Announcement

Collapse

Eschatology 201 Guidelines

This area of the forum is primarily for Christian theists to discuss orthodox views of Eschatology. Other theist participation is welcome within that framework, but only within orthodoxy. Posts from nontheists that do not promote atheism or seek to undermine the faith of others will be permitted at the Moderator's discretion - such posters should contact the area moderators before posting.


Without turning this forum into a 'hill of foreskins' (Joshua 5:3), I believe we can still have fun with this 'sensitive' topic.

However, don't be misled, dispensationalism has only partly to do with circumcision issues. So, let's not forget about Innocence, Conscience, Promises, Kingdoms and so on.

End time -isms within orthodox Christianity also discussed here. Clearly unorthodox doctrines, such as those advocating "pantelism/full preterism/Neo-Hymenaeanism" or the denial of any essential of the historic Christian faith are not permitted in this section but can be discussed in Comparative Religions 101 without restriction. Any such threads, as well as any that within the moderator's discretions fall outside mainstream evangelical belief, will be moved to the appropriate area.

Millennialism- post-, pre- a-

Futurism, Historicism, Idealism, and Preterism, or just your garden variety Zionism.

From the tribulation to the anichrist. Whether your tastes run from Gary DeMar to Tim LaHaye or anywhere in between, your input is welcome here.

OK folks, let's roll!

Forum Rules: Here
See more
See less

Are we in the Time of Sorrows?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #91
    You might want to be specific and use the term "the Beast" instead. Some people get all bent out of shape when the term "antichrist" is used.

    Comment


    • #92
      I was talking to a friend recently and he asked if I thought the world in a spiritual sense was strangely calm right now. I agreed that for all that is going on in the world, there seems to be this calm about. Not a peace of God calm but more the eye of the hurricane calm.

      Does it seem that way to others? Is there a big spiritual storm coming but the calm is lulling people to not prepare
      "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings." Hosea 6:6

      "Theology can be an intellectual entertainment." Metropolitan Anthony Bloom

      Comment


      • #93
        Originally posted by seanD View Post
        You might want to be specific and use the term "the Beast" instead. Some people get all bent out of shape when the term "antichrist" is used.
        I don't see why that is when antichrist is actually used of an individual in the Bible.

        1 John 2:17-19New International Version (NIV)

        17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

        Warnings Against Denying the Son
        18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

        This certainly implies that while there have been many, there is a specific individual who is in mind.

        Comment


        • #94
          Originally posted by Thoughtful Monk View Post
          I was talking to a friend recently and he asked if I thought the world in a spiritual sense was strangely calm right now. I agreed that for all that is going on in the world, there seems to be this calm about. Not a peace of God calm but more the eye of the hurricane calm.

          Does it seem that way to others? Is there a big spiritual storm coming but the calm is lulling people to not prepare

          Comment


          • #95
            Not sure what you mean by spiritually quiet. Christians are being slaughtered or ostracized from their homes throughout the world. The heat is just starting to pick up here in the west. So far it's all pretty much just political and social rhetoric, but it's a lot of noise nonetheless.

            Comment


            • #96
              Originally posted by seanD View Post

              Wars and rumors of wars* -- pretty much every major power in the world is involved in some kind of conflict or dispute with another country (so many that it would have been tedious to list them here).
              NATO beefs up its military to cold war levels against Muslim extremism (which NATO leaders claim has increased to "unprecedented" levels) and a potential Russian threat that is also increasing military activity near Ukraine and has even threatened nuclear retaliation over Ukraine.

              China is warning US against mobilizing its forces in the South China Sea where land disputes have been frequently occurring with China and its neighbors such as Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines. Japan and Philippines have also performed naval drills of their own, which China sees as a potential threat in relation to the issue.

              In the meantime, multiple countries in Middle East and Africa are still in shambles from military activity, which needs no detailed analysis. ISIS, fighting in multiple countries in the Near East, is now apparently threatening to attack US and its allies.

              Comment


              • #97
                Didn't realize the date of the cnn article; a more updated version...

                http://time.com/3720076/isis-europe-migrants/

                Comment


                • #98
                  Originally posted by seanD View Post
                  Not sure what you mean by spiritually quiet. Christians are being slaughtered or ostracized from their homes throughout the world. The heat is just starting to pick up here in the west. So far it's all pretty much just political and social rhetoric, but it's a lot of noise nonetheless.
                  Agreed worldwide. We were discussing our section of the world which seems to be quiet.
                  "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings." Hosea 6:6

                  "Theology can be an intellectual entertainment." Metropolitan Anthony Bloom

                  Comment


                  • #99
                    Originally posted by seanD View Post
                    NOT the tribulation (so please don't drone on about making careless predictions about the end of the world), but the troubling times that precede it. I know what the preterists will obviously say. I'm wondering what futurists think.

