the

TRUMPETWEEKLY

LAW PAGE 2 PREPARE PAGE 7 OBAMA PAGE 8 DOMINANCE PAGE 10 ECONOMY PAGE 10

A DIGEST OF SIGNIFICANT WORLD NEWS FROM THE PHILADELPHIA TRUMPET STAFF FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 19-25, 2008

Death to Jews! Allah

Akbar! and Well kill you
if you leave your homes!
couldnt have made their
point any more clearly.
Here is a suggestion on
how to x our economy.
It is radical, but it is
guaranteed to work.
The banks are
too big to be allowed
to fail, but theyre
also too big
to be saved.
Unfortunately, the
generation that survived
the Great Depression
is mostly gone, and the
lessons learned are largely
forgotten.
Im wondering what
it would take for an
unrepentant terrorist to be
disqualied from teaching
Americas future leaders.
continued on page 10
IN A harbinger of things to come, the
Irish have aroused the ire of the Euro-
pean Unions most powerful member
nation, Germany.
First came Irelands rejection of the
Lisbon Treaty. Recently, in the wake of
the global fnancial meltdown, came its
breaking of EU rules by acting unilater-
ally to protect its own fnancial institu-
tions.
These moves are causing the true na-
ture of the beastly European Union to emerge. The message
is becoming clear: Either bow the knee to Baal in Brussels,
or suffer what one German politician termed last week,
disastrous consequences!
To the most careful watchers of the EU, this comes as no
surprise. It merely reinforces the claim of some of the more
astute observers, such as Rodney Atkinson in his book
Fascist Europe Rising, that the development of the EU has
paralleled that of the Third Reich. As the Trumpet has long
forecast, the results will be even more devastating than
those of the Nazi/fascist era.
German-Foreign-Policy.com reported October 10,
Elmar Brok, a German [Christian Democratic Union]
member of the European Parliament, declared yesterday
that the Irish government must reckon with disastrous
consequences if it does not table precise proposals for the
ratifcation of the Lisbon Treaty at the EU summit.
Just what are those disastrous consequences? Believe
it or not, they entail the threat of sanctions by the EU
against one of its very own member nations! So much for
any ounce of democracy being given license by this fascist
Eurostate!
Due to the Irish government exercising the nations dem-
ocratic right to seek the declared will of the Irish people via
a referendum (as required by Irish law) on the question of
whether or not it should sign up to the EU treaty, and due
to the outcome of that vote being a clear no, To pressure
Dublin to repeat the referendum soon, Brussels is contem-
plating imposing sanctions (ibid.).
Not only is the EU threatening Ireland with sanctions,
but, according to Die Presse, it has also proposed that the
Irish EU commissioner be relieved of his duties (September
26). One ex-EU commissioner has even gone so far as to
suggest that any government such as that of Ireland that
cannot impose the will of the EU on its national electorate
should step down! (EUobserver.com, October 9).
Though the present Irish government is keen to see Ire-
land ratify the Lisbon Treaty, it is only too aware that polls
indicate fully 70 percent of the national population would
vote no if a second referendum were held today.
German Foreign Policy reports that a smear campaign
has been mounted against the Irish opponents of the Lis-
bon Treaty, stigmatizing both the U.S. and the leader of the
Irish no campaign, by certain elements within the German
government.
Spiegel published a report (September 28) alleging that
the Irish Euroskeptic group Libertas is suspected of having
received covert CIA support for its campaign publicizing the
downside of Ireland signing up to the Lisbon Treaty, which
is simply the antidemocratic EU constitution in disguise.
Certain German members of the European Parliament
are applying increasing pressure on Ireland to force a yes
vote out of the Irish electorate. Elmar Brok, a high-profle
member of Germanys Christian Democrats and member of
the European Parliament, together with Germanys Green
Party leader in the EU parliament, Daniel Cohen-Bendit,
and EU Parliamentary President Hans-Gert Pttering him-
self, have all made public statements attempting to create
the impression that the U.S., via the CIA and senior Penta-
gon offcials, has been involved in an attempt to undermine
the EU constitutional process.
German Foreign Policy claims that The defamation
campaign against Declan Ganley is an example of the
gradual development of the German/American struggle
for hegemony. This, they observe, is a result of partial
fault lines that have emerged in relations between Berlin
and Washington. It is being skeptically observed in the
USA how German world power ambitions see in the EU its
vehicle to enhance its international standing and therefore
is seeking to model it as a centrally directed, highly milita-
rized power bloc (op. cit.).
Unfortunately, these skeptical voices in Washington are
a case of too little, too late. The horse has bolted.
Twenty years ago, no German parliamentarian would
have had the temerity to accuse the U.S. this way. But Ger-
many sees America now in deep, deep economic trouble,
bogged down in overstretch militarily, and deeply divided
politically; it recognizes that the U.S. voice in global foreign
policy is increasingly weak. Certain infuences within
Germany that stretch back over 75 years have impacted ele-
ments within todays business,
Germany Threatens Ireland
RON FRASER
COLUMNIST
MIDDLE EAST
A
SENIOR Iraqi Shiite cleric based in Iran issued a fatwa on October
22 forbidding Baghdad from signing the pending security agree-
ment with the United States, which would allow U.S. troops to
remain in Iraq until 2011. While the edict will likely be limited in its
direct impact, says Stratfor, it represents an Iranian push to shape
Iraqis response to the U.S. presence (October 22). The fatwa was is-
sued as Washington and Baghdad appear to have reached an impasse
on the draft Status of Forces Agreement. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert
Gates said on Tuesday that the U.S. would not make any changes to the
draft agreement, as requested by Baghdad, and that U.S. forces might
suspend operations in Iraq if no agreement is reached. Ever since the
U.S. deposed Saddam Husseinand even beforeIran has worked to
increase its foothold in Iraq. This recent fatwa is just one more attempt
by Iran to strengthen its infuence in Iraq by limiting U.S. infuence.
