today. In addition to the 27-member states of the EU today, the Mediterranean Union, 17 Middle Eastern states, will be integrated into the EU later this year, giving the EU 44-member states, a true force in global affairs.

This scenario fits the prophetic scenario that can be found in the Bible. The ancient Jewish prophet Daniel revealed that in the last days, the old Roman Empire would be revived and become a major global power, Daniel 7:7, 23-24.

Libya's Colonel Khadafi said these 44-member states would be a revived Roman Empire, with the same borders of the old Roman Empire. The Lisbon Treaty also calls for a strong leader, a president, to take them into the future, a page from Bible prophecy where Daniel and John, the writer of Revelation, also call for such a leader known as the Antichrist, Daniel 7:8 and Revelation 13:1-3.

A bigger role for the EU on the world stage is indeed setting the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

Like it or not, the Temple Mount is key to Israeli-Palestinian peace

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Marvin Hier & Abraham Cooper (October 7, 2009)

Here we go again. As Jews celebrate in their tens of thousands the festival of Booths, Succot, religious extremists like Sheikh Raed Salah incite Palestinian masses to recapture Jerusalem with "blood and fire." Not to be outdone, the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah rushed in to pour fuel on the fire as it protests a "plan by Jews to perform religious rituals" on the Temple Mount,' and called on the international community to "force Israel to put off its attempts to take over Jerusalem."

So as Israel struggles to stop the stone throwers' verbal assaults, and the next spate of resolutions, it's worth reminding the world that ever since the Six Day War in 1967, when Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem, millions of people have safely streamed to the Western Wall to offer their prayers and insert hand written supplications to the Almighty. While most visitors shedding their tears adjacent to Judaism's holiest site - the Temple Mount - are Jews, not all pilgrims are. Witness Pope John Paul II inserting his own kvittel (written prayer) within the Wall's cracks; pilgrims from Africa, tourists from Indonesia, Swamis from India, Evangelicals from the Americas, Buddhists from across Asia - all come and go to the Wall.

The only price of admission: donning a cardboard yarmulke or scarf. Presidents and prime ministers flock to the Western Wall as well, armed with the latest great hope for peace in the Holy Land. From the Oslo Accords to the Quartet Middle East road map for peace, every official, regardless of religious denomination, or lack of one, finds a welcome private moment of silent prayer or reflection at the Western Wall.

AND YET earlier this week, in the midst of the Jewish High Holy Days, French tourists on the Temple Mount were pelted by irate Palestinian worshipers who "mistook" them for Jews. And the stones, and orchestrated crescendo of violence have continued unabated. During this seemingly annual exercise, has any diplomat, foreign minister, religious icon, or political pundit asked himself, or better yet the Palestinians, one simple question - why? Why can we all pray in peace at the Western Wall, but the very notion of a Jew praying on the site of Solomon's Temple begets only violence, denial and threats?
The centrality of Jerusalem to the Jewish people was never lost on friend or foe.

EU asks top diplomat to stay on with treaty under cloud

EU Business (Link) (October 7, 2009)

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt asked the EU's top diplomat Wednesday to remain in his job until the end of the month, amid doubts over when the bloc's reform treaty will enter force.

"I spoke this morning to Javier Solana," Reinfeldt told reporters in Brussels, "and asked him to stay on until the end of October in his capacity."

Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief and also top international nuclear negotiator with Iran, was due to step down on October 17, with his post to disappear once the Lisbon Treaty enters force, possibly next year.

The treaty is meant to ease decision-making in the expanding European Union and create new posts such as a longer-term president and a new foreign policy supremo.

But a legal challenge to the treaty in the Czech Republic and threats by that country's eurosceptic president not to sign the text mean the whole process is under a cloud.

The mandate of the EU's executive arm -- the European Commission -- also ends on October 31, and Reinfeldt said Wednesday that he was heading into "unknown territory" by being forced to take decisions with an outdated treaty.

Under the existing Nice Treaty, at least one country would have to give up its coveted EU commissioner job, while under the new package no one would be forced to do so.

"When we have the clarity on when the Lisbon Treaty will come into force, I will begin the consultations" on the new jobs, he said. "But we do not yet know enough."

