“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
(Galatians 5:25)
Keep In Step

Keeping in step with the Spirit

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”—Galatians 5:25

I have a little maxim that I repeat to anyone who seems anxious about missing the will of God: God wants you to get where God wants you to go more than you want to get where God wants you to go. And God is awfully good at getting us there! So take a deep breath and relax. He is ordering your footsteps, every single one of them. Your job is simply this: “Keep in step with the Spirit.” All you have to do is let the Spirit lead and obey His promptings. Sometimes that means speaking a word of encouragement. Sometimes it means keeping your mouth shut…

God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time. I call them supernatural synchronicities. And they’re more than mere coincidences—they’re providence! If I believe anything, I believe that God orders our footsteps. And it’s not just when we walk the line on our graduation day or walk the aisle on our wedding day. Can we misstep? Of course! But the longer I live, the more I marvel at God’s ability to choreograph divine appointments…

He cares about every single step. God is setting up divine appointments. All we need to do is follow His lead, exercise a little patience, and take it one step at a time.—Mark Batterson

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LIFESITE

That rumbling you feel is Judeo-Christian civilization collapsing beneath your feet

JONATHON VAN MAREN

From the front lines of the culture wars

Wed Jun 22, 2016 - 1:11 pm EST

June 22, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) - It was a beautiful summer evening, with an occasional gentle breeze preventing it from becoming stifling. I was sitting on a restaurant patio with my wife, sipping ice-cold water and chatting about the week’s events while waiting for our food to arrive. Cheery chatter rose from the tables around us. The events we were discussing seemed almost weird and unreal in contrast with the pleasant Saturday evenings unfolding for the restaurant’s patrons. Everything seemed so normal.

A group of women brayed noisily one table over, loud cackles chasing each other out into the summer air. One of their group rose to her feet on ridiculous heels and teetered off like a new-born gazelle taking her first steps. To our left, a middle-aged man with a huge bushy moustache gripped an enormous burger with both hands, eyeing it like a saber-tooth tiger deliberating where to lunge at a mammoth. The others at his table weren’t talking much, just smiling into their sweating, frothing beer glasses and percolating peacefully.

All was calm, and all was right.

The normalcy seemed strange, because at our table we were discussing recent cultural developments—Christians being slowly forced to the margins of society, the increasing threat of government intrusion into Christian education, new strategies to combat abortion ideology, and how the country we hoped to raise children in one day was already so much different than the one our parents had raised us in. On the surface, though, everything seemed lovely, and pleasant, and thoroughly unalarming.

No wonder that people who are not watching carefully treat those of us raising the alarm as if we’re crazy, I thought, or maybe just victims of the newest viral conspiracy-theory YouTube video.

Talk of “persecution” of Christians in the West sounds a bit ridiculous, especially with crucifixion coming back into style in the Middle East, North Koreans being publicly executed for owning Bibles, and Communist China mulling another crackdown on Christian churches. In contrast to that, Western Christians are, for the most part, still part of one of the richest generations in one of the wealthiest civilizations in all of human history.

And yet, the Judeo-Christian foundations of the West that brought such success and such prosperity have either been removed or are in the final stages of demolition. The sanctity of life is gone, but most of us have not noticed simply because we do not toss the corpses of the murdered out the front door into the street, but quietly deposit them in dumpsters behind clinics or vaporize them in modern, up-to-date incinerators. New ideologies have taken over our legal systems, and the short march to labelling Holy Scripture as Hate Speech has already begun. The number of citizens who still attend church or are even aware that Christianity was the life-blood of our civilization is plummeting.

Things may be peaceful for the moment, but the dark clouds in the distance bulge with thunder and the rumblings have already begun: Christian universities are told they are ineligible to start a law school because they believe what Christians have always believed, Christian medical professionals are told they will be forced to refer patients for killing, and Christian professionals are subjected to “formal investigations” at the slightest hint that they have violated the new secular religion. This is just the calm before the storm, but because Christians are so distracted with the high drama of ordinary day-to-day life, they may not hear the rumblings until thunder splits the sky.

These rumblings are there for those who listen enough to hear them, and they are unfolding as we go about our day, stress about our finances, pick up children from school, and go out for pleasant dinner dates. Our reality is changing.

Just a few recent examples:

An Edmonton Catholic school teacher was suspended for teaching Christian beliefs in a religion class last week after being accused of “anti-gay” comments by a lesbian couple.

A Manitoba school district has also been targeted by a lesbian couple, who are demanding that the children of other people be taught that their family arrangement is normal. They have retained a lawyer, and are bringing the district to a Human Rights Tribunal.

A bloody killing spree at a gay nightclub in Orlando brought a widespread condemnation of Christians, with many accusing Christians who oppose same-sex marriage of creating the “anti-queer climate” that spawned the Islamic terrorist. One Christian commentator compared the backlash against Christians to the 1933 Reichstag Fire.

Day after day, week after week, month after month, pre-born children in the womb are suctioned into bloody slurry and quietly disposed of, while our leaders declare this barbarism to be a good and noble right.

The Canadian Parliament passed a law formally codifying the conditions under which some born Canadians can kill other born Canadians, with euthanasia now becoming the official law of the land.

These sobering facts, amid a host of others, show us that while everything seems normal, everything is changing. The ground is shifting beneath our feet as the Judeo-Christian foundations of our society are removed, brick by brick. We need to notice these things. And we need to prepare for them.

I write this because I catch myself shaking my head sometimes, at the difference between what I see happening in the culture and the many blessings I am privileged to receive from day to day. While it’s true that I’ve seen the bloody results of abortion up close and personal, and while it’s true that my job takes me into the heart of these existential debates, at the end of the day I can still go home to a lovely house, eat a delicious dinner, and quietly read books on a sunny porch. I have to remind myself that beneath the surface of society, things are changing that could very well impact all of this, and that it is our duty to do what we can while we can to reverse these trends.

Later on that evening, I sat on my front steps thinking these things over, wondering what we could do in the face of changes that seem so overwhelming. There’s a Chinese proverb that’s considered both a blessing and a curse all in one, and it came to mind just then: “May you live in interesting times.” To my left, the traffic light made the asphalt glow blood-red, giving the quiet street an eerie feel. After awhile, the light changed and the road gleamed green. I smiled to myself, and thought of the lines from a Dylan Thomas poem that has reminded me often of the euthanasia debate:

Do not go gentle into that good night…Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

***

DW

Orthodox Holy and Great Council calls for protection of Christians in Mideast

Orthodox church leaders from around the world have expressed their concern about the situation facing Christians in the Middle East. They have held a historic meeting in Greece, the first of its kind in 1,200 years.

The leaders of the Orthodox Christian churches concluded their week-long Holy and Great Council on the Greek island of Crete on Sunday with a circular that stated: "The Orthodox Church is particularly concerned about the situation facing Christians and other persecuted ethnic and religious minorities in the Middle East."

The church "addresses an appeal to governments in that region to protect the Christian populations - Orthodox, Ancient Eastern and other Christians - who have survived in the cradle of Christianity," they added.

In a joint message, the ten church leaders who attended the meeting stated that the proposal was made "for the Holy and Great Council to become a regular institution to be convened every seven or ten years."

However, it is unlikely that churches which did not attend the historic gathering will comply with any decision taken there. The Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kyrill, who represents about 130 million Orthodox Christians - refused to come to the meeting, arguing that preparations had been inadequate. Aside from Russia, the Orthodox churches of Bulgaria and Georgia were absent. The Syria-based Antioch patriarchate also stayed away.

Unlike the centralized authority of the Vatican over Roman Catholics, the Orthodox churches are independent. There are 14 such autonomous churches worldwide, with the Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, considered as their spiritual head and "first among equals."

At the historic council, the church leaders also voiced concern over the "negative consequences of scientific progress" and "moral dilemmas" caused by rapid advances in genetics and biotechnology.

"Man is experimenting ever more intensively with his own very nature in an extreme and dangerous way. He is in danger of being turned into a biological machine, into an impersonal social unit or into a mechanical device of controlled thought," the council leaders stated.

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BREAKINGISRAELNEWS

End of Days Expert Declares: “The Final Redemption is at the Door”

By Rivkah Lambert Adler June 20, 2016 , 10:30 am

“So shalt thou delight thyself in Hashem; and He shall give thee the petitions of thy heart.” Psalms 37:4 (The Israel Bible™)

Photo: Shutterstock.com

Geula (redemption) is exceedingly near and we need to make others aware of its impending arrival. These are two core messages delivered last week in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel by prolific author and End of Days expert Rabbi Pinchas Winston to an audience of English-speaking olim (immigrants to Israel).