Israels envoy to the Vatican has renewed Jerusalems open invitation
for Pope Benedict XVI to visit the Holy Land. According to Italian news
reports, however, Vatican cardinal Peter Gumpel said Benedict would
not visit Israel until an inscription below a portrait of Pope Pius XII is
removed from Jerusalems Yad Vashem Holocaust museum. The caption
accuses Pius, who became pope in the lead-up to World War II, of ignor-
ing the Holocaust. The Vatican has since distanced itself from Gumpels
remarks. But with many Vatican insiders pushing for Pius XIIs beatifca-
tion, Catholics and Jews are miles apart in their reading of the Vaticans
stancethen and nowon the extermination of millions of Jews.
While speaking at the frst World Policy Forum, held earlier this
month in France, Jesse Jackson spelled out how he believes Americas
foreign policy would change under an Obama administration. Jackson
is just a supporter of Barack Obama, not a spokesman or an adviser,
but his connections to the American presidential candidate are deep
and go back for some years. The New York Post reported that, accord-
ing to Jackson, The most important change would occur in the Middle
East, where decades of putting Israels interests frst would end
(October 14). Jackson may well be right about what we might soon see
from the White Housebiblical prophecy suggests such an eventual-
ity. Zechariah 11:14 prophesies that God would break the brotherhood
between Judah and Israel. This could refer to a rift between America
(biblical Israel) and the Jewish state (Judah)a rift which in fact is
already developing simply because the U.S. is proving itself unable or
unwilling to confront the existential threats facing the Jewish state.
INDEPENDENT, October 23
Pakistan Stares Into the
Abyss
A
SPIRALING confict, economic collapse and blackouts threaten
anarchy. Pakistan was locked in crisis last night, with the govern-
ment pressed by Washington to deepen its confict with Islamic
militants in the lawless regions on the Afghan border, and obliged to call
in the International Monetary Fund to stave off fnancial catastrophe.
In the rugged north of the country, a major military offensive to root
out Taliban militants has created a food of up to 200,000 refugees
and pitched Pakistani against Pakistani, Muslim against Muslim, in a
confict some are beginning to regard as a civil war.
A new U.S. intelligence estimate meanwhile has warned that the re-
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY October 25, 2008 2
THE ARAB pogrom in Acre on Yom Kippur
was yet another wake-up call. The 200 Is-
raeli Arabs who shattered the windshields
of 110 Jewish cars, and burned and looted
dozens of Jewish businesses in the city on
the eve of Yom Kippur while shouting out,
Death to Jews! Allah Akbar! and Well
kill you if you leave your homes! couldnt
have made their point any more clearly.
They dont like Jews. They dont want
peaceful coexistence with Israel. They
dont recognize the authority of Israels
laws. They dont accept their identity as
Israeli citizens.
It is important to pause for a moment
and set out as precisely as possible what
happened
On Wednesday night, when as is cus-
tomary, after prayers ended Jews milled
about in the streets that were empty of
moving cars out of respect for the holiday,
Acre resident Jamal Tawfk drove into the
citys predominantly Jewish Ben-Gurion
neighborhood. Jewish residents claim that
Tawfk was driving at high speed with his
windows down and music blasting out of
his speakers, in a clear provocation of the
Jews. Tawfk denied the allegations.
By all accounts, some Jewish youth
approached his car. Some accounts claim
that a handful of teenagers hit the sides
of his car. Some accounts claim that some
teenagers pelted his car with stones. All
accounts agree that he exited his vehicle
unscathed.
Just after this altercation, a still-un-
identifed Arab in the Old City broadcast
that a Jewish mob had murdered Tawfk
via the loudspeakers of a mosque. More
than 200 Arab residents then descended
on the Ben-Gurion neighborhood with
axes and knives. They shattered the
windshields of some 110 Jewish-owned
cars. They then moved into the business
district and looted and vandalized the
Jewish-owned stores and businesses.
Despite multiple calls for help from terri-
fed Jews, it took the police several hours
to appear on the scene. And when they
arrived, they did nothing to end the Arab
rampage.
By opting not to assert its authority
over Arabs in Israel and the Palestinian
Authority, by refraining from punishing
their lawlessness and aggression against
Jews, and even rewarding it, Israel guar-
antees that yet more dangerous attacks
will soon follow.
The Disappearance
of Law
JERUSALEM POST,
CAROLINE GLICK | OCTOBER 17
newed insurgency, coupled with energy shortages and political infght-
ing, means that Pakistan, which is the only Muslim nation with nuclear
weapons, is on the edge.
Pakistan is going through the worst crisis of its history, according
to a leaked letter signed by the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif,
the main opposition leader. It is a view shared by Imran Khan, another
opposition leader, who says that the political and economic meltdown
is leading to a sort of anarchy in Pakistan. How does a country col-
lapse? the former cricketer asked. Theres increasing uncertainty,
economic meltdown, more people on the street, infation rising between
25 and 30 percent. Then theres the rupee falling.
Pakistan is experiencing power cuts that have led to hourly black-
outs, a doubling of basic food prices and a currency that has lost a third
of its value in the past year. The awful thing is theres no solution in
sightneither in the war on terror nor on the economic side, Mr. Khan
said during a visit to London.
EUROPE
I
T IS not possible for the eurozone to continue without a clearly
identifed economic government. We cannot go on like this,
French President Nicolas Sarkozy told members of the Euro-
pean Parliament on Tuesday. Faced with growing economic problems,
Europe is being pushed to unite. Nations inside the eurozone have a
common currency, a common market and a common central bank, but
they do not have a common economic policy. As Sarkozy put it, It is
a funny idea. Sarkozy wants to create a common economic govern-
ment throughout the eurozone. And, according to Le Monde, he wants
to be the head of that government. Many in Europe see the need to
for a strong leader at their head. That leader is coming, but he will not
be Sarkozy. For more information on how Europe will respond to the
fnancial crisis, see our October 7 article Europe in Crisis: World in
Danger?
