Keep Watching Europe! (Source thetrumpet.com) The glue that will hold Europe’s unwieldy parts together will be the binding force of the religion of Rome. Revelation 17:12-13 reveal this will create a singular political-economic-military mindset among the final combine of 10 leading European nations soon to yield their power to the decree of one overarching political leader. With three Jesuit-trained men in key positions within today’s EU—Herman van Rompuy as president of the European Council, Mario Monti as prime minister of Italy, and Mario Draghi as president of the European Central Bank—one could wonder if Revelation 17 is already being fulfilled, with a woman (a church) riding a beast (economic, political and military power). Most commentators, of course, scoff at the thought of this. In their minds, a powerful church-state combine could never form in Europe. They simply cannot imagine a secular Europe, the way they see it, ever coming under the seductive influence and overriding power of the Roman church. But Bible prophecy assures us that a great false church will steer the 10-nation beast now rising in Europe. And for those who have eyes to see, the formation of this astounding union of church and state is already well under way! Watch Europe, and particularly those who seem destined to be the leaders of church and state. Look for the Vatican to settle into its prophesied role as the woman riding atop the scarlet-colored beast (Revelation 17:3). It is coming.

With a Friend Like China, Who Needs the IMF? (Source thetrumpet.com) Pariah nations facing economic turmoil no longer need to bow to Western demands to access loans and capital markets—they can turn to China. Recent currency-swap deals between China and economically isolated nations like Russia, Argentina and Venezuela demonstrate how China is presenting itself as a redemptive alternative to the West and the Western-controlled International Monetary Fund. China is proving to be a global economic power to be reckoned with. On December 20, Chinese authorities announced their willingness to expand a $24 billion, three-year currency-swap deal that China signed with Russia in October. The deal allows Russia to borrow the Chinese yen as well as lend its faltering ruble. The announcement comes as Russia endures crippling sanctions from Western nations over its annexation of Crimea and involvement in Ukraine. Those sanctions have cut off Russia from most of the world’s capital markets. The recent drop in oil and gas prices have exacerbated Russia’s economic fortunes. Russia’s ruble performed the worst of any currency in the world over the last six months, as Bloomberg reported on December 22. Prior to the December 20 announcement, Russia’s currency had lost 41 percent of its value this year. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi assured over the weekend that Russia possessed “the capability and the wisdom to overcome the existing hardship in the economic situation.” He added, “If the Russian side needs, we will provide necessary assistance within our capacity.” “Many Chinese people still view Russia as the big brother, and the two countries are strategically important to each other.” That is the primary reason China has stepped in to help Russia.

Putin is winning the oil war: Katusa (Source Yahoo) The ruble has fallen sharply in the past few weeks and there are current stories coming out of Russia about potential bank runs. Last week the ruble became the world’s worst performing currency. This week, however, the Russian currency does appear to be stabilizing– it’s back up by 30%. So have sanctions and falling oil prices sunk Russia? Not really says Marin Katusa, author of “The Colder War,” and chief energy investment strategist at Casey Research. Katusa believes that falling oil prices will eventually give Russia the upper hand and deeply injure the U.S. energy industry. The falling ruble makes Russian oil less expensive and more desirable to other countries—Russia also produces oil quite cheaply while the American shale industry has a larger cost of operation. Russia is more than able to weather the current storm, Katusa says. “They have a $200 billion a year trade surplus. They have over $400 billion in reserve currency. They’ve increased their gold reserve. They have much lower debt to their GDP than America. The Ukrainian Parliament voted to drop its “non-aligned” status and begin work towards a NATO membership. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this “unproductive” move would only increase tension between Russia and Ukraine. Katusa believes that this is the beginning of another cold war.

New Russian military doctrine says NATO top threat (Source AP) Russia identified NATO as the nation’s No. 1 military threat and raised the possibility of a broader use of precision conventional weapons to deter foreign aggression under a new military doctrine signed by President Vladimir Putin. The new doctrine, which comes amid tensions over Ukraine, reflected the Kremlin’s readiness to take a stronger posture in response to what it sees as U.S.-led efforts to isolate and weaken Russia.

Russia says NATO turning Ukraine into ‘frontline of confrontation (Source Reuters) Russia said on Wednesday NATO was turning Ukraine into a “frontline of confrontation” and threatened to sever remaining ties with the Atlantic military alliance if Ukraine’s hopes of joining it were realized. The Kiev parliament’s renunciation of Ukraine’s neutral status on Tuesday in pursuit of NATO membership has outraged Moscow and deepened the worst confrontation between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War. “NATO countries pushed Kiev to this counterproductive decision, trying to turn Ukraine into a front line of confrontation with Russia,” Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov told the Russian news agency Interfax. “If this decision in the future takes on a military character (accession to NATO), then we will respond appropriately. Then there will be a complete severing of ties with NATO, which will be practically impossible to repair,” Antonov said.  Russia has made clear it would see the NATO membership of such a strategic former Soviet republic with a long common border as a direct military threat. NATO has already boosted its military presence in eastern Europe this year, saying it has evidence that Russia orchestrated and armed a pro-Russian rebellion in eastern Ukraine that followed the overthrow of a Kremlin-backed president in Kiev.

