Blog to discuss the book "The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Revelation" and current events that point to the events described therein.
As predicted in the Apocalypse - Letter by Letter, by Steven Paul, the old Roman Empire would one day be reconstituted. By the Lisbon Treaty, agreed to now by the last holdout, that day has come. Already the warning signs of the coming Christian persecution are there. As Europe has abandoned its Christian roots and the Church has become weak, believers are now a minority with no rights under the new constitution. They will soon find themselves victims of hate crimes laws, speech restrictions and even mob rule.
All that is lacking from the prophecy is a head for the beast. Stay tuned...
Czech Republic Leader Signs Lisbon - No More Barriers to New European Superstate By Hilary White PRAGUE, November 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, signed the Lisbon Treaty at 3 p.m. Central European Time today, the last leader of the European Union's 27 members states to do so. This removes the last barrier to the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, the document that is said to be effectively identical to the European Constitution that was defeated by public votes in France and the Netherlands in 2005. Klaus, the eurosceptic leader of the former Soviet bloc country, has warned repeatedly against Lisbon's encroachments on national sovereignty and democracy, calling the project of a "united Europe" a return to a leftist tyranny. Since the start of the battle over Lisbon, Klaus has warned that ratification of the Treaty would signal the end of his and all European countries as independent sovereign states.
After the Yes vote in last month's Irish referendum, Klaus' opposition to Lisbon was the last barrier to the full implementation of the agreement that pro-life advocates have warned will likely result in the loss of the right of countries to pass laws protecting the unborn and elderly from abortion and euthanasia. Pro-life leaders in Ireland warned that under the Treaty the laws of member states will be interpreted not through that state's courts, but by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that is under no legal obligation to consider any other law besides EU law. Today the anti-Christian, secularist leanings of the EU's institutions were illustrated when the European Court of Human Rights ruled that crucifixes must be removed from Italian state schools. In response to a complaint from an Italian woman in Padua, the Strasburg court ruled, "The presence of the crucifix ... could easily be interpreted by pupils of all ages as a religious sign and they would feel that they were being educated in a school environment bearing the stamp of a given religion."
The court ruled that the Italian state is to "refrain from imposing beliefs in premises where individuals were dependent on it." Campaigners have warned that this type of ruling under Lisbon's terms would become binding on all member states, ushering in the effective repression in all of Europe of public expressions of Christianity or any other belief that opposes the prevailing official European secularism.
In a 2005 speech, Klaus wondered if the former communist countries were not risking falling into "another blind alley of regulated society, of unproductive welfare state, of brave new world of European social democratism and of empty and artificial Europeanism." Klaus's capitulation was anticipated at last week's EU summit, when French President Nicholas Sarkozy said, "The Lisbon Treaty will enter into force doubtless as early as December 1."
In an earlier post, I indicated that Steven Paul interpreted certain symbols and the sequence of events in the Book of Revelation such that the likelihood that THE Antichrist is Barack Hussein Obama is very small if not impossible.
As you read The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter, by Steven Paul, you may be puzzled by how some of the events could take place given the current geopolitical alignment. For example, how could massive armies gather and head towards Israel without the US and its vast arsenal stopping it? How could the battle of Armageddon come about at all given that so many Christians still read The Book of Revelation and look for signs of its consummation? And how could a man actually call himself by a name so obviously associated with the prophecy of Antichrist and the number six hundred sixty six?
Well in just a few short months we've seen a radical shift in the posture of the United States towards friend and foe alike. The overtures to Islam and the change in tenor towards the nation of Israel do not portend well for the future.
As well, the continuous attack on Christianity and the falling away from the faith, the move towards relativism inside and outside the Church, all signal a weakening of God's people, politically, militarily but especially morally.
At the current pace of "change" it is not as hard to believe that Israel will be on its own and the United States more ambivalent about continuing the strong alliance with traditional western allies.
And more ominously, the table is being set for someone so diabolical as to have no problem with callng himself by the number of the name.
After the year 1900, toward the middle of the 20th century, the people of that time will become unrecognizable. When the time for the Advent of the Antichrist approaches, people's minds will grow cloudy from carnal passions, and dishonor and lawlessness will grow stronger. Then the world will become unrecognizable.
People's appearances will change, and it will be impossible to distinguish men from women due to their shamelessness in dress and style of hair. These people will be cruel and will be like wild animals because of the temptations of the Antichrist. There will be no respect for parents and elders, love will disappear, and Christian pastors, Bishops and priests will become vain men, completely failing to distinguish the right-hand way from the left.
At that time, the morals and traditions of Christians and of the Church will change. People will abandon modesty, and dissipation will reign. Falsehood and greed will attain great proportions, and woe to those who pile up treasures. Lust, adultery, homosexuality, secret deeds and murder will rule in society.
Apostasy
At that future time, due to the power of such great crimes and licentiousness, people will be deprived of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which they received in Holy Baptism and equally of remorse.
The Churches of God will be deprived of God-fearing and pious pastors, and woe to the Christians remaining in the world at that time; they will completely lose their faith because they will lack the opportunity of seeing the light of knowledge from anyone at all. Then they will separate themselves out of the world in holy refuges in search of lightening their spiritual sufferings, but everywhere they will meet obstacles and constraints. And all this will result from the fact that the Antichrist wants to be Lord over everything and become the ruler of the whole universe, and he will produce miracles and fantastic signs.
Telephones, airplanes, submarines
He will also give depraved wisdom to an unhappy man so that he will discover a way by which one man can carry on a conversation with another from one end of the earth to the other. At that time men will also fly through the air like birds and descend to the bottom of the sea like fish. And when they have achieved all this, these unhappy people will spend their lives in comfort without knowing, poor souls, that it is deceit of the Antichrist. And, the impious one! - he will so complete science with vanity that it will go off the right path and lead people to lose faith in the existence of God in three hypostases.
The coming chastisement
Then the All-good God will see the downfall of the human race and will shorten the days for the sake of those few who are being saved, because the enemy wants to lead even the chosen into temptation, if that is possible... then the sword of chastisement will suddenly appear and kill the Perverter and his servants.
'SPIRIT OF ANTI-CHRIST' IS BEST DEFINED NOT AS SECULAR SPIRIT BUT ONE FULL OF HATRED
From SpiritDaily.com
We are out of balance when we focus too much on evil, at the same time that we are in peril when we ignore it.
There is but one recourse: the Holy Spirit.
At Christmastime, we think (or should think) of Christ; in our time we are also forced to ponder the opposite spirit (for the spirit of anti-christ is rising).
Just what is the "spirit of anti-christ"? How, in our special times, is it manifesting? How do we detect it?
More than anything, the spirit of anti-christ is in those who show direct vitriol toward religion and specifically Catholicism and Christianity. Simply put, it is truculence aimed directly at Jesus.
