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Why is the World Economy Doomed? the Global Financial Pyramid Scheme By the Numbers
Mar 30th, 2013
Daily Newstheeconomiccollapseblog.com
Categories: Warning;Contemporary Issues

Why is the global economy in so much trouble? How can so many people be so absolutely certain that the world financial system is going to crash? Well, the truth is that when you take a look at the cold, hard numbers it is not difficult to see why the global financial pyramid scheme is destined to fail. 

In the United States today, there is approximately 56 trillion dollars of total debt in our financial system, but there is only about 9 trillion dollars in our bank accounts. So you could take every single penny out of the banks, multiply it by six, and you still would not have enough money to pay off all of our debts. 

Overall, there is about 190 trillion dollars of total debt on the planet. But global GDP is only about 70 trillion dollars. And the total notional value of all derivatives around the globe is somewhere between 600 trillion and 1500 trillion dollars. So we have a gigantic problem on our hands. 

The global financial system is a very shaky house of cards that has been constructed on a foundation of debt, leverage and incredibly risky derivatives. 

We are living in the greatest financial bubble in world history, and it isn't going to take much to topple the entire thing. And when it falls, it is going to be the largest financial disaster in the history of the planet.

The global financial system is more interconnected today than ever before, and a crisis at one major bank or in one area of the world can spread at lightning speed. As I wrote about yesterday, the entire European banking system is leveraged 26 to 1 at this point. 

A decline in asset values of just 4 percent would totally wipe out the equity of many of those banks, and once a financial panic begins we could potentially see major financial institutions start to go down like dominoes.

We got a small taste of what that is like back in 2008, and it is inevitable that it will happen again.

Anyone that would tell you that the current global financial system is sustainable does not know what they are talking about. Just look at the numbers that I have posted below.

The following is the global financial pyramid scheme by the numbers...

-$9,283,000,000,000 - The total amount of all bank deposits in the United States. The FDIC has just 25 billion dollars in the deposit insurance fund that is supposed to "guarantee" those deposits. In other words, the ratio of total bank deposits to insurance fund money is more than 371 to 1.

-$10,012,800,000,000 - The total amount of mortgage debt in the United States. As you can see, you could take every penny out of every bank account in America and it still would not cover it.

-$10,409,500,000,000 - The M2 money supply in the United States. This is probably the most commonly used measure of the total amount of money in the U.S. economy.

-$15,094,000,000,000 - U.S. GDP. It is a measure of all economic activity in the United States for a single year.

-$16,749,269,587,407.53 - The size of the U.S. national debt. It has grown by more than 10 trillion dollars over the past ten years.

-$32,000,000,000,000 - The total amount of money that the global elite have stashed in offshore banks (that we know about).

-$50,230,844,000,000 - The total amount of government debt in the world.

-$56,280,790,000,000 - The total amount of debt (government, corporate, consumer, etc.) in the U.S. financial system.

-$61,000,000,000,000 - The combined total assets of the 50 largest banks in the world.

-$70,000,000,000,000 - The approximate size of total world GDP.

-$190,000,000,000,000 - The approximate size of the total amount of debt in the entire world. It has nearly doubled in size over the past decade.

-$212,525,587,000,000 - According to the U.S. government, this is the notional value of the derivatives that are being held by the top 25 banks in the United States. But those banks only have total assets of about 8.9 trillion dollars combined. In other words, the exposure of our largest banks to derivatives outweighs their total assets by a ratio of about 24 to 1.

-$600,000,000,000,000 to $1,500,000,000,000,000 - The estimates of the total notional value of all global derivatives generally fall within this range. At the high end of the range, the ratio of derivatives to global GDP is more than 21 to 1.

Are you starting to get the picture?

Every single day, the total amount of debt will continue to grow faster than the total amount of money until the day that this bubble bursts.

What we witnessed back in 2008 was just a little "hiccup" in the system. It caused the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, but global financial authorities were able to get things stabilized.

Next time it won't be so easy.

The next wave of the economic collapse is quickly approaching. A full-blown economic depression has already started in southern Europe. Unemployment is at record highs and economic activity is contracting rapidly.

The major offshore banking centers in Cyprus are on the verge of collapsing. It was just announced that they will now be closed until Tuesday, but nobody really knows for sure when they will be allowed to reopen. And there is already talk that when they do reopen that there will be strict limits on how much money people can take out.

And now the IMF is warning that the three biggest banks in Slovenia are failing and that a billion euros will be needed to bail them out.

The dominoes are starting to tumble, and the United States won't be immune. In fact, the greatest financial problems that the United States has ever seen are on the horizon.

But you can just have faith that Ben Bernanke, Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress know exactly what they are doing and will be able to save us from the coming financial collapse if you want.

The mainstream media will provide you with all of the positive economic news that you could possibly want. They are giddy about the fact that the Dow keeps hitting all-time highs and they would have us all believe that we are in the midst of a robust economic recovery. You can listen to them if you want to.

