Jesus Christ Was the God of the Old Testament

Jesus Christ Was the God of the Old Testament 

 

Most either haven’t given much thought to or don’t understand the identity of the God who spoke to people in the Old Testament. Yet Jesus Christ clearly revealed the answer.

 

By Erik Jones

 

 

Many consider the God they read about in the Old Testament to be harsh and vindictive.

This view may be based on simply reading some of the well-known stories of the Old Testament. God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and destroyed the earth with a flood. He sent plagues on ancient Egypt and directed Israel to conquer Canaan through war. And He punished Israel and Judah through captivity by foreign nations. Many interpret these as the actions of a stern God of retribution and justice.

On the other hand, many see the New Testament as quite different. It tells about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who taught love toward others, showed mercy, healed multitudes of people, held children in His arms and gave His life as a sacrifice without resistance.

Comparing these examples, many have concluded that the Father was the God of the Old Testament—the God of justice and punishment. Jesus, the Son, was the God revealed in the New Testament—the God of love and mercy. Some even believe Jesus came to stand in the gap between us and the Father—essentially delivering us from His Father’s restrictive law!

But the truth of the Bible is much different.


It couldn’t have been the Father!
 John revealed a surprising truth in John 1:18: "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him" (emphasis added throughout). Jesus also said, "And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form" (John 5:37).

These two scriptures teach us an important fact: The Father has not directly spoken to or been seen by any human being at any time.

But if we look through the Old Testament, we see many occasions when God worked directly with human beings. (Consider, for example, Genesis 2:16-17; 6:13-14; 12:1; 17:1; Exodus 3:4-6; 33:11, 22-23; Numbers 12:6-8; Deuteronomy 4:33; Jeremiah 1:4-10).

We see that a divine being in the Old Testament dealt directly with people; but according to Jesus, this divine being could not have been God the Father.

Jesus said that He came to "reveal" the Father (Matthew 11:27). By claiming to be the Son of God (John 10:36), Jesus contradicted one of the Jew’s most treasured doctrines—that God is composed of strictly one divine being. They did not understand that God is actually a family—composed of the Father and the Son (John 1:18; Romans 1:4; Philippians 2:6-11).

If the One who revealed Himself to the patriarchs and Israel in the Old Testament was not the Father— then who was He?
  Jesus Christ’s preexistence
 A careful study of the Bible shows clearly that the God who interacted with humans in the Old Testament was the One who became Jesus Christ.

The Bible reveals that before Jesus was born to Mary, He was the One John called "the Word" (John 1:1, 14). This title perfectly describes His function before being born as a human being. "Word" in John 1:1 is a translation of the Greek word Logos, meaning "a word" or "something said" (Strong’s Greek Dictionary). The definition includes both the thought and the spoken word.

The use of Logos to describe Jesus before His human birth gives us insight into His Old Testament identity. The Word was, essentially, the being in the God family who served as the spokesman. He has always been responsible for communicating the will of the Father to human beings—during Old Testament and New Testament times. When God’s voice or revelation was given, it was through the Word—who became Jesus Christ—or an angel. The Father has never spoken directly with human beings.

Jesus Christ made His identity very clear—sometimes even to His physical detriment! In John 8 Jesus said He knew Abraham (verse 56). Since Abraham had lived and died nearly 2,000 years before, this statement offended the Jews Jesus was talking to. They considered it blasphemy that a mere man (as they viewed Him) "not yet fifty years old" had the audacity to claim He had known their patriarch Abraham (verse 57).

But Jesus’ response was even more shocking to them: "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM" (verse 58).
Yes, Jesus Christ claimed that He predated Abraham. But, in saying this, Jesus also gave a not-so-subtle clue about His identity that wasn’t lost on the angry Jews who surrounded Him. He referred to Himself as "I AM." This was actually a divine title of God! When God had appeared to Moses from the burning bush, God had identified Himself as "I AM WHO I AM" and "I AM" (Exodus 3:14).

By identifying Himself as "I AM," Jesus claimed that He had eternally existed.

Christ identified Himself as the God of Abraham and Moses, and the One who led Israel out of Egypt (which is also affirmed by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4).

Christ was Creator
 Before His birth, Jesus Christ was the God who created all things. The apostle Paul made this fact very clear in his writings.

We read that "God [the Father] … created all things through Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 3:9). Jesus Christ, the Word, created "all things"—the angelic realm, the physical universe and all physical life— for the Father and under His direction.

Colossians 1:16-18 reveals more functions of the Word. He not only created "all things … in heaven and that are on earth," but He also rules over all authorities and powers that exist under the Father. This means that Christ has authority over the entire angelic and human dominions. He existed "before all things" (He is eternal) and "in Him all things consist" (verse 17).

The truth of Jesus being the Creator of all things is also reinforced in 1 Corinthians 8:6 and Hebrews 1:2.
  The implications
 We have just skimmed the surface of this incredibly important topic. There is much more to understand about the identity of God the Father and Jesus Christ. But the key truth to understand is that God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son exist in total harmony (John 10:30). They share the same perfect character of love, truth, mercy and grace.

Though the Father did not speak directly to people, He is mentioned throughout the Old Testament (for example, both Father and Son are evident in verses like Genesis 1:26; 11:7; and Psalm 110:1). The Father has chosen to accomplish His plan for mankind through Jesus, from beginning to end.
  Not only is the character of God (both Father and Son) consistent at all times, God’s expectations for human beings also remain the same. It is vital for us to study and understand both the Old and New Testaments (1 Corinthians 10:11; 2 Timothy 3:16). God’s spiritual law—summarized for us in the 10 Commandments—has remained consistent and binding.