                    Wars and rumors of wars* -- pretty much every major power in the world is involved in some kind of conflict or dispute with another country (so many that it would have been tedious to list them here).

                    * I think we should include the economic/currency wars between the world powers (for those privy to the current situation in global economics).

                    Nation against nation (or tribe against tribe) -- all the protests, demonstrations, riots and coups in Latin America, North America, Europe, Middle East and Asia (again, too many for me to give links).

                    Pestilences -- MERS, ebola outbreaks, resurgence of measles and mumps.

                    Earthquakes -- not just magnitude and frequency, but earthquakes happening in unexpected locations.

                    Persecution of the church -- discussed here.

                    False prophets -- impending doom of Y2k, to comet Elenin, to 2012 and everything in between.

                    The love of many will wax cold -- I don't think I need to elaborate on this one as it's all too obvious based on the cruelty we're seeing in society and how uncaring it is (i.e. few examples: here, here, here here here).
                    For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs.


                    I have to admit that one key element of the OD that was missing from the OP was famine. Even though there are famines happening overseas in less developed countries, such as in Africa, this has been a problem for decades. Much like earthquakes happening in unusual places (which I pointed out in the OP), California famine stands out as an exception because... well... it's occurring in America, "the land of plenty."

                    According to scientists, it's the worse drought that has occurred over hundreds of years...

                    Analyzing tree rings that date back to 800 A.D. -- a time when Vikings were marauding Europe and the Chinese were inventing gunpowder -- there is no three-year period when California's rainfall has been as low and its temperatures as hot as they have been from 2012 to 2014, the researchers found.

                    "We were really surprised. We didn't expect this," said one of the study's authors, Daniel Griffin, an assistant professor in the University of Minnesota's department of geography, environment and society.

                    http://www.mercurynews.com/drought/c...ears-new-study
                    Apparently we have yet to see the worst. Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the US, is only 38% full and hasn't been this low since the 30s. Colorado River no longer reaches the ocean. Finite aquifers are being used to replace depleting surface water, and this won't just impact California...

                    Farther east, the Ogallala Aquifer under the High Plains is also shrinking because of too much demand. When the Dust Bowl overtook the Great Plains in the 1930s, the Ogallala had been discovered only recently, and for the most part it wasn’t tapped then to help ease the drought. But large-scale center-pivot irrigation transformed crop production on the plains after World War II, allowing water-thirsty crops like corn and alfalfa for feeding livestock.

                    But severe drought threatens the southern plains again, and water is being unsustainably drawn from the southern Ogallala Aquifer. The northern Ogallala, found near the surface in Nebraska, is replenished by surface runoff from rivers originating in the Rockies. But farther south in Texas and New Mexico, water lies hundreds of feet below the surface, and does not recharge. Sandra Postel wrote here last month that the Ogallala Aquifer water level in the Texas Panhandle has dropped by up to 15 feet in the past decade, with more than three-quarters of that loss having come during the drought of the past five years. A recent Kansas State University study said that if farmers in Kansas keep irrigating at present rates, 69 percent of the Ogallala Aquifer will be gone in 50 years.

                    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...hidden-crisis/
                    Of course, we know that California makes up a huge chunk of the rest of the country's agricultural supply...

                    So a loss of California ag production would hit hard consumers’ wallets and their diets would become less balanced.This is because our state produces a sizable majority of American fruits, vegetables and nuts; 99 percent of walnuts, 97 percent of kiwis, 97 percent of plums, 95 percent of celery, 95 percent of garlic, 89 percent of cauliflower, 71 percent of spinach, and 69 percent of carrots and the list goes on and on. A lot of this is due to our soil and climate. No other state, or even a combination of states, can match California’s output per acre.

                    Lemon yields, for example, are more than 50 percent higher than neighboring states. California spinach yield per acre is 60 percent higher than the national average. Without California, supply of these products in our country and abroad would dip, and in the first few years, a few might be nearly impossible to find. Orchard-based products specifically, such as nuts and some fruits, would take many years to spring back.

                    http://westernfarmpress.com/tree-nut...ood-production
                    But this won't just have an effect in states. As as one region's water supply wanes, this can have dramatic effects on the rest of the global food supply chain...

