Israel and the Palestinians Gaza conflict nothing more than a False flag iron triangle operations designed to deceive the world

I believe that the Israel and Palestinian Gaza conflict is a false flag operation being carried out by Illuminati family’s and Satanic secret society’s to set up World War 3.   The Illuminati family’s control and have infiltrated just about every facet of society they do control key Government offices as well as private corporations through a type of iron triangle. In United States politics, the iron triangle comprises the policy-making relationship among the congressional committees, the bureaucracy, and interest groups.[1]  Illuminati Satanic secret societies, have been behind a wide range of events and disasters going as far back in history as the French Revolution and possibly even farther.

It is a historical fact the Hamas was founded by the Israel government Israel may want to destroy Hamas now. But it played a key role in the group’s creation. According to JerusalemOnline.com  “Israel actively supported Hamas” Documents show that Israel was interested in empowering Hamas in attempt to end the first Intifada. During Operation “Protective Edge”, news leaks website WikiLeaks exposes secret documents which were passed between American diplomats in the 1980’s. These documents allegedly show that Israel was interested in enabling Hamas activity in its beginning, intending to weaken the Palestine Liberation Organization and ending the first Intifada.  Hamas was established in 1987, and has its origins in Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood that the United States General Patraeous, the CIA  Creatures of Jesuit Papacy and the Knights of Malta helped to …Israel and Egypt then imposed an economic blockade on Gaza.  Even US Congressman Ron Paul spoke about how  Israel created Hamas to destabilize Arafat who was very powerful at the time.

Army General David Patraeus, 2010

Army General David Patraeus, 2010

Army General David Patraeous is a Jesuit Temporal Coadjutor.  He is beloved by the Jesuits at Georgetown University at the nation’s capital in Washington, District of Columbia Catholics.  General “Betray-us” has spoken at Georgetown several times!  Additionally, the CIA was a creation of the Jesuits in 1947 via the National Security Act signed into law by 33rd Degree “Dirty Harry” Truman!  Since then, the American, British, Soviet/Russian, German, French, Canadian, Israeli, Interpol and all the other intelligence agencies around the world have been working together to form the pope’s modern day Holy Office of the Inquisition!

Thanks to the Mossad, Israel’s “Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks”, the Hamas was allowed to reinforce its presence in the occupied territories. Meanwhile, Arafat’s Fatah Movement for National Liberation as well as the Palestinian Left were subjected to the most brutal form of repression and intimidation.  Let us not forget that it was Israel, which in fact created Hamas. According to Zeev Sternell, historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, “Israel thought that it was a smart ploy to push the Islamists against the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO)”. The Hamas had built its strength through its various acts of sabotage of the peace process, in a way which was compatible with the interests of the Israeli government. In turn, the latter sought in a number of ways, to prevent the application of the Oslo accords. In other words, Hamas was fulfilling the functions for which it was originally created: to prevent the creation of a Palestinian State. And in this regard, Hamas and Ariel Sharon, see eye to eye; they are exactly on the same wave length. 

A majority of the worlds problems, from poverty to world wars, are the cause of International “satanic secret society,” Banking cartel.  Many or the Worlds religions and their representatives are secretly being controlled by Secret Satanic Society’s such as the most famous Freemasons who have been influencing and trying to control secular society with a Satanic agenda that Albert Pike (December 29, 1809 – April 2, 1891) wrote about in a book he published called Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in 1871. Albert Pike was an American attorney, Confederate officer, writer, and FreemasonAlbert Pike wrote a letter to Giuseppe Mazzini, dated August 15, 1871.  This letter graphically outlined plans for three world wars that were seen as necessary to bring about the One World Order, and we can marvel at how accurately it has predicted events that have already taken place. 

This section Copied from: Rense.com

Pike’s Letter to Mazzini: It is a commonly believed fallacy that for a short time, the Pike letter to Mazzini was on display in the British Museum Library in London, and it was copied by William Guy Carr, former Intelligence Officer in the Royal Canadian Navy. The British Library has confirmed in writing to me that such a document has never been in their possession. Furthermore, in Carr’s book, Satan, Prince of this World, Carr includes the following footnote:

“The Keeper of Manuscripts recently informed the author that this letter is NOT catalogued in the British Museum Library. It seems strange that a man of Cardinal Rodriguez’s knowledge should have said that it WAS in 1925”.

It appears that Carr learned about this letter from Cardinal Caro y Rodriguez of Santiago, Chile, who wrote The Mystery of Freemasonry Unveiled.

To date, no conclusive proof exists to show that this letter was ever written. Nevertheless, the letter is widely quoted and the topic of much discussion.

Following are apparently extracts of the letter, showing how Three World Wars have been planned for many generations.

“The First World War must be brought about in order to permit the Illuminati to overthrow the power of the Czars in Russia and of making that country a fortress of atheistic Communism. The divergences caused by the “agentur” (agents) of the Illuminati between the British and Germanic Empires will be used to foment this war. At the end of the war, Communism will be built and used in order to destroy the other governments and in order to weaken the religions.” 2

Students of history will recognize that the political alliances of England on one side and Germany on the other, forged between 1871 and 1898 by Otto von Bismarck, co-conspirator of Albert Pike, were instrumental in bringing about the First World War.

“The Second World War must be fomented by taking advantage of the differences between the Fascists and the political Zionists. This war must be brought about so that Nazism is destroyed and that the political Zionism be strong enough to institute a sovereign state of Israel in Palestine. During the Second World War, International Communism must become strong enough in order to balance Christendom, which would be then restrained and held in check until the time when we would need it for the final social cataclysm.” 3

After this Second World War, Communism was made strong enough to begin taking over weaker governments. In 1945, at the Potsdam Conference between Truman, Churchill, and Stalin, a large portion of Europe was simply handed over to Russia, and on the other side of the world, the aftermath of the war with Japan helped to sweep the tide of Communism into China.

(Readers who argue that the terms Nazism and Zionism were not known in 1871 should remember that the Illuminati invented both these movements. In addition, Communism as an ideology, and as a coined phrase, originates in France during the Revolution. In 1785, Restif coined the phrase four years before revolution broke out. Restif and Babeuf, in turn, were influenced by Rousseau – as was the most famous conspirator of them all, Adam Weishaupt.)

 

“The Third World War must be fomented by taking advantage of the differences caused by the “agentur” of the “Illuminati” between the political Zionists and the leaders of Islamic World. The war must be conducted in such a way that Islam (the Moslem Arabic World) and political Zionism (the State of Israel) mutually destroy each other. Meanwhile the other nations, once more divided on this issue will be constrained to fight to the point of complete physical, moral, spiritual and economical exhaustion We shall unleash the Nihilists and the atheists, and we shall provoke a formidable social cataclysm which in all its horror will show clearly to the nations the effect of absolute atheism, origin of savagery and of the most bloody turmoil. Then everywhere, the citizens, obliged to defend themselves against the world minority of revolutionaries, will exterminate those destroyers of civilization, and the multitude, disillusioned with Christianity, whose deistic spirits will from that moment be without compass or direction, anxious for an ideal, but without knowing where to render its adoration, will receive the true light through the universal manifestation of the pure doctrine of Lucifer, brought finally out in the public view. This manifestation will result from the general reactionary movement which will follow the destruction of Christianity and atheism, both conquered and exterminated at the same time.” 4

 

Since the terrorist attacks of Sept 11, 2001, world events, and in particular in the Middle East, show a growing unrest and instability between Modern Zionism and the Arabic World. This is completely in line with the call for a Third World War to be fought between the two, and their allies on both sides. This Third World War is still to come, and recent events show us that it is not far off.

We have been given warnings over the years by credible sources such as JFK’s Speech about Secret Societies that probably cost him his life….but, that’s what heroes do like Dwight D. Eisenhower  farewell address  speech on Jan.17,1961 also gives a warning of the military industrial complex that is controlled by the Satanic Zionists secret societies. Military Industrial Complex (MIC): is concept commonly used to refer to policy relationships between governments, national armed forces, and industrial support they obtain from the commercial sector in political approval for research, development, production, use, and support for military training, weapons, equipment, and facilities within the national defense and security policy.

It is our mission to give solutions and a platform to those Patriots who oppose to the Illuminati Satanic agenda of a One World Order.  Anti-Illuminati Party, should God deign to avail us, is to defend and promote real “Liberty and Justice for all,” formed by the wisdom contained in the United States Constitution, particularly its Bill of Rights, and inspired by the U. S. way of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

– Our strategy for promoting these consists in grassroots educational and political campaigns.
– Crucially, we of the Anti-Illuminati Party reject any unthinkingly trendy denial or politically expedient downplaying of the well-established fact that the N.W.O. Globalists, or “Illuminati,” do in fact occupy key offices and abuse their clout to promote the goals of their élitist cabal.
– Because of their powerful members they can, and in fact do, silence and manipulate the American People.
– To indict, counter, undermine, block and expose these tactics of theirs constitutes our mission, and our lifeblood.

– If sound government is to be restored, all the New World Order Globalists must have all their cheaply-bought authority pulled: “We must remove the weeds from public office: they are choking Freedom and the Tree of Liberty” (Daniel J Leach, Jr.).
– The Anti-Illuminati Party identifies the N.W.O. as “an élitist association that exploits the commoner and violates the United States Republic’s first principles.”
– We deem it imperative that every United Statesman must organize to indict, counter, undermine, block and expose these High Traitors.
– We the members of the Anti-Illuminati Party resolve to support no N.W.O. globalist or Illuminist/Illuminatus in any way or sense.
– Under the “Anti-Illuminati Party” banner we aim to unite those who are too often disenfranchised by the current political climate.