God the Father and Jesus Christ are truly "the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8; Malachi 3:6)!
  We encourage you to learn much more about the Father and the Son by exploring two important sections of the LifeHopeandTruth.com website: "Who Is God?" and "Who Is Jesus?" Keep reading and discerning. D

The Consistent Characteristics of

 

God From Old to New Testament

  

 

 

 

 

New Issue: Discern Mag...Check it Out!

New Issue of Discern Mag: Click Here

 

 

This is an Important Video About GMO's and Our Food Source

See Video Here: This is an Important Video About GMO's and Our Food Source

 

 

Harry Reid Calls Cliven Bundy Supporters “Domestic Terrorists”

Harry Reid Calls Cliven Bundy Supporters “Domestic Terrorists"

Harry Reid Calls Cliven Bundy Supporters “Domestic Terrorists”

“I repeat: what happened there was domestic terrorism”

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
April 17, 2014

Senator Harry Reid has escalated the war of words over the Cliven Bundy dispute, sensationally labeling the Nevada cattle rancher’s supporters “domestic terrorists” during an event in Las Vegas today.

Image: Harry Reid (YouTube).

During a ‘Hashtags & Headlines’ event at the Paris Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Reid referred to Bundy supporters as “Nothing more than domestic terrorists,” adding, “I repeat: what happened there was domestic terrorism.”

Reid was referring to the stand off on Saturday in Bunkerville where Bundy supporters, some of whom were armed, forced Bureau of Land Management agents to back down and release around 380 head of cattle belonging to Bundy that had been seized over the course of the previous week.

Reid claimed that Bundy viewed the United States as a “foreign government,” while accusing his supporters of goading violence.

“There were hundreds, hundreds of people from around the country that came there,” Reid said. “They had sniper rifles in the freeway. They had weapons, automatic weapons. They had children lined up. They wanted to make sure they got hurt first … What if others tried the same thing?”

Despite Reid’s characterization of Bundy supporters as “domestic terrorists,” the only violence metered out during the dispute was when BLM agents tasered and assaulted Bundy supporters during an incident on April 9.

No matter where you stand on the Bundy issue, Reid’s characterization of American protesters as “domestic terrorists” is chilling and a massive backlash is almost certain to follow.

It also fits the narrative that the federal government has been pushing for years through literature such as the MIAC report, which framed Ron Paul supporters, libertarians, people who display bumper stickers, people who own gold, or even people who fly a U.S. flag, as potential terrorists. In 2012, a Homeland Security study was leaked which characterized Americans who are “suspicious of centralized federal authority,” and “reverent of individual liberty” as “extreme right-wing” terrorists.

Reid attracted controversy earlier this week when he promised that the BLM’s fight with Bundy was “not over”. The Nevada Senator was hit with accusations of cronyism after his former staffer Neil Kornze was confirmed as the new BLM director earlier this month.

Reid is obviously angry after his complicity in the siege against the Bundy family was exposed and became a viral story. Although many news outlets claimed this issue was “debunked,” Reid’s involvement in a solar farm just 35 miles from Bundy’s ranch is documented. Archived files which were deleted from the BLM’s own website confirm that confiscating Bundy’s cattle was necessary in order to clear the way for lucrative solar deals with transnational corporations.

Meanwhile, the BLM has admitted slaughtering two prize bulls belonging to Cliven Bundy during their round up of his cattle. The BLM claims the bulls “posed a safety hazard” but refused to elaborate. Bundy supporters have pointed to photographs which appear to show one of the bulls having suffered a gunshot wound.

Watch the historic stand off between Bundy supporters and BLM feds below.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD61YFxUga4&feature=player_embedded

Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/paul.j.watson.71
FOLLOW Paul Joseph Watson @ https://twitter.com/PrisonPlanet

*********************

Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a host for Infowars Nightly News.

This article was posted: Thursday, April 17, 2014 at 4:07 pm

Tags: government corruption

Ishtar = Easter ?

Ishtar = Easter ?

Warning Against Idolatry

Deut 12 v 29 “When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, 30 take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ 31You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods...

Ishstar:    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishtar 

 Pagan Holidays or God's Holy Days Which?

 Bunnies Don’t Lay Eggs and Other Reasons to Ditch Easter
God's Holy Day Plan for You!

The Plain Truth about Easter: 
http://www.herbert-w-armstrong.com/books/EASTER/HWAPTEAS.HTM

Measles Outbreak Traced to Fully Vaccinated Patient for First Time

Measles Outbreak Traced to Fully Vaccinated Patient for First Time

11 April 2014 12:00 pm

632 Comments

NYCstocker/iStockphoto/Thinkstock; (Inset) Dr. Heinz F. Eichenwald/CDC

Contagious. Measles vaccination rates top 90% in high-density cities like New York, but new data suggest even the immunized can catch and spread the disease.