                    Researchers report that as the world population increases and food demand has grown, globalization of trade has made the food supply more sensitive to environmental and market fluctuations. This leads to greater chances of food crises, particularly in nations where land and water resources are scarce and therefore food security strongly relies on imports.

                    The study assesses the food supply available to more than 140 nations (with populations greater than 1 million) and demonstrates that food security is becoming increasingly susceptible to perturbations in demographic growth, as humanity places increasing pressure on use of limited land and water resources.

                    "In the past few decades there has been an intensification of international food trade and an increase in the number of countries that depend on food imports," said Paolo D'Odorico, a professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia and one of the study's authors. "On average, about one-fourth of the food we eat is available to us through international trade. This globalization of food may contribute to the spread of the effects of local shocks in food production throughout the world."

                    http://phys.org/news/2015-05-world-p...-unstable.html
                    Hard to believe this is all happening in our modern world. But this just demonstrates how true God's word is.

                    Comment


                    • Originally posted by seanD View Post
                      Earthquakes -- not just magnitude and frequency, but earthquakes happening in unexpected locations.
                      As NATO and Russia continue to square off on the East European borders, more earthquakes continue to increase in strange, unexplained places, such as Alabama. Again, I argue not so much the increase than the unusual locations, although geologists do confirm a successive increase in middle America since 2009. John Casey, of the Space and Science Research Corporation, and Dong Choi, of the International Earthquake and Volcano Prediction Center, issued an unusual warning to the administrator of FEMA about record earthquakes and volcanic activity caused by solar activity.

                      Comment


                      • If we were in the time of sorrows, would this mean that the entire earth itself is cursed?


                        Zephaniah 1:2-3
                        I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth, says the Lord. I will sweep away humans and animals; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. I will make the wicked stumble. I will cut off humanity from the face of the earth, says the Lord.
                        Hosea 4:1-3
                        Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel; for the Lord has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or loyalty, and no knowledge of God in the land. Swearing, lying, and murder, and stealing and adultery break out; bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, and all who live in it languish; together with the wild animals and the birds of the air, even the fish of the sea are perishing.

                        Though, from a theological position, the hermeneutical and historical context of those passages above are obviously debatable between futurists and preterists, the mysterious natural phenomenon of mass species extinction that has been occurring on a worldwide level I believe fits within a biblical end time theme and would coincide with all the other events I’ve posted in this thread. In short, something is happening on a cumulative ecological level that is unusual and in most cases unprecedented.

                        I could have literally posted thousands of these mass animal deaths from about 2013-2015, but mass species extinction even in our recent history is certainly nothing new and since I couldn’t gauge the frequency in actual numbers, whether these were common from year to year, decade to decade, I wanted to follow a certain set of criteria that made a particular event unique. I used one or more of the criteria in the following order:

                        a) the event was described as exceptional or unique by scientific authorities investigating it
                        b) the event could have or has profound deleterious effects (or chain of effects) on a much wider ecological scale
                        c) the event had no immediate explanation.

                        I'm not interested in the political or cause aspect, whether climate change, solar flares, polar shifts, pollution, overfishing, etc (though the causation expressed in a lot of the linked articles was unavoidable and it was typically climate change). I was more focused on just the actual observations of species extinctions occurring in our present time. So, what would “the land mourning” literally look like to us and how would we see this in our modern scientific culture? Well, consider the following...


                        Unexplained "dead zones" expanding in our oceans:

                        Yet in more and more places around the world, these predators are sticking near the surface, rarely using their formidable power to plunge into the depths to chase prey.

                        The discovery of this behavioral quirk in fish built for diving offers some of the most tangible evidence of a disturbing trend: Warming temperatures are sucking oxygen out of waters even far out at sea, making enormous stretches of deep ocean hostile to marine life.

                        “Two hundred meters down, there is a freight train of low-oxygen water barreling toward the surface,” says William Gilly, a marine biologist with Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station, in Pacific Grove, California. Yet, “with all the ballyhoo about ocean issues, this one hasn’t gotten much attention.”

                        These are not coastal dead zones, like the one that sprawls across the Gulf of Mexico, but great swaths of deep water that can reach thousands of miles offshore. Already naturally low in oxygen, these regions keep growing, spreading horizontally and vertically. Included are vast portions of the eastern Pacific, almost all of the Bay of Bengal, and an area of the Atlantic off West Africa as broad as the United States.

                        http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...nt&sf7992532=1

                        Mass honeybee colony die-offs:

                        A prolonged and mysterious die-off of the nation’s honeybees, a trend worrisome both to beekeepers and to farmers who depend on the insects to pollinate their crops, apparently worsened last year.