– We of the Anti-Illuminati Party are dedicated to revitalizing our communities by speaking Truth, Hope, Goodwill, Unity and Peace.
– We shall work tirelessly to cultivate “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” wherever and whenever we can.
– To best find and implement solutions to this end, we place a high value on Party-wide collaboration.
– We shall operate lawfully and respectfully in all matters at all times.
– We shall not profit from our endeavors.
– We believe in “Liberty and Justice for all.”
– With the help of God—that is of supreme Love, Light, Spirit and Truth—we shall not waver in this mission to collaborate with all citizens toward the construction of a better community.

 John Fitzgerald “Jack” Kennedy speech also  (May 29, 1917 — November 22, 1963)


This section copied from: Wikipedia 

False flag (or black flag) describes covert military or paramilitary operations designed to deceive in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by entities, groups or nations other than those who actually planned and executed them. Operations carried out during peace-time by civilian organizations, as well as covert government agencies, may by extension be called false flag operations if they seek to hide the real organization behind an operation. Geraint Hughes uses the term to refer to those acts carried out by “military or security force personnel, which are then blamed on terrorists.”[1]

In its most modern usage, the term may also refer to those events which governments are cognizant of and able to stop but choose to allow to happen (or “stand down”), as a strategy to entangle or prepare the nation for war. Furthermore, the term “false flag terrorism” may even be used in those instances when violence is carried out by groups or organizations which, whether they know it or not, are being supported or controlled by the “victim” nation. deHaven-Smith argues that the terminology has become looser in recent years due to the increasingly complex levels of “duplicity” and “international intrigue” between states.[2] Some argue that false flags are methods used by deep states as a form of deep politics.[3]

The name “false flag” has its origins in naval warfare where the use of a flag other than the belligerent’s true battle flag as a ruse de guerre, before engaging the enemy, has long been acceptable.[4] Such operations are also acceptable in certain circumstances in land warfare, to deceive enemies in similar ways providing that the deception is not perfidious and all such deceptions are discarded before opening fire upon the enemy.


All about Re-Education Camps In America

Leaked U.S. Army Document Outlines Plan For Re-Education Camps In America

By Paul Joseph Watson

A leaked U.S. Army document prepared for the Department of Defense contains shocking plans for “political activists” to be pacified by “PSYOP officers” into developing an “appreciation of U.S. policies” while detained in prison camps inside the United States.

The document, entitled FM 3-39.40 Internment and Resettlement Operations (PDF) was originally released on a restricted basis to the DoD in February 2010, but has now been leaked online.
The manual outlines policies for processing detainees into internment camps both globally and inside the United States. International agencies like the UN and the Red Cross are named as partners in addition to domestic federal agencies including the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA.
The document makes it clear that the policies apply “within U.S. territory” and involve, “DOD support to U.S. civil authorities for domestic emergencies, and for designated law enforcement and other activities,” including “man-made disasters, accidents, terrorist attacks and incidents in the U.S. and its territories.”
The manual states, “These operations may be performed as domestic civil support operations,” and adds that “The authority to approve resettlement such operations within U.S. territories,” would require a “special exception” to The Posse Comitatus Act, which can be obtained via “the President invoking his executive authority.” The document also makes reference to identifying detainees using their “social security number.”
Aside from enemy combatants and other classifications of detainees, the manual includes the designation of “civilian internees,” in other words citizens who are detained for, “security reasons, for protection, or because he or she committed an offense against the detaining power.”
Once the detainees have been processed into the internment camp, the manual explains how they will be “indoctrinated,” with a particular focus on targeting political dissidents, into expressing support for U.S. policies.
The re-education process is the responsibility of the “Psychological Operations Officer,” whose job it is to design “PSYOP products that are designed to pacify and acclimate detainees or DCs to accept U.S. I/R facility authority and regulations,” according to the document.

Political activists would be pacified to sympathize with the government

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Thursday, May 3, 2012

RELATED: Yes, The Re-Education Camp Manual Does Apply Domestically to U.S. Citizens

A leaked U.S. Army document prepared for the Department of Defense contains shocking plans for “political activists” to be pacified by “PSYOP officers” into developing an “appreciation of U.S. policies” while detained in prison camps inside the United States.

The document, entitled FM 3-39.40 Internment and Resettlement Operations (PDF) was originally released on a restricted basis to the DoD in February 2010, but has now been leaked online.

The manual outlines policies for processing detainees into internment camps both globally and inside the United States. International agencies like the UN and the Red Cross are named as partners in addition to domestic federal agencies including the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA.

The document makes it clear that the policies apply “within U.S. territory” and involve, “DOD support to U.S. civil authorities for domestic emergencies, and for designated law enforcement and other activities,” including “man-made disasters, accidents, terrorist attacks and incidents in the U.S. and its territories.”

The manual states, “These operations may be performed as domestic civil support operations,” and adds that “The authority to approve resettlement such operations within U.S. territories,” would require a “special exception” to The Posse Comitatus Act, which can be obtained via “the President invoking his executive authority.” The document also makes reference to identifying detainees using their “social security number.”

Aside from enemy combatants and other classifications of detainees, the manual includes the designation of “civilian internees,” in other words citizens who are detained for, “security reasons, for protection, or because he or she committed an offense against the detaining power.”

Once the detainees have been processed into the internment camp, the manual explains how they will be “indoctrinated,” with a particular focus on targeting political dissidents, into expressing support for U.S. policies.

The re-education process is the responsibility of the “Psychological Operations Officer,” whose job it is to design “PSYOP products that are designed to pacify and acclimate detainees or DCs to accept U.S. I/R facility authority and regulations,” according to the document.

The manual lists the following roles that are designated to the “PSYOP team”.

– Identifies malcontents, trained agitators, and political leaders within the facility who may try to organize resistance or create disturbances.

– Develops and executes indoctrination programs to reduce or remove antagonistic attitudes.

– Identifies political activists.

– Provides loudspeaker support (such as administrative announcements and facility instructions when necessary).

– Helps the military police commander control detainee and DC populations during emergencies.

– Plans and executes a PSYOP program that produces an understanding and appreciation of U.S. policies and actions.

Remember, this is not restricted to insurgents in Iraq who are detained in prison camps – the manual makes it clear that the policies also apply “within U.S. territory” under the auspices of the DHS and FEMA. The document adds that, “Resettlement operations may require large groups of civilians to be quartered temporarily (less than 6 months) or semipermanently (more than 6 months).”

  • A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The historical significance of states using internment camps to re-educate detainees centers around the fact that it is almost exclusively practiced by repressive and dictatorial regimes like the former Soviet Union and Stalinist regimes like modern day North Korea.

We have exhaustively documented preparations for the mass internment of citizens inside America, but this is the first time that language concerning the re-education of detainees, in particular political activists, has cropped up in our research.

In 2009, the National Guard posted a number of job opportunities looking for “Internment/Resettlement Specialists” to work in “civilian internee camps” within the United States.

In December last year it was also revealed that Halliburton subsidiary KBR is seeking sub-contractors to staff and outfit “emergency environment” camps located in five regions of the United States.

In 2006, KBR was contracted by Homeland Security to build detention centers designed to deal with “an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S,” or the rapid development of unspecified “new programs” that would require large numbers of people to be interned.

Rex 84, short for Readiness Exercise 1984, was established under the pretext of a “mass exodus” of illegal aliens crossing the Mexican/US border, the same pretense used in the language of the KBR request for services.

During the Iran-Contra hearings in 1987, however, it was revealed that the program was a secretive “scenario and drill” developed by the federal government to suspend the Constitution, declare martial law, assign military commanders to take over state and local governments, and detain large numbers of American citizens determined by the government to be “national security threats.”

Under the indefinite detention provision of the National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed by Barack Obama on New Year’s Eve, American citizens can be kidnapped and detained indefinitely without trial.

Read a portion of the Internment and Resettlement Operations manual below.

The following portions of the document make it clear that the policies apply “within U.S. territory” (as well as abroad in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan) and that domestic federal agencies are involved.

*********************

Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show and Infowars Nightly News.

All ABOUT ONE VETERAN’S BATTLE AGAINST FORCED VACCINATIONS, THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY!

About

    This is me, Sean Niemi. Or, at least, it WAS me. Last year when I was still an Army Combat Medic. I am a happily married man with 5 sons and 1 daughter. Yeah, I know… HUGE family! Anyway, until April 2, 2012 I was in the Army, I served 2 Combat deployments (1 each to Iraq and Afghanistan) and was doing something I loved… helping people be healthy. Unfortunately, I wasn’t very good at doing “the Army thing” and consistently informed my soldiers that the root problems to most of their aches and pains were unhealthy lifestyles. The Army wanted me to just treat the symptoms and send the guys back out to the front lines. I always looked for the underlying cause of their ailments and tried to help fix them. Imagine that! A medical professional actually trying to HEAL people instead of just masking their problems with drugs and medications. Needless to say, I wasn’t very popular with the HOOAH HOOAH types and once I requested a Religious Exemption from vaccines/immunizations I was threatened, (in more ways than one…. read my early posts on here for the whole sordid story), and eventually given my walking papers. I don’t necessarily see my current state as punishment. I see it more as an opportunity, an opportunity to finally tell the truth about what has happened to me. An opportunity to try and help others going through similar situations in their own lives. Good luck to all of you and …. Happy Reading.

This is my story of what I have been through while trying to exercise my Constitutionally guaranteed rights to not be vaccinated in accordance with my religious beliefs.

****Please: make sure to check out my blog at
http://www.vaccinebattles.wordpress.com
and my Facebook page at
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Soldier-wins-fight-against-forced-military-vacc…

NDAA Law is Struck down a Victory for Freedom and Liberty!

On Wednesday, activists and journalists across America rejoiced in a federal judge’s ruling that the National Defense Authorization Act is unconstitutional. The judge sided with the plaintiffs when it came to section 1021 of the act, which allows for the military to indefinitely detain Americans at home and abroad without due process. But now Congress is seeking to create a new NDAA. On Friday, the US House of Representatives approved the 2013 NDAA and even shot down an amendment that would cancel the indefinite detention provisions. Carl Mayer, attorney for The Mayer Law Group representing the plaintiffs, joins us for more on the NDAA.

