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Nov. 19, 2009 In Europe, Herman Van Rompuy, Prime Minister of Belgium, has been chosen to be the new European Council President. Catherine Ashton, UK trade commissioner, will become the new EU Foreign Policy Chief. Read more here: I have received comments indicating that, in light of this new development, the European Neighbourhood Policy might not be be the prophesied seven-year agreement of Daniel 9:27. At least two reasons have been suggested:
I think I am missing a link. There is nothing inherent in the office of the EU presidency, nor of the EU foreign policy chief, that should make anyone occupying either of those positions, potentially, to become the most important or powerful person in the world. The U.S. dollar collapses suddenly, and a shockwave occurs around the world, resulting in the collapse of numerous stock markets and other currencies. There is a subsequent global socio-economic failure, and everybody panics. This is on top of the H1N1 pandemic, widespread famines, an escalation in hostilities everywhere, and other calamities and unrest. Again, all of this is conjecture but, I believe, plausible. If you’ve ever visited Solana’s You Tube page, you should. In the column on the right are four categories of videos (Uploads, Favorites, Javier Solana on the road, and Javier Solana speaks to the...). At the bottom of each category is a “see all” link, which you can click on to have access to all of the videos in that category. Just because Solana no longer is the EU foreign policy chief does not mean that he necessarily has dropped out of sight. Certainly, a multitude of important leaders he has met, around the world, have not forgotten about him. I am sure that this is not the case. |
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Nov. 16, 2009 I visited a friend in Fullerton (not far from S.C.C.O., where I attended school decades ago). He offered me a piece of peanut brittle, which might have been the best I’ve ever tasted. He told me that the recipe was from another friend, now deceased, with an interesting story attached. Go here to see more: By the way, the Leonid Meteor Shower should be visible tonight and tomorrow night. Tonight there is a new moon, so the viewing should be decent, in many places in the Northern Hemisphere, during the early morning hours of darkness. There could be a strong shower this year, with more than 500 meteors per hour. |
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Nov. 14, 2009 A friend and I drove to Palm Springs to meet a friend of hers. She has a time share place here. I’ve always enjoyed Palm Springs; it’s a nice place in a desert/mountain location. ![]() We took the aerial tramway, a 2½-mile ride from the valley floor, elevation 2,643 feet, up to Mount San Jacinto, at 8,516 feet. This also involved about a 30° drop in temperature, so we had to wear warm clothes. At the top, we spent about 3 hours hiking all over the place. We even saw snow. It was a very fun day. ![]() ![]() Palm Springs is a nice place to visit, but I sure wouldn’t want to live here. It is way too close to the San Andreas Fault. The seismic activity on this and nearby faults, over eons of time, formed the mountain range here. This gigantic fault is long overdue to “pop” with the “big one” in So. CA. I sure would not want to be riding on that tram when it happens. ![]() |
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Nov. 12, 2009 Evidently in anticipation of the release tomorrow (Friday the 13th) of the sci-fi thriller, 2012, I have received more comments than usual about my email response to the following question: If we have entered the 70th Week, do you see any special significance to the year 2012? Apparently, there are some who believe I am unrealistically “fearful” or “paranoid” about the possibility that an asteroid could strike the earth and/or that one would not be detected in plenty of time before it did. Oh really? Check out a short interview of Michio Kaku, a theoretical physics professor, by Bill Hemmer of Fox News Channel this morning: In the interview, Dr. Kaku makes a reference to an asteroid that recently (October 8) exploded in the atmosphere over Indonesia: So then, do I believe that an asteroid is going to destroy the earth? Absolutely not. However, I do feel that, most likely, one about the size of a mountain will crash into an ocean or sea, causing at least moderate damage (Revelation 8:8,9). If the timing of my 70th Week hypothesis is correct, I believe that the optimum time for this to occur will be in the Fall of 2012. Attempting to prevent it from taking place will be an utter waste of time and money. |