Day after day, this time of year -- as a new "tradition" -- there are stories about the Infant kidnapped from a Nativity here, or a Nativity disallowed there, or a statue of Jesus found hanging. There are the anti-Catholic jokes. There is the bias. There are universities where they won't even allow Santa! The spirit of anti-christ is the spirit of militant secular humanism, and finds its extreme in satanism.
Anti-christ is most manifest in atheism but is not confined to non-believers. Those of religious faith who bristle at the mention of Christ are obviously of this spirit -- or at least influenced by it. Direct animosity toward Christians (as seen currently and urgently in India) is what would balloon into a challenge unlike any seen since the early-century martyrs.
It is one thing to see the rise of homosexual rights; it is another to watch gay demonstrators with signs that display stark anti-Christian hatred.
That spirit extends across sexual, economic, and cultural boundaries.
In Mexico, Playboy magazine came out with a cover depicting a nude model but for a Virgin-like veil (on the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which of course is centered in Mexico). That is the spirit of anti-christ because it went beyond the prurient and into the realm of the blasphemous, which spells hatred. Anti-christ is the spirit of lust where Christianity is the spirit of love. Catholics are disdained by certain writers in magazines like Time while a hard-core pornographer is exalted as a nice old man when he dies. The spirit of anti-christ reverses everything, so that good is evil and evil is good. It spells the word "live" backwards.
"Want proof that hate is driving this assault?" asks a group that fights Catholic bigotry. "The head of the ACLU in New Hampshire, Claire Ebel, advises that if crèches are allowed in parks, it is permissible 'for a display of satanic ritual.' And this hatred of Christmas is not exclusive to the U.S. In England, Muslim preacher Anjem Choudary called Christmas 'evil' in a recent sermon. No wonder they are banning words like 'bishop,' 'chapel,' 'monk' and 'nun' from the Oxford Junior Dictionary. And all of this is being endorsed, if not promoted, by self-hating Christians."
Scientists in America and politicians in the new, unified Europe, especially, are hankering for the day when they will be able to exert a coordinated purge of Jesus. They are refashioning nature. They are redefining spirit. The confessional has been replaced by the couch of the psychiatrist. At the same time, there is an unprecedented eruption of those claiming to see peculiar images of Jesus.
Is Heaven countering the attempt to purge Him? Is it hinting at a coming large manifestation? "An unusual phenomenon occurred at my kitchen sink," wrote Antoinette Santangelo of Cedar Knoll, New Jersey. "On this day, before I left my house at one o'clock in the afternoon, I filled my one-year-old grandson's bottle with milk at the sink. I rushed out without noticing that I had dropped a 'clump of milk' on the ledge of the front of the sink, discovering it only upon my return four hours later. Since I had left a pot in the sink, I set out to wash it; however, before I could do so, I felt a strong force pushing me back from the sink. I wondered why this was so strong. After the strong force subsided, I attempted to wash the pot.
"It was then that I noticed the small drop of milk on the front of the sink. Upon closer examination, I was filled with emotion to see the suffering Face of Jesus on this drop of milk. [The next morning] after Mass I showed my father the picture and he immediately saw the image of Jesus' Face clearly and asked if he could follow me home so he could see the sink and picture in the drop of milk. He found it incredible and believed when he saw was truly the face of Jesus."
It is difficult to discern: are these reports -- so numerous -- pareidolia (the imagining of images into natural, coincidental formations), some other type of deception, or signs from Heaven to offset the attempts at stripping Christian supernaturality from the public square? Why does it happen so often -- with the same frequency as statue beheadings, Nativity controversies, and satanic graffiti?
It is a question this hour -- this late hour, at this late time of the year. "Earlier today, a bus taking members of a heavy-metal band, the Red Shore, veered off the Pacific Highway north of Sydney," wrote a viewer at this time precisely a year ago. "The bus rolled several times and slammed into a tree, killing the lead vocalist and one of the road crew. They were on their way to a performance at Sydney University in a double-header with a U.S. 'death-metal' outfit call 'All Shall Perish.' They had called their tour, 'Christmas Carnage.'
"Sadly, this title has turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy."
Coincidence speaks to us. It heralds. It tries to warn. In the quiet of night, in the silence, we take it to the Infant.
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, that there they should feed her a thousand two hundred sixty days. 7 And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels: 8 And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who seduceth the whole world; and he was cast unto the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. [Apoc. 12:6-9]
According to Steven Paul in his book, The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter, the above passage from Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation describes a conflict in the Church between those on the side of Christ and those who have apostatized and follow the False Prophet, and by extension Satan, the dragon.
While Michael and his angels may well be real angels, the term "angel" is used throughout the Apocalypse to indicate bishops. This passage tells of a battle inside the Church that results in those bishops who follow Satan finally being cast out "unto the earth". That is to say they no longer have the grace of being members in the visible organization.
In today's news, linked above, the Vatican has warned that passage of the so-called Freedom of Choice Act, removing all laws protecting the unborn, is a direct attack on the Church, an act of war. As is often the case in today's Church, such pronouncements are made by high Vatican officials, bishops, and usually contradicted, modified or ignored by many other bishops. The lines for the battle inside the Church are being drawn.
If FOCA is passed, what will the response of the US bishops be? They have made their warning but what is their history of backing up warnings in the past? In each of the last several election cycles, the prospect of excommunication for pro-abortion Catholic politicians has come up and in each cycle, prominent Catholic politicians have continued to receive communion even from prominent bishops. Now, a pro-abortion Catholic is Vice President and another is HHS Secretary. What will the hierarchy do? It depends on what time we're in in regard to the Apocalypse.
All the New Testament writings on the end times agree, before the cumulative battle between good and evil, the apostasy must come first. In the past election cycle a higher percentage of Catholics voted for the pro-abortion, pro-homosexual candidate than the population at large. This is a reflection on the efficacy of the teaching of the catechism by the current crop of US bishops, many of whom will be swept up in the war and "fall to earth" which means lose their spiritual position in the Church.
Michael O'Brien Newsletter Regarding Barack Obama and the Question of the Anti-Christ
All Saints Day, 1 November 2008
Dear Friends, From just north of the border, we Canadians, like other people throughout the world, are observing and praying for the coming federal election in the United States of America. I would prefer to keep private my counsel about political choices, because it is not my country. However, I am receiving letters from American subscribers and visitors to my studio website asking me some rather surprising questions about Barack Obama, related to one of my novels.
During the past year I have read a number of his pronouncements, and saw the smoke and mirrors beneath the rhetoric, but couldn't understand why everyone south of the border (the other south of the border, the 49th parallel) was getting so excited about him, both pro and con. Then a few weeks ago a German friend called me immediately after Obama's speech in Berlin, to say that the presidential candidate had mesmerized the crowds, and that a commentator on German television had said: "We have just heard the next President of the United States...and the future President of the World." My friend felt that Obama bore an uncanny resemblance to the fictional character of the President in my novel Father Elijah. I have received several other letters saying the same thing and asking what I thought about it.