Khazar Empire

Khazaria-home-of-the-Ashken

Who is is pushing NDAA and all the police state legislation: LIEBERMAN, LEVIN, FEINSTEIN, BOXER, SCHUMER, CANTOR. ALL the head chairs of ALL the house and senate committees are kazarian JEWS Who runs the fed? kazarian JEWS, Ben SHALOM Bernanke , Alan Greenspan and most of the federal reserve governors are kazarian JEWS, 70% of the top positions at GOLDMAN Sachs are kazarian JEWS, who do you think orchestrated the financial crisis? CFTC=Garry gentler=kazarian JEW

Unfortunately for the people of the world everything is going according to the New World Order Plan. But what is this New World Order Plan? In a nutshell the Plan is this. The Dark Agenda of the secret planners of the New World Order is to reduce the world’s population to a “sustainable” level “in perpetual balance with nature” by a ruthless Population Control Agenda via Population and Reproduction Control. A Mass Culling of the People via Planned Parenthood, toxic adulteration of water and food supplies, release of weaponised man-made viruses, man-made pandemics, mass vaccination campaigns and a planned Third World War. Then, the Dark Agenda will impose upon the drastically reduced world population a global feudal-fascist state with a World Government, World Religion, World Army, World Central Bank, World Currency and a micro-chipped population. In short, to kill 90% of the world’s population and to control all aspects of the human condition and thus rule everyone, everywhere from the cradle to the grave.

Truth about Austerity Measures and Bailouts It’s Just Money for The Illuminati Family’s!

AntiNewWorldOrderParty.com
AntiNewWorldOrderParty.com

Austerity Measures and Bailouts are just payments to the Illuminati Family’s by way or proxy!  First the Banksters get Nations in dept by loans and bailouts that can not be paid back, like what is happening in America.  Second The Nation makes governmental cuts like what is happening in EUROPE  aka stealing pensions , cutting services like Parks, Police Teachers Firemen ect ect! Then the Government sells off Parks Government owned property, Roads Water ways Parks ect ect to the Illuminati Bankster Familys AKA the MOBSTERS!

This is all part of the (The Hegelian Dialectic) aka The Problem Reaction Solution method!  .. the Illuminati family’s or the ruling elite create a problem, anticipating in advance the reaction that the population will have to the problem and then have the prepared Solution!  Example an Global Economic Melt down.  The after the people react and demand a solution to the created problems that was the  desired agenda of the ruling elite.  Then and only then the Pre prepared agenda of the Global Elite Banksters  presented as the solution such as a one world Governmental Monetary system or Global Governmental system to fix the problem. 

The bad part about this conspiracy is that along with the reaction to the problem the population becomes violent, in protesting the Austerity Measures implemented by the Governments!  And once again (The Hegelian Dialectic) comes into place with  FEMA Camps AKA Concentration Camps for the protesters dissidents and homeless people effected by the Illuminati s Global Agenda 

In economicsausterity is a policy of deficit-cutting, lower spending, and a reduction in the amount of benefits and public servicesprovided.[1] Austerity policies are often used by governments to reduce their deficit spending[2] while sometimes coupled with increases in taxes to pay back creditors to reduce debt.[3] “Austerity” was named the word of the year by Merriam-Webster in 2010.[4]

The Expansionary fiscal contraction hypothesis is the economic theory that explores whether government austerity can result in economic expansion. This hypothesis indicates that expansion from austerity is very limited and occurs only during periods when consumption is not constrained.

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[edit]Reasons for undertaking austerity measures

Austerity measures are typically taken if there is a threat that a government cannot honor its debt liabilities. Such a situation may arise if a government has borrowed in foreign currencies that they have no right to issue or they have been legally forbidden from issuing their own currency. In such a situation, banks may lose trust in a government’s ability and/or willingness to pay and either refuse to roll over existing debts or demand extremely high interest rates. In such situations, inter-governmental institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may demand austerity measures in exchange for functioning as a lender of last resort. When the IMF requires such a policy, the terms are known as ‘IMF conditionalities‘.

[edit]Typical effects

Development projects, welfare, and other social spending are common programs that are targeted for cuts: Taxes, port and airport fees, train and bus fares are common sources of increased user fees.

In many cases, austerity measures have been associated with protest movements claiming significant decline in standard of living. A case in point is the nation of Greece. The financial crisis—particularly the austerity package put forth by the EU and the IMF— was met with great anger by the Greek public, leading to riots and social unrest. On 27 June 2011, trade union organizations commenced a forty-eight hour labor strike in advance of a parliamentary vote on the austerity package, the first such strike since 1974. Massive demonstrations were organized throughout Greece, intended to pressure parliament members into voting against the package. The second set of austerity measures was approved on 29 June 2011, with 155 out of 300 members of parliament voting in favor. However, one United Nations official warned that the second package of austerity measures in Greece could pose a violation of human rights.[5]

[edit]Controversy

Austerity programs can be controversial. In the Overseas Development Institute briefing paper “The IMF and the Third World” the ODI addresses five major complaints against the IMF’s austerity ‘conditionalities’. These complaints include these measures being “anti-developmental”, “self-defeating”, and “they tend to have an adverse impact on the poorest segments of the population”. In many situations, austerity programs are implemented by countries that were previously under dictatorial regimes, leading to criticism that the citizens are forced to repay the debts of their oppressors.[6][7][8]

Economist Richard D. Wolff has stated that instead of cutting government programs and raising taxes, austerity should be attained by collecting (taxes) from non-profit multinational corporations, churches, and private tax-exempt institutions such as universities, which currently pay no taxes at all.[9]

In 2009, 2010, and 2011, workers and students in Greece and other European countries demonstrated against cuts to pensions, public services and education spending as a result of government austerity measures.[10][11] Following the announcement of plans to introduce austerity measures in Greece, massive demonstrations were witnessed throughout the country, aimed at pressing parliamentarians to vote against the austerity package. In Athens alone 19 arrests were made while 46 civilians and 38 policemen had been injured by June 29, 2011. The third round austerity has been approved by the Greece parliament on February 12, 2012 and has met strong opposition especially in the cities of Athens and Thessaloniki where the police have clashed with demonstrators.

Opponents argue that austerity measures tend to depress economic growth, which ultimately causes governments to lose more money in tax revenues. In countries with already anemic economic growth, austerity can engender deflation which inflates existing debt. This can also cause the country to fall into a liquidity trap, causing credit markets to freeze up and unemployment to increase. Opponents point to cases in Ireland and Spain in which austerity measures instituted in response to financial crises in 2009 proved ineffective in combating public debt, and placing those countries at risk of defaulting in late 2010.[12]

[edit]The “Age of Austerity”

The term “Age of austerity” was popularized by British Conservative leader David Cameron in his keynote speech to the Conservative party forum in Cheltenham on April 26, 2009, when he committed to put an end to what he called years of excessive government spending.[13] [14]

[edit]Word of the year

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary named the word “austerity” as its “Word of the Year” for 2010 because of the number of web searches this word generated that year. According to the president and publisher of the dictionary, “austerity had more than 250,000 searches on the dictionary’s free online [website] tool” and the spike in searches “came with more coverage of the debt crisis”.[15]

[edit]Examples of austerity

This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriateEditing help is available. (June 2011)

Anti-austerity protests, chiefly taking the form of massive street protests by those affected by them and some of them also involving a greater or lesser degree of militancy, have happened regularly across various countries, especially on the European continent, since the onset of the present-day worldwide financial crisis. The phenomena are, collectively, decidedly separate, conceptually, from the austerity measures themselves, even though the enactment of the latter is a prerequisite for the former. This is because they are of the sizes they are; that they cut across age groups (e.g., both students and older workers) and other demographics; that they can incorporate many different types of actions in many different segments of a given country’s economy including education funding, infrastructure funding, manufacturing, aviation, social welfare, and many many others; and that the phenomenon of austerity, when explained by itself, is inadequate to properly encompass the phenomenon of widespread opposition to it, and that opposition’s nuances and fluctuations.

Anti-austerity actions are varied, ongoing, and can be either sporadic and loosely-organised or longer-term and tightly-organised. Theycontinue as of the present day. Recent upheavals in Tunisia and in Egypt in 2011 were originally largely anti-austerity and anti-unemployment before turning into wider social revolutions.

Most recently, the global and still-spreading Occupy movement has arguably been the most noticeable physical enactment of anti-austerity and populist sentiment.

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[edit]Background

Austerity is mainly noticed by a country when its aspects (usually known as ‘cuts’) are implemented unilaterally and forcibly (a “hatchet job“) rather than through a more careful strategy of creeping normalcy wherein such cuts are made to seem reasonable, or at least tolerable. Austerity is usually only referred to by that name when it is part of a sweeping package or packages of reforms that have the openly-admitted effect of great or even complete overhaul of major aspects of a society’s socioeconomic core facilities, programs and/or services. Because of this nature, austerity programs in general often are virulently opposed by the populations experiencing them, as they tend to have an impact on the poorest segments of the population. Those who are pro-austerity (who usually refer to the process as “deficit reduction”) usually counter that these poorest segments of the population would also suffer the most should a debt crisisoccur[citation needed], an argument rejected by most anti-austerity individuals.