But when you are tempted to believe that everything is going to be "okay" somehow, just go back and look at the numbers there were posted above one more time.

There is no way that the global financial pyramid scheme is going to be able to hold up for too much longer. At some point it is going to totally collapse. When that happens, will you be ready?

What We are Now Seeing is Unprecedented in World History
Mar 30th, 2013
Daily NewsKWN
Categories: Commentary

Today Egon von Greyerz warned King World News that the chaos we are seeing right now is unprecedented in world history.  Greyerz, who is founder of Matterhorn Asset Management out of Switzerland, also cautioned “The confluence of these cycles will cause unimaginable turmoil in the future.”  Below is what Greyerz had to say in this remarkable interview: 

Eric King:  “Clearly the banks have reopened in Cyprus, your thoughts in the aftermath of all of this?”

Greyerz:  “Eric, they have opened, but the problem is still there.  Banks still don’t have enough money.  The package which has been put forward by the Troika is not going to last.  If they ever, which they might not, lift the exchange controls and restrictions on Cyprus banks, then we will see a run on the banks again....

Therefore, I think this problem will be a permanent one, and it will also be a model for future problems.  As this accelerates and moves into Slovenia and Italy, the aid and the package which will be necessary for these nations is so much bigger. 

The fear will also be that much greater as larger nations are engulfed in these problems.  Then the world will really start to become concerned and eventually panic.  This is when you will see people buying physical gold and silver in much larger quantities.  This is also a time when you will see massive panic short covering in the paper gold and silver markets.

I think we could see this type of panic in 2013.  The system is so fragile, Eric, and the nations such as Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, they will revolt.  They will not accept having the Troika, the ECB, or the EU telling them what to do.  They will exit, that is absolutely certain.

So the panic will be of a magnitude that no one can understand today.  This will lead to destruction of paper currencies.  It will also lead to precious metals going up dramatically as they will ultimately reflect the destruction of the paper currencies.

There are two ways for people’s savings to disappear:  It can be stolen by investors or depositors having to take massive cuts.  The money can also be stolen or destroyed through endless money printing.  This money printing is absolutely guaranteed in the future. 

Whatever path we see, investors will suffer.  Anyone holding cash today in the banking system will have, number one, the risk of the banking system, and secondly the risk of confiscation or taxation.  But third, there is the destruction of their money through endless paper money printing.  This will ultimately lead to the currencies going to their intrinsic value which is zero.”

Eric King:  “What should people expect to see going forward?”

Greyerz: “We are in unprecedented times.  What we are seeing right now could be the end of a 2,000 year cycle, or possibly the end of a 300 year cycle.  We also have the end of the 100 year cycle which is based on the creation of the Fed in 1913.  The confluence of these cycles will cause unimaginable turmoil in the future.

What is clear is that the world has been living above its means for a very long time.  What we have seen has been the result of printed money and a massive increase in credit.  This is why much of what we have seen is not real growth, and therefore the wealth is not real wealth.  This is why the current system cannot last. 

We now have a house of cards, and as I said before, this is unprecedented in world history because this is happening in every country in the world.  Every single country is indebted to a level that has never happened on a worldwide basis before.  This is why the consequences will be so much greater than the what the world has ever experienced at any time in history. 

Eventually the current system will implode, and we will see a dramatic lowering of the standard of living.  Before that time you will have social unrest, war, cyberwars, etc.  But you will have massive suffering.  So, sadly we are entering very difficult times.  It could take decades of turmoil.  Remember, the Dark Ages after the fall of the Roman Empire lasted 500 years.

So we could see an initial fast decline of the world economy, and then we could just go along the bottom for a very long time.  What is clear is that it will happen, and the first phase of this will take place in the next few years.  Unfortunately the world will suffer for a very long time.”

West Embargoes Arms to Syrian Rebels Over Their Resale to Al Qaeda
Mar 30th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The Western arms pipeline to the Syrian rebels fighting Bashar Assad is starting to run dry since the discovery that some of the weapons are being resold and used by al Qaeda in its conquest of southern Syrian and takeover of positions on the Jordanian and Israel borders. French President Francois Hollande for this reason reversed his government’s policy. “We will not do it [send the Syrian rebel arms] as long as we cannot be certain that there is complete control of the situation by the opposition,” he said Friday, March 29.
That day too, Ankara announced that Turkish authorities had impounded 5,000 shotguns, rifles, starting pistols, gunstocks and 10,000 cartridges in the village of Akcakale before they were sent across into Syria.

debkafile’s military sources: These steps are effectively putting in place a Western embargo on arms supplies to the Syrian rebels and not only the Assad regime. Saudi Arabia and Qatar remain their only sources of weapons.

This follows information reaching Washington, Paris, Ankara and Jerusalem in recent weeks that parts of the weapons consignments destined for the Syrian rebels, especially the Free Syrian Army, are being resold to Jabhat al-Nusra, the Islamist militia which this week proclaimed itself al Qaeda of Syria amid a major offensive for the occupation of southern Syria.

