Are We Giving Up Spiritual Territory?

   

     I will admit that I do not have the latest figures, but what I have learned about the large amounts of U.S. land owned by foreign countries and corporations has alarmed me.  Did you know that, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), foreign investors hold an interest in 25.7 million acres of U.S. agricultural land?  And that figure is from December, 2011!  I can imagine that this USDA figure has climbed significantly in the nearly four years since it was released.
     A summary from the 2011 USDA report discloses the following:  Forest land accounted for 54 percent of all foreign held agricultural acreage, cropland for 19 percent, and pasture and other agricultural land for 27 percent. Foreign holdings of U.S. agricultural land were relatively steady from 2000 through 2006; between 2006 and 2007, there was a significant 3.6 million acre increase. Since 2008, there have been moderate increases each year ranging from 1.3 to 1.5 million acres. Between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011, there was an increase of 1,490,781 acres.
     The state of Texas has the largest amount of foreign held U.S. agricultural land with 2,894,563 acres.  Maine has the second largest amount of foreign held agricultural acres with 2,877,965.  Washington has the third largest amount of foreign held agricultural land with 1,671,102 acres, which is 7.6 percent of its privately held agricultural land!  Sixteen percent of Maine’s privately held agricultural land is held by foreign investors; this is approximately 11 percent of the reported foreign held agricultural land in the United States.  Remember, these figures are nearly four years old, and we know that with the state of our economy, millions more acres have likely been sold.  I do not think it is exaggerating to suggest that foreign holdings in this country are increasing at an alarming rate.
     How does it make you feel to know that when the Chinese purchased Smithfield Foods for $4.7 billion, they suddenly owned 460 large farms and became the top employer in dozens of communities all over the United States… or that Zhang Xin, CEO of Soho China , joined forces with the wealthy Safra family (of Banco Safra fame) of Brazil to buy a stake in the General Motors Building in New York City?  The New York Times reported last year that Dalian Wanda Group, another Chinese developer, is planning to build a greenfield luxury hotel in Manhattan.
     Writer Michael Snyder shared the following information in a 2013 article: "The Chinese have made trillions of dollars flooding our shores with super cheap products, and now they are using some of that money to buy land and property all over America.  For example, there is now a proposal to construct a multibillion dollar “China City” that would span approximately 600 acres in a remote area of New York state.  This “China City” (that is actually what it would be called) would be located on Yankee Lake in Sullivan County, New York.  The plans anticipate large numbers of Chinese businesses, plenty of homes for Chinese immigrants, a Chinese high school, a college, a casino and even a theme park.  And the first 600 acres is only for “phase one” of the plan.  Ultimately, the goal is for “China City” to cover more than 2,000 acres.  Those promoting this plan say that it will be a great way for New Yorkers to learn to appreciate Chinese culture.  So should we be concerned that the Chinese want to place a little slice of communist China right in the heart of New York state?"
     Then there are the reports of a recent outcry against California’s exports of water-rich products, like almonds and pistachios, to countries like China, in the midst of the state's historic drought.  Isn't that a poor use of domestic resources?  Is it really moral to enrich a Chinese corporation at the expense of U.S. citizens?  Is this a picture of the New Global Economy?

"The Worship of Mammon" by Evelyn de Morgan

     For me, as a Christian, these questions aren't simply a matter of political and economic consequences.  Yes, we have willingly sold our national heritage and agricultural lands to foreign investors, and I feel a certain sense of betrayal -- all in order to serve Mammon, the Biblical expression of greed and material wealth.  In fact, during the Middle Ages, Mammon was often personified as a deity, and sometimes included in the seven princes of Hell.
     So, perhaps you are beginning to see my concern, and a greater significance to this "giveaway".  This nation, land, and its people were originally appointed by God to glorify Him.  And now with foreign intrusion, we have been exposed to foreign gods, and all the spirits that come with them.  Did not our God tell us how he felt about allowing this encroachment upon His territory?  "If you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”  I don't know about you, but it couldn't be any plainer to me.
     How we've forgotten that He gave this land to us!  And we have no idea how it offends Him to share this territory with foreign gods and their influences.  Now the question becomes how long will it take to "perish" off this good land?  Looks like we're well on the way.