EU draws up plans to establish itself as 'world power'

Telegraph UK (Link) - Bruno Waterfield (October 7, 2009)

Confidential negotiations on how to implement the Lisbon Treaty have produced proposals to allow the EU to negotiate treaties and even open embassies across the world.

A letter conferring a full "legal personality" for the Union has been drafted in order for a new European diplomatic service to be recognised as fully fledged negotiators by international bodies and all non-EU countries.

According to one confidential paper, the first pilot "embassies" are planned in New York, Kabul and Addis Ababa.

The move is highly symbolic in Britain as it formally scraps the "European Community", the organisation in which Britons originally voted to remain in the country's only referendum on Europe 34 years ago.

Mark Francois, Conservative spokesman on Europe, said that the deal showed why the British should have been given a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

"As we have long warned, the Lisbon Treaty increases the EU's power at the expense of the countries of Europe," he said. "The new power a single legal personality would give the EU is a classic example.

6.7 magnitude quake strikes near Philippines

Reuters (Link) (October 7, 2009)

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck southeast of the Sulu archipelago of the Philippines, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Wednesday.

The epicenter of the quake, which struck at 5:41 a.m. local time on Thursday, was located 184 miles southeast of Jolo on the Sulu archipelago. The depth was 362.2 miles, the agency said.

Initially, the U.S. Geological Survey registered a 6.9 magnitude quake.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damages and no tsunami warning was issued.

8.1 magnitude earthquake strikes northwest of Vanuatu

Reuters (Link) (October 7, 2009)

An 8.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the northwest of Santo, Vanuatu, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Wednesday.

The epicenter of the quake was located 232 miles north-northwest of Santo, Vanuatu, at a depth of 20.5 miles, the agency said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage and no tsunami warning was issued.

---

Follow-up: The Australian (Link) (October 8, 2009)

A second major earthquake has hit Vanuatu, this time recording a magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter scale.

The US Geological Survey reports the second quake struck 330km north-west of Santo, almost on top of the original 7.8 quake which struck at 09:08 AEDT.

The second quake struck 10 minutes later at a depth of 35km.

The demise of the dollar

The Independent (Link) - Robert Fisk (October 6, 2009)

In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar.

Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars.

The plans, confirmed to The Independent by both Gulf Arab and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong, may help to explain the sudden rise in gold prices, but it also augurs an extraordinary transition from dollar markets within nine years.

The Americans, who are aware the meetings have taken place – although they have not discovered the details – are sure to fight this international cabal which will include hitherto loyal allies Japan and the Gulf Arabs. Against the background to these currency meetings, Sun Bigan, China's former special envoy to the Middle East, has warned there is a risk of deepening divisions between China and the US over influence and oil in the Middle East. "Bilateral quarrels and clashes are unavoidable," he told the Asia and Africa Review. "We cannot lower vigilance against hostility in the Middle East over energy interests and security."

UN calls for new reserve currency

Breitbart (Link) - AFP (October 6, 2009)

The United Nations called on Tuesday for a new global reserve currency to end dollar supremacy which has allowed the United States the "privilege" of building a huge trade deficit.

"Important progress in managing imbalances can be made by reducing the reserve currency country's 'privilege' to run external deficits in order to provide international liquidity," UN undersecretary-general for economic and social affairs, Sha Zukang, said.

Speaking at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Istanbul, he said: "It is timely to emphasise that such a system also creates a more equitable method of sharing the seigniorage derived from providing global liquidity."

He said: "Greater use of a truly global reserve currency, such as the IMF's special drawing rights (SDRs), enables the seigniorage gained to be deployed for development purposes," he said.

The SDRs are the asset used in IMF transactions and are based on a basket of four currencies -- the dollar, euro, yen and pound -- which is calculated daily.

China had called in March for a new dominant world reserve currency instead of the dollar, in a system within the framework of the Washington-based IMF.

End-Times Insanity

Bible Prophecy Today (Link) - Terry James (October 5, 2009)

Fear is on the rise in America and the world at the moment. It is a type of fear that comes upon humankind almost like nervous milling about that stirs within the wildebeests of the Serengeti just before predators set them to flight. There are many reasons this is so. But one reason in particular especially agitates the simmering fear. It is the culprit more than all of the other reasons combined for the building anxiety today.

