Brian is a well known Bible teacher with a particular emphasis on Biblical end time events. Believing that these events are already underway, he believes that the Rapture of the Church to glory is imminent. Brian and Gilly (pic here with Bethan)travel throughout the UK and he also teaches in Europe and the USA. Although they are regularly in fellowships and churches who know them well, they are most happy to visit new venues to bring the message of the Gospel and the nearness of Christs return.
EU leaders insist there is 'NO LINK' between the migrant crisis and New Year sex attacks in Cologne - and vow to bring about an end to 'false accusations'
Since the invasion of Europe by the Muslim migrants, there have been seemingly endless reported sex attacks at the hands of refugees and/or asylum seekers. New Year's Eve in Cologne, Germany resulted in nearly 1,000 complaints of sexual battery by Muslim migrants. Yet, astonishingly, European leaders adamantly refuse to link these attacks and others with Muslim migrants, and have vowed to fight this association by any and all means possible.
The Daily Mail UK reports that "there is 'no link' between the migrant crisis and the wave of sex attacks in Cologne during New Year celebrations, EU officials believe. The European Commission wants to remove 'false associations' between the increasing number of some criminal acts and the arrival of migrants, documents show. Internal minutes taken at a cabinet meeting on January 13 suggest officials are also growing concerned about the possibility of a public backlash in relation to the attacks."
Consider the following. Since October of 2015 there have been:
Two bomb threats
450 fights
four rapes
more than 550 assaults
22-year-old aid worker Alexandra Mezher was knifed to death at the child migrant centre where she worked in Molndal, Sweden
1,000 complaints of sexual battery
2 refugee centers burned to the ground
1 million illegal Muslim migrants have crossed the borders of various countries
All this at the hands of the Muslim migrants. EU leaders are fighting mad, but they are mad at the victims! Insanity of this size and scale has not been seen in Europe since the days of Adolf Hitler.
These are pictures of an actual polar bear attack.
The pictures were taken while people watched and could do nothing to stop the attack!
Reports from the local newspaper say that the victim will make a full recovery.
The photos are below.
Scroll Down....
"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."
Sitting in the shadows with respect to his part in the commissioning of the Woolf report, Welby then allowed the press and media to publish that the Church of England had said that the report was a "sad waste" and had "fallen captive to liberal rationalism."
Aside from the links to grubby Soros corporate funding money I pointed out what was effectively gross hypocrisy - Welby was a Patron of the Woolf Institute which had commissioned the 'report' and yet he was then interviewed for the 'report' as if he was an independent bystander.
The image below provides a simple overview of the cosy arrangement between Welby, Woolf and the 'report' commissioners.
Sitting in the shadows with respect to his part in the commissioning of the Woolf report, Welby simply allowed the press and media to publish that the Church of England had said that the report was a "sad waste" and had "fallen captive to liberal rationalism." Forgive me for smelling a rat, but why the duplicity demonstrated by Welby the Patron and 'independent giver of evidence' to his own Woolf commission.
Aside from Soros, my previous article also identified the connections between the Woolf Intitute, and a number of other strange bedfellows for the church.
The diagram illustrates very simply a myriad of connections bewteen the Woolf Institute, departments of Cambridge University, and further afield to Saudi Arabia and Qatar - the latter countries well known for their appalling human rights records let alone the treatment of Christians.
It seemed a simple thing to email Lambeth Palace to ask Archbishop Welby for an explanation of all this, but it now appears that questions are perhaps rather embarrassing for the Bishop. I asked the following:
"1. Please can Archbishop Welby explain how he can act as a Patron of the Woolf Institute which has commissioned the Commission on Religion and Belief in Public Life report, and then sit as an 'independent' giver of evidence to a report that he has helped to commission?"
"2. Can he also explain how he can now personally support a report which decries his own Christian faith, and which has been heavily criticised by his own church?"