Rabbi Winston compared the urgency with which people need to focus on the forthcoming redemption to having a plane reservation. When a person who has to board a plane at a certain time, everything that day is oriented around the awareness that the most important task of the day is being on that flight at departure time.That’s how concrete becoming focused on geula should be. That’s what it means to have geula-consciousness, he explained.

In his lecture, Rabbi Winston made a clear connection between chaotic current world events, such as extreme weather and Islamic terrorism, and the urgent necessity for redemption.

Rabbi Pinchas Winston (Photo: Courtesy)

“Today, it is so much easier than, let’s say, 10 years ago, to want Moshiach (messiah) to come, because things are out of control… If you step back and look at all the events of history, everything is so ‘Armageddon-ish’. It’s actually quite bad. The world is actually tremendously unstable.”

Rabbi Winston gave credit to God for the fact that the world hasn’t already imploded on itself.

“The only reason why we are sitting here so calmly right now is not because the world has stability. It’s because HaKadosh Baruch Hu (The Holy One, Blessed Be He) has His finger in the dike.”

In a voice filled with passion for the topic, Rabbi Winston declared, “And now we’re approaching the Final Redemption. Without question. Moshiach is around the corner… Without question he’s here already. I don’t know how old he is, where he’s sitting, what he’s doing, what he’s learning. But he’s here. He’s not going to be born tomorrow. We’re just too close to the end. Way too close to the end. He has to be here right now!

“So why hasn’t he revealed himself? Why are we still fighting? Why are we still struggling? Why are we still suffering? Why is there still terrorism?”

His conclusion is that, at this time, the Jewish people “lack the national will for geula.” That’s something he’s intent on changing.

Rabbi Winston described for Breaking Israel News how several ideas came together in his thinking, including the importance of national will. He used the Biblical story of the newly-freed Israelite slaves crossing the Red Sea as a demonstration of the power of the Jewish people working together toward a single goal.
Chapter 14 of the Book of Exodus describes how the Children of Israel had no obvious means of escape from Pharaoh and his horsemen. Their faith in God was so strong that they went forward into the sea. And God miraculously opened the sea for them.

And Hashem said unto Moshe: ‘Wherefore criest thou unto Me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. Exodus 14:15

In addition, Rabbi Winston’s study of Judaism’s mystical tradition, known as Kabbalah, helped him recognize “how much of a role human will plays in actually creating and building the realities we want and often need.” Later, he studied Quantum Physics and was captivated by the discovery that “human observation plays a role in determining the outcome of experiments, and life in general.”

These ideas, along with his impressive command of Jewish history and Torah sources helped propel his thinking. “What I realized, and what I came to understand, compelled me to produce an entire seminar based upon these ideas.”

“I no longer had any choice,” he shared with Breaking Israel News, “at least with respect to these ideas. I had to get out there and do my part to energize our national will for redemption, while there is still time.The Final Redemption is at the door. It will be our collective national will to let it in that will let it occur peacefully.”

***

Irish Central

Irish St. Malachy predicted Pope Francis will be last pope

Jane Walsh @irishcentral June 03,2016 01:13 AM

The Irish St. Malachy made predictions for every pope from his day until the end of the world.Photo by: Wikicommons

The prophecies of the Irish Saint Malachy, the 12th century bishop of Armagh, have thrilled and dismayed readers for centuries. He has stated there will be only one more pope after Benedict, and during his reign comes the end of the world. So Francis could be the last.

The prediction in full is: "In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The End.”

The father of the current pope was Peter, or Pietro, and was from Italy even though the family moved to Argentina.

In 1139, then Archbishop Malachy went to Rome from Ireland to give an account of his affairs. While there he received a strange vision about the future that included the name of every pope, 112 in all from his time, who would rule until the end of time. We are now at the second last prophecy.

Will Pope Francis be our final Pope?

His predictions are taken very seriously. As one report states: "In 1958, before the Conclave that would elect Pope John XXIII, Cardinal Spellman of New York hired a boat, filled it with sheep and sailed up and down the Tiber River, to show that he was "pastor et nautor," the motto attributed to the next Pope in the prophecies."

As for the prophecy concerning the 111th pope, Pope Benedict, the prophecy says of him, "Gloria Olivae," which means "the glory of the Olive."

The Order of Saint Benedict is also known as the Olivetans, which many claim makes Malachy's prophecies correct. The next and final pope then should be "Peter Romanus."

St. Malachy gave an account of his visions to Pope Innocent II, but the document remained unknown in the Roman Archives until its discovery in 1590.

Many of the prophecies are spot on. For example, the one about Urban VIII is Lilium et Rosa (the lily and the rose). He was a native of Florence and on the arms of Florence figure a fleur-de-lis. Pope John Paul II is De labore Solis meaning "of the eclipse of the sun." Karol Wojtyla was born on May 18, 1920 during a solar eclipse.

Peregrinus apostolicus (pilgrim pope), which designates Pius VI, appears to be verified by his many journeys to new lands.

So will Pope Francis be the last pope? The Irish seer of the 12th century has said it will be so. Time will tell.

***

WND

'LAST POPE' PROPHECY GIVES FRANCIS' PREFECT 'SHIVERS'

Sees lightning strike on St. Peter's dome as 'sign from above'

Published: June 26, 2016

Pope Francis

Many don’t take St. Malachy’s controversial prophecy suggesting Pope Francis will be the “last pope,” but his prefect says, along with a spectacular lightning strike atop St. Peter’s dome on the day his predecessor resigned, it gives him “the shivers.”

In an interview with the Catholic News Agency and EWTN News, Archbishop Georg Gänswein said about the lightning strike Feb. 11, 2013, that “nature had spoken.”

Gänswein, who served Pope Benedict as well, revealed he felt “compelled to cry” at his decision to retire. However, with three years having passed, he added, “there has been a lot of reflection, personal reflection included.”

“Pope Benedict was – and to this day all the more is – very much at peace with his decision to resign, and that it was the right step to take,” he said. “That helped me personally to overcome my initial resistance and accept what Pope Benedict truly realized after much struggle and prayer, what he found to be the right thing and then decided on.”

While some inside the Vatican were concerned with the precedent of having “two living popes,” Gänswein said: “Of course, Pope Francis is the legitimate and legitimately elected pope.”

“Any talk of two popes, one legitimate, one illegitimate, is therefore incorrect,” he added, dismissing any form of rivalry. “When applying common sense, faith and a little theology, that should be clear.”

The interviewer asked about an old prophecy that has recently gained traction in some clerical discussions: The “Prophecy of the Popes” – also known as the “Prophecy of Malachy,” which would suggest Pope Francis may be considered to be the last pope.

“Indeed, when looking at the prophecy, and considering how there was always a sound reference to popes mentioned in its history – that gives me the shivers,” Gänswein admitted. Although Catholics aren’t required to accept the prophecy, “speaking from historical experience, one has to say: Yes, it is a wake-up call.”

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RT

Pope Francis describes mass killing of Armenians under Ottoman rule as 'genocide'

Published time: 24 Jun, 2016 15:24

Edited time: 24 Jun, 2016 15:45

Pope Francis has described the mass killing of Armenians under Ottoman Turkish rule in World War I as “genocide” during a visit to Yerevan. It comes despite reports that he would instead use the word "martyrdom" when referring to the deaths.

The Friday remark is the second time the Pope has referred to the killings as genocide, a term that implies legal and financial implications, which allow the Armenians to demand restitutions.

It follows a similar statement in 2015 which was met with anger from Turkey.

Friday marks the start of the Pope's three-day visit to the Armenian capital. The pontiff is visiting the small nation in the heart of the Caucasus mountains, which was famous for becoming the first state to accept Christianity as its official religion.

The Pope addressed the audience in Armenia – a mostly Orthodox Christian nation with a population of 3 million in a largely Muslim region – with a wider political message on the atrocities committed towards the Christians of the Middle East by the extremists of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

The visit is Pope Francis’s first to Armenia, and the only other pontiff ever to visit the country was Pope John Paul II, in 2001, when he took part in the 1,700th anniversary of Christianity being proclaimed Armenia’s state religion.

Addressing the Armenian people, Pope Francis called his visit an “apostolic journey.” The logo of the visit depicts Mount Ararat – the sacred Biblical mountain – and the ancient Armenian monastery Khor Virap, chosen for its exceptional role in spreading Christianity in the past.

Upon arrival, Pope Francis was met by President Serzh Sargsyan and his Holiness Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, and also bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church and Catholic Church, diplomats and officials.

After a brief conversation with president, the Pope and the Catholicos left for the seat of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Etchmiadzin, where Francis is staying during his visit as a guest of the Oriental Orthodox patriarch of the Apostolic Church. The visit is planned to last till Sunday.