The European Union doesnt understand Ireland. Flummoxed by
Irelands rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, the EU is trying to get the
poor common folk in the Emerald Isle to get the answer right. Com-
munication Commissioner Margot Wallstrom has announced plans
to coordinate the public relations efforts of different EU branches to
better educate (indoctrinate) the Irish people. You wont have in the
end everybody reading a 400-page document, said Wallstrom. Thats
what MEPs are being paid for. In other words, Just do what we say;
we understand this and you dont. And they wonder why some people
think the EU is undemocratic.
Popular Austrian far-right leader Jrg Haider died October 11,
with his funeral being held last week. The infamous right-wing (or, as
many would say, fascist or neo-Nazi) politician led one of Italys most
controversial political parties, the Alliance for the Future of Austria
(BZ). Driving back from a homosexual bar at 88 mph and with a blood
alcohol level three times the limit, Haider hit a cement post. His death
could mark a turning point in Austrian politics. Austria has two right-
wing parties, the BZ and the Freedom Party of Austria (FP). The main
thing that kept these two parties apart was the fact that their leaders
detested each other. Combined, they would have won 29 percent of the
vote in the latest elections.
If these two parties worked
together, they could be a
powerful force in Austrian
politics. And with Haider
dead, this is very possible.
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY October 25, 2008 3
IT IS an article of faith (except, of course,
among those who actually have a faith)
that the dethronement of God by the
apostles of secularism has ushered in an
age of reason. Belief in the Almighty is
now widely held to be a priori evidence of
primitive stupidity.
In fact, we are living in a deeply irratio-
nal age, where millions are putting their
faith in such mumbo-jumbo as astrology,
parapsychology, paganism, witchcraft or
conspiracies between sinister groups and
extraterrestrial forces. All of which goes to
prove the truth of the old adage that when
people stop believing in God, they will
believe in anything.
Nevertheless, the belief has taken hold
that religious faith is inimical to reason, as
defned and exemplifed by the scientifc
mind.
[S]ecularism has taken on the charac-
teristics of religious fanaticism, in espous-
ing dogma inimical to human fourishing
and punishing dissenters in order to slam
the lid on debate .
The decay of religion has given rise to
moral relativism, which regards all beliefs
and principles as being of equal value and
truth as a relative concept. This has given
rise to multiculturalism, which masquer-
ades as the promotion of equal rights but
is actually a disguised form of cultural and
national self-loathing.
This in turn lies behind the idea that
nations are illegitimate or pass, and that
the worlds problems can all be solved by
everyone on the planet coming together to
harness the power of reason to arrive at a
solution.
No less irrational is the overreach of
science which, as London writes, has been
hijacked by secular fundamentalists who
want to supplant religion by asserting that
only in science can truths be found.
The dogma that science provides the
answer to every question and so sup-
plants religion has led to a junking of
the moral codes deriving from Judaism
and Christianity that underpin Western
society.
This loss of cultural nerve has created
an unwitting collusion between secular
zealots and the Islamists who have de-
clared war upon Western civilization, and
who believe that a secular West will be
unable to resist them.
The False Faith of
Scientifc Reason
JEWISH CHRONICLE,
MELANIE PHILLIPS | OCTOBER 17
These ten [European] nations have one
mindthe opposite of a democracy! ... That
is where the EU is headed! That is what the
massive shift from democracy is about in the
European Union.
Gerald Flurry, Trumpet, June 2000
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY October 25, 2008 4
TELEGRAPH, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, October 16
ECB Goes Nuclear as EU
Leaders Plan to Civilize
Capitalism
T
HE [EUROPEAN Central Bank] is doing whatever it takes to
unclog the interbank market, said Gilles Moec, from Bank of
America, who described the move as spectacular volte-face
and a belated recognition that the credit crisis is deadly serious. The
monetary blitz was welcomed in Brussels, where EU leaders were meet-
ing yet again, just days after agreeing to the most comprehensive bank
bail-out in history. We are not at the end of the crisis, we are still living
in dangerous times, said Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg premier
and Eurogroup chair.
He issued a stark reminder that life is going be very different for the
banking elite as governments move to restore the lost discipline of the
Bretton Woods fnancial order and attempt to civilize capitalism, the
code word for clamping down on the Citydubbed the Casino in Eu-
rope. Let everyone remember after this crisis, who solved it. Politicians
did, not bankers, he said. Mr. Juncker added that this episode would
have a profound effect on the euro debate in Britain.
The British prime minister had to beg to be let into the room. Im
sure that when the storm is over, the British will think about whether
they shouldnt become an equal in all decision-making bodies.
German Finance Minister
Peer Steinbrck echoed the
warning. When a fres burn-
ing in the global fnancial
markets, it has to be put out,
even if its a case of arson. But
then the arsonists have to be
held responsible, and spread-
ing fames must be outlawed.
INDEPENDENT, October 17
Is Switzerland the Next
Iceland?
I
N AN extraordinary move for a nation proud of its fnancial prudence
and stability, Switzerland was forced to take emergency measures
yesterday to shore up its two biggest lenders to prevent a collapse in
confdence in the countrys banking system.
Switzerland had to act to underpin confdence in its prized banking
system after Britain, the U.S. and others announced massive capital
injections into their major lenders. Without doing likewise, the Swiss
banks would have been left exposed to market jitters and speculation.
Its clear that we have a confdence problem, Philipp Hildebrand,
the Swiss National Banks vice president, said. It is notably the two
large banks that are affected.
The woes of its banks, and UBS in particular, have rocked Swit-
zerland, where the fnancial sector accounts for almost 15 percent of
output. Like other governments, Switzerland has acted to try to stop
the fnancial crisis wreaking havoc on the wider economy. With banks
As Europe Slumps
Is the Far Right
Rising?
The world appears bereft of great men.
But a world-recognized Strong Man in all
probability will now very soon appear.
There will be ten, ruling ten nations or groups
of nations in the area of the once-great Holy
Roman Empire. But there will be one super-
king over the ten.