Prior to the 2010 European sovereign debt crisis, in many situations, austerity programs were implemented by countries that were previously under dictatorial regimes (e.g., Portugal, Greece, Spain), leading to criticism that the citizens are forced to repay the debts of their oppressors.[1][2][3] In Greece, for example, the current austerity measures are popularly viewed as a combination of leftover policies of the 1967-1974 military dictatorship in that country on the one hand, and the “betrayal” of socialist principles by the current parliamentary-majority Panhellenic Socialist Movement on the other hand, due to that party’s wholesale enactment of extremely severe austerity measures in the country, which most everyday Greeks conceive of as intensely right-wing in nature, at least when compared to the party’s officially-stated core beliefs.[citation needed]

In the present-day enactments of various “austerity budgets”, however, a prior history of dictatorship is not necessarily a precondition for the implementation of such a budget by a given government. Examples of countries implementing severe austerity measures without a history of what the world’s mainstream media would typically consider a ‘dictatorship’, include the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, the latter of which witnessed its housing market completely (rather than partially as elsewhere) collapse, and the Republic eventually appealing for a massive bailout from the International Monetary Fund, “in exchange for” implementation of a very severe austerity programme. The austerity measures and the terms of the IMF bailout became major aspects of the 2008–2011 Irish financial crisis, and popular anger over these issues played a very major role in the loss of governmental power of Fianna Fáil to opposition parties in the 2011 Irish general election. The loss was so complete and so total for Fianna Fáil that many commentators remarked that the results were “historic”. Fine Gael and the Labour Party entered in to a coalition government with one another, and Fine Gael’s leaders have vowed to re-negotiate the terms of the IMF bailout so that austerity can be slowed or stopped and the Irish economy can be given a chance to grow again.[4] Sinn Féin, which for the first time also won a notable percentage in the election, has called for a nationwide referendum over whether the bailout agreement should be scrapped altogether, but this suggestion has been met with dismissal by officials.[5]

Austerity in most European countries, including Spain and Italy — where there have been massive anti-austerity protests, wildcat strikes, and union-organized industrial actions of various types at semi-regular intervals since late 2008, earning for the most part massive worldwide media attention — is by no means limited to what could be the ‘expected’ areas of the economy that might in theory experience direct penalties as a result of gross mismanagement, such as financial institutions. In fact, financial institutions rarely, if ever, truly receive such ‘punishment’ by a country’s government; austerity-like levies could perfectly well be imposed on them for causing, or helping to cause, the crisis that leads to the austerity measures in the first place, but typically are not. Instead, it is argued (chiefly by people engaging in anti-austerity protests, but also some economists as well) that rather than ‘punish’ the banks and others truly responsible for the crisis, the government is instead ‘punishing’ regular people for the ‘crimes’ of others, namely the ‘elite’ and/or greedy professional money-handlers engaging in market manipulation.

[edit]Examples

100,000 peaceful anti-austerity protesters in front of the parliament of Greece on 29 June 2011.

  • The May–July 2011 Greek protests, also known as the “Indignant Citizens Movement” or the “Greek indignados”, started demonstrating throughout Greece on 25 May 2011;[6] the movement’s largest demonstration was on 5 June, with 300,000 people gathering in front of the Greek Parliament,[7] while the organizers put the number to 500,000.[8] The protests lasted for over a month without any violent incidents, while on 29 June 2011, amid a violent police crackdown and accusations of police brutality by international media and Amnesty International,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15] the square was evacuated but demonstrations continued the next day despite the crackdown;[16][17] they officially ended on 7 August 2011,[18] but resumed in October.
  • The 2011 Spanish protests, whose participants are sometimes referred to as the “indignados“, are a series of ongoing anti-austerity demonstrations in Spain that rose to prominence beginning on 15 May 2011; thus, the movement is also sometimes referred to as the May 15 or M-15 movement as well. It is a collection of several different instances of continuous demonstrations countrywide, with a common origin in internet social networks and the Democracia Real Ya web presence, along with 200 other small associations.[19]
  • In late March 2011 the Portuguese Prime Minister resigned a few hours after the latest austerity bill he backed was rejected by the rest of government. The government called that particular austerity round unacceptable.[20] In his resignation speech, Jose Socrates expressed concern that an IMF bailout akin to Greece and Ireland would now be unavoidable.
  • In mid-March 2011 the British Medical Association held an emergency meeting at which it broadly decided to emphatically oppose pending legislation in the British Parliament, the Health and Social Care Bill, that would overhaul the functioning of the National Health Service. Dr Layla Jader, a public health physician, said: “The NHS needs evolution not revolution – these reforms are very threatening to the future of the NHS. If they go through, our children will look back and say how could you allow this to happen?” And Dr Barry Miller, an anaethetist from Bolton, added: “The potential to do phenomenal damage is profound. I haven’t seen any evidence these proposals will improve healthcare in the long-term.”[21] There have also been various grassroots groups of UK citizenry virulently opposing the pending new bill, including NHS Direct Action,[22] 38 Degrees,[23] and the trade union Unite.[24]
  • One of the United Kingdom‘s most severe austerity measures came into the force of law on 9 December 2010: spending for higher education and tuition subsidies and assistance in English universities — historically rather substantial in scale — was cut by an astounding total of 80%.[25] That announcement and its implications, which included a near-tripling of student tuition fees from their previous levels[26] up to a new ceiling of £9000/year, led to a huge backlash amongst students who almost immediately took to the streets over various non-sequential days against this announcement, squaring off with police on several occasions including an instance where some students angrily entered the Conservative headquarters and smashed windows and destroyed its interior.[27]On the day of the passage of the measure itself, there was an explosion of street violence by enraged students and their allies, especially in London. There is an ongoing law enforcement investigation into, and even active pursuing of,[28] the participants of the violence over the various protest days, with particular attention focusing on the moments when a number of protesters successfully attacked a royal car driving on its way to a London event,[29] although they did not injure its occupants. Shouts of “off with their heads” were reportedly heard.[30] On 25 March 2011, Charlie Gilmour, son of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, became one of the more high-profile individuals to be officially charged in relation to those events.[31] As a result of these protests, a number of groups formed to combat the austerity measures that began with the cuts to higher education. One such example is Bloomsbury Fightback!, which is a group of radical students and workers in Bloomsbury, London, centred around the Bloomsbury Colleges in theUniversity of London and focusing on organising around education and employment issues, of which many are the result of the austerity measures, .
  • The group UK Uncut is one outgrowth of the anger felt by average citizens at austerity, albeit the group focuses not so much on combating the cuts themselves as on demanding that the rich, rather than the poor, pay the shortfalls causing the austerity in the first place — a sort of “tax the rich” movement. UK Uncut attempts to organise flash mob protests inside the highest-profile buildings of the businesses of the rich people avoiding tax or paying less than they should.
  • Around the same time as the heating-up of the England protests (but before the passing of the bill), students in Italy occupied theleaning tower of Pisa in a similar protest regarding its own educational system.[32]
  • On 27 November 2010, a massive protest against pending austerity took place in Dublin;[33] The Irish Examiner news service also reports on a 7 December 2010 clash around the Dáil where protesters threw smoke bombs and flares at police.[34] Additionally, La Scala in Italy experienced a clash on 8 December 2010 including scuffles with police.[35]
  • More generally, throughout 2009 and 2010, workers and students in Greece and other European countries demonstrated against cuts to pensions, public services and education spending as a result of government austerity measures.[36] There was a brief airport strike in Spain in December 2010, and assorted brief “general strike”-like actions in France have taken place, particularly around the very controversial plan of the French government to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62, a proposal which eventually successfully passed.
  • Further protests have since taken place in Greece and elsewhere, have continued throughout 2011 and 2012,[37] including in Nigeriawith major large street clashes against the withdrawal of fuel subsidies. There was also a major protest in London by UK groups from across that country on 26 March 2011,[38] centred around a protest call initially made by the Trades Union Congress but subsequently involving many other groups. In general, the UK’s round of austerity measures, or “cuts”, from April 2011 onward are understood by most of the population to be, as an aggregated phenomenon, the worst withdrawal of public services since those services’ foundings, in the early 20th century and the post-World War II era. The coalition government currently in power in Britain repeatedly reassures the public that these public sector cuts will be replaced by a “Big Society” underpinned by charitiesstart-up businesses and private enterprise. Critics counter on the one hand that such a model is effective back-door privatisation, and on the other hand that even assuming the “Big Society” is a genuine populist initiative, it still fails conceptually, since the very charities and start-up businesses touted in this model are also the ones being severely slashed or eliminated by the new austerity-fuelled economics of the government.
  • Participants in more militant forms of protest engaged in during the 26th March demonstration, who in total only comprised 1,500 people out of the estimated 250,000-500,000 total participants, have been relentlessly attacked by the government as “mindless thugs”[39] with the UK’s mainstream media including the BBC generally supporting this perception. This remains the case even though the fundamental seriousness of damage thus far remains debatable; much reporting seems to have focused on the smashing of a Santander bank branch’s glass entranceway doors by largely anarchist activists, who would have also been behind the simultaneous destruction of several automated teller machines and the scrawling of “class war” in graffiti on neighbouring walls — rather than destruction of infrastructure such as roads, bridges, schools or homes that would have indisputably comprised terrorismby any objective measure. There are those who would therefore argue that the activists, even if misguided in their actions, still technically only targeted the institutions (i.e., banks) perceived responsible for the cuts, and did not cross the line into more general mayhem. Nevertheless, the Home Secretary Theresa May vociferously advocates the review by authorities of UK terrorism law to determine whether the Metropolitan Police can legally extend their own powers of arrest and detention using those provisions. Talk of the approximately 1,500 people involved in the militant aspects of the anti-cuts march almost totally eclipsed the more general event of up to half a million peaceable, albeit still angry, protesters who say they have very real, very personal grievances against the government’s cuts plans.

[edit]Perspectives

Economist Richard D. Wolff has stated that instead of cutting government programs and raising taxes, austerity should be attained by collecting from non-profit multinational corporations, churches, and private tax-exempt institutions such as universities, which currently pay no taxes at all.[40] Groups like UK Uncut and the campaigners for a Robin Hood tax argue for a “tax the banks” strategy that is similar, as well as to argue that the banks and corporations severely underpay the taxes they already owe, and need to stop tax-dodging.