Pope Francis will be praying at Armenia's genocide memorial, and will release a dove of peace next to the closed Armenia-Turkey border. The Pope has already held an ecumenical prayer service with Karekin II, with the service conducted in Latin, but with Orthodox Armenian singing accompanying it.

Armenia is primarily an Orthodox Christian nation, although Catholics are also represented by a minority living in one region which the Pope plans to visit.

Journalists from over 80 countries are accompanying Pope Francis on his visit to Armenia, which is commemorating the centennial of the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire.

In April 2015, Francis held a speech at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome addressing Armenian Christians who had gathered there, including Armenia’s President Sargsyan, during which he lamented the victimization of Christians around the world and acknowledged that atrocities of the past should be recognized.

Citing a joint declaration signed in 2001 by Armenia’s Catholicos and St. John Paul II, the Pope said that what had happened to the Armenians in Turkey’s Ottoman Empire a century ago ought to be considered “the first genocide of the 20th century.”

The document enraged the Turkish government to such an extent that Ankara’s ambassador to the Vatican, Mehmet Pacaci, was recalled and returned to the Vatican only 10 months later.

The Pope had recently stated that he would not use the word genocide during his trip to the Caucasus, replacing it with the word martyrdom when describing the persecution of Christians.

Turkey has always denied the genocide allegations, claiming the statistics of the dead were forged and inflated, combining the number of all the deaths that occurred while the Ottoman Empire was collapsing amidst World War I.

CNN (Edited from a longer article.)

Pope says Christians should apologize to gay people

By Delia Gallagher and Daniel Burke, CNN

Updated 1941 GMT (0341 HKT) June 27, 2016

Aboard the Papal Plane (CNN)Pope Francis said Sunday that Christians owe apologies to gays and others who have been offended or exploited by the church, remarks that some Catholics hailed as a breakthrough in the church's tone toward homosexuality.

"I repeat what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: that they must not be discriminated against, that they must be respected and accompanied pastorally," Francis said at a press conference aboard the papal plane returning from Armenia.

"The Church must ask forgiveness for not behaving many times -- when I say the Church, I mean Christians! The Church is holy, we are sinners!"

As he often does during unscripted moments -- particularly papal news conferences -- the Pope spoke expansively, saying the church should seek forgiveness for a number of historical slights committed in its name.

Groundbreaking Moment

"I believe that the church not only should apologize to the person who is gay whom it has offended," he added, "but has to apologize to the poor, to exploited women, to children exploited for labor; it has to ask forgiveness for having blessed many weapons."

The Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and editor at large of America magazine, called the Pope's apology to gays and lesbians "a groundbreaking moment."

"While St. John Paul II apologized to several groups in 2000 -- the Jewish people, indigenous peoples, immigrants and women, among them -- no pope has ever come close to apologizing to the LGBT community. And the Pope is correct of course. First, because forgiveness is an essential part of the Christian life. And second, because no group feels more marginalized in the church today than LGBT people."

The Pope's comments came in response to a question about a German Cardinal who said the Catholic Church should apologize for being "very negative" about gays. The Pope was also asked whether Christians bear some blame for hatred toward the LGBT community, as horrifically demonstrated in the Orlando massacre at a gay night club that killed 49 people on June 12.

Repeating the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church about respecting and not discriminating against gays, Pope Francis said that one could condemn certain behavior.

"One can condemn, but not for theological reasons, but for reasons of political behavior...Certain manifestations are a bit too offensive for others, no?

"But these are things that have nothing to do with the problem. The problem is a person that has a condition, that has good will and who seeks God, who are we to judge? And we must accompany them well."

'Immense Blessing'

Francis first uttered that rhetorical question -- Who am I to judge gay people? -- in 2013, also during a news conference on the papal plane. His comments were hailed as a breakthrough for a church that has historically condemned homosexuality, often in harsh terms. Francis has not changed church doctrine that calls homosexual acts sinful, but he has shown a more merciful approach to people on the margins, including gays and lesbians.

Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, a Catholic gay rights group, called the Pope's remarks "an immense blessing of healing."

"No pope has said more welcoming words to LGBT people than when Pope Francis today offered his recommendation that the Church -- indeed all Christians -- should apologize for the harm religious traditions have caused to LGBT people. The pope's statement was simple, yet powerful, and it fell from his lips so easily."

As is often the case, the Pope's press conference encompassed a number of controversial questions.

TRUNEWS

Famous Evangelical says Trump accepted Jesus Christ

(TRUNEWS) Dr. James Dobson says Donald Trump has recently accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, and that Christians should be praying for him.

In an interview with the President and CEO of Godfactor, Michael Anthony, Dr. Dobson said “I think he is listening, theres a lot of people ministering to him personally, a lot of ministers. He did accept a relationship with Christ, I know the person who led him to Christ, and thats fairly recent.”

Expanding on that statement, Dr. Dobson went on to say:

“I don’t know when it was but it has not been long, and I believe he really made a commitment, but he’s a baby Christian, we all need to be praying for him, especially if theres a possibly of him being our next chief executive officer, and I think that he’s open. He doesn’t know our language, you know, we had 40 Christians together with him, he used the word hell four or five times, he doesn’t know our language, he really doesn’t, and he refers a lot to religion and not much to faith and belief.”

Mr. Anthony responded to Dr. Dobson’s comments about Trump’s ignorance of Christian etiquette, “you know its interesting that you say that, I’m sure Saul when he became Paul didn’t know much of the language either.”

To this, Dr. Dobson said:

“Ya well you’ve got to cut him some slack he didn’t grow up like we did. And I think theres hope for him, and I think theres hope for us. I have great concerns about the next election.”

Dr. Dobson was part of a select group of Evangelicals who were invited to meet with the presumptive nominee in private prior to the main event in New York City Tuesday — which included 1000 Christian leaders from around the country, and TRUNEWS President Rick Wiles.

Regardless of who led Donald Trump to Christ, and whether this conversion is genuine, Christians throughout the world should be praying for blessings of safety and wisdom over the man who may very well be the next President of the United States of America.

May God work in his heart and soul as our nation faces the largest crisis of character since its inception.

***

Mail Online

EXCLUSIVE: Grand opening! Inside Tom Cruise's new $50 million 'Scientology CNN' TV and Hollywood movie studio that rivals Paramount Pictures and promises to reach 'every person on Earth'

• The grand opening of Scientology's Hollywood movie studio was hosted by church leader David Miscavige and attended by Church celebrities

• Scientology 'CNN TV' is set to be launched from the new $50 million studio

• Miscavige told a crowd of 10,000 people that the religion was going to rewrite history

• Eyewitnesses told Daily Mail Online there were at least 15 to 20 heavily armed off-duty police all around the outside of the property.

• There were also at least ten armed private security people plus Scientology uniformed and non-uniformed security personnel on hand

• Tom Cruise and Scientology want to influence the movie world again like in the 1990s when hit films like Days of Thunder and Far and Away were being made at their main HQ in Los Angeles

• Miscavige claims the huge network will change history and be an 'uncorrupted communications line to the billions'

By CHRIS WHITE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 19:18, 21 June 2016 | UPDATED: 01:56, 22 June 2016

The opening of Scientology Media Productions is a crowning achievement for actor Tom Cruise and church leader David Miscavige

Hollywood may never be the same again now that the Church of Scientology has opened its new movie studios, which they claim has bigger and better facilities than Paramount.

Leader David Miscavige announced to the world that this will be an 'uncorrupted communications line to the billions', as Scientology promises to reach 'virtually every person on Earth'.

The colossal studio complex on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles was finally unveiled after five years of renovations at a cost of at least $50 million on May 28.

The new studio will also be used to make polished propaganda movies to recruit more followers while it's most famous recruit,

Scientology has had a hand in a number of Cruise films in the past, and scenes from Days of Thunder and Far And Away were all filmed at their main HQ Gold Base in Hemet, 60 miles outside Los Angeles in the desert.

It gives Cruise, who is worth $450 million, and Scientology, which has $8 billion in reserves, the opportunity to heavily influence the movie world again, which they were doing back in the day where they influenced around top Hollywood executives to get what they wanted on films such as War of the Worlds, Days of Thunder and Battlefield Earth.

The Church has also promised rolling 24/7 Scientology 'CNN news' for its followers in the state-of-the-art studios.

Scientology celebrities including Nancy Cartwright - the voice of Bart Simpson - and billionaire Bob Duggan, heard Miscavige tell a crowd of 10,000 people - a claim disputed by critics who say the number was nearer 1,000 - that the religion was going to rewrite history.

