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Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Israel Rebuffs Obama's Objection to Building in Shiloh
The Hubris Syndrome By Matt Ward
The Hubris Syndrome
By Matt Ward
There is an intoxication that comes with power. History is replete with men and women who have fallen deep within its spell, sometimes with terrifying consequences.
The ancient Greeks recognized this phenomenon and developed the notion of “hubris” to account for it. Power has always been a potent drug and often in history it has led those wielding it, to become puffed up with pride and self-confidence. It has led those caught in its throes to commit horrors.
In more recent times psychologists have been able to establish and clinically identify the links between those who hold high office and certain forms of mental illness. Many individuals who come to hold very high office—especially for prolonged periods of time, seem to begin to exhibit patterns of behavior that indicate they are mentally ill.
Commentators and professionals who have studied this condition characterize those in its grip as being people who are highly narcissistic; men and women who view the world as their own private arena. To these individuals the world is a stage which exists primarily to glorify themselves and their own achievements.
They are individuals with a predisposition toward action that paints them in a favorable light, doing things specifically to enhance their image. These individuals are sometimes even messianic in the way they talk about themselves and in developed cases of hubris, these individuals seem to regard themselves and whatever they lead as one and the same.
As a result of this, these types of people talk about themselves in the third person or use “we” a lot when they really just mean them alone. Often they have an exaggerated self-belief that ultimately—history will vindicate them for their actions. Given enough time, they often lose contact with reality all together.
This “hubris syndrome” becomes more entrenched the longer these individuals cling to power. It is one of the great paradoxes of real power; that those who hold it often become entirely ill-suited to it over time.
Examples of hubris can certainly be found in politicians in every country and especially in a number of relatively recent U.S. presidents. It was plain stupidity, for example, that led Richard Nixon to order the Watergate break-ins, but it was hubris that led him to attempt a cover-up after the fact, and then think he would get away with it.
Ronald Reagan sending arms to Iran in order to secure the release of U.S. hostages, in direct contravention of U.S. law, wasn’t smart; it was hubris. Bill Clinton leaving his family upstairs in the Presidential Suite of the White House whilst he galloped downstairs to the Oval Office to conduct his sordid affairs with Monica Lewinski. That was immoral and plain stupid. What was sheer hubris was the notion that in the goldfish bowl of the Oval Office surrounded by so many people all of the time, he thought he would get away with it.
Barack Obama has displayed a breathtaking hubris during his eight years in power. He has been reckless, fickle and petulant. He has picked selectively which laws he would uphold, and which he would disregard, like deciding not to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act.
Obama now effectively legislates from the Oval Office, often in direct defiance of congressional will. He even openly acknowledges and jokes about this “…I have a telephone and I have a pen…”
There have been many moments over the last eight years when even the more considered spectators stood back and wondered what really was going on in Obama’s mind. Like in 2013, shortly after the Boston marathon bombing, there was to be a moment’s silence to commemorate the tragic victims of the blast.
Except this presidential moment of silence would be different. Barack Obama would hold his minutes of silence at the White House, on his own, with no other White House staff present. (Except his official photographer who would capture the event for posterity.)
Obama has an almost messianic self-belief that ultimately history will vindicate him for his actions, embodied in statements such as, “I’m going to act because it’s the right thing for the country.” This particular quote related to allowing open door illegal immigration into the U.S.
On critical issues such as gun control, Obama is often heard stating that he is going to again “do the right thing for the country,” irrespective of the views of most American citizens. He is going to “do the right thing” because in his mind, he knows better than the people he is to represent.
America was originally founded as a nation “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Yet Obama, as his presidency has progressed through a second term—has increasingly presumed an attitude where he alone has become the sole arbiter of what is “right” or “good,” not what the people think is right or good.
Obama is not a leader, he is a narcissistic controller, just like his protégé in November’s upcoming elections, Hillary Clinton. If ever there was person who displayed hubris in all its developed forms—it is Hillary Clinton. She is arrogant, narcissistic to an extreme, a habitual liar and someone who has been around the very top levels of power, in various forms—for nearly thirty years.
Many believe this constant access to power over such a long time has increasingly corrupted her, and even warped her sense of reality.