Get the measles vaccine, and you won’t get the measles—or give it to anyone else. Right? Well, not always. A person fully vaccinated against measles has contracted the disease and passed it on to others. The startling case study contradicts received wisdom about the vaccine and suggests that a recent swell of measles outbreaks in developed nations could mean more illnesses even among the vaccinated.
When it comes to the measles vaccine, two shots are better than one. Most people in the United States are initially vaccinated against the virus shortly after their first birthday and return for a booster shot as a toddler. Less than 1% of people who get both shots will contract the potentially lethal skin and respiratory infection. And even if a fully vaccinated person does become infected—a rare situation known as “vaccine failure”—they weren’t thought to be contagious.
That’s why a fully vaccinated 22-year-old theater employee in New York City who developed the measles in 2011 was released without hospitalization or quarantine. But like Typhoid Mary, this patient turned out to be unwittingly contagious. Ultimately, she transmitted the measles to four other people, according to a recent report in Clinical Infectious Diseases that tracked symptoms in the 88 people with whom “Measles Mary” interacted while she was sick. Surprisingly, two of the secondary patients had been fully vaccinated. And although the other two had no record of receiving the vaccine, they both showed signs of previous measles exposure that should have conferred immunity.
A closer look at the blood samples taken during her treatment revealed how the immune defenses of Measles Mary broke down. As a first line of defense against the measles and other microbes, humans rely on a natural buttress of IgM antibodies. Like a wooden shield, they offer some protection from microbial assaults but aren’t impenetrable. The vaccine (or a case of the measles) prompts the body to supplement this primary buffer with a stronger armor of IgG antibodies, some of which are able to neutralize the measles virus so it can’t invade cells or spread to other patients. This secondary immune response was presumed to last for decades.
By analyzing her blood, the researchers found that Measles Mary mounted an IgM defense, as if she had never been vaccinated. Her blood also contained a potent arsenal of IgG antibodies, but a closer look revealed that none of these IgG antibodies were actually capable of neutralizing the measles virus. It seemed that her vaccine-given immunity had waned.
Although public health officials have assumed that measles immunity lasts forever, the case of Measles Mary highlights the reality that “the actual duration [of immunity] following infection or vaccination is unclear,” says Jennifer Rosen, who led the investigation as director of epidemiology and surveillance at the New York City Bureau of Immunization. The possibility of waning immunity is particularly worrisome as the virus surfaces in major U.S. hubs like Boston, Seattle, New York, and the Los Angeles area. Rosen doesn’t believe this single case merits a change in vaccination strategy—for example, giving adults booster shots—but she says that more regular surveillance to assess the strength of people’s measles immunity is warranted.
If it turns out that vaccinated people lose their immunity as they get older, that could leave them vulnerable to measles outbreaks seeded by unvaccinated people—which are increasingly common in the United States and other developed countries. Even a vaccine failure rate of 3% to 5% could devastate a high school with a few thousand students, says Robert Jacobson, director of clinical studies for the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group in Rochester, Minnesota, who wasn’t involved with the study. Still, he says, “The most important ‘vaccine failure’ with measles happens when people refuse the vaccine in the first place.”

UPDATED !!! Bombshell: Harry Reid behind Bundy cattle ranch scandal, according to purged documents

Bombshell: Harry Reid behind Bundy cattle ranch scandal, according to purged documents

 

Amid the growing standoff between Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and the federal government, reports are growing that Senate Majority Harry Reid’s little-known ties to a Chinese solar energy giant could be playing a major role in the confrontation.

Photo: Beforeitsnews.com
Demonstrators protest the federal government’s treatment of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy.

Reid, D-Nev., and his oldest son, Rory, a former chairman of the Clark County, Nev., County Commission, are both deeply involved in a plan by ENN Energy Group to build a huge solar farm in southern Nevada, according to a Reuters report from August 2012.
Land the Bundy family has been using for cattle ranching is getting in the way of that project, according to documents formerly posted on the Bureau of Land Management’s government website but since removed.
The acting director of the Bureau of Land Management is Neil Kornze, a former senior policy advisor for Reid.
Here is a screenshot of one crucial document from Google’s cache.
The most interesting line might be:

“Non-Governmental Organizations have expressed concern that the regional mitigation strategy for the Dry Lake Solar Energy Zone utilizes Gold Butte as the location for offsite mitigation for impacts from solar development, and that those restoration activities are not durable with the presence of trespass cattle.”

The federal government’s story so far is that the whole showdown is necessary for the protection of gopher tortoises.
Here’s how The Blaze’s Dana Loesch puts it in “The Real Story of the Bundy Ranch”:

BLM has proven that they’ve a situational concern for the desert tortoise as they’ve had no problem waiving their rules concerning wind or solar power development. Clearly these developments have vastly affected a tortoise habitat more than a century-old, quasi-homesteading grazing area. If only Clive Bundy were a big Reid donor.

From the document purged from the BLM website, it’s clear there are more than tortoises at stake.
There’s a $5 billion foreign energy project in the works, with Reid and his son directly involved, and his former go-to guy on development issues in the driver’s seat at the Bureau of Land Management.
And there’s an American citizen and cattle rancher standing in the way of federal agents armed with guns and the full power of the federal government behind them.
What could go wrong?

 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION

Authoritarians Move to Ban Free Speech Ahead of Crackdown

See Video:   Move to Ban Free Speech

Contrary to major media reports, the Arctic & Antarctic ice sheets have seen record growth year after year. After blatantly lying to the public in the face of hard science, so called “experts” are now calling for a “crackdown” on climate change skeptics who dare to question the “consensus” that man made global warming is not man made.
Not only do they seek to tax us at every turn in the name of global warming, now too they seek to silence anyone that disagrees. In the face of many real environmental threats such as genetic modification that damages our DNA, extreme over fishing and toxic waste dumping; the environmental movement has been hijacked in the name of Al Gore carbon taxes. In fact the single greatest threat to humanity across the ages is despotism and democide, but don’t expect the government to tax itself anytime soon.