From my own reading of Obama's declarations and stated positions, I knew he was an ultra-liberal, a social revolutionary with visionary pretensions. But the Antichrist? No, not possible, I thought. I felt that he was too shallow a man to be the Son of Perdition, the Man of Sin, the Beast of the Book of Revelation. And I still think so. Obama is a crowd-pleaser with just the right ethos of idealistic crusader. That the crusade and the banners under which it marches are evil does not automatically prove that he is the Antichrist.
But now that I have seen the video of the Berlin speech I think there is more here than meets the eye. He is indeed a powerful manipulator of crowds, even as he appears ever so humble and wholesomely charming. I doubt that he is the long-prophesied ruler of the world, but I also believe that he is a carrier of a deadly moral virus, indeed a kind of anti-apostle spreading concepts and agendas that are not only anti-Christ but anti-human as well. In this sense he is of the spirit of Antichrist (perhaps without knowing it), and probably is one of several key figures in the world who (knowingly or unknowingly) will be instrumental in ushering in the time of great trial for the Church under its last and worst persecution, amidst the numerous other tribulations prophesied in the books of Daniel and Revelation, and letters of St Paul, St. John, and St. Peter.
Of course the mystique that has grown up around him is endlessly reinforced by the liberal media, which presents him to us as a high-minded humanist, a kind of secular messiah (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 675). Yet when all the rhetoric is boiled down to its substance, the man is advocating unlimited state-sanctioned murder, and compounds it by indulging in habitual falsehood. He is well accustomed to playing loose with the truth whenever it is expedient for him to do so; or else he is the victim of the largest memory lapses in recorded history; or perhaps he is just not careful about how he expresses things——a blurring or selectivity regarding facts for the purpose of aggrandizing his public image. There is a controversy currently raging in the (admittedly unreliable) forum of the internet, prompted by an African-American talk show host in Los Angeles who listed 39 significant details that Barack Obama claimed were facts about himself, but on further investigation were proved to be simply untrue. There has been some wild-fire debunking of the debunking, and then more counter-debunking, but it remains obvious that forthrightness and clarity are not major concerns in the Obama camp.
What are we to make of a man who has appeared out of semi-obscurity and become, nearly overnight, so very much an idol of the popular imagination? That he intends to become the most effective advocate of murder of the unborn ever seen in America should give us pause. Murder and lies are as old as the lands east of Eden, of course, but when they are charmingly packaged, proposed as reasonable and just policies (with a smile, a resonant voice, and an appealing flash of the eyes), one begins to wonder just what is afoot in the modern age. It brings to mind a passage from the first Act of Shakespeare's Hamlet:
"That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain..."
The line is from a scene where prince Hamlet has just encountered the ghost of his father, who informs his son that he was poisoned by his own brother Claudius (the "smiling, damned villain"), who after murdering him, seized the king's crown and his queen.
Barack Obama is an image-maker, creating his own myth as he goes along. This would be a sad defect in any human being, but it takes on ominous proportions in a person who may become, after November 4th, one of the most powerful figures in the world. How is it possible that such a tragic turn of events may come about, if indeed a majority of Americans choose to believe the smile and the myth? Why is it that so many people have come to believe that a mirage is reality, even destiny? Do pro-Obama voters hanker for a world figure who would heal old divisions between races and religions, thus heralding a new age for mankind? During this time of near intolerable tensions, does he appear to be the one who can reconcile Islam and Christianity, Africa and America, occident and orient, black and white, rich and poor? Do they see his racial origins as a symbolic victory over the history of racial oppression? Do they see in him the good-hearted "under-dog", the gutsy street fighter who agitates for the rights of the "little guy," whose meteoric rise to a position of maximum influence represents themselves enthroned at last in the high seat of power? Is this why they ignore his every grave fault and hungrily consume his vague idealist platitudes as if these were a kind of new gospel for the third millennium? Our hero. Our visionary. Our Great Friend and spokesman in the forum of the world?
Clearly, contemporary man needs heroes. But why not choose a genuine one, why not look a little deeper and work a little harder to find a man of courage and principle, and if it helps in the historical healing process, why not a very different kind of black man, say a person like Alan Keyes, a scholar, former ambassador, experienced in different levels of government, and (it might be added) an African-American married to a woman from India. Moreover, he is a devout Catholic who believes in moral absolutes and has amply proved that he will stand firm to defend them regardless of the cost to his own career. He knows that kings and presidents cannot usurp the natural law, the moral order of the universe, without bringing down judgment upon their nations. But it need not be Keyes. It might be any number of other men and women of clear thought and clear principle. Surely there are "Ten Just Men" still out there somewhere in America. So why Obama? And why does he rise and rise as his mouth smiles and smiles, exuding sincerity as he speaks lies and death?
And why, most horribly, most shamefully, are so many Christians of malformed or unformed conscience supporting him? Is it because they have never been clearly instructed in the truth, never understood the foundation upon which the moral cosmos is built? Is morality for them merely another system of abstract "values" in a crowded playing field of such systems, from which one may pick and choose? In the case of Catholics, for example, have they been blinded by a diet of theological nuances and deadly little loopholes offered to them by the committees of national episcopal conferences — committees that have absolutely no authority over Catholics, yet which are widely revered as a kind of alternative Magisterium? Have they been deadened by a habitual dismissing or dissembling of the solid teaching given to them by the universal Church under Peter? Have they grown accustomed to listening to opinion shapers who tell them that certain excellent apostolic Bishops in America who teach the truth without compromise are merely hidebound reactionaries, moralistic extremists, contemporary manifestations of those old boogymen who still haunt the American psyche — the Chillingworths and Dimmesdales and the judges in The Scarlet Letter? And so it goes, this over-reaction to Puritanism played out over centuries, an over-reaction that breeds tragedies a thousand times worse than Salem's. Lies compounding on lies, and it all floats on an ocean of spilled innocent blood. And who can gaze at that ocean (or be splashed by it) without coming to a radical choice: One either turns away into a deeper state of denial, or one turns heart and mind toward the splendor of Truth, and changes one's life accordingly.
Is this why many of our Catholic people have become impulse-driven impressionists? Of course, the blindness is not due to the failure of pastors alone. The Ministry of Disinformation (by which I mean most modern media) has played a major role. There is also the erosion of truth in the education systems, combined with the gradual confusion and weakening of conscience through our addiction to the "soma" drugs supplied by the entertainment industry. Other factors may be the war in Iraq, or Republican economics, or the Bush administration, or the structure of Capitalism itself, or any number of prudential questions in the sociopolitical order, all of which are presently tangled nests of moral dilemma. But why do they not see that these questions are secondary to the fundamental issue of life itself? Why would they replace one reigning oligarchy with another kind of oligarchy — moreover, one that would kill vast numbers of its own citizens?