Plain Truth, May 1969
THE TIMES,
RICHARD J. EVANS | OCTOBER 14
THE DEATH of the Austrian far-right politi-
cian Jrg Haider has again focused world
attention on his countrys ambivalent
attitude to its Nazi past. The son of an SS
offcer, Haider won notoriety by praising
Hitlers welfare policies and describing
concentration camps as work camps. None
of this seemed to bother Austrian voters,
who gave him and his fellow-travelers a
third of the vote in the last elections.
In Italy, too, right-wing politicians have
recently showed signs of a positive attitude
to the fascist regime run by Mussolini
from 1922 to 1945. The election of Gianni
Alemanno as Mayor of Rome was greeted
by supporters shouting Duce! Duce!the
name taken by Mussolini and Hitler, while
the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusco-
ni has declared that his movement is the
new Falange, in a reference to the Spanish
fascists of Francos day.
What drives the radical politicians of
the new Right is, in the frst place, hostil-
ity to immigrants, a feeling that is likely to
get worse as the European economy slides
into recession. Added to this are fears of
the collapse of law and order. The rhetoric
of fascism provides a handy symbol for the
far Rights determination to deal frmly
with immigrants and criminals.
Both countries see themselves as
victims of Nazism. Austria was occupied
by Germany in 1938, and although most
Austrians welcomed incorporation into the
Third Reich, they grasped the opportunity
of presenting their country as a victim of
Nazi oppression in 1943, when Hitler was
clearly losing the war.
Austrian involvement in the crimes
of Nazism was seriously underplayed.
Austrians were overrepresented in the
higher ranks of the regime, particularly
the SS, and where Austrians ran the Nazi
occupation of other countries, as in the
Netherlands or Serbia, they drove on the
persecution of the Jews with particular
thoroughness and venom.
In Italy, the German invasion that
followed Mussolinis overthrow in 1943
sparked a resistance movement, but the
fact that it was led by Communists has led
some far-right politicians to declare a pref-
erence for the SS men who tried brutally to
repress it. Mussolinis regime appears to
many simply a normal part of history.
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY October 25, 2008 5
refusing to lend to each other, the cost and lack of credit for small busi-
nesses and corporations threatens to turn the economic downturn into
a punishing recession.
With even the mighty Swiss banking system needing government
support, it will come as little surprise that a swathe of emerging market
economies are suddenly looking fragile.
ASIA
A
WAVE of discontent is surging through the ranks of Japanese
workers as they see the global economic crisis erode their eco-
nomic security. This discontent is driving many young workers
into the arms of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP). Due to this new
infux of recruits, the JCP now has more than 415,000 members and
controls approximately 7 percent of the national vote. These types of
numbers defnitely do not mean that Japan is on the verge of convert-
ing to communism, but they do show that more and more Japanese are
becoming disenchanted with Anglo-Saxon-style capitalism.
On Wednesday, India successfully launched the Chandrayaan 1
spacecraft into orbit as a part of the nations frst lunar mission. This
launch is regarded as a major step for India as it seeks to keep pace with
the other spacefaring nations of Asia. The robotic probe will orbit the
moon and compile a 3-D atlas of the lunar surface as the frst part of its
scheduled two-year mission of exploration. In todays technologically
advanced world, every nation racing to establish a foothold in space is
acutely aware that dominance of outer space leads to dominance here
on Earth. Continue to watch the heavens; space wars will heat up.
LATIN AMERICA, AFRICA
R
USSIA IS showing great interest in Latin America. The director of
Russias Federal Service of Security, Nikolai Patrushev, met with
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez October 17. Next month, the
two nations will take part in joint naval exercises, and Russian Presi-
dent Dmitri Medvedev will visit Venezuela. Last week, the deputy gen-
eral director of the Russian arms export monopoly Rosoboronexport
said Russia may sell Venezuela BMP-3 infantry combat vehicles. October
18, Russian arms manufacturer Izhmash sent the frst equipment for
the production of AK-103 rifes to Venezuela. Russia and Venezuela are
also working together to create an oil and gas consortium that will
include both Russian and Venezuelan frms. Russia is also building ties
with Cuba. Stanislav Naumov, Russian deputy minister of industry and
trade, has offered to help Cuba rebuild its energy infrastructure and
overhaul its transportation system. Russia is getting heavily involved in
Latin America to try to threaten the U.S.
Russia is also working to infltrate certain parts of Africa. This week,
Libyan leader Muammar Gadhaf announced that Libya may purchase
$2 billion worth of Russian weapons. Gadhaf will visit Moscow later
this month
Latin America is being hit hard with the credit crunch. Last week
the Mexican government issued $3.9 billion in guarantees for Mexican
commercial paper, a type of bank security. The Mexican government
has already injected $8.3 billion into the fnancial system, and the
government is quickly running out of capital. Brazils currency, the real,
has plummeted. Venezuela and Mexico both released their budget pro-
jections this week, and neither country is in a good position to weather
a fnancial crisis.
Herbert Armstrong:
A Man Ahead of His
Time
BRAD MACDONALD | COLUMNIST
THETRUMPET.COM AND the
Trumpet magazine walk in
the footsteps of the Plain
Truth, founded by Herbert
W. Armstrong. Those who
watched the World Tomor-
row television program
or read Mr. Armstrongs
literature (and there were
multiple millions) know that his KEYNOTE
PROPHECY was of a coming united European
superpower. He declared this prophecy
even as the smoke from World War II
billowed over Europe in the 1940sand
never stopped until he died in January
1986. The rise of a German-led European
superstate, he stated, would immediately
precede the catastrophic events Jesus
Christ discussed in Matthew 24.
A massive banking crisis in America, he
wrote to co-workers in July 1984, could
suddenly result in triggering European na-
tions to UNITE as a NEW WORLD POWER larger
than either the Soviet Union or the U.S.
That, in turn, could bring on THE GREAT
TRIBULATION suddenly. And that will lead
quickly to the Second Coming of Christ,
and END OF THIS WORLD as we know it (em-
phasis his).
We ought to ponder those words deeply
in light of Americas current banking crisis
and the chaos besieging the global fnan-
cial system.
