A Quick Update on the Potential for an Israeli/Palestinian U.N. Clash this September

One of the items I identified at the end of May as something important to watch this summer is the potential for the Palestinians to force the U.N. to decide on whether to recognize a Palestinian state.

• At the time I highlighted this potential event the Palestinians had not officially decided to push for U.N. recognition, but were leaning in favor of it. In addition, European and American officials were attempting to restart peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis in hopes of avoiding a situation where they must address the issue at the U.N. this fall.

One month later, the diplomatic efforts to dissuade the Palestinians from pursuing a U.N. vote appear to have been ineffective.

• A few days ago the official Palestinian news agency reported that leaders from the Palestinian Liberation Organization decided after a meeting to officially push the U.N. to vote on the issue of Palestinian statehood based on the pre-1967 borders this September.
• In addition, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated yesterday that the Palestinians intend to take the matter to the U.N. this September.

In response, the U.S. and others are now working on a last minute effort to dissuade the Palestinians from pursuing the U.N. route.

• There is reportedly going to be a summit in Washington D.C. on July 11 where officials representing the U.S., the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia will attempt to devise an “international peace plan” in hopes it will be enough to dissuade the Palestinians from pursuing a U.N. vote in September.

We should have a very good idea of what the Palestinians truly intend to do with regards to the U.N. by July 15. July 15 is the deadline for the Palestinians to petition the U.N. for a September vote and the deadline to apply for full U.N. membership.

This is going to be an important thing to monitor in the coming days and weeks because we could see a very news-filled September if the Palestinians pursue the U.N option and we could see a lot of Middle East related-events take place afterwards depending how a potential vote turns out…

The Time Frame When the Two Witnesses Will Prophesy

I was asked to expand on several topics relating to the two witnesses after I posted an article concerning Revelation 11:8-9. One of the topics I was asked to expand on was the general time frame when the two witnesses will be prophesying. Today’s article is an attempt to provide some idea of when the two witnesses will prophesy in context of the End Times and to provide some idea of what that time period will be like.

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One Climate Forecaster Is Very Worried About the Weather this Autumn and Winter

Late last month an Icelandic volcanic called Grimsvotn erupted and sent a large ash cloud into the atmosphere. The following video shows some of the ash the volcano sent into the atmosphere:

The primary concern many people had was that Grimsvotn’s ash cloud might disrupt air travel in Europe like Eyjafjallajökull's (another Icelandic volcano) ash cloud did last year. However, Grimsvotn’s ash cloud did not pose the same level of danger to European air travel as Eyjafjallajökull's ash cloud did, and Grimsvotn's eruption was officially declared over on May 30.

The reason I mention Grimsvotn nearly a month after its eruption ended is that one professional climate forecaster is now deeply concerned that the large amount of ash that Grimsvotn sent into the atmosphere is going to have a major, adverse effect on the weather in the entire northern hemisphere within the next few months.

I just listened to a podcast featuring an interview with Evelyn Browning-Garriss, a widely respected professional climate forecaster and editor of a climate newsletter. She mentioned in the interview that the large amount of ash that the Icelandic volcano sent into the atmosphere could help bring the worst weather she’s seen in over 35 years in the business of tracking the weather and climate this fall and winter in the northern hemisphere.

• She mentioned that the volcanic ash from the Icelandic volcanic eruption is currently trapped in the arctic air mass. She warned that once the arctic air mass begins to move southwards in autumn the weather in the northern hemisphere could become cooler and wetter than normal.
• She notes that there is currently “extreme” heat in the tropics and “extreme” cold in the north. She is concerned that there could be a lot of storms developing when these vastly different air masses clash this fall and winter in the northern hemisphere.
• She is concerned that farmers, particularly those in the U.S., could face a difficult, wet harvest season.
• She is concerned about the prospect for a difficult spring planting season in the northern hemisphere next year.
• She mentioned that she’s had to look at the 1950s to find similar weather conditions.