"I call on heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life or death, blessing or curse. Choose life, then, so that you and your descendants may live...." (Deuteronomy 30:19)
May God bless and guide you, in Jesus our Saviour, with prayers and fasting,
The question has come up regarding the appearance of THE Antichrist as it relates to the current financial chaos and the presidential election in the US. This is probably more a reflection of insecurity and panic than theological discourse but can be addressed nonetheless.
First of all, I'll address the idea that Antichrist, the person, could be a US president. Many practical and political reasons point to this being extremely unlikely. US presidents do not make laws. They are one of three co-equal branches of government and are mostly responsible for law enforcement and national defense as well as running the social service bureaucracy. Antichrist will almost certainly rule by decree. The other branches of government present a restraint on US presidents though at times it seems they quickly abdicate that responsibility. Still, many other countries do not present such obstacles and are better candidates for a swift ascension to power.
Secondly, the Apocalypse gives clues as to the national and geographical origin of the "beast". He comes from an area outside the nominally Catholic area of the former Roman Empire (the 'sea') but within the empire's outermost reach at its height. The US does not qualify. Regions that are dominated by Orthodox Christianity and Islam are the most likely places.
More curious is the analysis done by Steven Paul that the US will have a special role in the ultimate defeat of the beast and his empire. The US with its powerful armed forces and its Christian character will be the world's last hope. Despite her flaws, the "Great Eagle" is the most Christ-like nation in her works of charity, her rule of law, and her spirituality.
Throughout history, there have been many types of the Antichrist who have come close to world domination and extermination of God's people, the Church. Islam was barely defeated at Tours. Napoleon's empire stretched across the European continent and Nazi Germany similarly made its futile attempt. Charismatic leaders rise with great passion and the people are seemingly mesmerized by their smooth-talking even as their freedom is taken away.
Today we see little dictatorships in Venezuela, Iran, Cuba and some African nations. As well, China, with its Godless communism seems to rise in power before our eyes. In the US, a slick-talking unknown has the electorate transfixed. Yet none of these comes close to the cunning and skill described in the Apocalypse. They are just precursors or impostors.
Antichrist will capitalize on the kind of financial chaos and misery we have only seen a glimpse of recently. Such will be the malaise that people will gladly hand power over to him. The times we are in are precursor to but not the actuality of the kingdom of the beast. Current events are types or warnings of what is to come. One must keep their eyes on Rome and the Church to know the signs of the times. It is a spiritual war that is to come and the best preparation for it is the sacraments.
The recent "crisis" in the US financial markets, created by a state solution to home ownership for low or no income people, has led to the biggest transfer of wealth in history from private citizens to the state.
The average citizen only knew there was a crisis at all by watching television or reading the paper as the media trumpeted the government's warnings and extolled their remedy. It's been said before that in a crisis people will glady hand over civil liberties and wealth but never get it back when the crisis passes. Some have warned that such crises, created artificailly by large investment bankers, are designed to get the masses to conform to their designs.
But what exactly is afoot? It's hard to tell who's pulling the strings these days as one of the more inept presidencies in history has combined with the most corrupt Congress ever to transfer a trillion dollars to investment banks and insurance comapnies, using fear and bribes (known as pork barrel spending) to get their way.
In the meantime, for almost a year, stock prices have been in dramatic decline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at over 14,000 in November of 2007. Yet despite it's steady 4,000+ point drop since that time, a comparably modest fall of 777 points was used to scare the politicians and the masses into accepting this theft of the treasury. Simultaneously, private property values have also fallen by >20% in many markets. Low income homeowners who saw their variable interest rate loans increase in cost while their property value was falling simply walked away from their mortgages back to their relatively stable expense rentals.
For those whose wealth is a combination of IRA's, 401K's, stocks and their residence, their net worth has fallen precipitously. And now with the national debt approaching 10 trillion dollars, inflation, unemployment and higher taxes are almost a sure bet.
It has been said that wealth never disappears. It is simply transferred. In the current case, the wealth is being transferred from the people to the treasury and then to investment banks. If the trend continues, there will be a depression. Amid such financial chaos, government will be able to convince people of almost any radical solution. More pressure will be put on forming larger trading blocks, economic unions of regional countries as with the EU. Civil liberties will need to be curtailed as the masses act out frustration with their diminishing resources. Pressure to limit family size through sterilization of the weak, forced contraception and abortion, and for euthanasia will increase. Gun registration and confiscation will be required.
To what end is this all going? Economic despair always paves the way for strong totalitarian leaders to emerge. They need not take power. People will gladly give it to them in exchange for better nliving standards now in the rearview mirror of memory.
Antichrist is described as the most cunning of all humans. His charisma will likewise be unsurpassed. His handler is already at work, preparing the battlefield. Look for religious and political upheavals to result from the current "crisis", ones that will amaze and cause great wonder.
Note: When the EU Constitution was drafted and circulated, it contained no mention of the Christian heritage of Europe, its contributions to western civilization or any positive effect at all. Pope John Paul II and the Vatican made a request that it be amended to do so and were rejected. The article below however shows the warm relationship between Freemasonry and the EU leadership. So it's no surprise that the Church was repudiated.
Masonic Influence in the EU By The Brussels Journal Created 2008-04-17 11:11
The French Federation of Le Droit Humain represented by its president, Michel Payen, met on April 8, 2008 with the president of the European Commission, Jose-Manuel Barroso, [...] This meeting constitutes a major event regarding the place of Freemasonry in the construction of Europe; this place was underscored not only by the interest and attentiveness that President Barroso showed to the delegation and the time he accorded them, but also by the commitments he made to the values espoused by liberal and adogmatic Freemasonry, its positions and its opinions on subjects of concern. It was the first time that Freemasonry, as such, was able to express itself to such a high level European institution.
The delegation received assurances from President Barroso of his attachment to the spirit of "lacite" and to the principle of separation of religion from the State. The delegation stressed the importance of the Enlightenment in the history of Europe, a dimension to be taken into account at least equally with its religious roots, and certainly more closely tied to the roots of antiquity.
Finally, a principle of communication between the liberal and adogmatic Masonic Orders and the services of the European Commission, to be used whenever needed, was decided upon. Thus the French Federation of Le Droit Humain will propose, in the near future, a recommendation concerning the principle of emancipation that ought to form the basis of all European education systems, in direct relation to a recognition of the contribution of the Enlightenment to the common culture of the peoples that compose Europe, and in accordance with the principles of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
The difference between how the Pope is treated in Europe compared to the cheering crowds and affection he finds in the USA has been on full display this week.
