Economic Armageddon

I hope this guy is wrong. But his past track record doesn't give me much hope.

Earthquakes in history

Here's an interesting graph showing earthquakes between magnitudes 6 and 8 for the past 100 years

http://www.thehorizonproject.com/earthquakes.cfm

This reminds me of D&C 88: 89-91:

89    For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand.

90    And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds.
91    And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people.

Recommended Read - The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

I just finished reading The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, and easily place it in my list of all-time favorite books.

This novel, written in 2006, tells the story of a man and his young son, who are one of the few remaining survivors of some unnamed cataclysmic event, and their struggles to survive the elements, evil bands of cannibals, and the overwhelming sense of hopelessness. Ultimately, this book is a love story between a man and his son, and their desire to survive when all hope seems lost.

The Road has won numerous awards and accolades, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2007, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction, an Oprah book of the month, and Entertainment Weekly named it the best book, fiction or non-fiction, for the past 25 years. It is also being made into a movie to be released this fall, starring Viggo Mortenson.

The Road struck a chord with me like few other books have, and I do not hesitate to say that this book made me cry more than once while reading it. The writing style of Cormac is descriptive, but sparse at the same time—he never mentions the name of the man or the boy, the cause of the apocalypse, nor does he focus on the horrors that two encounter. Instead, the story's sole focus is on the relationship between the Man and the Boy, and the man’s quest to protect his boy in a world that seems determined to destroy his innocence and his life.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough; it is easily one of the best books I've read, and it is one of the few books, that I plan on reading again.

Pres. Hinckley Confirms Joel's vison is fullfilled

These truly are the last days. And one need look no further to figure that out than to hear the words of President Hinckley, who spoke in the October Conference just after 9/11:

The era in which we live is the fulness of times spoken of in the scriptures, when God has brought together all of the elements of previous dispensations. From the day that He and His Beloved Son manifested themselves to the boy Joseph, there has been a tremendous cascade of enlightenment poured out upon the world. The hearts of men have turned to their fathers in fulfillment of the words of Malachi. The vision of Joel has been fulfilled wherein he declared:

"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
"And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
"And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
"The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.
"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call" (Joel 2:28–32).

President Hinckley - Living in the Fulness of Times - October 2001

Interesting quote by Elder Packer in Priesthood Session

“Your generation is filled with uncertainties. A life of fun and games and expensive toys has come to an abrupt end. We move from a generation of ease and entertainment to a generation of work and responsibility. We do not know how long that will last."

I know that many people are somewhat frustrated that the Brethren do not say more about the coming calamities and signs of the times, but I really think they are being restrained by the Lord. However, every once in a while, they will slip little hints for those with ears to hear.

Well if that wasn't a sign, I don't know what is.

In an earlier post, I linked to an article that demonstrated the significance of April 6th. But it still came as a surprise when I woke up saw the reports of a massive earthquake in Italy that leveled entire towns, killing over 200 and leaving over 50,000 people homeless. My prayers go out to those affected, but I can't help but be reminded of the words of the Lord in the Doctrine and Covenants section 88: 89-90

88 And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people.

89 For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand.

90 And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds.


These truly are the last days.

Thirty Things to Prepare That Are Free, or Almost Free

Here's a great article on thirty things you can to to get prepared, that are free, or very cheap.

http://www.ldsmag.com/emergency/090401thirty.html

Getting prepared $5 at a time

Maybe forking over $500 for food storage is a bit intimidating, but not if you do a little at a time. The $5 plan means each time you go shopping for the week you buy one extra item that costs $5 or less. Here's a good starter list I found on a preparedness forum.

FOOD ITEMS

• Five packages of Idahoan instant potatoes (flavored)
• A case of ramen noodles (20 pkgs)
• five cans of sardines
• five gallons of purified water
• nearly two cases of bottled water
• four cans of peaches, pears or fruit cockatail
• 2 jars of mandarin oranges
• five pounds of rice
• three to four pounds of spaghetti
• Two cans of spaghetti sauce
• three bags of egg noodles
• eight packages of gravy mix
• four cans of whole or sliced new potatos
• four cans of green beans or at least three cans of carrots, greens, peas or mixed veggies
• Two cans of Yams
• six cans of pork and beans
• one 40 ounce can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew
• Two 12 ounce cans of chicken, tuna or roast beef
• One 1lb canned ham
• three cans of refried beans
• three 12 oz cans of raviolis or spaghetti O's.
• Two 12.5 ounce cans of Salmon
• Five pounds of Oatmeal
• Four packages Dinty Moore heat and eat meals
• five packages of corn bread mix
• Four pounds of Sugar
• Five pound of Flour
• 1.5 quarts of cooking oil
• three one pound bags of dry beans
• two cans of apple juice
• a jar of peanut butter
• two boxes of yeast
• two bags of generic breakfast cereal
• 10 8 oz cans of tomato paste/tomato sauce
• four cans of soup
• four cans of Chunky soup
• 25lbs of Salt (at Costco) or 8-10 lbs at most supermarkets.
  