He said: 'Our uncorrupted communication line to the billions. Because as the saying goes, if you don't write your own story, someone else will.

'So, yes, we're now going to be writing our story like no other religion in history. And it's all going to happen right here from Scientology Media Productions.'

A statement from the church itself on the opening read: 'Scientology Media Productions (SMP) is poised to broadcast important, good, vital news to the world.

'News reaching TV screens; facts and opinion destined to radios; magazines hot off of digital presses; information beamed to computers, tablets and cellphones.

'The studio includes state-of-the-art sound stages, creative suites, visual effects production areas, editing, audio recording and mixing, foreign language translation and dubbing - every aspect of broadcast and online production.

'It's the most modern and sophisticated digital media facility of its kind on the planet.

'Scientology's worldwide activities including humanitarian and social betterment campaigns, as well as news of current world events, are fed into Central Ingest, the studio's international media clearinghouse, and accessible throughout the facility's broadcasting, audio and publication operations.

'All of that is linked at its core by 27 miles of fiber optic cable connecting a cluster of super computers with a combined capacity of 3.2 million gigabytes of information and media platforms, distributed to proprietary databases for instant translation.'

The Church acquired the new media center from KCET, a local Los Angeles public TV station that had been there since 1970. Scientology has personalized a huge 150ft radio tower with its trademark 'S' symbol and claims that it will ultimately help everyone.

Miscavige said: 'The average young adult spends ten hours of every day on the internet, and someone searches for 'the meaning of life' every five seconds, while someone else searches for answers about 'spirituality' six times per second.

'SMP will harness the power of every social media outlet imaginable to provide those answers.

'So for the 95 per cent of the world's population that listens to the radio every day and the average viewer who spends some 40 hours glued to a TV every week, the obvious answer was: our own radio station, our own TV channel, and our own broadcasting facilities.'

Other guests at the gala include Leron Gubler, president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, and Kevin James, director of the Los Angeles City Film and TV Office.

But critics pored scorn on Scientology's claim that it will reach billions, claiming that the Church has less than 30,000 members worldwide.

Tony Ortega, who runs the anti-Scientology website The Underground Bunker, said: 'They've talked about doing a Scientology TV channel, showing their dumb videos over and over again.

'They would try to do TV shows which were legitimate, speaking about every day things with a Scientology slant. Scientology news would be hilarious, but who would watch it?'

Former Scientologist Phil Jones was outside the venue on May 28 protesting against the Church.

He and wife Willie were in headlines last month when they put up a huge billboard saying, 'To my loved one in Scientology… call me', on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, after not being able to see their children Michael and Emily for the last few years due to Scientology's 'disconnection' policy.

He said: 'Security at the Media Productions facility was extreme to say the least. All sidewalks were closed off.

'There were at least 15 to 20 heavily armed off-duty police all around the outside of the property.

'There were also at least ten or 20 armed private security people guarding the outside of the complex.

'This does not include the many Scientology uniformed and non-uniformed security personnel, which had to be at least 20 or more.

'Above us on a rooftop a Scientology camera man kept tabs with an enormous camera with long zoom lens. At each compass point was a camera pointed directly at us at all times.

'And what was all this security for? Well, the only activity showing any negative response to Scientology was a small group of perhaps six or seven peaceful protesters holding signs that simply said: 'To my loved one in Scientology… Call Me'.

'These were parents who had lost loved ones, family members, children, or parents to Scientology's toxic disconnection policy which forces anyone inside the cult to disconnect to those who have left.

'We were a small group of protesters. And I hesitate to call ourselves protestors as we were just parents wanting to see our kids who had been forced into disconnection by Scientology. We haven't seen or heard from them in a few years now. If they would just call.'

Former Scientology spokesman and Church No 3 Mike Rinder says that the studios will be bigger than Paramount, but completely wasted on the Church. He claims it's all just a fundraising ploy to make money.

'This is Scientology's version of a cross between Paramount and Disneyland. The idea of this thing is not just feature movies, but TV ads, informational videos, TV programs. This is their platform to make their break in Hollywood,' Rinder said.

'They don't need this new base, so the question becomes why? It's just a fundraising ploy, to buy real estate, to persuade people to give them money, and if they can come up with the concoction that this is the next great thing to tell the world about Scientology, then all the better.

'There's ten of millions now being spent, but it will be just another empty building. It doesn't matter what goes on there, it makes it look like they're expanding, so [followers will think] they must be doing well.'

***

The Intercept

Photo: Virginia Mayo/AP

Brexit Is Only the Latest Proof of the Insularity and Failure of Western Establishment Institutions

Glenn Greenwald
June 25 2016, 4:48 p.m.

THE DECISION BY U.K. voters to leave the EU is such a glaring repudiation of the wisdom and relevance of elite political and media institutions that — for once — their failures have become a prominent part of the storyline. Media reaction to the Brexit vote falls into two general categories: (1) earnest, candid attempts to understand what motivated voters to make this choice, even if that means indicting their own establishment circles, and (2) petulant, self-serving, simple-minded attacks on disobedient pro-Leave voters for being primitive, xenophobic bigots (and stupid to boot), all to evade any reckoning with their own responsibility. Virtually every reaction that falls into the former category emphasizes the profound failures of Western establishment factions; these institutions have spawned pervasive misery and inequality, only to spew condescending scorn at their victims when they object.

The Los Angeles Times’s Vincent Bevins, in an outstanding and concise analysis, wrote that “both Brexit and Trumpism are the very, very wrong answers to legitimate questions that urban elites have refused to ask for 30 years”; in particular, “since the 1980s the elites in rich countries have overplayed their hand, taking all the gains for themselves and just covering their ears when anyone else talks, and now they are watching in horror as voters revolt.” The British journalist Tom Ewing, in a comprehensive Brexit explanation, said the same dynamic driving the U.K. Vote prevails in Europe and North America as well: “the arrogance of neoliberal elites in constructing a politics designed to sideline and work around democracy while leaving democracy formally intact.”

In an interview with the New Statesman, the political philosopher Michael Sandel also said that the dynamics driving the pro-Brexit sentiment were now dominant throughout the West generally: “A large constituency of working-class voters feel that not only has the economy left them behind, but so has the culture, that the sources of their dignity, the dignity of labor, have been eroded and mocked by developments with globalization, the rise of finance, the attention that is lavished by parties across the political spectrum on economic and financial elites, the technocratic emphasis of the established political parties.” After the market-venerating radicalism of Reagan and Thatcher, he said, “the center left” — Blair and Clinton and various European parties — “managed to regain political office but failed to reimagine the mission and purpose of social democracy, which became empty and obsolete.”

Three Guardian writers sounded similar themes about elite media ignorance stemming from homogeneity and detachment from the citizenry. John Harris quoted a Manchester voter as explaining, “If you’ve got money, you vote in. If you haven’t got money, you vote out.” Harris added: “Most of the media … failed to see this coming. … The alienation of the people charged with documenting the national mood from the people who actually define it is one of the ruptures that has led to this moment.” Gary Younge similarly denounced “a section of the London-based commentariat [that] anthropologized the British working class as though they were a lesser evolved breed from distant parts, all too often portraying them as bigots who did not know what was good for them.” Ian Jack’s article was headlined “In this Brexit vote, the poor turned on an elite who ignored them,” and he described how “gradually the sight of empty towns and shuttered shops became normalized or forgotten.” Headlines like this one from The Guardian in 2014 were prescient but largely ignored:

Though there were some exceptions, establishment political and media elites in the U.K. were vehemently united against Brexit, but their decreed wisdom was ignored, even scorned. That has happened time and again. As their fundamental failures become more evident to all, these elites have lost credibility, influence, and the ability to dictate outcomes.

Just last year in the U.K., Labour members chose someone to lead Tony Blair’s party — the authentically left-wing Jeremy Corbyn — who could not have been more intensely despised and patronized by almost every leading light of the British media and political class. In the U.S., the joyful rejection by Trump voters of the collective wisdom of the conservative establishment evidenced the same contempt for elite consensus. The enthusiastic and sustained rallying, especially by young voters, against beloved-by-the-establishment Hillary Clinton in favor of a 74-year-old socialist taken seriously by almost no D.C. elites reflected the same dynamic. Elite denunciations of the right-wing parties of Europe fall on deaf ears. Elites can’t stop, or even affect, any of these movements because they are, at bottom, revolts against their wisdom, authority, and virtue.

IN SUM, THE West’s establishment credibility is dying, and its influence is precipitously eroding — all deservedly so. The frenetic pace of online media makes even the most recent events feel distant, like ancient history. That, in turn, makes it easy to lose sight of how many catastrophic and devastating failures Western elites have produced in a remarkably short period of time.