You can download the 17 minute podcast interview with Evelyn Browning-Garriss at the following link. I’ve listened to several Evelyn Browning-Garriss interviews in the past and it’s startling to hear the concern in her voice when discussing her fall and winter forecast for the northern hemisphere. She is deeply worried about what the weather could be like a few months from now in the northern hemisphere.

If Evelyn Browning-Garriss’s forecast is accurate then we’ll likely see further global food supply problems, further upward pressure on already record high food prices, and further instability in developing countries where people spend a large portion of their income on food.

As an aside, weather forecasters where I live (California) are predicting rain tomorrow as an unusually cool and wet storm from the Gulf of Alaska arrives. It's very unusual to see rain this time of year where I live (it's rained only 3 times since 1877 on June 28).

My Thoughts on Revelation 11:8-9

I was asked by a reader to give my thoughts on Revelation 11:8-9, which concerns the reaction of the world to the death of the two witnesses. Here are the verses:

• Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
• Rev 11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

Today I will share my thoughts on these two verses in this article in case other people have wondered about these verses too.

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G-20 Discussing the Creation of a Global Food Database

Update: The G-20 approved the creation of a global food database on Thursday and it will be developed "rapidly": Link

While the media reports on the turmoil in Greece, the unrest in Syria, the events in Libya, and Barack Obama’s decision to withdraw 30,000 + troops from Afghanistan by November 2012, the agricultural ministers from the G-20, a group of countries comprising major and emerging economies, have quietly gathered in Paris to discuss a proposal by France to create a global food database. Here is some information about the global food database:

• The global food database would reportedly record the amount of food produced by each participating country and record the amount of food that each participating country has in its stockpiles. Link
• The database would track public and private commodity holdings: Link
• The database would be managed by the Food and Agriculture Organization, which is a United Nations agency based in Rome, Italy.

The recent, record high food prices, global food supply problems, and social unrest related to both these problems are major reasons why world leaders see a "need" to consider creating a global food database.

• According to the Wall Street Journal, the database would help decision makers to better predict which countries may face a food shortage and help to increase transparency about the global food supply and demand picture.
• The Globe and Mail suggests the global food database could help to reduce food price volatility by giving people a better idea of what the global food supply and demand picture actually looks like.

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My Current Thoughts on Jerusalem as a Possible Babylon the Great City Candidate

(Updated at 4:11 EST to add a point about Revelation 18:24 which I forgot to include, but intended to include when this article was originally published)

I have provided my thoughts about whether New York City and Babylon (in Iraq) are potential candidates to be Babylon the Great City mentioned in Revelation 17 and Revelation 18 over the past week in separate articles. I have provided items to consider in favor of each city and items to consider against each city in these articles.

Today I share my current thoughts on whether Jerusalem has potential to be Babylon the Great City. Like my articles assessing whether New York City and whether Babylon in Iraq have potential, I offer items to consider in favor of Jerusalem and items to consider against Jerusalem.

• Note: I acknowledged last week that I have viewed Jerusalem as the top candidate to be Babylon the Great City in the past. However, I am currently reevaluating my stance on the topic of the identity of Babylon the Great City after feeling the need to reexamine the topic before continuing my ongoing study of Ezekiel 38, Ezekiel 39, and other related Bible prophecy verses and encountering some objections/counterpoints to the idea that Jerusalem = Babylon the Great City. Consequently, this article evaluates Jerusalem’s potential to be Babylon the Great City in a far more critical manner than my past article about the topic. I will give you items to consider for the city and items to consider against the city in this article that were not mention in my past article about the topic.

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Detailing the Ongoing Efforts to Preserve and Restore Babylon in Iraq

I mentioned in my previous article that I have gathered some information regarding the work to preserve and restore Babylon. Today I’ll share with you the information that I have gathered in this lengthy article.

I think the ongoing status of Babylon’s preservation and restoration should be of some interest to people regardless of whether the city is Babylon the Great City mentioned in Revelation 17 and Revelation 18 or not. At the minimum, I believe Babylon is going to be a notable End Times city that will face its final destruction in the future. Recall, the Bible suggests that Babylon’s final destruction will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah:

Isa 13:19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. Isa 13:20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.