This is a person who used the horror of 9/11 to justify her links to Wall Street even though it is demonstrably clear that those ties go back much further than 2001. This is a woman who famously claimed in an interview that she had left the White House “dead broke” in 2001, when that could not be further from the truth.
Hillary Clinton has lied about coming under sniper fire in Bosnia in the 1990s, and about having four grandparents who were “all” immigrants when in reality only one was. And she has claimed, falsely, that she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary, in honor his famous mountain climbing feat. Hillary Clinton was six years old when Edmund Hillary reached the summit of Mount Everest.
After all this, the lies and the deception, and her utter hubris, start to become sinister.
Hillary Clinton, while secretary of state was using a personal email account to conduct official government business. She did this rather than use an official transparent and recordable government account. This is a direct violation of Federal Law. Her response from the beginning has been breathtakingly blasé, despite the growing acceptance that both Russia and China have hacked these accounts accessing some of the most sensitive and compromising information available on the United States.
Then we come to Benghazi, the most reprehensible example of all. Benghazi more than anything else highlights Clinton’s sheer and unabashed hubris. On September 12, 2011 Islamist rebels attacked the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, butchering U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stephens and three other brave Americans.
It subsequently was revealed that the State Department, which she led, had repeatedly rejected urgent requests for additional security at Benghazi. Hillary Clinton was aware of the dangers and did nothing even though she knew the dangers these men were facing. She then, lied to the relatives of the fallen America heroes claiming that the motive for the attack was an obscure video when she knew full well that this was untrue. To make matters worse, when a grieving mother later criticized her for this falsehood, Hillary Clinton responded cruelly by questioning her mental health.
Donald Trump can be offensive, but Hillary Clinton is outright dangerous; hubris in a national leader is not just obnoxious, it can lead to imperiousness in governance. That she may realistically be the next president of the United States is a truly terrifying prospect.
Hillary Clinton is a genuine threat to religious liberty in the United States. If you are a Christian and she becomes president of the United States of America, Hillary Clinton will declare war on you. Be forewarned.
She supports the horrors of late term abortion and has publically stated that Christianity needs to change to accommodate this abomination. Hillary Clinton could not be clearer on this issue when she has said, “…deep seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed to provide reproductive health care for all women.”
Christianity is not a deep seated cultural code or merely a religious belief, Mrs. Clinton. It is a way of life and redemption, offering a salvation so costly that the Son of God Himself had to die for it,
“…it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16)
Yet ultimately, even Hillary Clinton will pail into absolute insignificance next to the man (Antichrist) who is soon going to step forward and assume control of this failing world system. He will display a hubris unlike any—since the beginning of time. His arrogance will be without limit, just like his father—Lucifer, who presumed to lift his throne above the stars of heaven,
“I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.” (Isaiah 14:13)
This man who is prophesied to come will speak unheard of things and exalt himself over and above all men and all that is worshipped by mankind:
“The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place.” (Daniel 11:36)
Yet before that day comes—as it soon will, America faces a day of decision unlike any before. Take a chance on Donald Trump who loves America or go with the woman President Obama (Hillary Clinton) who has declared she would see Barack Hussein Obama’s godless agenda through to the very end.
It is momentous decision and the whole world is watching.
Power has always been a potent drug and often in history it has led those wielding it, who are caught in its throes, to commit horrors. If Hillary Clinton does become the 45th president of the United States of America, I think she will be as good as her word when it comes to opposing Christianity, promoting late term abortion, upholding and furthering LGBTQ rights and in ensuring the subordination of United States sovereignty to Transnational organizations like the United Nations.
Ominously, I also believe she will be true to her word when she talks of aggressively challenging Russia and Vladimir Putin. I shudder when she talks of “punishing” the Russians, because that may mean war.
A unique day of decision approaches for America. If Hillary Clinton is elected president of the United States of America I am sure that America, and even the rest of the world, will look completely different in just four short years, or even sooner.
America, God Has Given You Over By Howard Green
America, God Has Given You Over
By Howard Green
It seems that everyone's attention is on the upcoming presidential election this November. Everywhere you look, people are focused on the two candidates in the race. Behind the candidates, their campaigns, and even the important issues of the day, there is one factor that is being ignored by some people. This factor is so monumental and critical to America's future, obscuring it for so long has brought us to the tipping point. This nation kicked the Lord God out decades ago and now judgment is forthcoming. America, God has given you over.