Only a few weeks ago, a university in Rome that was founded by a past pope effectively protested his impending visit there. Pope Benedict XVI cancelled and stayed home. And while there have been a few protesters along the route or outside the different venues this week, they have been few and largely marginalized.
In a particularly decent gesture, the Pope met with five people who had been caught up in clergy sexual abuse in Boston. He did so out of the spotlight and as a pastor and shepherd. It was no media event and was not announced ahead of time.
His meeting with Catholic college presidents likewise was much anticipated, especially by moretraditional catholics who have lamented for some time that the Catholic colleges had drifted too far from orthodoxy and actually were stunting the growth of religious faith. Details on that can be found at our sister site Ivory Tower Heretics and at The Cardinal Newman Society web page.
Everywhere the Pope went, you could hear affection from the crowds, from the thousands at the White House singing Happy Birthday, to the huge crowd at Mass at National's Stadium.
Contrast that with the reception he receives in Europe. When the Pope speaks there it is met with a yawn, indifference or scorn. Europe has lost its soul. The most striking rebuke was when the European Union Constitution was written and credited Greek and Roman civilizations for their contributions but omitted all mention of the Catholic Church and her 2,000 year imprint on Europe.
In the book Apocalypse - Letter by Letter, by Steven Paul, the author describes how the Book of Revelation speaks of a time when the forces of Antichrist will close in on the Vatican in Rome forcing the hierarchy to flee. She is the "Woman Clothed With The Sun." The "Woman" flees with the aid of the "Two Wings of the Eagle, The Great One" to the "Wilderness."
Paul explains that wilderness is a term for a non-Catholic country. Why would the "Woman" flee to a non-Catholic country? Perhaps because the Catholic countries have either apostatized or are under the control or influence of Antichrist.
This week's events make it seem more plausible that the USA would and will perform such an act of mercy as the rescue of the Woman. That team helped end Soviet communist domination over a billion people and will work again to keep the world free.
Note: The book "The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Revelation", by Steven Paul essentially makes the same claim as this wacko from Hamas, that Rome will eventually be overrun by the kingdom of Antichrist and the Church will have to flee for safety. Isn't it ironic that this member of the Palestinian Parliament, an sort of oxymoron, sends this message while the pope is in the US?
Hamas Cleric Predicts 'Rome Will Be Conquered by Islam' Monday , April 14, 2008
A sermon last Friday by a prominent Muslim cleric and Hamas member of the Palestinian parliament openly declared that "the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital," would soon be conquered by Islam.
The fiery sermon, delivered by Yunis al-Astal and aired on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV, predicted that Rome would become "an advanced post for the Islamic conquests, which will spread though Europe in its entirety, and then will turn to the two Americas, even Eastern Europe."
"Allah has chosen you for Himself and for His religion," al-Astal preached, "so that you will serve as the engine pulling this nation to the phase of succession, security and consolidation of power, and even to conquests through da'wa and military conquests of the capitals of the entire world. "Very soon, Allah willing, Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our prophet Muhammad," he added.
Al-Astal last June preached how it was the duty of Palestinian women to martyr themselves by becoming homicide bombers.
"The most exalted form of jihad is fighting for the sake of Allah, which means sacrificing one's soul by fighting the enemies head-on, even if it leads to martyrdom," he said in a June 23, 2007 interview.
"When jihad becomes an individual duty, it applies to women too, because women do not differ from men when it comes to individual duties," he said, calling Jews "the brothers of apes and pigs" who should "taste the bitterness of death."
Friday's rant repeated that theme: "Today, Rome is the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital, which has declared its hostility to Islam, and has planted the brothers of apes and pigs in Palestine in order to prevent the reawakening of Islam.
"I believe that our children, or our grandchildren, will inherit our jihad and our sacrifices, and, Allah willing, the commanders of the conquest will come from among them.
"Today, we instill these good tidings in their souls – and by means of the mosques and the Koran books, and the history of our Prophets, his companions, and the great leaders, we prepare them for the mission of saving humanity from the hellfire at whose brink they stand."
It's beginning to add up now. There is going to be a war with Iran and I predict it will be this summer. Numerous seemingly separate events are converging all at once, mostly having to do with the US and the economy.
The summer months often provoke a spike on gasoline costs. Gasoline is already at an all-time high. Consumer unrest is boiling over as truckers have begun protests and blockades in Washington DC and around the country. A war with Iran would simultaneously focus attention away from unrest and have a direct bearing on oil prices.
Recent disclosures about Iran's meddling in Iraq are also pointing towards military action. This week Gen. David Patraeus testified that Iran's government is responsible for training and supplying elements that are killing US and Iraqi soldiers and civilians at an increasing rate.
The news today is coming fast and furious. One report is that Iran has secretly been testing long range missiles capable of hitting Europe. Satellite photos were released of the bases where this activity is centered.And on top of that is another flashpoint incident of Iranian speedboats harassing Navy ships and being fired on. They just can't be this stupid, can they?
All these stories when lumped together reveal an increase of fear generation not seen since the run up to the Iraq War. It is a propaganda assault.
While the US and President Bush were accused of a "rush to war," the fact is that the military buildup for Iraq took many months, was done in the open, and was in parallel with ultimatums and threats against Saddam Hussein's regime made at the UN. No such buildup for an Iranian attack is needed. Iran is already surrounded by US and allied forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. A simple repositioning is all that would be needed and if Iran is really fueling the insurgencies in both places, there is little risk of increased violence in those places by pointing the weapons at Iran.
Removing the Iranian regime would add the missing piece in the Persian Gulf oil puzzle. It would be done in a way that appears defensive leaving adversaries such as Russia and China little room to object. Both would be privately irate and concerned as the west led by the US gains control of a huge percentage of the world's oil reserves.
The problem with the logic involved is with the vocal objection to the invasion of Iraq. The protesters shouted "No blood for oil!" But five years after the invasion, the price of oil has skyrocketed. Why? Because the price of oil is pegged to the dollar and the dollar has been greatly devalued by the debt run up to fight the war. It is a banker's paradox that to get the resource takes twice as much money as the resource is worth, not technically but because of the political means, war.
Should the Iranian people resist military operations with any degree of strength, the west would once again be faced with a long and expensive operation. But the bankers make out either way so you can expect it to happen.
And rather than wait for the uncertainty of a new president in the US, it is likely to happen this summer. The drumbeat has begun and Iran best look back at recent history if there is to be any stopping it.
Having said all that, it is my view that it will fail. I base that on the prophesy in the book, Apocalypse - Letter by Letter. I believe Iran will thwart an invasion or attack and instead rally the Muslim world through coercion in some cases, economic bribery in others. If the west is not careful, this could be a turning point towards uniting the new caliphate and causing the simultaneous removals of the west-leaning despots in control of most of those countries.