• two bottles of garlic powder or other spices
• Two boxes of kool aid
• A can of coffee
• 2 bottles of powdered coffee creamer

Non-Food Items

• one manual can opener
• two bottles of camp stove fuel
• 100 rounds of .22lr ammo
• 25 rounds of 12 ga birdshot or small game loads
• 20 rounds of Monarch 7.62x39 ammo
• a spool of 12lb test monofilament fishing line
• 2 packages of hooks and some sinkers or corks.
• artificial lure
• two packages of soft plastic worms
• three Bic Lighters or two big boxes of matches
• A package of tea lights
• 50 ft of para cord
• a roll of duct tape
• a box of nails or other fasteners
• a flashlight
• two D-batteries, four AA or AAA batteries or two 9v batteries
• a toothbrush and tooth paste
• a bag of disposable razors
• eight bars of ivory soap (it floats)
• a box or tampons or bag of pads for the ladies
• two gallons of bleach
• needles and thread
• a ball of yarn

OTC Medications (at Dollar General)

• 2 bottles 1000 count 500 mg generic Tylenol (acetometaphin)
• 2 bottles 500 count 200 mg generic advil (ibuprofen)
• 2 boxes 24 cound 25 mg generic Benadryl (diphenhydramine HCI)--also available at walgreens under "sleep aids."
• 4 bottles 500 count 325 mg aspirin
• 2 boxes of generic sudafed
• 4 bottles of alcohol
• a box of bandages (4x4)

What's so special about April 6th 2009

 This is a deep read, but since April 6th 2009 is one week away, I thought I'd share this article.

Excerpt:


"As stated repeatedly in my past articles, I have no idea if anything special might happen on that date. It is only being reported here so that in case something of religious significance does occur, it will be a witness that God had planned it millennia ahead of time"

http://www.ldsmag.com/sci_rel/060518jubilee.html

Tom Hanks apologizes to LDS for calling them un-American

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,482266,00.html

"Last week, I labeled members of the Mormon church who supported California's Proposition 8 as 'un-American,'" the actor said in a statement through his publicist. "I believe Proposition 8 is counter to the promise of our Constitution; it is codified discrimination."

"But everyone has a right to vote their conscience; nothing could be more American," the statement continues. "To say members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who contributed to Proposition 8 are 'un-American' creates more division when the time calls for respectful disagreement. No one should use 'un- American' lightly or in haste. I did. I should not have."

Ton Hanks Says Mormons are Un-American

"...the truth is a lot of Mormons gave a lot of money to the church to make Prop-8 happen,” he told Tarts. “There are a lot of people who feel that is un-American and I am one of them."

Read the full article here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,480167,00.html

I wonder if he also feels Blacks, Asians and Muslims are un-American too?

Focus on the Family is anti-mormon

Focus on the Family, an organization that I have long admired for their conservative values and commitment to upholding the family recently removed a book by Glen Beck from their recommended reading list because Glen Beck is Mormon.

Several people have written letters to FotF, expressing their disappointment and I've recently come across one letter that FotF sent back. I'll post it below, but in a nutshell, they start out by saying they did not blacklist Glen Beck because he is a Mormon, but then they go on to explain that the reason he was blacklisted was essentially because he is a Mormon. Read an article about it here at World Net Daily.

Here's the letter:

---------------

Thank you for your recent e-mail.

It was good of you to contact us with, what we assume, are your thoughts concerning our decision to pull Karla Dials Friday Five interview with conservative talk-show host Glenn Beck from Focus on the Family Actions _CitizenLink_ Web site. Honest feedback like yours is always welcome here at Focus Action headquarters. Permit me to respond to the concerns youve expressed.

The first thing you need to understand is that, despite media reports to the contrary, we did *not* take this step in response to pressure from Underground Apologetics or any other self-appointed watchdog group. The choice was entirely our own, and it was made for solid theological and philosophical reasons (to be explained in what follows). For what its worth, we can tell you that we do not condone Underground Apologetics hostile and combative tone. Whats more, we can assert without reservation that we hadnt even seen their press release -- in fact, it hadnt yet been generated -- when we decided to remove our article from circulation.

That said, it is vital to add that we consider Glenn Beck a good friend of our ministry. We have only feelings of deep appreciation for his valuable contributions to the cause of family values and conservative social principles. The same thing can be said with reference to our many supporters within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Time and time again staunch members of the LDS church have contacted us with warm expressions of their enthusiasm for our work, and on every occasion we have tried to make it clear that we welcome their friendship and appreciate their exemplary commitment to moral values. It is impossible to overestimate the value of such allies in the ongoing battle against secularism, multiculturalism, and amoral political correctness.