And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. Romans 1:28-32
Although this nation was founded on godly principles, we hardly resemble the same country birthed only two hundred forty years ago. That period of time is just a millisecond compared with the lifespan many nations and kingdoms both past and present. Americans are relying on the continued blessing from God on a wicked and perverse nation that is a mere shadow of its former self regarding honor to the Creator.
As the beautiful song goes: America, America, God shed His grace on thee. Indeed, there was a time in history when the Lord seemed to be blessing our nation. This is conjecture on my part but perhaps this apparent blessing was because of a number of the following factors.
From its inception, the U.S. and for the most part, it's leaders have honored God in our words and deeds. Many of our founding documents give glory to God and His word. This nation has historically been a safe haven for a great number of the world's Jewish population. For approximately two hundred years, America has honored the institution of marriage, the sanctity of life, and the place of God in our institutions. Much has changed in just five short decades, so much in fact that practices once widely considered unthinkable are now protected and even applauded.
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. Romans 1:24-25
In the 1960s, we had the sexual revolution and the birth of the so called Women's Liberation Movement. In 1962 the Supreme Court ended prayer in public schools. In the late 1960's we had the birth of the drug culture. In 1973, Roe v. Wade legalized abortion and in just forty three years, we have viciously murdered at least 54 million babies. Seven appointed Supreme Court Judges made the wholesale slaughter of unborn children permissible and the practice is now widely viewed as “women’s” health care.
The sexual revolution in the 1960s birthed another revolution. The homosexual movement has transpired over several decades and now the lifestyle is not only widely accepted now, but greatly applauded and celebrated by many. The LGBT movement is militant, mobilized, and at war with anyone who stands in their way.
“For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.” Romans 1:26-27
There is another factor in God’s giving America over. As a believer it pains me to say this and I’m not in any way employing dramatics when I tell you that I believe the American church as a whole is also coming under judgment if not there already. For the most part, mainline denominations are dead and their membership numbers are in sharp decline.
I don’t believe it’s any coincidence that the championing of liberal social issues, the wide spread acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle, and even placement and ordination of homosexual ministers has led to the demise of these once thriving God honoring churches.
What’s worse is now we have “leaders” in the evangelical churches promoting the soft sell, seeker sensitive, purpose driven, ecumenical false gospel. Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Tony Campolo, and Andy Stanley are just a few of the men who are unfortunately revered by many in evangelical leadership. If the evangelical leadership including many pastors can't see through obvious deceivers like these men and instead emulates them, we are in deep trouble.
Judgment begins in the house of God and it may not be the obvious catastrophic judgment one would expect. These men’s “movement’s” may appear to be prospering given the numbers involved. The Bema Seat Judgment may reveal it was indeed all about the numbers, not winning and discipling souls. By and large, we have an apathetic apostate false Christianity in America cleverly disguised as true Christianity and many are following a different Jesus.
“For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” 1:Peter 4:17
The bottom line is this: God didn’t spare the ancient Canaanite nations surrounding Israel who were sacrificing babies. He didn’t spare Babylon when it defiled His holy items from the temple. He didn't spare Israel when after repeated warnings, they continued to worship false gods right up to 586 BC. He didn't spare Israel a second time in 70 AD after Jesus’ repeated warnings.
My question to all of us is this: If God didn't withhold judgment from all of these nations including many I didn't list. If He didn't spare Israel and judged her for unfaithfulness to Him, what make us think God will spare the United States? There is no biblical precedent or reason to believe we won’t be judged. I’m not a prophet and won’t say, “Thus saith the Lord” unless He says. So I don't know when judgment is coming. I simply believe that it is certain and may in fact be in its beginning stages.
The U.S. is murdering millions of babies annually and legalizing gay marriage. We have kicked God out of our society, schools, and public square, yet we run to Him for help like a genie in a bottle after a horrific national calamity strikes. How can our Congress sing God bless America on September 11th at the Capitol steps, then turn their back on Him while legislating on the floor of the same Capitol?
Wanting God to help doesn't last long and before we know it, apathy and indifference toward Him sets in yet again. Many of our churches are apostate and it's probable that millions professing American Christians are worshipping a completely different Jesus. The good news is that God always has a faithful remnant woven throughout many churches, across America, and around the world.