Moscow denies supporting the rebellion, and is currently trying, along with Kiev and the rebels, to renew efforts to find a political solution to the crisis in eastern Ukraine. A so-called “contact group” is expected to meet in Minsk to try to reinforce a shaky ceasefire and de-escalate the conflict, in which more than 4,700 people have been killed. A truce agreed in September has been regularly flouted by both sides, but violence has lessened significantly in December.

Winter Solstice: Stonehenge crowd gathers for sunrise (Source CNN) The winter solstice has been celebrated by about 1,500 revellers who gathered to watch the sunrise at Stonehenge. Druids and pagans were joined by a mass of revellers at the ancient monument, accompanied by a soundtrack of pounding drums, chanting and dancing. Although Sunday was officially the shortest day, Monday’s sunrise was the closest to the moment when the North Pole was tilted furthest from the sun. However, a heavy blanket of grey cloud kept the sunrise from clear view. Pagans and druids were joined by hundreds of people who wanted to experience the event. Senior druid King Arthur Pendragon, said: “What we’re really here for is to celebrate the fact that the cycle of the world turns, and from now on the days get longer and it’s the return of the sun.“It’s a time of change and hope is renewed – the same message really from a pagan perspective as from a Christian perspective.” That’s what this season is all about – a message of hope.” Last week English Heritage – which manages the stones near Salisbury in Wiltshire – reported a record number of tourists in the past year.

DA: Guns smuggled on planes in Atlanta ‘egregious’ security breach (Source CNN) Two men — one employed by Delta Air Lines and another a former employee — worked together to smuggle guns and ammunition on at least 20 flights from Atlanta to New York from May to December, New York officials said Tuesday. “We have an egregious breach of security” at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport because airport employees “are not required to go through screening,” said Kenneth Thompson, the district attorney of Kings County. In total, 153 guns were recovered as part of a complex investigation that Thompson outlined using charts and surveillance video during a press conference in New York. He praised Delta for being cooperative from start to finish of the undercover probe. Eugene Harvey, who worked for Delta at the Atlanta airport, was arrested at his home in Atlanta on Monday, authorities said. According to Harvey’s arrest warrant affidavit, here’s how the operation worked: Harvey used his security clearance to help provide guns to a passenger named Mark Quentin Henry after Henry cleared security. Henry allegedly brought the firearms in his carry-on luggage on at least five flights from Atlanta to New York between May 1 and December 10. During that time frame, Henry supplied 129 handguns and two assault rifles to co-conspirators in New York, the affidavit states. One of those co-conspirators ended up selling the firearms to an undercover New York police officer.

The Liberal Idiocy on Russia -Ukraine: ‘Setting the Stage for a New Cold War and Possibly Even Nuclear Confrontation” (Source globalresearch.ca) Among honest and knowledgeable people, there really isn’t much doubt about what happened in Ukraine last winter. There was a U.S.-backed coup which ousted a constitutionally elected president and replaced him with a regime more in line with U.S. interests. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger who – in an interview with Der Spiegel – dismissed Official Washington’s conventional wisdom that Russian President Vladimir Putin provoked the crisis and then annexed Crimea as part of some diabolical scheme to reclaim territory lost when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. “The annexation of Crimea was not a move toward global conquest,” the 91-year-old Kissinger said. “It was not Hitler moving into Czechoslovakia” – as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had suggested. Kissinger noted that Putin had no intention of instigating a crisis in Ukraine: “Putin spent tens of billions of dollars on the Winter Olympics in Sochi. The theme of the Olympics was that Russia is a progressive state tied to the West through its culture and, therefore, it presumably wants to be part of it. So it doesn’t make any sense that a week after the close of the Olympics, Putin would take Crimea and start a war over Ukraine.” Instead Kissinger argued that the West – with its strategy of pulling Ukraine into the orbit of the European Union – was responsible for the crisis by failing to understand Russian sensitivity over Ukraine and making the grave mistake of quickly pushing the confrontation beyond dialogue.

Russia, 4-ex-Soviet nations finalize new alliance (Source AP) The Eurasian Economic Union, which includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, comes to existence on Jan. 1. In addition to free trade, it’s to coordinate the members’ financial systems and regulate their industrial and agricultural policies along with labor markets and transportation networks. Russia had tried to encourage Ukraine to join, but its former pro-Moscow president was ousted in February following months of protests. Russia then annexed Ukraine’s Black Sea Crimean Peninsula, and a pro-Russia mutiny has engulfed eastern Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the new union will have a combined economic output of $4.5 trillion and bring together 170 million people. “The Eurasian integration is based on mutual benefit and taking into account mutual interests,” he said after the talks.

Russia orders big firms to limit dollar holdings (Source BBC) The Russian government has instructed five firms to limit foreign currency reserves as part of its efforts to stabilise the rouble. Five of the country’s biggest exporters have been instructed to reduce their foreign currency assets to October levels and not raise them until March. Russian authorities have been trying to support the rouble which last week hit a record low against the dollar. The rouble rose almost 1% on Tuesday, with a dollar buying almost 55 roubles. Last week, a dollar bought more than 70 roubles. One economist said the latest measures were effectively a version of capital controls, designed to prevent foreign currency from leaving Russia. “They have already forced government exporters to sell their dollars, and the same will happen for banks I guess, so in a sense, capital controls are already in place,” said Sergei Guriev, an economist who fled Russia after criticising the Kremlin. The firms affected by the latest measures are the energy companies Gazprom, Rosneft and Zarubezhneft, and diamond businesses Alrosa and Kristall.