The aggressive Al Qaeda push has in fact swept beyond the important plans finalized last week for a US-led campaign to combat the Syrian chemical weapons threat.
Two weeks ago, high-resolution maps were spread out in Jerusalem, Ankara and Amman, marking out  zones inside Syria for their armies’ operations under the joint command centers the US set up last year in the three countries for combating chemical warfare.

Those plans and centers switched over last week to operational mode.
Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu made an unconvincing attempt to separate the Turkish-Israeli reconciliation from the Syrian issue. However, the fact remains that it was Barack Obama, during his trip to the region on March 20-22, who brought Turkey together with Israel and Jordan for the first joint operation in history on the soil of an Arab nation under US command.

This week, the region finds itself caught up by a menace more immediate even than a chemical war:

Scarcely noticed by the world and Israeli media (busy celebrating the Passover festival), Jabhat al Nusra is about to overrun southern Syria.

Using Western- and Arab-supplied arms smuggled in for the Syrian rebels from Turkey and Lebanon, the jihadists are taking up positions on the Israeli and Jordanian borders while also assuming control over the Yarmouk River and its tributaries.
Water in the Middle East has caused the outbreak of more than one armed conflict. And indeed 50 years ago, Israel and Israel fought a war, including aerial dogfights, to dominate that same Yarmouk River. The dispute was finally resolved when the United States stepped in and brokered an agreement for the distribution of its waters among Syria, Israel and Jordan.

Alarm over Nusra Front territorial gains has accordingly taken precedence over the chemical threat in the deliberations of the joint US-Israeli, US-Jordanian and US-Turkish command centers.

Al Qaeda’s Syrian wing has even been able to obtain from Iraqi jihadists its own stock of primitive chemicals - but weapons nonetheless.

The West hesitated too long before cutting off the supply of arms to the Syria rebels; it is already too late to prevent al Qaeda occupying international border regions and seizing control of an important regional water source. Dislodging them would call for a military offensive proper - which seems to be the rationale for the large military field hospital Israeli set up this week on its Golan border with Syria.

The Unmentioned Factor Behind Turkey’s Turn Toward Israel
Mar 30th, 2013
CommentaryThe Times of Israel
Categories: Contemporary Issues

On Friday, seated beside President Barack Obama and speaking from a trailer at the airport, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at last mouthed the word “apology” when speaking to his Turkish counterpart, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, despite the limpness of the language that followed – some distance from his initial demands – accepted the apology and agreed to normalize ties.

Why now, nearly three years after Israeli naval commandos boarded a Turkish ship in the small hours of the night and, greeted with violence and fearing their lives were in danger, opened fire and killed nine Turkish nationals? Why now, some 18 months after the UN report on the raid was released and Erdogan expelled the Israeli ambassador from Ankara?

The most immediate reason, the one most comfortable for all to discuss, is Syria.

The country is falling apart and its neighbors to the north and southwest have a shared interest in preventing chaos next door.

“The possibility that Israel and Turkey will put together a joint military task force to prevent the spread of chemical weapons within Syria is one that cannot be ruled out,” Yaakov Amidror, Israel’s national security adviser, told Army Radio Sunday.

He said such a possibility was still far off but that, as Syria disintegrated, and as Islamist elements seized control of key territories, it was in Israel’s advantage to ensure that Turkey not exercise its veto against Israeli cooperation with NATO. 

“As soon as the relationship with Turkey is restored, it will lose its desire to harm Israel’s ties with NATO,” Amidror said earlier to Channel 2 News.

Turkey’s own regional aspirations and those of Erdogan were also a factor.

On a personal level, Erdogan needs stability. His term in office ends in 2014 and the constitution, in its current form, bars him from running for re-election. He seeks to amend the law to create a presidential regime with extended power.

“Erdogan wants something like the (Hugo) Chavez model,” said Dr. Ely Karmon, a senior research fellow at Herzliya’s International Institute for Counter-Terrorism.

That aspiration, Karmon said, was what sparked talks with the PKK, a Kurdish organization whose jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan, called for a historic ceasefire last week. And it was one of the reasons why Erdogan accepted an offer from Israel that has been on the table for some time: “He wants quiet.”

On the international level, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s doctrine of neo-Ottomanism has run into the wall. Hoping to ride the wave of anti-Israel sentiment to supremacy in the Arab world, Erdogan found that his comments equating Zionism with fascism earned a stern rebuke from Secretary of State John Kerry and little traction in the turbulent Arab world. 

Despite Turkey’s championing of Hamas, it had no hand in brokering the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in November. The Egyptians, in the driver’s seat, did not even let Erdogan visit the Gaza Strip.