I love America because it’s my home. My hope, desire, and longing is for my eternal home though. Heaven is my real home and I’m simply passing through. With that in mind, shouldn't Christians look at the November election and even America’s future differently? Voting is a right and privilege so do what you wish with that. We should pray for those in authority as the Bible commands. We should pray for our nation to turn toward God. Beyond that, we are citizens of a heavenly kingdom and we should live here as such. Your party affiliation and patriotism pales in importance to how you should be living for Jesus.
With the little time we have left before Jesus’ return, we should be evangelizing and making disciples. What we do for Him is the only thing that will matter in 100 years. Knowing that America has thumbed its nose at God by allowing the mass murder of the unborn, defiling the marriage covenant, and sanctioning gay marriage, it has not only opened itself up for God's judgment, it's begging for it. It's time for true Christians to live for Jesus with renewed boldness because this nation is coming under judgment and America has been given over.
All for Him,
Howard
U.S. militia grids for trouble as presidential election nears
U.S. militia grids for trouble as presidential election nears
Members of the III% Security Force militia gather for a field training exercise in Jackson, Georgia, U.S. October 29, 2016. REUTERS/Justin Mitchell
By Justin Mitchell and Andy Sullivan
JACKSON, Ga. (Reuters) – Down a Georgia country road, camouflaged members of the Three Percent Security Force have mobilized for rifle practice, hand-to-hand combat training — and an impromptu campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
“How many people are voting for Trump? Ooh-rah!” asks Chris Hill, a paralegal who goes by the code name “Bloodagent.”
“Ooh-rah!” shout a dozen militia members in response, as morning sunlight sifted through the trees last weekend.
As the most divisive presidential election in recent memory nears its conclusion, some armed militia groups are preparing for the possibility of a stolen election on Nov. 8 and civil unrest in the days following a victory by Democrat Hillary Clinton.
They say they won’t fire the first shot, but they’re not planning to leave their guns at home, either.
Trump’s populist campaign has energized militia members like Hill, who admire the Republican mogul’s promise to deport illegal immigrants, stop Muslims from entering the country and build a wall along the Mexico border. Trump has repeatedly warned that the election may be “rigged,” and has said he may not respect the results if he does not win. At least one paramilitary group, the Oath Keepers, has called on members to monitor voting sites for signs of fraud
Armed paramilitary groups first gained prominence in the early 1990s, fueled by confrontations in Ruby Ridge, Idaho and Waco, Texas, culminating in a militia sympathizer’s 1995 bombing of a federal office building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people.
Their numbers dwindled following that attack but have spiked in recent years, driven by fears that President Barack Obama will threaten gun ownership and erode the power of local government. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups, estimates there were 276 active militias last year, up from 42 in 2008.
In recent years, armed groups have confronted federal authorities in a series of land-use disputes in the western United States. Federal officials fear more clashes could come after seven militants were acquitted on conspiracy charges for occupying a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon.
Many fear Clinton would push the county further to the left.
“This is the last chance to save America from ruin,” Hill said. “I’m surprised I was able to survive or suffer through eight years of Obama without literally going insane, but Hillary is going to be more of the same.”
EXTREMIST GROUPS EMBOLDENED
The Oath Keepers, a prominent anti-government force that sent gun-toting members to the 2014 race riots in Ferguson, Missouri, called on members last week to monitor voting sites on election day for any signs of fraud.
An hour south of Atlanta, the Three Percent Security Force started the day around the campfire, taking turns shooting automatic pistols and rifles at a makeshift target range. They whooped with approval when blasts from one member’s high-powered rifle knocked down a tree.
The group operates independently, but is affiliated with a national armed movement that calls for members to defend individual rights in the face of what they see as an overreaching federal government. The movement draws its name from the notion that no more than 3 percent of the American population fought in the Revolutionary War against Britain.
Amid the war games, Hill weighed plans for a possible armed march on Washington if Clinton wins.
He said he doesn’t want his members leading the way, but they will defend the protesters if need be. His group will not hesitate to act if a President Clinton tries to disarm gun owners, he said.