In 2003, U.S. and British elites joined together to advocate one of the most heinous and immoral aggressive wars in decades: the destruction of Iraq; that it turned out to be centrally based on falsehoods that were ratified by the most trusted institutions, as well as a complete policy failure even on its own terms, gutted public trust.

In 2008, their economic worldview and unrestrained corruption precipitated a global economic crisis that literally caused, and is still causing, billions of people to suffer — in response, they quickly protected the plutocrats who caused the crisis while leaving the victimized masses to cope with the generational fallout. Even now, Western elites continue to proselytize markets and impose free trade and globalization without the slightest concern for the vast inequality and destruction of economic security those policies generate.

In 2011, NATO bombed Libya by pretending it was motivated by humanitarianism, only to ignore that country once the fun military triumph was celebrated, thus leaving a vacuum of anarchy and militia rule for years that spread instability through the region and fueled the refugee crisis. The U.S. and its European allies continue to invade, occupy, and bomb predominantly Muslim countries while propping up their most brutal tyrants, then feign befuddlement about why anyone would want to attack them back, justifying erosions of basic liberties and more bombing campaigns and ratcheting up fear levels each time someone does. The rise of ISIS and the foothold it seized in Iraq and Libya were the direct byproducts of the West’s military actions (as even Tony Blair admitted regarding Iraq). Western societies continue to divert massive resources into military weaponry and prisons for their citizens, enriching the most powerful factions in the process, all while imposing harsh austerity on already suffering masses. In sum, Western elites thrive while everyone else loses hope.

These are not random, isolated mistakes. They are the byproduct of fundamental cultural pathologies within Western elite circles — a deep rot. Why should institutions that have repeatedly authored such travesties, and spread such misery, continue to command respect and credibility? They shouldn’t, and they’re not. As Chris Hayes warned in his 2012 book Twilight of the Elites, “Given both the scope and depth of this distrust [in elite institutions], it’s clear that we’re in the midst of something far grander and more perilous than just a crisis of government or a crisis of capitalism. We are in the midst of a broad and devastating crisis of authority.”

It’s natural — and inevitable — that malignant figures will try to exploit this vacuum of authority. All sorts of demagogues and extremists will try to redirect mass anger for their own ends. Revolts against corrupt elite institutions can usher in reform and progress, but they can also create a space for the ugliest tribal impulses: xenophobia, authoritarianism, racism, fascism. One sees all of that, both good and bad, manifesting in the anti-establishment movements throughout the U.S., Europe, and the U.K. — including Brexit. All of this can be invigorating, or promising, or destabilizing, or dangerous: most likely a combination of all that.

The solution is not to subserviently cling to corrupt elite institutions out of fear of the alternatives. It is, instead, to help bury those institutions and their elite mavens and then fight for superior replacements. As Hayes put it in his book, the challenge is “directing the frustration, anger, and alienation we all feel into building a trans-ideological coalition that can actually dislodge the power of the post-meritocratic elite. One that marshals insurrectionist sentiment without succumbing to nihilism and manic, paranoid distrust.”

Corrupt elites always try to persuade people to continue to submit to their dominance in exchange for protection from forces that are even worse. That’s their game. But at some point, they themselves, and their prevailing order, become so destructive, so deceitful, so toxic, that their victims are willing to gamble that the alternatives will not be worse, or at least, they decide to embrace the satisfaction of spitting in the faces of those who have displayed nothing but contempt and condescension for them.

There is no single, unifying explanation for Brexit, Trumpism, or the growing extremism of various stripes throughout the West, but this sense of angry impotence — an inability to see any option other than smashing those responsible for their plight — is undoubtedly a major factor. As Bevins put it, supporters of Trump, Brexit, and other anti-establishment movements “are motivated not so much by whether they think the projects will actually work, but more by their desire to say FUCK YOU” to those they believe (with very good reason) have failed them.

Obviously, those who are the target of this anti-establishment rage — political, economic, and media elites — are desperate to exonerate themselves, to demonstrate that they bear no responsibility for the suffering masses that are now refusing to be compliant and silent. The easiest course to achieve that goal is simply to demonize those with little power, wealth, or possibility as stupid and racist: This is only happening because they are primitive and ignorant and hateful, not because they have any legitimate grievances or because I or my friends or my elite institutions have done anything wrong. As Vice’s Michael Tracey put it:

Elites' reaction to Brexit mimics their reaction to Trump: blame the amorality of ordinary people rather than reckon with elite failure

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) June 24, 2016

Because that reaction is so self-protective and self-glorifying, many U.S. media elites — including those who knew almost nothing about Brexit until 48 hours ago — instantly adopted it as their preferred narrative for explaining what happened, just as they’ve done with Trump, Corbyn, Sanders, and any number of other instances where their entitlement to rule has been disregarded. They are so persuaded of their own natural superiority that any factions who refuse to see it and submit to it prove themselves, by definition, to be regressive, stunted, and amoral.

INDEED, MEDIA REACTION to the Brexit vote — filled with unreflective rage, condescension, and contempt toward those who voted wrong — perfectly illustrates the dynamics that caused all of this in the first place. Media elites, by virtue of their position, adore the status quo. It rewards them, vests them with prestige and position, welcomes them into exclusive circles, allows them to be close to (if not wield) great power while traveling their country and the world, provides them with a platform, and fills them with esteem and purpose. The same is true of academic elites, financial elites, and political elites. Elites love the status quo that has given them, and then protected, their elite position.

Elites are usually elite for good reason, and tend to have better judgment than the average person. #confessyourunpopularopinion

— Josh Barro (@jbarro) December 4, 2013

Because of how generally satisfied they are with their lot, they regard with affection and respect the internationalist institutions that safeguard the West’s prevailing order: the World Bank and IMF, NATO and the West’s military forces, the Federal Reserve, Wall Street, the EU. While they express some piecemeal criticisms of each, they literally cannot comprehend how anyone would be fundamentally disillusioned by and angry with these institutions, let alone want to break from them. They are far removed from the suffering that causes those anti-establishment sentiments. So they search and search in vain for some rationale that could explain something like Brexit — or the establishment-condemning movements on the right and left — and can find only one way to process it: These people are not motivated by any legitimate grievances or economic suffering, but instead they are just broken, ungrateful, immoral, hateful, racist, and ignorant.

Of course, it is the case that some, perhaps much of the support given to these anti-establishment movements is grounded in those sorts of ugly sentiments. But it’s also the case that the media elites’ revered establishment institutions in finance, media, and politics are driven by all sorts of equally ugly impulses, as the rotted fruit of their actions conclusively proves.

Even more important, the mechanism that Western citizens are expected to use to express and rectify dissatisfaction — elections — has largely ceased to serve any corrective function. As Hayes, in a widely cited tweet, put it this week about Brexit:

I don't want a future in which politics is primarily a battle between cosmopolitan finance capitalism and ethno-nationalist backlash.

— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) June 24, 2016

But that is exactly the choice presented not only by Brexit but also Western elections generally, including the 2016 Clinton v. Trump general election (just look at the powerful array of Wall Street tycoons and war-loving neocons that — long before Trump — viewed the former Democratic New York senator and secretary of state as their best hope for having their agenda and interests served). When democracy is preserved only in form, structured to change little to nothing about power distribution, people naturally seek alternatives for the redress of their grievances, particularly when they suffer.

More importantly still — and directly contrary to what establishment liberals love to claim in order to demonize all who reject their authority — economic suffering and xenophobia/racism are not mutually exclusive. The opposite is true: The former fuels the latter, as sustained economic misery makes people more receptive to tribalistic scapegoating. That’s precisely why plutocratic policies that deprive huge portions of the population of basic opportunity and hope are so dangerous. Claiming that supporters of Brexit or Trump or Corbyn or Sanders or anti-establishment European parties on the left and right are motivated only by hatred but not genuine economic suffering and political oppression is a transparent tactic for exonerating status quo institutions and evading responsibility for doing anything about their core corruption.

Part of this spiteful media reaction to Brexit is grounded in a dreary combination of sloth and habit: A sizable portion of the establishment liberal commentariat in the West has completely lost the ability to engage with any sort of dissent from its orthodoxies or even understand those who disagree. They are capable of nothing beyond adopting the smuggest, most self-satisfied posture, then spouting clichés to dismiss their critics as ignorant, benighted bigots. Like the people of the West who bomb Muslim countries and then express confusion that anyone wants to attack them back, the most simple-minded of these establishment media liberals are constantly enraged that the people they endlessly malign as ignorant haters refuse to vest them with the respect and credibility to which they are naturally entitled.