Jer 50:39 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. Jer 50:40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.

Babylon’s ruins have not been wiped off the face of the earth and there is work ongoing to preserve and restore Babylon. For instance, the following video report shows an important museum located in Babylon reopening just a few months ago after being renovated:

The following passage from the most recent (February 2011) Babylon Damage Report summarizes where Babylon stands today:

Today, Babylon is an archaeological site overlaid with a few areas of reconstructed ancient buildings, extensive areas of modern construction dating to the rule of Saddam Hussein, and several villages. It is critical to recognize that the entire area within Babylon's outer city wall and the 500 meter buffer zone that surrounds it is an archaeological site... (Pg. 7)

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My Thoughts on Babylon as a Possible Babylon the Great City Candidate

(Note: if the font size looks strange in some places it's a formatting issue with blogger that I'm unsure how to solve yet)

After I published my recent article sharing my thoughts on whether New York City has potential to be Babylon the Great City I was asked whether I have considered the possibility of Babylon being Babylon the Great City. I have considered the possibility recently, and today I share some of my thoughts on the potential for Babylon to be Babylon the Great City. Like in my article assessing whether New York City has potential, I offer several things to consider with regards to Babylon.

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My Thoughts on New York City as a Possible Babylon the Great City Candidate

One of the remaining things I need to do before I can start to compose articles about my thoughts on Ezekiel 38, Ezekiel 39, and other related prophecies is to reexamine the identity of Babylon the Great City mentioned in Revelation 17 and Revelation 18 and see how its identity fits in the view of Ezekiel 38 and Ezekiel 39 that I am strongly considering.

Up to this point, I have viewed Jerusalem as the top candidate to be Babylon the Great City. However, I am well aware of the many objections/counterpoints people who argue that Jerusalem is not Babylon the Great City make. I am currently evaluating these objections with what I’ve found in several chapters of the Bible to see whether or not Jerusalem is still a viable candidate to be Babylon the Great City.

• My position that Jerusalem is the top candidate to be Babylon the Great is unchanged at the moment, but is subject to change as I evaluate these objections with what I’ve found in several chapters of the Bible.

A couple of weeks ago I was asked for my thoughts on the potential for New York City to be Babylon the Great City. Since I’m currently taking some time to reevaluate my stance on the location of Babylon the Great City I think it is a good time to share my current thoughts on whether New York City has potential to be Babylon the Great City.

• Note: I previously wrote an article about the potential for America to be Babylon the Great. In that article I expressed the view that I did not see America or New York City as representing Babylon the Great while expressing the view that I believe Jerusalem is Babylon the Great. Since I am currently reevaluating my stance on the location of Babylon the Great I write this article in a much less dismissive manner than I previously did. I will give you things to consider for the city and against the city in this article.

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The Antichrist and Oil

A common belief that many people hold, including me, is that the Antichrist will have control over many Middle Eastern countries in the future. I do not believe the consequences of this likely future development is something that should be overlooked by people who hold this belief. I believe it is important to recognize that the Antichrist would gain significant economic and political clout (or influence) if he gains control over many Middle Eastern countries since several of these countries are major producers of crude oil, the lifeblood of today’s global economy.

• Today I want to show how much of the world’s oil currently comes from the Middle East to provide some sense of how much economic and political clout the Antichrist would likely gain if he manages to conquer the oil producing countries of the Middle East. I also want to show how much of the world's oil currently comes from Europe and Russia to provide a sense of how powerful the Antichrist could be if he also controlled these areas too.

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Some More Observations About the Recent, Unusual Weather

A couple of other things I heard meteorologist Joe Bastardi mention in the radio interview I heard recently is that the cold air on Earth is fighting back against the warm air like in the 1950s and that the snowfall in the Western U.S. Mountains is comparable to the record snowfall seen in the early 1950s.

Bastardi’s observations about the 1950s got me curious about whether some of the weather conditions we have seen recently on Earth also were seen in the 1950s. I decided to examine some weather data and other sources to see whether some of the weather conditions we have seen recently also were seen in the 1950s.