The current global economic crisis
exposes a wonderful truth about Herbert
Armstrong: He was not wrong. Herbert
Armstrong was simply ahead of his time!
The questions we (especially former
supporters of Herbert Armstrong) now
face are: How could Herbert Armstrong
who has been dead for 22 yearsmake
this forecast so accurately? Where did his
understanding come from?
Put briefy and simply, Mr. Armstrongs
warnings came from God via the Holy
Bible, or as the Apostle Peter put it in his
second epistle, the more sure word of
prophecy. Instead of looking to men for
understanding and insight, Mr. Armstrong
looked to God, and God gave him under-
standing.
Watching the global economic crisis
and the emergence of a United States of
Europe unfold is deeply sobering. But
there are many other wonderful, hope-
flled lessons we can and must consider as
we watch these trends.
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY October 25, 2008 6
MCCLATCHY, October 23
Financial Panic Now
Sweeping Through South
America
W
HILE THE United States wrestled with fnancial meltdown this
fall, Latin American leaders often boasted that their econo-
mies were models of stability in an otherwise tumultuous
global landscape. Such confdence gave way, however, to panic this week,
as the effects of the U.S. credit crunch and an international downturn
wreak havoc on Latin Americas formerly booming economies.
On Wednesday, Brazilian offcials stoked investor fears by allowing
the countrys two biggest state banks to buy stakes in private fnan-
cial frms. Many of the countrys largest banks have seen their stock
prices plummet, while smaller banks have been strangled by the global
credit freeze.
Just a day earlier, Argentinas government shocked the fnancial
world by announcing it planned to nationalize the countrys private
pension system a move that conjured memories of the countrys 2001
economic collapse. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
said the nationalization was designed to protect peoples pensions from
market fuctuations. Most economists, however, read the action as a
desperate bid to stave off government loan default in the face of dimin-
ishing tax revenues.
The governments of Chile, Peru and other countries in the region
are also launching emergency initiatives designed to prop up banks and
businesses. On top of that, fnancial uncertainty has stalled everything
from planned deep-water oil drilling off the coast of southeastern Bra-
zil to new iron ore mining projects in Peru.
FINANCIAL Times, October 14
Caribbean Nations to Sign
EU Accord
T
HIRTEEN CARIBBEAN countries will sign a trade agreement with the
European Union on Wednesday despite doubts about whether
it will help or harm the region. The countriesmembers of the
Caribbean Community, a grouping of mainly English-speaking nations,
and the Dominican Republicare signing the pact that has been ques-
tioned in the region and by other countries in Africa and the Pacifc.
The Caribbean will open 86.9 percent of its market to duty free
imports from the EU over the next 25 years, with 82.7 percent of the
market being liberalized in the frst 15 years. Failure to agree to the
pact with the EU would have led to high tariffs on exports to Europe,
say regional trade offcials.
Roosevelt Skerrit, Dominicas prime minister, says his islands vital
banana export trade will be destroyed if he does not sign the agree-
ment. If we fail to regularise our trading arrangement by way of the
economic partnership agreement, we will justifably be accused of sell-
ing bananas illegally. Guyanas state-owned sugar producer says it will
lose heavily unless President Jagdeo signs the trade pact.
The EU says that if the agreement is not signed by the end of Octo-
ber, the Caribbean would lose all European trade preferences. The EU
What Incredibly
Tough Action Is
Obama Preparing?

WSWS | OCTOBER 22
IN REMARKS made over the weekend in Seat-
tle, Democratic vice presidential candidate
Joseph Biden warned that Barack Obama,
if elected president, would be compelled
to take deeply unpopular actions in both
domestic and foreign policy within months
of taking offce. In closed-door gatherings
with two audiences of Democratic Party
insiders and fundraisers, Biden forecast
a major international crisis in the frst six
months of an Obama administration.
He compared Obama to John F. Ken-
nedy, the last senator to be elected presi-
dent. It will not be six months before the
world tests Barack Obama like they did
John Kennedy, Biden said. The world
is looking. Were about to elect a brilliant
47-year-old senator president of the United
States of America. Watch. Were going to
have an international crisis, a generated
crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.
Biden mentioned the Middle East,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, North Korea and
Russia as potential points of confict, but
did not spell out the exact nature of such
a crisis, observing, I can give you at least
four or fve scenarios from where it might
originate. He made it clear that Obama
would respond forcefully: Theyre going
to want to test him. And theyre going to
fnd out this guys got steel in his spine.
Hes going to need help, Biden said.
Hes going to need younot fnancially to
help himwere going to need you to use
your infuence, your infuence within the
community, to stand with him. Because its
not going to be apparent initially, its not
going to be apparent that were right. He
continued, There are going to be a lot of
you who want to go, Whoa, wait a minute,
yo, whoa, whoa, I dont know about that
decision. Because if you think the deci-
sion is sound when theyre made, which
I believe you will when theyre made,
theyre not likely to be as popular as they
are sound. Because if theyre popular,
theyre probably not sound. Bidens
language suggests that the ferocity of the
new administrations response will shock
not only public opinion, but even its own
supporters.
The Democratic candidate did not spell
out the exact nature of these incredibly
tough decisions, other than to refer to the
fnancial and economic crisis and two wars
being bequeathed by the Bush administra-
tion to its successor.
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY October 25, 2008 7
would revert to the generalized system of preferences and the region
would be subjected to signifcant tariffs, says Carlo Pettinato of the
Commissions Kingston offce.