BUT THERE’S SOMETHING deeper and more interesting driving the media reaction here. Establishment journalistic outlets are not outsiders. They’re the opposite: They are fully integrated into elite institutions, are tools of those institutions, and thus identify fully with them. Of course they do not share, and cannot understand, anti-establishment sentiments: They are the targets of this establishment-hating revolt as much as anyone else. These journalists’ reaction to this anti-establishment backlash is a form of self-defense. As NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen put it last night, “Journalists today report on hostility to the political class, as if they had nothing to do with it,” but they are a key part of that political class and, for that reason, “if the population — or part of it — is in revolt against the political class, this is a problem for journalism.”

There are many factors explaining why establishment journalists now have almost no ability to stem the tide of anti-establishment rage, even when it’s irrational and driven by ignoble impulses. Part of it is that the internet and social media have rendered them irrelevant, unnecessary to disseminate ideas. Part of it is that they have nothing to say to people who are suffering and angry — due to their distance from them — other than to scorn them as hateful losers. Part of it is that journalists — like anyone else — tend to react with bitterness and rage, not self-assessment, as they lose influence and stature.

But a major factor is that many people recognize that establishment journalists are an integral part of the very institutions and corrupted elite circles that are authors of their plight. Rather than mediating or informing these political conflicts, journalists are agents of the forces that are oppressing people. And when journalists react to their anger and suffering by telling them that it’s invalid and merely the byproduct of their stupidity and primitive resentments, that only reinforces the perception that journalists are their enemy, thus rendering journalistic opinion increasingly irrelevant.

Brexit was a tantrum — British voters had good reason to be angry, but what they did won't make anything better. https://t.co/41AIMdVTv8

— Josh Barro (@jbarro) June 24, 2016

Brexit — despite all the harm it is likely to cause and all the malicious politicians it will empower — could have been a positive development. But that would require that elites (and their media outlets) react to the shock of this repudiation by spending some time reflecting on their own flaws, analyzing what they have done to contribute to such mass outrage and deprivation, in order to engage in course correction. Exactly the same potential opportunity was created by the Iraq debacle, the 2008 financial crisis, the rise of Trumpism and other anti-establishment movements: This is all compelling evidence that things have gone very wrong with those who wield the greatest power, that self-critique in elite circles is more vital than anything.

Anyone who cares about European project should stop blaming capricious/emotional voters & take seriously the EU's many fundamental problems.

— Taniel (@Taniel) June 24, 2016

But, as usual, that’s exactly what they most refuse to do. Instead of acknowledging and addressing the fundamental flaws within themselves, they are devoting their energies to demonizing the victims of their corruption, all in order to delegitimize those grievances and thus relieve themselves of responsibility to meaningfully address them. That reaction only serves to bolster, if not vindicate, the animating perceptions that these elite institutions are hopelessly self-interested, toxic, and destructive and thus cannot be reformed but rather must be destroyed. That, in turn, only ensures there will be many more Brexits, and Trumps, in our collective future.

***

***

***

Economic Collapse

We Just Witnessed The Greatest One Day Global Stock Market Loss In World History

JUNE 27, 2016

By Michael Snyder

More stock market wealth was lost on Friday than on any other day in world history. As you will see below, global investors lost two trillion dollars on the day following the Brexit vote. And remember, this is on top of the trillions that global investors have already lost over the past 12 months. It is important to understand that the Brexit vote was not the beginning of a new crisis – it has simply accelerated a global financial crisis that started last year and that was already in the process of unfolding. As I noted on Friday, we have been waiting for “the next Lehman Brothers moment” that would really unleash fear and panic globally, and now we have it. The next six months should be absolutely fascinating to watch.

According to CNBC, the total amount of money lost on global stock markets on Friday surpassed anything that we had ever seen before, and that includes the darkest days of the financial crisis of 2008…

Worldwide markets hemorrhaged more than $2 trillion in paper wealth on Friday, according to data from S&P Global, the worst on record. For context, that figure eclipsed the whipsaw trading sessions of the 2008 financial crisis, according to S&P analyst Howard Silverblatt.

The prior one day sell-off record was $1.9 trillion back in September of 2008, Silverblatt noted. According to S&P’s Broad Market Index, combined market capitalization is currently worth nearly $42 trillion.

And of course many of the wealthiest individuals on the planet got absolutely hammered. According to Bloomberg, the 400 richest people in the world lost a total of $127.4 billion dollars on Friday…

The world’s 400 richest people lost $127.4 billion Friday as global equity markets reeled from the news that British voters elected to leave the European Union. The billionaires lost 3.2 percent of their total net worth, bringing the combined sum to $3.9 trillion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The biggest decline belonged to Europe’s richest person, Amancio Ortega, who lost more than $6 billion, while nine others dropped more than $1 billion, including Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, the wealthiest person in the U.K.

Could you imagine losing a billion dollars on a single day?

I am sure that Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos are not shivering in their boots quite yet, but what if the markets keep on bleeding like they did in 2008?

On the other hand, globalist magnate George Soros made a ton of money on Friday because he had positioned himself for a Brexit ahead of time. The following comes from the London Independent…

The billionaire who predicted Brexit would bring about “Black Friday” and a crisis for the finances of ordinary people appears to have profited hugely from the UK’s surprise exit from the EU.

George Soros is widely known as the man who “broke” the Bank of England in 1992, when he bet against the pound and made a reported £1.5bn.

Although the exact amount Mr Soros has gained after Brexit is not known, public filings show he doubled his bets earlier this year that stocks would fall.

USAWatchdog

Crash of All Crashes Coming-Bo Polny

By Greg Hunter On June 26, 2016 In Market Analysis

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com (Early Sunday Release)

Market cycle analyst Bo Polny says the vote by the UK (Brexit) to leave the European Union is a big turning point. Polny says, “Brexit is England and part of the cycle and I believe looks to be the actual trigger that is going to take gold higher and the trigger that is going to cause the world equity markets to collapse. It looks like it started, but we will have a little bit of time yet before things get extremely crazy. We are not going to get out of June before all heck breaks loose.”

Polny also is predicting the Dow will eventually grind down to around the 5,000 level. Polny explains, “Basically, after the Dow hits that 5,000 or 6,000 point, it never recovers. This is the crash of all crashes. This is the one where there is no recovery.”

On gold and silver prices, Polny says, “We have a gold bull market and a collapsing of the world equity markets. . . . If you are not positioned before the end of this month, June is the zero hour we are days away. If you are not positioned, it’s going to be very painful. Also, good luck getting some gold and silver when this happens because the moves will be so dramatic. I am foreseeing new all-time highs for silver and gold very shortly. That means silver is going over $50 per ounce. Gold is going over $2,000 per ounce in the near term. These prices now are obnoxiously low. For the last six months, you’ve had a chance to buy gold between $1,050 and $1,250. That’s a $200 move. In the future, you are going to get $200 a day move in the price and maybe more. If you haven’t accumulated, you are almost out of time.”

Polny predicts that people will catch what he calls “gold fever.” Polny explains, “The moment gold goes vertical, people are going to realize gold is money.

Well, yeah, but actually it is insurance against paper money. When paper money fails, then your insurance policy pays out with money, gold money. So, it’s just that simple. . . . Gold is only an asset and insurance policy if you are holding it.”

On silver, Polny says, “The deal with silver is it’s going to be exciting. . . . The ratio of silver to gold is 80 to 1, but the in ground ratio is 9 or 10 to 1. . . . So, if gold doubles in price, then silver could quadruple. Gold and silver have always been money, but silver has been the money of the people, so the banks hate it more.”

Polny says his big cycles measure 252 years. 1764 was the beginning of the last cycle, and there was turmoil then too. Polny explains, “We are out of time, and 2016 will be judgement, and there is all kinds of judgement that the Bible talks about. This is a judgement cycle. Last time, there was the currency act of 1764 (imposed on the U.S. by Britain). They forced this currency, and you got poverty, hunger, joblessness, anger and then war. That same cycle is about to repeat now. There’s going to be wars and rumors of war. There’s going to be poverty. There is going to be hunger. There’s going to be all these things happening, and I think it’s going to be sudden.”

BREITBART

Obama Administration and UN Announce Global Police Force to Fight ‘Extremism’ In U.S.

Anthony Behar-Pool/Getty Images

by PAMELA GELLER2 Oct 201578,251

On Wednesday, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced at the United Nations that her office would be working in several American cities to form what she called the Strong Cities Network (SCN), a law enforcement initiative that would encompass the globe.