There are also those like Nobel Prize laureate Paul Krugman, who argue that austerity measures tend to be counterproductive when applied to the populations and programs they are usually applied to.[41] This argument holds that austerity measures tend not to revitalize economies by ‘getting people off of benefits and back to work,’ and similar, but rather that austerity simply depresses economic growth wholesale, which ultimately causes governments to lose more money in tax revenues than they would have if they had not enacted the austerity and instead created jobs and new infrastructure and industries. In countries with already anemic economic growth, austerity can engender deflation which inflates existing debt. This can also cause the country to fall into a liquidity trap, causing credit markets to freeze up and unemployment to increase. Advocates of these positions point to cases in Ireland and Spain in which austerity measures instituted in response to financial crises in 2009 proved ineffective in combating public debt and the countries got in ever more dire financial straits as 2010 and 2011 progressed.[42]

[edit]References

  1. ^ Harvey, D (2005) A Brief History of Neoliberalism
  2. ^ Klein, N. (2007) The Shock Doctrine
  3. ^ Chomsky, N (2004) Hegemony or Survival
  4. ^ http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Enda-Kenny-and-Eamon-Gilmore-will-renegotiate-EU-bailout-117573543.html
  5. ^ http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/bacik-dismisses-sinn-fein-calls-for-bailout-referendum-497233.html
  6. ^ “Στα χνάρια των Ισπανών αγανακτισμένων (On the footsteps of the Spanish ‘indignados’)” (in Greek). http://www.skai.gr. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  7. ^ “300.000 πολίτες στο κέντρο της Αθήνας!” (in Greek). http://www.skai.gr. 5 June 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  8. ^ “”Αγανακτισμένοι”: Πρωτοφανής συμμετοχή σε Αθήνα και άλλες πόλεις” (in Greek). http://www.skai.gr. 5 June 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  9. ^ “Greece passes key austerity vote”. http://www.bbc.co.uk. 29 June 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  10. ^ Siddique, Haroon; Batty, David (29 June 2011). “Greece austerity vote and demonstrations – Wednesday 29 June 2011”. London: http://www.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  11. ^ Smith, Helena (1 July 2011). “Greek police face investigation after protest violence”. London: http://www.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  12. ^ “TEAR GAS FIRED AS GREEK POLICE CLASH WITH ATHENS PROTESTERS”. http://www.amnesty.org. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  13. ^ “GREECE URGED NOT TO USE EXCESSIVE FORCE DURING PROTESTS”. http://www.amnesty.org. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  14. ^ “Back when peaceful demonstrations in Greece were massive and meaningful…”. http://www.ireport.cnn.com. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  15. ^ Donadio, Rachel; Sayare, Scott (29 June 2011). “Violent Clashes in the Streets of Athens”. http://www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  16. ^ “Επιστρέφουν στην Πλατεία Συντάγματος οι Αγανακτισμένοι για να εμποδίσουν την ψήφιση του βασικού εφαρμοστικού νόμου” (in Greek). Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  17. ^ “Πλήγμα για την Ελλάδα το βομβαρδισμένο κέντρο” (in Greek). Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  18. ^ “Απομακρύνθηκαν οι “Αγανακτισμένοι” από τον Λευκό Πύργο”. http://www.protothema.gr. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  19. ^ “Movimiento 15-M: los ciudadanos exigen reconstruir la política (15-M Movement: citizens demand political reconstruction)”. Politica.elpais.com. 2011-05-17. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
  20. ^ “Portugal PM Jose Socrates resigns after budget rejected”BBC News. 23 March 2011.
  21. ^ “Doctors want halt to NHS plans but reject opposition”BBC. 15 March 2011.
  22. ^ http://www.nhsdirectaction.co.uk/
  23. ^ http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/Protect_our_NHS_Petition#petition
  24. ^ http://www.unitetheunion.org/sectors/health_sector/unite_4_our_nhs.aspx
  25. ^ Mulholland, Hélène (2010-12-09). “Lib Dem parliamentary aide quits over tuition fees as MPs prepare to vote”guardian.co.uk(London: Guardian News and Media). Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  26. ^ http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/Lib-Dems-join-key-vote-tuition-fees-rise/article-2974808-detail/article.html
  27. ^ “California university students protest tuition hikes”CNN. 18 November 2009.
  28. ^ “Latest Suspects Wanted For Violent Disorder And Affray”Daily Mail (London). 20 March 2011.
  29. ^ “Student protests: Radio failure claims rejected”BBC News. 11 December 2010.
  30. ^ http://abcnews.go.com/International/british-prince-charles-royal-car-attacked-luck-photographer/story?id=12363034
  31. ^ Davies, Caroline (25 March 2011). “Charlie Gilmour to stand trial over attack on royal convoy”The Guardian (London).
  32. ^ “Italian student protesters occupy Leaning Tower of Pisa”BBC News. 25 November 2010.
  33. ^ http://www.thirdage.com/news/dublin-unions-protest-harsh-austerity-plan_11-27-2010
  34. ^ http://budget.breakingnews.ie/news/protesters-target-dail-over-cuts-484837.html
  35. ^ “Italian cuts spark fight at the opera for La Scala”BBC News. 8 December 2010.
  36. ^ Kyriakidou, Dina (4 August 2010). “In Greece you get a bonus for showing up for work – Arcane benefits add billions to Greece’s bloated budget”. Toronto: thestar.com. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  37. ^ “Riots in Greece as austerity measures start to bite”Austerity Bill. 23 February 2011.
  38. ^ Taylor, Matthew (14 March 2011). “Anti-cuts campaigners plan ‘carnival of civil disobedience'”The Guardian (London).
  39. ^ “Home Secretary Theresa May condemns protest ‘thugs'”BBC News. 28 March 2011.
  40. ^ Wolff, Richard (4 July 2010). “Austerity: Why and for Whom?”. RDWolff.com. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  41. ^ Krugman, Paul (1 July 2010). “Myths of Austerity”The New York Times.
  42. ^ Leung, Sophie; Salamat, Rishaad (11 November 2010). “Stiglitz Says Ireland Has Bleak Prospect of Cutting Deficit, Saving Banks”.Bloomberg.
  1. ^ Elmhirst, Sophie (24 September 2010). “Word Games: Austerity”. New Statesman. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  2. ^ Traynor, Ian; Katie Allen (11 June 2010). “Austerity Europe: who faces the cuts”. London: Guardian News. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  3. ^ Wesbury, Brian S.; Robert Stein (26 July 2010). “Government Austerity: The Good, Bad And Ugly”. Forbes.com. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  4. ^ “Word of the Year 2010”. Merriam-Webster.
  5. ^ “Greek austerity measures could violate human rights, UN expert says”. http://www.un.org. 30 June 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  6. ^ Harvey, D (2005) A Brief History of Neoliberalism
  7. ^ Klein, N. (2007) The Shock Doctrine
  8. ^ Chomsky, N (2004) Hegemony or Survival
  9. ^ Wolff, Richard (4 July 2010). “Austerity: Why and for Whom?”. RDWolff.com. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  10. ^ Kyriakidou, Dina (4 August 2010). “In Greece you get a bonus for showing up for work – Arcane benefits add billions to Greece’s bloated budget”. Toronto: thestar.com. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  11. ^ Costas Kantouris and Nicholas Paphitis (10 September 10 2011). “Greek police, firefighters protest”The Boston Globe.Associated Press Sm,meme,emme,e,e,e. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  12. ^ Leung, Sophie (2010-11-11). “Stiglitz Says Ireland Has Bleak Prospect of Cutting Deficit, Saving Banks”. Bloomberg. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
  13. ^ Deborah Summers (26 April 2009). “David Cameron warns of ‘new age of austerity'”The Guardian (.). Retrieved April 26, 2009.
  14. ^ M. Nicolas Firzli & Vincent Bazi (Q4 2011). “Infrastructure Investments in an Age of Austerity : The Pension and Sovereign Funds Perspective”Revue Analyse Financière, volume 41. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  15. ^ Contreras, Russell (December 20, 2010). “Audacity of ‘austerity,’ 2010 Word of the Year”. Associated Press. Retrieved December 20, 2010.[dead link]
  16. ^ Time Magazine (1952), “ARGENTINA: Inflexible Austerity”
  17. ^ Sonja Pace (2010-06-16). “Germany Approves Biggest Austerity Plan Since World War II | News | English”. .voanews.com. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
  18. ^ “WRAPUP 4-Greek debt costs spike on budget jitters”.Reuters. 21 January 2010.
  19. ^ “UPDATE 2-Italy joins Europe’s austerity club with deep cuts”Reuters. 25 May 2010.
  20. ^ (AFP) – Jul 27, 2010 (2010-07-27). “AFP: Japan unveils budget austerity guidelines”. Google.com. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
  21. ^ “Soros says EU “wrong” to push austerity on Latvia”.Reuters. 10 October 2009.
  22. ^ “Mexico’s Austerity Plans”The New York Times. 8 February 1985.
  23. ^ “Revista Envío – President Arnoldo Alemán Between the Fund and the Front”. Envio.org.ni. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
  24. ^ “Bankrupt Hamas government unveils austerity package”. Americanintifada.com. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
  25. ^ Leigh Phillips (2010-05-20). “EUobserver / Romania sees biggest protest since 1989 over austerity measures”. Euobserver.com. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
  26. ^ Salvadó, Francisco J. Romero (1999) Twentieth-century Spain: politics and society in Spain, 1898–1998
  27. ^ Coates, Sam; Evans, Judith (7 June 2010). “Cameron fingers culprits for Britains 770bn debt pile”The Times (London).

Does U.S. put DU (Depleted Uranium) rounds in machine-guns on Great Lakes coast guard vessels?