ANGLO-AMERICA
T
HIS WEEK, a surge of job cuts, well beyond the bleeding fnancial
sector, swept the United States. On Thursday, the government
announced jobless claims that, according to the Associated Press,
were worse than analysts expected. Corporations, faced with slumping
consumer spending, rising borrowing costs and the prospects of a deep
recession, slashed payrolls in an attempt to get a handle on costs and
maintain proftability. Over the past week, Chrysler said it was slash-
ing 1,825 jobs after losing $1 billion in the frst half of the year, and
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. announced it would cut 3,300 more jobs,
or almost 10 percent of its staff. Xerox will lay off 3,000 employees, or
5 percent of its staff. Mining equipment maker Terex Corp is slashing
hundreds of positions to preserve cash. Starwood Hotels & Resorts
says it plans to cut an unspecifed number of jobs as the number of
vacationers has plummeted. United Parcel Service sees layoffs in 2009,
as customers ship less and send fewer presents. Drug maker Merck &
Co. also announced plans on Wednesday to cut 12 percent of its work-
force. Unemployment fgures are expected to continue to worsen for the
foreseeable future.
Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told
Congress on Thursday he is shocked at the breakdown in U.S. credit
markets and said he was partially wrong to resist regulation of some
securities. Greenspan, while in offce, was generally regarded as a
market genius for his policies. But as we are now witnessing, there is
eventually a price to be paid for artifcially low interest rates, extrava-
gant borrowing, and excessive consumer spending. Lawmakers from
both sides of the aisle took advantage of the packed hearing room to
take political potshots, but did little in the way of real action to help
solve the problem.
The housing market has also continued its free fall. A recently re-
leased government report indicated that U.S. home prices fell a record
5.9 percent in August from the same month last year. Additionally,
the number of homeowners ensnared in the foreclosure crisis grew by
more than 70 percent in the third quarter of this year compared with
the same period in 2007. Nationwide, over three quarters of a mil-
lion homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice from July
through September. By the end of the year, RealtyTrac expects that a
third of all properties for sale in the U.S. will be bank-owned. Thats
bad news for anyone who wants to sell their home. Foreclosure sales
often command deep discounts and pull down neighboring property
values.
The combination of sinking home values, tighter mortgage-lending
criteria and an economy that many economists think has already
slipped into recession has left hundreds of thousands with homes they
cant afford and cant sell. Nearly 12 million of the 52 million Ameri-
cans with a mortgage owe more on their mortgage than their homes
are worththats almost one quarter of all homeowners, according
to Moodys Economy.com. It remains to be seen if the governments
intervention will actually help the housing crisis. Earlier this month,
the Federal Housing Administration launched a program that aims to
prevent foreclosures by allowing homeowners to swap their mortgages
for more affordable loans, but only if their lender agrees to take a loss
on the initial loan. More than likely, it will just draw out the pain for
those who should not have purchased homes.
On Wall Street, the credit crunch continues to endanger banking in-
ROBERT MORLEY | COLUMNIST
Prepare to Reduce
Your Standard of
LivingNow!
COULD AMERICAN society
even survive a 1930s-style
crash? America is not the
same nation that faced the
Great Depression.
My grandparents lived
through the Great Depres-
sion. And you can see how
that terrible time left its
mark on that generation. Nothing is al-
lowed to go to waste. Every last bit of food
should be eaten. The buttons off of old
clothing should be saved. Old jeans can be
used to make patches to cover the holes
in the knees of other work clothes. I even
remember a proudly displayed area rug
woven out of old rags.
Unfortunately, the generation that sur-
vived the last Great Depression is mostly
gone, and the lessons learned are largely
forgotten. America has repeated the
fnancial mistakes of the pastand with a
hundred times the leverage.
When all the banks failed during the
1930s, it wasnt just the fact that many
people lost their savings that sent the
country on an economic spiral. When
banks failed, it also meant people and
corporations couldnt get loans nearly
as easily. The remaining banks stopped
lending and started conserving cash. This
caused many companies that were former-
ly healthy, but had come to rely on loans
to cover short term needs, to run into
problems. Job losses soared, and unem-
ployment hit 25 percent.
Are you prepared for an unemployment
rate of 25 percent? Today, businesses are
more reliant on borrowed money than ever
before. If the current credit crunch contin-
ues to intensify, it wont take much to shut
down many companies.
The next depression looms like a dark
cloud over America. The difference with
this coming depression is that America
may be in a much worse position to face
it. During the 1930s, people had savings,
America was the worlds biggest lender,
and the U.S. was a major producer. Today,
all levels of society are saturated with
debt, the federal government is the worlds
biggest borrower, and America is a nation
of superconsumers.
If you have delayed taking the painful
but necessary steps to put your fnancial
house in order, you still have a window of
opportunity, but the window is closing.
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY October 25, 2008 8
stitutions. Banks borrowed record amounts of money from the Federal
Reserve over the past weekan average of $107.5 billion per day. The
previous record was set the prior week. Squeezed banks and investment
frms are borrowing from the Fed because the banks themselves dont
trust each other, and since investors have cut them off, fnancial institu-
tions cant get money elsewhere.
In the UK, economic conditions may be deteriorating at an even
quicker rate. By some measures, the housing bubble was much bigger,
and the banking systems exposure much greater. Analysts have said
interest rates may be slashed in an attempt to infate the economy. Con-
sequently, investors have dumped the pound, which has hit its lowest
value against the dollar in fve years.
AUSTRALIAN, October 11
Longest, Hottest Drought
on Record
T
HE LONG drought affecting southern Australia is offcially the
worst on record. Bureau of Meteorology head of climate analy-
sis David Jones said the 12-year drought that was devastating
southwest Western Australia, southeast South Australia, Victoria and
northern Tasmania was very severe and without historical precedent.
Drought has gripped the Murray-Darling Basin since late 2001. It
has worsened this year, as rainfall totals for the past three years have
set record lows in many regions, including many critical to the Murray
River.
Dr. Jones said the rainfall fgures were similar to the severe drought
that lasted from 1939 to 1945, and the Federation drought, which ran
from 1895 to 1903.
Those three droughts, in terms of rainfall, are comparable, he said.
But this drought is a lot hotter than those two previous droughts. And
those two droughts fnished, whereas this one is continuing.
The most dramatic impact has been on Melbourne, which has just
recorded its driest September on record. If one looks at the history of
data we have for Melbourne,
we have rainfall records go-
ing 150 years, Dr. Jones said.