• Today I share some of my observations with you.

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Putting One Trillion Dollars Into Perspective

There was an article published today in the USA Today about how big the U.S.’s unfunded liabilities problem is. The USA Today estimates that the U.S. has $61.6 trillion or $534,000 per American household in unfunded liabilities. This means that the U.S. government has made $61.6 trillion worth of promises that it has not set aside money to pay for.

• This number increased by $5.3 trillion in the Year 2010.

One million Dollars, one million Euros, one million Yen, one million British Pounds, etc is a lot of money to me. However, when I hear about how the U.S. government owes trillions of dollars or spends trillions of dollars I tend to lose perspective about how staggering that amount of money is. I know a billion dollars is a lot more than a million dollars and a trillion dollars is a lot more than a billion dollars, but I hear about how the U.S. government spends or owes billions and trillions of dollars so often in the news that I sometimes get the impression that a trillion dollars is not as large as it actually is.

I thought it would be useful to provide a few examples which could help put into perspective how much one trillion dollars is since we hear about that number in the news a lot. Today I share these examples with you.

• If you do not live in the United States just imagine that I am talking about the local currency that you use. For instance, if you live in Europe just imagine that I am talking about one trillion Euros, which is a figure that sometimes appears in the news.

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My Thoughts on the May 2011 Edition of Share Intl

Pre-Article Disclaimer for Newer Readers: If you are reading this blog for the first time or are not totally familiar with my work, I am a 100% Christian writer who analyzes things from a Christian point of view. I sometimes research into what the spiritual forces of evil are up to in hopes of gleaning information to help us Christians figure out what is going on or to figure out what Satan has planned. You can read more about why I dare consider these unbiblical sources at the following link Now on to the article...


Excerpts from the May edition of Benjamin Creme's (the official spokesmen of Maitreya,the leader of the Ascended Masters-a group of spiritual beings referred to as the “spiritual wickedness in high places” in Ephesians 6:12), magazine have finally been posted on his website. As I typically do, I’ll provide some of my thoughts on some of the things contained in the new edition of Creme’s magazine.

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Highlighting Some of the Major Droughts Ongoing In the World

I received multiple reports yesterday that people are seeing very unusual weather around the world, so you are definitely not alone if you are experiencing unusual weather where you live. Unlike me, many people are seeing unusually dry weather which is creating drought conditions.

• Today I highlight some notable areas around the world which are not getting enough rain with some video reports about the drought seen in these areas.

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Very Very Unusual Weather Where I Live

I never thought I would ever write an article about the weather where I live because nothing notable ever happens where I live in terms of the weather. However, the weather where I live has been so unusual for the past several weeks that perhaps I should describe what is happening where I live just in case there are people elsewhere in the world wondering whether they are the only ones experiencing unusual weather.

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What Would You Like Me To Write About? (Your Feedback is Appreciated)

My ongoing study of Ezekiel 38, Ezekiel 39, and related chapters has left me with less time than I normally have to come up with new ideas for new articles. In addition, I’m currently experiencing a case of writer’s block which has made it difficult for me to come up with new ideas for new articles in the time that I do have to work on articles.

If there’s a topic(s) or question(s) that you would like me to address/write about please tell me. I’ll take each topic or question you ask under consideration. You can tell me what you would like me to write about by leaving a comment or sending me an email. You can ask me to write about as many topics or questions as you like.

People have recently asked me for my thoughts on

• New York City’s potential of being Babylon the Great City mentioned in Revelation 17 and Revelation 18
• The potential for the European Union Neighborhood Policy and Lisbon Treaty to be the “covenant with many” in Daniel 9:27.
• The location of New Jerusalem.
• A person who claims to be a “visionary”.

I intend to address these topics in the coming days and weeks, but I need to do more work on each of them before I can fully address them in an article.

I’m always looking for potential topics to write about. The more potential topics I receive the easier it will be for me to keep this blog interesting and the more time I will have to devote to writing articles and researching instead of trying to think of new topics. Thank you in advance for any potential topics and questions you may have :)