Jordan’s King Abdullah is apparently also not a fan of the neo-Ottoman agenda. He recently told The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg that Erdogan views democracy as a bus ride. “Once I get to my stop, I’m getting off,” the Hashemite king quoted Erdogan as saying.

Economically, too,Turkey has every reason to mend its ties with Israel. Bilateral trade between the two countries reached $4 billion in 2011, with a clear export surplus for Turkey. 

That fact, combined with the sanctions against Iran, the Stratfor intelligence group wrote in 2012, means that Turkey can’t afford to turn its back on Israel – one of the few growing economies in the region and the only stable state other than Turkey itself.

But above and beyond those considerations lies Iran.

Barely mentioned, but unarguable, is the fact that Turkey plays a pivotal role in Israel’s air defenses against the Islamic Republic. A NATO radar base in eastern Turkey, established in 2011 and manned by US soldiers, can relay critical intelligence back to Israel. 

“They (the Turks) have always claimed that Israel is not part of the system,” said Karmon, “but the Arrow, Israel’s defense against Iranian Shahab 3 missiles, is reliant on it.”

Turkey’s main opposition leader amplified this statement in November. Sniping at Erdogan and his wrathful rhetoric against Israel, Kemal Kilicdaroglu noted that if Erdogan truly sought to extract a price from the Jewish state, he would suspend the radar activity in Kurecik.

“Why was the radar station in Kurecik [in the eastern province of Malatya] established? It’s because of Israel’s security,” Hurriyet Daily News quoted Kilicdaroglu saying. “Mr. Erdogan, you are appealing to the Arab League and United Nations to take action for Gaza: Then do it yourself and be an example to the world.”

For Israel that sort of measure would have grave implications. Tellingly, Erdogan, for all his relentless criticism of Israel, never took it.

Why not? Because Sunni Islamic Turkey does not want to see neighboring Shiite Iran armed with the bomb. It wants to lead the Middle East, not have the ayatollahs doing so.

Turkey may be riding the democracy bus to a dictatorship. It may be advocating for a pale shade of Islamism. But when forced to take sides, between reviled Israel, the US and the West on one hand, and an Iranian Shiite bomb on the other, Ankara seems to have made its choice.

With some prodding from Washington, and a bit of a climbdown from Jerusalem, Erdogan took a reluctant step in the direction of Obama and his new “friend Bibi.”

Only 57 Churches Left in Iraq; from 300 in 2003
Mar 30th, 2013
Daily Newsthechristianpost
Categories: Commentary;Contemporary Issues

Iraq had 300 churches and 1.4 million Christians in 2003, but now only 57 churches and about half a million Christians remain with members of the minority fleeing Islamist attacks, according to local reports.

Patriarch Louis Sako of the Chaldean Church told Mideast Christian News the remaining 57 churches also continue to be targeted. The number of Christians has fallen from about 1,400,000 in 2003 to nearly half a million now, added William Warda, the head of the Hammurabi Human Rights Organization, a registered local non-governmental organization.

This means more than two-thirds have emigrated, Warda said. "The last ten years have been the worst for Iraqi Christians because they bore witness to the biggest exodus and migration in the history of Iraq."

The attack on Our Lady of Deliverance Church by extremists, and other attacks in 2010, contributed to Christians fleeing abroad, according to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

Iraqi Christians, one of the oldest communities in the world, have faced several bomb attacks, killings, abduction, torture, and forcible conversion to Islam ever since the U.S.-led liberation war began in 2003.

Around 75 percent of the Iraqi population is Arab, and roughly 15 percent is Kurd. Over 95 percent of all Iraqis are Muslim – 65 percent Shi'a and 35 percent Sunni.

Iraq's politics had largely been dominated by the Arab Sunnis until the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003, following which the federal government of Iraq was governed by Shi'ite parties led by the Islamic Dawa Party.

Christians have not only been targeted for their faith by al-Qaeda and related terror groups, but they are also caught in the crossfire of the Arab-Kurd and Shi'a-Sunni conflicts, which rose to new heights after the 2003 U.S. operations.

"The large blocs, unfortunately, have worked to confiscate political decisions in the country after the change, and the changes brought by the Americans did not depend on size, but capacity," a prominent Christian politician, Youkhanna Kanna, was quoted as saying.

"Christians in Iraq, a proportion of all the Christians in the Middle East, are the main builders of this region at all levels and in all fields. They have unquestionably played a significant role in modern Iraq, but what happened after the change is that the sectarian and ethnic system of quotas has allowed large-sized blocs to monopolize political decisions," Kanna said.

The United States should "streamline its Iraq policy to deal with the failure of the federal and Kurdistan governments to protect Christians and other minorities, and to ensure enactment of special laws to prevent impunity after incidents of religiously motivated violence," the World Evangelical Alliance has said.

Iraq had 300 churches and 1.4 million Christians in 2003, but now only 57 churches and about half a million Christians remain with members of the minority fleeing Islamist attacks, according to local reports.