We simply have not seen
anything like what we cur-
rently have, not even close.
TELEGRAPH, October 16
English Honey to Run Out
Before Christmas
T
HE CATASTROPHIC decline in honey bee numbers has continued with
populations down 30 percent on last year. Combined with an-
other wet summerwhich prevented the bees gathering pollenit
has resulted in a honey shortage. Stuart Bailey, chairman of the UKs
biggest producer, Rowse Honey, said: Supplies continue to dribble
through and we might have enough for another six weeks or so but I
Ayers Doesnt
Advise ObamaJust
Teenagers
STEPHEN FLURRY | COLUMNIST
WHETHER OR not Barack
Obamas relationship with
William Ayers prevents
Obama from serving as
president, Im wondering
what it would take for an
unrepentant terrorist to be
disqualifed from TEACHING
Americas future leaders.
On May 19, 1972, Ayers bombed the
Pentagon. In his memoir, Fugitive Days,
he wrote glowingly of his experiences as
a home-grown terrorist: Everything was
absolutely ideal on the day I bombed the
Pentagon. The sky was blue. The birds were
singing. And the [expletives] were fnally
going to get what was coming to them.
Twenty years later, when the New York
Times asked if he had any regrets for his
violent behavior, Ayers said, I dont regret
setting bombs. I feel we didnt do enough.
The Times interview received little atten-
tion because of the day it was published
Sept. 11, 2001. Talk about bad timing. Yet,
even with the rest of the country reeling
from the 9/11 attacks, Ayers seemed unaf-
fected. Five days after 9/11, Ayers told the
New York Times Magazine that he still
didnt trust America.
In trying to disassociate himself with
Ayers, Senator Obama has insisted that
the Weather Underground founder has not
been involved in his campaign and will not
advise him in the White House. Yet, even
as Obama denounces Ayers the 70s radi-
cal, he simultaneously praises Ayers the
present-day educational reformerwith-
out any fear of negative backlash. Could
anything better illustrate the despicable
state of modern education today?
It is William Ayers who is reforming
educationnot the other way around. And
education today has no problem with that.
Last week, more than 3,200 supporters
of Bill Ayersmost of them from the feld
of academiasigned a petition expressing
their support for the educational reform-
er. What is most relevant now is his con-
tinued engagement in progressive causes,
the petition reads, and his exemplary con-
tribution to the feld of education.
He may be an unrepentant terrorist,
but look at what hes done for education.
For those who see the Ayers connec-
tion as a strike against Barack Obamas
qualifcations for offce, take heartat
least Obama was educated at Columbia
and Harvard!
This fundamental principle permeates the
Bible: Weather is a measure of Gods happiness
with mankind!
theTrumpet.com, July 16
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY October 25, 2008 9
INDEX OPEN
expect it to be gone before Christmas.
Supermarkets and shops rely on a few dozen big commercial honey
farms for their supplies of English honey but there is much less avail-
able this year. Rowse, who have a third of the market in the UK, had
hoped to supply supermarkets with
250 tons but Mr. Bailey thinks it
may be only half that amount.
It has been a terrible, terrible
year possibly the worst for 28
years. Bee numbers are down again
and the weather has been so bad it
has prevented them from foraging.
We will be lucky if the total honey
crop this year amounts to 2,000
tons .
But the decline in bee numbers
is a worldwide problem, particu-
larly in North America where the fruit growing areas of California
and Florida have been especially hard hit by so-called colony collapse
disorder. The result has produced shortages and pushed up costs by as
much as 60 percent. Bees pollinate an estimated 90 percent of the
apple crop, 30 percent of the pear crop and much of the soft fruits such
as strawberry and raspberry.
TELEGRAPH, October 13, 2008
Milk Imports Surge as
British Production Drops
to 30-Year Low
B
RITAIN HAS become reliant on milk imports from Holland, Bel-
gium and Northern Ireland as dairy production at home reaches
its lowest levels for 30 years. Two dairy farmers are going out of
business in this country every day because of low prices and high costs,
and the wet summer has also affected cows ability to produce high
yields.
One major cheese producer, First Milk, has already been forced to
lay off a tenth of its staff because of the domestic milk shortage. Mean-
while, market research published in the Grocer magazine showed that
the cost of milk has increased by 14 percent in the last 12 months.
John Allen, managing director of Kite Consultants which advises
dairy farmers, told BBC Radio 4s Farming Today program that 700 left
the industry last year and the national herd declined from 2.1 million
in 2005 to 1.9 million last year. He said importing milk was not only
detrimental to the home industry but also to consumers.
We have got all these issues about carbon footprints, all the extra
costs of transport: liquid milk is not a good thing to transport, it doesnt
do much for the quality of the milk to be shipped hundreds of miles
around Europe. Its better if its produced locally on local farms and ac-
tually supplied into local stores and kept fresh for the consumer. Thats
what the UK consumers value and welcome.
Robert Shearlaw, vice-chairman of First Milk, said that importing
milk also left the UK open to geopolitical machinations. We only need
to look to the examples of whats happened with resources like oil and
gas. The minute we lose the home supply, all of a sudden we are very
exposed to the countries that hold these natural resources, he said. I
would very confdently predict that that will happen with food.
THE EXPENSIVE stores along Bond Street and
Sloane Street have fallen eerily quiet. So
have the cheaper ones scattered all over
town, the Monsoons and the Topshops and
the Next outletsubiquitous staples of the
insatiable British shopping diet. Britons,
like everyone else, are coming down from
their huge spending spree .
Already, people are losing their jobs and
houses, and businesses are failing across
Britain; the downturn is going to be very
bad. But what is striking about the past era
is that much of the incredible boom in con-
sumer spending was stimulated by people
who, even in good times, could not afford
the things they were buying.
Buoyed by easy credit and infated prop-
erty prices, the British public spent itself
into debt, a total of 1.44 trillion, or $2.56
trillion, of it. Britons now owe, on average,
180 percent of their disposable income.