Here are a few key excerpts from this article. I encourage readers to check out Dr. Kreeft's website and buy his books and recordings at http://www.peterkreeft.com/home.htm
Dr. Peter Kreeft: "We are living in a spiritual Hiroshima"
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
By Notes By Joe Wemhoff - The Annual Parish Respect Life Coordinator Conference, Archdiocese of Chicago
How to Win the Culture War
Dr. Peter Kreeft (pronounced "kreft") is a professor of philosophy at Boston College. He is an orthodox Roman Catholic, who has written over 45 books, and who contributes regularly to various Christian publications. Dr. Kreeft is one of the most eloquent voices for the Faith in America. This summary of Dr. Kreeft's remarks was prepared on March 9, 2008, by Joseph A. Wemhoff, from memory and from extensive notes taken during the talk. Dr. Kreeft has his own website at www.peterkreeft.com.
In the 1960s, the term "culture war" meant the conflict between the Establishment and the Counter Culture. Later, it came to mean the conflict between Science and the Humanities. The term became formalized with the publication of the book Culture Wars by James Hunter in the 1990s.
Pope John Paul II fueled the idea by drawing the distinction between the "Culture of Life" and the "Culture of Death." The term "Culture War" is simply a euphemism for the conflict between Christ and the Antichrist, with the stakes being the fate of the universe.
Sadly, today, the Antichrist controls all of the formal and informal means of education and information in America, including the media, news reporting, publishing, music, movies (Hollywood), etc. Today, pornography generates more revenue in America than any other industry except gambling.
This is not a new struggle-it has been going on since the Middle Ages. The Christian religion is now in decline, and the Antichrist is now winning, because he has convinced most people to bypass that simple word: reason. Most people today "feel;" they no longer "think."
We are living in a "spiritual Hiroshima." The Catholic Church is full of psychobabble. Our bishops have all the courage and behavior of rabbits. Since Vatican II, three-quarters of our nuns are gone. Sunday Mass attendance has declined from 75% to 25%. Belief in the Real Presence has dropped from nearly 100% to about 30%. The Catholic Church has lost the power to arrest the decline of our culture.
Properly said, ours is not a "Culture of Death," but a "Culture of Murder." There is the murder of marriage (divorce). There is the murder of the unborn (abortion). There is the murder of reason by militant feminists and by militant homosexuals. The cloning of humans promises to turn the "I am" of God into the "it is" of humanism. Science is promising eternal life by working to eliminate from humankind the "age and die" gene, which supposedly is not found in non-sexual species and in cancer cells.
Our words cannot defeat the Culture of Death, but God's words can.
Eucharistic adoration can conquer the Culture of Death.
Pope John Paul II spoke of a New Evangelization, which means not the preaching of new words, but the preaching God's timeless words to new generations of people. It's easy to be busy; it's far more difficult to be holy. We need to start by being holy. We need to join God's jihad.
There is a tendency today to substitute "spirituality" for "religion." In the Bible, the Tower of Babel represents "spirituality," while Noah's ark-with all its sights and smells and inconveniences-represents "religion." It is not easy being a Catholic.
Consider that only God, angels, and human beings are persons. God did not become angelic to redeem them, but He became man to redeem humankind.
Human life is sacred for three reasons:
1. Men and women are created in the image and likeness of God Himself. 2. Human life is linked to God's life. 3. Human beings are destined to share in eternal life with God.
As portrayed in the book Christ and the University, the Humanities are ground zero in the current Culture War, in the battle between Christ and the Antichrist. This is because college professors now have the power over young minds that priests and saints and kings once had.
The dark, black spot at the center of intellectual thought these past decades is a deconstructionism which says that truth is nothing more than "the hypocritical mask on the face of power." We are lead to believe that there is no objective truth, and that all is relative. It used to be that Science was the source of deconstructionist ideas, but, scientists must deal in facts, and facts tend to be real. Now the Humanities are the major source of deconstructionism.
The only two moments of peace in history are in Genesis (before history) and in the Apocalypse (after history). All of human history in between is full of war and of spirits thirsty for the blood of children.
Pro-choice people will not-indeed, cannot-listen to reason. Pro-choice people are insane and will not convert to reason-they will attempt to convert reason. Dr. Kreeft cited several cases. In one of his books-which, he bemoaned, are read only by pro-lifers-he made an airtight, logical argument that tolerating abortion is tantamount to tolerating infanticide. Confronted with this logic, pro-choicers said, yes, Dr. Kreeft, you just showed us how infanticide is now OK.
During World War II, I.G. Farben GmbH of Germany made Zyklon B, the gas used to kill so many in the gas chambers. Today, a French successor company to I.G. Farben makes the abortifacient RU-486. Either the face of evil has changed little, or the devil has a limited range of business contacts.
There are five aspects of the Culture War to be considered.
History of the Jihad
Since the Middle Ages, humanity has been on a slow, ever-ascending upward slope of becoming smarter, healthier, and more technologically advanced, while, at the same time, being on a slow, ever-descending slope of becoming weaker morally.
God's grace will save us, but on two conditions:
1. We ask for it, which means that we must value wisdom and holiness more than cleverness and worldly riches. 2. We believe that God will deliver (not to believe is to call God a liar).
These past centuries, mankind has fluctuated between the sins of despair and presumption. Despair is represented by Camus and other Existentialists. Presumption is exemplified by Rousseau, the Enlightenment, and by New Age ideas and practices.
We are entering an apocalyptic age, which might be described as Brave New World or as The Abolition of Man-each of which, ironically, is also the title of a book by Aldous Huxley and by C. S. Lewis, respectively. We should recall that the Bible predicts that the Great Tribulation of the end times will be so bad that no flesh would survive if God did not shorten the days.
In the First Millenium after Christ, the Church won the world. But then, she became fat and weak. The Second Millenium has belonged to the Antichrist. We are now in the Third Millenium, and the outcome these next thousand years is anything but clear.
We need to remember that this world is not our home; heaven is.
My Take: This is a long history lesson on money and it's influence starting with the Roman Empire B.C. and up to the mid 90's. It provides substance to the whisper conspiracy theories about one world governance and shadow power behind the scenes.
Ever wonder about how we got into 2 wars at the same time? Remember that the Gingrich-Clinton budget deal set spending and borrowing limits and that the deficit was actually going DOWN? That reduced the money flowing from international banks and thus their influence. But there was an out left in the deal. In the event of war, the deficit could be raised and voila, now there are two of them!
Weren't we told that the Afghan War was largely won about 6 weeks into it? And that the Taliban was a weak enemy with no hard targets? How is it that we are still pumping billions of dollars into it and conducting military ops with no end?