“During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.”
– George Orwell –

Dr. Doug Rokke

Depleted Uranium
The Pentagon Betrayal Of GIs And Americans

John Hanchette editor of USA Today from 1991 to 2001and Pentagon DU expert Dr. Doug Rokke, a serving officer for 30 years. [The Gulf War soldiers were in Iraq a tiny fraction of the time the soldiers are being kept in Iraq.] Rokke says he was ordered to lie about DU, because the military was determined to continue using it, despite the danger to US troops.
Watch the Full Movie CLICK HERE.

Army DU Specialist turned whistleblower
Dr. Doug Rokke- Depleted Uranium
Audio:
 
http://www.apfn.org/audio/rokke-depleted_uranium.mp3

TEDD WEYMAN: THE NUCLEAR WAR ON THE GREAT LAKES
It is known world wide, he says, that DU weapons have long-term implications that, right now corporations and governments are hiding
Video: http://www.apfn.org/apfn/DU_nuclear.htm

Has Our Military Refused to Show This Training Video To Our Troops Now Serving
US ARMY TRAINING VIDEO: 

Depleted Uranium Hazard Awareness
Video: http://www.apfn.org/apfn/DU_training_video.htm

Depleted Uranium Audios:

Doug Rokke

AUDIO: Wed., June 7, 2006: Playlists: M3U | RAM (Individual MP3: Click Here)
Christopher Bollyn speaks with Doug Rokke, and Leuren Moret about the military’s use of Depleted Uranium in munitions. Mr.Rokke is the former Director of the US Army Depleted Uranium Project. Ms. Moret is a geophysicist specializing in atmospheric sciences, a nuclear activist, and a former scientist and whistle blower at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratories. http://mp3.rbnlive.com/Piper06.html

S. Firing Plans for
Great Lakes Raise Concerns

MONICA DAVEY / New York Times 16oct2006

U.S. Firing Plans for Great Lakes Raise Concerns MONICA DAVEY / New York Times 16oct2006Target Practice
The Coast Guard wants to mount machine guns on their cutters and small boats around the Great Lakes. Shooting zones for training are shown in red.


Mindfully.org noteThe M240 machine gun is capable of firing Sabot Launched Armour Piercing (SLAP) ammo. We’re checking this out, but it may mean this gun is capable of firing depleted uranium (DU) rounds, which is what the US has been using in the Gulf Region for many years and is both chemically and radiologically toxic. More in DU. . .

M240 information from the US Army…

Entered Army Service 1997

Description and Specifications
A ground-mounted, gas-operated, crew-served machine gun. This reliable 7.62mm machine gun delivers more energy to the target than the smaller caliber M-249 SAW. It is being issued to infantry, armor, combat engineer, special force/rangers, and selected field artillery units that require medium support fires and will replace the ground-mounted M-60 series machine guns currently in use.

Caliber: 7.62 mm
Weight: 27.6 lbs
Max effective range: 1800 m (area target) 800 m (point target)
Rate of fire: 200-600 rounds per minute

Manufacturer
FN Manufacturing (Columbia, SC)

source: 16oct2006
_____________________________________
From the manufacturer…

Information
The M240 was adopted by the U.S. Military following a world-wide competition for a reliable 7.62 mm machine gun for use as a coaxial weapon for armored vehicleapplications. The Coaxial version of the famous Belgian MAG 58, produced by FN Herstal, won this competition. The demonstrated reliability of this weapon, 26,000 Mean Rounds Between Failure (MRBF), makes it the world’s most reliable machine gun. As a result of the outstanding performance of this weapon, vehicle, aviation, and infantry variants are now in use by the U. S. Military. The US variants are produced by FN Manufacturing, a US subsidiary of FN Herstal S.A.

Interoperability
The U. S. produced M240 variants are produced to the exacting specifications of the original MAG 58. consequently, all M240 variants have interchangeable components and are interoperable with foreign-produced NATO equivalent weapons. This has significant advantages in training, logistics support, and tactical versatility. For example, an M240B buttstock and bipod may be carried in an armored vehicle to enable the tank crew to convert the coaxial weapon to an infantry model in the event that they are forced to dismount from a vehicle.

Common Characteristics

  • Gas operated 
  • Fixed head-space and timing 
  • 26,000 mean round between failure (MRBF) 
  • Maximum range 3725 meters 
  • Tracer burnout 900 meters 
  • Cyclic rate of fire:
    Single port: 550 – 650 RMP
  • 3 Port – operator adjustable 750 – 950 RPM 
  • Muzzle velocity 2800 ft/sec 
  • Slap ammunition capableAccessories 
    Egress kit – Consists or a buttstock trigger mechanism and bipod. Allows coaxial or pintle-mounted M240 to be converted for use in the dismounted role.
  • Flexible gun mount 
  • Ring and post sight 
  • Bandoleer hanger 
  • Adaptation hardware for U.S. M122 tripod 
  • Flexible ammunition chuting 
  • Buttstock and bipod for dismount use 
  • 600 and 1200 round capacity ammunition boxes 
  • Armorer’s tool kitsource: FN Manufacturing 16oct2006

GRAND HAVEN, Mich., Oct. 10 — Even in autumn, the cold, silent expanse of Lake Michigan defines this town, where pleasure boats glide into harbor, fishermen wait patiently for salmon and tourists peer up at the lighthouse.

But the United States Coast Guard has a new mission for the waters off of these quiet shores. For the first time, Coast Guard officials want to mount machine guns routinely on their cutters and small boats here and around all five of the Great Lakes as part of a program addressing the threats of terrorism after Sept. 11.

And, for the first time in memory, Coast Guard members plan to use a stretch of water at least five miles off this Michigan shore — and 33 other offshore spots near cities like Cleveland; Rochester; Milwaukee; Duluth, Minn.; and Gary, Ind. — as permanent, live fire shooting zones for training on their new 7.62 mm weapons, which can blast as many as 650 rounds a minute and send fire more than 4,000 yards.

The notion is so unusual that it prompted United States diplomats to negotiate with Canadian authorities in order to agree that it would not violate a 189-year-old treaty, signed after the War of 1812, limiting arms on the Great Lakes.

Many here in Grand Haven, a town whose history is so lovingly intertwined with the Coast Guard that it holds an annual festival celebrating the service branch, say they think of Coast Guard members mainly as the rugged sailors who race off to search for and save troubled boaters. But even here, in a town that calls itself “Coast Guard City U.S.A.,” some say the thought of members firing machine guns anywhere near these waters strikes them as dangerous to ordinary boaters, potentially damaging to the Great Lakes’ ecosystem and, frankly, a somewhat surprising place to be bracing for terrorists.

“You know exactly what’s going to happen with this,” said Bob Foster, 58, who said he spends every chance he gets on the waters here. “Some boater is going to inadvertently drive through the live fire zone and get blown out of the water.”

Carole Loftis, the owner of Snug Harbor, a popular restaurant with windows on the water, said that although she certainly carried concerns, like most Americans, about terrorism, drunken boating seemed a more frequent threat around here. “This seems a little like overkill,” Ms. Loftis said of the shooting plans.

Despite complaints from some charter boat captains, environmental groups and city leaders around the Great Lakes, the Coast Guard defended the need to mount M-240B machine guns on its boats and to test fire them two or three times a year in “safety zones,” about 70 square miles each.

“The Coast Guard has looked at an increased terrorist threat since 2001,” Rear Adm. John E. Crowley Jr., commander of the Coast Guard district that oversees the Great Lakes, said in a telephone interview. “I don’t know when or if something might happen on the Great Lakes, but I don’t want to learn the hard way.”

Some members of the Coast Guard assigned to law enforcement duties always carried weapons, but most of those were personal semiautomatic pistols. Since the arrival of the boat-mounted machine guns, the Coast Guard has conducted 24 training sessions on the lakes this year, although it has halted the exercises temporarily after news of the program seeped out last month and, with it, a barrage of objection.

“When I heard, I thought it was something from The Onion newspaper or an Internet hoax,” said Mike Bradley, the mayor of Sarnia, Ontario, which sits beside Lake Huron, where 6 of the 34 live fire zones are planned. “This whole thing was done way below the radar.”

The Coast Guard’s plans for permanent training zones were published in the Federal Register on Aug. 1, along with the promise of a month for public comment, but city leaders and ordinary boaters said that most of them never came across the document and that the authorities failed to provide them with any other notice of live fire plans — a fact that left some saying they felt as though the Coast Guard, now part of the Department of Homeland Security, was trying quietly to slip the whole weapons program past them.

Herb Bergson, the mayor of Duluth, got a telephone call in September from a resident who said she was listening to her marine scanner, heard talk of shooting on Lake Superior and wanted the mayor to explain what was going on.

“I didn’t know what to tell her,” Mr. Bergson said. “I was caught just flat-footed. No one told me, and they should have.”

Coast Guard leaders — who have since announced nine public meetings in Great Lakes cities, starting Monday, and have extended until Nov. 13 the period for people to weigh in on the idea — acknowledge that they initially failed to publicize the weapons training program. “I’ve got no good answer for that,” said Lt. j.g. Ryan Barone, a spokesman.

But the plans themselves, which ultimately would mean machine guns mounted on the vessels of more than 50 Coast Guard units throughout the Great Lakes, were carefully conceived, Lieutenant Barone said. Information about the proposal and scheduled public meetings is at uscgd9safetyzones.com.

All of the proposed firing zones sit at least five nautical miles from shores and from Canadian waters, as well as far from commercial shipping lanes and sensitive marine areas, Lieutenant Barone said. During the training days, when Coast Guard gunners will shoot at floating foam buoys, other boaters will be notified on marine radio frequencies, he said, and every test will include a designated safety observer.

Admiral Crowley said, “I don’t feel there’s a risk to anyone out there.”