Patriarch Louis Sako of the Chaldean Church told Mideast Christian News the remaining 57 churches also continue to be targeted. The number of Christians has fallen from about 1,400,000 in 2003 to nearly half a million now, added William Warda, the head of the Hammurabi Human Rights Organization, a registered local non-governmental organization.

This means more than two-thirds have emigrated, Warda said. "The last ten years have been the worst for Iraqi Christians because they bore witness to the biggest exodus and migration in the history of Iraq."

The attack on Our Lady of Deliverance Church by extremists, and other attacks in 2010, contributed to Christians fleeing abroad, according to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

Iraqi Christians, one of the oldest communities in the world, have faced several bomb attacks, killings, abduction, torture, and forcible conversion to Islam ever since the U.S.-led liberation war began in 2003.

Around 75 percent of the Iraqi population is Arab, and roughly 15 percent is Kurd. Over 95 percent of all Iraqis are Muslim – 65 percent Shi'a and 35 percent Sunni.

Iraq's politics had largely been dominated by the Arab Sunnis until the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003, following which the federal government of Iraq was governed by Shi'ite parties led by the Islamic Dawa Party.

Christians have not only been targeted for their faith by al-Qaeda and related terror groups, but they are also caught in the crossfire of the Arab-Kurd and Shi'a-Sunni conflicts, which rose to new heights after the 2003 U.S. operations.

"The large blocs, unfortunately, have worked to confiscate political decisions in the country after the change, and the changes brought by the Americans did not depend on size, but capacity," a prominent Christian politician, Youkhanna Kanna, was quoted as saying.

"Christians in Iraq, a proportion of all the Christians in the Middle East, are the main builders of this region at all levels and in all fields. They have unquestionably played a significant role in modern Iraq, but what happened after the change is that the sectarian and ethnic system of quotas has allowed large-sized blocs to monopolize political decisions," Kanna said.

The United States should "streamline its Iraq policy to deal with the failure of the federal and Kurdistan governments to protect Christians and other minorities, and to ensure enactment of special laws to prevent impunity after incidents of religiously motivated violence," the World Evangelical Alliance has said.

Let the Headlines Speak
Mar 30th, 2013
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

US warns North Korea of increased isolation if threats escalate further
Yhe White House warned North Korea on Friday that the rapidly escalating military confrontation would lead to further isolation, as the Pentagon declared that the US was fully capable of defending itself and its allies against a missile attack. After North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared that rockets were ready to be fired at American bases in the Pacific...  

In shift, Medicare would pay for sex-change operations
For the first time since 1981, when it dubbed sex-change operations "experimental," Medicare has opened the door to covering transexual operations, adding to the growing list of operations that would be allowed under Obamacare. Acting on a new request, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it is starting a new analysis that could lift the spending ban for sex-change operations...  

Obama: America 'Can Do Better'
At a speech today in Miami, President Obama urged America to "do better." "We still have all kinds of deferred maintenance...ports...rail lines...roads...," said the president. "We don’t have to accept that for America. We can do better. We can build better. And in a time of tight budgets, we’ve got to do it in a way that makes sure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely."  

Cyprus eases some bank restrictions after bailout
The Central Bank of Cyprus has eased some of the restrictions imposed as the nation's banks reopened, following an international bailout deal. Debit and credit cards can be used normally for domestic payments. The central bank said it would review the curbs on a daily basis and try to "refine or relax" them when possible.  

Afghanistan's Karzai in Qatar 'to discuss Taliban talks'
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has arrived in Qatar on a two-day state visit for talks with Qatari officials. The possibility of the Taliban opening a political office in Qatar is expected to be discussed, officials say. The setting up of an office in Qatar is regarded as an important step in formalising a channel for peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.  

Christian Pilgrims Observe Good Friday in Jerusalem
Christians around the world are observing Good Friday, which marks the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Thousands of pilgrims packed the narrow alleys of Jerusalem’s Old City for the traditional Good Friday Procession. Some people hoisted big wooden crosses on their shoulders as they marched down the cobblestoned path known asVia Dolorosa, the Way of Sorrows.  

Argentine defiance in appeal of $1.4 billion debt ruling aims at unlikely Supreme Court win
With just hours to go before Argentina has to show its last cards in a billion-dollar debt showdown in the U.S. courts, President Cristina Fernandez seems to be keeping up her "we're going for more" motto. Her government is reportedly preparing a response that analysts say could lead the country into another catastrophic default.  

Planned Parenthood Official Argues for Right to Post-Birth Abortion
Florida legislators considering a bill to require abortionists to provide medical care to an infant who survives an abortion were shocked during a committee hearing this week when a Planned Parenthood official endorsed a right to post-birth abortion. Alisa LaPolt Snow, the lobbyist representing the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, testified that her organization believes the decision to kill an infant who survives a failed abortion should be left up to the woman seeking an abortion and her abortion doctor.  