Why, then, have we come to regard our initial decision to feature this particular discussion with Glenn Beck on the _CitizenLink_ Web site as an unfortunate miscalculation? For the simple reason that Mr. Becks book _The Christmas Sweater_, which was the focal point of the interview, moves beyond the range of conservative social concerns and touches upon overtly theological themes. Herein lies the crux of our concern. Much as we respect and appreciate our friends in the LDS Church, it would be dishonest of us to conceal our firm conviction that at its heart, Mormon doctrine is incompatible with Christianity. While there are many forms of worship, modes of religious expression, and even a number of beliefs that Latter-day Saints hold in common with the various Christian denominations, the fact remains that the distinctions that make it unique are of an entirely different order from those that divide these other groups. At its deepest level, Mormon teaching about the nature of God and His Son Jesus Christ sets it apart, in a radical way, from orthodox Christendom.

To cite a specific and extremely important example, the Mormon church does not subscribe to the doctrine of the Trinity as defined by the early Councils of Nicaea and Chalcedon. In fact, its our understanding that LDS believe in three *beings* as the godhead three *separate beings* that are physically separate and distinct individuals who together constitute the presiding council of the heavens. But this is most definitely *not* the Christian view. Christians down through the ages have always believed that the Scriptures bear witness to *one* God who exists in *three* persons subsisting within a *single* essence.

Similarly, orthodox Christians have always maintained the doctrine of the two natures in Christ the teaching that Jesus Himself is *vere homo et vere Deus*, truly God and truly man. This, of course, is *logically* inconceivable. And so, through the centuries, theological mavericks of various kinds have tried to make sense of the scriptural witness in a number of different ways. The Docetists, for example, said that Jesus only *seemed* to be a man -- that, as God, he could not really have a body of flesh and bones. The Mormons have taken the exact opposite tack: i.e., if Jesus is God, and if Jesus was truly incarnate, then God the Father must *also* have a physical body. Thus the Mormon apostle James E. Talmage writes, We know that both the Father and the Son are in form and nature perfect men (_A Study of the Articles of Faith_, pp. 41-42). Here again, the LDS teaching stands in direct contradiction to historic, orthodox Christian doctrine.

We tell you all this not to attack you or to give you the impression that we are rejecting your friendship. We say it simply to explain *why* we believe it is so important to maintain a clear distinction between the LDS church and orthodox Christian churches. It was our concern to hold this crucial theological line that led us to pull the Glenn Beck interview from our Web site -- nothing more, nothing less.

We hope this reply has clarified our perspective for you. Although Dr. Dobson has been out of the office on a writing trip and only recently became aware of this situation well after the fact, he asked us to pass along his appreciation for caring enough to contact us. Your interest in the work of Focus on the Family Action means a great deal to us. Grace, peace, and Gods richest blessings to you.

Lisa Jackson
Focus on the Family Action

Gay bigots attack LDS Church in Washington...again

***Warning. Explicit language on this site***

http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20081214194314979

Excerpt:

"We had a great last night sneaking about in snow covered Olympia. We paid another visit to the bigots over at the Mormon Church. We covered their building with messages in spray paint, such things as there is no sin in your desire, love who you want to love and love how you please, sex is fun! Its not shameful, queer and trans insurrection and many, many, many, many others. We also left them a surprise, its a pretty big one, we think theyll notice it within a few days. The Mormons are an atrocious bunch and, well, it just felt amazing to $@#! up their holy place, especially on an early Sunday morning with the snowflakes glistening in the street lamps."

Here's the supporting newspaper artice: http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/700466.html

Simple Math by Nike

If you haven't figured it out, the BC$ (Bowl Championship Series) is another one of my pet peeves. Here's a great video by Nike that takes a jab at the BC$

Brand Jordan: Simple Math
Uploaded by hourigan

BCS declares Germany the winner of WWII, U.S.A #4

BCS declares Germany the winner of WWII, U.S.A #4

After determining the Big-12 championship game participants the BCS computers were put to work on other major contests and today the BCS declared Germany to be the winner of World War II.

“Germany put together an incredible number of victories beginning with the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland and continuing on into conference play with defeats of Poland, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands. Their only losses came against the US and Russia; however considering their entire body of work–including an incredibly tough Strength of Schedule–our computers deemed them worthy of the #1 ranking.”

Questioned about the #4 ranking of the United States the BCS commissioner stated ,”The US only had two major victories–Japan and Germany. The computer models, unlike humans, aren’t influenced by head-to-head contests–they consider each contest to be only a single, equally-weighted event.”

German Chancellor Adolph Hitler said “Yes, we lost to the US; but we defeated #2 ranked France in only 6 weeks.” Herr Hitler has been criticized for seeking dramatic victories to earn ’style points’ to enhance Germany’s rankings. Hitler protested “Our contest with Poland was in doubt until the final day and the conditions in Norway were incredibly challenging and demanded the application of additional forces.”

The French ranking has also come under scrutiny. The BCS commented, “France had a single loss against Germany and following a preseason #1 ranking they only fell to #2.”

Japan finished with the #3 ranking having victories over powerhouses Manchuria, Borneo and the Philippines.