Jeremiah 5:19   And when the people ask, 'Why has the LORD our God done all this to us?' you will tell them, 'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own.'

Asian Trade Treaty: Thank God For the Alternative Media!

     If it wasn't for the Alternative Media, we'd still be in the dark about more government secrets.  Leave it to the Canadian Free Press to shed some much-needed light on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).  Never heard of it?  Me neither.  You can actually scour the internet for plenty of opinions on this Trade Treaty, but nowhere have I found the Mainstream Media informing the public about it.

     As further reported by the New American, it is a secret so-called trade agreement that is on track to be completed by the end of 2013.  Or at least, it is expected that President Obama will call on Congress to approve the TPP in early 2014.

      Just like the massive 2,000 page Affordable Care Act (that Congress had to pass in order for us to find out what was in it), this treaty has 29 chapters, but only 5 of them have to do with trade.  Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse Blog, says, "Most Americans don’t realize this, but this treaty will fundamentally change our laws regarding internet freedom, health care, the trading of derivatives, copyright issues, food safety, environmental standards, civil liberties, and so much more."  He goes on to say that if Wikileaks had not secured access to the TPP draft, there would be next to nothing known about it. It posted a 95 page, 30,000 word document that was "horrifying." Writing about it on his blog, Kurt Nimmo, who edits and writes for InfoWars.com, noted that there are provisions within the treaty for implementing “a transnational ‘enforcement regime designed to supplant national laws and sovereignty with a globalist construct. The TPP is by far the largest and most oppressive economic treaty devised so far."

     The Canadian Free Press quotes William F. Jasper, an author and a senior editor of The New American, who calls the TPP “bigger and more dangerous than ObamaCare”; noting that “In November 2009, President Obama announced his intention to have the United States participate in a so-called trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. I say "so-called" trade agreement because 80 percent of the proposed agreement deals with a great many issues beside trade," deeming it “an all-out assault on our national sovereignty.”  

     “It would unconstitutionally transfer legislative powers from the U.S. Congress, our state legislatures, and our city and county governments to multi-national corporations and unaccountable international bureaucracies at the World Trade Center.”  And if that doesn't shock you, this revelation from Jasper will surely scare the bejeezus out of you!  "Incredibly, it would also transfer judicial powers from our federal and state courts—which are bad enough—to globalist TPP judges, regional tribunals, and the World Trade Organization.” The treaty would “confer huge advantages on foreign businesses and large multinationals, while at the same time putting companies that operate here in America—especially small and medium enterprises—at a competitive disadvantage. American businesses would remain shackled by the regulations of EPA, FDA, OSHA, etc. while their foreign competitors could operate here unimpeded by those same strictures.”

     Even The Huffington Post is warning of the ramifications of this secret legislation, reporting that the result of its passage could be the criminalization of small-scale copyright infringement, and households being disconnected from the internet under laws that punish unauthorized downloading.  Internet providers would be forced to do more monitoring of their subscribers, and it would be easier for governments to remove websites, critics say.  And RawStory.com provided this scary little tidbit:  Ongoing talks between Vice President Joe Biden, who was in Asia earlier this month, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker focused on the President's push to convince Congress to offer him Trade Promotion Authority — which would allow him to fast-track trade deals through Congress --- and I'm assuming that authority would include keeping Congress and the American people out of the process.

     So where is the MSM on this important piece of legislation?  Why all the secrecy, and why the pressure to fast-track it?  Is this just another vehicle to sublimate the power of the American constituency to a global entity?  Has Congress become that irrelevant?  All these questions deserve answers.  The sad fact is that we are likely to receive none.  The Trans-Pacific Partnership appears to be just one more hindrance to American sovereignty and liberty.

2 Corinthians 4:2    "But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's Word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God."