Texas wants its gold back from the feds
“The eyes of Texas are upon you” goes the song, but right now those eyes seem to be squarely focused on the financial crisis in Cyprus. Texas Gov. Rick Perry is supporting a bill that would return the state’s $1 billion in gold reserves currently stored by the Federal Reserve at a vault in New York to the state.  

North Korea enters 'state of war' with South
North Korea has said it is entering a "state of war" with South Korea in the latest escalation of rhetoric against its neighbour and the US. A statement promised "stern physical actions" against "any provocative act". North Korea has threatened attacks almost daily after it was sanctioned for a third nuclear test in February.  

Two fifth-graders face trial in alleged Washington murder plot
Two Washington state fifth-grade boys, accused in a foiled plot to rape and kill a girl and kill or harm six other classmates, will stand trial as juveniles, a prosecutor said on Friday. Stevens County Prosecutor Tim Rasmussen said the boys, 11 and 10, pleaded not guilty during an arraignment on Friday over the alleged murder-rape plot that also targeted other children in Colville, Washington, about 215 miles east of Seattle.  

Big depositors in Cyprus to lose far more than feared
Big depositors in Cyprus's largest bank stand to lose far more than initially feared under a European Union rescue package to save the island from bankruptcy, a source with direct knowledge of the terms said on Friday.

Israeli Intel: Iran Has Deployed 50,000 Troops in Syria
Mar 30th, 2013
Daily NewsWorldTribune.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Israeli military intelligence commander Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi said Iran
has taken over much of the Syrian campaign against Sunni rebels. Kochavi
said Iran deployed Hizbullah and Shi’ite fighters in Iraq to protect the
regime of President Bashar Assad, whose military dropped from 220,000 to
50,000.

“The damages of the imminent fall of Syria are very high for both Iran
and Hizbullah,” Kochavi said. “Iran is losing a sole ally in the region
surrounding Israel. It will lose the ability to transfer weaponry through
Syria to Hizbullah. Iran and Hizbullah are both doing all in their power to
assist Assad’s regime.”

In an address to the Herzliya Conference on March 14, Kochavi cited a
much greater level of Iranian military involvement than acknowledged by
NATO. The military intelligence chief said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps and Hizbullah formed a special force assigned to protect the
regime in Damascus.

“They support Assad operationally on the ground, with strategic
consultation, intelligence, weapons,” Kochavi said.

Kochavi said the 50,000-man force built by Hizbullah and Iran was
separate from that of Assad’s military. He said the Iranian-sponsored force,
called the “People’s Army” would soon reach 100,000 fighters amid repeated
failures by Assad to mobilize Syrians. So far, only 20 percent of required
recruits have reported for Syrian military duty.

The People’s Army was said to have been launched in late 2012 and
overseen by IRGC Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Suleimani. Officials
said Suleimani has been in Damascus for the last few months to direct
counter-rebel operations.

Kochavi said the People’s Army represented Iran’s determination to
remain in Syria even with the fall of the Assad regime. He said neither Iran
nor Hizbullah could lose Syria as a strategic hub.

“Most recently, they are establishing a ‘People’s Army’ trained by
Hizbullah and financed by Iran, currently consisting of 50,000 men, with
plans to increase to 100,000,” Kochavi said. “Iran and Hizbullah are also
preparing for the day after Assad’s fall, when they will use this army to
protect their assets and interests in Syria.”

At the same time, the Syrian Air Force has also expanded operations.
Kochavi said the air force was conducting between 40 and 50 sorties a week
and other units were firing the Scud-B and M-600 missiles.

The Assad regime has also fired at least 600 rockets with a conventional
payload of 250 kilograms. Kochavi said Assad fired 70 Scuds and M-600s
during the two-year revolt.

The intelligence assessment also detected threats by Al Qaida-aligned
Syrian rebel militias. Kochavi such militias, which he termed “global jihad
terrorists” were spreading throughout Syria as well as Egypt’s Sinai
Peninsula.

“The threat of a security deterioration, caused either by us attacking,
or a terrorist attack on us is growing,” Kochavi said.

Israeli Energy Revolution Begins With First Gas on Stream
Mar 30th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

The first gas from Israel’s offshore Tamar gas field was piped 90 km to the Ashdod power station Saturday, enabling the big facility's conversion to the use of domestically produced energy. More of the country’s largest electricity and industrial plants will be connected to the Tamar gas rig in the course of the year. DEBKAfile: The impending exploitation of big Israel offshore gas and oil fields, including the giant Leviathan well, takes the Israeli economy into a new era and transforms its strategic situation. The United States and Russia are taking Israel into consideration as a major energy power since geological surveys identified vast reserves of gas and oil yet to be tapped. 

Egyptian Mosque Turned Into House of Torture for Christians After Muslim Brotherhood Protest
Mar 30th, 2013
Daily Newsfoxnews.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Persecution

Islamic hard-liners stormed a mosque in suburban Cairo, turning it into torture chamber for Christians who had been demonstrating against the ruling Muslim Brotherhood in the latest case of violent persecution that experts fear will only get worse.