"3. In the interests of truth and transparency, and in view of his role as a patron of the Woolf Institute, can he also state how much money was received for the Commission from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, the Woolf Institute and George Soros Open Society?"
The reply below was a masterpiece of obfuscation.
My questions to Archbishop Welby were simple, clear and direct. The reponse from Andrew Nunn is irrelevant and evasive. So why the eerie silence in Lambeth palace?
My conclusion is that Welby has been caught up to no good and he is now running from the truth. The Primate of All England is assisting the destruction of Christianity in these Islands and of his own church from within.
Is he something other than a Christian? The duplicity and deafening silence suggests there may well be a very dangerous wolf amongst the Lambeth Palace lambs.
Barack Obama doesn't just want to fundamentally transform America. His sights are on the world. Many stories are breaking that he aspires to become the General-Secretary of the United Nations. Such talk is no longer Internet rumor.
We hear a lot about global government today, and we do not know if this will be represented by the United Nations. Since we are late in the eschatological game, we probably don't have time for another body to rise up and control this world government.
Those who defend the notion of a world government claim that it would be a benign federation of nations structurally similar to our federal government. It is touted as the solution to all of society's ills. We can wipe away war, poverty, and all injustice. There would absolutely be no want. They suggest this would perpetuate global peace and prosperity.The truth is, it would be an Orwellian nightmare.
The Beast
In Revelation 13, John sees the "beast," also called the Antichrist, rising out of the sea having seven heads and ten horns. This corresponds with Daniel 7. Some kind of world system will be inaugurated by the beast. Many theologians conclude that this will be a one-world government.
It is hard to imagine how such a diverse system of government would willingly subjugate themselves to a single ruler. How would Communism, capitalism, democracy, and Islam all get along? The Antichrist would have the power to make this happen or dissolve all of these systems and blend them into one. He will have Satanic power to do this.
When does this world ruler ascend to his throne? Many conclude it will be when the disasters and plagues described in mid-Revelation are playing out in a devastating way. Others feel it makes more sense that he will seize control right after the chaos of the Rapture.
The current U.N. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon's term is set to end on December 31, 2016. Barack Obama is available on January 21, 2017.
Enter Bibi Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, working with moderate Arab nations, is on record as saying, "Isn't eight years of having Obama in office enough? Eight years in which he ignored Israel. And now he wants to be in a position that is liable to cause us hardship in the international arena."
Will He Be "King of the World"?
Some are suggesting that if Obama pursues this agenda and gets it he will consider himself "king of the world". Investors Business Daily warned over a year and a half ago that President Obama wasn't about to spend his post-presidency time building houses like Jimmy Carter. There were signs that he would seek to become head of the U.N.
An Israeli newspaper recently ran a cartoon with this "king of the world" theme.
A covenant will be made with Israel (Daniel 9) and a world body during the Tribulation. The Antichrist will make a covenant, then break that covenant, with Israel, during the Tribulation.
The U.S. Under U.N. Authority?
Would Obama place the U.S. under U.N. authority? As a presidential candidate in 2007 he wrote, "The security and well being of every American depends on the security and well being of those who live beyond our borders. The mission of the United States is to provide global leadership grounded in the understanding that the world shares a common security and a common humanity."
For the mostly undemocratic powers represented in the U.N., having a former U.S. President who serves their interests, for all intents and purposes "King of the World," would be a dream come true. Never has the head of a major world power served in this role. Rules and traditions would likely have to be broken.
Addicted to the Roar
Canada's National Post asks, "What post-presidency career would Obama consider worthy of his future attention and efforts? Few jobs of Olympian prestige are available, and his self-admittedly vast self-esteem might diminish the list still further. We agree with a number of other observers that Obama has his sights set on the office of United Nations Secretary-General."
Barack Obama will wave a reluctant good-bye. He is addicted to the roar. He will never forsake the spotlight he loves so much.
Pinning the Tail on the Antichrist
We are not privileged to know if any U.N. role will be played out by the Antichrist. Those who continually play the "pin the tail on the Antichrist" game are only guessing.