This amounts to nothing less than the overriding of American laws, up to and including the United States Constitution, in favor of United Nations laws that would henceforth be implemented in the United States itself – without any consultation of Congress at all.

The United Nations is a sharia-compliant world body, and Obama, speaking there just days ago, insisted that “violent extremism” is not exclusive to Islam (which it is). Obama is redefining jihad terror to include everyone but the jihadists. So will the UN, driven largely by the sharia-enforcing Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the pro-Islamic post-American President Obama, use a “global police force” to crush counter-jihad forces?

After all, with Obama knowingly aiding al-Qaeda forces in Syria, how likely is it that he will use his “global police force” against actual Islamic jihadists? I suspect that instead, this global police force will be used to impose the blasphemy laws under the sharia (Islamic law), and to silence all criticism of Islam for the President who proclaimed that “the future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam.”

What is a global police force doing in our cities? This is exactly the abdication of American sovereignty that I warned about in my book, The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America. The Obama Department of Justice made it clear that it was exactly that when it distributed a press release last week announcing the “Launch of Strong Cities Network to Strengthen Community Resilience Against Violent Extremism.” In that press release, the DoJ complained that “while many cities and local authorities are developing innovative responses to address this challenge, no systematic efforts are in place to share experiences, pool resources and build a community of cities to inspire local action on a global scale.”

So if the local and municipal effort to counter the euphemistic and disingenuous “violent extremism” is inadequate and hasn’t developed “systematic efforts are in place to share experiences, pool resources and build a community of cities to inspire local action on a global scale,” the feds – and the UN – have to step in. Thus the groundwork is being laid for federal and international interference down to the local level. “The Strong Cities Network,” Lynch declared, “will serve as a vital tool to strengthen capacity-building and improve collaboration” – i.e., local dependence on federal and international authorities.

Lynch made the global (that is, United Nations) involvement clear when she added: “As we continue to counter a range of domestic and global terror threats, this innovative platform will enable cities to learn from one another, to develop best practices and to build social cohesion and community resilience here at home and around the world.”

This internationalist character was brought to the fore by the fact that the Strong Cities Network was launched on September 29 not at the White House or the Department of Homeland Security, or at the FBI headquarters or anywhere else that might be fitting for a national project, but at the United Nations.

Even more ominously, the DoJ press release says that the Strong Cities Network “will strengthen strategic planning and practices to address violent extremism in all its forms by fostering collaboration among cities, municipalities and other sub-national authorities.” Sub-national and international: the press release then quotes Governing Mayor Stian Berger Røsland of Oslo, Norway, a participant in the Strong Cities Network, saying: “To counter violent extremism we need determined action at all levels of governance. To succeed, we must coordinate our efforts and cooperate across borders. The Strong Cities Network will enable cities across the globe pool our resources, knowledge and best practices together and thus leave us standing stronger in the fight against one of the greatest threats to modern society.”

But what is that greatest threat, exactly? Remember, the DoJ presser says that the SCN will “address violent extremism in all its forms.” It also says that it will aid initiatives that are working toward “building social cohesion and resilience to violent extremism.” “Building social cohesion” is a euphemism for keeping peace between non-Muslim and Muslim communities – mostly by making sure that non-Muslims don’t complain too loudly about, much less work against, rapidly expanding Muslim populations and the Islamization of their communities.

The DoJ presser noted that at the launch of the Strong Cities Network, “welcoming remarks” would be offered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein and Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City. The involvement of New York City’s Marxist internationalist mayor is yet another warning sign.

Assert American sovereignty and individual rights. Contact your representatives now. Exhort them to oppose SCN now. Exhort them to keep America free – while it still is.

***

RT

Erdogan apologizes to Putin over death of Russian pilot, calls Russia ‘friend & strategic partner’

Published time: 27 Jun, 2016 13:05

Edited time: 27 Jun, 2016 22:41

Russian President Vladimir Putin has received a letter in which his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologized for the death of the pilot who was killed when a Russian jet was downed over the Syrian-Turkish border last November, the Kremlin said.

Erdogan expressed readiness to restore relations with Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

The incident involving the downing of the Russian Su-24 bomber led to the worst deterioration of Turkish-Russian relations in recent history, with Russia describing it as a “stab in the back.”

The President of Turkey expressed sympathy and deep condolences to the family of the killed Russian ‪#Su24 pilot

“The head of the Turkish state expressed his deep sympathy and condolences to the relatives of the deceased Russian pilot and said ‘sorry,’” Peskov said.

In his letter, Erdogan called Russia “a friend and a strategic partner” of Ankara, with whom the Turkish authorities would not want to spoil relations.

“We never had a desire or a deliberate intention to down an aircraft belonging to Russia,” the letter read, according to a statement published on the Kremlin website.

According to the statement, Erdogan’s letter stressed that “the Turkish side undertook all the risks and made a great effort to recover the body of the Russian pilot from the Syrian opposition, bringing it to Turkey. The organization of the pre-burial procedures was conducted in accordance with all religious and military procedures.”

Ankara has treated the family of the dead Russian pilot as if it were a Turkish family and is “ready for any initiatives to relieve the pain and severity of the damage done,” the letter said.

The address by the Turkish leader also informed that a criminal investigation has been launched against the person suspected of killing the Russian pilot, the Kremlin said.

In addition, Erdogan expressed readiness to tackle security challenges in the region and fight terrorism together with Moscow.

Turkish PM Binali Yildirim said that Ankara was ready to pay compensation for downing the Russian jet.

"The letter's content is very clear. We stated our regrets and if necessary we will pay compensation for this issue,” he said, answering questions on Turkish public broadcaster TRT. He added that reconciliation between Russia and Turkey would not be possible without both sides striving for it.

“Both sides wanted [normalization of the relations]. I think things are improving,” Yildirim said, as cited by internetHaber.

Turkish Hurriyet newspaper reported that sources close to Erdogan have confirmed that the letter with the apology was sent to Moscow.

"I believe we will normalise our relations with Russia rapidly by ending the existing situation which is not in the interest of both sides," Erdogan said later on Monday at a dinner to break the fast for the holy month of Ramadan.

On November 24, 2015, a Russian Su-24 bomber, taking part in an anti-terrorist mission in Syria, was brought down by the Turkish Air Force.

The plane crashed in rebel-held territory in Syria near the Turkish border. The pilots ejected, but one - Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov - was killed by machine gun fire from the militants on the ground.

Turkish nationalist Alparslan Celik has claimed responsibility for Peshkov's death.

Ankara claimed that it attacked the Russian bomber for violating its airspace, but was never able to provide proof that any wrongdoing took place.

Moscow vigorously denied the Turkish claims, calling the downing of the plane “a stab in the back" from a state which it had considered an ally.

Russia reacted strongly to the incident, imposing a wave of sanctions against Turkey, which affected trade, tourism, joint energy projects and other areas.

From the start, the Kremlin made it clear that restoration of normal relations with Turkey would be impossible without Ankara apologizing and paying compensation to the pilot’s family.

The news of Erdogan’s apology had a positive effect on Turkey’s currency. The Turkish lira rallied to 2.9330 from 2.9430 against the US dollar, Reuters reported.

Turkey's foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, will take part in a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, due to take place in the Russian resort of Sochi on July 1, Turkish NTV channel reported.

An invitation to participate in the event was sent to Cavusoglu by Russia’s Foreign Ministry last week.

Also on Monday, Turkey reached an agreement to normalize relations with Israel, with the deal putting an end to the rift over the Israeli Navy’s killing of nine Turkish citizens during a Gaza flotilla raid in 2010.

US, Osman Faruk Logoglu, said he would not rule out the possibility that Erdogan had decided to mend relations with Russia after taking advice from Washington.

“These decisions aren’t taken lightly… So, you listen to your friends, including of course, the US and others,” he told RT.

Washington and NATO, in general, were “preoccupied with the state of relations between Turkey and Russia,” fearing the it may result in a military confrontation between the two states, Logoglu said.

“This latest initiative coming just before the Warsaw NATO summit will create a sense of comfort [from] the NATO alliance,” he added.

An international law professor at Georgetown University, Daoud Khairallah, has welcomed the Turkish apology, but stressed that now it would be important for Ankara to back its words by action.

“It’s a positive step. One would hope that beyond apologizing for downing the plane and killing of the pilot, this would contribute to the peace in the region, considering the role that Turkey has been playing in fueling the war in Syria and Iraq, facilitating the entrance of so many terrorists from all over the world,” Khairallah said.

According to the professor, President Erdogan “has started realizing the mistakes he made about the Syrian war” and that “using terrorism for political objectives” was costing Turkey dearly.