Such stories have become increasingly common as tensions between Egypt’s Muslims and Copts mount, but in the latest case, mosque officials corroborated much of the account and even filed a police report. 

Demonstrators, some of whom were Muslim, say they were taken from the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in suburban Cairo to a nearby mosque on Friday and tortured for hours by hard-line militia members.

“There is no longer anything to hold them back. The floodgates are open.”
- Shaul Gabbay, University of Denver professor on Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

“They accompanied me to one of the mosques in the area and I discovered the mosque was being used to imprison demonstrators and torture them,” Amir Ayad, a Coptic who has been a vocal protester against the regime, told MidEast Christian News from a hospital bed.

Ayad said he was beaten for hours with sticks before being left for dead on a roadside. Amir’s brother, Ezzat Ayad, said he received an anonymous phone call at 3 a.m. Saturday, with the caller saying his brother had been found near death and had been taken to the ambulance.

“He underwent radiation treatment that proved that he suffered a fracture in the bottom of his skull, a fracture in his left arm, a bleeding in the right eye, and birdshot injuries,” Ezzat Ayad said.

Officials at the Bilal ibn Rabah Mosque said radical militias stormed the building, in the Cairo suburb of Moqattam, after Friday prayers.

“[We] deeply regret what has happened and apologize to the people of Moqattam,” mosque officials said in a statement, adding that “they had lost control over the mosque at the time."

The statement also “denounced and condemned the violence and involving mosques in political conflicts.”

The latest crackdown is further confirmation that the Muslim Brotherhood’s most hard-line elements are consolidating control in Egypt, according to Shaul Gabbay, a professor of international studies at the University of Denver.

“It will only get worse,” said Gabbay. “This has been a longstanding conflict, but now that the Muslim Brotherhood is in power, it is moving forward to implement its ideology – which is that Christians are supposed to become Muslims.

“There is no longer anything to hold them back,” he continued. “The floodgates are open.”

Gabbay said the violent militias that allegedly tortured Ayad work hand-in-hand with police and may, in fact, be beyond the control of increasingly unpopular President Mohammed Morsi. While he may benefit from roving bands that attack demonstrators, they also undermine his claim of being a legitimate leader.

“Egyptian society is split over the Morsi regime, and it is not just a Coptic-Muslim split,” Gabbay said. “The less conservative elements of the Muslim society are increasingly uneasy with the Muslim Brotherhood. The Christian Copts are an easy target, but they are not alone in their mistrust of the Brotherhood.”

Experts agreed that the Copts, who comprise roughly 10 percent of the nation’s 83 million people, are not alone in their opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood, which took power in hotly contested elections following the 2011 ouster of longtime President Hosni Mubarak. Moderate Muslims and secular liberals are increasingly uncomfortable with the Islamization of the government. 

Sheikh Ahmed Saber, a well-known imam and official in Egypt’s Ministry of Endowments, has blasted Morsi’s justice ministry for allowing persecution of Copts.

“All Egyptians in general are oppressed, but Christians are particularly oppressed, because they suffer double of what others suffer,” Saber told MCN.

Creationist Stakes $10,000 on Contest Between Bible and Evolution
Mar 30th, 2013
Daily Newsguardian co.uk
Categories: Apologetics;Contemporary Issues

A California creationist is offering a $10,000 challenge to anyone who can prove in front of a judge that science contradicts the literal interpretation of the book of Genesis. 

Dr Joseph Mastropaolo, who says he has set up the contest, the Literal Genesis Trial, in the hope of improving the quality of arguments between creationists and evolutionists, has pledged to put $10,000 of his own money into an escrow account before the debate. His competitor would be expected to do the same. The winner would take the $20,000 balance.

The argument would not be made in a formal court, but under an alternative dispute resolution model known as a minitrial. Mastropaolo said he would present the argument in favor of a literal interpretation of the creation story once he had found a willing scientist to argue that a non-literal interpretation of Genesis is more scientific. 

"They [evolutionists] are not stupid people, they are bright, but they are bright enough to know there is no scientific evidence they can give in a minitrial," Mastropaolo said. 

A minitrial differs from a regular trial because it does not need to be held in a courthouse and does not require the presence of traditional court figures. Mastropaolo plans to have a bailiff and court reporter in attendance, along with the judge. Contest rules state that evidence must be scientific, which means it is "objective, valid, reliable and calibrated".

Mastropaolo believes that evolution cannot be proved scientifically. "It turns out that there is nothing in the universe [that] is evolving, everything is devolving, everything is going in the opposite direction," he said.

Mastropaolo started making public arguments in favor of creationism about 13 years ago, after reading an article about evolution in the newspaper. He has a PhD in kinesiology and taught biomechanics and physiology at a California university for more than 25 years. 