Only God knows who these end-time king-pins will be. His partner is called the False Prophet. Are they alive and well? Likely so.
We don't know if this transition at the U.N. will happen in 2017. If it does, Barack Obama will become the most dangerous man in the world. And possibly, the most powerful.
The timing of this is diabolical as the world awaits a savior to solve its many problems.
Hear our most recent radio program on this topic. Also included in the hour is a discussion with John Haller. Find the program here.
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We had almost 7,000 attendees over two days at "Understanding the Times 2015" in October. Find all information here, plus review video and information on how to order CDs and DVDs.
I am pleased to announce that the bookings for our conference in Bournemouth in March have been so very encouraging that the event is NOW FULLY BOOKED UP! This is excellent news after having to cancel two of our previous holiday teaching retreats in Harrogate and Bath. We have now opened a waiting list for disappointed supporters who have attempted to book too late, and there is every chance that the hotel might be able to release other rooms for our Retreat the week before the Conference starts. We certainly hope and pray so.
We are having to use conventional Hotel facilities now, for we have loved using the Christian Endeavour Centres in Saltburn, Cromer, North Wales, and the Isle of Wight over the years, but sadly the CE places are all closing. Here is a picture of the Savoy Hotel in Bournemouth which we will be using for the first time in March. However, there is an outside chance that we might be able to use the re-vamped and quite expensive new facilities at Saltburn near the end of the year and out of season - if we can arrange something? I will keep you posted on this possible development.
My good friend Anne Powell is arranging all of the bookings for this Retreat, and she can be contacted at her email address at anne.powell31@btinternet.com
A US-based priest from Co Tyrone who called police after a colleague showed sickening child porn images to a 14-year-old boy says he has been 'frozen out' by the Catholic Church over his stance.
Father John A Gallagher is living in a friend's home after locks at his parochial house were changed and he was placed on medical leave by his bishop in the Diocese of Palm Beach, Florida.
The 48-year-old claims he was told by a church official to put a paedophile priest on a plane rather than co-operate with police.
A local police chief, so concerned at the Irish cleric's treatment, wrote to church leaders to complain about how the whistleblower is being treated.
Fr Gallagher broke his year-long silence over the affair to tell how the priest from India at the centre of the abuse scandal is a danger to children.
He says he has been unable to find out where the priest is now.
He has written to bishops and cardinals in Ireland and America about the case - as well as Vatican officials - and has, so far, been unable to get a satisfactory response.
Fr Gallagher is originally from Strabane. He served the Long Tower parish in Londonderry until 2000 before taking up a post in the US.
The astonishing case began in January last year when Father Jose Palimattom - who had been at the parish of the Holy Name of Jesus Christ Catholic Church in West Palm Beach for just four weeks - approached a 14-year-old boy after Mass.
He showed the teenager up to 40 images of naked boys.
Police believe he was in the first stages of grooming his victim.
Later that night, Palimattom sent the boy a message on Facebook which read: "Good night. Sweet dreams."
However, the teenager told a friend who reported it to the church choirmaster, who immediately told Father Gallagher.
The priest says he was told that night by a church official in Florida: "We need to make him go away, put on a plane".
In documents filed to the Vatican by a specialist Canon Lawyer on behalf of Fr Gallagher, the priest claimed he was instructed 'do not keep written notes' by the same church official. The legal document was sent to Cardinal Gerhard Muller, Prefect of the powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome.
After the incident involving the boy, Fr Gallagher disregarded the instruction to put Fr Palimattom on a plane to Bangalore.
Instead, he interviewed Fr Palimattom along with a retired police officer, who was one of his parishioners.
The parishioner, who took notes at the meeting, said the Indian priest not only admitted showing nude pictures of boys to the local teenager, but also admitted he had sexually assaulted young boys in India before arriving in the States.
It was a confession he would repeat within hours to detectives assigned to the case from a specialist unit of the West Palm Beach Police.