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Nov. 8, 2009 My cousin in Alabama sent me a table showing differences between the symptoms of a cold and the symptoms of the H1N1 flu. You can view the chart here: Cold and H1N1 Flu Symptoms Thanks, cuz. I’m sure that many will find this to be useful. I encourage people to have surgical masks on hand, as this pandemic continues to become increasingly widespread. ![]() When I flew recently, I saw some people wearing these masks. I expect the incidence of that to increase, especially next year. |
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Nov. 7, 2009 At the gym, I usually have my earphones on listening to either AM 600 KOGO, San Diego, or AM 640 KFI, Los Angeles. Today, I was listening to Leo Laporte, “the Tech Guy,” who knows almost everything about anything electronic. He was expressing his reservations about the eventual passage of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), an international treaty. For the most part, ACTA has remained secret or, at most, under the “radar” of most. Most of what we know about it has been “leaked.” Mandelson puts 'three strikes' internet plan in motion What if someone splices into your Wi-Fi connection, in a public place, and downloads something illegally? What if someone, who has discovered the user name and password of your account, logs onto your account and performs an illegal download? There are a host of possible ways that an innocent person could be falsely accused and, potentially, banned from the internet. According to Laporte, if your ISP bans you, they will be obligated to release your name to other ISPs, who in turn will be legally obligated to refuse service to you as well. Here is a recent article about this: I merely am providing the very “tip of the iceberg” about this issue. If you have questions, you can do the research on the internet, as well as I can, and find out more information about it yourself. My main concern is that if ACTA becomes a global treaty, it could become extremely invasive of people’s rights. For instance, according to the ACTA report on Wikipedia, “the proposed agreement would empower security officials at airports and other international borders to conduct random ex officio searches of laptops, MP3 players, and cellular phones for illegally downloaded or 'ripped' music and movies. Travellers with infringing content would be subject to a fine and may have their devices confiscated or destroyed.” And that is only one small element of the “treaty.” |
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Nov. 5, 2009 I had a great time in Alabama for a couple of weeks. Now I’m back in Southern California. This afternoon, I had an enjoyable walk through one of my favorite greenbelts in Irvine, which I miss if I am away from it for too long. By the way, the “714” in my email address (TMont714@aol.com) was Irvine’s area code many years ago, before it was changed to “949” a few years back. ![]() Irvine is my favorite city in Orange County. There are city ordinances against things such as telephone or electric wires above ground, as well as billboards. Plus, there are several nice parks and lakes located in various places. So the whole city is aesthetically pleasing (except that there used to be orange groves everywhere, and most of those are gone). ![]() I used to have a West Highland White Terrier. For several years, she walked with me along this greenbelt, and we were very close. After she was gone, I didn’t grieve or miss her for too long. By and large, I am dominated more by my brain than by my heart. I am not emotionless; however, I attempt, primarily, to see things logically and, secondarily, to feel them emotionally. |
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Nov. 4, 2009 Back on July 1, I was suggesting that Governor Schwarzenegger should just declare California bankrupt and be done with it. Recently, California taxpayers began seeing an additional 10% being withheld from their paychecks. However, lawmakers do not call it a “tax increase”; in effect, it is a “compulsory interest-free loan from taxpayers to the state.” Read more about it here: California is in colossal trouble socio-economically. This state is utterly desperate to dig itself out of its “deep doo doo” mess, even to the extent of performing the drastic measure of forcing “loans” from its citizens—money that may get paid back in IOUs, or else may never be paid back at all. And I have very little doubt that more drastic measures are to come. People in other states: Beware! California leads the nation in many ways—even in reprehensible ones. |
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Nov. 3, 2009 Someone linked me to the following narratives, which essentially are dreams or visions that two people claimed to have had, one in 1993 and one in 2009. The person who brought them to my attention pointed out the common denominator of how they both seem to support the idea of a partial Mid-tribulation Rapture of “firstfruits” believers. The only modifications I’ve made to these accounts are a few changes in grammar and punctuation: I cannot and will not attest to the validity or reliability of either of these dreams/visions. I know nothing about the people who wrote them. I only am including these here because if my 70th Week hypothesis is correct, and if there is going to be a sudden, unexpected intervention by God at the midpoint of that interval of time, these accounts would seem to corroborate this. If so, presumably this intervention would take place on or around the Feast of Firstfruits 2010 (that is, Resurrection Day or Easter Sunday), about five months from now. |