And Iraq? The maniacal anti-war protesters took up the mantra "no blood for oil!" Yet 5 years into the war, and 2 years after a new government has been elected, 1 year after the "surge" which even the corrupt mainstream media is calling a success, the price of oil is at an all-time high and the price of gas at the pump likewise is through the roof affecting the price of everything from food to housing. And the cost is billions of dollars per month off-budget.
I confess that I was part of the 70% of the country that supported the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq in the name of "national security." But I now believe it was really one of the greatest manipulations of public trust ever. In this video clip posted below, you are led to the conclusion that war is good for money lenders and no one else.
Consider this - the 'war on terror" is a war with no defined enemy, no army to defeat, no timetable and no metrics for success. It is the perfect war with no end if you are the financier. Apparently the "war on drugs" lost its appeal. it likewise was an un-win-able war with no enemy, no army, no timetable, no metrics, and no end. But it didn't cost enough and the public, about 50% of whom are using illegal drugs, had no will to continue fighting it.
So watch this video if you can allot 3-1/2 hours. It might open your eyes to how the "kingdom of the beast" will be established.
A book written by former British intelligence officer John Coleman was recently released in Russia. Coleman details a conspiracy of the world's elite against mankind
Svetlana Kuzina - 01.04.2008
The Committee of Three Hundred Many people no longer believe that presidents, premier ministers and other "visible" officials rule their countries. Instead, they suspect that the real authority - one that is powerful, unwavering and secret - is concentrated in the hands of others. Like the masons for example. The truly paranoid have devised the so-called "International Conspiracy Theory," which tells how a handful of wealthy, highly positioned individuals rule the world. This group of decision-makers launches wars, invents deadly diseases and pumps the population full of narcotics, alcohol and pornography to get rid of the world's dead weight. Consequently, a population of 1 billion select individuals will someday remain. They will freely enjoy the blessings of nature - clean air, freshwater and natural food.
It seems ludicrous, but recently a British intelligence officer from M16 has asserted that this secret international organization does exist in his book, "The Conspirators Hierarchy: The Committee of Three Hundred."
"During my career as an officer in British intelligence," Coleman writes, "I received access to strictly confidential documents on numerous occasions. Their contents were unexpectedly straightforward. I learned that there are powers that control the governments of many nations. I was taken aback and decided to inform a world living in ignorance. Imagine a powerful group that doesn't recognize any national borders that is involved in the financial, insurance, coal-mining, pharmaceutical and oil industries -- whose members only answer to the group. This is the 'Committee of Three Hundred,' an elite group that has ruled the world from 1897. Its backbone today is the world's 300 most influential people."
Powerful conspirators
Coleman writes that secret organizations and think tanks work for the Committee of Three Hundred. A list of these institutions follows. As of 1921, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) has consisted of the most influential individuals in the U.S. and Western world, ranging from current and previous presidents to CIA officials. The CFR was established by the American banker J.P. Morgan, and controls the U.S. Federal Reserve system, New York Stock Exchange and leading mass media.
In 1954, the Bilderberg Group held its original conference uniting the American and European elite. (The organization was named after the Hotel de Bilderberg in Oosterbeek in the Netherlands where the meeting took place.)
In 1973, a third influential structure came into being - the Trilateral Commission - consisting of representatives from the U.S., Europe and Japan. The organization's goal is to "create a mechanism of global planning and long-term repartition of resources."
Since 1968, the Club of Rome has been one of the most important foreign affairs divisions of the Committee of Three Hundred. The organization unites scholars, globalists, futurists and internationalists of various suites. The organization has its own private intelligence agencies and "borrows" information from Interpol, the FSB and Mossad.
The millionaire executive David Rockefeller controls the activities of these organizations. A short list of periphery organizations lending assistance to these four intelligence giants are: Round Table, David Millner Group, Order of St John, The German Marshall Fund of the United States, The China Fund, Inc., Fabian Society, Black Nobility, Mont Pelerin Society, Hellfire Club and the Masons.
The mother of all international think thanks and research institutions is the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, which is beginning to help the Stanford Research Institute.
Coleman writes that past and present members of the Committee of Three Hundred include the Queen of England, the Queen of the Netherlands, the Queen of Denmark, European royal families, George Bush, Edward Carter, Houston Stewart Chamberlain, Winston Churchill, Francois Mitterrand, Jean Monet, Ernest Oppenheimer and his heir Henry.
In the mid-1990s, Russia was invited to participate in establishing a single world state.
"Boris Yeltsin adhered to the decrees of the Committee of Three Hundred in an experiment to bind Russia to the will of the ruling elite," writes Coleman.
Heap of plans
Coleman describes the new world order as seen by the Committee of Three Hundred. Leaders: There will be a single world state and monetary system ruled by unelected oligarchs and their royal lineage, who will appoint leaders from their own ranks in a feudal system as existed in the Middle Ages.
Religion: Only one religion will be permitted in the form of a state church. The church has existed secretly since 1920. All Christian churches will be prohibited.
Control: All individuals will have an identification number. The numbers will be entered into a composite file at NATO in Brussels together with details dossiers.
Family: Marriages will be canceled. Children will be taken from their parents at an early age. They will be raised at special institutions like state property. Free sex will be compulsory. Children: If a woman gets pregnant after having two children, she will be immediately sent for an abortion and sterilization.
Resources: Only members of the Committee of Three Hundred and select individuals will have the right to make use of natural resources. Agriculture will be completely controlled by the Committee of Three Hundred, and food processing will be strictly controlled.
Social Policy: At least 4 billion "useless individuals" will be exterminated by 2050 as a result of territorial wars, organized deadly epidemics, quickly spreading diseases and hunger. Electrical energy, food and water will sufficiently provide for the white population of Western Europe and North America and only later different races. The populations of Canada, Western Europe and the U.S. will decrease more quickly than on other continents until the population reaches the controllable level of 1 billion. Of these individuals, 500 million will be Chinese and Japanese, who will be "chosen" as they have been subject to strict regulations and unquestioningly obeying authorities for centuries.
Current situation
Coleman asserts that individuals who are party to the single world state are strenuously brainwashing the population, rewriting history, creating ideal individuals and working to decrease the population.
Profiling is a method developed in 1922 by an order of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. The method was based on principles similar to today's NLP, which helps to influence people's ideas and decisions. The method was used by Major John Riz, British military specialist, on 80,000 "guinea pigs" from the British Army and prisoners of war, who were subjected to many types of psychological testing. Later, a special brainwashing center for the civil population was established at the University of Sussex. This super-secret organization was called the Institute of Scientific Politics.
The Rockefeller Fund subsidized scholarly work to create an ideal history after the end of World War II, when Anglo-American troops naturally came out the winners.