Fr Gallagher said he immediately called the Sheriff's Department of the West Palm Beach police, following rules set down by the American Church after hundreds of child sex abuse scandals.
Some of those cases in Boston are featured in the new movie 'Spotlight' released here last weekend.
The Irish cleric is well-known throughout the Catholic community in the States, has made several religious music records and has made numerous television appearances.
In 2012, the then Pope Benedict XVI wrote him a personal note, thanking him for his work with the church.
But all that was a distant memory last year, he says, when he says he began to feel "the wrath" of the Church.
"It was made clear to me that what I had done (co-operating with the police) wasn't what I should have done," he said.
"It was a very distressing time for me and the parish. But we had a special Mass and I told the congregation what had happened. I told them it was now in the hands of the rightful authorities, the police.
"Palimattom was on the local TV news as his arrest became public. I did the right thing."
Church officials dealt with the boy and his family through lawyers and an out-of-court settlement was made.
In February, says Fr Gallagher, he learned of a bid to have him moved at a meeting attended by around 100 Hispanic Catholics, most of them from outside the parish.
He had brought in a Spanish priest to celebrate Spanish Masses and was unaware of any complaints.
In late April, he says, he was called to a meeting by the Bishop of Palm Beach, Gerald Barbarito. Three other officials were there.
Fr Gallagher says he was due to be promoted, but instead was told to continue in his role for another year, when it would be reviewed again.
He says he wasn't happy with the decision, but was completely unprepared for a phone call from Bishop Barbarito the next day.
"He told me I was being demoted," said Father Gallagher.
"No reason was given. I asked if I could meet with him again and this was refused. He said if I didn't wish to be demoted and moved to another parish, I should leave the priesthood."
Less than four weeks later Fr Gallagher was rushed to hospital in an ambulance with a suspected heart attack after becoming unwell whilst hearing Confessions.
He says he felt aggrieved when Bishop Barbarito visited him in hospital but didn't anoint him or bring Communion.
Six days later he asked Dominican nun Sister Ann Monahan to retrieve files on the Fr Palimattom scandal from his office at the Holy Name of Jesus Christ church.
She managed to do this, but when she returned later, she was stopped by church officials and the keys to the building taken off her.
"I was told to leave. When I protested, I was told 'you're fired'," Sister Monahan (84) said.
"I'm a Dominican and our motto is 'The Truth' and that is all Father John ever did as a priest, tell the truth.
"I've been a nun for 67 years and I felt I was treated badly and Father John was treated very badly indeed. I find it hard to forgive them (the Church) for what happened."
She has now been officially retired.
When Fr Gallagher got out of hospital he returned to his parochial house to find the locks changed. A new priest had been appointed.
He had been due to leave, under the bishop's orders, a month later, in July.
"I was in shock," said Fr Gallagher. "I had just suffered a suspected heart attack and wanted to return to my home to recover. Instead, I was homeless."
A letter from the bishop to his priest suggested he needed 'treatment' for his mental health and an all-expenses paid trip was offered to a clinic in Pennsylvania.
Fr Gallagher refused to go and has been on paid leave since.
When police involved in the child porn scandal learned of his absence, they wrote to Church leaders including Cardinal Sean O'Malley in Boston, who heads a pontifical commission for the Protection of Minors set up by Pope Francis in 2014.
Chief Deputy in the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office Michael Gauger said in 44 years as a police officer he had witnessed many other events where church staff had actually impeded investigations.
"Due to Fr Gallagher's co-operation the case was swiftly resolved and the opportunity for additional crimes was diminished," he wrote.
"Educated in the pattern of behaviour by those engaged in this inappropriate behaviour, the crime could have escalated to something physical which would have been devastating to the victim as well as the Catholic Church."
He urged Cardinal O'Malley to make sure Fr Gallagher "receive accolades for his compliance with criminal investigators".