One-third of consumer debt in all of Europe
is held by people in Britain, said Chris Tapp,
deputy director of Credit Action, which
counsels people about how to handle debt
. The idea of saving up for what you
buythats what you did when there werent
any credit cards, Tapp said.
The author David Kynaston, whose
book Austerity Britain discusses the
privations of the post-World War II era,
said that until the mid-1980sthe Thatch-
er eraBritain was careful, cautious,
understated, naturally socially conser-
vative. But, he added in an interview,
In the 1980s, there was essentially a
psychic shift in how to use money. What
went out the window was the old puritan
self-consciousness, even a sense of guilt,
about money. Spending was glorifed;
so was borrowing. Banks began offering
125 percent mortgages. Credit card debt
soared. In a recent book, the psychiatrist
Oliver James complained that the country
was suffering from affuenza.
People got used to more expensive
things. Supermarkets emphasized lux-
ury ranges of foods. Britons abandoned
traditional seashore vacations and began
fying to Europe. Upmarket sandwich
shops appeared across London, replacing
the old, humble ones. The need for new
gadgets at home soared.
It was great while it lasted, [Linda]
Parry said of the boom time, but nothing
lasts forever.
Britains Boom Is
Over and Not
Everybody Minds
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE,
SARAH LYALL | OCTOBER 21
THE TRUMPET WEEKLY October 25, 2008 10
political and military circles in that country that bespeak a spirit akin
to that which drove Germany to world power status with devastating
results over 70 years ago.
Those who possess that same old imperialist spirit of Kaiser Wilhelm
and Adolf Shickelgruber see their chance on the horizon.
As Charles Moore recently pointed out in a very focused article in the
Daily Telegraph, it was amid the last great global fnancial and eco-
nomic collapse in the 1930s that we last saw conditions similar to those
of today ripen for the rise of demagogues (October 11). The only differ-
ence, Moore pointed out, was that there were powerful democracies
able to form an effective alliance to beat the onslaught of tyranny.
Today there are no powerful democracies to form effective resistance
to such an enemy.
Seventy years later, the conditions are ripening rapidly, conditions
that are leading to the very state of the nation in Germany that the Ger-
man mind cannot tolerate: chaos and confusion economically, socially
and politically. The average pundit not possessing either a clear under-
standing of the Teutonic mind, nor having a clear understanding of the
cycle of history, may not take the time to appreciate just what is build-
ing in Europe today. However, it would appear that some astute minds
in Washington, few though they be, are becoming concerned at rumbles
emerging from the heartland of Europe.
The Trumpet is clear on where this is leadingexactly to where Her-
bert W. Armstrong prophesied it would over 70 years ago!
If you wish to fnd out just where that is, order a free copy of our
booklet Who or What Is the Prophetic Beast?
TELEGRAPH, October 11
Americas Financial Dom-
inance Is Ending
T
HE WORLD is heading for a nasty, protracted recession that marks
the beginning of the end of Americas dominance of global f-
nance, according to leading economist Nouriel Roubini. Its the
beginning of the decline of the U.S. fnancial empire. The Great Depres-
sion ended in a massive war. I hope thats not going to happen but its
pretty ugly now, said Professor Roubini, an academic and former U.S.
Treasury adviser. He expects a global recession to last for at least two
years and said the current crisis could lead to a massive, ugly war.
Were now paying the price for the biggest asset and credit bubble in
history, Professor Roubini said at a hedge fund conference in London.
The bail-outs have not worked because the markets are no longer ral-
lying, and the policymakers have run out of options.
Professor Roubini, who is known for predicting some of the trouble
engulfng the fnancial system, said he would not be surprised if the
U.S. and other countries soon had to close their stock markets for more
than a week. Its like were walking blind in a minefeld. Every situa-
tion has become risky and no-one can trust each other, Mr. Roubini
said. The banks are too big to be allowed to fail, but theyre also too big
to be saved.
He said that the problems were not just caused by the U.S. sub-prime
market, but all kinds of risky lending the world overfrom mortgages
and cars to student and commercial loans.
CONTINUED from page 1
Germany Threatens Ireland
BECAUSE CREDIT is the life-
blood of capitalism, the
current credit freeze is
jeopardizing the whole sys-
tem. Here is a suggestion on
how to fx our economy. It
is radical, but it is guaran-
teed to work: Criminalize
usury. Make it illegal to
loan money with interest. The reason this
will work is that it comes from the greatest
economist ever: God.
The Bible mentions interest, or usury,
23 times, and every time, there is evidence
that God doesnt approve of it. In Deuter-
onomy 23:19, He directly forbids it: You
shall not charge interest to your brother
interest on money or food or anything that
is lent out at interest. The fact is, God
doesnt want anyone to proft off someone
else borrowing money. As soon as it be-
comes proftable to help other people get
into debt, then you have people actually
encouraging others to get into debt!
Our culture is utterly saturated with
debt-oriented thinking. If you dont have
the money for something, you just buy it
on time payment. There is absolutely no
shame in living under a mountain of debt.
The worst offender of all is the American
government, which is buried under an
incomprehensible $10 trillion in debt.
The availability of easy credit teaches
self-indulgence and fnancial irresponsi-
bility, and it leads to fnancial ruin. Crimi-
nalizing usury would teach the value in
fnancial discipline, patience, self-control
and hard work. In the long run, it would
increase individual and family wealth.
Interest tends to take money from the
poor and give it to the rich. In a Bible-based
economy, loans are actually a form of wel-
fare, given to beneft the poor, not the rich.
Most people reject Gods laws. They
reason that those laws were dreamed up
by an unsophisticated, ancient desert peo-
ple. Wrong. They came from the Almighty
Creator, who designed a perfect economic
system. The top fnancial experts in this
world would ridicule that system, but the
fact is, they are losing billions of dollars,
and their jobs, because they have broken
Gods fnancial laws.
Gods economic system is about to be
established worldwide. No one will ever
again make money off someone elses debt.
What a wonderful world that will be.
A Suggestion for
Correcting the
Economy
JOEL HILLIKER | COLUMNIST