Around the Great Lakes, some people said they were supportive of the presence of machine guns and the planned tests. The risks of terrorism, they said, cannot be underestimated — even in small towns, even in the Upper Midwest. And as with extra airport safety measures, they said, the live fire tests may be inconvenient but they are needed.

Several ferry operators in Michigan, who carry cars and passengers across Lake Michigan, said they were satisfied that their customers would be safe. Ken Alvey, president of the Lake Erie Marine Trades Association, which represents some 80 marine businesses, said he was comfortable knowing that the Coast Guard members would practice on their new weapons.

“To say we don’t have to worry about our open border with Canada would be foolish,” Mr. Alvey said. “You never know what avenue terrorists will take.”

But others, especially recreational boaters and professional fishing guides, said they were worried. Though most emphasized their support and gratitude to the Coast Guard, they said they did not even listen to their radios much anymore (unless a storm is rolling in) and could miss warnings altogether.

Ron Mihevc, who takes customers fishing out of the harbor at Waukegan, Ill., said he feared that the planned firing zone near Waukegan sits “right in the middle” of a prime fishing spot that draws scores of fishermen. Kelly J. Campise, another Waukegan boat captain, said fishermen already were carrying their clients many miles into Lake Michigan in search of salmon and trout at great fuel expense; going still further away to avoid the firing zones would cost still more, he said.

An 89-page environmental study, commissioned by federal authorities, concluded that rounds left in the lakes from the Coast Guard exercises would cause no harm, but Hugh McDiarmid Jr., a spokesman for the Michigan Environmental Council, said a “fuller environmental risk assessment,” given the lead content of the rounds in particular, was needed.

For years, Coast Guard boats have been armed, and training has been conducted off of the coasts of this country, said Brad J. Kieserman, chief of the operations law group at Coast Guard headquarters.

On the Great Lakes, weapons training by military branches like the Navy has also occurred in years gone by, dating back to World War I and World War II. But in keeping with a treaty known as Rush-Bagot from 1817, Coast Guard vessels on the Great Lakes have historically not included naval armaments.

But in 2003, federal authorities sought an understanding with their Canadian counterparts about Rush-Bagot in preparation for mounting machine guns on cutters so that the Coast Guard could “prevent terrorists or others engaged in criminal activities from crossing the United States-Canadian boundary by water,” according to documents from the exchange between the two countries.

In recent days, though, some Canadian mayors, who said they had not heard of the plans until this fall, have objected vehemently. David Miller, the mayor of Toronto, said he worried about practical, safety aspects of the weapons plan and about the environment, but also about the precedent set for the lakes’ more than 94,000 square miles of water.

“Our treaty had always said that the Great Lakes will not be militarized,” Mr. Miller said. “And in effect, this remilitarizes them in the name of a threat from 9/11.”

source: 16oct2006

U.S. puts machine-guns on Great Lakes coast guard vessels
 
I wonder – is this meant to keep the Canadians out or to keep us in?For the first time since 1817, U.S. Coast Guard vessels on the Great Lakes are being outfitted with weapons – machine-guns capable of firing 600 bullets a minute.Until now, coast guard officers have been armed with handguns and rifles, but the vessels themselves haven’t been equipped with weapons.The War of 1812 saw violent battles on Lake Erie and Lake Huron between U.S. troops and British forces, which were largely composed of militias from Britain’s colonies in what is now Canada. After the war, the United States and Britain – and later Canada – agreed to demilitarize the Great Lakes waters.The Rush-Bagot Treaty of 1817 allowed each country to station four vessels, each equipped with an 18-pound cannon, to safeguard the Great Lakes.

more:

http://www.cbc.ca/ottawa/story/ot-vessels20060315.html

To be fair I posted this comment from a so-called ex Marine.  I do not know if his side of the story is true or not but am always willing to listen to our comments and give credit to them if they help us correct our mistakes.  We want to look at all the facts.

Feb 27, 8:20 pm

MarineMachinegunner0331 commented: Not true, I was a machine gunner, and as of 2010 there was no such ammo for the M240G or M240B. The M2 .50 cal machine gun fires a Sabot Light Armor Piercing round that utilizes a 35. caliber tungsten penetrated wrapped in an injection molded (very very hard) plastic. The A10 (warthog) does use DU (depleted uranium) as an armor-piercing penetrator. This is called DEPLETED uranium because the typical amounts of uranium that you would find IN NATURE (that naturally occur as in not made by man!!) is much less. Uranium is a very dense and hard substance much like tungsten (except better) uranium 238 itself is not fissile (which means no spontaneous atom bomb) and it gives of very low amounts of radiation. In fact before it was used in commercial nuclear reactors it was used in paints and pottery that are still around today….. not giving people cancer.

Don’t Trash the American Flag! How to Retire a U.S. Flag

On Location in Rochester NY, today I found a American Flag in the trash on my way home tonight and I saved it from disgrace and took it home for a proper retirement ceremony. As I was getting out of the car with Cathy and the baby to go inside for the night, a old lady said “that she had followed me home to ask what I was doing with the flag that she saw me take out of the trash?” Eve I said to Eve the above statement! Eve asked if I wanted two more Flags that she had rescued from the trash a few weeks earlier. She said that I was sent from God and that she was meant to meetup with me this day! She gave me the flags thanked me and said her name was Eve and that her father died in World War 2 her brother fought in Vietnam and that her sister was a nurse in the US Army.  She said she was proud to see me do this.  I felt her pain and saw it in her face I could see she felt like crying for her loss of her father and brother
This is what I could do to honer our Country and those who fought and died for us today! For the Grandfather I never met who came home so messed up with PTSD and never was the same man he did that for you and I. Now I’m thinking about doing a Proper Flag retirement ceremony on the 4th of July this summer! How strange is life! God is good!
 Retire a U.S. Flag
National Flag Foundation recommends the following as the proper ceremonies for retiring and destroying a worn Flag.
    • This ceremony should be conducted at a private, non-public location.
    • Only one Flag, representing all those to be destroyed, should be used in the ceremony.
    • Two color guards should be used at evening retreat, one for the Flag currently in use and a special color guard for the Flag to be permanently retired.
    • Just before sunset, the Flag that has been flying all day is retired in the normal, ceremonial procedure for the group or site.
    • The color guard responsible for the Flag receiving the final tribute moves front and center. The leader should present this color guard with the Flag that has been selected for its final tribute and subsequent destruction. The leader then should instruct the color guard to “hoist the colors”.
    • When the Flag has been secured at the top of the pole, the leader comments: “This Flag has served its nation long and well. It has worn to a condition to which it should no longer be used to represent the nation. This Flag represents all of the Flags collected and being retired from service today. We honor them all as we salute one Flag.”
    • The leader then calls the group to attention, orders a salute, leads the entire group in the “Pledge of Allegiance” and orders the Flag retired by the color guard.
    • Slowly and ceremoniously, the flag is lowered, then respectfully folded in the customary triangle. The Flag is delivered to the leader and then the group is dismissed.
    • This concludes the Ceremony of Final Tribute.
  1. 2

    Ceremonial Burning of the Flag

    • This ceremony should be conducted at a private, non-public location.
    • The burning of a Flag should take place at a campfire in a ceremony separate from the Ceremony of Final Tribute. The fire must be sizable (preferably having burnt down to a bed of red hot coals to avoid having bits of the Flag being carried off by a roaring fire), yet be of sufficient intensity to ensure complete burning.
    • Before the ceremony begins, the color guard assigned to the Flag opens up its tri-corner fold and then refolds it in a coffin-shaped rectangle.
    • All assemble around the fire. The leader calls the group to attention.
    • The color guard comes forward and places the Flag on the fire.
    • All briskly salute.
    • After the salute, but while still at attention, the leader should conduct a respectful educational program as the Flag burns: e.g. singing of “God Bless America”; offering an inspiring message of the Flag’s meaning followed by the “Pledge of Allegiance”; performing a reading about the Flag; reciting the “American’s Creed”; etc.
    • When the Flag is consumed, those assembled, with the exception of a leader and the color guard, should be dismissed. They should be led out in single file and in silence.
    • The leader and color guard should remain to ensure that the Flag is completely consumed, and to burn additional Flags, if any.
    • The fire should then be safely extinguished.

American Hero and Army Sergeant Who Gave Life To Save Afghan Child Being Flown Home For Burial

This section Copied from: http://infofeeder.info

This should be getting the attention 
Friday, 30 March 2012 02:39
I’m not really looking for debate on this as much as I want to make an effort to educate people. Sure, the
military has screwed up in Afghanistan. We’ve pissed on bodies, burnt books, and one man has even
committed pre-meditated mass murder. But we’re not always bad. For every one of those stories you
hear, much more like this happen. Its not a matter of foreign relations or “winning hearts and minds”.
Its about caring for your fellow human being, regardless of nationality, race, sex, etc. This man should
be glorified for the hero he is. When I read about fellow brothers doing things like this, I tear up everytime.
I don’t care what anyone says, this generation of service member is the “greatest generation”.
Army Sergeant Who Gave Life To Save Afghan Child Being Flown Home For Burial | Fox News

http://www.debatepolitics.com/breaking-news-mainstream-media/122508-should-getting-attention.html

Army sergeant who gave life to save Afghan child being flown home for burial

Published March 29, 2012

| FoxNews.com


An Army sergeant and father of three from Rhode Island who gave his life to save an Afghan child from being run over by a 16-ton armored fighting vehicle is being flown back to the U.S. and will be buried Monday.

Sgt. Dennis Weichel, 29, died in Afghanistan last week after he dashed into the path of an armored fighting vehicle to scoop up the little girl, who had darted back into the roadway to pick up shell casings, according to the Army. Weichel, a Rhode Island National Guardsman, was riding in the convoy in Laghman Province in eastern Afghanistan when he jumped out to save the girl, who was unhurt.