Detective Debi Phillips - in a memo to Gauger written on May 5 before Fr Gallagher's heart attack - said she had been hindered by the church in a previous investigation and expected to face the same opposition in his case.
"Much to my surprise, I was wrong," she wrote.
"Reverend Gallagher and his staff provided timely evidence that was needed to arrest and ultimately convict Jose Palimattom for the felony charge of Showing Obscene Material to a Child.
"If it wasn't for the co-operation ... other children would have also been victimised."
Fr Gallagher has been living in a holiday home loaned to him by a parishioner since last July.
His Bishop only communicates with him via Fr Gallagher's specialist Canon Lawyer.
He has written numerous letters to bishops and cardinals on both sides of the Atlantic.
Bishop Diarmuid Martin wrote back to him, and left a voice message, and Fr Gallagher believes that the church in Ireland can help "break the wall of silence over here (in Florida)".
He went on: "Because of the structure of the church, each diocese is run separately from the other, so there is no broad church.
"This is now 2016 and this is what happens to whistleblowers in the Catholic Church.
"Pope Francis speaks of ridding our church of the crimes of sexual abuse and being open and honest about doing it. I haven't seen that in Pope Francis's Church yet."
Both the parish where Father Gallagher served and his Diocesan headquarters, including the bishop, were asked to comment.
Despite numerous emails and phone calls to the Palm Beach Diocese, there was no response.
Mgr Robert Oliver, the secretariat of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in Rome - set up by Pope Francis in 2014 - said the commission could not comment on individual cases.
The Commission is headed by American Cardinal Sean O'Malley.
He did not respond to our press query. He did, however, call Father Gallagher last Wednesday and listened to what he had to say.
Fr Palimattom's order in India - the Franciscans Province of St Thomas The Apostle - also declined to comment.
After the priest's arrest, and before his conviction, the order described him as a "good God-fearing priest and a gentleman".
The order also said they had never received any prior complaints in India about the 48-year-old.
The Vatican says its first treaty with Palestinians has come into force, more than two years after the Roman Catholic Church drew criticism from Israel for recognizing the existence of a Palestinian state.The accord, which technically covers church operations in parts of the Holy Land under Palestinian control, was signed in June 2015. It also reaffirms support for a negotiated two-state solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A statement Saturday said the Holy See and what it recognizes as the state of Palestine had notified each other that all necessary procedural steps were completed and that the treaty was in effect. More than 130 other nations have also recognized a Palestinian state, backing a 2012 U.N. General Assembly resolution that recognizes it as an observer, nonmember state. Israel and the United States oppose such recognition, with Israel calling the pact premature and counterproductive. Both governments have insisted that the only way to end the deadly conflict is through negotiations, which have not progressed in years. Followedby a conciliatory visit to the Jews. Now watch how they love the b.s.:
When Pope Francis walked the streets of Rome’s Jewish ghetto on Sunday, he was treading on centuries of painful history — and giving us hope for a better future, Rossella Tercatin writes.
In 1986, Pope John Paul II made history by paying a visit to Rome’s Great Synagogue. In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI visited that synagogue again. In 2016, Pope Francis visited for the third time. As our ancient rabbis were fond of saying — and as Rome’s current chief rabbi Riccardo Di Segni pointed out during the papal visit on Sunday — an act repeated three times becomes a hazaqa, a fixed habit. But just because Pope Francis’s visit shows his desire to continue on the conciliatory path set forth by the Catholic Church decades ago, that does not mean we should take his gesture for granted. As an Italian Jew whose grandparents came here when they were vulnerable political refugees fleeing Rumania in the 1950s, I certainly don’t. And I believe that my fellow Roman Jews don’t either. The pope’s gesture has a very concrete meaning for us, engraved in the memories of the people who still live, and nowadays also thrive, on the very same streets where their ancestors were cruelly persecuted and often pressured or forced to convert. As a matter of fact, I believe that if you want to understand the meaning of Pope Francis’s visit (as well as his predecessors’), there is no better way to do it than by looking at the geography of Rome... And that’s why the message of Pope Francis, who spoke about rejecting anti-Semitism in every form, who reiterated the irrevocability of the covenant between God and the Jewish people, who paid tribute to the victims of the Holocaust and to the survivors who attended the visit, cannot be underestimated.