“I will be there to render assistance to my fellow countrymen, and prevent them from being disarmed, and I will fight and I will kill and I may die in the process,” said Hill, who founded the militia several years ago.
Trump’s candidacy has emboldened extremist groups to speak more openly about challenging the rule of law, said Ryan Lenz, a researcher at the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“Prior to this campaign season, these ideas were relegated to sort of the political fringe of the American political landscape,” he said. “Now these ideas are legitimized.”
Over the past week, some prominent Trump supporters have hinted at violence.
“If Trump loses, I’m grabbing my musket,” former Illinois Representative Joe Walsh wrote on Twitter last week. Conservative commentator Wayne Root fantasized about Clinton’s death while speaking at a Trump rally in Las Vegas on Sunday.
Back in Georgia, the Three Percent Security Force wrapped up rifle practice in the midday sun. They then headed further into the trees to tackle an obstacle course with loaded pistols at their sides, ready for whatever may come.
“We’ve building up for this, just like the Marines,” he said. “We are going to really train harder and try to increase our operational capabilities in the event that this is the day that we hoped would never come.”
(Editing by Stuart Grudgings)
Walls shaking’: 4.5 quake strikes Tulsa, Oklahoma
Walls shaking’: 4.5 quake strikes Tulsa, Oklahoma
(RT) – Social media has been flooded with reports of an earthquake after a 4.5-magnitude tremor hit near the second-largest city in Oklahoma. It comes two months after an even stronger quake hit the area.
The quake hit 14 kilometers east-south-east of Pawnee city, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
There were no immediate reports of structural damage or casualties, but numerous witnesses reported the walls of their homes vibrating or shaking.
NY judge rejects settlement in illegal police spying on Muslims
NY judge rejects settlement in illegal police spying on Muslims
(RT) – A New York federal judge has rejected a settlement in cases of NYPD spying and “religious profiling” of Muslims. The judge also urged stronger protection of Muslims’ rights, accusing the police department of “systematic” court order violations.
The decision by Manhattan federal court Judge Charles Haight stems from January’s settlement between New York City and plaintiffs in two lawsuits, filed against local police over groundless surveillance of Muslims.
At the time, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio agreed to appoint a civilian monitor from outside the agency to monitor the NYPD’s counter-terrorism units. It was pending approval in each of the cases by a judge until October 28, but ended up never being approved.
“The proposed role and powers of the civilian representative do not furnish sufficient protection from potential violations of the constitutional rights of those law-abiding Muslims and believers in Islam who live, move and have their being in this city,”Judge Haight wrote in his ruling. He also stressed that a representative’s role should be strengthened, because the NYPD had a “systemic” tendency of “disregarding” court orders.
In addition, a person for the role of the civilian representative should not be appointed by the mayor, but rather through the court, the ruling stated.
The judge cited an NYPD inspector general’s 36-page report released in August, in which it was concluded that officers violated the so-called Handschu guidelines that regulate the NYPD’s process of conducting investigations.
“Those failures suggest a systemic inclination on the part of the Intelligence Bureau to disregard the Guidelines’ mandates,”the judge wrote.
Regarding the changes into the January settlement, Haight asked the city to require the civilian representative to report to the court “at any time communicate to the court comments or concerns arising out of his or her functioning in that position.”
In the settlement that Haight rejected, a lawyer placed inside the police department would have to review intelligence files and report to the police commissioner.
He has additionally ruled that a new provision should be added, requiring the mayor of New York, who can appoint the civilian representative for a five-year period, to seek court approval before abolishing this position.
“I suggest that alteration because one cannot foretell what will happen over time in this sensitive and volatile part of life and it is questionable whether it is fair or reasonable to give the mayor this unfettered veto power,” Haight wrote.
Haight, who has now essentially cracked down on the New York police, was also the judge who ruled in favor of expanding the NYPD’s powers, allowing it to act with less oversight post-9/11.
The two lawsuits were filed in Manhattan and Brooklyn federal courts in 2013, stemming from 2011 revelations that the NYPD, with help from the CIA, was using undercover informants to surveil Muslims throughout New York and New Jersey in mosques, religious bookstores, halal delis and other places.
In his ruling, Haight wrote that it was a “historic fact” that different groups “came to be targeted by police surveillance activity” as decades passed.
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