                        In an annual survey released on Wednesday by the Bee Informed Partnership, a consortium of universities and research laboratories, about 5,000 beekeepers reported losing 42.1 percent of their colonies in the 12-month period that ended in April. That is well above the 34.2 percent loss reported for the same period in 2013 and 2014, and it is the second-highest loss recorded since year-round surveys began in 2010.

                        Most striking, however, was that honeybee deaths spiked last summer, exceeding winter deaths for the first time. Commercial beekeepers, some of whom rent their hives to farmers during pollination seasons, were hit especially hard, the survey’s authors stated.

                        http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/14/us...to-worsen.html


                        Also see:

                        Europe's wild bee population is in dramatic decline

                        The great Pacific meltdown:

                        The day’s beauty ended at Starfish Point. “It was a horror show,” Fradkin told me. Instead of the usual spangling of purple, orange, and brick-red on the rocks, many of the starfish, which are known to biologists as sea stars, were contorted, marked with white lesions, or seemingly melting into goo. “They were missing arms,” Fradkin said, “and there were even instances of arms walking around by themselves.”

                        The team’s observations are considered the first official record of an ongoing outbreak of a sea-star wasting disease that has killed millions of starfish from Baja California to southern Alaska, typically wiping out more than ninety per cent of each population it strikes. It’s the greatest wildlife mass-mortality event, or “die-off,” of the present day.

                        http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elemen...uman-anxieties


                        Also see:

                        "...urchins are losing their spines and dying"

                        Bacteria killing off Caribbean coral

                        Hawaii coral "the worst scientists have ever seen"

                        Nationwide poultry wipe-outs:

                        Poultry producers in several states are bracing for more losses as a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza forced producers to kill millions of chickens and turkeys in the USA in recent weeks.

                        On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed that turkeys at four more commercial facilities--three in Minnesota and one in South Dakota--were confirmed to be infected with the fast moving H5N2 virus. The agency estimated that more than 390,000 turkeys between the plant would be lost to the disease or have to be euthanized as a precaution to prevent spread of the virus.

                        The latest cases come one day after USDA officials announced that H5N2 was found at a chicken laying facility in Osceola County, Iowa. Some 3.8 million layer hens at the farm affiliated with Sonstegard Foods Company will be euthanized to try to prevent the spread of the disease, according to the company.

                        The USDA had initially estimated that 5.3 million hens were affected. But the company has since confirmed that it was operating below capacity at the time avian flu was detected at its Iowa farm, said USDA spokeswoman Joelle Hayden.

                        "We went to great lengths to prevent our birds from contracting AI (avian influenza), but despite best efforts we now confirm many of our birds are testing positive for AI," the South Dakota-based Sonstegard Foods said in a statement.

                        http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2...isis/26100287/


                        Also see:

                        Nebraska confirms its third case of bird flu

                        Vanishing seabirds due to "massive" chick deaths:

                        But the nests have gone empty in the past few years, and colonies throughout the North Atlantic are shrinking.
                        The suspected culprits are many. But the leading candidates are the array of profound changes under way in the world's oceans—their climate, their chemistry, their food webs, their loads of pollutants.

                        Alarmed scientists have returned from fieldwork throughout the North Atlantic with sobering descriptions of massive chick die-offs and colonies abandoned with eggs still in the nests.
                        "Mass mortality of kittiwakes is evident," said Freydis Vigfusdottir, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Exeter in Cornwall, England. "You can see in the late summer lots of 'chick pancakes' in the nest."
                        And in the Arctic tern colonies she's studied, "there are just dead chicks everywhere," she said. "Not only do you have to provide your field assistants with food and shelter, but also some psychological help after many, many days of collecting dead chicks."

                        http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...inged-warning/


                        Also see:

                        Puffins in rapid decline

                        Songbirds inexplicably vanishing worldwide

                        Extinction of Monarch Butterfly:

                        The beautiful monarch butterfly, which is also a major pollinator, is being threatened by herbicides that eradicate milkweed, its primary food source. Now, a desperate rejuvenation program is under way to save the species from possible extinction.

                        A shocking statistic released by the US Fish and Wildlife Service on Monday summed up the plight of the monarch butterfly: Since 1990, about 970 million of the butterflies – 90 percent of the total population – have vanished across the United States.