Before we address that most profound reason for fear of things to come, let's look at the many other causes that make fear levels rise across the nation and the world. Those causes involve a myriad of issues and events. We and others who consider our times in light of Bible prophecy continually attempt to analyze those matters and present our findings to anyone and everyone who will stop, look, and listen.

For the masses of humanity in third-world regions, such as vast areas of Africa, Asia, and other bleak places, panic is a daily search for the next bite of food and swallow of water. We see the frail bodies, the distended stomachs, the flies on the faces of those whose wide, searching eyes look to the cameras filming them for their next life-sustaining morsel.

These suffering souls are not often demonstrative with their fear because their circumstances have denuded them of energy, and have robbed them of the ability to know how near to starvation they have come. The world turns a blind eye, for the most part, to the plight of these emaciated hordes. The group of people who are looking the other way too often includes even those of us who are watchmen on the wall for the signals of Christ's return.

Starvation, nonetheless, is one of the sure signs of where this generation stands on God's prophetic timeline. That millions of people are caught up in growing famine dramatically forewarns that the black horse of the Apocalypse will one day, perhaps soon, ride forth. But growing famine is not the greatest reason for the geometrically progressing worry around the globe.

Thinking on fear burgeoning within the civilized areas of the world, we briefly review the more familiar causes. These involve topics we have exhaustively examined in recent days:

Blair under attack in bid for EU top job

EU Observer (Link) - Valentina Pop (October 5, 2009)

Eurogroup chief Jean Claude Juncker and the British Conservative party have attacked Tony Blair's bid to become the first EU president, as member states start horse-trading for the EU's top jobs after Ireland's Lisbon Treaty vote.

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen on Sunday (4 October) openly backed former British premier Mr Blair to take up the prestigious post once the treaty comes into force. "I've certainly the highest regard for Tony Blair and obviously we await and see if, in fact, he's a candidate, but you can take it that we'd be very supportive yes," he said.

Mr Cowen is the first EU leader to make a public statement on the issue. But Mr Blair is also said to have the support of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The British Conservatives over the weekend launched a counter-offensive, however, with Luxembourg premier Jean-Claude Juncker, himself once floated as a potential candidate, also sticking in the knife.

William Hague, the Conservative shadow foreign secretary, told The Times that he was lobbying in Paris and Berlin against Mr Blair, whose appointment would trigger an anti-EU backlash in the UK ahead of a potential Tory-orchetsrated referendum on Lisbon.

"There could be no worse way to sell the EU to the people of Britain," he said.

Russia launches new Mideast arms push

United Press International (Link) (October 5, 2009)

Russia's state arms exporter is launching a big drive at the Tripoli air show to sell combat jets, missiles and air-defense systems to Middle Eastern states, including the state-of-the-art S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile that Iran and Syria desperately want to acquire.

But the Russians are likely to find considerable competition at the 4th Arab-African Aviation Exhibition and Conference, known as LAVEX-2009, in the Libyan capital that opened Monday.

The four-day arms fair is likely to attract major international defense companies that are falling over themselves to upgrade Libya's long-neglected military as well as supply the Middle East, the largest arms market in the developing world.

But the Russian arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, will also find keen interest in its wares by the Libyan government.

EU leader welcomes Ireland's Lisbon vote

ABC News (Link) - BBC (October 4, 2009)

Political leaders across the European Union have welcomed the strong Irish referendum vote in favour of the Lisbon Treaty, which is designed to strengthen the 27-nation bloc.

Irish voters overturned their "No" vote of a year ago, and the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, said it was a great day for Europe.

"The Irish have understood how important and how useful the European Union response to the economic crisis [was]," he said.

"Secondly, this time there was a real campaign not only with the government - but with different political forces, with the civil society and that's why there was a bigger participation - bigger turnout."

Mr Barroso urged the leaders of Poland and the Czech Republic to sign the treaty as soon as possible.

It must be ratified by all members before it takes effect.