The Rockefeller Fund is also sponsoring genetic maps of the qualities of the ideal human in closed laboratories on the basis of the genome to grow test-tube geniuses and docile invincible soldiers. A program regulating the growth of the population was approved at a conference of the world state. Its main goal is to ensure a low birth level in countries outside Western civilization. The program covers 100 countries and utilizes measures such as the forced sterilization of men and women.
Military Officer's Opinion
Vladimir Nikiforov, former KGB colonel, senior officer of the First Division of the Fifth Department of the Committee of Foreign Economic Relations, says the Masons have bought everything.
"In the 1980s, I was a supervisor in Southeastern Asia. I worked in Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and China. Of course, I met with my colleagues from intelligence agencies and worked with the states of these nations. And on numerous occasions I was told about the existence of a world state in personal conversations. All presidents resist its dictatorship, but they know that they have long been puppets of this ruling system composing only 2 percent of the world's population - the richest individuals. I know for sure that the Queen of England and King of Spain and his wife are members. This so-called world state bought everything. They wage wars under the pretense of huge state interests and safety and invent artificial diseases such as the Bird Flu to control people and get rid of human dead weight. As a result, as I've been told, this secret world state will create a controllable mass. The center of the organization is in New York on Fifth Avenue in a large temple not far from where the twin towers were destroyed in 2001. They meet there from time to time."
U.S. State DepartmentWASHINGTON -- A largely unreported meeting held at the State Department discussed integration of the U.S., Mexico and Canada in concert with a move toward a transatlantic union, linking a North American community with the European Union.
The meeting was held Monday under the auspices of the Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy, or ACIEP. WND obtained press credentials and attended as an observer. The meeting was held under "Chatham House" rules that prohibit reporters from attributing specific comments to individual participants.
The State Department website noted the meeting was opened by Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Business Affairs Daniel S. Sullivan and ACIEP Chairman Michael Gadbaw, vice president and senior counsel for General Electric's International Law & Policy group since December 1990.
WND observed about 25 ACIEP members, including U.S. corporations involved in international trade, prominent U.S. business trade groups, law firms involved with international business law, international investment firms and other international trade consultants. No members of Congress attended the meeting.
The agenda for the ACIEP meeting was not published, and State Department officials in attendance could not give WND permission under Chatham House rules to publish the agenda. The meeting agenda included topics reviewing the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, or SPP, and the U.S.-EU Transatlantic Economic Council, or TEC.
The SPP, declared by the U.S., Canada and Mexico at a summit meeting in 2005, has 20 trilateral bureaucratic working groups that seek to "integrate and harmonize" administrative rules and regulations on a continental basis.
Several participants said the premise of the SPP is to create a North American business platform to benefit North America-based multi-national companies the way the European Union benefits its own.
Others noted the premise of the TEC is to create a convergence of administrative rules and regulations between Europe and North America, anticipating the creation of a "Transatlantic Economic Union" between the European Union and North America.
Participants pointed out that transatlantic trade is currently 40 percent of all world trade. They argue that trade and non-trade barriers need to be further reduced to maintain that market share as a framework is put in place to advance transatlantic economic integration.
Still, some participants argued that many corporations in North America already have moved beyond a North American focus to adopt a global perspective that transcends even the Transatlantic market.
"Supply chains and markets are everywhere," one participant asserted. "What's to stop global corporations from going after the cheapest labor available globally, wherever they can find it, provided the cost of transporting goods globally can be managed economically?"
Other participants argued regional alliances were still important, if only to put in place the institutional bases that ultimately would lead to global governance on uniform global administrative regulations favorable to multi-national corporations.
"North America should be a premiere platform to establish continental institutions," a participant said. "That's why we need to move the security perimeters to include the whole continent, especially as we open the borders between North American countries for expanding free trade."
One presentation on the agenda identified four reasons why administrative rules and regulations need to be integrated by SPP in North America and by the Transatlantic Economic Council, bridging together European Union and North American markets:
Standardization - to keep prices low and productivity high;
Investment - for every $1 traded, $4 is invested; right now 75 percent of investment in the U.S. comes from the EU, and 52 percent of the investment in the EU comes from the U.S.;
Productivity Improvements - to lower production costs and stimulate trade; and
Open Borders - to facilitate the free movement of labor to markets where employment opportunities are available.
The discussion pointed out the SPP trilateral working groups and the Transatlantic Economic Council were being supported by top-level Cabinet officers and the heads of state in both the EU and in North America.
Progress in EU-U.S. regulatory integration was noted in financial market coordination, investment rule cohesion, trade security measures and efforts undertaken recently to preserve intellectual property rights.
Before the meeting began, concerns were raised informally by participants worried that the Ohio Democratic Party primary had prompted both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to talk of renegotiating NAFTA.
Participants at the State Department meeting pointed out U.S. political candidates could be expected to argue "protectionist themes opposed to global economic integration" as a tactic, without necessarily being committed to taking aggressive steps once in office.
"The political dialogue misses the point of economic reality," one participant argued. "There is a J-curve correlation between when a currency like the U.S. dollar depreciates and when exports kick in to increase. We should accelerate the J-curve and our discussion about it, to help the local politics catch up with the international reality."
Part of the discussion was devoted to concerns that national regulators in North America and Europe were too reluctant to abandon provincial regulatory advantages.
"Regulators by nature are advocates, and they are hard to move," one participant grumbled. "What we need is more diplomats and negotiators to identify solutions, otherwise the bureaucrats will bog down the progress we need to see coming out of the SPP and TEC."
"North America is already an integrated continental economy and a continental-wide business platform," another said. "What we need now is more regulatory convergence. 'Harmonized' should mean that once approved, the same set of administrative regulations and procedures ought to be ready throughout NAFTA, SPP and the TEC."
As WND previously reported, the Transatlantic Economic Council, or TEC, was created by President Bush at an April 30 summit meeting at the White House with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the current president of the European Council, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
WND also reported the Transatlantic Policy Network, a non-governmental organization headquartered in Washington and Brussels and advised by a bi-partisan congressional policy group chaired by Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, has called for the creation of a Transatlantic Common Market between the U.S. and the European Union by 2015.
ACIEP members include corporate officers from General Electric, Exxon Mobil, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Archer Daniels Midland, United Parcel Service, Citibank, Proctor & Gamble, Hunt Oil, CMS Energy, Boeing, 3M, Goldman Sachs and Cargill.
My Note: I've been coming across folks alarmed about the prospect of "one-world government" for many years and always thought they were from where "the bus don't run". But then I received credible reports that a massive highway was already being built in rural Texas that would run from Mexico to Canada. And there was strange testimony in front of Congress by a Bush Admin official that was neither a denial nor confirmation of the plan. This video sheds some light on it. The CFR (Council on Foreign Relations) is one of those shady secret societies that President Kennedy warned about in a speech in the 60's. President Bush and most of the presidential candidates of recent years are members.