The Turkish president is “trying to mend fences now” because he finally realizes that “he can’t isolate himself from the rest of the world,” Khairallah said.

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PRESSTV

Putin orders government to normalize trade ties with Turkey

Wed Jun 29, 2016 12:54PM

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) approaches to shake hands with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on September 23, 2015. ©AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his government to start the process of normalizing trade ties with Turkey, seven months after Ankara-Moscow relations went into a downward spiral following Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian jet last year.

"I ask that the Russian government begins the process of normalizing general trade and economic ties with Turkey," Putin said at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, following a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Putin said that Russia has also decided to lift travel restrictions against Turkey in the tourism sector.

"I want to start with the question of tourism... We are lifting the administrative restrictions in this area," the Russian president said.

Moscow-Ankara relations became strained last November after Turkey shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 aircraft with two pilots aboard, claiming the fighter jet had repeatedly violated Turkish airspace.

Ankara argued that the Russian plane strayed into its airspace and ignored repeated warnings. Russia, however, insisted the aircraft did not cross the border and accused Ankara of "planned provocation."

Moscow said the plane was brought down in Syrian airspace, where Russia has been conducting combat sorties against Takfiri terrorists since late September 2015 upon a request by the Damascus government.

Of the two pilots aboard the warplane, one was rescued with the help of the Syrian army, but the other was killed by militants fighting the Syrian government.

Following the incident, Russia imposed a raft of sanctions against Ankara, including import restriction on Turkish foods, a ban on tourist travel to Turkey, an embargo on hiring Turkish citizens in Russia, and a ban on Turkish organizations' activities in Russia.

Moscow also suspended all military deals with Ankara.

On Monday, the Kremlin said that the Turkish president apologized to Putin over Ankara’s shooting down of the Russian jet.

Turkey, however, said later it had only expressed regret to Russia, denying reports of an apology, and retracting a compensation pledge.

The Wednesday phone call between the Russian and the Turkish leader came after Putin expressed sympathy for the victims of the Tuesday night gun and bomb attacks at Istanbul's Ataturk international airport, which claimed the lives of 41 people and injured 239 others.

Meanwhile, a Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the Turkish leader is expected to meet with his Russian counterpart on the sidelines of the forthcoming G20 summit in China in September.

The meeting between the two presidents would be their first face-to-face talks for months, following the diplomatic row.

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RUSSIA INSIDER

Crimea Will Become Even More Russian Than Before (Video)

New bridge between Russia and Crimea has every chance of being the construction of the century

Olga Beskrovnova

June 26, 2016

This is probably the most long-awaited bridge in Russian history. The idea of its construction has been hanging in the air from the very beginning of the 20th century. The project was postponed countless times - because of WWI, WWII, boundary disputes between Russia and Ukraine, and so on. And now it seems that the idea is to be finally fulfilled: Crimea will join Russia, not only de jure but very literally.

If realized, it has every chance of being considered the construction of the century. Vladimir Putin, well known as a man of his word, has ordered that the 19 km bridge be built in record time - by 2018. Everyone is well aware that the bridge had better be built by this time.

Specialists from all over the country have gathered together to complete this important historical mission. Everyone has their own reasons, but they all agree: they are building for a common future.

ENENEWS

lion Bq/kg found — “Significant consequences for human health” — Scientists: This changes understanding of disaster… Extreme importance… Our ideas of health implications should change… Do not discuss on social media

Public Release from Goldschmidt Conference, Jun 26, 2016 (emphasis added): New research shows that most of the radioactive fallout which landed on downtown Tokyo a few days after the Fukushima accident was concentrated and deposited in non-soluble glass microparticles, as a type of ‘glassy soot’. This meant that most of the radioactive material was not dissolved in rain and running water… The particles also concentrated the radioactive caesium (Cs), meaning that in some cases dose effects of the fallout are still unclear… Japanese geochemists… analysed samples collected from within an area up to 230 km from the FDNPP… [I]t had been anticipated that most of the radioactive fallout would have been flushed from the environment by rainwater. However… most of the radioactive caesium in fact fell to the ground enclosed in glassy microparticles… [T]hese particles… formed during the molten core-concrete interaction inside the primary containment vessel in the Fukushima reactor units 1 and/or 3. Because of the high Cs content in the microparticles, the

radioactivity per unit mass was as high as ~4.4×10^11 Bq/g [440,000,000,000,000 Bq/kg]… Analysis from several air filters collected in Tokyo on 15 March 2011 showed that 89% of the total radioactivity was present as a result of these caesium-rich microparticles, rather than the soluble Cs, as had originally been supposed.

Discovery (Seeker), Jun 27, 2016: Fukushima Accident Rained Glass Particles on Tokyo… Most of the radioactive fallout that descended upon downtown Tokyo in the days after the March 2011 accident [was] glass microparticles — essentially, glass-filled soot. As a result, the fallout, which contained concentrated radioactive cesium, wasn’t dissolved by rainfall, and probably lingered in the environment… Japanese scientists thought that most of it would be washed away by rainwater. Instead, analysis… revealed that most of the radioactive cesium in fact fell to the ground enclosed in glassy microparticles.

ANI, Jun 28, 2016: Research indicates Fukushima radioactive fallout may be worse than expected… Most of the radioactive fallout, which landed on downtown Tokyo a few days after the Fukushima accident, was concentrated and deposited in non-soluble glass microparticles, as a type of ‘glassy soot’…

Inverse, Jun 26, 2016: Radioactive “Glassy Soot” Fell Over Tokyo After the Fukushima Meltdown… The findings… show that the radioactive fallout… has been poorly understood. Previously, it was assumed that most of the radiation that fell dissolved in rain. This would mean that it would wash out of the soil and through the environment… These tiny glass particles entered the air and fell as soot on the surrounding region. Because the radioactive molecules are contained in an insoluble medium, they will not wash out of the soil with rainwater to the same extent… Beyond the consequences for the environment, there are significant consequences for human health. Breathing caesium encased in glass particles may have a very different impact from exposure to it as radioactive rain…

Scientists from Fukushima Univ., Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Stanford Univ., etc, June 2016: Cesium-rich micro-particles unveil the explosive events in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant — Cesium-rich micro-particles (CsMPs) retain novel information on the molten core-concrete interaction… CsMPs specimens were discovered… in atmospheric particulates collected at Suginami, Tokyo… [Note: "The author has requested that this abstract is not discussed on social media."]

Dr Satoshi Utsunomiya, Kyushu Univ.: “This work changes some of our assumptions about the Fukushima fallout… This may mean that our ideas of the health implications should be modified“.

Prof. Bernd Grambow, Director of SUBATECH laboratory, France: “[The observations] presented here are extremely important. They may change our understanding of the mechanism of long range atmospheric mass transfer of radioactive caesium from the reactor accident at Fukushima to Tokyo, but they may also change the way we assess inhalation doses from the caesium microparticles inhaled by humans. Indeed, biological half- lives of insoluble caesium particles might be much larger than that of soluble caesium“.

My Health Informer

Cleanse Your Kidneys Almost Instantly Using This Natural Home Drink

June 18, 2016

Cleanse Your Kidneys Almost Instantly Using This Natural Home Drink

Kidneys are ones of the most important organs that purify our body. Thanks to them, we eliminate all toxins and excess salt from the body. However, they should be periodically cleaned as well in order to function better.

Over time, salts and toxins accumulate in the kidneys, as well as sand and stones. Therefore, they need to be eliminated in order to avoid kidney damage.

Take a handful of washed parsley leaves and chop them into larger pieces, put them in a bowl and pour water over them (enough to cover the leaves). Place the pot on the stove, and as soon as the water boils, let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Then, remove the pan from the oven, and leave to cool (the container should be closed). Strain and when it cools down a bit, store the drink in the refrigerator. Drink a glass of this cold drink once a day.

Already after a few days you will notice that your urine is changed, as the body begins to discard all the toxins accumulated in the kidneys.
Also, you must be careful if you suspect you have kidney stones. This parsley tea will “push” them, so you may need to visit a doctor.

Besides parsley tea, remember to consume enough fluids during the day in order to help the kidneys to work properly.

Besides parsley, other good kidney- cleansing foods are the following: apples, lemons, watermelons. It is believed that the olive oil helps the expulsion of kidney stones.

Although this drink is a completely safe natural remedy, be sure to avoid it during pregnancy and it is advisable to consult a doctor.

It is recommended to drink this tea twice a month as part of a regular detoxification of the body. Moreover, it is also excellent in relieving menstrual pains.

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Until next week...keep on believing.
Almondtree Productions

“The steps of a man are rightly ordered by the Lord: and he will take pleasure in his way.”
(Psalm 37:23)