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Nov. 1, 2009 We had a tasty dinner, Chicken Fried Rice, which was purchased at Aldi food store. After leaving the package out of the freezer for about 5 hours to thaw, it was incredibly easy to prepare. The pre-cooked chicken was heated in a frying pan for 2 minutes. The rice and vegetables were added, stirring frequently, for 6 minutes. Then the sauce was added and stirred in, and voilà it was done. ![]() Best of all, it cost only $3.99 for 4 servings. For other examples of that store’s awesome prices, check my October 25 entry. By the way, last time I was there, I got a bag of semi-ripe bananas for only 20¢. How can they afford to do that?? |
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Oct. 31, 2009 Halloween, and all that it stands for, is not something that I celebrate. Admittedly, I do like the candy, especially Reese’s peanut butter cups. But I believe that all the spooks, ghouls, witches, monsters, and ghosts simply promote and advance the kingdom and power of Satan on earth. Nevertheless, I think this cartoon is hysterical: The only thing I don’t like is that all of those pumpkin seeds will go to waste. I would have been happy to clean up that entire mess myself. I would have rinsed off all of those seeds, toasted them, and eaten every one of them. I think it’s about time to go to the store and buy one so I can do that. |
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Oct. 30, 2009 There is a tree in this neighborhood that was struck by lightning a few months ago. You can see how a strip of bark was ripped off from the top of the trunk all the way to the bottom. ![]() Wow, I would have loved to have been around when that happened. I bet it was REALLY LOUD. |
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Oct. 29, 2009 I was struck by the tragic story of a young folk singer, Taylor Mitchell, who died in Canada recently. She had been attacked by two coyotes, a rare occurrence for animals which typically are very shy. after coyote attack while hiking Considering where we may be in prophesied history, I have to contemplate the possibility that this is just one example of wild beast attacks, as part of Fourth Seal events (Revelation 6:7,8). I have heard of numerous other animal attacks in the past couple of years by bears, lions, cougars, sharks, alligators, and other “wild beasts.” If my 70th Week hypothesis is correct, watch for a marked increase of such attacks in the near future. |
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Oct. 28, 2009 I haven’t made lasagna in quite awhile, but my cousins like the way I make it. So I made two lasagnas this afternoon. I used extra lean ground beef (I drained off all the grease), onions, lots of garlic, mushrooms, yellow crooknecked squash, spinach leaves, broccoli, low-fat cottage cheese, mozarella cheese, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. The second lasagna was bigger and the cheese in the middle wasn’t browning very well, so I had to put the oven on broil for a few minutes after I had removed the first one. ![]() When it came time to boil the lasagna noodles, I noticed that they were “oven ready” noodles, meaning they do not need to be boiled. I’ve never seen those before. I was skeptical, because they looked and felt like regular lasagna noodles. ![]() So I made one lasagna with those noodles and the second lasagna with regular noodles, which I found in the cabinet and boiled. I had one piece of each lasagna; amazingly, they tasted the same, and the noodles in each had the same texture. I think I’m sold on “oven ready” noodles. |
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Oct. 27, 2009 My cousin’s cat, Brat, has been limping around for a couple of days. Somehow, he hurt his right/front paw. We don’t know how it happened. In each of these photos, you can see how he has that paw retracted. ![]() Normally, Brat is not allowed on the dining room table. But since he is injured, he is being extended leniency. Nobody eats on that table anyway. I hope Brat the cat’s paw is better soon, or he will have to be taken to the vet. He is a good kitty. ![]() My cousin thought it looked “yucky”; actually, it was quite yummy. Anyway, I just wanted to get rid of leftovers, in case I get motivated to make a lasagna tomorrow. |
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Oct. 25, 2009 I am visiting my cousin in Alabama. Typically, I do not link to commercial websites from mine, but I am making an exception.