What a relief that not every Jew is this idiotic. Read a thorough expose of what this one-two papal punch to the gut of the Jews actually means by Dr.Daisy Stern, beginning with one excerpt from a thorough article found at:
Allow me to quote once again from "Redemptionis Anno" of 1984, in which His Holiness Pope John Paul II wrote: "I am convinced that the failure to find an adequate solution to the question of Jerusalem, and the resigned postponement of the problem, only compromise further the longed-for peaceful and just settlement of the crisis of the whole Middle East." What does the Holy See mean by an "adequate solution"? It means recognizing that the situation today is one of conflict. It means that Israelis and Palestinians, with the collaboration of all who can help them, have to reach an agreement which corresponds in some way to their particular legitimate and reasonable aspirations, and respects the principles of justice. As far as the Holy See is concerned, however, the solution of a territorial dispute alone is not enough for Jerusalem, precisely because Jerusalem is an unparalleled reality: it is part of the patrimony of the whole world. And the whole world has shown that it is fully aware of this when, for example, through resolutions of the United Nations it has sought to defend that patrimony. Looking to Jerusalem, the Holy See continues to ask that it be protected by "a special internationally guaranteed Statute."
Now look what I was exposing to the English-speaking world way back in '94:
THE VATICAN'S PLOT AGAINST ISRAEL by Barry Chamish
In March 1994, the newspaper Chadashot revealed a most remarkable secret of the Middle East "peace" process. A friend of Shimon Peres, the French intellectual Marek Halter, claimed in an interview that in May 1993, he delivered a letter from Peres to the pope. Within, Peres promised to internationalize Jerusalem, granting the UN political control of the Old City of Jerusalem, and the Vatican hegemony of the holy sites within. The UN would give the PLO a capital within its new territory and East Jerusalem would become a kind of free trade zone of world diplomacy. Halter's claim was backed by the Italian newspaper La Stampa which added that Arafat was apprised of the agreement and it was included in the secret clauses of the Declaration Of Principles signed in Washington in September 1993. In March 1995, the Israeli radio station Arutz Sheva was leaked a cable from the Israeli Embassy in Rome to Peres's Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem confirming the handover of Jerusalem to the Vatican. This cable was printed on the front page of the radical leftwing Israeli newspaper, Haaretz two days later. A scandal erupted and numerous rabbis who had invited Peres for Passover services cancelled their invitations in protest of his treachery. Peres reacted by claiming that the cable was real but that someone had whited out the word, "not;" the cable really said that Israel would "not" hand Jerusalem over to the holy pontiff. Illustrating the sorry political state of Israel's rabbis, they accepted this cockamamie excuse and re-invited Peres to their tables. However, in the widely distributed minutes of a meeting with Clinton in 1997, Peres reiterated his diplomacy, ending with the words, "as I had previously promised the Holy See." Peres's partner in crime, and the real founder of the Oslo Accord, Yossi Beilin, coordinated his PLO policy with the Vatican. Check the timing; at the same moment that he was finagling an accord with the PLO, he was negotiating an agreement for Vatican recognition of Israel. His deal with the pope became another brief scandal when politicians like Agudat Yisrael head Avraham Shapira and Jerusalem Deputy Mayor, Shmuel Meir were leaked hidden details of Beilin's accord which included, "the extra-territoriality of holy sites in Jerusalem to be transferred to Vatican control." Later, Shapira was neutralized by having $250 million IS debts accrued by his crooked carpet factory forgiven, while Meir was permanently hushed when his car was crushed by a UN truck driven by a PLO driver. The driver, of course, was released forever after being briefly questioned by Israel Police. There is a horrific, even ghastly, background to the obscene bloodshed being poured in the Middle East today. But start with the criminal finaglings of Peres :
FRANCISCANS HONOR SHIMON PERES by Barry Chamish Israeli President Shimon Peres visited Italy for 3 days in early May, 2013. His visit was a predictable betrayal of the Jews, beginning with his new Franciscan "peace" award:"Peres will also hold a series of diplomatic meetings with the President and Prime Minister of Italy, and take part in a ceremony in the city of Assisi. The mayor of Assisi, where hundreds of Franciscan monks live, will present its first-ever Medal of Honor for Peace to President Peres for his "unique contribution to dialogue and the cause of peace." At the ceremony he will receive the Medal of Honor for Peace and will be greeted by "hundreds of Franciscan monks" at the central Basilica, according to an official statement.