This article was posted: Saturday, April 5, 2014 at 1:02 pm

Tags: police state

 

Cursed you will be in the City....

Cursed you will be in the City....

 

Here is real life news video that shows how anyone can be in the wrong place at the wrong time and what NOT to do if ever faced with the same situation.

 

Should something like this happen to you, DON’T GET OUT OF THE CAR.

Even if you have a gun, stay in your car and drive away.

Even if the mob is blocking your exit, put that 3,000 pound weapon you are driving in gear and roll away, even if that means driving over those dedicated (or crazy) opponents who do not move out of the way.

DON’T do what this family did or you will be the victim of a similar or worse fate.

Here is the news video:

Cursed you will be in the City....

Video: Soylent Green Is Made Out Of People

Video: Soylent Green Is Made Out Of People...

 

Video: Soylent Green Is Made Out Of People...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ask yourself, is this the society that you want to live in?
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Khrushchev, 1959

US Gasoline Retail Sales Since the Financial Crisis

US Gasoline Retail Sales Since the Financial Crisis

 

Daily US retail sales of gasoline are down from 60,000 in 2007 to 20,000 today.

Must be the result of 'Cash for Clunkers' and more stringent mileage standards.

And stagnation in the real median income is certainly a positive factor in conservation.  

No wonder the energy crowd is lobbying so hard for more pipelines and exports.  

Another glorious victory for The Recovery.

 

Homeland Security Exercise Targets “Free Americans Against Socialist Tyranny”

Homeland Security Exercise Targets “Free Americans Against Socialist Tyranny”

Food - The Ultimate Secret Exposed full version

Food - The Ultimate Secret Exposed full version

 

Please Watch This Video: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=WMwXlikoFrM

Top Cancer Centers Off-Limits Under Obamacare

Top Cancer Centers Off-Limits Under Obamacare

 

Some of America's best cancer hospitals are off-limits to many of the people now signing up for coverage under the nation's new health care program.

Doctors and administrators say they're concerned. So are some state insurance regulators. An Associated Press survey found examples coast to coast.

Seattle Cancer Care Alliance is excluded by five out of eight insurers in Washington's insurance exchange. MD Anderson Cancer Center says it's in less than half of the plans in the Houston area. Memorial Sloan-Kettering is included by two of nine insurers in New York City and has out-of-network agreements with two more.

In all, only four of 19 nationally recognized comprehensive cancer centers that responded to AP's survey said patients have access through all the insurance companies in their states' exchanges.

Those patients may not be able get the most advanced treatment, including clinical trials of new medications. Also, it's not easy for consumers to tell if top-level institutions are included in a plan.

"The challenges of this are going to become evident ... as cancer cases start to arrive," said Norman Hubbard, executive vice president of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

Before President Barack Obama's health care law, a cancer diagnosis could make you uninsurable. Now, insurers can't turn away people with health problems or charge them more. Lifetime dollar limits on policies, once a financial trap-door for cancer patients, are also banned. The new obstacles are more subtle.

To keep premiums low, insurers have designed narrow networks of hospitals and doctors. The government-subsidized private plans on the exchanges typically offer less choice than Medicare or employer plans. By not including a top cancer center an insurer can cut costs.

The AP surveyed 23 institutions around the country that are part of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. AP asked the centers how many insurance companies in their state's exchange included them as a network provider. Of the 19 that responded, four reported access through all insurers.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield officials said its network was based on research involving thousands of consumers and businesses.

"What we learned was that people are willing to make trade-offs in order to have access to affordable health care," the company said. "Our provider networks reflect this."

The Obama administration says it has notified insurers that their networks will get closer scrutiny for next year in the 36 states served by the federal exchange. Cancer care will be a priority, it says.

-- RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, AP 

KKK and Democratic Party: Partners in Killing Minorities Via Planned Parenthood

KKK and Democratic Party: Partners in Killing Minorities Via Planned Parenthood

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJjzGbi3re8&feature=player_embedded

All You Need to Know About Ukraine

All You Need to Know About Ukraine

 

By: Chris Tell at http://capitalistexploits.at/

A politician is a material incarnation of the absolute worst of human nature. Look around you, it's self-evident. Basic human nature is to survive. Once that is accomplished and we become comfortable, extremes in behaviour can develop. If you're a typical politician those extremes normally manifest as unchecked ego and unbridled power. A bad combination!

Putin is many things, but stupid isn't one of them. Yes he is dangerous, yes he is power hungry, but show me a politician that is not. Again, politics is where the worst of human nature congregates, like flies to shit.

Russian Pipeline network in Ukraine

Take a look at the map above. It tells you all you need to know about why Ukraine is in the cross-hairs of the world's super powers. It is about the Russian pipeline network that feeds Europe, plain and simple. Ukraine is, as you can see, a pretty damn important piece in the Russian energy distribution network.