He is now a contributing writer at the Creation Science Hall of Fame, which is collaborating with him for the minitrial. The Creation Science Hall of Fame is a website, launched in February 2012, that honors those who have made contributions to creation science. 

A majority of scientists disavow creationism, but a June 2012 Gallup poll showed that 46% of Americans believed in a literal interpretation of the biblical version of creation. Legislation to allow students to be taught religious versions of the creation of life is currently being considered in four states. 

The Literal Genesis Trial contest would be held in a courthouse in Santa Ana, California and Mastropaolo has said he will create a list of potential superior court judges to decide the case. 

The participants would have to agree on a judge. Mastropaolo said that he hopes the trials can improve future debates between evolutionists and creationists by addressing the issue in a legal and scientific way.

"The evolutionists thereafter could read that transcript and make their case a bit stronger on the next one they contend against and we can do the same," Mastropaolo said. 

"We can read the transcript and not have have to go through the same process over and over and over again without any let up, without any resolution."

Allah Finds a Home in a German Cathedral
Mar 30th, 2013
Daily NewsINN
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

During the last hours of their agony in 1453, the Christian faithful took refuge within the hallowed walls of the Hagia Sophia. The Muslims killed the weak and the elderly and reduced the others to slavery. 

When the carnage came to an end, Sultan Mehmed II ordered an Islamic scholar to declare that there was no God but Allah and Mohammed was his Prophet. The ancient church was then converted into a mosque; hundreds of other churches in Constantinople and other places suffered the same fate.

Today in Europe we are witnessing the same process of conversion, but there is no bloodbath nor ceremony. It is a voluntary and sterile process of conversion. It is enough to sign a piece of paper in front of a notary and Europe turns to Islam.

Ten years ago the Nobel Prize Laureate for Literature, Günter Grass, proposed transforming empty churches into mosques. “It would be a great gesture”, proclaimed the “painful consciousness of Germany".

Now a Lutheran church in Hamburg, the Kapernaumkirche, is about to be converted into an Islamic place of worship.

Because of Europe’s rampant de-Christianization, the church has no more faithful. The same has just happened to the the Church of Saint-Eloi in the French region of Vierzon, which will soon become a mosque. The diocese of Bourges put the church up for sale and a Muslim organization, l’Association des Marocains, made the most generous offer for the site.

The publication Spirit estimates that out of about 45,000 churches in Germany, 15,000 soon will no longer be needed. There are many church buildings in Germany that are now used for art classes, commercial activies and sports courses. 

In Wilhelmshaven, six out of nine Catholic churches are slated to be destroyed. The St. Maximin's Abbey in Trier now serves as a school gym, while the Sacred Heart Church in Katlenburg houses a school for dance and Pilates.

And now, for the first time in Hamburg, a Church will serve the nation of Islam.

The new owner of the Hamburg church is the Nour Islamic Center, an umbrella organization for immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa. 

As planned, the building of Hamburg will begin worshipping the Koran from October 3, the day of German unity. Islamic organizations announced that they want to celebrate that day as the “tag der offenen mosques”, the day on which the mosques open to non-Muslims.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung posted an article titled “Tenant Allah”.

“Even if it is legal, the conversion of a church into a mosque will not improve coexistence”, declared Marcus Weinberg, the CDU leader in Hamburg.

Part of the Lutheran church is also against the conversion. “The conversion demonstrates how advanced is the secularization and the strengthening of Islam in our society”, said the pastor Ulrich Russ.

The case of Hamburg is not isolated in the wealthy Germany of Pope Benedict, where many Catholic dioceses are also on the verge of bankruptcy. In Essen, central Germany, a quarter of the churches will be closed.

The Muslim population in the country has increased from 50,000 people in the early ‘80s to the 4 million today.

The Archbishop of Berlin’s spokesman, Stefan Foerner, does not exclude the possibility that many Catholic churches will be sold to the Muslims in the future.

I phoned Ralph Giordano, the Jewish writer who survived the Holocaust. He sees the conversion of the church in Hamburg as “the Islamization of our country”, since “sharia is not constitutional, it is a thorn in the heart of democracy”.

As Soeren Kern explained in a report for the Gatestone Institute last November, Hamburg, the second-largest city in Germany, concluded a “historic treaty” with its Islamic communities that grants Muslim holidays, religion courses in schools and burial ritual rights. 

The most controversial part of the accord involves a commitment by the city government to promote the teaching of Islam in the Hamburg public school system.

The heart of Hamburg’s islamization is the Taiba mosque, where Mohammed Atta, the Saudi terrorist who led the 9/11 attacks, also prayed. From the central station to number 163 Steindamm is just a ten minute walk. The Muslim building lies between a pharmacy and a restaurant.

This is the face of Europe’s Islamization, often anonymous, but rampant. It is the misery of a lost continent. Robert Schuman's "Europe of the Cathedrals" will be soon turned into the "Europe of the Mosques".