![]() The chocolate cake was one of the tastiest I've ever made. The mix (at the Aldi store) was 89¢, and the frosting was $1.19. Unlike in California, there is tax on food here. But with prices like that, I don’t really mind. |
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Oct. 21, 2009 Yesterday, Javier Solana was visiting the Palestinian Territories. Today, he was in Israel, stating how he feels Israel’s relationship with the European Union is stronger than that of Croatia, a candidate to become a member of the EU: It makes me wonder if this could be a strategy, by Solana, to ingratiate himself to Israel. Perhaps he has future personal dealings with Israel in mind. |
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Oct. 20, 2009
Protocol to the Climate Change Treaty Even if man-made “climate change” or “global warming” were to be proven, which I am convinced it has not been, I do not like the idea of the world’s nations (especially the USA) being enslaved to a climate change treaty. For one thing, this is one way that the forthcoming global government will be able to wield a great deal of power over billions of people. Here is a (lengthy) copy of the Copenhagen Agreement: For another thing, if we truly are near the very end of the age (as I suspect that we are), cataclysmic events, worldwide, are going to begin taking place relatively soon—during the “day of vengeance.” I believe that, most likely, this will be throughout the seventh year of Daniel’s 70th Week. |
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Oct. 16, 2009 I was in the Phoenix airport a few days ago, about to return to San Diego. I was doing some things online with my laptop computer. Not paying attention to the gate, I looked up and my group was boarding. I hurriedly unplugged my laptop computer and stuffed the AC adapter into my backpack while my computer was shutting down. However, I failed to put my computer into my backpack, leaving it behind. |
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Oct. 12, 2009 At a new school in Israel, descendants of the Cohanim (priests) and Levites are going to be trained in the process of conducting services, including sacrifices and offerings, in the next temple. At this school, they plan to have an exact replica of the Third Temple. See more here: It has been suggested to me that if sacrifices and offerings are begun in this replica of the temple, and then stopped at some point, this potentially could qualify as fulfilling the prophecy in Daniel 9:27. Hmmm...maybe so. I guess we’ll see. What I would be interested in knowing is whether or not the new sacrificial altar stone (see my July 30 entry) will be placed in the temple replica at the school. |
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Oct. 8, 2009 Anyone who has been paying attention will know that the frequency of very large earthquakes in the world appears to be rising. Go here to see how much the incidence of deadly and destructive quakes, from magnitude 6.0 to 8.0, has escalated since 1900, especially in just the last handful of years: Between Magnitudes 6 and 8 Since 1900 This make sense to me, since I strongly suspect that we now are within the period of time referred to by Jesus as “the beginning of birth pains” (Matthew 24:7,8)--see Are the "birth pains" spoken of by Jesus the same as the "labor pains" described by Paul? Furthermore, look what happens after the Sixth Seal of the heavenly scroll is opened: I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake...and every mountain and island was removed from its place (Revelation 6:12,14). Every mountain and island will be removed from its place. Wow. That sounds to me like that great earthquake will shake the entire earth. In case my proposed seven-year time frame is correct, this will take place in the Fall of 2012—less than three years from now. |
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Oct. 5, 2009 The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) now has been told it must wait three weeks before being given access to Iran’s most recent, previously secret, uranium enrichment plant. Understandably, Britain rightfully has expressed irritation about this, as shown in this article: Yet, another article two days ago indicates that, at the Geneva talks on October 1, “Tehran agreed to open its new nuclear enrichment plant for international inspections within two weeks”: I suspect that Iran is stalling on inspections, for as long as it can, to “straighten up” its nuclear facility and hide anything that would raise the suspicion of IAEA inspectors. Javier Solana said that there will be further dialogue, between the six global powers and Iran, before the end of the month. Presumably, Solana will be representing the “big six,” just as he did at the Geneva talks. |
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Oct. 3, 2009 I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about the following. Then I felt compelled to write it down before I went back to sleep. I don’t know why I woke up with it in my head, and I don’t know why I felt that I needed to write it down...just did. |
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Oct. 2, 2009 At sunset this evening, the festival of Sukkot, or Feast of Tabernacles (or Feast of Booths), began. Tomorrow continues the first day of Sukkot, on which there always is a full moon. I believe that Jesus was born on the first day of Sukkot. Thus, He was born on a full moon, and He also died on a full moon (Passover). |
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Oct. 1, 2009
![]() If you would like to see a 3¼-minute video of Javier Solana and Saeed Jalili arriving at the conference in Geneva, click here (although you will need RealPlayer to view it). In the video, Solana emerges from the back seat of the first limosine and Jalili from the back seat of the second limo. These “talks” remind me of the “Geneva (1) Talks” of July 19, 2008, also between Solana and Jalili (see my July 20, 2008 entry). Absolutely nothing was accomplished then, and I seriously doubt that anything substantial was accomplished today. |
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