But accepting made up accolades from the Franciscans is utterly insulting to anyone with a modicum of understanding of recent Jewish history. From the mid to late '40s, the Franciscans (along with the Dominicans), in what is known as Operation Paperclip, hid in their monasteries over a hundred thousand Nazis, before smuggling them to freedom worldwide. It is estimated that just the US received 30,000, largely Franciscan "refugees." So while in Italy, naturally Peres lavished in the praises of the Nazi saviors and then was practically smothered by a pope, not named like many believe after a talking mule, but by the very same church leader that the Franciscans honor, Francis I:
No sooner had Bergoglio taken office, than Peres invited the new pope to visit Israel, asking him to contribute to peace as a spiritual, rather than a political, leader. He'll be a welcome guest in the Holy Land, as a man of inspiration who can add to the attempt to bring peace in a stormy area," Peres said."All people here, without exception, without difference of religion or nationality, will welcome the newly elected pope."
Now why would Peres offer such a deceitful invitation? Could it be because:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=586&ncid=586&e=3&u=/nm/20030722/wl_nm/mideast_jerusalem_dc Peres Raises 'World Capital' Solution for Jerusalem JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Shimon Peres, the head of Israel's opposition Labor Party, has suggested resolving Israeli-Palestinian conflict over Jerusalem by putting its holy sites under U.N. stewardship, a spokesman said Tuesday. His plan calls for declaring a holy area of sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims in Jerusalem's old walled city as a "world capital," with the U.N. Secretary-General serving as mayor.
BY MICHAEL SNYDER - THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOGJANUARY 20, 2016
Last time around it was subprime mortgages, but this time it is oil that is playing a starring role in a global financial crisis.
Since the start of 2015, 42 North American oil companies have filed for bankruptcy, 130,000 good paying energy jobs have been lost in the United States, and at this point 50 percent of all energy junk bonds are "distressed" according to Standard & Poor s.
As you will see below, some of the big banks have a tremendous amount of loan exposure to the energy industry, and now they are bracing for big losses. And the longer the price of oil stays this low, the worse the carnage is going to get.
Today, the price of oil has been hovering around 29 dollars a barrel, and over the past 18 months the price of oil has fallen by more than 70 percent. This is something that has many U.S. consumers very excited.
The average price of a gallon of gasoline nationally is just $1.89 at the moment, and on Monday it was selling for as low as 46 cents a gallon at one station in Michigan.
But this oil crash is nothing to cheer about as far as the big banks are concerned. During the boom years, those banks gave out billions upon billions of dollars in loans to fund exceedingly expensive drilling projects all over the world.
Now those firms are dropping like flies, and the big banks could potentially be facing absolutely catastrophic losses. The following examples come from CNN&
For instance, Wells Fargo (WFC) is sitting on more than $17 billion in loans to the oil and gas sector. The bank is setting aside $1.2 billion in reserves to cover losses because of the continued deterioration within the energy sector.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is setting aside an extra $124 million to cover potential losses in its oil and gas loans. It warned that figure could rise to $750 million if oil prices unexpectedly stay at their current $30 level for the next 18 months.