This has nothing to do with Russians in Ukraine. "Brother Vlad" would gun those "countrymen" down in a heartbeat if they threatened his pipelines. He'd then return to his morning tea without a second thought. "Pass the toast Alina." Oh, and unless you have been drinking the western media Kool Aid, the Brits and Yanks would do the same. This isn't a cultural issue, it's a matter of ECONOMICS, POWER AND POLITICS.

The 64 million dollar question now is how far will the delusional, intellectually bankrupt "gentlemen" that inhabits the White House push this with Putin..?

Obama's foreign policy is a joke. The decisions coming out of this administration are nothing short of BRAIN DEAD. Imposing sanctions on Russia only serves to push Putin into a corner. If he backs down now he loses credibility, which means he can't, as it would be political suicide.

I cannot fathom what the Obama administration thought they would get out of imposing sanctions, other than further alienating the Russians and endangering millions upon millions of people in the region.

Did they really think Putin would roll over and say "Sorry gee, you know what you're right."?

Did they really think that the Europeans, who by the way Russia has by the balls (via control over the flow of natural gas), would see it in their best interests to follow the US and antagonize the hand that feeds them?

Did they really think that China would back them up on this one?

The US's "allies" and "friends" have not suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. This is the real price of the NSA spying.

The US has the world's largest , most sophisticated military. Spending on its military ($683.7B) alone is greater than the entire GDP of Afghanistan ($33.7B), where they have been unable to suppress the restless locals.

Antagonizing China and Russia is a dangerous game. One misstep and we could have WWIII on our hands, which would be most unfortunate.

- Chris

"If one looks at the map of the world, it's difficult to find Iraq, and one would think it rather easy to subdue such a small country." - Vladimir Putin

The world is SCREAMING for a new financial system

The world is SCREAMING for a new financial system

 

March 14, 2014
Ambergris Caye, Belize
One of the key lessons we can take away from history is that the global financial system changes… frequently.
In ancient times, Roman coins were used across the region by Romans and non-Romans alike who engaged in trade and commerce.
Given how destructively successive Roman governments debased their coins, however, the reserve burden eventually fell to the Byzantine Empire, whose gold solidus coin became the dominant currency in world trade.
Over the centuries, this standard changed several more times. The Venetians, Florentines, Spanish, French, British, etc. each issued the world’s dominant currency at one point or another.
But the fundamentals of those currencies changed. Governments engaged in wanton debasement, mismanaged their economies, and accumulated massive debt levels. And eventually the world shifted to new currencies.
Since the end of World War II, the US dollar has been the dominant currency in the world.
And even though Richard Nixon ended the dollar’s convertability to gold and unilaterally abandoned the US government’s obligations under the Bretton Woods system back in 1971, the world has still clung to the dollar for the past 43-years.
But this is changing rapidly.
The Chinese, which have their own economic issues to deal with, are starting to dump Treasuries in record numbers.
Central banks are buying up more gold. Foreign countries are entering into bilateral currency swap arrangements with one another. And world governments are starting to (rather embarrassingly) demand that the US get its budget and fiscal house in order.
Most tellingly, though, member nations of the International Monetary Fund are starting to revolt.
As one of the major organizations spawned from the post-war financial structure, the IMF’s original goal was to ensure the smooth development of a new global financial system.
Over 180 countries have since become members of the IMF. But the organization runs on a quota system, with each member nation having a certain percentage of the IMF’s overall votes.
The US, for example, has the most power by far with a 16.75% share of the vote. Japan is a distant second with a 6.23% share.
This puts the US in the driver’s seat. And it’s been that way for decades.
But most of the other 180+ nations have had enough. And they’re pushing the United States to massively overhaul the current quota system.
Even typical allies are breaking ranks. Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey recently told reporters at a financial conference that they will “actively lobby” the US to reform the IMF quota issues, and that “Congress must understand that it is in the interest of the US to reform the IMF. . .”
India. China. Just about everyone imaginable is pushing for major IMF reform. Everyone except the Land of the Free. The US government seems to like things the way they are. And Congress has been very intransigent in adopting any planned reforms.
These people have their heads buried in the sand so deep that they can’t even hear the rest of the world SCREAMING for a new financial system.
This is going to happen, whether the US wants it to or not.
And while no foreign government wants a collapse of the dollar, they do very much want an orderly rebalancing of the financial system. This is already under way.
The US government may pretend that everything is fine and dandy. But given the overwhelming objective evidence out there, folks who aren’t on board with this major trend are ignoring it at their own peril.

The Most Evil And Disturbing NSA Spy Practices To-Date Have Just Been Revealed

The Most Evil And Disturbing NSA Spy Practices To-Date Have Just Been Revealed

 

Submitted by Mike Krieger of Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,

In some cases the NSA has masqueraded as a fake Facebook server, using the social media site as a launching pad to infect a target’s computer and exfiltrate files from a hard drive. In others, it has sent out spam emails laced with the malware, which can be tailored to covertly record audio from a computer’s microphone and take snapshots with its webcam. The hacking systems have also enabled the NSA to launch cyberattacks by corrupting and disrupting file downloads or denying access to websites.

The man-in-the-middle tactic can be used, for instance, to covertly change the content of a message as it is being sent between two people, without either knowing that any change has been made by a third party.

