In it, Gibbon describes how Rome went from this powerful society with the most advanced roads and technology on the planet, to being a society which we know of as Medieval Europe. I personally don’t even think we know the half of Rome’s greatness at its height. We are still discovering some of the things they did. Medieval Europe was just so low that nearly everything was lost. The people were so desperate (or something) that they would tear apart the old structures of Rome in order to rebuild their own buildings. The Colosseum at one point was used as a garbage dump.

Rome declined gradually, but I’m sure that the people felt something. Where once the army was practically invincible, it starts getting defeated on the battlefield. While the road system once allowed people to travel from one end of the empire to another, the paths started to crumble. The aquaducts that carried fresh water started to break down, and the sewers started to back up.

Today, America seems to be in decline, just like in Gibbon’s history. Shows like Inspector America and The Crumbling of America talk about how America’s infrastructure is breaking down. I witnessed it myself a couple of years ago as I drove up the California coast. Our educational system is flawed, and our politicians are corrupt. We aren’t winning our wars in a decisive manner like we did in World Wars I and II. America no longer supports a space shuttle program.

The rest of the world isn’t off the hook either. Riots abound nearly everywhere. Famines plague some of the poorer countries. Europeans are having a self-inflicted energy crisis just like the United States: countries are closing nuclear plants and don’t want to use coal or fossil fuels, so Germany and England may face blackouts. We may abandon the International Space Station because of problems with one of Russia’s shuttles.

Although we live with technology that makes our lives better, the society that we live in is fragile. We need educated people to keep things running. We need energy. We need people to work in all of the industries that we depend on for our lifestyle.

I do believe that the Lord is coming back soon, but if he didn’t, then I think that we would see a serious change in the way that we live.

I’ve always been a fairly patriotic person. The only time I ever missed voting in an election is when I was out of state on election night and missed the absentee ballot deadline; I served in the military for several years and love the founding fathers. Lately, however, I have been quite unhappy with the way that our government has been acting. I can deal with stupidity, but what bothers me is that I *hate* the direction that the United States government is heading. I want nothing to do with certain actions that it is taking.

Most of the problems that I have with the government right now deal with what is going on in the Middle East. We need to stay out of it. Libya is not a threat to us; we have no business meddling in their business. The same goes for the Ivory Coast. Whatever happened to the days during World War I where we stayed neutral? That was about as pointless of a war as I’ve ever seen… I recently started reading my copy of The Century and found it hard to believe that countries would fight over something so stupid as one idiot assassinating someone. I realize that we are the strongest power on the planet, but that doesn’t mean that we need to involve ourselves in every conflict out there, especially when there is no side that has the obvious moral upper hand.

I especially can’t support the direction that our country is headed in in Israel. I recently started listening to a lecture series about the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and I realize that the situation has some complicated roots, but it looks like the US might turn its back upon Israel when others start accusing them of war crimes. I can’t support that.

I suppose that the ancient Jews couldn’t really support Rome either, especially when they were sacrificing a pig in their temple. Christians probably weren’t very fond of Rome when Nero was using them as candles to light up his garden. The world is full of examples like that, but I’ve just never seen it with my country.

South Korea and the United States will be conducting exercises together on Sunday. CNN reports that the exercises are primarily in response to the sinking of the South Korean vessel Cheonan.

We are starting to see a new axis of evil between Iran, North Korea, Russia, and China. North Korea sells missiles to Iran, Russia supports Iran, China supports Iran. If you throw in Syria, you have quite a list of players in the end times that the Bible predicted.

While the exercises are likely to go smoothly tomorrow, one day they probably won’t. I am not optimistic, as the people in the CNN video are, that diplomacy is going to result and there will be peace talks. There are too many puzzle pieces fitting into place that suggest that we are entering the Tribulation soon, not a time of great peace.

We are entering times of great trouble, I fear. It’s difficult now, but I believe that it will get worse. If you are a Christian, please make the most of your days. Pray for your friends, and don’t hide your beliefs from others. Be honest and do the right thing, even if it is costly.

I wrote a Squidoo page on Glenn Beck University’s Recommended Reading List today. If you look under the section for “Faith 101″, you will see a bunch of books with sermons from some of the old preachers who lived during the time of the American Revolution. These people really knew how to live for God. The books under Faith 101 are all in the public domain, and I have included links to free digital copies of the books. I highly recommend that you check them out. The time is short.