  • Dennis Weichel 1

    This image, obtained from WPRI.com, shows 29-year-old Sgt. Dennis Weichel.

  • Dennis Weichel 2
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“He would have done it for anybody,” Staff Sgt. Ronald Corbett, who deployed with Weichel to Iraq in 2005, said in a quote posted on the U.S. Army website. “That was the way he was. He would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. He was that type of guy.”

The child was one of several who were collecting the casings, which can be sold and recycled in Afghanistan. Weichel and other soldiers in the convoy got out of their vehicles to shoo the kids from danger as the heavy trucks bore down. But the girl ran back onto the road as a MRAP, or Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle, approached. Weichel swung the girl to safety but was run over and later died from his injuries at Jalalabad Medical Treatment Facility, according to a press release from the Rhode Island National Guard.

Weichel, who had been a member of the Rhode Island National Guard since 2001, had arrived in Afghanistan a few weeks ago. He was a member of C Company, 1st Battalion, 143 Infantry. Weichel was previously deployed to Iraq in 2005 as a member of 3/172 Det 2 Mountain Infantry.

Weichel, who lived in Providence and was engaged to be married, leaves his parents, fiancee and three young children. His body is scheduled to be flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Saturday. Weichel will be buried in Rhode Island Veterans Cemetery in Exeter.

“Tragically, Spc. Weichel has made the supreme sacrifice and at this time, we are mindful of the impact of that sacrifice on his family and friends,” said Maj. Gen. Kevin McBride, adjutant general of the Rhode Island National Guard, in a written statement. “We leave no Soldier behind…. and we will not leave Spc. Weichel’s family behind.”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/03/29/army-sergeant-who-gave-life-to-save-afghani-child-being-flown-home-for-burial/#ixzz1qZ7ZjwzY

Could Swedens 200 ft wide entrance be the bottomless pit that opens up in Hell from Revelation chapter 9 of the Bible?

Revelation chapter 9 commentary

And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace

The CELESTIAL Convergence

GEOLOGICAL UPHEAVAL: STUNNINGLY MASSIVE 200 FOOT WIDE “ENTRANCE TO HELL” OPENS UP IN SWEDEN – MYSTERIOUS HOLE IN MALMBERGET IS 150 METRES HIGH?!

 Have a look at the following image of a massive land subsidence in Sweden, that mysteriously collapse to reveal a 200 foot wide open.

Revelation chapter 9 commentary

by Don Koenig

 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

The fifth angel sounds his trumpet and a star falls from heaven. This star has the key to the bottomless pit. Stars sometimes have a double reference to angelic beings in the scriptures. This star is called “him” so it is an angel. The angel was given the key to open up the place under the earth where fallen angels are bound (2 Pe: 2 1-10). Some think this angel is Satan and others think it is another angel. I think this angel still has the key when he locks Satan in the bottomless pit for a thousand years after the tribulation is over (Rev 20:1-2). Therefore, the angel is from God and is not Satan.

It is too soon for Satan to be cast out of heaven permanently since the Beast he incarnates when he is cast out of heaven comes out of the pit months after the time of this fifth trumpet. The Beast comes out of the pit just prior to the seventh trumpet just before he kills the two prophets who have completed their 1,260-day testimony (Rev 11:7).

If this was actually the time when Satan and his angels were cast out of heaven by Michael and his angels there should be a description of more than one star falling from heaven. This angel appears to be on an assignment and does not appear to be an angel being banished from heaven.

Although it is clear that this star is a personality, I do not think we can say that the comet had nothing to do with opening the pit in a physical sense. Physical and spiritual events can be interrelated. Mankind being limited to four dimensions cannot understand the mystery of how the physical and the spiritual are interrelated (Mat 16:19, Mat 18:18). These physical judgments on earth are the end result of spiritual prayers. We read in the last chapter that a censor containing the prayers of the saints was filled with fire by an angel. This angel cast the censor upon the earth and then these physical judgments came.

When the comet hits the earth it will penetrate the crust of the earth and open the bottomless pit. We see this physically happens on earth by the description of the great smoke that comes out of the pit that darkens the skies. The opening of the bottomless pit provides a way out for devils or demons that have been bound in the pit (by gravitational forces perhaps?).

 

3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

The bottomless pit is opened and tormentors come on the earth. Their satanic role probably is to make life on earth so unbearable that a counterfeit savior will be accepted. Out of the smoke of the pit comes a strange type of locust upon the earth. These locusts have power like scorpions. What these beings are is not certain and I have no natural explanation. The stinging locusts last on the earth for five months. We can be sure they are demonic beings because they come out of the bottomless pit and we are told that they will have a demonic king ruling over them.

 

4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

These locusts were commanded by God not to hurt anything green so these are not  normal locusts or any natural mutation. They sting only those who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads. The 144,000 most likely are not the only ones sealed. Those who believe and follow Jesus may also be sealed since they are also servants of God. Scripture does not tell us that believers will be sealed but I see no reason for God to let believers to be tormented by demonic beings. The fact that they are commanded and cannot harm those sealed by God say that these beings are intelligent and have no choice but to obey spiritual authority given to the angels of God.

These locusts will not be given power to kill anyone but they will have the power to torment unsealed people for five months. Some make this judgment a result of nuclear warfare. They claim that this judgment is talking about radioactive poisoning but many who suffer this do die. It is obvious from the description of these locusts that this is not what is being described. Some say that they are spiritual demons that torment man mentally but passages that follow indicate that these beings have physical form. The scorpion sting is said to be the most painful of all stings. Those on earth who are not sealed have this type of pain to look forward to for five long months.

 

6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

This is going to be so bad that people will seek death but they will not find it. Why man cannot find death is unknown but God gives and takes life. Perhaps, because the pit of hell is opened, no one can die and go there until after the five months is up. It may be 5 months of the real Night of Living Dead for people on earth.

God, for His own reasons is not allowing any unsealed person to escape this torment. I think this is the ultimate tough love program. I believe God is allowing demons to give men of flesh a five month taste of the Lake of Fire. It is given in love so they will choose not to go there for eternity when they later are required to make a choice between taking the mark of the Beast and going to this place of torments for eternity or choosing God’s Son and losing their physical lives so their soul will be saved from it. All mankind will still have another chance to come to Jesus and not choose to go to the place of eternal torments.

 

7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

This passage gives the actual physical description of these creatures. They are not like anything we know. They are not helicopters or jets shooting missiles filled with chemical or biological weapons as some have speculated. These creatures come out of the smoke of the pit and the angel of the bottomless pit is ruling over them. This is not Satan because Satan at this point has not yet been cast out of heaven.

The king over these beings is named Abaddon. The name Abaddon actually means the destroyer. These locusts are led by the destroying angel who is probably Satan’s commander of the dimension called the underworld. These locusts are actual physical beings that ascend out of the same pit the angel in verse two opened with his key. The five months of this torment will be a literal hell on earth.

 

12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

After the five months of torment by these hellish creatures, one woe is past but there are still two more left to come when the sixth and seventh angels sound their trumpets.

 

13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,

14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.

15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.

After the sixth trumpet blast, four angels are loosed that are bound in the Euphrates River. This prophecy gives the number of the horsemen (cavalry men) that will now be allowed to pass to the east of the Euphrates to kill one third of men. The number John said he heard was two hundred million. There never was a time when such an army was possible before this generation.

Today such an army could come from the East; there are now more than three billion people east of the Euphrates River. The CIA fact book of the year 2004 said that China alone has more than two hundred million military fit men.

Abortion and infanticide of female children in China and India in this generation will create a disposable surplus of over one hundred million adult men who will have no chance for marriage and a normal family life. To a lesser extent for much the same reason there will also be surpluses of men in other countries of the Far East. It is as if these men were born for a special time to fulfill this prophecy. That is exactly what the wording of this passage implies. There will be almost enough adult men to make up this army from just the surplus males of military age that will exist in China and other Far-East nations by 2035 AD.

Some commentators think that this is an army of demons. In all cases, demons seek to possess bodies so a reasonable compromise is that two hundred million demons will come out of the pit and possess, and control this two hundred million-man army. This army will cross the Euphrates and come into the Middle East and the West. This army will kill one third of all men that survived the previous disasters on the earth. By the time the prior judgments and this second woe is completed over half of the world’s population will be dead.

Some commentators are hung up on the word horsemen thinking that all the men would have to be riding horses. Since these believe it is not possible to assemble two hundred million horses, they dredge up demons that look like men on horses. More likely, the wording simply means the leaders are mounted on horses or the men travel on something mobile (i.e. military vehicles).

 17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.

18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

The description in this passage is probably only supernatural in the sense that angels were loosed for a specific time to allow this to happen and that demons are now free to deceive and inhabit those who dwell on the earth. The entire wording of this judgment makes it fairly clear to me that this is describing a great all out world war between the West and the East.

The fire that comes out of the mouths of the horsemen is every modern weapon of warfare like tanks, and artillery. The tails like serpents that had heads that did harm sound exactly like modern rockets and bombs with warheads. This will be an all out world war using nuclear, chemical and biological warfare and billions will die.

 

20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:

21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

Even after mankind uses all the weapons of warfare they made with their own hands against one another they still will not repent of the works of their hands. Instead of trusting in God to save them, they trust and worship the created instead of the Creator. Most of the East will still pray to statues that represent Buddha or countless other demon gods. Instead of obeying God’s servants on earth, they will follow doctrines given by demons. Instead of coming to God to be changed and to be given a new heart they will continue in their insane practices. Instead of worshiping the God of heaven, they will now worship the image of the Beast possessed by Satan.

Because the world did not want to believe the truth, they will now be given a lie and they will accept Satan’s counterfeit savior and his counterfeit kingdom (2Th 2:11). This deception happens because these still love to murder, use drugs, commit adultery and steal. They love evil and that is why they will not receive the truth and be saved.

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