- From Glenn Greenwald’s latest article: How the NSA Plans to Infect Millions of Computers with Malware

 

The latest piece from Greenwald and company on the unconstitutional spy practices of the NSA may represent the most dangerous and disturbing revelations yet. It’s hard for shadiness at the NSA to surprise me these days, but there was only one word that kept repeating over and over in my head as I read this: EVIL.
As a quick aside, Greenwald points out in the quote above how spam emails are used by the NSA to bait you into clicking dangerous links. This is a timely revelation considering I received one such email yesterday from a friend of mine. The email was sent to a wide list of let’s say “liberty-minded people” and webmasters associated with very popular sites. The link seemed shady so I texted him to ask if he had sent it. He hadn’t.
Earlier this week, during a talk at SXSW, Edward Snowden pleaded with people to use encryption. While he admitted if the NSA targeted you individually they could almost certainly “own your computer,” he stated that if people use encryption on a massive scale it makes the NSA’s attempts to monitor everyone at the same time much more difficult.

Apparently, the NSA is well aware of this threat. Which is why we now know that the agency has been dedicating significant amounts of taxpayer dollars toward an attempt to infect millions of computers with malware in an attempt at “industrial-scale exploitation,” which would lead to them “owning the net.”
As Mikko Hypponen, an expert in malware stated:

“The NSA’s surveillance techniques could inadvertently be undermining the security of the Internet.”

Move along serfs, nothing to see here.
From The Intercept:

Top-secret documents reveal that the National Security Agency is dramatically expanding its ability to covertly hack into computers on a mass scale by using automated systems that reduce the level of human oversight in the process. 

The classified files – provided previously by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden – contain new details about groundbreaking surveillance technology the agency has developed to infect potentially millions of computers worldwide with malware “implants.” The clandestine initiative enables the NSA to break into targeted computers and to siphon out data from foreign Internet and phone networks.

In some cases the NSA has masqueraded as a fake Facebook server, using the social media site as a launching pad to infect a target’s computer and exfiltrate files from a hard drive. In others, it has sent out spam emails laced with the malware, which can be tailored to covertly record audio from a computer’s microphone and take snapshots with its webcam. The hacking systems have also enabled the NSA to launch cyberattacks by corrupting and disrupting file downloads or denying access to websites.

The implants being deployed were once reserved for a few hundred hard-to-reach targets, whose communications could not be monitored through traditional wiretaps. But the documents analyzed by The Intercept show how the NSA has aggressively accelerated its hacking initiatives in the past decade by computerizing some processes previously handled by humans. The automated system – codenamed TURBINE – is designed to “allow the current implant network to scale to large size (millions of implants) by creating a system that does automated control implants by groups instead of individually.”

Mikko Hypponen, an expert in malware who serves as chief research officer at the Finnish security firm F-Secure, calls the revelations “disturbing.” The NSA’s surveillance techniques, he warns, could inadvertently be undermining the security of the Internet.

It sounds like that is precisely their intent…

The NSA began rapidly escalating its hacking efforts a decade ago. In 2004, according to securet internal records, the agency was managing a small network of only 100 to 150 implants. But over the next six to eight years, as an elite unit called Tailored Access Operations (TAO) recruited new hackers and developed new malware tools, the number of implants soared to tens of thousands. 

The agency’s solution was TURBINE. Developed as part of TAO unit, it is described in the leaked documents as an “intelligent command and control capability” that enables “industrial-scale exploitation.”

Earlier reports based on the Snowden files indicate that the NSA has already deployed between 85,000 and 100,000 of its implants against computers and networks across the world, with plans to keep on scaling up those numbers.

The intelligence community’s top-secret “Black Budget” for 2013, obtained by Snowden, lists TURBINE as part of a broader NSA surveillance initiative named “Owning the Net.” 

The agency sought $67.6 million in taxpayer funding for its Owning the Net program last year. Some of the money was earmarked for TURBINE, expanding the system to encompass “a wider variety” of networks and “enabling greater automation of computer network exploitation.”

Your tax dollars at works slaves.

One implant, codenamed UNITEDRAKE, can be used with a variety of “plug-ins” that enable the agency to gain total control of an infected computer.

An implant plug-in named CAPTIVATEDAUDIENCE, for example, is used to take over a targeted computer’s microphone and record conversations taking place near the device. Another, GUMFISH, can covertly take over a computer’s webcam and snap photographs. FOGGYBOTTOM records logs of Internet browsing histories and collects login details and passwords used to access websites and email accounts. GROK is used to log keystrokes. And SALVAGERABBIT exfiltrates data from removable flash drives that connect to an infected computer.

The implants can enable the NSA to circumvent privacy-enhancing encryption tools that are used to browse the Internet anonymously or scramble the contents of emails as they are being sent across networks. That’s because the NSA’s malware gives the agency unfettered access to a target’s computer before the user protects their communications with encryption.

According to the Snowden files, the technology has been used to seek out terror suspects as well as individuals regarded by the NSA as “extremist.” But the mandate of the NSA’s hackers is not limited to invading the systems of those who pose a threat to national security.

In one secret post on an internal message board, an operative from the NSA’s Signals Intelligence Directorate describes using malware attacks against systems administrators who work at foreign phone and Internet service providers. By hacking an administrator’s computer, the agency can gain covert access to communications that are processed by his company. “Sys admins are a means to an end,” the NSA operative writes.

But not all of the NSA’s implants are used to gather intelligence, the secret files show. Sometimes, the agency’s aim is disruption rather than surveillance. QUANTUMSKY, a piece of NSA malware developed in 2004, is used to block targets from accessing certain websites.