                        http://rt.com/usa/230823-monarch-but...anto-massacre/

                        Mysterious vanishing Northeast Moose:

                        In the 1980s, moose numbered about 4,000 in the northwest part of the state; today, there are about 100. In Northeast Minnesota, the population has dropped by half since 2006, to 4,300 from more than 8,800. In 2012, the decline was steep enough — 35 percent — that the state and local Chippewa tribes, which rely on moose meat for subsistence, called off the moose hunt. The mortality rate rebounded slightly this year, but moose continue to die at twice the normal rate to sustain a population. Researchers elsewhere, along the southern edge of moose territory in New Hampshire and Montana, are also beginning to notice declines in the animals’ numbers.

                        http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/06/us...s&emc=rss&_r=1

                        "Catastrophic collapse" of Sahara wildlife:

                        The research team consisted of 40 scientists from 28 international organizations. They assessed 14 desert species, finding that half of those are regionally extinct or confined to one percent or less of their historical range. It is difficult to be certain of the causes of these declines because of a chronic lack of studies across the region due to political instability. The team suggests, however, that over-hunting is likely to have played a major role.

                        The Bubal hartebeest is completely extinct; the scimitar horned oryx is only found in captivity; and the African wild dog and African lion have disappeared from the Sahara. The study, published in Diversity and Distributions, reveals that other species have fared only marginally better. The dama gazelle and addax are gone from 99 percent of their range; the leopard has lost 97 percent of its range; and the Saharan cheetah has disappeared from 90 percent.

                        The only species that still inhabits most of its historical range is the Nubian ibex, but even this species is classified as vulnerable due to numerous threats including widespread hunting.

                        http://www.redorbit.com/news/science...mented-120413/


                        Also see:

                        62% decline of African forest elephants

                        "Unprecedented" bat extinctions nationwide:

                        More than six million bats are dead, and millions more are expected to fall victim to a disease known as White-nose Syndrome, or WNS. First identified in the northeastern United States, WNS has wiped out an estimated 95% of Pennsylvania’s bat population and is quickly spreading across the country. It was most recently discovered in Missouri, Delaware and Alabama.

                        “This is like bringing small pox to the New World. It is surely an unprecedented wildlife disaster for North America,” said Bucknell University professor Dr. DeeAnn Reeder. Reeder is one of the country’s leading experts on WNS, and one of the researchers responsible for identifying the cause of the disease in 2011. “We can’t stop this thing. It’s marching across the country and we’re going to see some extinction.”

                        http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/4/prweb9383395.htm

                        Vanishing Shellfish on BC's coast:

                        What was once a one-year slump has now turned to a systemic crisis. Shellfish are disappearing from B.C.’s coast – and nobody is quite sure why.

                        “It’s still a little bit of a mystery,” says Chris Harley, a marine biologist at the University of British Columbia. “We’re not living with the same ocean our parents were living with 30 years ago. It could be warmer water, it could be more acidic water, it could be disease.”

                        The problems began in around 2009 and 2010 and have persisted, forcing businesses to adapt and sometimes downsize.

                        http://globalnews.ca/news/1802202/di...nding-experts/


                        Also see:

                        Sardine population in 90 percent decline

                        Worldwide amphibian die-off:

                        A number of viruses have been found in northern Spain that are killing frog, toad and newt species. Infected animals can suffer from ulcers on their skin and die from internal bleeding.

                        Researchers fear the strains, which belong to the Ranavirus group, have already spread to other countries.

                        Lead author Dr Stephen Price, from University College London, said: "Until the outbreaks, we didn't really know about this lineage of virus.

                        "But since these die-offs began, we've started to see them elsewhere - in China in giant salamanders, and it looks like they are emerging in places like France and the Netherlands as well."

                        ...

                        The researchers believe the virus can even spread to reptiles.

                        "We recorded a snake that had been feeding on amphibians infected with disease, and it showed signs of the virus," said Dr Price.

                        Conservationists are especially worried about these new viruses because 41% of all amphibians already face extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

                        Another disease, called the chytrid fungus, has spread around the world, killing off many populations.

                        http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29649273

                        Mass mortality of Argentina whales:

                        Hundreds of the Peninsula Valdés whales have died since monitoring of their population size began in 1971, researchers report in a study published this month in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series. From 1971 to 2011, 630 of the right whales died—adults and young ones combined.

                        But 77 percent of those deaths occurred between 2003 and 2011. And of those recent deaths, 89 percent have occurred in the calves. Scientists are still struggling to understand why.