Citigroup is another bank that also has a tremendous amount of exposure&
Citigroup (C) built up loan loss reserves in the energy space by $300 million. The bank said the move reflects its view that oil prices are likely to remain low for a longer period of time.
If oil stays around $30 a barrel, Citi is bracing for about $600 million of energy credit losses in the first half of 2016. Citi said that figure could double to $1.2 billion if oil dropped to $25 a barrel and stayed there.
For the moment, these big banks are telling the public that the damage can be contained.
But didn t they tell us the same thing about subprime mortgages in 2008?
We are already seeing bank stocks start to slide precipitously. People are beginning to realize that these banks are dangerously exposed to a lot of really bad deals.
If the price of oil were to shoot back up above 50 dollars in very short order, the damage would probably be manageable. Unfortunately, that does not appear likely to happen. In fact, now that sanctions have been lifted on Iran, the Iranians are planning to flood the world with massive amounts of oil that they have been storing in tankers at sea&
Iran has been carefully planning for its return from the economic penalty box by hoarding tons of oil in tankers at sea.
Now that the U.S. and European Union have lifted some sanctions on Iran, the OPEC country can begin selling its massive stockpile of oil.
The sale of this seaborne oil will allow Iran to get an immediate financial boost before it ramps up production. The onslaught of Iranian oil is coming at a terrible time for the global oil markets, which are already drowning in an epic supply glut.
Just the other day, I explained that some of the biggest banks in the world are now projecting that the price of oil could soon fall much, much lower.
Morgan Stanley says that it could go as low as 20 dollars a barrel, the Royal Bank of Scotland says that it could go as low as 16 dollars a barrel, and Standard Chartered says that it could go as low as 10 dollars a barrel.
But the truth is that the price of oil does not need to go down one penny more to have a catastrophic impact on global financial markets. If it just stays right here, we will see an endless parade of layoffs, energy company bankruptcies and debt defaults. Without any change, junk bonds will continue to crash and financial institutions will continue to go down like dominoes.
We are already experiencing a major disaster. Things are already so bad that some forms of low quality crude oil are literally selling for next to nothing. The following comes from Bloomberg...
Oil is so plentiful and cheap in the U.S. that at least one buyer says it would pay almost nothing to take a certain type of low-quality crude.
Flint Hills Resources LLC, the refining arm of billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch s industrial empire, said it offered to pay $1.50 a barrel Friday for North Dakota Sour, a high-sulfur grade of crude, according to a corrected list of prices posted on its website Monday. It had previously posted a price of -$0.50. The crude is down from $13.50 a barrel a year ago and $47.60 in January 2014.
While the near-zero price is due to the lack of pipeline capacity for a particular variety of ultra low quality crude, it underscores how dire things are in the U.S. oil patch.
A chart that I saw posted on Zero Hedge earlier today can help put all of this into perspective. Whenever the price of oil falls really low relative to the price of gold, there is a major global crisis. Right now an ounce of gold will purchase more oil than ever before, and many believe that this indicates that a new great crisis is upon us...
The number of barrels of oil that a single ounce of gold can buy has never, ever been higher.
All over the planet, big banks are absolutely teeming with bad loans. And to be honest, the big banks in the U.S. are probably in better shape than some of the major banks in Europe and Asia. But once the dominoes start to fall, very few financial institutions are going to escape unscathed.
In the coming days I would expect to see more headlines like we just got out of Italy. Apparently, Italian banks are nearing full meltdown mode, and short selling has been temporarily banned. To me, it appears that we are just inches away from full-blown financial panic in Europe.
However, just like with the last financial crisis, you never quite know where the next "explosion" is going to happen next.
But one thing is for sure the financial crisis that began during the second half of 2015 is raging out of control, and the pain that we have seen so far is just the beginning.
My questions to Archbishop Welby were simple, clear and direct. The reponse from Andrew Nunn is irrelevant and evasive. So why the eerie silence in Lambeth palace?