A couple of months ago, Glenn Beck mentioned that there were two Americas that were exemplified by two events that happened in 1969: the moon landing, and Woodstock. That prompted me to write 1969: Two Americas. While I was working on that, it was only natural for me to create a page on The Weathermen. That was when I was first introduced to the phrase “you don’t need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” That was the phrase that their group was named after.

Glenn Beck discussed sections of a paper written by the Weathermen on his radio program today, but he glossed over one important point… or perhaps… he missed one important point. If you download the document, you will find it on page 9:

the condition of all workers is worsened through rising taxes, inflation and the fall of real wages, and speedup. But this increased oppression falls heaviest on the most oppressed, such as poor white workers and, especially, the blacks, for example through the collapse of state services like schools, hospitals and welfare, which naturally hits the hardest at those most dependent on them….

The more the ruling class is hurt …., the harder people will be pushed to rebel and to fight for reforms .

Perhaps Beck missed it because he makes $23 million per year. I, however, happen to be in a unique position. By any demographic profile, you would think that I would identify with the victim class. My husband is black, and we make below the poverty level; however, we are proud members of the “oppressor class”, although we’re not in the position to really oppress anyone. We don’t believe in collective salvation, and we believe that hard work is the key to success.

As a Christian, I have believed that the events predicted in the book of Revelation will happen soon for quite some time now. We have been planning for the demise of the United States for quite a while, at least mentally. If I was a wealthy oppressor (or at least if I was someone that made the median wage for the average US family) then we would probably own some property far, far off the beaten path by now. Since I can’t do that, I’ve been trying to hone my skills to live without the support system that we currently rely on, because I think that we could wake up one morning and “poof” the government can’t pay for them anymore.

What I noticed that Beck didn’t comment on was that the poor people would be pushed to rebel once things like welfare, health care, and the public school system started to crumble around them. At that point, I and some likeminded friends are likely to disappear rather than fight on the side of the Communists, but there are some people that are likely to fight. That’s what they want to happen. This fighting and rioting will bring about the “change” in the government that Barack Obama campaigned on (but kinda left out the details).

It may be chaotic, but it is controlled, orchestrated, and was planned many years ago.

Last night, President Barack Obama gave his State of the Union address. I didn’t watch it in it’s entirety, but from the little bit that I have seen, I found a couple of his comments interesting… it related to how he referred to the other two branches of government.

To the Supreme Court, he reprimanded them for making a ruling that basically gutted McCain-Feingold. In past elections, businesses (and I suppose, wealthy individuals) were prohibited from funding issue-based advertising during a political campaign. The Supreme Court ruled that by not allowing people and businesses to pay for their own political ads, they were limiting free speech. Obama chastised the Supreme Court (with the nine justices sitting right in front of him) during the speech.

He also took a dig at the legislature. Obama was upset that the senate blocked a bill that he wanted. No worries… Obama said that he’ll get around the blocked bill by issuing an executive order instead.

So what is the difference, I ask, between Obama and a dictator? If it doesn’t matter what the legislature says (he can issue an executive order to get around it), why do we even have a legislature? Perhaps the Supreme Court can declare executive orders unconstitutional (which they should be). I wonder how he would get around that.

Well, I don’t know about the town of Bundanoon, but I drink bottled water because I don’t like the flavor of our tap water. Maybe they have good tasting water. I did spend five weeks in Australia a while back, but I don’t remember drinking any water back then. While they might be happy with their tap water, I certainly am not.

To be fair, I buy my bottled water from machines in the grocery store. I have four 3-gallon bottles that we take on a regular basis to have refilled. When we go out, we usually use recycled bottles that I bought flavored water in. I recycle any bottles (including soda bottles) that I use. So I’m not really filling up the landfills. Not with plastic from bottled water bottles, at least.

Australia is not the United States, of course, but I did have a chance to spend some time there, and the country is a lot like the U.S. Aside from their affiliation with the crown and their affinity for Vegemite, I felt quite at home when I was there doing an exchange with their Navy. If a town there is willing to ban bottled water, the United States might be next.

Obama’s adviser John Holdren had at one point suggested that they put sterilants in our drinking water. They already put fluoride, which is a poison, in the drinking water in many cities, in the name of “dental health”. Could this demonization of bottled water have anything to do with the plan to adulterate our drinking water further? And leave us with no other options? I don’t have any proof that they do, but I wouldn’t put it past them.

On a related note, a new bin Laden tape has been released, although Reuters has not verified its authenticity yet. In the tape, bin Laden is threatening the United States because it maintains friendly ties with Israel.

Last month, al Qaida claimed that Moslems would receive a “present” on the occasion of the Month of Ramadan. Ramadan is currently underway, and will end on September 19th.