                        http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...ceans-science/

                        77% overall decline of some species in the UK:

                        According to the document, reasons for the decline are "many and varied" but include rising temperatures and habitat degradation.
                        Species requiring specific habitats have fared particularly poorly compared to the generalists able to adapt to the country's changing environment.
                        • Turtle doves have declined by 93% since 1970
                        • Hedgehogs have declined by around a third since the millennium
                        • The small tortoiseshell butterfly has declined in abundance by 77% in the last ten years
                        • Natterjack toad numbers have changed little since 1990
                        • The early bumblebee (Bombus pratorum) and the tormentil mining bee (Andrena tarsata) have shown strong declines in range since 1970
                        • The population size of the V-moth is estimated to be less than 1% of what it was in the 1960s
                        • Corn cleavers has undergone one of the most dramatic declines of any plant species
                        • Harbour seals have declined by 31% in Scottish waters since 1996
                        • There is only a single bastard gumwood tree left in the whole world

                        http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/22609000

                        Scientists: we've entered a "sixth extinction phase":

                        The planet is entering a new period of extinction with top scientists warning that species all over the world are “essentially the walking dead” – including our own.

                        The report, authored by scientists at Stanford, Princeton and Berkeley universities, found that vertebrates were vanishing at a rate 114 times faster than normal.

                        In the damning report, published in the Science Advances journal, researchers note that the last similar event was 65 million years ago, when dinosaurs disappeared, most probably as a result of an asteroid.

                        http://www.independent.co.uk/environ...-10333608.html

                        Comment


                        • As war in Syria between US, Turkey, ISIS, al-qaeda and Assad turns up a notch (see here), tensions between NATO and Russia and China and Japan continue to fester (even though this has dropped off the map and replaced by confederate flag debates, lion hunting and transgenderism circuses)...


                          World powers are reporting surges in airspace violations and instances where aircraft are scrambled to intercept foreign jets, amid a sharp rise in geopolitical tensions in Europe and Asia.

                          Nato member aircraft were forced to conduct more than 500 scrambles over Europe in 2014 – a fourfold increase on the previous year. Nearly 85% of these were to intercept Russian aircraft. This year, there have already been more than 300 scrambles, according to data provided by Nato to the Guardian. These are some of the highest numbers since the end of the cold war.

                          Russia alleges that Nato sorties near its borders doubled last year. Nato called the claim “deliberately vague”.

                          Elsewhere, Japan has been scrambling aircraft in record numbers because of Chinese activity. Airspace violations by Turkish aircraft over Greek waters increased three and a half times last year compared with the previous two years.

                          http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...n-but-for-real

                          Comment


                          • Oh yeah, and let's not forget the cyber war between US and China...

                            http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/01/wo...s-hacking.html

                            Comment


                            • The wars and rumors of wars continuation of unprecedented firsts:

                              Five Chinese navy ships are currently operating in the Bering Sea, off the coast of Alaska, the first time the U.S. military has seen such activity in the area, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.

                              The officials said they have been aware in recent days that three Chinese combat ships, a replenishment vessel and an amphibious ship were in the vicinity after observing them moving toward the Aleutian Islands, which are split between U.S. and Russian control.

                              They said the Chinese ships were still in the area, but declined to specify when the vessels were first spotted or how far they were from the coast of Alaska, where President Barack Obama is winding up a three-day visit.

                              “This would be a first in the vicinity of the Aleutian Islands,” one defense official said of the Chinese ships. “I don’t think we’d characterize anything they’re doing as threatening.” The Pentagon official confirmed that the five ships were operating in international waters.

                              http://www.wsj.com/articles/pentagon...sea-1441216258

                              Another first: the intensifying currency wars:

                              The latest available Treasury data and estimates by strategists suggest that China controls $1.48 trillion of U.S. government debt, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That includes about $200 billion held through Belgium, which Nomura Holdings Inc. says is home to Chinese custodial accounts.

                              The PBOC has sold at least $106 billion of reserve assets in the last two weeks, including Treasuries, according to an estimate from Societe Generale SA. The figure was based on the bank’s calculation of how much liquidity will be added to China’s financial system through Tuesday’s reduction of interest rates and lenders’ reserve-requirement ratios. The assumption is that the central bank aims to replenish the funds it drained when it bought yuan to stabilize the currency.

                              http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...r-yuan-support

                              Comment


                              • As US pledges to assist their al-qaeda "linked" buddies in Syria with air cover, Russia sends actual boots on the ground in Syria...

                                http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...-in-syria.html

                                Comment

                                widgetinstance 221 (Related Threads) skipped due to lack of content & hide_module_if_empty option.
                                Working...
                                X