QUANTUMCOPPER, first tested in 2008, corrupts a target’s file downloads. These two “attack” techniques are revealed on a classified list that features nine NSA hacking tools, six of which are used for intelligence gathering. Just one is used for “defensive” purposes – to protect U.S. government networks against intrusions.

Before it can extract data from an implant or use it to attack a system, the NSA must first install the malware on a targeted computer or network.

According to one top-secret document from 2012, the agency can deploy malware by sending out spam emails that trick targets into clicking a malicious link. Once activated, a “back-door implant” infects their computers within eight seconds.

Consequently, the NSA has turned to new and more advanced hacking techniques. These include performing so-called “man-in-the-middle” and “man-on-the-side” attacks, which covertly force a user’s internet browser to route to NSA computer servers that try to infect them with an implant.

In one man-on-the-side technique, codenamed QUANTUMHAND, the agency disguises itself as a fake Facebook server. When a target attempts to log in to the social media site, the NSA transmits malicious data packets that trick the target’s computer into thinking they are being sent from the real Facebook. By concealing its malware within what looks like an ordinary Facebook page, the NSA is able to hack into the targeted computer and covertly siphon out data from its hard drive. A top-secret animation demonstrates the tactic in action.

The man-in-the-middle tactic can be used, for instance, to covertly change the content of a message as it is being sent between two people, without either knowing that any change has been made by a third party. The same technique is sometimes used by criminal hackers to defraud people.

“The thing that raises a red flag for me is the reference to ‘network choke points,’” he says. “That’s the last place that we should be allowing intelligence agencies to compromise the infrastructure – because that is by definition a mass surveillance technique.”

In many cases, firewalls and other security measures do not appear to pose much of an obstacle to the NSA. Indeed, the agency’s hackers appear confident in their ability to circumvent any security mechanism that stands between them and compromising a computer or network. “If we can get the target to visit us in some sort of web browser, we can probably own them,” an agency hacker boasts in one secret document. “The only limitation is the ‘how.’”

GCHQ cooperated with the hacking attacks despite having reservations about their legality. One of the Snowden files, previously disclosed by Swedish broadcaster SVT, revealed that as recently as April 2013, GCHQ was apparently reluctant to get involved in deploying the QUANTUM malware due to “legal/policy restrictions.” A representative from a unit of the British surveillance agency, meeting with an obscure telecommunications standards committee in 2010, separately voiced concerns that performing “active” hacking attacks for surveillance “may be illegal” under British law.
 

When even the GCHQ is questioning the legality of a surveillance program you know you’ve gone too far. Way too far.

Full article here

Proved Reserves Of Oil, Gas, And Coal By Country

Click Here:  Proved Reserves Of Oil, Gas, And Coal By Country

Proved Reserves of Fossil Fuels

Proved Reserves of Oil, Gas, and Coal by Country 2010
This data set shows the proved reserves of oil, gas and coal, by country in 2010.  Values for gas and coal were standardized to million tonnes of oil equivalent (mtoe).


Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy. June 2011.
Link: click here for more information

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Mother Opens Fire on Home Invaders to Protect Family

A trio of thugs had a brush with gunfire from a protective mother’s rifle in Detroit on Monday night

By Lily Dane On February 20, 2014

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A trio of thugs had a brush with gunfire from a protective mother’s rifle in Detroit on Monday night.
Surveillance cameras caught the entire ordeal.
The woman told WXYZ News that she “didn’t have time to get scared.” When she heard the door to her home being kicked in, she immediately warned the three teenage intruders and then opened fire:

“I let them know I had a gun once they were in the house. They said no you don’t so I shot off the first round. I wasn’t feeling anything at the moment, I got scared afterwards.”

GEAB N°82 is available! 2014, resumption of the of the global systemic crisis’

GEAB N°82 is available! 2014, resumption of the of the global systemic crisis’

http://www.leap2020.eu/GEAB-N-82-is-available-2014-resumption-of-the-of-the-global-systemic-crisis-normal-path_a15604.html

 

- Public announcement GEAB N°82 (February 16, 2014) -

The avalanche of liquidity from the Fed’s quantitative easing in 2013, allowed the world before’s tenets to wake up: indebtedness, bubbles, globalization, financialization… But all it took was a slight slowing down in the astronomical amounts injected by the US central bank every month for the rampant crisis, buried under these piles of liquidity, to reassert itself. As anticipated, the method of “resolving” the crisis by accentuating the excesses that caused it is ineffective, causing a crisis squared instead. All the same one can find an actual benefit: time is gained which everyone uses to their best advantage.

Throughout 2014, we will once again witness the global systemic crisis’ “normal” deployment, a phase of major transition between two global organization systems, a historic crisis that goes well beyond an economic-financial crisis, which we begin to see clearly. That’s why alongside the serious dangers to the stock exchanges, banks, real estate and, more generally, the economy, the agenda also includes the expansion of people’s anger and the rejection of current political systems, the worsening of geopolitical tensions and blocs withdrawing back in on themselves.

The timing belt of this renewal of the crisis is primarily driven by tapering (the reduction of the Fed’s QE programme) which, as we know, has immediately led to the tremors in emerging currencies. Beyond the negative impact that that has on the global economy, our team anticipates that these shocks will cause a boomerang effect on the US and finally unleash the chain of events of the Dollar’s massive devaluation, destabilizing everything that remains of the old system of which it’s the cornerstone.

Layout of the full article:
1. TAPER’S MISCALCULATION
2. THE END OF THE TENETS OF THE PAST
3. BREAK THE BANK?
4. PEOPLES’ ANGER

This public announcement contains an excerpt of section 1.

TAPER’S MISCALCULATION

A number of realities hide behind the Fed’s decision to progressively reduce its quantitative easing programme (1).
At the first is obviously it’s ineffectiveness as regards the real economy and especially the growing risks that it’s running in creating various bubbles and addictions and distorting any ability to understand reality. The second, without doubt, is the clinging to the desire to “show” that the situation is improving and that the Fed can pull out without risk. The third is less exemplary: aware of the emerging countries’ addiction to Fed liquidity created in 2013, its announcement couldn’t fail to trip them up. They now make headlines in the financial press, whilst the US situation has moved into the background. In fact, who remembers that Puerto Rico is in the process of exploding (2) (as anticipated in the GEAB n°77)? Or that Chicago can’t pay its debts (3), or that food stamps, the cornerstone of US Social Security, continue to be cut back (4) whilst an increasing number of households depend on them? Or finally that child poverty has reached levels which are difficult to imagine for a so-called developed country (5)?

2017 expiry Puerto Rican bond prices. Source : ZeroHedge.

However – with apologies for this easy re-run of a well-known advert – there is a second KissCool effect. To see it, we must distance ourselves and get back to basics at the risk of simplifying a global situation which currently no one really understands.

The Fed’s quantitative easing has resulted in a glut of liquidity in financial markets which have gone on to invest this money where true productive dynamics provide investment and fruitful opportunities: in the emerging countries. Obviously, this flood of easy money has artificially supported growth in these countries, which should have been lower in this time of crisis. Even worse, in 2013, it caused a revival of the world before’s tenets, a world in which money is only used to borrow more money, with a programme of re-financialization, more indebtedness, more Dollar addiction, the planet’s re-entanglement and further unbridled globalization without taking people’s interests into account (for example, providing a lifeline to the tedious negotiations over the trans-Pacific TPP and transatlantic TTIP free trade treaties), etc.

This soaking-up of Dollars by the only countries having sufficient growth to be able to use them explains, to a great extent, the lack of any Dollar devaluation or inflation in the US notwithstanding the Fed’s policy: the devaluation which should have gone hand-in-hand with such money creation has been absorbed by the rest of the planet’s economic dynamism.

But something has made the Fed no longer able to continue. Probably the fact that to have such an impact on the US economy, the quantity of money creation would have to constantly increase, which an increasingly number of people even in Federal Reserve circles were balking at doing. Staying at the same $85 billion a month level already corresponded in fact to a slowdown. In this case, better retreating and trying to escape from the trap.

Since the beginning of January the Fed has reduced its purchases by $10 billion a month, and by a further $10 billion a month from the beginning of February, to monthly purchases of $30 billion in mortgages and $35 billion in Treasury bonds currently. However, this decline in support means that a quarter of the indirect “aid” to emerging countries has gone… Therefore, it’s logical that there is a fall in economic activity in these countries and, consequently, their currencies (6).

Turkish Lire per US Dollar (USD/TRY), November 2012 – February 2014. Source: Yahoo Finance.

This is where the boomerang effect begins. First, Western investments in emerging economies are worth less since the currency is devalued; therefore, a portion of investors’ assets have well and truly disappeared, causing severe stress in financial markets. But, more importantly, to halt the decline of their currency, emerging countries’ central banks are selling their dollar reserves to buy back their own currency on the markets (7), resulting in a surplus of dollars and an increase in demand for the local currency, causing it to rise automatically (8). For example, in such a period Turkey, India, Brazil and Indonesia among others, have each offloaded in the order of tens of billions of Dollars per month (9).

This means that Dollar buyers, the emerging countries, have become sellers. In other words, the only countries able to absorb excess Dollars are now refusing them. Let’s recapitulate: the Fed and the Treasury continue to flood the world with $65 billion a month, but no one wants them… Where can they dump them now? In a few oil producing countries which still sell in Dollars, but especially in the US of course. And what can this country’s lifeless economy do with them? Not a lot… certainly less than the emerging countries did (10).


[...]

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Notes :

1 Source: Reuters (29/01/2014).

2 Sources: Reuters (07/02/2014), CNBC (07/02/2014).

3 Source: « Chicago is on the road to Detroit », Chicago Tribune (05/02/2014).

4 Measure adopted discretly together with the posted success of agricultural subsidy reforms. Source : New York Times, 05/02/2014.

5 Source: Washington Informer, 08/02/2014.

6 Our team considers that for once emerging countries' exchange rates are not related to moves in the Dollar, but economic reality.

7 A currency which they had to sell en masse, especially in 2013, to deal with the Dollar's de facto devaluation which caused other currencies to rise and risked slowing down exports.

8 The Dollar itself isn't falling immediately because the slight devaluation which should have taken place is, first, diluted by the amount of dollars in circulation and, second, offset by the fact that the Dollar is usually considered as a safe-haven currency against currencies which are reeling.

9 Sources: CentralBanking.com (« Central Bank of Turkey sells $2.5bn in one day », 23/01/2014), Vox (« Brazil’s central bank has intervened heavily, spending more than $50 billion and promising to double that by the end of the year », 25/09/2013), etc.

10 Somewhat indiscriminately, we must admit